Multifidelity approximate Bayesian computation (MF-ABC) is a likelihood-free technique for parameter inference that exploits model approximations to significantly increase the speed of ABC algorithms (Prescott and Baker, 2020). Previous work has considered MF-ABC only in the context of rejection sampling, which does not explore parameter space particularly efficiently. In this work, we integrate the multifidelity approach with the ABC sequential Monte Carlo (ABC-SMC) algorithm into a new MF-ABC-SMC algorithm. We show that the improvements generated by each of ABC-SMC and MF-ABC to the efficiency of generating Monte Carlo samples and estimates from the ABC posterior are amplified when the two techniques are used together.


BACKGROUND
Antibiotic drug restriction policies have become widespread in North America hospitals mandating medical infectious disease consultation for use of routine antimicrobial agents.

OBJECTIVE
To determine physician and institutional attitudes regarding the credibility of surgeons in the area of infectious disease.

DESIGN
A survey of the Surgical Infectious Disease Society (SIS) membership.

PARTICIPANTS
Members of the SIS practicing in the United States and Canada (n = 464) were sent a simple opinion poll regarding surgical infectious disease specialists. After receiving the survey, the SIS members were given approximately 4 weeks to anonymously complete the questionnaire and return it to our office.

RESULTS
Responses were received from 198 SIS members (43%). Most were from large (> 400 bed) institutions (63%), and the majority of them were from university centers (76%). Predictably, 86% of the respondents were in full-time academic practice. Some SIS respondents (21%) had undergone special training in infectious disease, and of these, 63% actually had completed a formal surgical infectious disease fellowship. Antibiotic restriction policies were nearly universal and required in 87% of institutions. Only 44% of surgeons in these hospitals, however, were privileged to release antibiotic drugs. Medical infectious disease physicians recognized surgical expertise in infectious disease in few instances (32%). The great majority of responding SIS members (81%) believed that an examination or certification in infectious disease for surgeons was not warranted.

CONCLUSIONS
Antibiotic drug restriction is prevalent in North America, and medical infectious disease specialists do not generally recognize surgical expertise in the area of infectious disease. Despite this environment, responding SIS members believe that special credentialing of surgeons in the area of infectious disease is unnecessary.


Ethane dehydrogenation on pristine and AlOx decorated Pt surfaces was studied using density functional theory (DFT) calculations and reaction kinetics experiments. Following the study of adsorption of fourteen distinct C2Hx and CHx species, the whole reaction network for ethane dehydrogenation on the terrace and the step of the pristine Pt(433) surface was systematically analyzed using DFT. We show that the under-coordinated step edge sites bind C2Hx and CHx species more strongly than terrace sites. These under-coordinated step sites facilitate deep dehydrogenation, resulting in accumulation of coke precursors on the surface and catalyst deactivation. We demonstrate that by decorating the step with AlOx species the step edge sites can be blocked, leading to substantial suppression of deep dehydrogenation and coke formation. These findings were corroborated by reaction kinetics experiments where a four-fold enhancement of the turnover frequency for ethylene formation was measured on 10-cycle atomic layer deposited (ALD) alumina overcoated Pt/γ-Al2O3 catalyst compared to Pt/γ-Al2O3 without decoration with ALD-alumina. Our results suggest that AlOx decorated Pt is a promising catalyst for alkane dehydrogenation and could have applications, including in endothermic cooling in hypersonic flights.


The previous chapter utilized evolutionary biology to open the door to the possibility that the spatial-temporal inaccessibility of certain information argues that human beings and their institutions can neither eliminate all uncertainty about the higher level effects of future combat interactions, nor substantially reduce the magnitude of such uncertainties beyond the limits set by dispersed information and tacit knowledge. This chapter has two aims: first, to consider evolutionary biology as a source of general friction in its own right; and, second, to explore whether evolutionary biology may offer a better model for a "scientific" theory of war than quantitative sciences like physics. On the current reading of fragmentary evidence from diverse fields, the human family, genus Homo, emerged some 2-3 million years ago in Africa, east of the Rift Valley in response, initially, to geographic isolation and, spurred by subsequent climatic pressures, evolved rapidly toward modern man. Homo sapiens (1) Since the mid-1980s, when consensus finally emerged concerning the evidence of the molecular and fossil records, the last great step in human evolution from "archaic" Homo sapiens to "early modern" man is estimated to have occurred between 45,000 and 90,000 years ago. (2) These observations presume that Charles Darwin (1809-1882) was onto something important when he published The Origins of the Species in 1859. Darwin's core evolutionary thesis was that the rich diversity of living species making up the Earth's biosphere had come about "chiefly through the natural selection of numerous successive, slight, favorable variations; aided in an important manner by the inherited effects of the use and disuse of parts; and in an unimportant manner, that is in relation to adaptive structures, whether past or present, by the direct action of external conditions, and by variations which seem to us in our ignorance to arise spontaneously." (3) Darwin's core idea will not be defended here beyond two observations. First, The Origins of the Species contained large gaps "that have only recently begun to be properly filled in," the most fundamental being the absence of the concept of the gene as a discrete unit ofparticulate inheritance. (4) Though the basic idea had appeared in an obscure Austrian journal by the monk Gregor Mendel in 1865, Darwin himself never hit upon the concept of a gene or any adequate theory of inheritance. This most serious gap in Darwin's original theory was not filled in until the early 1930s when the statistician and biologist R. A. Fisher and his colleagues worked out modern population genetics. (5) There were, of course, other weaknesses in Darwin's formulation of descent by natural selection. While most of these remaining weaknesses were overcom during the 1940s through the work of Theodosius Dobzhansky, Julian Huxley, Ernst Mayr, and others, it has "taken another half-century to iron out most of the wrinkles" in the fabric of the modern synthesis, nee-Darwinism. (6) Second, notwithstanding much sentiment and strong opinion to the contrary, neo-Darwimsm is about as secure as any scientific theory ever has been or could be. True, vigorous controversies remain in evolutionary theory, not the least of which is how self-replicating molecules could have initially emerged. Nonetheless, these controversies are matters of "just science," meaning that no matter how they turn out they "will not undo the basic Darwinian idea." (7) As the paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould observed in 1994: "Natural selection is an immensely powerful yet beautifully simple theory that has held up remarkably well, under intense and unrelenting scrutiny and testing, for 135 years." (8) An indication of just how secure core Darwinism (the minimal theory that biological evolution is guided in adoptively nonrandom directions by the nonrandom survival of random hereditary changes) is can be gleaned from Richard Dawkins' 1991 argument that it is the only known empirical theory capable, even in principle, "of solving that most difficult of problems posed by life anywhere in the universe, namely, the problem of the existence of adaptive complexity. …


Abstract This article examines the role of a firm's internal network in determining plant shutdown decisions in response to environmental regulations. Using unique plant-level data for U.S. manufacturing industries from 1990 to 2007, we find evidence that, in response to increasingly stringent environmental regulations at the county level, multi-plant firms do exercise their greater flexibility in adjusting production, relative to single-plant firms. Specifically, in regulated counties, the likelihood of a plant shutting down is higher for multi-plant firms. Moreover, we measure the firm internal network effect at the local, neighborhood, and the wider-area levels, as defined by the number of affiliated plants clustered in different regional levels. Their effects on plant closure decisions for dirty subsidiaries vary with the network level. We further decompose the neighborhood network into those in regulated and unregulated neighborhood counties, and examine how these network metrics are associated with closure decisions of dirty plants affiliated with multi-plant firms. The presence of more sibling plants residing in neighboring counties that are free from regulatory controls are associated with a higher closure probability of dirty plants in a regulated county.


The empowerment of small-medium scale industries must be carried out thoroughly through the provision of business development opportunities to the greatest extent so as to be able to increase the role and potential of the industries. The purpose of this study was to analyze the internal influence of the human resources competencies on technology and the organizational readiness to the level of adoption of e-commerce in craft small medium industries. The analysis used by researchers to determine the effect of each variable using multiple linear regression analysis techniques. This study shows that 79 percent of human resources owned by small medium scale industries have the expertise to operate computers and have adaptability that is fast with changes in information technology but from an organizational perspective 70 percent of them do not provide adequate information technology devices (computers/smartphones and internet networks) even though craft small-medium scale industries who are respondents 100 percent understand technological change and development.


Research into teachers' conceptions of teaching can be justified in that deep seated beliefs impact upon the way teachers teach and influence the learning approaches of their students. This study examined conceptions of teaching art, through interviews with 18 secondary school art teachers in Hong Kong. The analysis resulted in a two-level characterisation of conceptions under broad essentialist and contextualist orientations. There were four subordinate conception categories, namely moral development in art and aesthetic development in art under the essentialist orientation, and intellectual development through art, and expression and therapy through art as sub-categories of the contextualist orientation. The categories were defined and delimited by six dimensions. The categories were seen as clearly distinguishable but related, though not hierarchically. There was no evidence of the category scheme being culturally specific, as the majority of the teachers held beliefs which were not consistent with the traditional manner of Chinese painting.


This paper considers a formal object-oriented model for distributed computing. Object orientation appears as a leading framework for concurrent and distributed systems. However, the synchronization of the RPC communication model is unsatisfactory in many distributed systems. Asynchronous message passing gives better control and efficiency in this setting, but lacks the structure and discipline of traditional object-oriented methods. The integration of the message concept in the object-oriented paradigm is unsettled, especially with respect to inheritance and redefinition. We propose an approach combining asynchronous method calls and conditional processor release points, which reduces the cost of waiting for replies in the distributed environment while avoiding low-level synchronization constructs such as explicit signaling. Even the lack of replies to method calls in unstable environments need not lead to deadlock in the invoking objects. This property seems attractive in asynchronous, open, or unreliable environments. Furthermore, the approach allows active and passive behavior (client and server) to be combined in concurrent objects in a very natural way. In this paper, we consider the integration of these constructs with a mechanism for multiple inheritance within a small object-oriented language. The language constructs are formally described by an operational semantics defined in rewriting logic.


A suspected sildenafil analogue (1) was firstly detected from dietary supplements, which claimed for energy enforcement, by TLC and UV method. The UV spectrum of this suspected compound showed close similar pattern to that of acetildenafil (2, sildenafil analogue). In order to identify this compound, separation and purification were carried out as well as structure determination was conducted by various NMR techniques, mass spectrum and IR. This new compound 1 had an acetyl group instead of sulfonyl-N-methylpiperazine moiety in sildenafil (3), and its structure was determined as 5-[2-ethoxy-5-acetyl-phenyl]-1-methyl-3-n-propyl-1, 6-dihydro-7H-pyrazolo [4, 3-d] pyrimidin-7-one (molecular formula C19H22N4O3, molecular weight 354). So far no related report and literature to describe its pharmacological action and to provide related safety evaluation of this compound was published. The above results revealed that this compound was illegally adulterated into the dietary supplements, and has thus been included in our routine analysis list for public health.


Abstract: A two stage burned scar detection approach is applied to produce a burned scar map for Mediterranean Europe using IRS-AWiFS imagery acquired at the end of the 2009 fire season. The first stage identified burned scar seeds based on a learning algorithm (Artificial Neural Network) coupled with a bootstrap aggregation process. The second stage implemented a region growing process to extend the area of the burned scars. Several ancillary datasets were used for the accuracy assessment and a final visual check was performed to refine the burned scar product. Training data for the learning algorithm were obtained from MODIS-based polygons, which were generated by the Rapid Damage Assessment module of the European Forest Fire Information System. The map produced from this research is the first attempt to increase the spatial detail of current burned scar maps for the Mediterranean region. The map has been analyzed and compared to existing burned area polygons from the European Forest Fire Information System. The comparison showed that the IRS-AWiFS-based burned scar map improved the delineation of burn scars; in addition the process identified a number of small burned scars that were not detected on lower resolution sensor data. Nonetheless, the results do not clearly support the improved capability for the detection of smaller burned scars. A number of reasons can be provided for the under-detection of burned scars, these include: the lack of a full coverage and cloud free imagery, the time lag between forest fires and image acquisition date and the occurrence of fires after the image acquisition dates. On the other hand, the limited


Pre- and post-thinning relationships between forest overstorey and understorey characteristics at sites in both the Interior Douglas-fir (IDF) and Ponderosa Pine (PP) biogeoclimatic zones in the East Kootenay region of southeast British Columbia were investigated to quantify understorey responses to dry forest restoration thinning. Pre-thinning data consistently indicated that understorey shrub and herb abundance were positively associated with light intensity and inversely with tree density (i.e., ingrowth) at both locations. Immediately after thinning, greater reductions in tree density or increases in understorey light were generally associated with greater reductions in understorey species richness, diversity, and shrub and herb cover; however, the presence of drought conditions complicated this effect. Overall, the results indicate that while the effects of ingrowth appear detrimental to understorey vegetation, the disturbance caused by mechanical thinning, particularly when accompanied by drought, can reduce the abundance of many important understorey characteristics in the short term. These results have management implications for areas where forest restoration using commercial thinning is being considered.


What are the barriers that separate nations? While recent work provides intriguing clues, we have remarkably little concrete evidence as to the nature, size, and shape of barriers. This paper offers direct and indirect evidence on trade barriers, moving us toward a comprehensive geography of trade costs. There are three main contributions. One, we provide detailed data on freight rates for a number of importers. Rates vary substantially over exporters, and aggregate expenditures on freight are at the low end of the observed range. This suggests import choices are made so as to minimize transportation costs. Two, we estimate the technological relationship between freight rates and distance and use this to interpret the trade barriers equivalents of common trade barrier proxies taken from the literature. The calculation reveals implausibly large barriers. Three, we use a multi-sector model of trade to isolate channels through which trade barriers affect trade volumes. The model motivates an estimation technique that delivers direct estimates of substitution elasticities. This allows a complete characterization of the trade costs implied by trade flows and a partition of those costs into three components: explicitly measured costs (tariffs and freight), costs associated with common proxy variables, and costs that are implied but unmeasured. Acknowledgments: Thanks for the gracious provision of data go to Jon Haveman, Rob Feenstra, Azita Amjadi and the ALADI secretariat. Thanks for helpful suggestions on previous drafts go to seminar participants at the Universities of Chicago, Michigan, and Texas, Boston University, NBER and the 4th Annual EIIT Conference at Purdue University. Finally, Julia Grebelsky and Dawn Conner provided outstanding research assistance. This research was funded by a grant from the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business.


The necessity of petroleum and the challenges related to oil exploration in Brazil caused the country in 1953 to create Petrobras, the Brazilian oil company, and to hire a foreigner work force. The company hired the North American geologist, Walter Karl Link (1902–1982), to be the head of the Department of Exploration, one of the most important and promising departments of Petrobras. In that position, Link faced not just countless technical difficulties but also personal ones during the six years (1954–1960) that he worked for the company. The aim of this article is to demonstrate how the Department of Exploration contributed to the consolidation of Petrobras over the six year period and how Petrobras became a model for other companies.


Polystyrene surfaces are often corona-discharge or plasma treated to oxidize the surface, which enhances the wettability. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), which requires time and an ultra-high vacuum, is generally used to measure this surface oxidation. A rapid, simple method for measuring polystyrene surface oxidation is described. The surface is soaked in a solution of Azure A dye, which adsorbs only to oxidized sites on the polystyrene. The excess dye is flushed away and the bound dye is desorbed with a detergent; an absorbance measurement at 635 nm is used to determine the quantity of desorbed dye. This value correlates with the polystyrene surface oxygen concentration and gives r2 = 0.93.


Though rates of bullying among general population youth are high, there is elevated prevalence among certain subgroups, in particular sexual minority homeless youth. Enduring bullying can have devastating consequences, including poor mental health, revictimization, and substance abuse. The current study compares risk factors (i.e., sexual orientation, gender, and child abuse) for being bullied both at school and on the street among homeless youth. We also examine the associations of both contexts of bullying (i.e., at school and on the street) with physical and sexual victimization while on the street, with illicit drug use. From July 2014 to October 2015, we interviewed 150 homeless youth aged 16 to 22 years in shelters and on the streets from two Midwestern cities. Our sample was 51% female and 22% identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB). Results revealed that LGB youth experienced more frequent bullying at school and were more likely to have ever used one or more illicit drugs at least a few times compared with heterosexual youth. Moreover, youth who experienced more child abuse prior to leaving home were also victimized more often at school (school bullying) and on the street (street bullying). Young people who experienced more sexual and physical street victimization were more likely to report illicit drug use compared with those who had fewer street victimization experiences. Overall, youth who experience victimization in one context (i.e., home) are at heightened risk for being bullied in additional contexts (i.e., school). These findings have important policy and service intervention implications, such that service providers should attend to homeless youth's multiple social contexts of victimization and the potential for youth's illicit drug use as a coping mechanism.


This chapter claims technology to be a principal mode of regulation in formal organizations alongside social structure and culture. Such a claim breaks with the conventional neo-institutional outlook that considers technology outside the object of institutional analysis of organizations. The distinctive regulative logic of computational technology is manifested in the increasing entanglement of domain-specific practices and their underlying cognitive and normative order with the decontextualized principles and methods that have traditionally been deployed in the management and control of work operations. Such entanglement and the effects it generates reflect the reshuffling of the regulative reach of technology, social structure and culture under the pressures exercised by the dynamics of current technological change and the impressive involvement of computational systems and artefacts in human affairs.


Conventional ecological wisdom holds that nutrients cycle and energy flows in unidirectional chains. However, here, we show that cyclic energy pathways do exist and are common in ecosystems. These important pathways are structurally present primarily due to the contribution of dead organic matter into detrital pools and those organisms that feed on them, reintroducing some of that energy back into the food web. Recognition of these cyclic energy pathways profoundly impacts many aspects of ecology such as trophic levels, control, and the importance of indirect effects. Network analysis, specifically the maximum eigenvalue of the connectance matrix, is used to identify both the presence and strength of these structural cycles.


Corporate debt levels have grown substantially during the 10-year recovery from the global financial crisis. This debt might be expected to finance investments that support firm expansion, as the U.S. economy has experienced strong growth over the last 10 years. However, much of the corporate debt has been used to reallocate capital through mergers and acquisitions rather than to fund investment activity. Perhaps as a result, some market watchers have expressed concerns that corporations are crowding out, rather than complementing, new investment. {{p}} David Rodziewicz and Nicholas Sly show that rising merger and acquisition activity does not fully crowd out new capital investment, as both sales of existing capital between firms and investment in new capital tend to rise and fall together. Moreover, they find that this relationship holds both in the aggregate and within most U.S. industries. Their results suggest that rising merger and acquisition activity complements investment growth by allowing firms to strategically position themselves and build their productive capacity.


of Thesis SOIL HYDRAULIC PROPERTY ESTIMATION UNDER MAJOR LAND-USES IN THE SHAWNEE HILLS The ability to map soil moisture is becoming more important with changing climates and modeling these effects depends on reliable estimations of hydrologic soil properties under different land managements. This study: 1) tests the application of existing soil hydraulic property estimation methods against in-situ values of six catenas under two covers (forest and grass); 2) validate Random Forest Algorithm (RF) estimates informed from the six catenas on two separate catenas; 3) identify Rapid Carbon Assessment (RaCA) sites within the Shawnee Hills Region that represent different land-uses (Crop, Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Forest, and Pasture); 4) apply RF learning tree informed from six catenas to RaCA sites in order to estimate soil hydraulic properties; 5) compare landuse affects on said estimations. Existing methods for estimating properties were found not able to mimic in-situ values and RF was found to better mimic field values. A total of 26 RaCA sites were chosen under four different land-uses in the Shawnee Hills. The estimations revealed that the different land-uses had unique soil hydraulic estimation values. Care should be taken when estimating changes in soil hydraulic properties as a function of OM content as some results might be overstated.


The Goos-Hanchen shift for a light beam totally reflected on the external interface of a dielectric thin film deposited on a high-index substrate can be strongly enhanced through some specific incidence angles corresponding to the leaky guided modes into the layer. Because the resonant eigenstates are polarization dependent, it has been possible to observe such resonance with an experimental setup based on a periodic modulation of the polarization state combined with position-sensitive detection. Classical models usually used for a single interface (Artmann's model based on phase argument and Renard's model based on an energetic interpretation) have been re-adapted to describe the behavior of the entire layer. Good agreement is obtained between theory and experimental results.


Lua is the language of choice for anyone who needs a scripting language that is simple, efficient, extensible, portable, and free. Currently, Lua is being used in areas ranging from embedded systems to Web development and is widely spread in the game industry, where knowledge of Lua is an indisputable asset. Lua also has established itself as a major language in software development for mobile devices. Programming in Lua is the official book about the language, giving a solid base for any programmer who wants to use Lua. Authored by Roberto Ierusalimschy, the chief architect of the language, it covers all aspects of Lua 5---from the basics to its API with C---explaining how to make good use of its features and giving numerous code examples. Programming in Lua is targeted at people with some programming background, but does not assume any prior knowledge about Lua or other scripting languages. This Third Edition updates the text to Lua 5.2 and brings substantial new material. In particular, it brings more than one hundred exercises distributed through all chapters, ranging from simple questions about the language to full small-size projects.


Concurrent observations of particle number densities and size distributions observed at two different heights (near ocean level and 475 m above sea level) in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard were studied with respect to the diurnal variation during a summer period in June 2004. The results show that observed variation in particle number density in the Arctic boundary layer may be strongly modulated by vertical mixing and dilution. The particles appeared to be formed in the early morning when solar intensity reached about 30% of the mid-day intensity. Based on differences in the observed number densities at the two heights it appears as if particles are formed in the lower part of the boundary layer. The formation rate of 10 nm diameter particles is estimated to be 0.11 cm−3 s−1 and the growth rate is in a range between 1 and 2 nm h−1.


In the 5th century BC, Hippocrates wrote in his third book Of the epidemics (p 35):

 7. But there were also other fevers, as will be described. Many had their mouths affected with aphthous ulcerations. There were also many defluxions about the genital parts, and ulcerations, boils (phymata), externally and internally, about the groins. Watery ophthalmies of a chronic character, with pains; fungous excrescences of the eyelids, externally and internally, called fig, which destroyed the sight of many persons. There were fungous growths, in many other instances, on ulcers, especially on those seated on the genital organs. There were many attacks of carbuncle (anthrax) through the summer, and other affections, which are called "the putrefaction" (seps); also large ecthymata, and large tetters (herpetes) in many instances.1

The syndrome was first clearly redescribed by the Greek ophthalmologist Benedict [Benediktos] Adamantiades in 1930–312 and again, independently, by the Turkish dermatologist Hulusi Behcet in 1937. According to Kaklamani et al ,3 at the …


Small companies from emerging markets rarely make successful forays into advanced country markets with hightech products. This case study examines one such company and its transnational entry strategy. Its teaching note(available from the author) describes the directions actually taken by the company after the end of this case, andthe current status of its international marketing forays. The company is now fairly successful abroad, but this case(for pedagogical reasons) deals with the initial internationalization dilemma facing the company.  Euroflex  is  a  small  Indian  company  in  a  joint  venture  with  Euroflex  Transmissions  of  UK-based  out  of Hyderabad, and supplies flexible couplings, used to connect two machines rotating at high speeds. This is a critical component, as its failure can cause huge losses to the customer. This case looks at how the company started,obtained technology in the early years of India's liberalization, started with the domestic market, and its decisionto tap into international markets. The learning and discussion points include initial funding in an era before angelinvesting,  product  choice,  technology  sourcing,  product-market  segmentation,  choice  of  international  markets for entry, and emerging country disadvantages during the process of selling abroad, particularly for a high-tech product. The influence of an emerging market environment and difficulties arising from that is particularly relevant to many of the issues, as the case begins around 1992, just after India liberalized its economy and opened it to globalinfluence.  This is a field case based on interviews with the directors, and visits to the production factory of the company, based at Hyderabad, India


A basic requirement for reconstructing and understanding complete circuit diagrams of
neuronal processing units is the availability of electron microscopic 3D data sets of large
ensembles of neurons. A recently developed technique, "Serial Block Face Scanning Electron
Microscopy" (SBFSEM, Denk and Horstmann 2004) allows automatic sectioning and
imaging of biological tissue inside the vacuum chamber of a scanning electron microscope.
Image stacks generated with this technology have a resolution sucient to distinguish different
cellular compartments, including synaptic structures. Such an image stack contains
thousands of images and is recorded with a voxel size of 23 nm in the x- and y-directions
and 30 nm in the z-direction. Consequently a tissue block of 1 mm3 produces 63 terabytes
of data.
Therefore new concepts for managing large data sets and automated image processing
are required. I developed an image segmentation and 3D reconstruction software, which
allows precise contour tracing of cell membranes and simultaneously displays the resulting
3D structure. The software contains two stand-alone packages: Neuron2D and Neuron3D,
both oering an easy-to-operate graphical user interface (GUI).
The software package Neuron2D provides the following image processing functions:
• Image Registration: Combination of multiple SBFSEM image tiles.
• Image Preprocessing: Filtering of image stacks. Implemented are Gaussian and
Non-Linear-Diusion lters in 2D and 3D. This step enhances the contrast between
contour lines and image background, leading to a higher signal-to-noise ratio, thus
further improving detection of membrane borders.
• Image Segmentation: The implemented algorithms extract contour lines from the
preceding image and automatically trace the contour lines in the following images
(z-direction), taking into account the previous image segmentation. They also permit
image segmentation starting at any position in the image stack. In addition, manual
interaction is possible.
To visualize 3D structures of neuronal circuits the additional software Neuron3D was
developed. The program relies on the contour line information provided by Neuron2D to
implement a surface reconstruction algorithm based on dynamic time warping. Additional
rendering techniques, such as shading and texture mapping, are provided.
The detailed anatomical reconstruction provides a framework for computational models
of neuronal circuits. For example in
ies, where moving retinal images lead to appropriate
course control signals, the circuit reconstruction of motion-sensitive neurons can help to
further understand the neural processing of visual motion in
ies.


Atoll islands are areas of low, flat land, and the sustainability of habitable land in such environments is sensitive to even slight changes in sea level. The projected rise in sea level during this century may lead to the submergence of atoll islands and the widespread loss of habitable land. However, the actual time sequence of past sea level change, island emergence events, and human settlement of newly emerged islands remain poorly constrained. The results of geomorphological and archaeological surveys, combined with calibrated radiocarbon age dates, at Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands, central Pacific, reveal that the emergence of the island, triggered by a fall in sea level, was quickly followed by human settlement. The elevation of the central body of the island exceeded high water level at 2000 years CalBP, and the complete formation of the island occurred within an interval of 100 years. The island was colonized by people shortly after emergence, at 2000 years CalBP, prior to the establishment of dense vegetation, and has been continuously settled since that time.


Motivation plays a crucial role in second language (L2) learning processes. A substantial body of recent L2 motivation research has adopted the ideal and ought-to L2 selves as a theoretical framework to understand L2 motivation. However, the learning mechanisms underlying the L2 selves have not been fully explored. This dissertation addresses the influence of promotion and prevention foci as motivational tendencies of the ideal and ought-to L2 selves and as task-induced conditions on L2 oral task performance, targeting Vietnamese learners of L2 Korean.
 Study 1 explored the linguistic signature of promotion and prevention foci, operationalized as 1) trait-based motivational tendencies measured by the promotion- and prevention-instrumentality scales (Taguchi, Magid, & Papi, 2009) and 2) decision-making tasks with approach and avoidance instructions to temporarily trigger promotion and prevention foci. The results showed that the prevention-oriented task led to more accurate and fluent speech, while no main or interaction effects were found from trait-based promotion- and prevention-instrumentality. The promotion- and prevention-instrumentality scales showed low internal consistency, possibly due to the different learning contexts from the original study (Taguchi et al., 2009).
 Therefore, Study 2 aimed to test the applicability of the promotion- and prevention-instrumentality scales, targeting Vietnamese learners of L2 Korean. Furthermore, the promotion and prevention concept was applied to develop the promotion- and prevention-motivated behaviour scales. Since promotion- and prevention-motivated behaviour was a new construct, its construct validity was tested through principal component analysis (PCA) of the questionnaire items and chi-square analysis with two groups of learners with the promotion- and prevention-motivated behavioural tendencies and their ideal and ought-to L2 selves distributions. The L2 selves were measured by open-ended questions and qualitatively coded in order to examine context-specific L2 selves among the learner population.
 Study 3 was a conceptual extension of Study 1, investigating the main and interaction effects of promotion and prevention foci as trait-based tendencies and task-induced temporary conditions on the quality of L2 speech performance. In addition, attentional focus on task performance was qualitatively explored by stimulated recall episodes. The measure for the promotion and prevention orientations was adopted from Study 2, and the oral task was collaborative reasoning interactional role-play.


ABSTRACT A specimen of the colubrid genus Ahaetulla Link, 1807 collected in 2002 in Jambi Province, Sumatra, Indonesia, proves to be the first record of Ahaetulla mycterizans (Linnaeus, 1758) for this Indonesian island. This species was previously known from Java, West Malaysia and southern Peninsular Thailand. The discovery of this specimen constitutes an opportunity to redefine and illustrate this rare and poorly known species and to compare it with the more common Ahaetulla prasina (Boie, 1827). Additionally, an identification key of the species of Ahaetulla from the Indo-Malayan Region is proposed. This addition brings to 134 the number of snake species currently known from Sumatra Island.


Altitudinal gradients along mountain slopes provide valuable opportunities to study variation in plant traits in response to changes in environmental conditions along such gradients. This study focused on biomechanical traits of two moss species, the more or less horizontally growing Pleurozium schreberi and the erect-growing Pogonatum japonicum, along altitudinal gradients on two mountains in Hokkaido, northern Japan. We measured stem diameter in two directions to determine the second moment of area I, used three-point bending tests with free stem ends to determine the slope of the force-deflection curve dF/dx, and used these data to calculate Young's modulus and flexural rigidity of the stems. Both species showed much variation in all traits among replicates in the samples at each altitude. Environmental variation associated with altitude had more effect on the biomechanical traits of P. japonicum than on those of P. schreberi. Stems of P. japonicum were thicker (larger I) than those of P. schreberi and had a larger Young's modulus and flexural rigidity. Stems tended to become thinner (lower second moment of area) and less rigid (lower flexural rigidity) at increasing altitude in both species.


Bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Flugge) cultivars are valued for their persistence under grazing and low management inputs. However, they are daylength-sensitive and have minimal cool-season production, resulting in high winter feeding costs in forage-based livestock systems. New germplasm is less daylength-sensitive, possesses greater cold tolerance, and is more productive during the cool season, but its persistence under defoliation is unknown. A field experiment quantified cover and persistence-related responses ofphotoperiod-sensitive bahiagrass (diploids 'Pensacola' and 'Tifton 9' and tetraploids 'Argentine' and Tifton 7) and a less photoperiod-sensitive, cold-adapted (PCA) diploid bahiagrass (Cycle 4) at two stubble heights (4 and 8 cm) and two harvest frequencies (7 and 21 d). Argentine cover was unaffected by defoliation treatments, but harvesting every 7 d to 4 cm for 3 yr resulted in <40% cover for both Tifton 9 and Cycle 4. Averaging over defoliation treatments, stem base mass of Pensacola and Argentine was 60% greater than Cycle 4. At 4- and 8-cm stubble heights, the advantage was 86 and 41%, respectively. When defoliated every 7 d, Pensacola and Argentine stem base mass was 125% greater than Cycle 4, while the difference was 23% for the 21-d treatment. Similar but less-pronounced responses were observed for N and total nonstructural carbohydrate (TNC) content of stem base and root + rhizome fractions. Defoliation management of PCA Cycle 4 is more critical than for Pensacola and Argentine bahiagrass, and longer regrowth intervals and taller residual heights may be required to ensure its persistence.


Increasing water scarcity has attracted more businesses and their high-powered market tools to a sector that has been dominated historically by organizations operating under low-powered incentives. This paper compares business and bureaucratic institutions through three interfaces. The first compares bureaucratic tools – such as water footprinting and conservation technologies – to business tools that rely on prices and markets to change water consumption. The second explores how high-powered incentives within a low-powered institutional setting can result in harmful outcomes, as when regulations on bottled water, hydraulic fracturing, and food exports mismatch costs and benefits. The third discusses how changes in information make business tools for managing risk from floods and drought more appropriate than bureaucratic tools developed in a past of uncertainty. Institutions that allocate water with appropriate incentives – high-powered business incentives for economic uses and low-powered bureaucratic incentives for social uses – will maximize social wealth, but mismatches will increase negative spillovers and waste resources.


Background: Poor balance, falls, and foot problems are serious detriments for the diabetic patients due to the obesity and diabetic foot ulcer. In addition, for the diabetic patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) treatment, the HD process often leaves them too fatigued to engage in any physical activity or daily exercise, further deteriorating their motor functions and increasing risk of falling. Exercise would be effective for this population. However, due to the time availability, post-dialysis fatigue, as well as limitation of transportation to exercise facility, the conventional exercise for this population is impractical. Objective: We are developing an interactive foot and ankle exercise game that can be played during HD sessions to improve foot region blood flow, as well as reduce foot problems. In this study, we examined the feasibility and effectiveness of this innovative wearable sensor based non-weight bearing exercise (Exergame) to improve postural balance in diabetic patients undergoing HD treatment. Methods: Sixty diabetic subjects receiving HD treatment were recruited and randomized into an intervention group (IG: n = 29, age = 63.3 ± 7.9 years, BMI = 31.2 ± 6.5 kg/m2, female = 41%) and a control group (CG: n = 31, age = 66.5 ± 10.7 years, BMI = 32.3 ± 8.2 kg/m2, female = 55%). Both groups underwent a 4-week ankle and foot exercise program (30 minutes per session, two sessions per week) during HD process. The IG received exercise via the Exergame program, which uses wearable sensors attached on subject's feet. The subject's 3-dementional ankle and foot movements were visualized in real-time on a computer screen placed in front of him/her. The subject performed some game-like tasks by moving and rotating the foot and ankle. The difficulty level of the task was gradually increased depending on ability of the subject (like a game) from a simple flexion-extension movement to more complex movements including medial-lateral movement with different range of motion. The CG received traditional foot and ankle exercise without any technology. Postural balance was assessed in the semi-tandem test. Balance tests were performed at baseline and conclusion of the program, under both eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions. Balance parameters included ankle sway and hip sway in anterior-posterior (AP) direction (degree), medial-lateral (ML) direction (degree), as well as in area (degree2). Results: All IG subjects achieved to complete all exercise tasks indicating the feasibility of the Exergame platform. No adverse event or difficulty were reported indicating practicality of the exercise program. None subject in the IG was dropped out during the 4-week exercise program. Low dropout rate may indicate acceptability of the proposed Exergame platform. Under eyes-open condition, the IG had significant ankle sway reduction in the AP direction (Cohens' d effect size = 0.55, p = 0.037), when comparing with the CG. At conclusion, the AP direction ankle sway reduced 18% in the IG, while in the CG it increased 58%. More significant improvements of postural balance were observed under eyes-closed condition. When comparing with the CG, the IG had significant ankle and hip sway reductions in both AP and ML directions, as well as in area (p < 0.050). The highest effect size contrasting changes between the IG and CG was also observed for ankle sway in ML direction (Cohens' d effect size = 0.76, p = 0.005). Conclusions: This study demonstrated feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of an innovative Exergame program to improve postural balance in diabetic patients undergoing HD treatment. The key innovation of the proposed intervention is its practicality to be done during HD process, which could address the limitations of prior exercise interventions in HD patients, for example the low adherence of therapeutic exercise.


In "Kabbalah: A Very Short Introduction", Joseph Dan, one of the world's leading authorities on Jewish mysticism, offers a concise and highly accurate look at the history and character of the various systems developed by the adherents of the Kabbalah. Dan sheds light on the many misconceptions about what Kabbalah is and isn't-including its connections to magic, astronomy, alchemy, and numerology-and he illuminates the relationship between Kaballah and Christianity on the one hand and New Age religion on the other. The book provides fascinating historical background, ranging from the mystical groups that flourished in ancient Judaism in the East, and the medieval schools of Kabbalah in Northern Spain and Southern France, to the widening growth of Kabbalah through the school of Isaac Luria of Safed in the sixteenth century, to the most potent and influential modern Jewish religious movement, Hasidism, and its use of kabbalistic language in its preaching. The book examines the key ancient texts of this tradition, including the "Sefer Yezira" or "Book of Creation," "The Book of Bahir", and the "Zohar". Dan explains Midrash, the classical Jewish exegesis of scriptures, which assumes an infinity of meanings for every biblical verse, and he concludes with a brief survey of scholarship in the field and a list of books for further reading. Embraced by celebrities and integrated in many contemporary spiritual phenomena, Kabbalah has reaped a wealth of attention in the press. But many critics argue that the form of Kabbalah practiced in Hollywood is more New Age pabulum than authentic tradition. Can there be a positive role for the Kabbalah in the contemporary quest for spirituality? In "Kabbalah", Joseph Dan debunks the myths surrounding modern Kabbalistic practice, offering an engaging and dependable account of this traditional Jewish religious phenomenon and its impact outside of Judaism.


The security of Internet of Things (IoT) devices relies on fundamental concepts such as cryptographically protected firmware updates. In this context attackers usually have physical access to a device and therefore side-channel attacks have to be considered. This makes the protection of required cryptographic keys and implementations challenging, especially for commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) microcontrollers that typically have no hardware countermeasures. In this work, we demonstrate how unprotected hardware AES engines of COTS microcontrollers can be efficiently protected against side-channel attacks by constructing a leakage resilient pseudo random function (LR-PRF). Using this side-channel protected building block, we implement a leakage resilient authenticated encryption with associated data (AEAD) scheme that enables secured firmware updates. We use concepts from leakage resilience to retrofit side-channel protection on unprotected hardware AES engines by means of software-only modifications. The LR-PRF construction leverages frequent key changes and low data complexity together with key dependent noise from parallel hardware to protect against side-channel attacks. Contrary to most other protection mechanisms such as time-based hiding, no additional true randomness is required. Our concept relies on parallel S-boxes in the AES hardware implementation, a feature that is fortunately present in many microcontrollers as a measure to increase performance. In a case study, we implement the protected AEAD scheme for two popular ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers with differing parallelism. We evaluate the protection capabilities in realistic IoT attack scenarios, where non-invasive EM probes or power consumption measurements are employed by the attacker. We show that the concept provides the side-channel hardening that is required for the long-term security of IoT devices.


Sparse methods for supervised learning aim at finding good linear predictors from as few variables as possible, i.e., with small cardinality of their supports. This combinatorial selection problem is often turned into a convex optimization problem by replacing the cardinality function by its convex envelope (tightest convex lower bound), in this case the l1-norm. In this paper, we investigate more general set-functions than the cardinality, that may incorporate prior knowledge or structural constraints which are common in many applications: namely, we show that for nondecreasing submodular set-functions, the corresponding convex envelope can be obtained from its Lovasz extension, a common tool in submodular analysis. This defines a family of polyhedral norms, for which we provide generic algorithmic tools (subgradients and proximal operators) and theoretical results (conditions for support recovery or high-dimensional inference). By selecting specific submodular functions, we can give a new interpretation to known norms, such as those based on rank-statistics or grouped norms with potentially overlapping groups; we also define new norms, in particular ones that can be used as non-factorial priors for supervised learning.


Best Practice in Professional Supervision is an authoritative guide to being an excellent supervisor, covering the role, functions and dispositions involved.

The authors consider basic skills, the practicalities of forming and maintaining the supervision relationship, and the organisational context and culture of supervision. The book offers practical examples and a model of supervision which draws together ideas from adult learning theory and reflective practice. Viewing supervision as a place for learning, this guide considers how supervision can assist practitioners to develop professional resilience and manage the stresses of complex work environments. It also includes specific chapters on supervision of clinical student placements and in child protection settings.

This book covers a range of professions including social care, nursing, counselling, social work and allied health professions, and is an essential guide for all those in these and related professions undertaking supervision or supervision training.


SUMMARY
Computational Structural Biology Toolbox (CSB) is a cross-platform Python class library for reading, storing and analyzing biomolecular structures with rich support for statistical analyses. CSB is designed for reusability and extensibility and comes with a clean, well-documented API following good object-oriented engineering practice.

AVAILABILITY
Stable release packages are available for download from the Python Package Index (PyPI) as well as from the project's website http://csb.codeplex.com.

CONTACTS
email@example.com or email@example.com


This article introduces an investor-oriented framework for the evaluation of renewable energy policy, applies these newly developed criteria to a qualitative comparison of the primary policy instruments, and offers recommendations to enhance the investor appeal of renewable energy in the United States.The multi-trillion dollar task of scaling renewable energy technologies to mitigate climate change, ensure energy security, and create green jobs is one of the most daunting challenges of the twenty-first century. It is, in fact, too great a challenge for either the public or private sector to shoulder alone. Rather, public policy must catalyze private investment in renewable energy. Empirical evidence of deployment support for renewables from thirty-five countries reveals enormous differences in policy performance. Remarkably, some policies leverage four times as much investment in renewable energy as others, despite offering only half as much compensation to renewable power project developers. These results point to forces at play other than policy remuneration and generation costs alone.To better understand these forces, this article develops a framework of criteria to guide the evaluation of deployment policies beyond remuneration. Unlike previous studies, the article assumes an investor perspective to explore how investment-based, market-based, and behavioral "soft-cost" factors determine a policy's ability to spur investment in renewable energy. Application of these "soft-cost" factors to analyze the primary policy instruments across the globe sheds light on their conceptual capacity to promote the deployment of renewable energy technologies. The results offer an explanation for the observed weak correlation between policy performance and remuneration. Indeed, the most successful and cost-effective deployment policies are those with the most favorable impact on the examined "soft-cost" factors and, hence, with the greatest conceptual appeal to renewable energy investors.Drawing on these insights, the article develops recommendations for the design and implementation of policies that offer greater appeal to renewable energy investors and allow for faster deployment of renewables – at lower cost to American ratepayers and taxpayers.


ABSTRACTThis study focused on measuring the concentration of formaldehyde in furniture markets, malls, hotels, and restaurants in Guilin, Liuzhou, and Nanning in Guangxi China. Correlations between the indoor formaldehyde concentration and temperature, humidity, and air change rate were also obtained. The sixty sampled public places selected for this study represented the typical public indoor environment in Guangxi. The over standard rates of formaldehyde concentrations (0.1 mg m–3) measured in furniture markets, malls, and hotels were 94%, 87%, and 20%, respectively. The highest formaldehyde concentrations measured in furniture markets, malls, hotels and restaurants were 0.313 mg m–3, 0.231 mg m–3, 0.111 mg m–3, and 0.082 mg m–3. The overall mean formaldehyde concentrations in these four venues were found to be present in this descending order; furniture market (0.193 mg m–3) > mall (0.147 mg m–3) > hotel (0.079 mg m–3) > restaurant (0.058 mg m–3). This work showed that wood-related decorations and merchandises that contain high levels of formaldehyde, were the major sources of formaldehyde pollution in the indoor environment. Further analysis demonstrated that strong correlations (r > 0.80, p < 0.01) existed between the indoor formaldehyde concentration and temperature, humidity, and air change rate, which indicated that these indoor environmental factors appeared to be other key reasons for the high levels of indoor formaldehyde pollution. The results showed that a decrease in temperature and humidity, or an increase in air change rate in an indoor environment can effectively alleviate the level of indoor formaldehyde pollution. The findings of this study can further promote the development of measures to control indoor air pollution.


The lung provides a portal of entry for drug delivery that could be used to administer anticonvulsant substances to prevent or abort seizures. Here, we demonstrate that intrapulmonary propofol hemisuccinate (PHS) rapidly confers seizure protection in various rodent chemoconvulsant models. Propofol is a powerful anticonvulsant substance at subanesthetic doses, but it is a viscous, water-immiscible oil that is not suitable for intrapulmonary administration. We found that PHS can be formulated as an aqueous solution that is well tolerated when instilled into the lung. High-dose intraperitoneally administered PHS induced loss-of-righting reflex in rats and mice. The onset of action of PHS was delayed in comparison with propofol, suggesting that conversion to propofol is required for activity. A lower dose of PHS (40 mg/kg i.p.) did not cause general anesthesia but protected against pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)-induced seizures in rats. Intrapulmonary administration of an aqueous PHS solution via a tracheal cannula at lower doses (5 and 10 mg/kg) conferred equivalent seizure protection without acute motor toxicity. In mice, intraperitoneal PHS (60–80 mg/kg) was associated with an elevation in PTZ, bicuculline, picrotoxin, and kainic acid seizure thresholds. Intratracheal PHS was markedly more potent, producing seizure threshold elevations at doses of 10 to 15 mg/kg. In the PTZ threshold model in mice, PHS was active at 5 min, maximally active at 10 min, and no longer active at 20 min. Intratracheal PHS also prolonged the onset of 4-aminopyridine-induced convulsions but did not affect the threshold for N-methyl-d-aspartate-induced convulsions. We conclude that intratracheal administration of an aqueous solution of PHS, a putative propofol prodrug, provides potent seizure protection of rapid onset and brief duration. Intrapulmonary PHS may be useful for preventing the spread of seizures or aborting seizure clusters without causing prolonged sedation.


Profound hypoglycemia selectively damages CA1 and the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. We have examined the time course of hippocampal neuronal injury in organotypic cultures following in vitro "hypoglycemia," using the fluorescent vital dye propidium iodide to observe directly the regional distribution of early neuronal membrane injury in living cultures. The in vivo hippocampal pattern of hypoglycemic injury was reproduced by a 2 hr exposure to glucose-free media, which resulted in simultaneous, selective propidium staining of CA1 and the dentate gyrus starting by 4 hr after exposure. After 24 hr of recovery, CA3 remained spared. A similar pattern of propidium staining was produced by incubation of cultures for briefer periods in glucose-free medium containing 5 mM 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) to inhibit glycolysis. This "hypoglycemic" pattern and time course of neuronal injury was mimicked by 300 microM aspartate but not by glutamate. The NMDA receptor antagonists MK-801 and CPP, but not the relatively selective non-NMDA receptor antagonist 6-cyano-7-dinitroquinoxaline-2,3- dione, prevented the development of propidium staining. MK-801 protected against injury even if added to the recovery media 30 min after the insult, while TTX (10 microM) protected only if added by the end of the exposure. The appearance of propidium staining after 4–6 hr of recovery was well correlated with histological observation of pyknotic neuronal nuclei in the injured regions. The characteristic hippocampal regional vulnerability of CA1 and the dentate gyrus to injury following profound hypoglycemia can be reproduced in organotypic hippocampal culture and appears to be mediated both by an early TTX- sensitive component and by a more prolonged period of toxic NMDA receptor activation, extending for at least 30 min into the recovery period.


Objectives: To synthesise data on the impact on health and key socioeconomic determinants of health and health inequalities reported in evaluations of national UK regeneration programmes. Data Sources: Eight electronic databases were searched from 1980 to 2004 (IBSS, COPAC, HMIC, IDOX, INSIDE, Medline, Urbadisc/Accompline, Web of Knowledge). Bibliographies of located documents and relevant web sites were searched. Experts and government departmental libraries were also contacted. Review methods: Evaluations that reported achievements drawing on data from at least two target areas of a national urban regeneration programme in the UK were included. Process evaluations and evaluations reporting only business outcomes were excluded. All methods of evaluation were included. Impact data on direct health outcomes and direct measures of socioeconomic determinants of health were narratively synthesised. Results: 19 evaluations reported impacts on health or socioeconomic determinants of health; data from 10 evaluations were synthesised. Three evaluations reported health impacts; in one evaluation three of four measures of self reported health deteriorated, typically by around 4%. Two other evaluations reported overall reductions in mortality rates. Most socioeconomic outcomes assessed showed an overall improvement after regeneration investment; however, the effect size was often similar to national trends. In addition, some evaluations reported adverse impacts. Conclusion: There is little evidence of the impact of national urban regeneration investment on socioeconomic or health outcomes. Where impacts have been assessed, these are often small and positive but adverse impacts have also occurred. Impact data from future evaluations are required to inform healthy public policy; in the meantime work to exploit and synthesise "best available" data is required.


This is a petition filed in the Utah Supreme Court on behalf of four women (Jane Does 1, 2, 3, and 4) who were sexually assaulted, and yet the public prosecutor with jurisdiction refused to file criminal charges against their attackers. The petition relies on Utah Constitution, article VIII, § 16, which anticipates situations where a crime victim might need her own avenue for initiating criminal prosecution. Accordingly, this constitutional provision provides that "[i]f a public prosecutor fails or refuses to prosecute, the Supreme Court shall have power to appoint a prosecutor pro tempore." Indeed, to underscore the fact that other ways to initiate a prosecution are available, the provision specifically states that public prosecutors in this state shall have the "primary responsibility" for prosecuting crimes. "Primary" responsibility is, of course, not the same as exclusive responsibility.
This petition explains why the Utah Supreme Court to use its power to appoint a prosecutor, both to bring justice for these four particular sexual assault victims and, more broadly, to help protect a class of victims – women and girls who have been sexually assaulted – who are under-protected by current prosecutorial practices in our country. The petition argues that the Court can address systemic under-prosecution of rape cases through its power under the Utah Constitution, not only under the Court-Appointed Prosecutor Provision, art. VIII, § 16, but also to protect rights contained in Utah's Victims' Rights Amendment, art. I, § 28, the Utah Uniform Operation of Laws Clause, art. I, § 24, and the Utah Equal Rights Provision, art. IV, § 1. It also has power to act through the federal Equal Protection Clause, U.S. Const., amend. XIV.
The petition concludes by asking for the Court to appoint a prosecutor to prosecute the sexual assaults committed against the four Jane Does.


A detailed study of the morphology and micro‐morphology of Quaternary alluvial calcrete profiles from the Sorbas Basin shows that calcretes may be morphologically simple or complex. The 'simple' profiles reflect pedogenesis occurring after alluvial terrace formation and consist of a single pedogenic horizon near the land surface. The 'complex' profiles reflect the occurrence of multiple calcrete events during terrace sediment aggradation and further periods of pedogenesis after terrace formation. These 'complex' calcrete profiles are consequently described as composite profiles. The exact morphology of the composite profiles depends upon: (1) the number of calcrete‐forming events occurring during terrace sediment aggradation; (2) the amount of sediment accretion that occurs between each period of calcrete formation; and (3) the degree of pedogenesis after terrace formation. Simple calcrete profiles are most useful in establishing landform chronologies because they represent a single phase of pedogenesis after terrace formation. Composite profiles are more problematic. Pedogenic calcretes that form within them may inherit carbonate from calcrete horizons occurring lower down in the terrace sediments. In addition erosion may lead to the exhumation of older calcretes within the terrace sediment. Calcrete 'inheritance' may make pedogenic horizons appear more mature than they actually are and produce horizons containing carbonate embracing a range of ages. Calcrete exhumation exposes calcrete horizons whose morphology and radiometric ages are wholly unrelated to terrace surface age. Composite profiles are, therefore, only suitable for chronological studies if the pedogenic horizon capping the terrace sequence can be clearly distinguished from earlier calcrete‐forming events. Thus, a detailed morphological/micro‐morphological study is required before any chronological study is undertaken. This is the only way to establish whether particular calcrete profiles are suitable for dating purposes. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Vascular endothelial cadherin (VEC) inhibits the signaling of the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), which may contribute to contact-mediated growth inhibition, a phenomenon that is lost in cancerous cells. Lampugnani et al. show that VEC sequesters VEGFR at the plasma membrane, preventing internalization. When sequestered at the plasma membrane at the site of cell-cell junctions, VEC promotes the dephosphorylation of VEGFR through the recruitment of the phosphatase DEP-1 to the complex. The authors studied VEGFR endocytosis and signaling in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and VEC-null or VEC-positive cultured cell lines. In HUVECs, VEGF-stimulated internalization of VEGFR was decreased in confluent cultures compared with that observed in sparse cultures. A similar lower amount of internalization was observed in VEC-positive cultured cells compared with that in VEC-null cells. Internalized VEGFR was active, and the VEC-null cells showed greater abundance of tyrosine-phosphorylated VEGFR and activated phospholipase C-γ on internal membranes than did the VEC-positive cells. Internalization was clathrin mediated, and inhibition of clathrin-mediated endocytosis in the VEC-null cells returned VEGFR signaling--measured as tyrosine phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) p44 and p42--to levels similar to those in VEC-positive cells. VEC was not endocytosed with VEGFR, suggesting that VEGFR activity was inhibited at the plasma membrane. VEC-positive cells in which DEP-1 was knocked down with silencing RNA showed enhanced VEGFR internalization and VEGFR phosphorylation and MAPK activation. Thus, VEC appears to stabilize VEGFR at the cell surface by stimulating VEGFR dephosphorylation at sites of cell-cell contact through the recruitment of DEP-1. Signaling by VEGFR after internalization appears to be an important mechanism of signal transduction by this growth factor receptor, and blocking this internalization is one mechanism by which activity can be controlled. M. G. Lampugnani, F. Orsenigo, M. C. Gagliani, C. Tacchetti, E. Dejana, Vascular endothelial cadherin controls VEGFR-2 internalization and signaling from intracellular compartments. J. Cell Biol. 174, 593-604 (2006). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Things are different now. The US law academics, Rebecca Eisenberg and Richard Nelson, in Public vs propriety science: a fruitful tension? conclude that, "Public science . . . at its best, is a social commitment . . . It is a shared archive of an expanding knowledge base, a training ground for future researchers, and the germ from which future advances in human understanding will grow. Its social value does not depend on the ultimate profitability of the advances it spawns."


A let of exclusive features such as high functionality and low cost have made cloud computing a valuable technology. These remarkable features give users and companies, countless opportunities to reach their goals spending minimum cost and time. Looking at the literature of this technology, it can be claimed that the main concerns of the users of cloud are security issues especially trust. Unfortunately these concerns have not been tackled yet. Therefore we decided to introduce a useful and functioned way to create more trust among consumers to use this technology .In this paper we suggest the foundation of an international certification institute for the service providing companies in order to increase trust and enhance likeliness of using this new and valuable technology among people. Practicality of the technology will improve it and will make its security better by providers.


Focusing on the practices and politics of heritage-making at the individual and the local level, this book uses a wide array of international case studies to argue for their potential not only to disrupt but also to complement formal heritage-making in public spaces. Providing a much-needed clarion call to reinsert the individual as well as the transient into more collective heritage processes and practices, this strong contribution to the field of Critical Heritage Studies offers insight into benefits of the 'heritage from below approach' for researchers, policy makers and practitioners.


We develop a hidden Markov mixture model based on a Dirichlet process (DP) prior, for representation of the statistics of sequential data for which a single hidden Markov model (HMM) may not be sufficient. The DP prior has an intrinsic clustering property that encourages parameter sharing, and this naturally reveals the proper number of mixture components. The evaluation of posterior distributions for all model parameters is achieved in two ways: 1) via a rigorous Markov chain Monte Carlo method; and 2) approximately and efficiently via a variational Bayes formulation. Using DP HMM mixture models in a Bayesian setting, we propose a novel scheme for music analysis, highlighting the effectiveness of the DP HMM mixture model. Music is treated as a time-series data sequence and each music piece is represented as a mixture of HMMs. We approximate the similarity of two music pieces by computing the distance between the associated HMM mixtures. Experimental results are presented for synthesized sequential data and from classical music clips. Music similarities computed using DP HMM mixture modeling are compared to those computed from Gaussian mixture modeling, for which the mixture modeling is also performed using DP. The results show that the performance of DP HMM mixture modeling exceeds that of the DP Gaussian mixture modeling.


Of the more than one billion undernourished people in the world the majority are in developing countries with Africa at over 200 million. Consumers in high-income countries and transitional economies in South and East Asia are choosing to spend their additional income on some combination of increased quality, convenience, and variety of foods. Food delivery systems and consumption patterns in middle-income countries like China and Thailand are converging with those of higher income countries. Income growth is a primary force behind converging global consumption patterns, but globalization of the food industry is also contributing (IRIN, 2009, FAO, 2009). The world produces enough food to feed everyone. World agriculture produces 17 percent more calories per person than it did 30 years ago, despite a 70 percent population increase. This is enough to provide all at least 2,720 kilocalories (kcal) per person per day (FAO, 2002). Current world food price increases are allied with diminishing food stocks and difficulties in accessing food by some communities particularly in Africa. This is driven by a number of factors that include: oil prices; demand for higher input food; decreasing food stocks; climate change and environmental degradation; growing use of bio fuels; inelastic food production markets; population growth; and stock markets trends. Proposed solutions to this crisis are a combination of: increasing food supply through greater public sector budget support and investment in agriculture and policy reforms; institutional and governance capacity including addressing the climate change issue; and realigning the role of international trade (export, input and food aid) with sustainable development strategies. The root cause of Africa's ongoing food insecurity is the lack of investment in agricultural production. Whilst food aid has been increasing, aid for agricultural production in sub-Saharan Africa dropped by 43 percent in the 1990s.


We explored the renal protective effects by a gut peptide, Ghrelin. Daily peritoneal injection with Ghrelin ameliorated renal damages in continuously angiotensin II (AngII)-infused C57BL/6 mice as assessed by urinary excretion of protein and renal tubular markers. AngII-induced increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and senescent changes were attenuated by Ghrelin. Ghrelin also inhibited AngII-induced upregulations of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), ameliorating renal fibrotic changes. These effects were accompanied by concomitant increase in mitochondria uncoupling protein, UCP2 as well as in a key regulator of mitochondria biosynthesis, PGC1α. In renal proximal cell line, HK-2 cells, Ghrelin reduced mitochondria membrane potential and mitochondria-derived ROS. The transfection of UCP2 siRNA abolished the decrease in mitochondria-derived ROS by Ghrelin. Ghrelin ameliorated AngII-induced renal tubular cell senescent changes and AngII-induced TGF-β and PAI-1 expressions. Finally, Ghrelin receptor, growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR)-null mice exhibited an increase in tubular damages, renal ROS levels, renal senescent changes and fibrosis complicated with renal dysfunction. GHSR-null mice harbored elongated mitochondria in the proximal tubules. In conclusion, Ghrelin suppressed AngII-induced renal damages through its UCP2 dependent anti-oxidative stress effect and mitochondria maintenance. Ghrelin/GHSR pathway played an important role in the maintenance of ROS levels in the kidney.


Production ecological analyses reveal great differences in food production potential and food requirement between global regions, which implies the need for redistribution of food between surplus and deficit regions. The surplus production potential, current production and trade volumes of Europe along with the desires of its society for non-food functions from its land, favours a dual agricultural path for Europe. It can continue to guarantee its own food provision through a food-oriented path of intensive agriculture, while cherishing a socially-oriented pathway to meet non-food desires. Europe can assume an active role in world food security by using its surplus potential to supplement the deficit region Asia and by using its agricultural insight to facilitate processes towards sustainable agriculture in Latin America and to support overall agricultural development in Africa. The prospects for the coming decades for European agriculture are so favourable that there is little need to introduce agro-energy or heavy subsidy measures to stimulate or revitalise agricultural development within its territory.


The relevance of water vapour for the radiative budget of the atmosphere as well as aerosol growth, cloud formation and weather forecasting contrasts strongly with the availability of humidity data in the Arctic. Acting as the most important greenhouse gas, the water vapour distribution influences the ground temperatures, while especially in the Arctic the surface temperature feeds strongly back by expansion or shrinking of permanently frozen ground and sea ice extension. About 80 radiosonde stations are located north of 60°N, launching in most cases between one and two sondes per day. Up to now this irregular distributed humidity data set is the most extensive, but the reliability of this humidity measurements under Arctic conditions is still under discussion. Additional information like e.g. radiometer data is sparse. An increasing number of ground-based GPS receivers complements the database, providing integrated water vapour (IWV) information, if meteorological ground data is available. An evaluation of IWV data from ground-based GPS even under the low humidity condition of the Arctic will be presented. The possibility of the retrieval of IWV data from GPS soundings combined with meteorological data from radiosondes or numerical models will be discussed.


The objective of this special issue is to address recent research trends and developments about the advancements of image processing and vision in healthcare. A substantial number of papers were submitted, and after a thorough peer review process, some of these were selected to be included in this special issue. Growth abnormalities (either growth restriction or large for gestational age) during perinatal and postnatal life are a hot topic issue, since they are often linked to alteration of uterine environment caused by placental insufficiency, maternal metabolic syndrome, and in general under- or overnutrition of the fetus. These fetal abnormalities account for the leading causes of perinatal morbidity and mortality. Moreover, under the hypothesis of developmental origin of adult diseases, they bear consequences in later life, programming the infant physiology for a higher risk of noncommunicable diseases, cardiovascular adult diseases, and neurodevelopment delay. Low birth weight, caused either by preterm birth and/or by intrauterine growth restriction, is recently known to be associated with increased rates of cardiovascular disease and noninsulin dependent diabetes in adult life. The "developmental origins of adult disease" hypothesis, often called "the Barker hypothesis," proposes that these diseases originate through adaptations of the fetus when it is undernourished. These adaptations may be cardiovascular, metabolic, or endocrine and they may permanently change the structure and function of the body, increasing coronary heart disease risk factors, such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, insulin resistance, and hyperlipidaemia. This hypothesis originally involved from observation by Barker and colleagues that the regions in England with the highest rates of infant mortality in the early 20th century also had the highest rates of mortality from coronary heart disease decades later. As the most commonly registered cause of infant death at the start of 20th century was low birth weight, these observations led to the hypothesis that low birth weight babies who survived infancy and childhood might be at increased risk of coronary heart disease in later life. There is an increased evidence of the link between intrauterine and perinatal alterations and adult diseases. Although the main focus so far has been the timing of delivery and follow-up, the study of the pathophysiology and of possible recovery is of paramount importance and needs the contributions of physicians from several fields, biologists, bioinformaticians, and engineers.


Abstract A large body of literature on state–business relations in China has examined the political role of capitalists and collusion between the state and the private sector. This paper contributes to that literature and understanding of the internal differentiation among China's business elites by documenting the emergence of a particular kind of large, non-state business group that we argue is more akin to a mafia system than any standard definition of a firm. Drawing on large-N descriptive data as well as deep ethnographic and documentary research, we argue that mafia-like business systems share organizational principles (plunder and obfuscation) and means of growth and survival (relations of mutual endangerment and manipulation of the financial system). Understanding the particular moral economy that underlies mafia-like business systems and their interactions with the state challenges methodological foundations of research on China's political economy and helps to explain recent conflict between high-profile business people and the state.


The article aims to explore how the supernatural is represented in Ann Radcliffe's Gothic novel, The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), arguing that it reflects Radcliffe's ideas on the matter, described in her theoretical work On the Supernatural in Poetry (1826). Following Walter Scott's representation of Radcliffe in his work Lives of the Novelists (1825), her works have been associated with the concept of the explained supernatural. The articles argues that the supernatural present in The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) complicates the subjective safety implied by the explained supernatural, a complication visible in the novel's narrative closure.


This article critically evaluates the ChiNdau–English and English–ChiNdau Vocabulary: With Grammatical Notes , a bilingual dictionary published in 1915 by the American Board Mission (Rhodesian Branch), with a view of determining its suitability for use as a point of departure for modern Ndau lexicography. More than a century after its publication, it remains the only dictionary in the language. The language has been treated as a dialect of Shona for close to a century, until its emergence as one of the country's sixteen officially-recognized languages in the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe . This landmark development requires practical work that can transform Ndau into a fully-fledged and intellectualized language. Lexicography is one of the key intellectual enterprises that can contribute in this regard. It is therefore the contention of this article that the existing dictionary be considered as a vital point of reference for future lexicographic work in Ndau. An analysis of various aspects of the dictionary indicate that, notwithstanding some limitations, this dictionary indeed managed to set some standards that may be incorporated in current and future lexicographic works in this less documented language.


The article begins with a historical view on the legal development of minimum capital requirements for the private limited companies in Europe. An introduction to the historically very different approaches in Germany and England is given, and it is shown that the international trend moves towards the English regime where creditor protection largely rests on the responsibility of company members or management towards the company and its creditors. The Belgian entrepreneur company (SPRL-starter) and the Danish entrepreneur company (IVS) were introduced in 2010 and 2014, respectively. In both countries, they were introduced to avoid a boom of branches of foreign companies after the cases from ECJ, Centros, Uberseering and Inspire Art. In April 2019, the opportunity to establish new entrepreneur companies was abolished in Denmark, and in May 2019, the same happened in Belgium. Even though it could indicate that the legal development in the two countries were alike, nothing could be more misleading. While Belgium followed the international trend and in reality abolished the minimum capital requirement for private limited companies, Denmark just abolished the IVS, while no real alternative to branches of foreign companies was introduced, leaving Denmark with the second highest minimum capital requirement in Europe, with a receding number of new businesses. At the same time, it leaves Denmark in the danger zone of having an invasion of branches of foreign low capital companies, with Danish entrepreneurs as shareholders.


During our initial experience with endoscopic third ventriculostomies, we observed intraoperative bradycardia and postoperative hyperkalemia. The present study was carried out to verify the consistency of these initial observations. Intraoperative heart rate (HR) changes and postoperative serum K + changes were studied prospectively in 20 patients of endoscopic third ventriculostomy. Another 6 patients who underwent endoscopic procedures other than ventriculostomy acted as controls. The anaesthetic technique and intraoperative and postoperative fluid regimen were similar in all patients. Serum K + concentrations were measured intraoperatively and once a day for the next 5 days. The third ventriculostomy group exhibited a significant slowing of the heart rate during the fenestration of the floor of the third ventricle (112 +/- 26 to 101 +/- 28 bpm, p < 0.001) and also at the time of the reversal of the neuromuscular block at the end of surgery (104 +/- 29 to 96 +/- 33 bpm, p < 0.01). The control group did not exhibit similar changes in the heart rate. The postoperative increase in serum K + values in the ventriculostomy group (0.82 +/- 0.55 mmol/L) was higher than that in the control group (0.10 +/- 0.44 mmol/L) (p < 0.01). Endoscopic third ventriculostomy is associated with a significant bradycardia at the time of fenestration and at the time of reversal of the neuromuscular block. The procedure is also associated with a postoperative increase in serum K + values. We propose a mechanism involving distortion of the posterior hypothalamus, which accounts for the bradycardia and postoperative hyperkalemia.


Reliable and accurate reference intervals (RIs) for laboratory analyses are an integral part of the process of correct interpretation of clinical laboratory test results. RIs given in laboratory reports have an important role in aiding the clinician in interpreting test results in reference to values for healthy populations. Since the 1980s, the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry (IFCC) has been proactive in establishing recommendations to clarify the true significance of the term 'RIs, to select the appropriate reference population and statistically analyse the data. The C28-A3 guideline published by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) and IFCC is still the most widely-used source of reference in this area. In recent years, protocols additional to the Guideline have been published by the IFCC, Committee on Reference Intervals and Decision Limits (C-RIDL), including all details of multicenter studies on RIs to meet the requirements in this area. Multicentric RIs studies are the most important development in the area of RIs. Recently, the C-RIDL has performed many multicentric studies to obtain common RIs. Confusion of RIs and clinical decision limits (CDLs) remains an issue and pediatric and geriatric age groups are a significant problem. For future studies of RIs, the genetic effect would seem to be the most challenging area.
The aim of the review is to present the current theory and practice of RIs, with special emphasis given to multicenter RIs studies, RIs studies for pediatric and geriatric age groups, clinical decision limits and partitioning by genetic effects on RIs.


As hundreds of millions of Air conditioning (AC) systems are produced each year, and many of them use rotary compressors as the heat pump, optimizing the flow inside the rotary compressor to improve its reliability and efficiency becomes a key issue of the manufactures. Since the invention of the rotary compressor, its internal flow has been studied numerically with real models. However, a rotary compressor's internal flow can be extremely complicated due to the complex internal structures' geometry and high-speed moving parts, making it difficult to interpret the result by CFD simulation and repeat the simulation in different models. In our experiments for observing lubricant oil droplets above the rotor/stator in a rotary compressor, droplets' movement reveals that two major effects control the gas flow in the compressor's upper cavity. One is the swirling jet produced by the high-speed rotating rotor with no-slip condition on its sidewall. The other one is the rotating disk effect induced by the top of the high-speed rotating rotor. Either of them has been studied individually in different areas. For example, the swirling jet is often used in combustors while the rotating disk is applied in the viscous pump. However, the coupling of these two effects in the rotary compressor with different velocity ranges, size scales, and fluid properties has not been studied according to our best knowledge. In our simulation, a model that only consists of a simplified rotor, simplified stator, sidewall, and discharge tube (outlet) is built. Thus, the effect by small parts, such as the balance block and coils, is excluded. The rotor is set to rotate at 30, 60, and 90 Hz. Uniform velocity calculated with the theoretical flow rate and ambient pressure conditions are given at the inlet (rotor/stator clearance) and outlet, respectively. No-slip conditions are defined at other walls. Steady-state K-ω SST turbulence models are applied, and the cases are computed with OpenFoam. The CFD results show an inner recirculation zone above the rotor that creates a downward velocity component above the rotor and an outer circulation zone above the stator. The CFD result meets the observation of the droplets' movement above the rotor/stator. With the CFD results and the experiment's observations, we propose the model of the oil droplet's path in the rotary compressor's upper cavity, which can help reduce the exhausted lubricant oil droplets from the compressor.


'Loss and damage' is an emerging concept in the fields of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. It results from inadequate efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and insufficient capacity to adapt to climate-related stressors. United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) coordinated nine case studies that documented losses and damages that vulnerable communities are already experiencing today.1 The studies looked at impacts of extreme weather events as well as slow-onset climatic changes. Four of the case studies were conducted in the Asia-Pacific Region. Key findings of these four cases in the Asia Pacific are summarized in the article.


Often, prior knowledge of subword units is unavailable for low-resource languages. Instead, a global subword unit description, such as a universal phone set, is typically used in such scenarios. One major bottleneck for existing speechprocessing systems is their reliance on transcriptions. Unfortunately, the preponderance of data becoming available everyday is only worsening the problem, as properly transcribing, and hence making this data useful for training speech-processing models, is impossible. This work investigates learning acoustic units in an unsupervised manner from real-world speech data by using a cascade of an autoencoder and a Kohonen net. For this purpose, a deep autoencoder with a bottleneck layer at the center was trained with multiple languages. Once trained, the bottleneck-layer output was used to train a Kohonen net, such that state-level ids can be assigned to the bottleneck outputs. To ascertain how consistent such state-level ids are with respect to the acoustic units, phone-alignment information was used for a part of the data to qualify if indeed a functional relationship existed between the phone ids and the Kohonen state ids and, if yes, whether such relationship can be generalized to data that are not transcribed.


A study is reported on the deactivation of hydroprocessing catalysts and their reactivation by the removal of coke and metal foulants. The literature on hydrotreating catalyst deactivation by coke and metals deposition, the environmental problems associated with spent catalyst disposal, and its reactivation/rejuvenation process were reviewed. Experimental studies on catalyst deactivation involved problem analysis in industrial hydroprocessing operations, through characterization of the spent catalyst, and laboratory coking studies. A comparison was made between the characteristics of spent catalysts from fixed bed and ebullating bed residue hydroprocessing reactor units and the catalyst deactivation pattern in both types of reactor systems was examined. In the laboratory the nature of initial coke deposited on the catalyst surface and its role on catalyst deactivation were studied. The influence of initial coke on catalyst surface area and porosity was significant. Both catalyst acidity and feedstock quality had a remarkable influence on the amount and the nature of the initial coke. The hydroenitrogenation function (HDN) of the catalyst was found to be deactivated more rapidly by the initial coke than the hydrodesulphurization function (HDS). In decoking experiments, special attention was paid to the initial conditions of coke combustion, since the early stages of contact between the coke on the spent catalyst surface and the oxygen are crucial in the decoking process. An increase in initial combustion temperature above 440oC and the oxygen content of the regeneration gas above 5% vanadium led to considerable sintering of the catalyst. At temperatures above 700oC there was a substantial loss of molybdenum from the catalyst, and phase transformations in the alumina support. The preferred leaching route (coked vs decoked form of spent catalyst) and a comparison of different reagents (i.e., oxalic acid and tartaric acid) and promoters (i.e., Hydrogen Peroxide and Ferric Nitrate) for better selectivity in removing the major foulant (vanadium), characterization and performance evaluation of the treated catalysts and modelling of the leaching process were addressed in spent catalyst rejuvenation studies. The surface area and pore volume increased substantially with increasing vanadium extraction from the spent catalyst; the HDS activity showed a parallel increase. The selectivity for leaching of vanadium deposits was better, and activity recovery was higher, for catalyst rejuvenated by metal leaching prior to decoking.


OF THESIS LOOKING THE PART: AN EXAMINATION OF LONGITUDINAL GENDER PRESENTATION AMONG CHILDREN WITH GAY, LESBIAN, AND HETEROSEXUAL ADOPTIVE PARENTS Gender presentation, appearing in a way that fits social expectations of one's gender role, represents one of the most obvious ways in which one's gender identity becomes salient to others. This quality is especially relevant to note given the continued controversy surrounding children's gender role development when raised by non-heterosexual parents. The current study is an examination of how gender presentation develops in adopted children with lesbian, gay, and heterosexual parents across two time points (Wave 1: N = 106, Mage = 36.07 months; Wave 2: N = 90, Mage = 8.34). Children's gender presentation was analyzed using a novel coding scheme, consisting of several variables meant to target the presence of gender typed clothing. These elements of appearance were compared with several measures of child outcomes. It was found that children generally adhere to presentation elements of their assigned gender and there were limited differences by parental sexual orientation in any of the gender presentation variables. Additionally, there was no association found between conformity in gender presentation and children's self-perception or parent or child gender-typical attitudes. The results of this initial study may prove to be useful in ongoing research surrounding children's gender typicality.