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Understanding spatial connections between breeding and wintering populations is critical for developing sound conservation plans in migratory animals. However, for long-distance migratory songbird species wintering in sub-Saharan Africa, many of which are in a state of population decline, information on migratory connectivity is especially lacking. We used mitochondrial DNA data from wintering pop

Involving users in the design process is increasingly discussed as the quickest and most reliable way to capture the needs of users and consumers. In parallel, the fastest growing population segment in Asia and the West is older people. This article asks whether their involvement in the design process could accelerate a growing service market and if so, how? It addresses a knowledge gap that const

Absolute cerebral perfusion parameters were obtained by dynamic susceptibility contrast magnetic resonance imaging (DSC-MRI) carried out using different contrast-agent administration protocols. Sixteen healthy volunteers underwent three separate DSC-MRI examinations each, receiving single-dose (0.1mmol/kg b.w.) gadobutrol, double-dose gadobutrol and single-dose gadobenate-dimeglumine on different

Background: Outcome measures can be used to improve the quality of the rehabilitation by identifying and understanding which variables influence the outcome. This information can be used to improve outcomes for clients. In clinical practice, pure-tone audiometry, speech reception thresholds (SRTs), and speech discrimination scores (SDSs) in quiet or in noise are common assessments made prior to he

Multiple rotation averaging is an important problem in computer vision. The problem is challenging because of the nonlinear constraints required to represent the set of rotations. To our knowledge no one has proposed any globally optimal solution for the case of simultaneous updates of the rotations. In this paper we propose a simple procedure based on Lagrangian duality that can be used to verify

The extent to which low-frequency (minor allele frequency (MAF) between 1-5%) and rare (MAF ≤ 1%) variants contribute to complex traits and disease in the general population is mainly unknown. Bone mineral density (BMD) is highly heritable, a major predictor of osteoporotic fractures, and has been previously associated with common genetic variants, as well as rare, population-specific, coding vari

Current proteomic technologies can effectively be used to study the proteins of the vitreous body and retina in health and disease. The use of appropriate samples, analytical platform and bioinformatic method are essential factors to consider when undertaking such studies. Certain proteins may hinder the detection and evaluation of more relevant proteins associated with pathological processes if n

Ferrochelatase catalyzes the insertion of Fe(2+) into protoporphyrin IX. The enzymatic product heme (protoheme IX) is a well-known cofactor in a wide range of proteins. The insertion of metal ions other than Fe(2+) occurs rarely in vivo, but all ferrochelatases that have been studied can insert Zn(2+) at a good rate in vitro. Co(2+), but not Cu(2+), is known to be a good substrate of the mammalian

The notion of spirit loss is widespread throughout the Bolivian Andes. Because of fright, a person loses her spirit whereupon another "strange" spirit may take its place and cause illness. In one and the same ailment, then, we find notions of "loss" and "imposition." In the context of "emergent indigeneities," colonialism too is frequently visualized and expressed in terms of both loss and imposit

The one-dimensional character of sooting premixed porous-plug (McKenna) burner flames has been examined, motivated by recent investigations where the one-dimensionality has been questioned. The examination employs laser diagnostic techniques to measure different characteristics: temperature using rotational coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) and soot properties using laser-induced inca

We conduct a series of comparisons between spectroscopic and photometric observations of globular clusters and stellar models to examine their predictive power. Data from medium-to-high resolution spectroscopic surveys of lithium allow us to investigate first dredge-up and extra mixing in two clusters well separated in metallicity. Abundances at first dredge-up are satisfactorily reproduced but th

Organic bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells offer a viable source of solar energy. Structural organization is crucial in BHJ cells but hard to achieve and assess due to limitations in experimental methodology. Quantum chemical methods have here been used to gain further insight into the geometric and optical properties of a promising light-harvesting polymer, poly[2,3-bis(3-octyloxyphenyl)quinox

We study bankruptcy problems where the estate and the claims have stochastic values and we allow these values to be correlated. We associate a transferable utility game with uncertainty to a stochastic bankruptcy problem and use the Weak Sequential Core as a solution concept for such games. We test the stability of a number of well known division rules in this stochastic setting and find that all

The equations of motion for a beam are derived from the three-dimensional continuum mechanical point of view. The kinematics involve bending, torsion and shearing as well as cross-sectional displacements. The transplacement of the beam from an arbitrary curved reference placement is considered. For slender beams so called tubular coordinates may be used as global coordinates in the reference place

A multi-scale hydroclimatic study of runoff generation in the Athabasca River watershed located in western Canada is presented. Mann-Kendall trend detection tests performed on hydrometric data for the lower Athabasca River (LAR) revealed predominantly significant (p<0.05) declines in annual and open-water season median/mean runoff indices over 1958-2009, with the ice-influenced season experiencing

Oligomers of the amyloid-beta peptide (A beta) are thought to be the most toxic form of A beta and are linked to the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here, we used a flow cytometric approach for the detection and assessment of oligomers in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from AD patients and other neurological disorders. 30 CSF samples from patients suffering from AD (n=14), non-demented control

Unlike Knut Wicksell, Eli Heckscher did not believe the time had arrived for “managed money” to replace the gold standard after World War I. The war had shown that only a gold standard could bind the central bank to a time-consistent policy with reasonable price stability. Heckscher likened the problem of reinstating the gold standard to “Belling the cat” in Aesop’s fable. When the international g

We have investigated the temperature induced micelle-to-vesicle transition in a binary non-ionic surfactant/water system, for which the spontaneous curvature decreases with increasing temperature. Temperature jumps with variable rate were performed in a microwave oven, from a micellar phase at 5 ◦C to a lamellar phase region at 35 ◦C, passing a liquid-liquid two phase region where dilute and conce

The CADF test of Pesaran (A Simple Panel Unit Root Test in Presence of Cross-Section Dependence, Journal of Applied Econometrics 22, 265–312, 2007) are among the most popular univariate tests for cross-section correlated panels around. Yet, the existing asymptotic analysis of this test statistic is limited to a model in which the errors are assumed to follow a simple AR(1) structure with homogenou