A smart city with huge numbers of physical (e.g., sensors and actuators) and non-physical (e.g., external databases) data sources will continuously produce high amounts of massive city-data. Distributed data storage across the city may store the produced city-data. City managers through different update mechanisms may send the produced city-data from distributed data storage to centralized data storage (e.g., Cloud data storage). Hence, the data discovery issues are in a vital position in the smart city concepts because the produced city-data may exist in different data storage platforms from distributed to centralized data. In this paper, we will first present our proposed Distributed-to-Centralized Information and Communications Technology (D2C-ICT) architecture for the Zero Emission Neighborhoods (ZEN) center. This proposed D2C-ICT architecture can provide multiple facilities from the joined benefits of distributed and centralized technologies in smart cities. Second, we will show how the Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) cost model can be beneficial to find the appropriate data for building city services across the different storage platforms on the city scale as well as can be applied in the ZEN center and its pilots.


Visual has always been recognized as one of the most important sensory systems involved in the implementation of many athletic skills because of the close and necessary relationship with performing the movements, and it is considered particularly important by specialists in learning and motor control. Today, in addition to assessing the key indices in athletic performance (physical, medical, psychological and nutritional evaluations), visual skills assessment is also held in great importance. In this regard, the present study aims to answer the question of whether the difference between the visual skills of athletes (team and individual) and non-athletes is significant. For this purpose, 85 subjects (44 non-athletes, 22 athletes in team sports, and 19 athletes in individual sports) participated in this study and were selected using purposive sampling. The research instrument was "sports vision tests of Wilson and Falkel (2004)". The psychometric properties of this test were studied and confirmed through the correlation between the referees and retest method. The results of the statistical analyses showed that there were significant differences between focusing (P=0.001), tracking (P=0.0001), sequencing (p=0.009), eye-hand coordination (P=0.0001), and vergence (P=0.015) of all-girl teams and individual sports athletes with non-athletes. Just as female individual and team sports athletes were better in focusing and tracking than non-athletes, individual sports athletes were better in sequencing than team sports athletes and non-athletes, and non-athletes were better in eye-hand coordination and vergence. However, in regards to visualization, no significant difference was observed between the three groups. According to the results, participation in sports activities, regardless of the type of activity, helps an individual to obtain better abilities in the visual system and its skills. Additionally, the role of visual skills in individual and team fields is different; therefore, due to the importance of vision, it is recommended that coaches consider special planning along with other motor capabilities.


As policy makers seek to integrate a serious sociological and environmental issue into energy production, the typical utility is faced with not only technology upgrades, but also dealing with new systemic events that occur far beyond its franchise borders. Adding renewable energy resources into the existing bulk generation power system can be accomplished through a smarter power grid when the integration includes complex, end-to-end control strategies and consumer incentives to participate. Application of renewable resources will provide environmentally clean, and eventually, cost effective energy alternatives to the existing mix of electric generation assets. An even more interesting consideration is that integrating distributed energy resources (DER) will likely become the normal state, as siting transmission becomes more challenging. DER requires addressing facets of both the underlying analog-centric electrical power system and the nascent digital-centric information infrastructure. As smart grid develops, integration and optimization of grid control logic are areas that stand as key enablers to a rapid growth of renewable generation. This paper presents a serious discussion of the impact significant renewable energy generation can wage against the existing power system and how sophisticated smart grid control elements can address its integration into distributed energy systems. Technology addressing these concepts is under development now by General MicroGrids' Microgrid research and development program in San Diego California.


In this work we present a stability-preserving projection framework for model reduction of linear systems. Specifically, given one projection matrix (e.g. a right-projection matrix), we derive a set of linear constraints for the other projection matrix (e.g. the left-projection matrix) resulting in a projection framework that is guaranteed to generate a stable reduced model. Several efficient techniques for solving the proposed system of constraints are presented, including an optimization problem formulation for finding the optimal stabilizing projection, and a formulation with computational complexity independent of the size of the original system. The resulting algorithms can create accurate stable and passive models of arbitrary indefinite systems at a significantly cheaper cost than existing methods such as balanced truncation. Nevertheless, our algorithms integrate fully and effortlessly with most of the available standard model order reduction approaches for very large systems generated in VLSI applications (such as moment-matching methods, POD, or poor manpsilas TBR), which can guarantee stability and passivity only in very specialized cases. Our algorithms have been tested on a large variety of typical VLSI applications, including field-solver-extracted models of RF inductors for analog applications, power distribution grids for large VLSI digital integrated circuits, and MEMS devices for sensing and actuation applications. The results have been successfully compared to those from existing and much more expensive stabilizing reduction techniques.


In recent years, with the rapid development of the economy. The development of sports gradually lead the development trend of the times today. Especially in the sport of Kungfu free combat by more and more people of all ages gradually. Now on how to enhance the awareness of the quality of Chinese Kungfu free combat athletes become one of the hot research topics in sports industry. This paper on the four factor model based on the will of the quality evaluation of Chinese Kungfu free combat athletes scale was investigated. At the same time, firstly give a relevant summary to willpower quality, and then draw support from expert interview,open questionnaire survey and the investigation to our country's Kungfu free combat athlete, to establish the four factor model of our country's Kungfu free combat athlete, so that to compile to the evaluated form of it, finally, analyze to the result.


Published by Topographies of the Obsolete Publications, November 2015, (peer reviewed)
This publication focused upon the exhibition 'Topographies of the Obsolete: Vociferous Void', which formed part of the British Ceramics Biennial in 2013. Chloe Brown's chapter entitled 'Dancing in the Boardroom', took the experience of researching in the abandoned Spode ceramics factory as a starting point in order to unpick and reflect on the development of her film 'Dancing in the Boardroom (Turnin' my Heartbeat Up)' that arose out of this process and the questions that this film asks in relation to post-industry, dance, music and the subtle rebellion of dancing in a forbidden place. This publication is part of the Topographies of the Obsolete international research project, with involvement of multi disciplinary artists from several nations and art institutions in workshops and residencies to investigate the remnants of the original Spode factory site. Topographies of the Obsolete is a significant R&D collaborative project that both deepens and develops understanding of the post-industrial landscape with reference to the industrial ruin.
Main partners: Bergen Academy of Art and Design, Norway (KHIB) and the British Ceramics Biennial.
Partners: The Royal Academy of Art in Copenhagen, Denmark (KDK) , Muthesius Kunsthochschule, Germany (MK), Sheffield Hallam University(SHU), Nottingham Trent University (NTU) , Newcastle-upon-Tyne University (NU) and Bucks New University (BUCKS).

Keywords : Topographies of the Obsolete, Stoke-on-Trent, Chloe Brown, Dancing in the Boardroom, Northern Soul, artist


AIM
The present study explores current understanding about interprofessional collaborative client-centred practice and nursing's role in this form of care delivery.

BACKGROUND
A profession-only focus on nursing practice has been challenged at professional, national governmental and World Health Organization levels stressing for more interprofessional patient-centred collaborative teamwork.

EVALUATION
Moving to patient-centred collaborative practice is fraught with barriers. Enablers can result in building trust, power sharing and shared decision-making. Changing current workplace environments requires institutional commitments to support collaborative team development.

KEY ISSUE(S)
Nurses can become collaborative members of teams through: (1) re-socialize; (2) understanding and articulating nurses roles, knowledge and skills to others; (3) other health providers sharing the same to nurses; (4) identifying where shared roles, knowledge and skills exist; and (5) learning to work in collaborative teams. Nurses must address some fundamental issues about practice that negate collaboration and patient-centred care.

CONCLUSIONS
All professionals, including nurses, must move away from a service-oriented delivery to a patient-centred collaborative approach to care.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT
The values within health organizations need to be underpinned by collaborative interprofessional patient-centred practice. To accomplish this goal, administrators and managers must support assessment of employees and visiting physicians as to their conformance with agency established expectations for such practice.


It has long been suggested that endolithic algae inside the skeleton of living corals might have a symbiotic relationship with the coral host and would positively affect coral calcification. However, so far this hypothesis has not yet been further explored. This study investigated the effect of endolithic algae on the growth performance of the cold-water coral Desmophyllum dianthus that is frequently associated with the endolithic chlorophyte Ostreobium queckettii and the cyanobacterium Plectonema terebrans. The fluorescent staining agent calcein was used to document the upward and inward linear growth of septa of specimens of D. dianthus at Fjord Comau, southern Chile. Further qualitative observations concerned skeletal microstructure and density using light field and fluorescence microscopy and x-ray computed tomography, respectively. Since the D. dianthus was sampled in a region displaying strong annual fluctuations of environmental parameters that might influence calcification, growth rates were also tested for a seasonal pattern. The results of this study show a severe reduction of growth rates associated with endolithic algae. Infested individuals grew about half as fast as non-infested polyps referring to both directions of septal growth with median values of 1.18μm/day for upward and 0.49μm/day for inward growth compared to 2.76μm/day and 0.82μm/day, respectively. These results point towards a parasitic relationship between D. dianthus and its endolithic algae refuting the hypothesis of a mutually beneficial association. This theory is further supported by observations on skeletal density and microstructure which suggest a reduction in skeletal density probably caused by extensive tunnelings of both endolithic species. Unlike expected the seasonal variation of upward septal growth rates of D. dianthus was inconsistent with the annual temperature pattern at Fjord Comau. Minimum growth rates were reported in periods of maximum temperatures – a phenomenon that might be explained by the trade-off between growth and reproduction which is suspected to take place in summer. Inward growth rates displayed a continuous decrease with time that is most likely attributed to the increasing influence of morphological constraints towards the center of the polyp. Although this study appears to conclusively indicate a negative effect of the association of D. dianthus with endolithic algae, controversial evidence has been discovered regarding metabolic links between the coral host and the endoliths and further research is necessary to fully resolve the issue.


Under sponsorship of the Florida Department of Transportation, a study was conducted to measure the carbon footprint for Florida's public transit agencies. The state's 31 public transportation agencies were contacted to obtain data. With the Climate Registry's general reporting protocol (GRP), the research team calculated emissions on the basis of the provided data. The research team found that carbon dioxide emissions from revenue vehicles accounted for 82.5% of a typical agency's emissions (86.5% if weighted by footprint size). The balance of the footprint included trace emissions from vehicle operations; emissions from purchased electricity; emissions from operating nonrevenue vehicles; emissions from fuel used to heat, operate, and maintain facilities; and refrigerants lost from vehicle and building air-conditioning systems. Refrigerant losses accounted for about 5% of a typical agency's footprint. Data on losses were the most difficult to collect. The collected data were estimated to account for 75% to 80% of the total carbon footprint of Florida's transit agencies, and the data total footprint accounted for less than 1% of the state's surface transportation carbon footprint. This research also examined how Florida's transit agencies could help reduce the state's transportation carbon footprint by providing service that encourages people to ride public transportation instead of driving. The study also provides lessons for conducting similar inventories elsewhere, including data collection, constraints on agencies' abilities to provide data on a voluntary basis, some limitations of the GRP, and possibilities for simplifying the process in some circumstances.


The paper reviews some of the classical indicators of academic professionalism, and illuminates a historical epoche when research and teaching became separate dimensions of professionalism in higher education. The paper argues that this separation has gone too far and that a new sense of professionalism needs to be invoked in the area of teaching in higher education. It is claimed that this area is challenged by the demands that professors must take part in distance education activities involving the use of information technologies. The particular organisation at any given higher education institution for open and distance education activities have a particular responsibility to develop this professional dimension. Therefore, it has to participate in more profound organisational developmental work together with academics and administration to promote reflection on their teaching, and surpass "ad-hocracy" and "loose-couplings" to become part of a learning organisation.


The aim of this work was to establish the prevalence of methicillin‐resistant Staphylococci (MRS) in the animals and staff of a teaching and research farm. Samples of dairy cattle (36), beef cattle (26), sheep (19), horses (21), pigs (23), goats (23) and humans (13) were collected and screened for the presence of MRS. The detection of mecA gene was performed by PCR to determine the resistance of the samples to methicillin. Antimicrobial‐resistance testing to penicillin, meropenem, ceftriaxone, cephalothin, oxacillin, levofloxacin, enrofloxacin, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, clindamycin, erytromycin, linezolid, sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, tetracycline, doxycycline and vancomycin was performed on the mecA+ isolates. From the 161 samples, four methicillin‐resistant coagulase‐negative Staphylococci (MRCoNS) were isolated from human beings (31%), whereas none was isolated from animals (0%). No methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were isolated. All of the MRCoNS isolates from this work presented different antimicrobial resistance patterns. MRCoNS may be present in humans associated with animals while not present in the animals. Selective pressure outside of the farm and a lack of MRCoNS transmission between humans and animals may be responsible for this lack of correlation.


In recent decades the United States has experienced a pronounced widening of its wage structure. For the most part, analysis of the recent rise in wage inequality has taken place with the benefits of hindsight—that is, without placing recent changes in the wage structure in historical context. This paper presents such an historical context, by summarizing what is currently known about the evolution of the wage structure from 1820 to 1970. I argue that this evolution was characterized by both episodic change and secular trends. Perhaps the most important secular trend is a long-term rise in the returns to educated labor beginning before the Civil War and continuing until the turn of the 20th century, followed by a decline over the 1900 to 1940 period. In the 1940s substantial further erosion in wage differentials took place, primarily as a consequence of various government policies and increases in the relative demand for less-skilled labor associated with World War II. Although wage inequality today is high by post-World War II standards, it is not particularly high when measured against the pre-World War II experience. As far as government policy is concerned, there is compelling historical evidence that long-term expansion of educational opportunity has been a potent force in narrowing wage differentials.


This study examined the SAS Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS®) in practice, as perceived and experienced by teachers in the Southwest School District (SSD). To evaluate teacher effectiveness, SSD is using SAS EVAAS® for high-stakes consequences more than any other district or state in the country. A mixed-method design including a large-scale electronic survey was used to investigate the model's reliability and validity; to determine whether teachers used the SAS EVAAS® data in formative ways as intended; to gather teachers' opinions on SAS EVAAS®'s claimed benefits and statements; and to understand the unintended consequences that occurred as a result of SAS EVAAS® use in SSD. Results revealed that the reliability of the SAS EVAAS® model produced split and inconsistent results among teacher participants, and teachers indicated that students biased the SAS EVAAS® results. The majority of teachers disagreed with the company's marketing claims and did not report similar SAS EVAAS® and principal observation scores, reducing the criterion-related validity of both measures of teacher quality. Many unintended consequences associated with the high-stakes use of SAS EVAAS® emerged through teachers' responses, which revealed among others that teachers felt heightened pressure and competition, which reduced morale and collaboration, and encouraged cheating or teaching to the test in attempt to raise SAS EVAAS® scores. The results of this study, one of the first to investigate how the SAS  EVAAS® model works in practice, should be considered by policymakers, researchers, and districts when considering implementing the SAS EVAAS®, or any value-added model for teacher evaluation.


We propose a sampling infrastructure for gathering information about software from the set of runs experienced by its user community. We show how to gather random samples with very low overhead for users, and we also show how to make use of the information we gather. We present two example applications: sharing the overhead of assertions, and using statistical analysis of a large number of sampled runs to help isolate the location of a bug.


Using individual level credit information, I estimate the impact of access to ride-sharing on student debt repayment and take-up. I find that following the introduction of ride-sharing services in a city, individuals decrease their student debt balance and probability of default. These results are primarily driven by former students, who are 0.4pp more likely to finish repaying their student loans and are 0.8pp less likely to default in their student debt in the three years after ride-sharing arrives. This effect is absent for current students. For potential students, I find that access to ride-sharing increases the likelihood of getting a first student loan by 0.5pp. This suggests that there is a willingness to attend higher education that is not met given the structure of the current labor market, and that having access to the gig-economy is allowing individuals that would otherwise chosen not to enroll to do so. Taken together, results suggest that access to the flexible work improves student loan repayment rates, while simultaneously fostering enrollment.


The time-course of metabolic events following response to a model hepatotoxin ethionine (800 mg/kg) was investigated over a 7 day period in rats using high-resolution (1)H NMR spectroscopic analysis of urine and multivariate statistics. Complementary information was obtained by multivariate analysis of (1)H MAS NMR spectra of intact liver and by conventional histopathology and clinical chemistry of blood plasma. (1)H MAS NMR spectra of liver showed toxin-induced lipidosis 24 h postdose consistent with the steatosis observed by histopathology, while hypertaurinuria was suggestive of liver injury. Early biochemical changes in urine included elevation of guanidinoacetate, suggesting impaired methylation reactions. Urinary increases in 5-oxoproline and glycine suggested disruption of the gamma-glutamyl cycle. Signs of ATP depletion together with impairment of the energy metabolism were given from the decreased levels in tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates, the appearance of ketone bodies in urine, the depletion of hepatic glucose and glycogen, and also hypoglycemia. The observed increase in nicotinuric acid in urine could be an indication of an increase in NAD catabolism, a possible consequence of ATP depletion. Effects on the gut microbiota were suggested by the observed urinary reductions in the microbial metabolites 3-/4-hydroxyphenyl propionic acid, dimethylamine, and tryptamine. At later stages of toxicity, there was evidence of kidney damage, as indicated by the tubular damage observed by histopathology, supported by increased urinary excretion of lactic acid, amino acids, and glucose. These studies have given new insights into mechanisms of ethionine-induced toxicity and show the value of multisystem level data integration in the understanding of experimental models of toxicity or disease.


This paper criticizes the use of the Mexico-United States border in cultural anthropology as an image for conveying theoretical abstractions. Instead, the paper outlines a focused model of political ecology on the border. It delineates territorialized state processes, deterritorialized capital processes, and sets of social relationships and cultural practices characteristic of this region. Keywords: U.S.-Mexico border; anthropological theory; postmodernism; difference; public policy; states; capitalism; bureaucracies; brokers; households; immigration.


This investigation was aimed at assessing the risk involved in eaten vegetable obtained from mining or quarrying locations. Ten (10) – Edible vegetable samples were collected from different farms and also soil and water samples from Ishiagu and Uburu communities were assessed for lead and zinc concentrations. The bioaccumulation factor (BAF), transfer factor (TF) and the health risk index were calculated as index of environmental risk. The results showed higher levels of lead and zinc in the vegetables sampled when compared with the permissible limits of the lead and zinc. Most vegetables investigated showed high BAF and TF values which varied from one vegetable to the other. This variation might be due to the differences in metal concentration in water and soil, rate of transpiration in plant, nature or chemical form of the metal and age of plants. The health risk index for both metal in both communities were found to be less than 1 which shows that the environment could be considered safe. Although the study revealed no health risk associated with the consumption of vegetables from these environment, caution should be applied in the consumption of the vegetables due to long time bioaccumulation of the metals.


As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: 'You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.'" He said to him, "Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth." Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. (Mark 10: 17-22)


Essential Properties: Analysis and Extension Nathan Wildman This thesis is an attempt to understand the essential properties of concrete objects. The underlying motivation of this investigation is the hope that by understanding essential properties we will be in a better position to construct a satisfactory metaphysical account of the things that populate the world around us. The initial chapter introduces two questions that this thesis will attempt to answer. The first, 'what are essential properties?' is the Analysis Question. Answering it occupies chapters two through five. The second, 'what essential properties are there?' is the Extension Question. This is dealt with in the final three chapters. Chapter two provides the beginnings of an answer to the Analysis question, introducing the modal analysis of essential properties. Eight ways modality and essentiality might be related are raised. Of these, two entail the modal analysis. By eliminating the undesirable six, justification for the modal analysis could be provide. In the remainder of the chapter, five of the six are quickly dismissed. Chapter three is an examination of Fundamentalism. Focusing upon the views of E.J. Lowe and Kit Fine, I argue that there are modal facts which cannot be grounded upon essence facts and that certain modal concepts are employed in the construction of the Fundamentalist account. Consequently, Fundamentalism cannot succeed in grounding modality, and therefore cannot be the correct way to understand essentiality. This concludes the argument by elimination, thereby justifying accepting the modal analysis. Chapter four explores the modal analysis. After distinguishing between various formulations, it is argued that an existence-dependent version of the modal analysis is best. An objection by McLeod concerning contingent existence and essential properties is then dealt with, setting the stage for a more troubling objection from Kit Fine. Fine argues that all forms of the modal analysis 'get the essential properties wrong', relying upon a series of example properties, including the relation between Socrates and {Socrates}. After breaking down Fine's argument, the remainder of the chapter concerns examining and dismissing several bad responses to Fine's argument, including attempts by Della Rocca and Gorman. In chapter five I advance a new response to Fine which centres upon appealing to the sparse/abundant property distinction. Incorporating this distinction into the modal criteria, I demonstrate that a form of the modal analysis can avoid Fine's attack. I then conclude that this suitably modified modal analysis is an excellent answer to the Analysis Question. The remaining three chapters are part of an attempt to answer the Extension Question. Chapter six critically examines Wiggins' sortal essentialism, the position that objects are essentially instances of their sorts. After rendering Wiggins' essentialist argument, I demonstrate that it is either inconclusive or question begging. As such, there is no reason to accept sortal essentialism. Chapter seven looks at the Byzantine arguments concerning origin essentialism. It is shown that these arguments are either inconclusive in that they do not entail origin essentialism or assume origin essentialism at the out-set, leaving us little reason to accept origin essentialism. Chapter eight examines Mackie's minimalist essentialism. After laying out the position, I then examine a series of objections it faces. In particular, I show that even if we accept minimalist essentialism, it would not help us answer the Extension Question. As such, we have no reason to do so. I conclude that essential properties can best be understood as those sparse properties of an object which satisfy a specific modal criterion, as demonstrated in chapter five. However, the number of properties that satisfy this criterion might be quite small, as indicated by the results of chapters six through eight. This result is a mixed one for the essentialist: while we now know what essential properties are, it seems like we lost them all somewhere along the way.


Adaptive modulation and diversity combining represent very important adaptive solutions for future generations of wireless communication systems. Indeed, in order to improve the performance and the efficiency of these systems, these two techniques have been recently used jointly in new schemes named joint adaptive modulation and diversity combining (JAMDC) schemes. Considering the problem of finding low hardware complexity, bandwidth-efficient, and processing-power efficient transmission schemes for a downlink scenario and capitalizing on some of these recently proposed JAMDC schemes, we propose and analyze in this paper three joint adaptive modulation, diversity combining, and power control (JAMDCPC) schemes where a constant-power variable-rate adaptive modulation technique is used with an adaptive diversity combining scheme and a common power control process. More specifically, the modulation constellation size, the number of combined diversity paths, and the needed power level are jointly determined to achieve the highest spectral efficiency with the lowest possible processing power consumption quantified in terms of the average number of combined paths, given the fading channel conditions and the required bit error rate (BER) performance. In this paper, the performance of these three JAMDCPC schemes is analyzed in terms of their spectral efficiency, processing power consumption, and error-rate performance. Selected numerical examples show that these schemes considerably increase the spectral efficiency of the existing JAMDC schemes with a slight increase in the average number of combined paths for the low signal-to-noise ratio range while maintaining compliance with the BER performance and a low radiated power which yields to a substantial decrease in interference to co-existing users and systems.


There is a growing interest in the use of renewable energy sources to power wireless networks in order to mitigate the detrimental effects of conventional energy production or to enable deployment in off-grid locations. However, renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, are by nature unstable in their availability and capacity. The dynamics of energy supply hence impose new challenges for network planning and resource management. In this paper, the sustainable performance of a wireless mesh network powered by renewable energy sources is studied. To address the intermittently available capacity of the energy supply, adaptive resource management and admission control schemes are proposed. Specifically, the goal is to maximize the energy sustainability of the network, or equivalently, to minimize the failure probability that the mesh access points (APs) deplete their energy and go out of service due to the unreliable energy supply. To this end, the energy buffer of a mesh AP is modeled as a G/G/1(/N) queue with arbitrary patterns of energy charging and discharging. Diffusion approximation is applied to analyze the transient evolution of the queue length and the energy depletion duration. Based on the analysis, an adaptive resource management scheme is proposed to balance traffic loads across the mesh network according to the energy adequacy at different mesh APs. A distributed admission control strategy to guarantee high resource utilization and to improve energy sustainability is presented. By considering the first and second order statistics of the energy charging and discharging processes at each mesh AP, it is demonstrated that the proposed schemes outperform some existing state-of-the-art solutions.


Here, we report the first use of massive‐scale RNA‐sequencing to explore seagrass response to CO2‐driven ocean acidification (OA). Large‐scale gene expression changes in the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa occurred at CO2 levels projected by the end of the century. C. nodosa transcriptome was obtained using Illumina RNA‐Seq technology and de novo assembly, and differential gene expression was explored in plants exposed to short‐term high CO2/low pH conditions. At high pCO2, there was a significant increased expression of transcripts associated with photosynthesis, including light reaction functions and CO2 fixation, and also to respiratory pathways, specifically for enzymes involved in glycolysis, in the tricarboxylic acid cycle and in the energy metabolism of the mitochondrial electron transport. The upregulation of respiratory metabolism is probably supported by the increased availability of photosynthates and increased energy demand for biosynthesis and stress‐related processes under elevated CO2 and low pH. The upregulation of several chaperones resembling heat stress‐induced changes in gene expression highlighted the positive role these proteins play in tolerance to intracellular acid stress in seagrasses. OA further modifies C. nodosa secondary metabolism inducing the transcription of enzymes related to biosynthesis of carbon‐based secondary compounds, in particular the synthesis of polyphenols and isoprenoid compounds that have a variety of biological functions including plant defence. By demonstrating which physiological processes are most sensitive to OA, this research provides a major advance in the understanding of seagrass metabolism in the context of altered seawater chemistry from global climate change.


Do you have an employee whose performance keeps deteriorating--despite your close monitoring? Brace yourself: You may be at fault--by unknowingly triggering the set-up-to-fail syndrome. Perhaps things started off swimmingly. But then something--a missed deadline, a lost client--made you question the person's performance. You began micromanaging him. Suspecting your reduced confidence, he started doubting himself--and stopped giving his best. You viewed his new behavior as additional proof of mediocrity, and tightened the screws further. In The Set-Up-to-Fail Syndrome, Jean-Francois Manzoni and Jean-Louis Barsoux show how this insidious cycle hurts everyone: employees stop volunteering ideas, preventing your organization from getting the most from them; you lose energy to attend to other activities; and your reputation suffers as other employees deem you unfair. Team spirit wilts as targeted performers are alienated. But the set-up-to-fail syndrome doesn't have to happen. The authors provide preventive measures, such as loosening the reins as new employees master their jobs. If the syndrome has already erupted, Manzoni and Barsoux explain how to discuss the dynamic with your employee and reverse the cycle.


Corey Ladas' groundbreaking paper "ScrumBan" has captured the imagination of the software development world. Scrum and agile methodologies have helped software development teams organize and become more efficient. Lean methods like kanban can extend these benefits. Kanban also provides a powerful mechanism to identify process improvement opportunities. This book covers some of the metrics and day-to-day management techniques that make continuous improvement an achievable outcome in the real world. ScrumBan the book provides a series of essays that give practitioners the background needed to create more robust practices combining the best of agile and lean.


Six treatment s were initiated approximately 15 days after calving: 1) calf was weaned permanently from its dam (calf weaned; CW); 2) calf was present continuously with its dam but contact with the udder was prohibited (calf restricted; CR); 3) calf was present continuously with its dam (calf present; CP); 4) CR dam was suckled twice daily by her own calf (CR+S2x); 5) CW dam was milked twice daily (CW+M2x); 6) CR dam was milked twice daily (CR+ M2x). During the 4-week treatment period , cows in the CR+M2x treatment had twofold greater yield milk and milk components than CW+M2x cows. After completing treatments, calves were returned to their dams and allowed to suckle ad libitum. At the time when suckling was reestablished, milk yield was greatest in CP cows, followed by CR+S2x, CR+M2x, and CW+M2x cows, respectively. Although, lactation in CW an dCR cows ceased, it was reinitiated after 1 week of renewed suckling, and increased further by 5 weeks. Cows milked twice daily (CR+M2x and CW+M2x) h ad their first postpartum ovulation about 2 weeks after weaning, similar to cows not milked or suckled (CW and CR). In contrast, cows suckled by their calves either twice daily (CR+S2x) or ad libitum (CP) first ovulated about 5 weeks after initiation of treatments. We concluded that milk removal by suckling, but not mechanically by milking 2x daily, is essential to prolong postpartum anestrus. Furthermore, suckling limited to 2x daily prolonged postpartum anestrus as much as ad libitum suckling.


Seasonal mesozooplankton community composition was studied monthly from
March to October 2007 in the high Arctic, Rijpfjorden (Svalbard), and related to
abiotic (hydrography, sea ice) and biotic (ice algae and phytoplankton biomass) environmental
conditions. The community was numerically dominated by the
cosmopolitan Oithona similis, whereas Arctic Calanus glacialis was the dominant
taxon in terms of biomass. Seasonal mesozooplankton community development
was largely influenced by the sea ice and hydrographic conditions, which impacted
the primary production regime in the fjord. Three distinct periods could be identified
based on species and life stages composition: (i) winter–spring transition
(March–June), with high ice algal biomass in April–June, characterized by peak
abundances of Pseudocalanus minutus, Calanus glacialis females and Clione limacina; (ii)
sea ice break-up and phytoplankton bloom (July), with high numbers of Calanus
nauplii and young copepodids, as well as larvae of benthic crustaceans such as
Cirripedia and Decapoda; and (iii) ice-free post-bloom period (August–October),
when the pulse of warm waters into the fjord resulted in development of a community
with Atlantic characteristics and peak abundances of Oithona similis, Oithona
atlantica, Limacina helicina and Echinodermata larvae within the upper 50 m. At the
same time, older copepodids of Calanus glacialis and Calanus finmarchicus had already
descended to overwintering depths (.100 m). Despite the 2–3 months delay in
the phytoplankton bloom compared with ice-free Svalbard fjords, the Rijpfjorden
mesozooplankton managed to fulfill their life cycles in a similar time, likely due to
the utilization of the ice algal bloom, and warmer water enhancing species growth
and development in late summer.


William Louis "Bill" Veeck, Jr. (1914-1986) is legendary in many ways-baseball impresario and innovator, independent spirit, champion of civil rights in a time of great change. Paul Dickson has written the first full biography of this towering figure, in the process rewriting many aspects of his life and bringing alive the history of America's pastime. In his late 20s, Veeck bought into his first team, the American Association Milwaukee Brewers. After serving and losing a leg in WWII, he bought the Cleveland Indians in 1946, and a year later broke the color barrier in the American League by signing Larry Doby, a few months after Jackie Robinson-showing the deep commitment he held to integration and equal rights. Cleveland won the World Series in 1948, but Veeck sold the team for financial reasons the next year. He bought a majority of the St. Louis Browns in 1951, sold it three years later, then returned in 1959 to buy the other Chicago team, the White Sox, winning the American League pennant his first year. Ill health led him to sell two years later, only to gain ownership again, 1975-1981. Veeck's promotional spirit-the likes of clown prince Max Patkin and midget Eddie Gaedel are inextricably connected with him-and passion endeared him to fans, while his feel for the game led him to propose innovations way ahead of their time, and his deep sense of morality not only integrated the sport but helped usher in the free agency that broke the stranglehold owners had on players. (Veeck was the only owner to testify in support of Curt Flood during his landmark free agency case). Bill Veeck: Baseball's Greatest Maverick is a deeply insightful, powerful biography of a fascinating figure. It will take its place beside the recent bestselling biographies of Satchel Paige and Mickey Mantle, and will be the baseball book of the season in Spring 2012.


We introduce galsC, a language designed for programming event-driven embedded systems such as sensor networks. galsC implements the TinyGALS (globally asynchronous and locally synchronous) programming model. At the local level, software components are linked via synchronous method calls to form actors. At the global level, actors communicate with each other asynchronously via message passing, which separates the flow of control between actors. A complementary model, called TinyGUYS, is a guarded yet synchronous model designed to allow thread-safe sharing of global state between actors via parameters without explicitly passing messages. The galsC compiler extends the nesC compiler, which allows for better type checking and code generation. Having a well-structured concurrency model at the application level greatly reduces the risk of concurrency errors, such as deadlock and race conditions. The galsC language is implemented on the Berkeley motes and is compatible with the TinyOS/nesC component library. We use a multi-hop wireless sensor network as an example to illustrate the effectiveness of the language.


The rehabilitation of a rural road connecting an isolated coastal area to the city of León in western Nicaragua substantially improved the quality of the road's surface. As a result, a significant reduction in transportation costs and travel times was expected to improve rural households' access to modern urban markets. The degree to which the resulting impacts on market prices for locally-produced goods could effectively ameliorate poverty and income inequality in the coast as a consequence of the project will depend on the heterogeneous distribution of the road's benefits. In the area of influence of the rehabilitated road, where fishing is the main source of income and poverty is either high or severe, it was found that improving the road could have benefited the poorest households by lowering the average cost of a basic basket of goods and by allowing fresh fish caught in the coast to be sold in urban markets.


At present scenario, renewable energy sources are needed to meet the energy demand. They also mitigate environment pollution problems. The shortage of electrical energy demand can be meeting with renewable energy resources. A wind turbine (WT) and photovoltaic (PV) solar panels are primary energy sources. Grid connected renewable energy source like wind energy and solar energy are used to connect the hybrid system. Power electronics converters are used as interfacing device between hybrid system (WT & PV) and the utility grid. These converters are commonly based on a voltage source inverter (VSI) connected to the supply network. Grid side current control PWM technique is applied to the voltage source inverter which reduces THD value to less than 1%. Power balancing under heavy loaded conditions is also evaluated. The power factor correction is also determined. The simulation of power balancing conditions, total harmonic distortion (THD) and power factor correction (PFC) are studied with MATLAB Simulink.


Decision rules are among the most expressive data mining models. We propose the first distributed streaming algorithm to learn decision rules for regression tasks. The algorithm is available in SAMOA (Scalable Advanced Massive Online Analysis), an open-source platform for mining big data streams. It uses a hybrid of vertical and horizontal parallelism to distribute Adaptive Model Rules (AMRules) on a cluster. The decision rules built by AMRules are comprehensible models, where the antecedent of a rule is a conjunction of conditions on the attribute values, and the consequent is a linear combination of the attributes. Our evaluation shows that this implementation is scalable in relation to CPU and memory consumption. On a small commodity Samza cluster of 9 nodes, it can handle a rate of more than 30000 instances per second, and achieve a speedup of up to 4.7x over the sequential version.


Children and young people's voices have often been neglected in tourism research, and this is particularly the case when exploring tourism from the host community's perspective. The lack of children and young people in tourism research has been attributed to the slow engagement and adoption of alternative and critical methodologies which open up new and fresh ways of interpreting reality. The paper aims to explore the potential for participatory film to uncover the perspectives of marginalised members of the community such as children and young people. We also discuss the use of participatory film as an epistemic philosophy, and as a post-disciplinary form of methodology (or 'postmethodology') which is ideologically grounded. The findings suggest that children and young people feel strongly about their community and display feelings of anger and frustration towards tourists who are perceived to not respect the community and the environment. The methodological contribution of this paper lies in the use of an innovative and voice-generative participatory visual method to empower young people to actively participate in tourism research.


We propose a general interpretation for long-range correlation effects in the activity and volatility of financial markets. This interpretation is based on the fact that the choice between 'active' and 'inactive' strategies is subordinated to random-walk like processes. We numerically demonstrate our scenario in the framework of simplified market models, such as the Minority Game model with an inactive strategy, or a more sophisticated version that includes some price dynamics. We show that real market data can be surprisingly well accounted for by these simple models.


Direct dye with a high affinity for cellulose substrate was utilized as a cellulose anchor to promote retention of paper strengthening additives under various conditions associated with the wet end of a paper machine. Direct Red 28 (DR) was covalently linked to anionic polyacrylamide (A-PAM) via a condensation reaction using water-soluble carbodiimide. The DR-conjugated A-PAM (DR-A-PAM) demonstrated good retention efficiency, resulting in strength enhancement of handsheets. Anionic trash showed no interference with the performance of DR-A-PAM in the wet end, while the additive performance was sensitive to calcium ions. Surface plasmon resonance analysis gave useful information on the cellulose-anchoring ability of DR-A-PAM. Dye molecules were irreversibly adsorbed onto the cellulose substrate under aqueous conditions, while A-PAM possessed no significant affinity for cellulose. These results suggest that anionic DR moieties in DR-A-PAM molecules served as a cellulose-anchor, possibly due to multiple CH-π interaction between hydrophobic face of cellulose substrate and π-conjugated system of dye molecules. Such a unique interaction of direct dye and cellulose provides a new insight into the wet end system, and does not depend on conventional electrostatic attraction.


Recently, a new policy of the reformed Saudi educational system with regard to teaching English as a foreign language in the last two years of primary schools has caused ongoing debate among educators. The local media has its share in that debate with the views of both the supporters and the opposition.
This research focuses on the parents' views and their parental choices in having their children introduced to English at an early stage. The research looks at parents who decide to have their children introduced to English at pre-school level; the rationale for parents' choices at this stage of education is crucial, as this sort of education is not compulsory and therefore the decision is completely parental. Moreover, parents who were involved in the study put their children in a private kindergarten where English is introduced as part of Early Years Learning (EYL) programme.
The context of the study is Al-Madinah, one of the most important cities for Muslims around the world; the city has its own history in foreign languages, and the people are used to foreigners. Even though the study adopts a qualitative approach, questionnaires were sent to 13 private kindergartens for both head teachers and English language teachers in order to explore the wide view of the status of English in private kindergartens in Al-Madinah.
Data collection went through three stages in which Rowad, a private kindergarten was the case for the study. The study had 19 mothers involved in the first stage. Mothers rationalised their choices with academic-like discussion to emphasise their children's moral imperative to early years learning; they also highlighted the importance of early exposure to English. Being from an advanced minority group, the decisions mothers made were affected by several social attributes; their cultural capital along with their social capital have had an impact in the way they justify their choices.
VIII
The study succeeded in investigating the views of some mothers in the city of Al-Madinah about early exposure to English as a foreign language, and helped in providing the views of parents with regard to the issue alongside the existing views of educators and researchers.


Rigorous coupled wave analysis (RCWA) interprets 3D white-light interference microscopy profiles and reveals the dimensions of optically-unresolved surface features. Measurements of silicon etch depth of a 450-nm pitch grating structure correlate to atomic force microscopy with R(2)= 0.995 and a repeatability of 0.11nm. This same technique achieves a <1nm sensitivity to 80-nm lateral widths of 190-nm pitch gratings using a 570-nm mean wavelength.


Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a devastating potential consequence of renal ischaemia and reperfusion (I-R) subsequent to severe intra-operative hypotension and fluid resuscitation. Acute tubular epithelial damage is a common early histological abnormality in this syndrome. The high mortality rate associated with AKI in dogs is attributed in part to the limitations of current diagnostic techniques that can only detect AKI in the late stages when damage is irreversible. Early detection of renal tubular injury could improve outcome and might be possible by measuring urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin concentration (uNGAL) in at-risk dogs.

The objectives of this study were to establish a clinically relevant canine model of renal I-R injury, and use this model to determine changes in uNGAL within three hours of initiation of injury.

A pilot study was performed to establish the severity and duration of hypotension caused by haemorrhage, and duration of reperfusion, that produced histological evidence of acute tubular damage. Urine samples obtained during this pilot were used to determine optimal sample dilutions for use with a commercial dog NGAL immunoassay. Investigation into potential interference of synthetic colloid fluid solutions with the immunoassay was also performed. This experimental model was then used to determine changes in uNGAL in seven anaesthetised greyhound dogs. Urinary NGAL concentrations were measured before (T0) and immediately following (T1) haemorrhage, and hourly following fluid resuscitation (T2 - T4). After T4, dogs were euthanised, and renal tissue collected for histopathology. Statistical analysis for the main study was performed using repeated measures one-way ANOVA and data presented are mean (95% confidence interval).

The pilot study showed that maintenance of mean arterial pressure (MAP) below 40 mmHg for one hour (ischaemic phase); followed by fluid resuscitation to maintain MAP > 60 mmHg for three hours (reperfusion phase) was required to ensure tubular damage was produced. Optimal dilution of urine samples for accurate NGAL measurement using the immunoassay was 1 in 1000. A 4% gelatin-based colloid solution did not interfere with the immunoassay. In the main study, histopathology confirmed renal tubular epithelial damage in all dogs. Urine NGAL increased from a mean of 12.1 (confidence interval 0 – 30.6) ng mL-1 at T0 to 122.0 (64.1 – 180.0) ng mL-1 by T3. Compared to T0, uNGAL was significantly higher at T3 (p = 0.016). Fold change in uNGAL at T3 was 24.2 (7.3 – 41.0).

Pressure-guided acute haemorrhage followed by colloid resuscitation produced a clinically relevant model of I-R AKI in dogs. Despite wide individual variation in baseline uNGAL, increases in uNGAL were observed in all dogs suggesting this biomarker has potential for detecting early tubular injury caused by renal I-R in this species.


Remote Surveillance and Face Tracking with Mobile Phones By: Sandro da Silva M.Sc. Thesis Department of Computer Science Faculty of Science University of the Western Cape This thesis addresses analysis, evaluation and simulation of low complexity face detection algorithms and tracking that could be used on mobile phones. Network access control using face recognition increases the user-friendliness in human-computer interaction. In order to realize a real time system implemented on handheld devices with low computing power, low complexity algorithms for face detection and face tracking are implemented. Skin color detection algorithms and face matching have low implementation complexity suitable for authentication of cellular network services. Novel approaches for reducing the complexities of these algorithms and fast implementation are introduced in this thesis. This includes a fast algorithm for face detection in video sequences, using a skin color model in the HSV (Hue-SaturationValue) color space. It is combined with a Gaussian model of the H and S statistics and adaptive thresholds. These algorithms permit segmentation and detection of multiple faces in thumbnail images. Furthermore we evaluate and compare our results with those of a method implemented in the Chromatic Color space (YCbCr). We also test our test data on face detection method using Convolutional Neural Network architecture to study the suitability of using other approaches besides skin color as the basic feature for face detection. Finally, face tracking is done in 2D color video streams using HSV as the histogram color space. The program is used to compute 3D trajectories for a remote surveillance system.


The first book to celebrate Wine Country lifestyle and interiors, "California Wine Country" offers an intimate tour of the ease and elegance that prospers amidst the vineyards and lush hillsides of the California wine-growing regions. Best-selling style writer Diane Dorrans Saeks walks the personal, memorable, and inspiring homes and hideaways of more than twenty-five Wine Country homeowners -- including an apple orchardist, a painter, a chef, an architect, and a gardener -- as they enjoy the seasonal splendor of outdoor dining, vine-covered vistas, sun-dappled interiors, and the spectacular surroundings of a region where lifestyle marries landscape. One of the most popular travel destinations on the West Coast, the Sonoma-Napa countryside is esteemed for its natural beauty and casually luxurious way of life. Throughout the region, and from the Anderson Valley to the vineyards of Santa Barbara, uniquely decorated homes are treasured for their architecture, seclusion, and unparalleled setting. Saeks visits nearly thirty such houses, including a renovated farmhouse and barn; a rustic family home amidst a walnut orchard; and a dreamy lakeside "tent" home in Sonoma. With more than two hundred beautiful color photographs, "California Wine Country" brilliantly captures the spirit and flavor of the Wine Country way of life.


No studies have demonstrated that cessation of breastfeeding in jaundiced infants improves clinical outcomes, although this has only been studied in term infants. Temporarily disrupting or supplementing breastfeeding in jaundiced infants is associated with premature cessation of breastfeeding (strength of recommendation [SOR]: B, based on a nonrandomized, nonblinded trial). Jaundiced breastfed term infants have no significant difference in length of phototherapy, and no increased rate of exchange transfusion or kernicterus compared with jaundiced bottle-fed term infants (SOR: B, based on a low-quality randomized controlled trial and a prospective cohort study). In light of the association of breastfeeding with improved health outcomes, mothers of jaundiced term infants should be encouraged to continue breastfeed.


Like Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel, Clive Ponting's book studies the relationship between the environment and human history. It examines world civilisations from Sumeria to ancient Egypt, from Easter Island to the Roman Empire and it argues that human beings have repeatedly built societies that have grown and prospered by exploiting the Earth's resources, only to expand to the point where those resources could no longer sustain the societies' populations and cause subsequent collapse. This new edition of Clive Ponting's international bestseller has been revised, expanded and updated. It provides not only a compelling story of how we have damaged the environment for thousands of years but also an up-to-the-minute assessment of the crisis facing the world today - and the problems that have to be addressed in the search for solutions.


This article presents our vision about the next generation of challenges in computational/digital pathology. The key role of the domain ontology, developed in a sustainable manner (i.e. using reference checklists and protocols, as the living semantic repositories), opens the way to effective/sustainable traceability and relevance feedback concerning the use of existing machine learning algorithms, proven to be very performant in the latest digital pathology challenges (i.e. convolutional neural networks). Being able to work in an accessible web-service environment, with strictly controlled issues regarding intellectual property (image and data processing/analysis algorithms) and medical data/image confidentiality is essential for the future. Among the web-services involved in the proposed approach, the living yellow pages in the area of computational pathology seems to be very important in order to reach an operational awareness, validation, and feasibility. This represents a very promising way to go to the next generation of tools, able to bring more guidance to the computer scientists and confidence to the pathologists, towards an effective/efficient daily use. Besides, a consistent feedback and insights will be more likely to emerge in the near future - from these sophisticated machine learning tools - back to the pathologists--, strengthening, therefore, the interaction between the different actors of a sustainable biomedical ecosystem (patients, clinicians, biologists, engineers, scientists etc.). Beside going digital/computational - with virtual slide technology demanding new workflows--, Pathology must prepare for another coming revolution: semantic web technologies now enable the knowledge of experts to be stored in databases, shared through the Internet, and accessible by machines. Traceability, disambiguation of reports, quality monitoring, interoperability between health centers are some of the associated benefits that pathologists were seeking. However, major changes are also to be expected for the relation of human diagnosis to machine based procedures. Improving on a former imaging platform which used a local knowledge base and a reasoning engine to combine image processing modules into higher level tasks, we propose a framework where different actors of the histopathology imaging world can cooperate using web services - exchanging knowledge as well as imaging services - and where the results of such collaborations on diagnostic related tasks can be evaluated in international challenges such as those recently organized for mitosis detection, nuclear atypia, or tissue architecture in the context of cancer grading. This framework is likely to offer an effective context-guidance and traceability to Deep Learning approaches, with an interesting promising perspective given by the multi-task learning (MTL) paradigm, distinguished by its applicability to several different learning algorithms, its non- reliance on specialized architectures and the promising results demonstrated, in particular towards the problem of weak supervision--, an issue found when direct links from pathology terms in reports to corresponding regions within images are missing.


Gaining access to technological assets and patents, in particular, has long been a major motive and objective for firm acquisitions. On the one hand, patents are used as a building instrument for the acquirer's technology portfolio. On the other hand, patents can be attractive because of their strategic value as a bargaining chip, e.g. in licensing negotiations. This is especially the case if patents have the potential to block competitors. Drawing on transaction cost economics and the resource-based view of the firm, we analyze the importance of these two faces of technology acquisition for the valuation of a target firm. Empirical evidence for European firm acquisitions in the period from 1999 to 2003 indicates that the price paid by an acquirer for a target increases with the patent stock, the relatedness, the value and the blocking potential of the target's patents, especially if blocking patents are in technology fields related to the acquiring firm's patent portfolio. Our results have implications for competition authorities, in that M&A transactions may considerably impact technology markets. This would also need to be reflected in the management's technology strategy.


Projects and industrial activities developed by human beings generally affect their surroundings. For this reason, the efficacy of Environmental Impact Significance Assessment (EISA) method is increasingly demanded. There are multiple criteria involved in EISA problems that interact each other and may have either quantitative or qualitative nature. Classical approaches for EISA are not efficient in managing either uncertainty or different types of information, and the results obtained are numerical values difficult to interpret. The complexity of such problems and the uncertain information involved imply that experts sometimes hesitate among several values to express their assessments over criteria and they do not want to provide just one value, because it cannot reflect their hesitation. This brings about incomplete data in the experts' assessments. In order to deal with such situations, the concepts of hesitant fuzzy sets and hesitant fuzzy linguistic term sets have recently been introduced in quantitative and qualitative contexts respectively. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to define an EISA approach that allows managing heterogeneous information, including hesitant information. This approach provides a flexible evaluation framework in which experts can express their assessments, using different information domains that are unified in a linguistic domain by the 2-tuple linguistic model. It also obtains accurate results, which are easy to understand and interpret.


Invasive insects represent major threats to ecosystems worldwide. Yet their effects on the functional dimension of biodiversity, measured as the diversity and distribution of traits, are overlooked. Such measures often determine the resilience of ecological communities and the ecosystem processes they modulate. The fire ant Solenopsis invicta is a highly problematic invasive species occurring on five continents. Its impacts on the taxonomic diversity of native ant communities have been studied but its impacts on their functional diversity are unknown. Comparing invaded and uninvaded plots in tropical grasslands of Hong Kong, we investigated how the presence of S. invicta affects the diversity and distribution of ant species and traits within and across communities, the functional identities of communities, and functionally unique species. We calculated the functional diversity of individual species, including the trait variation from intraspecific polymorphisms, and scaled up these values to calculate functional diversity at the community level. Invasion had only limited effects on species richness and functional richness, which were 13% and 8.5% lower in invaded communities respectively. In contrast, invasion had pronounced effects on taxonomic and functional composition due to turnover in species and trait values. Furthermore, invaded communities were functionally more homogeneous, displaying 23% less turnover and 56% more redundancy than uninvaded communities, as well as greater clustering and lower divergence in trait values. Invaded communities had fewer functionally-unique individuals and were characterized by ant species with narrower heads and bodies and shorter mandibles. Our results suggest that studies based only on taxonomic measures of diversity or indices describing trait variety risk underestimating the full ramifications of invasions. Investigating the diversity and distributions of traits at species, community and landscape levels can reveal the cryptic impacts of alien species which, despite causing little taxonomic change, may substantially modify the structure and functioning of ecological communities.


Marine fish farming is a new component in the complex mixture of coastal resource uses in British Columbia. To ensure that the marine finfish aquaculture industry develops within an environmentally responsible, publicly accountable framework that addresses conflicting resource uses, fish farm applications are rigorously reviewed and adjudicated before locational and operational licenses are granted. Government has developed locational guidelines for siting fish farms to mitigate environmental concerns or conflicts with other coastal uses. Fish farm proposals are analyzed to determine their technical merit. Specially developed biophysical criteria are used to assess the capability of proposed sites to support the proposed level of production. These assessments include computer modeling of the rate of organic fallout to determine the potential for unacceptable sediment accumulation. Coastal Resource Interest Studies (CRIS) for the south coast have been conducted to avoid or resolve use conflicts for a finite aquatic land resource. Biophysical Capability Studies have been and are being conducted to identify areas according to their capability to sustain fish farming. Public response and research indicate that these measures have helped to mitigate environmental concerns and user conflicts and facilitate responsible and sustainable industry development.


Valid and precise quantification of clinical variables is essential for appropriate interpretation to inform healthcare decision making. The outcomes produced from different measurement procedures and instruments, purporting to quantify the same measurand, should be directly comparable. This ensures the appropriate application and widespread adoption of clinical research findings. Metrology provides a framework for the development of a common language of reference measurement systems, which have the potential to improve the accuracy and comparability of patients' results. However, the practices, procedures and instruments used in social measurement are currently excluded from any formal metrological framework. In this paper, we build on previous arguments, and propose a new international body to bring together metrology, psychometrics, philosophy, and clinical management to support the global comparability and equivalence of measurement results in patient centred outcome measurement to improve healthcare.


Abstract. We present the longest series of measurements so far (2 years and 7 months) made with an Ion-DMPS at the SMEAR II measurement station in Hyytiala, Southern Finland. We show that the classification into overcharged (implying some participation of ion-induced nucleation) and undercharged (implying no or very little participation of ion-induced nucleation) days, based on Ion-DMPS measurements, agrees with the fraction of ion-induced nucleation based on NAIS measurements. Those classes are based on the ratio of ambient charged particle to steady-state charged particle concentration, known as the charging state. We analyzed the influence of different parameters on the contribution of ion-induced nucleation to the total particle formation rate. We found that the fraction of ion-induced nucleation is typically higher on warmer, drier and sunnier days compared to colder days with less solar radiation and a higher relative humidity. Also, we observed that bigger concentrations of new particles were produced on days with a smaller fraction of ion-induced nucleation. Moreover, sulfuric acid saturation ratios were smaller for days with a bigger fraction of ion-induced nucleation. Finally, we propose explanations on how these different parameters could influence neutral and ion-induced nucleation, and show that the different mechanisms seem to take place at the same time during an event. For example, we propose that these observed differences could be due to high temperature and low vapors' saturation ratios (water and sulfuric acid) increasing the height of the energy barrier a particle has to reach before it can grow and thus limiting neutral nucleation.


In this paper we study the simultaneous problems of food waste and hunger in the context of food (waste) rescue and redistribution as a means for mitigating hunger. To this end, we develop an empirical model that can be used in Monte Carlo simulations to study the dynamics of the underlying problem. Our model's parameters are derived from a data set provided by a large food bank and food rescue organization in north central Colorado. We find that food supply is a non-parametric heavy-tailed process that is well modeled with an extreme value peaks over threshold model. Although the underlying process is stochastic, the basic approach of food rescue and redistribution to meet hunger demand appears to be feasible. The ultimate sustainability of this model is intimately tied to the rate at which food expires and hence the ability to preserve and quickly transport and redistribute food. The cost of the redistribution is related to the number and density of participating suppliers. The results show that costs can be reduced (and supply increased) simply by recruiting additional donors to participate. With sufficient funding and manpower, a significant amount of food can be rescued from the waste stream and used to feed the hungry.


Funding bodies in general, and the European Commission in particular, have for over a decade funded project centred Research and Technology Development (RTD) efforts. While these have traditionally operated in isolation with little co-operation and cross-fertilization of results, a crucial requirement has emerged, following the latest advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), to have a more concerted and co-ordinated action aiming at a better integration, standardisation, dissemination and exploitation of the results from these projects across the European regions and countries. This has been clearly identified as a key requirement within the European Information Society and Technology (IST) Programme. In that respect, based on the promising results and achievements realized by the leading Construction IT community in Europe, a cluster project involving six IST funded projects has been set-up in order to achieve a better integration of research results in the area. This project, ICCI (IST-2001-33022), is targeting a specific sector: the Construction industry, and is addressing a wide spectrum of issues ranging from ICT implementation and deployment to organizational, social, and legal aspects. The paper gives (1) a background description of the context in which ICCI operates, (2) its aims and objectives, (3) the research results achieved to date by its partners within their respective IST project, and (4) a road map identifying areas of collaboration and expected impacts in the European Construction digital economy.


This article considers the application of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as a research methodology in the field of probation research. Although AI has previously been used in prisons research it has not to date been applied to research on probation. In this article we describe why and how AI was applied in an exploratory study of 'quality' in probation practice. The article includes some reflections from us as researchers and from the participants in our study (staff in three English Probation Trusts). It is argued not only that AI served our project well (in terms of furnishing us with a wealth of relevant, good quality data) but also that our choice of methodology rendered visible aspects of contemporary probation culture which, we believe, would have remained hidden had we not chosen to explore quality through an 'appreciative' lens. It is further argued that in organizations experiencing challenging times, an appreciative stance has ethical as well as instrumental advantages. There are, thus, both instrumental and normative rationales for recommending AI as a suitable approach in probation research.


The Parallel Episodic Processing (PEP) model is a neural network for simulating human performance in speeded response time tasks. It learns with an exemplar-based memory store and it is capable of modelling findings from various subdomains of cognition. In this paper, we show how the PEP model can be designed to follow instructions (e.g., task rules and goals). The extended PEP model is then used to simulate a number of key findings from the task switching domain. These include the switch cost, task-rule congruency effects, response repetition asymmetries, cue repetition benefits, and the full pattern of means from a recent feature integration decomposition of cued task switching (Schmidt & Liefooghe, 2016). We demonstrate that the PEP model fits the participant data well, that the model does not possess the flexibility to match any pattern of results, and that a number of competing task switching models fail to account for key observations that the PEP model produces naturally. Given the parsimony and unique explanatory power of the episodic account presented here, our results suggest that feature-integration biases have a far greater power in explaining task-switching performance than previously assumed.


We present an approach to classify computer programs according to their semantics, by using adaptive and neural network-based algorithms. We first develop a visualization method that reflects program dynamics. In order to validate the existence of patterns in visualizations, we build five features that characterize sorting methods, and apply self-organizing maps to cluster them. We then use neural networks to classify five sorting algorithms: InsertionSort, BubbleSort, HeapSort, QuickSort, and RandomSort. Our experiments show above 90% accuracy on the validation set, thereby showing that the specific sorting algorithm can be inferred from a simple visualization.


For all those preparing to teach or involved in further professional development it will provide an essential, accessible and readable companion to their course. Theories of learning are integrated with practical strategies for approaching a topic. Each of the following areas discussed: *active reading and using the library *referencing correctly *making notes and writing clearly *presenting your work orally *developing subject knowledge *using information and communications technology *continuing professional development *developing key relationships *partnerships between schools and universities. The book explores the process of getting to know yourself as a learner and the nature of knowledge and understanding. A useful and comprehensive introduction to research identifies and demystifies aspects more relevant to the education student. Each chapter is written by professional educators with a wide range of experience and expertise.


Julie Otsuka's "The Buddha in the Attic", the follow-up to "When the Emperor Was Divine" was shortlisted for the 2011 National Book Award for Fiction and the 2011 Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and winner of the Pen Faulkner Award for Fiction 2012. Between the first and second world wars a group of young, non-English-speaking Japanese women travelled by boat to America. They were picture brides, clutching photos of husbands-to-be whom they had yet to meet. Julie Otsuka tells their extraordinary, heartbreaking story in this spellbinding and poetic account of strangers lost and alone in a new and deeply foreign land. "Sweeping, symphonic, empathic ...subtle, infinitely skilful ...an exhilarating, compulsive read. Otsuka's haunting, heartbreaking conclusion, in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, is faultless". ("Daily Mail"). "A tender, nuanced, empathetic exploration of the sorrows and consolations of a whole generation of women ...the distaff equivalent of a war memorial". ("Daily Telegraph"). "A haunting and heartbreaking look at the immigrant experience...Otsuka's keenly observed prose manages to capture whole histories in a sweep of gorgeous incantatory sentences". ("Marie Claire"). "An understated masterpiece ...she conjures up the lost voices of a generation of Japanese American women without losing sight of the distinct experience of each". ("San Francisco Chronicle"). Julie Otsuka was born and raised in California. She is the author of the novel "When the Emperor Was Divine", and a recipient of the Asian American Literary Award, the American Library Association Alex Award, and a Guggenheim fellowship. Her second novel, "The Buddha in the Attic", was nominated for the 2011 National Book Award. She lives in New York City.


Make pharmacology come to life! Pharmacological Aspects of Nursing Care is a uniquely engaging resource for understanding drugs and their action. A smooth writing style, clean progression of concepts, and logical body system/drug classification organization results in a clear and concise delivery of complex nursing responsibilities related to pharmacology. Enhanced critical thinking exercises and case studies demand comprehension and necessitate application, which is the quickest route to learning this challenging subject area. Utilize this resource as preparation to provide safe pharmacological nursing care to patients in any setting.


Background: In advanced HIV, significant mortality occurs soon after starting antiretroviral treatment (ART) in low- and middle-incomes countries. Calprotectin is a biomarker of innate response to infection and inflammatory conditions. We examined the association between plasma calprotectin at initiation of ART and mortality among individuals with advanced HIV. Methods: We conducted a pilot case-cohort study among HIV infected adults and children over 5 years old with CD4 + <100/mm 3 at ART initiation at two Kenyan sites. Participants received three factorial randomised interventions in addition to ART within the REALITY trial ( ISRCTN43622374). Calprotectin was measured by ELISA in archived plasma of those who died within 24 weeks (cases) and randomly selected participants who survived for 48 weeks (non-cases) for whom samples were available. Factors associated with baseline plasma calprotectin were investigated using linear regression. To test association with mortality, Cox proportional hazards models with inverse sampling probability weights and adjusted for age, sex, site, BMI, viral load, randomised treatments, and clustered by CD4 count were fitted. Results: Baseline median (IQR) plasma calprotectin was 6.82 (2.65-12.5) µg/ml in cases (n=39) and 5.01 (1.92-11.5) µg/ml in non-cases (n=58). Baseline calprotectin was associated with age, neutrophil count and the presence of cough, but not other measured indicators of infection. In adjusted multivariable models, baseline calprotectin was associated with subsequent mortality: HR 1.64 (95% CI 1.11 - 2.42) and HR 2.77 (95% CI 1.58 - 4.88) for deaths during the first twenty-four and four weeks respectively. Calprotectin levels fell between baseline and 4 weeks among both cases and non-cases irrespective of randomised interventions. Conclusion: Among individuals with advanced HIV starting ART in Kenya, plasma calprotectin may have potential as a biomarker of early mortality. Validation in larger studies, comparison with other biomarkers and investigation of the sources of infection and inflammation are warranted.


ABSTRACT The legitimacy of political orders is an important reference point in political analysis, but the concept is difficult to operationalize and measure – particularly in those countries where legitimacy is critical, i.e. cases of political transformation, non-democratic rule and high state fragility. To be successful, legitimation (the process by which legitimacy is procured) has to fulfil two functions: relate demands for legitimation to government performance (the 'demand cycle'), and relate legitimacy claims issued by the rulers to behavioural patterns of the ruled (the 'supply cycle'). Looking at the recent academic debate, the article finds that empirical research has largely ignored the demand cycle, while attempts to explore the relationships underlying the supply cycle tend to suffer from misconceptions of basic terms. The article proposes a framework for empirical enquiry that addresses both shortcomings.


The main ideas in this paper are: (a) that CGE models can be used in forecasting; and (b) that forecasts matter for policy analysis. We demonstrate these ideas by describing an application of MONASH, a dynamic CGE model of Australia, to the Australian motor vehicle industry over the period 1987 to 2016. The key to generating believable forecasts is to use detailed information available from expert groups specializing in the analysis of different aspects of the economy. In MONASH we incorporate forecasts by specialists: on the domestic macro economy; on Australian economic policy; on world commodity markets; on international tourism; on production technologies; and on consumer preferences. We have found that CGE forecasts incorporating such specialist information are readily saleable to public and private organizations concerned with investment, employment, training and education issues. This is partly because the economy-wide consistency guaranteed by the CGE approach enables users of economic intelligence to see the disparate forecasts dealing with different parts and aspects of the economy within an integrated perspective. Over the last thirty five years, CGE models have been used almost exclusively as aids to "what if" (usually policy) analysis. In almost all cases it has been assumed that the effects of the shock under consideration are independent of the future path of the economy. Thus, for "what if" analysis, a common implicit view is that realistic basecase forecasts are unnecessary. Contrary to this view, we find that "what if" answers depend significantly on the basecase forecasts. This is not surprising when we are concerned with unemployment and other adjustment costs. However, we find that basecase forecasts are critical even when our concern is the long-run welfare implications of a policy change. For example, we find that the simulated long-run effects of a tariff cut on imported cars are strongly influenced by the basecase forecast of the rate of technical progress in the car industry relative to that in other industries.


The book is designed for users of earlier versions to upgrade their skills and for new planners to learn the software. It starts with the basics required to create a schedule, through resource planning and on to the more advanced features. A chapter is dedicated to the new functions and it outlines the differences from the earlier versions throughout the book. Microsoft Project 2010 is an extensive software update with many new functions and as a result this is a complete rewrite of the author s previous book. It is designed to teach project management professionals how to use the software in a project environment. This publication was written so it may be used as: 1. A training manual, or 2. A self teach book, or 3. A user guide. The book stays focused on the information required to create and update a schedule with or without resources using Microsoft Project 2010 by: 1. Concentrating on the core functions required to plan and control a project. 2. Keeping the information relevant to each topic in the appropriate chapter. 3. Providing a quick reference at the start of each chapter listing the chapter topics. 4. Providing a comprehensive index of all topics. The book is aimed at: 1. Project managers and schedulers who wish learn the software, however are unable to attend a training course, or require a reference book. 2. Project management companies in industries such as building, construction, oil & gas, software development, government and defence who wish to run their own software training courses or provide their employees a good practical guide to using the software. 3. Training organizations who require a training manual to run their own courses. Training organizations or companies who wish to conduct their own training may have the book tailored to suit their requirements. This may be achieved by removing, reordering or adding content to the book and by writing their own exercises. These books are registered with the Project Management Institute and PMI Registered Education Providers may award Professional Development Units when presenting courses using this material and a PowerPoint slide show is available for this course. Please contact the author to discuss this service.


ABSTRACT In the introduction to this special issue, we consider a number of questions central to the study of super-diversity in urban contexts in Western Europe and the United States. We begin with a discussion of why the super-diversity concept has had more impact on scholarship in Western Europe than the United States, where it has had much less resonance. We explore the nature and effects of super-diversity for ongoing social relations in everyday life, considering both the positive and negative consequences. And we conclude with a consideration of some unfulfilled promises of super-diversity, including integrating the dimension of power into the analyses as well as finding ways to examine the many bases and intersections of different forms of diversity, while at the same time not downplaying the role of continued and long-term inequalities, such as race and class, that typically remain of primary importance in super-diverse settings.


In this article we rethink the field of value in economic theory. First, we prove that the transhistorical and nominalist approaches show different weaknesses and can not account for the constitutive dimensions of value. Within this context, we demonstrate why value emerged in the first place and what epistemological dimensions it provided and enabled for economic reflexivity. In addition, we demonstrate that it is impossible to understand inherent value as an immanent property of goods in economic transactions and we critique the approach that renders value to the theory of price. Economic relations reflect value-related aspects without which the relations could not be understood. We then analyze the interrelations between power and value, proving the constitutive dimension of power in understanding value, demonstrated in selected examples. We treat power as a constellation in which economic agents act on other subjects to provoke certain activity. Power may occur only where the behaviour of subjects is not entirely determined. Finally, one additional selected example shows the range of this theory of power in terms of positional goods.


We present a proof-theoretic analysis of a natural notion of logic programming for Girard's linear logic. This analysis enables us to identify a suitable notion of uniform proof. This in turn enables us to identify choices of classes of deenite and goal formulae for which uniform proofs are complete and so to obtain the appropriate formulation of resolution proof for such choices. Resolution proofs in linear logic are somewhat diicult to deene. This diiculty arises from the need to decompose deenite formulae into a form suitable for the use of the linear resolution rule, a rule which requires the selected clause to be deleted after use, and from the presence of the modality ! (of course). We consider a translation | resembling those of Girard | of the intuitionistic hereditary Harrop formulae and intuitionistic uniform proofs into our framework, and show that certain properties are preserved under this translation. We sketch the design of an interpreter for linear logic programs.


Background There are still a lot of unknown aspects about the childhood development of sociability which are based on neuroscientific basis. Purpose of the Japan Children's Study (JCS) was to verify the normal process of child development of sociability; the trajectory and factors related development of sociability, and to collect findings and integrate the knowledge to make the plan of long-term and large scale cohort study. Methods A child cohort study underway in Japan since 2005. There are the cohort study including a infant cohort study at age of 4 months to 30 months and a preschool cohort study at age of 5 years old to 8 years old. Questionnaires, direct observation of children and cognitive testing were performed. Results In infant cohort study, 465 infants were recruited at 4 months and 367 children were followed up to 30 months, follow up rate was 78.9% and in the preschool cohort study, total 192 children (112 at 2005 and 80 at 2007) at age of 5 years old and 169 followed up to 6 years (follow up rate was 88.0%), and 79 children were followed up to 8 years old (follow up rate was 70.5%) old. Several new measurements to evaluate child sociability were developed. Some factors related to development of child sociability were found for example the 'praise' was related to child sociability in cohort study based on neuroscience findings. Conclusions Though the trajectory of child sociability development were not clarified, some significant factors related to development of sociability, and the basic findings to conduct a long-term and large scale cohort study were provided.


Adolescence is a turbulent period to live through. Marking the transition from the world of childhood to adult life, the adolescent faces many challenges and opportunities, including puberty, cognitive changes, forming their own identity, relating to often conflicting demands from parents and peers, and negotiating first romantic relationships. Adolescence: A Very Short Introduction provides a guide to the classical research that has informed our knowledge on adolescence, as well as the results of modern research into the contemporary adolescent experience. It also examines a number of aspects of adolescence, including the cultural and historical context, the biological changes to the adolescent brain, and the controversies that adolescence brings.


Abstract. Debris flows often cause devastating damage to property and can injure or kill residents in mountainous areas. The construction of check dams in debris-flow valleys is considered a useful strategy for mitigating the damages downstream. In this paper, a new type of spillway structure with lateral contraction was proposed to distribute debris flows after the check dam storage filled up. Four different lateral contraction ratios of the spillway were considered in experiments that investigated debris-flow patterns, scour characteristics, and energy dissipation rates when debris flows passed through the spillway. The results indicated that lateral contraction considerably influenced the extension of debris-flow nappes. The drop length of the nappe at η  =  0.7 (η means lateral contraction ratio) was approximately 1.4 times larger than at η  =  0.4. The collision, friction, and mixing forces between the debris-flow nappes and debris flows in downstream plunge pools dissipated much of the debris-flow kinetic energy, ranging from 42.03 to 78.08 % at different contraction ratios. Additionally, based on a dimensionless analysis, an empirical model was proposed to predict the maximum scour depth downriver of a check dam. It indicated that the results calculated by the model exhibited good agreement with the experimental results.


Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an established method to assess the various environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a building. The goal of this project was to calculate the environmental releases for a whole office building and investigate the contribution in terms of environmental impact for different parts of the building, as well as the impact from different stages of the life cycle. The construction process was followed up during production and the contractors provided real-time data on the input required in terms of building products, transport, machinery, energy use, etc. The results are presented for five environmental impact categories and, as expected, materials that constitute the main mass of the building and the energy used during operation contribute the largest share of environmental impact. It is usually difficult to evaluate the environmental impact of the materials in technical installations due to the lack of data. However, in this study, the data were provided by the contractors directly involved in the construction and can, therefore, be considered highly reliable. The results show that materials for installations have a significant environmental impact for four of the environmental impact categories studied, which is a noteworthy finding.


Most readers believe Grotius failed to refute Socinus in De satisfactione. This article argues that Grotius's failure was one of reception rather than argument. It is possible to read De satisfactione as Grotius adverted: a genuine (if subtle) concept of satisfaction, and a defence of the (small-c) catholic faith. Grotius does reject a necessitarian identical satisfaction, in which a repayment is equal to a debt, but like Aquinas, he embraces a teleological equivalent satisfaction, in which a punishment fits a crime. Yet Grotius's catholic theory was predestined not to persuade a wartime Continental audience whose centre had not held and which sought definitive distinctions from the Roman church. His attempt to forge a broad middle way would succeed only later in Britain.


The industry related to older adults is becoming unprecedentedly important, and thus the fostering of healthcare professionals is a pressing issue. However, prejudice and discrimination against older adults exists among healthcare professionals to students within the healthcare disciplines. This study aimed to evaluate the curriculum design together with specific teaching and learning strategies supposed to help students who work with older adults more competent. The researchers conducted surveys with a group of students from a medical university. The constructs of the pre-test and post-test included individual factors such as information utilization, self-efficacy, and internal motivation, and external factors such as innovation support. This study aimed to further explore whether students influenced by these factors differed in behaviour, teaching styles and skills, learning, and achievement. According to the research results, the curriculum arrangement of making short films and documentaries may inspire love and respect for older adults and help translate theories learned from class into practice. We also evaluated five core competencies within the curriculum including the index of health evaluation and guiding competence. (1) Having the professional knowledge regarding geriatric health management; (2) the index of caring and respect literacy: having the humanity caring competence for geriatric caring; (3) the index of social service spirit: having the humanism service spirit of caring about the society and respecting the elderly; (4) the index of cross-team communication and cooperation competences: having the competences of cross-team interpersonal communications, coordination, and cooperation; and (5) the index of integration and innovation competences: having the innovation and responding competences of geriatric health management and services. This study demonstrated the usefulness of this curriculum and its effectiveness for talent development. Also, the implementation of media literacy is valuable for the interdisciplinary binding of gerontological education and multimedia applications.