Biological research increasingly demands the use of non-invasive and ultra-sensitive imaging techniques. The Airyscan technology was recently developed to bridge the gap between conventional confocal and super-resolution microscopy. This technique combines confocal imaging with a 0.2 Airy Unit pinhole, deconvolution and the pixel-reassignment principle in order to enhance both the spatial resolution and signal-to-noise-ratio without increasing the excitation power and acquisition time. Here, we present a detailed study evaluating the performance of Airyscan as compared to confocal microscopy by imaging a variety of reference samples and biological specimens with different acquisition and processing parameters. We found that the processed Airyscan images at default deconvolution settings have a spatial resolution similar to that of conventional confocal imaging with a pinhole setting of 0.2 Airy Units, but with a significantly improved signal-to-noise-ratio. Further gains in the spatial resolution could be achieved by the use of enhanced deconvolution filter settings, but at a steady loss in the signal-to-noise ratio, which at more extreme settings resulted in significant data loss and image distortion.


This research has been conducted to study the levels of total mercury and methylmercury, and their correlation in different marine fish species available for consumption in Peninsular Malaysia. Artificial methods have been used to remove mercury from fish. Method for methylmercury determination in fish samples was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). Total mercury and methylmercury levels were determined using Cold vapor atomic absorption spectrophotometry (CV-AAS) and Gas chromatography-micro electron capture detector (GC-μECD), respectively. Samples of twelve species of common marine fish consumed by Malaysians were collected from local wholesale market in Malaysia. On the basis of total mercury and methylmercury levels measured in commonly consumed fish, two species, long tail tuna and short-bodied mackerel identified with high mercury contents were sampled from east and west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Methods for elimination of mercury in raw fish fillet has been developed using acidic solutions containing mercury chelating agents. The optimum conditions for methylmercury extraction were found by using acid concentration of 12.118 M, cysteine concentration of 2.375%, solvent volume of 1.5 ml, and extraction time of 35 min. Total mercury and methylmercury levels in fish samples studied were in the range of not detected to 1.010 and not detected to 0.914 μg/g wet wt, respectively. The methylmercury to total mercury ratio ranged from 49.1% to 87.5%, with the highest ratio was in predatory fishes. All of the fish species showed strong positive correlation between methylmercury and total mercury levels (R2>0.86). High levels of total mercury and methylmercury were detected in short-bodied mackerel and long tail tuna. Samples of these two species from east coast of Peninsular Malaysia showed higher levels of mercury compared to those from west coast. In all of the locations, significant positive correlations were found between fish body weight and mercury content. The industrial optimized method produced a solution which can remove mercury from raw fish fillet up to 91%. The optimum conditions for mercury reduction was achieved using cysteine concentration of 1.25 %, EDTA of 275 (mg/L), NaCl of 0.5 (%), pH of 3.75 and exposure time of 18 min. The home-used optimized protocol produced a solution which can remove mercury from raw fish fillet up to 81%. The overall optimal condition resulting to the maximum mercury removal in fish fillet was obtained at combined level of pH of 2.79, 0.5% NaCl, and 13.5 (min) of exposure time.


John M. Collins has distilled the wisdom of history's great military minds to tutor readers on the necessary intellectual skills to win not only battles but also wars. He illuminates practices that worked well or poorly in the past, together with reasons why. He discusses national security interests, strategic building blocks, military strategies across the conflict spectrum, methods for developing talent and strategic acumen, and recent case studies that put principles into practice. Collins never tells readers what to think, but in Military Strategy he provides them with the intellectual tools to think for themselves. Written in a clear, straightforward style, this book will appeal to officers, policy-makers, students, and the public.


Working from the intriguing hypothesis that Alzheimer's dementia is the result of a renegade protein-beta amyloid-Tanzi and others set out to find the gene responsible for its production. Decoding Darkness takes us deep into the minds and far-flung labs of many a prominent researcher, offering an intimate view of the high stakes of molecular genetics, the revolution that propels it, the obstacles that threaten to derail it, and the families whose lives are so dependent upon it. Tanzi and Parson ultimately reveal that Alzheimer's, like heart disease, may be effectively treated-even prevented.


The aim of this project was to develop and implement an expert advisor system to provide information for selecting and scheduling several items of small foundry plants using electric resistance bale-out furnaces, to optimise metal use and reduce energy costs. This involved study in formulating the procedures and developing a "foundry user friendly" expert system for giving advice to unskilled operatives in what was a complex multi- variable process. This system (FOES) included investigation and development of an advising system on the casting of a large numbers of different objects cast under different operating conditions and electricity tariffs. Knowledge elicitation techniques were developed and used during the complicated knowledge election process. Since this research programme intended to look at the complete process of melting, holding and pouring of the aluminium alloy, complex electricity tariffs were incorporated into the expert system in order to accurately calculate the energy cost of each process.
A sub-section of the FOES system (DAD) could advise the unskilled foundry operative identify and eliminate the seven most common aluminium alloy casting defect by using a novel technique of incorporating actual defect photographs which were digitally scanned into the system.


Since 1977, archaeologist Tom Dillehay has been unearthing conclusive evidence of human habitation in the Americas at least 15,000 to 20,000 years ago, settling a bitter debate and demolishing the standard scientific account of the settlement of the Americas. The question of how people first came to the Americas is now thrown wide open: the best guess is that they arrived from a variety of places, at many different times and by many different routes. Dillehay describes who the earliest settlers are likely to have been, where they may have landed, how they dispersed across two continents, what their technology and folkways may have been like, and how they interacted with the famous Clovis culture once thought to represent the earliest settlers.


Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) form the backbone of most national economies and are often the driving force behind innovation. Intellectual property (IP) rights provide legal protection for MSMEs against unauthorised exploitation of their innovations by others. As part of Ghana's trade policy reforms, Ghana and Switzerland recently signed an agreement to strengthen IP rights administration in Ghana, in order, inter alia, to improve the business environment and encourage innovation. However, little research exists on the use of IP protection by businesses, especially MSMEs, in developing countries such as Ghana. Will a strengthened IP regime benefit MSMEs? Using qualitative procedures, this study examines the use of IP, especially trademarks and industrial designs by MSMEs in Ghana. The evidence indicates that MSMEs do not use formal IP protection as a competitive strategy, and adapt to the threat of imitation by using informal methods such as trade secrets, maintaining product quality, and constant innovation. The study concludes that promoting IP as a tool for enhancing MSME competitiveness requires an integrated approach involving awareness creation on the benefits of IP, increasing MSME access to appropriate and affordable IP services and ensuring effective enforcement of IP rights together with promotion of other competitive strategies such as improving product quality and customer service, protection of cultural artefacts and promotion of national trademarks.


The task of obtaining estimates of model parameters (the "inverse problem") is encountered frequently in practice. The transfer function model is a general formulation describing solute transport from an "entrance surface" to an "exit surface" of a porous domain. The probability that solute will arrive at an exit surface is given by its travel time probability density function (pdf). A very general pdf based on the convection- dispersion equation is presented. The pdf incorporates many solute transport mechanisms, including sorption, volatilization and biodegradation. This document describes the pdf as well as the structure and usage of a versatile computer code. The code uses nonlinear least-squares fitting to find optimal parameter values by matching transfer function model predictions with measured experimental data. The program makes use of some standard computational algorithms in the widely-available IMSL package. Use of the program is demonstrated with synthetic data as well as data from a comprehensive field experiment. Breakthrough curves can be plotted using an additional code.


Objective: Palatal fistula is a significant complication following cleft palate repair. The guidelines of management of the palatal fistula is dependent on the type of cleft, site of fistula, condition of surrounding tissue and associated problem. We studied the management and outcome of 194 cleft palate fistula in our institute. Design: We present the descriptive hospital-based study of management of palatal fistula in 194 cleft patients. We have excluded all the syndromic children and children whose anterior palate was not operated as per protocol. Settings: Of 194 cleft palate fistula, 37 had palate repair in our hospital and 157 were refereed with fistula following palate repair.The patients were evaluated by interdisciplinary team and plan of management was decided. Result: Various parameters like types of cleft, site of fistula and management of fistula were studied in all the patients. Fifty-two percent were in unilateral CLP and 30% in bilateral CLP because unilateral CLP is the commonest type of cleft. Postalveolar and hard palate region contributing to 67% of all fistulae, followed by junctional in (9%). Seventy-two percent of fistula were amenable for repair by local available tissue, 28% needed tongue flap due to shortage of tissue. Minor numbers have failure of procedure for fistula closure needing further management. Conclusions: This descriptive study present analysis of management of fistula in our institute. It also reinforces that patient with bilateral cleft lip and palate more likely to have shortage of local tissue needing the local flaps like tongue flap compare to other cleft types. The surgical management of fistula can be combined to tackle the associated problems.


We demonstrate room-temperature low-threshold-current lasing action from electrically driven wavelength-scale high-quality photonic crystal lasers having large spontaneous emission factors by solving the theoretical and technical constraints laid upon by the additional requirement of the current injection. The ultrasmall cavity is electrically pulse pumped through a submicron-size semiconductor "wire" at the center of the mode with minimal degradation of the quality factor. In addition, to better utilize the low mobility of the hole, we employ a doping structure that is inverted from the conventional semiconductors. Rich lasing actions and their various characteristics are experimentally measured in the single-cell and three-cell photonic crystal cavities. Several relevant measurements are compared with three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain computations based on the actual fabricated structural parameters. The electrically driven photonic crystal laser, which is a small step toward a "practical" form of the single photon source, represents a meaningful achievement in the field of photonic crystal devices and photonic integrated circuits as well as of great interest to the quantum electrodynamics and quantum information communities.


The 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) (See footnote 1) crisis represents one of the greatest social upheavals in the United Kingdom since the Second World War, as well as one of the world's largest ever epidemics of the virus. In order to deal with an epidemic of this magnitude, The Department of Environment Farming & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) needed to second and reassign staff (many from other government organisations such as the Environment Agency) to work on the 'front line' of the crisis, often in dangerous and highly stressful environments. These workers typically received little training to prepare them for their 'roles', and what limited preparation they did receive often contrasted strongly with practical experiences, they thus found themselves working in unpredictable and chaotic situations. Based on a longitudinal ethnographic study of the health and social consequences of the 2001 FMD epidemic, our research (See footnote 2) indicates that repeated exposure to distress and suffering led some of these front-line workers to experience what we term 'post traumatic experience'. The study raises a number of issues relevant to the evolving concept of occupational health in increasingly fractured and ambiguous domains of work and particularly in disaster and post-disaster situations.


Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a common subtype of esophageal cancer that is particularly prevalent in East Asian countries. Our previous expression profile analysis showed that the gene encoding protein tyrosine kinase 7 (PTK7) is upregulated in ESCC tissues. Here, we aimed to validate PTK7 as a prognostic factor and a candidate target for molecular treatment of ESCC. Both RT‐PCR and Western blot analysis of tissues from ESCC patients revealed that PTK7 was significantly upregulated in tumor tissue samples of ESCC. Immunohistochemical staining of PTK7 showed that increased expression of PTK7 was inversely correlated with overall survival (P = 0.021). In vitro knockdown of PTK7 inhibited proliferation, survival, wound healing, and invasion of ESCC cells. In addition, PTK7 knockdown decreased phosphorylation of Akt, Erk, and focal adhesion kinase (FAK), important determinants of cell proliferation, survival, and migration. Therefore, our findings suggest that PTK7 has potential as a prognostic marker for ESCC and might also be a candidate for targeted therapy in the treatment of ESCC.


Protected area (PA) coverage is used as an indicator of biodiversity protection worldwide. The effectiveness of using PAs as indicators has been questioned due to the diversity of categories encompassed by such designations, especially in PAs established for purposes other than biodiversity protection. Although international standards have been developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the policies on the ground have been developed independently of the IUCN categories, thus making the IUCN categories dubious measures of biodiversity conservation. Management plans are crucial for the effective management of parks and for guidance on how biodiversity maintenance should be prioritized relative to other goals. We therefore analyzed the aims and regulations of the management plans of alpine PAs in Spain as a first step in evaluating conservation performance. We used content analysis and correspondence analysis of instrumental variables (CAiv) to assess how aims and regulations vary in relation to three explanatory factors: IUCN categories, vegetation zones and autonomous communities. We found that the aims of many parks were vague, without clear indications of how to prioritize biodiversity goals. Furthermore, only 50% of the parks studied had any management plan, which strengthens our argument concerning the lack of clear guidance in PA management. Although certain aims were correlated with the IUCN categories, the regulations showed no clear relationship to international policies, which indicates that these aims do not necessarily influence management practices. Devolution to autonomous communities could be one explanation for the large variation in management practices among parks. Further studies are needed to evaluate the impact of such management policies on biodiversity.


Mitchel Lasser's Judicial Deliberations compares the argumentative practices of the French Cour de cassation, the US Supreme Court, and the European Court of Justice (ECJ), and examines how they achieve judicial legitimacy. In this review I firstly question the models of judicial legitimacy presented by Lasser. I believe that the French 'institutional' model relies far more on the interplay between the Cour de cassation and the legislature than on the system of selection of those who take part in the judicial discourse or on their conception of law which would deny judicial decision a place among the sources of law. I also have doubts about the lack of institutional means of judicial control and the emphasis on 'argumentative transparency', which lies at the core of Lasser's presentation of the US system. Finally the ECJ, somewhat included rather as an afterthought in the book's central analysis, in my opinion faces rather different problems from those identified in the book. Secondly, I discuss a deeper problem of Judicial Deliberations: its lack of conceptual clarity and the rather scant evidence it provides for some of its bold claims. In conclusion I make the case for a 'comparative jurisprudence' approach, suggested some time ago by William Ewald, which in my view Judicial Deliberations follows only in name.


Abstract This study aimed to investigate the association between sleep disruption and the general mental health of caregivers of disabled people in Australia. It was hypothesised that greater sleep disruption would be associated with poorer mental health amongst caregivers. The study utilised data obtained from a national health survey of a stratified random sample, with the current sample consisting of 687 people living in a private dwelling who identified themselves as the primary caregiver of a person with a disability. In addition to information regarding their primary recipient of care and the broader impact of their caregiving role, sleep disruptions were assessed by responses to a direct question during a personal structured interview. General mental health of caregivers was assessed using the SF-12v2 Health Survey to classify their mental health to one of four linear categories, ranging from 'severe mental ill-health' to 'excellent mental health'. Data were analysed using multinomial logistic regression to cater for the multiple classifications of the outcome. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, results suggested a significant association between sleep disruptions and poor mental health among caregivers. Those who were frequently disrupted in their sleep were about 2.5 times more likely to experience severe mental ill-health (OR: 2.42, 95% CI = 1.28, 4.54) when compared to those whose sleep was not disrupted at all. There was no significant association between occasional disruptions and mental ill-health after adjusting for potential confounders. Results suggested that sleep disruptions can be considered as a potential risk factor for severe mental ill-health among caregivers.


Topological statistics, in the form of persistence diagrams, are a class of shape descriptors that capture global structural information in data. The mapping from data structures to persistence diagrams is almost everywhere differentiable, allowing for topological gradients to be backpropagated to ordinary gradients. However, as a method for optimizing a topological functional, this backpropagation method is expensive, unstable, and produces very fragile optima. Our contribution is to introduce a novel backpropagation scheme that is significantly faster, more stable, and produces more robust optima. Moreover, this scheme can also be used to produce a stable visualization of dots in a persistence diagram as a distribution over critical, and near-critical, simplices in the data structure.


A novel training algorithm for nonlinear discriminants for classification and regression in Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Spaces (RKHSs) is presented. It is shown how the overdetermined linear least squares-problem in the corresponding RKHS may be solved within a greedy forward selection scheme by updating the pseudoinverse in an order-recursive way. The described construction of the pseudoinverse gives rise to an update of the orthogonal decomposition of the reduced Gram matrix in linear time. Regularization in the spirit of Ridge regression may then easily be applied in the orthogonal space. Various experiments for both classification and regression are performed to show the competitiveness of the proposed method.


Fusion of information from multiple modalities in Human Computer Interfaces (HCI) has gained a lot of attention in recent years, and has far reaching implications in many areas of human-machine interaction. However, a major limitation of current HCI fusion systems is that the fusion process tends to ignore the semantic nature of modalities, which may reinforce, complement or contradict each other over time. Also, most systems are not robust in representing the ambiguity inherent in human gestures. In this work, we investigate an evidential reasoning based approach for intelligent multimodal fusion, and apply this algorithm to a proposed multimodal system consisting of a Hand Gesture sensor and a Brain Computing Interface (BCI). There are three major contributions of this work to the area of human computer interaction. First, we propose an algorithm for reconstruction of the 3D hand pose given a 2D input video. Second, we develop a BCI using Steady State Visually Evoked Potentials, and show how a multimodal system consisting of the two sensors can improve the efficiency and the complexity of the system, while retaining the same levels of accuracy. Finally, we propose a semantic fusion algorithm based on Transferable Belief Models, which can successfully fuse information from these two sensors, to form meaningful concepts and resolve ambiguity. We also analyze this system for robustness under various operating scenarios.


The global synchroneity of glacial-interglacial events is one of the major problems in understanding the link between Milankovitch forcing and the climate of the late Quaternary. In this study we isolate a part of the climate system, the tropical Pacific, and test its sensitivity to changes in solar forcing associated with changes in the Earth's orbital parameters. We use a simplified coupled ocean-atmosphere model that is run for the past 150,000 years and forced with Milankovitch changes in the solar insolation. This system responds primarily to the precessional cycle in solar forcing and is capable of generating a mean response to the changes in the seasonal distribution of solar radiation even while the annual mean insolation is roughly constant. The mean response to the precessional forcing is due to an interaction between an altered seasonal cycle and the El Nifio/Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Changes in the ENSO behavior result in a mean tropical climate change. The hypothesis is advanced that such a change in the tropical climate can generate a globally synchronous climate response to Milankovitch forcing.


This article is an attempt to push the state formation literature away from a reified model of power and towards a more properly sociological account that takes seriously social organization and not merely administration. The argument can be summarized as follows. The focus on administration in the state formation literature has led to conceptual and empirical problems because it fails to adequately account for what is actually going on within the bureaucracy and simply assumes that the organizational forms are sufficient to induce particular patterns of behavior. It is, in effect, held that the mere existence of modern administrative structures produces particular categories of good administrative outcomes. Against this perspective I seek to show the following that the rise of administration did not: 1) lead to a transformation of the nature of authority (i.e. it remained patrimonial and therefore operated according to a different logic than is implied by the state formation literature); and 2) lead to a shift in a more coercive form of governance: it remained, instead, fundamentally a legal, contractual and even moral relationship between the crown and the principle urban and landed elites and therefore the consequences of the emergence of administration have been misunderstood. I seek to show this in three sections. The first examines the state formation literature from Weber to the recent shift towards authority. The second section examines the nature of political authority in Europe during the early modern period by examining the evolution of the political structure of European monarchies. The final section seeks to address head-on the fundamental problem of the change in military organization over the early modern period in order to demonstrate that even in the most coercive administrative organs of the state - the army - the overall patterns of change and continuity has been misunderstood. If the emergence of the 'modern' military administrative structure did not produce a 'modern' army then it is time to reconsider some deeply held assumptions about power and social order.


As the global awareness and concerns about the environment issues increase, many governments, regulatory organisations and business leaders have begun to call on the manufacturing and business communities to play leading roles in the process of moving the global economy towards sustainability. Fierce market competition and price sensitivity have been big obstacles in the development and growth of sustainable/green production industry. In this study, analyses are conducted between two groups of ordinary and green production sectors which produce a similar type of product with different materials and techniques. We categorise them as green and ordinary companies. A game theoretical model is formulated to analyse the market competition, and obtain the dynamic equilibrium under the free entry assumption. Sensitivity analyses and numerical examples can provide suggestions to assist policy makers, governments, company executives and consumers to make better and rational decisions.


The aim of this paper is to make a review of studies concerning problems with alarm systems and to make a theoretical analysis of these problems. The aim is also to show some general design ideas to improve alarm presentation in process descriptions. Using research results from situation awareness and decision making a number of suggestions for further development of alarm systems are presented. Recommendations include providing operators of complex systems feedback that can support their mental models and situational awareness. Furthermore a recommendation is to design alarm systems that can learn from experience.


This thesis provides congruences between unstable and stable automorphic forms for the symplectic similitude group $GSp(4)$. More precisely, we raise the level of certain CAP representations $Pi$ of Saito-Kurokawa type, arising from classical modular forms $f in S_4(Gamma_0(N))$ of square-free level and root number $epsilon_f=-1$. We first transfer $Pi$ to a suitable inner form $G$ such that $G(R)$ is compact modulo its center. This is achieved by viewing $G$ as a similitude spin group of a definite quadratic form in five variables, and then $ heta$-lifting the whole Waldspurger packet for $widetilde{SL}(2)$ determined by $f$. Thereby we obtain an automorphic representation $pi$ of $G$. For the inner form we prove a precise level-raising result, inspired by the work of Bellaiche and Clozel, and relying on computations of Schmidt. Thus we obtain a $ ilde{pi}$ congruent to $pi$, with a local component that is irreducibly induced from an unramified twist of the Steinberg representation of the Klingen Levi subgroup. To transfer $ ilde{pi}$ back to $GSp(4)$, we use Arthur's stable trace formula and the exhaustive work of Hales on Shalika germs and the fundamental lemma in this case. Since $ ilde{pi}$ has a local component of the above type, all endoscopic error terms vanish. Indeed, by Weissauer, we only need to show that such a component does not participate in the $ heta$-correspondence with any $GO(4)$. This is an exercise in using Kudla's filtration of the Jacquet modules of the Weil representation. Thus we get a cuspidal automorphic representation $ ilde{Pi}$ of $GSp(4)$ congruent to $Pi$, which is neither CAP nor endoscopic. In particular, its Galois representations are irreducible by work of Ramakrishnan. It is crucial for our application that we can arrange for $ ilde{Pi}$ to have vectors fixed by the non-special maximal compact subgroups at all primes dividing $N$. Since $G$ is necessarily ramified at some prime $r$, we have to show a non-special analogue of the fundamental lemma at $r$. Fortunately, by work of Kottwitz we can compare the involved orbital integrals to twisted orbital integrals over the unramified quadratic extension of $Q_r$. The inner form $G$ splits over this extension, and the comparison of the twisted orbital integrals can be done by hand. Finally we give an application of our main result to the Bloch-Kato conjecture. Assuming a conjecture of Skinner and Urban on the rank of the monodromy operators at the primes dividing $N$, we construct a torsion class in the Selmer group of the motive $M_f(2)$.


Sleep disorders and sleep deprivation are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States and worldwide.1 As a consequence, billions of dollars are spent each year on the direct costs of sleep disorders and sleep deprivation. These medical costs include expenses associated with doctor visits, hospital services, prescriptions, and over the counter medications. The indirect costs associated with sleep disorders and sleep loss also result in billions of dollars of non-productive annual expenditures, including costs associated with illness-related morbidity and mortality, absenteeism, presenteeism, disability, reduction or loss of productivity, industrial and motor vehicle accidents, hospitalization, and increased alcohol consumption. Thus, sleep disorders and sleep deprivation are significant threats to public health and productivity in the United States and worldwide and no signs of abatement are emerging. One barrier to reducing their impact is the failure to recognize on a societal and personal level, the major consequence of sleep deprivation—sleepiness.

Division of Sleep Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School Boston, MA

Unfortunately, despite the extraordinary advances made by sleep and circadian sciences in recent years, a simple, accurate and relatively inexpensive biomarker to assess sleepiness remains a major challenge. Currently, objective markers of sleepiness are based on difficult to interpret and frequently cumbersome electrophysiologic and/or behavioral tests such as the multiple sleep latency test, psychomotor vigilance test, and pupillometry. Although these tests have proven useful for scientific investigations, they are difficult to use in field studies and would have little practical application in occupational and personal safety scenarios. However, notwithstanding considerable effort, to date no reliable, easy to perform biomarkers of sleepiness have been developed. There is an important need for this technology in several areas: 1) in research field studies of the impact of sleep deprivation in both small and large size cohorts; 2) in clinical and occupational settings where assessment of sleepiness would be considerably useful to objectively validate symptoms of sleepiness and in determining fitness for duty; 3) for personal use where such testing might ultimately provide a means for an individual to determine his/her level of sleepiness and allow self adjustment of medication, analogous to the manner that home glucose testing is used today; and 4) for disease risk stratification in conditions where insufficient sleep has been shown to increase incidence or severity of a disease.

In order to highlight the need for further research into identification of sleepiness biomarkers, and to stimulate further investigative efforts in this area, the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School2 hosted a conference on September 21-22, 2010 Boston, MA entitled "Finding a Research Path for the Identification of Biomarkers of Sleepiness." The conference objectives were the following:

Provide an overview of the utility of current instruments to detect and quantify levels of sleepiness including both subjective and objective tools or techniques.

Present current research on the use of genomic, proteomic, and molecular approaches to assess sleepiness with the emphasis on how such techniques might be used clinically or for clinical research.

Stimulate research into the development of clinically useful biomarkers of sleepiness.

This supplement consisting of short articles by the speakers summarizes their presentations. In addition, there are two edited panel discussions consisting of dialog among the speakers and the audience. The first article by Dr. Charles Czeisler is a summary of the keynote address entitled "Impact of Sleepiness on Public Health — Utility of a Biomarker" further emphasizing the importance of recognizing sleepiness in society and why a biomarker would be useful. An article by Dr. Michelle Albert illustrates how biomarkers have been found to be useful in the field of cardiovascular medicine. This is followed by a series of three articles by Drs. Thomas Balkin, James Krueger and colleagues, and Namni Goel and David Dinges discussing current behavioral, electrophysiologic and genetic markers of sleepiness, concluding with a panel discussion on the "Current Status of Measuring Sleepiness." After the panel discussion, is an article by Dr. Paul Shaw and colleagues describing changes in gene expression in Drosophila as a model for identifying relevant gene expression changes in humans after sleep deprivation. This is followed by articles by Dr. Michelle Miller on the association of inflammatory markers with sleepiness and Dr. Krueger and colleagues on the biochemical regulation of sleep. The potential utility of proteonomic and genomic techniques for identification of a sleepiness biomarker is outlined by Drs. Nirinjini Naidoo and George Church. An additional article by Dr. Giovanna Carpagnano, who was scheduled to speak but who was subsequently unable to attend, on use of exhaled breath analysis as a technique for biomarker identification is included as well. The supplement concludes with a second panel discussion focused on answering the question "Can There Be a Biomarker for Sleepiness?" Not included in the supplement are articles from two other speakers, Drs. Robin Farias-Eisner and Edward Haeggstrom on Biomarkers and Cancer — Lessons for Sleep Research and Traffic and work safety: Nonlinear Transient Analysis to Enhance a Posturographic Sleepiness. However, abstracts of their presentations as well as the agenda for the entire conference can be found at http://sleep.med.harvard.edu/what-we-do/biomarkers-conference.

With this background, it is the hope of conference organizers and sponsors that awareness of societal and personal impact of sleepiness is heightened and that there is an acceleration of research into identifying biomarkers of sleepiness.


Pathways that control complex biological phenomena must be robust enough to function reliably yet retain flexibility if they are to evolve. The ability of bacteria to form spores or move toward food clearly confers a fitness advantage, but it is unclear how the complex networks that control such capabilities evolve. Singh et al. performed a large-scale phylogenetic analysis of three microbial stress response gene networks--those involved in chemotaxis, sporulation, and competence to take up DNA--and found, across various species, that some networks are composed of distinct groups of genes that share similarities in function, phenotype, and sequence evolution rate, groups that they termed "modules." Components of the chemotaxis network clustered into five modules, which evolved independently from one another and often occurred in different combinations that did not correlate with species relatedness. The sporulation network comprised three modules that were very tightly linked to one another, so they were far more likely to be found in an all-or-none manner. In both the chemotaxis and sporulation networks, the combination of modules present in a species did not correlate with its phylogeny but did correlate with its phenotype. The authors also identified several previously undescribed genes in chemotaxis and sporulation modules and suggested that their inclusion in a particular module might be used to predict the function of these genes. Components of the competence network, however, did not form modules. For example, a gene that is present in two competent species may be required for conferring competence in one species but have no function in competence in the other. The authors hypothesize that differences in how these three networks have evolved are a consequence of how the network components are reused in other processes. Organization into modules may simplify repurposing of the components but also limits the points at which new inputs and outputs can feed into the system. A. H. Singh, D. M. Wolf, P. Wang, A. P. Arkin, Modularity of stress response evolution. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 105, 7500-7505 (2008). [Abstract] [Full Text]


This paper analyzed three middle grade novels and a short story from two cultures using the journey motif as the vehicle for the analysis. The three novels are Bud Not Buddy and The Watsons Go to Birmingham both by Paul Curtis (1995, 1999) and Journey to Jo'burg by Naidoo (1985). The short story is My Two Dads by Lee (2000). The three novels and a short story were chosen because these novels are on the reading list for students in many school districts in the USA at the middle grade level. The analysis showed that for the three novels and a short story in the study, each text adhered to some elements/ parts of the journey motif. The paper then suggested 10 literacy strategies that can be used by English Language Arts teachers to engage learners, make the instructional process more interesting and hopefully improve achievement for all learners.


Software architecture analysis is a central activity in software development. Multiple software architecture analysis techniques exist, which differ in cost and complexity, the addressed stakeholders and the supported kinds of analysis. To support comprehensive software architecture analysis, multiple analysis techniques need to be applied within one project. Currently available techniques are not integrated with each other and require the use of different processes, tools, and of different means for architecture representation. This makes the application of different, though potentially complementing analysis techniques time- and resource-intensive, and thus costly. In this paper we present an approach that combines multiple analysis techniques to support comprehensive, integrated and cost-efficient software architecture analysis. Our approach combines analysis functionality provided by software architecture management tools, architecture description languages, and scenario-based analysis techniques.


PURPOSE
Currently, CT has been widely used for HDR planning as MRI is not widely available for tumor imaging. Conventional pear-shaped isodose distribution may not be discarded completely because of possible microscopic diseases into parametrium/uterus. For patients with small uterus, organs at risk (OARs) can fall inside 100% conventional pear-shaped isodose-line. This study compares two pear-shaped based dose optimization methods for OARs sparing.

METHODS
Seven cervical cancer patients with small uterus were evaluated using 2 methods. For Method A, with conventional dwell-time loading, point A lateral distance was reduced until all OARs' D2cc were within the dose limits. For Method B, a reference target volume was generated using conventional pear-shaped 100% isodose- surface. While isodose-line near the point A was adjusted for OARs sparing, isodose-line surrounding ovoids were optimized to match the reference target volume. For equivalent OAR sparing, 100% isodose-line width (lateral dimension) at 1 cm inferior to point A (-1 cm) and at across centers of ovoids (ovoid) were compared between the 2 methods.

RESULTS
OARs fall inside conventional 100% isodose-line in all cases. Median position of hot spots was 0.2 cm (range -;1.2 to 2.9 cm) superior to point A. Using Method A, point A lateral distance was adjusted to 1.4-1.7 cm for OARs sparing. Median width of 100% isodose-line was 5.82 cm at ovoid level, and 4.50 cm at -1 cm level. At ovoid level, median width of 100% isodose-line was reduced by 9(8-13)% for Method A, and was unchanged for Method B. At -1 cm level, median width of 100% isodose-line was reduced by 19(2- 33)% for Method A, and 11(0-15)% for Method B.

CONCLUSIONS
for patients with small uterus, OARs are often fall inside 100% pear-s haped isodose-line near point A level. OARs can be spared without dramatically compromise treatment volume coverage around cervix using Method B.


Organizations have changed over the past several decades with regard to the structuring of work methods and processes. Moving away from the traditional hierarchical design, most organizations are developing flatter, leaner structures that support a more empowered, team‐based workforce. The nature of leadership has also changed significantly over time. Building on the body of work that has been done to understand leadership, the current paper explores the various theories of leadership and how these theories have changed over time. Starting with a review of work done on leadership, the trends and changes over time are discussed. In addition, characteristics of successful leaders are identified. Given current developments in organizations, a call for change is presented in the context of teams and team leadership. A modified view of leadership is proposed that may be more appropriate in team‐based structures.


Background: This study
aims to design and produce electronic content of a microbiology course for
students in AJA (Islamic Republic of Iran Army) University of Medical Sciences
based on Gagne's instructional design model and determine its effectiveness.
Methods: This is a
quasi-experimental study. All medical students studying in the 2014-2015
academic year in AJA University of Medical Sciences who had taken the
microbiology course were entered in the study. Students were divided randomly
into two groups, control and trial (16 subjects in each). After designing and
producing the educational multimedia, the trial group was trained in concepts
of the microbiology course using multimedia educational software during 6
sessions over 6 continuous weeks. Finally, they were given post-test questions
to determine the educational progress level among the students.

Results: The mean ±
standard deviation for pre-test and post-test in the trial group were 4.44 ±
1.99 and 12.75 ± 1.06, respectively, and in the control group they were 3.75 ±
2.32 and 9.31 ± 1.25, respectively. The results of the analysis of covariance
between adjusted means of both groups for variable of learning show a
significant difference between the two groups (F(29,1)= 65.69; P=0.001). The
effect size was 0.69.
Conclusion: The
multimedia software produced in AJA University of Medical Sciences can be used
as a proper educational instrument for teaching the microbiology courses. So,
it is better to incorporate the multimedia method as a part of education into
curriculum of universities, especially medical sciences universities.
Keywords: e-learning,
Gagne's instructional design, model, Education, Army, microbiology course


Bioethanol is ethanol that made by biomass containing with sugar components, starch, or cellulose. Bioethanol is usually used to an ingridient for making liquor, for medical purposes, as a solvent, and that are popular today is the use of bioethanol as an altenative fuel. The use of bioethanol as a fuel mixed with gasoline is called gasohol.
Bananas (Musa paradisiaca L) is a plant that has a native habitat in tropical forests, but these plants can thrive in both lowland and high. Banana fruit without knowing the season, so easy to find throughout the year. Ripe bananas contain a large enough glucose so it can be used as a base for the manufacture bioethanol.
Making bioethanol with basic ingridients of this banana fruit through two stage of the process of fermentation and distillation process. The process of fermentation convert glucose into ethanol with the aid of bacteria contained in cereviceae saccharomyces yeast bread. The process of distillation is purrification process to increase the levels of ethanol producedin fermentation processes. The reactor consists of a series of bioethanol fermentation tanks or tank distilator heating and condenser.
For bioethanol the experiment results, it can be concluded that more used amount of yeast more higher level of alcohol obtained. From the results of experiments on the manufacture of bioethanol from banana with variable addition of yeast 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% obtained the highest alcohol content of bioethanol with 51% of the fourth variables with the addition 4% of yeast.


When training data for machine learning is obtained from many different sources, not all of which may be trusted, it is difficult to determine which training data to accept and which to reject. A policy-based approach for data curation, where the policies are generated after examining the properties of the offered data, can provide a way to only accept selected data for creating a machine learning model. In this paper, we discuss the challenges associated with generating policies that can manage training data from different sources. An efficient policy generation scheme needs to determine the order in which information is received, must have an approach to determine the trustworthiness of each partner, must have an approach to decide how to quickly assess which data subset can add value to a complex model, and must address several other issues. After providing an overview of the challenges, we propose approaches to solve them and study the properties of those approaches.


This article examines sociodemographic risk and smoking and smokeless tobacco use among a national sample of school-based adolescents who participated in the 1993 Teenage Attitudes and Practices Survey. Findings show that six sociodemographic factors (age, gender, ethnicity, income, type of urban area, and region) were significantly associated with cigarette smoking and smokeless tobacco use. Of all smokeless tobacco users, 71.5 percent were also regular smokers or experimental smokers. This article highlights the need to provide comprehensive tobacco use prevention programs that focus on both cigarette and smokeless tobacco use among school adolescents.


Image recovery in optical interferometry is an ill-posed nonlinear inverse problem arising from incomplete power spectrum and bispectrum measurements. We review our previous work, which reformulates this nonlinear problem in the framework of tensor recovery and studies two different approaches to solve it: one is nonlinear and nonconvex while the other is linear and convex. We extend the linear convex procedure to account for signal sparsity and we also present numerical simulations that show the improvement in the quality of reconstruction of sparse images when including a sparsity prior.


The coordination chemistry of acrylonitrile (ACN) has-been studied with the long term view of modifying the reactivity of ACN to a Lewis acid. The first chapter of this work is a review of CAN coordination and organometallic chemistry up to July 1979 together with a comprehensive tabular summary of the literature. The coordination of ACN with relatively hard Lewis acids such as SnCl(_4), TiCl(_4), ZnCl(_2), etc., has been shown to occur via the C≡N lone pair and the repulsive interactions between ACN (as well as acetonitrile, diethyl ether, ethyl acetate and tetrahydrofuran) and GeCl(_4) and SiCl(_4) have been demonstrated by vapour pressure/composition studies. The stereochemistry of the solid adducts SnCl(_4)L(_2) where L = MeCN, Ch(_2)CHCN, Bu(^2), NC(CH(_2))(_n)CN (n = 1-4), 1,4 C(_6)H(_4)(CN)(_2), THF, Me(_2)SO and tetrahydrothiophene was investigated binuclear quadrupole resonance and infra-red spectroscopy. The hydrostannation of nitriles by HCl and SnClg has-been shown to yield β cyanoethyl tin trichloride with ACN but dimeric salts with an amidinium structure with alkyl and aryl nitriles. Finally the stoichiometric dimerization of ACN to solely adiponitrile by cobalt chloride and an electropositive metal (M = M.g, Mn, Zn) in a variety of solvents has been investigated and several plausible mechanisms proposed.


Finite Difference Time Domain Method (FDTDM) is a powerful tool to model electromagnetic propagation; once the medium has been defined by its conductivity (, permittivity ( and permeability (, for each position in the computational volume, is possible to "see" the propagation electromagnetic behavior. We have used FDTDM to model waveguides, slot antennas, field effects over different materials and even propagation effects in nanometric spaces. As obstacles produce reflection, refraction and diffraction phenomena, modifying scattering field in free space zones, knowledge of propagation behavior is very useful to define antenna positions and other system characteristics, for WiFi, cellular telephony and other mobile communication systems. We present in this paper, results of EM propagation modeling inside a building, where furniture, structure, walls and any other obstacle has been defined by their EM constants:  Modeling shows how EM field is distributed all over the chosen zone, giving an almost exact quantification of field magnitude in each point. Modeling uses Yee algorithm to transform Differential Maxwell Equations into Finite Difference Equations, capable to be handled by the computer program developed by us. The source we used was a 2.4 GHz WiFi access point, allowing us to compare computational results with direct measurements in the experimental area. Each computational point was a 0.6 cm (per side cube, over a zone of 9x4x3 m. Results are presented in both, as images showing field distribution in representative areas of analysis zone, and linear graphics comparing acquired computational and measurement data, showing a no more than 3 dB difference between them.


SGK1, a serumand glucocorticoid-inducible kinase implicated in cancer, is regulated by TGF-beta1 and PI3-kinase. In a comparative study of different benign and cancerous breast and prostate cells, we demonstrate in this study that exon 11 deletion in SGK1 occurs only in LNCaP prostate cancer cells in association with the deficient TGFbeta1 mRNA message and FOXO3A-driven promoter activity. Using protein modeling approaches, we discovered that exon11 deletion in SGK1 could redistribute electrostatic surface potential around the major kinase domain and affect phosphorylation of SGK1 target proteins including FOXO3A. Concordantly, we found that LNCaP cells displayed FOXO3A hyperphosphorylation at the Ser218/321 (a site next to Ser315 with the marked SGK1 preference) along with changes in gene expression profile of TGF-beta relevant regulators (such as SMAD2/4, MAD4 and SKIP). Oncomine-interactome analysis further validated a possibility of reciprocal TGF-beta1 regulation by its transcriptional target SGK1 through alterations in FOXO/SMAD and steroid hormone nuclear receptor interactions.


Comparative effectiveness research (CER) using observational data requires informatics methods for the extraction, standardization, sharing, and integration of data derived from a variety of electronic sources. In the Oncoshare project, we have developed such methods as part of a collaborative multi-institutional CER study of patterns, predictors, and outcome of breast cancer care. In this paper, we present an evaluation of the approaches we undertook and the lessons we learned in building and validating the Oncoshare data resource. Specifically, we determined that 1) the state or regional cancer registry makes the most efficient starting point for determining inclusion of subjects; 2) the data dictionary should be based on existing registry standards, such as Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER), when applicable; 3) the Social Security Administration Death Master File (SSA DMF), rather than clinical resources, provides standardized ascertainment of mortality outcomes; and 4) CER database development efforts, despite the immediate availability of electronic data, may take as long as two years to produce validated, reliable data for research. Through our efforts using these methods, Oncoshare integrates complex, longitudinal data from multiple electronic medical records and registries and provides a rich, validated resource for research on oncology care.


A practical guide to web developers who need to scale their CouchDB database instances. The basic concepts behind CouchDB's scalability (i.e. its distributed shared nothing architecture) will be covered as well as: * Replicating using both Futon and CouchDB's RESTful API * Continuous replication * Conflict resolution * Load balancing * Clustering with CouchDB Lounge


Complex, highly computational, individual-based models are abundant in epidemiology. For epidemics such as macro-parasitic diseases, detailed modelling of human behaviour and pathogen life-cycle are required in order to produce accurate results. This can often lead to models that are computationally-expensive to analyse and perform model fitting, and often require many simulation runs in order to build up sufficient statistics. Emulation can provide a more computationally-efficient output of the individual-based model, by approximating it using a statistical model. Previous work has used Gaussian processes in order to achieve this, but these can not deal with multi-modal, heavy-tailed, or discrete distributions. Here, we introduce the concept of a mixture density network (MDN) in its application in the emulation of epidemiological models. MDNs incorporate both a mixture model and a neural network to provide a flexible tool for emulating a variety of models and outputs. We develop an MDN emulation methodology and demonstrate its use on a number of simple models incorporating both normal, gamma and beta distribution outputs. We then explore its use on the stochastic SIR model to predict the final size distribution and infection dynamics. MDNs have the potential to faithfully reproduce multiple outputs of an individual-based model and allow for rapid analysis from a range of users. As such, an open-access library of the method has been released alongside this manuscript. Author summary Infectious disease modellers have a growing need to expose their models to a variety of stakeholders in interactive, engaging ways that allow them to explore different scenarios. This approach can come with a considerable computational cost that motivates providing a simpler representation of the complex model. We propose the use of mixture density networks as a solution to this problem. These are highly flexible, deep neural network-based models that can emulate a variety of data, including counts and over-dispersion. We explore their use firstly through emulating a negative-binomial distribution, which arises in many places in ecology and parasite epidemiology. We then explore the approach using a stochastic SIR model. We also provide an accompanying Python library with code for all examples given in the manuscript. We believe that the use of emulation will provide a method to package an infectious disease model such that it can be disseminated to the widest audience possible.


Set of different sensor nodes deployed in area is wireless sensor network. Deployed nodes are capturing the environmental condition and transfer information packet to sink node. Latency, delivery ratio, loss ratio, throughput, congestion control, fairness, reliability are the some parameters or quality of services of wireless sensor networks. In this paper results shows the performance of new implemented FMAC protocol for varying packet size. FMAC (Federated MAC) is combination of strength of CSMA and TDMA MAC Protocols. Results of FMAC Protocol compare with existing MAC Protocols CSMA, TDMA and 802.15.4. Paper analyzing parameters (Quality of Services) of sensor network against the Packet Size. More Quality of Services of sensor networks is achieved using FMAC Protocol.


Transjordanian military intelligence was established just before the 1948 war with the help of the British army, to assist the Arab Legion in the war against the Jews in Palestine. Military intelligence was a very small unit (some historians have treated it as if it did not exist), but it was also very effective. During the war, Transjordanian military intelligence was busier protecting the Hashimite regime than collecting information regarding the Jews. As long as the British army was in Palestine, the Transjordanian Arab Legion's military intelligence was busier maintaining the regime than collecting information regarding the potential enemy. This was due to the fact that until the 1948 war of Israeli independence, Transjordan was not facing any external threat, and therefore did not need a military intelligence system. The Arab Legion (Transjordan's Army) received its intelligence information from the British Army, which was stationed in Palestine, and was also responsible for the safety of Transjordan in the event of a general war.1 However, with the decision of the British to retreat from Palestine, the Arab Legion had to establish a different intelligence system, one capable of battle intelligence, one it could use in the coming war against the Jews in Palestine. In order to establish an efficient system, the Arab Legion used the assistance of the British, who started building the Legion's battle intelligence system according to the British model. Indeed a small intelligence unit was established in the Arab Legion as early as the end of World War II, but just before the 1948 war the British intended to improve and adapt it to the new circumstances.2 That is how, with the help of the British, and contrary to what some researchers have written, on the eve of the war there was a military intelligence division, which was built as a structural hierarchic system, containing all the collection and appreciation units, which were customary in the British Army's intelligence.3 The British help, and the influence they had on the Arab Legion's intelligence did not end with the establishing of the intelligence force, but grew wider during the 1948 war, until it turned into full cooperation between the two intelligence services. This article deals with the establishment of the military intelligence of the Arab Legion, its development, and its contribution to the 1948 war. TRANSJORDANIAN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE ON THE EVE OF THE 1948 WAR Transjordan's intelligence force emphasized battle intelligence, that is, observations and patrols, which were the responsibility of the battalion's intelligence officer, who was responsible for primary processing of information for the battalion and communicating that information to nearby battalions and to the brigade. Even though the battalion's intelligence officer was supposed to process the information and pass only the important material to the brigade or the division, usually these non-professional officers would transfer all of the intelligence information gathered to the commanding headquarters, without winnowing the key information from details of secondary importance.4 The Arab Legion's intelligence force was composed of collection units and a research unit. The research unit was divided into sub-units by sections: north, center, and south, so that the relevant information reached the right front. The units that dealt with concluding, evaluating and analyzing the intelligence information were in both the General Staff and in the brigades. They would receive the intelligence information from the battalions and analyze it. In certain cases, when evaluation officers thought that the information was highly valuable or of primary national importance, they would refer it to the General Staff of the Arab Legion in Amman, or even to national authorities.5 Furthermore, each brigade's intelligence unit held files of important people, units, targets, forces, etc. …


One of the latest technologies that have been quickly popularized in the new millennium is wireless connectivity. Cellular phones and other modes and forms of mobile communication have seen consistent growth throughout the world and this has made the lives of the people easier. However, as with other technologies, greater access to wireless access is sometimes hindered by choke points is the area of policymaking. Case analyses of the enabling environment of wireless technologies in Asian countries like India, Philippines and Sri Lanka suggest the adoption of policies that will lessen if not totally remove restrictions related to import of hardware, among others, that make the technology still inaccessible to many.


Big Ideas in Education: What Every Teacher Should Know by Dr Russell Grigg provides an accessible and easily understood introductory guide to the big ideas that really matter in education. The teaching profession is saturated with ideas. Unfortunately, some of these are half-baked or fundamentally flawed. Dr Russell Grigg moves beyond the unhelpful supposed dichotomies that pervade current educational thinking – child-centred versus teacher-centred, traditional versus progressive. Throughout the book, readers are invited to question assumptions and popular rhetoric and reflect on their own experiences. Big Ideas in Education aims to equip teachers with a good understanding of current thinking in a diverse, fluid and dynamic field. Each of the big ideas is discussed within the framework of four questions: what is the big idea, who is behind it, why is it important and what can you do?

Big ideas are important, distinctive, empowering, adaptable and simple to understand. Dr Russell Grigg provides readers with a concise and reliable introduction to twelve such ideas, which are at the core of educational practice. The ideas chosen are general rather than subject-specific in nature. In turn, they invite the reader to look at teaching in wider society, address elements of learning which teachers actively promote, raise questions about why, how and what to teach and, finally, look at ways of improving the quality of education.

The twelve big ideas under discussion are:

1. Education – education goes beyond the school gates and is a lifelong experience

2. Childhood – children need time and space to explore, enjoy learning and develop as children rather than miniature adults

3. Knowledge – knowledge is the foundation for learning

4. Skills – learners need to develop a broad range of skills in real-life, relevant contexts

5. Dispositions – effective learning depends upon cultivating positive dispositions

6. Ethics – teachers' conduct should be guided by a moral purpose

7. Instruction – direct instruction is a tried-and-tested means of effective teaching

8. Curriculum – the curriculum is all the learning and assessment activities in school, both planned and unintentional, that contribute to agreed educational goals

9. Feedback – providing personalised, accurate, specific and timely feedback is one of the keys to improving learning

10. Reflective practice – good teachers critically analyse their practice with a view to improving what they do

11. Research – research has a central role to play in the professional development of teachers

12. Professional leadership – effective school leadership operates at all levels and is about shared vision, support and securing improvement

An ideal book for busy teachers who need to be kept up to speed with the latest thinking in education, this comprehensive guide provides the essential knowledge to keep you fully informed, whether leading staff discussions, submitting assignments or preparing for interviews. Suitable for teachers in any setting, from trainees and NQTs to more experienced practitioners looking to reflect on their practice, the book will also appeal to school leaders and teacher training providers.


Host Identity Protocol (HIP), a novel internetworking technology proposes separation of the identity-location roles of the Internet Protocol (IP). HIP has been successful from the technological perspectives for network security and mobility, however, it has very limited deployment. In this paper we assess HIP to find the reasons behind its limited deployment and highlight the challenges faced by HIP for its commercial use. We propose technological development and outline deployment strategies for the wide use of HIP. Furthermore, this paper investigates the use of HIP in Software Defined Networks (SDN) to evaluate its performance in new disruptive networking technologies. In a nutshell, this paper presents revealing challenges for the deployment of innovative networking protocols and a way ahead for successful and large scale deployment.


Title of Document: THE ADI-FDTD METHOD FOR HIGH ACCURACY ELECTROPHYSICS APPLICATIONS Mohammad Haeri Kermani, Doctor of Philosophy, 2006 Directed By: Professor Omar M. Ramahi, Mechanical Engineering Department, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department The Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) is a dependable method to simulate a wide range of problems from acoustics, to electromagnetics, and to photonics, amongst others. The execution time of an FDTD simulation is inversely proportional to the time-step size. Since the FDTD method is explicit, its time-step size is limited by the well-known Courant-Friedrich-Levy (CFL) stability limit. The CFL stability limit can render the simulation inefficient for very fine structures. The Alternating Direction Implicit FDTD (ADI-FDTD) method has been introduced as an unconditionally stable implicit method. Numerous works have shown that the ADIFDTD method is stable even when the CFL stability limit is exceeded. Therefore, the ADI-FDTD method can be considered an efficient method for special classes of problems with very fine structures or high gradient fields. Whenever the ADI-FDTD method is used to simulate open-region radiation or scattering problems, the implementation of a mesh-truncation scheme or absorbing boundary condition becomes an integral part of the simulation. These truncation techniques represent, in essence, differential operators that are discretized using a distinct differencing scheme which can potentially affect the stability of the scheme used for the interior region. In this work, we show that the ADI-FDTD method can be rendered unstable when higher-order mesh truncation techniques such as Higdon's Absorbing Boundary Condition (ABC) or Complementary Derivatives Method (COM) are used. When having large field gradients within a limited volume, a non-uniform grid can reduce the computational domain and, therefore, it decreases the computational cost of the FDTD method. However, for high-accuracy problems, different grid sizes increase the truncation error at the boundary of domains having different grid sizes. To address this problem, we introduce the Complementary Derivatives Method (CDM), a second-order accurate interpolation scheme. The CDM theory is discussed and applied to numerical examples employing the FDTD and ADI-FDTD methods. THE ADI-FDTD METHOD FOR HIGH ACCURACY ELECTROPHYSICS APPLICATIONS


Visual and somatosensory signals participate together in providing an estimate of the hand's spatial location. While the ability of subjects to identify the spatial location of their hand based on visual and proprioceptive signals has previously been characterized, relatively few studies have examined in detail the spatial structure of the proprioceptive map of the arm. Here, we reconstructed and analyzed the spatial structure of the estimation errors that resulted when subjects reported the location of their unseen hand across a 2D horizontal workspace. Hand position estimation was mapped under four conditions: with and without tactile feedback, and with the right and left hands. In the task, we moved each subject's hand to one of 100 targets in the workspace while their eyes were closed. Then, we either a) applied tactile stimulation to the fingertip by allowing the index finger to touch the target or b) as a control, hovered the fingertip 2 cm above the target. After returning the hand to a neutral position, subjects opened their eyes to verbally report where their fingertip had been. We measured and analyzed both the direction and magnitude of the resulting estimation errors. Tactile feedback reduced the magnitude of these estimation errors, but did not change their overall structure. In addition, the spatial structure of these errors was idiosyncratic: each subject had a unique pattern of errors that was stable between hands and over time. Finally, we found that at the population level the magnitude of the estimation errors had a characteristic distribution over the workspace: errors were smallest closer to the body. The stability of estimation errors across conditions and time suggests the brain constructs a proprioceptive map that is reliable, even if it is not necessarily accurate. The idiosyncrasy across subjects emphasizes that each individual constructs a map that is unique to their own experiences.


Elk (Cervus elaphus) were historically found throughout North America but were extirpated from Nebraska and much of the Great Plains in the 1880s due to consumptive uses by settlers, miners, market hunters, and others. Elk began to reappear in Nebraska in the 1950s and 1960s, and established a stable, nonmigratory population that currently consists of seven herds and an estimated 1,400 individuals throughout western and central Nebraska. The reappearance and subsequent persistence of elk in Nebraska suggests there is adequate habitat to support a self-sustaining population. The general movement of elk eastward may lead to an eventual statewide distribution, and populations being established in states to the east and south of Nebraska, where elk populations were historically present and suitable habitat still exists. We examined published historic accounts, museum and archeological records, and current literature to determine historic and current distribution of elk in Nebraska and the Great Plains.


PURPOSE
Predictive maintenance programs employ non-invasive methods to monitor the performance of systems to determine when preemptive intervention is required to maintain high quality performance. The focus of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a modified calculation method for the control limits of process control charts (PCC) that will reduce false positive alarms but detect clinically relevant changes in beam uniformity (flatness and symmetry).

METHODS
Steering coil currents (SCC) for the transverse and radial planes are adjusted such that a reproducibly useful photon or electron beam is available. Performing controlled experiments varying a single SCC, we were able to determine the magnitude of change required to produce a 1% change in beam uniformity. The average and range (Xbar/R) control chart limit calculation was reformulated incorporating a scaling factor (Cm). After monitoring the SCC of 3 accelerators for several months, without detecting any PCC alarms, we intentionally changed the transverse angle and position SCC independently until the beam symmetry differed by ∼1.1% from baseline as confirmed by computerized beam profile scan in water using an ion chamber. These experimental SCC values were plotted in the PCC to determine if they would exceed the modified control limits.

RESULTS
The experimental SCC value exceeded the PCC limit for each of the steering coils. Additionally, the capability of the new control limit calculation method was confirmed when an anomaly was detected in the operation of an accelerator in clinical use. Instability in the operation of the 18 MV photon beam was predicted by SPC analysis prior to it being confirmed by service and daily check devices. If the analysis had been performed using the original methodology, a number of false positives would have been reported.

CONCLUSION
Reformulated X-bar/R chart control limits of SCC can provide an effective predictive maintenance tool for accelerator beam uniformity. This project is supported by a grant from Varian Medical Systems.


Praziquantel is a broad spectrum anthelmintic drug that has been used therapeutically in humans and other animals for over 30 years. The efficacy of praziquantel against polyopisthocotylean and monopisthocotylean monogenean flukes in fish using bath treatments has been well demonstrated, however such treatments are prohibitively expensive for sea cage operations. In-feed treatments are also effective, however praziquantel is very bitter and its inclusion into fish diets has a negative impact on food intake and therefore effective dosing. This study aimed to investigate several innovative approaches to improve the palatability of feed containing praziquantel for commercially cultured yellowtail kingfish. The study revealed that freshly applying garlic extract to the surface of pellets coated with praziquantel was highly effective at increasing palatability. Incorporation of praziquantel into mash feeds before pellet extrusion, incorporation of praziquantel into hydrogenated castor oil solid lipid nanoparticles and the use of transglutaminase to strengthen the gelatin binder all proved ineffective at increasing palatability. When the garlic extract was applied 5 days prior to feeding the diets, palatability was reduced. Fish fed diets freshly coated with garlic extract consumed 100% of the ration at a praziquantel dietary inclusion level of 5 g/kg. As the praziquantel inclusion level increased to 15 g/kg the consumption reduced slightly, but not significantly. The time taken to consume the ration was significantly slower in diets containing praziquantel and garlic extract coating compared to diets without praziquantel, regardless of praziquantel dietary inclusion level. This study focused on juvenile kingfish less than 350grams. Future research should revolve around larger kingfish, testing lower concentrations of garlic extract and testing efficacy of the actual treatment in fish infested with flukes. The findings have considerable potential to increase the efficiency of application of praziquantel to yellowtail kingfish and potentially other cultured finfish.


Active matrix flat-panel imager (AMFPI) technology is being employed for an increasing variety of imaging applications. An important element in the adoption of this technology has been significant ongoing improvements in optical signal collection achieved through innovations in indirect detection array pixel design. Such improvements have a particularly beneficial effect on performance in applications involving low exposures and/or high spatial frequencies, where detective quantum efficiency is strongly reduced due to the relatively high level of additive electronic noise compared to signal levels of AMFPI devices. In this article, an examination of various signal properties, as determined through measurements and calculations related to novel array designs, is reported in the context of the evolution of AMFPI pixel design. For these studies, dark, optical, and radiation signal measurements were performed on prototype imagers incorporating a variety of increasingly sophisticated array designs, with pixel pitches ranging from 75 to 127 microm. For each design, detailed measurements of fundamental pixel-level properties conducted under radiographic and fluoroscopic operating conditions are reported and the results are compared. A series of 127 microm pitch arrays employing discrete photodiodes culminated in a novel design providing an optical fill factor of approximately 80% (thereby assuring improved x-ray sensitivity), and demonstrating low dark current, very low charge trapping and charge release, and a large range of linear signal response. In two of the designs having 75 and 90 microm pitches, a novel continuous photodiode structure was found to provide fill factors that approach the theoretical maximum of 100%. Both sets of novel designs achieved large fill factors by employing architectures in which some, or all of the photodiode structure was elevated above the plane of the pixel addressing transistor. Generally, enhancement of the fill factor in either discrete or continuous photodiode arrays was observed to result in no degradation in MTF due to charge sharing between pixels. While the continuous designs exhibited relatively high levels of charge trapping and release, as well as shorter ranges of linearity, it is possible that these behaviors can be addressed through further refinements to pixel design. Both the continuous and the most recent discrete photodiode designs accommodate more sophisticated pixel circuitry than is present on conventional AMFPIs--such as a pixel clamp circuit, which is demonstrated to limit signal saturation under conditions corresponding to high exposures. It is anticipated that photodiode structures such as the ones reported in this study will enable the development of even more complex pixel circuitry, such as pixel-level amplifiers, that will lead to further significant improvements in imager performance.


Energy is essential in our daily life. The world we know and live in today simply cannot function without it. This report intends to answer how much energy is likely to be needed in countries across the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) through 2040? We estimate region-wide total primary energy demand to be at least 80% higher than present day levels. We anticipate some gains in efficiency across economies region-wide. Considering the region as a whole, LAC will have reduced energy intensity by more than 17% by the end of the projection period. On the electricity side, regional power needs are projected to grow by more than 91% through 2040, reaching over 2,970 TWh - growing at an average annual rate of 2.4%. Keeping the lights on for everyone means that the region will need to add nearly 1,500 TWh to meet its additional electricity requirements. This report is meant to provide a basis for understanding future energy demand in Latin American and the Caribbean countries.


Background: The introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapies (HAART) in 1996 to treat patients living with the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), led to dramatic improvements in their mortality and morbidity. However, high levels of adherence to HAART regimens are required and due to the very nature of HIV-1: its high replicative capacity and lack of a proof reading mechanism, drug resistance mutations emerge, which impact on the ability of the drugs to suppress the patient's circulating viruses. Genotypic resistance testing can determine whether mutations have developed which confer resistance to specific antiretrovirals (ARV) and thus enhance clinical care.
Methods: A clinical cohort database was developed to host the demographic, treatment and resistance mutation data for patients living with HIV-1 across the United Kingdom (UK) who had a genotypic resistance test (tests) conducted as part of their clinical care. These data were pooled and interrogated to determine the evolution and dynamics of resistance in targeted sub-groups of patients including treatment-naive patients; treatment-experienced patients and their potential susceptibility to new ARV drugs; and the evolution of new subtype profiles within the clinical cohort and the impact of this on clinical outcomes. The over-riding aim of each of the studies was to improve the clinical care of patients with HIV-1 infection in the UK.
Results: In the treatment-naive patient cohort (n=380), a resistance prevalence rate of 16.5% was determined. In the treatment-experienced cohort (n=1,786), the resistance prevalence rate was 68.1%. Of those treatment-experienced, 91.3% would be susceptible to the new ARV Etravirine (ETV) and 89.7% to Darunavir (DRV). In the subtype patient cohort (n=1,642), an increase in the prevalence of pure and recombinant non-B subtypes over time was demonstrated and characterised, as well as the identification of polymorphisms specific to non-B subtypes compared to subtype B.
Conclusions: The resistance prevalence rate of >10.0% in the treatment-naive patient cohort supported the need to conduct genotypic resistance tests for all treatment-naive patients with HIV-1 infection before commencement of HAART in order to ensure the patient was starting on the optimal first-line treatment regimen to control their virus. National and European guidelines were subsequently amended to reflect this requirement. The treatment-experienced patient cohort analyses confirmed the resistance mutations circulating within the treated HIV-1 community which are the source of transmitted resistance to the treatment-naive patients. Further analyses of the treatment-experienced cohort suggested two new ARVs which were due to be licenced for use with HIV-1 patients would be "theoretically susceptible", providing further treatment options for these patients with resistance mutations. The subtype patient cohort work determined that subtype characterisation should be introduced as part of clinical care due to the impact of non-B subtypes on the success of genotypic resistance testing, and the different mutational pathways which might occur, leading to resistance in different subtypes.
All these studies provided data and evidence of current issues which impacted on the clinical care of patients living with HIV-1 in the UK and influenced changes in guidelines on how best to manage and improve patient care.


Richard Krautheimer's grand synthesis of the history of art, architecture, and politics in medieval Rome has inspired a generation of subsequent publications, including revisionist ones. Focusing on the twelfth century, this essay rereads Krautheimer against a semiotic paradigm proposed by Marvin Trachtenberg and an alternative version of the history offered by Peter Cornelius Claussen, supplementing both with socio-historical, archaeological, and art historical research of the last twenty-five years. The result is a more reception-oriented history that highlights social and political diversity within Rome and possible misreadings of the intended messages of the familiar churches built between 1100 and 1143: San Clemente, Santa Maria in Cosmedin, San Crisogono, and Santa Maria in Trastevere. Archaeological discoveries like those in the Crypta Balbi also illuminate the revalorization of ancient ruins found in such texts as Hildebert of Lavardin's "Par tibi, Roma, nihil" and the Mirabilia urbis Romae.


Increasing a company's short-term profit seems to be still the primary responsibility of business leaders, but profit-oriented decision strategies may also elicit long-term side effects. While positive side effects might be considered as an additional benefit, negative side effects are a crucial problem calling for social responsibility. One central question is how the public evaluates managerial decisions based on an indifferent attitude toward potential side effects. This topical question becomes even more salient when focusing on multinational companies and cross-cultural differences in judgment tendencies. Thus, we explored effects of the boss–employee relationship on attributions of intentionality as well as blame and praise in the case of positive and negative side effects that derive from a solely profit-oriented measure of a company decided by its boss. With participants from Germany and the United Arab Emirates, we investigated whether the social role (boss vs. employee) influences these attributions and whether cross-cultural differences in the perception of social hierarchy moderate the effects. We used an adapted version of a paradigm developed by Knobe (2003), who discovered an asymmetry in the attribution of intentionality: While negative side effects are perceived as intentional and blameworthy, positive side effects do not cause the same intentionality attributions and do not appear as particularly praiseworthy. Across two studies, we were able to replicate the typical asymmetric attribution of blame/praise and intentionality for the boss in both cultures. Moreover, we also demonstrate moderating effects of the social role and the cultural background on these attributions. Overall, the results show that the boss–employee relationship is differently evaluated in different cultures, and this might explain some of the variance in perceived accountability within companies. Moreover, an indifferent attitude toward potential side effects leads to less lenient evaluations of managers and their subordinated employees. We discuss practical and theoretical implications.


Geese need to hug the land to fly high Animal migrations provide numerous examples of astonishing feats. Impressive even among these is the migration of bar-headed geese across the Himalayan Mountains, which reach heights of thousands of meters. Bishop et al. remotely monitored birds' heart rates, movement, and body temperature during migration. The geese "hug" the landforms, taking advantage of drafting and wind patterns. This unexpected strategy conserves energy, even though it means the geese repeatedly lose, and must then regain, altitude. Science, this issue p. 250 High-flying geese make multiple ascents and descents as they cross the Himalayas. The physiological and biomechanical requirements of flight at high altitude have been the subject of much interest. Here, we uncover a steep relation between heart rate and wingbeat frequency (raised to the exponent 3.5) and estimated metabolic power and wingbeat frequency (exponent 7) of migratory bar-headed geese. Flight costs increase more rapidly than anticipated as air density declines, which overturns prevailing expectations that this species should maintain high-altitude flight when traversing the Himalayas. Instead, a "roller coaster" strategy, of tracking the underlying terrain and discarding large altitude gains only to recoup them later in the flight with occasional benefits from orographic lift, is shown to be energetically advantageous for flights over the Himalayas.


Fire regimes were reconstructed from fire-scarred trees on five large forested study sites (135-810 ha) on the North and South Rims at Grand Canyon National Park. Adequacy of sampling was tested with cumulative sample curves, effectiveness of fire recording on individual trees, tree age data, and the occurrence of 20th Century fires which permitted comparison of fire-scar data with fire-record data, a form of modern calibration for the interpretation of fire-scar results. Fire scars identified all 13 recorded fires >8 ha on the study sites since 1924, when record keeping started. Records of fire season and size corresponded well with fire-scar data. We concluded that the sampling and analysis methods were appropriate and accurate for this area, in contrast to the suggestion that these methods are highly uncertain in ponderosa pine forests. Prior to 1880, fires were most frequent on low- elevation 'islands' of ponderosa pine forest formed by plateaus or points (Weibull Median Probability Intervals (WMPI) 3.0-3.9 years for all fires, 6.3-8.6 years for 'large' fires scarring 25% or more of the sampled trees). Fires were less frequent on a higher-elevation 'mainland' site located further to the interior of the North Rim (WMPI 5.1 years all fires, 8.7 years large fires), but fires tended to occur in relatively drier years and individual fires were more likely to burn larger portions of the study site. In contrast to the North Rim pattern of declining fire frequency with elevation, a low-elevation 'mainland' site on the South Rim had the longest fire-free intervals prior to European settlement (WMPI 6.5 years all fires, 8.9 years large fires). As in much of western North America, surface fire regimes were interrupted around European settlement, 1879 on the North Rim and 1887 on the South Rim. However, either two or three large surface fires have burned across each of the geographically remote point and plateau study sites of the western North Rim since settlement. To some extent, these sites may be rare representatives of nearly-natural conditions due to the relatively undisrupted fire regimes in a never-harvested forest setting. Additional keywords: Ponderosa pine; Gambel oak; mixed conifer; Kaibab Plateau; Coconino Plateau; modern calibration.


Abstract The Natal Group and Msikaba Formation remain relatively poorly understood with regards to their provenance and relative age of deposition; a much-needed geochronological study of the detrital zircons from these two units was therefore undertaken. Five samples of the Durban and Mariannhill Formations (Natal Group) and the Msikaba Formation (Cape Supergroup) were obtained. A total of 882 concordant U–Pb ages of detrital zircon populations from these units were determined by means of laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Major Neoproterozoic and secondary Mesoproterozoic detrital zircon age populations are present in the detrital zircon content of all the samples. Smaller contributions from Archean-, Palaeoproterozoic-, Cambrian- and Ordovician-aged grains are also present. Due to the presence of a prominent major population of 800–1000 Ma zircons in all the samples, late Stenian – Tonian ancient volcanic arc complexes overprinted by Pan-African metamorphism of Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia, along with areas of similar age within Antarctica, India and Sri Lanka, are suggested as major sources of detritus. The Namaqua–Natal Metamorphic Complex is suggested as a possible source of minor late Mesoproterozoic-aged detritus. Minor populations of Archean and Palaeoproterozoic zircons were likely sourced from the Kaapvaal and Grunehogna Cratons. Post-orogenic Cambrian – Lower Ordovician granitoids of the Mozambique Belt (Mozambique) and the Maud Belt (Antarctica) made lesser contributions. In view of the apparent broad similarity of source areas for the Natal Group and Msikaba Formation, their sedimentation occurred in parts of the same large and evolving basin rather than localized in small continental basins, and the current exposures merely represent small erosional relicts.


Continued from combinatorial decision analysis for BEEE, economic leadership calls for reforms of sorts and among the forefront is instructional system for tertiary educational that can seamlessly transit graduates into industries. This paper suggests an industry centric instructional system developed out of constructivism towards structural functionalism by tri-parties collaborative learning; a continuous industry CRM appraisal process of college facilitation and interns on a yearlong work-integrated-dissertation-environment to practice the fundamental analysis aspect of the BEEE paradigm. In essence, a structural functional instructional model designed from six uncontested principles can collectively agree to a pedagogic step up process. Four time-tested systems from the automotive assembly, SSADM, training and quality industries with a common denominator of four levels demonstrate the development of an instructional system that skews CRM constructivism towards structural functionalism for industrializing economies. Compositing Bayesian approach onto Pareto distribution weight and onward with harmonic means, the index for training effectiveness is established.


Construction and sensing within malleable interfaces is usually limited by a number of constraints. Building the interface from diverse combinations of conductive and nonconductive soft materials, such as fabrics or foams combined with various sensors, complicates the manufacturing process and offers limited options in shaping. In this paper we propose "Unique Topologies for Acoustic Propagation" (UTAP), a novel approach for algorithmic design of malleable tangible interfaces. A fundamental feature of our approach is the implementation of algorithmically generated topologically distinct lattices that, attached to piezoelectric (PZT) transducers, allow us to sense and recognize changes in a modulated acoustic signal on deformation and classify it into different interaction states. Our systematic approach to manufacturing malleable interfaces opens possibilities to design shapes that allow implementation in a wide range of potential use cases. We demonstrate the UTAP approach on multiple interfaces assembled using laser cut and 3D printed lattices in conjunction with silicon compound moulding. Finally, we present a technical evaluation of our method based on studies of four distinct interface designs, assessing performance in sensing and localising simple deformations such as pressing on single and multiple spots, as well as different force levels and actions, including bending and twisting.


Recent advances in 3D deep learning have shown that it is possible to train highly effective deep models for 3D shape generation, directly from 2D images. This is particularly interesting since the availability of 3D models is still limited compared to the massive amount of accessible 2D images, which is invaluable for training. The representation of 3D surfaces itself is a key factor for the quality and resolution of the 3D output. While explicit representations, such as point clouds and voxels, can span a wide range of shape variations, their resolutions are often limited. Mesh-based representations are more efficient but are limited by their ability to handle varying topologies. Implicit surfaces, however, can robustly handle complex shapes, topologies, and also provide flexible resolution control. We address the fundamental problem of learning implicit surfaces for shape inference without the need of 3D supervision. Despite their advantages, it remains nontrivial to (1) formulate a differentiable connection between implicit surfaces and their 2D renderings, which is needed for image-based supervision; and (2) ensure precise geometric properties and control, such as local smoothness. In particular, sampling implicit surfaces densely is also known to be a computationally demanding and very slow operation. To this end, we propose a novel ray-based field probing technique for efficient image-to-field supervision, as well as a general geometric regularizer for implicit surfaces, which provides natural shape priors in unconstrained regions. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our framework on the task of single-view image-based 3D shape digitization and show how we outperform state-of-the-art techniques both quantitatively and qualitatively.


Traveltime-related capture areas of wells can be estimated in Hydrogeologie settings with predominantly two-dimensional flow regimes using image-well theory, the principle of superposition, an appropriate well-hydraulics; equation, and particle-tracking analysis. These analytical methods can be used to simulate the response of an aquifer to pumping stress by incorporating site-specific values of hydraulic properties, the effects of geologic and hydrologie boundaries, nonuniform regional hydraulic gradients, and well interferences. This is done by developing a conceptual model of the flow system, incorporating an image-well solution (if needed), computing drawdowns at the intersections of a rectangular grid superposed over the area of interest, and subtracting computed drawdowns from regional prepumping head values assigned to the grid intersections. The resulting flow model can be calibrated by comparing predicted heads with measured heads. The calibrated head distribution then is used in a particle-tracking analysis to determine flowpath trajectories and traveltime-related capture areas of wells.

Analytical flow models based on the Theis equation and the Hantush-Jacob equation were constructed from conceptual flow models based on geologic, hydrologie, and pumpage data from wellfields completed in a confined/unconfined stratified-drift aquifer and in a leaky-confined fractured-carbonate aquifer. Predicted head distributions from the calibrated flow models were used in a particle-tracking analysis to compute flowpath trajectories and traveltime-related capture areas. The results compare favorably with known flowpaths from sources of contamination proximal to each wellfield.


The aim of this article is to present findings on knowledge management (KM) and knowledge creation, as well as open innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Iceland. Two SME company case studies are presented in the form of a case study involving semistructured interviews with managers and selected employees and in-field observation. Company Alpha is a software company, whereas Company Beta is a family company which produces drinks and snacks. Knowledge creation and innovation is a learning process in both companies. The two companies show very different open-innovation models in practice. The findings regarding the two companies are in accordance with the arguments of Chiaroni et al., where they state that high-tech companies tend to prefer inside-out strategies of open innovation, whereas low-tech companies prefer outside-in strategies. Company Alpha relates to customers late in the process, whereas Company Beta relies on knowledge from customers and suppliers and for new knowledge early on in the process.