The fast grow of expectations from robots and the technical obstacles the robot developers face when trying to meet the requests, force an orientation towards designing and controlling robots by following biological paragons. This tendency increases interest in human-robot analogy, and the present work is a part of this stream. The paper questions the voluntariness of human motion by relating it to physiological processes. We concentrate on the important question of redundancy. One notes that humans do not resolve the redundancy on the level of consciousness, except in some specific examples (like obstacle avoidance), but rather on a lower level of decision-making – the human reaction to the faced problem is somehow "automatic". We suggest that this automatism is closely related to physiological processes, particularly to the progress of fatigue. Then we try to mathematically model these processes and their influence to human motion. The mathematical model of fatigue progress is derived as well as an algorithm for human-like redundancy resolution. We finally consider the implications of the obtained results to anthropomimetic robotics. The concept is verified by simulating the system behavior and comparing it qualitatively with the behavior of a human control group.


Smart antenna technology is expected to play an important role in future wireless communication networks in order to use the spectrum efficiently, improve the quality of service, reduce the costs of establishing new wireless paradigms and reduce the energy consumption in wireless networks. Generally, smart antennas exploit multiple widely spaced active elements, which are connected to separate radio frequency (RF) chains. Therefore, they are only applicable to base stations (BSs) and access points, by contrast with modern compact wireless terminals with constraints on size, power and complexity. This dissertation considers an alternative smart antenna system the electronically steerable parasitic array radiator (ESPAR) which uses only a single RF chain, coupled with multiple parasitic elements. The ESPAR antenna is of significant interest because of its flexibility in beamforming by tuning a number of easy-to-implement reactance loads connected to parasitic elements; however, parasitic elements require no expensive RF circuits. This work concentrates on the study of the ESPAR antenna for compact transceivers in order to achieve some emerging techniques in wireless communications. The work begins by presenting the work principle and modeling of the ESPAR antenna and describes the reactance-domain signal processing that is suited to the single active antenna array, which are fundamental factors throughout this thesis. The major contribution in this chapter is the adaptive beamforming method based on the ESPAR antenna. In order to achieve fast convergent beamforming for the ESPAR antenna, a modified minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR) beamfomer is proposed. With reactance-domain signal processing, the ESPAR array obtains a correlation matrix of receive signals as the input to the MVDR optimization problem. To design a set of feasible reactance loads for a desired beampattern, the MVDR optimization problem is reformulated as a convex optimization problem constraining an optimized weight vector close to a feasible solution. Finally, the necessary reactance loads are optimized by iterating the convex problem and a simple projector. In addition, the generic algorithm-based beamforming method has also studied for the ESPAR antenna. Blind interference alignment (BIA) is a promising technique for providing an optimal degree of freedom in a multi-user, multiple-inputsingle-output broadcast channel, without the requirements of channel state information at the transmitters. Its key is antenna mode switching at the receive antenna. The ESPAR antenna is able to provide a practical solution to beampattern switching (one kind of antenna mode switching) for the implementation of BIA. In this chapter, three beamforming methods are proposed for providing the required number of beampatterns that are exploited across one super symbol for creating the channel fluctuation patterns seen by receivers. These manually created channel fluctuation patterns are jointly combined with the designed spacetime precoding in order to align the inter-user interference. Furthermore, the directional beampatterns designed in the ESPAR antenna are demonstrated to improve the performance of BIA by alleviating the noise amplification. The ESPAR antenna is studied as the solution to interference mitigation in small cell networks. Specifically, ESPARs analog beamforming presented in the previous chapter is exploited to suppress inter-cell interference for the system scenario, scheduling only one user to be served by each small BS at a single time. In addition, the ESPAR-based BIA is employed to mitigate both inter-cell and intracell interference for the system scenario, scheduling a small number of users to be simultaneously served by each small BS for a single time. In the cognitive radio (CR) paradigm, the ESPAR antenna is employed for spatial spectrum sensing in order to utilize the new angle dimension in the spectrum space besides the conventional frequency, time and space dimensions. The twostage spatial spectrum sensing method is proposed based on the ESPAR antenna being targeted at identifying white spectrum space, including the new angle dimension. At the first stage, the occupancy of a specific frequency band is detected by conventional spectrum-sensing methods, including energy detector and eigenvalue-based methods implemented with the switched-beam ESPAR antenna. With the presence of primary users, their directions are estimated at the second stage, by high-resolution angle-of-arrival (AoA) estimation algorithms. Specifically, the compressive sensing technology has been studied for AoA detection with the ESPAR antenna, which is demonstrated to provide high-resolution estimation results and even to outperform the reactance-domain multiple signal classification.


Itinerant Baptist preacher John Leland (and Baptists generally) strongly influenced James Madison's elections to the Virginia ratifying convention and to the First Congress, with possibly substantial effects on American history. New insights include evidence making it seem nearly certain Madison had a key letter concerning Leland in hand at a critical time and evidence showing that George Eve's famous defense of Madison at a Baptist church meeting was in pivotal Culpeper County, rather than Orange County. The paper also notes Leland's relationship with Thomas Jefferson; Leland's consistent advocacy of religious liberty for all persons; his criticism of slavery; and the unusual accessibility of his straightforward and humorous prose. Leland deserves more attention, especially now that his works are very easily accessible on Google Books. As L.H. Butterfield (an editor of the papers of both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams) put it, Leland "was as courageous and resourceful a champion of the rights of conscience as America has produced." Leland (in Philip Hamburger's phrase, "Jefferson's friend and ally, the irrepressible John Leland") is worth getting to know.


Economic inequality threatens America's constitutional democracy. Beyond obvious harms to our nation's social fabric and people's lives, soaring economic inequality translates into political inequality and corrodes democratic institutions and values. The coincident, relentless rise of money in politics exacerbates the problem. As elected officials and candidates meet skyrocketing campaign costs by devoting more and more time to political fundraising—and independent expenditures mushroom—Americans lose faith and withdraw from a system widely perceived as beholden to wealthy individuals and corporate interests.

The United States needs innovative approaches to help rebuild foundational, shared understandings of American democracy, the American Dream, and opportunity and fairness. Tax policy provides one central context in which collective judgments about fundamental values help form national identity. We believe that a national wealth tax (that is, a tax on individuals' net worth) should be among the policy options under consideration to support vital infrastructure, social service, and other governmental functions. Although not a new concept, a wealth tax may be an idea whose time has come, as inequality soars toward record highs.

Our aim in this Essay is to help ensure that a wealth tax is among the policy options available to Congress by challenging a common assumption that has unduly harmed its prospects: the belief that the U.S. Constitution effectively makes a national wealth tax impossible. We believe this conventional wisdom is wrong and its casual repetition has been harmful. Devising a progressive tax system that effectively taxes the wealthy is notoriously difficult, but whether a wealth tax is part of that system should depend upon the policy choices of democratically elected representatives, not faulty constitutional understandings.


In this Article, three law professors report on and theorize a nonviolent direct-action campaign of the kind discussed by Dr. King in his famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Using the basic steps of the nonviolent campaign as an organizing framework, they analyze and report on the 18-day hunger strike by the Frisco 5 (a.k.a., Frisco5). This direct action protested the extrajudicial killings of Amilcar Perez-Lopez, Alex Nieto, Luis Gongora-Pat, and Mario Woods by San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) officers and advocated for institutional change to reduce the risk of homicides against persons with similarly racialized minority-group identities. Two weeks after the Frisco 5's 18-day hunger strike ended, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee called for the resignation of SFPD Chief Greg Suhr. Before firing Chief Suhr, however, Mayor Ed Lee sought to subdue the pressure he felt as the result of the hunger strike by making a shallow peace offering of $17.5 million dollars towards police reform and violence prevention.

First, Brenda Williams uses personal narrative to introduce and overview the Frisco 5 hunger strike, contrasting this direct action with how legal education often accedes to the racial inequities endemic to the criminal justice system of the United States. She asks, where does the hunger strike, as a tool for justice, fit into legal discourse? How does the hunger strike resist dominant legal paradigms that constrain a lawyer's justice work to the courtroom rather than promote justice work by lawyers in collaboration with community members in the streets of the Mission District in San Francisco? Next, Edwin Lindo reports and reflects on his experience participating in the hunger strike as one of the Frisco 5. Also, he charts a partial history of hunger strikes and their legal significance. Finally, Marc-Tizoc Gonzalez theorizes the Frisco 5 hunger strike within critical race theory (CRT) and Latina and Latino Critical Legal theory (LatCrit theory). He applies critical concepts and practices like counterstorytelling and testimonio, evokes the critical ethnic legal history de la comunidad Latina/o/x (of the Latina/o/x community), and briefly discusses the political and religious significance of people's public uses of food under First Amendment freedoms (i.e., free exercise of religion, free speech, petition of government for redress, and peaceable assembly). He concludes by asserting that the Frisco 5 acted within a genealogy of struggle—a fictive kinship of people who have fasted individually and collectively, inside and outside of prison, to protest injustice and to advocate for institutional reform, within historically contingent socio-legal relations of power.


Evolvement of medical education in the past decades has led to emerging of the new concept of "scholarship behaviours in teaching" (1). To evaluate scholarship projects six criteria (Glassick Criteria) have been proposed to make education provision more objective. They include providing clear goals, adequate preparation, appropriate methods, significant results, effective presentation, and reflective critique (2-4). While this is considered to be a relatively new concept, there is historical evidence in which promoting scholarship behaviours has been promoted. Rich Persian literature reflects the Iranian ideas, customs, traditions and culture which are shaped by social values. These concepts have been expanded and flourished during the 7000 years history of civilisation in this country. Ferdowsi, the epic poet of Persia (940-2020 CE) (5), reflected on the criteria of scholarship behaviours in teaching. His standards are even deeper. He expressed these ideas clearly to be understandable even to the public. For example, he focuses on the capability of expansion of teaching materials and experience to others (6). از این پس نمیرم که من زنده‌ام              که تخم سخن را پراکنده‌ام I shall not die; I'll be alive afterwards, as I have spread the seeds of discourse! According to Ferdowsi, publishing and distribution of teaching materials is not enough to grantee the scholarship behaviour. Results and guidelines should be able to flourish by themselves similar to the plant seeds that germinate. This could be defined as the seventh principle of Glassick Criteria.  Application of wisdom and science literacy is clear from the opening verses of Shahnameh (شاهنامه) and last throughout the book (6): به نام خداوند جان و خرد              کزین برتر اندیشه برنگذرد In the name of the Lord of life and wisdom, No notion would be better than this!  Ferdowsi attributed behaviour of teaching to nature and wisdom of the teachers as well as what they have been acquired (6). خرد باید و گوهر نامدار             هنر یار و فرهنگش آموزگار Nobel nature and wisdom are essential, artistic behaviour and culture should be the teacher!


In this paper we describe briefly three systems: onCue a desktop internet-access toolbar, Snip!t a web-based bookmarking application and ontoPIM an ontology-based personal task-management system. These embody context issues to differing degrees, and we use them to exemplify more general issues concerning the use of contextual information in 'intelligent' interfaces. We look at issues relating to interaction and 'appropriate intelligence', at different types of context that arise and at architectural lessons we have learnt. We also highlight outstanding problems, in particular the need to computationally describe and communicate context where reasoning and inference is distributed.


The Macroporous Nanocrystalline TiO2 Thin Film Was Prepared by Dipping-Coating Method. Polystyrene (PS) Microspheres Template Was Used as Pore-Forming Assistant and TiO2 Sol Was Used as Precursor. the Photoelectric Characteristics of the Samples Were Studied Using Surface Photovoltage (SPV) and Photoacoustic (PA) Techniques. the Presence of a Small Amount of Residual Template Damages the Integrity of the Porous TiO2 Film with Inverse Opal Structure, and TiO2 May Be Restricted in Certain Application Fields as Photonic Crystals. a Small Amount of Residual Template Changes the Surface Photovoltaic Properties of the Porous TiO2 Film, Resulting Mainly in the Broadened Scope and the Increased Intensity of SPV Response.


We propose and demonstrate a new and effective framework to calibrate the scanning electron microscope (SEM), under variational magnifications from 20 to 500. Unlike previous approaches that required different models and calibration procedures for different magnifications, this framework regards the SEM as a black box. The general imaging model is first introduced in modeling the SEM system, to explore the nature of SEM imaging. In order to relax the complexity of the general imaging model and calibration process, the smooth general imaging model and a linear point-based calibration method are developed. The experimental results well agree with the theoretical predication and show great potential to realize SEM calibration.


Background: Iron deficiency anaemia is the most common form of anaemia in India. Haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) is used in diabetic patients as an index to reflect glucose levels of the previous 3 months. Like blood sugar levels, HbA1c levels are also affected by presence of variant haemoglobin, haemolytic anaemia, nutritional anaemias, uremia, pregnancy and acute blood loss. However, reports on the effects of iron deficiency anaemia on HbA1c levels are inconsistent. We conducted a study to analyze the effects of iron deficiency anaemia on HbA1c levels and to assess whether treatment of iron deficiency anaemia affects HbA1c levels.
Methods: Fifty patients confirmed to have iron deficiency anaemia were enrolled in the study. HbA1c levels of them were measured both at baseline and after 3 months of treatment of iron deficiency. These values were also compared with those in the control population.
Results: The mean baseline HbA1c level in anaemic patients (6.60) was significantly higher than that of controls (5.48). However, after 3 months of treatment, significant decline from 6.60 to 5.74 was found in HbA1c levels.
Conclusions: Our study proved that Iron deficiency anaemia has a straight forward correlation with HbA1c levels and the relationship is inverse between them. This signifies that as the level of haemoglobin drops with increasing severity of iron deficiency in anaemic subjects, at the same time HbA1c levels increase correspondingly. Moreover, with correction of iron deficiency in the anaemic subjects, the HbA1c levels decline to near normal values. Other than blood glucose, many other factors effect calculated HbA1c value which should be kept in mind before doing a therapeutic treatment modification. Iron deficiency anaemia being extremely common in Indian settings should always be ruled out when high HbA1c levels are detected and should be corrected on priority to achieve true levels of HbA1c.


ABSTRACT It was during the Second World War that Colin Ward came into contact with the anarchist movement and started his long lasting activity as an 'anarchist columnist'. From 1943, he became involved in the Freedom Press Group. This article will analyse his major contributions to War Commentary and then Freedom. It will examine the role that Ward played in the resurgence of anarchist journalism, from the late 1940s to the late 1960s, by investigating the relationship and the mutual influences between Ward and the other activists in Freedom Press. Ward's books addressed the world outside anarchism and used ordinary real world facts to discuss anarchist arguments. This article will analyse how these innovative characteristics developed in his journalism. Keywords Colin Ward, Freedom Press, War Commentary, British Anarchism Every couple of years or so I write an article under the ride The Man who Knows his Village ... I have forgotten how the quotation ends but the inference is clear. The phrase is a sort of shorthand for the series of ideas which to me are fundamental. For the idea that the man who knows his village understands the world, that everything important starts in small ways in small places, that the only real politics are those of the parish pump. For the idea of small communities, dispersal, fragmentation, the human scale, anarchy.1 1. INTRODUCTION During the thirteen years of his association with the editorial board of War Commentary and Freedom, from 1947 to I960, Ward elaborated his own idea of anarchism, developed his reflections about the application of libertarian principles to day-to-day life, and promoted them in the pages oi Freedom. In his articles he addressed a broad range of topics and issues: squatting; housing and urban planning; workers' control in industries; environment and education. These writings laid the foundations for his later publications, not only with respect to discussing his favourite subjects and themes, but especially in the perspective and the methodologies adopted in approaching them. His experience on the editorial board oi Freedom, the recurrent discussions on the purposes of an anarchist journal, and the role and limits of anarchist-written propaganda, as well as the feedback received from the readers over the years, shaped his views about the way in which anarchist ideas should be promoted to a wider public. When Ward joined Freedom Press in 1947 he was introduced to a vibrant and intellectually-stimulating environment. As he later recalled, during the latter years of the Second World War and the beginning of the 1950s, 'the English anarchist paper Freedom experienced one of those outstanding periods when the editors work as a creative group sparking off each others' talents in a periodical which speaks to its time with a coherent and apposite voice'. 2 The two central figures of the Freedom Press Group were Vernon Richards and Marie Louise Berneri, both children of Italian anarchist expatriates. They 'reacted on each-other and [...] formed a very good working partnership'.3 In 1936, Richards 'as a very young man [...] blew new life into what little smouldering fire that was left over by Tom Keele'.4 The same year Richards published Spain and the World and Revolt and, at the start of the Second World War, War Commentary which later became Freedom. From the beginning it was a collaborative project: 'M.L. Berneri's personality and spirit infused every activity undertaken by Freedom Press since 1936';5 another member, John Hewetson, was a general practitioner and 'a pioneer of advocacy of freely available contraception and abortion and of enlightened attitude to drug users'. George Woodcock, 'by far the most prolific of the new pamphleteers', joined the Freedom Press Group in 1942. His pamphlets on railways, housing and the land and his pioneering biographies on Godwin, Herzen, and Kropotkin had an enormous influence on Ward.6 Among other members of Freedom Press were John Olday who contributed his cartoons, Philip Sansom, 'industrial editor and a sharply witty cartoonist', and Rita Milton, 'a marvellous orator'. …


The word "trust" has multiple meanings. In everyday speech, it refers to a feeling of confidence associated with integrity, such as trusting that a friend will keep a secret. In the financial context, some law students, lawyers and lucky individuals also understand that a trust is a near-magical device that splits legal and equitable title. A trustee holds formal legal title to property for the benefit of a beneficiary simply because the grantor declares it to be so. By turning the spotlight on "trust," in both senses of the world, one can discern fault lines in contemporary U.S. political and legal structures. These are made even plainer when examined through the lens of ongoing litigation involving human embryos created by actress Sofia Vergara and her former fiance.

Just as termites can enter homes through foundational cracks or wood brought from the outside, interpersonal, community or structural confidence may erode in the face of hostility, indifference or inequality. Similarly, as termites can slowly damage a home over a period of years before the harm becomes visible, the beneficial form of ownership known as a trust gradually – and then suddenly – has morphed almost beyond recognition over the last twenty-five years. Eaten away are the traditional limitations on trust duration, trust modification and the type of property that can be held in trust. In some states, irrevocable trusts can last forever, be decanted to another trust with entirely different terms, or even hold legal "title" to human embryos. These changes to centuries of trust law reveal changing attitudes about wealth, property ownership, and personal autonomy. If society truly values equal opportunity for all people, then trust – and trusts – need attention.


The hematocrit dependence of flow signal (split-spectrum amplitude decorrelation angiography-SSADA decorrelation value) was investigated in this paper. Based on the normalized field temporal correlation function and concentration dependent particle scattering properties, the relationship between hematocrit and flow signal was analytically derived. Experimental verification of the relationship was performed with custom-designed microfluidic chips and human blood with 45%, 40% and 32% hematocrit. It was found that, in large flow channels and blood vessels, the normal hematocrit is near the decorrelation saturation point and therefore a change in hematocrit has little effect on the SSADA decorrelation value (flow signal). However, in narrow channels in the capillary size range, the effective hematocrit (adjusted for the overlap between OCT beam and channel) is in the range of 6.7-9.5% and therefore variation in hematocrit does significantly affect the flow signal.


Adenomatous Polyposis Coli (APC) is a tumor suppressor and essential negative regulator of the Wnt signaling pathway. Wnt signaling is crucial for proper patterning and cell fate specification during development and regulates stem cell homeostasis throughout adulthood. Mutations in Apc are strongly linked to human colorectal cancers and these mutations aberrantly activate Wnt signaling. How APC regulates the Wnt pathway and how oncogenic Apc mutations activate Wnt signaling and promote tumorigenesis are not fully understood. To address these questions, we utilized in vitro reconstitution assays, as well as Apc knockdown or mutation in human cells, zebrafish, and mice. We find APC directly enhances activity of Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3 (GSK-3), an essential regulator of diverse signaling pathways. Furthermore, APC loss of function mimics GSK-3 inhibition by reducing phosphorylation of Glycogen Synthase and by activating mechanistic Target of Rapamycin in Complex 1 (mTORC1). Thus we identify novel roles for APC as a regulator of GSK-3 activity and GSK-3 dependent signaling. Wnts reduce GSK-3 activity through an unknown mechanism to activate downstream signaling. We find Wnts induce rapid APC dissociation from the GSK-3/Axin complex, suggesting a new mechanism for how Wnts reduce GSK-3 activity. GSK-3 also regulates mTORC1, and we find oncogenic Apc mutations activate mTORC1. Furthermore, many Apc mutant phenotypes are partially rescued by mTORC1 inhibition, while others are rescued by combined mTORC1 and Wnt inhibition. These observations demonstrate roles for mTORC1 activation downstream of Apc mutation. Taken together, our findings provide new insight into APC function and the effects of oncogenic Apc mutation. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Cell & Molecular Biology First Advisor Peter S. Klein Second Advisor Morris J. Birnbaum


Abstract Few empirical studies have directly explored the association between Buchnera aphidicola (Enterobacteriales: Enterobacteriaceae), the primary endosymbiont of aphids, and the life history strategies of aphid parasitoids. A series of paired-choice experiments were conducted to explore the preference of the parasitoid Lysiphlebus ambiguus Halliday (Hymenoptera: Aphididae) for symbiotic and aposymbiotic Aphis fabae Scopoli (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and the suitability of these hosts for parasitoid development. When given a choice between symbiotic and aposymbiotic aphids of the same instar, the parasitoid significantly preferred symbiotic over aposymbiotic aphids only during the later instars (L4 and adult). The suitability of aposymbiotic aphids for parasitoid development was equal to that of symbiotic aphids in terms of survivorship and sex ratio, but was significantly lower than that of symbiotic aphids for L4 and adult instars in development rate and/or female adult size. When given a choice between similar-sized symbiotic L2 and aposymbiotic L4 aphids, the parasitoid preferred the former. No significant differences in preference or host suitability were demonstrated when the parasitoid was given a choice between different instars of aposymbiotic aphids. While parasitoid lifetime fecundity increased with aphid instar at the time of oviposition, there was no significant influence of previous development from symbiotic versus aposymbiotic aphids. These results suggest that while L. ambiguus can discriminate between symbiotic and aposymbiotic A. fabae during later instars and when the aphids are of a similar size, the primary endosymbiont is not needed for successful parasitoid development; and its absence only compromises parasitoid growth reared from later instar aposymbiotic host.


BACKGROUND
Treatment with low-dose amphotericin B (0.4 mg per kilogram of body weight per day) or oral azole therapy in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and cryptococcal meningitis has been associated with high mortality and low rates of cerebrospinal fluid sterilization.

METHODS
In a double-blind multicenter trial we randomly assigned patients with a first episode of AIDS-associated cryptococcal meningitis to treatment with higher-dose amphotericin B (0.7 mg per kilogram per day) with or without flucytosine (100 mg per kilogram per day) for two weeks (step one), followed by eight weeks of treatment with itraconazole (400 mg per day) or fluconazole (400 mg per day) (step two). Treatment was considered successful if cerebrospinal fluid cultures were negative at 2 and 10 weeks or if the patient was clinically stable at 2 weeks and asymptomatic at 10 weeks.

RESULTS
At two weeks, the cerebrospinal fluid cultures were negative in 60 percent of the 202 patients receiving amphotericin B plus flucytosine and in 51 percent of the 179 receiving amphotericin B alone (P=0.06). Elevated intracranial pressure was associated with death in 13 of 14 patients during step one. The clinical outcome did not differ significantly between the two groups. Seventy-two percent of the 151 fluconazole recipients and 60 percent of the 155 itraconazole recipients had negative cultures at 10 weeks (95 percent confidence interval for the difference in percentages, -100 to 21). The proportion of patients who had clinical responses was similar with fluconazole (68 percent) and itraconazole (70 percent). Overall mortality was 5.5 percent in the first two weeks and 3.9 percent in the next eight weeks, with no significant difference between the groups. In a multivariate analysis, the addition of flucytosine during the initial two weeks and treatment with fluconazole for the next eight weeks were independently associated with cerebrospinal fluid sterilization.

CONCLUSIONS
For the initial treatment of AIDS-associated cryptococcal meningitis, the use of higher-dose amphotericin B plus flucytosine is associated with an increased rate of cerebrospinal fluid sterilization and decreased mortality at two weeks, as compared with regimens used in previous studies. Although consolidation therapy with fluconazole is associated with a higher rate of cerebrospinal fluid sterilization, itraconazole may be a suitable alternative for patients unable to take fluconazole.


This report assesses the concept of 'solute residence time' and considers whether the definition of
'reference' hydrogeological environments (RHEs) can be used to aid the geochemical estimation of
solute residence times in groundwaters.
In general, previous studies of techniques for estimating groundwater 'ages' have emphasised
determinations of the times since groundwaters were recharged. However, there have been
relatively few assessments of the time for which solutes have been resident in the aqueous phase
within a particular 'rock reservoir' (defined as a volume of rock, including all the matrix and
fracture porosity which occurs within it). Such assessments need to be made during investigations
of potential deep sites for the geological disposal of radioactive wastes.
For groundwaters, solute residence times are normally defined for steady state conditions as
follows (Stumm and Morgan, 1981):
'tE = [ElV
[E]inq
where [E] and [Elin are the total concentration of solute in the system and the inflow respectively,
V is the total volume of the groundwater, and q is the rate of groundwater infiltration. The
'residence time' in this case is simply the time that is required for the quantity of a solute that is
present in the system at any instant, to be replaced completely by a fresh quantity of that solute.
However, operational difficulties arise when this definition is applied to solutes in groundwater
systems. This is because compositional gradients commonly arise along a groundwater flow path
(even when such a system is at steady state), and also because samples are typically taken from·
point sources. Therefore, the total quantity of a solute that is present in a reservoir of interest is
difficult to assess and a range of residence times will be estimated from waters sampled in different
places along a groundwater flow-path. A more appropriate definition of solute residence time is the
maximum estimated time for which a solute has been present within a rock reservoir of interest (or
alternatively, the minimum time that would be taken to flush all the solute of a given type from the
reservoir of interest).
There are three main types of technique that can be used in solute residence time studies:
1. Techniques that, under ideal circumstances, may. yield quantitative residence time
estimations;
2. Techniques that, under ideal circumstances, may yield quantitative, but limiting (maximum
or minimum) residence time estimates;
3. Techniques that, under ideal circumstances, may yield only relative residence time
indications.
The actual type of residence time estimate that may be made using a particular technique will
depend partly upon the hydrogeological setting of the rock reservoir of interest. A particular
technique that may yield quantitative residence time estimates under some circumstances, may yield
only limiting residence time estimates under others.
If non-steady state conditions prevail, then the estimation of residence times for solutes in any rock
reservoir becomes much more difficult or even impossible. In general, techniques that are
potentially quantitative under steady state conditions will give only limiting residence times under
non-steady state conditions. Techniques that may yield limiting or relative residence times under
steady state conditions will also tend to yield limiting or relative residence times under non-steady
state conditions.
Any hydrogeological environment can be considered to contain a number of different groundwater
reservoirs (e.g. rock matrix, faults, an aquifer, an aquiclude, etc.), and a given solute will have a
different residence time within each reservoir. Additionally, the 'ages' that are obtained may be an
integration of the residence times of the water and/or solutes within a series of reservoirs, if the
boundaries of the reservoirs are poorly defined. A set of rules is proposed for evaluating what type
of residence time indication (quantitative, limiting or relative) might be obtained from a particular
technique in any rock reservoir of interest. These rules are then applied to different rock reservoirs
within each of seven different reference geological environments. These environments were chosen
in order to represent a spectrum of hydrogeological environments within which potential
radioactive waste repositories might be constructed:
1 . Crystalline Shield Type
2. Argillaceous Rock Beneath Low-lying Plain Type
3. Coastal, Basin Margin Type
4. Salt Dome Beneath Low-lying Plain Type
5. Basin and Range Type
6. Argillaceous Rock in Foreland Basin Type
7. Sedimentary Basin at a Destructive Plate Margin Type
For each environment a table is presented which indicates what type of information might be
obtained from each of the major techniques for estimating solute residence times. The aim is to present a tool which might be used to design strategies for evaluating residence times of solutes in
groundwaters.
It is possible to use such reference environments in order to establish priorities for the application
of techniques. However, it is nec:essary for these techniques to be applied in conjunction with
groundwater head data and geochemical data for the origins of the waters and their salinities. Such
data enable the boundary conditions of rock reservoirs to be defined, and the flow paths of
groundwaters to be constrained. A knowledge of groundwater flow paths is essential in order to
make a thorough assessment of the applicability of a technique for groundwater dating.


Transfer learning is a new machine learning and data mining framework that allows the training and test data to come from different distributions and/or feature spaces. We can find many novel applications of machine learning and data mining where transfer learning is helpful, especially when we have limited labeled data in our domain of interest. In this thesis, we first survey different settings and approaches of transfer learning and give a big picture of the field. We focus on latent space learning for transfer learning, which aims at discovering a "good" common feature space across domain, such that knowledge transfer becomes possible. In our study, we propose a novel dimensionality reduction framework for transfer learning, which tries to reduce the distance between different domains while preserve data properties as much as possible. This framework is general for many transfer learning problems when domain knowledge is unavailable. Based on this framework, we propose three effective solutions to learn the latent space for transfer learning. We apply these methods to two diverse applications: cross-domain WiFi localization and cross-domain text classification, and achieve promising results. Furthermore, for a specific application area, such as sentiment classification, where domain knowledge is available for encoding to transfer learning methods, we propose a spectral feature alignment algorithm for cross-domain learning. In this algorithm, we try to align domain-specific features from different domains by using some domain independent features as a bridge. Experimental results show that this method outperforms a state-of-the-art algorithm in two real-world datasets on cross-domain sentiment classification.


EDITOR,—In his editorial, Link comments that 70 deaths have been reported from commotio cordis while playing American sports since the late 1970s (mostly baseball, ice hockey, and American football), but there have been no reported deaths from this cause while playing cricket. Haq raises the possibility of such a fatality occurring during a cricket match in Kentucky in 1970, but there are no reports of deaths occurring in Britain, where cricket is a popular summer sport. This may surprise many, as a cricket ball is of similar size, weight, and hardness to an American baseball, and commonly travels at similar speeds. As Link suggests, there is probably a relative lack of awareness of the phenomenon of commotio cordis outside the United States. However, the dynamics of cricket are such that impacts of balls to the central chest of batsmen are rare. A baseball is "pitched" from a distance of 20 yards and aimed, without bouncing, to closely pass the batter between chest and knee height. In contrast, a cricket ball is "bowled" by a straight arm, windmilltype action from a distance of 22 yards and bounced once towards three 28" high wooden stumps, usually passing the batsman below waist level. This lower trajectory, as well as the more side on stance of the batsman, makes central chest impact by the ball considerably less frequent than in baseball. Only infrequently is the cricket ball bowled at chest height, either without bouncing (a "full toss", recently outlawed), or deliberately bounced fast and short to intimidate the batsman (a "bouncer"). The batsman's usual response is to take simple evasive action by ducking or swaying. The alternative is to play an aggressive shot in which the bat and shoulders (of a right handed batsman) are swung from right to left in a high horizontal arc, aiming to hook the ball from in front of the chest in an action broadly resembling a baseball shot. Only in this infrequent situation is the batsman likely to be struck in the central chest and placed at risk of commotio cordis. It is perhaps for this reason that chest protection is rarely worn by cricket batsmen, except when facing the fastest bowlers at the highest professional level. Recent research has provided a better understanding of the dynamics of chest impact. Increasing awareness of the dangers of low energy chest wall impact has encouraged use of appropriate protective measures and this will reduce the incidence of these most tragic sporting deaths. Although there is less risk of commotio cordis in cricket than in baseball or ice hockey, the lessons learnt from American sports fatalities and the precautions necessary to safeguard the young participants are transferrable to other sports.


The proliferation of service-oriented architectures in the last decade has brought forward an important class of sophisticated distributed applications that are founded on
the idea of composing multiple simple services into a complex, coherent whole. Such applications spanning multiple service invocations can be most effectively realized by means of workflows. When it comes to high performance workflow execution, distribution (outscaling) of services is a key concept and also a very straightforward advantage of the workflow paradigm. Concretely, both the constituent services of the workflow and the system that manages their invocations have to be distributed across an environment of computational devices. In a wide spectrum of applications, that entail heterogeneity of the encompassed computational devices, e.g., modern emergency management, invocations of optimal service instances in conjunction to their reliability are
fundamental prerequisites of distributed workflow management.

At the center of this thesis is a formal model that defines the distributed (i.e., scalable) execution of workflows. To extend this model for reliability in a novel way, which
does not affect the scalability of execution, the Safety-Ring system service is presented.
The idea behind Safety-Ring is to offer recovery for a wide range of node failures, which
host active services of running workflows. To this end, the Safety-Ring provides a scalable, reliable, and consistent data store that is used for the storage of workflow execution state. The novel failure-recovery mechanism features effective reliability such that can
be applied on the nodes that host the Safety-Ring service themselves, thus we say the Safety-Ring is self-healing.

To apply the reliable (and distributed) execution model, enhanced by Safety-Ring, to heterogeneous node environments, that are predominantly composed of mobile de-
vices, this thesis presents the Compass data access protocol. In providing scalable data lookup for its maintained data, the Safety-Ring assumes network runtime characteristics which are rather stable, and thus Safety-Ring implicitly optimizes for the number of
queried nodes. Especially in mobile applications, where node network connectivity dynamically changes, data access protocols should aim at reducing the overall data lookup
latency, rather than the number of queried nodes. Compass introduces latency optimal paths to each node, which dynamically adapt to changing network characteristics. The
scalable data lookup of Safety-Ring is not affected.

In case distributed execution of workflows spans services of continuous (stateful) type, their reliability is decoupled from the Safety-Ring. Since such service types are
predominantly featured by devices of limited resources, novel approaches to resource conservative recovery of failures for continuous services have to be provided. This thesis builds on proven recovery techniques, such as passive-standby, so as to enhance them for redundancy of the continuous state and thus improve the overall reliability of the system. In doing so the redundancy of state is enforced by means of a lightweight, in terms of network overhead, consistency protocol which allows for its application in resource limited node environments.

In order to improve the execution performance of distributed workflows, in terms of throughput, this thesis offers a novel concept to services distribution. At the heart of our approach lie decentralized controllers that autonomously perform dynamic reconfiguration of the execution environment in terms of available services. This primarily affects the Safety-Ring service and all application services. Thereby, the goals of the controllers
are to prevent workflow execution bottlenecks and unnecessary service deployments that waste resources. Since the controllers are equipped at any node in the system and
can affect any other node of the system we say that the distributed workflow execution model is self-optimizing.
Finally, all the presented concepts are implemented within the context of the OSIRIS distributed workflow engine and quantitatively evaluated in a series of experiments.
The results of experiments confirm the benefits of our concepts for the distributed workflow execution model.


The Innovation Code
 The Creative Power of Constructive Conflict
 Harmony is sublime in music but deadly to innovation. The only way to create new, hybrid solutions is to clash. Innovation happens when we bring people with contrasting perspectives and complementary areas of expertise together in one room. We innovate best with people who challenge us, not people who agree with us.

 It sounds like a recipe for chaos and confusion. But in The Innovation Code, Jeff DeGraff, dubbed the "Dean of Innovation," and Staney DeGraff introduce a simple framework to explain the ways different kinds of thinkers and leaders can create constructive conflict in any organization. This positive tension produces ingenious solutions that go far beyond "the best of both worlds."

 Drawing on their work with nearly half of the Fortune 500 companies, the DeGraffs help you harness the creative energy that arises from opposing viewpoints. They identify four contrasting styles of innovator—the Artist, the Engineer, the Athlete, and the Sage—and include exercises and assessments for building, managing, and embracing the dynamic discord of a team that contains all four. You can also figure out where you fit on the continuum of innovator archetypes.

 Using vivid examples, The Innovation Code offers four steps to normalize conflict and channel it to develop something completely new. By following these simple steps, you will get breakthrough innovations that are both good for you and your customers. This is a rigorous but highly accessible guide for achieving breakthrough solutions by utilizing the full—and seemingly contradictory—spectrum of innovative thinking.


Considering that high Young's moduli and low ultrasonic attenuation of fine ceramics may enhance driving force and reduce energy dissipation, in this study, we exploit the usage of fine ceramics as vibrating bodies of ultrasonic motors. Several alumina vibrating bodies were fabricated and bonded to annular lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) disks to form ring-shaped vibrators, where traveling waves with the 3rd bending modes were excited to frictionally drive the rotor. First, we explored the fundamental vibration properties. As predicted, the alumina/PZT vibrators provided relatively high force factors, high electromechanical coupling factors, and low damping compared to the stainless-steel/PZT one with similar structure. Subsequently, through experimental assessment on load characteristics, we found that the rotation speed of the alumina/PZT motor at 20 V was larger than that of the stainless-steel/PZT motor at 250 V, and meanwhile, it exhibited superior maximal-torque-to-voltage and maximal-output-power-to-voltage ratios; these results imply that satisfactory performance is achievable with our motor. Besides, alumina's chemical resistance and electrical resistance make our motor potentially applicable to the acid/alkaline atmosphere and the intensively alternating-current magnetic field.


Therapeutic engineered nanoparticles (NPs), including ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide (USPIO) NPs, may accumulate in the lower digestive tract following ingestion or injection. In order to evaluate the reaction of human colon cells to USPIO NPs, the effects of non-stabilized USPIO NPs (NS-USPIO NPs), oleic-acid-stabilized USPIO NPs (OA-USPIO NPs), and free oleic acid (OA) were compared in human HT29 and CaCo2 colon epithelial cancer cells. First the biophysical characteristics of NS-USPIO NPs and OA-USPIO NPs in water, in cell culture medium supplemented with fetal calf serum, and in cell culture medium preconditioned by HT29 and CaCo2 cells were determined. Then, stress responses of the cells were evaluated following exposure to NS-USPIO NPs, OA-USPIO NPs, and free OA. No modification of the cytoskeletal actin network was observed. Cell response to stress, including markers of apoptosis and DNA repair, oxidative stress and degradative/autophagic stress, induction of heat shock protein, or lipid metabolism was determined in cells exposed to the two NPs. Induction of an autophagic response was observed in the two cell lines for both NPs but not free OA, while the other stress responses were cell- and NP-specific. The formation of lipid vacuoles/droplets was demonstrated in HT29 and CaCo2 cells exposed to OA-USPIO NPs but not to NS-USPIO NPs, and to a much lower level in cells exposed to equimolar concentrations of free OA. Therefore, the induction of lipid vacuoles in colon cells exposed to OA utilized as a stabilizer for USPIO NPs is higly amplified compared to free OA, and is not observed in the absence of this lipid in NS-USPIO NPs.


Copolymer resin (2,4-DHBEDF) has been synthesized by the condensation polymerization of 2,4-dihyroxybenzoic acid and ethylene diamine with formaldehyde in the presence of acid catalyst, was proved to be selective chelation ion-exchange resin for certain heavy metals. The chelating ion-exchange properties of these copolymer was studied for Fe(III), Cu(II), Ni(II), Co(II), and Pb(II) ions in the form of their metal nitrate solutions. A batch equilibrium method was employed in the study of the selectivity of metal ion uptake involving the measurements of the distribution of a given metal ion between the copolymer sample and a solution containing the metal ion. The study was carried out over a wide pH range, shaking time and in media of various ionic strengths of different electrolytes. The ion-exchange capacity of metal ions has also been determined experimentally and compared with other commercial resins. Besides ion-exchange properties, the copolymer resin was also characterized by viscometric measurements in dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO), UV-visible absorption spectra in non-aqueous medium, infra-red spectra, nuclear magnetic resonance spectra and C13 NMR spectra. The physico-chemical and spectral methods were used to elucidate the structures of 2,4-DHBEDF resin. The morphology of the copolymer was studied by scanning electron microscopy; showing amorphous nature of the resins therefore can be used as a selective ionexchanger for certain metal ions.


Trade-offs are manifestations of the complex dynamics in interdependent social-ecological systems. Addressing trade-offs involves challenges of perception due to the dynamics of interdependence. We outline the challenges associated with addressing trade-offs and analyze knowledge coproduction as a practice that may contribute to tackling trade-offs in social-ecological systems. We discuss this through a case study in coastal Kenya in which an iterative knowledge coproduction process was facilitated to reveal social-ecological trade-offs in the face of ecological and socioeconomic change. Representatives of communities, government, and NGOs attended two integrative workshops in which methods derived from systems thinking, dialogue, participatory modeling, and scenarios were applied to encourage participants to engage and evaluate trade-offs. Based on process observation and interviews with participants and scientists, our analysis suggests that this process lead to increased appreciation of interdependences and the way in which trade-offs emerge from complex dynamics of interdependent factors. The process seemed to provoke a reflection of knowledge assumptions and narratives, and management goals for the social-ecological system. We also discuss how stakeholders link these insights to their practices.


A 67-year-old woman presented to the Emergency Unit, Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa, with a 1-week history of poor appetite, vomiting and fatigue. Her background history was notable for infundibular pulmonary stenosis resection, pulmonary embolism and atrial flutter. Two days before, she complained to her general practitioner of recent-onset, recurrent syncope and worsening gastrointestinal upset. Her medical treatment included warfarin 5 mg daily, enalapril 5 mg twice daily, furosemide 40 mg twice daily, atenolol 50 mg twice daily, amiodarone 200 mg daily and digoxin 0.125 mg daily. The digoxin was added to her therapy 8 months earlier to optimise rate control.


The application of an electric field to contaminated soil specimens and the resulting electrokinetic phenomena have been combined with the degradative actions of bacteria to create a novel method for the remediation of contaminated land. Currently, the vast majority of remediation projects involve disposing of contaminated soil in landfill. With the introduction of, and increases in, landfill tax in the UK, this option is becoming less desirable, and so robust, more sustainable techniques are required, such as bioremediation. A major problem with the implementation of bioremediation is the bioavailability of contaminating chemicals. Reduced accessibility of bacteria to the chemical(s) they are attempting to degrade can lead to significant increases in required remediation times, as well as the possibility of significant residual contamination, the levels of which cannot be easily further reduced.

This thesis addresses the problem of bioavailability of contaminants in soils, and has investigated the use of electrokinetic phenomena as tools to bring about an increase in this factor, leading to improved biodegradation. Soil contaminated with pentachlorophenol (sodium salt) was subjected to an electric field in a number of experiments, with significant transport of the initially ionic chemical noted. The transport and fate of this chemical were tracked throughout each experiment, along with properties of the soil pore fluid. Significant changes in soil chemistry were noted (particularly pH or moisture content, depending on the experiment). The effect of pH change was found to be particularly important in this respect, with acidic conditions hindering both movement and bioavailability. A method of applying an electric field to contaminated soil containing degrading bacteria was developed which minimised the changes to these parameters within the soil. A significant increase in the effectiveness of the remediation was noted with this technique, with substantially faster degradation found to occur.


Much existing scholarship focuses on the rights of authors to modify copyrighted works; this article explores of the rights of consumers. Advances in technology are providing consumers new opportunities to alter copyrighted works for their private enjoyment. The recent dispute involving the ClearPlay technology for skipping offensive content in DVDs demonstrates how important, and how controversial, the clash of interests between authors and consumers may be. In this article, I consider the state of the law on consumer modifications and the arguments, both economic and non-economic, for expanding or restricting the freedom of consumers. A distinction can be drawn between modifications performed on behalf of consumers and modifications performed by consumers, perhaps using tools supplied by others. I conclude by advocating a "safe harbor" for certain modifications performed by consumers for their own use.


A model of conceptual change in physics was tested on introductory-level, college physics students. Structural equation modeling was used to test hypothesized relationships among variables linked to conceptual change in physics including an approach goal orientation, need for cognition, motivation, and course grade. Conceptual change in physics was determined using gains from pre- to post-administration of the Force Concept Inventory (FCI). Results indicated that need for cognition and approach goals had a significant influence on motivation. Motivation influenced change scores on the FCI both directly, and indirectly, through course grade. Finally, course grade directly influenced conceptual change. The implications of these findings for future research and developing students' conceptual change in physics are discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 48: 901–918, 2011


The successes of web design by learning relates to the pre-service teachers' personality. Unfortunately, the relationship between personality and pre-service teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge related Web (TPACK-Web) still uncertain. The main objective of this study was to explore the relationship between the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality and TPACK-Web of the pre-service teacher in Indonesia (N=309). To examine the correlation among two packages of variables, descriptive statistic, bivariate correlation, and Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was applied. The finding presented that the correlation between FFM of personality and TPACK-Web was significant. The most important finding suggested that Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness had a direct effect on the core of TPACK-Web bases (WK, PK, CK), and WPK to WPACK had the strongest effect. Finally, the implication of this study is provided along with suggestions.


Since its inception in the early 1970s, the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging technique has developed to the point that it is now used as a routine clinical diagnostic tool in many hospitals. As a result, virtually all; research in NMR imaging was until recently directed towards mapping the water and lipid distribution contained in human soft tissue, and it is only within the last few years that a start., has been made in exploring the non-medical applications of NMR imaging. In this review article we discuss some of the many applications of NMR imaging to studies of the production and evaluation of 'advanced materials', particularly polymers and polymer composites, and review some ofthe studies which have already been undertaken. It is hoped that this article will be read both by polymer scientists and engineers interested in this powerful new research tool for studying their materials, and also by those already involved in other aspects of NMR imaging who are seeking challenging new problems.


The INDIA COMMUNITY CENTER began in July 1976 as a temporary facility known as India House, located at 10819 Magnolia Dr. in UNIV. CIRCLE. Established by the India Assn. of Cleveland, India House was designed "to educate and expose the younger generation of Indians and their American friends to Indian culture and heritage." In 1977 the name was changed to the India Community Ctr. Using both India House and the First English Lutheran Church as its base until it could establish a permanent center, the India Assn. offered courses in Indian culture throughout the late 1970s. By 1978 it offered courses in the Hindi and Tamil languages, dance and music, demonstrations in Indian cooking, documentary films about India, and a speakers' bureau. In the fall of 1978, the India Assn. spent $76,000 to buy the former branch office of SUN NEWSPAPERS at 12412 Cedar in Cleveland Hts. as a permanent community center for Cleveland's 2,200-member Indian community. The center was established to serve the cultural needs of local Indians, to promote Indian culture and heritage among the young through organized educational and cultural activities, to channel the humanitarian efforts of the local community, and to foster among Americans a greater appreciation for Indian culture.


The present thesis investigates possessive constructions in Mandarin Chinese (MC), with a focus on the peculiarities of the syntactic realisations of kinship, bodypart and property-denoting relationships. These can be expressed grammatically without the appearance of the possessive marker de, in contrast to other types of possession. In opposition to the traditional view that these phenomena are derived by deleting the possessive marker de, I argue that they have a distinct syntax and semantics. I defend the idea that a DP is projected in the nominal domain in MC and propose that the noun phrase in MC has the following hierarchy: [DP [DemP [NumP [ClP NP]]]]. I argue that the morpheme men is a plural marker bearing a dependency to D, and it follows that instances where a nominal or pronominal is suffixed by men are phrasal. On this basis, I examine the syntax and semantics of juxtaposed possessive (JP) expressions where a personal pronoun is juxtaposed with a kinship noun, arguing that the kinship term is a head taking a pro complement, projecting a KinP projection. This KinP is then combined with a D head (a personal pronoun), which agrees in phi-specification with pro. This predicts the absence of proper names and plural pronouns in this construction, and provides the correct semantics without the possessive marker de being involved. I then develop a new analysis of double nominal constructions (DNCs) where the second nominal represents a property of the first. I argue that the second nominal is interpreted as a dimension along which the main predication is made to the subject DP. Also, I re-analyse the obligatory presence of hen and other elements in adjectival predication, tying these elements to the focus semantics of the predication. I further extend the dimension analysis and the focus analysis to the BI comparative constructions in MC.


BACKGROUND
The primary objective of this gender-stratified study was to assess the rate of heavy alcohol use among suicide decedents relative to a nonsuicide comparison group during the 2008 to 2009 economic crisis.

METHODS
The National Violent Death Reporting System and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System were analyzed by gender-stratified multiple logistic regression to test whether change in acute intoxication (blood alcohol content ≥0.08 g/dl) before (2005 to 2007), during (2008 to 2009), and after (2010 to 2011) the Great Recession mirrored change in heavy alcohol use in a living sample.

RESULTS
Among men, suicide decedents experienced a significantly greater increase (+8%) in heavy alcohol use at the onset of the recession (adjusted ratio of odds ratio = 1.15, 95% confidence interval = 1.10 to 1.20) (relative to the prerecession period) than did men in a nonsuicide comparison group (-2%). Among women, changes in rates of heavy alcohol use were similar in the suicide and nonsuicide comparison groups at the onset and after the recession.

CONCLUSIONS
Acute alcohol use contributed to suicide among men during the recent economic downturn. Among women who died by suicide, acute alcohol use mirrored consumption in the general population. Women may show resilience (or men, vulnerability) to deleterious interaction of alcohol with financial distress.


The study analyzed the technology based capacity utilization rate in sugar industry in Nigeria in the period 1970 to 2010. Data used in the study were obtained from the sugar firms, publications of the Central Bank of Nigeria and National Bureau of Statistics. Augmented Dicker Fuller unit root test was conducted on the specified data to ascertain their stationarity and order of integration. The result reveals that some variables were stationary at level while some were stationary at first difference. The diagnostic statistics from the multiple log linear regression on the specified variables confirmed the reliability of the model. The empirical result reveals that sugar cane price and sugar industry's real energy consumption have significant negative relationship with the technology based capacity utilization in the sugar industry in Nigeria. On the other hand, the wage rate of skill workers, industry's, real research expenditure, human capital and period of import substitution have significant positive influenced on the technology based capacity utilization rate in the industry. Our findings suggest that policy measures aim at expanding the hectares of industrial sugarcane and increase production of refined petroleum fuel in the country will promote capacity utilization in the industry. Also policies targeted on the intensification of research and improved worker's remuneration in the sub-sector is strongly advocated.


Gabor's signal expansion and the Gabor transform are formulated on a non-orthogonal time-frequency lattice instead of on the traditional rectangular lattice. The reason for doing so is that a non-orthogonal sampling geometry might be better adapted to the form of the window functions (in the time-frequency domain) than an orthogonal one: the set of shifted and modulated versions of the usual Gaussian synthesis window, for instance, corresponding to circular contour lines in the time-frequency domain, can be arranged more tightly in a hexagonal geometry than in a rectangular one. Oversampling in the Gabor scheme, which is required to have mathematically more attractive properties for the analysis window, then leads to better results in combination with less oversampling. The procedure presented in this paper is based on considering the non-orthogonal lattice as a sub-lattice of a denser orthogonal lattice that is oversampled by a rational factor. In doing so, Gabor's signal expansion on a non-orthogonal lattice can be related to the expansion on an orthogonal lattice (restricting ourselves, of course, to only those sampling points that are part of the non-orthogonal sub-lattice), and all the techniques that have been derived for rectangular sampling - including an optical means of generating Gabor's expansion coefficients via the Zak transform in the case of integer oversampling - can be used, albeit in a slightly modified form.


The period of 1840 (when the Opium War broken out) till now is commonly regarded as China's modern era, 'modern' in terms of China's departure from its original growth and developmental path. In this context, the term modern has been intimately associated with something alien to the Chinese indigenous culture and pattern. There are several distinctive features for this period of 150 years (1840–1990). First, China did not begin with zero or primitivism. Up to c. 1800, China also produced roughly a third of the world total manufacturing output, ahead of the West (about 20 percent of the world total) by a significant 10 percent in the world total. In around 1830, China still matched the West reasonably comfortably. However, there was a dramatic change after 1840. In 1900, China's share of manufacturing output declined to 6 per cent while the share of the West shot up to 77 per cent. Second, unmistakably changes during this period began with external shocks in the form of force majeure from the newly industrialised/industrialising modern powers. Table 1 contains main events marked by treaties between those powers and Qing China. Just about all such powers were actively involved. Third, changes in China during this period were both frequent and often extreme with the direction shifting from time to time. It all began with the Nanking Treaty Reform (1842) which opened the floodgate for foreign powers to move in China and dismantle institutional barriers for China's domestic market in the strict classical and neo-classic sense. Fourth, the results of these changes were mixed and messy. With these features in mind, it presents a challenging task to investigate why and how the changes occurred and what were the consequences. It is equally challenging as for how to evaluate these changes and their consequences. So, despite the amount of efforts made in what is broadly called 'Chinese studies', a critical point with which our comprehension of the nature and magnitude of the Chinese economic growth/development seems to have yet been passed. It is no exaggeration therefore that the Chinese economy during the modern era is one of the least understood in the world. But why does state-building matter? Empirically, at least in China's past, state-building was always associated with a cluster of major changes, marking the beginning of an array of new developments in terms of (1) changing the 'game' and its rules at all levels, (2) altering growth trajectory of the economy, and hence (3) breaking away from the old historic continuity. But, these new institutions were not necessarily beneficial and inductive to growth and development as time went on. They led to a deadlock for the premodern Chinese economy. Thus, state-building gives us some very promising hints in tackling modern Chinese economic history in general and in investigating and explaining, in a coherent way, all the main features of China's modern economic history in particular. To introduce state-building into a model will thus not only fill in the vacuum but also ensure a factual and dynamic thrust in the study. This new dimension will transcend the narrow approach of the 'state-market' paradigm which leans too much towards the Western European experiences. This is essential in analysing Maoist planned economy.


Biourbanism introduces new conceptual and planning models for a new kind of city, valuing social and economical regeneration of the built environment through developing and healthy communities. Thus, it combines technical aspects, such as zero-emission, energy efficiency, information technology, etc. and the promotion of social sustainability and human well being. In effect, this new paradigm endorses principles of geometrical coherence, Biophilic design, BioArchitecture, Biomimesis, etc. in practices of design and also new urban policies and, especially Biopolitics to promote urban revitalization by ensuring that man-made changes do not have harmful effects to humans. Green city standards start inside the designs of each building and continue either in unbuilt spaces surrounding buildings or inside complex infrastructural networks, connecting buildings and people. The proposed presentation should illustrate how new exciting developments, such as fractals, complexity theory, evolutionary biology and artificial intelligence are interrelated and constantly stimulate interaction between human beings and the surrounding environment. New Biophilic solutions in designs of buildings have been proved as attractive opportunities for new markets of housing. Thus, some new infrastructural projects start embracing Biophilic advanced solutions which finally aim at energy efficiency and optimal performance. As parallel activity we can now see emerging new innovative monitoring systems of building health not only in small scale, but also in large scale buildings, such as rail stations, for example, and commercial centres or even sometimes entire educational complexes integrated to new infrastructural projects. Some important case studies are going to be presented; they have been analyzed and evaluated by Biourbanism and Biophilia principles and applied methods of design.


2 D;V Provide a summary of objectives, study design, setting, participants, sample size, predictors, outcome, statistical analysis, results, and conclusions. Introduction Background and objectives 3a D;V Explain the medical context (including whether diagnostic or prognostic) and rationale for developing or validating the multivariable prediction model, including references to existing models. 3b D;V Specify the objectives, including whether the study describes the development or validation of the model or both. Methods Source of data 4a D;V Describe the study design or source of data (e.g., randomized trial, cohort, or registry data), separately for the development and validation data sets, if applicable. 4b D;V Specify the key study dates, including start of accrual; end of accrual; and, if applicable, end of follow-up. Participants 5a D;V Specify key elements of the study setting (e.g., primary care, secondary care, general population) including number and location of centres. 5b D;V Describe eligibility criteria for participants. 5c D;V Give details of treatments received, if relevant. Outcome 6a D;V Clearly define the outcome that is predicted by the prediction model, including how and when assessed. 6b D;V Report any actions to blind assessment of the outcome to be predicted. Predictors 7a D;V Clearly define all predictors used in developing or validating the multivariable prediction model, including how and when they were measured. 7b D;V Report any actions to blind assessment of predictors for the outcome and other predictors. Sample size 8 D;V Explain how the study size was arrived at. Missing data 9 D;V Describe how missing data were handled (e.g., complete-case analysis, single imputation, multiple imputation) with details of any imputation method. Statistical analysis methods 10a D Describe how predictors were handled in the analyses. 10b D Specify type of model, all model-building procedures (including any predictor selection), and method for internal validation. 10c V For validation, describe how the predictions were calculated. 10d D;V Specify all measures used to assess model performance and, if relevant, to compare multiple models. 10e V Describe any model updating (e.g., recalibration) arising from the validation, if done. Risk groups 11 D;V Provide details on how risk groups were created, if done. Development vs. validation 12 V For validation, identify any differences from the development data in setting, eligibility criteria, outcome, and predictors. Results Participants 13a D;V Describe the flow of participants through the study, including the number of participants with and without the outcome and, if applicable, a summary of the follow-up time. A diagram may be helpful. 13b D;V Describe the characteristics of the participants (basic demographics, clinical features, available predictors), including the number of participants with missing data for predictors and outcome. 13c V For validation, show a comparison with the development data of the distribution of important variables (demographics, predictors and outcome). Model development 14a D Specify the number of participants and outcome events in each analysis. 14b D If done, report the unadjusted association between each candidate predictor and outcome. Model specification 15a D Present the full prediction model to allow predictions for individuals (i.e., all regression coefficients, and model intercept or baseline survival at a given time point). 15b D Explain how to the use the prediction model. Model performance 16 D;V Report performance measures (with CIs) for the prediction model. Model-updating 17 V If done, report the results from any model updating (i.e., model specification, model performance). Discussion Limitations 18 D;V Discuss any limitations of the study (such as nonrepresentative sample, few events per predictor, missing data). Interpretation 19a V For validation, discuss the results with reference to performance in the development data, and any other validation data.


We report on a framework for model composition, exploration, and conformance testing based on symbolic execution. The foundations of this framework are given by so-called action machines, a variation of labeled transition systems which communicate over synchronously stepped actions and constraints attached to them. The implementation is based on XRT, an exploration engine for .NET CIL code which supports symbolic computation. The main application is in the area of model-based conformance testing, where our approach addresses practical problems users at Microsoft have in applying model-based testing technology.


The Food and Drug Administration now depends on user fees paid by drug companies to support more than half the salaries of the medical reviewers who advise the agency on the appropriateness of approving a drug. The funding creates a substantial risk of "capture" of the agency by the industry. Under the program, which started in 1992, drug companies pay a fee that permits the agency to hire additional reviewers to make more timely reviews on whether a drug can be approved. Under the law, the agency seeks to meet performance goals for the timing of reviews, giving the program the appearance of having a fee-for-service basis. The legislative authorization for the fees expires every five years, and the agency and the industry negotiate behind closed doors on the renewal and the performance goals for the reviews. The need for renewal creates an opportunity for the passage of laws that might not have been enacted separately. Some believe the Administration may accept measures of debatable merit to avoid having to layoff needed reviewers. Limiting the user fee support to half the Government appropriation for the program, and making the program permanent have received support as ways to alleviate the capture and linkage problems. This paper maintains that other reforms are needed before locking-in a permanent funding commitment. Making the drug fee program permanent can undercut Congress' responsibility to determine important budget allocations at a time when there is not enough. To provide better guidance on the benefits a drug may provide, the program should be based on a health review rationale rather than a fee-for-service rationale. A study is needed to determine better priority critria for reviews than the simple categories that now exist. The law should be clear that funding for the drug approval program is subject to the general cutbacks to deal with the deficit. The significance of the user fee program, and the reforms needed before it is made permanent warrant wide attention.


The International Conference on Microwave Acoustics & Mechanics (IC-MAM) represents a unique and unprecedented opportunity to bring together researchers and practitioners of different background (materials scientists, physicists, microwave engineers and process technologists), to share the most recent advances in new materials and manufacturing processes as well as components and devices, which represent the key for the development of future RF, microwave, mm-wave and THz devices, circuits and systems based on RF-MEMS and Acoustics. IC-MAM is organized by the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S) and features an exciting technical program and invited talks by worldwide recognized experts of RF-MEMS and BAW/SAW technologies.


Measurements are made to investigate the nature of a fast current disruptionappearing in one of the experimental devices at the Alfven Laboratory. Thedisruption appears when we let the induced electric field ( -vxB) in a transverselymagnetized flowing plasma drive a current between two short circuited plasmaprobes. It is the current measured in the circuit connecting the two probes thatshow the disruptive behaviour. The parameters of the typical disruption are a 5 Adrop in 25 ns.The results of the measurements indicate that the disruption is a relatively generalprocess. Instead of being a consequence of some special detail in the probeconfiguration it turns out to be a process appearing whenever we draw a currentbetween two probes in the plasma.The origin of the disruption is located and it turns out to be at, or at least near,the negatively biased probe.Simultaneous current and plasma density measurements indicate that the currentin the probe circuit generally exceeds the theoretical ion saturation current. Forthis to be possible there has to be some sort of electron emission process present atthe surface of the negatively biased probe. The conclusion is that it is this processthat fails when the current disrupts. Cathode spots are sometimes observed on thenegative probe, and they are believed to be the emission process in question.An analysis of the probe circuit gives that the measured current-voltagebehaviour during a disruption in a good way agrees with the assumption that acathode spot is extinguished at the negatively biased probe. When combining themodel of the circuit with a negative current-voltage characteristic for the cathodespot we get an unstable system. The disruption is believed to reflect this instability.The negative current-voltage characteristic needed to make this descriptionsuccessful is well described by curves found in literature on cathode spots.


A projective visualizer learns to simulate events in the external world through observation of the world. These simulations are used to evaluate potential actions on the basis of their probable outcomes. Results are given that indicate, 1). the error rate for projective visualization is sub-linear as the system projects farther into the future, 2). the error rate is inversely proportional to the number of cases, 3). a simple domain model can be used to reduce the effect of compounding error, and 4). projection can be used to increase the performance of an agent, even when this projection is imperfect.


Gelatinous zooplankton populations have increased in some regions, specifically Norwegian fjords, which has likely increased the occurrence of dead jellyfish aggregations on the seafloor (jelly‐falls). The importance of scavengers in the redistribution of organic material from jelly‐falls and their biogeochemical influence on the benthic environment has been demonstrated. However, scavenger responses to jelly‐falls across environmental gradients have not been studied, but would significantly advance our understanding of the impact of jelly‐falls on benthic ecosystems in different regions. This study examined scavenging ecology on jelly‐falls across an upper‐bathyal depth gradient in a boreal oxygenated fjord using baited time‐lapse camera lander deployments. The mean maximum abundance of scavengers increased with depth (eight individuals at 250 m, 10 at 600 m, and 18 at 1250 m) and at shallower depths more scavenger species fed on the bait (six species at 250 m, five at 600 m, and four at 1250 m). Mean scavenging rates (841.5 g d−1 at 250 m; 667.7 g at 600 m; and 883.7 g at 1250 m), however, did not vary significantly with depth. The lack of detection of a significant depth effect in this study may result from steep fjord topography enhancing food supply to deep waters reducing food limitation at the seafloor. Significant temporal changes in scavenging dynamics were primarily caused by changes in the dynamics of lyssianassoid amphipods. This study demonstrates that scavengers can rapidly remove jellyfish carcasses at the seafloor across a range of upper bathyal depths, potentially reducing the effects of jellyfish decomposition in fjord benthic environments.


In the last decade, advances in information and communication technologies and the introduction of the shared economy engendered new forms of transportation options and, in particular, shared mobility. Shared mobility services such as carsharing (e.g., Zipcar and Car2go), dynamic ridesharing (e.g., Carma), ridehailing (e.g., Uber and Lyft), and bike/scooter sharing (e.g., CitiBike, Jump Bike, Bird, and Lime) have gained growing popularity especially among subgroups in the population including college-educated or urban-oriented young adults (e.g., millennials). These emerging transportation services have evolved at an unprecedented pace, and new business models and smartphone applications are frequently introduced to the market. However, their fast-changing nature and lack of relevant data have placed difficulties on research projects that aim to gain a better understanding of the adoption/use patterns of such emerging services, not to mention their impacts on various components of travel behavior and transportation policy and planning, and their related environmental impacts.This report builds on an on-going research effort that investigates emerging mobility patterns and the adoption of new mobility services. In this report, the authors focus on the environmental impacts of various modality styles and the frequency of ridehailing use among a sample of millennials (i.e., born from 1981 to 1997) and members of the preceding Generation X (i.e., born from 1965 to 1980). The total sample for the analysis included in this report includes 1,785 individuals who participated in a survey administered in Fall 2015 in California. In this study, the researchers focus on the vehicle miles traveled, the energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for transportation purposes of various groups of travelers. They identify four latent classes in the sample based on the respondents' reported use of various travel modes: drivers, active travelers, transit riders, and car passengers. They further divide each latent class into three groups based on their reported frequency of ridehailing use: non-users, occasional users (who use ridehailing less than once a month), and regular users (who use it at least once a month). The energy consumption and GHG emissions associated with driving a personal vehicle and using ridehailing services are computed for the individuals in each of these groups (12 subgroups), and the authors discuss sociodemographics and economic characteristics, and travel-related and residential choices, of the individuals in each subgroup.View the NCST Project Webpage


In this paper, Yoruba myths of origin and Ketu Yoruba myths of migration are studied. In line with Leach's orientation, In Genesis as Myth, structuralism is employed to unearth the deep structural meaning generated by the components of the myths as a communication's structure. It is suggested that the myths are commentaries on dominance of one sex over another, the preference of exogamy over endogamy and the strength of the female sex as far as the rituals and symbols show.
More pointedly, the paper asserts that in order to achieve the necessary mobilization of African women for social action in the developmental effort in Contemporary Africa, some of the efforts must be directed at the salient aspects and traits of culture which served as vehicles for transmitting the male-oriented ideology of female inferiority. Those same traits ought to be re-examined and re-interpreted at a higher level of intellectual abstraction to communicate the significance of the roles of women in the scheme of things. This will lead to a balance so that emphasis on he patterns of male/female relationship will shift from dominance and mutedness of one sex over another to complementarity of the sexes.


Abstract We extend global integrability theorems for the gradients of A -harmonic functions to the exterior derivative of differential forms satisfying rather general nonhomogeneous elliptic equations. These include the usual A -harmonic equations. Geometric conditions on the boundary of the domains of integration imply a corresponding exponent of integrability. In the process we generalize the weak reverse Holder inequality to such differential forms.


Pentacene-based organic thin-film transistors with solution-process hafnium oxide (HfOx) as gate insulating layer have been demonstrated. The solution-process HfOx could not only exhibit a high-permittivity (kappa = 11) dielectric constant but also has good dielectric strength. Moreover, the root-mean-square surface roughness and surface energy (gammas) on the surface of the HfOx layer were 1.304 nm and 34.24 mJ/cm2, respectively. The smooth, as well as hydrophobic, surface of HfOx could facilitate the direct deposition of the pentacene film without an additional polymer treatment layer, leading to a high field-effect mobility of 3.8 cm2/(V middots) .


Facial recognition from an image or a video sequence draws attention for many image processing researchers owing to its myriad applications in real world as well as in computer vision, human-computer interaction and intelligent systems. Facial structures have unique features which can be extracted using some mathematical tools. We have used Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Local Binary Pattern (LBP) to extract them and stored them in a database. When the query image is given the facial features are extracted and compared to the previously obtained results using Sparse Face recognition. Detailed test methods have been defined and an extensive testing of the algorithm has been performed on various standard databases. The results have been tabulated with required graphs. The proposed algorithm has been compared to other different algorithms which show significant improvement in results with small number of training samples. Finally the algorithm was integrated in a hardware system so that it can be used as a self sufficient portable system.


Many students enter college lacking basic problem solving and communication skills. The situation is even more exacerbated for students from urban high schools. We have disseminated a "computing and composition" approach, originally implemented in firstyear college programming and English composition courses, to a high school curriculum in an urban setting. The Computing and Composition Project served students attending four Newark, New Jersey high schools, each serving populations with different profiles of academic performance. The instructional program included the development of a series of case studies based on the state high school science and mathematics content standards and the specific curriculum in place at the schools. These learning modules were designed to emphasize the skills required to solve problems and learn the syntax of the C++ programming language. Teamwork was an important part of this project. An important component of the instructional method included a problem solving and program development process to assist beginning computer science students fulfill the complex, multiple tasks of programming. After working through the process, students will have produced a carefully designed and fully documented solution to a problem. In the composition component, the writing process was the basic procedure through which students gain skills in and an understanding of what is necessary to produce effective expository prose written to respond to specific problems. Measurements of success and problem areas in the implementation of this program will be presented and methods for overcoming obstacles in such programs suggested.


The risk for heat-related illness is increased when exercising in a hot, humid environment. In an effort to protect the athlete, body temperature is measured continuously while exercising in extreme environments. Currently, researchers and laboratory personnel employ the use of mean skin temperature to monitor athlete safety; however, this measurement fails to consider localized changes in temperature that may arise as a function of sex and exercise time. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine potential sex differences in the change in skin temperature at 17 different upper body locations while exercising in a hot, humid environment. Young men and women were recruited and completed a 60-min walk/jog interval protocol in a hot (34.1 ± 1 °C), humid (64 ± 8%) environment while skin temperature was continuously measured. To account for differences that may have arisen due to differing workloads between men and women, energy expenditure and metabolic heat production were calculated after the completion of exercise. Data was analyzed either a repeated-measures ANOVA (change in skin temperature) or t-test (energy expenditure and metabolic heat production). Location of interaction effects was determined using a Fisher's Least Significant Difference test. Significance was set a p<0.05 for all statistical testing. There was no difference between men and women in total energy expenditure; however, men were found to have a higher metabolic heat production. Women had a higher change in skin temperature at three locations on the back (left upper, right upper, and right mid-back). Conversely, there were no differences at any time point between men and women in the change in core temperature from baseline measurements. This study highlights the need to further investigate sex differences in cooling mechanisms while exercising in a hot, humid environment.


Abstract Dust storms can extensively disrupt socioeconomic activities and pose hazards to human health and the ecosystem; yet no one has made a systematic analysis of dust storms from an economic perspective. Using a case study for Beijing in 2000, we present a preliminary analysis of socioeconomic impacts of yellow-dust storms, integrating regional economic analysis models with environmental-economic evaluation techniques. Our analyses demonstrate that the costs of delayed effects of yellow-dust storms can be higher than those of the immediate effects, and that the impacts potentially caused by supply effects can be greater than those caused by demand effects. Because this is a preliminary analysis with extremely limited data, our primary purpose is not to produce precise numerical results, but to develop an integrated model that policy analysts can use and further improve in order to evaluate the comprehensive impacts of other phenomena with similar properties more accurately.


This paper describes a new design concept of automatically diagnosing and compensating LED degradations in distributed solid state lighting (SSL) systems. A failed LED may significantly reduce the overall illumination level, and destroy the uniform illumination distribution achieved by a nominal system. To our knowledge, an automatic scheme to compensate LED degradations has not yet been seen in the literature, which requires a diagnostic step followed by control reconfigurations. The main challenge in diagnosing LED degradations lies in the usually unsatisfactory observability in a distributed SSL system, because the LED light output is usually not individually measured. In this work, we tackle this difficulty by using pulse width modulated (PWM) drive currents with a unique fundamental frequency assigned to each LED. Signal processing methods are applied in estimating the individual illumination flux of each LED. Statistical tests are developed to diagnose the degradation of LEDs. Duty cycle of the drive current signal to each LED is re-optimized once a fault is detected, in order to compensate the destruction of the uniform illumination pattern by the failed LED.


Thirty-seven superfamilies of Lamellibranchia (predominantly suspension-feeding) were graded according to their overall more primitive or more advanced structural condition, by tabulation based on two organ systems exhibiting progressive series of character-states (ctenidia, marginal pallial fusion). Commencing with the more primitive superfamilies, these were investigated in groups, recording the occurrence of those character-states that were especially relevant to the group in question. By this means the superfamilies were arranged in five clusters, and the structural characteristics of each cluster were clearly reported. By these methods, and together with three superfamilies of Protobranchia, the Bivalvia are shown to comprise six clusters which have been arranged in the following classificatory system. Subclass 1 Protobranchia Order 1 Nuculoida Order 2 Solemyoida Subclass 2 Lamellibranchia Order 3 Pteriomorpha Order 4 Mesosyntheta Suborder Trigonioida Suborder Unionoida Order 5 Anomalodesmata Suborder Pholadomyoida Suborder Septibranchia Order 6 Gastropempta Suborder Veneroida Suborder Myoida This classification is in general agreement with that adopted in the Treatise on invertebrate palaeontology (ed. R. C. Moore, University of Kansas Press, 1969-71) save for the following points. (i) Four subclasses are suppressed, reasons given. (ii) The superfamilies Crassatellacea, Carditacea and Leptonacea are transferred out of the Veneroida to join the Unionacea in an expanded suborder Unionoida. This improved classification differs in a few respects from the taxonomic arrangement previously obtained by computer analysis (R. D. Purchon, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 284, 425-436 (1978)) owing to additional information, and to more sensitive methods of analysis. The methods used provide clear reasons for the classification adopted, and permit easy adjustments to the classification if these are required after incorporation of any new information that may become available. The principal attributes of the nuculoid protobranchs and of the subclass Lamellibranchia are compared and contrasted in tabular form. A diagram, incorporating four hypothetical ancestral stages, illustrates the probable course of evolution in the class Bivalvia. An appendix supplies five further tabulations demonstrating the relevance to classification of the structural variation within certain of the organ systems. Throughout these six tabulations a majority of the superfamilies exhibit uniformity in their associations.


One of the most difficult problems in the social sciences is measuring the policy climate in societies. Prior to the 1930s the vast majority of labor regulations in the U.S. were enacted at the state level. In this paper we develop several summary measures of labor regulation that document the changes in labor regulation across states and over time during the Progressive Era. The measures include an Employer-Share-Weighted Index (ESWI) that weights regulations by the share of workers affected and builds up the overall index from 17 categories of regulation; the number of pages of laws; appropriations for spending on labor issues per worker; and two nonparametric COORDINATES that summarize locations in a policy space. We describe the pluses and minuses of the measures, how strongly they are correlated, and show the stories that they tell about the changes in labor regulation during the progressive era. We then provide preliminary evidence on the extent to which the labor regulation measures are associated with political and economic correlates identified as important in histories of industrial relations and labor markets.


This paper presents a simple forecasting technique for variance covariance matrices. It relies significantly on the contribution of Chiriac and Voev (2010) who propose to forecast elements of the Cholesky decomposition which recombine to form a positive definite forecast for the variance covariance matrix. The method proposed here combines this methodology with advances made in the MIDAS literature to produce a forecasting methodology that is flexible, scales easily with the size of the portfolio and produces superior forecasts in simulation experiments and an empirical application.