We derive the asymptotic distribution of a new backfitting procedure for estimating the closest additive approximation to a nonparametric regression function. The procedure employs a recent projection interpretation of popular kernel estimators provided by Mammen, Marron, Turlach and Wand and the asymptotic theory of our estimators is derived using the theory of additive projections reviewed in Bickel, Klaassen, Ritov and Wellner. Our procedure achieves the same bias and variance as the oracle estimator based on knowing the other components, and in this sense improves on the method analyzed in Opsomer and Ruppert. We provide high level conditions independent of the sampling scheme. We then verify that these conditions are satisfied in a regression and a time series autoregression under weak conditions.


This introduction introduces three articles in a Symposium by Richard Craswell, Avery Katz, Robert Scott and George Triantis on the topic of incomplete contracts. The Symposium appears in 56 CASE WES. L. REV. 135 (2005). The recognition that parties will often fail to achieve completely contingent contracts that provide for an optimal outcome in any future state of the world raises the important question of what role courts could or should play in such contracts. Scholars working in the law-and-economics tradition have suggested that courts should use a hypothetical bargain approach to incompleteness, filling in terms that are optimal (efficient) and that the parties themselves would have achieved were it not for the transaction costs. While the authors in this Symposium draw on this traditional economic analysis of contracts, they explore new insights from economics that complicate the analysis of incompleteness in contracts. Relying on economists' theories of incomplete contracts, the Symposium authors identify uncertainty and the cost of and limited access to information as key problems affecting parties both ex ante when contracts are being drafted and ex post when they are being enforced. Uncertainty is a factor that makes it difficult to negotiate contracts that can simultaneously protect specific investments and also promote efficiency ex post. The Symposium authors sort out what economists and lawyers mean when they reference an "incomplete contract" and identify two key assumptions of the new economic literature. These two assumptions are (1) courts are imperfect and may be unable to verify certain facts, and (2) parties can renegotiate the terms of their contracts. Using these insights, the three authors address the implications of the verifiability problem and possibility of renegotiating contractual terms for (1) parties designing complete and contingent efficient contracts, (2) scholars designing theoretical solutions to the verifiability problem, (3) courts searching for rules that will best promote optimal investment beforehand and ex post efficiency once the future has resolved the prior uncertainty, and (4) contracts scholars attempting to decide what issues should be further explored.


The Wide Area Real Time Kinematic (WARTK) is an augmentation system concept for multi‐frequency users based on precise real‐time ionospheric modeling. It is able to provide a high accuracy and integrity GNSS positioning service over continental areas using the infrastructure of a network of permanent ground monitor stations, such as the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) network of Ranging and Integrity Monitoring Stations (RIMS) in Europe. In this way, it allows an additional benefit to be obtained from these reference stations, that is, the network has the potential to support two independent systems: a satellite‐based augmentation system, such as EGNOS, and a high‐precision positioning service, based on WARTK. Indeed, thanks to the accuracy of the ionospheric corrections provided, WARTK users have available in real‐time an extra constraint per satellite between the carrier phase ambiguities, which helps solve them quickly. Once such ambiguities have been solved, the GNSS user obtains navigation accurate to within 20 cm at the 95th percentile (about 10 cm RMS). Moreover, this precise positioning is achieved in a few minutes (with two frequency signals) or in a single epoch, after initial convergence of the tropospheric delay (with three frequency signals), even up to hundreds of kilometers away from the nearest reference station. While previous WARTK research has been devoted to implementing the concept and assessing its feasibility, considering in particular the accuracy achievable, the work reported in this paper focused on consolidating the results by analyzing a large and representative data set, and on deeper analysis of the integrity issue. It was carried out in the context of the Multi‐constellation Regional System (MRS) project, within the European Space Agency GNSS Evolution Programme, with the aim of designing a high accuracy service for GPS and/or Galileo. Three months of actual data, from more than 25 permanent GPS stations in Europe, have been processed (some of them as a roving user), for high‐, mid‐ and low‐solar cycle conditions (in 2002, 2004 and 2006 respectively). In addition, several ionospheric storms occurred during the selected periods, withDstvalues reaching up to −150 nT. Results based on these data show that user domain integrity was maintained for baselines of up to 400 km. At the 95th percentile, the daily horizontal and vertical position errors were 20 and 30 cm, respectively, and the corresponding protection levels were about 1 and 2 m. The convergence time was around 5 minutes with actual GPS constellation data. The benefits of using a multi‐constellation system were also studied, with simulated GPS and three‐frequency Galileo data, showing that it is possible to reduce the convergence time to a few seconds.


Tracer method is one of the methods available for open channel flow rate measurements such as in irrigation canals. Average tracer concentration approach is an instantaneous injection method that based on the average tracer concentrations value at the sampling point. If the procedures are correct and scientific considerations are justified, tracer method will give relatively high accuracy of measurements. The accuracy of the average tracer concentration approach has been assessed both in laboratory and field. The results of accuracy tests of open channel flow that has been conducted at the Center for Application Isotopes and Radiation Laboratory-BATAN showed that the accuracy level of average concentrations approach method was higher than 90% compared to the true value (volumetric flow rate). The accuracy of average tracer concentration approach was also assessed during the application of the method to measure flow rate of Mrican irrigation canals as an effort to perform field calibration of existing weirs. Both average tracer concentration approach and weirs can predict the trend of the flow correctly. However, it was observed that flow discrepancies between weirs measurement and average tracer concentration approach predictions were as high as 27%. The discrepancies might be due to the downgrading performances of the weirs because of previous floods and high sediment contents of the flow. Received:  03 June 2015 ; Revised: 06 July 2015; Accepted:  08 July 2015


This paper presents a new control design method for the control of flexible systems that not only guarantees closed-loop asymptotic stability but also effectively suppresses vibration. This method allows integrated determination of actuator/sensor locations and feedback gain via minimization of an energy criterion, which is chosen as the integrated total energy stored in the system. The energy criterion is determined via an efficient solution of the Lyapunov equation and minimized with a quasi-Newton or recursive quadratic programming algorithm. The prerequisite for this optimal design method is that the controlled system be asymptotically stable. This study shows that when the controller structure is a collocated direct velocity feedback design with positive definite feedback gain, the number and placement of actuators/sensors are the only factors needed to determine necessary and sufficient conditions for ensuring closed-loop asymptotic stability. The application of this method to a simple flexible structure confirms the direct relationship between our optimization criterion and effectiveness in vibration suppression.


Change is inevitable. With the advent of time, several changes have occurred in the field of dentistry as well. The era of smart materials has changed the face of dentistry drastically. Smart materials that have properties which may be altered in a controlled fashion by various stimuli. Several such materials are discussed in this paper. Understanding their use and application in specific situations seems to pose a challenge for m still is scope to go one step further and develop a class of multi possess the capability to select and execute specific functions intelligently in order to respond changes in the local environment. The benefit for the patient and the quality of dental therapy will undergo a significant improvement if such materials are developed and introduced.


Abstract: This article sets out to explore the ways native speakers as well as foreign language learners use dictionaries and the strategies dictionary users adopt in the language acquisition process. The basis for this article is a corpus of six books (in chronological order Atkins (Ed.) 1998, Nesi 2000, Tono 2001, Humble 2001, Sin-wai (Ed.) 2004 and Thumb 2004) that look at both the usage of bilingual, monolingual and bilingualised dictionaries and the users' behaviour in the consultation process. Both the bilingual and monolingual dictionaries seem to be used independently, depending on whether the user wants to utilise them for comprehension, translation or production with regard to a foreign language. As pointed out in the literature on lexicography, some of these dictionaries, though they have undergone many changes over the years, still have serious limitations as learning tools, but the user's performance is also under investigation in empirical research, with the aim of optimising dictionary effectiveness as well as developing the language learner's skills.


Architectural and engineering firms (design firms) have eschewed implementing quality assurance (QA) and other subsequent aspects of quality such as continuous improvement. Their reluctance to embrace QA has been found to be a contributing factor in the production of poor quality contract documentation. Missing, conflicting and erroneous information contained within contract documentation are major sources of rework and customer dissatisfaction in construction projects. If design firms are to significantly improve the quality of the service they provide, they should implement ISO 9000 quality management and assurance standards. By implementing such standards, it is suggested that design firms will be able to contribute more effectively to the value adding process in the construction supply chain. It is argued that the service offered by design firms should be viewed as a key component of value that drives its success. Therefore, because rework is a major source of dissatisfaction in projects, a case study was used to determine how its occurrence inhibited value creation and thus the quality of service provided. From the case study findings, the need for design firms to implement ISO 9000 quality management and assurance standards so as to improve their service quality is discussed.


This paper describes a recent project which was carried out at a design school situated within a UK university. Research suggests that many undergraduates come to university without being prepared for the intellectual journey ahead and are uncertain as to what tutors expected of them [1]. It is also thought that the complexities associated with higher education mean that students no longer know what a degree programme is [1]. This lack of knowledge is a contributing factor to the anxiety experienced by newly enrolled first years [2]. A more equal distribution of knowledge has been shown to engender an adult-adult relationship between protagonists and helps create a "mutuality of participation" between them [3]. As part of their remit, design departments within universities are concerned with adult learning, the process where adult professionals are employed to teach adult students. The movement towards an adult-adult relationship between 'the university' and 'the student' can be facilitated through creating an environment where 'knowing' can be more equally distributed. The project described in this paper was developed for newly-enrolled first year design undergraduates. It makes use of a 'vehicle' publication named 'Full Circle' [4] which contains input from students, tutors and alumni associated with the 3D Curriculum at the School of Design. At the beginning of an incoming undergraduate's journey, the knowledge balance in the university-student relationship is shifted towards the institution, both in terms of subject-specific and person-specific knowledge. The aim of this project is to move towards facilitating a balance to the university-student relationship by providing students with knowledge that goes over and above that given in the usual induction events, such as those related to using the library and the health and safety protocols in workshop. Initial results have shown that this knowledge has been important in broadening newly enrolled students' outlook, providing further context to their degree programme, providing inspiration, encouraging a sense of independence and reducing anxiety and engendering a sense of belonging at a time when there is a loss of status and a feeling of "start[ing] with nothing knowing nobody." [2]

References:

[1] Roberts, J and Crook, M .1996. Promoting Skilled Studying: attitudes and orientations to study of First and Second Year students on a Modular Degree Programme. University of Wolverhampton, Educational Research Unit,

[2] Earwaker, J. 1992. Helping and Supporting Students. SRHE & Open University Press

[3] Goodyear Smith. F, Buetow, S. Power Issues in the Doctor-Patient Relationship. 2001, Health Care Analysis 9: p449-p462. Kluwer Academic Publishers. Netherlands

[4] 3D Academic Group. 2009. Full Circle. Aysar Ghassan (ed). School of Design, Northumbria University. ISBN 978 0 9549587 3 2


Finite element analyses (FEA) gain huge attention in engineering design practice. However, an efficient use of FEA requires early application in the product development process. Furthermore, extensive specialist knowledge is a crucial prerequisite to perform reliable simulations. Due to time constraints, design accompanying FEA are performed too rarely by experienced simulation engineers or, if they are applied by non-expert simulation users, are not sufficiently accurate. Hence, a feature-based approach is presented, to support and automate the setup of design accompanying simulations.


This article compares and contrasts communal and individual properties to examine the relationship between state efforts to formalize property rights and tenure security. The article draws on a study of four landscape mosaics in the Peruvian and Ecuadoran Amazon, selected to represent dynamic forest frontiers. Though Hernando de Soto and other theorists from the property rights school emphasize private individual behavior and land allocation in many collective communities, this research also found collective behavior and land allocation in many individualized communities. The importance of the collective and social relations for both types of properties was particularly salient in the sources of tenure security identified. Though title was one important source, this was insufficient, and often formalization was found to be impermanent. Both groups also emphasized social networks and community relations, on the one hand, and demonstrated use, which further establishes the legitimacy of claims with neighbors, on the other.


Every year, the School of Biomedical Sciences delivers a systems physiology module to a mixed cohort of >150 first year undergraduate students from different educational backgrounds. Specifically, our physiology module is included in curricula of eight undergraduate full-time programmes, of which seven are vocational in type, including three that meet requirements to practice by respective professional bodies. The entry requirements to these programmes range from 240 UCAS* tariff scores and minimum of one science subjects (predominantly Home Economics) to 340 UCAS tariff scores with minimum of two science subjects (including Biology and/or Chemistry). In the design and delivery of the module we have two major goals, i.e., to achieve the module learning objectives, as well as to provide adequate levels of support and/or challenge to all students regardless of educational background or learning style. This paper describes the design of the module and the teaching methods implemented in 2006 and their effect on student progression and satisfaction.All students spend 200 effort hours on the module that include lectures, laboratory classes, revision classes and independent study. At the beginning of the semester students are provided with electronic versions of module learning objectives, lectures notes, simulations and animations as well as materials for self-assessment and preparation for final examination. Student learning is also supported through completion of module coursework including multiple choice class tests and practical reports. Class tests are paced every other week to encourage steady independent learning. Class tests consist of two types of questions, basic and advanced. Basic questions focus on the content of the lectures whereas advanced questions require additional reading from recommended external sources. Weekly revisions classes support preparation for class tests, and provide students with feedback on assessment. Revisions classes are divided into two parts, part one is a refresher of the lecture topic while part two is dedicated to developing critical thinking. The main objective of the laboratory classes is to provide hands-on practical training. Practical classes comprise two components; computer-based simulations, which allow all students to obtain uniform data and promote active learning through the integration of the theoretical principles; and real time exercises allowing students to acquire, handle and analyse data from real-life procedures and thus integrate the facts taught during lectures with real life situations. The module evaluations have shown that >80% of students appraised the module as excellent/very good; the best things about the module were support materials and quality of lectures. The majority of students would like to have seen improved (24% of whole cohort) support in practical classes.This paper will discuss the outcome of these teaching and learning methods including student's performance (in coursework assignments and final examination), as well as the detailed results of module evaluation completed by students.____________*UCAS tariff – a points system used by the Universities and Colleges Admission Services in UK to report educational achievements for entry into higher education in a numerical format.


Between 1 January and 31 July 1992 a cholera epidemic caused 548 reported cases (an incidence of about 8 cases per 1,000 inhabitants) in Riohacha, Colombia. Following an initial review of hospital and laboratory data, a cross-sectional household survey and case-control study were conducted to investigate this epidemic. The cross-sectional survey found an increased risk of cholera between November 1991 and September 1992 among subjects who usually drank unchlorinated piped water from the municipal water system (prevalence odds ratio, POR = 5.7; 95% confidence interval, CI = 1.2-41.1), as well as an increased risk of acute diarrheal disease in the 2 weeks preceding the survey interview among these same subjects (POR = 3.3; 95% CI = 1.1-11.2). The case-control study revealed an association between cholera and drinking unboiled tap water (OR = 7.2; 95% CI = 1.6-32.2), and also between cholera and limited availability of water (< 1,400 liters per week) within the household (OR = 3.6; 95% CI = 0.8-16.4). These findings strongly suggest that most of the Riohacha cholera cases were transmitted by contaminated municipal water, a conclusion supported by descriptive evidence of problems affecting Riohacha's municipal water and sewerage systems.


We report a broadband H-1 NMR study of the spin dynamics of coated maghemite and goldmaghemite hybrid nanostructures with two different geometries, namely dimers and coreshells. All the samples have a superparamagnetic behavior, displaying a blocking temperature (T-B similar to 80 K (maghemite), similar to 105 K (dimer), similar to 150 K (coreshell)), and the magnetization reversal time follows the VogelFulcher law. We observed three different anomalies in H-1 NMR T(1)1 versus T that decrease in amplitude when increasing the applied magnetic field. We suggest that the anomalies are related to three distinct system dynamics: molecular rotations of the organic groups (240 < T < 270 K), superparamagnetic spin blockage (100 < T < 150 K), and surfacecore spin dynamics (T < 25 K). By fitting the T(1)1 data with a heuristic model, we achieved a good agreement with magnetic relaxation data and literature values for methyl group rotation frequencies.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a metric for validating the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative's (NSI) sixteen-category instrument, which is designed to guide law enforcement in the collection and analysis of suspicious behaviors preceding serious crimes, including terrorist attacks.

Design/methodology/approach
Data on suspicious preoperational activities and terrorism incident outcomes in the USA between 1972 and 2013 come from the American Terrorism Study (ATS). Using a mixed-method approach, the authors conduct descriptive and multivariate analyses to examine the frequencies of the least and most prevalent suspicious activities (or SAR indicators) and how they predict the likelihood of terrorism prevention. In addition, the authors contextualize how configurations of SAR indicators are associated with the successful thwarting of terrorism incidents by law enforcement using an analytical method known as conjunctive analysis of case configurations (CACC).

Findings
The study reveals several key findings. First, certain behaviors categorized as suspicious, such as making threats, occur more frequently than others. Second, making threats, conducting surveillance and terrorist recruitment/financing predict law enforcement interdiction in terrorism plots, while misrepresentation (or the manufacturing and use of false documents) is more associated with terrorist success. Third, prevalent SAR indicators operate differently in the context of various combinations of suspicious activities to shape the likelihood for law enforcement interdiction.

Research limitations/implications
The current study's findings may not be generalizable to other forms of violent extremism and terrorism outside of the USA.

Practical implications
This study illuminates opportunities for the NSI to provide law enforcement with the necessary tools to reduce terrorism risk and prevent future attacks.

Originality/value
To our knowledge, no scholarly work to date has assessed how observable behavioral indicators of suspicious preoperational activities affect the outcomes of terrorist plots.


The research undertaken in this paper explores the strategy formulation practices of large financial services organisations in South Africa. Following a review of academic sources, it was concluded that strategy formulation comprises three distinct but interdependent activities. The first is that of foresight development, followed by strategy development and finally strategic or business planning. In addition, a variety of approaches to stakeholder engagement are possible. A review of similar research identified primary research into foresight practices in Europe and the professional experiences of two South African chartered accountants of strategic or business planning. No research on strategy development was identified. Thus, the researcher chose to conduct primary research in the form of a survey to interrogate each of the strategic activities. This focused on the level of resourcing applied to each activity, the tools used, the time horizon adopted and the breadth of stakeholder engagement. A review of the South African financial services industry suggested that banking, short-term insurance and long-term insurance needed to be included in the sample. An analysis of the respective organisations" market share for most key products was completed. This produced a sample of twelve organisations which had a market share in excess of 10per cent as at 31 December 2009 with the exception of those selected based on total life insurance premiums, which were based on December 2008 data due to information availability. Of the twelve organisations identified 66per cent (or eight) responded to the survey which was conducted using an online survey tool. Three respondents chose to respond telephonically when contacted by the researcher. The respondents for the respective organisations were either senior managers, in several cases members of the executive team, or people involved with strategy formulation at a corporate or group level. In order to increase the response rate, the survey was conducted anonymously, thus limiting comparison been organisations and industry sectors. The result of the analysis highlighted two key dimensions on which organisations differed. The first is the time frame used. Only two organisations regularly look more than three years ahead. The second is that of stakeholder engagement. Half of the respondents are interactive and include employees in the strategy formulation process, while the other half is autocratic limiting strategy formulation activity to management and often senior management only. This lead the researcher to conclude that while a wide array of strategy formulation tools are applied, many South African financial services organisations have opportunity to improve their strategy formulation practice by being more inclusive and adopting a longer and more holistic approach to scanning and foresight as part of the foresight development activity.


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe sports injuries among elderly people and to compare physical activity, perceived health status and exercise self-efficacy between elderly people who had experienced a sports injury and elderly people who hadn't. Methods: The sample of this study were 100 elderly in Korea, 51 of whom had had a sports injury. The study used questionnaires to gather data. There were 8 demographic factors, 4 factors related to physical activity, perceived health status and exercise self-efficacy of the subjects. Data were analyzed by frequencies, chi-square test, and t-test. Result: Among the sports injured elders, one occur-rence of a sport injury was 86.3%. There were more outdoor than indoor sports injuries of elders (66.7%), and sports injuries of elders occurred more in the winter (82.7%). The major cause of the sports injuries was loss of balance. Ankles were frequently damaged from these injuries. The most significant change after the sports injury was reduction of physical activity (60.8%). There were significant differences between sports injured elderly and non-injured elderly for age ( χ 2 =2.58, p =.011) and the amount of physical activity (t=1.96, p =.050), but there was no significant difference in perceived health status and exercise self-efficacy. Conclusion: To pre-vent sports injuries in the elderly means to maintain a medium level of physical activity and to improve their balance.


I'm a graduate student in a lab that seemingly has an instrument for everything. Peptide synthesizer? We've got it. Liquid-handling instrument for 96-well plates? No problem. You name it, we've got a robot that can do it. The convenience and efficiency can't be beat. But when I first joined the lab, I feared that these tools would make grad students like me obsolete. I thought the single quality that defined a great scientist was perfect experimental technique, and that scientists are essentially supposed to function as living, breathing instruments. Gradually, though, I accepted that these instruments had better experimental technique than I ever could master, and that I had better rethink what it really means to be a scientist.

![Figure][1]

ILLUSTRATION: ROBERT NEUBECKER

My misconceptions, and my anxiety around them, arose during my undergraduate training. I excelled at homework assignments and exams, but I often struggled in the lab. In my freshman-year chemistry lab, for example, we were supposed to determine the concentration of a hydrochloric acid solution by meticulously adding sodium hydroxide until the clear liquid turned pink—a standard acid-base titration. When done correctly, it's beautiful. At first, you're just combining two colorless solutions. Then, each drop of sodium hydroxide creates an ethereal swirl of pink that gradually dissipates as the solution becomes clear again. Finally, with just one more drop of sodium hydroxide, the solution blinks from clear to all-over pink.

But my hands weren't steady enough to precisely dispense the sodium hydroxide. I shot right past the endpoint, turning the contents of my beaker an embarrassingly vivid magenta. As I looked around the lab at the sea of perfectly pale pink beakers achieved by students with better reflexes, I began to doubt whether I was cut out to be a scientist. No one, I thought, would care that I could predict the product of a reaction if I couldn't successfully run it in the lab.

Even so, I continued with my chemistry major, driven by my passion for the material and positive feedback about my performance in the lecture components of my classes. I was also fortunate to have a professor who told me that the best predictor of success was whether I could master the concepts—which I could—and that, with practice, my experimental technique would not be an insurmountable barrier. She also insisted that grad school was the right option for me. I wasn't entirely convinced. But I had hoped to pursue a Ph.D. ever since I started my undergrad degree, so I decided to give it a try.

There, I slowly came to understand what my mentor meant: Being a scientist is much more about creativity than about what we can do with our hands. This really started to sink in during my second year, when I adapted an experimental protocol for use in living cells. I needed to design a molecule that would be able to cross a cell membrane and then come up with a way to synthesize it. There's no instrument for that. I dusted off my old medicinal chemistry notebook, compiled a list of potential structures, searched the literature, and homed in on my target.

I did eventually have to do the experiments, including synthesizing the molecule—which required several attempts, many helpful tips from a senior graduate student, and countless absorbent spill pads. But ultimately, I got the off-white powder I needed, and I managed to improve my experimental technique along the way. Only then did I turn to the state-of-the-art instruments at my disposal, which I had come to appreciate as tools to support my work rather than things to strive to emulate.

Now, whenever I am faced with a challenging experimental task and feel that freshman-year doubt in my scientific prowess begin to creep in, I think of Alexander Fleming. A technically great scientist would have thrown out a moldy bacteria culture to prevent contamination. But as a truly great scientist, he took the time to consider the phenomenon—and used it to invent penicillin. And I bet Sir Alexander wasn't great at titrations either.

 [1]: pending:yes


The mechanism of carbon removal at the initial stage of processing the chromium steel scrap was considered. The results of thermodynamic analysis of the processes of decarbonization and deoxidation of steel were given. For improving the deoxidation efficiency, physical-chemical analysis of combinations of metals and their interactions with the dissolved in the melt oxygen was made. Complex deoxidizers based on aluminum with silicon and barium are quite effective. Thus, the possibility to increase the efficiency of the complex based on metal with lower affinity for oxygen from the metals with higher affinity for oxygen of a series of affinities was established. Explanation of the obtained results based on the model which takes into account the equilibrium of reactions between the metal-deoxidizer and dissolved oxygen was proposed. The use of complex deoxidizer improves the kinetics of deoxidation and reduces the number of non-metallic inclusions.


Tumors are metabolic entities wherein cancer cells adapt their metabolism to their oncogenic agenda and microenvironmental influences. Metabolically different cancer cell subpopulations collaborate to optimize nutrient delivery with respect to immediate bioenergetic and biosynthetic needs. They can also metabolically exploit host cells. These metabolic networks are directly linked with cancer progression, treatment, resistance, and relapse. Conversely, metabolic alterations in cancer are exploited for anticancer therapy, imaging, and stratification for personalized treatments. These topics were addressed at the 4th annual meeting of the International Society of Cancer Metabolism (ISCaM) in Bertinoro, Italy, on 19–21 October 2017.


In the literature on statistical inference in software reliability, the assumptions of parametric models and random sampling of bugs have been pervasive. We argue that both assumptions are problematic, the first because of robustness concerns and the second due to logical and practical difficulties. These considerations motivate the approach taken in this paper. We propose a nonparametric software reliability model based on the order-statistic paradigm. The objective of the work is to estimate, from data on discovery times observed within a type I censoring framework, both the underlying distribution F from which discovery times are generated and N, the unknown number of bugs in the software. The estimates are used to predict the next time to failure. The approach makes use of Bayesian nonparametric inference methods, in particular, the beta-Stacy process. The proposed methodology is illustrated on both real and simulated data


The paper analyzes the concepts of application of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, with amendments 2010 (STCW Convention), in the segment of recognition of seagoing service and certification for crew members of warships. Although the STCW Convention does not apply directly to warships, the Parties have the right to continue to recognize seagoing service and certificates of the crew members of their warships. There are different concepts of solutions related to this issue. The paper particularly analyzes legal framework under the STCW Convention. Concepts are compared in several NATO member states through a review and analysis of legal solutions and available training programs from these countries. Similarities and differences of the analyzed concepts are identified. Also, a general model of application in the national frameworks is developed. The authors conclude that it is possible to talk about the principle according to which seagoing service and certificates of the crew members of warships acquired during training and service on warships has been recognized with the fulfilment of the appropriate conditions prescribed by the Parties.


From December 2019 until December 11, 2020, SARS-Cov-2 has cause 1,576,516 deaths to start in Wuhan, China, to 220 countries worldwide. In most people who have good immunity, the disease's symptoms disease is mild. However, in people with comorbidities and older people, it can develop into pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and many organ disorders. This review aims to reveal the herbal plants that potentials are dealing with and complementary therapy because no specific drug exists for the Covid -19. Based on kinds of literature showed that some herbs that have antiviral activity are the potential to be anti-SARS-Cov-2 diseases (Covid-19), especially curcumin that exists in 6,34% of traditional medicine formulas in Indonesia. Herbal products Stimuno® (Phyllantus niruri herb extract), New Divens®(Phyllantus niruri herb extract, Nigella sativa cement extract), Vipalbumin Plus® (Ophiocephalus striatus extract), and Lianhua Qingwen®(a combination of 13 herbs) that clinically proven to Helps improve the immune system. The National Agency of Drug and Food Control (NA-DFC) recently assisting 13 herbal drug research studies for covid-19 agents as an acceleration process to obtain distribution permits. This is way herbal medicine can be a complementary preventive and adjuvant therapy for COVID-19. However, this hypothesis requires experimental validation on the infection model of SARS-Cov-2 and COVID-19 patients. Many research further still need to find a specific cure for the disease by herbs, vaccines, or antivirals. Even though the number of Covid patients continues to increase in Indonesia and worldwide, but we always have any hope.


The nature of a holographic world is described. This scientific description of the world is based upon the assumptions of modern theoretical physics. These natural assumptions are inherent in any unified theory, such as string theory, and in any theory of the creation of the world, such as inflationary cosmology. At their most basic level, these are the assumptions of the equivalence, uncertainty and action principles, along with the second law of thermodynamics. Any world consistent with these fundamental principles is easily shown to be a holographic world. The mathematical consistency of such a holographic world also implies something about the nature of consciousness. If that mathematical consistency is followed to its logical conclusion, in the sense of the Godel incompleteness theorems, this scientific description of the world also has something to tell us about the nature of reality. What this scientific description of the world tells us about the nature of reality is compared to what mystics have told us about reality throughout human history.


This TTA funded project is researching which aspects of current PGCE (Primary) courses the trainees believe to be the most effective in preparing them to teach MFLs in schools. In February 2002 the DfES published a new policy statement for language learning over the next decade. One of its aims is that by the year 2012 all primary pupils will be entitled to learn a Modern Foreign Language in school. This is not the first attempt to expand MFL teaching and learning in primary schools. An extensive pilot scheme was carried out in the 1960s and 70s, introducing French into primary schools. This was discontinued after the NFER evaluation of its success was published in 1974. It was claimed that one of the principal reasons for the failure of the scheme was the inadequate training of teachers (Burstall et al 1974). In order to avoid the mistakes of the previous attempt to expand MFL provision into primary schools being repeated this issue must be addressed (QCA 2001). As a result, the Primary Language Teacher Training Project was established in 2001. During the first 2 years 13 HEIs in England were involved, partnered with 13 in France. By the third year of the project the number of languages being taught had expanded and the number of providers had increased significantly. The data presented is drawn from an investigation conducted with trainees from 16 HEIs currently involved with the Project. The investigation uses a multi -modal methodology; questionnaires, semi - structured interviews and focus groups. An important feature for all trainees participating in this Primary Language Teacher Training Project is the school based placement overseas. During this time trainees are required to plan, teach and assess the primary curriculum through the target language whilst based in a partner institution within Europe. A significant outcome of this placement widely reported by trainees is the positive impact this experience has on their own linguistic competence and the enhancement of their cultural awareness. Ofsted (2001) advised that teachers need an appropriately high level of linguistic competence in order to teach MFLs effectively in primary classrooms. Driscoll (1999) also identified the need for appropriate cultural development. Findings to date would indicate that the experiences the trainees gain as part of this Project fully enable them to address both these issues.


The mammalian TRP (transient receptor potential) family consists of six main subfamilies termed the TRPC (canonical), TRPV (vanilloid), TRPM (melastatin), TRPP (polycystin), TRPML (mucolipin), and TRPA (ankyrin) groups. These subfamilies encompass 28 ion channels that function as diverse cellular sensors. All of the channels are permeable to monovalent cations, and most are also permeable to Ca2+. There are strong indications that TRP channels are involved in many diseases. At this point, four channelopathies have been identified in which a defect in a TRP channel–encoding gene is the direct cause of disease. TRPs are also involved in some systemic diseases because of their role as receptors for irritants, inflammation products, and xenobiotic toxins. Other indications of the involvement of TRPs in several diseases come from correlations between the levels of channel expression and disease symptoms or from the mapping of TRP-encoding genes to susceptible chromosome regions. Finally, the phenotypes of TRP knockout mice and other transgenic models allow a degree of extrapolation to human diseases. We present an overview of current knowledge about the role of TRP channels in human disease and highlight some TRP "suspects" for which a role in disease can be anticipated. An understanding of the genetics of disease may lead to the development of targeted new therapies. The mammalian TRP (transient receptor potential) family consists of six main subfamilies that include 28 ion channels that function as cellular sensors of various phenomena, including changes in temperature, osmolarity, pH, membrane stretch, and various second messenger pathways. All of the TRP channels are permeable to monovalent cations, and most are also permeable to calcium ions. There are strong indications that TRP channels are involved in many diseases. This review highlights some TRP "suspects" for which a role in disease can be anticipated. An understanding of the genetics of disease may lead to the development of targeted new therapies.


The Relationship between MR Parameters and Biomechanical Quantities of Loaded Human Articular Cartilage in Osteoarthritis: An In-Vitro Study The aim of this study was to assess the changes in MRI parameters during applied load directly in MR scanner and correlate these changes with biomechanical parameters of human articular cartilage. Cartilage explants from patients who underwent total knee replacement were examined in the micro-imaging system in 3T scanner. Respective MRI parameters (T1 without- and T1 with contrast agent as a marker of proteoglycan content, T2 as a marker of collagen network anisotropy and ADC as a measure of diffusivity) were calculated in pre- and during compression state. Subsequently, these parameters were compared to the biomechanical properties of articular cartilage, instantaneous modulus (I), equilibrium modulus (Eq) and time of tissue relaxation (τ). Significant load-induced changes of T2 and ADC were recorded. High correlation between T1Gd and I (r = 0.6324), and between ADC and Eq (r = -0.4884) was found. Multi-parametric MRI may have great potential in analyzing static and dynamic biomechanical behavior of articular cartilage in early stages of osteoarthritis (OA).


One question that attorneys in racially charged cases face is whether to attempt to conduct voir dire into racial bias. Voir dire is the process of questioning prospective jurors to ensure that those chosen to sit on the jury will be impartial and unbiased. Whether it is a good idea from a trial strategy perspective to voir dire prospective jurors when an attorney believes racial bias may have played a role in the events underlying the case is a question over which reasonable minds can disagree. Perhaps the most common view is that reflected by Albert Alschuler who suggested twenty-five years ago that any voir dire into racial bias would be "minimally useful." In this article, I challenge Alschuler's belief that voir dire into racial bias is of minimal benefit. I argue that calling attention to the possibility of racial bias in either the actions of the individuals involved in the case or the jurors themselves can raise the salience of race and encourage jurors to view the evidence in a less biased way than if they were not paying attention to the possibility of racial bias. While I agree with Alschuler that a simple, close-ended question like "Are you going to be biased against the defendant because of his race?" is unlikely to be helpful, I believe a series of open-ended questions, asking jurors to reflect upon how racial bias, both explicit and implicit, might affect their ability to impartially consider the evidence, can be beneficial. My article proceeds in three parts. In Part I, I review the Supreme Court's jurisprudence on voir dire into racial bias. In Part II, I examine recent social science research that may help answer the question whether calling attention to race during voir dire helps or hurts. On the one hand is a wealth of empirical research conducted over the last decade that strongly suggests calling attention to race motivates jurors to treat Black and White defendants equally. These studies indicate that when race is not highlighted, jurors tend to be more punitive and less empathetic toward Black defendants than White defendants. On the other hand are a few recent studies suggesting that when individuals are made aware of extreme racial differences in the prison population, i.e. when they are given information that suggests there are many more Blacks and Latinos than Whites in prison, Whites are more likely to support punitive criminal justice policies. I conclude in Part III that as a matter of trial strategy, it is best for an attorney concerned about racial bias to confront the issue of race head on. I argue that it is best to do so early and often, rather than waiting until just before the jury deliberates, as it may be too late by then to change jurors' minds.


Five interrelated case studies from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries develop the dynamic contrast between portraiture and pictorial genres newly invented in and about Latin America that do not represent their subjects as individuals despite the descriptive focus on the particular. From Jean de Léry's genre-defining proto-ethnographic text (1578) about the Tupinamba of Brazil to the treatment of the Creole upper class in New Spain as persons whose individuality deserves to be memorialized in contrast to the Mestizaje, African, and Indian underclass objectified as types deserving of scientific study, hierarchical distinctions between portraiture and ethnographic images can be framed in historical terms around the Aristotelian categories of the universal, the individual, and the particular. There are also some intriguing examples that destabilize these inherited distinctions, such as Puerto Rican artist José Campeche's disturbing and poignant image of a deformed child, Juan Pantaléon Aviles, 1808; and an imaginary portrait of Moctezuma II, c. 1697, based on an ethnographic image, attributed to the leading Mexican painter Antonio Rodriguez. These anomalies serve to focus the study on the hegemonic position accorded to the viewing subject as actually precarious and unstable, always ripe for reinterpretation at the receiving end of European culture.


Phytophthora
root and stem rot (PRSR), caused by oomycete Phytophthora sojae, is the
most severe soil-borne disease of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) worldwide.
The disease can be effectively managed by introducing resistance to P. sojae
(Rps) genes into soybean cultivars by breeding, which requires
continuous efforts on identification of resistance resources from soybean
germplasm. Previously, two resistance genes, Rps2-cas (former name Rps2-das)
and Rps14 (former name Rps1-f), were mapped by linkage analysis
from soybean landraces, PI 594549 C and PI 340029, respectively. The resistance
underlying PI 594592 also need further characterization given its broad
resistance spectrum. In this study, Rps-2cas and Rps14 were
further mapped, and Rps2-b, was identified and initial mapped from PI
594592. Thus, this thesis research was divided into three parts for three Rps
genes.The first part
mainly focuses advances on Rps2-cas. Marker-assisted spectrum analysis
was performed for Rps-2cas to confirm its potential in disease
management. A high-quality genome assembly of PI 594549 C was generated, and
KASP markers were developed based on comparison between new reference and
Williams 82 reference genome. The gene was further mapped to a 32.67-kb region
on PI 594549 C reference genome harboring three expressed NLRs by 24
recombinants screened from a large F4 population. Comparative
genomics analysis suggests the only intact NBS-LRR gene in the fine mapping
region is the best candidate gene for Rps2cas, and its function was
validated by stable transformation. Evidences from other high-quality assembly
genomes suggest Rps2-cas originated from an ancient unequal crossing
over event.

In the second
part, Rps14 was further mapped using 21 recombinants identified from a F3
population consisting of 473 plants. In commonly used Williams 82
reference genome, the assembly of fine mapping region was incomplete, and Rps14
region showed drastic variation in size and copy number of NLRs in 23
high-quality genome assemblies, suggesting the complexity of Rps14
region and high-quality reference sequence of donor line is required for
isolation of Rps14 candidate genes. Marker assisted resistance test
showed Rps14 had wider resistance spectrum to different P. sojae isolates
comparing to other Rps genes on chromosome 3, and phylogenic analysis
further supported the potential of Rps14 to be a novel resistance gene.

For the third
part, an F2 population derived from a cross between PI 594592 and
Williams was tested by P. sojae race 1. The 3:1 and 1:2:1 Mendelian
segregation ratios were observed in F2 individuals and F2:3 families,
respectively, suggesting a single dominant Rps gene in PI 594592. The
gene was initially mapped to the distal end chromosome 16 overlapped with Rps2,
and the gene was tentatively named as Rps2-b. Polymorphic SSR markers
and InDel markers designed based on re-sequencing data of PI 594592 and
Williams was used to genotyping all the F2:3 families, and a linkage
map was constructed for Rps2-b. Rps2-b was mapped to a 461.8-kb
region flanked by SSR marker Satt431 and InDel marker InDel3668 according to the
reference genome (Wm82. a2). Marker-assisted resistance test showed Rps2-b
hold a wide resistance spectrum.


Our research project was concerned primarily with using a feminist analysis to explore the lived reality of 23 women police officers in England and Wales. We undertook 23 qualitative interviews with our participants and our research straddles four decades of policing practice, which allowed us to explore changes that were seen to have taken place during this period. First, participants discussed their lived reality, which included banter, bullying and harassment for many. Second, and perhaps more surprisingly, at certain times of unrest, riots or threats, some of our participants were provided with opportunities, for example, during the IRA threat, the riot in Toxteth and the miners' strike. We suggest that examples from our data capture an early disruption of the 'ideal' heroic male police officer that Silvestri examines [Silvestri M (2018) Disrupting the 'heroic' male within policing: a case of direct entry. Feminist Criminology 13(3): 309–328] whose removal from their normal role during periods of socio-political disorder allowed women officers to leave the gendered division of labour and undertake the heroic police constable role while the men were busy being 'heroic' at the source of threat and unrest. We sought to explore changes such as the uniform as a site of protest for some of our officers who challenged an uncomfortable and unfit uniform in the early days, and explained that there were still problems with the kit and design at times. Our findings illustrated that, on the whole, although massive changes had been made, it was a case of the same old story in terms of sexual harassment and banter for female officers and more was required to address these issues, which fits with reviews and studies in both England and Wales and in Australia. Finally, we noted using participants' words how much many of these women had enjoyed their role within policing in spite of these challenges.


[ENGLISH] The Earth Observation group at ICE (Institut de Ciencies de l'Espai) has accomplished several campaigns aimed to demostrate the PARIS (PAssive Reflexive and Interferometry System) concept. This participation is present in terms of manufacturing new devices and processing the collected data. Due to the positive results and innovation trend of the group, it has been proposed the development of a new device: Software PARIS Interferometric Receiver or SPIR. The system consists of 16 antenna elements (8 up-looking and 8 down-looking) with their corresponding RF chains and a recording system in order to test new processing techniques. It has been decided to digitize and record the in-phase and quadrature signals of each 16 elements and perform the digital signal processing by software. Therefore, it is necessary to record such data and time-stamp it accordingly for the post-processing process. This approach will enable to perform digital beam-forming and demostrate new remote sensing concepts. Samples obtained from those antennae must be saved into hard disks in the form of one GPS second files. The sampling rate (80MHz), the number of antennae and components retrieved produce a sustained rate of 320MBytes/s. The presented project is focused in the design and development of the system capable to retrieve, format, tag and store such data in the previously mentioned files. This device, apart from the RF chains, is composed by two major components: Data Acquistion FPGA and PC. The first contains a VHDL based system capable to collect data coming from the RF chains (antennae data and other system measurements) and send it towards, through PCIe connection to the PC. It is also expected to configure the different subsystems in the RF chains accordingly to the configuration transmitted from the PC using a graphical user interface. On the other side, the PC is in charge of request the retrieved data, process and save it into hard disk at the sustained rate of 320MBytes. This task is required to be achieved using the appropriate drivers and a GUI that provides the user of real-time system status data and capability to configure the device.


Supervisory Committee Dr. Herman Bakvis (Public Administration) Supervisor Dr. Catherine Althaus (Public Administration) Departmental Member This research undertook a case study of the intergovernmental Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process administered by the Ministry of Community Development (MCD) in the province of British Columbia (BC), Canada. This study used concurrent nested mixed research methods in order to discover how best to deliver, monitor, measure, and communicate MCD"s ADR process. The dominant research approach used was qualitative and involved informal interviews and document analysis. The purpose of the interview portion of the research was to flesh out descriptors and perceptions of MCD"s ADR process with the objective of coming to a greater understanding of current and potential delivery, monitoring, measurement, and communication mechanisms most appropriate for the ADR process. The interviews undertaken in this research also provide the opportunity for MCD staff to deliver feedback on, and offer insights into, the research. The document analysis portion of the research involved a textual analysis of MCD"s electronic and print ADR process communications in order to build on the descriptors and perceptions identified in the interviews, providing for a more full understanding of the ADR process and the delivery, monitoring, measuring, and communication strategies best suited to it. The nested quantitative portion of the research involved the use of secondary, anonymized data garnered from a survey prepared by MCD"s Director of Intergovernmental Relations which has been in distribution for a number of years. The survey used a Likert scale to measure process indicators. Data from this survey was analyzed to generate information about how participant respondents in the ADR process perceived certain attributes of the ADR services. Potential implications of this research include: providing applied tools to monitor, measure, and communicate ADR processes, increasing accountability in government administered publicly funded programs, generating ideas around local government ADR iv processes, improving dispute management in increasingly complex intergovernmental relational contexts, and addressing the literature gap on ADR processes and intergovernmental relations. The general findings of this research included clarification of MCD"s ADR process mission, vision, and goals, its communication strategy, and the perspectives of facilitators on both successful and challenging aspects of process delivery. The research findings also identified gaps in process performance monitoring and measurement and discussed the implications of MCD"s ADR process survey data results. This thesis concludes with recommendations to update process mission, vision, and goals. The thesis also suggests further ways to monitor and communicate MCD"s ADR process and provides templates for doing so. Finally, this thesis identifies opportunities to strengthen practices in process delivery. In the final chapter, areas for future research are suggested including:  ADR program evaluations generally,  Provincially administered inter-local government ADR processes,  Comparative work on inter-local government ADR in other national jurisdictions,  Ways to incorporate diverse methods and cultural approaches to conflicts and disputes into inter-local government ADR processes,  Studies into BC local government perspectives on MCD"s ADR process, and  Ways in which BC First Nations governments could be included in inter-local government ADR processes.


This paper discusses the results of a closed lab pilot test featuring a documentary on a football school in Porto. The documentary was displayed as regular directed TV-content on an HD TV-screen and participants could use a Samsung Gear VR HMD and a tablet to watch it in 360°. 27 participants participated in the test and testing took place with individual viewers and in teams of 2. The aim of the lab test was to investigate how people would make use of this multi-device set-up (which devices do they use, length of the interaction, do they stand or sit down) and whether they consider this a social experience. Also, the influence of the 360° experience on the storyline was questioned. Each session was observed and afterwards an interview took place to discuss the experience. Respondents were rather enthusiastic about this experience. Even though the HMD tends to isolate people, it was still considered a social experience and people talked about the content and the experience. A main limitation of the set-up was the difference in audiovisual quality between the content on TV and the content on the VR and the tablet, which was not in HD.


Several arboviruses emerging as new pathogens for humans and domestic animals have recently raised public health concern and increased interest in the study of their host range and in detection of spillover events. Recently, a new group of segmented Flaviviridae-related viruses, the Jingmenviruses, has been identified worldwide in many invertebrate and vertebrate hosts, pointing out the issue of whether they belong to the arbovirus group. The study presented here combined whole-genome sequencing of three tick-borne Jingmenviruses and one bat-borne Jingmenvirus with comprehensive phylogenetic analyses and high-throughput serological screening of human and cattle populations exposed to these viruses to contribute to the knowledge of Jingmenvirus host range, geographical distribution, and mammalian exposure. ABSTRACT Jingmenvirus is a recently identified group of segmented RNA viruses phylogenetically linked with unsegmented Flaviviridae viruses. Primarily identified in various tick genera originating in China, Jingmenvirus geographical distribution has rapidly expanded to cover Africa, South America, Caribbean, and Europe. The identification of Jingmen-related viruses in various mammals, including febrile humans, opens the possibility that Jingmenviruses may be novel tick-borne arboviruses. In this study, we aimed at increasing knowledge of the host range, genetic diversity, and geographical distribution of Jingmenviruses by reporting for the first time the identification of Jingmenviruses associated with Rhipicephalus microplus ticks originating in the French Antilles (Guadeloupe and Martinique islands), with Amblyomma testudinarium ticks in Lao PDR, and with Ixodes ricinus ticks in metropolitan France, and from urine of Pteropus lylei bats in Cambodia. Analyses of the relationships between the different Jingmenvirus genomes resulted in the identification of three main phylogenic subclades, each of them containing both tick-borne and mammal-borne strains, reinforcing the idea that Jingmenviruses may be considered as tick-borne arboviruses. Finally, we estimated the prevalence of Jingmenvirus-like infection using luciferase immunoprecipitation assay screening (LIPS) of asymptomatic humans and cattle highly exposed to tick bites. Among 70 French human, 153 Laotian human, and 200 Caribbean cattle sera tested, only one French human serum was found (slightly) positive, suggesting that the prevalence of Jingmenvirus human and cattle infections in these areas is probably low. IMPORTANCE Several arboviruses emerging as new pathogens for humans and domestic animals have recently raised public health concern and increased interest in the study of their host range and in detection of spillover events. Recently, a new group of segmented Flaviviridae-related viruses, the Jingmenviruses, has been identified worldwide in many invertebrate and vertebrate hosts, pointing out the issue of whether they belong to the arbovirus group. The study presented here combined whole-genome sequencing of three tick-borne Jingmenviruses and one bat-borne Jingmenvirus with comprehensive phylogenetic analyses and high-throughput serological screening of human and cattle populations exposed to these viruses to contribute to the knowledge of Jingmenvirus host range, geographical distribution, and mammalian exposure.


The use of olefin cross metathesis in preparing functional polymers, through either pre-functionalisation of monomers or post-polymerisation functionalisation is growing in both scope and breadth. The broad functional group tolerance of olefin metathesis offers a wealth of opportunities for introducing a broad range of functional groups into the polymer backbone, tuning polymer properties and expanding potential applications. Similarly, ring-closing metathesis offers the ability to tune the polymer macrostructure and microstructure to similar effect. In this review, we explore the importance of understanding selectivity in olefin cross metathesis in designing functional polymers, the manipulation of this reactivity to prepare (multi)functional polymers, and show how polymer systems can be constructed to favour ring closing and change backbone structure and properties.


BACKGROUND
Risperidone has been reported to alleviate the severity of tardive dyskinesia, but without placebo control, the possibility of spontaneous tardive dyskinesia remission after discontinuing original conventional antipsychotics cannot be excluded. This 12-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study investigated the effect of risperidone on severe tardive dyskinesia.

METHOD
Forty-nine DSM-IV schizophrenia patients with severe tardive dyskinesia were enrolled in the study. After a 4-week washout period, the subjects were randomly assigned to treatment with either risperidone or placebo. The risperidone dose was started at 2 mg/day and gradually increased to 6 mg/day over 6 weeks; the 6-mg/day dose was maintained for the remaining 6 weeks of the study. The subjects were evaluated every 2 weeks with the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS) and the Extrapyramidal Symptom Rating Scale. The final mental status was assessed with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale.

RESULTS
Twenty-two subjects in the risperidone group and 20 subjects in the placebo group completed the study; the mean baseline AIMS total score for all subjects was 15.9 +/- 4.6. At the end of the study, the mean AIMS total score decrease was 1.1 +/- 4.8 in the placebo group and 5.5 +/- 3.8 in the risperidone group (p <.05). Fifteen subjects (68%) in the risperidone group and 6 subjects (30%) in the placebo group were responders (p <.05). The risperidone responders had a mean AIMS total score decrease of 7.5 +/- 2.1. More significant tardive dyskinesia improvement among the risperidone group was noted from the eighth week and was mainly demonstrated in the buccolinguomasticatory a rea rather than in choreoathetoid movement of the extremities (p <.001).

CONCLUSIONS
Risperidone, 6 mg/day, can improve tardive dyskinesia more significantly than discontinuing antipsychotics in patients with severe tardive dyskinesia, especially in the orofacial areas.


Current practices in the industry are moving towards the market-driven development of software intensive products compared to customer-specific system development. Consequently, product management is faced with several challenges that have to be addressed as a part of the market-driven requirements engineering process. One of the important challenges is how to select the right mix of requirements, balancing short-term and long-term gains. One way to address this challenge is to utilize product strategies for selecting requirements. However, in order to do this the internal success-critical stakeholders (SCS) involved in strategies creation and requirements selection need to be aligned with respect to a product's strategic goals and objectives. This paper presents a method to enable the evaluation of degree of alignment between SCS with respect to the understanding and interpretation of a product's strategy. Further, the method not only enables the evaluation of alignment, but also specifically shows misalignment, and enables the identification of leading causes. The method has been developed in collaboration with the industry and its application is shown through a case study at Ericsson AB. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

(This paper presents a method to enable the evaluation of degree of alignment between 15 SCS with respect to the understanding and interpretation of a product's strategy. Further, the method not only enables the evaluation of alignment, but also specifically shows misalignment, and enables the 17 identification of leading causes. Themethod has been developed in collaboration with the industry and its application is shown through a case study at Ericsson AB.)


Liver glutamine metabolism stimulates production of FGF21 to link metabolism with organismal physiology and behavior. Physiology (body temperature and hormone metabolism) and behavior (feeding and locomotion) exhibit a coordinated circadian rhythm. A protein complex containing the kinase mTOR (mTORC1) translates changes in nutrient availability to changes in cellular metabolism of proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. The tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) composed of TSC1 and TSC2 inhibits mTORC1. The transcription factor PGC-1α, which is activated by mTORC1, affects metabolism by targeting genes involved in multiple biochemical and regulatory pathways, including increasing the expression of Fgf21, which encodes a secreted growth factor that is expressed in a circadian manner primarily in the liver. In mice, Fgf21 expression typically peaks at night when they are most active. Cornu et al. explored the connection between hepatic mTORC1 signaling and organismal physiology and behavior in mice with liver-specific knockout of Tsc1 (LKO-Tsc1). Compared with fasted control mice, fasted LKO-Tsc1 mice had constitutively active mTORC1 signaling, increased blood glucose, increased fatty acid oxidation associated with reduced hepatic triglycerides, reduced nocturnal body temperature and locomotor activity, and increased nocturnal expression of Pgc-1α and Fgf21 in the liver. Injection with the mTORC1 inhibitor rapamycin or genetic inhibition of Pgc-1α or Fgf21 decreased the amount of circulating FGF21 and reversed the metabolic and behavioral defects in LKO-Tsc1 mice. Fasted LKO-Tsc1 mice had decreased circulating and hepatic glutamine at night, consistent with the ability of mTORC1 to promote glutaminolysis, and injection of glutamine in LKO-Tsc1 mice reduced Fgf21 and Pgc-1α expression in the liver, reduced FGF21 concentration in circulation, and increased nocturnal body temperature. Thus, hepatic mTORC1 signaling activates glutaminolysis leading to carbon-depletion stress that promotes PGC-1α–dependent production of FGF21 that affects whole-body physiology. M. Cornu, W. Oppliger, V. Albert, A. M. Robitaille, F. Trapani, L. Quagliata, T. Fuhrer, U. Sauer, L. Terracciano, M. N. Hall, Hepatic mTORC1 controls locomotor activity, body temperature, and lipid metabolism through FGF21. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 111, 11592–11599 (2014). [Abstract] [Full Text]


The end-to-end nature of neural machine translation (NMT) removes many ways of manually guiding the translation process that were available in older paradigms. Recent work, however, has introduced a new capability: lexically constrained or guided decoding, a modification to beam search that forces the inclusion of pre-specified words and phrases in the output. However, while theoretically sound, existing approaches have computational complexities that are either linear (Hokamp and Liu, 2017) or exponential (Anderson et al., 2017) in the number of constraints. We present a algorithm for lexically constrained decoding with a complexity of O(1) in the number of constraints. We demonstrate the algorithm's remarkable ability to properly place these constraints, and use it to explore the shaky relationship between model and BLEU scores. Our implementation is available as part of Sockeye.


Abstract Initially rejected by the parties to the Kyoto Protocol, efforts to protect tropical forests are now an accepted strategy to mitigate the impact of climate change. Inspired by long-standing demands of Amazonia's forests peoples, the notion of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) has been embraced in global arenas. What accounts for this shift in perceptions about the relation between forests and climate change? Answers lie in the efforts of a transnational advocacy network (TAN) at norm dissemination and consensus-building within Brazil and in the Kyoto Protocol. This study highlights the importance of domestic activism unfolding in democratizing societies to enhance the influence of transnational advocacy networks in norm dissemination and consensus building in global arenas. It enlarges the explanatory power of normative approaches by documenting a case in which the idea and set of values being globally propagated do not emanate from a Western liberal tradition.


At a time of substantial change, globalization, and ubiquitous access to information, educators struggle to change even the most basic aspects of their classrooms. This is especially true for those in challenging contexts where many perpetuate the "mind numbing" practice of rote instruction. This paper describes a collaborative partnership among academics in Canada and East Africa as they develop Innovative Learning Centres (ILC) in their respective institutions to leapfrog pedagogy in imaginative ways, drawing on experiential learning and the Maker Movement in a studio based learning environment.


Rotterdam-based NOX, run by Lars Spuybroek, is the most important digital architecture studio in Europe. This major publication serves as a manifesto of the next techniques in digital design; a manual of instruction, showing how complex spaces can actually be built; and a monograph of NOX's complete output. An introduction by Spuybroek explains the background to his thinking and his general approach to architecture. The book is divided into three essential elements: documentation of NOX's oeuvre, including built and unbuilt work, some twenty-three projects in total; essays by leading lights in design and cultural criticism who are carrying out research in the area of architecture and the computer - Manuel Delanda, Brian Massumi, Detlef Mertins, Andrew Benjamin and Arjen Mulder; and explanatory texts by Spuybroek that link the projects together and give clear, step-by-step descriptions of his design methodologies. Many of the illustrations in the book have been specially created, making accessible for the first time the complex strategies and techniques employed by Spuybroek. This in turn will make the publication an invaluable resource for students and practising designers looking


The manufacture of brick in Taiwan started since Qing Dynasty. In order to understand the historical context of a city and its industry history, case study was made to two old brick warehouses. This study aims to cross-reference brick warehouses for the evolving application of construction materials and methods, based on the brick joints made on walls or openings. A photogrammetry modeling approach was applied to reconstruct the buildings and details of each warehouse. An AR-based comparison was made on Augmented® platform using smartphone for on-site and remote comparison. The novelty redefined the connection between process and configuration through a looped interaction between AR and 3D models. The flexibility of smartphone and the portability of cloud-based 3D AR database enabled a former reconstructed result to be remodeled as the reference for follow-up reconstruction process of brick components.


Psychological and sociological factors constrain economic decision-making in many contexts including the online world. Behavioural economics and economic psychology emphasise that people will make mistakes in processing information and in planning for the future; these mistakes will also distort learning processes. Emotions and visceral factors will play a key role - not only a ecting people's actions but also distorting the interactions between information, learning and choices. This will have wide-ranging implications for online behavior and information security management, making people more vulnerable to security/privacy abuses including hacking, spam attacks, phishing, identity theft and online financial exploitation. These vulnerabilities raise crucial policy questions - recently made more pressing in the light of recent phone-hacking scandals in the UK. This paper outlines some of the behavioural factors affecting people's online behaviour and analyses real-world reactions to online fraud using evidence from the British Crime Survey 2009-10.


This thesis details the development of a kinetic model of translation which takes into account codon usage. The process of translation involves ribosomes decoding a sequence of codons to produce a protein. Codon usage is important in the kinetics of translation since experiments have shown that codons are processed at different rates. Codons which code for the same amino acid appear with unequal frequencies and certain synonymous codons are preferred by high expression genes. The relationship between translational efficiency and codon adaptation is explored in this thesis. We use a simple physics model called the totally asymmetric exclusion process (TASEP) to emulate the action of ribosomes, and the decoding of mRNA in protein elongation. The simple model is parameterized by an initiation rate that determines how quickly new ribosomes are introduced onto the lattice, and the rate of motion for ribosomes associated with a site on the lattice (codon message). Based on bioinformatics studies, we assign codon speeds so that codons preferred by high expression genes are translated more quickly. The model captures important aspects of translation like ribosome collision and codons of different speeds, and simulating it allows us to see details in dynamics which


High power fiber lasers have become well established in many commercial realms. However, the amplification of ultrafast pulses to higher pulse energies in ytterbium-doped fibers remains very challenging due to nonlinear effects. We have demonstrated a new class of optical fibers based on resonantly enhanced leakage channels to extend the effective mode area of conventional single mode fibers by over two orders of magnitudes. This new class of fibers paves the way for a new breed of diffraction-limited kW-level ultrafast lasers, which can usher in a new age of high peak and average power ultrafast laser science as well as many new industrial applications in material processing.


To many disgruntled with the quantification of scholarship, its impossible demands and meaningless metrics, it is the heightened pace of academic life that is the problem. For Alison Edwards, the crux of the problem is actually a lack of autonomy. Is it time for academics to take back control? This post is inspired in part by the Impact Blog's Accelerated Academy series.


BACKGROUND
Weight gain and metabolic changes during treatment with antidepressant drugs have emerged as an important concern, particularly in long-term treatment. It is still a matter of ongoing debate whether weight gain and metabolic perturbations with antidepressant use are the consequence of increased appetite and weight gain, respectively, or represents direct pharmacological effects of the drug on metabolism.

METHODS
We therefore conducted a proof-of-concept, open-label clinical trial, hypothesizing that in exceptionally healthy men no change of metabolic parameters would occur under mirtazapine, when environmental factors such as nutrition, sleep, and physical exercise were controlled and kept constant. Over a 3-week preparation phase, 10 healthy, young men were attuned to a standardized diet adjusted to their individual caloric need, to a regular sleep/wake cycle and moderate exercise. Continuing this protocol, we administered 30 mg mirtazapine daily for 7 days.

RESULTS
While no significant weight gain or changes in resting energy expenditure were observed under these conditions, hunger and appetite for sweets increased with mirtazapine, accompanied by a shift in energy substrate partitioning towards carbohydrate substrate preference as assessed by indirect calorimetry. Furthermore, with mirtazapine, insulin and C-peptide release increased in response to a standardized meal.

CONCLUSION
Our findings provide important insights into weight-independent metabolic changes associated with mirtazapine and allow a better understanding of the long-term metabolic effects observed in patients treated with antidepressant drugs.

TRIAL REGISTRATION
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00878540.

FUNDING
Nothing to declare.


Abstract. The role of glaciers as temporal water reservoirs is particularly pronounced in the (outer) tropics because of the very distinct wet/dry seasons. Rapid glacier retreat caused by climatic changes is thus a major concern, and decision makers demand urgently for regional/local glacier evolution trends, ice mass estimates and runoff assessments. However, in remote mountain areas, spatial and temporal data coverage is typically very scarce and this is further complicated by a high spatial and temporal variability in regions with complex topography. Here, we present an approach on how to deal with these constraints. For the Cordillera Vilcanota (southern Peruvian Andes), which is the second largest glacierized cordillera in Peru (after the Cordillera Blanca) and also comprises the Quelccaya Ice Cap, we assimilate a comprehensive multi-decadal collection of available glacier and climate data from multiple sources (satellite images, meteorological station data and climate reanalysis), and analyze them for respective changes in glacier area and volume and related trends in air temperature, precipitation and in a more general manner for specific humidity. While we found only marginal glacier changes between 1962 and 1985, there has been a massive ice loss since 1985 (about 30% of area and about 45% of volume). These high numbers corroborate studies from other glacierized cordilleras in Peru. The climate data show overall a moderate increase in air temperature, mostly weak and not significant trends for precipitation sums and probably cannot in full explain the observed substantial ice loss. Therefore, the likely increase of specific humidity in the upper troposphere, where the glaciers are located, is further discussed and we conclude that it played a major role in the observed massive ice loss of the Cordillera Vilcanota over the past decades.


This study examined preservice teachers' (PSTs) capacity to create mathematical modeling problems (MMPs) for grades 1 to 3. PSTs created MMPs for their choice of grade level and aligned the mathematical content of their MMPs with the relevant mathematics curriculum. PSTs were given criteria adapted from Galbraith's MMP design principles to guide their work. These criteria were then used to evaluate the resulting MMPs, leading to findings and implications relevant to two areas—mathematics teacher education, and the design and evaluation of MMPs for young children. Results highlight an inclination toward creating problems for higher grade levels as well as concerns regarding both the PSTs' proficiency with the curriculum content and their capacity to create MMPs for particular content areas. Findings contribute to an important international conversation about the need for further research and development of resources aimed at supporting the integration of mathematical modeling in early childhood mathematics education.


The Fit Get Fitter Advances in modern biology have allowed us to measure evolutionary fitness and estimate the rate of fixation of beneficial mutations. Drawing on the Long-Term Evolution Experiment, studying the evolution of Escherichia coli in a constant environment, Wiser et al. (p. 1364, published online 14 November) demonstrate that even after 50,000 generations over 20 years, gains in fitness show no evidence of leveling off. Instead, fitness is following a power-law relationship that is dependent on epistasis and clonal interference. Even in a constant environment, over 50,000 generations, evolutionary fitness continues to increase in bacterial cultures. Experimental studies of evolution have increased greatly in number in recent years, stimulated by the growing power of genomic tools. However, organismal fitness remains the ultimate metric for interpreting these experiments, and the dynamics of fitness remain poorly understood over long time scales. Here, we examine fitness trajectories for 12 Escherichia coli populations during 50,000 generations. Mean fitness appears to increase without bound, consistent with a power law. We also derive this power-law relation theoretically by incorporating clonal interference and diminishing-returns epistasis into a dynamical model of changes in mean fitness over time.


Research in Computing Within Limits and the broader Sustainable Human-Computer Interaction community has shown the need to understand the values beyond the scientific rationality that motivates people to care for ecological limits. This paper looks at the role of religion in orienting people towards a limits-aware perspective and a more sustainable living. We conducted interviews with individuals at various Catholic organizations working on promoting environmental sustainability within their respective contexts. We examined how a limits-aware perspective is embedded in the faith of our interviewees, which plays out practically in their everyday work and decision-making. We discuss digital technology's role in advancing care for limits by nurturing values embedded in religion supporting sustainability.


who would have been poor absent the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), all else being equal, across 2010–2014. We examine Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) rates as well as hypothetical increases in the rates of SPM poverty in the absence of federal EITC benefits. It is important to note that we do not model behavioral changes that might result from the removal of EITC benefits, so the analyses presented here are a simplified representation of such a hypothetical scenario. The SPM is an obvious choice for this analysis because unlike the Official Poverty Measure (OPM), which only accounts for before-tax cash income, the SPM also considers in-kind benefits, tax credits, and out-of-pocket work and medical expenses when estimating resources. We present SPM rates for all individuals (Table 1) as well as for children only (Table 2), analyzing trends across regions, metropolitan status, and by state. Importantly, geographic differences in the cost of housing are accounted for in the SPM rates, and consequently the analyses presented here give a more accurate sense of the poverty reducing impact of EITC benefits.1


Across a wide range of industries, data acceleration is the key to building efficient, smart systems. Traditional general-purpose processors are falling short in their ability to support the performance and latency constraints that users have. A number of accelerator technologies have appeared to fill the gap that are based on custom silicon, graphics processors or dynamically reconfigurable hardware, but the key to their success is their ability to integrate into an environment where high throughput, low latency and ease of development are paramount requirements. A board-level platform developed jointly by Achronix and BittWare has been optimized for these applications, providing developers with a rapid path to deployment for high-throughput data acceleration.


[1] The response of water vapor and clouds to El Nino warming over the tropical Pacific in the most recent three versions of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Atmosphere Model (CAM2, T42 CAM3, and T85 CAM3) is quantified and compared to observations. It is found that all three models have a stronger response in the greenhouse effect of water vapor than that indicated in Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) observations. The overestimate is most severe in the T85 CAM3 (up to 36%). Compared with National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis, all three models have an excessive response of atmospheric moisture content in the upper troposphere, suggesting a cause for the excessive response in the greenhouse effect of water vapor. The response in the greenhouse effect of clouds (the longwave forcing of clouds) in two of the models (CAM2 and T42 CAM3) is significantly weaker than that indicated in ERBE observations, but it is comparable to the observed in the T85 CAM3. The improvement in the T85 CAM3 in simulating the response in the greenhouse effect is helped by a stronger response in the middle level clouds in the model (compared to CAM2 and T42 CAM3). In contrast to the strong negative response in the shortwave forcing seen in the ERBE observations, the response of the shortwave forcing of clouds in the CAM2 and the T42 CAM3 is weak and even has a sign opposite to observations when it is averaged over the entire region of surface warming. The simulation of the response of the shortwave forcing in the T85 CAM3 is considerably improved, though the negative response over the equatorial Pacific is still not strong enough compared to ERBE observations. The stronger negative response in the shortwave forcing in the T85 CAM3 is apparently linked to a stronger response in the middle level cloud cover. All three models fail to simulate the observed pattern of the response in the low cloud cover over the central and eastern Pacific, resulting in deficiency in the response of the shortwave cloud forcing in that region. The deficiency in the low cloud cover response suggests that the low cloud cover scheme has room for improvement.


This paper compares and contrasts the hedge strategies through derivative instruments by Indian and USA corporate houses. The derivative instruments have little predictive power in explaining corporate hedging strategies both in the USA and Indian firms. The purpose of the study is to provide a setting where reconciling conflicting results from the literature may be appropriate and to compare different hedge strategies in a specific period in two different countries (USA and India). The evidence based on multivariate empirical relations between hedging in American firms and firm's characteristics fails to provide any support for any of the tested hypotheses except for profitability represented by dividend yield. We conclude that the relationship between hedging and dividend yield in the proposed model is negative. The same analysis conducted for Indian companies has shown that there is no statistically significant explanatory variable for hedging; therefore, it is not dependent on any of the predicted theories of hedging. On the other hand, we find some significant relationships between firms' characteristics. Large Indian firms use internal hedge strategies rather than market strategies, such as derivatives. The derivative market development then could play a major role in terms of risk management of firms across countries.


Ownership of development processes has been high on the international agenda since the Paris Declaration of 2005. There is, however, much discussion about whether highly aid-dependent governments can really 'own' policy reforms in their countries. In this paper, we argue that the ownership of policy reforms is the outcome of an interaction between individual agency and structural conditions. Taking the implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in Burkina Faso (since 1996) and Mali (since 2004) as an entry point, the paper describes the interplay between national policy makers, international organizations and dominant development discourses in the shaping of water policy reforms in both countries over the past 15 years. Despite the apparent uniformity of the global IWRM paradigm, a qualitative comparison of water policy changes in the two countries shows that policy reforms, as well as the extent to which they are 'owned' by national policy makers, are significantly distinct. This can be explained by different forms of individual agency and diverse structural conditions at a national level.


Using data from an original two-wave panel survey of California high school students and a two-wave panel survey of high school students in Chicago, we find that different pedagogical approaches influence different forms of civic and political engagement. Specifically, controlling for prior levels of engagement and demographic factors, we find that open discussion of societal issues promotes engagement with political issues and elections. In contrast, service learning opportunities increase community-based and expressive actions. Both kinds of opportunities promoted commitments to participatory citizenship. These patterns can teach us about the kinds of opportunities (both in school and out) that can shape adolescents' civic and political development.


Local governments are beginning to require new, privately constructed and funded buildings to be "green" buildings. Instead of creating their own, locally-derived definitions of green buildings, many municipalities are adopting an existing private standard created by members of the building industry: LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). This Article explains and assesses the privately promulgated LEED standards. It argues that the translation of LEED standards, which were intended to be voluntary, into law raises several theoretical and practical problems. Specifically, private green building ordinances that rely on LEED do not ensure a reduction in the negative local environmental impacts of buildings, nor do they provide any assurance that those standards were created through a legitimate process. The Article concludes by offering an alternative approach, suggesting that municipalities should instead enact green building ordinances that have been promulgated by public governmental bodies, rather than private, industry-based organizations, and done so locally, taking into account specific local building-related and environmental concerns.


Variational Autoencoders (VAEs) are powerful probabilistic models to learn representations of complex data distributions. One important limitation of VAEs is the strong prior assumption that latent representations learned by the model follow a simple uni-modal Gaussian distribution. Further, the variational training procedure poses considerable practical challenges. Recently proposed regularized autoencoders offer a deterministic autoencoding framework, that simplifies the original VAE objective and is significantly easier to train. Since these models only provide weak control over the learned latent distribution, they require an ex-post density estimation step to generate samples comparable to those of VAEs. In this paper, we propose a simple and end-to-end trainable deterministic autoencoding framework, that efficiently shapes the latent space of the model during training and utilizes the capacity of expressive multi-modal latent distributions. The proposed training procedure provides direct evidence if the latent distribution adequately captures complex aspects of the encoded data. We show in experiments the expressiveness and sample quality of our model in various challenging continuous and discrete domains. An implementation is available at https://github.com/boschresearch/GMM_DAE.


Since time immemorial, indigenous peoples around the world have developed knowledge systems to ensure their continued survival in their respective territories. These knowledge systems have always been dynamic such that they could meet new challenges. Yet, since the so-called enlightenment period, these knowledges have been supplanted by the Western enlightenment science or colonial science hegemony and arrogance such that in many cases they were relegated to the periphery. Some Euro-centric scholars even viewed indigenous knowledge as superstitious, irrational and anti-development. This erroneous view has, since the colonial period, spread like veld fire to the extent of being internalised by some political elites and Euro-centric academics of Africa and elsewhere. However, for some time now, the potential role that indigenous peoples and their knowledge can play in addressing some of the global problems haunting humanity across the world is increasingly emerging as part of international discourse. This book presents an interesting and insightful discourse on the state and role that indigenous knowledge can play in addressing a tapestry of problems of the world and the challenges connected with the application of indigenous knowledge in enlightenment science-dominated contexts. The book is not only useful to academics and students in the fields of indigenous studies and anthropology, but also those in other fields such as environmental science, social and political ecology, development studies, policy studies, economic history, and African studies.


Anaerobic microecosystems designed with different concentrations of 17β-estradiol (17β-E2) (0.0-10,000.0 ng/L) were simulated in this study. The influence of different concentrations of 17β-E2 on the emissions of typical greenhouse gases (CH4 and CO2) in simulated anaerobic microecosystems is analyzed to primarily explore the relationship between 17β-E2 and such emissions in aquatic anaerobic ecosystems. The results showed that 17β-E2 could promote or significantly stimulate aquatic anaerobic micro-organisms' production of CH4. The degree and the promotion time of CH4 production were both enhanced with the increase of 17β-E2 concentration. Furthermore, under higher concentration of 17β-E2 (≥500.0 ng/L), the increasing tendency of aquatic anaerobic microbial populations' activity and the function of methanogenic activity under corresponding experimental conditions had a synchronous relationship.


Appliance recognition is one of the vital sub-tasks of NILM in which a machine learning classier is used to detect and recognize active appliances from power measurements. The performance of the appliance classifier highly depends on the signal features used to characterize the loads. Recently, different appliance features derived from the voltage–current (V–I) waveforms have been extensively used to describe appliances. However, the performance of V–I-based approaches is still unsatisfactory as it is still not distinctive enough to recognize devices that fall into the same category. Instead, we propose an appliance recognition method utilizing the recurrence graph (RG) technique and convolutional neural networks (CNNs). We introduce the weighted recurrent graph (WRG) generation that, given one-cycle current and voltage, produces an image-like representation with more values than the binary output created by RG. Experimental results on three different sub-metered datasets show that the proposed WRG-based image representation provides superior feature representation and, therefore, improves classification performance compared to V–I-based features.