The amount of pollutant gases in the atmosphere has reached a critical state due to an increase in industrial development and the rapid growth of automobile industries that use fossil fuels. The combustion of fossil fuels produces harmful gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen monoxide (NO), soot, particulate matter (PM), etc. The use of Dimethyl Ether (DME) biofuel in diesel engines or other combustion processes have been highly regarded by researchers. Studies show that the use of pure DME in automotive engines will be possible in the near future. The present work evaluated the environmental and performance effects of changing the injection strategy (time and temperature), piston bowl geometry, and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) composition for a DME-burning engine. The modification of piston bowl parameters and engine simulation were numerically performed by using AVL fire CFD code. For model validation, the calculated mean pressure and rate of heat released (RHR) were compared to the experimental data and the results showed a good agreement (under a 70% load and 1200-rpm engine speed). It was found that retarding injection timing (reduction in in-cylinder temperature, consequently) caused a reduction in NO emissions and increased soot formation, reciprocally; this occurred because of a reduction in temperature and a lower soot oxidation in the combustion chamber. It became clear that 3 deg before top dead center (BTDC) was the appropriate injection timing for the DME-burning heavy duty diesel engine running under 1200 rpm. Also, the parametrical modification of the piston bowl geometry and the simultaneous decrease of Tm (piston bowl depth) and R3 (bowl inner radius) lengths were associated with lower exhaust NO emissions. For the perfect utilization of DME fuel in an HD diesel engine, the suggested proper lengths of Tm and R3 were 0.008 and 0.0079 m, respectively. Furthermore, various EGR compositions for the reduction of exhaust NO were investigated. The simulation results showed that a 0.2 EGR composition led to a reduction in the exhaust NO by 37%.


We study the fundamental task of outlier-robust mean estimation for heavy-tailed distributions in the presence of sparsity. Specifically, given a small number of corrupted samples from a high-dimensional heavy-tailed distribution whose mean $\mu$ is guaranteed to be sparse, the goal is to efficiently compute a hypothesis that accurately approximates $\mu$ with high probability. Prior work had obtained efficient algorithms for robust sparse mean estimation of light-tailed distributions. In this work, we give the first sample-efficient and polynomial-time robust sparse mean estimator for heavy-tailed distributions under mild moment assumptions. Our algorithm achieves the optimal asymptotic error using a number of samples scaling logarithmically with the ambient dimension. Importantly, the sample complexity of our method is optimal as a function of the failure probability $\tau$, having an additive $\log(1/\tau)$ dependence. Our algorithm leverages the stability-based approach from the algorithmic robust statistics literature, with crucial (and necessary) adaptations required in our setting. Our analysis may be of independent interest, involving the delicate design of a (non-spectral) decomposition for positive semi-definite matrices satisfying certain sparsity properties.


Stress relaxation uniaxial testing is used to define the behavior of elastomeric materials in their functional range. The stress-strain data obtained by this method are used in finite element analysis (FEA) to model the behavior of the material in a given application. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of aging on the uniaxial stress-strain properties of silicone sealants. This paper examines the material behavior changes that occur as these sealants continue to cure at ambient laboratory conditions. The study is intended as a first step toward developing simple working models that account for the effects of sealant aging in FEA modeling. Uniaxial stress relaxation testing was conducted on six commercially available silicone structural glazing, insulating glazing, and weatherproofing sealants in tension and in compression at temperatures of −20°C, 22°C, and 80°C. Testing was carried out immediately after cure, i.e., after three days for two-part and after 30 days for one-part sealants, and after an additional one-year storage period at ambient laboratory conditions. The test specimens were pre-loaded prior to testing in order to eliminate the Mullins effect. Testing was carried out over a strain range of −45–90%. The specimen was loaded to the desired strain level and then allowed to relax. The load at the end of the relaxation period was used to calculate the engineering stress. Coefficient of variance (CoV) was used to determine the significance of material property changes with continued sealant cure. No significant changes in engineering properties were observed for two sealants. For two further sealants, half or more of the test results were within CoV, and no clear trends in property drift could be derived. The changes in material properties of the final two sealants were well outside the CoV limit, and moderate to strong stiffening was observed.


The dilution effect hypothesis states that any non-target host species can act as a decoy or resistant host to disease or parasite transmission stages, thereby reducing the negative effects of the diseases or parasites on the coevolved host (Prenter et al. 2004, Johnson and Thieltges 2010). Invasive species are often resistant to parasites in the new ecosystem because native parasites have not evolved to be able to successfully infect them (Prenter et al. 2004). In laboratory experiments, Kopp and Jokela (2007) found the presence of the invasive snail, Lymnaea stagnalis, acted as a resistant host for trematode infection resulting in reduced infection rates in the native snail. Similarly, the presence of the invasive American slipper limpet, Crepidula foricata, and invasive Pacific oysters, Crassostrea gigas, reduced trematode infection load on native mussels, Mytilus edulis, in both single species and mixed species (both invasive species present) treatments (Thieltges et al. 2009). However, both of these experiments were conducted in mesocosms with simplified biotic interactions (Kopp and Jokela 2007, Thieltges et al. 2009).


markdownabstractThis thesis aimed to provide more insight into important clinical topics regarding IBD and reproduction. As described in this thesis, an uncomplicated pregnancy course is feasible for patients suffering from IBD. However, complications may occur due to disease activity during conception and pregnancy underlining the importance of disease remission. Finding the balance between IBD treatment in patients to maintain disease remission and at the same time consider fetal safety remains challenging. We show in this thesis that the use of adalimumab, an anti-TNF-α type that is increasingly used as maintenance treatment for IBD, by fathers at the time of conception is probably safe. We also show that anti-TNF-α and thiopurine, both often used as maintenance treatment for IBD, are of low risk during pregnancy for mother and their offspring. However, we found an altered thiopurine metabolism during pregnancy and a difference in transmission of anti-TNF-α drugs over the placenta between anti-TNF-α types, without affecting health outcomes of mothers and their offspring. In this thesis we investigated the long-term health of 1000 children born to mothers with IBD and assessed the effect of different types of drugs on health outcomes of children. We found no association between the use of thiopurine and/or anti-TNF-α during pregnancy and the following child's health outcomes: infections, adverse reactions to vaccinations, growth, auto-immune diseases and malignancies. This result is reassuring regarding the use of IBD medication during pregnancy indicating that thiopurine and/or anti-TNF-α and have no or little influence on long-term health development of in utero exposed children. In addition, we found that children born with detectable anti-TNF-α levels respond adequately to the vaccination against hepatitis B.

Overall, this thesis adds to the current data regarding reproduction in patients with IBD and shows favourable outcomes for mothers and children in case disease remission is maintained. This underlines the importance of finding the balance between maintaining disease remission in mothers with IBD drugs and at the same time minimising fetal drug exposure.


The butterflies are one of the insect groups which undergo typical complete metamorphosis in their life history. However, up to now, little is known about the genomic mechanism that regulates the butterfly metamorphosis. In this study, using a swallowtail butterfly P. polytes as a model organism, a high-throughput sequencing platform was employed to perform the transcriptome and gene expression analyses in order to explore the P. polytes transcriptome features during different developmental stages. The results showed that approximately 398 million useful (Q20) reads were assembled into groups of 14698 (L1), 14264 (L2), 15084 (L3), 15520 (P1), 15052 (P2), 15720 (P3) and 15709 (A1), 14668 (A2), 16152 (A3) genes, respectively, with 58.19% to 67.11% of the data successfully mapped to the reference genome; the transcriptome change analysis via the DEGs Package revealed that dramatic gene expression differences were presented among the different developmental stages, that is, totally, 1162, 891 and 1723 genes were differentially expressed between adult and pupal, adult and larval, larval and pupal stages, respectively, with a number of these differentially expressed genes associated with the functions of digestion, cuticularization, chemoreception, wing formation, and so on. These differentially expressed genes and potential candidate genes required for butterfly metamorphosis by comparative transcriptomics may shed some new insights on molecular mechanisms underlying complete metamorphosis.


High throughput parallel interleaver design is a major challenge in designing parallel turbo decoders that conform to high data rate requirements of advanced standards such as HSPA+. The hardware complexity of the HSPA+ interleaver makes it difficult to scale to high degrees of parallelism. We propose a novel algorithm and architecture for on-the-fly parallel interleaved address generation in UMTS/HSPA+ standard that is highly scalable. Our proposed algorithm generates an interleaved memory address from an original input address without building the complete interleaving pattern or storing it; the generated interleaved address can be used directly for interleaved writing to memory blocks. We use an extended Euclidean algorithm for modular multiplicative inversion as a step towards reversed intra-row permutations in UMTS/HSPA+ standard. As a result, we can determine interleaved addresses from original addresses. We also propose an efficient and scalable hardware architecture for our method. Our design generates 32 interleaved addresses in one cycle and satisfies the data rate requirement of 672 Mbps in HSPA+ while the silicon area and frequency is improved compared to recent related works.


An investigation was carried out to determine whether transmission of passive immunity from the mother to the fry occurred in the guppy, Poecilia reticulata. Female guppies were immunized by an intraperitoneal injection of formalin-killed Aeromonas hydrophila bacterin. Agglutinating antibody titers and the precipitating antibody in the body fluid of female guppies and their fry were investigated. The protection against the A. hydrophila pathogen by maternal immunity was also tested. Four weeks after immunization, 14 fry from immunized and nonimmunized females were challenged with 5-min exposure to a virulent A. hydrophila at dosages of 1 x 107 cfu/ml. Agglutinating antibody titers in the fry increased, ranging from 1/16 to 1/32. Body fluid of the newborn fry showed a precipitin line against sonicated A. hydrophila. In the challenge, the cumulative mortality of fry from the control fish (43%) was higher than that of fry from immunized fish (14%). The relative percentage protection of fry from immunized females was 67%. The results suggest that the antibody was transmitted from the mother to the newborn fry and the transfer of maternal immunity provides resistance to A. hydrophila in the guppy.


Climate engineering is subject to the "playing God" critique, which charges that humans should not undertake to control nature in ways that seem to overstep the proper scope of human agency. This argument is easily discredited, and in fact the opposite—that we should "play God"—may be equally valid in some circumstances. To revive the playing God critique, I argue that it functions not on a logical but on a symbolic and emotional level to highlight nostalgia for functional dualisms in the face of the bewildering problem of climate change. It also raises significant questions about the virtue of those who might engineer the climate. These two concerns point to questions about the proper role of human agency. I use the scholarship of Aldo Leopold and H. Richard Niebuhr to argue for a model of human agency based on contextual awareness and responsive, communal responsibility. I conclude with some implications of this view for decision-makers engaging the topic of climate engineering.


Human retroviruses exert a high level of control over their own gene expression as well as that of their host cell. In addition to the structural genes {gag, po/and env), expressed by all retroviruses, human retroviruses also encode additional regulatory genes. One regulatory gene promotes transcription of the viral genome and modulates the expression of specific cellular genes. The second gene (expressed by HIV and HTLV viruses) regulates viral expression posttranscriptionally by overcoming the effect of c/s-acting negative elements present within the incompletely spliced mRNAs. In the human T cell leukaemia virus type 1 (HTLV-I) retrovirus, the regulatory gene is known as rex. The binding of Rex protein to a sequence at the 3' end of viral mRNA, known as the Rex response element (RxRE) leads to removal of posttranscriptional repression. A sequence within the U5 region of the 5' long term inal repeat (LTR) has previously been described as exerting posttranscriptional repression. This element was termed a c/s-repressive sequence (CRS). This thesis describes the discovery of a novel c/s-repressive sequence present within the 3' LTR of HTLV-I, termed the "downstream negative element" or ONE. Its function is investigated and compared to that of the known CRS. Each repressive element is shown to partially block the nucleocytoplasmic transport of LTR transcribed mRNAs. Presence of both elements is seen to completely block transport. Deletion of both elements completely removes Rex dependency. Also described is the discovery of a c/s-positive element within the murine leukaemia virus extended packaging sequence (psi+). The MLV psi+ is used to enhance the packaging efficiency of pseudotyped retroviruses. Presence of the MLV psi+ is shown to partially remove Rex dependency from CRS-containing mRNAs. The positive element is shown to be present within the 3' term inal 312 bp of the MLV psi+ and to remove Rex-dependency by activating the nucleocytoplasmic transport of psi 312-containing mRNAs. This element was termed a constitutive transport element or "CTE", after showing the same mechanism of action as a small element from the Mason-Pfizer monkey virus (MPMV).


This guide is designed to help you jump start your theater research, find a monologue, locate a review, design a costume or light the stage!


What makes a work of literature readable? This book asks that question of one of the classics of Japanese literature, the Tsurezuregusa (Essays in Idleness) by Kenko (1283-1352), a collection of brief, fragmentary reflections on a number of subjects. In Japanese literary history the work is classified as one of the first collections of zuihitsu, or informal essay. This first extended critical treatment of Tsurezuregusa goes back to its author and his time to rebuild the discursive world of the early fourteenth century and to examine such matters as whether genre labels assist reading or obscure significant comparisons and contexts. The book presents compelling arguments against considering Tsurezuregusa as an example of zuihitsu; instead, the text is treated as a deliberate, controlled effort by Kenko to force the reader to confront the impermanent and contingent nature of existence through experiencing the text. The book develops this view by studying the collaborative strategies operating between writers and readers in medieval Japan, the intellectual intent and devices of Kenko's text, and the many kinds of writing on which it draws. We learn how a text with a commitment to shaping responses to the world is simultaneously dedicated to exploding the reader's identification with the presumably unchanging facts of existence. The aesthetics of impermanence (mujo), central to medieval Japanese thinking, emerges not only as what writing is about but also as a means to demonstrate and to encourage the enactment of aesthetics by readers. Thus, a work that seems formless, to have little structure, is shown to be so in the interest of form, that is, of conveying a clear meaning to its audience. Or, to express it with a more Buddhist inflection amenable to Kenko, although the form that we can perceive is contingent on conditions and is hence formless, the fact of form continues to matter absolutely. Both literature and the nature of existence are readable because of the interplay of provisional and absolute truths, of the writer's and the reader's approaches to texts.


Synthesizing a digital system from a functional description is a complex process requiring the solution of various different problems. TASS (Tabu Search Synthesis System) is a functional synthesis system made up of interdependent modules based on new and more efficient algorithms. First, a control and data flow graph model for system representation is developed and presented. This model generates a single graph representing both the data and control flows of a VHDL behavioral description. A new representation of conditional branches and a mutual exclusion testing procedure offering optimized resource sharing and critical path reduction possibilities have been developed. This graph model is an environment used for various synthesis needs starting from high-level transformations to FSM synthesis for controller implementation. A new mathematical formulation of the scheduling problem is developed using a new approach based on penalty weights. This approach avoids the inflexibility of the ILP formulations developed in related works where the functional unit performing each type of operation is fixed prior to scheduling. The Tabu Search technique, which has been effective in finding optimal solutions for many types of large and difficult combinatorial optimization problems, has been adapted for this purpose. This technique, which performs an intelligent and fast solution space exploration, combined with an effective mathematical formulation makes the scheduling algorithm presented here very powerful. >


Cooperative research involves upstream engagement of practitioners, introducing diverse knowledges and expertise in ways that can, in theory at least, generate new knowledge that is socially robust and publicly accountable. And yet, judging cooperative research solely in terms of accountability may underplay the transformative and nonaccountable/nonconvergent nature of research—the production, in other words, of the new when collectives are drawn together. Using examples from research that sought to provide environmental civil society organisations (CSOs) with the resources to shape cooperative research, this paper argues that cooperative research may not simply mark an extension of public engagement with science but can also seed an anticipatory and thus creative research process. For cooperative research to play this role there is a need to highlight the human and nonhuman attachments that underpin cooperative research activity. We argue that such activity might best have as its aim the empowerment, not simply of participants, but of the political situations that CSOs can help to foment.


Aims Medication errors within a paediatric setting are thought to be more common than in adults, and may be as high as 1 in every 6.4 prescriptions.1 A 2010 audit of paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) found a prescribing error rate of 11.4%, with 92% of these being identified and corrected by the PICU pharmacist but only 24% were intercepted before administration. Conversely, there have been a number of critical incidents reported within paediatric critical care concerning inappropriate dosage changes that have adversely affected patient care. The aim of this audit was to determine the number of interventions made to prescriptions for medications within PICU, to assess the appropriateness of these interventions based on the professional judgement of the PICU pharmacist and to identify who was making the interventions. This audit will benchmark the standards for further audits. Interventions could be made by any doctor, nurse or pharmacist caring for patients on PICU. Interventions must be justified and in the best interests of the patient. Interventions should be documented in terms of what was changed, why it was changed, who recommended the change and what time the change was made. An intervention was defined as: Any change to an order for medication by rewriting, editing, obscuring or amending a prescription in any way. Method A prospective, observational audit of interventions made to medications on PICU. The population audited were all paediatric patients admitted or present on PICU and prescribed any medication from 02 April 2012 to 04 May 2012. Results During the audit 82 medication interventions were recorded, of these 54.9% were made by pharmacists and 28% by nurses. Of the 82 interventions that were audited, 71 were deemed to be appropriate and 10 were deemed to be inappropriate; the appropriateness of 1 of the interventions was undetermined. The majority of interventions were made between the hours of 9:00 h–17:00 h on weekdays, during this period pharmacists made 68.3% of interventions and fewer inappropriate interventions were made. The majority of inappropriate interventions were made during the night, with the most common inappropriate intervention deemed to be changing of dose timings. The most common medications with interventions were antibacterials and antivirals, with the most common intervention being stopping medications. Conclusions Medication interventions occur frequently within the PICU setting and are initiated by all members of staff. However not all of these interventions are appropriate for patients. Of the 82 interventions made 86.6% were deemed to be appropriate. Of those deemed to be inappropriate, the reasoning behind them has yet to be analysed. Defining appropriateness is a qualitative exercise and further work must be undertaken to assess the perception of appropriate and inappropriate interventions. It is proposed that a 2-round Delphi method is used to test the appropriateness of the questioned interventions. This should help define what is an inappropriate intervention and allow for recommendations to be made to prevent these from occurring.


Although the experience of infertility has been a widely investigated phenomenon, the particular perspective of each gender has received little research attention. The primary objective of the present study was to generate a grounded theory regarding the lived experiences of infertility from male and female perspectives. Ten couples involved in varying stages of the infertility process participated in a series of interviews. Each interview was audio taped and transcribed verbatim. Participants collectively described changes over time in their reaction to, and experience of, infertility. A local theory was generated from the data which described an evolving process whereby participants adjusted to living with infertility. Hence, the core category of adapting to living with infertility emerged, as it clearly underpinned the participants' data when discussing the psycho-social experiences of infertility. For participants to deal with, respond to, and overcome the effects associated with the phenomenon in a productive manner, an adaptation to living with infertility was required. It was detennined that the core category consisted of four pre-existing conditions. The first of these conditions contributing to the core category of adapting to living with infertility related to participants' rationale for . desiring the parenthood experience. The second pre-existing condition was based upon the medical process undergone by all participants. Participants' attempts to make meaning of events comprised the third pre-existing condition, and finally, lifestyle adjustments constituted the fourth pre-existing condition involved in the core category of adjusting to living with infertility. The second objective of the present research pertained to gender specific experiences within these conditions. It was established that, although women and men experience some aspects of infertility in a similar manner, they are affected differently by the experience in some areas of life. The findings, together with implications for future research, and for working clinicians are discussed in more detail.


Tropical nearshore environments are highly dynamic systems owing to extreme freshwater flow and flooding episodes that occur in wet-season months. We hypothesised that juvenile sharks in tropical nearshore waters respond to seasonal freshwater inflow by moving away from areas of strong flow. An array of fifty-eight acoustic receivers deployed in Cleveland Bay, north Queensland, Australia, passively tracked thirty-two juvenile pigeye sharks, Carcharhinus amboinensis, throughout two wet seasons from 2008 to 2010. Influences associated with wet seasons appeared to play a role in habitat use by juvenile C. amboinensis in this region. Home ranges and distribution of individuals showed distinct changes, with individuals moving north away from sources of freshwater inflow during high flows. The location of individuals within the bay was strongly influenced by freshwater inflow in both years. Although juvenile C. amboinensis moved in response to freshwater inflow, home-range sizes remained stable, and the amount of space individuals used did not change in relation to freshwater inflow. By defining the response of juvenile sharks to highly variable freshwater flow events, this research provides useful information for understanding species behaviour in a dynamic and changing climate, and contributes towards effective management of tropical river systems.


Abstract. Measurements of the ambient aerosol, various trace gases and meteorological quantities using a mobile laboratory (MoLa) were performed on the banks of the Lower Elbe in an emission control area (ECA) which is passed by numerous private and commercial marine vessels reaching and leaving the port of Hamburg, Germany. From 25–29 April 2011 a total of 178 vessels were probed at a distance of about 0.8–1.2 km with high temporal resolution. 139 ship emission plumes were of sufficient quality to be analyzed further and to determine emission factors (EFs). Concentrations of aerosol number and mass as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and black carbon were measured in PM1 and size distribution instruments covered the diameter range from 6 nm up to 32 μm. The chemical composition of the non-refractory submicron aerosol was measured by means of an Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (Aerodyne HR-ToF-AMS). Gas phase species analyzers monitored various trace gases (O3, SO2, NO, NO2, CO2) in the air and a weather station provided wind, precipitation, solar radiation data and other quantities. Together with ship information for each vessel obtained from Automatic Identification System (AIS) broadcasts a detailed characterization of the individual ship types and of features affecting gas and particulate emissions is provided. Particle number EFs (average 2.6e+16 # kg−1) and PM1 mass EFs (average 2.4 g kg−1) tend to increase with the fuel sulfur content. Observed PM1 composition of the vessel emissions was dominated by organic matter (72%), sulfate (22%) and black carbon (6%) while PAHs only account for 0.2% of the submicron aerosol mass. Measurements of gaseous components showed an increase of SO2 (average EF: 7.7 g kg−1) and NOx (average EF: 53 g kg−1) while O3 decreased when a ship plume reached the sampling site. The particle number size distributions of the vessels are generally characterized by a bimodal size distribution, with the nucleation mode in the 10–20 nm diameter range and a combustion aerosol mode centered at about 35 nm while particles \textgreater 1 μm were not found. "High particle number emitters" are characterized by a dominant nucleation mode. By contrast, increased particle concentrations around 150 nm primarily occurred for "high black carbon emitters". Classifying the vessels according to their gross tonnage shows a decrease of the number, black carbon and PAH EFs while EFs of SO2, NO, NO2, NOx, AMS species (particulate organics, sulfate) and PM1 mass concentration increase with increasing gross tonnages.


Incidentally detected abnormality in liver function tests is a common situation encountered by physicians across all disciplines. Many of these patients do not have primary liver disease as most of the commonly performed markers are not specific for the liver and are affected by myriad factors unrelated to liver disease. Also, many of these tests like liver enzyme levels do not measure the function of the liver, but are markers of liver injury, which is broadly of two types: hepatocellular and cholestatic. A combination of a careful history and clinical examination along with interpretation of pattern of liver test abnormalities can often identify type and aetiology of liver disease, allowing for a targeted investigation approach. Severity of liver injury is best assessed by composite scores like the Model for End Stage Liver Disease rather than any single parameter. In this review, we discuss the interpretation of the routinely performed liver tests along with the indications and utility of quantitative tests.


Abstract. Temperature measurements by lidar are an important tool for the understanding of the mean state of the atmosphere as well as the propagation of gravity waves and thermal tides. Though, mesospheric lidar soundings are often limited to nighttime conditions (e.g., solar zenith angle  >  96°) due to the low signal-to-noise ratio during the day. By this, examination of long-period gravity waves and tides is inhibited, as well as soundings in summer at polar latitudes. We developed a new daylight-capable Rayleigh–Mie–Raman (RMR) lidar at our site in Kuhlungsborn, Germany (54° N, 12° E), that is in routine operation since 2010 for temperature soundings up to 90 km or  ∼  75 km (night or day) and soundings of noctilucent clouds. Here we describe the setup of the system with special emphasis on the daylight suppression methods like spatial and spectral filtering. The small bandwidth of the Fabry–Perot etalons for spectral filtering of the received signal induces an altitude-dependent transmission of the detector. As a result, the signal is no longer proportional to the air density and the hydrostatic integration of the profile results in systematic temperature errors of up to 4 K. We demonstrate a correction method and the validity of correction by comparison with data obtained by our co-located, nighttime-only RMR lidar where no etalon is installed. As a further example a time series of temperature profiles between 20 and 80 km is presented for day and night of 9–10 March 2014. Together with the other data of March 2014 these profiles are used to calculate tidal amplitudes. It is found that tidal amplitudes vary between ∼  1 and 5 K depending on altitude.


In the presence of frequent inlet flow upsets, tuning of averaging level controllers is typically quite complicated since not only the size of the individual steps but also the time in between the subsequent steps need to considered. One structured way to achieve optimal filtering for such a case is to use Robust Model Predictive Control. The robust MPC controller is, however, quite computationally demanding and not easy to implement. In this paper two linear controllers, which mimic the behavior of the robust MPC, are proposed. Tuning guidelines to avoid violation of the tank level constraints as well as to achieve optimal filtering are presented.


Background Currently, most Latinx emergent bilingual (EB) students are educated in English-medium programs alongside English-dominant peers. Legally mandated social integration of EB students coincides with a prescriptive linguistic emphasis on content-language integration in ESL (English as a second language) programs; both integrative approaches are particularly salient in the current hyperracial climate in the United States. Focus of Study We explore two schools' responses to Latinx EB population growth via the intersecting racial and language ideologies informing and influenced by programmatic changes, educator perceptions, and pedagogical practices. Research Design This qualitative multiple case study spans two Texas schools selected by purposeful maximal sampling over the course of two separate academic years. Data include semistructured interviews, focus group interviews, and participant observations. Findings We find that institutional structures across the sites tended to promote a denial of responsibility for racial stratification and a concomitant disciplining of the school curriculum. We argue that both integrative approaches ultimately perpetuated white racial domination. Conclusions/Recommendations We suggest that ESL research and practice would benefit from an explicit questioning of racializing discourses and boundaries of academic disciplines as part of a racially literate critical practice designed to counter the normalization of whiteness.


Making the Connection: Data-Informed Practices in Academic Support Centers for College Athletes is practical and ideal for those who seek to use research to inform their individual and organizational practices. This volume is primarily intended for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students, though scholars, researchers, teachers, practitioners, coaches, athletics administrators, and advocates of intercollegiate athletics will also find it useful. It comprises a series of chapters that cover a wide range of evidence-based approaches designed to enhance the practices of those who work closely with college athletes. Given the breadth of the field overall, this single volume is not exhaustive, but the current concerns, challenges, and themes of relevance to higher education researchers, practitioners, and others are well addressed. The intent of the text is to spark conversation about how college and university constituents can reframe their thinking about the importance of innovative research to careful, informed practice. Likewise, the contributors hope that it will inspire greater awareness and action among practitioners, as well as advance scholarship in the area of athletics. Each chapter includes current research, and in some cases theoretical perspectives, which should assist practitioners enhance the well-being of college athletes. Each chapter also offers guided discussion questions that are ideal for use as the basis of further conversation in the classroom setting. Adopters of this text will benefit from leading voices in the field who delve into complex issues, shedding new light and presenting unique opportunities for understanding a diversity of perspectives on evidence-based practices in support centers for athletes. In all, this volume provides a rich portrait of data-driven practices designed to assist practitioners and others who work closely with college athletes, and lays the groundwork for an ambitious and long overdue agenda to further develop innovative research that informs the practices of athletics stakeholders and improves the quality of experiences for college athletes.


Abstract The composition of the land snail fauna of central Europe is responsive to environmental conditions and undergoes changes throughout the Holocene. That holds also for the fauna of central-European Helicellinae, a group of dry-adapted western Palearctic snails with five species living in the Czech Republic. While one of them is currently spreading in the country, two, Candidula unifasciata and Helicopsis striata, are critically endangered, both with only a single surviving population. Although sharing a similar fate lately, these two species represent completely different histories. While C. unifasciata is a rather recent immigrant in the area, H. striata is a relict species of the Pleistocene loess steppe, which is declining during the Holocene. However, the origin of the only known extant Czech population of H. striata is deemed to be dubious due to the untypical habitat inhabited, and within C. unifasciata two species or subspecies used to be distinguished, suggesting a dual origin of its populations. We present here sequences of a fragment of the 16S rRNA gene from two extinct and the last surviving populations of H. striata, and from two extinct populations of C. unifasciata from Bohemia, supplemented by Slovak samples of both. The obtained haplotypes of Bohemian C. unifasciata are different from the one found in western Slovakia, suggesting a different origin of the Western Carpathian populations. The sampled extinct Bohemian populations of H. striata shared an identical haplotype with the last living population, supporting native origin and conservation value of the latter. The causes of the disappearance of the two species are discussed


We developed PCR primers specific for the blaTEM and blaROB ampicillin resistance genes. The specificity of the primers was confirmed by testing a series of Escherichia coli isolates containing a variety of ampicillin resistance genes and a series of ampicillin-resistant and ampicillin-susceptible Haemophilus influenzae isolates. There was a perfect correlation between ampicillin MICs, the presence of beta-lactamase (as determined by the nitrocefin test), and the results with the blaTEM and blaROB primers. Isolates of H. influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae obtained from 25 frozen cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens were also tested. Four of 14 H. influenzae isolates were positive with the blaTEM primers; none were positive with the blaROB primers. Ampicillin MICs were determined for the H. influenzae isolates, and penicillin MICs were determined for the S. pneumoniae isolates. Only the four PCR-positive H. influenzae isolates had elevated MICs of ampicillin and were beta-lactamase positive. None of the H. influenzae isolates contained the blaROB gene, and none of the S. pneumoniae isolates produced positive reactions with either primer set. We then used universal primers directed to conserved regions of rRNA and a Haemophilus detection probe to identify which of the 25 frozen samples of CSF contained H. influenzae. Fourteen of the 25 CSF specimens were positive for H. influenzae, which correlated with the number of organisms obtained by culture of the CSF samples. Four of the CSF samples were positive with the blaTEM primer set, and these correlated with the four H. influenzae isolates that were positive when tested directly by PCR. The blaTEM assay required the use of native Taq polymerase because Amplitaq preparations were contaminated with vector DNA that contained the blaTEM-1 gene.


Prednisolone is a 1, 2-dehydrocortisolwhich is highly potent synthetic glucocorticosteroid which has minimal mineralocorticoid activity. Prednisolone is used as antinflammatory or immunosuppressive agent, which indicated in the treatment of various conditions, including congenital adrenal hyperplasia, psoriatic arthritis, systemic lupus erythematous, bullous dermatitis herpetiformis, seasonal or perennial allergic rhinitis. Majorly it causes Cushing Syndrome, peptic ulceration, edema, hypokalemia, muscle weakness, behavioral changes. A 55 year old female patient was consulted in the dermatology department with chief complaints of swelling and redness of blisters on mouth and fore head, difficulty while swallowing since 2 months, past medical history of patient includes, she was already taking treatment for this condition which includes Tab. Chlophenaramine malate 4mg, Tab. Prednisolone 25mg, Tab. Vitamin C 500mg, Oint. Clobestalol 0.05% w/v, Glycerin lotion 5ml. After 15 days, patient had complaints of swelling of both lower limbs after administration of Tab. Prednisolone, this is the reason for hospital admission. Better vigilance is necessary for implementation of safe and effective treatment for each individual patient. In-order to prevent serious adverse drug reactions of this drug, close monitoring during treatment course, creating awareness, recognition of the problem and careful management of all patients who receive this medication are essential, because use of corticosteroids causes toxic effects like abdominal tenderness, fluid retention, insomnia, muscle weakness etc. and if close monitoring is not provided during treatment course, it can cause permanent disability, morbidity, mortality.


Although antioxidant status has been implicated in the pathogenesis of malaria, these factors need further characterization. A longitudinal study was conducted involving 273 children 1-10 years of age with acute, uncomplicated malaria in Kampala, Uganda. Plasma vitamin A, carotenoids, and vitamin E were measured at enrollment and on day 7. Malaria parasitemia was measured at enrollment, on day 3, and on day 7. Malaria parasitemia had completely cleared in 57.1% and 85.3% of children by day 3 and day 7, respectively. Plasma vitamin A, alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein/zeaxanthin, and vitamin E were depressed at enrollment and increased by day 7. Multivariate analyses showed that higher plasma lycopene concentrations at enrollment were associated with clearance of parasitemia between enrollment and day 3 (odds ratio = 1.46, 95% confidence interval = 1.07-2.06, per 0.10 micromol/L of lycopene). This study suggests that children with acute malaria have depressed plasma concentrations of antioxidants, and that higher plasma lycopene is associated with more rapid clearance of malaria parasitemia.


The Skinner Cove Formation, an igneous/metamorphic assemblage, comprises one of a number of transported slices in the Humber Arm Allochthon of western Newfoundland. The allochthon was assembled in an Ordovician ocean basin and at a continental margin, and then emplaced upon platform carbonates of the continental shelf during the lower Middle Ordovician. The Skinner Cove Formation, presently recognized only in the northern part of the allochthon, consists of two structural slices (Trout River and Chimney Cove). Two other slices, containing rocks previously included in the Skinner Cove, are herein named the Western Head and Beverley Head slices; rocks of the former slice are assigned to the Little Port Complex, and those of the latter to a miscellaneous structural unit. These four slices are everywhere structurally separate, one from another. Additionally, each of the four newly named slices is overlain structurally by other slices of either the Little Port Complex or the Bay of Islands (ophiolite) Complex, and is underlain structurally by sedimentary slices of the Humber Arm Supergroup. Locally, Skinner Cove rocks are enveloped in melange and structurally associated with sediments of the Humber Arm Supergroup. -- The Skinner Cove Formation is typified by the stratigraphy and lithologies in the Trout River slice. Rocks of the Trout River slice are herein subdivided into the Main Sea Stack, Wallace Brook and Red Fire Brook Members, which consist of a distinctive, undeformed lithic assemblage including mafic and intermediate lavas, trachyte, subvolcanic rocks and volcaniclastics. These have all been altered to a metamorphic mineral assemblage, zeolite/analcime-quartz, which is diagnostic of zeolite facies metamorphism. The Chimney Cove slice is composed mainly of epiclastic breccia and fossiliferous limestone, with brecciated mafic lavas similar to those in the Trout River slice. Rocks of the Beverley Head slice are internally imbricated, with rocks of the Little Port Complex, Humber Arm Supergroup and Skinner Cove Formation all represented. -- Mineralogical, petrochemical and petrographic studies show that the Skinner Cove is a differentiated, mildly alkaline igneous suite (presently metamorphosed to zeolite facies) that underwent olivine and clinopyroxene fractionation. In contrast, the mafic rocks of the Little Port are texturally, mineralogically and petrochemically distinct from the Skinner Cove suite. There is no apparent direct genetic relationship between the rocks of the Skinner Cove Formation and the rocks in any other allochthonous assemblage (e.g. Little Port Complex). -- Prior to its incorporation into the allochthon, the Skinner Cove Formation is interpreted to have been a mature oceanic volcano that erupted alkaline magma. T^e Little Port Complex, which has subalkaline magmatic affinities, is interpreted to include both ocean floor volcanics and volcanic arc rocks.


Abstract. Egypt was one of the first developing countries in Africa that used earth observation and remote sensing in various applications since 1970s. It has grown up in the last decades to build its own capacity in space science and technology that ended up by launching earth observation satellites. At the same time Egypt continued to develop the capacity in EO applications and contribute to the national development plans. In this domain NARSS, the governmental research institute that lead the EO and space applications has completed many research and development projects in EO applications in mineral resources exploration, coastal and marine resources, air quality, water resources management, food security, etc. This was via operational projects with the stakeholders and users to ensure sustainability and operation of the services. For example, NARSS has developed an operational system to monitor the national crop rice using EO information that capable to provide the actual land planted with rice and predict the yield. The system has enabled to provide recommendations for other plots of land that suitable for rice plantation. In the area of environmental hazards, many projects on the flash floods and the vulnerability to flash flood hazards were developed providing decision makers with vulnerability maps and Atlases on national level. Further details on the EO activities and future plans at NARSS, Egypt will be presented in this paper.


This paper studies the determinants of local tax rates. For the two main local taxes in Spain - the property tax and the motor vehicle tax - we test the existence of tax mimicking, yardstick competition and political trends in a sample of 2,713 municipalities. Using different spatial models, the results support the hypothesis of tax mimicking, with coefficients over 0.40. We also show the relevance of political variables such as the ideology of the incumbents and political fragmentation. The fact that incumbents with weaker political support display stronger mimicking behaviour is interpreted as evidence in favour of yardstick competition. Finally, we find incumbents mimic neighbouring municipalities ruled by the same political party, confirming the political trends hypothesis.


The urgent need for next generation lithium-ion batteries requires cathode materials with higher energy and power density. Though Li-rich layered materials deliver much higher capacity than their commercial counterparts, there is still a pressing need for easy and effective methods to break through the Li-ion transport barrier, which results from cation rearrangement during the Li2MnO3 activation process. Herein, an interfacial framework of spinel structure is built by ion exchange with thermal treatment to boost mass transport of Li-rich materials. The newly formed spinel phase is derived within the layered crystal framework, enabling its intimate integration with the bulk structure. This design not only stabilizes the interface, but also ensures rapid mass transport due to its 3D diffusion channels, ultimately breaking through the Li-ion transport barrier. The charging time could be reduced to one-tenth after modification, without compromising the discharging capacity. Remarkably, the discharge capacity (219.6 mA h g−1) obtained at a 10C rate is up to 82.9% and 79.1% of that obtained at 1C and 0.1C rates, respectively, and the initial coulombic efficiency at the 0.1C rate is greater than 90%. This approach is simple, efficient and able to be applied to other analogous layered manganese-based materials. We anticipate that this strategy will pave new ways to counter the sluggish Li-ion transport of layered electrode materials.


There is growing evidence that the interocean exchange south of Africa is an important link in the global overturning circulation of the ocean, the so-called ocean conveyer belt. At this location, warm and salty Indian Ocean waters enter the South Atlantic and are pulled by currents that eventually reach the North Atlantic, where water cools and sinks. A major contributor to the exchange is the frequent shedding of ring eddies from the termination of the Agulhas Current south of the tip of Africa.This shedding is controlled by developments far upstream in the Indian Ocean, and variations in this 'Agulhas Leakage' can lead to changes in the rate and stability of the Atlantic overturning, with possible associated global climate variations [Weijer et al., 1999]. Regional climate variations in the tropical and subtropical Indian Ocean are known to affect the whole system of the Agulhas Current, including the interocean exchanges. This article reports on some of the seminal results of ongoing multinational, multidisciplinary projects that explore these issues.


Economic Crisis and the Politics of Reform in Egypt, by Ray Bush. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. xvi + 157 pages. Bibl. to p. 178. Index to p. 184. $55. Reviewed by Ibrahim M. Oweiss The title of the book under review is somewhat misleading. In fact, this book is a socio-political study of economic reform in Egypt's agricultural sector. It does not address the benefits to the overall economy. Yet, the author argues that the economic reform and structural adjustment program (ERSAP), which were undertaken by international financial institutions (IFIs) and the Government of Egypt (GOE) in 1991-96, were shortsighted and were developed under a fundamental misunderstanding of the social organization and economic dynamics of rural Egypt. The most valuable part of this study is the comprehensive and original research that Bush conducted in two towns in rural Egypt (Kafr Saad and Kafr Tasfa), which documents the effects of the reforms over the last decade in a meticulous manner. Bush uses this data as evidence to show that the standard of living has decreased for many people and that the very structure of life in the countryside is being undermined by the reforms. This is because, in the planning process of the reform policy, the existing order in the countryside, centering on the household as a unit, was not taken into account, nor were the fellahin and the small landholders (with less than five feddans) included. In contrast, the forthcoming economic study by J. Dirck Stryker and Selina Pandolfi (soon to be published by the University of Michigan Press) shows that economic reforms made significant progress in reducing poverty and providing social services to the poor. The first two chapters of Economic Crisis and the Politics of Reform in Egypt are devoted to an explanation and analysis of all of the events that led to the Egyptian economic crisis and the manner in which the GOE has reacted. Bush places every particular evaluation of policy in a specific context, by outlining the opposing point of view or explaining where the current debate in the policy or subject under discussion stands (e.g., p. 82). For instance, he discusses extensively the role of women in production and the implications of gender inequality. But before he offers his analysis of the effects of a gender-blind policy, he gives a detailed historiography of the nature and direction of the debate surrounding this issue and where it presently stands. He also cites extensive references that are useful to researchers who wish to examine any one aspect of the book in greater detail. One convincing point in Bush's argument about the shortcomings of the present policy deals with the "tyranny of the market" (pp. …


Despite the well documented pragmatic deficits that can arise subsequent to Right Hemisphere Brain Damage (RHBD), few researchers have directly studied everyday conversations involving people with RHBD. In recent years, researchers have begun applying Conversation Analysis (CA) to the everyday talk of people with aphasia. This research programme has provided novel insights into the complex inter-relationship between impairment, language use, and interactional organization. This paper will argue that the detailed, inductive approach of CA is well suited to investigating pragmatic communication disorders resulting from RHBD, and will help to elaborate previous findings about RHBD and conversation. In particular, this paper will review and discuss previous investigations of conversation after RHBD, and put forward arguments relating to how CA might be applied to talk-in-interaction involving people with RHBD.


Background: The Mediterranean herb rosemary has been used for culinary purposes and for their medicinal properties for millennia. Rosemary and its polyphenolic diterpenes (carnosol and carnosic acid) are known to possess anti-oxidant activity that may be beneficial for cancer control. Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of death from cancer in the United States. Nutrition, particularly intake of vegetables and certain plant components, has been reported to have a major role in colon cancer risk reduction. In our current study, we investigated the anticancer effects of rosemary extract and its two main active ingredients carnosol and carnosic acid on colon cancer cell lines to understand the mechanism. Next, we evaluated the anti-cancer activity of rosemary extract in a nude mice model. Methods: Two human colon cancer cell lines, HCT116 and SW480, were treated with rosemary extract, carnosol or carnosic acid. MTT, TUNEL and ELISA were used to evaluate cell viability and apoptosis. Western blot and immunofluorescence were used to detect proteins involved in apoptosis. We also evaluated the anti-cancer activity of rosemary extract in nude mouse inoculated with HCT116 cells. Results: Rosemary extract, carnosol and carnosic acid, increased apoptosis, decreased viability in colon cancer cell lines. Rosemary extract, carnosol and carnosic acid significantly upregulated the expression of Nrf2 and ERK. Rosemary extract also effectively suppressed tumor growth in a xenograft tumor model without affecting body weight. Conclusions: Rosemary extract inhibits colon cancer cell growth in a xenograft mouse model without observable toxicity. Furthermore, rosemary extract, carnosol and carnosic acid induce the expression of Nrf2 and ERK pathways in colon cancer cells, suggesting further research is needed to evaluate its potential as an anti-cancer and/or chemoprevention agent. Citation Format: Miao Yan, Gongbo Li, Sakina M. Patiwala, Emily Householter, Jeremy J. Johnson. Anti-cancer activity of rosemary extract in colon cancer cells: Involvement of Nrf2 and ERK pathways. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 4122. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-4122


Visible Light Communication(VLC) has been considered as a potential access option for 5G wireless systems to solve performance limitation due to bandwidth shortage at radio frequency (RF) band. In (VLC) system, illumination infrastructure has dual usage at the same time namely illumination and wireless data transmission. DC Biased optical (DCO)-OFDM has been proposed for VLC systems to provide optically power efficient solution and easy implementation. Wireless communication systems generally require estimating and tracking the fading channel in order to detect transmitted data coherently. In this work, comb type pilot arrangement with interpolation and block type pilot arrangement are proposed for the DCO-OFDM systems over visible light channels. Simulation results have verified that the proposed block type pilot arrangement based channel estimation has clear BER performance advantages compared with comb type pilot arrangement based channel estimation.


Obtaining accurate kinematic data of animals is essential for many biological studies and bio-inspired engineering. Many animals, however, are either too large or too delicate to transport to controlled environments where accurate kinematic data can be easily obtained. Often, in situ recordings are the only means available but are often subject to multi-axis motion and relative magnification changes with time leading to large discrepancies in the animal kinematics. Techniques to compensate for these artifacts were applied to a large jellyfish, Cyanea capillata, freely swimming in ocean waters. The bell kinematics were captured by digitizing exumbrella profiles for two full swimming cycles. Magnification was accounted for by tracking a reference point on the ocean floor and by observing the C. capillata exumbrella arclength in order to have a constant scale through the swimming cycles. A linear fit of the top bell section was used to find the body angle with respect to the camera coordinate system. Bell margin trajectories over two swimming cycles confirmed the accuracy of the correction techniques. The corrected profiles were filtered and interpolated to provide a set of time-dependent points along the bell. Discrete models of the exumbrella were used to analyze the bell kinematics. Exumbrella discretization was conducted using three different methods. Fourier series were fitted to the discretized models and subsequently used to analyze the bell kinematics of the C. capillata. The analysis showed that the bell did not deform uniformly over time with different segments lagging behind each other. Looping of the bell trajectory between contraction and relaxation was also present through most of the exumbrella. The bell margin had the largest looping with an outer path during contraction and inner path during relaxation. The subumbrella volume was approximated based on the exumbrella kinematics and was found to increase during contraction.


Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of thiolated molecules have numerous potential applications and are ideal models for complex supramolecular systems. The structure of these two-dimensional crystals is not understood fully yet and deserves in-depth investigations. Here we show that a short carboxylic acid omega-terminated molecule (3-mercaptopropionic acid, MPA) forms highly ordered SAMs on Au(111) surfaces. Molecular resolution scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images were taken at room temperature in air (ex situ). They showed a root 3 x root 3 unit cell that, when imaged at high set current, appears reconstructed as a c(4 x 2) superlattice. This structure is quantitatively the same as that of intermediate-length alkane thiols, but is different from the structure found previously for SAMs of the same molecule investigated with liquid-STM during the formation of the monolayer (in situ). This work highlights the possibility for a short omega-terminated molecule to form ordered monolayers over large areas with few defects.


The word 'mechatronics' provides a focus for the integration of electronic hardware and computer software with mechanical engineering in a product or process. Sensors and sensing systems are integral to the functioning of mechatronic systems as providers of the process and procedural data on which their operation is based. In particular, development of digital control systems has been supported by increases in performance, reducing real costs, of the associated electronic processing, which has led to development of dedicated controller architectures based on use of application-specific integrated circuits. In the area of sensor development, the driving force is the silicon-based technology that can provide both the signal processing element in the form of the integrated circuit but increasingly also the sensing component, often on the same chip. Additionally, development of the techniques of micromachining has enabled production of complex structures on a chip, some of which, when combined with on-chip sensing and processing, may be considered to be mechatronic in their own right. The paper therefore reviews the role and importance of sensors and measurement systems within mechatronics and illustrates this with examples drawn from manufacturing, vehicle systems and domestic products.


Food recalls have become so ubiquitous we hardly even notice them. The massive peanut salmonella contamination of 2008-2009 alone killed nine and sickened an estimated 22,500 people; only a few weeks later, contaminated frozen cookie dough sent 35 people to the hospital. These tragic, inexcusable events to which no one is immune are but a symptom of a broader food system malaise. In "Making Supper Safe", Ben Hewitt exposes the vulnerabilities inherent to the US food industry, where the majority of our processing facilities are inspected only once every seven years, and where government agencies lack the necessary resources to act on early warning signs. The most dangerous aspect of our food system isn't just its potential to make us acutely ill, but the ever expanding distance between us and our sources of nourishment. Hewitt introduces a vibrant cast of characters and revolutionaries who are reinventing how we grow, process, package, distribute, and protect our food, and even how we protect ourselves. He takes readers inside a food contamination trace-back investigation, goes dumpster diving, and talks to lawyers, policy makers, and families who have been affected by contaminated food. "Making Supper Safe" explains why we should worry, but it is also a quest to understand how we can learn to trust our food again.


This dissertation aim is to investigate the application of higher-ordered feedback architectures, as a control system for an autonomous robot, on delayed response task problems in the area of evolutionary robotics. For the two architectures of interest a theoretical and practical experiment study is conducted to elaborate how these architectures cope with the road-sign problem, and extended versions of the same. In the theoretical study conducted in this dissertation focus is on the features of the architectures, how they behave and act in different kinds of road-sign problem environments in earlier work. Based on this study two problem environments are chosen for practical experiments. The two experiments that are tested are the three-way and multiple stimuli road-sign problems. Both architectures seams to be cope with the three-way road-sign problem. Although, both architectures are shown to have difficulties solving the multiple stimuli road-sign problem with the current experimental setting used. This work leads to two insights in the way these architectures cope with and behave in the three-way road-sign problem environment and delayed response tasks. The robot seams to learn to explicitly relate its actions to the different stimuli settings that it is exposed to. Firstly, both architectures forms higher abstracted representations of the inputs from the environment. These representations are used to guide the robots actions in the environment in those situations were the raw input not was enough to do the correct actions. Secondly, it seams to be enough to have two internal representations of stimuli setting and offloading some stimuli settings, relying on the raw input from the environment, to solve the three-way road-sign problem. The dissertation works as an overview for new researchers on the area and also as take-off for the direction to which further investigations should be conducted of using higher-ordered feedback architectures.


In response to perceived valuation problems giving rise to global environmental crisis, 'nature' is being qualified, quantified and materialised as the new external(ised) 'Nature-whole' of 'natural capital'. This paper problematises the increasing legibility, through numbering and (ac)counting practices, of natural capital as an apparently exterior 'matter of fact' that can be leveraged financially. Interconnected policy and technical texts, combined with observation as an academic participant in recent international environmental policy meetings, form the basis for a delineation of four connected and intensifying dimensions of articulation in fabricating 'nature' as 'natural capital': discursive, numerical-economic, material and institutional. Performative economic sociology approaches are drawn on to clarify the numbering and calculative practices making and performing indicators of nature health and harm as formally economic. These institutionalised fabrications are interpreted as attempts to enrol previously uncosted 'standing natures' in the forward-driving movement of capital.


In response to the universal belief that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is not fulfilling its purpose, this Article presents a different perspective on the reality of this federal employment discrimination law. Title VII is fulfilling the purpose of the Congress that created it. The purpose was not the eradication of all discrimination in employment. The purpose was to balance the prohibition of the most obvious forms of discrimination with the preservation of as much employer decision-making latitude as possible. Moreover, the seminal Supreme Court decision, McDonnell Douglas v. Green, accurately implemented this balance. This Article argues that State law provides the best opportunity to seek the eradication of employment discrimination.


Abstract. The growing tendency to evaluate – sometimes even ''measure'' – the ''productivity'' of academics is seriously affecting what we consider to be relevant geographical output. This tendency is also significantly reshaping the actual geographies of the disciplinary debate, by introducing important debates about the relationship between one English speaking mainstream international literature and the different national schools. However, the related discussion on the Anglo-American hegemony in geography seems to be strongly influenced by the growing request on the part of university management to identify ways of ''ranking'' good research and how to respond to the increasing internationalization of academic work. This paper will discuss the effects of neoliberal agendas on how geographical work is promoted, produced and circulated in Europe, with different results in different contexts; in some cases originating perverse impacts on the quality of geographical work; in others, creating the opportunity for innovative agendas and for more transparent ways of managing academic careers.


The research conducted here looks at the current Urban Aboriginal Strategy (UAS) in Toronto. The purpose of this Strategy is to provide long-term investments to support Aboriginal communities in urban settings by focusing on three priority areas: improving life skills; promoting job training, skills, and entrepreneurship; and supporting Aboriginal women, children, and families. This article seeks to answer the following question: Does the UAS provide Aboriginal participants with the ability to effectively participant in the consultation process? It argues that the UAS process of consulting with the urban Aboriginal community does not allow for the effective participation of Aboriginal peoples because of problematics related to consulting in an urban setting and despite the language of partnership, the federal government still reserves the right to make final decisions. These problems diminish the ability to build renewed Aboriginal-State relations based on mutual respect and trust, which has been absent within the Aboriginal-State apparatus and resulted in the political exclusion of Aboriginals in Canada. Though consultation can be a vehicle for empowering participants with decision-making authority, this is not the case in Toronto. The lack of a common vision, political buy-in, and the aura of secrecy leads to a political relationship built on mistrust. Mistrust between members and government renders the consultation process ineffective. This article combines the literature on public consultations with official government documents to identify critical components that must be evident for consultations to be fruitful and participation effective. These criteria are the benchmarks upon which to measure effectiveness. Based on interviews with the Steering Committee, this article finds that the UAS process of consulting with the Toronto Aboriginal community does not enable Aboriginal participants to effectively participate in the democratic process.


Broadband communications for indoor power-line networks with impulsive noise using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is considered. From earlier investigations, it is known that this channel suffers from multipath fading and frequency selectivity along with man-made impulsive bursty noise. Nevertheless, the calculated channel capacity limit promises very high data rates over this channel. Enhancement techniques, such as coding can help an OFDM system to tackle impulsive noise burst. In this paper, the bit error rate (BER) performance of the OFDM system under impulsive noise and frequency fading is theoretically analyzed and closed form expression for the performance is derived. Two different impulsive noise environment models are studied and it is confirmed that both models represent the same environment. Furthermore, a theoretical upper bound on the performance of coded OFDM system is obtained, given perfect interleaving. The effect of the interleaver length on coding performance is also studied. Simulations show that the upper bound is quite tight for the case of employing a longer interleaver. The effect of interleaver size on the system performance is studied, as well


This paper examines the tax strategy of publicly-traded Australian companies in a dividend imputation system where corporate profits, if distributed as dividends, are ultimately taxed at the tax rates of Australian investors and corporate tax is a prepayment of investors' tax. The study adopts the ratios of two effective tax rate measures to the corporate tax rate as the proxies for tax strategy and tests four hypotheses using the data for the period 1999 to 2003 when the corporate tax rate fell in two steps from 36% to 30%. The results show that companies distributing franked dividends adopt a more conservative tax strategy than those that are not. Managers remunerated with share options adopt conservative tax strategies. They also do not respond to opportunities to save tax in the years before reductions of corporate tax rate. Further, closer scrutiny by the Australian Taxation Office leads to more conservative tax strategies. The findings have important theoretical and policy implications.


The Internet has created new means of communication and information distribution. Will the old law keep up with the new technology ? IN THE brave new world of the Internet, the liability and litigation issues fall under these categories: * jurisdictional, * intellectual property, * defamation, * privacy, and * legislation. A. Jurisdictional Issues 1. Type of Website Rules for establishing jurisdiction over defendants in foreign states or countries based on an Internet presence are finally settled to some degree. As the law currently stands, jurisdiction over website hosts depends in large part on the type of site at issue. The first significant case to address personal jurisdiction and the Internet was the 1996 case of CompuServe Inc. v. Patterson.(1) Decided by the Sixth Circuit, CompuServe has become the cornerstone of Internet jurisdictional law regarding "active" websites. In that case, the defendant, based in Texas, specifically targeted and solicited business in the purchaser's state, Ohio. The court determined that the defendant's active conduct toward that state was sufficient to create personal jurisdiction. Numerous courts since then have followed this ruling.(2) On the opposite end of the spectrum is Bensusan Restaurant Corp. v. King,(3) in which the Second Circuit determined that an entirely passive Missouri-based website, one that merely advertised goods or services, was not sufficient to impose New York personal jurisdiction on the webmaster residing in Missouri. The limitation for "passive" websites has been followed in Blackburn v. Walker Oriental Rug Galleries(4) and SF Hotel Co. v. Energy Investments Inc.(5) Between these two extremes lies a range of cases in which the website was neither solely passive nor solely active. Perhaps the site listed a toll-free number, or visitors to the site could input their addresses to receive more information on the products being sold but could not purchase them through the site. In Cybersell Inc. v. Cybersell Inc.,(6) the Ninth Circuit held that a website that allowed visitors to leave names and contact information was not active enough to warrant imposing personal jurisdiction on the site owner. However, in 1998, a year later, the Ninth Circuit found jurisdiction in Panavision International L.P. v. Toeppen,(7) in which the defendant purposefully registered the plaintiff's trademarked name as a domain name, with the alleged intent to extort money from the plaintiff. The court ruled that while the website itself may not have been active, the webmaster's intent in creating the site was designed specifically to cause harm in California and thus personal jurisdiction over him could be found in that state. The significance of toll-free telephone numbers posted on websites apparently depends on whether the numbers are given with the intent to solicit business from users in a specific state or whether they are merely informational. In Shapiro v. Santa Fe Gaming Corp.,(8) an Illinois federal district court refused to allow jurisdiction, finding that the mere existence of a toll-free number on an otherwise completely passive website was not sufficient to warrant imposing the long-arm statute. But in Inset Systems v. Instruction Set Inc.,(9) the Connecticut federal district court determined that imposing jurisdiction was appropriate after the defendant company solicited business in Connecticut using the toll-free number posted on its website. 2. E-mail E-mail can be a contributing factor in finding personal jurisdiction over an out-of-state defendant, but it is unlikely that e-mail alone will be enough if it is used merely as a way of contacting the company operating the website. Even in a case in which a majority of the business was conducted via e-mail, the court did not impose jurisdiction.(10) However, if the number of e-mails sent to a party is large, courts may be more willing to impose jurisdiction. …


Near-infrared polarimetry observation is a powerful tool to study the central sources at the center of the Milky Way. My aim of this thesis is to analyze the polarized emission present in the central few light years of the Galactic Center region, in particular the non-thermal polarized emission of Sagittarius~A* (Sgr~A*), the electromagnetic manifestation of the super-massive black hole, and the polarized emission of an infrared-excess source in the literature referred to as DSO/G2. This source is in orbit about Sgr~A*.

In this thesis I focus onto the Galactic Center observations at $\lambda=2.2~\mu m$ ($K_\mathrm{s}$-band)
in polarimetry mode during several epochs from 2004 to 2012. The near-infrared polarized observations have been carried out using the adaptive optics instrument NAOS/CONICA and Wollaston prism at the Very Large Telescope of ESO (European Southern Observatory).
Linear polarization at 2.2 $\mu m$, its flux statistics and time variation, can be used to constrain the physical conditions of the accretion process onto the central super-massive black hole. I present a statistical analysis of polarized $K_\mathrm{s}$-band emission from Sgr~A* and investigate the most comprehensive sample of near-infrared polarimetric light curves of this source up to now. I find several polarized flux excursions during the years and obtain an exponent of about 4 for the power-law fitted to polarized flux density distribution of fluxes above 5~mJy.
Therefore, this distribution is closely linked to the single state power-law distribution of the
total $K_\mathrm{s}$-band flux densities reported earlier by us.

I find polarization degrees of the order of 20\%$\pm$10\% and a preferred polarization angle of $13^o\pm15^o$. Based on simulations of polarimetric measurements given the observed flux density and its uncertainty in orthogonal polarimetry channels, I find that the uncertainties of polarization parameters under a total flux density
of $\sim 2\,{\mathrm{mJy}}$ are probably dominated by observational uncertainties.
At higher flux densities there are intrinsic variations of polarization degree and angle within rather well constrained ranges.
Since the emission is most likely due to optically
thin synchrotron radiation, the obtained preferred polarization angle is very likely
reflecting the intrinsic orientation of the
Sgr~A* system i.e. an accretion disk or jet/wind scenario coupled to the super-massive black hole.
Our polarization statistics show that Sgr~A* must be a stable system, both in terms of geometry, and the accretion process.

I also investigate an infrared-excess source called G2 or Dusty S-cluster Object (DSO) moving
on a highly eccentric orbit around the Galaxy's central black hole, Sgr~A*.
I use for the first time the near-infrared polarimetric imaging data to determine the nature
and the properties of DSO and obtain an improved $K_\mathrm{s}$-band identification of this source
in median polarimetry images of different observing years. The source starts to deviate from
the stellar confusion in 2008 data and it does not show a flux density variability based on our data set.
Furthermore, I measure the polarization degree and angle of this source and conclude based on
the simulations on polarization parameters that it is an intrinsically polarized source with a
varying polarization angle as it approaches Sgr~A* position.
I use the interpretation of the DSO polarimetry measurements to assess its possible properties.


Most people agree that the total ecological impact of society has become more than this planet can endure. This is because we consume our resources (such as oil and water) faster than they can regenerate and because we release more substances into the environment than can be assimilated (e.g. CO2). In other words: our society is not sustainable on a long term basis. Biocatalysis is being promoted as a clean, environmentally friendly technology because it is natural, inherently works at very mild conditions, and predominantly utilises raw material that comes from renewable resources. Biocatalysis is the use of whole cells or enzymes for the catalysis of chemical reactions. In this work two different model reactions have been studied: (1) production of an epoxide coating component (used e.g. in the painting of cars), through chemo-enzymatic epoxidation of allyl ethers, and (2) the production of alkanolamide surfactants through the amidation of fatty acid with ethanolamine. For the synthesis of the epoxide (glycidyl ether) the aim was to find an alternative route to avoid the use of the toxic reagent epichlorohydrin, conventionally used in its manufacturing. Lipase B from Candida antarctica (CALB) was used to catalyse the formation of peracid from a fatty acid and hydrogen peroxide, which was utilised in situ for the epoxidation of the terminal unsaturated carbon-carbon bond of an allyl ether to form the desired epoxide. The reaction was found to be feasible in small scale and through optimisation a 75% yield of the product could be obtained from a reaction mixture containing up to one molar of the starting material. However, the conditions under which the epoxidation reaction was optimal was found to be too harsh for the enzyme. The need for a cheaper or more stable enzyme was identified as a major hurdle for industrial application of the technology. The synthesis of alkanolamide surfactant was also catalysed by CALB; the reaction between dodecanoic acid and ethanolamine was used as a starting point. The reaction was found to work very well under solvent free conditions if the amine was added in a step wise manner to avoid the formation of the viscous amine-acid salt. The yield of the reaction was pushed near to completion by removal of water, and only a minor amount of the amide-ester by-product was detected. The stability of the preparation was fairly good even at 90oC when the system was kept dry. For large scale production using immobilised enzymes, the preferred reactor set-up is the packed-bed. This is due to easier handling of the catalyst as well as to avoid degradation of the preparation from prolonged stirring and repeated filtrations etc. For this reason a reactor system where the packed bed was connected to a reservoir holding the reactants via a loop was developed and characterised. As the economics of the process was evaluated, it was found that both the stability and the cost of the biocatalyst had a great impact of the final cost of the product and at the current cost and deactivation rate of the enzyme, the enzymatic process would be approximately 30-40% more costly than a process catalysed by sodium methoxide. In order to decrease the cost of the biocatalyst, the liquid lipase was absorbed onto a macroporous polypropylene carrier. A relatively low loading of the lipase was used to minimise the cost of the preparation per unit catalytic activity. The preparation obtained was found to be around 1/4 to 1/2 of the price of the commercial preparation. When studying the reaction of a fatty acid mixture (olein fatty acid) with ethanolamine at 70-90oC it was found that also the stability of the in-house preparation was superior. During repeated batches using a PBR-loop setup at 70oC, no deactivation of the in-house preparation could be seen after five batches. By this approach the added cost of the enzymatic process could probably be cut to an acceptable 0.1-0.2 euro per kilogram product. The added quality of the product, reduced risks of manufacturing, improved working environment and decreased energy requirement in the process might well motivate this cost. Further decreases in biocatalyst cost are possible if the catalyst finds a major application, such as in biodiesel production, then a cut in cost by a factor of ten is not unthinkable. This would undoubtedly open the door for many other applications. (Less)


The first part of this paper presents a systematic application of a functionalist perspective to the study of emotional communication in music performance. This involves the integration of ideas and concepts from psychological research on emotion and nonverbal communication with Brunswik's (1956) probabilistic functionalism and a modified version of his lens model. It is argued that this approach may provide the necessary theoretical foundation by generating useful questions, hypotheses, and ways of evaluating data from performance analyses and listening experiments. The second part reports an experimental study in which professional guitar players were instructed to play a short piece of music so as to communicate four basic emotions to listeners. The resulting performances were analyzed regarding various cues, such as tempo, sound level, and articulation. It was found that (a) the expressive intentions of the performers affected all of the measured cues in the performances, (b) the cues had merely a probabilistic relation to the performers' intentions, and (c) the cues were intercorrelated. The performances were also validated in a listening experiment which showed that listeners were successful in decoding the intended expression, and that there were no differences in decoding accuracy between musically trained and untrained listeners.


Epilepsy is a manifestation of brain disorders with a variety of etiologies, but with the typical single symptom, periodic and reversible attacks, Epilepsy is characterized by an excess amount of electricity coming out of the brain cells, which can cause seizures and abnormal movements. EEG signals on epilepsy attacks have a characteristic pattern that allows health professionals to distinguish them from normal conditions (nonseizure). There are many methods used by researchers to recognize patterns of EEG epilepsy and non epilepsy signals in this study using Discrete Cosinus Transform (DCT) to perform the extraction of EEG signal features and Backpropagation Neural Networks for identification of EEG signal patterns. This research data using five classes of data sets of digital EEG signal taken from clinic Epileptologie University of Bonn ie data set A normal open eye signal, set B normal eye closed signal, C set enter the epilepsy zone, set D enter epilepsy, set E epilepsy seizures. The five class data are processed using DCT to obtain feature extraction, so results from DCT are used to perform identification using the Backpropagation method. The results of this study indicate that with feature extracted using DCT and identification process using Artificial Neural Network Backpropagation got EEG signal identification obtained for data set A, B, C, D and E is 76%, for set AB and CDE class data 73 %.


Based on the principle that a rectangular function can be expanded into a sum of complex Gaussian functions with finite numbers, propagation characteristics of a Gaussian beam or a plane wave passing through apertured fractional Fourier transforming systems are analyzed and corresponding analytical formulae are obtained. Analytical formulae in different fractional orders are numerically simulated and compared with the diffraction integral formulae, the applicable range and exactness of analytical formulae are confirmed. It is shown that the calculating speed of using the obtained approximate analytical formulae, is several hundred times faster than that of using diffraction integral directly. Meanwhile, by using analytical formulae the effect of different aperture sizes on Gaussian beam propagation characteristics is numerically simulated, it is shown that the diffraction effect can be neglected when the aperture size is 5 times larger than the beam waist size.


This thesis develops the requirements of the Cumbria Division of the MAFF to have detailed information on a number of rural topics of particular concern to the area's socia-economic advisory service. Information was generated upon the effects of road developments upon agriculture; the possibility of economic and employment growth through tourism, industry, forestry and agriculture; and upon their relationship with conservation and development control issues generally. A working conference was organised (The Whitbarrow Exercise) to review in specific terms a number of the above problems, in which representatives of the major groups active in rural policy formulation and implementation participated. The study was extended to consider these policy issues on a more prosperous agricultural estate; and in the county of Cumbria as a whole. An examination of the development and likely future impact of agricultural policy upon rural policy generally was also undertaken. All the research was set in the context of an extensive literature review. The results indicate that while state intervention to relieve those problems collectively known as rural deprivation still has an important place in modern rural policy, the scope for such intervention to be successful is limited. Opportunities for employment and wealth creation through tourism, forestry, industry and agriculture are limited for social and economic reasons; developments in these sectors can have adverse effects upon the environment; can compound existing problems; and are often resisted by local people. The lack of success of such ventures indicates continued structural change within rural communities, with some adverse effects for the less privileged members. Recognising this it is argued that fural policy seeks to adapt to, rather than attempt to fundamentally alter inevitable change, recognising that in the long term social and structural problems will resolve themselves. It is further argued that a reduction in state support for agriculture appears inevitable, and this can bring considerable conservation benefits, even in upland areas where positive links between agriculture and conservation have been found by some commentators. It is also argued that for social and economic reasons, and because of the declining importance of agricultural land, a vigorous landscape and ecological conservation policy is pursued by planning authorities and is reasonable. With regard to road developments on agricultural land, the research has shawn that although it is the norm far the agricultural community to experience severe difficulty during developments, these can be overcame by increasing the resources of professional expertise available to affected farmers. This indicates a possible important increased role for the MAFF in the development process.


Modern development has recognized the importance of coordinated logistics, which must function at the regional and global level. However, a need for uniform definitions and naming of logistics services, facilities, systems and functions is present. Terminology in the field of logistics centers is becoming increasingly important because the number of terms correlated with it is large and most terms are used interchangeably without any distinction. In the field of logistics and distribution centers, this problem is clearly evident and can be seen by anyone researching any aspect of these concepts. Various definitions of terms are used by different authors, for example "logistics center", "freight village", "plate forme logistique", "plat forme multimodales", "distribution center", "interporto", "transport centre" etc.. The importance of the logistics center theme has stimulated research into the problems of clarifying ambiguity and classifying concepts that are used in the field of logistics centers and/or distribution centers and warehouses. There has not yet been a clear answer on the delimitation among the two most broadly used terms, which are "logistics center" and "distribution center". The present paper applies science mapping and literature review in order to find which term is used more often, which researchers are most prominent in this research field, and whether definitions of both terms exist and what are their relations. The main research finding is a lack of consensus among scholars on whether the terms are the same or in a different hierarchical order in the logistics network.


Self-censorship is defined as intentionally and voluntarily withholding information from others in absence of formal obstacles. We conducted cross-sectional and longitudinal research to develop a quantitative measure of individuals' Self-Censorship Orientation (SCO) and investigated its correlates and outcomes in the context of the intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Stage 1 investigated the factor structure of the scale and its convergent and discriminant validity in a representative sample (N = 499). Findings revealed two negatively related factors representing preferences for self-censorship and for disclosure of information. The factors were distinct from measures of similar constructs and correlated as expected with variables representing conservatism, ingroup commitment and universalistic values. In Stage 2, participants were re-surveyed five months later to establish test-retest reliability and predictive validity. SCO factors assessed at Stage 1 predicted readiness to conceal or reveal information portraying the ingroup's conduct in the conflict negatively beyond all Stage 1 measures. The SCO scale provides a reliable and valid instrument for future investigations of self-censorship and its individual and societal implications.


This paper focuses the subject of growth disengagement, in the perspective of those firms who have been keeping their structures, processes and relational systems unchanged for a very long time, for at least three generations. In Italy such phenomenon is commonly referred as nanismo aziendale, i.e. "business dwarfism". The implicit hypothesis commonly adopted by socio-economic and political debate, according to which so called 'dwarf' businesses are meant as affected by a structural weakness and characterised by similar features, is critically discussed. An analysis of the phenomenon in the business growth and dynamic resource-basedview, allows us to demonstrate how the current approach to the problem context cannot be accepted. In order to propose a different perspective, based on a case-study analysis, a first attempt taxonomy is sketched, according to two factors, i.e.: 1) the level of entrepreneur's inclination to change business status quo, and 2) business strategic assets' consistency level. It is demonstrated how, although different business categories defined in the taxonomy are only sequential stages into an ideal 'dwarf' business life-cycle, both crisis and success patterns can be envisaged in any of them. In particular, a number of possible growth and crisis patterns are defined in relation to each 'dwarf' business category, in order to profile pathological and physiological conditions of the phenomenon, into the hypothesis of discontinuity in the relevant business context.


Kepler's 2nd law, the law of the areas, is usually taught in passing, between the 1st and the 3rd laws, to be explained "later on" as a consequence of angular momentum conservation. The 1st and 3rd laws receive the bulk of attention; the 1st law because of the paradigm-shift significance in overhauling the previous circular models with epicycles of both Ptolemy and Copernicus, the 3rd because of its convenience to the standard curriculum in having a simple mathematical statement that allows for quantitative homework assignments and exams. In this work I advance a method for teaching the 2nd law that combines the paradigm-shift significance of the 1st and the mathematical proclivity of the 3rd. The approach is rooted in the historical method, indeed, placed in its historical context, Kepler's 2nd is as revolutionary as the 1st: as the 1st law does away with the epicycle, the 2nd law does away with the equant. This way of teaching the 2nd law also formulates the "time=area" statement quantitatively, in the way of Kepler's equation, M = E – e sin E, (relating mean anomaly M, eccentric anomaly E, and eccentricity e), where the left-hand side is time and the right-hand side is area. In doing so, it naturally paves the way to finishing the module with an active learning computational exercise, for instance, to calculate the timing and location of Mars' next opposition. This method is partially based on Kepler's original thought, and should thus best be applied to research-oriented students, such as junior and senior physics/astronomy undergraduates, or graduate students.


The growth in complexity of modern systems makes it increasingly difficult to extract high-performance. The software stacks for such systems typically consist of multiple layers and include managed runtime environments (MREs). In this paper, we investigate techniques to improve cooperation between these layers and the hardware to increase the efficacy of automatic memory management in MREs.
 General-purpose MREs commonly implement parallel and/or concurrent garbage collection and employ compaction to eliminate heap fragmentation. Moreover, most systems trigger collection based on the amount of heap a program uses. Our analysis shows that in many cases this strategy leads to ineffective collections that are unable to reclaim sufficient space to justify the incurred cost. To avoid such collections, we exploit the observation that dead objects tend to cluster together and form large, never-referenced, regions in the address space that correlate well with virtual pages that have not recently been referenced by the application. We leverage this correlation to design a new, simple and light-weight, yield predictor that estimates the amount of reclaimable space in the heap using hardware page reference bits. Our predictor allows MREs to avoid low-yield collections and thereby improve resource management.
 We integrate this predictor into three state-of-the-art parallel compactors, implemented in the HotSpot JVM, that represent distinct canonical heap layouts. Our empirical evaluation, based on standard Java benchmarks and open-source applications, indicates that inexpensive and accurate yield prediction can improve performance significantly.