The design of low-level image features is critical for computer vision algorithms. Orientation histograms, such as those in SIFT [16] and HOG [3], are the most successful and popular features for visual object and scene recognition. We highlight the kernel view of orientation histograms, and show that they are equivalent to a certain type of match kernels over image patches. This novel view allows us to design a family of kernel descriptors which provide a unified and principled framework to turn pixel attributes (gradient, color, local binary pattern, etc.) into compact patch-level features. In particular, we introduce three types of match kernels to measure similarities between image patches, and construct compact low-dimensional kernel descriptors from these match kernels using kernel principal component analysis (KPCA) [23]. Kernel descriptors are easy to design and can turn any type of pixel attribute into patch-level features. They outperform carefully tuned and sophisticated features including SIFT and deep belief networks. We report superior performance on standard image classification benchmarks: Scene-15, Caltech-101, CIFAR10 and CIFAR10-ImageNet.


We present a new pattern recognition framework for Brain-Computer Interfacing that learns discriminative brain activity patterns, compact modeling, and robustness against signal variabilities by a single joint optimization. We present an algorithm based on the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers, which finds an optimal solution for this approach extremely efficiently. A first evaluation using a publicly available EEG motor imagery data corpus with 105 subjects shows that our framework outperformed state-of-the-art methods and successfully performed subject transfer.


Scholars analyzing the intersection of federalism and disaster law and policy have primarily focused on the difficulties federalism poses for interjurisdictional coordination of disaster response. Though scholars have highlighted that rising disaster risks and costs are associated with "land-use planning that exacerbates, rather than mitigates, disaster risk," a more holistic analysis of land-use-related disaster law and policy is needed. This Article provides a more comprehensive framework within which to analyze prospective mitigation or prevention of disaster risk and costs through a rebalancing - or reconstituting - of the respective roles of the federal and state governments in land-use planning. The federal government does not currently maintain direct regulatory inputs into a variety of land-use planning policies that exacerbate disaster risks and costs - a situation that likely results from the history of jurisprudence declaring that land-use regulation is the "quintessential state and local government" power under the Constitution. Even so, because of the national interests at stake and the greater capacity of the federal government to coordinate standards for disasters with very large interjurisdictional impacts, greater federal regulatory inputs for certain disasters are needed where state and local governments have failed to formulate standards. For other land-use-related disasters, federal inputs may be less necessary, though overlapping federal, state, and local government regulations can yield even more robust disaster mitigation and prevention policies. This Article first categorizes the various disasters that implicate state and local government land-use planning along a "transitory-perpetual" spectrum. This spectrum provides a frame of reference for assessing which land-use-related disasters are more localized with shorter temporal effects, and which therefore may require fewer federal inputs, and those that have far longer temporal effects and larger interjurisdictional impacts of nationwide import, therefore requiring greater federal input. The spectrum further provides a framework for determining the viability, from a constitutional perspective, of federal regulatory inputs into land-use planning for which more federal inputs may be needed. This constitutional analysis is undertaken in the context of a theory of "Bimodal Federalism," which integrates two modes of operation of modern U.S. federalism, acknowledging the trend toward the new "Dynamic Federalism" theory that normatively disregards separate constitutional spheres of authority for the state and local governments, while also incorporating the reality that remnants of "Dual Federalism" theory still inform constitutional jurisprudence related to certain subject matters - like land-use planning. Finally, based upon the transitory-perpetual spectrum categorizations and informed by bimodal federalism analysis, this Article assesses the appropriate legislative mechanisms for reconstituting land-use disaster federalism. This Article hypothesizes that those disasters closer to the perpetual end of the spectrum also happen to be the ones for which top-down federal inputs into land-use policy are both more desirable and less constitutionally suspect. Correspondingly, for land-use-related disasters that are more transitory in nature, top-down federal inputs may be more constitutionally suspect, thus calling for a need to explore bilateral and horizontal mechanisms of reconstituting federalism for all categories of disaster.


This newly revised clearly-presented text looks at Japan's economic history from the nineteenth century through to World War II. Within a framework based on the theories and approaches of Development Studies, it demonstrates the relevance of Japan's pre-war experience to the problems facing developing countries today, and draws out the historical roots of the institutions and practices on which Japan's post-war economic miracle was based. New features include: * fresh theoretical perspectives * additional material derived from new sources * increased number of case studies * fully up-dated references and bibliography. This broad-ranging textbook is both topical and easy-to-use and will be of immense use to those seeking an understanding of Japanese economic development.


This study explores the effectiveness of teaching Japanese speakers of English how to connect speech so as to avoid a robotic speech rhythm. A control and an experimental group were each given three one-hour classes in English. The control group read poetry aloud without any explicit instructions. The experimental group were instructed in how to link words with three different sound boundaries: (1) consonant to vowel, (2) vowel to vowel, and, (3) consonant to consonant. The ability to link word pairs was rated for both the control and experimental groups in pre- and post-treatment situations, and this was compared to a native-speaker baseline of connected word pairs. This research focussed on whether instruction in connected speech rules would assist in reducing the syncopated rhythm which often characterises the speech of Japanese speakers of English. Although this study was an exploratory one, with a very small sample size, the results were heartening: directly teaching these rules seemed to heighten the awareness of the need to link word pairs. However, the results indicate several problem areas on which researchers and teachers need to focus in order to optimise time spent in pronunciation training. That is, a longer period of instruction with practice may enable a more successful output. Furthermore, it would be necessary to control experimental variables more carefully and use a larger sample size in order to obtain more definitive support for the claim that teaching connected speech rules would, indeed, generally improve the speech rhythm of Japanese learners of English.


This paper presents the elements of the theory and the results of an analysis of the spatial distribution of the field characteristics in the neighborhood of the focus for an input pulse in the form of a harmonic vibration with a Gaussian envelope. The signal parameters are varied from an ultrashort to a quasi-monochromatic pulse. The evolution in time of the input pulse and the edge wave is demonstrated. It is shown that the field structure in the focal plane approaches that for a monochromatic wave when the effective number of vibrations is greater than 3–5.


Background and Objectives: Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB). Approximately one-third of the world's population is infected with M. tuberculosis. Despite the availability of drug and vaccine, it remains one of the leading causes of death in humans especially in developing countries. Epidemiological studies have indicated that only 10-30% of people exposed to tubercle bacillus are infected with M. tuberculosis, and at least 90% of the infected people finally do not acquire TB. The studies have indicated that the host efficient immune system has essential roles in the control of TB infection such that the highest rate of mortality and morbidity is seen in immunocompromised patients such as people infected with HIV. M. tuberculosis is an obligatory intracellular bacterium. It enters the body mainly through the respiratory tract and alveolar macrophages combat this pathogen most commonly. In addition to alveolar macrophages, various T-cell subpopulations need to be activated to overcome this bacterium's resistance to the host defense systems. CD4+ T cells, through production of several cytokines such as IFN-γ and TNF-α, and CD8+ T cells, through cytotoxic activities and induction of apoptosis in infected cells, play critical roles in inducing appropriate immune responses against M. tuberculosis. Although cell-mediated immunity is the cornerstone of host responses against TB and the recent studies have provided evidence for the importance of humoral and innate immune system in the control of TB, a profound understanding of the immune responses would provide a basis for development of new generations of vaccines and drugs. The present study addresses immune responses involved in M. tuberculosis infection.


Sociology of sport knowledge on national identity is grounded in research that focuses primarily on long established nation-states with widely known histories. The relationship between sport and national identity in postsocialist/Soviet/colonial nations that have gained independence or sovereignty since 1990 has seldom been studied. This paper examines the role of sports in the formation of national identity in postsocialist Slovenia, a nation-state that gained independence in 1990. Our analysis focuses on the recent context in which the current but fluid relationship between sport and Slovenian national identity exists. Using Slovenia as a case study we identify seven factors that may moderate the effectiveness of sports as sites for establishing and maintaining national identity and making successful global identity claims in the twenty-first century. We conclude that these factors should be taken into account to more fully understand the sport-national identity relationship today, especially in new and...


In recent years the volume and dynamics of migration from Africa to Europe have come under increasing study. The resulting breadth of research is impressive and includes such topics as gender and migration, migration and development, refugees and transnationalism. However, this work still suffers from the limitations imposed by existing migration theories that privilege the host context over the sending context focusing on linear processes and bounded conceptual frameworks. Through field work with Ugandan migrants and their descendants in Britain, this paper challenges existing theoretical limitations by proposing an inter-disciplinary approach that draws on transnationalism, diaspora and cultural geographical perspectives on landscape. Through this lens the concept of diasporic landscape emerges as an innovative contribution to migration theory as it highlights the embeddedness of migrants' lives, within processes of production and reproduction of a discursive terrain that straddles Uganda and Britain. It captures the multi-faceted physical and symbolic impacts of migrants' lived realities and privileges the continued impact of the sending context, cultural and temporal dimensions. The contours that emerge through migrants' everyday practices of 'belonging' highlight asymmetric power relations. These shift in complex patterns disrupting such bounded notions as migration, immobility, the migrant, non-migrant, refugee, citizen or undocumented person.


More than ten years after 9/11, the "clear legal framework for handling alleged terrorists" promised by President Obama in 2009 is still undeveloped and "the country continues to hold suspects indefinitely, with no congressionally approved mechanism for regular judicial review." Should terrorists be treated as criminals, involving traditional criminal law methods of detection, interrogation, arrest and trial? Or should they be treated as though they were involved in an armed conflict, which would involve detention and trial in accordance with a completely different set of rules and procedures? Neither model is a perfect fit to deal with twenty-first century terrorism. This paper reviews the framework to detain suspected terrorists preventively under the law of armed conflict together with the detention provisions of the NDAA of 2012. The paper concludes that the law relating to detention is still unclear, with many unanswered questions and the current law of armed conflict does not provide an adequate blueprint to deal with current and future detention challenges.


In this article we develop tools to compute the Geometric Quantization of a symplectic manifold with respect to a regular Lagrangian foliation via sheaf cohomology and obtain important new applications in the case of real polarizations. The starting point is the definition of representation spaces due to Kostant. Besides the classical examples of Gelfand-Cetlin systems due to Guillemin and Sternberg [13] very few examples of explicit computations of real polarizations are known. The computation of Geometric Quantization in [13] is based on a theorem due to Śniatycki for fibrations [32] which identifies the representation space with the set of Bohr-Sommerfeld leaves determined by the integral action coordinates.

In this article we check that the associated sheaf cohomology apparatus of Geometric Quantization satisfies Mayer-Vietoris and Kunneth formulae. As a consequence, a new short proof of this classical result for fibrations due to Śniatycki is obtained. We also compute Geometric Quantization with respect to any generic regular Lagrangian foliation on a 2-torus and the case of the irrational flow. In the way, we recover some classical results in the computation of foliated cohomology of these polarizations.


In this paper, an investigation is made on the superiority of fractional PID controller (PI^alpha D^beta) over conventional PID for the cart-servo laboratory set-up. The designed controllers are optimum in the sense of Integral Absolute Error (IAE) and Integral Square Error (ISE). The paper contributes in three aspects: 1) Acquiring nonlinear mathematical model for the cart-servo laboratory set-up, 2) Designing fractional and integer order PID for minimizing IAE, ISE, 3) Analyzing the performance of designed controllers for simulated plant model as well as real plant. The results show a significantly superior performance by PI^alpha D^beta as compared to the conventional PID controller.


Multiple inputs multiple output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) is an attractive transmission technique for high bit-rate communication systems. MIMO-OFDM has become a promising candidate for high performance 4G broadband wireless communications. One main disadvantage of OFDM is the high peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) of the transmitter's output signal. Selected-Mapping (SLM) scheme which does not require the transmission of side information and can reduce the peak to average power ratio (PAPR) in turbo coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system is proposed. Simulation results show that the system can achieve significant reduction in PAPR and satisfactory bit error rate performance over AWGN channels.


In this paper, I question the idea that a country develops and democratizes merely by pursuing a model of deeper regional integration with more prosperous countries. I examine the case of Albania's integration into the European Union to show that more often than not, transition reproduces hierarchies and inequities that usually underpin relations between a prosperous center and a backward periphery. Instead of being a cure, a solution to the political primitivism and underdevelopment, the story with Europeanization as a model of modernization suggests that despite noble intentions and goals, reforms in the name of the European Union end up foregrounding a security state apparatus, impose an ideological hegemony, and maintain a political culture that inhibits democratization, while discouraging and displacing the need for endogenous growth strategies.


The Dictionary of Affect in Language, a tool for quantitative analysis of emotional, cognitive, and structural features of written texts or transcripts of spoken interaction, is here described and applied to the twenty-two James Bond films and the three Austin Powers parodies. This chapter takes a corpus approach and explores similarities and differences in emotional measures and other characteristics by comparing films on factors of genre and lead actor. Statistical analysis reveals striking differences between the Bond films and the Austin Powers parodies, variations in emotional measures amongst the Bond groups and a general shift in language over time.


In this paper, we present a novel multirate, differentiated quality of service (QoS) optical CDMA (OCDMA) system using multilevel signaling technique. The emphasis is on OCDMA systems employing multi-length variable-weight optical orthogonal codes (MLVW-OOC) as signature sequence. We begin by presenting a two-class variable-weight OCDMA system in which all users have the same energy level in one bit duration. As a consequence, high weight users transmit their corresponding optical pulses at a lower power while low weight users transmit their corresponding optical pulses at a higher power level. We show that using this multilevel signaling technique, while employing the well known optical AND logic gate receiver structure, we achieve a considerable improvement in the performance of low-weight (high-power) users while the performance of high-weight (low-power) users not altered in comparison to one-level system. In the next step, we indicate that by using the recently introduced multistage receiver structure, which employs advanced optical logic gate elements, interferences at different power levels are distinguishable so that the performance of both high-weight and low-weight users are improved. Furthermore, we employ multilevel signaling technique in OCDMA system based on MLVW-OOC (multirate, differentiated QoS system). We show that using multilevel signaling technique in such a system results to the performance improvement. To analyze the performance of the system we obtain a closed-form relation expressing an upper bound on the probability of error of the system. Finally, to validate the upper bound, the analytical results are compared to the results of system simulation. The numerical closeness between the analytical and system simulation reveals the tightness of the obtained upper bound, hence making them quite useful in evaluating the above system's performance.


Alterations in nutritional status, such as obesity, markedly influence insulin, leptin, GH secretion, and free fatty acid (FFA) levels. We measured every hour for 24 h circulating leptin, insulin, GH, and FFA levels in lean and obese adolescents to determine: 1) the impact of adolescent obesity on the diurnal changes in leptin concentrations; and 2) the temporal relationships between the diurnal patterns of circulating leptin levels and insulin, GH, and FFA levels. During puberty, we found that the 24-h profile of circulating plasma leptin levels follows a bimodal pattern with minimal concentrations occurring early in the afternoon and a nocturnal elevation starting after midnight and culminating early morning. The time course of the diurnal variation in leptin levels in the obese adolescents was not different from that in lean controls. Of note, however, in obese girls leptin 24-h excursion and leptin night to day ratio were lower than those found in lean girls. In obese adolescents, mean GH levels varied significantly less during the day and night than lean controls. During the day, there were distinct preprandial increases and postprandial decreases in FFA levels, whereas after midnight FFA levels rose in both lean and obese adolescents. A significant positive correlation was found between mean plasma insulin levels between 0800 h and 2000 h and peak in leptin in lean and obese girls and boys (r = 0.63, P: < 0.001). Peak leptin was inversely correlated with the area under the nocturnal GH levels in all groups (r = -0.31, P: < 0.0003), whereas it was positively correlated with the nocturnal peak in FFA levels (r = 0.45, P: < 0.004). In summary, we report in obese adolescent girls a blunted relative diurnal excursion in leptin levels. This abnormal rhythmicity may, in part, explain their leptin resistance state. The nocturnal rise in leptin was paralleled by a nocturnal rise in GH and FFA levels. Additional studies are needed to test the potential link between the adipose-derived peptide and GH axis in humans.


In the last decade it has become en vogue for cognitive comparative psychologists to study animal behavior in an 'integrated' fashion to account for both the 'innate' and the 'acquired'. We will argue that these studies, instead of really integrating the concepts of 'nature' and 'nurture', rather cement this old dichotomy. They combine empty nativist interpretation of behavior systems with blatantly environmentalist explanations of learning. We identify the main culprit as the failure to take development seriously. While in some areas of biology interest in the relationship between behavior and development has surged through topics such as extragenetic inheritance, niche construction, and phenotypic plasticity, this has gone almost completely unnoticed in the study of animal behavior in comparative psychology, and is frequently ignored in ethology too. The main aims of this paper are to clarify the relationship between the concepts of learning, experience, and development, and to investigate whether and how all three concepts can be usefully deployed in the study of animal behavior. This will require the full integration of the psychological study of behavior into biology, and of the idea of learning into a wider concept of experience. We lay out how, in a systems view of development, learning may just appear as one among many processes in which experience influences behavior. This new synthesis should help to overcome the age-old dualism between innate and acquired. It thereby opens up the possibility of developing scientifically more fruitful distinctions.


The purpose of this qualitative study, conducted in Thailand, was to identify strategies for older adults to live alone happily, with dignity, security, and independence. Purposive sampling techniques were used to recruit participants from 12 provinces throughout Thailand. The sample included three groups: older Thai people living alone (n = 1,087), clinician who working with Thai older adults (n = 149), and administrators working in aged care and support services in Thailand (n = 83). Data were collected using structured interview guides. Content analysis was used to identify and develop the study findings. Most of the older Thai people living alone were single, widowed or divorced with few wanting to remain living alone. The large majority of participants needed government assistance to manage their activities of daily living including access to health and public services. Participants wanted aged care and support services to assist with their living arrangements, organise community activities, and provide home visits. Moreover, they wanted their families to visit them and provide financial support and care for them when they were ill. These older adults experienced living alone positively and negatively. Some participants felt proud, dignified, and independent. Other participants felt that living alone resulted in poorer health status, particularly emotional problems, especially for those who were not living alone by choice. These participants reported feeling lonely, bored, irritated, sad, and sorrowful. This group of older Thai adults had limited interaction with their families and the wider community. From this study, four strategies were identified to assist older Thai adults to live alone happily, safely and with a sense of dignity, security, and value. These strategies are: ensuring individual choice, maintaining family support, developing community value, and advocating for over-arching government policy support of aged care. A high number of older adults live alone in Thailand and this presents a big challenge for both these individuals and the community in which they live. If this important group in Thai society is to live alone happily and successfully, it needs to be additional assistance to ensure they are supported by families, communities, and government departments.


This paper introduces and validates a real-time dynamic predictive model based on a neural network approach for soft continuum manipulators. The presented model provides a real-time prediction framework using neural-network-based strategies and continuum mechanics principles. A time-space integration scheme is employed to discretize the continuous dynamics and decouple the dynamic equations for translation and rotation for each node of a soft continuum manipulator. Then the resulting architecture is used to develop distributed prediction algorithms using recurrent neural networks. The proposed RNN-based parallel predictive scheme does not rely on computationally intensive algorithms; therefore, it is useful in real-time applications. Furthermore, simulations are shown to illustrate the approach performance on soft continuum elastica, and the approach is also validated through an experiment on a magnetically-actuated soft continuum manipulator. The results demonstrate that the presented model can outperform classical modeling approaches such as the Cosserat rod model while also shows possibilities for being used in practice.


In 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated the Tailoring Rule. The Rule "tailors" the numeric triggers for permitting requirements in the Clean Air Act by revising the numbers upward by several orders of magnitude. EPA argued that doing so was necessary to avoid the impossible administrative burden that would result from having to carry out the plain text of the Act as applied to greenhouse gases. At first glance, the Tailoring Rule seems to be a classic case of an agency exceeding its authority and subverting congressional intent. Upon further examination, it becomes clear that EPA is grappling with an important issue that current administrative law doctrine fails to adequately address: What should an agency do when it does not have the resources to carry out all of its required duties? This Note argues that courts should use the rationale of administrative necessity to allow agencies to openly demonstrate that it would be impossible to fully carry out their nondiscretionary statutory duties. Upon that demonstration, courts should allow agencies to promulgate regulations that propose a solution to that impossibility.


Stuart Rachels and Larry Temkin have offered a purported counter-example to the acyclicity of the relationship 'all things considered better than'. This example invokes our intuitive preferences over pairs of alternatives involving a single person's painful experiences of varying intensity and duration. These preferences, Rachels and Temkin claim, are confidently held, entirely reasonable, and cyclical. They conclude that we should drop acyclicity as a requirement of rationality. I argue that, together with the findings of recent research on the way people evaluate episodes of pain, the use of a heuristic known as similarity-based decision-making explains why our intuitive preferences may violate acyclicity in this example. I argue that this explanation should lead us to regard these preferences with suspicion, because it indicates that they may be the result of one or more biases. I conclude that Rachels' and Temkin's example does not provide sufficient grounds for rejecting acyclicity.


The objective of this thesis is to investigate and understand why and how consent is manipulated in societies where severe coercion seems to be effective in securing power. This text therefore analyses the role and nature of coercion and consent – of armed conflict and news production - in Colombia: a society where severe coercion seems to be both effective and profitable. Part 1 of the thesis studies the role of coercion from the Spanish Conquest and Colonial Period to the current regime in terms of the political, social and economic interests that predominate in each period, in terms of the role of armed groups – the main instruments of coercion - in the implementation of these interests, and in terms of the resistance to these pressures. Part 2 analyses the role of consent in terms of historical interests in Colombian media production, in terms of the role of media organisations – the main instruments of consent - in the implementation of these interests, and in terms of dissent. Part 3 focuses on current Colombian news production because this is the main method through which official information related to the present armed conflict is currently being transmitted to the public and because Colombian news production seems to bridge the gap between coercion and consent: by framing and promoting armed conflict. Part 1 uses historical sources, academic articles, human rights reports and nine personal interviews with representatives of the Colombian Armed Forces, guerrilla groups and human rights organisations to represent the broadest possible political spectrum. Part 2 is based on political pamphlets and literature, newspaper and magazine articles and leaflets and 14 interviews with representatives of mass media conglomerates, alternative movements and media groups. Part 3 uses a sample of 851 current news stories to understand the nature of a hypothetical frame that contextualises the actions of the FARC – the main guerrilla group - as illegitimate challenges to proper authority. (Continued ...)


Despite the increasing tendency to relegate religion to the private sphere, the role of religion in public debate remains important and contested. Given the reality that these debates usually results in binding decisions that must be accepted by all groups, this paper engages the idea that perhaps the goal in a pluralistic society should not be to simply garner unanimous agreement or even the greatest consensus possible, but to ensure that decisions be seen by all members of a society as valid, whether or not they accord with individual or collective views. Arendt's theory of judgment holds that it is the use of the 'enlarged mentality', the consideration of others' perspectives, that allows judgment to be seen as valid by the judging subjects. Nedelsky, in turn, focuses on how this approach to judgment helps us theorize about the optimal role of religiously based argument in the public space. This paper examines what Nedelsky's theory may have to offer in the specific contexts of Canada and France. While these two jurisdictions have much in common, important distinctions emerge with respect to the challenges posed by religious diversity and what is driving the responses to these challenges. Through a comparative analysis, this paper begins by attempting to delineate the fundamental differences between the approaches of both countries to freedom of religion and religious diversity. An analysis is then undertaken with respect to the implications for both Canada's and France's capacities to engage a theory of judgment that uses the enlarged mentality to consider religious perspectives. The paper is organized as follows: firstly the legal systems, general text of the constitutions and how these relate to religion in society is compared; secondly the model of church and state relationship in both countries is examined; thirdly, the discussion is situated in the greater context of France's approach generally to the management of diversity; finally a comparative analysis of the content and delineation of freedom of religion in both jurisdictions is undertaken The study essentially concludes that France may be neither interested nor capable of including religious perspectives in its deliberations and in that respect the validity attained when the enlarged mentality is used in judgment may not be achievable. While the paper concludes that Nedelsky's judgment may be possible in Canada, the recent example of Muslim personal law (Sharia) in Ontario is used to illustrate that, despite all of the right conditions, political will is crucial if we are to follow through with the politically difficult decisions that follow from them.


Historical data are fundamental to the understanding of the seismic history of an area. At the same time, knowledge of the active tectonic processes allows us to understand how earthquakes have been perceived by past cultures. Delphi is one of the principal archaeological sites of Greece, the main oracle of Apollo. It was by far the most venerated oracle of the Greek ancient world. According to tradition, the mantic proprieties of the oracle were obtained from an open chasm in the earth. Delphi is directly above one of the main antithetic active faults of the Gulf of Corinth Rift, which bounds Mount Parnassus to the south. The geometry of the fault and slip-parallel lineations on the main fault plane indicate normal movement, with minor right-lateral slip component. Combining tectonic data, archaeological evidence, historical sources, and a reexamination of myths, it appears that the Helice earthquake of 373 B.C. ruptured not only the master fault of the Gulf of Corinth Rift at Helice, but also the antithetic fault at Delphi, similarly to the Corinth earthquake of 1981. Moreover, the presence of an active fault directly below the temples of the oldest sanctuary suggests that the mythological oracular chasm might well have been an ancient tectonic surface rupture.


This article reports on a research project at the University of Agder that has studied the use of e-readers as a tool for academic study. E-readers (Kindle DX and iPad) were loaded with texts from required reading lists in five courses with 94 participating students. Initially, 87 students responded to the invitation to participate in a survey, but eventually 13 of these submissions had to be removed, as the degree of completion was not sufficient. The final response rate achieved was 79%. Students were in general positive to the use of e-readers but still show a preference for print on paper as the best medium for serious academic study. When reading books, 54% preferred print, 28% a combination of print and e-reader, and finally only 11% were satisfied solely using an e-reader. The iPad scored significantly better than the Kindle DX on tasks that required active interaction with the texts such as highlighting and note taking.


Diatoms are single-celled micro-algae with cell walls composed of silica, that reproduce in a way that results in a decrease in cell size after each round of mitotic (asexual) division. A cell cannot continue to shrink indefinitely, so when the average size of the population reaches a critical threshold, diatoms reproduce sexually and restore their maximal size. It is unclear, however, how frequently diatoms undergo sexual reproduction in nature. As a proxy for sexual reproduction, I monitored changes in cell size of a population of the diatom Stephanodiscus niagarae from the plankton community of Lake Fayetteville (Arkansas, USA). Weekly sampling during the Fall 2015-Spring 2016 period revealed that S. niagarae is a winter species, occurring after a shift in the planktonic community of Lake Fayetteville, in which populations of warmwater green and blue-green algae decline and are replaced by a diatom-dominated community. S. niagarae first occurred in December, in clear colder water at 10 C or below. Within weeks, this population grew steadily from a few hundred to several thousand cells per milliliter, reaching a maximum density in late January. The population declined rapidly thereafter. Although this decline coincided with increased lake temperature and the proportion of cells infected by a chytrid parasite, it is not clear if these two factors are the proximal cause for S. niagarae declines. Asexual reproduction resulted in substantial variation in average cell size, and an increase in variance towards the end of the growth period. However, the modest variation in median cell diameter of about 5 μm indicated that a synchronous population-wide sexual reproduction event did not occur during the course of the study. These results suggest that the frequency of sexual reproduction in S. niagarae in Lake Fayetteville might be on the order of several to dozens of years. However, the possibility of asynchronous sexual reproduction and a population with overlapping generations cannot be ruled out.


The slanted-edge method of measuring the spatial frequency response (SFR) as an approximation of the modulation transfer function (MTF) has become a well known and widely used image quality testing method over the last 10 years. This method has been adopted by multiple international standards including ISO and IEEE. Nearly every commercially available image quality testing software includes the slanted-edge method and there are numerous open-source algorithms available. This method is one of the most important image quality algorithms in use today. This paper explores test conditions and the impacts they have on the stability and precision of the slanted-edge method as well as details of the algorithm itself. Real world and simulated data are used to validate the characteristics of the algorithm. Details of the target such as edge angle and contrast ratio are tested to determine the impact on measurement under various conditions. The original algorithm defines a near vertical edge so that errors introduced are minor but the theory behind the algorithm requires a perfectly vertical edge. A correction factor is introduced as a way to compensate for this problem. Contrast ratio is shown to have no impact on results in an absence of noise.


In our everyday life we interact with the surrounding environment using our hands. A main focus of recent research has been to bring such interaction to virtual objects, such as the ones projected in virtual reality devices, or super-imposed as holograms in AR/MR headsets. For these applications, it is desirable for the tracking technology to be robust, accurate, and have a seamless deployment. In this thesis we address these requirements by proposing an efficient and robust hand tracking algorithm, introducing a hand model representation that strikes a balance between accuracy and performance, and presenting the online algorithm for precise hand calibration. In the first part we present a robust method for capturing articulated hand motions in real time using a single depth camera. Our system is based on a realtime registration process that accurately reconstructs hand poses by fitting a 3D articulated hand model to depth images. We register the hand model using depth, silhouette, and temporal information. To effectively map low-quality depth maps to realistic hand poses, we regularize the registration with kinematic and temporal priors, as well as a data-driven prior built from a database of realistic hand poses. We present a principled way of integrating such priors into our registration optimization to enable robust tracking without severely restricting the freedom of motion. In the second part we propose the use of sphere-meshes as a novel geometric representation for real-time generative hand tracking. We derive an optimization to non-rigidly deform a template model to fit the user data in a number of poses. This optimization jointly captures the user's static and dynamic hand geometry, thus facilitating high-precision registration. At the same time, the limited number of primitives in the tracking template allows us to retain excellent computational performance. We confirm this by embedding our models in an open source real-time registration algorithm to obtain a tracker steadily running at 60Hz. In the third part we introduce an online hand calibration method that learns the geometry as the user performs live in front of the camera, thus enabling seamless virtual interaction at the consumer level. The key novelty in our approach is an online optimization algorithm that jointly estimates pose and shape in each frame, and determines the uncertainty in such estimates. This knowledge allows the algorithm to integrate per-frame estimates over time, and build a personalized geometric model of the captured user. Our approach can easily be integrated in state-of-the-art continuous generative motion tracking software. We provide a detailed evaluation that shows how our approach achieves accurate motion tracking for real-


Under the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984, organ suppliers-usually the famillies of critically injured accident victims-are not allowed to receive compensation in exchange for granting permission to remove the organs of their deceased relatives. This organ procurement regime is therefore driven solely by potential donors' altruism. Due to the growing nationwide shortage of transplantable organs, the altruistic system has begun to draw considerable criticism. Focussing on the transplantation of kidneys, this Article challenges the theoretical and economic underpinnings of the altruistic system by comparing it to two alternative policies: a market system that allows demand and supply to equilibrate at a positive price, and a system which transfers property rights in cadaveric organs from potential donors to recipients. Blair and Kaserman subject these alternative policies to economic and ethical scrutiny, and conclude that the market system would not only generate the largest number of transplantable kidneys, but would also provide the greatest gain in overall social welfare.


GABAergic neurotransmission in the amygdala contributes to the regulation of emotional processes in anxiety, stress, reward, mnestic functions, addiction, and epilepsy. Species‐specific differences in the distribution and composition of GABAA receptors may account for distinct effects and side‐effects of GABAergic agents. However, data on the distribution and composition of GABAA receptors in the human amygdala are lacking. Here, the expression of GABAA receptor subunits α1, α2, α3, α5, β2, β2/3, and γ2 was studied in the human amygdala using immunohistochemistry. Hippocampi were evaluated as a reference structure. Neuronal counts and field fraction analyses were performed, and subcellular expression of GABAA receptor subunits was analyzed semiquantitatively. In the amygdala, field fraction analyses showed the highest α1 expression in the lateral nucleus (La), whereas α3 was prominent in intercalated nuclei (IC), and α5 and γ2 in the cortical nuclei, and amygdalo‐hippocampal/parahippocampal‐amygdala transition areas. In the hippocampus, α1 and α3 were accentuated in the dentate gyrus, CA1 region, and subiculum, whereas α5 expression was rather uniform. In both regions, α2 was homogenously distributed, and the two β subunits and γ2 showed faint immunostaining. The intensity of subunit expression also varied in the neuropil, neuronal somata, and/or cellular processes in the subregions. GABAA receptors containing subunit α1, showing the strongest expression in the La, and α3, with the strongest expression in the IC and subiculum, could be targets for treating amygdala‐related disorders. Differences in GABAA receptor subunit expression between the human and rodent amygdala should be taken into consideration when developing subunit‐selective drugs.


This article examines the misuse of religion for political ends and the necessity for legal mechanisms that can prevent such misuse. In particular, I consider Japan's experience witii State Shinto, which serves as a useful illustration of the dangers incident to religious states. This is not to say that all theocratic or semi-theocratic states would necessarily share Japan's experience.1 Rather, I seek to illustrate some possibilities for Japan's future by considering Japan's past, and to make some recommendations for Japan's future to prevent the past from being repeated. State Shinto is a branch of the Shinto religion, a faith unique to the Japanese people. For about fifty years leading up to and including World War II, State Shinto was the de facto state religion of Japan, and it played a large role in the formation of militarism in Japan. The Japanese would do well to learn from this part of their history and act to ensure freedom of religion by further codifying separation of religion and state. Part I of this article discusses the relevant provisions of Japan's Constitution as it relates to freedom of religion. It also provides a brief historical context by explaining how State Shinto influenced and was influenced by the Japanese political system prior to and leading up to World War II. Part II explains how the religion clauses in Japan's post- World War II Constitution were a reaction to State Shinto and then detafis how Japan's Supreme Court has interpreted diese constitutional provisions. Part III argues for the adoption of a new code to more effectively ensure freedom of religion and separation of religion and state in Japan. Given the current interpretation of the relevant constitutional provisions, this new code significantly advances both freedom of religion and separation of religion and state. I. Freedom of Religion and Religious Political PARTICIPATION IN JAPAN A. The Legal Structure of Freedom of Religion in Japan The Constitution of Japan has several clauses intended to guarantee freedom of religion and separation of religion and state. The Constitution specifies that "freedom of religion is guaranteed to all."2 In addition to the freedom to believe and practice the religion that one desires, freedom of religion is also understood to include a right of political participation.3 Those who share similar beliefs are able to form religious associations; they may participate in proselytizing activities to spread their religion; and they may work toward the realization of such a society as is desirable according to their religion.4 As political participation is often necessary for this third aspect of religious freedom to have effect, it is an understood part of that freedom, though not explicitly stated in the Constitution. If religious adherents refrain from interfering with public welfare, they do not violate the Constitution when they seek to realize dieir religious goals by participating in politics.5 Consequently, Japanese religious associations can become political powers. In Japan's democratic system, when a large enough number of people share the belief of a particular religious association and vote as a block in elections, they can - and do - add their religious hue to the colors of political power. Japan's poutical landscape is generously colored with religious politics. An obvious example is the ruling coalition of the current government. The Liberal Democratic Party's coalition partner, New Komeito, is backed by a Buddhist sect called Soka Gakkai. The Soka Gakkai first entered politics in the 1950s; their goals then and now being to challenge government corruption by bringing more ethical individuals into the political arena, to represent the voice of ordinary people, and to protect the freedom of religion.6 The Soka Gakkai started fielding candidates to run in local elections in 1955 and in national elections a year later.7 Over time, and through their political partnerships, the Soka Gakkai has gained some power. …


The consiliar Decree affirmis decisively that the particular Churches of the East and the west constitute a «mirabilis communio» notwithstanding their differences due to the rites, which are faithfully observed. The concept has been accepted in the schemes CIC (1) and in those LEF; the first was finally deleted, and the second became can 214 of CIC (2). This canon asserts the right of every faithful to worship God according to one' proper rite and to conform one's own form of life to the same rite (3). There are in the CIC canons which facilitate the respect and the putting into practice of this right (4) but it is only CCEO that inflicts sanctions on anyone who obstructs it (5). This last Code regulates in an extensive way the norms of membership to a church «sui iuris» and of the passage to another (6).It is desirable that can. 214 be well understood and aplied, because otherwise the Universal Church would risk to lose one part of its richness: that which is consistuted by the patrimony of its richness: that which is constituted by the patrimony of the Eastern Churches (7).


Using a diverse urban sample of immigrant adolescents in the United States (N = 345) followed from 10th grade (Mage = 15.69) to 12th grade, this study examined the extent to which ecological assets (i.e., community connections and social network resources) predicted civic commitments (i.e., community engagement, social responsibility) as potentially mediated by fair society beliefs. The authors also examined whether ethnicity and generation status moderated these associations. As hypothesized, fair society beliefs were higher and predicted greater civic commitments only among Asian youth. Ecological assets were associated with greater civic commitments for all participants; these links were primarily direct for Latino immigrants and indirect (via fair society beliefs) for Asian youth. First-generation immigrants had more ecological assets and were more civically committed, however social network resources predicted fair society beliefs and community engagement only for second-generation youth. These differences indicate that immigrant youth are best understood as a heterogeneous group and suggest the need for further investigation of cultural variations in civic developmental processes.


Nowadays, hydropower plants are forced to have more frequent power control and the self-lubricated bearings used in the applications are one of the most critical components affected by the continuously changing operating conditions. In this study, microstructure and composition of two commercially available bearing materials (Orkot TXM Marine and Thordon ThorPlas) used in hydropower turbines were studied. In addition, the influence of sliding speed and applied pressure on the friction and wear behavior of the materials was investigated systematically for dry sliding conditions. The bearing materials were characterized using X-ray microtomography, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and Inductively Coupled Plasma–Sector Field Mass Spectrometry (ICP-SFMS) techniques. Friction and wear tests were carried out with a polymer pin sliding against a stainless steel (SS2333) plate with a linear reciprocating motion. Test conditions were: room temperature, 9–28 MPa pressure and 10–40 mm/s sliding speed ranges. Surface analysis of the polymer pins and the wear tracks were performed by optical profilometry, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) techniques. Test results show that, for both materials, the coefficient of friction (COF) is decreasing at higher pressures. Surface analysis reveals higher concentrations of solid lubricants in the transfer layers formed at higher pressures, explaining the decrease in COF. Furthermore, the specific wear rate coefficients are increasing at higher sliding speeds, especially at lower pressures. Results of this study demonstrate that, under dry sliding conditions, changes in sliding speed and pressure have a significant influence on the tribological behavior of these bearing materials.


This paper, based on a fieldwork conducted with community transport projects in rural Ireland, examines the place of mobility in the lives of older people. It uses the idea of journey to explore what mobility means to older people, what the research made visible to a diverse range of project stakeholders and to reflect on the nature of ethnographic projects in industry settings. For passengers, the journeying is often as important as the destination — travelling creates visibility of countryside, community and communion with others. For project stakeholders, the research encouraged a view of mobility that transcends travel because it highlighted the world beyond the bus. For researchers, the project created challenges to the dominant view of technology for ageing-in-place within their own organization. Finally, reflections are made on industry ethnography as a journey with often unknown destinations.


The Poyang Lake Eco-economic Zone (PLEEZ) is the biggest Eco-economic Zone in China, and the urban agglomeration of it is developing very well. Analysis urban agglomeration compactness of it is very important for implementation the development of the urban agglomeration. In view of the previous scholars mainly using single variable measure to analysis urban agglomeration compactness in China, the aim of the study is to uses comprehensive measurement to analysis it. The study is to analyze its compacted growth within the past few years and offer some constructive suggestions and comments from the perspective of industry, space and transportation. The study concludes that the compactness of PLEEZ' urban agglomeration is increasing gradually in a narrow range, Among this, the compactness of transportation is essentially flat, while the compactness of industry twists and turns up and the compactness of space was improved greatly.


The standard consequentialist analysis of constitutional law focuses on the incentives that shape the behavior of government officials and other constitutional actors. Incentive-based accounts justify elections as a means of constraining officials to promote the public welfare, or at least the welfare of the median voter; justify the separation of powers as a means of making "ambition counteract ambition"; justify negative liberties, such as free speech and free association, as a necessary corrective to incumbent officials' incentives to suppress political opposition; and so forth. In this experimental essay I offer a preliminary sketch of a different way of looking at constitutional law generally and constitutional structure in particular: through the lens of "selection effects." Constitutional rules, on this account, should focus not only on the creation of optimal incentives for those who happen to occupy official posts at any given time, but also on the question which (potential) officials are selected to occupy those posts over time. Where an incentive analysis is short-term and static, asking only how legal rules affect the behavior of a given set of officeholders, selection analysis is long-term and dynamic, asking how legal rules themselves produce feedback effects that, over time, bring new types of government officials into power. This turn to selection-based analysis yields fresh insight into the dynamics of constitutionalism. Because constitutional rules affect the pool of potential and actual officeholders, as well as the behavior of current officeholders, focusing on selection effects shows that some constitutional rules prove "self-stabilizing": the rules tend to select a corps of officeholders who will act to uphold and stabilize the rules themselves. Other constitutional rules, by contrast, prove "self-negating": the rules tend to select a corps of officeholders who work to undermine or destabilize the rules themselves. This framework supplies insights into diverse areas of constitutional law and theory, ranging from governmental structure, campaign finance and voting rights to criminal sentencing, free speech, and affirmative action.


The high pressure die casting technology allows the production of complex casts with good mechanical properties, with high production repeatability within narrow tolerance limits. However, the casts are somewhat porous, which may reduce their mechanical properties. There are several recommendations for reducing the porosity of casts, which are aimed at setting the technological parameters of the casting cycle. One of the primary and important ways to reduce the porosity and air entrapment in the melt is a suitable gating system design. Submitted contribution is devoted to assessing the influence of the runner branching geometry on the air entrapment within the cast volume during the filling phase of the casting cycle. Four variants of the gating system for a particular cast are compared with different design of main runner branching. The initial design is based on a real gating system where the secondary runner is connected to the main runner at an angle of 90 °. The modified designs are provided with a continuous transition of the main runner into the secondary ones, with the change in the branching runner radius r 1 = 15 mm, r 2 = 25 mm and r 3 = 35 mm. The air entrapment in the melt is assessed within the cast volume behind the cores, which have been evaluated as a critical points with respect to further mechanical treatment. When designing the structural modification of geometry it was assumed that by branch changing using the radius value r 3 = 35 mm, the melt flows fluently, and thus the value of the entrapped air in the volume of the cast will be the lowest. This assumption was disproved. The lowest values of entrapped air in the melt were found in the casts with runner transition designed with radius r 1 = 15 mm. The conclusion of the contribution explains the causes of this phenomenon and from a designing point of view it presents proposal for measures to reduce the entrapment of the air in casts.


The Les Essarts Unit (Armorican Massif, Vendee, western France) contains eclogites that are considered as remnants of an old oceanic crust eclogitized during an eo-Variscan subduction and subsequently incorporated into the Variscan orogenic belt. They form km-scale boudins within orthogneiss and paragneiss. This study is devoted to some of these gneisses that show evidence of two distinct high-grade episodes. The first episode was characterised by intrusion of granite and migmatisation of cordierite-bearing metapelites (T ≈ 670 °C, P ≈ 0.32 GPa). The second episode is an eclogite-facies overprint (T ≈ 700 °C, P > 1.6 GPa), which gave rise to many pseudomorphic and coronitic reactions and caused high-pressure minerals to grow (garnet, phengite, kyanite, rutile, and probably jadeite) at the expense of the previous high-temperature parageneses. These two high-grade stages were separated by a first retrogression (T < 350 °C), attested to by the following facts: (1) The eclogite-facies Phe + Qtz symplectite, which partly replaced the high-temperature K-feldspar, grew preferentially parallel to perthitic lamellae, indicating that the latter had already been exsolved when the high-pressure metamorphism occurred. (2) The eclogite-facies pseudomorphs after cordierite, composed of Grt + Ky + Qtz + micas, are rich in K 2 O and deficient in MgO + FeO relative to a true cordierite; their compositions are similar to that of an altered cordierite (so-called "pinite"), indicating that cordierite had been altered to Chl + Ms before being replaced by the high-pressure metamorphic pseudomorphs. The compositions of various reaction microdomains, estimated by mass-balance studies, have been used to model P-T isochemical diagrams (i.e., P-T pseudosections), which, when taken together, reveal a complex P-T path with two distinct cycles. Therefore, the ortho- and para-gneisses probably belong to a pre-Variscan continental crust (first cycle) that was involved in the same eo-Variscan subduction (second cycle) as the neighbouring eclogitized oceanic mafic rocks. Similar rocks are known elsewhere, particularly in the Variscides, but they were not generally described as polycyclic. Many metamorphic rocks, with an apparent anticlockwise P-T path that is difficult to explain in terms of geodynamic models, could well be polycyclic rocks, whose two cycles are difficult to deconvolve. As for the Vendee eclogite-facies gneisses, they attest that subduction of the pre-Variscan continental crust occurred during the Variscan orogeny.


The Lu-Hf and Sm-Nd isotope systems in kimberlite-borne, Archean to Proterozoic lower-crustal granulite xenoliths from southern Africa display significant parent-daughter fractionations and corresponding isotopic anomalies resulting in the decoupling of these generally well correlated systems. Systematic compositional and mineralogical controls on decoupling have also been identified. Opposite senses of divergent evolution from the terrestrial Hf-Nd isotope array are demonstrated in mafic granulite samples versus felsic and metasedimentary granulite samples. The former have superchondritic Lu/Hf and 176Hf/177Hf ratios at subchondritic Sm/Nd and 143Nd/144Nd ratios, whereas the latter have subchondritic Lu/Hf and 176Hf/177Hf ratios at a wide range of subchondritic to superchondritic Sm/Nd and 143Nd/144Nd ratios. This decoupling is shown to be related to the mineralogical sensitivity of crustal protolith Lu/Hf ratios to fractionation upon anatexis in the presence not only of residual garnet and accessory zircon, but also the residual oxide minerals (rutile versus iron-titanium oxides). The isotope diversity observed in these deep-crustal melt residues supports suggestions that the Hf-Nd systematics of complementary crustal melts may be useful fingerprints for deciphering the mineral assemblage and geochemical character of granitoid magma sources, and that together these systematics can yield insights into the origin and differentiation of continental crust.


Title of dissertation: Pointing, Acquisition, and Tracking Systems for Free-Space Optical Communication Links: Tzung-Hsien Ho Doctor of Philosophy, 2007 Dissertation directed by: Professor Christopher C. Davis Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Pointing, acquisition, and tracking (PAT) systems have been widely applied in many applications, from short-range (e.g. human motion tracking) to long-haul (e.g. missile guidance) systems. This dissertation extends the PAT system into new territory: free space optical (FSO) communication system alignment, the most important missing ingredient for practical deployment. Exploring embedded geometric invariances intrinsic to the rigidity of actuators and sensors is a key design feature. Once the configuration of the actuator and sensor is determined, the geometric invariance is fixed, which can therefore be calibrated in advance. This calibrated invariance further serves as a transformation for converting the sensor measurement to actuator action. The challenge of the FSO alignment problem lies in how to point to a 3D target by only using a 2D sensor. Two solutions are proposed: the first one exploits the invariance, known as the linear homography, embedded in the FSO applications which involve long link length between transceivers or have planar trajectories. The second one employs either an additional 2D or 1D sensor, which results in invariances known as the trifocal tensor and radial trifocal tensor, respectively. Since these invariances have been developed upon an assumption that the measurements from sensors are free from noise, including the uncertainty resulting from aberrations, a robust calibrate algorithm is required to retrieve the optimal invariance from noisy measurements. The first solution is sufficient for most of the PAT systems used for FSO alignment since a long link length constraint is generally the case. Although PAT systems are normally categorized into coarse and fine subsystems to deal with different requirements, they are proven to be governed by a linear homography. Robust calibration algorithms have been developed during this work and further verified by simulations. Two prototype systems have been developed: one serves as a fine pointing subsystem, which consists of a beam steerer and an angular resolver; while the other serves as a coarse pointing subsystem, which consists of a rotary gimbal and a camera. The average pointing errors in both prototypes were less than 170 and 700 μrads, respectively. PAT systems based on the second solution are capable of pointing to any target within the intersected field-of-view from both sensors because two sensors provide stereo vision to determine the depth of the target, the missing information that cannot be determined by a 2D sensor. They are only required when short-distance FSO communication links must be established. Two simulations were conducted to show the robustness of the calibration procedures and the pointing accuracy with respect to random noise. Pointing, Acquisition, and Tracking Systems for Free-Space Optical Communication Links


In the current issue of the Journal, Smuts et al report the results of a study of the socio-demographic profiles and anthropometric status of pre-school children in four rural districts, two in the Eastern Cape (EC) and two in Kwazulu-Natal (KZN). Although data were collected on 1000 children in each district up to the age of 71 months, only data of children up to the age of 59 months (under the age of five years) are reported. The study was carried out in 2003 as a baseline situation assessment prior to the introduction of an intervention programme.


A clear and agreed definition of Zero Emission Building (ZEB) is yet to be achieved, both internationally and in Norway. However, it is understood that both the definition and the surrounding energy supply system will affect significantly the way buildings are designed to achieve the ZEB goal. Since the energy system in Europe is expected to change significantly in the coming decades, especially for electricity, it is indispensable to tie the definition of ZEB to possible scenarios on such development of the energy system. A scenario is defined as a combination of options chosen within a framework of different uncertain futures. Two uncertainties are identified as most important for the development and deployment of ZEB: Technology development and Public attitude. These two uncertainties are used to span out a set of four relevant futures, also termed storylines, as a common background for scenario analysis. A formal definition of ZEB is characterized by a set of criteria that are: the system boundary, feeing-in possibilities, balance object, balancing period, credits, crediting method, energy performance and mismatch factors. For each criterion different options are available, and the choice of which options are more appropriate to define ZEBs may depend on the storyline features.


The Small- to Medium- Sized Enterprise (SME) has attracted the attention of researchers and governments because of the increasingly important role it is playing in national and international economies. The current research is directed towards understanding the internationalisation of this important economic unit, specifically the internationalisation of SMEs in the East Midlands region of the United Kingdom. The research adopts a critical realist philosophy, used by researchers to explain the decision-making process, and applies it in a different context to provide insights into the internationalisation process of the SME. A critical realist approach is used as it enables an understanding of the roles of structures and the contingent environment in facilitating differing levels of SME internationalisation. These are factors that are believed to operate at a level below that of the observable. The study adopts a mixed methodology (a questionnaire survey and two company case studies) that identifies three main issues, including, the international orientation of the industry, previous international experience of management, and the age of the firm. The survey also identified two other issues, perceptions of competition levels, and technology. All of these factors heavily influenced the differing internationalisation levels seen. The two case study companies were used to illustrate the issues at a real level, highlighting the effect of the structures of the capitalist mode of production and the supply chain. The roles of these structures were shown as not deterministic, as the affect of structure was only exhibited under particular contingent conditions in the external and internal environments


The legal and administrative apparatus responsible for the social control of organizations relies extensively on the deterrent effects of punishment. This strategy presumes a rational choice model of organizational misconduct that decontextualizes decisionmaking, emphasizing consequences while ignoring how preferences are formed. I raise three challenges to the rational choice/ deterrence model of social control: (1) research and theory on decisionmaking, (2) a sociological paradigm that situates individual action in a structure/ culture/agency nexus that influences interpretation, meaning, and action at the local level, and (3) an analysis of the Challenger launch decision at NASA as situated action, showing how structure, culture, and history shaped preferences and choice. These challenges suggest a need to reorient regulatory activity toward the social context of decisionmaking. I conclude with a research agenda to explore the relationship between situated action, preference formation, and rational choice. Management decisions in the business world that value competitive and economic success more highly than the well-being of workers, consumers, or the general public so often have come to public attention that today's most widely accepted model of corporate criminality portrays managers of profit-seeking organizations as "amoral calculators" whose illegal actions are motivated by rational calculation of costs and opportunities (Kagan & Scholz 1984). Driven by pressures from the competitive environment, managers will violate the law to attain desired organizational goals unless the anticipated legal penalties (the expected costs weighed against the probability of delaying or avoiding them) exceed additional benefits the firm could gain by violation. The amoral calculator model locates the cause of business misconduct in the calculations of individual decisionmakers. It reflects the logic of sociological rational choice theory (Hechter 1987; Friedman & Hechter 1988; Cook & Levi 1990; J. S. Coleman 1990a; Hechter & Kanazawa 1997), but with one important distinction. When decisionmakers' calculations of costs and benefits are tainted by self-interest, economics, or politics so that intentional wrongdoing and/or harm result, their calculation becomes amoral. The amoral calculator model also has wide acceptance as an explanation for the misconduct of other types of organizations that violate laws, administrative rules, and regulations. Though not corporate profit seekers, to survive, all organizations must compete for scarce resources (Pfeffer & Salancik 1978; Vaughan 1983:54-66). Competition for scarce resources encourages research institutions to falsify data in order to win grants and prestige; universities to violate NCAA recruiting regulations in order to guarantee winning athletic teams; police departments to violate the law to make arrests that bring recognition and funding; political parties and governments to commit illegalities to secure national and international power. In response to competitive pressures emanating from the external environment, according to the amoral calculator model, individuals attempt to achieve organization goals through violative behavior. The linchpin of the model's applicability to a variety of organizations is the violative behavior itself: Because laws, rules, or administrative regulations forbid the behavior and carry penalties, decisions to violate appear to be imbued with intent, calculation of costs and benefits, and some degree of forethought about harmful consequences. Punishment is considered an important tool for the social control of organizations because of institutionalized beliefs that the ultimate cause of organizational offending is rational actors who will include the costs of punishment in their calculations and be deterred from violative behavior. Most certainly, the legal and administrative apparatus for the social control of organizations utilizes diverse approaches (e. …


South Africa has reached a medium level of human development and has a heterogeneous situation with respect to disaster risk management. In this article, a preliminary assessment of the gender aspects of disaster vulnerability and fatalities is presented. The United Nations, the Health Systems Trust and Statistics South Africa were used as data sources for the following gender-segregated values: the life expectancy at birth, unemployment rates, the human development index values, the maternal mortality rates and the number of deaths from unnatural and non-natural causes. The relevant inequality indices were then calculated and used to draw conclusions regarding the gender aspects of disaster risk management in South Africa. Results of the calculations indicate that between 1980 and 2011 men were 10% more vulnerable with respect to their health status. However, the gender differences have been decreasing in recent years. Access of women to healthcare is decreasing with time, potentially decreasing the recovery potential of whole families. Women are more economically vulnerable than men in South Africa, as they are 16.3% – 33% more likely to be unemployed than men. Educational status of both genders in South Africa is comparable based on literacy and enrolment rates at primary and secondary level. On the other hand, men are five times more likely to suffer fatal injuries during disasters.


Each issue of 3 major rehabilitation journals published during the past 10 years was reviewed to determine the extent of refereed article authorship of by women. The results indicate that although women are becoming more frequent authors of journal articles, they still have a long way to go to achieve numbers of publications equal to their male counterparts. An additional finding of the study was a dearth of professional articles addressing the needs of disabled women.


Biological and human-cultural diversity are crucial aspects of sustainable life on this planet, a fact that was recognized by the United Nations which declared 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity. Managing diversities in urban contexts, where more than half of the world's population currently live, represents a fundamental aim for sustainable urban development. If this is to be achieved it requires collaboration among different scientific and technical disciplines, many of which are represented in this book. Drawing on a diversity of epistemological, theoretical, and methodological approaches is key to understanding people-environment relations and for promoting the quality of urban life. The volume is organized around different research themes, relevant for understanding current trends and future developments in the study of people-urban environment relations, with an emphasis on the key concept of diversity. This is explored in relation to: # Theoretical and methodological approaches # Visual processes and urban landscapes # Urban green spaces # People's lifestyles and urban sustainability # Social groups and inclusive urban environments


The ability to communicate emotion through movement is an important element to enable engaging social human-robot interaction. It has been shown that humans are capable of conveying emotion through hand and arm movements alone. Thus, simple robotics structures might be capable of emotion conveyance. In this thesis, the design and implementation of a finger-like robotic structure capable of performing movements that convey emotion is investigated. First, the requirements for such a mechanism are derived directly from human affective movement dynamics, coupled with application-specific constraints. Comparative analysis is performed on various actuation options based on these requirements. Studies suggest that fast dynamic motion is required for the conveyance of many emotions. Therefore, the analysis focused on determining actuation options that can produce controllable finger-like motion with fast dynamics. A class of pneumatic actuators called soft pneumatic artificial muscles (SPAMs) were determined to fit the requirements for finger-like affective motion better than the other available actuator options. SPAMs are a type of pneumatic actuator that provides customizable motion trajectories in three dimensional space without the need for rigid links or a transmission mechanism. The motion of these actuators can be designed to be similar to the motion of the human finger. Their motion also achieves high velocities and accelerations. In addition, SPAMs provide high power to weight ratios and are compliant, making them suitable for interaction with human users. In this thesis, a novel design for producing SPAMs, named wrapped SPAMs (WSPAMs) is introduced. Unlike previous SPAM designs, the production process of WSPAM is highly repeatable, while the motion trajectory can be easily tailored at the design stage. A model is presented for predicting the steady state angular displacement of the WSPAM actuator based on its geometrical parameters and the elasticity of the materials used in its production. The model is validated by experimental analysis. Two sets of experiments are designed and presented. The first set enables the estimation of the model parameters. In the second set of experiments, the estimated parameters are used to model WSPAMs through the possible range of design parameters. Six WSPAMs with design parameters within the physical limitations are constructed. Comparison of their performance against the modeled results is presented, and shows that the model is capable of estimating the performance of WSPAM within the physical limitations of its design. Finally, a pneumatic circuit and a closed-loop controller for the finger-like movement of these soft pneumatic actuators is developed. An innovative approach, which uses a gyroscopic sensor, is used to add feedback on the position of these actuators and make


Background: After a century of development and evolution of orthodontics as a science, through global dissemination of Facial Orthopedics procedures we come on the eve of the 3rd Millennium without a unanimous consensus on this issue. Using simple preventive and interceptive orthodontic procedures such as those aimed at maintaining space or its recovery, control of oral habits, and treatment of cross bite and open bite, can prevent or lessen the severity malocclusion. Thus, the early diagnosis of conditions affecting the normal development of dental occlusion can contribute to significantly reduce the incidence of malocclusions. Objective: This study aimed to make a literature review on preventive and interceptive orthodontics, showing the advantages of this specialty as well as presenting the gaps in information that motivate the improvement and advancement of this prophylaxis. Methodology: We performed a detailed search of scientific articles with themes common across a database, including the Medline, Pubmed, scielo and bireme with publication of criteria in 1999 will 2015. Conclusion: It was concluded through the literature findings that preventive and interceptative orthodontic services facilitates the population's access to treatment, allowing the elimination of some etiologic factors and preventing the progression of dental, skeletal and functional inharmonies, mitigating or even eliminating the need for more complex treatments thereafter.


The Car Racing championship initiative is a platform for evaluating different car control solutions under competitive conditions. We introduce the novel combination of using artificial potential fields as the major control paradigm, and a multi-agent system to deal with the coordination of the different control interests. By combining fields for shortest path, and minimal curvature with a field that makes sure that the car stays on the track, we get a purely reactive car controller. The experimental evaluation of it shows that it performs well, ending at 2nd place in the time challenge, and in the top in the car races against three of the controllers of last year's championship.


In reservoir flood control operation, selection of criteria is an important part of the multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) procedure. This paper proposes a method to select criteria for MCDM of reservoir flood control operation based on the back-propagation (BP) neural network. According to the concept of ideal and anti-ideal points, we propose a method to generate training samples of the BP neural network via stochastic simulation. The topological structure of a three-layer BP neural network used for criteria selection is established. The relative importance of criteria is derived via the learned connection weights of a trained BP neural network, and its calculation method is proposed. The sensitivity curve method is employed to conduct sensitivity analysis, and the relative contribution ratio is defined to quantify the relative sensitivity strength of each criterion. We present the principle and threshold value of criteria selection based on the comprehensive discrimination index defined by the combination of the relative importance and relative contribution ratio. The Pubugou reservoir is selected as the case study. The results show that the proposed method can provide an effective tool for decision makers to select criteria before MCDM modeling of reservoir flood control operation.


Hospital quality in the United States is surprisingly inconsistent. New efforts to facilitate the sharing of information on clinical and administrative procedures show promise in making them better-and safer. We've all heard the horror stories: A man goes into the hospital to have a leg amputated and wakes up in the recovery room with the wrong limb removed; a woman being treated for breast cancer is given a five-fold dose of a chemotherapy drug and suffers fatal heart damage; a child is sent home from the emergency room diagnosed with a virus only to return in an ambulance several hours later with a burst appendix. "The cracks in the system can be very large," says Andrea Kabcenell, a senior research associate in the Department of Policy Analysis and Management and director of Cornell's Program for Improving the Quality of Hospital Care. "They look even bigger from the patient's point of view." The quality of hospital care in the United States varies tremendously. And in some hospitals it's getting worse. Kabcenell says that part of the problem is managed care. "Patient care decisions are being driven more than ever by economic forces, and although the goal is to reduce costs without affecting quality of care, that's not always what happens." But perhaps one of the most unnerving reasons for the disparity in hospital quality - and one that few health care consumers are aware of - is the lack of communication between hospitals. Driven by the fear of losing customers, hospitals have traditionally operated in virtual isolation, jealously guarding information and data from one another to remain as competitive as possible. "Even sister hospitals within the same system haven't shared information very well," says Kabcenell. "They're just not used to talking to each other." This secretive nature has resulted in wide variations in efficiency in different aspects of patient care. One hospital might have a low incidence of postoperative infection among its surgical patients while another hospital just a few blocks away has a dismal record. At the same time, the first hospital might have a long history of medication errors while the second hospital rarely has a problem in that area. They clearly have much to learn from one another, but without the proper mechanisms in place, such communication rarely, if ever, occurs. This finally is beginning to change. Hospitals are waking up to the fact that cooperation and communication are critical to improving quality. Their efforts range from formal business arrangements designed to increase access to human and financial resources to simple information exchanges where hospital representatives compare notes on how different clinical procedures are handled. The value of these new levels of cooperation is evident in the results of a recently completed demonstration project directed by Kabcenell and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The seven-year project involving four hospital consortia around the country was begun in 1989 and completed last January. It showed that when the lines of communication are opened between hospitals, care does indeed get better. The four consortia included the Institute for Quality Healthcare, a 43-hospital group based at the University of Iowa; Interwest Quality of Care, Inc., of Salt lake City, which is composed of 12 rural hospitals in Utah and surrounding states; the Public Hospital Institute, a 14-hospital consortium based in Berkeley, California; and the 16-member Vermont Program for Quality Health Care. The Iowa and Utah groups were formed specifically to participate in the program. The California and Vermont groups existed prior to the program. As a model for cooperation between hospitals, Kabcenell and other health care professionals involved in the demonstration project used a system operating in the Netherlands. "Hospitals in the Netherlands have been doing this for years," she points out. …


Decisions concerning design are increasingly being made on economic grounds. This paper explores links between Economics and design. It examines the implications for evaluating design using the micro-macro economics distinction that exists in economics. The paper suggests the need for adopting different methodological constructs for conducting micro and macro economic evaluation of design. Adopting different methodological constructs is proposed based on at least two grounds. First, the distinction between Micro and Macroeconomics focuses on different aspects of design. Second, the tools used for the conduct of evaluations are different. Cost flow analytical tools are necessary for conducting microeconomic evaluation of design. Use of impact analysis is needed for macroeconomic evaluation of design. Finally, the paper suggests that such differences in methodology have far reaching implications for future designs.


Music therapy school consultation is positioned to become a significant practice for music therapists. Historically, music therapy work with children who have special education needs in New Zealand has focused on those who attend special schools or units and, according to the published literature, seems to have taken place in clinic settings or withdrawal rooms. The current emphasis on inclusive education demands that music therapists consider other ways of working. Further, a paucity of music therapists and the geographic isolation of many students who attend their local schools suggest that the large majority of students who would benefit are unable to access music therapy services. The aims of the current study therefore were for a music therapist to empower members of special education teams to use music experiences which had been especially planned to assist children to meet individual developmental or academic goals, and to describe how the process was perceived, understood, used, and valued by participants. A further aim was to develop and trial a protocol for music therapists undertaking consultation work. Eight registered music therapists interviewed in stage one of the study, to aid the development of the initial protocol, had differing views and attitudes about consultation, and findings confirmed the need to clearly define the practice. The initial protocol was therefore fragile, based on limited understandings from sparse music therapy consultation literature and the author's previous experience of working with team members in isolated areas. In stage two, four consecutive case studies enabled the protocol to be trialled in the field and, using an action research approach, to be developed further. Accumulated learning outcomes led to the development of a music therapy school consultation protocol based on social learning theory which emphasises the interdependent relationships between the consultant's (music therapist), consultees' (identified team members), and clients' (students) behaviour, their internal personal factors, and environmental factors. The establishment of collaborative relationships, and an ecological assessment which is based on the theory that human development is influenced by environmental systems (Bronfenbrenner, 1989), are critical components of the protocol. Thus the music therapist spends a full week at each student's school. Findings demonstrate that interacting with team members as they went about their daily lives led to deeper understanding of their needs and in turn enabled pragmatic, accessible, and meaningful music activities and strategies to be successfully implemented. A 'clinical' music therapy session remains an important part of the protocol, but findings suggest its primary significance is in highlighting students' strengths so that team members develop fresh understandings and increasingly positive views of students that enhance their mutual relationships. Team members became more motivated, energised, self reflective, and able to support as well as challenge their students' development. They were thus able to continue to use, develop and evaluate their use of music strategies, after the music therapist left the field. Music therapists are currently unprepared for the triadic relationships and the emphasis on adult empowerment that is fundamental to consultation. The findings therefore have significant implications for music therapy practice and training. These implications, including areas for future research, are discussed herein.


After dominating the world tea market since last 170 years, today India became the fourth largest tea exporter. The state Assam, located in the Northeastern end of the country contributes almost 50% of the India's total tea production and Small tea growers of Assam (STGs) produces around 30% of its total annual production and contributes almost 12% of India's annual production. Though the use of harmful pesticides and fertilizers by the STGs of Assam is still not recognized and controversial in the state, but it is observed that STGs of Assam hardly follows standard scientific techniques for handling such chemicals. Therefore, maintenance of sound health of STGs and environmental safety is a necessary issue. But, till date no such awareness program was found to be initiated scientifically to teach them about those safety measures. Therefore, there is a great need for immediate implementation of such kind of scientific solutions, basically for storing (micro level) of these harmful chemicals and also for grass root level safety campaign by scientific communities of India including other competent Agencies.Â


Problems are frequently encountered in producing good quality
concrete in hot climates. Inadequate curing results in early
cracking or porous/permeable concrete or both which leads to
deterioration (including reinforcement corrosion) of structures.
This research investigated the effect of curing on the performance
of OPC and GGBFS concretes in a hot climate. Five curing methods
were selected and applied to each concrete mix. The methods used
representing the range of practical methods available on site.
Moreover. the effect of cement replacement materials on concrete
durability was studied. Ground granulated blast-furnace—similar to
that produced in Algeria—was used in three different percentages,
namely 30%, 50% and 70%. Finally the performance of
specimen sizes was also investigated. Cubes and beams specimens
have been compared to walls specimens of reasonable size to
represent full size structural members. [Continues.]


This qualitative research examines the culture and ecotourism management of three North-eastern Thai dams. Using methods of survey, observation and interview, the research team identifies ten areas of ecotourism management in the area: food, location, administration, transportation, souvenirs, surrounding environment, waste disposal, customs, sports and safety. Although efforts are being made to manage waste and tourist activities, the research finds that five principal problems remain with management of the surrounding environment: deforestation, litter, construction, traffic, and water contamination. Additionally, there are problems with inadequate tourist facilities and insufficient staffing during the high festival seasons. To address the five problems with the park areas, there are five individual solutions: reforestation, stronger waste disposal management, more control of building, regulation of noise and emissions from vehicles and monitoring of dam water quality.


With an increase in recent years by employers to employ people on contracts rather than permanent employees the student has looked to develop a website that will provide both jobseekers and employers with an easy to navigate and user-friendly website which will provide them with the functionality that would be expected from a website of this type. With an online presence being such an important factor for both companies and individuals nowadays, it is also important to provide companies and individuals with websites and web applications related to their careers and staff employment along with the many other services provided online nowadays. The website designed by the student will look to provide an online service that will add benefit to both employers and jobseekers when it comes to contract work market by looking to provide necessary features such as below:

 -Register an account
 -Create Profiles and update them
 -Search and apply for contracts
 -Search and contact potential candidates.

The report presents the contractwork.ie website, which consists of a Graphical User Interface that the user can use to interact with the website. Data and information is stored on a MySQL database which is interacted with using PHP and SQL to store and retrieve data. This allows users to store necessary information and for it to be retrieved and searched where applicable. The report outlines background and aims of the project, requirements set out for the project, high level description of the design and architecture of the website, and outline of main functions implemented. Any testing, customer testing, and result from any evaluations are also highlighted. Finally the student has given their conclusions in relation to the project and any further developments or research that could potentially be undertaken in relation to the project.


The usage of steel powders prealloyed with chromium in PM components for high performance applications is steadily increasing. Excellent mechanical properties are achieved with these powder grades, provided that the processing into components is accurately done. Photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) technique has been used here to study oxide reduction during sintering in 90N2/10H2 atmosphere of test specimens based on 3%Cr-0.5%Mo prealloyed powders with 0.5% C added. Results from performed reduction trials show that Fe oxides on the powder surfaces are removed by H2 reduction early in the heating stage of the process. Carbothermal reduction is the main mechanism for reduction of stable Cr-containing oxides from 900°C and above. Efficient Cr oxide reduction requires a sintering temperature of at least around 1200°C. Therefore, small oxide particles remain in the material after sintering at 1120°C for 30 minutes. However, such oxides have earlier been shown to have no significant influence on mechanical properties.


The Tyennan Orogeny produced low to medium-grade metamorphic rocks distributed across the western third of Tasmania. Chemical U-Th-Pb monazite dating reveals that the peak episode of metamorphism took place in the Cambrian, with a weighted mean age for all units analysed of 505 ± 1 Ma. However, variations in the results by region range from ~ 511 to ~ 497 Ma. The pelitic schists of the Franklin Metamorphic Complex contain garnet porphyroblasts which record a rapid, nearly isothermal, pressure increase; the garnet cores formed at ~ 600o C, 6,000 bars and the rims at ~ 700o C, 14,000 bars at 511 ± 3 Ma. Likewise, the eclogite from the same region records a change from ~ 550o C, 6,250 bars to ~ 650o C, 19,000 bars. The whiteschist, which was obtained from the opposite side of a major local fault, formed garnet cores at ~ 545o C, 19,600 bars; its garnet rims and matrix minerals formed at 506 ± 5 Ma after an increase in temperature of at least 30-90o C. All of these units show evidence of very rapid isothermal exhumation. Other Franklin Metamorphic Complex fault blocks record P/T for peak conditions at ~ 570o C, 8,600 bars (Mt. Mary), and ~ 700o C, 11,400 bars (Raglan Range). The Forth Metamorphic Complex achieved peak metamorphism at 509 ± 7 Ma, at conditions of 670o C, 16,900 bars, and the nearby Settlers Schist gives results of 513 ± 8 Ma. The garnet porphyroblasts of the Port Davey Metamorphic Complex record a single episode of metamorphism which took place at 505 ± 2 Ma at ~ 550 to 570o C and ~ 6,000 bars during which a dehydration event resulted in both a change of garnet composition and texture. The regional geology indicates metamorphism predated post-collisional extension and associated eruption of the Mount Read volcanics at 506 to 500 Ma. Most of the monazite dating is consistent with this observation. However, the Mersey River Metamorphic Complex gives very consistent results of 497 ± 3 Ma. This is problematical, as it would have been at depth undergoing metamorphism after that extension took place. This could be the result of an unknown analytical problem, but the Mersey River monazite grains are indistinguishable chemically from monazite in the other units, and this sample has undergone repeated analysis. Alternatively, this sample reflects a different metamorphic event than that recorded in all other samples studied.