Fully updated for Windows 8.1! Prepare for Microsoft Exam 70-687 - and help demonstrate your real-world mastery of configuring Windows 8.1 in the enterprise. Designed for experienced IT professionals ready to advance their status, Exam Ref focuses on the critical-thinking and decision-making acumen needed for success at the MCSA or MCSE level. Focus on the expertise measured by these objectives: Install and upgrade to Windows 8.1 Configure hardware and applications Configure network connectivity Configure access to resources Configure remote access and mobility Monitor and maintain Windows clients Configure backup and recovery options This Microsoft Exam Ref: Organizes its coverage by objectives for Exam 70-688. Features strategic, what-if scenarios to challenge you. Designed for IT professionals who have real-world experience configuring or supporting Windows 8.1 computers, devices, users, and associated network and security resources. Note: Exam 70-688 counts as credit toward MCSA and MCSE certifications


We consider the problem of feature-based face recognition in the setting where only a single example of each face is available for training. The mixture-distance technique we introduce achieves a recognition rate of 95% on a database of 685 people in which each face is represented by 30 measured distances. This is currently the best recorded recognition rate for a feature-based system applied to a database of this size. By comparison, nearest neighbor search using Euclidean distance yields 84%. In our work a novel distance function is constructed based on local second order statistics as estimated by modeling the training data as a mixture of normal densities. We report on the results from mixtures of several sizes. We demonstrate that a flat mixture of mixtures performs as well as the best model and therefore represents an effective solution to the model selection problem. A mixture perspective is also taken for individual Gaussians to choose between first order (variance) and second order (covariance) models. Here an approximation to flat combination is proposed and seen to perform well in practice. Our results demonstrate that even in the absence of multiple training examples for each class, it is sometimes possible to infer from a statistical model of training data, a significantly improved distance function for use in pattern recognition.


Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have been successfully applied to many computer vision tasks, such as image classification. By performing linear combinations and element-wise nonlinear operations, these networks can be thought of as extracting solely first-order information from an input image. In the past, however, second-order statistics computed from handcrafted features, e.g., covariances, have proven highly effective in diverse recognition tasks. In this paper, we introduce a novel class of CNNs that exploit second-order statistics. To this end, we design a series of new layers that (i) extract a covariance matrix from convolutional activations, (ii) compute a parametric, second-order transformation of a matrix, and (iii) perform a parametric vectorization of a matrix. These operations can be assembled to form a Covariance Descriptor Unit (CDU), which replaces the fully-connected layers of standard CNNs. Our experiments demonstrate the benefits of our new architecture, which outperform the first-order CNNs, while relying on up to 90% fewer parameters.


The United States and other countries enforce their antidumping regulations in roughly the same way. There is a difference, however. The United States–but not other countries--now uses 'zeroing' in its determination of whether imports are dumped. The use of 'zeroing' will almost always increase the level of any antidumping duty, and will sometimes create a duty where none would have been imposed, had the methodology not been used. All countries test for dumping by attempting to determine whether imports are being sold at less than 'normal' value. Other countries do this by simply comparing the average price at which the product is sold in the country of production with the average price at which the same product is sold in the importing market. If the average of the observed prices in the importing country is lower than the average price in the country of production (the 'normal' value), then the foreign firm is said to be dumping. Using zeroing, however, the U.S. treats import price observations above the 'normal' value as if they occurred at the 'normal' value (rather than at their observed level). Transactions at prices below the normal value are treated at their observed levels. The result of zeroing has been to make the U.S. antidumping laws more restrictive than they might appear, with a positive antidumping margin potentially being found if any single transaction occurs below 'normal' value, even if the average of the import prices in the U.S. is much higher than the 'normal' value. The U.S. practice of zeroing has recently been challenged at least six times before the World Trade Organization (WTO), and has generally been found to be inconsistent with the WTO obligations of the United States. The net impact of the zeroing methodology on the United States (compared to antidumping enforcement without zeroing) depends inter alia on the dispersion of the U.S. prices obtained by foreign exporters under dumping investigation. No real estimates of this dispersion exist, but the paper discusses some related evidence which may permit an inference. This evidence is itself quite dispersed, and, therefore, an estimate of the impact and cost of zeroing to the United States has a broad range of uncertainty. But it is plausible that zeroing could add perhaps 3-4 % to the typical U.S. antidumping duty with a cost to the U.S. of around $150 million per year when all existing U.S. antidumping orders were determined by zeroing.


A large number of call graph construction algorithms for object-oriented and functional languages have been proposed, each embodying different tradeoffs between analysis cost and call graph precision. In this article we present a unifying framework for understanding call graph construction algorithms and an empirical comparison of a representative set of algorithms. We first present a general parameterized algorithm that encompasses many well-known and novel call graph construction algorithms. We have implemented this general algorithm in the Vortex compiler infrastructure, a mature, multilanguage, optimizing compiler. The Vortex implementation provides a "level playing field" for meaningful cross-algorithm performance comparisons. The costs and benefits of a number of call graph construction algorithms are empirically assessed by applying their Vortex implementation to a suite of sizeable (5,000 to 50,000 lines of code) Cecil and Java programs. For many of these applications, interprocedural analysis enabled substantial speed-ups over an already highly optimized baseline. Furthermore, a significant fraction of these speed-ups can be obtained through the use of a scalable, near-linear time call graph construction algorithm.


When investing in research and development (R&D), institutions must decide whether to take a top-down approach – soliciting a particular technology – or a bottom-up approach in which innovators suggest ideas. This paper examines a reform to the U.S. Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program that transitioned from "Conventional topics," which solicit specific technologies, to "Open topics," which invite firms to suggest any new technology that may be useful to the Air Force. The reform seeks to address challenges facing military R&D, in particular a less innovative defense industrial base. We show that the Open program attracts new entrants, defined as younger firms and those without previous defense SBIR awards. In a regression discontinuity design that offers the first causal evaluation of a defense R&D program, we show that winning an Open award increases future venture capital investment, non-SBIR defense contracting, and patenting. Conventional awards have no effect on these outcomes but do increase the chances of future defense SBIR contracts, fostering incumbency. The bottom-up approach appears to be a mechanism behind Open's success. For example, winning has a positive effect on innovation even in less specific Conventional topics. The results suggest that government (and perhaps private sector) innovation could benefit from more bottom-up, decentralized approaches that reduce barriers to entry, minimize lock-in advantages for incumbents, and attract a wider range of new entrants.


Pedestrian attribute recognition is to predict attribute labels of pedestrian from surveillance images, which is a very challenging task for computer vision due to poor imaging quality and small training dataset. It is observed that many semantic pedestrian attributes to be recognised tend to show spatial locality and semantic correlations by which they can be grouped while previous works mostly ignore this phenomenon. Inspired by Recurrent Neural Network (RNN)'s super capability of learning context correlations and Attention Model's capability of highlighting the region of interest on feature map, this paper proposes end-to-end Recurrent Convolutional (RC) and Recurrent Attention (RA) models, which are complementary to each other. RC model mines the correlations among different attribute groups with convolutional LSTM unit, while RA model takes advantage of the intra-group spatial locality and inter-group attention correlation to improve the performance of pedestrian attribute recognition. Our RA method combines the Recurrent Learning and Attention Model to highlight the spatial position on feature map and mine the attention correlations among different attribute groups to obtain more precise attention. Extensive empirical evidence shows that our recurrent model frameworks achieve state-of-the-art results, based on pedestrian attribute datasets, i.e. standard PETA and RAP datasets.


A 2-year study was conducted to quantify the actual evapotranspiration (ET a ) of three woody ornamental trees placed under three different leaching fractions (LFs). Argentine mesquite ( Prosopis alba Grisebach), desert willow (Chilopsis linearis (Cav.) Sweet var. linearis), and southern live oak (Quercus virginiana Mill.) (nursery seedling selection) were planted as 3.8-, 18.9-, or 56.8-liter container nursery stock outdoors in 190-liter plastic lysimeters in which weekly hydrologic balances were maintained. Weekly storage changes were measured with a portable hoist-load cell apparatus. Irrigations were applied to maintain LFs of +0.25, 0.00, or -0.25 (theoretical) based on the equation irrigation (I) = ET a / (1 - LF). Tree height, trunk diameter, canopy volume, leaf area index, total leaf area (oak only) and dry weight were monitored during the experiment or measured at final harvest. Average yearly ET a was significantly influenced by planting size (oak and willow, P ≤ 0.001) and leaching fraction imposed (P ≤ 0.001). Multiple regressions accounting for the variability in average yearly ET a were comprised of different growth and water management variables depending on the species. LF, trunk diameter, and canopy volume accounted for 92% ( P ≤ 0.001) of the variability in the average yearly ET a of oak. Monthly ET a data were also evaluated, with multiple regressions based on data from nonwater-deficit trees, such that LF could be ignored. In the case of desert willow, monthly potential ET and trunk diameter accounted for 88% (P ≤ 0.001) of the variability in the monthly ET a . Results suggest that irrigators could apply water to arid urban landscapes more efficiently if irrigations were scheduled based on such information.


In recent years, the countries of Latin America have made radical changes in their development strategies, including decentralization of government, privatization, and deregulation of markets. These changes have already affected the livelihoods of millions of the region's inhabitants and promise to reshape the region's food and agricultural system well into the 21st century. How will these changes help the countries of the region confront the challenges to achieving the 2020 Vision for Latin America, a vision of a world where wealth is fairly distributed; where there is no hunger, extreme poverty, or malnutrition; and where resource use benefits the generations of tomorrow as well as the people of today? In this brief, the authors review the current challenges faced by these countries and offer some suggestions for achieving the 2020 vision for Latin America.


The mimetic discretization of a boundary value problem (BVP) seeks to reproduce the same underlying properties that are satisfied by the continuous solution. In particular, the Castillo-Grone mimetic finite difference gradient and divergence fulfill a discrete version of the integration-by-parts theorem on 1-D staggered grids. For the approximation to this integral principle, a boundary flux operator is introduced that also intervenes with the discretization of the given BVP. In this work, we present a tensor formulation of these three mimetic operators on three-dimensional rectangular grids. These operators are used in the formulation of new mimetic schemes for second-order elliptic equations under general Robin boundary conditions. We formally discuss the consistency of these numerical schemes in the case of second-order discretizations and also bound the eigenvalue spectrum of the corresponding linear system. This analysis guarantees the non-singularity of the associated system matrix for a wide range of model parameters and proves the convergence of the proposed mimetic discretizations. In addition, we easily construct fourth-order accurate mimetic operators and extend these discretizations to rectangular grids with a local refinement in any direction. Both of these numerical capabilities are inherited from the original tensor formulation. As a numerical assessment, we solve a boundary-layer test problem with increasing difficulty as a sensitivity parameter is gradually adjusted. Results on uniform grids show optimal convergence rates while the solutions computed after a smooth grid clustering exhibit a significant gain in accuracy for the same number of grid cells.


Abstract Context. The global benefits of increased renewable energy production may come at a cost to local biotic communities and even regional ecosystems. Wind energy developments, in particular, are known to cause bird and bat mortalities, and to fragment habitat for terrestrial vertebrates within developed project areas. Effects on species sensitive to wind turbines (and increased prevalence of species tolerant to this disturbance) might alter community-level patterns of occurrence, with potentially detrimental changes to wildlife habitat and ecosystem health. Aims. The present study assessed whether wind energy developments produced downstream ecological costs. Specifically, community composition and diversity were compared between wind farms and nearby areas without energy development. Methods. Traditional diversity measures and non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) were used to map ecological dissimilarity across four wind farms and five reference (control) areas in Southern California, USA. Key results. Wind farms had more noise and road disturbance than sites without turbine installations. Noise and disturbance were correlated with reduced plant richness, particularly for endemic plant species and, conversely, with increased non-native plant richness. Animal communities at wind farms were less diverse, with fewer species and lower evenness relative to reference areas with minor or no disturbances. Wind farms had fewer rare and unique species and, for some species of avian predators, encounter rates were lower at wind farms. Conclusions. Renewable wind energy may indeed cause shifts in local communities. Although wind farms still supported many of the same species found in natural areas, suggesting that renewable wind energy facilities can provide useable habitat for some wildlife, these communities were also less rich and diverse. Implications. Non-native species were more prevalent at wind farms, which may then facilitate further invasions into surrounding habitats. In addition, reduced overall plant and predator diversity at wind farms, and lower encounter rates for specific taxa (particular birds), may significantly affect community structure and function.


Using experimental economics tools this paper is testing one of the potential pitfalls in the renewable energy certificates (RECs) market in Australia. Stylised experiment highlighted that sellers' knowledge of the existence of the penalty to buyers for non compliance with mandatory requirements to have a certain number of RECs and the level of penalty in the duopoly market on supply side can push prices for unit of RECs higher than would occur in competitive market without penalty. The level of penalty was used by sellers as a "focal" point for setting the price for the unit.


We use an industry profit maximization model to conduct an ex-post impact assessment on the extent the rice milling sector in Nigeria has grown and improved its performance in producing high quality premium rice following major public sector interventions made under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda. Given challenges with the availability and quality of data, this assessment looks at the changes between two periods, 2009 and 2013, and simulates the performance of the sector under different technology capacities and policy scenarios. We find that the government has been successful in expanding quality paddy production and milling capacity in the country along with an increase in capacity utilization in the medium and large-scale milling sub-sectors. As a result, the production of premium quality rice has increased by approximately 0.5 million metric tons between the two periods. Despite these gains, the industry did not see any overall increase in employment in the medium and large-scale sub-sectors. Further focus by the government on expanding the supply of high quality rice paddy, while maintaining high tariffs to keep the medium and large scale milling sector viable, may provide the best opportunity for Nigeria to reach its goal of self-sufficiency in rice production.


Background: Primary care physicians have a responsibility to inform older adults about the drugs and drug treatments they are prescribed so as to increase patients' compliance. However, this need is not always met. Use of a 'study circle' exercise may help older adults to obtain and increase their knowledge in a community setting, having the opportunity to share experiences with others in similar situations. The aim of this study was to describe older adults' experiences of taking part in a study circle about aging and drugs. Methods: The study was designed to be descriptive with an inductive approach. Eleven older adults took part in focus group interviews in 2014, and the content of these interviews was analysed. Results: Participants felt the design of the study circle exercise was good; having a syllabus to follow but at the same time allowing individuals' problems to be discussed. They described the leader of the study circle to be competent, with characteristics they appreciated. Participants found the study circle material informative, and it could be used as a reference for reflection. Participants' knowledge of natural and pathological aging was increased, as was their knowledge of drugs and their formulations. Participants felt more confident; they dared to ask questions, challenged new drugs, and proactively took action by seeking care when needed. The study circle format was recommended to other older adults. Participants suggested that in future the study circle could be extended and repeated, and that they could be provided with supplementary educational materials or exercises. Conclusions: Use of a study circle about aging and drugs increased older adults' knowledge, and empowered them to ask questions and take an active part in their drug treatment. We believe that older adults have a desire to want to know more about the drugs they are prescribed, and want to be involved with their treatment, not simply passive recipients.


Widening participation initiatives in higher education have grown overall student numbers while also increasing the diversity of student cohorts. Consequently, enhancing student experiences and outcomes has become increasingly challenging. This study implemented personalised emails in two first-year mathematics courses as a scalable strategy for supporting students with diverse needs. Impact on student experience and outcomes was assessed through surveying and statistical comparisons to previous cohorts. It was found that students perceived the personalised emails favourably and believed the intervention would contribute to them achieving better grades. This translated to a statistically significant improvement in both student experience and academic performance in one of the courses. The results imply that personalised emails are well-suited to courses taken in students' first semesters of university study, aiding those transitioning to the higher education environment by fostering feelings of belonging, supporting effective engagement, and easing navigation of university systems and processes.


The introduction of software radio has meant that standards for radio communication can evolve in a much more natural way, changing only a little at a time without making all of the hardware obsolete. It has become apparent that these changes may affect some systems more favourably than others so allowing the software radio to decide how to adapt can actually improve the link quality. This development is known as cognitive radio and can improve the performance of a single radio link. As an extension of this progress is being made on designing cognitive networks where the software radios which make up the network not only optimise their own link but share information about their goals and situation with other nodes in the network, using all of this data together can optimise overall end-to-end performance of the network. These advances in network design and optimisation come at a time where many parts of the world are re-structuring the television broadcast bands. These have been allocated for a long time and are a generous allocation of a valuable resource. With the power of a cognitive network it is possible to design equipment that can automatically avoid the licensed TV transmitters which only take a fraction of the total bandwidth in any one area. This allows many smaller cells to be fitted between the main transmitters. Assessing the availability of bandwidth and generating maps of available spectrum for these new cognitive networks requires a new approach to radio propagation modelling in the TV bands. Previous models use a worst case scenario to make sure that there is at least enough signal to receive the public service broadcasts in the majority of homes. Predicting where the limits of reception are and where it would be safe to broadcast on these channels requires a better, terrain dependent transmission model. In this thesis the Parabolic Equation Model is applied to the problem of predicting TV band occupancy and the results of this modelling is compared to field measurement to get an idea of how accurate the model is in practice.


"The cultural heritage of the western world, the colonial appetite of the Spanish Empire, nearly three centuries of man's timeless quest for wealth and adventure, and the distribution of authority in the American Federalist legal system are all substantially intertwined [in this Article]." (1) INTRODUCTION The law of shipwrecks, treasure, and artifacts is an evolving area of the law (2) with significant social, scientific, cultural, and monetary implications. (3) Moreover, after centuries of international development and application, (4) it remains an unsettled and disputed area of the law. (5) There are countless historic shipwrecks containing valuable treasure and artifacts to which the law must be applied, (6) especially in light of the sophisticated search and salvage technologies now available. (7) In fact, technology is so advanced today that "it [is now] possible to find, visit and remove artifacts from shipwrecks long beyond our power to reach." (8) For example, after resting 12,500 feet below the surface of the North Atlantic from the time of its sinking in 1912, the Titanic was discovered in 1985 nearly 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland. (9) With the advent and aggressive use of new technologies, (10) the debate has intensified over whether commercial salvage should be permitted with respect to historic shipwrecks. (11) For instance, many archaeologists consider certain historic shipwrecks to be underwater "museums" containing cultural heritage, (12) while others consider certain shipwrecks, particularly naval wrecks, to be underwater cemeteries that should be protected from salvage or recovery. (13) Salvors, (14) however, dismiss such arguments and contend that archaeologists and other non-profit entities (generally referred to herein as "archaeologists") simply want the opportunity to salvage, recover, or preserve historic shipwrecks themselves. (15) Moreover, salvors allege that if they are precluded from salvaging historic shipwrecks, such shipwrecks will be lost forever because archaeologists lack the requisite funding to perform salvage, recovery, or preservation operations in a meaningful quantity. (16) In Part I, this Article considers (1) whether historic shipwrecks should be afforded absolute protection as underwater cemeteries, (17) (2) the monetary value placed on historic shipwrecks by salvors, (18) and (3) the struggle between salvors and archaeologists over the proper treatment of historic shipwrecks. (19) Part II discusses the laws of finds and salvage as applied to historic shipwrecks, particularly in light of recent judicial trends, certain federal and state laws, and existing and proposed international treaties. (20) Part III proposes that admiralty courts expand upon the judicially created Archaeological Duty of Care (ADC) as an alternative to the approach now being considered by the United Nations for the management of historic shipwrecks. (21) The ADC imposes certain requirements upon salvors with respect to salvaging historic shipwrecks so as to protect their historical, archaeological, and monetary value. (22) In this last Part, it is also argued that the ADC will preserve the traditional laws of admiralty, the jurisdiction of admiralty courts, and the financial incentives that lead to the discovery of new historic shipwrecks by salvors--all of which the United Nations, among others, is now seeking to abrogate. I. HIGH STAKES FOR CONTROL OF HISTORIC SHIPWRECKS AND TREASURE A. Shipwrecks as Protected Cemeteries Neither history nor the law treats shipwrecks, historic or otherwise, as protected underwater cemeteries. (23) It is argued, however, that salvaging shipwrecks "disturb[s] the final resting places of those who lost their lives in a shipwreck disaster." (24) The historic, social, scientific, and monetary value of historic shipwrecks, however, dictates that they should not be treated as underwater cemeteries protected from salvage or recovery. …


The evolving plan for a European banking union falls short of the ideal of an "ever closer union." In fact, the plan's focus on national resolution authorities and funds for insolvent financial institutions, a minimal euro area financing backstop, and costs imposed on creditors of failed banks, could lead to a looser, weaker, and more fragmented banking system. Some aspects of the plan of European leaders will improve the system's soundness, but other aspects could dampen lending in the near term and reduce economic growth. Ubide urges policymakers to focus on making the banking union stronger and more coherent. Troubled banks supervised by the European Central Bank should be covered by a European resolution authority and a European resolution fund to oversee bankruptcy, restructuring, and other reforms. To produce a more united, solid, and stable euro area, the European plan has to lower national barriers to banking, not raise them.


Danish seining is an important fi shing method used to harvest demersal species. Knowledge about the size selectivity of different demersal species with this type of fi shing gear is therefore of importance for managing the exploitation of marine resources. However, there are only limited data on size selection in cod ends in this fi shery. Sea trials were therefore carried out to collect size selectivity data for Atlantic Cod Gadus morhua , Haddock Melanogrammus aegle fi nus , and Witch Flounder Glyptocephalus cynoglossus for a diamond-mesh cod end. For all three species, the data were best described by a double logistic selection curve, implying that two different size selection processes occur in the cod end. The double selection process could be explained by an additional selection process occurring through slack meshes. The results imply that the escapement of 46% and 34% of the larger Atlantic Cod and Haddock (those above 48 cm), respectively, would be through wide-open or slack meshes. Since these mesh states are only likely to be present in the latest stage of the fi shing process (e.g., when the cod end is near the surface), a large fraction of the bigger fi sh probably escaped near the surface, which might in fl uence their likelihood of survival. Furthermore, based on the models established for explaining the experimental size selection, we were able to predict the effect of changing the mesh size on cod end size selection in the Danish seine fi shery.


Recent developments of Correlation Filter based trackers (CF trackers) have attracted much attention because of their top performance. However, the boundary effect imposed by the basic periodic assumption in their fast optimization seriously degrades the performance of CF trackers. Although there existed many recent works to relax the boundary effect in CF trackers, the cost was that they can not utilize the kernel trick to improve the accuracy further. In this paper, we propose a novel Gaussian Process Regression based tracker (GPRT) which is a conceptually natural tracking approach. Compared to all the existing CF trackers, the boundary effect is eliminated thoroughly and the kernel trick can be employed in our GPRT. In addition, we present two efficient and effective update methods for our GPRT. Experiments are performed on two public datasets: OTB-2013 and OTB-2015. Without bells and whistles, on these two datasets, our GPRT obtains 84.1% and 79.2% in mean overlap precision, respectively, outperforming all the existing trackers with hand-crafted features.


Most economists believe that the government should impose Pigovian taxes on firms that produce negative externalities like pollution, yet regulatory agencies hardly ever use their authority to create Pigovian taxes. Instead, they issue command-and-control regulations. Our major point is that, contrary to the conventional wisdom, regulators typically have legal authority to create Pigovian taxes—they just do not use it. While regulators may hesitate to impose Pigovian taxes for a range of political and symbolic reasons, we argue that these reasons do not justify this massive failure of regulatory efficiency. It is time for the regulatory state to take a Pigovian turn.


Abstract. The current generation of large-scale hydrological models does not include a groundwater flow component. Large-scale groundwater models, involving aquifers and basins of multiple countries, are still rare mainly due to a lack of hydro-geological data which are usually only available in developed countries. In this study, we propose a novel approach to construct large-scale groundwater models by using global datasets that are readily available. As the test-bed, we use the combined Rhine-Meuse basin that contains groundwater head data used to verify the model output. We start by building a distributed land surface model (30 arc-second resolution) to estimate groundwater recharge and river discharge. Subsequently, a MODFLOW transient groundwater model is built and forced by the recharge and surface water levels calculated by the land surface model. Results are promising despite the fact that we still use an offline procedure to couple the land surface and MODFLOW groundwater models (i.e. the simulations of both models are separately performed). The simulated river discharges compare well to the observations. Moreover, based on our sensitivity analysis, in which we run several groundwater model scenarios with various hydro-geological parameter settings, we observe that the model can reasonably well reproduce the observed groundwater head time series. However, we note that there are still some limitations in the current approach, specifically because the offline-coupling technique simplifies the dynamic feedbacks between surface water levels and groundwater heads, and between soil moisture states and groundwater heads. Also the current sensitivity analysis ignores the uncertainty of the land surface model output. Despite these limitations, we argue that the results of the current model show a promise for large-scale groundwater modeling practices, including for data-poor environments and at the global scale.


This paper deals with the design & development of an embedded system, which is being used to prevent /control the theft of a vehicle. The developed instrument is an embedded system based on GSM technology. The instrument is installed in the engine of the vehicle. An interfacing GSM modem is also connected to the microcontroller to send the message to the owner's mobile. The main objective of this instrument is to protect the vehicle from any unauthorized access, through entering a protected password and intimate the status of the same vehicle to the authorize person (owner) using Global System for Mobile (GSM) communication technology. This system deals with the concept of network security. The main concept in this design is introducing the mobile communications into the embedded system. The entire designed unit is on a single board.


Context: Evaluation of hearing loss with diabetic control. Aims: The aim of this study was to profile the audiologic findings of diabetic patients by assessing the degree of hearing loss and the presence/absence of otoacoustic emissions (OAEs); to correlate the factors, namely, age, gender, glycemic status, and duration of diabetes mellitus with hearing loss. Settings and Design: The study was done at a tertiary care hospital and a cross-sectional study design was employed. Materials and Methods: Forty known diabetic patients who satisfied the selection criteria and consented were included in the study. Three tests were carried out, namely, pure tone audiometry, immittance audiometry, and OAEs. Statistical Analysis Used: Statistical analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 11.5. For the current study, median, interquartile range (IQR), frequency, and percentage were considered. Results: Majority of the patients had bilateral sensorineural hearing loss ranging in severity from minimal to mild degree. Median pure tone average (PTA) values were less in patients with good glycemic status as compared to those with poor glycemic status. OAEs were absent in 30% of the subjects. Age had a contributing effect on raising the hearing threshold but gender and duration of diabetes did not show such an effect. Conclusion: Diabetic patients are at an increased risk of developing sensorineural hearing loss.


Why doesn't the Hong Kong government sell more of its enormous land holding to lower the city's high housing price and increase the residents' small living space? We answer thequestion in an overlapping generations framework. We show that while a rapid and complete privatization of government land is efficient in the absence of externalities; it is made politically difficult by a compensation gap, when the losses of current property owners are greater than the government revenue from land sales. We argue that the cross-country diversity of government land ownership owes to historical incidents in some countries (such as the U.S. in the 19th century) that allowed disposal of government land without filling the compensation gap and the absence of such incidents in others (such as Hong Kong).


Unveiled by the European Commission on July 3rd, the proposed Regulation on key information documents (KID) for packaged retail investment products (PRIPs) represents a step forward in enhancing the protection of retail investors and advancing the single market for financial services. While acknowledging in this Commentary that the KID is a commendable effort, ECMI/CEPS researcher Mirzha de Manuel Aramendia observes that pre-contractual disclosure is just one of the pieces in the jigsaw puzzle of investor protection and regrets that other pieces, such as MiFID and the IMD, are not so ambitiously constructed.


It is important to assess IAQ characteristics and to identify possible microbial contaminants in schools' indoor environment because children are more vulnerable to air pollutants as they inhale more air pollutants per kilograms of body weight. Hence, this study aims to assess and to compare the level of selected IAQ parameters and microbiological contaminants inside the classroom of schools in urban area and rural area during occupied and non-occupied period. This study also aims to identify airborne bacteria species and fungi genera within classroom of schools in those area. For methodology of the study, schools were selected based on their location. School X (SX) was located in Kuantan, Pahang, while school Y (SY) was located in Pekan, Pahang. The physical IAQ parameters (Temperature, Relative Humidity (RH), Carbon Dioxide (CO2) were measured using VelociCalc® Multi-Function Ventilation Meter 9565 (TSI®, Minnesota, USA), and airborne particulate matter (PM) were measured using DustMate (Turnkey Instruments, UK). Surface Air System Indoor Air Quality (SAS IAQ), (PBI International, Italy) was used to collect the microbial contaminants and subsequently CFU were counted. The data were recorded for 30 minutes for each time-slot for 8 hours during occupied and non-occupied period within selected classrooms. Bacteria identification was done using 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and fungi were identified macroscopically through direct identification technique up to genus level. The results were compared to standard reference limit based on Industrial Code of Practice on Indoor Air Quality (ICOP, 2010) regulated by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH, 2005). This study found that temperature (SX, Occupied; 34.9±3.9, Non-Occupied; 32.8±0.7), (SY, Occupied; 30.7±0.2, Non-Occupied; 30.6±0.5), RH (SY, Occupied; 74.4±2.9, Non-Ocupied; 70.05±1.0) and bacterial CFU counts (SX, Occupied; 558±308), (SY; Occupied; 903±415, Non-Occupied; 1176±303) exceeded the standard limit regulated by DOSH. Number of gram-negative bacteria dominated over gram-positive bacteria in both settings. Bacillus sp. (B. atrophaeus, B. subtilis, B. pumilus, B. altitudinis. B. tequilensis, and B. aerophilus) were the most dominant species, followed by Staphylococcus sp. (S. warneri, S. sciuri, S. haemolyticus, and S. gallinarum). The common fungal species isolated in both schools during occupied and non-occupied period were Aspergillus, Alternaria, Cladosporium, Penicillium, and Mucor.


Written by industry professionals who have been working with SQL Server 2008 since the earliest code, this reference expertly covers the programming fundamentals for SQL Server 2008 with crucial real-world context and extensive code samples.Get the hands-on programming instruction, practical examples, and best practices you need to master the core programmability features in SQL Server 2008. Led by three experts in database design and business intelligence solutions, you ll learn the essential tools and techniques for developing robust applications. Discover how to:-Program views, stored applications, triggers, and functions using T-SQL-Work with the new data types, LINQ, and the ADO.NET Entity Framework-Automate common administration and maintenance tasks-Debug databases, reports, and objects using Microsoft Visual Studio 2008-Write transactional code and implement local and distributed transactions-Use business intelligence tools, such as SQL Server Reporting Services, SQL Server Analysis Services, and SQL Server Integration ServicesMany of the book s examples, exercises, and code samples are available for download from the companion Web site.


Animals actively regulate the position and movement of their sensory systems to boost the quality and quantity of the sensory information they obtain. The rat vibrissal system is recognized to be an important model system in which to investigate such "active sensing" capabilities. The current study used high-speed video analysis to investigate whisker movements in untrained, freely moving rats encountering unexpected, vertical surfaces. A prominent feature of rat vibrissal movement is the repeated posterior-anterior sweep of the whiskers in which the macrovibrissae are seen to move largely in synchrony. Here we show that a second significant component of whisking behavior is the size of the arc, or "spread," between the whiskers. Observed spread is shown to vary over the whisk cycle and to substantially decrease during exploration of an unexpected surface. We further show that the timing of whisker movements is affected by surface contact such that 1) the whiskers rapidly cease forward protraction following an initial, unexpected contact, and may do so even more rapidly following contact with the same surface in the subsequent whisk cycle, and 2) retraction velocity is reduced following this latter contact, leading to longer second-contact durations. This evidence is taken to support two hypotheses: 1) that the relative velocities of different whiskers may be actively controlled by the rat and 2) that control of whisker velocity and timing may serve to increase the number and duration of whisker-surface contacts while ensuring that such contacts are made with a light touch.


One of-the major issues in social gerontology is, and has been, the relationship between social integration and psychological well-being during old age. There are two major theories which predict opposite outcomes. Activity theory suggests that the aging individual should compensate for role losses by increasing activities in other areas, such as friendship, in order to be happy (Havighurst & Albrecht, 1953). Disengagement theory, on the other hand, suggests that a mutual withdrawal of the individual and society contributes to successful aging (Cumming & Henry, 1961). The unresolved issues of this controversy and the critiques of the two theories are too lengthy to describe here. As Larson (1978) observed in a review of the research on the subjective well-being of older Americans, though researchers using different measures of psychological well-being and activity have often reported different findings, they have shown that these two variables are, in general, positively related.


Abstract. Clouds and associated precipitation are the largest source of uncertainty in current weather and future climate simulations. Observations of the microphysical, dynamical and radiative processes that act at cloud scales are needed to improve our understanding of clouds. The rapid expansion of ground-based super-sites and the availability of continuous profiling and scanning multi-frequency radar observations at 35 and 94 GHz have significantly improved our ability to probe the internal structure of clouds in high temporal-spatial resolution, and to retrieve quantitative cloud and precipitation properties. However, there are still gaps in our ability to probe clouds due to large uncertainties in the retrievals. The present work discusses the potential of G band (frequency between 110 and 300 GHz) Doppler radars in combination with lower frequencies to further improve the retrievals of microphysical properties. Our results show that, thanks to a larger dynamic range in dual-wavelength reflectivity, dual-wavelength attenuation and dual-wavelength Doppler velocity (with respect to a Rayleigh reference), the inclusion of frequencies in the G band can significantly improve current profiling capabilities in three key areas: boundary layer clouds, cirrus and mid-level ice clouds, and precipitating snow.


Geometric measures of localized calcium release (LCR) events have been used to understand their biophysical basis. We found power law scaling between three such metrics-maximum amplitude (MA), mass above half-maximum amplitude (MHM), and area at half-maximum amplitude (AHM). In an effort to understand this scaling a minimal analytic model was employed to simulate LCR events recorded by confocal line scan. The distribution of logMHM as a function of logAHM, pMHM(pAHM), was dependent on model parameters such as channel open time, current size, line scan offset, and apparent diffusion coefficient. The distribution of log[MHM/AHM] as a function of logMA, p[MHM/AHM](pMA), was invariant, reflecting the gross geometry of the LCR event. The findings of the model were applied to real LCR line scan data from rabbit portal vein myocytes, rat cerebral artery myocytes, and guinea pig fundus knurled cells. pMHM(pAHM) could be used to distinguish two populations of LCR events in portal vein, even at the scale of "calcium noise," and to calculate the relative current of the two. The relative current was 2. pMHM(pAHM) could also be used to study pharmacological effects. The pMHM(pAHM) distribution of knurled cell LCR events was markedly contracted by ryanodine, suggesting a reduction in channel open time. The p[MHM/AHM](pMA) distributions were invariant across all cell types and were consistent with the model, underlying the common physical basis of their geometry. The geometric scaling of LCR events demonstrated here may help with their mechanistic characterization.


Sustainability, security of supply, and diversity, as well as economic competitiveness are key components of energy policy. There is increasingly stringent legislation on the environmental impact of energy production, and there is growing pressure to reduce not just NOx and SOx emissions, but also C02 emissions. For both heating and electricity production it is likely that the plants will need to be fuel-flexible and could use one or more of several different feedstocks, for example coal and biomass. When coal is co-utilized with biomass there is added attractiveness because the biomass is C02 neutral, and there is interest in using wood waste, short rotation
woody crops (e. g. willow coppice), or herbaceous crops (e. g. Miscanthus), refuse and waste derived fuels, or wastes such as sewage sludge or chicken litter.

The co-utilisation of coal and biomass for heat and/or energy production results in pollutant reduction. Most notable is the impact on the emission of NOx, SOx, volatile
organic compounds and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. These latter compounds largely arise from their formation and release during incomplete combustion/gasification. There
is evidence that co-firing or co-gasifying coal and biomass results in a significant decrease in the emission of these
compared to coal alone.

The synergistic activity observed for toxic organic emissions is not well understood and is thought to involve chemical interaction between the volatiles from each fuel coupled with possible catalytic activity from the inorganic constituents of the fuels. Laboratory scale data on synergies in co-pyrolysis is conflicting. Characterisation
of co-pyrolysis products from coal and biomass pyrolysis has received limited attention and the data is conflicting. Therefore this thesis seeks to understand possible
interactions occurring during co-combustion and co-pyrolysis of fuels and looks at a number of variables, including coal rank, biomass type (with different amounts of
catalytic components), heating rate, residence time and the physical form of the fuels.

A better understanding of the factors influencing non-additive interactions may lead to optimization of the blending process and minimisation of toxic organic
emissions. This work is of particular relevance to fixed bed and fluidised bed processes where the bed temperature is ca. 1000 'C (or there is a temperature profile through the bed). In these cases particle heating and pyrolysis occurs relatively slowly and interactions between the volatiles can take place.

While studying the co-pyrolysis, thermogravimetry, batch pyrolysis and pyroprobe-GC/(MS or FID) were used. In addition, apart from the traditionaltechniques, this study aimed to develop a new technique - heated wire mesh pyrolysis coupled to a GUMS via a probe, which can sample at varying heights from the pyrolysing fuel, and these findings were complemented by the pyrolysis-GC/MS studies
of the fuels. These studies suggest that biomass type can lead to a small change of the rate of the coal pyrolysis. Thus, slight synergistic effects were seen for the TGA study, where co-pyrolysed coals in blends often had lower peak temperatures compared to the coal alone, and higher volatile matter yields were produced. Analysis of the gases
evolved were consistent with higher gas yields. This effect was present for certain biomass (e. g. oat straw) even after minerals were removed, and so this is not purely the
result of catalytic ash components.

For combustion studies two techniques were applied. Low heating rate was obtained in a TGA analyser. The high heating rate experiments were performed on pellets exposed to the flame of Meker-type burner. This combustion process was recorded with a high speed frame video recording system. These studies showed that strong synergy can be observed. The TGA combustion revealed the importance of the
catalytic elements, particularly potassium, and showed that, ignition of biomass char in the blend aids the ignition of the coal char. As a result, mixtures reach maximum temperatures faster, than seen for the separate fuels. In many cases though, the char burn-out of the blends lasted a similar time to the coals alone. The combustion tests of stationary pellets revealed no pattern for the ignition delay, but exposed strong synergy
in volatile combustion, indicating that for pellets of untreated fuel blends the combustion events are dominated by the coal behaviour i. e. the addition of demineralised biomass to the pellet, made it burn in a very similar way to coal alone.

The synergy observed in the organic emissions during the combustion of coal and biomass in small appliances is not simply due to interactions of hot volatiles from coal
and biomass above the combustion bed. Co-pyrolysis studies suggest that biomass type can lead to a small effect on the rate of the coal pyrolysis, and on the total volatile
matter released, but that there are no major changes in the nature of the volatiles. Combustion studies indicate that synergy stronger than seen for pyrolysis tests can be
observed, and the coal ignites and burns at lower temperature as a result of the earlier ignition and combustion of the biomass. The overall combustion time is still dominated by the coal char burn-out. Thus, synergy in emission reduction in the co-utilisation of coal and biomass is not simply due to interactions of volatiles in the vapour phase, rather, the processes of pyrolysis and combustion are linked and as such need to be studied together.


The former Nazi Party Rally Grounds in Nuremberg reflect politics and public debates in Germany between suppression, non-observance and direct reference to the National Socialist Past since 1945. Within this debate, various ways of dealing with the architectural heritage of the National Socialism exist. Those approaches are often contradictory. Since 1945 (and until today), the former Nazi Party Rally Grounds have been perceived as an important heritage. However, despite innumerable tourists visiting the area, parts of the buildings were removed and through ignoring the historic past of the Nazi Party Rally Grounds, an everyday usage of the area was established. As of the public representation of the city, Nuremberg's Nazi Past was played down and hidden. Simultaneously, considerable efforts were made to maintain and renovate areas of the Party Rally Grounds, partly out of a pragmatic manner as well as to document and educate about history. The special role Nuremberg played under National Socialism, led to a particularly prominent culture of remembrance (Erinnerungskultur). However, this isn't the outcome of a simple success story coming from initial public suppression to a conscious examination of the National Socialist Past. It has been a rather contradictory non – linear process, continuing until today.


Author(s): Granderson, Jessica; Lin, Guanjing; Singla, Rupman; Mayhorn, Ebony; Ehrlich, Paul; Vrabie, Draguna; Frank, Stephen | Abstract: It is estimated that 5%–30% energy use in commercial buildings is wasted due to faults and errors in operations. Automated fault detection and diagnostics (AFDD) technologies can address this waste by identifying (detecting) deviations from normal or expected operation (faults), and resolving (diagnosing) the type of problem or its location, minimizing the need for complex manual analysis of operational data. Although currently underutilized, AFDD is a powerful approach to ensuring efficient building operations. AFDD offers the potential to greatly improve performance, and to do so cost effectively. There is currently a diverse landscape of AFDD technologies on the market, but no common framework exists to characterize such tools, or distinguish one offering from another. It is difficult to determine from vendor websites and marketing materials key technology features and capabilities, or the overall state of the technology. In this paper, we present an AFDD characterization framework, and findings from applying the framework to survey over a dozen technologies from today's market. This paper outlines the current state of the market, as well as outstanding needs in the industry, derived from direct engagement of, and technical assistance provided to users of AFDD technology. A core set of interrelated informational, organizational, and technical needs and barriers that must be addressed to realize the full potential of AFDD at scale are identified. Lastly, based on information gathered through a survey and discussion with both vendors and users, several opportunities to further advance the technology are discussed.


I was one of a group of contributing authors selected according to expertise by the lead Coordinating Author, Sue Christie of the Northern Ireland Environment Link.The Northern Ireland Ecosystem Synthesis provides an introduction to the habitats and ecosystems of NorthernIreland and how the various services provided by thoseecosystems impact on Northern Ireland's people. Withinthe context of the UK National Ecosystem Assessment (UKNEA) it identifies unique aspects, issues and opportunitiesof particular relevance to Northern Ireland.The document provides an assessment of the extent andcondition of Northern Ireland's habitats. It looks at whatecosystem services they provide and at what informationis available on the value of those services in economic,social and health terms. It goes on to identify existing andpotential future drivers for change and to identify whereadditional work is required if the ecosystem approach is torealise its full potential. It provides a baseline of existinginformation in 2010, but it is not exhaustive due to timescaleand resource limitations. Additional information on avariety of topics is included in a Technical Supplement. TheNorthern Ireland Synthesis document should be seen as afirst step, an introduction to how the ecosystem approachcan be used to inform policy development and managementdecisions to help Northern Ireland's environment continueto function efficiently and deliver a range of benefits to itsresidents and visitors.This chapter was compiled and collated by the authorsbetween May and November 2010, with final editing andincorporation of reviewers' comments in December 2010and January 2011. The process involved four major meetings,from which the Lead Authors compiled drafts which werecirculated for comments to all contributors using aniterative process to develop the final document. It has hadto be shortened and edited, and much important detail isprovided in a Technical Supplement for those interested.The resulting document is variable in the degree of detail indifferent sections, depending on the information provided bythe contributors.Time constrained the depth of the literature search, sothe chapter relies primarily on the information provided bythe authors supplemented by available government data.


[1] A sudden reduction in rainfall occurred in the southwest of Western Australia in the mid-20th century. This reduced inflows to the Perth water supply by about 120 GL (42%) and led to an acceleration of projects to develop new water sources at a cost of about $300 million. The reduction in rainfall was coincident with warmer temperatures. A major analysis of these changes indicated that the changes in temperature were likely caused by the enhanced greenhouse effect and that the changes in rainfall were likely caused by a large-scale reorganization of the atmospheric circulation. We explore an alternative hypothesis that large-scale land cover change explains the observed changes in rainfall and temperature. We use three high-resolution mesoscale model configurations forced at the boundaries to simulate (for each model) five July climates for each of natural and current land cover. We find that land cover change explains up to 50% of the observed warming. Following land cover change, we also find, in every simulation, a reduction in rainfall over southwest Western Australia and an increase in rainfall inland that matches the observations well. We show that the reduced surface roughness following land cover change largely explains the simulated changes in rainfall by increasing moisture divergence over southwest Western Australia and increasing moisture convergence inland. Increased horizontal wind magnitudes and suppressed vertical velocities over southwest Western Australia reduce the likelihood of precipitation. Inland, moisture convergence and increased vertical velocities lead to an increase in rainfall. Our results indicate that rainfall over southwest Western Australia may be returned to the long-term average through large-scale reforestation, a policy option within the control of local government. Such a program would also provide a century-scale carbon sink to ameliorate Australia's very high per capita greenhouse gas emissions. INDEX TERMS: 1655 Global Change: Water cycles (1836); 3322 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Land/atmosphere interactions; 3329 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Mesoscale meteorology; KEYWORDS: land cover change, mesoscale modeling, regional climate change


During the Civil War, the state of Missouri witnessed the most widespread, prolonged, and destructive guerrilla fighting in American history. With its horrific combination of robbery, arson, torture, murder, and swift and bloody raids on farms and settlements, the conflict approached total war, engulfing the whole populace and challenging any notion of civility. Michael Fellman's Inside War captures the conflict from "inside," drawing on a wealth of first-hand evidence, including letters, diaries, military reports, court-martial transcripts, depositions, and newspaper accounts. He gives us a clear picture of the ideological, social, and economic forces that divided the people and launched the conflict. Along with depicting how both Confederate and Union officials used the guerrilla fighters and their tactics to their own advantage, Fellman describes how ordinary civilian men and women struggled to survive amidst the random terror perpetuated by both sides; what drove the combatants themselves to commit atrocities and vicious acts of vengeance; and how the legend of Jesse James arose from this brutal episode in the American Civil War.


A freshwater radiocarbon (14C) reservoir effect (FRE) is a 14C age offset between the atmospheric and freshwater carbon reservoirs. FREs can be on the order of 10 000 14C yr in extreme examples and are a crucial consideration for 14C dating of palaeoenvironmental and archaeological samples. Correction for a FRE may be possible, provided the FRE and the proportion of FRE-affected carbon within a sample can be accurately quantified. However, although such correction is desirable for affected samples, it is essential that such correction is accurate in order to produce useful chronological information. Accuracy of FRE correction can be limited by spatial variation in FRE within a freshwater system, but despite this there is currently a paucity of information to identify and quantify such variability within affected systems. Here we present results of a study that investigates the effects of spatial FRE variation upon dating accuracy within the freshwater system of Lake Mývatn, northern Iceland. A substantial FRE (>10 000 14C yr) has previously been identified in archaeological and modern samples from the region, which shows the potential for considerable spatial variability. The study also assesses the use of δ13C and δ15N in age correction of affected samples. The results show that benthic detritus and organisms at primary trophic levels from locations within the lake are affected by a FRE of at least 3500 14C yr, with clear spatial variation resulting in 14C age differences of up to 7670 14C yr between samples. There is a broad correlation between stable isotope values and FRE within the data set. However, large associated uncertainties currently preclude highly accurate and precise stable isotope-based quantification of the proportion of FRE-affected carbon within archaeological and palaeoenvironmental samples from Mývatn and the surrounding region.


Human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) alleles can be used as markers for a wide variety of autoimmune and other disorders. The interpretation of and possible bases for these associations should be considered in relation to conserved extended MHC haplotypes (CEHs). The latter are fixed stretches of up to several million base pairs of genomic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). CEHs constitute at least a third of normal European Caucasian MHC haplotypes and contribute most of the MHC disease susceptibility genetic markers. While this has facilitated the detection of MHC gene–disease association, it paradoxically makes the identification of true susceptibility genetic loci (as distinguished from genetic markers) more difficult. It is likely that the great majority of true susceptibility genes for MHC-associated diseases are yet to be discovered. It may take new methods and new approaches to identify the true MHC susceptibility genes and their relation to many of the polygenic MHC-associated diseases.

Key Concepts

Most human major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-associated diseases and physiological disorders are complex conditions whose genetic architecture remains largely unknown.
The genetic architecture of simple Mendelian MHC-associated conditions help us understand the bases for MHC associations in more complex conditions.
The genomic architecture of the MHC, strongly influenced by the presence of conserved extended haplotypes (CEHs), which are 1–5 megabase essentially identical by descent common population MHC haplotypes, should be considered when analysing MHC disease markers.
Association studies that dissect disease genetic architecture (including MHC-linked mode of inheritance) provide far greater biological insight than 'risk'-based statistical associations.
Family-based association studies provide far better insight into MHC-linked diseases and are less affected by population stratification than case versus control association studies.
Significant deviation from random affected sib pair allele/haplotype sharing is required to confirm the biological relevance of detected MHC associations.
Hypotheses based on the statistical association of particular single nucleotide polymorphisms or particular amino acids in candidate disease genes are moot until biological evidence is provided that such candidate genes play a causal role in such diseases.
The era of 'personalised' or 'precision' genetics will require both family-based and directly observed data and should not rely on statistically associated and/or imputed results.

Keywords:

major histocompatibility complex (MHC);
disease;
haplotype;
allele–disease association;
Caucasian


Through an analysis of critical reviews and other commentaries on the annual Turner Prize shortlist exhibitions, I examine a philosophical problem which has put into question the rational basis for evaluation in art criticism: the lack of any agreed criteria for the evaluation of artworks. This problem has been most often addressed within philosophical aesthetics through two contrasting approaches: the attempt to formulate evaluative criteria, and the denial that such criteria are either possible or necessary. My response to this meta-critical issue is an interdisciplinary study, in the form of an analysis of published commentaries on the Turner Prize, that examines theories of critical evaluation against an empirical investigation of actual critical practice.
The Turner Prize has a number of advantages as a case study. Extensive media coverage of the competition means that it is possible to study a wide range of sources intended for the art-going public, that contain a large body of examples of comparative critical evaluation, and as an annual event it offers the opportunity for both synchronic and diachronic analyses. Moreover, the regular presence of artists whose work has been characterised as 'conceptual, ensures that many of the commentaries focus on an area of art that presents a particular challenge to aesthetic theory and critical practice. In order to develop a critique of criteria based approaches, the contrasting approaches to art criticism taken by Noel Carroll and Frank Sibley are explored within an analysis of the critical reasons given to justify evaluations of Turner Prize exhibits. Suggestions are offered for ways of developing alternative approaches, drawing upon theories of the aesthetic developed by Suzanne Langer and Kendall Walton.


Yellowstone's missing magmatic link Yellowstone is an extensively studied "supervolcano" that has a large supply of heat coming from a pool of magma near the surface and the mantle below. A link between these two features has long been suspected. Huang et al. imaged the lower crust using seismic tomography (see the Perspective by Shapiro and Koulakov). Their findings provide an estimate of the total amount of molten rock beneath Yellowstone and help to explain the large amount of volcanic gases escaping from the region. Science, this issue p. 773; see also p. 758 The Yellowstone supervolcano has a large magma body between the mantle hot spot and the upper crustal magmatic reservoir. [Also see Perspective by Shapiro and Koulakov] The Yellowstone supervolcano is one of the largest active continental silicic volcanic fields in the world. An understanding of its properties is key to enhancing our knowledge of volcanic mechanisms and corresponding risk. Using a joint local and teleseismic earthquake P-wave seismic inversion, we revealed a basaltic lower-crustal magma body that provides a magmatic link between the Yellowstone mantle plume and the previously imaged upper-crustal magma reservoir. This lower-crustal magma body has a volume of 46,000 cubic kilometers, ~4.5 times that of the upper-crustal magma reservoir, and contains a melt fraction of ~2%. These estimates are critical to understanding the evolution of bimodal basaltic-rhyolitic volcanism, explaining the magnitude of CO2 discharge, and constraining dynamic models of the magmatic system for volcanic hazard assessment.


ACE inhibitors are often prescribed in the treatment of hypertension, heart failure and kidney disease. These drugs are on the Essential Drugs List, and are therefore used at primary to tertiary health care levels in South Africa. Angioedema is considered a rare, but potentially fatal side-effect of this agent, with a reported incidence of 0.1–0.2% worldwide.1 Its incidence in the South African population is, however, unknown.


Host preference of Helicotylenchus digitiformis Ivanova, 1967 on 10 common field crops including cantaloupe (Samsuri), canola (Golden), clover, corn (704-Hybrid), cotton (Deltapine 16), lucerne (Hamedani), sugar beet (Pb8), tomato (Rutgers), turf grass (Sport) and wheat (Shiraz) was studied in two separate trials. Tests were performed in randomized complete block designs, with initial field populations of 1.49 and 4.33 nematodes/g of soil, under greenhouse conditions. The results showed that all plants are hosts for the nematode but the highest final population and reproduction factor were happened on the cotton (Deltapine 16) and corn (hybrid 704). In addition, to determine the damaging levels of the nematode on corn (hybrid 704) and cotton (Deltapine 16), two tests were conducted in randomized complete block designs with initial field population, ½ field population and control (4.33, 2.16 and Zero nematodes/g of soil, respectively) and six replicates, under greenhouse and microplot conditions. The results showed that all of the field populations under greenhouse conditions and treatments with nematode under microplot conditions caused significantly decreases in most of growth indices of corn plants. Nevertheless, the nematode population has not any significant effect on the growth indices of cotton, although the nematode multiplied on it and reproduction factor was more than one. Also, similar tests were carried out on two local wheat cultivars (Shiraz and Pishtaz), with field population, ½ field population, 1/3 field population and control (1.49, 0.75, 0.50 and Zero nematodes/g of soil, respectively) in a randomized complete block design with five replicates, under microplot conditions. Results showed that only the field population significantly caused decreases in most of growth indices of wheat (Pishtaz).


This report is the product of a joint project initiated by the Centre for European Policy Studies and the Swedish Confederation of Enterprise. Three expert groups of academics, policy-makers, business representatives and other stakeholders were formed to analyse the major issues and challenges facing the European Union today and to put forward recommendations for reform that can realistically be implemented in the short and medium term. The expert groups focused on EU Decision-Making, Better Regulation and Implementation & Subsidiarity.


The Canadian approach to permanent disposal of used CANDU fuel is directed toward its storage in suitable containers emplaced into an underground, stable, plutonic rock formation. Reprocessing of used CANDU fuel is not planned due to economic considerations. Permanent disposal of used fuel in Canada is not expected to commence until the next century. At that time there will be sufficient quantity of used CANDU fuel such that the Used-Fuel Disposal Centre can be operated economically at full capacity. In the meantime, used fuel is stored on an interim basis at the reactor sites. The concept for permanent disposal is under review by a Federal panel. Upon approval of the disposal concept, site selection, design, and construction for the facility follows. Initially, CANDU fuel is stored in water-filled bays at each nuclear station. Subsequently, six years after discharge from reactor, the fuel can be stored dry in concrete canisters. This option has been implemented at several CANDU reactor sites. Commercial application for the concrete dry storage canisters is now well advanced. The concept can provide further cost reduction through integration of the individual canisters into a concrete vault-like structure called CANSTOR. AECL have developed a similar new system for dry storage of PWR and BWR fuel elements. This new system is called MACSTOR (Modular Air Cooled Storage).


The UK economy is closely integrated into the wider global economy. These ties mean that global developments affect the economic fortunes of the United Kingdom. This article presents model-based estimates which suggest that world shocks have driven around two thirds of the weakness in UK output since 2007. Trade linkages are an important channel for the transmission of world shocks to the UK economy. But financial linkages and spillovers through uncertainty are significant, too — and together are likely to account for the majority of the impact of world shocks on the United Kingdom since 2007.


Without a doubt, in the past 20 or so years, we have achieved the power of biology in different ways. In the present, we have many tools for developing novel technologies and applications for organism modifications that ultimately let us know many aspects of organisms' biology and, therefore, apply that knowledge for technological purposes. Of all the model organisms and tools for genetic modification available, Escherichia coli stands out as a model organism and what we would like to call "molecular biologist tool box." In the present chapter, we aim to review our current knowledge regarding genetic modifications and tools for modifying E. coli to generate plasmid vectors, single and mul tiple gene whole genome and


Micronutrient deficiencies in the diet of many people are common and wheat is a staple food crop, providing a carbohydrate and micronutrient source to a large percentage of the world's population. We conducted a field study to compare five Canadian red spring wheat cultivars (released over the last century) grown under organic and conventional management systems for yield, grain micronutrient concentration, and soil phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profile. The organic system had higher grain Zn, Fe, Mg and K levels, but lower Se and Cu levels. There was no trend in the results to suggest that modern western Canadian hard red spring cultivars have lower grain micronutrient content than historical cultivars. Wheat cultivar choice is important for maximizing grain nutrient levels, which was influenced by management system. It is evident that the emphasis on elevated grain quality in the western Canadian hard red spring class has resulted in the retention of micronutrient quality characters. Three fungal PLFAs were indicators for the organic system, and all three of these indicators were positively correlated with grain Cu concentration. In the organic system, percent arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi were negatively correlated with grain Zn and Fe concentrations, and positively correlated with grain Mn, Cu, K concentrations and grain yield. The organic system had higher levels of fungi in the soil, including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Organic management practices appear to result in elevated levels of grain micronutrient concentration. The hard red spring breeding effort in and for the black soil zone of the northern Great Plains also appears to have led to no diminishment of grain micronutrient concentration. It is evident that both the agronomic system and breeding strategies in this region can be exploited for future increases in grain micronutrient concentration.


A modified substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) slot array antenna has been proposed for the low cost 24 GHz Doppler radar system. All radiating slots are connected in series using a short circuit ended SIW; therefore, its radiation beam can be steered with frequency. The modified antenna with meandering structure is proposed to enhance the scanning range. The physical slot spacing is kept at about half free space wavelength, while the electrical spacing is about 540° at the center frequency of 24 GHz. A broadside radiation is achieved at 24 GHz frequency and a ±30° continuous scanning range is experimentally confirmed with the frequency band from 23 GHz to 25 GHz.


We study the capacity to meet food demand under conditions of climate change, economic and population growth. We take a novel approach to quantifying climate impacts, based on a model of the global economy structurally estimated on the period 1960 to 2015. The model integrates several features necessary to study the problem, including an explicit agriculture sector, endogenous fertility, directed technical change and fossil/renewable energy. We estimate the world economy is more than one trillion dollars smaller, and world population more than 80 million smaller, than would have been the case without climate change. This is despite substantial adaptation having taken place in general equilibrium through R&D and agricultural land expansion. Policy experiments with the model suggest that optimal GHG taxes are high and future temperatures held well below 2°C.


In a 2017 article published in the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health (1), van der Beek and coworkers` make the point that workplace interventions have not been overly successful in preventing work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). They present a research framework consisting of risk identification, consideration of underlying pathophysiological mechanisms, and the development, evaluation, and implementation of interventions to improve this situation. The article complements other papers that concur with the observation that there has been little progress in combating work-related MSD and pointing to deficient research strategies or risk factors insufficiently considered in past projects. In this Letter to the Editor, we argue that work-related MSD interventions based on the research framework of van der Beek et al (1) and others are unlikely to have much impact. This is based on the realization, as also expressed in an editorial in the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health (2) that "... in real life, management and not the researcher controls the implementation of workplace interventions." Research during recent decades provides an empirical basis to state that the potential of rationalization of production systems to cause health problems is large, in contrast to the overall assessment of ergonomic interventions that seem to have limited health effects in the long-term (3). The fact that van der Beek et al (1) do not include this insight/evidence in their framework model illustrates a persistent, too-narrow approach to ergonomic intervention research among specific groups of researchers. Classical research on combating occupational MSD is rooted in the medical research tradition. The elimination of disease is the goal of most ergonomic intervention researchers recruited from the different health professions. They generally represent a research tradition whereby early investigations of risk factors and injury mechanisms are mostly physiological and/or biomechanical. Consequently, quality criteria for occupational intervention studies are adopted from medical research and randomized controlled trials (RCT) are the gold standard of occupational MSD intervention research, as detailed by Kristensen (4). This is also the position of van der Beek and coworkers (1). However, systematic reviews on ergonomic intervention research, which apply strict selection criteria including a strong focus on internal validity and the resulting data loss, may end up with conclusions of low utility. An example is Brewer et al`s systematic review (5), which described a rigorous search procedure that pruned >7000 articles down to 31 to draw conclusions on workplace interventions for computer users. Their conclusion of a positive health effect of alternative pointing devices among computer users is based on only two studies: one which tested a mouse design that has not been successful in practice and another that substituted a computer mouse with a "trackball". A similar more recent example is Oakman et al`s review (6), which identifies 2220 unique studies and ends up with only 17. These authors are aware of potential significant data loss by restricting their review to studies using RCT design. Thus, high internal validity of an ergonomic intervention study does not imply that the intervention works when implemented in practice; the external validity may be low, ie, not generalizable to other situations. The issue of "implementation of effective intervention(s)" is considered in box 6 of van der Beek et al`s model (1). They highlight the implementation process and its effects by mentioning "… two of the most extensive examples of MSD interventions implementation at the community level …". Both of these appeared to be unsuccessful. But, as indicated above, the most critical challenge to the implementation of interventions seems to occur at company level (3), and yet van der Beek et al (1) fail to discuss this. Production systems generally offer ever-changing environments, and a significant part of these changes interact with introduced ergonomic interventions (eg, 3, 7.). The RCT design does not allow for the study of these change processes. Occupational MSD intervention research, carried out in changing environments subject to various influences that are not always recognized, belongs more to the social than the medical domain. Research in the social science tradition tends to use observational or quasi-experimentation designs, often based on natural experiments. Our review of MSD health consequences of production system rationalizations (3) predominantly examined studies based on natural experiments. According to this, we adopted a "best evidence synthesis" approach (8-10) in preference to applying strict epidemiological quality criteria. In conclusion, most of the intervention research aimed at reducing occupational MSD seems to ignore the impact of interventions that aim to improve production system performance (3). This suggests that we need an expansion of the traditional MSD intervention research paradigm; ie, how to involve the stakeholders responsible for interventions that aim to improve production system performance. A key challenge is now to develop further the research framework presented by van der Beek et al (1) and others to make ergonomic intervention research relevant also to working life. High performance is a prerequisite for the survival of organizations, making production system rationalization a continuous and all-embracing process. We emphasize the wide-ranging impact of rationalizations on worker well-being and therefore suggest a change in the intervention research endpoint from "MSD prevention" to "organizational sustainability", defined as the joint consideration of competitive performance and working conditions in a long-term perspective (3). This needs to be developed in dialog with stakeholders particularly those responsible for production system development (3). The Nordic countries have a long tradition of collaboration between stakeholders with different primary objectives (work environment, efficient production systems, economic success, customer needs, etc), which seems to offer unique opportunities to carry out case studies investigating such issues (11). 1. van der Beek AJ, Dennerlein JT, Huysmans MA, Mathiassen SE, Burdorf A, van Mechelen W et al. A research framework for the development and implementation of interventions preventing work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Scand J Work Environ Health 2017 Nov;43(6):526-39. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.3671. 2. Takala EP. Ergonomic interventions and prevention - a need for better understanding of implementation [editorial]. Scand J Work Environ Health 2018 Mar;44(2):111-2. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.3710. 3. Westgaard RH, Winkel J. Occupational musculoskeletal and mental health: significance of rationalization and opportunities to create sustainable production systems - A systematic review. Appl Ergon 2011 Jan;42(2):261-96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2010.07.002. 4. Kristensen TS. Intervention studies in occupational epidemiology. Occup Environ Med 2005 Mar;62(3):205-10. https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.2004.016097. 5. Brewer S, Van Eerd D, Amick BC 3rd, Irvin E, Daum KM, Gerr F et al. Workplace interventions to prevent musculoskeletal and visual symptoms and disorders among computer users: a systematic review. J Occup Rehabil 2006 Sep;16(3):325-58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-006-9031-6. 6. Oakman J, Neupane S, Proper KI, Kinsman N, Nygård CH. Workplace interventions to improve work ability: A systematic review and meta-analysis of their effectiveness. Scand J Work Environ Health 2018 Mar;44(2):134-46. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.3685. 7. Winkel J, Westgaard RH. A model for solving work related musculoskeletal problems in a profitable way. Appl Ergon 1996 Apr;27(2):71-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/0003-6870(95)00061-5. 8. Slavin RE. Best evidence synthesis: an intelligent alternative to meta-analysis. J Clin Epidemiol 1995 Jan;48(1):9-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/0895-4356(94)00097-A. 9. Mindell J, Boaz A, Joffe M, Curtis S, Birley M. Enhancing the evidence base for health impact assessment. J Epidemiol Community Health 2004 Jul;58(7):546-51. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.2003.012401. 10. Ogilvie D, Egan M, Hamilton V, Petticrew M. Systematic reviews of health effects of social interventions: 2. Best available evidence: how low should you go? J Epidemiol Community Health 2005 Oct;59(10):886-92. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.2005.034199. 11. Winkel J, Schiller B, Dellve L, Edwards K, Neumann WP, Öhrling T et al. Scientific evidence suggests a changed approach in ergonomic intervention research. In: Osvalder A-L, Blomé M, Bodnar H, editors. Conference Proceedings "Joy at Work". The Nordic Ergonomics and Human Factors Society (NES), Lund; 2017. p 430-36.


We propose a Generalized Dantzig Selector (GDS) for linear models, in which any norm encoding the parameter structure can be leveraged for estimation. We investigate both computational and statistical aspects of the GDS. Based on conjugate proximal operator, a flexible inexact ADMM framework is designed for solving GDS. Thereafter, non-asymptotic high-probability bounds are established on the estimation error, which rely on Gaussian widths of the unit norm ball and the error set. Further, we consider a non-trivial example of the GDS using k-support norm. We derive an efficient method to compute the proximal operator for k-support norm since existing methods are inapplicable in this setting. For statistical analysis, we provide upper bounds for the Gaussian widths needed in the GDS analysis, yielding the first statistical recovery guarantee for estimation with the k-support norm. The experimental results confirm our theoretical analysis.


Background: The Allied Health Professions Support and Development Scheme was a pilot project administered by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and the Scottish Government. The scheme was put in place to aid in the recruitment, retention and career development of newly qualified practitioners (NQPs) in NHSScotland. During the scheme, NQPs were provided with mentor support, an online learning facility and financial incentives. Contents: This article describes the independent evaluation of the scheme, one which aims to assess the scheme's impact on recruitment, retention and career development of NQPs in NHSScotland. It was found that involvement in the scheme made NQPs feel valued as practitioners and increased their awareness of the wider allied health profession agenda. Financial support provided as part of the scheme was used to help with a range of costs including accommodation, training courses, continuing professional development (CPD) and student loan repayments. Conclusions: Overall the majority of NQPs (86%) regarded the scheme as a positive experience and indicated that they would recommend it to their colleagues. Similar schemes may be successfully put in place elsewhere around the world to support NQPs. A later article will consider the impact of this scheme on recruitment and retention of allied health professionals in rural areas of NHSScotland.


This thesis presents a detailed investigation of the design optimisation and performance analysis of a dielectric concentrator for building façade integration at high latitudes (>55°). Considering the seasonal variation of the sun's position at these latitudes, a concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) system with stationary concentrators of large acceptance angle and low concentration ratio is a suitable alternative to conventional flat plate photovoltaic (PV) modules. A well designed dielectric asymmetric compound parabolic concentrator (ACPC) is a suitable choice to achieve optimum range of acceptance angles and concentration ratio for building façade integration in the Edinburgh and higher latitudes. A theoretical study of the optical performance shows that a truncated dielectric ACPC with acceptance half-angles of 0 and 55 (termed as DiACPC-55) is the optimum design, when compared to the dielectric ACPC designs with acceptance half angles of (0 and 66) and (0 and 77) in Edinburgh and higher latitudes. An increase in the range of acceptance angles is achieved by truncating the concentrator profile. Ray tracing simulations show the DiACPC-55 exhibits the widest range of acceptance angles compared to the other designs. The maximum optical efficiency of the DiACPC-55 is found to be 83%. In addition it is found to have a better intensity distribution at the receiver and a higher total annual energy collection, compared to the other designs. Thermal modelling of a CPV system with the DiACPC-55 concentrator shows that the solar cell and rear plate temperature can reach up to 41.6C for 1000 W/m irradiance, when operating with an average ambient temperature of 10C. The maximum power ratio of the CPV module (fabricated using the DiACPC-55 concentrator) to a similar non-concentrating counterpart is found to be 2.32, when characterised in an indoor controlled environment using a solar simulator. An average electrical conversion efficiency of 9.5% is measured for the entire range of acceptance angles. The optical loss analysis shows that incident light can escape from the parabolic sides and concentrator-encapsulation interface. The outdoor characterisation of the CPV module with the DiACPC-55 concentrator shows that a maximum power ratio of 2.22 can be achieved on a sunny day. In comparison, a maximum power ratio of 1.9 is observed on a rainy day. These results reveal that the designed dielectric concentrator is capable of collecting 68% of the diffuse radiation. The maximum electrical conversion efficiency of the CPV module in outdoor condition is found to be 9.4%. Module degradation due to the delamination of the solar cell is observed in the long term investigation study, which reduces the module efficiency to 8.6% on a clear sunny day. The fabricated CPV system with the DiACPC-55 concentrator is found to be £190.3/m cheaper than similar sized conventional glass-glass laminated modules. Therefore the cost of the CPV module is found to be £0.53/Wp cheaper than the conventional glassglass laminated modules for building facade integration at high latitudes.


Natural radioactivity provides tracers in a wide range of characteristic time scales and reactivities, which can be used as tools to study the rate of reaction and transport processes in the ocean. Apart from cosmogenic nuclides and the long-lived radioisotope K-40, the natural radioactivity in the ocean is primarily derived from the decay series of three radionuclides that were produced in the period of nucleosynthesis preceding the birth of our solar system: Uranium-238, Thorium-232 and Uranium-235 (a fourth series, including Uranium-233, has already decayed away). The remaining activity of these so-called primordial nuclides in the EarthŽs crust, and the range of half lives and reactivities of the elements in their decay schemes, control the present distribution of U-series nuclides in the ocean.


Data from the 2010 Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) and ERS cost of production accounts present a snapshot of the production costs, production practices, and characteristics related to U.S. corn production in 2010. This study found considerable variation in the operating and ownership costs for corn, ranging from an average of $1.74 per bushel for low-cost producers to $3.88 per bushel for high-cost producers. In 2010, high corn prices meant that most producers covered their corn production costs from harvest-month prices. The Heartland continues to be the major corn production region with the lowest operating and ownership costs per bushel, mainly because of the region's high corn yields. The operating and ownership costs per bushel did not vary significantly by enterprise size where size is measured by the number of planted corn acres per farm. However, these costs per planted acre were lowest for farms with the smallest corn enterprises and highest for farms with the largest corn enterprises. Production value less operating and ownership costs per acre from organic corn production was higher than that from conventional corn production because higher prices more than offset lower yields for organic corn.


Evaluations of teaching effectiveness have taken many forms over the years, but none have been as persistent or commonplace as student ratings of instruction (SRI). SRIs have become a fundamental component of evaluating faculty effectiveness in higher education. Support for SRIs comes from end-users of the data who believe that students are uniquely positioned to evaluate faculty based on their experiences and perceptions of the instruction they received. Pragmatically, institutions tend to rely on SRI results for teacher evaluations because they reason that students learn more from faculty who are highly rated by students. However, to what degree is this enthusiasm warranted? Are SRIs reliable, valid, or trustworthy at all? The main goals of this chapter are to present an overview of SRI research, explain ways of preparing students for SRIs (both formative and summative), and present methods for teachers to use when examining the SRI data. To these ends, this chapter will briefly review the SRI research, including evidence for the value of SRI data despite commonly held misconceptions about the possible influence of factors such as class size, GPA, gender, and professor rank. Attention is then given to understanding how to improve responses to questions that tap constructs students are unlikely to be readily able to respond to, such as "Did this course improve your critical thinking skills?" and to general agreement questions about learning, such as "The pacing of the materials was appropriate." Techniques for interpreting constructed responses from students, such as "Stop lecturing!" are also provided. Finally, the paper moves on to highlighting the connection between collecting and acting on formative classroom surveys that support positive transfer to end-of-term SRIs and offers methods to analyze SRIs individually as well as outlining an approach to teacher development with SRI data and teacher-centered consultations by PD programs.


I study the incentives to open technologies in imperfectly competitive markets with user innovation. Firms may choose to open part of their knowledge or private information so that it becomes freely accessible to users. Openness decisions are governed by a trade‐off between collaboration and appropriability: by becoming more open, a firm encourages user innovation but hampers its ability to capture value. I find that large firms are less open and invest more in product development than small firms, and that firms react to greater openness from rivals by becoming more open. I also show that compatibility and spillovers have a negative effect on openness, and that firms become more open as the number of competitors increases.


2019) Summary In current study, earthquakes occurred in northwest of Iran in the past 20 years were relocated using JHD algorithm. A dense seismic network is usually required to produce a stable and precise earthquake location, i.e., improved quantitative and qualitative earthquake data are achieved due to various parameters including low amount of azimuthal gap. Combining data from different seismic networks in the study area can be effective and useful to improve earthquake locations. Thus, a list of earthquakes in the northwest region of Iran was developed using data available from different seismic networks. The recorded earthquakes data by the seismic network stations of Iran and neighboring countries were collected and a complete data set of earthquakes in the region was prepared. Then, the information from 30,000 recorded and reported earthquakes in the area was compiled. This information includes more than 400,000 seismic phases from databases of International Seismological Center (ISC), Iranian Seismological Center (IRSC), Broadband Iranian National Seismic Network Center (IIEES) and National Seismic Network of Turkey (DDA). This dataset was sorted and the outliers were taken off based on analyzing the travel-time residuals. In the next step, the recorded phases of an earthquake from different stations were combined and a homogeneous catalog was established. This catalog is more complete than the original catalog, e.g., because of increasing the number of phases, azimuthal gap of earthquakes has decreased. In the next step, after the preparation of the data, the hypocenter relocation was done using single event and the JHD algorithms in VELEST computer program. Comparison of RMS of earthquakes indicates a decrease in the RMS due to relocation process. The average value of RMS for the entire earthquakes reduced from 0.69 s to 0.41 s at the final stage, and this shows a reduction in difference between calculated and real earthquake location. The RMS value for more than 90% of earthquakes is less than one second. Thus, a homogeneous catalog of earthquakes in the region was prepared and new results were evaluated and compared with the initial information. Finally, the seismicity patterns in the region were investigated by drawing the hypocenter depth sections in the active seismic areas. Based on the obtained results in many sections, the removal of unrealistic structures due to systematic errors in earthquake location was evident, and in some sections, scattering of the earthquake hypocenter locations reduced and the existing structures were more