The design of XY compliant parallel manipulators (CPMs) remains challenging considering the tradeoff between the mirror-symmetry for better constrained undesired rotations and the small footprint, although a significant number of XY CPMs have been reported in extensive applications. This paper presents a new XY CPM using mirror-symmetry without increasing its footprint, mainly aiming to reduce the undesired parasitic rotations of input and output motion stages. The concept of higher degree of stiffness centre symmetry is deployed to tackle the parasitic rotations, leading to a multi-layer compact XY CPM design with each layer being a rotation-symmetrical design. A nonlinear and analytical model of the proposed XY CPM is derived using free body diagrams and the Beam Constrained Model (BCM) to accurately analyse its performance characteristics over a large range of motion. The designed XY CPM is then verified by the nonlinear finite element analysis (FEA) method. Finally, the proposed multi-layer design is comprehensively compared with the well-received single-layer rotation-symmetrical design. It is shown in the new design that the parasitic rotations of input and output stages along with the actuator isolation are significantly reduced and that the out-of-plane-stiffness is also significantly increased.


Nursing and nurse education within Britain are influenced by the legacy of the development of hospital based adult general nursing in the 19th Century. Discourses that emerged at that time identify nurses as 'good women': respectable, hardworking, loyal and obedient. Currently, nurse education is criticised for being less able to produce nurses who are fit to undertake their role than in the past.

Taking the concept that discourse exerts a powerful influence on the way people behave, this thesis asserts that the 19th Century legacy is important and seeks to establish the discourses that shaped nurse education. The period 1945 -1955 is chosen as sufficiently distanced from early developments, but recent enough to be in living memory and prior to the relocation of British nursing from a hospital base into Higher Education.

Six overlapping discourses are identified though the literature. An interpretative approach is then taken to data collected in three stages: a life story 1932 -1973, semi-structured interviews with nurses who commenced their training 1945 -55 and documentary analysis of nursing journals for the same period.

The 'good nurse' is explored through discourses around the 'right kind of girl', the tension between vocation and profession and the transition from woman to nurse. Despite significant change of direction in educational theory and policy in the period 1945 -55 the thesis suggests that the power of the discourse meant that little changed in the practice of nursing or the conduct of nurse education.

Furthermore, it is argued that whilst discourses have changed and contemporary nursing is establishing its place in Higher Education as an applied academic discipline, the current discourses embracing caring, reflection and emotional labour are equally gendered and controlling. Now, as then, this discourse is not imposed by outside forces, but is generated and controlled from within the profession.

It therefore concludes that the pervasive influence of discourses surrounding the 'good nurse' and related discourses about control and care must be given full recognition when attempting to change nursing or to influence its policy and educational developments.


Background: During the past decade, the IT industry has introduced several new concepts within the health domain including e-health, electronic health record, digital hospital, and many more. Although each of these terms has brought its own unique definition and perspectives, they were all based on the foundation that healthcare and wellness management are dependent on effectively using technology to access accurate data in a timely fashion; ensuring enhanced patient care and medical error reduction. The Electronic Health Record (EHR) is an integrated system that collects data from different healthcare providers to create a unified electronic record for each patient among the population. Today, the patient's health information is scattered across different healthcare facilities causing significant inefficiencies within the healthcare system. A national EHR system will tackle these challenges by producing a personal health record for each patient, integrating information from all healthcare providers, and additionally giving access to patients themselves allowing their contribution. Motivation: There are many health IT implementations for EHR programs around the world that serve as great learning experiences for Qatar, offering it a great opportunity to leverage the best national EHR implementation strategies and practices. National EHR initiatives in Qatar emphasize the need to have secure electronic management of health data in structured and standardized formats, which can be communicated across its hospitals, primary healthcare centres, and other healthcare facilities. Personalized medicine initiatives share and extend these goals, with additional precision provided by genetic/genomic-based improved diagnostic, prognostic, and preventive information; thereby demanding a coordinated extension for the adoption and implementation requirements of an integrated national EHR system. It is for this purpose and understanding that the State of Qatar has taken the first concrete steps towards a promising EHR journey that will promote significant changes on how healthcare services are delivered, and more importantly, how each individual in Qatar can be empowered to become an active contributor to the management of their own health. In moving towards the widespread adoption and implementation of a national EHR system in Qatar, it is important to study the different challenges and trends used for the adoption of EHR systems, under national strategies, in other countries. This is essential for health informatics researchers, clinicians, and policy makers, to gain greater insight into the issues concerning the transformation of healthcare using a national EHR system. The results of this review study shall complement, explain, and extend the conclusions of earlier studies commissioned to explore the health information technology ecosystem in the State of Qatar. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to review EHR programs from various countries with regard to the issues documented in the studies commissioned in these countries. Our analysis will derive the most common critical aspects and lessons learned from international experiences during the implementation of national EHR programs. Additionally, it will explore opportunities, constraints, and characteristics present in Qatar, necessary for tailoring the strategies and approaches to fully realize a national EHR system in the country. This review study presents two important contributions: 1) it will significantly support promoting health IT solutions that are right for Qatar's need, recognizing the size and capabilities of the country, leveraging existing healthcare organizations and solutions, and respecting the unique cultural characteristics of its population. 2) it will serve as a baseline from which comparisons, performance against target measures, and forward thinking can be scoped; allowing significant contribution towards productive future development of health information technology and personalized medicine initiatives in Qatar. Methods: The data collection techniques included: (a) literature review for articles about EHR adoption under national strategies in several countries, (b) review of reports regarding national e-health strategy and government policies in Qatar, and (c) interviews of people participating in the policy making for national EHR system in Qatar (health and academic professionals involved in health IT research in Qatar). The reviewed EHR programs were selected according to the following criteria: (a) program for the implementation of national EHR system has been initiated since at least 5 years, (b) pilot projects have already been conducted, and (c) the planned EHR systems encompass various approaches of implementation. In line with these criteria, the EHR programs that have been studied were those of the following five countries: United States, England, Estonia, Japan, and Australia. Results: The analysis performed on the selected international EHR programs revealed many lessons learned, including: 1) To achieve a successful EHR implementation, it is critical to increase the awareness of the Qatari population about the upcoming changes in their healthcare experiences, paving the way to a smoother transition while having people's trust and confidence in the new system. 2) It is essential to legally define the legislation of privacy protection of personal medical data to support new e-health concepts and eliminate the risk of violating the privacy of patient data. 3) It is important to allow appropriate time for procurement, utilization, benefit realization and the complete project, otherwise you may risk having stakeholders and the public lose confidence in the EHR project. 4) Financial incentives for healthcare providers proved to be an effective method towards raising the EHR adoption rate. 5) To expedite EHR program acceptance, it is imperative to recruit knowledgeable and experienced technical staff and healthcare leaders, who encourage others to play a critical role during the transition process, and view this change as a dominantly positive one. 6) In order to make EHR an everyday tool for doctors, nurses, patients and public authorities, it is necessary to implement services based on the interests of the healthcare providers and society. 7) Continuous adjustment and enhancement is needed in order to sustain a successful and efficient system. Conclusion: Experiences from other countries suggest that a clear focus needs to be carefully placed on technical, clinical, organizational, financial, social, and patient perspectives to ensure that the full benefits of a national EHR system in Qatar can be realized. In addition, it demonstrates that strategic and human challenges are more difficult to master than technical aspects. The results of this review study can be used as a baseline to provide recommendations on how to tackle potential barriers towards successful adoption of a national EHR system in Qatar.


The growth of micro-enterprises is a key driver of economic development. The ability of micro-enterprises to adopt IT can potentially increase their growth by 3.4% according to a World Bank expert. However these gains do not always take place as the challenges are many. Current theoretical models on IT adoption focus on the intent to adopt IT in large organizations where employees' attitudes and perceptions are measured in terms of their objectives within the structures of accountability. Micro-enterprises are unique in that the intention to adopt is an individual decision made by the micro-entrepreneur. It is often the innovative ways in which IT is used that enable the gains to be realized by micro-entrepreneurs. This chapter describes a process that can be used to enable micro-entrepreneurs faced with limited resources to adopt IT to grow their businesses. This process of IT therapy involves diagnosis, interventions and an assessment of IT for development outcomes. Examples and guidelines are provided to enable this process to be used by practitioners. This chapter concludes with alternatives for sustainable development and guidelines for achieving these improvements in micro-enterprises.


"Strategies for boosting the agricultural economies of developing countries usually focus on small farms, attempting, for example, to link smallholders with markets through production chain development. However, such strategies often fail to differentiate between different types of small farmers or to investigate the distribution of assets within the group—efforts that are important because unequal distributions of assets can restrict pro-poor growth. Further, strategies to develop production chains favor some small farmers over others (i.e., those already participating in targeted chains and those with relatively more productive assets). Using landholding size as an organizational filter, we performed a basic descriptive analysis of smallholder traits in Ghana, using data from the 2005–2006 Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS5). We found strong inequalities in landholding distributions within Ghana's small-farm sector in all regions of the country. Using a classification of smallholders we derived based on landholding size, we examined a variety of small-farm traits and found that many of the broadly perceived defining characteristics of smallholder agriculture—such as low input use and low market engagement—are negatively correlated with landholding size. The crowding of farms at the smaller end of the small-farm spectrum in Ghana suggests that rural development strategies based on expanding existing market chains will face challenges in connecting with the bulk of small producers, who are less well endowed than average statistics indicate." from authors' abstract


The southern pine beetle (SPB) feeds both as adults and larvae within the inner bark of pine trees, which invariably die as a result of colonization. Populations of the SPB erupt periodically and produce catastrophic losses of pines, while at other times the beetles persist almost undetectably in the environment. The southern pine beetle has evolved behaviors that maximize its survival and reproduction when local population densities are either high or low. When densities are high, the SPB utilizes pheromones to organize synchronous mass attacks capable of overwhelming the resin defenses of healthy, vigorous trees. They thereby render hosts available to colonization that would not be susceptible to attack by one or a few individuals. When densities are low, the SPB must find and utilize trees that have been previously rendered susceptible by either abiotic factors, particularly lightning strikes, or biotic stressing agents such as attacks by other bark beetle species. This chapter reviews existing knowledge of the behavior and chemical ecology (i.e., use of chemical signals including pheromones) of the SPB and addresses how these aspects of SPB biology may either facilitate or hinder efforts to manage this virulent forest pest. Southern Pine Beetle Behavior


OBJECTIVE Although the benefits of in-person Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) classes for diabetes prevention have been demonstrated in trials, effectiveness in clinical practice is limited by low participation rates. This study explores whether text message support enhances weight loss in patients offered DPP classes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS English- and Spanish-speaking patients with prediabetes (n = 163) were randomized to the control group, which only received an invitation to DPP classes as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or to the text message–augmented intervention group, which also received text messages adapted from the DPP curriculum for 12 months. RESULTS Mean weight decreased 0.6 pounds (95% CI −2.7 to 1.6) in the control group and 2.6 pounds (95% CI −5.5 to 0.2) in the intervention group (P value 0.05). Three percent weight loss was achieved by 21.5% of participants in the control group (95% CI 12.5–30.6), compared with 38.5% in the intervention group (95% CI 27.7–49.3) (absolute difference 17.0%; P value 0.02). Mean glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) increased by 0.19% or 2.1 mmol/mol (95% CI −0.1 to 0.5%) and decreased by 0.09% or 1.0 mmol/mol (95% CI −0.2 to 0.0%) in the control group and intervention participants, respectively (absolute difference 0.28%; P value 0.07). Stratification by language demonstrated a significant treatment effect in Spanish speakers but not in English speakers. CONCLUSIONS Text message support can lead to clinically significant weight loss in patients with prediabetes. Further study assessing effect by primary language and in an operational setting is warranted.


Root-lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus neglectus and P. thornei) are widely distributed and substantially reduce grain yields in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-producing regions of the Pacifi c Northwest (PNW). Th e objective of this research was to determine if wheat and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivars diff er in tolerance to these nematode species. Field experiments were conducted by comparing yields in untreated and nematicide-treated plots over 3 yr at two locations infested with either P. neglectus or P. thornei. Yield improvements from nematicide application ranged from 9 to 40% for spring cereals and 6 to 17% for winter cereals. Phenotypic tolerance responses diff ered (P < 0.01) among 45 cultivars of spring cereals but not among 22 and 45 cultivars of winter cereals. Tolerance ratings were assigned to spring cereals. Th is is the fi rst report of wheat and barley tolerances to rootlesion nematodes in North America. Variability within data sets was used to estimate that 40 and 56 comparisons (experiments × replications) would be required to assign tolerance ratings at the 95% confi dence interval for spring and winter cereals, respectively. Cultivar reactions in these tests, production and economic statistics for Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, and surveys of Pratylenchus in these states were used to estimate that P. neglectus and P. thornei reduce region-wide yields as much as 5% annually, equaling 361 Gg (361,000 metric tons) valued at $51 million. It was concluded that this yield-based screening procedure was impractical for routine screening but added emphasis to the importance of these root parasites in regions with low precipitation.


Quantifying the impact of the application of sustainable transport policies is essential in order to mitigate effects of greenhouse gas emissions produced by the transport sector. One of the most common approaches used for this purpose is that of traffic modelling and simulation, which consists of emulating the operation of an entire road network. This article presents the results of fitting 8 well known data science methods for transport choice modelling, the area in which more research is needed. The models have been trained with information from Biscay province in Spain in order to match as many of its commuters as possible. Results show that the best models correctly forecast more than 51% of the trips recorded. Finally, the results have been validated with a second data set from the Silesian Voivodeship in Poland, showing that all models indeed maintain their forecasting ability.


The prevalence and effects of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cataract are increasing dramatically as the proportion of elderly in our population continues to rise. A multivitamin-multimineral supplement with a combination of vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, and zinc (with cupric oxide) is recommended for AMD but not cataract. Weak support exists for multivitamins or other vitamin supplements from observational studies of cataract. The results of observational studies suggest that a healthy lifestyle with a diet containing foods rich in antioxidants, particularly lutein and zeaxanthin, as well as n-3 fatty acids, appears beneficial for AMD and possibly cataract. The Age-Related Eye Disease Study II will evaluate some of these additional nutrients as dietary supplements in a randomized trial.


Mapping road networks today is labor-intensive. As a result, road maps have poor coverage outside urban centers in many countries. Systems to automatically infer road network graphs from aerial imagery and GPS trajectories have been proposed to improve coverage of road maps. However, because of high error rates, these systems have not been adopted by mapping communities. We propose machine-assisted map editing, where automatic map inference is integrated into existing, human-centric map editing workflows. To realize this, we build Machine-Assisted iD (MAiD), where we extend the web-based OpenStreetMap editor, iD, with machine-assistance functionality. We complement MAiD with a novel approach for inferring road topology from aerial imagery that combines the speed of prior segmentation approaches with the accuracy of prior iterative graph construction methods. We design MAiD to tackle the addition of major, arterial roads in regions where existing maps have poor coverage, and the incremental improvement of coverage in regions where major roads are already mapped. We conduct two user studies and find that, when participants are given a fixed time to map roads, they are able to add as much as 3.5x more roads with MAiD.


Objective:In the regions of Africa where female circumcision (FC) is practiced, it is often regarded as a protective against HIV infection because it is believed to help women resist "illicit" sexual acts. This study examines the association between FC, HIV status, and sexual risk behavior in Mali, while taking into account multilevel factors. The following hypothesis was tested: FC is associated with HIV-positive status but not with decreased sexual behavior. Design:The sample consists of 13,015 Malian women of reproductive age (15–49 years old). The sample is a nationally representative survey of randomly selected respondents using a stratified multistage sampling strategy. Measures included biospecimens for HIV antibody testing and survey results reporting on number of partners, sexual debut, premarital sex, and sociodemographics. Methods:Multilevel modeling was used to assess the significance of difference in HIV status and sexual behavior with FC. Multilevel modeling was also used to adjust for age, education, ethnicity, wealth, religion, region, household, and community membership. Multiple imputation with 10 imputations corrected for 10% missing data. Results:Participants with FC were at 2.100 (P < 0.001; 95% confidence interval: 1.844 to 2.389) higher odds of being HIV positive. Women with FC did not significantly differ from women without FC in number of sexual partners (P = 0.634), age of sexual debut (P = 0.888), or odds of having premarital sex (P = 0.575). Conclusions:FC is associated with HIV-positive status but not with a decrease in sexual risk behavior. These findings have important implication for FC and HIV prevention.


The mechanism of Rh2(II)-catalyzed ring expansion of ortho-cyclobutanol-substituted aryl azides to access N-heterocycles was investigated by DFT calculations. After the generation of the key Rh2(II)-N-arylnitrene intermediate (A), computational results suggest that it is more feasible to undergo proton transfer from the O–H group of the ortho-cyclobutanol moiety to the nitrene site in the singlet state, along with four-membered ring expansion via [1,2] migration in a concerted manner, to form the key intermediate (B). Subsequently, the [1,3] migration step driven by rearomatization could follow to yield the final benzazepinone product. For the substrate, ortho-cyclopentanol-substituted aryl azide, H-atom abstraction (HAA) from the proximal sp3 C–H bond in the triplet state is more favorable than competitive HAA/proton transfer from the O–H group after the formation of the rhodium N-aryl nitrene intermediate. Subsequently, the C–H bond amination product, indoline, could be obtained via a radical rebound step. The origin of the different chemoselectivities for the ortho-cyclobutanol-substituted and ortho-cyclopentanol-substituted aryl azides was discussed.


RATIONALE
Fosfomycin/tobramycin for inhalation (FTI), a unique, broad-spectrum antibiotic combination, may have therapeutic potential for patients with cystic fibrosis (CF).

OBJECTIVES
To evaluate safety and efficacy of FTI (160/40 mg or 80/20 mg), administered twice daily for 28 days versus placebo, in patients greater than or equal to 18 years of age, with CF, chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) airway infection, and FEV(1) greater than or equal to 25% and less than or equal to 75% predicted.

METHODS
This double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter study assessed whether FTI/placebo maintained FEV(1) % predicted improvements achieved following a 28-day, open-label, run-in course of aztreonam for inhalation solution (AZLI).

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
A total of 119 patients were randomized to FTI (160/40 mg: n = 41; 80/20 mg: n = 38) or placebo (n = 40). Mean age was 32 years and mean FEV(1) was 49% predicted at screening. Relative improvements in FEV(1) % predicted achieved by the AZLI run-in were maintained in FTI groups compared with placebo (160/40 mg vs. placebo: 6.2% treatment difference favoring FTI, P = 0.002 [primary endpoint]; 80/20 mg vs. placebo: 7.5% treatment difference favoring FTI, P < 0.001). The treatment effect on mean PA sputum density was statistically significant for the FTI 80/20 mg group versus placebo (-1.04 log(10) PA colony-forming units/g sputum difference, favoring FTI; P = 0.01). Adverse events, primarily cough, were consistent with CF disease. Respiratory events, including dyspnea and wheezing, were less common with FTI 80/20 mg than FTI 160/40 mg. No clinically significant differences between groups were reported for laboratory values.

CONCLUSIONS
FTI maintained the substantial improvements in FEV(1) % predicted achieved during the AZLI run-in and was well tolerated. FTI is a promising antipseudomonal therapy for patients with CF.


Purpose. This study was undertaken to address the utility of demographic characteristics and academic measures as predictors of success for the American Society for Clinical Pathology Board of Registry Medical Technologist Certification Examination (Certification Examination) Total Score and six Subscores and to find predictive models with relevance to an ethnically and racially-diverse student population. Method. The research population was the graduates of the Andrews University Program for Clinical Laboratory Sciences. The 233 subjects were from 53 different birth countries. The relationships between Certification Examination scores and both demographic characteristics and academic measures were analyzed by chi square, analysis o f variance, Pearson product-moment correlation, and multiple regression with post hoc tests where appropriate. Results. Four of the five demographic characteristics — ethnicity, geographic region of birth, English as a first or second language, and completion of the first degree or as a post-baccalaureate while attending the Program — were found to have significant relationships with Certification Examination success. Gender was significant only with the Imunology Subscore. All of the 31 academic measures variables were significantly correlated with the Total Score. The measures with the highest correlations, all above .60, with Total Score in descending order were Immunohematology and Transfusion Medicine GPA, Clinical-year Didactic GPA, Clinical Year GPA, Clinical Chemistry GPA, Cumulative Graduating GPA , and Hematology and Hemostasis GPA. Most of the academic measures variables also showed significant relationships with the six Certification Examination Subscores and with passing and failing. Correlations between the Certification Examination and academic measures variables were lower for some of the demographic subgroups, particularly Blacks, Asians, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, those born outside the United States, and those who speak English as a second language. The predictive model for the Certification Examination Total Score included two predictors: Admission science GPA and Clinical-year didactic GPA. Conclusion. Relationships were found between Certification Examination success and both demographic characteristics and academic measures. Because lower correlations were found in many analyses for demographic subgroups, educators must use caution when using models as tools to identify students at risk of failing the Certification Examination since the models do not apply equally to all groups.


Information in rural areas is essential to local development, whether it is acquired through study visits, meetings, informal networking, trading groups or publications. Information provides the basis for community decisions and is as necessary for the defence of local interests as it is for the democratic management of local organizations.

Lack of information is a constraint to rural development. Information exchange begins with direct contact between people, perhaps as a result of travel or training opportunities. Whenever we bring together farmers from different regions for training, the informal conversations that they have during meals or breaks are often more educational than the training sessions themselves. These opportunities for making contacts are what we refer to as 'informal networking' or 'corridor conversations'. It is on these occasions that meetings are arranged and reciprocal visits planned. We know of farmers from the west of our region who have taken the initiative to travel south because they have heard of an interesting development which they wish to see. It is encouraging to know that of the thirty farmer organizations in Cameroon at the present time, at least a dozen were started as a result either of these visits, or of informal meetings during training sessions.

We have therefore set up an association, or club, that provides farmers with the opportunity to make exchange visits. This club has developed from the idea that more people should have the opportunity to benefit from the informal but invaluable exchange of information that takes place when people meet. The club and the visits are ways of helping isolated farmers keep themselves informed about what happens further afield and enabling them to learn of success stories elsewhere.

In order to pursue our objective of information exchange, we have started a newsletter called La voix du paysan (The farmer's voice). The idea for this monthly newsletter was developed following a visit of Cameroon farmers to Burkina Faso. We wanted the farmers who had been able to take part in the visit to have the chance to share their experiences with those farmers who, isolated in other regions, had not had the opportunity to send a representative on the study visit. The magazine has continued and farmers are very much involved in the process of making decisions about, and producing articles for, La voix du paysan, which has become a vehicle for information exchange on all aspects of daily life in many rural areas. What is more, we soon recognized that the newsletter also gives scientists and development workers a means for starting a continuing dialogue with farmers.

In order to pursue one of the main objectives within the three-year SAILD plan of action, we have decided to help farmers strengthen their ability to consider, and negotiate for, their own development priorities. But how can farmers do this without information on which to build their thoughts and aspirations? If a village community learns that a group of people in Burkina Faso or Mali have worked together in order to build a bridge, that gives them ideas which may help them to find a solution to their own problems.

The target readership for La voix du paysan is no longer exclusively the rural farmer. Decisions which influence rural life are often taken in towns. So, how can we help people in towns and cities become aware of what is happening in rural areas? The answer is by making our newsletter available not only to rural farmers but also to city dwellers. This should create a two-way flow of exchange which, we hope, will make decision-makers better informed. Everyone knows that lack of information about what actually happens in the countryside is a serious constraint to development.

Farmers are becoming increasingly aware of the need to defend their own interests and a number of farmer organizations have grown up in rural areas. The main purpose of these organizations is to give farmers a stronger voice, although, of course, there may also be other objectives. Newsletters can help farmers to understand their rights but they can also help them to acquire the information they need to avoid unconstructive criticism and even, sometimes, to be self-critical. This is also an essential role for a newsletter.

Finally, information is important in order to strengthen democratic management of farmer organizations themselves. This is another priority in our three year plan of action. We should not talk about democracy at the national or macro level alone. Farmers have to understand that democratic values must first be honoured in their own organizations. If democracy is not respected at the micro- or local level it will obviously be very difficult to achieve it at the macro-level. So when farmers get together to discuss, for example, the role of their organizations, they must respect equally the opinion of the youth and the elderly, men and women. They must understand that as members of an association, they have rights and responsibilities towards it, as do all the other members.

If the rules are kept, the association will work well even when responsibilities are being allocated. In some organizations the president also assumes the responsibilities of treasurer or secretary, and disregards those who have been officially appointed to undertake these tasks. This results in poor management and should be denounced by members.

Even though information has a role that may sometimes be unsettling, even within a farmer association, it is nevertheless essential at every level. Information is both the driving force and the regulator of rural development.


Institutional repositories (IRs) may serve the needs of academic institutions not only by extending access to research and teaching outputs, but also by organising the internal body of knowledge and by facilitating communication, sharing and re-use. Communication and integration are essential functionalities for any IR implementation project. As to technological infrastructure, DSpace offers several advantages: its structure based on communities gives institutions the possibility to organise collections of digital materials according to the local structure. Furthermore, the workflow process facilitates interaction of different roles and stakeholders. However, technology by itself is not enough and each university must develop a pan-university strategy and organisation, to support collaboration among different communities and sectors, now working in isolation. If so far many IR implementation projects have not been effective in gathering content, one reason could be that, as yet, this second aspect has not been understood and addressed through specific policies and innovative organisational models.

This presentation will provide a summary of the results of an investigation on organisational issues, carried out on the Italian universities and research institutes having implemented a DSpace-based IR. The aim of the study was to understand if and how this organisational change has been realised, and what are the perceived obstacles to this process. Several aspects were analysed, such as the level of commitment, the establishment of policies and rules on content, quality and users, the groups and responsibilities involved, and the level of integration with indexing and cataloguing services. Data were collected through a preliminary examination of information available on each IR website and through semi-structured interviews with DSpace administrators. The presentation will focus on the key issues that have emerged and highlight some considerations which might be useful to the professionals involved in implementing IR projects.


Ceramics have kept pace with - or even led - new movements in art, from Art Nouveau, Art Deco, the Bauhaus and Futurism, through Abstract Expressionism, Pop and Performance, to Land Art and Installation Art. From orientalism and colour theory to modernism, postmodernism and the profuse diversity of approaches that has characterized the end of the 20th century, this book covers Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, the USA and Japan. The work of exceptional individuals is appraised - including Taxile Doat, Clarice Cliff, Susie Cooper, Bernard Leach, Isamu Noguchi, Hans Coper, Lucie Rie, Joan Miro, Pablo Picasso, Peter Voulkos and Adrian Saxe. The use of ceramics in other disciplines is given close attention: sculptors such as Antony Gormley and Tony Cragg, and even architects, including Frank Gehry, have made ceramics central to their practice.


Research studies in a variety of linguistic areas indicate that scholars often refer to computer technologies that become popular as a tool to reinforce the findings and provide the validity of the experimental results. This paper discusses the use of computer technologies in the acoustic analysis of speech prosody focused on the English television advertising discourse. The article aims to determine what the main prosodic characteristics of English advertising discourse are, and how they contribute to the maximum influence on the television audience. Therefore, the study relies upon the acoustic analysis using sound processing software WaveLab, Cool Edit Pro, SpectraLAB, Wasp, Sound Forge to ensure the reliability and validity of the obtained results. Moreover, the computer programs used in this research allowed us to measure the pronunciation accuracy and present results based on many experimental data, not only on the assumptions. Besides, the linguistic interpretation of the data of the perceptual and acoustic analysis of the English television advertising discourse prosody proves a strong correlation of these data. The obtained results indicate that detailed analysis of the quantitative prosodic characteristics of speech enables to get a clear picture of the prosodic organization of the English television advertising discourse. The research proves that the prosody of the English advertising discourse closely correlates with its pragmatic potential and some sociolinguistic features, namely, the social status of the viewer, contribute to the maximum influence on the television audience.


Tactile manipulation is the ability to control objects in real-time using the sense of touch. Here we examine tactile manipulation from the perspective of active touch with a biomimetic tactile sensor, which combines tactile perception with control of sensor location. Experiments are performed with the tactile fingertip mounted as end effector to a robot arm, to manipulate (roll) a cylinder in contact with the fingertip. Performance is validated with offline (cross-validation) and online (real-time operation) assessments. Location perception is finer than the sensor resolution, leading to superresolved tactile manipulation along a complex trajectory. However, the original methods were non-robust to large unknown disturbances of object location, necessitating modification of the perceptual process to diminish prior beliefs relative to past posterior beliefs. In consequence robust and accurate tactile manipulation was attained. In general, it appears there is a trade-off between the responsiveness to unknown change and manipulation accuracy, which must be set appropriately for each task.


This paper is an edited extract from the Royal College of Nursing Kathleen A Raven Lecture given at the Royal College of Surgeons on 10 June 1998

At the conclusion of the second world war Britons wanted a new order of things. Medical care had made big advances in the war, and soldiers had been offered a higher standard of care than they were likely to encounter after demobilisation. Civil servants and politicians discerned these currents long before the war ended.

Following the war, therefore, Britain would almost certainly have created a national health service without Aneurin Bevan, and even without a Labour government. Bevan had to work with the conditions he inherited and he accepted much that had been planned during the wartime coalition government. He made relatively few big decisions, but those that he made have had a profound effect on the way the service has developed.

Bevan held fast to the principle of a service funded by the taxpayer, and essentially by no other source, and his resignation from the cabinet on the issue of health charges had the effect of raising that principle to the status of a dogma. That has been an important cause of the strain experienced by the health service ever since. It has been refused sufficient funds from the taxpayer, and has never had anywhere else to turn for money. Worse, sensible discussion of alternatives has been made almost impossible ever since Bevan turned the National Health Service into a party political battleground.

#### Summary points

After the war Britain would probably have created a national health service without Aneurin Bevan. He made relatively few big decisions, but those he did make had a profound effect on the way the NHS developed

His decision to nationalise the hospitals led to the government supplying virtually all …


Bivalves are important components of benthic marine and freshwater ecosystems throughout the world. One of the most exploited bivalves used for human consumption is manila clam (Venerupis philippinarum ). In Arcachon Bay (SW France), commercial fishers and scientists have developed a monitoring survey to estimate clam stocks to assist in implementing a sustainable management strategy. The survey design that is currently used is based on standard stratified random sampling (StRS). The survey has been undertaken every 2 years since 2006. Each survey costs approximately €50 000, with funding provided by ∼20% of the commercial fishers. The survey is quite expensive, given that this resource is managed mostly at a regional level. In 2016 for instance, the survey was not done because of a shortfall in funds to support it. Recent studies on survey designs have focused on new developments that allow for higher statistical efficiency (lower sampling error) coupled with lower survey effort. Among these is the spatially balanced generalized random tessellation stratified (GRTS) design. The aim of this study is to compare the performance of the common StRS method with the GRTS design. To do this, we created a semi-virtual clam population by extrapolating the 2012 field survey results in the whole bay and simulated survey events with the two designs. We then assessed the two survey designs using three threshold precision levels (5%, 10% and 20% precision) for the two estimators of interest (biomass and abundance). We recommend the use of the GRTS design for clam surveys in Arcachon Bay. To achieve the same level of precision, GRTS requires less survey effort than StRS.


The DEPFET Collaboration develops highly granular, ultra-thin pixel detectors for outstanding vertex reconstruction at future collider experiments. A DEPFET sensor, by the integration of a field effect transistor on a fully depleted silicon bulk, provides simultaneously position sensitive detector capabilities and in-pixel amplification. The characterization of the latest DEPFET prototypes has proven that a comfortable signal to noise ratio and excellent single point resolution can be achieved for a sensor thickness of 50 micrometers. The close to final auxiliary ASICs have been produced and found to operate a DEPFET pixel detector of the latest generation with the required read-out speed. A complete detector concept is being developed for the Belle II experiment at the new Japanese super flavor factory. DEPFET is not only the technology of choice for the Belle II vertex detector, but also a solid candidate for the ILC. Therefore, in this paper, the status of DEPFET R&D project is reviewed in the light of the requirements of the vertex detector at a future electron-positron collider.


Glassy Turonian foraminifera preserved in clay-rich sediments from the western tropical Atlantic yield the warmest equivalent ?18O sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) yet reported for the entire Cretaceous-Cenozoic. We estimate Turonian SSTs that were at least as warm as (conservative mean ~30 °C) to significantly warmer (warm mean ~33 °C) than those in the region today. However, if independent evidence for high middle Cretaceous pCO2 is reliable and resulted in greater isotopic fractionation between seawater and calcite because of lower sea-surface pH, our conservative and warm SST estimates would be even higher (32 and 36 °C, respectively). Our new tropical SSTs help reconcile geologic data with the predictions of general circulation models that incorporate high Cretaceous pCO2 and lend support to the hypothesis of a Cretaceous greenhouse. Our data also strengthen the case for a Turonian age for the Cretaceous thermal maximum and highlight a 20–40 m.y. mismatch between peak Cretaceous-Cenozoic global warmth and peak inferred tectonic CO2 production. We infer that this mismatch is either an artifact of a hidden Turonian pulse in global ocean-crust cycling or real evidence of the influence of some other factor on atmospheric CO2 and/or SSTs. A hidden pulse in crust cycling would explain the timing of peak Cretaceous-Cenozoic sea level (also Turonian), but other factors are needed to explain high-frequency (~10–100 k.y.) instability in middle Cretaceous SSTs reported elsewhere.


Occlusions are a central phenomenon in multiobject computer vision. However, formal analyses (LOS14, ROC20) proposed in the spatial reasoning literature ignore many distinctions crucial to computer vision, as a result of which these algebras have been largely ignored in vision applications. Two distinctions of relevance to visual computation are (a) whether the occluder is a moving object or part of the static background, and (b) whether the visible part of an object is a connected blob or fragmented. In this work, we develop a formal model of occlusion states that combines these criteria with overlap distinctions modeled in spatial reasoning to come up with a comprehensive set of fourteen occlusion states, which we define as OCS14. Transitions between these occlusion states are an important source of information on visual activity (e.g. splits and merges). We show that the resulting formalism is representationally complete in the sense that these states constitute a partition of all possible occlusion situations based on these criteria. Finally, we show results from implementations of this approach in a test application involving static camera based scene analysis, where occlusion state analysis and multiple object tracking can be used for two tasks - (a) identifying static occluders, and (b) modeling a class of interactions represented as transitions of occlusion states. Thus, the formalism is shown to have direct relevance to actual vision applications.


OBJECTIVE
This study compared the hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment and control in Chicago, Illinois and Detroit, Michigan to that of the general United States population (aged > or = 25 years) for the period 2001-2003. We examined whether and how much 1) urban populations have less favorable hypertension-related outcomes and 2) the rates of racial/ethnic minorities lag behind those of Whites in order to determine if the national data understate the magnitude of hypertension-related outcomes and racial/ethnic disparities in two large cities in the Midwestern region of the United States and perhaps others.

METHODS
Unstandardized and standardized hypertension-related outcome rates were estimated.

RESULTS
The hypertension-related outcomes among Chicago and Detroit residents lag behind the United States by 8%-14% and 10%-18% points, respectively. Additionally, this study highlights the complexity of the racial/ethnic differences in hypertension-related outcomes, where within each population, Blacks were more likely to have hypertension and to be aware of their hypertension status than Whites, and no less likely to be treated. Conversely, Hispanics were less likely to have hypertension and also less likely to be aware of their status when they do have hypertension when compared to Whites.

CONCLUSION
At a time when efficacious treatment for hypertension has been available for more than 50 years, continued racial/ethnic differences in the prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension is among public health's greatest challenges. To achieve the proposed national hypertension-related goals, future policies must consider the social context of hypertension within central cities of urban areas.


Summary Cover crops are sown to provide a number of ecosystem services including nutrient management, mitigation of diffuse pollution, improving soil structure and organic matter content, weed suppression, nitrogen fixation and provision of resources for biodiversity. Although the decision to sow a cover crop may be driven by a desire to achieve just one of these objectives, the diversity of cover crops species and mixtures available means that there is potential to combine a number of ecosystem services within the same crop and growing season. Designing multi-functional cover crops would potentially help to reconcile the often conflicting agronomic and environmental agendas and contribute to the optimal use of land. We present a framework for integrating multiple ecosystem services delivered by cover crops that aims to design a mixture of species with complementary growth habit and functionality. The optimal number and identity of species will depend on the services included in the analysis, the functional space represented by the available species pool and the community dynamics of the crop in terms of dominance and co-existence. Experience from a project that applied the framework to fertility building leys in organic systems demonstrated its potential and emphasised the importance of the initial choice of species to include in the analysis.


The long-term well-being of the nation and maintenance of a sustainable leadership position in agriculture, forestry, and manufacturing, clearly depend on current and near-term support of multidisciplinary research for the development of a reliable renewable resource base. This document sets a roadmap and priorities for that research. America needs leadership that will continue to recognize, support, and move rapidly to meet the need to expand the use of sustainable renewable resources. This roadmap has highlighted potential ways for progress and has identified goals in specific components of the system. Achieving success with these goals will provide the opportunity to hit the vision target of a fivefold increase in renewable resource use by 2020.


ABSTRACT Young people in contemporary South Africa inhabit a multiplicity of diverse, often contradictory, economic and socio-cultural contexts. These contexts offer a range of possibilities and opportunities for the affirmation of certain identities and positionalities alongside the disavowal of others. Dress – clothes, accessories and body styling – is one of the key components through which, within specific social conditions, people perform these identities. In making statements about themselves in terms of these multiple and intersecting group (or social) historical identities, the meanings soaked into people's dress simultaneously speak to the present and their aspirations for the future. This article reports on a study that explored how a group of third year students at a South African university use dress to negotiate the multiple and intersecting identities available to them in a context characterised by neoliberal democracy and market ideologies that continue to be mediated by the racialised legacies of apartheid. The study employed a qualitative feminist discourse analysis to consider 53 semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted by third year students with other students on campus as part of an ongoing project exploring gender productions and performance. The discussion focuses on student understandings of ways in which contemporary clothes and dress signal gender. The research suggests that while there are moments in which clothes are acknowledged as expressions that can reinforce or challenge inequalities structured around gender, participants are also strongly invested in neoliberal consumerist understandings of clothes as accessories to an individualised self in ways that reinforce neoliberal market ideologies and reinstate hegemonic performances of gender.


Context. The second data release (DR2) from the European Space Agency mission Gaia took place on April 2018. DR2 included photometry for more than 1.3 × 109 sources in the three bands G, GBP, and GRP. Even though the Gaia DR2 photometry is very precise, there are currently three alternative definitions of the sensitivity curves that show significative differences.
Aims. The aim of this paper is to improve the quality of the input calibration data to produce new compatible definitions of the G, GBP, and GRP bands and to identify the reasons for the discrepancies between previous definitions.
Methods. We have searched the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) archive for Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) spectra with G430L+G750L data obtained with wide apertures and combined them with the CALSPEC library to produce a high quality spectral energy distribution (SED) library of 122 stars with a broad range of colors, including three very red stars. This library defines new sensitivity curves for G, GBP, and GRP using a functional analytical formalism.
Results. The new sensitivity curves are significantly better than the two previous attempts we use as a reference, REV (Evans et al. 2018, A&A, 616, A4) and WEI (Weiler 2018, A&A, 616, A17). For G we confirm the existence of a systematic bias in magnitude and correct a color term present in REV. For GBP we confirm the need to define two magnitude ranges with different sensitivity curves and measure the cut between them at Gphot = 10.87 mag with a significant increase in precision. The new curves also fit the data better than either REV or WEI. For GRP, our new sensitivity curve fits the STIS spectra better and the differences with previous attempts reside in a systematic effect between ground-based and HST spectral libraries. Additional evidence from color–color diagrams indicate that the new sensitivity curve is more accurate. Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement in the accuracy of the sensitivity curves because of the current dearth of good-quality red calibrators: adding more to the sample should be a priority before Gaia data release 3 takes place.


Advances in video and audio feature extraction methodology combined with adaptive processing techniques using pattern analysis models have profound implications for incorporating affect recognition into future tutoring agents. This report gives an overview of current affect recognition methodologies and the type of features that can be extracted from digital signals in the form of movement and sound analysis. There is some discussion of translating features into a set of observable human sentic data, which can be in turn 'fuzzy-mapped' to internal affective states. Issues concerning the digital representation and the resolution granularity of affective states are discussed. The final discussion concerns issues of implementing affect recognition methodology into tutoring agents.


GIS integrates a fleet of rapidly evolving skills and expertise not entirely dissimilar to other highly-applicable, highlytechnological fields. The GIS integration challenge refers to the lack of professional focus on this grey portion of the GISexpertise spectrum. These obstacles will 1) improve the ability to provide a supremely evolved spatial-decision making calculus, and 2) degrade the ability of the individual to provide an all-encompassing set of data to decision-makers. How can we as a community of interest help grapple with the diversity of booming challenges in and adjacent to our fields of expertise?


Research Data Management (RDM) presents an unusual challenge for service providers in Higher Education. There is increased awareness of the need for training in this area but the nature of discipline-specific practices involved make it difficult to provide training across a multi-disciplinary organisation. Whilst most UK universities now have a research data team of some description, they are often small and rarely have the resources necessary to provide targeted training to the different disciplines and research career stages that they are increasingly expected to support. This practice paper describes the approach taken at the University of Cambridge to address this problem by creating a community of Data Champions. This collaborative initiative, working with researchers to provide training and advocacy for good RDM practice, allows for more discipline-specific training to be given, researchers to be credited for their expertise and an opportunity for those interested in RDM to exchange knowledge with others. The 'community of practice' model has been used in many sectors, including Higher Education, to facilitate collaboration across organisational units and this initiative will adopt some of the same principles to improve communication across a decentralised institution. The Data Champions initiative at Cambridge was launched in September 2016 and this paper reports on the early months, plans for building the community in the future and the possible risks associated with this approach to providing RDM services.


Most guidance for preaching Christ from the Old Testament focuses on narratives or prophetic books. This paper focuses on the specific challenges of preaching Christ from the proverbial literature of the Old Testament. It shows how to compare and contrast biblical wisdom with cultural wisdom (in both the wider culture and the Christian subculture). Since wisdom is often indirect law, it can function as other biblical law does: convicting us of sin and driving us to Christ, who is the wisdom of God and has thus lived with perfect wisdom in our place. It can also exhibit the third use of the law, which is as a guide to wise Christian behavior.


A humanized antibody cocktail alleviates the high white blood cell count associated with severe pertussis infection and increases bacterial clearance in murine and baboon models. Outsmarting whooping cough to help infants Whooping cough continues to cause severe illness and death in infants worldwide. Whereas antibiotics are effective in the rare cases when pertussis is diagnosed early, medical interventions are limited and invasive during later stages of the disease. In an effort to help critically ill or at-risk infants, Nguyen et al. developed a cocktail of two humanized antibodies that show promise for halting disease progression. The antibodies both bind to the key virulence factor pertussis toxin at distinct sites, mitigating its damaging effects. In murine and baboon models, antibody treatment increased bacterial clearance and curtailed the rise in white blood cell counts associated with poor prognosis in infants. Despite widespread vaccination, pertussis rates are rising in industrialized countries and remain high worldwide. With no specific therapeutics to treat disease, pertussis continues to cause considerable infant morbidity and mortality. The pertussis toxin is a major contributor to disease, responsible for local and systemic effects including leukocytosis and immunosuppression. We humanized two murine monoclonal antibodies that neutralize pertussis toxin and expressed them as human immunoglobulin G1 molecules with no loss of affinity or in vitro neutralization activity. When administered prophylactically to mice as a binary cocktail, antibody treatment completely mitigated the Bordetella pertussis–induced rise in white blood cell counts and decreased bacterial colonization. When administered therapeutically to baboons, antibody-treated, but not untreated control animals, experienced a blunted rise in white blood cell counts and accelerated bacterial clearance rates. These preliminary findings support further investigation into the use of these antibodies to treat human neonatal pertussis in conjunction with antibiotics and supportive care.


Rates of origination and extinction for marine invertebrates fell at the onset of the late Paleozoic ice age in late Mississippian time and remained low until glaciation ended in middle Permian time. Through the use of a database of stratigraphic and geographic occurrences of brachiopod genera, these macroevolutionary changes are traced to the loss of genera with narrow latitudinal ranges, which had intrinsically high turnover rates, at the onset of glaciation in late Visean time. When glaciation waned in late Sakmarian time, narrowly distributed genera rebounded abruptly and restored the global fauna to its pre– ice-age configuration. Because narrowly distributed brachiopod genera had dominated tropical diversity, the major biotic effects of the late Paleozoic ice age were felt at low latitudes. The climatic regime of this ice age thus altered the marine ecosystem to one characterized by broadly adapted, long-lived genera.


People love to take images, but are not so willing to annotate the images af-terwards with relevant tags. Manually tagging images is both subjective (dependent on annotator) and time consuming. It would be nice if the tag-ging process could be done automatically. A requirement for effective searching and retrieval of images in rapid growing online image databases is that each image has accurate and useful annotation.

This thesis shows that automatic tagging of images with relevant tags is possible by using a combination of the capture location, the date/time when the image was captured and an image category. The use of image categories (together with location and date/time) ensures that many relevant tags are returned and restrict the occurrence of noisy tags to a very low level despite using a noisy image database (Flickr). Other methods used for further re-stricting noise are to restrict usage of more than one image from same user (as basis for tagging the query image) and a dynamic approach for using many images when possible, and fewer images when not many relevant im-ages are found.

The designed system is able to tag an image as long as there are a sufficient number of geo-referenced and already tagged images that is relevant for the query image available on Flickr. The query image must also have been geo-referenced and it is assumed that the user provides an image category. Im-ages are processed based on which category the images belongs to, i.e. an image is processed with the best method to handle images belonging to that specific category. In short, this means that images of objects or places are processed differently than images from events.

The evaluation of the system indicates that usage of image categories is very helpful when tagging images. The system finds more relevant tags and fewer noisy tags than baseline systems using only location. It also performs good compared to a system using both location and content-based image analysis.


In this essay, I demonstrate that literacy is not necessary for participation in a deliberative democracy. First, I examine the literature on the subject and demonstrate how the necessity of literacy has either been assumed or left entirely unquestioned. I argue that this is a significant gap with major conceptual and normative significance since several democracies have very high illiteracy rates. I reflect upon the overwhelming focus on ideal theory as a method of conceptual and normative analysis, and its inability to provide guidance in cases that depart radically from the ideal- but which are a normal feature of political life in many societies. Next, I examine hypothetical reasons that might be offered against the possibility of illiterate citizens participating meaningfully in the deliberative democratic process. I discuss what it means to be informed, by examining the informational requirements that central principles of deliberative democracy impose upon citizens. This is not an exhaustive account of what it means to be politically informed, but I hope that demonstrating how citizens can satisfy these necessary conditions is instructive in highlighting biases implicit in the objections to my thesis. I highlight the role of non-literary sources and informal political conversation and argue that, while deliberative democrats are correct in criticizing them for their weak deliberative quality, they ought to recognize the informational role that such sites play in the deliberative system. Finally, I end by examining how scepticism towards the possibility of deliberative democracy in semi-literate societies is rooted in biases against non-western experiences of the public sphere and political communication. Deliberative democracy can operate, imperfectly perhaps, even in such unfavourable conditions.


Operations Constructed is a program a couple students developed to help enhance the material delivery process on-site through innovation. Through partnering a construction management student and a computer engineering student the team developed Operations Constructed which modernized the material delivery process. Through industry research, Cal Poly Entrepreneurship mentorship, and faculty input the team produced a program that is simplistic enough for the old-school construction industry. Presently many construction companies use white boards or excel sheets to schedule their material deliveries whereas Operations Constructed would provide an automated means of coordination, confirmation, and execution of the same deliveries. The final product is a completely functional website that construction companies can use to locate all information pertaining to any specific material delivery.


Widespread application of beta-cell replacement strategies for diabetes is dependent upon the availability of an unlimited supply of cells exhibiting appropriate glucose-responsive insulin secretion. Therefore, a great deal of effort has been focused on understanding the factors that control beta-cell growth. Previously, we found that human beta-cell-enriched islet cultures can be stimulated to proliferate, but expansion was limited by growth arrest after 10-15 cell divisions. Here, we have investigated the mechanism behind the growth arrest. Our studies, including analyses of the expression of senescence-associated beta-galactosidase, p16(INK4a) levels, and telomere lengths, indicate that cellular senescence is responsible for limiting the number of cell divisions that human beta-cells can undergo. The senescent phenotype was not prevented by retroviral transduction of the hTERT gene, although telomerase activity was induced. These results have implications for the use of primary human islet cells in cell transplantation therapies for diabetes.


Mathematical modeling and the simulation of complex physical systems are emerging as key technologies in engineering. The availability of static analyzers and automatic debuggers for detecting structural and numerical inconsistencies in the simulation models is crucial. To address this need, the authors propose a methodology for detecting and repairing overconstrained and underconstrained situations based on graph-theoretical approaches. Components and equations that cause the irregularities are automatically isolated, and meaningful error messages for the user are elaborated. The authors have implemented the AMOEBA (Automatic Modelica Equation-Based Analyzer) environment to support the development and specification of correct equation-based simulation models by applying graph-theoretical approaches and semiautomatic debugging techniques. The implementation architecture and preliminary experiments with a prototype debugger integrated in the symbolic and numeric engine, ModSimPack, of the Modelica language compiler are presented and discussed.


Diagnosing early stage Parkinson's disease (PD) is still a clinical challenge. Previous studies using iron, neuromelanin (NM) measures or the Nigrosome-1 (N1) sign in the substantia nigra (SN) by themselves have been unable to provide sufficiently high diagnostic performance for these methods to be adopted clinically. Our goal in this study was to extract the NM complex volume, iron content and volume representing the entire SN, and the N1 sign as potential complementary imaging biomarkers using a single 3D magnetization transfer contrast (MTC) gradient echo sequence and to evaluate their diagnostic performance and clinical correlations in early stage PD. A total of 40 early stage idiopathic PD subjects and 40 ageand sex-matched healthy controls (HCs) were imaged at 3T. NM boundaries (representing the SN pars compacta (SNpc) and parabrachial pigmented nucleus) and iron boundaries representing the total SN (SNpc and SN pars reticulata) were determined semi-automatically using a dynamic programming (DP) boundary detection algorithm. Receiver operating characteristic analyses were performed to evaluate the utility of these imaging biomarkers in diagnosing early stage PD. A correlation analysis was used to study the relationship between these imaging measures and the clinical scales. We also introduced the concept of NM and total iron overlap volumes to demonstrate the loss of NM relative to the iron containing SN. Furthermore, all 80 cases were evaluated for the N1 sign independently. The NM and SN volumes were lower while the iron content was higher in the SN for PD subjects compared to HCs. Interestingly, the PD subjects with bilateral loss of the N1 sign had the highest iron content. The area under the curve (AUC) values for the average of both hemispheres for single measures were: .960 for NM complex volume; .788 for total SN volume; .740 for SN iron content and .891 for the N1 sign. Combining NM complex volume with each of the following measures through binary logistic regression led to AUC values for the averaged right and left sides of: .976 for total iron content; .969 for total SN volume, .965 for overlap volume and .983 for the N1 sign. We found a negative correlation between SN volume and UPDRS-III (R 2 = .22, p = .002). While the N1 sign performed well, it does not contain any information about iron content or NM quantitatively, therefore, marrying this sign with the NM and iron measures provides a better physiological explanation of what is happening when the N1 sign disappears in PD subjects. In summary, the combination of NM complex volume, SN volume, iron content and the N1 sign as derived from a single MTC sequence provides complementary information for understanding and diagnosing early stage PD.


This paper considers a joint antenna selection method in amplify-and-forward (AF) relay networks where the source, relay and destination terminals are all equipped with multiple antennas. The fact that the system's full diversity can be maintained by antenna selection at each terminal makes it a promising solution to reduce the hardware complexity of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) terminals while realizing the diversity benefits of MIMO in relay networks. Since the exhaustive search for antenna subset selection is computationally prohibitive, we devise a low-complexity near-optimal joint antenna selection algorithm based on a constrained cross entropy optimization (CCEO) method to maximize the achievable rate and the convergence is guaranteed. Simulation results reveal both the effectiveness and the efficiency of the proposed algorithm and the significant performance improvement over other benchmark selection techniques. Finally, it is illustrated that the proposed CCEO algorithm can always achieve near-optimal results regardless of the number of selected antennas, outage probabilities and the signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) at the terminals.


The ability to use large databases to classify estuaries on the basis of any number of characteristics may be valuable in planning a national system of estuarine reserves in Australia which will conserve the range of variability within and between regions.

A recently completed inventory of Australian estuaries and marine embayments has provided quantitative data on a large number of estuaries from which comparisons are made with existing classifications based on qualitative descriptions.

Area measurements are analysed for mangroves, salt marsh/clay pan, seagrass, intertidal flats and open water from 571 tropical and subtropical estuaries north from Carnarvon on the west coast around to Coffs Harbour on the east.

The relative proportions of mangroves and salt marsh within estuaries show strong relationships with average annual rainfall although there are no consistent trends in the absolute area of each wetland type.

The estuaries are classified into three distinct groups on the basis of rainfall and the dominant wetland type.

Greater tide range coincides with a greater area per estuary of all wetland types. As with rainfall, the estuaries fall into three categories of wetland proportions.


The excited-state dynamics of the push-pull azobenzene Methyl Orange (MO) were investigated in several solvents and water/glycerol mixtures using a combination of ultrafast time-resolved fluorescence and transient absorption in both the UV-visible and the IR regions, as well as quantum chemical calculations. Optical excitation of MO in its trans form results in the population of the S2 ππ* state and is followed by internal conversion to the S1 nπ* state in ∼50 fs. The population of this state decays on the sub-picosecond timescale by both internal conversion to the trans ground state and isomerisation to the cis ground state. Finally, the cis form converts thermally to the trans form on a timescale ranging from less than 50 ms to several minutes. Significant differences depending on the hydrogen-bond donor strength of the solvents, quantified by the Kamlet Taft parameter α, were observed: compared to the other solvents, in highly protic solvents (α > 1), (i) the viscosity dependence of the S1 state lifetime is less pronounced, (ii) the S1 state lifetime is shorter by a factor of ≈1.5 for the same viscosity, (iii) the trans-to-cis photoisomerisation efficiency is smaller, and (iv) the thermal cis-to-trans isomerisation is faster by a factor of ≥103. These differences are explained in terms of hydrogen-bond interactions between the solvent and the azo nitrogen atoms of MO, which not only change the nature of the S1 state but also have an impact on the shape of ground- and excited-state potentials, and, thus, affect the deactivation pathways from the excited state.

publisher-specific, author manuscript: http://rsc.li/journals-terms-of-use


Selection of an appropriate value for Manning's roughness coefficient could significantly impact the accuracy of a hydraulic model. However, it is highly variable and depends on flow circumstances, such as water stage and flow quantity; a stream's geomorphology, such as the fluvial process and river meandering; and physical conditions, such as the channel surface roughness and irregularities. Nevertheless, choosing proper roughness coefficients is not easy, especially with limited information and time in a practical application. Even it is done for a specific event it may not apply to another event due to its time- and site-dependency. This study proposes a Visual Basic (VB)-based system, which integrates the HEC-RAS modeling tool and the μGA to efficiently search for Manning's roughness coefficients. The matching coefficients will thereafter improve the accuracy of hydraulic modeling. Two events in the Yilan River Basin were applied to test the feasibility of the system and four evaluation criteria were used to evaluate the system performance. The results showed that μGA efficiently converged and the hydraulic model showed good agreement in comparison with the measured data. The system can be used as a good tool for finding onsite Manning's roughness coefficients in hydraulic modeling when detailed information is not available.


Synthetic biology aims to apply engineering principles toward the development of novel biological systems for biotechnology and medicine. Despite efforts to expand the set of high-performing parts for genetic circuits, achieving more complex circuit functions has often been limited by the idiosyncratic nature and crosstalk of commonly utilized parts. Here, we present a molecular programming strategy that implements RNA-based repression of translation using de-novo-designed RNAs to realize high-performance orthogonal parts with mRNA detection and multi-input logic capabilities. These synthetic post-transcriptional regulators, termed toehold repressors and three-way junction (3WJ) repressors, efficiently suppress translation in response to cognate trigger RNAs with nearly arbitrary sequences using thermodynamically and kinetically favorable linear-linear RNA interactions. Automated in silico optimization of thermodynamic parameters yields improved toehold repressors with up to 300-fold repression, while in-cell SHAPE-Seq measurements of 3WJ repressors confirm their designed switching mechanism in living cells. Leveraging the absence of sequence constraints, we identify eight- and 15-component sets of toehold and 3WJ repressors, respectively, that provide high orthogonality. The modularity, wide dynamic range, and low crosstalk of the repressors enable their direct integration into ribocomputing devices that provide universal NAND and NOR logic capabilities and can perform multi-input RNA-based logic. We demonstrate these capabilities by implementing a four-input NAND gate and the expression NOT((A1 AND A2) OR (B1 AND B2)) in Escherichia coli. These features make toehold and 3WJ repressors important new classes of translational regulators for biotechnological applications.


To support the exploding business-tobusiness e-commerce across different platforms, MicroSoft proposed the BizTalk Initiatives in March 1999. The objective of this paper is to examine BizTalk, Microsoft's Business-toBusiness E-Commerce Strategy. Examples of the three main components of Biztalk, including the BizTalk Framework, the BizTalk.org community and repository of published schemas, and Microsoft's BizTalk server will be presented. BizTalk framework is based on XML. BizTalk enables application integration over the Internet. However, some see BizTalk as Microsoft's attempt to control the e-commerce platform.


The popular beta-binomial approach to credibility offers an attractive way of combining the results of experience and risk rating. However, when applied to a particular age the information available from surrounding ages is ignored. In this paper I propose an augmentation to the beta-binomial approach which not only allows for the information contained in ages near to the age under analysis, but also for variation in risk types across the different ages.


Since the very birth of democracy in ancient Greece, the simple act of voting has given rise to mathematical paradoxes that have puzzled some of the greatest philosophers, statesmen, and mathematicians. Numbers Rule traces the epic quest by these thinkers to create a more perfect democracy and adapt to the ever-changing demands that each new generation places on our democratic institutions.

 In a sweeping narrative that combines history, biography, and mathematics, George Szpiro details the fascinating lives and big ideas of great minds such as Plato, Pliny the Younger, Ramon Llull, Pierre Simon Laplace, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, John von Neumann, and Kenneth Arrow, among many others. Each chapter in this riveting book tells the story of one or more of these visionaries and the problem they sought to overcome, like the Marquis de Condorcet, the eighteenth-century French nobleman who demonstrated that a majority vote in an election might not necessarily result in a clear winner. Szpiro takes readers from ancient Greece and Rome to medieval Europe, from the founding of the American republic and the French Revolution to today's high-stakes elective politics. He explains how mathematical paradoxes and enigmas can crop up in virtually any voting arena, from electing a class president, a pope, or prime minister to the apportionment of seats in Congress.

 Numbers Rule describes the trials and triumphs of the thinkers down through the ages who have dared the odds in pursuit of a just and equitable democracy.


Current research has shown that different sites of the human body house different bacterial communities. There is a strong correlation between an individual's microbial community profile at a given site and the onset of disease. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a progressive lung disease resulting in narrowing of the airways and restricted airflow. Despite being the third leading cause of death in the United States, little is known about the differences in the lung microbial community profiles of healthy individuals vs. COPD patients. Metagenomics is the culture-independent study of genetic material obtained directly from samples. A metagenomic analysis of 56 individuals was conducted. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples were collected from COPD patients, active or ex-smokers, and never smokers. 454 pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA was performed and analyzed using a newly designed, modular bioinformatic workflow. Substantial colonization of the lungs was found in all subjects and differentially abundant genera in each group were identified (including Tropheryma in COPD and Sneathia in smokers). These discoveries are promising and may further our understanding of how the structure of the lung microbiome is modified as COPD progresses. It is also anticipated that the results will eventually lead to improved treatments for COPD.


Two Harris9 hawks were trained to fly along horizontal and climbing flight paths, while carrying loads of various masses, to provide data for estimating available muscle power during short flights. The body mass of both hawks was about 920 g, and they were able to carry loads up to 630 g in horizontal flight. The rate of climb decreased with increasing all-up mass, as also did the climbing power (product of weight and rate of climb). Various assumptions about the aerodynamic power in low-speed climbs led to estimates of the maximum power output of the flight muscles ranging from 41 to 46 W. This, in turn, would imply a stress during shortening of around 210 kPa. The effects of a radio package on a bird that is raising young should be considered in relation to the food load that the forager can normally carry, rather than in relation to its body mass.


The occurrence of mould in food and animal feed is a severe problem due to the secondary metabolites, called mycotoxins, which can possess toxic activity. Aspergillus fumigatus is a common fungus found in improperly stored animal feed and the abundance of spores of the fungus is frequently spread into the air. Gliotoxin has been identified as one of the most toxic second metabolites produced by A. fumigatus. Although A. fumigatus is known to produce mycotoxins that induce neurological syndromes, the neurotoxic properties of gliotoxin have not previously been studied. In this thesis a neurotoxic activity of gliotoxin was demonstrated by using differentiated human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells as a surrogate for the nervous system. The major findings were as follows: i. Gliotoxin is highly toxic to SH-SY5Y cells and there is a correlation between the toxicity and the cellular redox status. ii. Gliotoxin reduces the number of neurites, but does not affect the cell bodies morphologically, at non-cytotoxic concentrations. This indicates that the toxin may induce peripheral axonopathy in vivo. iii. The intracellular free Ca2+ concentration is increased after exposure to gliotoxin, an effect that is the most ubiquitous feature of neuronal cell death. Simultaneously, calpains and caspases, proteases known to be involved in neuronal death and axonal degeneration, are activated. iv. The observed irreversible neurite degenerative effects of gliotoxin are mainly dependent on caspase activation, whereas calpains are involved in the gliotoxin-induced cytotoxicity. v. Gliotoxin induces a decreased rate of protein synthesis at non-cytotoxic concentration, which may contribute to the degeneration of neurites. vi. We did also succeed in developing an in vitro method for determination of toxic activity in animal feed. This study was done in collaboration with National Veterinary Institute (SVA) in Uppsala, and the method is today established and in use at Department of Animal Feed, SVA.


The crust-mantle (Moho) density contrast beneath Antarctica was estimated based on solving the Vening Meinesz-Moritz isostatic problem and using constraining information from a seismic global crustal model (CRUST2.0). The solution was found by applying a least-squares adjustment by elements method. Global geopotential model (GOCO02S), global topographic/bathymetric model (DTM2006.0), ice-thickness data for Antarctica (assembled by the BEDMAP project) and global crustal model (CRUST2.0) were used for computing isostatic gravity anomalies. Since CRUST2.0 data for crustal structures under Antarctica are not accurate (due to a lack of seismic data in this part of the world), Moho density contrast was determined relative to a reference homogenous crustal model having 2,670 kg/m3 constant density. Estimated values of Moho density contrast were between 160 and 682 kg/m3. The spatial distribution of Moho density contrast resembled major features of the Antarctic's continental and surrounding oceanic tectonic plate configuration; maxima exceeding 500 kg/m3 were found throughout the central part of East Antarctica, with an extension beneath the Transantarctic mountain range. Moho density contrast in West Antarctica decreased to 400-500 kg/m3, except for local maxima up to ~ 550 kg/m3 in the central Antarctic Peninsula.


Abstract Disjunctive Answer Set Programming is a powerful declarative programming paradigm with complexity beyond NP. Identifying classes of programs for which the consistency problem is in NP is of interest from the theoretical standpoint and can potentially lead to improvements in the design of answer set programming solvers. One of such classes consists of dual-normal programs, where the number of positive body atoms in proper rules is at most one. Unlike other classes of programs, dual-normal programs have received little attention so far. In this paper we study this class. We relate dual-normal programs to propositional theories and to normal programs by presenting several inter-translations. With the translation from dual-normal to normal programs at hand, we introduce the novel class of body-cycle free programs, which are in many respects dual to head-cycle free programs. We establish the expressive power of dual-normal programs in terms of SE- and UE-models, and compare them to normal programs. We also discuss the complexity of deciding whether dual-normal programs are strongly and uniformly equivalent.


Social Media have emerged as an additional source of information for companies. Regarding
an analysis of the huge data volumes within the Social Web, other approaches than manually
analyzing social content are needed. Thus, Social Media Analytics (SMA) applications have
emerged in recent years and have become inevitable for automatically generating valuable insights.
However, these tools still suffer different shortcomings, which inhibit a deeper analysis
and understanding of data. This research investigates and categorizes currently available analytics
methods by outlining literature and analyzing practical applications. Furthermore, it
draws a line between descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics in the field of Social
Media Analytics. As a result, this research complements existing research with strategic questions,
possible outcomes of SMA applications, and enabling methods to compute these outcomes,
and finally defines a research agenda.


Evapotranspiration (ET) is one of the most critical components of terrestrial water balance. Estimating reliable ET across a large region is, however, difficult due to the limited number of ground monitoring stations and the heterogeneous land surface conditions. In this work, spatially distributed monthly ET estimates in the Krishna River Basin, India, were derived using Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data and the ground monitoring data sets from local meteorological stations for the 1983 to 2001 time period. A modified Penman–Monteith model with biome‐specific canopy conductance was used to estimate the 8‐km AVHRR ET. Ground validation was conducted using the lysimeter measurements and Landsat‐ and MODIS‐based ET estimates from the same model aggregated to the AVHRR scale. The difference between the lysimeter measurements and 30‐m Landsat estimates was only 5.3%, and the mean difference between the aggregated Landsat ET and the AVHRR ET estimates was <14%. The AVHRR ET estimates of this study showed that the basin‐average ET increased continuously at the mean rate of 4.97 mm yr−1 yr−1 in the Krishna River Basin during 1983 to 2001. The subbasin‐scale ET analyses showed an increasing trend of ET in the upstream subbasins, where irrigation development was active in the 1980s, compared with the other subbasins. Further sensitivity analyses based on land‐use information showed that the increased ET in the basin is mainly due to the development of irrigation that occurred during the study period.


I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. Abstract This thesis examines the feasibility of assimilating space borne remotely-sensed microwave data into WATClass using the ensemble Kalman filter. WATClass is a meso-scale gridded hydrological model used to track water and energy budgets of watersheds by way of real-time remotely sensed data. By incorporating remotely-sensed soil moisture estimates into the model, the model's soil moisture estimates can be improved, thus increasing the accuracy of the entire model. Due to the differences in scale between the remotely sensed data and WATClass, and the need of ground calibration for accurate soil moisture estimation from current satellite-borne active microwave remote sensing platforms, the spatial variability of soil moisture must be determined in order to characterise the dependency between the remotely-sensed estimates and the model data and subsequently to assimilate the remotely-sensed data into the model. Two sets of data – 1996-1997 Grand River watershed data and 2002-2003 Roseau River watershed data – are used to determine the spatial variability. The results of this spatial analysis however are found to contain too much error due to the small sample size. It is therefore recommended that a larger set of data with more samples both spatially and temporally be taken. The proposed algorithm is tested with simulated data in a simulation of WATClass. Using nominal values for the estimated errors and other model parameters, the assimilation of remotely sensed data is found to reduce the absolute RMS error in soil moisture from 0.095 to approximately 0.071. The sensitivities of the improvement in soil moisture estimates by using the proposed algorithm to several different parameters are examined. iv Acknowledgements


One of the most promising lines of research towards discovering global predictive models from physically distributed data sets is local learning and model integration. Local learning avoids moving raw data around the distributed nodes and minimizes communication, coordination and synchronization cost. However, the integration of local models is not a straightforward process. Majority Voting is a simple solution that works well in some domains, but it does not always offer the best predictive performance. Stacking on the other hand, offers flexibility in modelling, but brings along the problem of how to train on sufficient and at the same time independent data without the cost of moving raw data around the distributed nodes. In addition, the scalability of Stacking with respect to the number of distributed nodes is another important issue that has not yet been substantially investigated. This paper presents a framework for constructing a global predictive model from local classifiers that does not require moving raw data around, achieves high predictive accuracy and scales up efficiently with respect to large numbers of distributed data sets.


Matching logic reachability has been recently proposed as an alternative program verification approach. Unlike Hoare logic, where one defines a language-specific proof system that needs to be proved sound for each language separately, matching logic reachability provides a language-independent and sound proof system that directly uses the trusted operational semantics of the language as axioms. Matching logic reachability thus has a clear practical advantage: it eliminates the need for an additional semantics of the same language in order to reason about programs, and implicitly eliminates the need for tedious soundness proofs. What is not clear, however, is whether matching logic reachability is as powerful as Hoare logic. This paper introduces a technique to mechanically translate Hoare logic proof derivations into equivalent matching logic reachability proof derivations. The presented technique has two consequences: first, it suggests that matching logic reachability has no theoretical limitation over Hoare logic; and second, it provides a new approach to prove Hoare logics sound.


This thesis presents the research works that has been carried out in the development and characterizations of light sources based on two gain medium, namely Erbium and Brillouin. The laser gain medium used in the research work is in the form of optical fiber rather than bulk piece of doped crystal or glass. The physical structure of the gain medium makes it easy to be spliced with other optical components in the Fiber laser configurations. The Brillouin gain comes from a standard single mode fiber used in the optical fiber communication system. The aim of the research work is to investigate various techniques in Fiber laser that allow the generation of multiple laser output (or multi-wavelength) from a single light source unit. The techniques differ from each other in the wavelength selection mechanism and the gain medium used in the configurations.

In the first experiment, optical fiber Bragg grating has been chosen as the wavelength selective technique. Through this configuration, a dual and switchable laser output can be constructed. The output of the laser can be made to switch between single wavelength or with both wavelengths lases simultaneously. A moderate laser output power (about 10 mW at 60 mW EDF pump power) has also been achieved with both output power has a uniform power level. The multi-wavelength output can be easily increased through the addition of more optical fiber Bragg grating.

Through a linear fiber laser configuration which incorporates Fabry-Perot band-pass filter, a dual laser output system has been demonstrated. A novel technique has been suggested which allows for a uniform output power levels at any wavelengths within the EDF allowable gain profile. This was achieved by varying the optical attenuator values placed at one of the laser cavity loops such that it changes the cavity loss at that particular wavelength of interest.

Finally, by combining two gain medium within a laser cavity, a fiber laser system that is capable of achieving high number of laser outputs is being constructed. The mechanism that is responsible for the generation of the multiple laser output is the Stimulated Brillouin scattering phenomena and the feedback loop that is incorporated within the laser cavity. Output of more than 20 laser lines could be achieved with such configuration. Besides producing a high number of laser lines, the output can also be made tuneable within a wide range. A tuning range of up to 34 nm has been demonstrated for a ring laser configuration and 17 nm for linear laser configuration. The work presented in this thesis also reported for the first time a tuneable L-band Brillouin/Erbium fiber laser system adopting a linear laser cavity. A tuning range of up to11 nm can be achieved with average laser output of 10 signals.


Objective: To assess weight bearing of dogs treated for unilateral cranial cruciate ligament insufficiency with a custom stifle orthotic. Background: Cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) insufficiency is the most common cause of hind limb lameness in dogs. While there are numerous options for surgical management, surgery is not always an option. Recently, the use of canine stifle orthotics has also emerged as a means to non-surgically manage patients with cranial cruciate ligament insufficiency.  Evidentiary value: This is a retrospective study of ten dogs treated for unilateral cranial cruciate ligament rupture with a stifle orthotic. Methods: Medical records (January 2005- December 2012) of ten dogs treated for unilateral cranial cruciate ligament rupture with a stifle orthotic were reviewed.  Temporospatial gait analysis was performed using a pressure sensing walkway at baseline and 90 days or greater post orthotic placement to identify weight bearing with total pressure index % (TPI%). Results: TPI% improved significantly by 5.1% in the affected limb when compared to baseline ( p = 0.0020). At final gait analysis, TPI% significantly improved by 3% in the affected limb with the orthotic off when compared to the unaffected limb ( p = 0.0020). Conclusion: Custom canine stifle orthotics allow for improved weight bearing in the affected limb. Application : Custom canine stifle orthotics should be considered for cases with concurrent medical conditions or financial constraints that do not allow for surgical intervention.


"Why does the Western world look to migrant laborers to perform the most menial tasks? What compels people to leave their homes and accept this humiliating situation? In A Seventh Man, John Berger and Jean Mohr come to grips with what it is to be a migrant worker--the material circumstances and the inner experience--and, in doing so, reveal how the migrant is not so much on the margins of modern life, but absolutely central to it. First published in 1975, this finely wrought exploration remains as urgent as ever, presenting a mode of living that pervades the countries of the West and yet is excluded from much of its culture."