The research carried out in this thesis was mainly concerned with the effects of large induction motors and their transient performance in power systems. Computer packages using the three phase co-ordinate frame of reference were developed to simulate the induction motor transient performance. A technique using matrix algebra was developed to allow extension of the three phase co-ordinate method to analyse asymmetrical and symmetrical faults on both sides of the three phase delta-star transformer which is usually required when connecting large induction motors to the supply system. System simulation, applying these two techniques, was used to study the transient stability of a power system. The response of a typical system, loaded with a group of large induction motors, two three-phase delta-star transformers, a synchronous generator and an infinite system was analysed. The computer software developed to study this system has the advantage that different types of fault at different locations can be studied by simple changes in input data. The research also involved investigating the possibility of using different integrating routines such as Runge-Kutta-Gill, RungeKutta-Fehlberg and the Predictor-Corrector methods. The investigation enables the reduction of computation time, which is necessary when solving the induction motor equations expressed in terms of the three phase variables. The outcome of this investigation was utilised in analysing an introductory model (containing only minimal control action) of an isolated system having a significant induction motor load compared to the size of the generator energising the system.


Our emotional state influences our choices. Research on how it happens usually comes from the lab. We know relatively little about how real world emotions affect real world settings, like financial markets. Here, we demonstrate that estimating emotions from weblogs provides novel information about future stock market prices. That is, it provides information not already apparent from market data. Specifically, we estimate anxiety, worry and fear from a dataset of over 20 million posts made on the site LiveJournal. Using a Granger-causal framework, we find that increases in expressions of anxiety, evidenced by computationally-identified linguistic features, predict downward pressure on the S&P 500 index. We also present a confirmation of this result via Monte Carlo simulation. The findings show how the mood of millions in a large online community, even one that primarily discusses daily life, can anticipate changes in a seemingly unrelated system. Beyond this, the results suggest new ways to gauge public opinion and predict its impact.


Abstract. In this article we summarise recent science which shows how airborne amines, specifically methylamines (MAs), play a key role in new atmospheric particle formation (NPF) by stabilising small molecule clusters. Agricultural emissions are assumed to constitute the most important MA source, but given the short atmospheric residence time of MAs, they can hardly have a direct impact on NPF events observed in remote regions. This leads us to the presentation of existing knowledge focussing on natural vegetation-related MA sources. High MA contents as well as emissions by plants was already described in the 19th century. Strong MA emissions predominantly occur during flowering as part of a pollination strategy. The behaviour is species-specific, but examples of such species are common and widespread. In addition, vegetative plant tissue exhibiting high amounts of MAs might potentially lead to significant emissions. The decomposition of organic material constitutes another, potentially ubiquitous, source of airborne MAs. These mechanisms would provide sources, which could be crucial for the amine's role in NPF, especially in remote regions. Knowledge about vegetation-related amine emissions is, however, very limited, and thus it is also an open question how global change and the intensified cycling of reactive nitrogen over the last 200 years have altered amine emissions from vegetation with a corresponding effect on NPF.


This article seeks to examine the association of the concept of governance of international relations and, by implication, human population migration, through the rigid practices of "sovereignty-state-territory triad" with the fomentation and exacerbation of societal stereotypes, attitudes and perceptions of xenophobia in Africa, in general, and South Africa, in particular. Ascriptions of the majority of population migration as "international" affirms the centrality of the operationalisation of the "sovereignty-state-territory triad" in understanding the fragmentary constructions of societal attitudes and perceptions of people resident in distinct geopolitical entities ascribed as national territories. State and non-state governance entrapments with this triad perpetuate societal stereotypes that are in concurrence with bordered-territories where populations described as citizens are stimulated to protect endowments and resources of the land against the perceived destruction associated with the conduct of the out-groups. Unsurprisingly, the theorisation of human population migration has equally been intricately involved with environmental conservation and securitisation of biodiversity that enables land dispossession of the vulnerable sections of the population through the Western economic narratives of "Peace Parks". Simultaneously in Southern Africa, the concept of African Renaissance, inescapably embedded with "cooperation and conflict" at all scales, has offered a buzzword to be realised through "Peace Parks" that have evidently failed to deliver reaffirmation of African cultures, continental emancipation and democratisation. The preeminence of societal stereotypes, attitudes and perceptions of xenophobia and violent abuses of African immigrants in South Africa provides vivid illustrations of the inconsistencies and non-linearity of concepts such as African Renaissance and "Peace Parks". This article asserts that measures for repairing the landscapes of xenophobia among Africans, especially in South Africa, will remain pipedreams if they are not embedded with adaptive governance designed to undermine the rigidities of the "sovereignty-state-territory triad", prevalent in the international relations.


ABSTRACT DNA methylation is a ubiquitous chromatin feature – in maize, more than 25% of cytosines in the genome are methylated. Recently, major progress has been made in describing the molecular mechanisms driving methylation, yet variation and evolution of the methylation landscape during maize domestication remain largely unknown. Here we leveraged whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) on populations of modern maize, landrace, and teosinte (Zea mays ssp. parviglumis) to investigate the adaptive and phenotypic consequences of methylation variations in maize. By using a novel estimation approach, we inferred the methylome site frequency spectrum (mSFS) to estimate forward and backward methylation mutation rates and selection coefficients. We only found weak evidence for direct selections on methylations in any context, but thousands of differentially methylated regions (DMRs) were identified in population-wide that are correlated with recent selections. Further investigation revealed that DMRs are enriched in 5' untranslated regions, and that maize hypomethylated DMRs likely helped rewire distal gene regulation. For two trait-associated DMRs, vgt1-DMR and tb1-DMR, our HiChIP data indicated that the interactive loops between DMRs and respective downstream genes were present in B73, a modern maize line, but absent in teosinte. And functional analyses suggested that these DMRs likely served as cis-acting elements that modulated gene regulation after domestication. Our results enable a better understanding of the evolutionary forces acting on patterns of DNA methylation and suggest a role of methylation variation in adaptive evolution.


In this work we have applied the Kiraly structural-geological methodology to determine the hydraulic conductivity of the hydrogeological complexes outcropping in the M. Catria-M. Nerone, Cingoli and M.gna dei Fiori carbonate ridges (central Apennines, fig. 1). The objective was to verify whether the results would confirm the groundwater circulation pattern for the above mentioned hydro-structures, whose general features have already been described in previous studies. The outcropping Umbrian-Marchean sequence is composed of an 800 m thick carbonate neritic unit (Calcare massiccio: Upper Triassic-Lower Lias), overlain by bedded calcareous, marly and cherty pelagic sequences with thickness ranging from 900 m to 1400 m. The hydrostructures considered in this paper are represented by the Massiccio, Maiolica and Scaglia complexes. They have similar features to those of other (Umbrian-Marchean) Apenninic carbonate ridges. Mean effective infiltration for the Massiccio complex ranges from 860 mm/y to 1160 mm/y, whereas lower values (with maximum of 600 mm/y) are typical of the Maiolica and Scaglia complexes. The results of Kiraly9s methodology have confirmed the ground water circulation pattern obtained from standard hydrogeological studies. The main hydraulic conductivity direction is in fact strongly controlled by tectonic lines trending parallel to the ridge axis (NNW-SSE). The highest values in hydraulic conductivity (k e congruent to 10 (super -4) m/s) for the Massiccio complex have been found in Jurassic structural highs, where the complex is composed by the Calcare massiccio del M. Nerone and the Maiolica Formations. The Maiolica complex in basinal areas and the Scaglia complex show lower values (k e congruent to 10 (super -6) /10 (super -6) m/s), in good agreement with a relative permeability scale based on lithology. Nonetheless these values are not high enough to explain some characteristics of the groundwater circulation obtained from measurements of springs and rivers, such as the extreme variability in discharge and chemistry connected to rainfall: actual hydraulic conductivity values must be greater than those obtained with structural-geological analyses as they are greatly influenced by karst phenomena. Downflow velocity is thus controlled by karst phenomena, which allows a fairly rapid hydraulic circulation at depth. The role of the eastern thrust front as a low permeability boundary for groundwater circulation is confirmed in the M. Catria-M. Nerone ridge; such tectonic lines normally represent the eastern border of the Apenninic ridges. The main flow direction is apenninic; other directions (opposite or radial to the flanks of antiforms) can be superimposed on the main one in areas of great tectonic complexity such as the Jurassic structural highs. Extensional Jurassic faults striking N-S, interpreted as transfer faults for NNW-SSE thrust sheets, can create hydraulic continuity among different carbonate ridges along an Apenninic direction.


The unexpected E3 ubiquitin ligase activity of a histone demethylase suppresses cancer cell growth. While testing for a role for the histone demethylase LSD2 in the DNA damage response, Yang et al. found that DNA damage promoted the polyubiquitylation and degradation of LSD2. In vitro ubiquitylation assays revealed that LSD2 itself possessed E3 ubiquitin ligase activity, exhibiting autoubiquitylation activity and activity toward O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT). OGT is known to interact with LSD2 and integrates nutritional status with posttranslational modification of proteins by transfer of β-N-acetylglucosamine to serine or threonine residues. Experiments with 293T cells transfected with tagged versions of ubiquitin, OGT, or LSD2 and with cells in which LSD2 was knocked down showed that OGT was ubiquitylated in an LSD2-dependent manner in cells. LSD2 mutants with either only demethylase activity (LSD2ER-AA) or only E3 ubiquitin ligase activity (LSD24CA) established that OGT ubiquitylation and degradation depended on the E3 ubiquitin ligase activity of LSD2. 293T cells in which LSD2 was knocked down exhibited clustered growth in culture, and introduction of wild-type or LSD24CA, but not LSD2ER-AA, inhibited colony formation in these cells, indicating that the E3 ubiquitin ligase activity was necessary to prevent this transformation-associated phenotype. Analysis of several different cancer cell lines showed that the abundance of LSD2 (protein and mRNA) was lower in the cancer cell lines than in 293T cells with the A549 lung cancer cell line having undetectable amounts of LSD2. Compared with control A549 cells, introduction of LSD2 with E3 ubiquitin ligase activity, but not LSD2ER-AA, resulted in smaller and fewer colonies and reduced the abundance of OGT. Overexpression of OGT in the A549 cells overexpressing LSD24CA resulted in growth and colony formation similar to that of the control cells, indicating that OGT was a relevant target of the E3 ubiquitin ligase activity of LSD2 in controlling growth. Thus, these data indicated that LSD2 is a bifunctional protein with two separable catalytic activities and that the E3 ubiquitin ligase activity toward OGT may suppress cancer growth. Y. Yang, X. Yin, H. Yang, Y. Xu, Histone demethylase LSD2 acts as an E3 ubiquitin ligase and inhibits cancer cell growth through promoting proteasomal degradation of OGT. Mol. Cell 58, 47–59 (2015). [PubMed]


Abstract Wetlands are important ecosystems on Earth. However, global wetland coverage is being reduced due to both anthropogenic and natural effects. Thus, assessment of temporal changes in vegetative coverage, as a measure of the wetland health, is critical to help implement effective management plans and provide inputs for climate-related research. In this work, 596 moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) 250-m resolution images of the Hongze Lake national wetland nature reserve from 2000 to 2009 were used to study the vegetative coverage (above the water surface) of the reserve. Three vegetation indices [normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), enhanced VI (EVI), and floating algae index (FAI)] were compared to evaluate their effectiveness in assessing relative changes. FAI was less sensitive than NDVI and EVI to aerosol effects and showed less statistical error than NDVI and EVI. Long-term FAI data revealed clear seasonal cycles in vegetative coverage in the 113 - km 2 core area of the reserve, with annual maximal coverage relatively stable after 2004. This suggests that the national wetland nature reserve was well protected through the study period. However, vegetative coverage decreased due to the flooding event in 2003. Moreover, correlation analysis showed that annual sunshine duration collectively played a significant role in affecting the wetland vegetative coverage.


In August 2011, England experienced the most serious rioting since 30 years. The unrest started two days after the fatal police shooting of Mark Duggan in Tottenham and quickly spread to other cities. This article opens with a brief sketch of the recent history of rioting in England from 1980-2010 and a comparison of previous riots with the ones in 2011. Subsequently, a more extensive overview of the current state of research focusing on triggers and structural roots of the 2011 riots and a local case study of Greater Manchester are presented. It is argued that broader social reasons (e .g . deprivation), consumerism, policing, male behavior and racialised conflicts constitute the overall causes for the latest riots. Moreover, the article looks at the riots in the context of class. Unlike the well-known 'underclass' discourse, the article applies a non-pejorative understanding of class: From this perspective, the 2011 riots are interpreted as a symptom of an ongoing fragmentation of social conflicts. Wide ranges of people are no longer represented by organizations like unions nor do they trust in welfare or state institutions or organise in conventional ways. This results in non-normative collective action beyond established institutions as well as new forms of how class struggles and social conflicts articulate themselves.


In this paper,we propose the use of binary partition trees (BPT) to introduce a novel region-based and multi-scale polarimetric SAR (PolSAR) data representation. The BPT structure represents homogeneous regions in the data at different detail levels. The construction process of the BPT is based, firstly, on a region model able to represent the homogeneous areas, and, secondly, on a dissimilarity measure in order to identify similar areas and define the merging sequence. Depending on the final application, a BPT pruning strategy needs to be introduced. In this paper, we focus on the application of BPT PolSAR data representation for speckle noise filtering and data segmentation on the basis of the Gaussian hypothesis, where the average covariance or coherency matrices are considered as a region model. We introduce and quantitatively analyze different dissimilarity measures. In this case, and with the objective to be sensitive to the complete polarimetric information under the Gaussian hypothesis, dissimilarity measures considering the complete covariance or coherency matrices are employed. When confronted to PolSAR speckle filtering, two pruning strategies are detailed and evaluated. As presented, the BPT PolSAR speckle filter defined filters data according to the complete polarimetric information. As shown, this novel filtering approach is able to achieve very strong filtering while preserving the spatial resolution and the polarimetric information. Finally, the BPT representation structure is employed for high spatial resolution image segmentation applied to coastline detection. The analyses detailed in this work are based on simulated, as well as on real PolSAR data acquired by the ESAR system of DLR and the RADARSAT-2 system.


The article analyzes modern trends of Russian patriotism from the point of view of global context of patriotic education, civic education and nationbuilding. The author cites the all-Russia polls and the results of the sixth WVS wave (2010–2014). She also demonstrates results of an empirical study using the method of content analysis Atlas.ti. The study covers eight strategic documents of patriotic education of the United States, Singapore, China and Russia. Key findings from the study are: (1) The abrupt nature of the Russian patriotism shows that external events play a major role in its formation rather than public policy. Consolidation of the Russian society is not realized through cultivating of positive patriotic values, but on the basis of negative factors. Their influence can only lead to a blind, but not to the constructive patriotism. (2) Russian program documents emphasize militarist bias of patriotic education, and this is evidently blurring legal and theoretical basis of patriotism formation in Russia. Patriotic education cannot exist for its own sake. Also, it can only develop emotional components of state identity. This prevents formation of constructive patriotism and cultivates such qualities as unconditional love for the homeland, convinced devotion to public authorities, unquestioning positive evaluation of government structures, rejection of critical evaluation, readiness to defend the state up to the sacrifice. (3) There is a need to harmonize the "official" definition of patriotism with the concepts of civic education and nation-building. Patriotism can be regarded as love for a country, devotion to the state expressed in knowledge of historical and contemporary achievements of the country, free support of spiritual and moral values, manifestation of citizenship based on the active participation in civil society, constructive criticism of the government and expression of one's point of views. Such definition of patriotism integrates emotional relationship of the citizen to the country, state, civil and national identity. It emphasizes importance of the traditions and values, and creates a construct of active and free social behavior without infringing alternative values, traditions and attitudes existant in the world.


Peoples mind, behavior and attitude are changed very quickly for the globalization & technology. Now a day's Bangladeshi young customers are well informed about the clothing items and they spent more time for this. This paper explores Bangladeshi young customers buying behavior when they go to purchase different fashion items like- t-shirt, polo shirt, shirt and pant. Data is collected from 350 people from different area of Dhaka, Savar and Gazipur. Data is analyzed as first priority and second priority label for each fashion item.  This research helps to know which brand product are got most priority for a particular item, which brand is doing well business in Bangladeshi fashion market etc. Many fashion maker or brand developer is helped by that to improve their fashion marketing, increasing customer demands and build a strong relationship with the customer.


Referencing outside the bounds of an array or buffer is a common source of bugs and security vulnerabilities in today's software. We can enforce spatial safety and eliminate these violations by inseparably associating bounds with every pointer (fat pointer) and checking these bounds on every memory access. By further adding hardware-managed tags to the pointer, we make them unforgeable. This, in turn, allows the pointers to be used as capabilities to facilitate fine-grained access control and fast security domain crossing. Dedicated checking hardware runs in parallel with the processor's normal datapath so that the checks do not slow down processor operation (0% runtime overhead). To achieve the safety of fat pointers without increasing program state, we compactly encode approximate base and bound pointers along with exact address pointers for a 46b address space into one 64-bit word with a worst-case memory overhead of 3%. We develop gate-level implementations of the logic for updating and validating these compact fat pointers and show that the hardware requirements are low and the critical paths for common operations are smaller than processor ALU operations. Specifically, we show that the fat-pointer check and update operations can run in a 4 ns clock cycle on a Virtex 6 (40nm) implementation while only using 1100 6-LUTs or about the area of a double-precision, floating-point adder.


Joint inversion of P-waves (compressional waves) and PS-waves (converted P to S-waves) is becoming more important for pore pressure prediction, time-lapse effects and characterizing the stress and fracture state of reservoirs. However accurate results will depend on how well the principal S-wave (shear-wave) directions can be determined in anisotropic media. PS-wave reflection coefficients in azimuthally anisotropic media produce a set of non-orthogonal amplitude modes that can complicate the estimation of principal S-wave directions. The purpose of this study is to show that a conventional Alford rotation provides the correct principal direction for non-orthogonal PS-wave modes in azimuthally anisotropic media when reflection coefficients vary azimuthally. Fast and slow S-wave components of 4C (four component) Alford data are examined in terms of azimuthally anisotropic PS-waves reflection coefficients. Results for orthorhombic media illustrate that the Alford data matrix is diagonally dominant when properly aligned with the principal directions. A synthetic data set consisting of a 5-layer model representing vertical fractures of different orientations demonstrates that conventional Alford rotation and layer stripping will give the correct principal directions when the off-diagonal traces are minimized.


� Abstract- Reconstructing images from projections in fluorescence Optical Projection Tomography (OPT) is a relatively new problem requiring attention from researchers in this emerging field. There are several aspects of fluorescence OPT which require different treatment compared with non-fluorescence tomography. One significant problem, and the subject of this paper, is that fluorophores emit light isotropically and so the intensity of light captured at a microscope lens is inversely proportional to the square of the distance of the fluorophore from the focal point of the lens. Standard back-projection techniques do not account for this phenomenon and we show numerically that net effect is that fluorophores close to the centre of a body are assigned relatively low values in standard reconstructions. This is an inherent limitation of the standard back-projection method for quantitative fluorescence applications (e.g. in molecular imaging). In this paper we present a working, though computationally intensive, method to account for this, and discuss how more sophisticated (and less computationally intense) methods could be derived in the near future.


DNA microarray studies identified two molecular categories as germinal center B-cell and activated B-cell types. Gene expression profiling has provided useful criteria for sub classification in an attempt to better identify groups of patients with different prognosis and responses to treatment regimens. If gene profiling becomes a rule in clinical trial, cancer patients may receive therapies that are optimally suited to the pathobiology of their tumors [5].


Entity linking deals with identifying entities from a knowledge base in a given piece of text and has become a fundamental building block for web search engines, enabling numerous downstream improvements from better document ranking to enhanced search results pages. A key problem in the context of web search queries is that this process needs to run under severe time constraints as it has to be performed before any actual retrieval takes place, typically within milliseconds. In this paper we propose a probabilistic model that leverages user-generated information on the web to link queries to entities in a knowledge base. There are three key ingredients that make the algorithm fast and space-efficient. First, the linking process ignores any dependencies between the different entity candidates, which allows for a O(k2) implementation in the number of query terms. Second, we leverage hashing and compression techniques to reduce the memory footprint. Finally, to equip the algorithm with contextual knowledge without sacrificing speed, we factor the distance between distributional semantics of the query words and entities into the model. We show that our solution significantly outperforms several state-of-the-art baselines by more than 14% while being able to process queries in sub-millisecond times---at least two orders of magnitude faster than existing systems.


Unpaid journalism internships have attracted increasing media coverage, but they have received limited scholarly attention. This paper traces the connections between trade unions (in unionized media organizations) and the labour conditions marking journalism internships. While some unions can be complicit in sustaining the exploitation and devaluation of interns with regard to the standard market value of entry-level labour, other unions have fought to establish internships, locking higher salaries into collective agreements. Building on the concept of precarity, this article surveys internships at 19 mainstream English-language newspapers and magazines in Canada. It draws on documentary evidence from and personal communication with labour unions and journalism organizations, internship advertisements, and media coverage to offer a typology of the relationships between pay rates and collective representation within journalism internships: unpaid/low paid and not under union jurisdiction; unpaid/low paid and under union jurisdiction; paid at intern rates and not under union jurisdiction; paid at intern rates and under union jurisdiction; and paid at entry-level employee rates and under union jurisdiction.


The common point between the different chapters of the present work is graph theory. We investigate some well known graph theory problems, and some which arise from more specific applications. In the first chapter, we deal with the maximum stable set problem, and provide some new graph classes, where it can be solved in polynomial time. Those classes are hereditary, i.e. characterized by a list of forbidden induced subgraphs. The algorithms proposed are purely combinatorial. The second chapter is devoted to the study of a problem linked to security purposes in mobile telecommunication networks. The particularity is that there is no central authority guaranteeing security, but it is actually managed by the users themselves. The network is modelled by an oriented graph, whose vertices represent the users, and whose arcs represent public key certificates. The problem is to associate to each vertex a subgraph with some requirements on the size of the subgraphs, the number of times a vertex is taken in a subgraph and the connectivity between any two users as they put their subgraphs together. Constructive heuristics are proposed, bounds on the optimal solution and a tabu search are described and tested. The third chapter is on the problem of reconstructing an image, given its projections in terms of the number of occurrences of each color in each row and each column. The case of two colors is known to be polynomially solvable, it is NP-complete with four or more colors, and the complexity status of the problem with three colors is open. An intermediate case between two and three colors is shown to be solvable in polynomial time. The last two chapters are about graph (vertex-)coloring. In the fourth, we prove a result which brings a large collection of NP-hard subcases, characterized by forbidden induced subgraphs. In the fifth chapter, we approach the problem with the use of linear programming. Links between different formulations are pointed out, and some families of facets are characterized. In the last section, we study a branch and bound algorithm, whose lower bounds are given by the optimal value of the linear relaxation of one of the exposed formulations. A preprocessing procedure is proposed and tested.


This paper is concerned with the diffuse interface Ohta-Kawasaki energy in three space dimensions, in a periodic setting, in the parameter regime corresponding to the onset of non-trivial minimizers. We identify the scaling in which a sharp transition from asymptotically trivial to non-trivial minimizers takes place as the small parameter characterizing the width of the interfaces between the two phases goes to zero, while the volume fraction of the minority phases vanishes at an appropriate rate. The value of the threshold is shown to be related to the optimal binding energy solution of Gamow's liquid drop model of the atomic nucleus. Beyond the threshold the average volume fraction of the minority phase is demonstrated to grow linearly with the distance to the threshold. In addition to these results, we establish a number of properties of the minimizers of the sharp interface screened Ohta-Kawasaki energy in the considered parameter regime. We also establish rather tight upper and lower bounds on the value of the transition threshold.


This paper presents a statistical model for maximum ratio combining (MRC) receivers in Rayleigh fading channels enabled with a temporal combining process. This means that the receiver effectively combines spatial and temporal branch components. Therefore, the signals that will be processed by the MRC receiver are collected not only across different antennas (space), but also at different instants of time. This suggests the use of a retransmission, repetition or space-time coding algorithm that forces the receiver to store signals in memory at different instants of time. Eventually, these stored signals are combined after a predefined or dynamically optimized number of time-slots or retransmissions. The model includes temporal correlation features in addition to the space correlation between the signals of the different components or branches of the MRC receiver. The derivation uses a frequency domain approach (using the characteristic function of the random variables) to obtain closed-form expressions of the statistics of the post-processing signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) under the assumption of equivalent correlation in time and equivalent correlation in space. The described methodology paves the way for the reformulation of other statistical functions as a frequency-domain polynomial root analysis problem. This is opposed to the infinite series approach that is used in the conventional methodology using directly the probability density function (PDF). The results suggest that temporal diversity is a good complement to receivers with limited spatial diversity capabilities. It is also shown that this additional operation could be maximized when the temporal diversity is adaptive (i.e., activated by thresholds of SNR), thus leading to a better resource utilization.


Hydro power is the largest source for generation of electricity in the Nordic region today.This production is heavily dependent on the weather since it dictates the terms for the availability and the amount of power to be produced. Vattenfall as a company has an incentive to avoid volatile revenue streams as it facilitates economic planning and induces a positive effect on its credit rating, thus also on its bottom line. Vattenfall is a large producer of hydro power with a possibility to move the power market which adds further complexity to the problem. In this thesis the authors develop new hedging strategies which will hedge more efficiently. With efficiency is meant the same risk, or standard deviation, at a lower cost or alternatively formulated lower risk for the same cost. In order to enable comparison and make claims about efficiency, a reference solution is developed that should reflect their current hedging strategy. To achieve higher efficiency we focus on finding dynamic hedging strategies. First a prototype model is suggested to facilitate the construction of the solution methods and if it is worthwhile to pursue a further investigation. As this initial prototype model results showed that there were substantial room for efficiency improvement, a larger main model with parameters estimated from data is constructed which encapsulate the real world scenario much better. Four different solutions methods are developed and applied to this main model setup. The results are then compared to reference strategy. We find that even though the efficiency was less then first expected from the prototype model results, using these new hedging strategies could reduce costs by 1.5 % - 5%. Although the final choice of the hedging strategy might be down to the end user we suggest the strategy called BW to reduce costs and improve efficiency. The paper also discusses among other things; the solution methods and hedging strategies, the term optimality and the impact of parameters in the model.


Introduction: Educational Development Centers (EDCs), as the coordinator in education development in Medical Sciences universities, in order to improve their quality should evaluate their activities. In spite of remarkable performance of Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) EDC in previous national rankings, but it faces many challenges and problems. This paper provided the process, results and lessons learned from a self-evaluation experience conducted at TUMS EDC based on accreditation standards. Method: The present study is an Institutional self-evaluation study based on the national accreditation standards of EDCs (2012). Data were gathered using an open-ended questionnaire developed on the basis of the SWOT format. A directional content analysis applied to analyze the data. Results: In total, 84 point of strengths, 87 weaknesses, 15 opportunities, 24 threats and also 99 recommendations for quality improvement were reported. The most important strengths of the center were the existence of an established mechanism regarding research process in education and scholarship of education, holding various faculty development courses and training standardized patient. The most important weaknesses were the lack of specified procedures in some areas such as monitoring the planning and reviewing of educational programs in the field of educational programs and evaluation of empowerment courses. Conclusion: The present evaluation results will be useful in directing future policies of TUMS EDC such as revising its strategic planning. We hope that the current experience can be helpful for administrators in EDCs in the Ministry of Health and Medical Education and also other Medical Sciences Universities.


Objective To determine the relationship of insulin sensitivity (SI), glucose effectiveness (glucose-dependent glucose transport [SG]), and body fat distribution patterns in glucose-tolerant offspring of patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). Research Design and Methods Ten glucose-tolerant offspring of patients with NIDDM and 10 age-, sex-, and weight-matched healthy control subjects without family history of diabetes were studied with the minimal model method of Bergman et al. Body fat composition and distribution pattern were assessed by the bioelectrical impedance analyzer and waist-hip circumference ratios (WHR), respectively, in each subject. Results Mean fasting serum glucose (4.39 ± 0.17 vs. 3.94 ± 0.17 mM) and postglucose peak (18.50 ± 1.50 vs. 13.20 ± 1.06 mM) levels were significantly greater (P < 0.05) in the offspring than in the control subjects. Mean fasting serum insulin levels were slightly greater but not significantly different in the offspring versus control subjects (64 ± 14 vs. 29 ± 7 pM). After intravenous stimulation with glucose and tolbutamide, the mean serum insulin rose to significantly greater (P < 0.05) levels at t = 5 and 25 min in the offspring compared with the control subjects. Mean SI was significantly reduced by 45% in the offspring compared with the control subjects (4.77 ± 0.67 vs. 8.37 ± 1.24 × 10-4 min−1 · mU-1 · L-1;). However, SG was not different in the offspring versus control subjects (1.92 ± 0.12 vs. 2.10 ± 0.17 × 10-2 min−1). SI correlated significantly and inversely with the percentage of body fat mass (r = −0.580, P < 0.05) but not with the WHR (r = −0.019) in the offspring. We found a negative association between SI and basal serum insulin (r = −0.798, P < 0.01) but not with the poststimulation incremental insulin responses in the offspring. Family history of diabetes independently accounted for at least 27% of variance in the SI in our subjects. Conclusions Our study confirmed that insulin insensitivity but not a reduced glucose effectiveness exists in young glucose-tolerant offspring of patients with NIDDM. The reduced SI appears to be causally related to the total body fat content and may be a familial and/or genetic trait in the offspring.


American trademark law has long operated on the assumption that there exists an inexhaustible supply of unclaimed trademarks that are at least as competitively effective as those already claimed. This core empirical assumption underpins nearly every aspect of trademark law and policy. This Article presents empirical evidence showing that this conventional wisdom is wrong. The supply of competitively effective trademarks is, in fact, exhaustible and has already reached severe levels of what we term trademark depletion and trademark congestion. We systematically study all 6.7 million trademark applications filed at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) from 1985 through 2016 together with the 300,000 trademarks already registered at the PTO as of 1985. We analyze these data in light of the most frequently used words and syllables in American English, the most frequently occurring surnames in the United States, and an original dataset consisting of phonetic representations of each applied-for or registered word mark included in the PTO's Trademark Case Files Dataset. We further incorporate data consisting of all 128 million domain names registered in the .com top-level domain and an original dataset of all 2.1 million trademark office actions issued by the PTO from 2003 through 2016. These data show that rates of word-mark depletion and congestion are increasing and have reached chronic levels, particularly in certain important economic sectors. The data further show that new trademark applicants are increasingly being forced to resort to second-best, less competitively effective marks. Yet registration refusal rates continue to rise. The result is that the ecology of the trademark system is breaking down, with mounting barriers to entry, increasing consumer search costs, and an eroding public domain. In light of our empirical findings, we propose a mix of reforms to trademark law that will help to preserve the proper functioning of the trademark system and further its core purposes of promoting competition and enhancing consumer welfare.


Ethnobotanical and ethnopharmaceutical studies are best way for screening medicinal properties of plants. Indigenous people use their native plants for medical perposes that may be of high potential and value for modern pharmacology. Turkmens are descendants of Oguz Turks and originaly nomadic group. they are culturaly an isolated ethnic group inhabited in NE of Iran and taking ethnopharmaceutical research in this area would be of great interest.
Data have been collected through ethnopharmaceutical interviewes taken with elder people of tibes who where expert in medicinal plants, bonesetters and midvifes. Information on the medicinal plants, local names, plant part use, illness treatment, mode of preparation and adminstration were documented. also plant voucher specimens and plant materials for further chemical analysis have been collected.
Some native plant species have been recorded to have medicinal properties and usage. For example Dorema hyrcanum Koso.-Pol., Ferula oopoda (Boiss. & Buhse.) Boiss., Euphorbia marschalliana, Caccinia macranthera (Bankes & Sol.) Brand and Biebersteinia multifida DC.. Also some antique usages for other common and rare plants have been recorded. These plants are good targets for phytochemical analysis.


In our Politically Correct times, it is fashionable to discern homosexuality in the musical texture of some classic composers and thus redeem them - there are, for example, totally unconvincing and ridiculous readings of Schubert: he must have been gay, because his music is non-aggressive/penetrative/phallic, full of soft passages... In the case of Eugene Onegin, however, we stand on a much more firm ground. In the Fall of 1876 Tchaikovsky informed his closest family members of his intention to marry—a typical hysterical passage a l'acte, an act of ethical betrayal, of compromising one's desire, i.e., a desperate attempt to thwart his homosexuality. Half a year later, the eagerly awaited "answer of the Real" came—Antonina Milyukova, his piano student a couple of years before, wrote to him, declaring that she was in love with him ever since. Tchaikovsky tactfully but firmly rejected her, and, at this precise moment, he threw himself into composing Eugene Onegin (starting with Tatyana's letter to Onegin—he was already for some time playing with the idea of making a song out of this letter). As he later admitted, from this moment onwards, fact and fiction became inextricably entangled: he identified with Tatyana's love for Onegin and was outraged at Onegin's moralistic rejection, perceiving it as equal to his own rejection of Antonina. Consequently, he contacted Antonina again, telling her bluntly that he doesn't love her, but is ready to marry her; he then left Antonina to make all the wedding preparations, while he escaped Moscow to a friend's country estate, where he composed two thirds of the opera in five weeks. What followed is well known: the honeymoon was a nightmare, the desperate Tchaikovsky tried suicide and then quickly left his wife for a long tour of Western Europe.


Virtually no concept in management development is as popular as that of the learning organisation, judging by the stream of publications exploring it. Since its introduction in the 1980s it has become almost an integral part of everyday business practice, as virtually every organisation tries to keep pace and wants to learn to adapt even better and faster to its changing environment. But how is a leader or manager to choose from the vast range of interventions targeted at learning, changing and development? And how to choose the right approach and the right focus for its application? This article explores the state of the art of the learning organisation and tries to give specific, practical suggestions.


Description Logics (DLs) are suitable, well-known, logics for managing structured knowledge. They allow reasoning about individuals and well defined concepts, i.e. set of individuals with common properties. The experience in using DLs in applications has shown that in many cases we would like to extend their capabilities. In particular, their use in the context of Multimedia Information Retrieval (MIR) leads to the convincement that such DLs should allow the treatment of the inherent imprecision in multimedia object content representation and retrieval.

In this paper we will present a fuzzy extension of ALC, combining Zadeh's fuzzy logic with a classical DL. In particular, concepts becomes fuzzy and, thus, reasoning about imprecise concepts is supported. We will define its syntax, its semantics, describe its properties and present a constraint propagation calculus for reasoning in it.


We tested the efficacy of a pioneering intervention program grounded in a contemporary theoretical framework of attention and designed to directly improve the various attentional functions of children with ADHD. The computerized progressive attentional training (CPAT) program is composed of four sets of structured tasks that uniquely activate sustained attention, selective attention, orienting of attention, and executive attention. Performance was driven by tight schedules of feedback and participants automatically advanced in ordered levels of difficulty contingent upon performance. Twenty 6- to 13-year-old children with ADHD were assigned to the experimental group and received the CPAT sessions twice a week over an 8-week period. Sixteen age-matched control children with ADHD were assigned to the control group and participated in sessions of the same frequency, length, and format except that instead of performing the training tasks they played various computer games during the session. The experimental participants showed a significant improvement in nontrained measures of reading comprehension, and passage copying as well as a significant reduction of parents' reports of inattentiveness. No significant improvements were observed in the control group. We thus concluded that the above academic and attentional improvements were primarily due to the CPAT.


The new reality of higher education contains a fundamental shift in student demographics. More nontraditional students are seeking educational opportunities and traditional students are seeking out and expecting alternative modes of curriculum delivery. Students, especially older, non-traditional ones seek course delivery through distance education formats such as online or videoconferencing that meet the needs of their lifestyle that includes career, family and other responsibilities. As a result, Universities are moving to meet the needs of this growing contingency of new atypical student populations.


Presented at the 1st International Conference on Urban Growth and the Circular Economy held in Alicante, Spain, the papers included in this book focus on the continuing and rapid growth of cities and their regions of influence and how that has led to the need to find new solutions which allow for promoting their sustainable development.

The quest for the Sustainable City has until recently focused on the efficient use of resources with the application of technical advances giving rise to the definition of SMART Cities. The economic model emphasised however is still "linear" in the sense that the design and consumption follows the pattern of extraction of natural resources, manufacturing, product usage and waste disposal.

The continuous growth of urban population has recently given rise to the emergence of a new model which responds better to the challenges of natural resource depletion as well as waste management. This model has been called the "circular economy".

The circular economy is a recent concept based on the reuse of what up to now has been considered wastes, reintroducing them into the productive cycle. The objective of the circular economy is to reduce consumption and achieve savings in terms of raw materials, water and energy, thus contributing to the preservation of resources in order to reach sustainable development.

One of the most important of these resources is water which is becoming a scarce commodity in an ever expanding world whose population demands a better standard of living. Water is required for agricultural purposes as well as by industry, in addition to its use by the general population. The recycling of water is an essential component of the circular economy.

There is no possibility for the success of a long term economic policy without addressing the problems of natural resources and environmental pollution, which will affect the reuse of materials and products.

The current market economy based on a linear model from resource extraction, manufacturing, consumption and waste disposal, has not proved a long term suitable solution, in spite of the substantial efforts made in reducing its environmental impacts. This is largely due to the continuous population growth, in a society that demands high standards of living, thus requiring an ever increasing share of natural resources.


Title: CRITICAL BEHAVIOR OF LONG SPAN CELLULAR BEAMS IN FIRE Darlene Rini, Master of Science, 2006 Directed by: James A. Milke, Associate Professor, Department of Fire Protection Engineering This paper presents an investigation of the structural response of a long span cellular beam with varying section geometries while subject to various temperature-time curves. This type of beam is under investigation, in part, because of its increased use in long span building construction and its unique thermal response when protected with intumescent coatings; but more importantly, to provide an increased understanding into how these beams affect the surrounding structure in fire conditions. A nonlinear, finite element computational analysis of a steel-frame composite structure incorporating a long span cellular beam with a composite deck was examined to investigate local buckling behavior, midspan displacements, and connection forces of the long span cellular beam, and to compare the results with a similar I-shaped member with no web openings. This study appears to indicate that long span cellular beams exposed to fire experience two buckling events prior to undergoing large displacement behavior and catenary action. In addition, global and local response of these beams is largely controlled by local web stiffness particularly in pre-buckling behavior. CRITICAL BEHAVIOR OF LONG SPAN CELLULAR BEAMS IN FIRE


Information technology is changing people's thinking as profoundly as the printing press changed the course of history more than five centuries ago. The advent of information technology, particularly the computer and the World Wide Web, was hailed as having "the potential to revolutionize education and improve learning" (Dede, 1998, p. v). Futurists quickly envisioned "virtual schools" where students spend a great deal of time learning from their computer-as-teacher. This article argues that as student use of computers increases, teachers will be more indispensable than ever to guide the intellectual, social, and moral development of children. To illustrate this position, the article describes intellectual, social, and moral issues that one teacher has faced in a technology-rich, 21st Century School. Her experiences demonstrate why technology cannot replace teachers and exemplify how computers in schools anywhere can be both a blessing and a burden for teachers. Educating for Intellectual, Social, and Moral Development Goals of education in the United States have changed little over the last 300 years and generally fall into four categories: academic (intellectual), vocational (responsibility as a productive citizen), social and civic (socialization into a democratic society), and personal (self-development) (Goodlad, 1984). Goals for high schools are no exception. Wilson and Rossman (1993) noted that the usual mission of high schools is to "challenge and help students to grow intellectually, personally, and socially, [but that] ... the primary responsibility.., is to promote the intellectual growth of ... students" (p. 162). Intellectual growth was defined as "the ability to reason, to imagine, to value, to decide" (p. 162). Goodlad (1984) also found that the "cultivation of cognitive abilities is paramount" in secondary schools (p. 47), but that for some students, academic work "intrudes into the personal and social" aspects of their lives (p. 78-79). The literature indicates that adolescence represents a strong growth period in intellectual and social development. As adolescents develop cognitive capacity to reason, think symbolically, make judgments, and engage in formal operations, they also become interested in social relationships and social issues (e.g., Chang, 1992; Oppenheimer, 1990) as well as values and moral issues (Bloom, 1956; Heath, 1994). Recent constructivist theories of learning help explain the relationship between intellectual and social development of children; that is, social norms and social interactions play a powerful role in all learning, especially in learning to communicate and empathize with others and behave in culturally acceptable ways (Vygotsky, 1978; also see Dewey, 1938). Adolescents tend to learn social behaviors and values from role models and from experiences that personally involve them rather than from direct instruction (Dewey, 1909/1975; Gardner, 1963/1981; Hartshorne & May, 1928). Thus, in schools, teachers' actions speak louder than words. The links between intellectual and moral development have been less explored than the intellectual/social connections. On the intellectual side, Dewey (1933/1960) argued forcefully for active and engaged learning that involves inquiry, insisting that "on the intellectual side we must have judgment" (Dewey, 1909/1975, p. 51). However, he also argued that "the development of character is the end of all school work" (p. 49). Inquiry, judgments, and character all involve values and therefore fall into the realm of moral education. Additionally, all represent a search for knowledge as well as careful thinking and reflection throughout the process. Thus, "teaching, if it is a reflective enterprise, is necessarily an ongoing effort at moral self-improvement. And moral self-improvement is impossible without the continued quest for self-knowledge and the knowledge of others" (Katz, 1999, p. …


The thermoelastic generation of surface waves by a Q‐switched ruby laser is investigated both experimentally and analytically. The motivation is to improve the amplitude and to control the frequency content of the ultrasonic signal by taking advantage of the tremendous flexibility that one has in controlling the size and the shape of the thermoelastic source. Waveforms have been recorded for several source geometries at the surface of an aluminum block: spot source, line source, periodic array of spot sources, and periodic array of line sources. Also, focusing effects have been measured with a periodic array of curved line sources obtained with a Fresnel lens. In all cases, the waveforms are reasonably well predicted by a simple and efficient convolution technique. Waveforms have also been generated in a 1‐mm‐thick aluminum plate and recorded over a distance of 50 mm at increments of 0.5 mm. Processing of these waveforms in the frequency–wave‐number domain allows for the extraction of the dispersion curve...


This paper will present the results of a pilot study (Jensen 2008, 2009) into the directions of change in Tyneside English and focus on the further development and expansion of this study which seeks to uncover the role of salience in language change. The pilot study takes the form of a corpus-based-variationist sociolinguistic study implementing both real and apparent time comparisons of large amounts of data. The corpus used for the study is the Newcastle Corpus of Tyneside English stored and maintained by Newcastle University.

In short, the pilot study found that the use of some vernacular morphosyntactic features is increasing, in particular among young working class males. This result is in contrast with Watt's 2002 phonological study which showed that certain phonological variables are moving toward regional and thus less localised forms.

This seeming discrepancy in the direction of change in Tyneside English phonology and morphosyntax is anticipated by Cheshire, Kerswill, and Williams (2005) who conclude that there are only a "few parallels other than superficial ones between processes of variation and change" (ibid.:136) in the different components of language despite the expectation for a "considerable commonality in the direction of change and, perhaps, in the rate of change also." (ibid.:135). It is proposed that differences in salience of linguistic components can account for these discrepancies. Salient linguistic features are accessible to the speaker meaning that the speaker can consciously manipulate their form and use. Non-salient features, on the other hand, are linguistic components over which the speaker has no control; the components are inaccessible to the speaker as it were.

The results of the pilot study are interpreted in the light of the following model which is suggested as a rough working model of factors influencing language change: Model 1: Motivators of language change (from Jensen 2009) [Please see PDF of full abstract for diagram]

Thus, the role of speaker identity in language change, how this is influenced by language ideology and notions of stigma and prestige will be discussed with particular focus on the Tyneside speech community and how an exclusively Tyneside identity can be linked to recent developments in the area and how this is mirrored in speech. It is argued that the revival of vernacular morphosyntactic forms by the younger generation can be linked to the formation of a local identity centred on a sense of place, a linguistic dimension to a geographical space to which the speakers belong. The creation of a local identity in the face of increasing globalisation and urban developments has also been found in other places outside the Tyneside conurbation.

Further studies are needed, however, in order to further get at the role of salience in language change and to come full circle according to the model and the paper will briefly touch on some tentative suggestions for this but will also encourage a discussion of the topic.


The number of girls arrested and incarcerated is growing at significantly greater rates than that of boys. While boys and girls have very different pathways into the juvenile justice system, the system has been designed and implemented with only boys in mind. Girls' unique profiles and needs continue to be neglected. The risk factors for girls diverge sharply from those for boys. For instance, the majority of girls in the system have suffered abuse and family trauma. Most girls are arrested and detained for non-violent offenses. They comprise the majority of minors arrested for only two offenses — running away and prostitution. Indeed, a high percentage of girls come into the system for status offenses, conduct that is not criminal, such as truancy or running away. Girls are punished more severely for these non-criminal acts than boys, and even than some girls and boys who commit actual criminal offenses.A discussion of meaningful systemic justice for adolescents, the subject of this Symposium, must include an examination of justice for girls. Issues to consider include: Why does this "high needs, low risk" population continue to be prosecuted and incarcerated in large numbers? Does criminal action effectively address the victimization that often brings girls into the system? The status offense framework, and its disproportionate use against girls, can offer some insight. Specifically, the malleability of status offense definitions and the related "bootstrapped" incarceration of girls for violating court orders suggest the juvenile justice system is regularly used to regulate girls' conformity to societal norms, rather than to address crime.This Article will first outline the status offense system and its gendered nature, both historic and current. It will then unpack status offenses, examining what harms and behaviors they are intended to address, and describing how they frequently operate to transform victimized girls into offenders. The Article will conclude by considering a recent illustration of the use of status offenses to regulate sexual behavior and obedience — New York State's treatment of commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC). New York and a few other states have decriminalized prostitution for some minors based on their inability to consent to sex under the law. Nonetheless, exploited girls continue to be arrested and detained as status offenders. Failure to comply with the status offender system results in increasingly punitive interventions, rendering decriminalization illusory for many girls.


There are relatively few studies of polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) for biota in polar regions and even fewer reports of temporal trends. We determined concentrations of PCNs in eggs of thick-billed murres (Uria lomvia) collected from the Canadian high Arctic between 1975 and 2014 and calculated their associated toxic equivalents (TEQs). Concentrations of Σ67PCN decreased significantly in the murre eggs between 1975 and 2014 at an average annual rate of -14.9 pg g-1 wet weight. Although the penta- and tetra-CNs (predominantly CN-52/60 and CN-42) dominated the PCN profile, the hexa-CNs (mainly CN-66/67) accounted for the majority of the Σ67TEQ-PCN, concentrations of which also decreased significantly between 1975 to 2014. On average, Σ67TEQ-PCN in the murre eggs accounted for only 1.9% of the total toxicity calculated for dioxin-like compounds measured in the murre eggs. As such, the TEQ-PCN concentrations calculated for the murre eggs in this study are several orders of magnitude lower than TEQ levels associated with reproductive effects in birds. This is the first published study of temporal trends of PCNs in Canadian Arctic biota.


The removal of Osama bin-Laden created a leadership void within al-Qaeda. Despite the group's autonomous cell structure, an authorative figure remains essential for promoting and disseminating al-Qaeda's ideology. An appropriate replacement should exhibit traits comparable to bin-Laden and have similar positioning within the structure of the group. Using a media-based sample and social network analysis, this study attempts to uncover the most probable successor for bin-Laden by examining the dynamics within al-Qaeda. The results indicate how the differential embeddedness of al-Qaeda members affects social capital, which in turn provides insights for leadership potiential.


Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a complex and heterogeneous disease which affects millions of people worldwide. The classification of diabetes is at an interesting turning point and there have been several recent reports on sub-classification of T2D based on phenotypical and metabolic characteristics. An important, and perhaps so far underestimated, factor in the pathophysiology of T2D is the role of oxidative stress and reactive oxygen species (ROS). There are multiple pathways for excessive ROS formation in T2D and in addition, beta-cells have an inherent deficit in the capacity to cope with oxidative stress. ROS formation could be causal, but also contribute to a large number of the metabolic defects in T2D, including beta-cell dysfunction and loss. Currently, our knowledge on beta-cell mass is limited to autopsy studies and based on comparisons with healthy controls. The combined evidence suggests that beta-cell mass is unaltered at onset of T2D but that it declines progressively. In order to better understand the pathophysiology of T2D, to identify and evaluate novel treatments, there is a need for in vivo techniques able to quantify beta-cell mass. Positron emission tomography holds great potential for this purpose and can in addition map metabolic defects, including ROS activity, in specific tissue compartments. In this review, we highlight the different phenotypical features of T2D and how metabolic defects impact oxidative stress and ROS formation. In addition, we review the literature on alterations of beta-cell mass in T2D and discuss potential techniques to assess beta-cell mass and metabolic defects in vivo.


The amount of data available in the world is growing faster than our ability to deal with it. However, if we take advantage of the internal \emph{structure}, data may become much smaller for machine learning purposes. In this paper we focus on one of the fundamental machine learning tasks, empirical risk minimization (ERM), and provide faster algorithms with the help from the clustering structure of the data.
We introduce a simple notion of raw clustering that can be efficiently computed from the data, and propose two algorithms based on clustering information. Our accelerated algorithm ClusterACDM is built on a novel Haar transformation applied to the dual space of the ERM problem, and our variance-reduction based algorithm ClusterSVRG introduces a new gradient estimator using clustering. Our algorithms outperform their classical counterparts ACDM and SVRG respectively.


We previously reported that the expression of KIAA1199 in human colorectal tumors (benign and malignant) is markedly higher than that in the normal colonic mucosa. In this study, we investigated the functions of the protein encoded by this gene, which are thus far unknown. Immunostaining studies were used to reveal its subcellular localization, and proteomic and gene expression experiments were conducted to identify proteins that might interact with KIAA1199 and molecular pathways in which it might play roles. Using colon cancer cell lines, we showed that both endogenous and ectopically expressed KIAA1199 is secreted into the extracellular environment. In the cells, it was found mainly in the perinuclear space (probably the ER) and cell membrane. Both cellular compartments were also over-represented in lists of proteins identified by mass spectrometry as putative KIAA1199 interactors and/or proteins encoded by genes whose transcription was significantly changed by KIAA1199 expression. These proteomic and transcriptomic datasets concordantly link KIAA1199 to several genes/proteins and molecular pathways, including ER processes like protein binding, transport, and folding; and Ca2+, G-protein, ephrin, and Wnt signaling. Immunoprecipitation experiments confirmed KIAA1199's interaction with the cell-membrane receptor ephrin A2 and with the ER receptor ITPR3, a key player in Ca2+ signaling. By modulating Ca2+ signaling, KIAA1199 could affect different branches of the Wnt network. Our findings suggest it may negatively regulate the Wnt/CTNNB1 signaling, and its expression is associated with decreased cell proliferation and invasiveness.


When a modern corporation empowers its staff to use blogs to communicate with colleagues, partners, suppliers and customers, the role of management in exercising oversight and guidance over the public speech of staff becomes dramatically challenged. This paper describes a computational solution to the interpretation of human-readable blog publishing policy documents into semi-automatic disconformance checking of corporate blog entries. The disconformance interpretation is regarded as an abductive reasoning, which is operationalized by information flow computations. Using a socio-cognitively motivated representation of shared knowledge, and applying an appropriate information flow inference mechanism from a normative perspective, a mechanism to automatically detect potentially non-conforming blog entries is detailed. Candidate non-conforming blog entries are flagged for a human to make a judgment on whether they should be published. Experiments on data from a public corporate blog demonstrate an encouraging performance of the proposed methodology.


The international economic debate on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) has focused mainly on trade induced real income gains while the FDI related and innovation induced benefits have been largely neglected, although the EU and the US are leading FDI host countries and FDI source countries. Moreover, from a theoretical perspective a knowledge production function has to be considered in order to analyze FDI and innovation dynamics – and this can then be linked to output and economic growth, respectively. It is argued that such a Schumpeterian approach for an open economy is needed to understand deep integration dynamics while the standard CGE model used by Francois et al (2013) leads to an underestimation of deep integration projects such as TTIP. The panel data estimation of knowledge production functions for 20 EU countries between 2002-2012 shows clear empirical evidence that a rise of the number of researchers and of the FDI stock-GDP ratio (or related variables) will raise patent applications. Additionally, a higher per capita income – that could reflect trade related real income gains in the context of TTIP – also contributes to new knowledge and a fortiori to higher GDP. Time series data analysis for Germany indicates additionally that FDI induced higher innovation dynamics will raise output – combining trade benefits and FDI/innovation related real income gains plus transatlantic macroeconomic interdependency effects a real income gain of nearly 2% should be expected for Germany (and the EU): considerably higher than what the official TTIP report for the European Commission has suggested. The results also suggest positive employment effects.


The research titled "Language Aspects in Hypnosis Dental Therapy: Pragmatic ans Stylistic Studies" focuses on several language aspects used in the practice of hypnosis dental therapy. With using qualitative method and descriptive data presentation, this research uses the theories of Pragmatics, Stylistics, and Conversation Analysis aiming at (1) describing varieties and types of speech act along with (2) figure of speech used in the therapy when performing the hypnosis dental treatment. The data were collected from the conversations between the therapist and her patients in the situaton context of medical examination. The result of the research shows that in the hypnosis dental practice there are several steps namely Pre-Induction, Induction, Deepening, Suggestion, Termination, and Post-Hypnotic marked by systematic language aspects based on the speech act and figure of speech. (1) The forms and types of speech act found in the hypnosis dental therapy are illocutionary act (speech intention) direct-commanding (directive), direct-stating (assertive), and indirect-stating (assertive). Furthermore, perlocutionary act (speech response) may be realized in verbal and nonverbal. (2) figure of speech used in the hypnosis dental therapy are climax, parallelism, antithesis, and repetition. All language strategies used intend to give suggestion in order for the patients to feel less painful and calm during the medical treatment.


This paper discusses the components of Identity Through Learning (ITL), language learning and curriculum development that is community centered, experiential, and collaborative. It discusses three examples of culture- and place-based curriculum projects developed at the Northwest Indian Language Institute (NILI) at the University of Oregon. We propose that place-based curriculum grounds student learning in their experiences in local events and places, and fosters community connection to traditional lifeways. As such, it can strengthen student self-esteem and identity. The paper addresses how place-based curriculum reinforces Native educators' goals for student learning, and how ITL is a promising strategy for supporting students in the classroom and beyond.


Abstract Although verbs play a pivotal role in the construction and understanding of clauses, lexical specificity is rarely investigated in this class. Instead researchers prefer to investigate lexical specificity in the noun class. It is important that lexical specificity be investigated in the verb class, as it can provide important insights into speakers' linguistic knowledge. The aim of the study was to investigate specificity in the communication verbs in two corpora: the Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays (LOCNESS) which is made up of texts written by a subpopulation of first language (L1) English users and the Tswana Learner English Corpus (TLE) 2 which is made up of texts written by a subpopulation of Setswana English (TE) users. The results (interpreted from a broadly systemic functional cognitive perspective) indicated that there is less lexical specificity in the communication verbs of TE users than L1 English users.


For a reason not generally recognized – U.S.-style health insurance – health care providers with market power enjoy substantially more pricing freedom than comparable monopolists in other markets. Monopoly in health care markets therefore has redistributive effects that are especially burdensome for consumers. Significant allocative inefficiencies – albeit not the kind usually associated with monopoly – also result, particularly when the monopolist is a nonprofit hospital. We first note the need for a more aggressive antitrust policy for the health sector, one that effectively prevents the creation of new provider market power through mergers and other alliances. An immediate need is to prevent the formation of "accountable care organizations" that integrate providers horizontally to achieve market power, not just vertically to achieve efficiency. Because it is unlikely that courts or agencies could undo past mergers that bestowed providers with monopoly power, we also suggest some strategies for contesting existing monopolies. One is to apply antitrust rules against "tying" arrangements so that purchasers can contest providers' profit-enhancing practice of overcharging for large bundles of services instead of trying to exploit separately such monopolies as they possess in various submarkets. Another is to use antitrust or regulatory rules to prohibit anticompetitive provisions, such as "anti-steering" or "most-favored-nation" clauses, in provider-insurer contracts. The provider-monopoly problem is severe enough that we cannot exclude the more radical alternative of regulating provider prices.


We tested the assumption of annual shell ring deposition by freshwater mussels in three rivers using 17 species. In 2000, we notched shell margins, returned animals to the water, and retrieved them in 2001. In 2003, we measured shells, affixed numbered tags, returned animals, and retrieved them in 2004 and 2005. We validated deposition of a single internal annulus per year in all species and in 94% of specimens. Most unvalidated shells were old individuals with tightly crowded rings. Handling produced a conspicuous disturbance ring in all specimens and often resulted in shell damage. Observed growth was similar to but slightly lower than growth predicted by von Bertalanffy length-at-age models developed independently from shell annuli; further, handling specimens in 2 consecutive years reduced growth more than handling only once. These results show that mussels are extremely sensitive to handling. Brief handling does not likely increase short-term mortality, but repeated handling could decrease long-term ...


Plants have the remarkable ability to establish new cell fates throughout their life cycle, in contrast to most animals that define all cell lineages during embryogenesis. This ability is exemplified during sexual reproduction in flowering plants where novel cell types are generated in floral tissues of the adult plant during sporogenesis, gametogenesis, and embryogenesis. While the molecular and genetic basis of cell specification during sexual reproduction is being studied for a long time, recent works disclosed an unsuspected role of global chromatin organization and its dynamics. In this review, we describe the events of chromatin dynamics during the different phases of sexual reproduction and discuss their possible significance particularly in cell fate establishment.


Public relations agencies and advertising agencies are obliged to work together from time to time to solve the communication problem of an organization. The maintenance of this relationship with no problems and in a way so as to solve the problem of the client in a healthy way depends on the harmonious work between two career organizations. However, the experiences show that the perception of the employees of these two organizations towards each other about their career and the way of working, disrupt such harmony and two communication companies looking for solutions become problem themselves. In the article written by Edd Applegate in 2006 and published in Public Relations Quarterly, with the title What do The Advertising Agency Employees need to Know About Public Relations, has seen this problem and has explained the difference of public relations from advertising and the public relations career to the employees of advertising agency. The solution to this problem is only possible with bringing forward the attitudes towards each other of these two different groups with different education and with different career perception towards themselves. Therefore our research will focus on this subject that the related literature does not handle very much in our work, priority will be given to preparing the question form that measures the "Attitudes towards Public Relations and Advertising Careers" by starting with general career definitions and implementation of public relations and advertising. Later on, these question forms will be implemented in advertising agencies that are members of the Advertisers Association and public relations agencies that are the members of TUHID (Turkish Public Relations Association) and the attitudes of two different career groups towards each other will be displayed. At the end of the study, starting with the data received from research, some proposals will be given for to the development of relationship between the employees of advertising and public relations employees.


The phenomena of optical coupling of parallel fibers and scattering of light from a fiber due to rough walls are considered from a mode point of view. With the use of a Green's function, the problems are cast in the form of integral equations. Coupled ordinary differential equations are obtained which are used to study the coupling of modes in parallel fibers, including the case when the diameters are slowly-varying functions of the axial distance. The analysis of the problem of propagation in an optical fiber having rough walls shows that the various modes in a fiber will couple and that the roughness will cause radiation through the walls of the fiber. The character of the radiation may be determined if the spatial spectral density of the surface roughness is known.


Background: Few studies are reported in the literature about the prevalence of disarticulation resection of the mandible, but little is known about the risk factors. This study is aimed at determining the prevalence and risk factors of disarticulation resection of the mandible. Patients and Methods: This was a retrospective study design for patients that had surgical resections of the mandible from January 2010 to July 2020 at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of a tertiary health facility in Nigeria. Collected data from the patients' case-notes were age, gender, level of education, place of residence, occupation, employment status, tobacco use, alcohol consumption, type of lesion, and type of resection performed. In the univariate analysis, the Chi-square test was used for analysis, while the binary logistic regression was used for multivariate analysis. All statistics were performed with SPSS version 21 (IBM Corps, Armonk, New York, USA). A value of P < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: A total number of 189 patients who presented for mandibular resections ranged in age from 13 to 75 years with a mean age of 41.4 ± 14.9 years. There were more males (63.5%) than females (36.5%) with M: F ratio of 1.7:1. More than half of the patients had disarticulation resection of the mandible, giving a prevalence of 64.0%. Alcohol consumption (P = 0.01) and the type of lesion (P = 0.00) were significantly associated with the prevalence of disarticulation resection of the mandibles. Only the type of lesion added to the predictive power of the risk factors (P = 0.03). The odontogenic keratocyst was 0.12 more likely to result in disarticulation resection of mandible than solid ameloblastoma. Conclusion: The prevalence of disarticulation resection of the mandible was 64.0%. The type of lesion in the mandible was a significant risk factor of the high prevalence of its disarticulation resection.


This paper presents novel methodology to visualize network traffic. In this paper, methods of transforming network packet header data to image are proposed. These methods can be used for real time anomaly detection and intrusion detection. Images can be processed in a number of ways to extract information from them. This formulation enables techniques from image processing to be applied to the analysis of packet header data to reveal interesting properties of traffic. Network anomaly detection systems can also take help from these processes. These methods can help to detect anomalies in an efficient manner and can be used as the basis of number of new anomaly detection methods. Analysis and comparison of generated images is also presented. Images of network traces are generated using MIT Lincoln Laboratory 1999 DARPA Off-Line Intrusion Detection Evaluation dataset. Our focus here is to develop an innovative technique for network packet header visualization that will highlight the features of the network data most vulnerable to intrusions.


We investigate the extent to which excess supply (demand) in labour markets contributes to a lower (higher) growth rate of average nominal wages for workers. Using panel methods on data from 10 advanced economies for 1992–2018, we produce reduced-form estimates of a wage Phillips curve specification that is consistent with a New Keynesian framework. We find comparable effects on nominal wage growth from several indicators of "slack" in the labour market: unemployment rates, unemployment rate gaps, the prime-age employment-to-population ratios, a composite labour market indicator constructed using a principal component for a wide range of labour force data, and unemployment rates separated by duration of unemployment. Our results provide evidence that while the slope of the wage Phillips curve seems to have become flatter following the global financial crisis in 2008, the relationship still appears to be highly significant. We find that the long-term unemployment rate (unemployment longer than six months) has had a larger effect on wage growth in the period since 2008. We also investigate the shape of the Phillips curve and find some evidence of a convex relationship between labour market slack and nominal wage growth, particularly for the pre-crisis period. Piecewise regressions suggest some mixed evidence on nominal rigidities in the aggregate data.


This book explores the lived experiences of boxers in a French banlieue, largely populated by people from working-class and immigrant backgrounds. Jerome Beauchez, who joined in the men's daily workouts for many years, analyzes the act of boxing as a high-stakes confrontation that extends well beyond the walls of the gym. Exploring the physical and existential realities of combat, the author provides a multifaceted "thick description" of this world and shows that the violence faced by the gym's members is not so much to be found in the ring as in the adversity of everyday racism and social exclusion. Boxing can therefore be understood as an act of resistance that is about more than simply fighting an opponent and that reflects all the existential struggles facing these men who are both stigmatized and socially dominated by race and class.


Based on a large scale spiking neuron model of the input layers 4Cα and β of macaque, we identify neural mechanisms for the observed contrast dependent receptive field size of V1 cells. We observe a rich variety of mechanisms for the phenomenon and analyze them based on the relative gain of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs. We observe an average growth in the spatial extent of excitation and inhibition for low contrast, as predicted from phenomenological models. However, contrary to phenomenological models, our simulation results suggest this is neither sufficient nor necessary to explain the phenomenon.


Killer drones are the future of warfare. Their use, viewed from one angle, generates few legal problems insofar as drones merely provide another tool for the longstanding military practice of killing enemies from the air. Yet, since the drone's extraordinary capabilities have greatly expanded the government's range for finding, tracking, and killing human targets in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other places, commentators debate whether it is legal to kill suspected terrorists in self-defense or as part of an armed conflict - or whether America's targeted killing is murder. Assuming international humanitarian law (IHL) applies, we develop specific regulations for the CIA's targeted killing of active members of al Qaeda and the Taliban. Our analysis complements a prior article that applied the enemy-combatant cases from the United States Supreme Court (Hamdi and Boumediene) as a parallel path toward internal due process. Whether through IHL or by American due process, we argue for heightened review from the CIA's Inspector General. To honor IHL's principles of distinction and military necessity, we explain why the drone operator must be sure beyond a reasonable doubt that the trigger is being pulled on a functional enemy combatant. To honor IHL's principle of precaution, we also explain why the CIA's Inspector General must review every CIA drone strike, including the agency's compliance with a checklist of standards and procedures for the drone program. To reach these conclusions, we adopt guidance from the International Committee of the Red Cross on who falls within the category of people "directly participating in hostilities," subjecting them to targeting, and we apply techniques from American administrative law. We also consider targeting American citizens. A program that establishes a very high certainty for targeting as well as a "hard-look" after each strike helps ensure fairness and accuracy regardless of the citizenship of the people in the cross-hairs. In today's language of IHL, these are "feasible precautions" for the remote-control weapons of the new century.


Over the past two decades, a quiet revolution has taken place in the world of light art and design with the introduction of LED technology. Sydney-based artists Ruth McDermott and Ben Baxter have been on the vanguard of this movement, creating innovative and award-winning installation artworks utilizing the capabilities of this new technology. A frequent highlight of the Vivid Sydney light art festival, their work has become known for creating site-specific narratives exploring the landscapes and histories of Sydney and its surrounds. This book surveys twelve years of their practice (2009-2021), as their work evolved in tandem with the technology, with a special focus on the technical aspects of creating, mounting, and displaying large-scale installations. Along with an essay on the history of light art, commentary from collaborators, and over 100 photographs documenting the conceptual life span of eighteen artworks, this book features the authors reflections on the unique relationship of artistic collaboration, and how this relationship has enhanced their practice and journey as artists.


One of the most noticeable trends in healthcare over the last years is the continuous growth of data volume produced and its heterogeneity. In the medical imaging field, the evolution of digital systems is supported by the PACS concept and the DICOM standard. These technologies are deeply grounded in medical laboratories, supporting the production and providing healthcare practitioners with the ability to set up collaborative work environments with researchers and academia to study and improve healthcare practice. However, the complexity of those systems and protocols makes difficult and time-consuming to prototype new ideas or develop applied research, even for skilled users with training in those environments. Dicoogle emerges as a reference tool to achieve those objectives through a set of resources aggregated in the form of a learning pack. It is an open-source PACS archive that, on the one hand, provides a comprehensive view of the PACS and DICOM technologies and, on the other hand, provides the user with tools to easily expand its core functionalities. This paper describes the Dicoogle framework, with particular emphasis in its Learning Pack package, the resources available and the impact of the platform in research and academia. It starts by presenting an overview of its architectural concept, the most recent research backed up by Dicoogle, some remarks obtained from its use in teaching, and worldwide usage statistics of the software. Moreover, a comparison between the Dicoogle platform and the most popular open-source PACS in the market is presented.


The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) process was launched during the Miami Summit of Heads of State in December 1994. It was the centerpiece of a broader hemispheric initiative of political and socio-economic cooperation among 34 countries of the Americas with the objective to negotiate a hemispheric free trade agreement by the year 2005. The preparatory phase began in January 1995 and formal negotiations were launched in April 1998. The creation of an FTAA would clearly be the most important chapter in the history of regional cooperation in the Western Hemisphere and mark a fitting culmination to a fast maturing trade policy framework in Latin America and the Caribbean. The FTAA process is the result of progressive globalization of the world economy and a profound transformation in the region based on: (i) structural economic reforms in almost all the countries directed at stimulating market activity and a better articulation with the world economy; (ii) the emergence, or strengthening, of democratic regimes almost everywhere and (iii) political commitments to foster peace and cooperation among neighbors with a history of rivalry and conflict. Regional integration has been a fundamental complementary tool for achieving these ambitious national objectives, which permeate the entire region. Latin America and the Caribbean have a long tradition of interest in regional integration. An intense amount of activity in this area emerged out of the Post-War period. However, the initiatives in the first three decades following the War inserted themselves in the prevailing state-led import substitution strategy of the time, itself to a large extent a product of "market skepticism" derived from the Great Depression. In the 1990s, however, a "new" regionalism emerged in Latin America and the Caribbean that conformed to the new national strategies for economic and political transformation and preparation for globalization.


Although plagiarism, cheating and academic integrity receive increased attention, literature provides little practical advice or strategies on how to approach these topics with students. In this paper we describe a case study in relation to an intervention we have developed to help our students prevent plagiarism and to foster academic integrity amongst our studentship. In the two hour workshop students are supported in gaining a deeper understanding of what plagiarism is and provides them with practical examples of how plagiarism can be avoided. In the context of the workshop plagiarism is discussed in its many forms of the intentional and unintentional stealing or appropriating of ideas that are not credited accordingly (Helgesson & Eriksson, 2015). The intervention also encompasses discussions around academic integrity and what academic integrity means in theory and in practice. The six steps in our intervention are a sorting activity (what is plagiarism?), the presentation of real cases (what is the impact of plagiarism?), practising to synthesise ideas (how can I prevent plagiarism), the role of plagiarism-detection software such as Turnitin (how can I check for plagiarism?), the formulation of an integrity code and a summary of the content covered in the session (what do I know now?). The intervention draws upon research and practical experiences and is designed in such a way that with adaptations it can be delivered to all levels of students and courses. Following the presentation of the individual elements of the workshop the article concludes with a brief outline of a research project in relation to our workshop, which will be used to inform our further development of the intervention but also to provide a more formal evaluation of its effectiveness.


Upper Cenozoic sequences have been studied in detail on 3-D seismic data, attribute displays and well logs, in order to illustrate the use of attributes in stratigraphy. Lowstand and uppermost highstand deposits are associated with high values of reflection strength, interpreted from logs as reflecting silty-sandy strata. Increasing values of reflection strength through the Upper Cenozoic are related to increasing sand content. Amplitude maps characterize sedimentary facies of systems tracts. An integrated study of timeslices, reflection intensity and logs reveal buried channels and their sedimentary facies. Shallow channels may represent glacial meltwater run-off during the interglacial Cromerian, while the succeeding more deeply incised valleys may be formed by glacioeustatic sea-level falls during the Saale and Weischel glaciations. The studied shallow section with good resolution may contribute to the method of using attributes in genetic facies analysis of subtle stratigraphic hydrocarbon traps, in deeper sections.


Tight Weyl-Heisenberg frames in l/sup 2/(Z) are the tool for short-time Fourier analysis in discrete time. They are closely related to paraunitary modulated filter banks and are studied here using techniques of the filter bank theory. Good resolution of short-time Fourier analysis in the joint time-frequency plane is not attainable unless some redundancy is introduced. That is the reason for considering overcomplete Weyl-Heisenberg expansions. The main result of this correspondence is a complete parameterization of finite length tight Weyl-Heisenberg frames in l/sup 2/(Z) with arbitrary rational oversampling ratios. This parameterization follows from a factorization of polyphase matrices of paraunitary modulated filter banks, which is introduced first.


The exhibition presents the full Future Trilogy which was completed in 2009. The trilogy is based on the opening of a new IKEA store in Edmonton, London in November 2005. IKEA celebrated with a twenty-four hour launch accompanied by significant price reductions on leather sofas. But when six thousand people arrived to compete for the discount a riot ensued which injured sixteen shoppers and required the store to be closed after just thirty minutes. The Future Trilogy takes this event as the starting point to speculate on a future where the popular fascination with modern designer furniture has morphed into state religions underpinned by the ideals of the early twentieth century avant-garde.

The exhibition also presents their 2010 work Co-Operative Explanatory Capabilities in Organizational Design and Personnel Management which narrates a fictional story of a company that adopts highly experimental approaches to achieving worker productivity. The project investigates the place of creativity in efficiency management and the operation of bureaucratic systems in a post-industrial work environment. The Kollectiv's pseudo documentary creates a careful blend of fact and fiction through the combination of a distinctive BBC narrator's voice with imagery sourced from an online photographic archive for an early computing company. The story becomes increasingly provocative as more and more of the bizarre antics of the company employees are revealed, leading to the members of the company eventually forming a religious cult.


Market pressure for low prices paired with customer demand for high product variety presents a considerable dilemma for many manufacturers. Industry practice and research to date suggest that approaches based on component commonality can substantially lower the costs of proliferated product lines, but at the cost of reducing product differentiation and revenues. We analyze a stylized model of a manufacturer who designs a product line consisting of two products for sale to two market segments with different valuations of quality. The manufacturer determines the component quality levels, the amount of effort to reduce production costs, and whether to use common or different components for the two products.

Explicitly considering potential interdependencies between cost-reduction effort and quality decisions, we characterize environments where the optimal product line involving component commonality features products of higher quality and yields higher revenues. Counter to earlier research we show that it can be preferable to make those components common that, relative to their production cost, are attributed a higher importance by customers. Disregarding the interactions between commonality, production cost, quality, and effort decisions can lead manufacturers to offer product lines with excessive differentiation and inefficiently low quality.