Background In colorectal cancer (CRC), perineural invasion (PNI) is usually identified histologically in biopsy or resection specimens and is considered a high-risk feature for recurrence of CRC and is an indicator for adjuvant therapy. Preoperative identification of PNI could help determine the need for adjuvant therapy and the approach to surgical resection. This study aimed to develop and validate a nomogram for the preoperative prediction of PNI in patients with CRC. Material/Methods A total of 664 patients with CRC from a single center were classified into a training dataset (n=468) and a validation dataset (n=196). The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression model was used to select potentially relevant features. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to develop the nomogram. The performance of the nomogram was assessed based on its calibration, discrimination, and clinical utility. Results The nomogram consisted of five clinical features and provided good calibration and discrimination in the training dataset, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.704 (95% CI, 0.657–0.751). Application of the nomogram in the validation cohort showed acceptable discrimination, with the AUC of 0.692 (95% CI, 0.617–0.766) and good calibration. Decision curve analysis (DCA) showed that the nomogram was clinically useful. Conclusions The nomogram developed in this study might allow clinicians to predict the risk of PNI in patients with CRC preoperatively. The nomogram showed favorable discrimination and calibration values, which may help optimize preoperative treatment decision-making for patients with CRC.


Vertical restrictions have theoretically ambiguous efficiency effects. Marketplace evidence is therefore required to reveal the presence of anti-competitive foreclosure. The bundling of mobile phones with cellular network service offers one such market test. Two European nations — Finland and Belgium — prohibited tying arrangements for mobile service and mobile devices (handsets) in wireless broadband (3G) markets. These rules were abandoned in 2006 and 2010, respectively, creating natural experiments.This article compares 3G subscribership in European countries from 2003 through 2012. Finland and Belgium, while banning bundles, exhibited 3G penetration levels only about a third of the EU 15 average. Following their respective regime switches, relative 3G penetration levels improved markedly in these countries — Finland, in fact, became an EU leader. Regressions adjusting for market specific factors quantify the effects. The data are consistent with the view that carrier handset subsidies, which are strongly supported by bundling services with hardware, help internalize network effects that, if unsupported by the network carriers, may go unrealized. Vertical integration here appears to assist in productive ecosystem creation, not anti-competitive foreclosure.


A sensitive and penetrating analysis, scene by scene, act by act, of this most complex and ambiguous of Shakespeare's great plays, seen through the eyes of both the literary critic and the student of theatrical history. As in his earlier Masks books, Marvin Rosenberg has gathered impressions from performance reviews from all over the world, comments by actors and directors, and his own personal experience of the play in rehearsal and staging, and has combined these insights with extensive reading of critical essays and consideration of the thoughts and opinions of his literary colleagues to form an illuminating interpretive study. The book also conveys the author's wholehearted enthusiasm for the play and his profound appreciation of Shakespeare's poetic and dramatic genius. The book, left unfinished at Dr Rosenberg's death in 2003, was edited and completed by his wife, Mary.


This is an introduction to the basic tools of mathematics needed to understand the relation between knot theory and quantum gravity. The book begins with a rapid course on manifolds and differential forms, emphasizing how these provide a proper language for formulating Maxwell's equations on arbitrary spacetimes. The authors then introduce vector bundles, connections and curvature in order to generalize Maxwell theory to the Yang-Mills equations. The relation of gauge theory to the newly discovered knot invariants such as the Jones polynomial is sketched. Riemannian geometry is then introduced in order to describe Einstein's equations of general relativity and show how an attempt to quantize gravity leads to interesting applications of knot theory.


The Cudahy Camp Formation, located in the El Paso basin, east-central California, consists of a 350-m-thick volcanic and sedimentary sequence of early Miocene age. Previous investigators determined from paleocurrent indicators that the source for these rocks was to the south and southeast, but failed to suggest a specific location for that source. Restoration of 64 km of left slip on the Garlock fault places Cudahy Camp rocks north and northwest of the early Miocene Eagle Crags volcanic field. The unique geochemical nature of basalts found in both locations, coincident ages of volcanic rocks, identical clast content of volcanic tuffs, and identical stratigraphic sequence indicate that the source for the Cudahy Camp Formation was the Eagle Crags volcanic field. This is the first documented occurrence of Miocene rocks offset by the Garlock fault. Because the Cudahy Camp rocks and their sources appear to be offset by the full displacement on the Garlock fault, we conclude that movement on the Garlock started after earliest middle Miocene time. Further constraining initiation of movement on the Garlock fault adds significantly to fully understanding the evolution of the western North American plate boundary in the middle to late Cenozoic.


Abstract In this paper we examine the role of multiple emplacement of sills into partly solidified rocks (an intrusive mechanism 'liquid into solid') as a possible explanation for some textural and compositional 'anomalies' of single-cyclic mafic intrusions. As a case study we used the Shiant Isles Main Sill that is widely regarded as a classical example of a multiple, picrite–picrodolerite–crinanite alkaline sill. This sill is currently interpreted as having been formed by several olivine phenocryst-rich pulses of magma, which were successively emplaced into their almost solidified predecessors. Such an intrusive mechanism is a random process in which many parameters vary independently and unpredictably. Among them are: the number, relative volume and bulk composition of magma pulses, and their place, sequence and timing of emplacement, as well as modal abundance, phase composition and distribution of intratelluric phenocrysts in magmas upon emplacement. In terms of these variables, one can envisage countless different profiles through alkaline sills produced from only three randomly intruded magma pulses of picritic, picrodoleritic and crinanitic composition. Such multiple sills can readily be distinguished from simple ones formed from a single pulse of magma by anomalous compositional profiles with several prominent breaks in crystallization and compositional sequences. The compositional profile of the Shiant Isles Main Sill is remarkably similar to an M-shaped profile expected from fractional crystallization of a single pulse of olivine-saturated magma along a crystallization path Ol+Sp+L (picrite), Ol+Pl±Sp+L (picrodolerite = troctolite), Ol+Pl+Cpx+L (crinanite). The probability of the accidental formation of such a compositional profile by multiple intrusion 'liquid into solid' is exceedingly small, even for the single case of the Shiant Isles Main Sill. The probability approaches zero when considering that exactly the same sequence of intrusive events must have been repeated in about 20 neighbouring alkaline sills with similar compositional profiles. This can only be achieved by some universally operating differentiation process. The best candidate for this is the classical fractional crystallization of magma constrained by liquidus phase equilibria. This suggests that the Shiant Isles Main Sill can be best interpreted and modelled as a simple sill that crystallized from one large pulse of magma, with possible involvement of minor refilling events. Further progress in our knowledge of intrachamber magma fractionation processes will probably enable us to interpret many 'anomalous' textural and compositional features of mafic–ultramafic intrusions in the frame of a single magma pulse model.


Over the past 30 years, welfare and other public programs for poor families have focused increasingly on promoting parents' self-sufficiency by requiring and supporting employment. Evidence from a diverse set of randomassignment experiments now reveals some of the conditions under which promoting work among low-income, single parents helps or hurts children. This report summarizes the results of recent research conducted as part of the Next Generation Project, a collaboration between researchers at MDRC and several leading research universities, which draws on data from welfare and employment experiments launched in the early 1990s aimed at increasing the selfsufficiency of low-income parents in the U.S. and Canada.1 In addition to providing evidence for policymakers to assess evolving welfare policies, this research helps advance our understanding of the effects of parents' economic circumstances and child care arrangements on the development of low-income children. A prior SRCD policy report on this topic (Morris, 2002) provided evidence that the effects of welfare policies on younger children in the short term (two to three years after parents entered the program) depended on the type of policy and its resulting effects on parents' employment and income (see also Morris, Huston, Duncan, Crosby, & Bos, 2001; Morris & Duncan, 2002). Programs that increased both employment and income had beneficial effects on school achievement for a broad group of preschool and early school-age children. Programs that increased employment alone had few effects, either positive or negative, on these young children. Subsequent work showed that these same policies had negative effects for adolescents (Gennetian et al., 2002). This report summarizes three types of new findings regarding the effects on younger children: · The precise pattern of effects of welfare and employment programs on school achievement across the ages and stages of childhood—i.e., from toddlerhood to preschool, from preschool to middle childhood, and from early to later middle childhood. · The longer-term effects on the achievement of preschoolers—up to five years after their parents were randomly assigned to a welfare and employment program. · An analysis of the role of increased income and increased use of center-based child care arrangements as mediating pathways of the effects of welfare and employment programs on the achievement of preschoolers. Owing to space limitations we confine our discussion to results on children who were assigned to programs prior to their adolescent years. Readers should bear in mind that there are different, and more negative, impacts for older children that our future research will aim to understand better. Overall, our analysis shows that younger children—those who are ages 2-5 when their parents enter a program— show small improvements in their school achievement when their parents participate in a program that includes earnings supplements, a benefit that is reduced as program effects on parents' economic outcomes decline. These effects on children appear to be due to increased family income and, perhaps, to increased use of center-based child care arrangements.


Ferro sulphate (FeSO4) overload and carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) are chemical hepatocarcinogen. Ferro sulphate disrupts the redox balance of the cell and generates chronic oxidative stress by which modulates signaling networks related to malignant transformation. Meanwhile CCl4 induces hepatic damage in lipid peroxidation and decreases activities of antioxidant enzymes and generation of free radicals. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of a pause of chemical hepatocarcinogen induced in Rattus norvegicus rats. Twomonths old adultmaleRattus norvegicus rats weighing around 110–191 g were used. The ratswere divided into three groups. In group I (n=3), no-treatment control; in group II (n=3), rats were fed 3.5%FeSO4 in the diet together with 0.1 ml/ kgBWCCl4 administered by gavage per os 5 days a week for 3 weeks. However, in group III (n=3), rats were administered by chemical hepatocarcinogen like group I then continued with no-treatment for 2 weeks (a pause of 2 weeks was inserted). Body weight were determined per week. At the end of the experiment, rats were fasted overnight, and then 3.0 ml of blood was drawn from the rats from the vena orbitalis in EDTA-tube and then sacrificed. Liver and body weight of rats were determined for each group. Plasma was prepared to biochemical estimation of different parameters like total protein (TP), non-functional plasma enzymes: aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and gamma glutamyl transferase (GT) by biochemical test kits in SYNCHRON CX® System(s). The liver tissuewas used for histological and immunohistochemical assessment. All datawere analyzedwith one-way ANOVA, p<0.05 for the statistical comparison of groups in Matrix Laboratory (MATLAB) programs in MicrosoftWindows XP.According to the research results of the body weight on treated group gained significantly less body weight than control group (p= 0.00). Liver weight at the end of the experiment were significantly decreased in treated group compared to control (p=0.00); but Liver/ Body weight ratio were significantly increased in treated group compared to control (p=0.00). The blood plasma were significant differences in the values of TP and GT (p = 0.00 and 0.00), but the values of AST, ALT, and ratio of AST to ALT were not significant differences (p=0.62, 0.67, and 0.26 respectively). Histopathological studies of the liver section of treated group showed the damage of the liver cells. In the group of a pause of chemical hepatocarcinogen induced in rats were no major morphological changes were observed compared to group that administered for 3 weeks, except for decreased steatosis level. An overall decrease in vacuoles at the group of a pause suggested a changemetabolismand toxin depletion over time. Furthermore, p53 immunohistochemistry on 9 cases revealed no p53 mutations or protein overexpression. It was concluded that p-53 mutation was not detected in Rattus norvegicus rats that induced hepatocarcinogenic agent FeSO4 3.5%and CCl4 0.1 ml/ kg BW for 3 weeks and hepatic injury still encountered in a pause of chemical hepatocarcinogen induced showed that the recovery was not complete. Key words: pause of chemical hepatocarcinogen induced - Rattus norvegicus - liver tissue - total protein - nonfunctional plasma enzymes


In this paper, we take a broad perspective on maternal health and place it in its wider context. We draw attention to the economic and social vulnerability of pregnant women, and stress the importance of concomitant broader strategies, including poverty reduction and women's empowerment. We also consider outcomes beyond mortality, in particular, near-misses and long-term sequelae, and the implications of the close association between the mother, the fetus, and the child. We make links to a range of global survival initiatives, particularly neonatal health, HIV, and malaria, and to reproductive health. Finally, after examining the political and fi nancial context, we call for action. The need for strategic vision, fi nancial resources, human resources, and information are discussed.


This chapter presents an overview of the theoretical law and economics literature on the burden of proof within tort law. I begin by clarifying core legal definitions within this topic, demonstrating that the burden of proof actually refers to at least five doctrinal concepts that substantially overlap but are not completely interchangeable. I then provide a conceptual roadmap for analyzing the major extant contributions to this topic within theoretical law and economics, emphasizing three key dimensions that organize them: (a) where they fall in the positive-normative spectrum; (b) what type of underlying modeling framework they employ (ranging from decision theoretic to game theoretic to mechanism design); and (c) whether they focus on litigation activity or primary activities (or both). In the aggregate, the resulting theoretical landscape is a complex one, yielding a number of interesting insights. Yet it still suffers from having no single unified theory. I conclude by offering a number of recommendations about where applied law and economics scholars interested this topic could direct their research efforts.


Rhipicephalus appendiculatus (Brown Ear tick) is an efficient vector of Theileria parva the aetiological agent of East Coast fever (ECF) in cattle. Currently, ECF threatens about 28 million cattle in eastern, central and southern Africa. Control of this tick has largely depended on synthetic acaricides. The use of these chemicals for tick control has however, been compromised by increased cases of tick resistance, high cost of the acaricides and concerns over environmental pollution as a result of extensive use of the acaricides. There have been calls therefore, for alternative tick control approaches that minimise or eliminate the use of synthetic acaricides. Pheromone aided tick control can be one such an approach. Effective use of pheromones in controlling ticks however, demands an understanding of the ticks' behaviour and the identity of the pheromone(s) mediating these behaviours. This study sought to understand the on-host behavioural interactions between adult R. appendiculatus ticks and to characterise the pheromone(s) mediating these behaviours. The findings show that female R. appendiculatus attach readily on the host even in the absence of male ticks. After feeding for at least 4 days, female ticks not only attract sexually mature males for copulation but also attract and induce the attachment of unfed males. GC-MS analyses of SPME trapped tick volatiles from 5 days fed R. appendiculatus females showed the presence of phenol, p-cresol and 2,6-dichlorophenol in the ratio 11:5:6. All the three phenols and their blends were found attractive to unfed male R. appendiculatus ticks in a two choice climbing assay. P-cresol at a concentration of 2.5ng/μl exhibited the highest relative percentage attractancy (50.41 ± 1.88) among the individual compounds tested. A blend consisting of 5.5ng/μl phenol and 2.5ng/μl p-cresol exhibited the highest relative percentage attractancy (50.90 ± 1.77) among the blends tested. 2,6-dibromophenol, an analogue of the identified phenols was also found attractive to the unfed male ticks with a concentration of 5.0 ng/μl exhibiting the highest relative percentage attractancy (37.90 ± 2.76) among the 2,6dibromophenol doses tested. Behavioural interactions in this tick species could thus be simply mediated by phenols. Male ticks seem to play a critical role on the repletion time and engorged mass of the female ticks. The time and the physiological state of the males (partially fed or unfed) at the time they join females on the host had an impact on the females' engorged mass and repletion time. Females that attached on the host the same day with males attained an engorged mass of 402.60 ± 37.30 mg and reached repletion in 10.47 ± 0.36 days. 5-Days feeding females that were accompanied on the host by 5-days fed males attained an engorged mass of 237.22 ± 22.28 mg and reached repletion in 11.17 ± 0.23 days while those 5-days feeding females that were accompanied by unfed males attained an engorged mass of 387.90 ± 32.42 mg reaching repletion in 13.40 ± 0.34 days. These findings lay some ground work for deploying the brown ear tick's pheromone in its control especially so by targeting the male tick which appears to play a critical role in the successful feeding of the female.


Background: The aim of this work was to evaluate the influence of UPOINT-guided (Urinary, Psychosocial, Organ-specific, Infection, Neurologic/systemic, Tenderness of skeletal muscles) multimodal therapy in patients with chronic prostatitis (CP)/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS) on the dynamic values of the National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) score. Patients and methods: In our study we investigated 110 patients aged 26–68 years with CP/CPPS. We performed digital rectal examination (DRE), pre- and post-massage test (PPMT) urine culture, urine analysis, transrectal ultrasound investigation of prostate, antibiotic susceptibility testing. We divided the patients into the intervention group and the control group which was followed up without any therapy. For the intervention group we offered multimodal therapy based on each predominated positive phenotype. For the urinary phenotype, patients in intervention group received 10 mg alfuzosin. For organ-specific and tenderness domains, the patients of the intervention group received 63 mg Cernilton and 1 g Quercetin. For infection control, the patients of the intervention group received antimicrobial agents according to the results of the post-massage urine culture, antibiotic susceptibility testing and a high level of contamination >105 colony-forming units (CFU)/ml. Microbiological assessment of PPMT urine culture was conducted with aerobic and anaerobic methods of cultivation Results: The 110 patients had an average age of 43.9 ± 11.1 years and a median duration of symptoms of 6.21 ± 1.8 months. Of these, 11 patients did not complete the trial and therefore in quantitative terms, the distribution of patients was as follows: 54 in the intervention group and 45 in the control group. The average total NIH-CPSI score before treatment was 29.8 ± 6.1 in both groups. The mean NIH-CPSI of the pain, urinary, and quality of life (QOL) subscores before treatment was 15.1 ± 3.0, 7.4 ± 1.4 and 8.1 ± 2.1, respectively in both groups. After 6 weeks the PPMT urine culture of patients of the intervention group showed the absence or low-level contamination of microorganisms. After conducting the treatment, the mean total NIH-CPSI score in the intervention and control groups was 13.9 ± 2.8 (p = 0.025) and 29.8 ± 5.8 (p = 0.18), respectively. The average NIH-CPSI pain subscore in the intervention and control group after treatment was 6.7 ± 1.4 (p = 0.018) and 15.1 ± 2.8 (p = 0.21), respectively. The mean NIH-CPSI urinary subscore after treatment in the intervention and control group was 3.22 ± 1.07 (p = 0.045) and 7.4 ± 1.2 (p = 0.15), respectively. The average NIH-CPSI QOL subscore after treatment in the intervention and control group was 3.87 ± 1.28 (p = 0.015) and 8.1 ± 1.9 (p = 0.35). After multimodal therapy, the prevalence of different UPOINT-positive domains in the patients of both intervention groups did not exceed 14%. Conclusions: The UPOINT clinical phenotypes significantly changed after multimodal treatment, including antibiotics, phytotherapy and α-blockers in patients with CP/CPPS. This combination of treatment showed a decreasing total NIH-CPSI score and an elevation of QOL in patients.


In this expository paper, we reflect upon our understanding of how disabled people are discussed and treated in kinesiology and adapted physical activity in higher education and explore potential areas of unintentional harm that may be present in our everyday practice. There are three particular aspects of kinesiology in higher education that we discuss: access, language, and assessment. We discuss the challenges of access of disabled people in positions in higher education, language in higher education which serves as centers for knowledge creation, and the problematic nature of assessments based on societal norms, and for us, it is important to shine a spotlight on the many systemic limitations and barriers that disabled persons experience, in hope to amplify the importance of these issues.


The noisy population recovery problem is a statistical inference problem, which is a special case of the problem of learning mixtures of product distributions. Given an unknown distribution on n-bit strings with support of size k, and given access only to noisy samples from it, where each bit is flipped independently with some unknown noise probability, estimate from a few samples the underlying parameters of the model. Previous work [De et al., FOCS 2016] designed polynomial time algorithms which work under the assumption that the noise parameters are known exactly. In this work, we remove this assumption, and show how to recover the underlying parameters, even when the noise is unknown, in quasi-polynomial time.


Raman spectroscopy reveals crystallographic structure information about optical coatings much faster and with thinner specimens than conventional x-ray diffraction analysis. Spectra of low-absorption TiO2 coatings were measured as a function of thickness from 55 to 831 nm. A minimum of 831 nm was required for good SNR and minimization of substrate effects. Measurements made with interference-enhanced trilayer structures showed increased detectability to layer thicknesses near 50 nm. Counting times were typically 400 sec. Spectra obtained by both methods agree well with reported data for the anatase structural modification of bulk TiO2. The trilayer method is preferred because the thickness examined is closest to that encountered in practical multilayer optical coatings.


Hasanen, Elina "We're on the move all the time": A study on the forms and meanings of young people's self-organised physical activity in the framework of space. Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2017, 261 p. (Studies in Sport, Physical Education and Health ISSN 0356-1070; 261) ISBN 978-951-39-7203-5 (nid.) ISBN 978-951-39-7204-2 (PDF) This study examines the meanings and prerequisites of self-organised physical activity from young people's perspective. The theoretical framework is social space, which enables young people's experiences to be interpreted in parallel with their physical, social, and cultural environment. Three research questions are addressed: (1) Where does young people's self-organised physical activity take place? (2) What are the forms of the activity? (3) What meanings do young people associate with the spaces of the activity? The research data were collected within one municipality. The main data consist of 34 theme interviews with young people aged 12 to 16 years. The interviewees were selected mainly with the help of a questionnaire in three lower secondary schools. Interview data were also collected at the sites of selforganised physical activity. The chosen interviewees were boys and girls with different physical activity orientations in terms of the forms and frequency of physical activity, and with different living environments: a small city centre, the residential areas of the city, a rural town centre, and rural areas. The data also include activity maps and on-site observation. The data were analysed using content analysis. The ideal places of self-organised physical activity were situated close to home, available for spontaneous use, and occasionally modifiable. Open and sufficiently large spaces appeared to be more significant than high-quality sites or facilities. The forms of activity were characterised by the adaptation of sports and movement to suit the place, time frame, and particularly the reference group. Physical activity environments proved to be divergent social spaces for different young people. Spaces of sociality and spaces of playfulness were of major importance for the activity, implicating a distinction from the discourse of rationality. The spatial power held by adults over the spaces for the activity was also relevant for the meanings. In conclusion, the role of physical activity in unstructured leisure time varied from spontaneous supplementary motion to goal-oriented training. Finding space for meaningful activity required variable degrees of agency because it often connected with opportunities to negotiate acceptable uses of functionalised and limited space.


As memory continues to scale further and densities continue to increase, leakage current becomes a non-trivial concern. A selector device limits the leakage current from memory elements so that the current passing through a selected device significantly exceeds the residual leakage. An MIM device can be used in conjunction with a memory element to invoke non-linear I-V characteristics. A Ni/TiO2/Ni film stack was chosen for three main reasons: a large non-linearity factor, high on/off current ratio, and bipolar switching capabilities. An on/off ratio of six orders of magnitude was observed, and current densities on the order of 10kA/cm2 were realized using devices with one-half micron feature sizes. It was shown that current density does not scale with device size, but instead increases with decreasing device area. This confirms that required current densities are realistically achievable with continued


Abstract Valley-filling deposits of the Nama Group, southern Namibia, record two episodes of erosional downcutting and backfill, developed close together in time near the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary. Geochronological constraints indicate that the older valley fill began 539.4 ± 1 Ma or later; the younger of these deposits contains unusually well-preserved populations of the basal Cambrian trace fossil Treptichnus pedum. Facies analysis shows that T. pedum is closely linked to a nearshore sandstone deposit, indicating a close environmental or taphonomic connection to very shallow, mud-draped sandy seafloor swept by tidal currents. Facies restriction may limit the biostratigraphic potential of T. pedum in Namibia and elsewhere, but it also illuminates functional and ecological interpretation. The T. pedum tracemaker was a motile bilaterian animal that lived below the sediment-water interface—propelling itself forward in upward-curving projections that breached the sediment surface. The T. pedum animal, therefore, lived infaunally, perhaps to avoid predation, surfacing regularly to feed and take in oxygen. Alternatively, the T. pedum animal may have been a deposit feeder that surfaced largely for purposes of gas exchange, an interpretation that has some support in the observed association of T. pedum with mud drapes. Treptichnus pedum provides our oldest record of animals that combined anatomical and behavioral complexity. Insights from comparative biology suggest that basal Cambrian T. pedum animals already possessed the anatomical, neurological, and genetic complexity needed to enable the body plan and behavioral diversification recorded by younger Cambrian fossils.


The aim of this publication was to adapt a rheological model of Kelvin–Voigt in the description of the dynamic pupillary reflex. The pupillary reflex presents the results of physiological adaptation mechanisms in the human eye, i.e. response of the iris to the changing intensity of light falling on the retina under the condition of sensory deprivation. Pupillary light reflex (PLR) is a closed loop nerve reflex. The new approach to PLR evaluation presented by the authors consists of adapting the Kelvin–Voigt model to the description of this phenomenon. The authors, for their tests of correct implementation of the model, used data from pilot studies. Research was performed on a group of 10 volunteers in a laboratory environment, at night. The mean age of the study participants was 27 ± 0.4 years. For PLR registration, the F2D Fit-For-Duty system was used .The system provides useful data for shift work or for personnel in high-risk careers. The PLR measurements were taken for both eyes, which were exposed to a series of five flashes at 30-second intervals. The whole measurement of both eyes was conducted with patients wearing goggles, in order to maintain the same measurement conditions, mostly with regard to accommodation. Owing to proper implementation of the model, we managed to attain a high level of its adaptation to real data (>90%). The results show their strong correlation, and the model shows high sensitivity to changes in the shape of the reflex curve, caused by sleep deprivation introduced in the experiment.


Spoken by over 80 million people across the world, Vietnamese is rapidly becoming a prominent business language in Southeast Asia, America, and Europe. Designed to facilitate translation and understanding for speakers of either Vietnamese or English, this dictionary is an ideal reference for businesspeople, NGO workers, students, and adventurous travellers who want to delve deeper into one of Asia's oldest cultures. It includes: entries covering both northern and southern dialects; a unique food index, for deeper exploration of Vietnam's rich cuisine; vocabulary covering Vietnamese culture, politics, history, geography, and technology; a brief introduction to Vietnamese tones, grammar, and the writing system; and, approximately 15,000 entries.


Both daily hassles and chronic stress have been shown to have negative effects on the physical and psychological well being of adolescents. A mediator of the relationship between stress and its effects is coping. The majority of the literature has found approach-oriented coping strategies to be associated with better outcomes than avoidance-oriented coping strategies; however, the majority of the literature has focused primarily on Caucasian samples. The few studies that have been done with the African American adolescent population have found avoidance-oriented coping to adaptive. It has been asserted that one reason for this disparity is that avoidance-oriented coping strategies may be useful in dealing with uncontrollable stressors and, in general, African American adolescents are exposed to more uncontrollable stressors than youth in other communities. While gender differences in the frequency of utilization of different types of coping strategies have been identified in the literature, the results are mixed. The current study examined the coping behavior of 24 African American adolescents in order to identify gender differences in the frequency of utilization of approach-oriented versus avoidance-oriented coping strategies and to explore the relationship between coping behavior and psychological well being. Although no gender differences were found, a significant positive relationship was found between avoidance-oriented coping and levels of psychopathology. These results indicate that higher frequency of use of avoidance-oriented coping strategies is associated with higher levels of psychopathology and poorer psychological well being. Limitations of the current study and directions for future research are discussed.


Effect of Soil Filtration and Ozonation in the Change of Baseline Toxicity in Wastewater Spiked with Organic Micro-pollutants Alexander Christopher Gan Bioassays for baseline toxicity, which measure toxicants' non-specific effects, have been shown in previous studies to effectively correlate with the increased presence of pharmaceuticals, personal care products, endocrine-disrupting compounds, and other synthetic organics in treated sewage effluent. This study investigated how the baseline toxicity of anthropogenic compounds-spiked wastewater changed during the treatment of biofiltration and ozone oxidation, as measured by the bioluminescence inhibition of the Vibrio fischeri bacterium. The water quality parameters of dissolved organic carbon, seven common anions, and fluorescence spectroscopy were used to corroborate and collate with the toxicity results. Water quality was evaluated on two bench-scale soil filtration columns, which were configured for pre-ozonation and post-ozonation. Both systems' soil aerobically removed similar amounts of dissolved organic carbon, and the reduction ranged between 57.7% and 62.1% for the post-ozonation and pre-ozonation systems, respectively. Biological removal of DOC, protein-like, humic-like, and soluble microbial product-like material was highest in the first 28.5 cm of each 114 cm-long system. While bioluminescence inhibition showed that ozonation was effective at lowering baseline toxicity, this study's bioassay procedure was a very poor indicator of soil filtration treatment; both system's effluents were significantly more toxic than their non-ozonated influents.


This squib examines the problem of tied candidates in Harmonic Serialism and presents directional constraint evaluation as a solution. Under standard evaluation, constraints report how many loci of violation a candidate contains and, as a result, cannot differentiate two candidates with equal numbers of violations. Under directional evaluation, constraints report where loci of violation occur and are thus able to distinguish candidates with distinct loci of violation. Alternative tie-breaking mechanisms either fail to solve ties in general or introduce unwanted typological predictions.


Occupational condition differentials between major enterprises in areas around central Japan and smallmedium-enterprises in rural area are caused by hierarchical structure in Japanese industries on the information communication technologies (ICT). In order to remove this inadequate situation, we have drawn a blueprint to reform the ICT-industry by proposing a reference model to develop Free/Libre/OpenSource-based software products and a system that can support the development. The system has been implemented in an organization to help the local ICT-enterprises in Okinawa and the reference model is also now provided by that organization. This paper reports an outline of the system and that of the reference model. A result of test-run of software products development along with the reference model, using the support system, is also shown in this paper. KeywordsOSS-based software products; local ICT-industry; development support.


Abstract. In situ measurements in the upper troposphere–lower stratosphere (UTLS) have been performed in the framework of the European research infrastructure IAGOS (In-service Aircraft for a Global Observing System) for ozone since 1994 and for carbon monoxide (CO) since 2002. The flight tracks cover a wide range of longitudes in the northern extratropics, extending from the North American western coast (125° W) to the eastern Asian coast (135° E) and more recently over the northern Pacific Ocean. Several tropical regions are also sampled frequently, such as the Brazilian coast, central and southern Africa, southeastern Asia, and the western half of the Maritime Continent. As a result, a new set of climatologies for O3 (August 1994–December 2013) and CO (December 2001–December 2013) in the upper troposphere (UT), tropopause layer, and lower stratosphere (LS) are made available, including gridded horizontal distributions on a semi-global scale and seasonal cycles over eight well-sampled regions of interest in the northern extratropics. The seasonal cycles generally show a summertime maximum in O3 and a springtime maximum in CO in the UT, in contrast to the systematic springtime maximum in O3 and the quasi-absence of a seasonal cycle of CO in the LS. This study highlights some regional variabilities in the UT, notably (i) a west–east difference of O3 in boreal summer with up to 15 ppb more O3 over central Russia compared with northeast America, (ii) a systematic west–east gradient of CO from 60 to 140° E, especially noticeable in spring and summer with about 5 ppb by 10 degrees longitude, (iii) a broad spring/summer maximum of CO over northeast Asia, and (iv) a spring maximum of O3 over western North America. Thanks to almost 20 years of O3 and 12 years of CO measurements, the IAGOS database is a unique data set to derive trends in the UTLS at northern midlatitudes. Trends in O3 in the UT are positive and statistically significant in most regions, ranging from +0.25 to +0.45 ppb yr−1, characterized by the significant increase in the lowest values of the distribution. No significant trends of O3 are detected in the LS. Trends of CO in the UT, tropopause, and LS are almost all negative and statistically significant. The estimated slopes range from −1.37 to −0.59 ppb yr−1, with a nearly homogeneous decrease in the lowest values of the monthly distribution (5th percentile) contrasting with the high interregional variability in the decrease in the highest values (95th percentile).


Modern information technologies allow for an ever increasing digitization of business processes in various industries around the globe. This requires an organization-wide digital mind-set and IT capabilities to react agile in turbulent business environments. Which enabling role CIOs have to develop IT capabilities as necessary predecessor to develop organization-wide strategic IT alignment is still unclear. How strategic IT alignment as means to react to rapid market changes can be achieved as consequence of organization-wide capabilities has not been answered yet. In this research, we capture individual and organizational factors characterizing the CIO position and combine them with two preliminary stages of IT competencies, IT infrastructure and IT capabilities, in a single nomological net to identify their influence on strategic IT alignment. Evaluating the results by means of a broad sample collected within a survey among 141 IT-decision makers in the U.S., our partial least squares analysis supports most of our hypotheses, notably verifying the influence of CIOs on organizational structures and strategic IT alignment, therefore fully mediated by IT capabilities. Building on Mintzberg, we propose strengthening the CIO leadership position furthermore throughout the entire organization to cope with the challenges arising from the ongoing digitization of business processes.


The goal of the present paper is to review recent theoretical models and empirical studies on the role of numeracy (i.e., cognitive ability in processing numerical information) in decision making under risk and uncertainty. The research conducted in the last decade points that numeracy is the most robust predictor of making good decisions, which predictions are independent of other psychological constructs or cognitive abilities (such as fluid intelligence or cognitive reflection). The pivotal role of numeracy has been described in at least three theoretical models: Fuzzy-Trace Theory, Skilled Decision Theory, and Multiple Numeric Competencies model. Furthermore, the results of numerous research indicate that better decisions made by people with high numeracy are underpinned by various psychological mechanisms of the cognitive, motivational, and affective nature. Findings related to the performance of people with high and low numeracy served to develop both immediate (e.g., visual aids or an experience-based format of risk communication) and long-term (e.g., cognitive training) methods of improving the decision-making process. Based on these decision aids, we can effectively support people with low numeracy in an accurate risk assessment, risk comprehension, and making better decisions


This paper proposes an algorithm that decomposes the Periodic Event Scheduling Problem (PESP) into trees that can efficiently be solved. By identifying at an early stage which partial solutions can lead to a feasible solution, the decomposed components can be integrated back while maintaining feasibility if possible. If not, the modifications required to regain feasibility can be found efficiently. These techniques integrate dynamic programming into standard search methods. The performance of these heuristics are very satisfying, as the problem using publicly available benchmarks can be solved within a reasonable amount of time, in an alternative way than the currently accepted leading-edge techniques. Furthermore, these heuristics do not necessarily rely on linearity of the objective function, which facilitates the research of timetabling under nonlinear circumstances.


CENTRAL ASIAN REPUBLICS throughout their history have been known in the region for their Islamic scholars and missions, whose religious propagation and practices turned Islam into the fabric of Central Asian society. As elsewhere in the Muslim World, Islam was expressed and practiced in the daily life of the people. Their medieval amirs (rulers), in times of trouble, appealed to their religious sensibilities. Political changes at the palace as well as revolts in the streets were justified on religious basis. Islam was the underlying spirit of life. Good and bad were determined according to the social and public morality of Islam. From about 9th to the 19th century, Islam in Central Asia remained free from foreign domination. But at the end of the 18th century, the expansionist European colonial powers dominated the entire Muslim World. Central Asian Republics could not save themselves from expansionist domination once Russia entered the European race for colonies. By the time British reached South Asia by sea, Russia had already started her race in Central Asia by road, and within a century the two European powers faced each other on the borders of Afghanistan.By about the 1850s Russian had brought Central Asia under her military domination. The Russian barbaric rule shook the Central Asian political and religious leadership to the total loss in almost every aspect of life. As the loss was enormous, so was their response which awakened several forces against the Russian rule. This response was fundamentally religious because it was the religious classes that mobilized the masses against foreign domination. During this struggle, Islam became the unifying force of the resistance movement which consisted of different ethnic and linguistic groups of Central Asia. As the Russian rule was inherently bruteit depended on crude force. However, once that force was needed outside of Central Asia during the Russo-Japanese War of 1905 and the First World War, the struggle for freedom intensified in Central Asia. But the War had not yet ended, when the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 poked not only Central Asia but other parts of Tsarist Russia into the Communists' inheritance, and obliged the Central Asian peoples to restart the struggle all over again. The Communists utilized the same old Russian institutions of repression in Central Asia, and consolidated their rule within two decades (1917-1937, by yet more brutal force. During the Communist period, other forces, such as secularist intellectuals, modernist economists, and religious liberalists, also joined the dominant religious classes already fighting in the resistance movement. It should also be noted that during the Communist period the masses, now politically awakened by a century rule of Russia, responded to the Soviets in a far more sophisticated manner, and obliged the Soviets to compromise with, and yield to, the aspirations of the masses for more religious freedom and better political and economic opportunities if they were to rule in Central Asia.As the First World War caused the collapse of the Tsarist regime in Russia, the Soviets' war against Afghanistan, 1979-1989, is believed to have brought down the Soviet Empire in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. The Afghan War and the Iranian Revolution led to the resurgence of Islam amongst Central Asian peoples who, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, got freedom almost hands down. As Islam proved to be the underlying factor of resistance against state repression, will it also prove to shape the political and social destinies of a people that it brought to freedom? 1 believe there is brighter future for the role of Islam to play in Central Asia. In spite of the Islamophobic policies of Islam Karimov, Islam is going to flourish in Uzbekistan. My research will reveal that historical trends are set in that direction i.e., Islamic renaissance.


SUMMARY. A predictive. in vitro-in vivo correlation (IVIVC) can empower in vitro dissolution as a surrogate for in vivo bioavailability I bioequivalence. IVIVCs can decrease regulatory burden by decreasing the number of biostudies required in support of a drug product. The present study concerns the establishment of in vitro-in vivo correlation for three different sustained release nimesulide loaded ethylcellulose microparticulate formulations (M1, M2 and M3) and conventional tablet (100 mg Nimaran@-Novartis, Pakistan). In vitro dissolution study was conducted in phosphate buffer pH 6.8 stirred at 50 rpm and 37 :t 0.5 .C. A validated HPLC method was adopted to conduct bioavailability studies in young healthy human volunteers. Ultimately IVIVC of prepared microparticles and conventional tablet was established using Wagner-Nelson method. M1 and M2 formulations and Nimaran@ exhibited good linear IVIVC (R2 = 0.9220, 0.9124, 0.8728, respectively) as compared to M3 (R2 =0.9449). The results substantiate the success of this mathematical simulation study encourage researchers to conduct biowaiver studies for other BCS class II drugs.


Nanowires (NWs) and nanobelts (NBs) have been widely studied and fabricated into on-chip photodetectors, biosensors, LEDs/lasers, solar cells and computational components. Their highly tunable physical, electronic and optical properties have generated interest in this field over the past two decades. While there is tremendous potential for nano-structured devices, the wide spread application of NWs/NBs has been hindered by the difficulty in integrating multiple NW or NB structures together into more complex devices. This problem requires a completely novel approach to what has been previously attempted in order to effectively couple on-chip light sources, waveguides and detectors. Multiple factors must be considered including optical power of nanoscale light sources, propagation losses in waveguides and responsivity of nanoscale detectors. Only in combination is it possible to have fully on-chip integrated devices. In this thesis we report the design, optimization and fabrication of coupled self-aligned NB LED emitters and photodetectors. An etched cut is made into a single Cadmium Sulfide NB providing the ability to fabricate each section of a single NB into a separate device. This opens possibilities for on-chip devices such biological sensors. This selfaligned structure can also be coupled to an external light source. Additionally, we present a method for waveguideing and modulating second harmonic generation (SHG) in Cadmium Sulfide NBs as a light source for on-chip measurements. SHG is a coherent and tunable frequency doubled light source so the input laser does not interfere with measurements on-chip. The ability to reliably fabricate more complex devices with nano-structures will continue the trend of portability and point-of-care technology by integrating bulk components such as lasers and photodetectors onto on-chip devices. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Materials Science & Engineering First Advisor Ritesh Agarwal


The 11th edition of the Manual of Clinical Microbiology continues to set the standard for state-of-the-science laboratory practices as the most authoritative reference in the field of clinical microbiology. This new edition presents the numerous microbial taxonomic changes and newer more powerful diagnostic approaches that have been developed since publication of the 10th edition. A collaborative team of editors and authors from around the world, all experienced practitioners, researchers, or public health experts, revised the Manual to include the latest applications of genomics and proteomics, producing an authoritative work of two volumes filled with current findings regarding infectious agents, leading-edge diagnostic methods, laboratory practices, and safety guidelines.


Platform competition is shaped by the likelihood of multihoming (i.e., complementors or consumers adopt more than one platform). To take advantage of multihoming, platform firms often attempt to motivate their rivals' high-performing complementors to adopt their own platforms, or they attempt to prevent their current complementors or consumers from multihoming. In this paper, we study the effectiveness of such strategies in the context of the online daily deals market. We first develop a game-theoretical model that takes into account multihoming on both sides of the market and strategic behavior of all participants—consumers, platform firms, and merchants. We then derive hypotheses and empirically test them. The empirical analysis leverages a policy change of Groupon that reduced information transparency and weakened LivingSocial's ability to identify popular Groupon deals and poach the corresponding merchants. Our results show that limiting information transparency reduced multihoming: after the policy change, LivingSocial copied fewer deals from Groupon and increased its efforts to source new deals. Consequently, industry-wide deal variety increased. We also observe a seesaw effect in that reduced merchant-side multihoming led to increased consumer-side multihoming, thereby strengthening LivingSocial's market position on the consumer side. Overall, after accounting for changes in both lifetime value of the customer base and acquisition cost of merchants, Groupon's policy change reduced LivingSocial's profitability. This paper was accepted by Juanjuan Zhang, marketing.


This thesis examined the relationships of the conceptions of sport ability, achievement
goals, and intrinsic motivation in Physical Education. Studies 1 and 2 investigated the
psychometric properties of the Conceptions of the Nature of Athletic Ability
Questionnaire (CNAAQ), a measure of sport ability beliefs. Results showed that the
revised version of the scale possesses sound psychometric properties in assessing
sport ability beliefs among children and youth. In addition, the relationships between
ability beliefs, goal orientations, perceived competence, and behavioural indicators
(intentions and amotivation) were also examined in the first two studies. An
incremental belief predicted task orientation, whereas an entity belief predicted ego
orientation. Intentions to be physically active were predicted by goal orientations
indirectly through perceived competence, and directly by task orientation. In addition,
amotivation was predicted directly and indirectly by ability beliefs and directly by
achievement goals. Specifically, entity beliefs directly predicted amotivation, task
orientation negatively predicted amotivation. Study 3 examined the interrelationships
between ability beliefs, achievement goals, perceived competence, behavioural
regulation, and arnotivation using cluster analysis. Five distinct clusters were
identified based on these motivational constructs and these profiles were found to be
related to perceived physical self-worth and levels of sport participation. Study 4
experimentally manipulated sport ability beliefs and examined their causal influence
on achievement goals and motivation patterns when faced with failure. The causal
link between ability beliefs and goals was supported. Ability attributions for failure
were stronger for entity theorists compared to incremental theorists. However,
hypotheses predicting differences on effort attributions, affective reactions, and
behavioural markers were not supported. Study 5 examined the effects of goal
involvement on enjoyment and intrinsic motivation under positive feedback. The
results suggested that task-involved and ego-involved participants did not differ in
self-reported enjoyment and free-choice behaviour measure. However, the free-choice
behaviour of the ego-involved participants may not be fully intrinsically motivated. In
addition, autonomous communication increased the positive effects of task and ego
involvement on intrinsic motivation and enjoyment, whereas controlling
communication had an undermining effect. Overall, results show that high
incremental beliefs and high task orientation facilitate adaptive motivational patterns.
Autonomy-supportive contexts also enhanced students' task motivation compared to
controlling contexts.


The inner ear, which contains sensory organs specialized for hearing and balance, develops from an ectodermal placode that invaginates lateral to hindbrain rhombomeres (r) 5-6 to form the otic vesicle. Under the influence of signals from intra- and extraotic sources, the vesicle is molecularly patterned and undergoes morphogenesis and cell-type differentiation to acquire its distinct functional compartments. We show in mouse that Fgf3, which is expressed in the hindbrain from otic induction through endolymphatic duct outgrowth, and in the prospective neurosensory domain of the otic epithelium as morphogenesis initiates, is required for both auditory and vestibular function. We provide new morphologic data on otic dysmorphogenesis in Fgf3 mutants, which show a range of malformations similar to those of Mafb (Kreisler), Hoxa1 and Gbx2 mutants, the most common phenotype being failure of endolymphatic duct and common crus formation, accompanied by epithelial dilatation and reduced cochlear coiling. The malformations have close parallels with those seen in hearing-impaired patients. The morphologic data, together with an analysis of changes in the molecular patterning of Fgf3 mutant otic vesicles, and comparisons with other mutations affecting otic morphogenesis, allow placement of Fgf3 between hindbrain-expressed Hoxa1 and Mafb, and otic vesicle-expressed Gbx2, in the genetic cascade initiated by WNT signaling that leads to dorsal otic patterning and endolymphatic duct formation. Finally, we show that Fgf3 prevents ventral expansion of r5-6 neurectodermal Wnt3a, serving to focus inductive WNT signals on the dorsal otic vesicle and highlighting a new example of cross-talk between the two signaling systems.


The advent of software defined networking enables flexible, reliable and feature-rich control planes for data center networks. However, the tight coupling of centralized control and complete visibility leads to a wide range of issues among which scalability has risen to prominence due to the excessive workload on the central controller. By analyzing the traffic patterns from a couple of production data centers, we observe that data center traffic is usually highly skewed and thus edge switches can be clustered into a set of communication-intensive groups according to traffic locality. Motivated by this observation, we present LazyCtrl, a novel hybrid control plane design for data center networks where network control is carried out by distributed control mechanisms inside independent groups of switches while complemented with a global controller. LazyCtrl aims at bringing laziness to the global controller by dynamically devolving most of the control tasks to independent switch groups to process frequent intra-group events near the datapath while handling rare inter-group or other specified events by the controller. We implement LazyCtrl and build a prototype based on Open vSwitch and Floodlight. Trace-driven experiments on our prototype show that an effective switch grouping is easy to maintain in multi-tenant clouds and the central controller can be significantly shielded by staying "lazy", with its workload reduced by up to 82 percent.


Transgender students are vulnerable to discrimination, exclusion, and harassment, and it is not clear to what extent this discrimination is prohibited by law. Title IX, the federal law prohibiting discrimination "on the basis of sex" in federally-funded schools, does not expressly prohibit discrimination against transgender students. Yet it is possible to interpret the prohibition on sex discrimination in a number of different ways that would make the law available to transgender plaintiffs in some, many, or all cases of discrimination otherwise covered by the statute. Since Title IX has only been invoked in a handful of transgender rights cases, litigants must reference judicial decisions interpreting the sex-discrimination prohibition in Title IX's employment discrimination analog, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This Article examines judicial regulatory decisions interpreting sex discrimination for purposes of Title VII, and describes the handful of cases to date in which courts have considered Title IX's applicability to cases involving transgender plaintiffs. The Article then envisions how Title IX applies to transgender discrimination contexts that the courts haven't considered yet. The Author demonstrates that a number of interpretations support Title IX as a source of legal rights for transgender plaintiffs in contexts like harassment, admissions, and expulsion, while plaintiffs challenging discrimination in those aspects of education that are lawfully segregated by sex can benefit from recent and emerging interpretations of sex discrimination borrowed from the Title VII context.


Class 7 (radioactive) materials exclusive use transport service, and then only for a subsequent exclusive use shipment utilizing the provisions of any of the paragraphs § 173.427(b)(4), § 173.427(c), or § 173.443(b), until the radiation dose rate at every accessible surface is 0.005 mSv/h (0.5 mrem/h) or less and the non-fixed contamination is not greater than the level prescribed in § 173.443(a) of this subchapter. (b) This section does not apply to any vehicle used solely for transporting Class 7 (radioactive) material if a survey of the interior surface shows that the radiation dose rate does not exceed 0.1 mSv per hour (10 mrem per hour) at the interior surface or 0.02 mSv per hour (2 mrem per hour) at 1 meter (3.3 feet) from any interior surface. These vehicles must be stenciled with the words ''For Radioactive Materials Use Only'' in lettering at least 7.6 cm (3 inches) high in a conspicuous place, on both sides of the exterior of the vehicle. These vehicles must be kept closed at all times other than loading and unloading. (c) In case of fire, accident, breakage, or unusual delay involving shipments of Class 7 (radioactive) material, see §§ 171.15, 171.16 and 177.854 of this subchapter. (d) Each transport vehicle used to transport Division 6.2 materials must be disinfected prior to reuse if a Division 6.2 material is released from its packaging during transportation. Disinfection may be by any means effective for neutralizing the material released.


Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (DCNN) have proven to be very effective in many pattern recognition applications, such as image classification and speech recognition. Due to their computational complexity, DCNNs demand implementations that utilize custom hardware accelerators to meet performance and energy-efficiency constraints. In this paper we propose an FPGA-based accelerator architecture which leverages all sources of parallelism in DCNNs. We develop analytical feasibility and performance estimation models that take into account various design and platform parameters. We also present a design space exploration algorithm for obtaining the implementation with the highest performance on a given platform. Simulation results with a real-life DCNN demonstrate that our accelerator outperforms other competing approaches, which disregard some sources of parallelism in the application. Most notably, our accelerator runs 1.9× faster than the state-of-the-art DCNN accelerator on the same FPGA device.


Akash is a marketplace for cloud compute resources which is designed to reduce waste, thereby cutting costs for consumers and increasing revenue for providers. This paper covers the economics of the Akash Network and introduces the Akash Token (AKT). We describe an economic incentive structure designed to drive adoption and ensure the economic security of the Akash ecosystem. We propose an inflationary mechanism to achieve economic goals. We provide calculations for mining rewards and inflation rates. We also present mechanisms for allowing a multitude of fee tokens.


This article is based on conversations between a mother and daughter about academic leadership. Both authors served in different time periods and at different career points as heads of departments ("chairs") in Canadian universities. A literature review suggested that women's academic leadership is a contested topic, especially in relation to organizational cultures and associated gendered expectations. New directions were identified, as scholars move towards comparative studies, poststructural theoretical approaches, analysis of neoliberal trends in universities, and awareness of variation among women. We noted that "Canada" was largely missing from most of the literature reviewed and that middle management had received less attention than senior roles. Our method was collaborative autoethnography, a means of sharing thoughts about one's experiences and analyzing them with regard to wider social issues. Quotations are taken from a taped discussion in early 2018 and are organized around similarities and differences in our narratives. The conclusion raises issues about the difficulties associated with performing this particular middle management role; questions around the consequences of chairing for women in different age groups; the implications of increasing reliance on contingent academic labour; apparent differences between the Canadian experience and what has happened elsewhere; and promising directions for future research.


This thesis explores the role of 1920s and 1930s popular culture in the short stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald. My original contribution to knowledge is to show how Fitzgerald's use of dance, music, and film at the level of both form and content impact upon his literary aesthetics. By situating Fitzgerald's work in the context of the short story as a genre, I consider the modernist features of his short fiction in relation to short-story cycles by James Joyce, Sherwood Anderson, and Ernest Hemingway. I argue that Fitzgerald's lyrical style can be deceptive, and his stories are often more experimental, even subversive, than often recognised. This thesis argues that it is in Fitzgerald's subtle use of ambiguity and parody that these experimental aspects of his fiction often manifest themselves. Reading the short fiction with a view to elucidating this parodic mode, and thus exploring Fitzgerald's social and cultural critique, we encounter Fitzgerald parodying both his own fictive traits and his earlier stories, which sheds new light on his frequently disdainful remarks about the value of his magazine fiction. As ambiguity and parody are key features of African American cultural practices of the period, the thesis also re-examines Fitzgerald's engagement with primitivist modernism, offering a broader perspective on how he navigated between his roles as literary novelist and popular short-storyist. Popular cultural references in Fitzgerald's short fiction do not simply serve as temporal markers or to provide scenic tone, but often function subversively, to destabilise our expectations of a commercial Fitzgerald story whilst sitting in tension with Fitzgerald's lyrical prose style. Themes of disguise and identity are of paramount importance to Fitzgerald's literary modernism, and his use of these cultural media, centred around the concept of performance and leisure, show Fitzgerald subtly subverting our expectations of his short fiction.


Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical, "Deus caritas est", issues and invitation to consider love, the central reality of Christianity, in its fundamental unity, which brings together the dimension of giving and that of receiving. In this perspective, this article sets out to enquire into the contributions made to reflection upon love by Bernard of Clairvaux, William of Saint-Thierry and Richard of St. Victor. Bernard emphasizes the importance of having gratuitously received all things from God. William adds awareness of the unsurpassable concreteness of God's love, given by the presence of the Holy Spirit in the human being. In Richard we then find the explicit need for a forward path of growth, in virtue of which love finds its fulfillment in the Christological form of dedication.


Title of Dissertation: THE ROLE OF AUXIN ON THE EVOLUTION OF EMBRYO DEVELOPMENT AND AXIS FORMATION IN LAND PLANTS DorothyBelle Poli, Doctor of Philosophy, 2005 Dissertation directed by: Professor Todd J. Cooke, Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics This thesis examined the role of auxin in the evolution of land plants. Several approaches were used to study how auxin regulates the development in the bryophyte sporophytes. The altered growth of isolated young sporophytes exposed to applied auxin (indole-3-acetic acid) or an auxin antagonist (p-chlorophenoxyisobutyric acid) suggested that endogenous auxin regulates the rates of axial growth in all bryophyte divisions. In the hornwort Phaeoceros personii, auxin moved at very low fluxes, was insensitive to an auxin-transport inhibitor (N-[1-naphthyl]phthalamic acid), and exhibited a polarity ratio close to 1.0, implying that auxin moves by simple diffusion. The liverwort Pellia epiphylla exhibited somewhat higher auxin fluxes, which were sensitive to transport inhibitors but lacked any measurable polarity. Thus, auxin movement in liverwort sporophytes appears to result from facilitated diffusion. In the moss Polytrichum ohioensis, auxin movement was predominantly basipetal in young sporophytes and occurred at high fluxes exceeding those measured in maize coleoptiles. In older sporophytes, acropetal auxin flux had increased beyond the level measured for basipetal flux in the specimens observed in several, but not all, seasons. The evidence from both inhibitor treatments and isolated tissues is consistent with the interpretation that the cortex carries out basipetal transport in both younger and older sporophytes, whereas the central vascular tissues carries out basipetal transport in younger sporophytes and acropetal flux in older sporophytes. Given the significant differences in fall rainfall in the collection years, the purported sensitivity of vascular tissue development may account for the seasonal variation observed in these experiments. Auxin regulators and polar transport were also used to study the regulation of the embryogenesis of the fern Marsilea vestita. Auxin biosynthesis inhibitors affected initial cell proliferation resulting in the formation of aborted embryos, p-chlorophenoxyisobutyric acid delayed growth and development in all stages of embryogenesis while α-naphthaleneacetic acid mediated rapid cell proliferation that caused enlarged disorganized embryos. Polar auxin transport inhibitors caused no significant abnormalities, which suggested a limited role for polar transport in fern embryogenesis. In conclusion, this evidence suggests that auxin is ultimately involved in the establishment of the body plans in all land plant sporophytes. THE ROLE OF AUXIN ON THE EVOLUTION OF EMBRYO DEVELOPMENT AND AXIS FORMATION IN LAND PLANTS


On profound questions of birth, death, and human choice that are raised by abortion-where opposing sides see no common ground-how can the conflict be managed? The abortion debate in the United States today involves all Americans in complex questions of sex and power, historical change, politics, advances in medicine, and competing social values. In this best-selling book, an eminent constitutional authority shows how the nation has struggled with these questions and then sets forth new approaches that reflect both sides' passionately held convictions. The paperback edition includes discussion of the latest court decisions and excerpts from the major cases, including the Supreme Court's landmark June 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey.


Summer camps designed to produce weight loss are popular childhood obesity interventions. Nutrition education is a critical component of youth weight loss camps and we will present the curriculum developed for a 3 week TO4H after finding no ready made program. It includes "camper meal cards" a personalized nutrition prescription to guide the camper through family style meals; six lessons based on strategies recognized as contributing to healthy weight in youth; and a take-home packet for campers' families.. The handouts (available at http://www.ecu.edu/cs-dhs/pedsweightcenter/camp.cfm.) were branded including partner logos


Book synopsis: Although the world's poorest inhabited continent, Africa has recently shown signs of being a source of economic growth in the coming decades, with increased foreign investment - notably from China - and huge growth in GDP from a number of African states. In contrast to the heaving weight of books focusing on business opportunities in Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America, Africa has been poorly served by academic publishing.

This compendium of scholarship offers cutting-edge knowledge relating to business in Africa. The objectives of this collection include:

To shed new light on the socio-cultural and historical underpinnings of business practice in Africa and their implications for promoting entrepreneurship and business behaviour in the region
To consider the important constraints on business activities in Africa, and the emerging 'best practice' for redressing their real and potential impacts
To facilitate a better understanding of contemporary business practice in Africa through the application of relevant theories and models, including emergent ones.
The Routledge Companion to Business in Africa is a comprehensive reference resource that provides the perfect platform for embarking on research and study into Africa from the business perspective.


We are used to thinking that facts shape legal outcomes, but sometimes the Supreme Court wants nothing to do with facts. In some high-profile constitutional decisions, the Roberts Court has ignored important congressional findings, deeming irrelevant facts that document the very mischief Congress sought to remedy. Similarly, in these same cases the Court exploits the muddy line between facial and as-applied challenges to avoid confronting particular facts. The Justices in these cases do not question the veracity of seemingly relevant facts. Rather, they write their opinions as though these facts don't matter.
This Article examines the Court's penchant for brushing aside inconvenient facts. Using three prominent decisions as case studies, it argues that a majority of Justices too often rely on novel constitutional doctrine to dismiss congressional findings and other facts. This collective disdain for facts muddles constitutional law, aggrandizes the judiciary, and privileges ideology over evidence. Of course, the relevance of particular facts is ultimately a legal question, so the Court clearly enjoys the prerogative to determine which findings have constitutional salience. That said, the Court still owes Congress and the country a more careful explanation when it deems irrelevant the very facts that prompted legislative action in the first place.


The Australian xiphydriid woodwasp genus Austrocyrta, previously known only from a single species, A. australiensis Riek, is revised. A second distinctive species from Carnarvon National Park in south- central Queensland, A. fasciculata Jennings & Austin, sp. nov., is described, and a key to separate the males of the two species is provided.


The thesis deals with the study of several problems associated with the solar convective envelope using seismic data. We start with a general introduction to the subject of solar seismology and convection with the basic physics being presented in the appendices. A general discussion on the seismic properties of solar models including asymptotic analysis are also reviewed having in mind their later use.The detection of convective overshoot at the base of the solar convection zone is the first topic to be presented, starting with a discussion of the theoretically expected behaviour of the oscillations in the presence of overshooting. Using a variational principle for linear adiabatic nonradial oscillations an expression for the frequency changes due to overshoot at the base of the convection zone, modelled as predicted by several studies, is deduced. We then proceed to a detailed application to solar models. The implications of the assumptions present in the analysis are determined and their effect on the conclusions established. Finally, solar data are used to determine the extent and properties of the solar overshoot region using the calibration constructed with the solar models.We then proceed to another application of the method developed in connection with overshoot, by investigating the possibility of determining the solar helium abundance. This is done by using the effect of the second ionization of helium in the solar structure and frequencies of oscillation. The main advantages and limitations of this method are investigated.A qualitative and quantitative study of the importance of how we model low-efficiency convection on the seismic properties of a solar model is also discussed. We introduce a general parametrization that has as particular cases the standard mixing length theory and other recently proposed corrections to this description. Using such a parametrization it is shown how significant can be the shift in absolute value of the frequencies due to this extremely thin region at the top of the solar convective envelope. We then proceed to analyse why this is so and attempt to constrain the available theoretical descriptions of convective energy transport in the solar envelope. Other effects associated with convection and also contributing to the discrepancy in the observed frequencies are also reviewed. We analyse some of these using numerical simulations of convection.The main results of the above topics are reviewed and discussed with the suggestion of some possible implications to be considered in future in the concluding Chapter of the thesis. Also included in the thesis are two appendices which review the basics physics and mathematics involved both in calculating solar models and their frequencies of oscillation.


Much of the previous machine learning (ML) fairness literature assumes that protected features such as race and sex are present in the dataset, and relies upon them to mitigate fairness concerns. However, in practice factors like privacy and regulation often preclude the collection of protected features, or their use for training or inference, severely limiting the applicability of traditional fairness research. Therefore we ask: How can we train a ML model to improve fairness when we do not even know the protected group memberships? In this work we address this problem by proposing Adversarially Reweighted Learning (ARL). In particular, we hypothesize that non-protected features and task labels are valuable for identifying fairness issues, and can be used to co-train an adversarial reweighting approach for improving fairness. Our results show that ARL improves Rawlsian Max-Min fairness, with significant AUC improvements for worst-case protected groups in multiple datasets,outperforming state-of-the-art alternatives.


The principle objective of this project is Rural Electrification via hybrid system which includes wind and solar energy. Our intention is to design a wind turbine compact enough to be installed on roof tops. So we decided to design a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) over Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT). Advantages of VAWT over HAWT are compact for same electricity generation, less noise, easy for installation and maintenance and reacts to wind from all directions. The wind turbine designed to generate electricity sufficient enough for a domestic use. The electricity generated will be stored in the battery and then given to the load. This project emphasizes on electrification of remote areas with minimum cost where load shading still has to be done to meet with demand of urban areas.


The installed power usage in a data centre will often amount to several megawatts (MW). Thetotal power consumption of the data centres in the world is comparable to that of the airtraffic. The high energy costs and carbon dioxide emissions resulting from the operation of adata centre call for alternative, more efficient, solutions for the power supply design. Oneproposed solution to decrease the energy usage is to use a direct current power supply (DCUPS) for all the servers in the data centre and thereby reduce the number of conversionsbetween AC and DC.The aim with this thesis was to determine whether such a DC solution brings reduced powerconsumption compared to a traditional setup and, if this is the case, how big the savings are.Measurements were carried out on different equipment and thereafter the power consumptionwas calculated. The conclusion was that up to 25 % in electricity use can be saved when usinga DC power supply compared to the traditional design.Other benefits that come with the DC technology are simplified design, improved reliabilityand lowered investments costs. Moreover the use of DC in data centres enables a moreefficient integration of renewable energy technologies into the power supply design


A recent United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) Expert Panel on Dense Nonaqueous Phase Liquid (DNAPL) Source Remediation concluded that the decision-making process for implementing source depletion is hampered by quantitative uncertainties and that few useful predictive tools are currently available for evaluating the benefits. This article provides a new planning-level approach to aid the process. Four simple mass balance models were used to provide estimates of the reduction in the remediation time frame (RTF) for a given amount of source depletion: step function, linear decay, first-order decay, and compound. As a shared framework for assessment, all models use the time required to remediate groundwater concentrations below a particular threshold (e.g., goal concentration or mass discharge rate) as a metric. This value is of interest in terms of providing (1) absolute RTF estimates in years as a function of current mass discharge rate, current source mass, the remediation goal, and the source-reduction factor, and (2) relative RTF estimates as a fraction of the remediation time frame for monitored natural attenuation (MNA). Because the latter is a function of the remediation goal and the remaining fraction (RF) of mass following remediation, the relative RTF can be a valuable aid in the decision to proceed with source depletion or to use a long-term containment or MNA approach. Design curves and examples illustrate the nonlinear relationship between the fraction of mass remaining following source depletion and the reduction in the RTF in the three decay-based models. For an example case where 70 percent of the mass was removed by source depletion and the remediation goal (C g /C 0 ) was input as 0.01, the improvement in the RTF (relative to MNA) ranged from a 70 percent reduction (step function model) to a 21 percent reduction (compound model). Because empirical and process knowledge support the appropriateness of decay-based models, the efficiency of source depletion in reducing the RTF is likely to be low at most sites (i.e., the percentage reduction in RTF will be much lower than the percentage of the mass that is removed by a source-depletion project). Overall, the anticipated use of this planning model is in guiding the decision-making process by quantifying the relative relationship between RTF and source depletion using commonly available site data. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Objective To confirm the symptoms and signs for motor neuron disease (MND) in the Red Flag tool; to quantify the extent to which the key symptoms and signs are associated with MND; and to identify additional factors which may be helpful within the primary care setting in recognition of possible MND and triggering timely referral to neurology specialists. Design A nested case–control study. Setting 1292 UK general practices contributing to the QResearch primary care database, linked to hospital and mortality data. Participants Baseline cohort included 16.8 million individuals aged 18 years and over without a diagnosis of MND at study entry and with more than 3 years of digitalised information available. The nested case–control data set comprised of 6437 cases of MND diagnosed between January 1998 and December 2019, matched by year of birth, gender, general practice and calendar year to 62 003 controls. Main outcome measures Clinically recognised symptoms and signs of MND prior to diagnosis and symptoms and factors which are relevant in primary care setting. Results This study identified 17 signs and symptoms that were independently associated with MND diagnosis in a multivariable analysis. Of these, seven were new to the Red Flag tool: ataxia, dysphasia, weight loss, wheeze, hoarseness of voice, urinary incontinence and constipation. Among those from the Red Flag tool, dysarthria had the strongest association with subsequent MND (adjusted OR (aOR): 43.2 (95% CI 36.0 to 52.0)) followed by muscle fasciculations (aOR: 40.2 (95% CI 25.6 to 63.1)) and muscle wasting (aOR: 31.0 (95% CI 19.5 to 49.4)). Additionally, the associations between MND diagnosis and family history, dropped foot, focal weakness and sialorrhoea remained robust after controlling for confounders. Patients who reported symptoms indicative of damage to the lower brainstem and its connections were diagnosed sooner than those who presented with respiratory or cognitive signs. Conclusion This is the first study that has identified, confirmed and quantified the association of key symptoms and signs with MND diagnosis. In addition to known factors, the study has identified the following new factors to be independently associated with MND prior to diagnosis: ataxia, dysphasia, wheeze and hoarseness of voice. These findings may be used to improve risk stratification and earlier detection of MND in primary care.


We report results to verify a theoretical framework to analyze the 3D depth-wise structural organization of collagen fibers in articular cartilage using polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography. Apparent birefringence data obtained from multi-angle measurements using a time domain polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography system has been compared with simulated data based on the extended Jones matrix calculus. Experimental data has been shown to agree with the lamellar model previously proposed for the cartilage microstructure based on scanning electron microscopy data. This tool could have potential application in mapping the collagen structural orientation information of cartilage non-invasively during arthroscopy.


Iron is an essential micronutrient for nearly all organisms, but excessive iron can lead to the formation of cytotoxic reactive oxygen species. Therefore, iron acquisition and homeostasis must be tightly regulated. Plants have evolved complex mechanisms to optimize their use of iron, which is one of the most limiting nutrients in the soil. In particular, transcriptional regulation is vital for regulating iron in plants, and much work has revealed the role of transcription factors on this front. Our study adds novel insights to the transcriptional regulation of iron homeostasis in plants by showing that chromatin remodeling via histone 3 lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3) modulates the expression of FIT-dependent genes under iron deficiency. We provide evidence that FIT-dependent iron acquisition genes, IRT1 and FRO2, as well as FIT itself are direct targets of PRC2-mediated H3K27me3. In the clf mutant, which lacks the predominant H3K27 tri-methyltransferase, induction of FIT, FRO2, IRT1, and other FIT-regulated genes in roots is significantly higher under iron deficient conditions than in wild type. Furthermore, we observe that clf mutants are more tolerant to iron deficiency than wild type, indicating that gene expression levels appear to be limiting the plants ability to access iron. We propose that H3K27me3 attenuates the induction of FIT-target genes under iron deficiency and hypothesize that this may serve as a mechanism to restrict the maximum level of induction of iron acquisition genes to prevent iron overload.


Within an internal model the Economic Scenario Generator (ESG) is an important component. In order to get a regulatory approval of an internal model it is required that the implemented models (must be) passed a rigorous validation process, see Ceiops [2009]. In this paper we focus on the particular problem to judge the contribution of correlations between interest rate risks across countries in the ESG. To that end we apply two strategies: an analytical and a statistical one. The analytical approach yields necessary conditions in terms of upper and lower bounds for correlations within the chosen model. A system of stochastic differential equations is used to describe several economies simultaneously. In this framework we derive a lower and upper bound of the correlation of the treasury yields between two economies by solving the associated ordinary differential inequalities. In order to deepen our understanding about the correlation structure we consider three modeling types of correlations of historical datasets. We first derive the realized correlations as outlined by Andersen et al. [2003] for the historical treasury yields of two economies. Furthermore we include Engle's parsimonious multivariate GARCH models – known as Dynamical Conditional Correlation (DCC) model, see Engle [2009] – and we derive conditional correlations out of our ESG. We then exploit a nice relationship outlined by Andersen et al. [2003], which relates the realized correlation and conditional correlations in oder to compare the three model by their ability to capture the stylized facts of the underlying processes. In this respect the long memory of the correlation processes is of particular importance. We give a series of statistical analysis that highlight the adequacy of the model.


Oxygen and iron isotope variations have been investigated in three compositionally distinct garnet samples to assess natural variations and search for suitable reference material. We report in situ major, trace element and O isotope analyses for mantle-derived garnet xenocrysts from Kakanui, New Zealand, as well as magmatic and hydrothermal garnets (skarn) from two different localities in Erongo, Namibia. The in situ analyses are complemented by bulk mineral separate Fe isotope analyses for all samples and CO2 laser fluorination oxygen isotope analysis for Kakanui garnet.
Mantle-derived pyrope-rich garnet megacrysts from Kakanui are chemically
homogeneous in major and trace elements, and in O isotopes, (δ18OVSMOW = 5.67 ± 0.02 ‰). Magmatic garnet from Erongo, Namibia, are rich in Mn and Fe2+ and very poor in Ca showing minor variations along the almandine-spessartine join [(Fe,Mn)3Al2Si3O12]. Although rare earth elements vary over one order of magnitude, no resolvable O isotope zoning is observed (δ18O = 9.3 ± 0.3 ‰, 1σ). Hydrothermal garnet from Namibia are rich in Ca and Fe3+ and shows strong zonation along the andradite-grossular join [Ca3(Fe3+,Al)2Si3O12] with a considerable spread in trace element contents, accompanied by a limited, but resolvable, spread in O isotopes values between cores (8.3 ± 0.3 ‰, 1σ) and rims (7.4 ± 0.3 ‰, 1σ). Iron isotopes (expressed as δ57FeIRMM-014) within bulk garnet separates are heterogeneous in both crustal garnet from Erongo with a large spread ranging from -0.15 to +0.30 ‰ in igneous garnet and from +0.4 to +1.1 ‰ in hydrothermal garnet. Igneous garnet from Kakanui are homogeneous with an average δ57FeIRMM-014 of +0.09 ± 0.01, 1σ. The Fe3+-dominated andradite shows very heavy Fe isotopes, suggesting a link between preferential ferric iron incorporation into garnet and Fe isotope signatures. Combined O and Fe isotope analyses in garnet can provide potentially important insights into the nature of parental medium from which the garnet forms (based on O isotopes) and associated petrogenetic processes (e.g., redox conditions based on Fe isotopes), though more systematic studies are required to further assess these proxies in natural systems. Finally, we propose that Kakanui garnet might represent a suitable reference material for both, O and Fe isotope analyses.


There are approximately one-third more African American men who are incarcerated than those who are enrolled in postsecondary education. While in prison, African American male inmates are exposed to a variety of experiences such as mental illness and depression. Despite their impaired judgment and reasoning skills, there are some African American male prison inmates who have an avid interest in obtaining an education and completing a college program while incarcerated. Therefore, I documented their experiences in their college vocational programs. The value of a college education in prison is significant for inmate development. It affords inmates the opportunity and ability to organize one's awareness of new ideas and gain confidence in one's abilities thus raising one's self esteem. Educating prisoners is a prudent, pragmatic, and humane policy. Therefore, this research study provided an understanding of the educational experiences of African American male inmates who were convicted of drug offenses. Nineteen African American male student/inmates who are housed in a drug rehabilitation prison center in the Midwestern region participated in an interview. A generic qualitative design was used to provide detailed descriptions of all interviews during the study. The purpose of this study was to understand the perspectives of drug-convicted African American inmates who participated in a college program. The interview questions were designed to create an analysis of their experiences in correlation with the following theories: self-worth theory and selfdetermination theory. Three thematic concepts that resulted from the study were: (1) motivation to attend college, (2) personal feelings about attending vocational college and (3) factors influencing AN ANALYSIS OF THE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES 3 career choices. The research findings suggested that student inmates who acquired a college education endured a psychological transition from the volition to commit crimes to that of obtaining a college education or vocational skill. They associated obtaining a college education with a change in life that they felt was needed to obtain job skills and pursue personal goals. Many of the student inmates were able to achieve these goals despite having been diagnosed with mental illness and depression. AN ANALYSIS OF THE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES 4


Abstract. Thunderstorm anvils were studied during the Deep Convective Clouds and Chemistry experiment (DC3), using in situ measurements and observations of ice particles and NOx together with radar and Lightning Mapping Array measurements. A characteristic ice particle and NOx signature was found in the anvils from three storms, each containing high lightning flash rates in the storm core prior to anvil sampling. This signature exhibits high concentrations of frozen droplets (as measured by a Cloud Droplet Probe) coincident with lower NOx on the edges of the anvil. The central portion of these anvils exhibited a high degree of aggregation of these frozen droplets and higher levels of NOx. In contrast, a deep convective cell with low lightning flash rates had high concentrations of both frozen droplets and aggregated frozen droplets in its anvil's central region. A conceptual model for these results is presented and applied to the observations from each of these storms. High NOx concentrations are often found where aggregation of frozen droplets has occurred, which may be a reflection of aggregation by electrical forces in the regions where lightning is occurring, although the level of NOx for a given concentration of aggregates varies from storm to storm. These observations between anvil microphysics and lightning and/or NOx signatures suggest that lightning data may be an important tool to characterize or infer the microphysical, radiative, and chemical properties of thunderstorm anvils.


The ability of robots to autonomously perform tasks is increasing. More autonomy in robots means that the human managing the robot may have available free time. It is desirable to use this free time productively, and a current trend is to use this available free time to manage multiple robots. We present the notion of neglect tolerance as a means for determining how robot autonomy and interface design determine how free time can be used to support multitasking, in general, and multirobot teams, in particular. We use neglect tolerance to 1) identify the maximum number of robots that can be managed; 2) identify feasible configurations of multirobot teams; and 3) predict performance of multirobot teams under certain independence assumptions. We present a measurement methodology, based on a secondary task paradigm, for obtaining neglect tolerance values that allow a human to balance workload with robot performance.


ABSTRACT This qualitative study explored Spanish-speaking teacher credential students' beliefs about academic language that might promote or inhibit their decision to become bilingual teachers. Data includes interviews with 11 bilingual teacher candidates who were heritage Spanish speakers. Findings show that most were only aware of English-only educational contexts and did not know that bilingual teaching and the bilingual authorization pathway were options. Their schooling experience fostered English hegemony; even their Spanish classes were pervaded by linguistic purism and elitism. Schools taught them that their registers of Spanish, which they learned at home, were insufficient, inappropriate or incorrect. Consequently, they questioned their ability to become bilingual teachers. Language register and social class were intimately connected in the data. Participants viewed bilingual education as a pathway toward more equitable educational opportunities for Latinx students. Implications include the need for bilingual teacher preparation to address critical sociolinguistics concepts that explore the relationships between language, race and ethnicity in education. Future research is needed to explore how heritage Spanish speaking bilingual teachers enact their beliefs about equity through bilingual education, the challenges they face, and the ways that teacher education programs and professional development providers could support their work.