Two different invariable relative markers were in use in early English, þe and þat/that . This paper aims to answer the question of how and why þat replaced þe as an invariable relativizer in Middle English. To this end I analyse the distribution of invariable relativizers in the relevant periods of the English language (from Old English to late Middle English) as represented in The Helsinki Corpus of English Texts .


INTRODUCTION In the treatment of nonunions, and other complications of bone repair, an attractive alternative to bone autografts would be the use of a combination of autologous mesenchymal progenitors cells (MSCs), biomaterials and growth factors. Our goal was to determine the therapeutic potential and contribution to the repair process of different sources of mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of nonunions. METHODS The right femur of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats was stabilized with an aluminum plate (20 mm long, 4 mm wide, 2 mm thick) and four screws (1.5 mm diameter, 8 mm long). A diaphyseal critical size defect was performed (5 mm). Six groups (n=6–8 animals each) were created. A nonunion group (Control group, empty defect); LBA group, live bone allograft; BMP2 group, rhBMP-2 (2 μg) in collagen sponge; PCL group, polycaprolactone scaffold; PMSCs group, PCL scaffold loaded with 5×106 periosteum-derived MSCs; and BMSCs group, PCL scaffold loaded with 5×106 bone marrow-derived MSCs. For cell tracking pu...


The invention aims to provide a composition for prevention and treatment of chemoradiotherapy induced leucopenia. The composition comprises the following raw materials by weight: 5-200 parts of Ganoderma lucidum, 5-150 parts of American ginseng or ginseng, 1-90 parts of fermented Cordyceps sinensis powder and/or 1-120 parts of Cordyceps sinensis, or comprises active components made of water extracts and/or alcohol extracts of the raw materials. The composition can be applied in preparation of health products or drugs or products for prevention and treatment of chemoradiotherapy induced leukopenia.


Coherent detection as a reception technique consists on combining the incident optical signal to a signal produced by a local oscillator to a certain frequency. This article analyzes the effect of linear noise and the distortions due to nonlinearities, in order to propose solutions to mitigate this effect.


Much waste wood causing pollution and energy waste was produced in the processing of Pinus massoniana wood. However, hemicellulose extracted from Pinus massoniana waste can be transformed into bioenergy by means of pyrolysis, gasification, liquefaction, etc. Therefore, effects of deresination technology on extracting hemicellulose from Pinus massioniana were investigated by orthogonal and the whole factors test. The results show that (1) effects of deresinating temperature and time on quantity of dissolved resin is highly significant, but effects of deresinating pressure and volume fraction of degreasing agents on dissolved oleoresin volume are lightly significant. (2) Effects of deresinating temperature, time, pressure, volume fraction on removal volume of hemicellulose from Pinus massioniana are lightly significant, removal volume of hemicellulose from deresinated wood is larger than that from untreated wood, but both increase in response to the increase of quantity of dissolved resin.


Abstract Tensile failure in superplastic alumina shows a close similarity to ductile failure in metallic materials containing microvoids or hard inclusions. Microcracking, which appears as strain exceeding ~ 90% of the failure strain and leading to macroscopic cracking for final failure, is not caused by the propagation of the largest preexistent defects, but by extensive cavity coalescence. Such coalescence is found to occur as the thickness of the intervoid matrix decreases to a certain level due to an increase in the number and size of cavities. The data also show that there is no explicit critical grain size for the onset of microcracking, although microcracking and failure tend to occur at smaller strains as the initial grain size increases.


1Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge. Cambridge, UK 2NIHR BioResource, Cambridge University Hospitals, Cambridge, UK 3NHS Blood and Transplant, Cambridge, UK 4Department of Medicine, Section of Internal and Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy 5European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Hinxton, UK 6Clinical Genomics Laboratory, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 7Division of Hematology, and Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 8Haemostasis Research Group, Department of Infection, Immunity and Cardiovascular Disease, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health, Medical School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK 9Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 10Division of Hematology, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 11Einthoven Laboratory for Experimental Vascular Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands 12Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, Center for Molecular and Vascular Biology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium


This paper presents an analysis of pension coverage in Tunisia based on density contribution. This approach is justified by the fact that coverage rates usually used do not give a clear indication on effective contribution and particularly couldnot explain the low level of pensions in the private sector. Using administrative data, we compute the contribution densities for the private sector most important regimes. We then use an ordered PROBIT model to identify the determinants of this ratio. Results show that contribution density of the most vulnerable groups is very low compared to other workers. Women are more likely to contribute to the pension system and contribution density decreases with firms' size.


In this paper we present results concerning a chaotic behaviour of diierence equations. It is proved that there exists a horseshoe for the diierence equation y n+k+1 = k X i=1 i y n+i + m X i=l i g(y n+i); 1 l m < k whenever is suuciently large, provided that P m i=l i 6 = 0, the function g is continuous and changes sign at least twice. This equation is of great importance in numerical analysis, since many well known numerical methods for ODEs, in particular multistep methods, can be rendered in this form. Some results concerning the non-chaotic case are also presented.


Dear readers, In recent years the Swiss Medical Weekly – in response to the far-reaching changes that have occurred in the field of scientific publishing – has already undergone not one but several changes. Developments in the Internet mean a previously undreamed of dissemination for journals. Adoption of open access, a major concern of academic medicine or universities, has always been in the forefront of this trend. We see open access not as a threat but as an opportunity. The huge number of hits on our website is ample proof that the scientific community fully appreciates this publishing philosophy. International awareness of the SMW is growing day by day, as reflected in the mounting impact factor and the steadily increasing number of visits to the SMW website. Thanks to cooperation with our currently over 4000 international reviewers, scrutiny of each paper by a professional statistician and language editing by English-speaking doctors, SMW supports authors in publishing their research findings. Our ambitious goals are an increase in the impact factor to over 2.0 in the medium term and to over 3.0 in the long term, together with further optimisation of open access availability. The SMW's long-standing tradition of offering young researchers an important publishing platform and promoting new blood in the academic community are all measures that we intend to continue at the highest level. We now wish to go a step further in this direction and make still better use of modern forms of publication for the SMW. From July 2010 we shall be switching to the "continuous publication" model. All newly accepted papers will be published once weekly online. For the authors the new model has the advantage that the online version will become the mandatory referenced version; interim "epublication ahead of print" will no longer be necessary. Their papers will appear without further waiting time after acceptance for publication, and will be immediately listed in Medline. The SMW's aim is likewise to reach all academically interested doctors as readers. The journal's print version will henceforth be published monthly; each individual issue will, however, contain several review articles. Six to eight publications from each of the fields of "medical intelligence", "current opinion" and "medical technology" are planned per issue. The contents of original articles now transferred to the online version will appear in the print version as "extended abstracts" covering the most important information. Specialists and researchers wishing for more in-depth study of a paper will find this, as is already the practice, online via open access. The preparatory work for all these innovations is in full swing. At the same time the SMW website will be completely redesigned and reorganised. Nothing will change for authors submitting original articles. However, if the paper is accepted for publication the authors of original articles will henceforth be requested to provide an "extended abstract" on a given model for the print version. This extra work is not time-consuming and serves not only as an improved summary for the general reader but as an "appetiser" for the reader of the whole article. We are looking forward keenly to these new challenges, and are convinced that they will bring many advantages for our authors and readers.


Abstract The Vikings have for generations yielded significant output in different cultural venues. Also the music scene has utilised perceptions of the North and the Northmen to generate a stereotypical image of medieval Scandinavian society. Extreme metal, most notably black and Viking metal, have applied narratives pertaining to the Viking Age for its own purposes. This paper examines one particular aspect of the black and Viking metal music scene: violence. It examines how the North and its inhabitants are utilised to justify violent behaviour. Drawing from pinpointed examples of extreme metal, this paper shows that stereotypical assumptions of violent Viking expansion as well as fear of subjugation motivate the 'rage of the Northmen.'


Development of Pavement Maintenance Management System for rural roads was attempted in three stages in this work. Firstly, a prioritisation technique was developed to prioritise the roads to be taken up for maintenance activity. Secondly, HDM-4 being a versatile pavement management tool, its applicability for rural roads was attempted after calibrating its deterioration models for conditions prevalent on Indian rural roads. Finally an effort was also taken to develop a deterministic optimisation model for the maintenance programming of rural roads incorporating the performance prediction model developed in this study.


Employing high resolution photoemission spectroscopy, we studied the evolution of the spectral features in rare earth hexaboride single crystals as a function of temperature and 4f binding energy, where the variation of the 4f binding energy is obtained by changing the rare earth element. High energy resolution helped to reveal the distinct features corresponding to the various photoemission final states. Experimental results of CeB6, a dense Kondo system, exhibit the growth of the features near the Fermi level with the decrease in temperature relative to the uncompensated local moment contributions. The valence band spectra of the antiferromagnetic compounds, PrB6 and NdB6, exhibit multiple features—the 4f ionization peaks (poorly screened features) appear at higher binding energies and the features in the vicinity of the Fermi level possessing significant 4f character are due to the well-screened photoemission final states. These results indicate finite hybridization between the 4f and B 2s2p conduction electronic states. Interestingly, the well-screened features in PrB6 and NdB6 exhibit unusual enhancement in intensity at low temperature.


Gibson and colleagues show that outbred domestic cats develop mammary tumors similar to those in humans. Electrovaccination of heterologous or point-mutated feline HER2 DNA overcomes T-cell immune tolerance in 40% of healthy cats and induces antibodies with distinct specificity. Domestic cats share human living environments and genetic traits. They develop spontaneous feline mammary carcinoma (FMC) with similar histopathology to human breast cancer. HER2 and AKT phosphorylation was demonstrated in primary FMC by immunoblot analysis, indicating HER2 as a therapeutic target. FMC lines K12 and K248 expressing HER1, HER2, and HER3 were sensitive to receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) inhibitors gefitinib and lapatinib. To test HER2 vaccine response in cats, purpose-bred, healthy cats were electrovaccinated with heterologous (xenogeneic) or point-mutated feline HER2 DNA. T-cell reactivity to feline self-HER2 was detected in 4 of 10 cats that received bear HER2, human–rat fusion HER2 (E2Neu) or mutant feline HER2 (feHER2-K), which contains a single amino acid substitution. The variable T-cell responses may resemble that in the genetically heterogeneous human population. All immune sera to heterologous HER2 recognized feline HER2 expressed in 3T3 cells (3T3/HER2), but not that in FMC K12 or K248. Immune sera to mutant pfeHER2-K bound 3T3/HER2 cells weakly, but they showed better recognition of K12 and K248 cells that also express HER1 and HER3, suggesting distinct HER2 epitopes displayed by FMC that may be simulated by feHER2-K. In summary, HER2 DNA electroporation overcomes T-cell immune tolerance in approximately 40% of healthy cats and induces antibodies with distinct specificity. Vaccination studies in domestic cats can expedite vaccine iteration to guide human vaccine design and better predict outcome, with the added benefit of helping feline mammary tumor patients. Cancer Immunol Res; 3(7); 777–86. ©2015 AACR.


There is today a growing awareness both of the prevalence of torture involving a very large number of countries around the world and of the depth of the human suffering it leaves in its wake. Individual lives have been broken, the stability of families shattered, the psychic equilibrium of the children of torture victims disrupted. In the words of Simone Veil, former President of the European Parliament and herself an internee of the Auschwitz concentration camp: 'It is not only the rights of the victims which are scorned, it is not only their lives which are threatened, it is the very essence of these human beings that torture seeks to annihilate'. The Association for Victims of Repression in Exile (AVRE), among the first of such groups to be set up, was founded in Paris in 1984, and is housed on the premises of the H6pital de la Croix Saint-Simon. The fact that France has traditionally been a major country of refuge lends particular significance to the association's location in Paris. AVRE's primary on-going activity is as a centre that caters to the medical and psychological needs of persons seeking aid because they have suffered torture or other forms of ill-treatment in their countries of provenance; it also increasingly offers assistance to victims' families. Nearly a thousand people had been cared for at the Paris centre by 1990. All patients come to us on the basis of referral by humanitarian bodies, as well as by hospitals, doctors, lawyers and refugee associations. At present, more than five per cent ofnew arrivals are non-refugees who have been helped by human rights organisations to come to France for treatment subsequent to their release from prison. A second dimension of AVRE's activity consists of missions abroad to extend, in situ, where this is possible and desirable, the particular kind of aid which may be called for. One example is the establishment of a sustained programme of care provided in former French Guinea, in 1984-1985, to political prisoners freed after the death of Sekou Toure. AVRE fulfilled a very different type of need when a fact-finding team briefly visited The Philippines to ascertain the help required from abroad in caring for prisoners liberated upon the departure of President Marcos. Other missions have included on-the-spot treatment, given in co-operation with local doctors, to newly released Moroccan political internees and an inquiry, in 1988, into the phenomenon of torture in the political and social context of Zaire. The 'why' of AVRE's existence cannot be answered fully without giving due weight to its role in the international effort to bring together, analyse and compare knowledge and experience acquired in the treatment of torture victims and in activities related to torture. Hence, the association's close co-operation with similar groups in other countries and its frequent participation in international symposia dealing with the specific problems faced by practitioners in this field, or with the issues to which torture gives rise in a broader medical and psychiatric framework. This international dimension of the association's work also encompasses co-operative research ventures, as exemplified by AVRE's membership in ALFEST (the French-Language Association for the Study of Traumatic Stress), its participation in the European Concerted Action for coping with Disasters (EuroActDis), work on the prevention of mass reactions to natural and other disasters and its involvement in an international research project on the sequelae of violence in children. AVRE has been encouraged in the pursuit of its mission by the growing support it has received from leading figures in science, the arts and public affairs.


The purpose of the article is to identify trends in the disclosure of the plot-content aspect of a choreographic performance, built on the basis of or with the use of ballroom dance vocabulary, which is characteristic of the stage works of the XXI century. Research methodology. The method of artistic and stylistic analysis of expressive means of choreographic performance is applied; a typological method that helped to identify and consider the main methods of disclosing the plot-content aspect; the method of art history analysis, the application of which contributed to the consideration of compositional solutions of choreographic performances; the method of comparative analysis, which allowed to compare the techniques and methods of revealing the plot-content aspect of choreographic performances used by foreign and domestic directors at the present stage; method of theoretical generalization. Scientific novelty. Based on the art analysis of choreographic performances by European and domestic choreographers-producers A. Gades ("The Antonio Gades Compan"), F. Pinera and W. Villalba ("La Boca Tango Company"), A. Trunova (performance-performance "Bloody Wedding") ") And N. Zhurenko (ballroom dance theater" Fly Dance ") revealed the tendencies of revealing the plot-content aspect of a choreographic performance, built on the basis of or with the involvement of ballroom dance vocabulary, characteristic of the modern stage of choreographic art development, and its figurative and conceptual content. Conclusions. The study showed that the modern practice of dance theaters is dominated by the tendency to use non-standard possibilities of artistic and figurative reflection of human existence, the author's approach to revealing the theme of stage choreographic work, innovative poetic and metaphorical images. Harmonious synthesis in the choreographic performance of the components of musical and choreographic imagery is positioned by modern producers as the main task in the process of revealing the content. Ballroom dance forms and dramatic moves correspond to the specific content and figurative series of stage work and the laws of reflection of reality in a choreographic performance are based on the degree of devotion to the metaphorical reflection of life.


Objective: To analyse tender and swollen joint counts in three cohorts of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), with a focus on the proportions of patients who had fewer than 6–12 tender or swollen joints, as possible evidence based information toward more generalisable inclusion criteria for current and future RA clinical trials. Methods: Tender and swollen joint counts were analysed in three cohorts of patients with RA: 125 in 1985, 138 in 2000, and 232 with early RA in 2001. Results: The median numbers of tender joints were 11, 2, and 4 in 1985, 2000, and in early RA in 2001, respectively. The median numbers of swollen joints were 12, 6, and 5 in 1985, 2000, and 2001, respectively. The numbers of tender joints among 28 assessed were ⩾12, ⩾6, ⩾4, and ⩾3 in 47%, 80%, 85%, and 90% of patients in 1985; 20%, 37%, 44%, and 49% in 2000; and 17%, 37%, 50%, and 58% in early RA in 2001. The numbers of swollen joints among 28 assessed were ⩾12, ⩾6, ⩾4, and ⩾3 in 51%, 78%, 86%, and 90% of patients in 1985; 20%, 50%, 64%, and 67% in 2000; and 14%, 46%, 58%, and 72% in 2001. The number of patients with ⩾6 tender or swollen joints in 1985 was greater than the number with ⩾3 joints in 2000 and in early RA in 2001. Conclusion: Contemporary cohorts of patients seen in standard care have smaller numbers of tender and swollen joints than in previous times. These findings suggest that revision of inclusion criteria for numbers of tender and swollen joints in contemporary RA clinical trials might improve generalisability.


developedin which sre used relative-~new concepts,such as the timeseriesand the response to a unit trianglevariationof surfacetemper-ature, togetherwith essentiallystandsrdformulas for transienttem-perature and heat flow into thickwalls. Themethod can be usedwithoutknowledgeof the mathematicaltools of its development. Themethod isparticularlysuitablefor determiningthewall temperaturein one-dimensionalthermalproblems in aeronauticswhere there is a continuousvariationof the heat-transfercoefficientand adiabatic-walltempera-ture. Themethod also offers a convenientmeans for solving the inverseproblem of determiningthe heat-flowhistorywhen temperaturehistory isknown.A seriesof diversifiedproblemswere solvedby exact analysis aswell as by the newmethod. A comparisonof the results shows the newmethod to be accurate. The labor involvedis very modest in considera-tion of the nature of the thick-walltemperatureproblem. IdIIlitingsolutionsfor the "infinitelythick~*wall and forwalls so thin thatthermallag canbe neglectedwere also obtained.INTRODUCTIONIn aeronauticalapplication, external surfacessre heated by the"impactand friction of the air. For cases inwhich the structuraltem-peraturesnever reach equilibrium,the trsmsienttemperaturesof thesurfacesoften govern the design;and it is necessaryto be able to pre-dict these temperatures.Literatureon trsnsienttemperaturesin thickwalls dates from theclassicalworks of Fourier. Perhaps themost extensivework on thesubjectis given in reference1. Most literaturegiving the solution to


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact on organizations of both negative deviant workplace behaviors – those that violate organizational norms, policies or internal rules – and positive deviant workplace behaviors – those that honorably violate them. The reasons why people engage in such behaviors are explored, along with some of the reasons why organizations allow such behaviors to thrive within their walls. A typology of positive workplace behavior is determined and is compared with other pro‐social behaviors such as: whistleblowing, corporate social responsibility, organizational citizenship behavior and innovation. Possible solutions to overcome problems associated with negative deviant behavior in the workplace are examined, along with how to promote positive deviant behavior in the workplace.Design/methodology/approach – A literature review on current positive and negative deviant workplace behavior was conducted.Findings – Regardless of whether negative deviance is overt or im...


Bringing together knowledge and innovation has become an increasingly important consideration for urban planners as they grapple with the expansion of a knowledge economy and its implications for economic competitiveness. Inspired by Silicon Valley, knowledge-based urban development has become a widespread goal since the 1970s. Fostering precincts that concentrate on "knowledge generation and innovation" has become a priority for many cities all across the globe. Beyond Silicon Valley, other global successful examples of urban knowledge precincts include Silicon Alley in New York, Silicon Roundabout in London, Orestad in Copenhagen, Brainport in Eindhoven, and one-north in Singapore. In Australia, the Australian Technology Park in Sydney, Parkville Knowledge Precinct in Melbourne, and Kelvin Grove Urban Village in Brisbane are certainly emerging urban knowledge precincts.


"Campus Notice Bar",a new web product,exerts great influence on college students' life and study,which meanwhile provides opportunities and challenges for the college educational work.College educational work should seize the opportunity to use the new communicative platform to understand and educate students so as to cultivate the students' healthy web habit.


The three Mexican states of the Yucatán Peninsula have been relatively well explored for herpetofauna, when compared with other states of the country. However, most studies on the herpetofauna of the Yucatán Peninsula have focused on their diversity, taxonomy, and species distribution, and less on their ecology, behavior or conservation status. The major conservation efforts have focused on sea turtles. Although some conservation programs exist locally for crocodiles in the north of the peninsula, to date conservation strategies have mostly been restricted to the designation of protected areas. With 24 species of amphibians and 118 species of reptiles, the Yucatán Peninsula harbors 11.5 % of national herpetofauna diversity, and 19 % of species are endemic to the peninsula. Reptiles and amphibians are two major globally threatened groups of vertebrates, with amphibians being the most threatened vertebrate class. Both groups face the same threats, namely habitat loss and modification, pollution, overharvest for food and pet trade, introduction of exotic species, infectious diseases, and climatic change. Unfortunately, almost none of these issues have been investigated for key populations in the Yucatán Peninsula. For amphibians, studies exploring the presence of the chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) and the effects of climatic change are badly needed to understand the specific factors that negatively affect populations in this area. In general, conservation efforts for reptiles and amphibians in the Yucatán Peninsula need to include environmental education, scientific investigation, and law enforcement and application. P. Charruau (*) Centro del Cambio Global y la Sustentabilidad en el Sureste A.C., Calle Centenario del Instituto Juárez s/n, CP 86080 Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com J.R. Cede~no-Vázquez Departmento Ecologı́a y Sistemática Acuática, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur Unidad Chetumal, Apartado Postal 424, CP 77014 Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com G. K€ohler Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum Frankfurt, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt, Germany e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015 G.A. Islebe et al. (eds.), Biodiversity and Conservation of the Yucat an Peninsula, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-06529-8_11 257


Carbon nanofibers (CNF) is one of potential nanoparticles that possess superior thermal conductivity. In this study, nanofluids with suspension of CNF in deionized water (DI water) and ethylene glycol (EG) are prepare. Thermal conductivity (TC) of the nanofluids are measured at 6°C, 25°C and 40°C using KD2 Pro Thermal Properties Analyser. The results show that, TC increases with increasing of temperature and CNF loading. Best TC is recorded by 36.7 % enhancement at 40 °C for EG based fluid with 0.9 wt% CNF loading. Meanwhile, for DI water based fluid, best TC enhancement (39.6 %) can be achieved with CNF loading of 0.7 wt% at 40°C. Overall, both based fluid show a promising enhancement in thermal conductivity. However, DI water based fluid show higher TC in comparison to EG based fluid due to the higher TC in standard DI water itself.


We carry out a series of original experiments in three post-communist countries: Russia, Hungary, and Poland. The experiments test the extent to which information about political parties influences the development of partisanship in newly competitive party systems. We find that exposure to information about the positions of political parties tends to strengthen partisanship when party systems are at least somewhat stable. In Russia, where parties are relatively stable but not particularly relevant, this effect is generally constant across levels of political sophistication. In Hungary, however, where parties are both stable and extremely relevant to the political process, this effect has a curvilinear relationship to political sophistication, with strong effects present only for mid-level sophisticates. Conversely, reflecting on the proximity of parties to one's own position on issues (by completing issue position scales) weakens partisanship among the least politically sophisticated; this effect is present in Russia, Poland, and Hungary, so does not appear to be sensitive to variation in political context within the post-communist world. Taken together, they suggest that there may be two different paths to partisanship in newly competitive political systems, one which is more reflective and based on the policy position of political parties (e.g., a Downsian or rationalist approach) and one which may be less reflective and is more likely prevalent among less politically sophisticated citizens. We also introduce a new theoretical framework for synthesizing existing approaches to the study of partisanship that allows us both to transport the concept more seamlessly across different political contexts and to generate additional hypotheses concerning the determinants of partisanship.


In the hemoproteins and in vitamin BIZ and its derivatives the iron and cobalt are already bonded in complicated chelate structures that are remarkably stable. There is good evidence that this stability has its origin in extremely favorable free energies of formation, and that even under conditions in which dissociation would be favored, such as strong acidity, the liberation of the metal ion is a very slow process. For these reasons there are scarcely any quantitative data on the fundamental reactions by which the metal ions are incorporated in these molecules; thus concerning chelation phenomena the general topic remaining is the influence that this chelation has on the reactivity of the metal ions. From the point of view of the biochemist this is the more important topic because these particular structures enable the metal complexes to take part in highly specific chemical reactions utilized by the biological systems, reactions that occur to a far lesser extent, if a t all, with the aquo ions or with simpler coordination complexes. Hemoglobin, peroxidase, and catalase furnish striking examples: the first, in its Fe" oxidation state, undergoes a rapid and reversible combination with molecular oxygen, the equilibrium constant having the very favorable value of about lo6 M-l; the latter two, in their Fe1I1 oxidation states, react with strong oxidizing agents to give higher oxidation states, 1 and 2 equiv. above the Fe'" state. However, from the point of view of the chemist, the reactions that these biologically important iron and cobalt complexes have in common with the aquo ions and simpler complexes are no less significant; moreover, a study of these common reactions, through the various comparisons that they afford, may eventually lead to a better understanding of the special structural factors determining the highly specific reactions. This paper deals with some of these common reactions. I t is divided into the following sections. (1) An outline of the main structural features of the chelation present in hemoproteins and in vitamin B12 and its derivatives. (2) A comparison of thermodynamic data for corresponding reactions of hemoglobin and the Fe++ and F e w aquo ions, in an attempt to define the nature and extent of the influence exerted by the chelation. (3) A discussion of ligand replacement reactions of vitamin Blz and its derivatives. This includes an experimental study of the reactions of various ligands with factor B, extending the scope of previous comparisons made


AbstractA project co-funded by the Greek Ministry of Rural Development and Food and by the Prefecture of Laconia has been undertaken aiming at the investigation of the influence of irrigating olive orchards with treated municipal wastewater (TMWW) on crop productivity and the quality of olive oil produced as well as on the soil chemical and physical characteristics, bearing its influence on the environment in general. According to this project, a two-year experiment was conducted in a 0.5 ha olive orchard with two different irrigation water sources. The first source was a water borehole and the second source was the Sparta's municipal wastewater treatment plant. As regards the aim of the project, comparisons between the effects of these two sources had to be made concerning olive trees productivity and nutritional status, olive oil quantity and quality, soil chemical and physical properties, etc. In the summers of 2011 and 2012, we irrigated the olive trees 7 and 12 times, respectively. At the same time w...


Botrytis cinerea T91-1 has shown to produce at least four different polygalacturonases in a liquid medium containing citrus pectin as a carbon source. One of the enzymes, its molecular weight was estimated as 37 kDa by denatured polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, was purified by a series of procedures including acetone precipitation, ion exchange, heparin affinity, and reverse phase column chromatographies. By viscometric analysis, the enzyme was revealed as an endo-polygalacturonase. The enzyme activity was inhibited by divalent cations such as , , and . Km and Vmax for polygalacturonic acid hydrolysis were 0.33 mg/ml and 28.6 nM/min, respectively. The optimum temperature for enzymatic activity was and the enzyme showed optimal pH values between 4.0 and 4.5. The enzyme was stable up to 12 hours in the range of pH 4 to 7 and at the temperature below . Amino acid sequence from N-terminal up to 6 amino acids determined by Edman degradation showed little homology with polygalacturonases from fungi and plants.


The city of Chinese special administrative region successfully hosted the 26 th The University Games on August 12 to August 23 in 2011 and cashed a commitment to the the university sports federation.Shenzhen city also gains a international reputation and updates the development ideas of the city and completed a fusion program with the international community.The Shenzhen citizens will enjoy the wealth of the universiade in a long time.The universiade have contained the pure international culture idea and it can effectively transform urban details and still can extend the urban culture of Shenzhen city.Holding sports events of the city has improved the management of city.Shenzhen is a new coastal city and as a model of the Deng xiaoping era.The features of Shenzhen city are the youth characteristics.The universiade will become the important elements in awakening Shenzhen city.


Abstract : A high resolution, compact digital x-ray imaging device which replaces current film based systems has been developed. The system is intended for field hospitals where on-line verification is required during treatment. Image acquisition is performed by a 3x4 matrix of charge-coupled- device (CCD) imaging sensors which view the output of a standard x-ray scintillation screen via an off-the-shelf optical system. The use of multiple, moderately priced CCD units results in a high resolution system with a low cost of production relative to other digital imaging systems of comparable resolution. The fields of view of each CCD are purposefully overlapped so as to facilitate image reconstruction. The acquisition of each radiographic image formed on a scintillation screen results in the production of twelve sub-images. A software algorithm is employed to detect the regions of overlap and create a single continuous digital radiograph from the raw CCD data. Software methods are utilized to correct for barrel distortion affects that are caused by The use of low cost lens components.


Caring for the environment should be linked to many of the activities performed by human beings, generating awareness in every action that takes place, the administrations of each territory are indispensable task of regulating and controlling policies, rules and laws the environmental care to prevent permanent damage.
Axaquimica is an industrial company that makes products such as thinners, degreasers, descaling for the automotive industry, in the production process handling toxic chemicals to the environment, is regulated by the Ministry of environment why should conduct their activities with maximum caution to avoid contamination and possible sanctions by the supervisory bodies; This is why this paper aims to establish policies and environmental management indicators that allow for productive activities satisfactorily implemented properly the standards set by the Ministry of Environment and jointly achieve emerge and get an ISO certification.


Raipur is the capital of the newly formed state of Chhattisgarh, the environment of Raipur city is very warm. Owing to the increasing population needs, the construction activity is at its boom, resulting in an increase in concrete structures and consequently decrease in green areas. The climate of the city is quiet warm during the months of summer with temperature reaching up to 480C so proper care should be taken to avoid getting any kind of heat related ailment. Also the phenomenon of global warming or climate change has led to many environmental issues including higher atmospheric temperatures, intensive precipitation, and increased greenhouse gaseous emission resulting in increased indoor discomfort condition. Researchers worldwide collectively agreed that one way of reducing the impact of global warming is by implementing "Green Roof Technology" which integrates vegetation, growing medium and water proofing membrane on top of the roof surface. However, none of them have ever studied as to how much the green roof could contribute to lessen the environmental problems. Therefore, this study investigates the effect of green plantation on inclined roof to the indoor temperature on any building in Chhattisgarh climate. The present work emphasizes on use of the Rat trap bond wall technique with insulated cavity wall and room with inclined roof approach having green cover for a residential building. The cavity in wall was filled with wooden powder as insulating material and the outer surface of the wall protected from temperature and rainfall with tile covering. Observations were recorded in two conditions i.e., room with green roof and room with bare roof. The experiment showed a promising result where by the average indoor temperature dropped between 0.6°C to 2.7°C as recorded during the observation for bare roof, while average indoor surface temperatures dropped between 4.8°C to 6.9° C with green roof during daytime.


In this study, the techniques have been proposed to obtain low-loss high-power static induction thyristors (SIThy's). Dual proton-irradiation or combination of anode-shorting and proton-irradiation, provides n-channel and p-channel SIThy's with high blocking voltages and good trade-off between switching times and forward voltage drops. Particularly, dual proton-irradiation allows a SIThy with forward and reverse blocking voltage higher than 1 kV. By dual proton-irradiation, an n-channel SIThy with an n--region 230 µm thick has shown a rise time of 0.24 µs, a storage time of 0.19 µs, a fall time of 0.08 µs and a forward voltage drop of 3.0 V at an anode current of 50 A (125 A/cm2). Without the techniques, such a good trade-off is difficult to be realized in convensional power devices with thick high-resistivivty regions. The characteristics are independent of temperature. By the technique, a p-channel SIThy with a p--region 430 µm thick has shown a rise time of 0.5 µs, a storage time of 0.1 µs, a fall time of 0.3 µs and a forward voltage drop of 6.0 V at an anode current of 4 A (110 A/cm2). Using the newly proposed techniques for complementary SIThy's, a complementary high power control circuit with low loss and higher switching frequency than a few hundred KHz will be realized.


Boundary value and spectral problems for an elliptic differential equation with rapidly oscillating coefficients in a thin perforated region with rapidly changing thickness are investigated. Descriptions of asymptotic algorithms for solutions of such problems in thin regions with different limiting dimensions are combined. For a mixed inhomogeneous boundary value problem a corrector is constructed and an asymptotic estimate in the corresponding Sobolev space is established. Asymptotic bounds for eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the Neumann spectral problems are also found. Full asymptotic expansions for the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are constructed under certain symmetry assumptions about the structure of the thin perforated region and the coefficients of the equations. Bibliography: 21 titles.


In today's era of the Internet of Things, we are surrounded by security-and safety-critical, network-connected devices. In parallel with the rise in attacks on such devices, we have also seen an increase in devices that are abandoned, reached the end of their support periods, or will not otherwise receive future security updates. While this issue exists for a wide array of devices, those that use monolithic � rmware , where the code and data are opaquely intermixed, have traditionally been di � cult to examine and protect. In this paper, we explore the challenges of retro � tting monolithic � rmware images with new security measures. First, we outline the steps any analyst must take to retro � t � rmware, and show that previous work is missing crucial aspects of the process, which are required for a practical solution. We then automate three of these aspects—locating attacker-controlled input, a safe retro � t injection location, and self-checks preventing modi � cations—through


The aim of the study was to establish the major kinematic and dynamic parameters as well as the EMG activation of muscles in a sprint start as the first derivative of sprint velocity. The subject of the analysis was block velocity, the production of force in the front and rear starting blocks, the block acceleration in the first two steps and the EMG activity of the following muscles: the erector spinae, gluteus maximus, rectus femoris, vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, biceps femoris and gastrocnemius–medialis.


Broken bones, cigarette burns, and profound malnourishment are unambiguous signs of child maltreatment, but defining the causes and consequences of psychological maltreatment is a more challenging task. For child advocates who are concerned with optimizing the developmental potential of each youngster, defining psychological maltreatment is an essential first step, and McGee and Wolfe (1991) should be commended for undertaking such a challenging but necessary task.


Thymidine-3H was injected 5 times during 24 hours to mice CBA X C57BL/6 with resected pancreas (about 40 per cent of the organ tissue). The number of labeled cells in the islets and the acini failed to change with the prolongation of the interval after the last injection of thymidine-3H (5 to 18 days). Localization of labeled cells in the pancreatic islets at later periods showed not much difference from the same localization two hours after the isotope injection. Examination of large andmedium-sized islets at the maximal distance from the wound revealed a similar number of labeled cells per square unit in the central, middle andperipheral region of the islets 2 hours and 18 days after the last injection of the isotope. It is concluded that under conditions of this experiment no islet cells are formed due to external sources.


Objective: We aimed to investigate neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR), leukocyte count (WBC), mean platelet volume (MPV) and C-reactive protein levels (CRP) as inflammatory markers according to thyroid function status in hypo-hyperthyroidism patients. Methods: Data of patients (n=454, age>18) who applied to the Eskisehir Osmangazi University Hospital between March 2018 and December 2018 were evaluated retrospectively. There were 79 patients in hyperthyroidism group (TSH 4.2 μIU/ml, group III). Results: Serum TSH, fT4, fT3, anti-TG and anti-TPO levels were found statistically different between groups (p<0.001) but there were no significant difference in WBC, NLR and MPV between groups. There was a positive correlation between the NLR and CRP (r=0,295, p<0.01). In addition, NLR was positively correlated with WBC (r=0,412, p<0.001). Serum CRP levels were statistically higher in group I (3.5 mg/L [1.50-11]) than group II (2.1 mg/L [0.86-5.42]), (p<0.001). Although CRP levels were higher in group III (2.5 mg/L [1.18-5.73]) than group II, there was no significant difference. CRP showed weak positive correlation with fT4 (r=0,118, p<0.05) and negative correlation with TSH (r=-0,108, p<0.05). Conclusion: High CRP levels may play an important role in the evaluation of hyperthyroidism in terms of thyroid dysfunction observed in the present study.


We have conducted study of the ethnic and religious factors in the context of the methodology of generational analysis. The research methodology is based on the works of authors such as K. Mannheim, S. Eisenstadt, M. Mead. Based on empirical data collected upon implementation of the project "Continuity and conflict of generations in the information, multi-ethnic, and multi-confessional society (using the material of the Republic of Tatarstan)" in 2013-2015., we revealed generational features of transmitting the ethnic and religious values in the multi-ethno-confessional region of Russia – the Republic of Tatarstan. The study used quantitative and qualitative methodology of sociologic research a massive survey of population of the Republic of Tatarstan (N=1450 pers.), in-depth narrative interviews with several generations of the same family (N=30), and narrative essays by students of various universities of Kazan (N=500). Interpretation of the results made it possible to formulate a number of conclusions, indicating general possibility of maintaining a high level of ethnic and religious tolerance in Tatarstan as a multi-ethno-confessional region of Russia managed both at social level in general and in the sphere of inter-generational dynamics. At the same time, we have identified a number of specific generational characteristics, indicating the presence of a certain generational dynamics, being not developing, however, in generational gap. The results can be used at both the regional and the national levels upon developing programs focused on the socialization of young generations in the aspect of maintaining inter-ethnic and inter-religious tolerance in both multi-ethnic and mono-ethnic regions.


Rainfall events on snow tend to set off flood events, mudflows, and avalanches. Relatively little has been known so far about the detailed processes taking place within the snow cover and at the soil surface during such events. The purpose of the studies described in this article has been to develop a model simulating the hydrological processes within snow-covered hill slopes based on experimental data. The results from the sprinkling experiments and model simulations show that mainly the condition of the snow cover and of the snow-covered soil, but also the meteorological conditions, have a decisive influence on runoff development during rainfall events.


Cutaneous manifestations of Cryptococcus neoformans in immunocompromised persons have been well documented. We report a case of localized skin involvement after an abrasion in a healthy host. It presented as chronic ulcerative nodules that resolved after fluconazole therapy.


Foreword and acknowledgements Table of contents Introduction 1. The tales that no one believes: Layendas de Guatemala 2. Becoming ants after the harvest: Hombres de maiz 3. If all the dead began to walk the Earth would be full of steps: Mulata de tal 4. Conclusion: from death unto life Bibliography Index.


Good customer service is a key factor for success in a competitive electricity market. Call centres play an important role in this respect, but can be costly to operate.


A DAM-ATOLL is a dome-shaped structure located just below th neutral level of the sea. The special dome shape acts as a concentrating device to concentrate the wave energy in both vertical and horizontal directions. The concentrated wave energy is directed to a central core in a manner to create a vortex flow. This vortex, or fluid flywheel, acts as an energy storage device to permit continuous output power from massive pulses of wave energy input power.


Introduction. The correlation between psoriasis and metabolic syndrome has been well established. Psoriasis may also coexist with autoimmune blistering disease, mainly bullous pemphigoid. The pathogenetic relationship between psoriasis and pemphigoid remains unclear. It is highly likely that IL-17 might be a common factor underlying the coexistence of pemphigoid with psoriasis and metabolic syndrome. Łuszczyca, pemfigoid, zespół metaboliczny – przypadkowe współistnienie czy wspólne podłoże patogenetyczne?


Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease comprises up to 80 monogenic inherited neuropathies of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) that collectively result in demyelination and axon degeneration. The majority of CMT disease is primarily either dysmyelinating or demyelinating in which mutations affect the ability of Schwann cells to either assemble or stabilize peripheral nerve myelin. CMT4F is a recessive demyelinating form of the disease caused by mutations in the ( ) gene Periaxin (Prx) interacts with Dystrophin Related Protein 2 Periaxin PRX . (Drp2) in an adhesion complex with the laminin receptor Dystroglycan (Dag). In mice the Prx/Drp2/Dag complex assembles adhesive domains at the interface between the abaxonal surface of the myelin sheath and the cytoplasmic surface of the Schwann cell plasma membrane. Assembly of these appositions causes the formation of cytoplasmic channels called Cajal bands beneath the surface of the Schwann cell plasma membrane. Loss of either Periaxin or Drp2 disrupts the appositions and causes CMT in both mouse and man. In a mouse model of CMT4F, complete loss of Periaxin first prevents normal Schwann cell elongation resulting in abnormally short internodal distances which can reduce nerve conduction velocity, and subsequently precipitates demyelination. Distinct functional domains responsible for Periaxin homodimerization and interaction with Drp2 to form the Prx/Drp2/Dag complex have been identified at the N-terminus of Periaxin. However, CMT4F can also be caused by a mutation that results in the truncation of Periaxin at the extreme C-terminus with the loss of 391 amino acids. By modelling this in mice, we show that loss of the C-terminus of Periaxin results in a surprising reduction in Drp2. This would be predicted to cause the observed instability of both appositions and myelin, and contribute significantly to the clinical phenotype in CMT4F. Periaxin, a culprit gene of CMT4F, plays important roles in the interaction of myelin and the abaxonal Schwann cell membrane by forming a Prx/Drp2/Dag complex that is necessary for the formation of cytoplasmic Schwann cell channels, called Cajal bands. As the formation of the complex is dependent on the N-terminus-related domain of Periaxin, it was unexpected that mutations affecting the C-terminus of periaxin can also cause CMT4F disease. However, the milder phenoptype of Drp2 mutants suggests an additional function of Periaxin than just acting via the formation of the N-terminus-related Prx/Drp2/Dag complex. This hypothesis was confirmed by the present study: introducing a C-terminal-deficient Periaxin transgene into the Periaxin-ko genotype led to a similarly severe phenotype as the Periaxin-ko, including vasting of Cajal bands, progredient myelin abnormalities and abnormally short internodes. The observed reduction in Drp2 was conceptionally surprising. The study is carefully designed, the controls are adequate (e.g., comparison of ko-mice containing full length vs truncated transgenes) and the described data are convincing. Prx As one readout is delayed conduction velocity, further studies might investigate the molecular and morphological features of the nodes. Moreover, one could address axonal loss in addition to demyelination. All all, study is valuable additional from Brophy-group decipher roles and pathophysiology CMT4F is a rare form of autosomal recessive Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease, caused by about 24 different mutations in the ( ) gene that manifests with a typically painful demyelinating sensorimotor Periaxin PRX peripheral neuropathy. Periaxin forms a complex with Dystrophin-Related Protein 2 (Drp2) and Dystroglycan (Dag) at the Schwann cell membrane and this complex assembles adhesive appositions between the abaxonal surface of PNS myelin and the Schwann cell plasma membrane that are surrounded by cytoplasm-filled Cajal bands. Either the absence of Periaxin or Drp2, or the loss of the interaction between these two proteins causes disruption of the myelin sheath. The N-terminus of periaxin has been primarily shown to mediate the interaction with Drp2. However, certain CMT4F mutations result in truncation of the C-terminus suggesting that this domain of periaxin may also play a role in the stabilization of membrane appositions in myelinated fibers. The aim of the authors in this study was to clarify the mechanism by which such C-terminus mutations cause CMT4F. They generated a transgenic mouse line expressing a mutant periaxin with truncated C-terminus on a periaxin null background, comparing with a line expressing the full length periaxin on a null background. They demonstrate that expression of periaxin with truncation of the C-terminus results in reduced levels and progressive dephosphorylation of Drp2, associated with loss of the Drp2-positive appositions in myelinated fibers. Furthermore, morphological studies showed that C-terminal truncation of Periaxin destabilizes the myelin with progressively abnormal profiles of myelinated axons, and reduces internodal length, while nerve conduction velocity is reduced. These results lead to the conclusion that the C-terminus of periaxin mediates additional roles in Schwann cells that go beyond the direct interaction with Drp2 and the assembly of Cajal bands.


Dielectric polymers are widely used in a plurality of applications, such as electrical insulation, dielectric capacitors, and electromechanical actuators. Dielectric polymers with large strain deformations under an electric field are named dielectric elastomers (DE), because of their relative low modulus, high elongation at break, and outstanding resilience. Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEA) are superior to traditional transducers as a muscle-like technology: large strains, high energy densities, high coupling efficiency, quiet operation, and light weight. One focus of this dissertation is on the design of DE materials with high performance and easy processing. UV radiation curing of reactive species is studied as a generic synthesis methodology to provide a platform for material scientists to customize their own DE materials. Oligomers/monomers, crosslinkers, and other additives are mixed and cured at appropriate ratios to control the stress-strain response, suppress electromechanical instability of the resulting polymers, and provide stable actuation strains larger than 100% and energy densities higher than 1 J/g. The processing is largely simplified in the new material system by removal of the prestretching step. Multilayer stack actuators with 11% linear strain are demonstrated in a procedure fully compatible with industrial production. A multifunctional DE derivative material, bistable electroactive polymer (BSEP), is invented enabling repeatable rigid-to-rigid deformation without bulky external structures. Bistable actuation allows the polymer actuator to have two distinct states that can support external load without device failure. Plasticizers are used to lower the glass transition temperature to 45 degree Celsius. Interpenetrating polymer network structure is established inside the BSEP to suppress electromechanical instability, providing a breakdown field of 194 MV/m and a stable bistable strain as large as 228% with a 97% strain fixity. The application of BSEP in tactile display is investigated by the prototyping of a large scale refreshable Braille display device. Braille is a critical way for the vision impaired community to learn literacy and improve life quality. Current piezoelectrics-based refreshable Braille display technologies are limited to up to 1 line of Braille text, due to the bulky size of bimorph actuators. Based on the unique actuation feature of BSEP, refreshable Braille display devices up to smartphone-size have been demonstrated by polymer sheet laminates. Dots in the devices can be individually controlled via incorporated field-driven BSEP actuators and Joule heater units. A composite material consisting of silver nanowires (AgNW) embedded in a polymer substrate is brought up as a compliant electrode candidate for BSEP application. The AgNW composite is highly conductive (Rs: 10 Ohm/sq) and remains conductive at strains as high as 140% (Rs: <1000 Ohm/sq). The baseline conductivity has only small changes up to 90% strain, which makes it low enough for both field driving and stretchable Joule heating. An out-of-plane bistable area strain up to 68% under Joule heating is achieved.


Although clozapine is more effective than other antipsychotic drugs for refractory schizophrenia, studies have found that as many as 40% to 70% of


Introduction Specific immunoglobulins E (sIgE) are important parameters to estimate severity of allergic diseases. Aim To determine the influence of allergy risk factors on the concentration of specific IgE antibodies in serum. Material and methods The concentration of sIgE antibodies against allergens Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, cat dander, timothy grass, Alternaria alternata were determined in serum of 4077 respondents randomly selected from 9 regions (ECAP study). The positive results of sIgE (≥ 0.35 IU/ml) were correlated to answers in questionnaires ECRHSII and ISAAC. Results sIgE are more frequently detected in respondents declaring an allergic disease of a father than of a mother (D. pteronyssinus p < 0.05, A. alternata p < 0.01). An early beginning to attend school, kindergarten or nursery increases the frequency of sIgE detection (p < 0.05). If the number of children who slept in the same room as a respondent before the respondent was five years old, was lower, sIgE antibodies are more frequently detected (p < 0.05). Relating to: 1) all 4 allergens, sIgE are the most frequently detected in respondents declaring absence of a carpet/rug at home (p < 0.05), 2) cat dander – less frequently detected in respondents who have a cat at home at the age of 1–4 years (p < 0.005). Conclusions Carpets/rugs capture a portion of mite, epidermal, mould allergens located at home, wherefore absence of a carpet or rug causes greater stimulation of an immune system by these allergens; as a consequence, IgE antibodies are the most frequently detected in respondents. Household contacts of the respondents, at the age of 1–4 years, with cats induced partial immune tolerance to cat dander.


weekend binge drinking pattern of drinking more than compelled to drink intended develops may drink because of social regularly drinks to the point pressure, but then drinking goes tolerance builds of intoxication beyond socially acceptable drinking may experience blackouts drinking is the primary focus of the person's social activities beginning to develop a pattern increased negative effects because of drinking more than intended of alcohol consumption continues to drink in the face of problems resulting from drinking People may move up and down the slope, may feel compelled to drink, but once they get to the bottom, rather than choose to drink the person can't predict with any help is required to overcome reliability when he/she will drink or problems with drinking. believes alcohol must be present what he/she will do when drunk for good times blackouts occur


Following the influential work by (Kingma and Welling, 2013; Rezende et al., 2014), deep generative models with latent variables have been widely used to model data such as natural images (Rezende and Mohamed, 2015; Kingma et al., 2016; Chen et al., 2016; Gulrajani et al., 2016), speech and music time-series (Chung et al., 2015; Fraccaro et al., 2016; Krishnan et al., 2015), and video (Babaeizadeh et al., 2017; Ha and Schmidhuber, 2018; Denton and Fergus, 2018). Generally, marginalizing the latent variables is intractable, so instead of directly maximizing the marginal likelihood, a common approach is to maximize a tractable lower bound on the likelihood such as the variational evidence lower bound (ELBO) (Jordan et al., 1999; Blei et al., 2017). Burda et al. (2015) introduced a multi-sample bound, IWAE, that is at least as tight as the ELBO and becomes increasingly tight as the number of samples increases. Counterintuitively, although the bound is tighter, Rainforth et al. (2018) theoretically and empirically showed that the standard inference network gradient estimator for the IWAE bound performs poorly as the number of samples increases due to a diminishing signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Roeder et al. (2017) proposed a lower-variance estimator of the gradient of the IWAE bound. We show that their estimator is biased, but that it is possible to construct an unbiased estimator with a second application of the reparameterization trick which we call the IWAE doubly reparameterized gradient (DReG) estimator. Our estimator is an unbiased, computationally efficient drop-in replacement, and does not suffer as the number of samples increases, resolving the counterintuitive behavior from previous work (Rainforth et al., 2018). Furthermore, our insight is applicable to alternative multi-sample training techniques for latent variable models: reweighted wake-sleep (RWS) (Bornschein and Bengio, 2014) and jackknife variational inference (JVI) (Nowozin, 2018). In this work, we derive DReG estimators for IWAE, RWS, and JVI and demonstrate improved scaling with the number of samples on a simple example. Then, we evaluate DReG estimators on MNIST generative modeling, Omniglot generative modeling, and MNIST


The method of fair value is adopted widely and deliberately in the new system of accounting standards and becomes a major breakthrough in the reform of enterprise's accounting standards.The method of fair value has greatly impact on the disclosure of accounting information of stock company.As the system of China's socialist market economy evolves,the method of fair value as the accounting measurement attribute will be widely used and improved.This will make the system of China's accounting standards become a new milestone in the internationalization progress.


This paper contains a brief description of a technique of tests used in SPRE Kvant to evaluate the quality of solar cells and assemblies for space solar arrays


In my first President's Letter, which was in the July 1974 issue of the Communications, I described what I was hoping to accomplish (or start) during my two-year term. It seems appropriate to give you a progress report on where we stand relative to those items which I felt were most important for me to personally and voluntarily pursue. (There are many other matters that the ACM President has to deal with involuntarily , i.e. issues and problems which arise from outside circumstances.) 1. Finances. I stated "I would hope to be the last ACM President for whom finances are a major and overriding problem." It would appear that that indeed might be true for the foreseeable future. Our year-end-surplus for FY 75, which ends June 30, 1975, is amazingly good. While we do not have the final figures as I write this, it seems clear that we will have a surplus of about $390,000, compared with our budgeted surplus of nearly $100,000, unless catastrophe strikes before June 30. The primary reasons for this have been (a) an increase in regular and associate membership, (b) a virtual doubling of the dollars received for SIG memberships , and (c) an astounding increase in the number of subscriptions to our formal publications. I must confess that many of us are perplexed , because we don't understand why we should be doing so well in this current economy when other professional societies don't seem to be. All we can do is continue to try to provide the best service we can. The Council has just approved a budget for FY 76 which has some small expansions beyond those increases required for inflation and which includes a new journal; however , a significant sum of money has essentially been set aside for use in FY 77 for what I hope will be a significant revision of the ACM Communications , i.e. a new format for the publication that goes to all our members. (See the next point for further details.) 2. Restructured Publications. We are not as far along in the restructuring of our publications as I hoped we would be by now. The problems of satisfying a diverse membership have been discussed in this column, and elsewhere, many times. It is my hope, however, that by the fall of 1975 there will be concrete recommendations to the Council for some restructuring , with …


This paper designs the simulation model of the PV (photovoltaic) cells by using the mathematical model applying in engineering firstly. Then the output of the PV cells is simulated based on the PSCAD/EMTDC platform by using the single-phase VSR PWM rectifier circuit which uses the direct current control as well with the triangular wave current comparison as the control strategy. The results show that the model could simulate the output of the PV cells well and could also meet the V-I characteristics of the loads. This model will have good practicability for the further design of MPPT algorithm applying in the photovoltaic grid-connected system too.


during apnoea in healthy subjects [9]. In this study we used novel methodology that allows for non-invasive assessment of pial artery pulsation in humans [10]. We considered two potential explanations for our results. During apnea, the influence of the autonomic nervous system on the heart is characterized by co-activation of both branches of the autonomic nervous system and an increase in both sympathetic and parasympathetic outflow to the heart [11,12]. Increased parasympathetic outflow to the heart may result in decreased cardiac activity.


This article describes the thermodynamic parameters and phase behaviour of a Schiff Base Liquid crystal , the mesogene was synthesized in the five chemical reactions and characterized by FTIR ,1H and 13C-NMR techniques. The mesomorphic properties were studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarizing optical microscopy (POM), The retention diagrams of n-alkanes on the stationary phase were plotted at temperatures in °C between 100 and 170 by inverse gas chromatography technique. The separation of nalkanes was estimated using retention times in the infinite dilution region. The thermodynamic parameters of intermolecular interactions between the stationary phase and n-alkanes (free energy, enthalpy, and entropy) were calculated and the results were discussed.


The economies of scale in hub location is usually modeled by a constant parameter, which captures the benefits companies obtain through consolidation. In their article "Single allocation hub location with heterogeneous economies of scale," Rostami et al. relax this assumption and consider hub-hub connection costs as piecewise linear functions of the flow amounts. This spoils the triangular inequality property of the distance matrix, making the classical flow-based model invalid and further complicates the problem. The authors tackle the challenge by building a mixed-integer quadratically constrained program and by developing a methodology based on constructing Lagrangian function, linear dual functions, and specialized polynomial-time algorithms to generate enhanced cuts. The developed method offers a new strategy in Benders-type decomposition through relaxing a set of complicating constraints in subproblems when such relaxation is tight. The results confirm the efficacy of the solution methods in solving large-scale problem instances.


Yahve signalled his presence to the ancient Jews in a storm cloud flashing with light, or by a less violent, light-filled cloud hovering over or filling the sanctuary. The Hebrew term for this phenomenon is Kabod, translated by doxa in the Septuagint, and by gloria in the Vulgate. The phenomenon reappeared at critical moments in the life of Christ and in the early church, leaving its record in the Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, and in the Letters of Paul. A survey of these appearances suggests that we may distinguish three stages in the Hebraic development of Kabod, all of which found their counterparts in the New Testament. First and most striking is the Kabod-doxa revealed to man on special occasions, as at the Giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19: 16-25; Deuteronomy 4: 10-13), and at the Transfiguration, traditionally located on Mt. Tabor (Matthew 17: 1-9; Mark 9: 2-9; Luke 9: 28-36). This doxa, which is embedded in biblical narrative, may be called the historical doxa. Second is the doxa believed to be eternally present with God and seen in the visions of Isaiah (6: 1-4), Ezekiel (11: 22-23 and 43: 1-4), and of Stephen at his martyrdom (Acts 7: 55). This doxa of prophetic vision becomes, thirdly, the eschatological doxa, the doxa of the Second Coming and of the eternal state of the Messianic Kingdom at the end of time. This eschatological doxa figures prominently in the Letters of Paul, who himself had experienced, en route to Damascus, the blinding light of the historical doxa (Acts 9: 3-9 and 22: 6-11). Greco-Roman art offered no precedent to the Early Christian craftsman for the representation of the Hebraic event called Kabod. The encounter between man and God among the ancient Hebrews took an awesome form, alien to Greek and Roman experience. And yet, once the Greek Bible came to be illustrated in a Greek context, whether in manuscript or on the walls of a basilica, doxa also had to be represented, for it was centrally involved in major events. To create an image adequate to the full force and meaning of the Kabod-doxa meant that the pictorial means of Greco-Roman art had to be deployed to Hebraic ends. A cultural divide had to be crossed. This pictorial problem repeated an earlier linguistic problem which had left its mark in the semantic tension between Kabod and doxa long observed and extensively studied by scholars of the Septuagint.1 Doxa occurs 445 times in the Septuagint ( 280 in the canonical books ), where it chiefly translates Kabod (ca. 175 times ), but also stands for 24 related Hebrew terms.9 What appears strange about this use is that Kabod is a concrete term whose root meaning is "weight, heaviness", while doxa was a well-known abstract erm whose meanings in ancient literary Greek are "notion, opinion, reputation". In the Septuagint doxa is not used for its ancient Greek meanings, nor can its Septuagintal meanings be documented prior to that translation.3 There are two doxas: one ancient Greek, the other Hebraic Greek.4 It is the Hebraic doxa of the Septuagint which we encounter in the New Testament. Literary Greek, it seems, did not offer a clear and obvious equivalent for Kabod. This seems a sure sign that both the concept and the image were alien to Greek experience. Not surprising, then, that Hellenistic art did not provide a pictorial solution, ready to hand, for the representation of the biblical doxa. To grasp the problem facing the Early Christian artist with respect to doxa, we may contrast the Hebraic with the Greek or Roman encounter with the divine. Yahve, who created the cosmos with the spoken word, can interrupt the cosmos with stunning force. Greek and Roman gods derived from cosmic powers and remained bound by cosmic necessity, anangke. An encounter with these gods may be protective, informative and character-building,5 but not stunning. Venus gleamed in the fiery night of Troy's destruction in front of an aroused and distraught Aeneas, "pure per noctem in luce refulsit" (Aeneid II, 590). This was a gentle epiphany. Virgil employed her to calm Aeneas' fury at the sight of Helen cowering in the burning ruins. Contrast Yahve and Moses on Sinai when, says the writer of Deuteronomy 5: 22-24, the Lord "spoke from the midst of the fire, darkness and storm, and the mountain did burn with fire, and behold, the Lord did show us his doxa." The storm cloud sat on Sinai six days, "like a devouring fire on the mountain" (Exodus 24: 16 ) . On the seventh day Moses climbed into it, stayed forty days, and returned with the afterglow of the doxa shining on his face, and with the Ten Commandments in his hands. In each case, a cloud and flashing light; yet an essential difference separates the pagan and Hebrew accounts. Venus stood "nimbo effulgens" (Aeneid II, 615-16).


The invention discloses cupric ion test paper and a preparation method. The cupric ion test paper of the invention includes a chromogenic piece, and chromogenic substance spiropyran in the chromogenic piece, the chromogenic piece can be chromatography, qualitative, and quantitative filter paper. The invention also includes a base plate, the chromogenic piece is arrange on the base plate, the base plate can be a hardness paper piece which is a polystyrene base plate or white color and non-absorbent. The cupric ion test paper of the invention has a flowing reparation method, which steps include that: a) spiropyran solution is prepared; b) the chromogenic piece is dipped into the spiropyran solution; c) the chromogenic piece is taken out from the spiropyran solution and is dried, further include d) one or more chromogenic pieces which are dried are fixed on the base plate, the chromogenic pieces can be fixed in row or in cascading. The test paper of the invention is easy to use, high sensitivity, greater selectivity and stability, easy to preserve and is applicable for detecting consistency of bivalent cupric ion in water solution.


Background Ureteral stent and subcutaneous ureteral bypass (SUB) placement are commonly used for managing ureteral obstructions. Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a recognized complication. Objectives To determine postoperative incidence of positive urine cultures in cats undergoing ureteral stent and SUB placement and to identify risk factors associated with positive urine cultures. Design Retrospective study. Animals Forty‐three cats that underwent 48 surgical events. Procedures Medical records were reviewed. Cats were included if urine cultures were performed before and after surgery. Variables were compared to identify risk factors. Results Urine cultures were positive postoperatively pre‐discharge in 5/20 (25%) cats. Median duration of follow‐up post‐discharge was 209 days (range, 11‐2184 days), with a total of 143 urine cultures performed in cats post‐discharge. Of these, 16 (11%) were positive in 12/48 (25%) cats. Nine different bacteria were identified; Enterococcus spp. (n = 8) predominated as monomicrobic or mixed infections. In 14/16 instances of positive urine cultures, affected cats had lower urinary tract signs, signs of pyelonephritis or both. Cats that received antibiotics postoperatively were significantly less likely to have a positive urine culture compared to those that did not (odds ratio, 0.2, 95% confidence interval, 0.05, 0.8, P = 0.02). Chronic kidney disease, renal implant type and postoperative urinary catheterization were not associated with positive urine cultures. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance Postoperatively, occurrence of positive urine cultures was similar to previous reports. Subclinical bacteriuria was less common than UTI. Postoperative urinary catheterization has been speculated to increase risk of bacteriuria, but this was not the case in this cohort.


Since the appearance of the term "repository" in the software development community in the late seventies, it has been used in a variety of contexts, and especially in relation with software tools and software engineering environments. This term has become so overloaded so as to mean different things to different people. As a consequence, professionals have become embattled in quasi-religious feuds on whether such or such tool should be "repository-based", losing track of the very purpose of the tools. We will review some of the connotations that are often associated with the notion of repository, and we will describe some of the desirable features and functionalities that should be provided in order to see repositories used as unifying frameworks in software development.


In this paper, we explore the relationship between time constraints and users' assessment of their search. A user experiment was conducted. Participants were asked to search under two conditions: with time constraint (TC) and with no time constraint (NTC). The results showed that time constraint did not significantly influence participants' assessment of task difficulty, but significantly influenced users' search confidence and their evaluation of search performance. Particularly, participants were less confident and considered their search performance worse in TC than in NTC conditions. We also found users acquired more new knowledge and had more positive affective states after searching in NTC than in TC conditions. Interestingly, we found time constraints also affect participants' anticipation of time needed to complete the task; participants thought they would need significantly less time to complete the search task when they were given time constraints than without time constraints. These preliminary results suggested that time constraints had remarkable influence upon users' perception of search tasks and their search experience.


The contribution of rapid weight gain (RWG) during infancy to later adiposity has received considerable investigation. The present systematic review and meta‐analysis aimed to update the literature on association between RWG and subsequent adiposity outcomes. Electronic searches were undertaken in EMBASE, MEDLINE, psycINFO, PubMed and ScienceDirect. Studies that examined the associations between RWG (a change in weight z‐scores > 0.67) during infancy (from birth to age 2 years) and subsequent adiposity outcomes were included. Random effects meta‐analysis was conducted to obtain the weighted‐pooled estimates of the odds of overweight/obesity for those with RWG. Seventeen studies were eligible for inclusion with the majority of studies (15/17) being of high/acceptable quality and reporting positive associations between RWG during infancy and later adiposity outcomes. RWG in infancy was associated with overweight/obesity from childhood to adulthood (pooled odds ratio = 3.66, 95% confidence interval: 2.59–5.17, I2 > 75%). Subgroup analyses revealed that RWG during infancy was associated with higher odds of overweight/obesity in childhood than in adulthood, and RWG from birth to 1 year was associated with higher odds of overweight/obesity than RWG from birth to 2 years. The present study supports that RWG during infancy is a significant predictor of adiposity in later life.


Under field condition, spray of Streptocycline (0.05%) in combination with COC (0.2%) was significantly effective than all other treatments in recording the lowest per cent disease incidence (PDI) of 14.07. Among the bio-agents, Pseudomonas fluorescens (0.5%) was found significantly effective in recording the lowest PDI of 24.44, whereas in untreated control plot, the highest disease intensity of 70.37 PDI was recorded.


This essay explores the vital place of Wales, and Welsh Calvinist Methodism, in Sebald's Austerlitz. I argue that to an extraordinary extent Wales, in terms of both a landscape and a site of childhood events, functions as a marker and a point of comparison which echoes during the rest of what unfolds. I also suggest that some of the marks of Welsh Calvinism – such as providentialism, predestination, and fatalism – lie behind the narrative thrust of the novel, as events unfold which happen in ways which Austerlitz cannot easily explain. In this reading, Calvinism becomes one of the keys to the narrative structure of the book and Austerlitz's feeling that he is one the elect resonates with both a Calvinist theology and an Israelite sense of identity. The essay ends by suggesting that the care with which the 'Welsh' section of Sebald's book is constructed reveals Sebald's own 'love affair' with the Welsh landscape. It is worth at least speculating that during his time as a lector in German at The University of Manchester, from 1966 to 1970, Sebald took time to explore the nearby spectacular landscape of Snowdonia which later featured so centrally in his breathtaking novel. What I want to do in this short essay is to say something about the vital place of Wales, and Welsh Calvinist Methodism, in Sebald's European novel, Austerlitz. The fact that Dafydd Elias, as Jacques Austerlitz thought himself to be until nearly the age of 16, was fostered in 1939, aged 4 and a half, by a childless Welsh Calvinist minister, Emyr Elias, and his wife Gwendolyn, who lived in a house in the hills just outside the small Welsh town of Bala (and who had hoped eventually to adopt him), was perhaps not that unusual. Wales was one of the main destinations for children evacuated from London and the Home Counties during in Europe, including young Jewish boys like the young Austerlitz who found themselves there because of the Kindertransport.2 Nevertheless, what I want to foreground is the way in which Wales, and Welsh Calvinist Methodism, as the context for Austerlitz's formative upbringing and earliest memories, become unusual reference points for his unfolding narrative. I will suggest that, to an extraordinary extent, Wales, both in terms of it as a landscape (and often childhood events and recollections, functions as a marker, a point of comparison, and a ground bass, which echoes, and is frequently recounted, during the rest of what occurs, to a degree which may well be unique in twentieth-century European literature. 1 Professor of the History of Christianity in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures at the University of Manchester. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com 2 V. K. Fast, Children's Exodus. A History of the Kindertransport, 1938–1948 (London: I.B. Taurus, 2011), 56, 164. C.W.E. Bigsby, Remembering and Imagining the Holocaust: the chain of memory (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 69, recounts how Austerlitz was inspired by Sebald watching a Channel 4 documentary in 2000 about Susie Bechhofer who had been sent to Wales on the Kindertransport. In this essay, references to the text are from the 2001 Penguin edition. THE PLACE OF WALES IN SEBALD'S EUROPEAN STORY ( JEREMY GREGORY) 31 Literary critics and cultural historians routinely refer to Austerlitz as a 'European' novel, as a book dealing with the trauma of war, and as a study of the workings of the memory.3 For all these aspects, they highlight, among other things, the broad geographical coverage of the novel, ranging from London to Paris, Brussels, Germany and Central Europe, which not Oddly, the part played by Wales in any of these features has rarely been emphasised, despite the fact that Wales is the location for more than forty pages of narrative near the start of the novel, and it is the place where the young Austerlitz spends his war-time years. Wales is also a recurring trope in Austerlitz's memory. For example, when in hospital in London towards the end of the novel (325), Austerlitz thinks a great deal about the minister in the asylum in the Welsh town of Denbigh, where he died after a mental breakdown after Gwendolyn's death. As Austerlitz travels through the Rhineland, the sight of the Mäuseturm makes him think of Lake Vyrnwy (319), not far from Bala, and while watching the Bastiani Travelling Circus just outside the Gare d'Austerlitz, among the musical strains he seems to hear is 'a long forgotten Welsh hymn' (383). However, the way in which Wales reverberates throughout the text, and by which Wales itself becomes part of this wide-ranging European novel – so that for Austerlitz it is absolutely natural to compare aspects of Welsh landscape and culture with European landscape and culture – is offset by the fact that Austerlitz later recalls that as a child growing up in wartime Wales, there was no wireless or newspapers in the manse, and the minister and his wife never mentioned the war, leading him to remember that at the time: 'I couldn't imagine any world outside Wales' (78). So there are at least two Waleses in the novel: an enclosed inward-looking Wales and a Wales which plays a part on a European stage. even more intriguingly from the point of view of a historian of Christianity, the religious dimension of the novel has attracted hardly any comment. Perhaps this is because Austerlitz himself remarks that he has never felt that he 'belonged to a ... religious confession' (177) and so critics have not given much concern to the ways in which religion is portrayed and operates in his story. But this lack of attention to the role of religion in the novel is surprising since the Wales of Austerlitz's childhood, as he remembers it up until the age of eleven, is recollected as being entirely dominated by the Calvinism of his foster parents, making it a complete totality within itself, unaware of the world beyond it, and where the only frame of reference and point of comparison is the Bible. In a graphic moment of bibliocentrism, after identifying with some of the heroes of the Old Testament, Austerlitz remembered thinking that the picture of the Sinai desert, where the Israelites camped during the Exodus, in his Welsh children's bible (and from which he learnt the Welsh language more successfully than from any other source) looked just like the part of Wales where he grew up (77). As he recollected it, Austerlitz actually felt closer to the people in the bible illustration than to what he recalled as the increasingly strange-seeming world in which he lived, and he was particularly drawn to what was going on inside the tent in the middle of the picture with the 3 J.J. Long, W.G. Sebald: Image, archive, modernity (New York: Columbia University Press, 2007), 151; Scott D. Denham and Mark Richard McCulloch, W.G. Sebald: history, memory, trauma (Berlin: W.G Gruyter, 2006), 4, 109, 133, 234, 236, 24–244, 259; R. Boyers, The Dictator's Dictation: the politics and novels and novelists (New York: Columbia University Press, 2005), 200; C. Parry, 'Constructing European Identities in Fiction', in Theo D' haen and Iannis Goerlandt, eds, Literature for Europe? (New York: Editions Rodopi, 2009), 279, 280, 289, 291, 292, 295. 32 MELILAH MANCHESTER JOURNAL OF JEWISH STUDIES cloud of white smoke. This is presumably meant to be a representation of the Jewish tabernacle, although it is not clear whether the white smoke/cloud is meant to signify the burning of incense in the tabernacle or the white cloud God sent to guide the Israelites through the desert. And, from the point of view of the novel more generally, why was the Calvinist-educated young Austerlitz so fascinated by the tabernacle? It may be that he had imbued a Calvinist sense of election and apprehended a connection between this and the Israelite sense of themselves as the chosen people of God but, whatever the precise meaning, in a more general sense it surely underlines the young Austerlitz's self-understanding in purely biblical terms. Only after the end of the war, when he broke his parents' ban on going to the cinema, and when he was sent to a boarding school in Oswestry – which Austerlitz saw as a liberation – did this bibliocentric worldview collapse, and he encountered books other than the Bible, such as geography, history, travel writing and biography (genres and forms which, of course, are used by Sebald within his text). To some extent, then, the entire novel could be read, in almost conventional Enlightenment terms, as the gradual withdrawal of the power and authority of the Bible as it was challenged and replaced by other texts trajectory of the novel as a whole could be envisaged as a move away from the enclosed world of Wales and Welsh Methodism and into a broader European frame of reference. Nonetheless, neither Wales nor the biblical and religious models and ways of thinking disappear from the text. As I have already noted, Wales continues as a reference point throughout the novel. Additionally, some of the dominant marks of (Welsh) Calvinism – such as providentialism, predestination, and fatalism – lie behind the narrative thrust of the novel as a whole, in that events continue to unfold and happen in ways which Austerlitz cannot easily explain. Calvinism, it could be argued, is one of the keys to the narrative structure of the entire book. Austerlitz himself, early on his story, accounts for the fact that he did not know who he really was on 'an agency greater than or superior to my own capacity for thought, which circumspectly directs operations somewhere in my brain, [which] has always preserved me from my own secret, ... systematically preventing me from drawing the obvious conclusions' (60). There are clear intimations here of a Calvinist God, where the emphasis is on the contrast between divine intelligence and human limitations, and there is something almost like a sense of predestination, since Austerlitz considers he is being directed by an external force.4 Elsewhere, Auster


Except for degree of prematurity, risk factors for the development of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in very low birth weight (VLBW) infant have not been consistently identified. In addition, fear of NEC determines the majority of VLBW infant feeding regimens in the first postnatal month. About 10-12% of infants weighing less than 1500 grams at birth will develop NEC and about one-third of them will die from the disease. Improved identification of preterm infants at risk for NEC could allow improved infant feeding to focus on growth and nutrition for infants at low-risk of NEC. The objective of this study was to develop an algorithm using artificial neural networks (ANN) to predict prematurely born infants at highest risk of NEC. The majority of ANN's considered optimal used small numbers of variables: 54% used a single variable, 30% used 2 variables, 12% used 3 variables and only 4% used 4 or 5 variables to predict NEC. Sixty-eight percent of the variables were selected first and 79% were selected as second variable at least once. Small for gestational age (SGA) and being artificially ventilated (ventilation: yes/no) were chosen first and second most often among all 57 variables. ANNs as predictive tools provide a first indication for the relative importance of the 57 variables in final decision-making.


Radio coverage and interference in communications systems is provided by various propagation mechanisms depending on the frequency of the radiowaves and the propagation environment. Key propagation mechanisms are line-of-sight (LOS), diffraction, transmission (or penetration), incoherent scattering, and specular reflections. In urban environments with many tall buildings and antenna locations below rooftop height, the latter mechanisms become increasingly significant. Understanding which propagation mechanisms dominate for coverage and interference calculations is important for cell planning issues. In this paper we present simulations results determined under the EU Framework VI Broadwan programme. A novel surface model unifying scatter and Fresnel models has been implemented and used to evaluate the relative importance of the different propagation mechanisms at three frequencies of interest through simulation using an accurate database of a typical UK urban landscape. The results obtained show that a significant coverage fraction may be provided by reflected paths at low frequencies. At higher frequencies incoherent scattering becomes an increasingly important mechanism and may significantly affect interference predictions.


Urban children and adolescents are faced with many stressors that affect their mental health and that currently are not being addressed effectively by the various mental health professionals working in schools. In this article, the authors argue that blending school psychology and school counseling training to produce comprehensive school mental health specialists could better address the identified social and emotional needs of children in urban schools. Such a shift could result in more comprehensive, coordinated school mental health services and lead to improved academic performance.


This paper addresses the problem of unsupervised Bayesian hidden Markov chain restoration. When the hidden chain is stationary, the classical "Hidden Markov Chain" (HMC) model is quite efficient, and associated unsupervised Bayesian restoration methods using the "Expectation-Maximization" (EM) algorithm work well. When the hidden chain is non stationary, on the other hand, the unsupervised restoration results using the HMC model can be poor, due to a bad match between the real and estimated models. The novelty of this paper is to offer a more appropriate model for hidden nonstationary Markov chains, via the theory of evidence. Using recent results relating to Triplet Markov Chains (TMCs), we show, via simulations, that the classical restoration results can be improved by the use of the theory of evidence and Dempster-Shafer fusion. The latter improvement is performed in an entirely unsupervised way using an original parameter estimation method. Some application examples to unsupervised image segmentation are also provided.


The paper addresses the community membership problem of predicting whether two nodes belong to the same community or not, using a hill climbing based breadth first traversal algorithm and a probabilistic depth first traversal algorithm. The algorithms have lesser time complexity as compared to the standard community detection algorithms. The proposed algorithms achieve a high efficiency in terms of the fraction of node pairs correctly identified, which is greater than 70% in most of the network instances. Moreover, a very little fraction of the graph is traversed which is local to the nodes in consideration.


I was privileged to work with a set of very active chairs for all aspects of the organizing committee. Koen DeBosschere (sponsor chair), from Ghent University, who inaugurated the title of sponsor chair for the first time this year, and who collaborated with the finance chair to collect a significant set of contributions from multiple companies; I will not list all sponsoring companies here as the list is not yet final at the time of writing, but we will advertise them on the web site, and we are sincerely and deeply grateful for their contributions. María Garzarán (publications chair), from University of Illinois, who demonstrated a remarkable efficiency even though our publications model changed completely this year (no paper proceedings, as a first effort to become a slightly greener conference), and who had the patience to put up with the lesser efficiency of her colleagues, mine especially. Alain Girault and Daniele Herzog (registration chairs), from INRIA, who handled a lot of work and whose experience in organizing conferences at INRIA was very helpful; special thanks to Daniele for all the day-to-day work. Sylvain Girbal and Sami Yehia (web chairs), from Thales, who were promised an easy task and had to put up with a zillion requests for the past 9 months, and handled them all swiftly. Richard Johnson (publicity chair), from NVIDIA, who publicized CGO so vigorously he was probably black-listed by several anti-spam services. Klaas Millet (local organizing committee), from Ghent University, who kindly helped with the preparation of the local organization. Neil Vachharajani (students chair), initially at Google, who handled the students chair position with his usual kindness and efficiency, while changing jobs. Adam Welc (tutorial chair), from Intel then Adobe, and Ayal Zaks (workshop chair), from IBM, were fantastic tutorial and workshop chairs; they were remarkably dedicated to making tutorials and workshops a success, and netted a record number of submissions, leading to a similarly record number of 8 workshops and 10 tutorials. While Geraldine Pignatelli, from the Chamonix congress center, is not officially part of the CGO organizing committee, I also want to thank her for her commitment, competence and patience.


Abstract This paper deals with the existence of solutions to the elliptic equation Δu = k(x) f (u) in D satisfying the boundary blow-up condition u|∂D = ∞, where D ⊂ ℝN is an open bounded domain with smooth boundary ∂D. Under suitable assumptions on k and f , we show the existence of at least one solution u. Under additional hypotheses on k, we give asymptotic estimate for u near the boundary.