Optimal contracts

AbstractThe model is proposed by incorporating incomplete capital markets into the conventional implicit labor contract model. The optimal contracts and the effects of firm's financial decisions on it's employment level are derived by maximum principle

Discovery of dormancy associated antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis : novel targets for the development of post-exposure or therapeutic tuberculosis vaccines

The growing number of tuberculosis (TB) casualties urges development of not only more effective drugs and preventive vaccines but also development of post-exposure/therapeutic TB vaccines. Post-exposure/therapeutic TB vaccines are needed since 2 billion people worldwide harbor a latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. This vast reservoir forms a major source of new TB cases: one out of every ten M. tuberculosis infected individuals will develop active TB disease at one point in life, while the remainder contains the bacilli without any clinical symptoms. The current vaccine, M. bovis BCG (BCG), is ineffective in already latently infected individuals. In a series of M. tuberculosis antigen discovery studies, aiming at identifying new M. tuberculosis biomarker- and vaccine antigens, we found that genes from the M. tuberculosis DosR regulon encode antigens that can induce specific T-cell immunity in M. tuberculosis infected individuals. We argue that these genes which are expressed by dormant and persisting bacilli may represent attractive targets for post-exposure/therapeutic vaccination against TB. This thesis focuses on the immunologic evaluation of these M. tuberculosis DosR encoded genes in humans and mice regarding immunogenicity, (latent) M. tuberculosis infection, induction of immune responses following BCG vaccination and exposure to environmental, non-tuberculous mycobacteria.KNCV tuberculose fonds, U-CyTech Biosciences, BD Biosciences, Clean Air Techniek B.V.UBL - phd migration 201

Genetic based discrete particle swarm optimization for elderly day care center timetabling

The timetabling problem of local Elderly Day Care Centers (EDCCs) is formulated into a weighted maximum constraint satisfaction problem (Max-CSP) in this study. The EDCC timetabling problem is a multi-dimensional assignment problem, where users (elderly) are required to perform activities that require different venues and timeslots, depending on operational constraints. These constraints are categorized into two: hard constraints, which must be fulfilled strictly, and soft constraints, which may be violated but with a penalty. Numerous methods have been successfully applied to the weighted Max-CSP; these methods include exact algorithms based on branch and bound techniques, and approximation methods based on repair heuristics, such as the min-conflict heuristic. This study aims to explore the potential of evolutionary algorithms by proposing a genetic-based discrete particle swarm optimization (GDPSO) to solve the EDCC timetabling problem. The proposed method is compared with the min-conflict random-walk algorithm (MCRW), Tabu search (TS), standard particle swarm optimization (SPSO), and a guided genetic algorithm (GGA). Computational evidence shows that GDPSO significantly outperforms the other algorithms in terms of solution quality and efficiency

Differences in the Fine Motor Performance of Children in Hong Kong and the United States on the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency

ObjectiveCross-cultural differences in motor development is an important issue for occupational therapists to address in the assessment process. The cultural variability of performance in scores interpretation can mislead therapists in their decisions regarding the need for intervention. This study aimed to investigate the differences in fine motor performance on the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOTMP) between school-aged children of Hong Kong and the United States.MethodsThe four fine motor subtests of the BOTMP were administered to a random sample of 264 Hong Kong children aged 6–10 years. The performance scores of participants were compared with those of the American normative samples.ResultsNo significant difference was found in the scores between the two groups in Upper Limb Coordination and Response Speed subtests. However, the Hong Kong children performed significantly better in the subtests of Visual-Motor Control and Upper Limb Speed and Dexterity. In addition, significant gender difference was also present in all subtest scores except for the subtest of Upper Limb Speed and Dexterity.ConclusionThe results suggest that occupational therapists should be cautious of cross-cultural differences when interpreting fine motor performance scores using the BOTMP for Hong Kong school- aged children

Current issues in English Language Education: Perspectives, directions and innovations

Guest Editoria

Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Tyrophagus putrescentiae Allergy in Allergic Rhinitis Caused by Cross-reactivity Not Dual-Sensitization

Tyrophagus putrescentiae and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus are causative factors for the development of airway hypersensitivity. The main objective in this study was to identify the cross-reactive allergens between T putrescentiae and D. pteronyssinus and investigate their sensitization in patients with allergic rhinitis. The prevalence of sensitization to mites was determined by skin prick tests and histamine release assays. Both immunoblot and ELISA inhibition assays were performed by using the recombinant allergens of T putrescentiae and D. pteronyssinus. The cross-reactive allergens were identified by using IgE-binding inhibition analysis. The correlations of specific IgE between T putrescentiae and D. pteronyssinus to group 2 and group 3 mite allergens were compared. A total of 117 allergic rhinitis patients, aged between 16 and 40 years old were recruited to be included in this study. The results showed that 70% (82/117) of allergic rhinitis subjects had skin test positive reactions to D. pteronyssinus or T putrescentiae. Among these mite-sensitive subjects, there were 81 subjects (81/82) sensitive to D. pteronyssinus and 34 subjects (34/82) sensitive to T putrescentiae. Among the T putrescentiae hypersensitive subjects, 97% (33/34) were also sensitized to D. pteronyssinus. In the IgE-binding inhibition analysis, 59% (13/22) subjects had IgE-binding activity of T putrescentiae that was completely absorbed by D. pteronyssinus, especially components with MW at 16 kDa. In ELISA inhibition testing, 69% of IgE-binding was inhibited by rTyr p 2, and 45% inhibited by rTyr p 3. The titers of IgE antibodies to rTyr p 2 and rDer p 2 were well correlated, but not rTyr p 3 and rDer p 3. In conclusion, most T putrescentiae sensitized subjects were also sensitized to D. pteronyssinus in young adult allergic rhinitis patients. The complete absorption of IgE binding activity by D. pteronvssinus indicates that T putrescentiae hypersensitivity might be due to the cross-reactivity, not dual-sensitization of D. pteronyssinus and T putrescentiae. The IgE-binding titers of group 2 allergens were well correlated and the binding activity of Tyr p 2 could be absorbed by Der p 2, suggesting that group 2 allergens are the major cross-reactive allergen of D. pteronyssinus and T putrescentiae

Theory of Melting and the Optical Properties of Gold/DNA Nanocomposites

We describe a simple model for the melting and optical properties of a DNA/gold nanoparticle aggregate. The optical properties at fixed wavelength change dramatically at the melting transition, which is found to be higher and narrower in temperature for larger particles, and much sharper than that of an isolated DNA link. All these features are in agreement with available experiments. The aggregate is modeled as a cluster of gold nanoparticles on a periodic lattice connected by DNA bonds, and the extinction coefficient is computed using the discrete dipole approximation. Melting takes place as an increasing number of these bonds break with increasing temperature. The melting temperature corresponds approximately to the bond percolation threshold.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure. To be published in Phys. Rev.

Innovative ligand-assisted synthesis of NIR-activated iron oxide for cancer theranostics

This work presents the development of a facile ligand-assisted hydrothermal reaction for the preparation of NIR-activated Fe3O4 nanostructures that can directly upgrade the iron oxide with MR contrast ability to be a MRI/photothermal theranostic agent

Review: Progress in the Studies on Mechanical Properties of Materials

Materials science and engineering is one of the hot research topics in the world, among which mechanical properties of materials play a critical role in application of the new materials. Based on this, a special session Mechanical Properties of Materials was held within the 2nd Global Conference on Materials Science and Engineering, Nov. 20–22, 2013. This special issue contains a selection of twenty scientific papers, which are focused on the structure, mechanical properties, and strength of materials. In this review, the selected papers from the special session are summarized.Материаловедение и инженерия относятся к наиболее актуальным направлениям научных исследований в мире, а применение новых материалов в значительной степени основывается на изучении механических свойств материалов. Исходя из этого в рамках 2-й Глобальной конференции по материаловедению и инженерии 20–22 ноября 2013 года была проведена специальная сессия по вопросам исследования механических свойств материалов. Этот специальный номер содержит подборку из 20 научных работ, отобранных из числа всех докладов, посвященных проблемам структуры, механических свойств и прочности материалов. В данном обзоре обсуждаются отдельные доклады специальной сессии, представленные в этом номере журнала.Матеріалознавство та інженерія відносяться до найбільш актуальних напрямків наукових досліджень у світі, тоді як використання нових матеріалів у значній мірі базується на дослідженні механічних властивостей матеріалів. Виходячи з цього, у межах 2-ї Глобальної конференції з матеріалознавства й інженерії 20–22 листопада 2013 року було проведено спеціальну сесію з питань дослідження механічних властивостей матеріалів. Цей спеціальний номер містить добірку з 20 наукових робіт,відібраних із числа всіх доповідей, присвячених проблемам структури, механічних властивостей і міцності матеріалів. У даному огляді обговорюються окремі доповіді спеціальної сесії, представлені в цьому номері журналу