Location events can be mainly described as the relationship setting up the location of a particular object(s) in relation to the other object(s). Location events are akin to motion events whose typology is well studied in the literature especially in the work of Talmy (1991, 2000), but differ from them in that 'motion events' focuses on the motion, while location events focuses on the spatial relationships between the Figure, object that is being located, and the Ground, object(s) that conform to the location of the Figure. Languages express these locative relationships differently. This study analyzes how two typologically different languages, Turkish and Danish, express the location events and how bilingual speakers of these two languages express location events in both Danish and Turkish. The study utilizes quantitative and qualitative tools to analyze the data gathered from the picture based elicitation from the monolingual and bilingual speakers. The study suggests that language contact in bilingual Turkish and Danish has a major role in the operating typology of the two languages and in the encoding of the spatial relationships in location events.


This research explores the artist's role as an instigator, facilitator and advocate. By inviting members of the community to participate in an art project, the research project investigates art's potential for generating significant community engagement and facilitating shared cultural experience. In focusing on the subject of convict women, community participants have both reflected on and raised awareness of a history shrouded by a veil of amnesia.
The project has involved the development of a large—scale installation, entitled Departures and Arrivals, individual components of which have been created by members of the public. The installation has been presented in general community settings in cities and towns around Tasmania and in Sydney. The sites chosen have been historic convict sites or art galleries, with the majority of the settings being outdoors. The subject—matter of Departures and Arrivals concerns the convict women of 19th century Van Diemen's Land and the extremely high death—rate, even for the time, among the babies of these women within the Cascades Female Factory at South Hobart. A combination of historical research and community involvement in art production has served to encourage reflection on the tragedy of the scores of deceased babies, the grief of their incarcerated mothers and the grim system to which they were all subjected - and the 'forgetting' that ensued through subsequent generations.
The project has been informed by the philosophies and strategies of various contemporary artists whose work involves community engagement. Some, such as Vivienne Binns and Olafur Eliasson, involve members of the community in actual creative production. Others, whose work derives from socio-cultural concerns and who present their art in a variety of settings outside the formal gallery situation, include Julie Gough, Anne Ferran, Christian Boltanski, Sue Lorraine, Catherine Truman and Julie Blyfield. Traditional cotton is the principal medium employed in Departures and Arrivals. Consequently, artists have been studied who, likewise; have utilised cloth of various kinds as expressive media. These include Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Ann Hamilton and Kim Sooja.
The thesis exhibition presents the major component of the installation, Departures and Arrivals: namely, some 1500 'bonnets'. It also includes documentation of the entire project as it has been undertaken in its various locations and lists of names, both of convict mothers and of their lost babies. As an objective of the exhibition is to encourage reflection and contemplation of particular local-historical events, it includes provision for public response, in particular feedback from individuals whose own family backgrounds may connect with those documented through the project. The research project has demonstrated the considerable potential of artist/community collaborations in addressing issues of a community's past: in this case, a painful and hitherto largely unknown aspect of Tasmania's convict history.


Purpose: To evaluate the geometric accuracy and image quality of kV CBCT based image guided Radiotherapy system. Methods: A cube phantom with a radio opaque marker was used to determine the geometric accuracy of the isocenter of the CBCT unit. The cube phantom is positioned such that the radio‐opaque ball is at the isocenter. Radiographic images were acquired at various gantry angles and the ball center is matched with the imager center on the OBI software. The image quality assessment was performed with a CatPhan phantom that has objects to asses the low contrast resolution, uniformity of HU, geometric accuracy and special resolution. CBCT images of the phantom were acquired for Full Fan beam (FF) and Half Fan beam (HF) for large field of view. The radiation dose was estimated with a CTDI pelvic phantomResults: The maximum isocentre shift estimated with the Winston‐Lutz test tool was <1mm for most gantry angles. The maximum variation in the HU uniformity was 15 in one region and the rest were within 10 units for FF beam. The special resolution was 8lp /mm for FF beam and 4lp/mm for HF beam. The low contrast resolution, about 5 of the 1% supra slice discs were seen and about two .5% supra slice discs were seen with FF beam. CBCT images of the CatPhan with FF beam during a regular QA showed a ring artifact that was not reflected in patient images. This was identified to be due to a shift in the position of the bow‐tie filter that was subsequently corrected. Conclusion: This work shows that the CBCT image guidance system is suitable for position verification in Radiotherapy application. However, it is essential to have a periodic quality assurance program for CBCT in place to identify issues due to mechanical misalignment


Placing emphasis on promoting the reduction, reuse, recycling, recovery and repair of waste has been a critical aspect of the sustainable waste management agenda. Considering recycling, an environmentally friendly and sustainable waste management option, monetary rewards are in place for certain recyclable municipal waste materials in Finland. The study investigates consumers' perception about the role of financial incentives in effecting the recycling of municipal solid waste materials in Finland. The study also considers drivers for recycling municipal solid waste on the basis of behavioural change factors, such as environmental risk, behavioural economics, resource value, economic benefit, convenience, knowledge, legislation and belief. It further determines the association between income-earning consumers and non-income-earning consumers in their perception of financial incentives for recycling. The empirical results from the study confirm that the role of financial incentive is important in accelerating the recycling of municipal solid waste. A weak-to-positive relationship exists between drivers for recycling municipal solid waste and recycling behaviour. There exists no statistically significant difference in the means of the perceived role of financial incentives for recycling in the two groups. The introduction of financial incentives for other recyclable wastes is required in order to boost consumers' participation in the recycling of municipal solid waste. The need to pay more attention to intrinsic and extrinsic factors, as they affect the participation members of the society in the recycling of municipal solid waste, is paramount. This has become necessary in ensuring sustainable waste management in Finland.


Summary The influence of different storage conditions on the storability of packaged shredded cabbage has been studied. The cabbage cultivar Fieldrocket was cut and packaged in glass jars and in polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP) film. Several initial atmospheres were established within the packaged cut cabbage: 100 % N2 ,5%O 2 /95 %N 2 ,1 0 %O 2/90 % N2, normal atmosphere (NA), 70 % O2 /30 %N 2 and 100 % O2. Samples were stored at two different temperatures of 0 and 10 °C for 7 days. Variation in CO2 and O2 concentrations was higher at 10 °C compared to 0 °C and the highest at the atmosphere consisting of 70 %O 2 /30 %N 2. A decrease of O2 below 3–5 % and an increase of CO2 above 2–5 % in the packed product resulted in the appearance of anaerobic metabolism. An initial atmosphere consisting of 100 % O2, and a storage temperature of 0 °C resulted in delayed anaerobic metabolism compared to other atmospheric conditions and storage temperature of 10 °C. Rinsing of fresh cut cabbage also resulted in lower accumulation of acetaldehyde and ethanol. A higher variation in CO2 and O2 concentrations, and consequent accumulation of anaerobic metabolites had a negative influence on the sensorial properties of the cut cabbage. The higher permeability of PE film compared to PP and glass enabled faster exchange of CO2 and O2, which resulted in lower accumulation of anaerobic metabolites. However, a higher O2 concentration had a negative influence on the colour of fresh-cut cabbage. The best results were achieved by packing the fresh-cut cabbage in PE film with an initial atmosphere of 100 % O2 and stored at 0 °C.


Modern organizations focus on the importance of strategic management and control over current and short-term goals and their corrective role on the strategic success factors of the organization in the process of using the resources of the external environment, ignoring the challenges; as the priorities of the activity are to maximally satisfy public expectations, to minimize the spending of resources, to use its own priorities, to successfully overcome uncertainty and risk, to introduce the adequacy of management decisions against the background of reasonable and measured risk. In the study alternatives are discussed as the Balanced Scorecard model suggested by observations and practice, and implications are provided in regard to changing and improving the architecture of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) as a tool for management and control in conditions of high variability and uncertainty of the economic and social environment. Examined are some models in place to develop and implement the BSC and on this basis are structured conclusions and recommendations in the following aspects: the organization's strategy, which involves the application of BSC and the inclusion of elements to develop key aspects of the strategy; the potential of the BSC model and its application according to the different needs of management; the needs of the process of developing and implementing BSC and to further expand the applications of the BSC as a strategic management tool requiring an assessment of the expected status and priorities in the control of the indicators included.


Hotel managers are being challenged by the increasing multitude of distribution and sales channels. Online travel agencies (OTAs) in particular generate a great deal of uncertainty: Which are the best ones? Which ones offer the best conditions? How many channels are optimal for my hotel? How can I evaluate costs versus benefits? These and other questions concerning the optimal online distribution channel strategy have produced different reactions in practice. The aim of this paper is to challenge the need for an over-optimization of channel strategy by proposing that the consumer, at the end, deals with a network of information presented on one networked environment, including the Web. Hence, the network effect of the numerous online platforms is what drives consumer choice and, finally, bookings.,A series of multiple regressions with representative samples of hotels in Switzerland from the years 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 was performed to estimate the importance of the number of platforms against other independent variables. Additionally, further multiple regressions with samples from the years 2011 and 2012 using the most important platforms (first-tier channels) shows again that the number of platforms is more important.,The analyses show that the estimated number of online bookings by the respondents in the hotels is a result of the number of channels, not the type of channel. This is particularly true for non-categorized establishments and one- and two-star hotels. The analyses do not confirm the billboard effect, according to which particular platforms (first-tier channels) increase the probability of bookings. Thus, the survival strategy is to maximize share of shelf and to build on interdependencies and network effects.,The study looks only at online bookings. Additional research into the connection between online and offline channels, particularly from the viewpoint of the consumer, will provide further insights. The study looks at the booking volume per channel, not the monetary sales volume or the profit. A study that quantifies not only the volume of bookings but also the total profit or the contribution to profit per channel could quantify the benefits of the multi-channel strategy.,The multiple online channel strategy seems to be the more effective approach to maximizing bookings online, regardless of the platforms chosen. Results of the study challenge the current opinion among practitioners that the multitude of distribution channels forces them to choose among single online channels and, therefore, drives the search for criteria to assess these channels or even to disregard them. The consistent results across 2009-2012 show that even in the turbulent phase of the advent of OTAs in the travel industry, hotels can adopt a winning strategy. Finally, the results suggest that the intermediation of online distribution of hotel beds has approached the condition of perfect competition, causing the OTA business model to be cannibalized.


"This is a study for applying Decentralized Finance (DeFi) operations in a real life Agricultural finance application focusing on how assets tokenization in general and crop insurance in particular may take advantage of fundraising, global capital markets, atomic swap operations over blockchain and finally peer-to-peer trading without intermediaries under standardized regulations and revolutionary custodial services. Descriptive statistical data presentations such as graphs and tables are used to do the analysis and evaluate the development of the sector. The paper is exploring the boundaries and the depth of Decentralized Finance while focusing on Asset Tokenization Application that are being deployed mainly in different agri-businesses starting with crop insurance and ending up with tokenizing the products over blockchain. In conclusion, asset tokenization as a representational digital asset for a traditional financial instrument is becoming an increasingly important part of modern finance and "blockchainization" of the real world. This paper addresses how agriculture sector as production sector can use asset tokenization in securing the crops by smart contracts and issuing digital tokens to fundraising for micro-insurance. Also, using blockchain to tokenize the crops for future contracts while in the same time boosting the efficiency of the agribusiness finance, crop insurance, trading in primary and secondary markets as well as exploring new markets without intermediaries, are aspects that are found in the present research."


Migration has been part of people's experience in many parts of Africa throughout history (De Bruin et al. 2001) and Ghana is no exception. Migration flows were typically regional due to commerce, forced labor and circulatory nomadic routes. Over the last decades however, migration patterns extended geographically with larger shares of migrants moving to Europe and North America. Even within these regions, African migrant flows have been diversifying (Grillo & Mazzucato 2008). Yet little comparative empirical data exist on migration flows between Africa and Europe and many of the characteristics and changes of these flows are still largely unknown. The objective of this chapter is to first describe international migration patterns from Ghana using the quantitative MAFE household data collected in Kumasi and Accra, Ghana, and second to focus on migration from Ghana to Europe, and back, specifically as it concerns flows between Ghana, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom. This second focus uses the MAFE biographic data collected both in Ghana and in Europe.


It has recently been proposed that ripples inherent to the bow shock during radial interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) may produce local high speed flows in the magnetosheath. These jets can have a dynamic pressure much larger than the dynamic pressure of the solar wind. On 17 March 2007, several jets of this type were observed by the Cluster spacecraft. We study in detail these jets and their effects on the magnetopause, the magnetosphere, and the ionospheric convection. We find that (1) the jets could have a scale size of up to a fewRE but less than∼6RE transverse to theXGSE axis; (2) the jets caused significant local magnetopause perturbations due to their high dynamic pressure; (3) during the period when the jets were observed, irregular pulsations at the geostationary orbit and localised flow enhancements in the ionosphere were detected. We suggest that these inner magnetospheric phenomena were caused by the magnetosheath jets.


BACKGROUND
Evidence-based primary prevention of allergic conditions is important in view of their increasing prevalence in Western industrialized countries.

METHODS
The Cochrane and Medline databases were searched for relevant scientific publications that appeared from February 2003 to May 2008. Articles in the reference lists of recent reviews were also considered, and experts were directly asked for their opinions. The retrieved publications were screened for relevance by evaluation of the title and abstract, and then by evaluation of the entire text. Each study chosen for inclusion was assigned an evidence grade as well as a grade for study quality relating to its potential for bias (low or high). The revised recommendations were then formally accepted by a consensus of representatives of medical specialist societies and other organizations, including a patient self-help group.

RESULTS
The search initially yielded 4556 results out of which 217 articles (4 Cochrane reviews, 14 meta-analyses, 19 randomized clinical trials, 135 cohort studies, and 45 case-control studies) were chosen for inclusion and critical appraisal. No major changes ensued in the existing recommendations to avoid exposure to tobacco smoke, breast-feed for 4 months (or use hypoallergenic formulas), avoid a mould-promoting indoor climate, avoid exposure to furry pets (particularly cats), and vaccinate according to the current recommendations of the Standing Committee on Vaccination of the Robert Koch Institute (Ständige Impfkommission, STIKO). Neither the delayed introduction of solid food nor the avoidance of potent dietary allergens is recommended as a means of primary prevention. New recommendations were issued regarding fish consumption (by the mother while breastfeeding and nursing, and by the infant as solid food), avoidance of overweight, and reduction of exposure to air pollutants.

CONCLUSIONS
This updated guideline serves as an aid in giving patients current, evidence-based recommendations for allergy prevention.


Objective: To (a) examine knowledge transfer literature and optimal learning needs as applied to healthcare professionals, coaches and student athletes; (b) apply the practice of knowledge transfer to sport concussion education resources; and (c) identify needs and make recommendations for optimising concussion education. Design: Qualitative literature review of knowledge transfer and concussion education literature. Intervention: Pubmed, Medline, Psych Info and Sport Discus databases were reviewed. 52 journal articles, 20 websites and 2 books were reviewed. Results: The methods in which individuals experience optimal learning varies and should be considered when developing effective concussion education strategies. Physician knowledge and performance are impacted by education outreach, interaction and reminder messages. Educational strategies associated with optimal learning for physio and athletic therapists include problem and evidence-based practice, socialisation and peer-assisted learning. From a coaching perspective, research supports the reflective process as a learning modality. Student athletes have strengths and weaknesses in different areas and so perform differently on activities requiring distinct strategies. Knowing the impact of sport concussion resources on knowledge enhancement and modifying attitudes and behaviours toward concussion requires evaluation strategies. Review of concussion resources using the perspective of knowledge transfer and methods for improvement is discussed. Conclusions: Knowledge transfer is a relatively new concept in sports medicine and its influence on enhancing concussion education is not well known. The needs and optimal learning styles of target audiences coupled with evaluation need to be a piece of the overall concussion education puzzle to effectively impact knowledge of and attitudes and behaviours towards sport concussion.


Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is expressed by innervated muscles at the site of motor neuron contact and is required for the termination of acetylcholine-mediated neurotransmission. A particular form of AChE that has a collagen tail is preferentially located at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), but the mechanism by which it is localized to the NMJ is not well understood. Now, Arikawa-Hirasawa et al. have found that a complex extracellular heparan sulfate proteoglycan termed perlecan is required for proper localization of AChE to the synaptic basal lamina of the NMJ. Whereas muscle development, muscle innervation, and NMJ synapse formation were normal in perlecan-deficient mice, very little AChE was detected in the NMJ of the mutant mice. This result was confirmed in fluorescence assays where no AChE was observed in the NMJ of perlecan-deficient mice. However, the absence of perlecan in these mice did not affect their production of AChE mRNA and protein, because no difference in total AChE activity was detected in muscle homogenates from wild-type and perlecan-deficient mice. Nonetheless, perlecan-deficient mice exhibited poor locomotion and respiratory failure. Thus, perlecan appears to be required for the proper extracellular localization of AChE to the NMJ. E. Arikawa-Hirasawa, S. G. Rossi, R. L. Rotundo, Y. Yamada, Absence of acetylcholinesterase at the neuromuscular junctions of perlecan-null mice. Nature Neurosci. 5, 119-123 (2002). [Online Journal]


In Papua New Guinea, intermittent preventive treatment with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine and azithromycin (SPAZ-IPTp) increased birthweight despite limited impact on malaria and sexually transmitted infections. To explore possible nutrition-related mechanisms, we evaluated associations between gestational weight gain (GWG), enrolment body mass index (BMI) and mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), and birthweight. We investigated whether the increase in birthweight associated with SPAZ-IPTp may partly be driven by a treatment effect on GWG. The mean GWG rate was 393 g/week (SD 250; n = 948). A 100 g/week increase in GWG was associated with a 14 g (95% CI 2.6, 25.4) increase in birthweight (P = 0.016). Enrolment BMI and MUAC also positively correlated with birthweight. SPAZ-IPTp was associated with increased GWG [58 g/week (26, 900), P < 0.001, n = 948] and with increased birthweight [48 g, 95% CI (8, 880), P = 0.019] when all eligible women were considered (n = 1947). Inclusion of GWG reduced the birthweight coefficient associated with SPAZ-IPTp by 18% from 44 to 36 g (n = 948), although SPAZ-IPTp was not significantly associated with birthweight among women for whom GWG data were available (P = 0.13, n = 948). One month post-partum, fewer women who had received SPAZ-IPTp had a low post-partum BMI (<18.5 kg m(-2) ) [adjusted risk ratio: 0.55 (95% CI 0.36, 0.82), P = 0.004] and their babies had a reduced risk of wasting [risk ratio 0.39 (95% CI 0.21, 0.72), P = 0.003]. SPAZ-IPTp increased GWG, which could explain its impact on birthweight and maternal post-partum BMI. Future trials of SPAZ-IPTp must incorporate detailed anthropometric evaluations to investigate mechanisms of effects on maternal and child health.


This paper examines the effects of increased interdependence between international stock markets on the probability of global crashes. Global crashes are detrimental to investors, because during such crashes diversification opportunities evaporate. We use three different copulas with different dependence characteristics to allow for possibly nonlinear features in the dependence between stock markets. Irrespective of which copula is used, we find that the probability of observing a global crash in a given week has increased fifteen times. This significantly and dramatically increased global crash probability shows the decrease in diversification opportunities in global stock markets. The Asian crisis and particularly the credit crisis contributed to substantially higher global crash probabilities.


The traditional approach to the study of development emphasizes extensive change in childhood. But today, it is no longer fashionable to study development within this narrow confine of framework without reference to the theoretical approach that asserts that growth and development begins at conception and continues throughout life. This perspective which is known as the life span perspective, is chronicled in this article. In doing so, it takes a bird's eye-view of some of the critical aspects of this approach and posits that the life-span model is inter alia, multidirectional; development is life long, multidimensional, plastic, multidisciplinary and contextual. Moreover, the paper holds that amongst other things, the life span approach helps us to gain an understanding of our own history, as an infant, a child, an adolescent or a young adult – Finally, the paper draws the reader's attention to the fact that by adopting the life-span perspective, we gain insights into what our lives will be like as we grow into middle age or old age, who we are, how we came to be this way and where our future will take us.


Barriers to climate change adaptation might not lie so much in 'gaps' in scientific or technical understandings but rather in the complexities of social, institutional and cultural transitions in climate change governance. Effective responses to complex environmental issues seem to require 'co-learning for systemic governance transformations'. However, this process remains poorly understood. This article analyses the performance and orchestration of governance learning for systemic transformation in practice, drawing on examples from the international climate change adaptation and water governance (CADWAGO) project. We show that in these examples the interplay of 'separating' and 'connecting' is central to transforming governance in the European water management landscape. The article concludes that an orientation to boundary work and co-production of knowledge contributes to scientific narratives that can inspire meaningful connective action and move complex socioecological systems into a more sustainable trajectory.


It has been for some time now a truism of sorts that the Middle East is a wider locale than the arid landscapes traditionally identified by the moniker. The notional geographies that scholars have worked with for decades are no longer so set and bound. A number of high- profile thinkers have helped put into motion this paradigm shift, asking how and in which ways histories of the Middle East might be nudged in different directions. Tagliacozzo's article travels in these same furrows, arguing that Southeast Asia—a place seldom envisioned as part of the Middle East—is also a part of the latter's story. Although no one is arguing that the monsoon coasts of Southeast Asia are per se part of the Middle East, they are a component part of the history of this region of the world. Tagliacozzo shows how this embrace across the Indian Ocean came about, primarily though the lenses of commerce and religion, through trade and Islam. He examines this evolution, as human beings and the products they carried started to connect these two places across the breadth of the Indian Ocean world. He also looks at how imperial energies unleashed in a later time period (primarily the nineteenth century) brought these two world arenas closer to one another in certain identifiable manners. Finally, Tagliacozzo reflects on what adding Southeast Asia into the story of Islam and the Middle East ultimately means, and what we as an intellectual community might gain from this project.


Woody plant expansions are altering ecosystem structure and function, as well as fire regimes, around the globe. Tree-reduction treatments are widely implemented in expanding woodlands to reduce fuel loads, increase ecological resilience, and improve habitat, but few studies have measured treatment outcomes over long timescales or large geographic areas. The Sagebrush Treatment Evaluation Project (SageSTEP) evaluated the ecological effects of prescribed fire and cut-and-leave treatments in sagebrush communities experiencing tree expansion in North American cold desert shrublands. We used 10 yr of data from the SageSTEP network to test how treatments interacted with pre-treatment tree dominance, soil climate, and time since treatment to affect plant functional groups and dominant species. Non-sprouting shrub (Artemisia spp.), sprouting shrub, perennial graminoid, and annual grass responses depended on tree dominance and soil climate, and responses were related to the dominant species' life-history traits. Sites with warm and dry soils showed increased perennial graminoid but reduced Artemisia shrub cover across the tree dominance gradient after prescribed burning, while sites with cool and moist soils showed favorable post-burn responses for both functional types, particularly at low to moderate tree dominance. Cut-and-leave treatments sustained or increased native perennial plant functional groups and experienced smaller increases in exotic annual plants in both soil climates across the tree dominance gradient. Both treatments reduced biocrust cover. Selecting appropriate tree-reduction treatments to achieve desired longterm outcomes requires consideration of dominant species, site environmental conditions, and the degree of woodland expansion. Careful selection of management treatments will reduce the likelihood of undesirable consequences to the ecosystem.


Agriculture is the backbone of Eritrean economy. It provides employment to over 70 percent of the working population in the country. In good years the country produces only about 60 per cent of its total food needs and in poor years, it produces no more than 25 per cent. Annual crop production mainly depends on rainfall that is variable and unevenly distributed from year to year. Agriculturalists, economists and experts from different fields of studies have raised alarm on food crisis. This paper delves the Eritrean agricultural production, land and people. It throws a light on the Elabered Estate,a reputed agricultural estate since the Italian period. It examines the strategies and methods used by the Estate to increase agricultural yields. It discusses varieties of grains with greater resistance to disease and pests, together with the use of improved farm management techniques and chemical inputs, such as improved pesticides and fertilizers. The paper highlights the success story of the Estate being an important player or a model in Eritrean agriculture sector. The paper deals with the concerted efforts made by the Estate to go with the Global Competition. It also highlights some of the challenges of Eritrean agriculture sector and provides implications.


There are academic efforts to understand the formation of networks in the interorganizational research agenda, a subject that attracts the interest of policy makers since they seek through associative initiatives promoted by the State or through private agents, substance to promote local development. Based on this, the objective of this study is to verify, through the formation of the shoe cluster in Birigui, Sao Paulo State, whether the presence of these agents is essential for cluster formation. The theoretical foundations are the temporal evolution of networks, the Institutional Theory applied to interorganizational networks, social capital embedded in relational ties and the presence of intermediate agents as coordinators in network governance. The research strategy adopted was based on interviews with 32% of the managers of an enterprise that formally joined the cluster and with a manager from the intermediate agent, in addition to the researcher's observation and analysis of previous studies of Birigui's industry. The results verified the existence of a regional legacy that supports a local know-how knowledge base for shoe manufacturing. However, it was perceived that the interests of participants in the cluster were mainly focused on commercial issues, without the development of an adequate level of social capital and institutionalization to legitimately create an association as a result of the organizations' own will. Without this strong institutional environment in the region, a clear rational explanation for associative initiatives could not be found. The perception was that gains from network participation are expected for the future. It was concluded that the coordination done by an intermediate agent has limited articulated power in the formation of an interorganizational network when there is no previous institutional formation that involves, mainly, social capital values and norms. Without these pre-requirements, the intermediate agent may end up with governance functions for the network's accessory actions.


This study discusses the need for developing countries to improve economic productivity. It draws on lessons from successful country experiences with skills training to develop an approach to the development of public training policies. The authors suggest that improving the job skills of the work force in developing countries is necessary if they are to compete in today's economic climate. The book is written for policymakers, academic and professional advisers, training professionals, and the staff of international agencies supporting economic and social development. A flexible, trained workforce can greatly improve economic efficiency and appropriate policies can greatly improve efficiency and equity of skills development. The main focus of the study is on programs offered by private and public preemployment vocational and technical schools and vocational training centers. The study provides options for public policy and strategies for reform.


"Whitenoise" is the name that Viennese artist Max Moswitzer gives to his ongoing experiment since 2007 – an investigation that revolves around creating non-human architecture in the metaverse and that has been implemented both through standalone architecture as well as woven into collaborative projects such as Roy Ascott's metaverse incarnation of 'La Plissure du Texte,' of which Moswitzer has been one of the creators.
An analogue inspiration to "Whitenoise" is the Human Bone Chandelier of the 12th century All Saint's Chapel in the Sedlec Ossuary ; where in Moswitzer's interpretation "the aim was to state a symbol and arrangement with human bones, which transgresses the borders between 'le reelle et le virtuelle.'"
A hypothesis which Moswitzer heard as a student has followed him over the years: "If there are sufficient flickering black and white dots on a TV monitor, which are constantly changing it could be possible after years, after X decades that a meaningful image becomes visible (like a chair)," Accordingly, a further stimulus for Whitenoise is provided by Moswitzer's fascination for the random signals of old Television sets, also known as snow. Moswitzer plays upon this inspiration by saying that "in the old TVs and Radios the snow and accompanying hiss is the sound of Cosmic Microwave Background left over from the Big Bang."
Many of Moswitzer's constructs use the detritus of the metaverse, i.e., a collection of objects that have been gathered from the so-called 'freebie' markets and the junkyards of these virtual worlds. What gives this conglomeration its conceptual premise however resides in the circumstance that all of these found objects are set to a stark and pure white; thus creating unexpected affiliations with one another, bringing about the concept of 'white noise,' which the artist explicates as a reference to random patterns that are comparable to those provoked by snow blindness. A further clarification to the term also comes from the field of audio where 'white noise' is defined as a combination of sounds of all different frequencies, bringing together all the imaginable tones that a human can hear.
Moswitzer's domains have been devised as the habitats of a large population of robotic avatars, or NPCs , who also stage performances such as the SemiAutonomous Puppet Architectonics of 2009, in which an amassment of these scripted agents created a system of persistent motion that was magnified through their attachments, by means of which gigantic vehicles and other assembled objects that dwarfed their wearers were moved through the exhibition space, creating vast arcs and trajectories above the heads of the avatar audience. Again, during the same year, a troupe of performers of Moswitzer's own creation enacted an elaborate opera entitled "Whitetrash plays Whitenoise" in a designated theater building that the artist had built for the event. Thus, it can be said that "Whitenoise" is more than solely architecture; instead the concept revolves around a complex system that combines architecture with what resides in it, in effect materializing as an experiment of non-human existence in spaces that were created for non-human beings, through which the artist extends his own flesh and blood physical persona into three dimensionally embodied virtual worlds.


The human cardiovascular system is a complicated structure that has been the focus of research in many different domains, such as medicine, biology, as well as computer science. Due to the complexity of the heart, even nowadays some of the most common disorders are still hard to identify. In this paper, we map each ECG to a time series or set of time series and explore the applicability of two common time series similarity matching methods, namely, DTW and cDTW, to the problem of ECG classification. We benchmark the two methods on four different datasets in terms of accuracy. In addition, we explore their predictive performance when various ECG channels are taken into account. The latter is performed using a dataset taken from Physiobank. Our findings suggest that different ECG channels are more appropriate for different cardiovascular malfunctions.


INTRODUCTION The intention of those who defend old growth or denounce overgrazing is not to denounce hard physical work, but that is, in effect, what the articles [in High Country News] do. There are few articles or letters denouncing university professors or computer programmers or accountants or lawyers for sullying the environment, although it is my guess that a single lawyer or accountant [dare he say academic] could, on a good day, put the efforts of Paul Bunyan to shame (White 1995: 185). ... "I turned around and I looked at them, I said, "as we drove through her clear cut, and you walked over her wooden fence, and went into her wooden house, sat on her wooden furniture, looked at her wooden pictures, and we walked outside and sit on the wooden furniture, while they cooked your dinner with wood, "I said, "I want that deal and so does everybody on this planet. How do you propose to get it? That's my question to you." They go, "oh that's not a very fair question", and I said "well, I'm sorry, but I know I have to work for it" ".... Everyone knows what [environmentalists] are trying to do ... ok if you did that, what are you going to wipe your butts with tomorrow?" (forestry town woman living on Vancouver Island 1998). The challenge posed by Richard White, noted in the first quotation of the epitaph above, remains part of the dilemma of sustaining forestry communities on Canada's West Coast. White (1995) wrote of the need for environmentalism to come to grips with workers who labour in nature, pointing out that white collar workers are as likely, if indirectly, to tear down trees by their labours as their working-class counterparts. A close reading reveals his continuity of concern for workers and for the implications of a romanticized (if racialized and gendered) form of nature in which humans have little part, save through archaic forms of labour. This is now a familiar argument. However, I also draw attention to his situation in society. White writes with empathy and elegance. His work has reached national and international audiences because of his position as a prominent academic, and his ability to hone his craft--the written word--through years of practice. His prose, but not his sentiment, is in marked contrast to the story related by an interviewee in my study area on Vancouver Island, Canada. While she raises similar issues related to labour and environmentalists' hypocrisy, her description is bald, bitter, and downright bawdy. It is in this context, that I wondered how I, a self-described feminist environmental geographer, could use sympathy and skepticism to accurately and sensitively interpret the strong anti-environmental sentiments expressed by forestry-town women living on Canada's West Coast? The research reported here focuses on how women living in forestry communities on northern Vancouver Island, Canada framed forestry and land use issues as they confronted the restructuring of the forest industry and government policy. I am particularly concerned with women who support industrial forestry. Women of my study group formed part of forestry organizations, they (wo)manned information booths, organized rallies, undertook letter writing campaigns, led forestry tours, and hosted so-called educational events. Some of them even attended the "ecofeminist peace camp" in Clayoquot Sound in 1993 (1). All these actions were taken to show their solidarity with forestry workers and the forest industry at large and to defy the campaigns of environmental organisations aimed at reducing clear cut logging in the temperate rainforests of the West coast. In this paper, I develop the concept of "social marginalisation" to explain the sentiments of forestry-town women in forestry and land use debates. While social marginalisation is not exclusive to women's experience, I have applied this concept here to gain understanding of the perspectives and activism of forestry-town women in nature protection debates. …


Euripides' Heracles is an extraordinary play of great complexity, exploring the co-existence of both positive and negative aspects of the eponymous hero. Euripides treats Heracles' ambivalence by showing his uncertain position after the completion of his labours and turns him into a tragic hero by dramatizing his development from the invincible hero of the labours to the courageous bearer of suffering. This book offers a comprehensive reading of Heracles examining it in the contexts of Euripidean dramaturgy, Greek drama and fifth-century Athenian society. It shows that the play, which raises profound questions on divinity and human values, deserves to have a prominent place in every discussion about Euripides and about Greek tragedy. Tracing some of Euripides' most spectacular writing in terms of emotional and intellectual effect, and discussing questions of narrative, rhetoric, stagecraft and audience reception, this work is required reading for all students and scholars of Euripides.


"Game and Economic Theory" studies the interactions of decision makers whose decisions affect each other. The analysis is from a rational viewpoint: every participant would like to obtain the outcome that he prefers most. However, each one has to take into account that the others are doing the same--trying to get what they prefer most. At times this leads to fierce competition; at other times, to mutually beneficial cooperation; and in general, to an appropriate combination of these two extreme behaviors. Game theory, which may be viewed as a sort of "unified field" theory for the rational side of social science, develops the theoretical foundations for the analysis of such multi-person interactive situations, and then applies these to many disciplines: economics, political science, biology, psychology. computer science, statistics and law. Foremost among these is economic theory, where game theory is playing a central role.This volume consists of twenty-two selected contributions to various areas of game and economic theory. These important and pathbreaking contributions are all by former students of Robert J. Aumann, to whom this volume is dedicated. The volume will no doubt shed light on the far-reaching pertinence of game theory and its application to economics, and also on the monumental impact of Aumann on this discipline.Sergiu Hart is Alice Kusiel de Vorreuter Professor of Mathematical Economics and Director of the Center for Rationality and Interactive Decision Theory, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Abraham Neyman is Professor of Mathematics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Leading Professor of Economics and Mathematics, State University of New York at Stony Brook.


With the rise of pre-university Computer Science (CS) and Computational Thinking (CT) instruction worldwide, it is crucial that such instruction is effective for wide range of learners. While great strides have been made in giving access to students through large-scale school district-level efforts, inequities in learning outcomes may result from tools, curricula, and/or teaching that are appropriate for only a subset of the population. In this paper, we present an analysis of learning outcomes from a large school district's elementary CT curriculum through an equity lens—one of the few studies with this young age group in a formal school setting. While many students were exposed to CS/CT from an implementation of this scale, we found troubling differences across school performance levels. Our analysis also revealed that reading comprehension and math proficiency were predictive of performance in most CT concepts to varying degrees, and that there were wide gaps between students who were performing below grade level and those who were performing at or above grade level in those subjects. These disparities point to the need for curricular changes and learning strategies to better support students who struggle with reading and math. More insidiously, we found gender and under-represented minority identity to be the most predictive of performance in a small subset of assessment questions. Our results underscore the need for improvement in the way computing is taught to achieve the equity desired from the wider spread of CS/CT instruction.


Modeling dynamics of deformable linear objects (DLOs), such as cables, hoses, sutures, and catheters, is an important and challenging problem for many robotic manipulation applications. In this paper, we propose the first method to model and learn full 3D dynamics of DLOs from data. Our approach is capable of capturing the complex twisting and bending dynamics of DLOs and allows local effects to propagate globally. To this end, we adapt the interaction network (IN) dynamics learning method for capturing the interaction between neighboring segments in a DLO and augment it with a recurrent model for propagating interaction effects along the length of a DLO. For learning twisting and bending dynamics in 3D, we also introduce a new suitable representation of DLO segments and their relationships. Unlike the original IN method, our model learns to propagate the effects of local interaction between neighboring segments to each segment in the chain within a single time step, without the need for iterated propagation steps. Evaluation of our model with synthetic and newly collected real-world data shows better accuracy and generalization in short-term and long- term predictions than the current state of the art. We further integrate our learned model in a model predictive control scheme and use it to successfully control the shape of a DLO. Our implementation is available at https://gitsvn-nt.oru.se/ammlab–public/in–bilstm.


Steel slag, a by-product of steel manufacturing, is generated in large quantities in Qatar. In fact, it is estimated that more than 400,000 tons of steel slag are generated annually in the country. Gravel, resulting from washing sand, is also produced at more than 500,000 tons/year in Qatar. Both materials are not efficiently used in the country and most of its aggregate (gabbro) needs are imported from neighboring countries. This paper presents the results obtained on the use of steel slag, gravel and gabbro in concrete. A total of nine concrete mixtures were prepared. One concrete mixture that contained 100% gabbro aggregate was considered as the control mix. Four concrete blends containing 100%, 75%, 50%, and 25% steel slag (by weight) were prepared as partial replacements of gabbro aggregates. Another four concrete mixtures containing 100%, 75%, 50%, and 25% gravel (by weight) were cast as partial replacements of gabbro aggregates. All samples were cured in a water tank for 7, 28 and 90 days and then subjected to compressive, flexural and splitting tensile strength tests. All concrete mixtures prepared easily met the 28-day compressive strength design requirement of 28 MPa. Best results were obtained for concrete prepared using 100% steel slag aggregates. Concrete cast using 100% gravel yielded lower strength results than the control mixture (100% gabbro). However, there was an increase in strength values with an increase in gabbro content in gravel/gabbro mixtures. Additional work is necessary to establish long-term performance, especially concerning what is reported in the literature about the expansive characteristics of steel slag aggregates when used in concrete. It should be noted that concrete cured for 90 days in the water tank did not exhibit any reversal in strength.


Water is an essential, limited and sensitive life resource, and it is in focus of various persons or groups, from simple citizens to decision persons at country/world level, and, of course, also of scientists from different research fields. Water resource dynamic consequences exceed watersheds or water systems. Due to the support of new technologies, researches like people, water, and climate: adaptation and resilience in agricultural watersheds, developed a better understanding of the processes that link global-scale climate and socioeconomic drivers to regional-scale responses in land use decision-making, water quality, and water quantity. Recently, Cloud Computing emerged as the de facto state-of-the-art for data analytics. We require optimized platforms to co-locate data and computation and therefore mitigate the network bottleneck when moving data. However, as data may not be equally distributed across sites and since intermediate data are required to be aggregated to produce results, Cloud computing platforms may suffer severe performance degradation in such distributed settings. Thus, in our research activities we intend to address smart data extraction for water resource management, to explore new data distribution techniques and decision support systems that can co-operatively deal with distributed big data processing for single and multiple concurrent applications. Another challenging issue is to provide real-time analysis of shared and distributed data. While most real-time processing engines can efficiently benefit of the un-debatable performance of in-memory processing, they don't consider the data management during data processing (i.e. where to store the intermediate temporary data) or dependencies in-between processed data, which are common in environmental applications. In this case, mathematical models represent suitable instruments used in prediction and prognosis model for different parameters (i.e. water quality index), which are important for decision support systems for water resource management.


Indonesia is a country with the largest Muslim population in the world. However, since the Islamic banks were being established in Indonesia for about 20 years, their market share only accounts for about 5% in the Indonesian banking system. Muslim participations in using Islamic bank are relatively low. This study expands the Theory of Planned Behavior by adding the variables of religiosity and self-efficacy. Previous studies have not examined this new expanded model to analyze customers who participated in using the saving Islamic bank's products and services. Based on 220 Islamic bank consumers who participated in the study, the study indicated that questionnaires about religiosity and self-efficacy had good external validity and could be adapted for the Indonesian culture context. The most interesting finding was that the religiosity variable strongly enhanced the use of Islamic banks. Similarly, this study found that the self-efficacy variable improved an intention of customers to participate in the Islamic banking system. This paper also discusses the implications of the findings and recommendations for future studies.


Specific reaction rates (cm-2-s-1) of the catalytic decomposition of ammonia, the isotopic exchange between ammonia and deuterium, and the inhibition of the decomposition of ammonia by hydrogen (with ammonia to hydrogen partial pressure ratios varying from 1:1 to 1:4) on a polycrystalline platinum wire have been measured in a continuous stirred tank microreactor at pressures between 5 x 10-7 and 0.6 Torr and temperatures between 400 and 1200 K. At relatively low temperatures and/or high pressures, nitrogen adatoms are the dominant surface species, and the recombinative desorption of nitrogen controls the rate of decomposition of ammonia. At relatively high temperatures and/or low pressures, the surface coverage of all species is low, and a competition between the desorption of molecular ammonia and the cleavage of an N-H bond of molecularly adsorbed ammonia controls the rate of reaction. The kinetics of decomposition of ammonia as well as the results for the NH3 + D2 exchange reaction are described quantitatively by a mechanistic model employing independently measured adsorption-desorption parameters of NH3 and H2, and desorption parameters of N2. The model was extended to incorporate the nitrogen coverage-dependence of the rate coefficient of hydrogen desorption to describe the inhibition of the decomposition by hydrogen. The hydrogenation of NH2(a) to produce molecularly adsorbed ammonia is predicted to be the dominant factor in the inhibition of the decomposition of ammonia. The kinetics of adsorption and desorption of deuterium have been studied on Pt(110)-(1x2) surfaces on which various fractional coverages of nitrogen adatoms were deposited via the decomposition of ammonia at 400 K. Nitrogen selectively blocks the high temperature β2-state of deuterium prior to poisoning the low temperature β1-state. No evidence of a 'long-range' electronic perturbation of the surface by the nitrogen adatoms was found. The adsorption kinetics of deuterium on both clean and nitrogen-precovered Pt(110)-(1x2) surfaces were Langmuirian. Nitrogen modifies the preexponential factor and the activation energy of desorption of deuterium on Pt(110)-(1x2) by essentially rescaling the effective coverage of the deuterium. The results are consistent with findings from previous studies of the inhibition of the decomposition of ammonia by hydrogen on polycrystalline platinum. Steady-state specific reaction rates have also been measured for the catalytic decomposition of ammonia on a Ru(001) surface at pressures of 10-6 and 2 x 10-6 Torr and temperatures between approximately 500 and 1250 K. Qualitatively, the kinetics are similar to those observed for ammonia decomposition on the polycrystalline platinum surface. Based on thermal desorption measurements during the steady-state decomposition of ammonia at 2 x 10-6 Torr, nitrogen adatoms are the dominant surface species, and the recombinative desorption of nitrogen is the major (and probably the only) elementary reaction that produces molecular nitrogen. The mechanistic model developed previously describes accurately the pressure and temperature dependence of both the decomposition kinetics and the measured steady-state coverage of nitrogen adatoms. The isotopic exchange reaction between 15NH3 and deuter m at steady-state has been studied on Ru(001) for a partial pressure ratio of ammonia to deuterium of 4:1 with a total pressure of 2.5 x 10-6 Torr at temperatures between 380 and 720 K. All three exchange products were observed, and a dissociative exchange mechanism was found to describe quantitatively the experimental data. This mechanistic model is discussed in terms of a potential energy diagram that describes the catalytic decomposition (or synthesis) of ammonia on Ru(001). The energy levels of and the activation barriers separating the chemisorbed intermediates in the ammonia decomposition and synthesis reactions, namely, NH3, NH2+H, NH+2H, N+3H are determined, and the dissociative chemisorption of molecular nitrogen on Ru(001) is found to be activated with an activation energy estimated to be approximately 5 kcal-mol-1 in the limit of zero surface coverage of nitrogen adatoms. Direct comparsion between the estimated barrier for the dissociative adsorption of nitrogen on polycrystalline platinum and Ru(001) surfaces indicates clearly that ruthenium is a superior catalyst to platinum for the synthesis of ammonia.


In a traditional convolutional layer, the learned filters stay fixed after training. In contrast, we introduce a new framework, the Dynamic Filter Network, where filters are generated dynamically conditioned on an input. We show that this architecture is a powerful one, with increased flexibility thanks to its adaptive nature, yet without an excessive increase in the number of model parameters. A wide variety of filtering operation can be learned this way, including local spatial transformations, but also others like selective (de)blurring or adaptive feature extraction. Moreover, multiple such layers can be combined, e.g. in a recurrent architecture. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the dynamic filter network on the tasks of video and stereo prediction, and reach state-of-the-art performance on the moving MNIST dataset with a much smaller model. By visualizing the learned filters, we illustrate that the network has picked up flow information by only looking at unlabelled training data. This suggests that the network can be used to pretrain networks for various supervised tasks in an unsupervised way, like optical flow and depth estimation.


In this paper, we propose a fractional stochastic volatility jump-diffusion model which extends the Bates(1996) model. Where we model the volatility as a fractional process. Extensive empirical studies show that the distributions of the logarithmic returns of financial asset usually exhibit properties of self-similarity and long-range dependence and since the fractional Brownian motion has these two important properties, it has the ability to capture the behavior of underlying asset price. Further incorporating jumps into the stochastic volatility framework gives further freedom to financial mathematicians to fit both the short and long end of the implied volatility surface. We propose a stochastic model which contains both fractional and jump process. Then we price options using Monte Carlo simulations along with a variance reduction technique(antithetic variates). We use market data from the S&P 500 index and we compare our results with the Heston and Bates model using error measures. The results show our model greatly outperforms previous models in terms of estimation accuracy.


The proposal of the multi-controller has improved the scalability and reliability of software-defined networking (SDN), and the entire network is divided into several subdomains with the self-governed controller. Due to the dynamic changes of network traffic in different subdomains, a new challenge has emerged for balancing loads on the distributed controllers. Switch migration, a promising method, is designed to solve the unbalanced distribution of controller loads. However, existing schemes implement switch migration without considering migration sequences and are characterized by long migration time and poor controller processing efficiency. To solve the above problems, this paper proposes the Sequenced Switch Migration (SSM) approach, which considers migration parameters (e.g., delay, traffic, residual capacity, and failure probability) for multi-objective optimization and achieves efficient switch migration using a sequenced manner. By executing the parallel and heuristic algorithms, SSM can reduce the execution time of migration while ensuring the performance requirements of controllers. The simulation results show that compared with the existing schemes, SSM reduces the total migration time by about 32.7% and decreases controller load variance by 28.5% when controllers are under high load condition.


In this study, the mechanisms leading to the El Nino peak and demise are explored through a coupled general circulation model ensemble approach evaluated against observations. The results here suggest that the timing of the peak and demise for intense El Nino events is highly predictable as the evolution of the coupled system is strongly driven by a southward shift of the intense equatorial Pacific westerly anomalies during boreal winter. In fact, this systematic late-year shift drives an intense eastern Pacific thermocline shallowing, constraining a rapid El Nino demise in the following months. This wind shift results from a southward displacement in winter of the central Pacific warmest SSTs in response to the seasonal evolution of solar insolation. In contrast, the intensity of this seasonal feedback mechanism and its impact on the coupled system are significantly weaker in moderate El Nino events, resulting in a less pronounced thermocline shallowing. This shallowing transfers the coupled system into an unstable state in spring but is not sufficient to systematically constrain the equatorial Pacific evolution toward a rapid El Nino termination. However, for some moderate events, the occurrence of intense easterly wind anomalies in the eastern Pacific during that period initiate a rapid surge of cold SSTs leading to La Nina conditions. In other cases, weaker trade winds combined with a slightly deeper thermocline allow the coupled system to maintain a broad warm phase evolving through the entire spring and summer and a delayed El Nino demise, an evolution that is similar to the prolonged 1986/87 El Nino event. La Nina events also show a similar tendency to peak in boreal winter, with characteristics and mechanisms mainly symmetric to those described for moderate El Nino cases.


Introduction Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and ectopic pregnancy (EP) among women are important sequelae of sexually transmissible infections (STIs). We assessed recent trends in these STI-related morbidities in three Australian states (Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland). Methods Hospital admission and emergency presentation PID and EP rates among women 15–44 years were extracted and analysed by residential postcode for 2009–2014 using population and live birth denominators where relevant. Final data were available in 2017. Zero Inflated Poisson (ZIP) models were used to assess variation in rates by year, age, socio-economic disadvantage and area of residence. A sub-analysis of acute and/or STI-confirmed PID admissions was undertaken. Results Admission and emergency presentation rates respectively per 1 00 000 women in 2014 were: i) 63.3 (95%CI: 60.8–65.9) and 97.0 (95%CI: 93.9–100.2) for PID; and ii) 107.8 (95%CI: 104.5–111.2) and 96.7 (95%CI: 93.6–99.9) for EP. Of all emergency cases, 68% of PID and 22% of EP were managed without admission. PID admission rates did not change by year, but acute/STI-confirmed PID admissions increased by 40% between 2009 and 2014 (Incidence rate ratio [IRR]: 1.4; 95% CI: 1.2–1.7). Emergency PID rates increased by 30% between 2009 and 2014 (IRR: 1.3; 95% CI: 1.2–1.5). PID admission and emergency rates were highest among women 15–24 years. Population based EP rates increased by 10% in emergency between 2009 and 2014 (IRR: 1.1; 95% CI: 1.1–1.2). EP rates per 1000 live births increased by 8% (IRR: 1.08; 95% CI: 1.06–1.11) for admissions and 27% (IRR: 1.27; 95% CI: 1.21–1.33) for emergency between 2009 and 2014. Increasing disadvantage and remoteness of area tended to be associated with higher PID and EP rates. Conclusion These data show that, for the first time in two decades, STI-related sequelae diagnoses at Australian hospitals are increasing.


Objective: Health care professionals and policy makers acknowledge that spiritual needs are important for many patients with life-limiting illnesses. We asked such patients to describe their spiritual needs and how these needs may impinge on their physical, psychological, and social well-being. Patients were also encouraged to explain in what ways their spiritual needs, if they had any, could be addressed. Methods: We conducted two qualitative interviews, 3 months apart, with 20 patients in their last year of life: 13 patients with advanced cancer and 7 with advanced nonmalignant illness. We also interviewed each patient's general practitioner. Sixty-six interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. Results: Patients' spiritual needs centered around their loss of roles and self-identity and their fear of dying. Many sought to make sense of life in relation to a nonvisible or sacred world. They associated anxiety, sleeplessness, and despair with such issues, which at times resulted in them seeking support from health professionals. Patients were best able to engage their personal resources to meet these needs when affirmed and valued by health professionals. Significance of results: Enabling patients to deal with their spiritual needs through affirmative relationships with health professionals may improve quality of life and reduce use of health resources. Further research to explore the relationship between spiritual distress and health service utilization is indicated.


Abstract Public health advocates aim to maximise affordable access to good quality essential medicines. This goal often conflicts with the profit-seeking ambitions of the pharmaceutical industry. Since the World Trade Organisation's Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement, the extension and enforcement of intellectual property (IP) rights has become the dominant discourse in global medicines governance. Public health advocates operating within this framework face significant obstacles and challenges. This paper presents an historical perspective to the contemporary debate over medicines and patents by examining the evolution of international medicines governance between the 1940s and 1970s. This research indicates that debates around IP and medicines were more advanced in terms of equity and access in the 1960s and 1970s than they are today. While acknowledging the existence of obstacles and challenges for advocates, the paper argues that alternative frameworks can and should be reasserted in global debates about medicines governance.


Bandgap and defect mode are important properties of two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystal, which determine the application of photonic crystal. At present, researchers have done a large amount of studying on point defect and line defect photonic crystal. In this paper, we introduce multi-point defects into 2D photonic crystal by removing medium rods (InGaAsP), and then simulate their bandgap and mode field using plane wave method (PWM). The simulation results are useful to design the multi-wavelength photonic crystal laser.


Good architecture is something that we all seek, but which is difficult to define. Sir Alexander John Gordon, in his role as President of the Royal Institute of British Architects, defined 'good architecture' in 1972 as buildings that exhibit 'long life, loose fit and low energy'. These characteristics, nicknamed by Gordon as the 3L Principle, are measurable. Furthermore, life cycle cost (LCC) provides a method for accessing the economic contribution or burden created by buildings to the society they aim to serve. Yet there is no research available to investigate the connection, if any, between 3L and LCC. It might be hypothesised that buildings with a high 3L index have a low LCC profile. If this is true, then LCC may be able to be used to assess 'good architecture'.This paper uses a case study methodology to assess the durability, adaptability and sustainability of 22 projects that have won architectural design awards. The 3L criteria can bemeasured and compared with average LCC per square metre using a long time horizon. The research is significant in that it tests a process to objectively assess what is commonly intangible and to determine if LCC is a suitable predictor of 'good architecture'. Keywords: Sustainable urbanism, architecture, built environment


The work presented in this thesis is focused at associating a semantics to the content of an image, linking the content to high level semantic categories. The process can take place at two levels: either at image level, towards image categorisation, or at pixel level, in semantic segmentation or semantic labelling. To this end, an analysis framework is proposed, and the different steps of part (or patch) extraction, description and probabilistic modelling are detailed. Parts of different nature are used, and one of the contributions is a method to complement information associated to them. Context for parts has to be considered at different scales. Short range pixel dependences are accounted by associating pixels to larger patches. A Conditional Random Field, that is, a probabilistic discriminative graphical model, is used to model medium range dependences between neighbouring patches. Another contribution is an efficient method to consider rich neighbourhoods without having loops in the inference graph. To this end, weak neighbours are introduced, that is, neighbours whose label probability distribution is pre-estimated rather than mutable during the inference. Longer range dependences, that tend to make the inference problem intractable, are addressed as well. A novel descriptor based on local histograms of visual words has been proposed, meant to both complement the feature descriptor of the patches and augment the context awareness in the patch labelling process. Finally, an alternative approach to consider multiple scales in a hierarchical framework based on image pyramids is proposed. An image pyramid is a compositional representation of the image based on hierarchical clustering. All the presented contributions are extensively detailed throughout the thesis, and experimental results performed on publicly available datasets are reported to assess their validity. A critical comparison with the state


The effect of divalent ions
on the permeability of norfloxacin across the major outer membrane channels from
E. coli (OmpF, OmpC) and E. aerogenes (Omp35, Omp36) has been
investigated at the single channel level. To understand the rate limiting steps
in permeation, we reconstituted single porin into planar lipid bilayers and analyzed
the ion current fluctuations caused in the presence of norfloxacin. To obtain
an atomistic view, we complemented the experiments with millisecond-long free
energy calculations based on temperature-accelerated Brownian dynamics
simulations to identify the most probable permeation pathways of the
antibiotics through the respective pore. Both, experimental analysis
and computational modelling, suggest that norfloxacin is able to permeate through
the larger porins, i.e., OmpF, OmpC, and Omp35, whereas it only binds to
the slightly narrower porin Omp36. Moreover,
divalent ions can bind to negatively charged residues inside the porin, reversing the ion selectivity of the pore. In addition, the divalent ions can chelate with the fluoroquinolones and alter their physicochemical properties. The results
suggest that the conjugation must break with either one of them when the antibiotics molecules bypass the lumen of the porin, with the conjugation
to the antibiotic being more stable than that to the pore. In general, the permeation or binding process of
fluoroquinolone in porins occurs irrespective of the presence of divalent ions, but the presences of divalent ions can
vary the kinetics significantly.


In this paper we estimate the impact of transition on earnings inequality using data across Polish regions 1994-1997. Our central result is that earnings inequality is higher in regions that are more advanced in restructuring (higher labour productivity/job reallocation rates), controlling for unobservable regional fixed effects. At the national level rapid growth does not seem to be associated with earnings inequality. This aggregate relationship is shown to be misleading. The positive relationship between earnings inequality and the stage of transition across regions remains when we apply an infrastructure-deficit based instrumental variable approach to allow for reverse causality.


Abstract A single particle finite element model has been used to analyse the effects of thermal stresses on the stress distributions near the interface between the rubber particle and the matrix in rubber modified polymers. The thermal stresses are due to the mismatch of thermal contraction between the rubber particle and the matrix during cooling. The study is to determine whether the thermal stresses are significant enough to affect the distribution of normal stress and von Mises stress at the particle/matrix interface. Results from the single particle model show that a temperature decrease of 60 K, i.e. from 100 to 40°C, can generate a circumferential compressive stress at the particle/matrix interface, which is of the same magnitude as the tensile stress required to cause failure in most of the glassy polymers. Although the effect on the circumferential normal stress is significant, its effect on the von Mises stress is very small. The results also show that when the cavitation occurs in the rubber particle, the thermal stress effect is drastically reduced. This study provides encouraging evidence for the importance of thermal stresses in determining the stress distributions in rubber modified polymers and suggests that thermal stresses should be considered in the deformation analysis of these materials.


With the rapid pace of immunologic research, it is more important than ever for readers to understand rational immunodiagnosis, immunopro-phylaxis, and immunotherapy. This column is intended to help you ensure proper immunologic drug use in your practice.


ABSTRACT This article examines the tension between liberal peace-building and local political culture through the lens of party and personality politics in Timor-Leste. It argues that the efforts of the UN peacekeeping mission to promote multi-party democracy cut across the interests of two opposing political forces: the charismatic resistance leader, Xanana Gusmão, who was deeply suspicious of party politics and favoured supra-partisan coalitions; and the dominant political party, FRETILIN, which pursued majoritarian power. Over the 16 years since independence, FRETILIN maintained a strong party identity and the governments it led met strenuous opposition and came to a premature end, while the Gusmão-led or -backed governments formed and survived as pragmatic tactical alliances. The article concludes that although the UN peacekeeping mission guided institutional design to favour political party organisation as the foundation for achieving representational government, the institutions have subsequently evolved in response to local political drivers. While outside actors can seek to influence the formal rules of the game, local political culture will determine how the game is played.


PX domains have been recently found to act as phosphoinositide binding modules. In the yeast SNARE protein Vam7p, the PX domain binds to PtdIns(3)P and is required for vacuolar targeting. To gain insight into how PX domains function, the solution structure of the ligand-free Vam7p PX domain has been determined by NMR spectroscopy. The Vam7p PX domain has the same overall alpha/beta fold observed in the structures of the ligand-free p47(phox) PX domain and the PtdIns(3)P-bound p40(phox) PX domain, exhibiting several similarities and differences with these two PX domains. Most striking is the similarity between the Vam7p and p40(phox) PX domains in a subset of secondary structure elements despite the low level of sequence identity between them, suggesting that these elements form a conserved core in the PX domain fold. These similarities and the observation that a putative PtdIns(3)P binding site is already formed in the apo Vam7p PX domains suggest that ligand binding does not induce major conformational changes, contrary to what was previously thought. The proposed ligand binding site of the Vam7p PX domain includes basic side chains from the conserved structural core that also participate in PtdIns(3)P binding to the p40(phox) PX domain, and basic side chains from a variable loop that probably inserts into the membrane. These results indicate that PX domains contain a combination of conserved and variable features that allow them to have a common function and at the same time exhibit distinct specificities, mechanisms of regulation, or modes of interaction with effector molecules.


Off mainland Portugal, the common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) is the most sighted cetacean, although information on this species is limited. The Atlantic coast of Southern Portugal is characterized by an intense wind-driven upwelling, creating ideal conditions for common dolphins. Using data collected aboard whale-watching boats (1929 sightings and 4548 h effort during 2010–2014), this study aims to understand the relationships between abundance rates (AR) of dolphins of different age classes (adults, juveniles, calves and newborns) and oceanographic [chlorophyll a (Chl-a) and sea surface temperature (SST)] variables. Over 70% of the groups contained immature animals. The AR of adults was negatively related with Chl-a, but not related to SST values. The AR of juveniles was positively related with SST. For calves and newborns, although the relationship between SST and AR is similar to that observed for juveniles, the effect could not be distinguished from zero. There was no relationship between Chl-a levels and the AR of juveniles, calves and newborns. These results corroborate previous findings that common dolphins tend to occur in highly productive areas demonstrating linkages between their abundance and oceanographic variables, and that this region may be a potential nursery ground.


Ilias Anagnostakis and Anna Lambropoulou An instance of the implementation of the Byzantine institution of asylum in the Peloponnese: the Slavs seek sanctuary in the Church of St Andrew of Patrai The events which took place in the Peloponnese in the early ninth century (c. 800) are recorded in later sources, mostly of the tenth century. Following the establishment of the theme system of territorial administration and the securing of ecclesiastical order in the region, the emperor Nikephoros I, in implementing his new fiscal and economic policy, took steps to increase the number of inhabitants by systematically encouraging the settlement of new population groups from outside the area. It was within this general context and during this same period that the rebellion of the Slavs in Achaia, as described by Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, needs to be viewed. Clearly, also, the phenomenon needs to be seen within the context of the specific social climate of the region where radical change was taking place and significant breaks with the past were occurring. During the repression of the rebellion the Slavs sought sanctuary in the church of the Apostle Andrew. As a result of this move, however, the rebels were given special treatment as they were viewed as having repented their actions. This was an occurrence whose more general implications are worthy of further study. Looked at from the broader ecclesiastical and political perspective, there are certain characteristic features to be noted in the attitudes towards asylum and the priority ascribed to ecclesiastical over civil law in Constantinople at the end of the eighth and the beginning of the ninth centuries. At the beginning of the ninth century, during the reign of Nikephoros I and while Tarasios was on the patriarchal throne (784-806), the flight of the defeated Slavs to the Church of St Andrew and the relative leniency that was shown them by the state suggest that here we are dealing with an instance of the workings of the institution of sanctuary in Byzantium. While the sources bring in a host of hagiographie and miraculous elements -the standard baggage of accounts of Christianisation and repentance-he flight of the Slavs to the church of the patron saint of the city constitutes, in our opinion, in instance of mass asylum. Moreover, it is interesting to observe that the respective terminology which was used in Porphyrogenitus' account and was in all likelihood included in the sigillion of Nikephoros I relies, in our view, directly on Byzantine legislative reforms concerning sanctuary. This is the first recorded instance of mass asylum and resort to church sanctuary in the middle Byzantine period in the Peloponnese. An effort was made both on the part of the church and the state to find a compromise solution: the former sought recognition of the institution of sanctuary while the latter was concerned to maintain the authority of its judicial and penal organs. The Slavs, who had sought sanctuary in the church, while normally liable to the punishment reserved for insurrection, were in the end granted special treatment. A compromise was found: despite the Slavs' attempt to rebel against the Byzantine authorities, the institution of asylum was fully implemented with the imposition of a number of restrictions and sanctions against the Slav population. The economic side of this treatment, which was generally a feature of the institution of ecclesiastical asylum both in Byzantium and the medieval West, has been well investigated. Indeed, monasticism and land ownership in the region of Bithynia are thought to have developed thanks to the institution of monastic asylum and the geographical boundaries of asylum, and this appears to be the case in the Peloponnese, too, where we see privileges and sigillia being granted for new monasteries and metropoleis in the ninth century. It is particularly interesting to note that the limits of 'rural asylum', i.e. the legal delimitation of the concepts of asylum and imperial donations, are lumped together with the estates of the church or monastery. The transfer of the exploitation of cultivable land to the workers of the monastery or church very often led to the development of settlements in the area. Seen in this light, the introduction of the institution of asylum and its legal delimitation in the case of the ecclesiastical estates of Achaia are directly related to the settlements of the early ninth century. It is probable that in contrast to the case of Syria and Bithynia asylum was not the catalyst behind the gradual settlement of the region of Achaia. However, and more importantly, it did offer solutions to the problems arising from the settlements. In the case of Patrai groups of unruly and discontented peasant populations developed an allegiance to the metropolis and were subsequently integrated to the point that they became entitled to protection from every epinoia adikos ('unjust design'). Subsequent to the Patrai episode - as far as the evidence allows us to construe- the Empire turned its military operations to the unsubdued, mountainous and more southerly regions of the Peloponnese. By contrast, the Slavs of Achaia were granted sigillia guaranteeing protection from any unapproved measures or epinoia adikos of the metropolitan. The flight of the Slavs to the Church of St Andrew following the miraculous intervention of the Apostle Andrew and the repression of the revolt, as well as the special treatment that they then received at the hands of the Byzantine authorities on account of their seeking sanctuary in the church, can be seen to constitute a form of asylum that is entirely consistent with the political and social climate and with the concept of asylum of the age of Nikephoros I.  Further investigation of the sigillia and their authenticity and reliability as sources may help to improve our understanding of the implementation and development of the institution of asylum in Byzantium during the reign of Nikephoros I.


Asset-backed securities represent one of the largest and fastest growing financial markets. Under securitization, agents perform functions (for fees) that would alternatively be performed by a vertically integrated lender with ownership of a whole loan. We examine how outsourcing impacts performance using data on 357 commercial mortgage-backed securities deals with over 46,000 individual loans. To alleviate agency conflicts in managing troubled loans, underwriters often sell the first-loss position to the special servicer, the party who is charged with handling delinquencies and defaults. When holding the first-loss position, special servicers appear to behave more efficiently, making fewer costly transfers of delinquent loans to special servicing, but liquidating a higher percentage of loans that are referred to special servicing. Special servicers are also more likely to own the first loss position in deals that require additional effort (deals with higher delinquencies). Market pricing reflects the existence of agency costs. Despite the apparent reduction of agency costs, the first-loss position is increasingly owned by a party other than the special servicer. We pose a number of explanations, including conflicts between junior and senior securities holders (the asset substitution problem) and risk aversion among special servicers. Consistent with asset substitution, we show that special servicers delay liquidation when they hold the first-loss position in deals with more severe delinquency problems.


Anonymous communications networks, such as Tor, help to solve the real and important problem of enabling users to communicate privately over the Internet. However, in doing so, anonymous communications networks introduce an entirely new problem for the service providers -- such as websites, IRC networks or mail servers -- with which these users interact, in particular, since all anonymous users look alike, there is no way for the service providers to hold individual misbehaving anonymous users accountable for their actions. Recent research efforts have focused on using anonymous blacklisting systems (which are sometimes called anonymous revocation systems) to empower service providers with the ability to revoke access from abusive anonymous users. In contrast to revocable anonymity systems, which enable some trusted third party to deanonymize users, anonymous blacklisting systems provide users with a way to authenticate anonymously with a service provider, while enabling the service provider to revoke access from any users that misbehave, without revealing their identities. In this paper, we introduce the anonymous blacklisting problem and survey the literature on anonymous blacklisting systems, comparing and contrasting the architecture of various existing schemes, and discussing the tradeoffs inherent with each design. The literature on anonymous blacklisting systems lacks a unified set of definitions, each scheme operates under different trust assumptions and provides different security and privacy guarantees. Therefore, before we discuss the existing approaches in detail, we first propose a formal definition for anonymous blacklisting systems, and a set of security and privacy properties that these systems should possess. We also outline a set of new performance requirements that anonymous blacklisting systems should satisfy to maximize their potential for real-world adoption, and give formal definitions for several optional features already supported by some schemes in the literature.


2 Abstract: Human memory very often fails. People are frequently beset with questions like "Who is that person? I think I met him/her last year." Available memory systems cannot well support the recall of names effectively. This paper explores the memory recall enhancement problem from the perspective of memory cue extraction and associative search, and proposes a generic method to extract memory cues from heterogeneous, multimodal, physical/virtual data sources. Specifically, we can use the contact name recall in the academic community as the target application to showcase our proposed methodology. We next develop an intelligent social contact manager that supports 1) auto collection of rich contact data from a combination of various pervasive sensors and Web data sources, and 2) associative search of contacts when human memory fails. The proposed system is validated with the help of testing the performance of contact data collection techniques. An user study on contact memory recall is conducted, through which several findings about contact memorizing and recall are presented. Various Classic cognitive psychology theories are used to interpret these findings (1).


Abstract. The influence of the recent deep and prolonged solar minimum on the daytime zonal and vertical plasma drift velocities during quiet time is investigated in this work. Analyzing the data obtained from incoherent scatter radar from Jicamarca (11.95° S, 76.87° W) we observe an anomalous behavior of the zonal plasma drift during June 2008 characterized by lower than usual daytime westward drift and its early afternoon reversal to eastward. As a case study the zonal drift observed on 24 June 2008 is modeled using a realistic low-latitude ionosphere simulated by the Sheffield University Plasmasphere-Ionosphere Model-INPE (SUPIM-INPE). The results show that an anomalously low zonal wind was mainly responsible for the observed anomalous behavior in the zonal drift. A comparative study of the vertical plasma drifts obtained from magnetometer data for some periods of maximum (2000–2002) and minimum solar activity (1998, 2008, 2010) phases reveal a considerable decrease on the E-region conductivity and the dynamo electric field during 2008. However, we believe that the contribution of these characteristics to the unusual behavior of the zonal plasma drift is significantly smaller than that arising from the anomalously low zonal wind. The SUPIM-INPE result of the critical frequency of the F layer (foF2) over Jicamarca suggested a lower radiation flux than that predicted by solar irradiance model (SOLAR2000) for June 2008.


The #1 "New York Times" bestselling dramatic serial novel and inspiration for the Oscar-nominated film of the same name starring Tom Hanks, the literary event ("Entertainment Weekly") of "The Green Mile" is now available in its entirety. When "The Green Mile" first appeared, serialized as one volume per month, Stephen King s "The Green Mile" was an unprecedented publishing triumph: all six volumes ended up on the "New York Times" bestseller list simultaneously and delighted millions of fans the world over. Welcome to Cold Mountain Penitentiary, home to the Depression-worn men of E Block. Convicted killers all, each awaits his turn to walk the Green Mile, keeping a date with Old Sparky, Cold Mountain s electric chair. Prison guard Paul Edgecombe has seen his share of oddities in his years working the Mile. But he s never seen anyone like John Coffey, a man with the body of a giant and the mind of a child, condemned for a crime terrifying in its violence and shocking in its depravity. In this place of ultimate retribution, Edgecombe is about to discover the terrible, wondrous truth about Coffey, a truth that will challenge his most cherished beliefs...and yours."


Presenting the most comprehensive account of official print in the Holy Roman Empire during the sixteenth century, this study investigates the use of the printing press as an increasingly important instrument in the expansion of authority. By comparing and contrasting publications printed in the Duchy of Württemberg and in the Free Imperial City of Cologne, the author traces the tentative beginnings of collaboration between rulers and printers. Making use of hitherto unexplored legal and business records, the study offers a sophisticated analysis of the early modern print trade which allows us to ascertain the business and market conditions that shaped the production of administrative and legal documents, such as police ordinances and announcements.


This paper presents the development of a compact energy harvesting configuration to convert low frequency, mechanical oscillations into usable electrical energy using AFM-like MEMS piezoelectric cantilevers coupled to a rotating gear. In this approach, one or several piezoelectric harvesters can be positioned above a rotating gear driven by an oscillating mass. In order to analyze the motion and the electrical power output from the harvester, analytical and finite element models have been developed. The harvester, with an active device volume of 3.5 mm3 (3×5×0.23 mm3), is able to produce an average output power of 12 μW measured across an optimal resistive load of 4.7 kΩ at a rotational speed of 19 rps, demonstrating the potential of the compact MEMS piezoelectric micro-power generator.


It is now commonplace to deploy neural networks and machine-learning algorithms to provide predictions derived from complex systems with multiple underlying variables. This is particularly useful where direct measurements for the key variables are limited in number and/or difficult to obtain. There are many petroleum systems that fit this description. Whereas artificial intelligence algorithms offer effective solutions to predicting these difficult-to-measure dependent variables they often fail to provide insight to the underlying systems and the relationships between the variables used to derive their predictions are obscure. To the user such systems often represent "black boxe". The novel transparent open box (TOB) learning network algorithm described here overcomes these limitations by clearly revealing its intermediate calculations and the weightings applied to its independent variables in deriving its predictions. The steps involved in building and optimizing the TOB network are described in detail. For small to mid-sized datasets the TOB network can be deployed using spreadsheet formulas and standard optimizers; for larger systems coded algorithms and customised optimizers are easy to configure. Hybrid applications combining spreadsheet benefits (e.g. Microsoft Excel Solver) with algorithm code are also effective. The TOB learning network is applied to three petroleum datasets and demonstrates both its learning capabilities and the insight to the modelled systems that it is able to provide. TOB is not proposed as a replacement for neural networks and machine learning algorithms, but as a complementary tool; it can serve as a performance benchmark for some of the less transparent algorithms.


Traceable as far back as the work of the path-breaking Chicago School of Sociology in the 1920s and 1930s, subculture and counterculture have long been conceptual staples of the discipline. Implemented originally to designate and describe smaller, often deviant or delinquent, groups within larger social communities, the terms gained pace in their use in mid-twentieth century criminological research, and especially with the development of Cultural Studies in the United Kingdom in the 1970s, where they became widely used to describe processes of social class-based opposition, resistance and protest. More recently, sociologists have moved beyond a strict conformity-resistance model in accounting for the behaviour of sub-communities that coalesce around particular values, behaviours, or preferences.Indeed, contemporary sociological research has raised the possibility that the term subculture in particular may have entirely outgrown its usefulness. While the term counterculture has also languished, there is no doubt that the sorts of social groups to which these terms have historically referred are more extensive and colourful than ever. Certainly this is the case in sport. Put simply, all societies are replete with their own versions of Tribal Play which encompass and represent wider social patterns, processes, and struggles.This volume is a collection of 16 readings on aspects of sub-community life in sport that showcases the breadth and depth of sport subcultural research by a group of international scholars representing varied theoretical and methodological orientations. Some of the sport communities examined include soccer hooligans, endurance athletes, disabled athletes, environmentally conscious surfers, and X-Games participants.This fourth volume in the "Research in the Sociology of Sport" series is edited by two sociologists whose academic training, research and teaching span three of the subdisciplines in which the concepts of subculture and counterculture have been most avidly used and critically tested (Criminology/Youth/Sport), and whose subcultural ventures both in sport and as sociologists are extensive. Michael Atkinson is Senior Lecturer in the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Loughborough University in the UK, and Kevin Young is Professor of Sociology at the University of Calgary, Canada.