Rosencrantz, Stephen . M.S.Egr., Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Wright State University, 2007 . Characterization and Modeling Methodology of Polytetrafluoroethylene Based Reactive Materials for the Development of Parametric Models. Certain materials, when impacting a target at high velocity will chemically react due to the shock wave passing through them, thereby increasing the damage done by the material. In particular, the reactive materials of interest are capable of acting as both structure and explosive, allowing them to achieve an effect similar to a High Explosive Incindiary (HEI), without the complexity and added mass of fuses. There are a large number of materials/material combinations that could be used in reactive munitions. The purpose of this effort is to determine an efficient analytical characterization methodology that can be validated with a minimal testing effort. The data resulting from implementing this methodology for many materials would allow the development of a parametric design tool for designing effective reactive munitions using realistic damage metrics. The realistic damage data for the parametric tool could be obtained from high fidelity simulation and a minimal amount of expensive testing, using the characterization tests described here, for validation purposes. This work presents a method for characterizing, modeling, and then validating the equation of state models of reactive materials in general and demonstrate this process specifically for an aluminum-polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) mixture that has been shown in previous tests to be a promising example of this kind of enhancedlethality projectile. In this thesis a methodology is described to create a reactive material equation of state (EOS) for use in LS-DYNA which is then demonstrated by simulating characterization tests that would aid in the validation of the EOS and a realistic damage test for which test data is provided for comparison.


This article seeks to explain how and why groups and networks of undocumented migrants mobilizing in Berlin, Montréal, and Paris since the beginning of the 2000s construct different types of claims. The authors explore the relationship between undocumented migrants and state authorities at the local level through the concept of the citizenship regime and its specific application to undocumented migrants (which they describe as the "borderline citizenship regime"). Despite their common formal exclusion from citizenship, nonstatus migrants experience different degrees and forms of exclusion in their daily lives, in terms of access to certain rights and services, recognition, and belonging within the state (whether through formally or nonformally recognized means). As a result, they have an opportunity to create different, specific forms of leeway in the society in which they live. The concurrence of these different degrees of exclusion and different forms of leeway defines specific conditions of mobilization. The authors demonstrate how the content of their claims is influenced by these conditions of mobilization.


Coalition structure generation has received considerable attention in recent research. Several algorithms have been proposed to solve this problem in Characteristic Function Games (CFGs), where every coalition is assumed to perform equally well in any coalition structure containing it. In contrast, very little attention has been given to the more general Partition Function Games (PFGs), where a coalition's effectiveness may change from one coalition structure to another. In this paper, we deal with PFGs with positive and negative externalities. In this context, we identify the minimum search that is required in order to establish a bound on the quality of the best coalition structure found. We then develop an anytime algorithm that improves this bound with further search, and show that it out-performs the existing state-of-the-art algorithms by orders of magnitude.


Machine learning models are subject to changing circumstances, and
will degrade over time. Nowadays, data are collected in vast amounts:
Personal data is retrieved by our phones, by our internet browser,
via our shopping behavior, and especially through all the content
that we upload to social media platforms. Machines in factories, cars,
essentially every device that is not purely mechanical anymore, may be
also collecting data. This data is often used to build predictive models,
e.g., for recommender systems or remaining lifetime estimation. As
all things in life, the data and the knowledge extracted from a person
or machine is subject to change, which is called concept drift. This
concept drift may be caused by varying circumstances, changes in the
expected outcome, or completely new requirements for the task. In
any case, to keep a model operative, adaptive learning mechanisms
are required to deal with the drift.
Related works in this area cover a plethora of adaptive learning
mechanisms. Usually, these algorithms are made to learn on streams
of data from scratch. However, we argue that in many real-world
scenarios this type of learning does not fit the actual application. It is
rather, that stationary models are trained in a sandbox environment on
large datasets, which are then put into practical use. If these models
are not specifically constructed to be adaptive, any concept drift will
lower the performance. Since training such a model, e.g., a deep
neural network, can be expensive in regards of cost and time required,
it is desirable to use it as long as possible.
We introduce a new paradigm of adapting existing models. Our goal
is to keep the existing models as long as possible, and only adapt it
to the concept drift where it is necessary. We solve this by computing
partial adaptations, so called patches. Via this mechanism, we can
assure the existing model to live longer, and keep the learning required
for adaptation to a minimum. The Patching mechanism elongates
the lifetime of a machine learned model, helps to adapt with fewer
observed instances, aids in individualizing an existing model, and
generally increases the models' cost efficiency.
In this dissertation we first introduce a general framework for learn-
ing patches as adaptation mechanisms. We evaluate the concept, and
compare it against state of the art stream learning mechanisms. When
dealing with normal stream scenarios, it is reasonable to apply Patch-
ing. However, when dealing with scenarios which it is intended for,
Patching excels in adaptation speed and overall performance.
In a second contribution we specialize the patching idea on neural
networks. Since neural networks are expensive and time consuming in
training, we require a way of adapting them quickly. Although neural
networks can be adapted via the normal training process, training
them with newer data can lead to side effects such as catastrophic
forgetting. Depending on the size and complexity of the network,
adapting them can also be either expensive or—when given only few
examples—unsuccessful. We propose neural network patching (NN-
Patching) as a solution to this issue. In NN-Patching, the underlying
network remains unchanged. However, a neural patch is trained by
using the inner activations of the base network. These represent latent
features that can be useful towards the given task. An error estimator
network determines, whether the patch network or the base network
is better suited to classify an instance. NN-Patching shows even more
significant improvements than Patching, with quick adaptation and
overall adaptive capabilities that rival those of the theoretically more
capable competition.
The final contribution is geared towards the use in scenarios that
require model individualization or deal with re-occuring concepts.
For this task we propose Ensemble Patching, a variant of Patching that
builds an ensemble of patches. These patches are learned in such a
way, that they each cover a distinctive type of concept drift. When a
new concept emerges, a certain error pattern will occur for the base
classifier. A specific patch is then learned. All ensemble members are
managed via a recurrent network called the ensemble conductor. This
separately trained model will conduct the ensemble decision, and is
the key player for the adaptation. When concepts become outdated,
the conductor will put less weight on the decisions of the respective
patches, but by its structure it can quickly reactivate them, should
older concepts become relevant again. Our evaluation demonstrates
that this ensemble technique handles recurring concepts very well.
Ensemble Patching can also be employed in a stream classification
scenario, where computational efficiency is important.


Planar reflective surfaces such as glass and mirrors are notoriously hard to reconstruct for most current 3D scanning techniques. When treated naïvely, they introduce duplicate scene structures, effectively destroying the reconstruction altogether. Our key insight is that an easy to identify structure attached to the scanner---in our case an AprilTag---can yield reliable information about the existence and the geometry of glass and mirror surfaces in a scene. We introduce a fully automatic pipeline that allows us to reconstruct the geometry and extent of planar glass and mirror surfaces while being able to distinguish between the two. Furthermore, our system can automatically segment observations of multiple reflective surfaces in a scene based on their estimated planes and locations. In the proposed setup, minimal additional hardware is needed to create high-quality results. We demonstrate this using reconstructions of several scenes with a variety of real mirrors and glass.


In the common Western imagination, the image of the veiled Muslim woman stands for oppression in the Muslim world. This makes it hard to think about the Muslim world without thinking about women, sets up an "us" and "them" relationship with Muslim women, and ignores the variety of ways of life practiced by women in different parts of the Muslim world. Anthropologist Lila Abu-Lughod emphasizes that veiling should not be confused with a lack of agency or even traditionalism. Western feminists who take it upon themselves to speak on behalf of oppressed Muslim women assume that individual desire and social convention are inherently at odds: something not borne out by the experience of Islamic society.


By using the Emirmahmutoglu–Kose bootstrap Granger non-causality method, this study explores the directions of causality among tourist arrivals, tourism receipts, energy consumption and economic growth for the top 10 most-visited countries (France, the USA, Spain, China, Italy, Turkey, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, and Mexico) in the world. This study finds a variety of causal directions between the pair of analyzed variables for each country and the panel. Since cross-sectional dependence exists across the top countries for the analyzed variables, the bootstrap Granger causality test that accounts for the mentioned issue in the estimation process presumably produces reliable and accurate outputs. Further results and policy implications are discussed in this empirical study.


This article seeks to explore the nature and function of non-renditions in a corpus of transcriptions of 55 authentic interpreted court proceedings from Barcelona (the TIPp corpus). By doing so, it establishes a dialogue with Cheung's (2017) contribution about non-renditions in court interpreting in Hong Kong. The transcriptions of the TIPp corpus were annotated using the software EXAMARALDA following Wadenjsö's (1998) distinction between "talk as text" and "talk as activity". Non-renditions were considered a part of "talk as activity". A distinction was made between justified non-renditions, i.e. those that were used to ask for a pause to interpret, to ask for clarification, to confirm possibly misheard information and to retrieve parts of the original message in case of a lapsus, and unjustified non-renditions, e.g. when interpreters give advice to the defendants or warn them, when they answer on behalf of defendants, or when they supply information not provided in the original utterances. The findings reveal alarming averages of non-renditions in the bilingual parts of the trial (58.3 per bilingual hour), with a higher ratio of unjustified non-renditions. These findings have a clear correlation with the poor working conditions of court interpreters in Spain and reveal an urgent need for professionalisation of this practice in this country.


This document presents a set of requirements for a Path Computation
Element (PCE) discovery mechanism that would allow a Path Computation
Client (PCC) to discover dynamically and automatically a set of PCEs
along with certain information relevant for PCE selection. It is
intended that solutions that specify procedures and protocols or
extensions to existing protocols for such PCE discovery satisfy these
requirements. This memo provides information for the Internet
community.


One of the greatest challenges facing developing countries is the provision of basic services and infrastructure. Provision of these services and infrastructure in these countries is often characterised by ineffectiveness, low quality, inaccessibility and unreliability. One basic service that has proven to be particularly problematic is the provision of water and sanitation, Poor delivery of this service affecting and is affected by the level of economic development of any nation. The main objectives of this study are to determine how much Swazi households are willing to pay (WTP) for an improvement in their water quality and quantity1. as well as establishing the possible factors affecting this WTP. This will help to put in monetary terms the value of good quality and quantity of domestic water in Swaziland as well as factors that affect this monetary value. The study used the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) to evaluate improvements in domestic water quality and quantity, based on households' perception of domestic water in Swaziland. The method involved an analysis of the factors determining households' WTP for improved domestic water quality, quantity and the health risk concern from using it. The project covered the eleven main towns of Swaziland with a sample taken from both the rural and urban areas of the towns. The results obtained indicated that the WTP for the domestic water quality and quantity improvements is small but significant. There were more households in the rural areas willing to pay for improvements in the quality (67%) of water than in the urban areas (20%). The same trend was observed for the willingness to pay for water quantity. Approximately 58% of households in the rural areas and 6% of households in the urban areas were willing to pay for increased water quantity. However, the rural households were willing to pay on average an amount of E6.44 for improved water quality per month, which was much lower than the average amount urban households were willing to pay (E16.40). In contrast households in the rural area were more willing to pay for increased quantities (E7.13) than households in the urban areas (E6.82), albeit the small difference between the figures. On average the rural households were consuming less water (0.92m3) per month than their urban counterparts (6.92m3). Rural household heads earned an average income of E1269.49 made up a per capita mean income of E2002. Urban households heads' average income was E4830 and the per capita mean income was E 1092.00. Moreover, the survey results show that people aware of health hazards brought about by using unhealthy water are inclined to conserve the water quality by paying a fee for it. Not all the households were willing to pay for improvements in water services. In the urban areas, these were households that were satisfied with the status of the water condition (94%). And in the rural areas these were households that could not afford to pay for improvements (42%). In the latter case, the households mainly use non-monetary transactions for the exchange of services and goods and have never paid for water services before. They believed that access to adequate water quality and quantity was a basic right that should be provided by the government. In addition they did not trust their local authorities and believed that if they were to pay for improve water services their money would not be used accordingly. (Resume d'auteur)


Pretrained language models have demonstrated outstanding performance in many NLP tasks recently. However, their social intelligence, which requires commonsense reasoning about the current situation and mental states of others, is still developing. Towards improving language models' social intelligence, in this study we focus on the Social IQA dataset, a task requiring social and emotional commonsense reasoning. Building on top of the pretrained RoBERTa and GPT2 models, we propose several architecture variations and extensions, as well as leveraging external commonsense corpora, to optimize the model for Social IQA. Our proposed system achieves competitive results as those top-ranking models on the leaderboard. This work demonstrates the strengths of pretrained language models, and provides viable ways to improve their performance for a particular task.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to evaluate in phantoms the dose reduction to anterior surfaces and image quality with organ-based tube-current modulation in head and thoracic CT.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Organ-based tube-current modulation is designed to reduce radiation dose to superficial radiosensitive organs, such as the lens of the eye, thyroid, and breast, by decreasing the tube current when the tube passes closest to these organs. Dose and image quality were evaluated in phantoms for clinical head and thorax examination protocols with and without organ-based tube-current modulation. Surface dose reduction as a function of position was measured using a 32-cm CT dose index (CTDI) phantom, an anthropomorphic adult phantom, and ion chambers. Surface dose reduction as a function of patient size was investigated using three semianthropomorphic phantoms with posteroanterior dimensions of 14, 25, and 31 cm. Image noise (the SD of CT numbers in regions of interest) was evaluated for the anthropomorphic and the semianthropomorphic phantoms.

RESULTS
For equivalent scanner output (volume CTDI), the dose to the midline of the anterior surface was reduced by 27-50%, depending on the anatomic region (head or thorax) and phantom size, and the dose to the posterior surface was correspondingly increased. Image noise was not significantly different between scans with and without organ-based tube-current modulation (p = 0.85).

CONCLUSION
Organ-based tube-current modulation can reduce the dose to the anterior surface of patients without increasing image noise by commensurately increasing the dose to the posterior surface. This technique can reduce the dose to anterior radiosensitive organs for head and thoracic CT scans.


In this paper we report upon a study of the magnetization reversal mechanisms in Co/Pt thin films at elevated temperatures. An alternating gradient force magnetometer has been modified in order to perform measurements at elevated temperatures. The data obtained from hysteresis loops and remanence curves measured at high temperature has been used to analyse reversal mechanisms which are discussed in terms of a well established two-coercivity model. The high sensitivity of the magnetic measurements reveal subtle temperature dependent changes in the magnetic characteristics of the films, which are attributed to thermally induced modifications of the energy barriers to magnetization reversal and film microstructure. The evolution of domain structure during reversal has been examined by magnetic force microscopy for a sample placed in varying remanent states at elevated temperatures and is found to correlate with the two-coercivity model. Additionally, a method by which samples may be demagnetized in situ at elevated temperatures is discussed along with domain wall motion induced by the stray field from magnetic force microscope tips.


Aflatoxin free powdered red pepper (100 g) was spiked with 100 ppb of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in methanol and was subjected to various physical (UV irradiation, heating, microwave); chemical (oxidation, bleaching, ammoniation, sulphitation) and biological (enzymatic) treatments. The residual AFB1 was quantified by standard methods to find the efficiency of different treatments in degrading AFB1. Amongst the selected physical methods, direct oven heating at 120°C for 12 hours produced maximum (83.32%) AFB1 degradation and UV exposure for 60 min produced 59.62% AFB1 degradation. The chemical treatments had no significant effect on AFB1 degradation in chilli powder with maximum % degradation (58.32) found only by oxidation with H2O2. The biological detoxification of 66.2% was achieved by treating spiked chilli powder with 12 IU of partially purified peroxidase (POD) isolated from garlic having specific activity of 246 mg−1 protein for 26 hours. The physical methods were more efficient over other methods in degrading AFB1, but producedsignificant nutritional losses (p ≤ 0.05). The ascorbic acid and carotenoids were most sensitive quality attribute affected by the treatments. The enzymatic treatment produced minimal quality changes in the treated sample.


A challenging business environment nowadays made small business especially SMEs think twice before planning to initiate international business. With
lacking of knowledge and experience in handling international market activities, makes most SMEs faced difficulties starts from home country
obstacles as well as host country. This study tends to understand the consequences of home country institutional pressure on internationalization strategy. In this research, purposive sampling was used in selecting 860 SMEs
as the sample from the registered list of companies in the Federation of Manufacturing Companies (FMM) directory, which is the most comprehensive list of SMEs database. The Partial Least Square (PLS-SEM) was used as the statistical tool to measure the significance relationship between construct. The major findings were proven the significance of the relationship and confirmed
the importance of understanding the home country institutional pressures and internationalization strategy choices.


Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) of the female genital tract is under-recognized. We investigated the prevalence of ALK-positive IMT in lesions previously diagnosed as gynecologic smooth muscle tumors. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) for ALK was performed on tissue microarrays of unselected tumors resected from 2009 to 2013. Three of 1176 (0.26%) "leiomyomas" and 1 of 44 (2.3%) "leiomyosarcomas" were ALK IHC positive, confirmed translocated by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and therefore more appropriately classified as IMT. On review significant areas of all 4 tumors closely mimicked smooth muscle tumors morphologically, but all showed at least subtle/focal features suggesting IMT. Recognizing that the distinction between IMT and leiomyoma/leiomyosarcoma can be subtle, we then reviewed 1 hematoxylin and eosin slide from each patient undergoing surgery for "leiomyoma" from 2014 to 2017 and selected cases for ALK IHC with a low threshold. Of these, 30 of 571 (5.3%) underwent IHC. Two were confirmed to be IHC positive and FISH rearranged. Of the 6 IMTs, only 1 tumor with a previous diagnosis of leiomyosarcoma, an infiltrative margin and equivocal necrosis, metastasized. Of note it demonstrated a less aggressive clinical course compared with most metastatic leiomyosarcomas (alive with disease at 6 y). The patient was subsequently offered crizotinib to which she responded rapidly. In conclusion, IMTs may closely mimic gynecologic smooth muscle tumors. IMTs account for at least 5 of 1747 (0.3%) tumors previously diagnosed as leiomyoma and 1 of 44 (2.3%) as leiomyosarcoma. These tumors may be recognized prospectively with awareness of subtle/focal histologic clues, coupled with a low threshold for ALK IHC.


This article revisits long-standing questions about consent, membership and emigration in Locke's thought. Commentators such as A John Simmons have argued that Locke opens political membership to both express consenters and some kind of tacit consenters, and not just to the former, as some have suggested. Simmons's reading seems to render Locke more sensible in that it does not exclude large numbers of people from membership or burden the few members with all the civic duties, and also in that it allows at least tacit-consenting members the right to relocate, while this right is denied to express-consenting members. Against this reading, the article shows, by resolving seemingly conflicting claims in the text, that people become members only by express consent. It also responds to the criticism that the express-consent-only reading would limit membership to a few and so would render Locke's account implausible from a practical point of view. The article then addresses the purported restriction Locke imposes on express consenters' right to emigrate, arguing that the restriction concerns the change of membership and not the right to relocate.


This paper examines where and how claims of procedural injustice, or demands for procedural justice, might arise with respect to carbon capture and storage (CCS), taking a broad view of the CCS research, development and deployment process. It considers the principles that might govern such claims and seeks to identify where responsibility might lie for ensuring justice, or addressing contested claims of injustice. It is suggested that claims of procedural injustice arising from CCS are most likely to arise during implementation, from locally affected populations, raising concerns of inadequate information or consultation; but they may also arise from representatives of other indirectly affected groups, such as those affected by upstream impacts of coal mining, or energy market consequences of CCS policy. It is further suggested that claims are most likely to be directed at public authorities in respect of decisions over policy, strategy or authorisations for individual developments, but there are also routes by which claims may be directed at the corporations involved, especially under human rights provisions. The paper suggests a need for careful consideration of both procedural and, by implication, distributive justice matters in the emerging regulatory and support framework for CCS, with a particular imperative for moving public engagement upstream prior to deployment and indeed even to research programmes, to maximise the scope for legitimate influence on future outcomes.


In this paper we present a fully Bayesian latent variable model which exploits conditional nonlinear (in)-dependence structures to learn an efficient latent representation. The latent space is factorized to represent shared and private information from multiple views of the data. In contrast to previous approaches, we introduce a relaxation to the discrete segmentation and allow for a "softly" shared latent space. Further, Bayesian techniques allow us to automatically estimate the dimensionality of the latent spaces. The model is capable of capturing structure underlying extremely high dimensional spaces. This is illustrated by modelling unprocessed images with tenths of thousands of pixels. This also allows us to directly generate novel images from the trained model by sampling from the discovered latent spaces. We also demonstrate the model by prediction of human pose in an ambiguous setting. Our Bayesian framework allows us to perform disambiguation in a principled manner by including latent space priors which incorporate the dynamic nature of the data.


Regardless of institutional design, all federal systems imply substantial degrees of interaction between federal partners. "Intergovernmental relations" (IGR) refer to the many modalities through which this interaction takes place. IGR take many shapes and forms. They fluctuate with time and according to policy areas. In this sense, they are idiosyncratic. They are, however, the essential "oil in the machinery" of every federal system, and as such may be rather ubiquitous. Following a short incursion in the terminological challenges relating to intergovernmental relations (and its companion: "comparative federalism"), this article explores the actors in the IGR game as well as the rich catalogue of legislative – and mostly executive-techniques on which these actors rely to structure their relations. IGR waltz between institutionalization and informality, often in an opaque fashion which tends to reinforce the executive branch of each federal partner. This brief overview of IGR from a comparative perspective suggests that federations grounded in the "continental civil law tradition" are more likely to structure IGR through legal mechanisms and norms than their more pragmatic "common law" counterparts. Though this is a significant simplification, the latter tend to consider IGR primarily (if not exclusively) through a political lens. Yet – somewhat paradoxically – regardless of informality and legal status, IGR play similar functions in various federal systems. Coordination functions, of course. But also para-constitutional engineering ones, through which federal actors (generally the various executives) implicitly alter the official federal architecture. Intergovernmental Relations in Federal Systems: Ubiquitous, Idiosyncratic, Opaque and Essential | 2


Abstract. The oldest ice core records are obtained from the East Antarctic plateau. Water stable isotopes records are key for reconstructions of past climatic conditions both over the ice sheet and at the evaporation source. The accuracy of such climate reconstructions crucially depends on the knowledge of all the processes affecting the water vapour, precipitation and snow isotopic composition. Atmospheric fractionation processes are well understood and can be integrated in Rayleigh distillation and complex isotope enabled climate models. However, a comprehensive quantitative understanding of processes potentially altering the snow isotopic composition after the deposition is still missing, especially for exchanges between vapour and snow. In low accumulation sites such as found on the East Antarctic Plateau, these poorly constrained processes are especially likely to play a significant role. This limits the interpretation of isotopic composition from ice core records, specifically at short time scales. Here, we combine observations of isotopic composition in the vapour, the precipitation, the surface snow and the buried snow from various sites of the East Antarctic Plateau. At the seasonal scale, we highlight a significant impact of metamorphism on surface snow isotopic signal compared to the initial precipitation isotopic signal. In particular, in summer, exchanges of water molecules between vapour and snow are driven by the sublimation/condensation cycles at the diurnal scale. Using highly resolved isotopic composition profiles from pits in five East Antarctic sites, we identify a common 20 cm cycle which cannot be attributed to the seasonal variability of precipitation. Altogether, the smaller range of isotopic compositions observed in the buried and in the surface snow compared to the precipitation, and also the reduced slope between surface snow isotopic composition and temperature compared to precipitation, constitute evidences of post-deposition processes affecting the variability of the isotopic composition in the snow pack. To reproduce these processes in snow-models is crucial to understand the link between snow isotopic composition and climatic conditions and to improve the interpretation of isotopic composition as a paleoclimate proxy.


Monetary variables contain information to forecast stock price is still controversial. This paper examines the relationship between stock price and monetary variables in Thailand which is an Asian small open emerging economy. Monetary variables are consumer price index, nominal bilateral exchange rate in term of bath per US dollar, narrow money, and 14 days repurchased rate, employing a multivariate cointegration, VECM, variance decomposition and impulse response analysis covering the period of January 1999 to December 2012 with 168 observations. The study found a long run relationship between monetary variables and stock price. There is no short run adjustment toward the long run equilibrium but narrow money and interest rate have significant short run effect on stock price. The bidirectional causality between stock price and inflation and between stock price and narrow money are found. A unidirectional causality is found from exchange rate to stock price and from interest rate to stock price. Variance decomposition indicates that narrow money and the interest rate contribute the highest in stock price while the variance in stock price give the highest contribution to exchange rate, narrow money and inflation respectively. The impulse response analysis indicates that the stock price responses intensively to narrow money and interest rate. The monetary variables response to the shock in stock price intensively after 2 months and all responses appear to divert away along the horizon which confirms the VECM result that there is no short-run adjustment towards the long run equilibrium. The relationship facilitates investor and policy maker in making effective investment decision as well as the efficient policy designation.


In translating elements of language the question that is very often raised is how to deal with the aesthetic features, especially if they form part of a work of poetry. Aesthetic theory, since its emancipation from philosophy by Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten in the 18th century, has developed our knowledge about the performance of aesthetic features; but in translation practice these aesthetic aspects are for the most part still being neglected. With translations of poetry, for example, the aspects of verse form and verse content of the original work of art are taken into account solely for the purpose of representing them in another language, disregarding the aesthetic values to which, from the time of their invention, their author owed his fame. Even in translations by poets of the work of colleagues, an understanding of the author's special aesthetic inventions is found to be lacking; here the translating — or "re-composing" (Stefan George) — process usually produces the aesthetics due to the interpreter's own composing attitudes. The article gives an introduction to aesthetic theory as a component of communication theory, and offers some examples of aesthetic structures in poetical works and in translations of them, as well as an example of representation of these structures in translated texts.


This paper gives a description of a psychosocial/psychoeducational group intervention for individuals with a history of recurrent suicide attempts. The intervention was conceived to reduce the risk of future suicidal behavior and to modify the client's psychopathology. Three features are felt to make the intervention unique from others described in the literature. First, the intervention is targeted at both men and women from an inner-city population who are often underhoused, underemployed, and undereducated. 24 of 48 clients (50%) lived alone, and 24 of those (92%) were living in subsidized housing; 33% lived in supportive housing, and one lived on the street at the time of assessment. 48% had a high-school education or less. Second, the principles of our approach stressed client validation and participation in the development and delivery of the therapy. Our frame of reference was to name ourselves as professionals with a set of skills and access to some kinds of information and clients as the experts on the experience in their lives. Third, the group content incorporated a multimodal approach to meet the varied needs of the clients. Future reports will discuss the empirical evaluation of this intervention; however, the development of specific, targeted approaches for unique individuals with recurrent suicide attempts is clearly needed.


ABSTRACT RPTPσ is a cell adhesion molecule-like receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase involved in nervous system development. Its avian orthologue, known as cPTPσ or CRYPα, promotes intraretinal axon growth and controls the morphology of growth cones. The molecular mechanisms underlying the functions of cPTPσ are still to be determined, since neither its physiological ligand(s) nor its substrates have been described. Nevertheless, a major class of ligand(s) is present in the retinal basal lamina and glial endfeet, the potent native growth substrate for retinal axons. We demonstrate here that cPTPσ is a heparin-binding protein and that its basal lamina ligands include the heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) agrin and collagen XVIII. These molecules interact with high affinity with cPTPσ in vitro, and this binding is totally dependent upon their heparan sulfate chains. Using molecular modelling and site-directed mutagenesis, a binding site for heparin and heparan sulfate was identified in the first immunoglobulin-like domain of cPTPσ. HSPGs are therefore a novel class of heterotypic ligand for cPTPσ, suggesting that cPTPσ signaling in axons and growth cones is directly responsive to matrix-associated cues.


PICO question
In dogs over 15 kg, with cranial cruciate ligament rupture is there evidence of improved outcome following tibial plateau levelling osteotomy or lateral fabellotibial suture?
Clinical bottom line
Although the evidence is not conclusive, the literature reviewed here suggests that tibial plateau levelling osteotomy (TPLO) results in superior limb function and owner satisfaction compared to placement of a lateral fabellotibial suture (LFS).
There is currently insufficient evidence to determine if there is a difference in complication rates or osteoarthritis (OA) development following TPLO or LFS.


Project Summary: The study objective was to examine the effects of hunger and gender on attention and arousal to food pictures. Forty-one participants (23 males, M = 23.2 years old) completed a task where they were required to identify targets (geometric shapes) flanked by pictures of food (high-calorie sweet, high-calorie salty, and low-calorie). Reaction times (RTs) to detect targets were used as an index of distraction/facilitation, while skin conductance (SCR) was used as an index of arousal. Self-report scales of eating behavior and subjective hunger were also completed. After each session, participants were offered a variety of snacks and caloric intake was recorded. Overall, hunger did not affect attentional capture or arousal by food distractors. Men consumed more calories after each session. Relative to RTs to targets with low-calorie distractors, men experienced more distraction to high-calorie salty pictures while women experienced facilitation. The finding may reflect a male preference to salty highcalorie foods. RTs while hungry were not predicted by SCR, hunger, calories consumed or personality/eating/dieting differences (a more general mechanism). In contrast, RTs while sated were related to SCR and calories consumed: faster RTs were predictive of more calories consumed; slower RTs were predictive of a greater SCR response. Together, these findings provide evidence that hunger does not affect attention or arousal to food pictures. Importantly, results indicate that attentional and arousal mechanisms may be most influential in eating behaviors when individuals are full, with important implications for weight loss and management programs.


This paper explores the effects of simulated moments on the performance of inference methods based on moment inequalities. Commonly used confi dence sets for parameters are level sets of criterion functions whose boundary points may depend on sample moments in an irregular manner. Due to this feature, simulation errors can affect the performance of inference in non-standard ways. In particular, a (fi rst-order) bias due to the simulation errors may remain in the estimated boundary of the con fidence set. We demonstrate, through Monte Carlo experiments, that simulation errors can signi ficantly reduce the coverage probabilities of confi dence sets in small samples. The size distortion is particularly severe when the number of inequality restrictions is large. These results highlight the danger of ignoring the sampling variations due to the simulation errors in moment inequality models. Similar issues arise when using predicted variables in moment inequalities models. We propose a method for properly correcting for these variations based on regularizing the intersection of moments in parameter space, and we show that our proposed method performs well theoretically and in practice.


Vintage styles have never been more popular, with everyone from Madonna and Scarlett Johansson to Dita Von Teese indulging in retro glamour. Whether you want to a look you can wear day-to-day or one for a special outing or occasion, this must-have book has all you'll need to recreate the decadence and fun of vintage styles. Filled with step-by-step instructions, tips and techniques, and detailed photographs for make-up from the 1920s to the 1980s, Style Me Vintage Make Up provides everything you'll need to create authentic looks - whether you want to look like Marlene Dietrich, Marilyn Monroe or Madonna.


Background: We aimed to assess whether high-dose preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) improves outcome in esophageal cancer patients compared to surgery alone and to define possible prognostic factors for overall survival. Methods: Hundred-and-seven patients with disease stage IIA - III were treated with either surgery alone (n = 45) or high-dose preoperative CRT (n = 62). The data were collected retrospectively. Sixty-seven patients had adenocarcinomas, 39 squamous cell carcinomas and one undifferentiated carcinoma. CRT was given as three intensive chemotherapy courses by cisplatin 100 mg/m 2 on day 1 and 5-fluorouracil 1000 mg/m 2 /day, from day 1 through day 5 as continuous infusion. One course was given every 21 days. The last two courses were given concurrent with highdose radiotherapy, 2 Gy/fraction and a median dose of 66 Gy. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis with log rank test was used to obtain survival data and Cox Regression multivariate analysis was used to define prognostic factors for overall survival. Results: Toxicity grade 3 of CRT occurred in 30 (48.4%) patients and grade 4 in 24 (38.7%) patients of 62 patients. One patient died of neutropenic infection (grade 5). Fifty percent (31 patients) in the CRT group did undergo the planned surgery. Postoperative mortality rate was 9% and 10% in the surgery alone and CRT+ surgery groups, respectively (p = 1.0). Median overall survival was 11.1 and 31.4 months in the surgery alone and CRT+ surgery groups, respectively (log rank test, p = 0.042). In the surgery alone group one, 3 and 5 year survival rates were 44%, 24% and 16%, respectively and in the CRT+ surgery group they were 68%, 44% and 29%, respectively. By multivariate analysis we found that age of patient, performance status, alcoholism and > = 4 pathological positive lymph nodes in resected specimen were significantly associated with overall survival, whereas high-dose preoperative CRT was not. Conclusion: We found no significant survival advantage in esophageal cancer stage IIA-III following preoperative highdose CRT compared to surgery alone. Patient's age, performance status, alcohol abuse and number of positive lymph nodes were prognostic factors for overall survival.


We consider a downlink massive multiple-input multiple output system employing regularized zero-forcing precoding. We derive the asymptotic signal-to-leakage-plus-noise ratio (SLNR) as both the number of antennas and the number of users go to infinity at a fixed ratio. Focusing on spatially uncorrelated channels with homogeneous large scale fading gains, we show that the SLNR is asymptotically equal to signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, which allows us to optimize the user loading for spectral efficiency. The results show that the optimal user loading varies depending on the channel signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). As the SNR increases, the optimal user loading decreases at low SNR, but increases at high SNR.


An art collection's inventory reads like a landscape of a specific period, with all the intricacies of droughts and rains, fresh growth and dead wood, new rivulets forming and different caretakers ploughing the fields. The University of Johannesburg (UJ) Art Collection is no exception: this relatively young collection originated primarily during the previous century, from the holdings of two legacy institutions of the University of Johannesburg, namely the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) and the Technikon Witwatersrand (TWR).


Abstract Background and Aims Regulatory macrophages play a critical role in tissue repair, and we have previously shown that anti-tumour necrosis factor [TNF] antibodies induce these macrophages in vitro and in vivo in IBD patients. The induction of regulatory macrophages can be potentiated using the combination of anti-TNF and thiopurines, consistent with the enhanced efficacy of this combination therapy described in clinical trials. As thiopurines are unfortunately associated with significant side effects, we here aimed to identify alternatives for combination therapy with anti-TNF, using the macrophage induction model as a screening tool. Methods Mixed lymphocyte reactions were treated with anti-TNF and a library of 1600 drug compounds. Induction of CD14+CD206+ macrophages was analysed by flow cytometry. Positive hits were validated in vitro and in the T cell transfer model of colitis. Results Among the 98 compounds potentiating the induction of regulatory macrophages by anti-TNF were six benzimidazoles, including albendazole. Albendazole treatment in the presence of anti-TNF resulted in alterations in the tubulin skeleton and signalling though AMPK, which was required for the enhanced induction. Combination therapy also increased expression levels of the immunoregulatory cytokine IL-10. In vivo, albendazole plus anti-TNF combination therapy was superior to monotherapy in a model of colitis, in terms of both induction of regulatory macrophages and improvement of clinical symptoms. Conclusions Albendazole enhances the induction of regulatory macrophages by anti-TNF and potentiates clinical efficacy in murine colitis. Given its favourable safety profile, these data indicate that the repurposing of albendazole may be a novel option for anti-TNF combination therapy in IBD.


In variable-bit-rate video coding, the video is preprocessed to collect sequence-level statistics, which are used for global bit allocation in the actual encoding stage to obtain a smoothed video presentation quality. However, in real-time video recording and network streaming, this type of two-pass encoding scheme is not allowed because the access to future frames and global statistics is not available. To address this issue, we introduce the concept of low-pass filtering of rate-distortion functions and develop a smoothed rate control (SRC) framework for real-time video recording and streaming. Theoretically, we prove that, using a geometric averaging filter, the SRC algorithm is able to maintain a smoothed video presentation quality while achieving the target bit rate automatically. We also analyze the buffer requirement of the SRC algorithm in real-time video streaming, and propose a scheme to seamlessly integrate robust buffer control into the SRC framework. The proposed SRC algorithm has very low computational complexity and implementation cost. Our extensive experimental results demonstrate that the SRC algorithm significantly reduces the picture quality variation in the encoded video clips.


In this paper we propose a preliminary model (hereafter referred to as maturity model) to assess and monitor Governance, risk and compliance ( GRC ) and GRC maturity in Dutch hospitals. Relevant health care literature and a comprehensive comparison of existing maturity models served as input for the developed maturity model. The maturity model was tested and evaluated by interviewing senior hospital managers, representing 12.4% of the total Dutch hospital bed capacity. The need and relevance of knowledge about GRC was repeatedly emphasized by the interviewees. The model consists of 14 different dimensions based on the headlines of the practice in Dutch hospitals and five levels of maturity. The primary value of the model lies in the compact presentation and its practical approach which can guide hospitals to improve their GRC maturity.


The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between students'—both LGBT and non-LGBT—perceived levels of homonegativity (negative attitudes toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals) and their perceptions of the climate and community in college and university residence halls. The study group consisted of 284 current undergraduate students at a large Midwestern research university who completed a brief instrument measuring student perceptions of residence hall climate (social support, group cohesiveness, conflict, personalization, safety, noise, cleanliness, and crowding) and another measuring student perceptions of homonegativity levels in residence halls. Negative correlations were found to exist for all students, not just the LGBT students, between higher levels of homonegativity and student satisfaction with their residence hall climate.
In addition, heterosexuals who self-identified as affirming of LGBT students were evaluated to establish whether their responses were more like those of the LGBT students or the non-affirming heterosexuals. The literature suggests that affirming heterosexuals should resemble the LGBT sample; however, data from this study suggest otherwise.


Augmented Reality (AR) experiences tightly associate virtual contents with environmental entities. However, the dissimilarity of different environments limits the adaptive AR content behaviors under large-scale deployment. We propose ScalAR, an integrated workflow enabling designers to author semantically adaptive AR experiences in Virtual Reality (VR). First, potential AR consumers collect local scenes with a semantic understanding technique. ScalAR then synthesizes numerous similar scenes. In VR, a designer authors the AR contents' semantic associations and validates the design while being immersed in the provided scenes. We adopt a decision-tree-based algorithm to fit the designer's demonstrations as a semantic adaptation model to deploy the authored AR experience in a physical scene. We further showcase two application scenarios authored by ScalAR and conduct a two-session user study where the quantitative results prove the accuracy of the AR content rendering and the qualitative results show the usability of ScalAR.


Bisphosphonates (BPs) are the most commonly used medications for osteoporosis. This ASBMR report provides guidance on BP therapy duration with a risk‐benefit perspective. Two trials provided evidence for long‐term BP use. In the Fracture Intervention Trial Long‐term Extension (FLEX), postmenopausal women receiving alendronate for 10 years had fewer clinical vertebral fractures than those switched to placebo after 5 years. In the HORIZON extension, women who received 6 annual infusions of zoledronic acid had fewer morphometric vertebral fractures compared with those switched to placebo after 3 years. Low hip T‐score, between –2 and –2.5 in FLEX and below –2.5 in HORIZON extension, predicted a beneficial response to continued therapy. Hence, the Task Force suggests that after 5 years of oral BP or 3 years of intravenous BP, reassessment of risk should be considered. In women at high risk, for example, older women, those with a low hip T‐score or high fracture risk score, those with previous major osteoporotic fracture, or who fracture on therapy, continuation of treatment for up to 10 years (oral) or 6 years (intravenous), with periodic evaluation, should be considered. The risk of atypical femoral fracture, but not osteonecrosis of the jaw, clearly increases with BP therapy duration, but such rare events are outweighed by vertebral fracture risk reduction in high‐risk patients. For women not at high fracture risk after 3 to 5 years of BP treatment, a drug holiday of 2 to 3 years can be considered. The suggested approach for long‐term BP use is based on limited evidence, only for vertebral fracture reduction, in mostly white postmenopausal women, and does not replace the need for clinical judgment. It may be applicable to men and patients with glucocorticoid‐induced osteoporosis, with some adaptations. It is unlikely that future trials will provide data for formulating definitive recommendations. © 2015 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.


Fertility Policy in Israel: The Politics of Religion, Gender, and Nation, by Jacqueline Portugese. Westport, CT and London: Praeger Publishers, 1998. xv + 212 pages. Bibl. to p. 197. Index to p. 209. $59.95. This book gives a comprehensive picture of its subject. It covers a wide range of works dealing with the politicization of women's reproduction in Israel, and presents many interesting documents and citations. The book contributes to the growing field of feminist analyses of reproductive politics in general and in Israel, in particular. The most convincing arguments of the book are those indicating that the lack of women's reproductive freedom is an essential element in the perpetuation of their oppression. The main argument of the book is that, "despite the lack of an official policy on national fertility, the Israeli government has introduced numerous measures that taken as a whole constitute an "unofficial" policy designed to increase the Jewish fertility rate and decrease that of the Arabs" (p. x). Preserving a Jewish majority in Israel is a major issue and aim of all governments, left and right alike. However, the data do not demonstrate conclusively that governmental decisions are, or were, made with the intention of reducing fertility among Arab women and of raising it among Jewish women. The data presented indicate, as is well known, that some politicians and policy implementors had in the past, and still do, express racialist ideas about the "demographic danger" of a growing Arab population to a Jewish majority. The Israeli authorities' comprehensive discrimination against the Arab population since the founding of the State of Israel seems to explain governmental policies, fertility practices included, much better. The real threat to the Jewish majority is a massive immigration of Arab refugees (as mentioned on p. 103) rather than the gap in fertility rates, which has been steady for the past two decades. Moreover, the main policy to preserve a Jewish majority, which the government has used since the establishment of Israel, and which the Jewish Agency also had used prior to 1948, is Jewish immigration. The author argues that the allowances policy regarding large families (i.e., of four or more children) demonstrates the government's intention to raise the Jewish birth rate. Were this the case, such a policy would have required the introduction of various procedures to allow access to Jewish families only. However, Muslim Arab families also have a high rate of fertility, and the fertility rate of Christian Arabs is comparable to that of Jews. The allowances policy, which supports Arab, as well as Jewish, families, is, in fact, a welfare policy that emerged from political pressures such as those exerted by the Orthodox parties or the "black panthers" (i.e., "Mizrachi" Jews of Asian and African origin) rather than from Zionist and racialist ones. Furthermore, the Orthodox population is largely exempted from military service; therefore, if military considerations were significant in policies on fertility practices, financial incentives would have not been granted to them. Not less important are the economic considerations, which explain the cuts (in 1990) of children's allowance for the second child-during the period when large numbers of Russian immigrants arrived in the country. Another dubious argument is the author's claim that paying the children allowance to working women in the Occupied Territories is meaningless (as a true welfare practice) because of their small number. The author also claims that abortion services in Israel reflect the pro-natalist policy among Jewish women. The author, herself, is "tempted to conclude that Israeli women enjoy relatively free access to abortion" (p. 145), but prefers to insist that the freedom to choose abortion is elusive. …


ABSTRACT Tricholoma matsutake, known widely as "matsutake," has great commercial and cultural significance in Japan. Because Japanese production is insufficient to meet the high domestic demand, morphologically similar mushrooms, thought by many to belong to T. magnivelare, are imported from western North America. However, molecular data produced since the early 2000s have indicated that more than one species of matsutake occur in North America and this raises the question of correct naming for the different species. To address this question, we assessed the phylogenetic diversity within North American matsutake based on nuc rDNA ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 (internal transcribed spacer [ITS] barcode) sequences, including newly obtained sequences from the type collections for Agaricus ponderosus and Armillaria arenicola, and morphological characters. Our results agree with earlier indications that three matsutake species occur in North America and allow us to clarify the correct application of names—T. magnivelare from the eastern USA and Canada, T. murrillianum from the western USA and Canada, and T. mesoamericanum from Mexico, newly described here. The existence of the three North American species is further supported by the results of evolutionary divergence analysis, geographical distributions, and morphological characters.


Sleep disorders constitute an important public health problem. Prevalence of sleep disorders in Turkish adult population was investigated in a nationwide representative sample of 5021 Turkish adults (2598 women and 2423 men, response rate: 91%) by an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Insomnia was defined by the DSM-IV criteria, habitual snoring and risk for sleep-related breathing disorders (SDB) by the Berlin questionnaire, excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) by the Epworth sleepiness scale score, and restless legs syndrome (RLS) by the complaints according to the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group criteria. Mean age of the participants was 40.7 ± 15.1 (range 18 to 90) years. Prevalence rates (men/women) were insomnia 15.3% (10.5%/20.2%; P < 0.001), high probability of SDB 13.7% (11.1%/20.2%; P < 0.001), EDS 5.4% (5.0%/5.7%; P: 0.09), RLS 5.2% (3.0%/7.3%; P < 0.001). Aging and female gender were associated with higher prevalence of sleep disorders except for habitual snoring. Prevalence rates of the sleep disorders among Turkish adults based on the widely used questionnaires were close to the lower end of the previous estimates reported from different parts of the world. These findings would help for the assessment of the health burden of sleep disorders and addressing the risk groups for planning and implementation of health care.


Among members of IASS, the most common definition of Structural Morphology is the study of interaction between geometrical form and structural behavior. The most significant structural morphologists of our century, dealing with Structural Morphology in this sense, all seem to have been inspired by and relate their work to the morphology of structures in nature (e.g. Felix Candela, Antoni Gaudi, Heinz Isler, Pier Luigi Nervi, Frei Otto, Le Ricolais, Eduardo Torroja etc.). On this basis the present paper will try to approach some central qualities of Structural Morphology through examples evolved in nature and developed by the human intellect, and through this to underline the importance of the work in the future.


A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T Article history: Received: 16 December, 2017 Accepted: 01 February, 2018 Online: 12 March, 2018 Safety-critical systems are well documented and standardized (e.g. IEC 61508, RTCA DO178B) within system design cycles. However in Defence and Security, systems that are critical to the success of a Mission are not defined within the literature nor are there any guidelines in defining criticality in their design or operational capabilities. When it comes to Vetronics (Vehicle Electronics), a mission-critical system, is a system with much complexity and mixed criticality levels that is a part of the overall platform (military vehicle) offering integrated system capabilities. In this paper, a framework is presented, providing guidelines in designing efficiently and effectively mission-critical systems considering principles of Interoperable Open Architectures (IOA), mission-critical integrity levels and following new standardization activities such as NATO Generic Vehicle Architecture (NGVA). A Defensive Aid Suite (DAS) system is used as a case study to illustrate how this framework can be exploited. The indention of this extension is to provide an approach to precisely estimate threats in order to de-risk missions in the very early stages.


The rapid development in social commerce creates a new opportunity for businesses. With the use of social technologies they are able to create an environment that is on a socially interactive platform. These social bonds can drive online social support in e-commerce, the result is shown by trusts created and increased intention to use social commerce. This article will examine the factors that triggered consumers' intention to purchase using social commerce. A total of 184 respondents were chosen for this study to investigate factors that might contribute to customers' purchasing intention. The findings provide a better understanding on factors that contribute to intention to purchase, which comprise shopping enjoyment, perceived usefulness, trust, security, perceived quality, perceived value, ease of use and transaction convenience. It also suggests that online firms should consider these contextual factors in order to facilitate consumers' adoption behavior.


Rivers typically present heterogeneous bed material, but the effects of sediment nonuniformity on river bar characteristics are still unclear. This work investigates the impact of sediment size heterogeneity on alternate bars with a morphodynamic numerical model. The model is first used to reproduce a laboratory experiment showing alternate bar formation with nonuniform bed material. Subsequently, the influence of sediment size heterogeneity on alternate bars is investigated distinguishing hybrid from free bars, definition based on the presence/absence of morphodynamic forcing, considering the results of nine scenarios. In four of them, a transverse obstacle is used to generate forcing. The computations are carried out with the Telemac‐Mascaret system solving the two‐dimensional shallow‐water equations with a finite element approach, accounting for horizontal and vertical sediment sorting processes. The results show that sediment heterogeneity affects free migrating and hybrid bars in a different way. The difference lies in the presence/absence of a migration front, so that distinct relations between bed topography, bed shear stress, and sediment sorting are obtained. Sediment sorting and associated planform redistribution of bed roughness only slightly modify free migrating bar morphodynamics, whereas hybrid bars are greatly impacted, with decreased amplitude and increased wavelength. Increased sediment size heterogeneity increases the degree of sediment sorting, while the sorting pattern remains the same for both free and hybrid bars. Moreover, it produces averagely higher, longer, and faster free bars, while in the case of hybrid bars their wavelength is increased but no general trend can be determined for their amplitude.


Microcapsule is a tiny sphere including core material/internal phase or fill, coated with/surrounded by wall know as shell, c oating or membrane. The usual size range of the microcapsule lies between 1 to 10 00 μm. The technique is usually applied for targeted drug delivery, protection of the molecule and stability if the core material. Microencapsulation system offers potential advantages over conventional drug delivery systems and also established as unique carrier systems for many pharmaceuticals. This article c ontain s the traditional and the recent pharmaceutical applications of microecapsules. The microcapsules are widely applied in pharmaceutical for Novel drug Delivery System ( NDDS ) , l atest formulations , Delivery of DNA Vaccines, Pro Drug Approach, Biodegradable and biocompatible material. Other then pharmaceutical microcapsules are widely used in delivery of probiotic, pesticide industry, food technology, beverages and cell immobilization etc. Although s ignificant advances have been made in the field of microencapsulation, still many challenges need to be rectified during the appropriate selection of core materials, coating materials and process techniques.


As a systematic process for gathering and analyzing data, performance evaluation could be used as a valid method to highlight levels of success and to identify strength and weakness of ongoing programs. The aim of the present study was to develop an instrument for evaluating rural health centers in Iran. Based on related literature and experts' views, eight crucial fields of performance evaluation, and a questionnaire including 100 items were formed. The participants of the study were 525 people having health related jobs in rural or urban health centers. Reliability and validity requirements were checked; exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used. Factor analysis identified 11 components which embraced 60 items. Components were named as planning, control, coordination, structure, setting and facilities, education, customers' satisfaction, staff's job satisfaction, disease surveillance, mother-child care, and effectiveness which are presented as a model for performance evaluation. The obtained instrument embraces all required factors suggested by experts and literature hence it can be used as an evaluation instrument in both rural and urban health centers.


In South Africa, we have been concerned with students' epistemological access to disciplinary knowledge, but perhaps not sufficiently concerned with their ontological access into disciplinary identities. This paper argues that undertaking university studies requires the integration of epistemological access with ontological formation within disciplinary communities, and, thus, personal transformation, as well as knowledge acquisition. The focus of this study is the role of peer educators in the provision of ontological access to disciplinary identities at a South African university. The study found that student assistants who 'are from the same backgrounds as the students' and 'understand where they are coming from' were well positioned to provide ontological access to disciplines and fields. The University has developed a strong culture of students supporting students, and the paper draws on concepts of social and epistemic justice to theorise how this was achieved for the purpose of generalising these insights more widely.


Thin tuft and basal dendrites of pyramidal neurons use N-methyl-d-aspartate spikes to sum up synaptic inputs in semi-independent compartments. The pyramidal neuron is the basic computational unit in the brain cortex. Its distal tuft dendrite is heavily innervated by horizontal fibers coursing through cortical layer 1, providing long-range corticocortical and thalamocortical associational input. Larkum et al. investigated whether the apical tuft dendrites of layer 5 neocortical pyramidal neurons, like basal dendrites, generate N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) spikes using two-photon–guided direct dendritic recording, glutamate uncaging, and modeling. NMDA spikes could be evoked in the distal tuft dendrites, whereas Ca2+ spikes could be triggered at the bifurcation points. Block of the hyperpolarization-activated current enhanced these NMDA spikes. Thus, the generation of NMDA spikes is a general principle of thin, basal, and tuft dendrites. M. E. Larkum, T. Nevian, M. Sandler, A. Polsky, J. Schiller, Synaptic integration in tuft dendrites of layer 5 pyramidal neurons: A new unifying principle. Science 325, 756–760 (2009). [Abstract] [Full Text]


The performance of a compact vapor compression cooling system equipped with a R-134a small-scale oil-free compressor and a novel heat sink that integrates, into a single unit, the evaporator and the expansion device was experimentally evaluated. The expansion device can be a single orifice or an array of orifices responsible for the generation of a high-speed two-phase jet impinging on a heated surface. A comparison between the performance of the proposed refrigeration system operating with single and multiple jets is presented and the influence of the following parameters is quantified: (i) thermal load applied on the heat sink, (ii) number of orifices and (iii) geometrical arrangement of the orifices (jets). The analysis is based on thermodynamic performance metrics (coefficient of performance, second-law efficiency and second-law ratio) and steady-state heat transfer parameters (surface temperature and average heat transfer coefficient) associated with the impinging jet(s) for single and multiple orifice tests. The two-phase jet heat sink was capable of dissipating cooling loads of up to 160 W and 200 W from a 6.36-cm2 surface for single and multiple orifice configurations, respectively. For these cases, the temperature of the impingement surface was kept below 40oC and the average heat transfer coefficient reached values between 14,000 and 16,000 W/(m2K). The proposed compact vapor compression cooling solution can be further developed for specific applications in thermal management of power electronics for a variety of stationary and mobile systems.


The development of an instrument which measures the rate of respiration from breath to breath is discussed. The device uses as its input the impedance change of the chest cavity associated with respiration. It is designed to be part of the Physiograph system. The tachometer contains a trigger which produces a set of pulses corresponding to the points of maximum inspiration. The pulses control circuitry which measures time between the pulses. The time measurement is converted to a measure of rate that is linear within 5% from 5 to 100 breaths per minute. Included is a discussion of the effect of component drift in the switching circuitry. Also described is a method of obtaining linearization of the rate with an RC integrator using a non-linear resistor. Finally, the trigger, which undergoes transition when the impedance signal moves a set amount from the relative maxima or minima, is discussed. Records of the tachometer operation in the Physiograph system are included.


181 names of Hieracium species going back to original herbarium material of Alexis Jordan or Alexandre Boreau are lectotypified, 27 are neotypified. The study is based on herbarium specimens of the Université Catholique de Lyon (LY) and Ville d'Angers (ANG), Martrin-Donos's herbarium at the Institut Botanique de Montpellier (MPUTarn) and Arvet-Touvet's herbarium at the Musée d'Histoire Naturelle de Grenoble (GRM-AT). The type specimens are illustrated by photographs of the entire herbarium sheets with some detail views of flower heads and leaves. Usual nomenclatural synonyms are given for each taxon.


Gripping account by Richard Hammond of life before and after his terrifying high-speed car crash. Richard Hammond is one of our most in-demand and best-loved television presenters. In September 2006, he suffered a serious brain injury following a high-speed car crash. ON THE EDGE is his compelling account of life before and after the accident and an honest description of his recovery, full of drama and incident. An adrenalin junkie long before his association with Top Gear, Richard tells the story of his life, from the small boy showing off with ridiculous stunts on his bicycle to the adolescent with a near-obsessive attraction to speed and the smell of petrol. After a series of jobs in local radio, he graduated to television and eventually to Top Gear. His insights into the personalities, the camaraderie and the stunts for which Top Gear has become famous, make compulsive reading. It was whilst filming for Top Gear that Richard was involved in a high speed crash, driving a jet-powered dragster. His wife Mindy tells the story of the anxious hours and days of watching and waiting until he finally emerged from his coma. In an extraordinarily powerful piece of writing, she and Richard then piece together the stages of his recovery as his shattered mind slowly reformed. The final chapter recounts his return home and his triumphant reappearance in front of the cameras.


Superoxide reductase (SOR) is a blue non-heme iron protein that functions in anaerobic microbes as a defense mechanism against reactive oxygen species by catalyzing the reduction of superoxide to hydrogen peroxide [Jenney, F. E., Jr., Verhagen, M. F. J. M., Cui, X. , and Adams, M. W. W. (1999) Science 286, 306-309]. Crystal structures of SOR from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus have been determined in the oxidized and reduced forms to resolutions of 1.7 and 2.0 A, respectively. SOR forms a homotetramer, with each subunit adopting an immunoglobulin-like beta-barrel fold that coordinates a mononuclear, non-heme iron center. The protein fold and metal center are similar to those observed previously for the homologous protein desulfoferrodoxin from Desulfovibrio desulfuricans [Coelho, A. V., Matias, P., Fülöp, V., Thompson, A., Gonzalez, A., and Carrondo, M. A. (1997) J. Bioinorg. Chem. 2, 680-689]. Each iron is coordinated to imidazole nitrogens of four histidines in a planar arrangement, with a cysteine ligand occupying an axial position normal to this plane. In two of the subunits of the oxidized structure, a glutamate carboxylate serves as the sixth ligand to form an overall six-coordinate, octahedral coordinate environment. In the remaining two subunits, the sixth coordination site is either vacant or occupied by solvent molecules. The iron centers in all four subunits of the reduced structure exhibit pentacoordination. The structures of the oxidized and reduced forms of SOR suggest a mechanism by which superoxide accessibility may be controlled and define a possible binding site for rubredoxin, the likely physiological electron donor to SOR.


Background: Occupational stress is a psychosocial dimension of occupational health concept on social determinants of health, especially, job & environmental condition. Recently, staff network of different government universities of Thailand have called higher education commission, and Ministry of Education, Thailand to resolve the issue of government education policy (e.g. wage inequity, poor welfare, law, and job & environment condition) that leads to their job insecurity, physical and mental health problems from occupational stress. The aim of this study was to investigate a causal relationship of occupational stress among the academic university employees. Methods: This cross sectional research was conducted in 2014 among 2,000 academic university employees at Thai government universities using stratified random sampling. Independent variables were wage, family support, periods of duty, and job & environmental condition. Dependent variable was stress. Results: Job & environmental condition, as social and environmental factor, and periods of duty as individual factor had direct effect to stress (P< 0.05). Family support, as family factor, and wage, as individual factor had direct effect to stress (P < 0.05). Both family support and wage were the causal endogenous variables. Conclusion: Job & environmental condition and periods of duty were increased so that it associated with occupational stress among academic university employees at moderate level.


Summary
1.
This report is concerned with a case of pamaquine poisoning in which approximately 20 times the therapeutic dose of the drug was given in one day. Death occurred 7 days thereafter.
2.
Outstanding early clinical symptoms included apprehension, cyanosis, nausea, and generalized pains; and late symptoms, numbness of the face, difficulty in speaking, dyspnea, and palatal paralysis.
3.
Methemoglobinemia and hemoglobinuria occurred soon after the ingestion of the pamaquine.
4.
From the standpoint of pathologic anatomy, there was ischemic necrosis with reactive change in a small area of the basis pontis, and mild to moderate degenerative changes in the globus pallidus, nuclei of the extraocular nerves, vestibular nuclei, and cerebral cortex. The outstanding visceral lesion consisted of lobular pneumonia.


The works collected in this volume provide an illuminating introduction to George Eliot's incisive views on religion, art and science, and the nature and purpose of fiction. Essays such as 'Evangelical Teaching' show her rejecting her earlier religious beliefs, while 'Woman in France' questions conventional ideas about female virtues and marriage, and 'Notes on Form in Art' sets out theories of idealism and realism that she developed further in Middlemarch and Daniel Deronda. It also includes selections from Eliot's translations of works by Strauss and Feuerbach that challenged many ideas about Christianity; excerpts from her poems; and reviews of writers such as Wollstonecraft, Goethe and Browning. Wonderfully rich in imagery and observations, these pieces reveal the intellectual development of this most challenging and rewarding of writers.


This study, through quantitative approach, aims to determine the level of Greek school principals' self-efficacy (SE) beliefs regarding their new role as evaluators of their teaching staff. It also aims to examine how these principals' specific evaluative efficacy (SEE) relates to their: a) general self-efficacy (GSE), b) generalized leadership efficacy (GLE), and c) evaluation's expected results (EER). The sample of the study consisted of 151 principals working in the Primary and Secondary Education of a large region in Athens, in the autumn of 2014. The survey's results show that the principals report a quite high level of GSE and GLE but a lower level concerning SEE. The principals' educational level raises the perceived SEE. The survey's variables are positively correlated with each other. Finally, GSE compared to GLE, constitutes a better predictor model for SEE. Results are discussed along with implications and suggestions for further research and for enhancing efficacy.


Gramaccioliite-(Y) is a new mineral within the crichtonite group. It was found in the gneiss of the Hercynian Massif of Argentera, at Sambuco (Stura Valley, Piedmont, Italy). It occurs as black lamellar mm-sized crystals. Associated minerals are quartz, albite, muscovite, anatase, brookite, rutile, fluorapatite, xenotime, pyrite, a mineral of the synchysite series, dessauite-(Y) and senaite. Optically, gramaccioliite-(Y) is opaque and shows very weak anisotropy and low bireflectance; pleochroism is not observed. Chemical analysis carried out by means of EPM led to the following simplified formula: (Pb, Sr)(Y, Mn)(Ti, Fe)18Fe2O38. Gramaccioliite is trigonal, space group R3, α = 9.186(4) A, α = 68.82(4)°. The strongest five reflections in the X-ray powder diffraction pattern [ d in A ( I) (hkl )] are: (3.002) (100) (300), (1.606) (95) (1.3.10), (2.892) (70) (116), (2.258) (70) (134), (1.809) (60) (318) (indices are referred to the hexagonal setting). The crystal structure of gramaccioliite-(Y) has been refined ( R = 0.086) from single crystal X-ray diffraction data. The structure corresponds to that of the other members of the crichtonite group. During the study of gramaccioliite-(Y), a mineral described in literature as a Re-rich member of the crichtonite group from an unknown locality has been re-examined. New EPM data indicated the complete lack of rhenium in this mineral and allowed to correctly identify it as a second finding of gramaccioliite-(Y).


We present a framework for active learning on evolving data streams, as an extension to the MOA system. In learning to classify streaming data, obtaining the true labels may require major eort and may incur excessive cost. Active learning focuses on learning an accurate model with as few labels as possible. Streaming data poses additional challenges for active learning, since the data distribution may change over time (concept drift) and classiers need to adapt. Conventional active learning strategies concentrate on querying the most uncertain instances, which are typically concentrated around the decision boundary. If changes do not occur close to the boundary, they will be missed and classiers will fail to adapt. We propose a software system that implements active learning strategies, extending the MOA framework. This software is released under the GNU GPL license.


The use of mesophilic anaerobic digestion for treatment of organic wastes is a growing biotechnology for sustainable energy supply. Ammonia inhibition is a major problem in anaerobic digestion mainly when digestion of nitrogen-rich substrates such as livestock wastes and manure occurs. This paper provides a summary of research conducted on ammonia inhibition of the anaerobic process. An experiment with mesophilic digestions of swine manure was conducted in single unit reactors, which were controlled under different ammonia concentrations by addition of NH4Cl in different amounts. From the experimental results, it was shown that NH4Cl could be an effective chemical agent for removing foam and scum in the digester. Methane production was decreased with the increasing NH4Cl addition until a collapse was observed between 11.2 g NH4+-N/l and 13.2 g NH4+-N/l. Contrary to the findings in thermophilic digestion, a dysfunction of acidogenesis was also observed since both gas and methane production was delayed with increasing NH4Cl addition. These findings suggest different ammonia inhibition principles in mesophilic and thermophilic digestion. It was further indicated that methanogenesis could produce a high percentage of methane although gas production was inhibited.


This thesis focuses on the self-assembly and functionalisation of Zr and Hf MOFs demonstrating unique structural, physical and mechanical properties, while also improving fundamental aspects such as their syntheses.

Following an introduction to prototypical MOF structures, their applications, coordination modulation and postsynthetic modification (specifically of Zr MOFs) in Chapter 1, in Chapter 2 amino acids are investigated as synthetic modulators for the syntheses of a range Zr and Hf MOFs with different pore dimensions and functionality. Surprisingly it is found that upon addition of small amounts of L-proline to synthetic mixtures, the crystallinity of the products is dramatically improved and fine-tuning reaction conditions results in single crystals, a task that is routinely difficult for Zr and Hf MOFs. A range of experimental techniques are used to demonstrate that the amino acid modulated MOFs are phase pure, porous and thermally stable. Accessing single crystals of Zr MOFs, either with rigid (linear) or flexible (kinked) ligands, allows specialised techniques such as high-pressure single crystal X-ray diffraction and nanoindentation to be used to show that ligand flexibility imparts the MOFs with greater overall mechanical stability. To further investigate the effect of flexibility within Zr and Hf MOFs, extended carboxylate based ligands were designed and synthesised by Sonogashira cross couplings. The length of the bridging organic ligands was varied, with alkene, alkyne and butadiyne derivatives obtained. Incorporation of the series of ligands into Zr and Hf MOFs results in highly porous frameworks, and when the longest ligand is used 2-fold interpenetrated MOFs are obtained.

When contained within Zr and Hf MOFs, the integral unsaturated sites of the extended ligands are potential sites for chemical transformation. In Chapter 3, it is shown that the integral unsaturated sites can be halogenated, resulting in a mechanical contraction as the hybridisation of the integral carbon atoms is altered during the transformation, ultimately affecting ligand length and geometry. Using the Zr-alkyne MOF (Zr-L9) as a typical example, then addition of chloroform solutions containing Br2 to the MOF transforms the alkyne units to dibromoalkene units, with the overall ligand geometry changing from linear to kinked. The transformation proceeds stereoselectively, resulting exclusively in the trans-dibromoalkene, while the solution-phase reaction of the free ligand results in a mixture of both the cis and trans isomers. Enhanced stereoselectivity is obtained as a result of mixed-phase reactivity, with the topological constraints of the MOF reducing the conformational freedom of the ligands. The transformation is possible in a rare single-crystal to single-crystal manner, with the cubic unit cell edge a contracting by ~0.38 A (3.7% reduction in volume), proving the high mechanical stability of the MOFs. The facile addition of bromine across the integral unsaturated sites suggested the potential of the MOFs for vapour phase iodine capture. An interpenetrated Zr MOF demonstrates an I2 storage capacity of 279% w/w though a combination of both physisorption (compact organisation of I2 within the pores) and chemisorption (reactivity of the integral unsaturated sites). The very high iodine uptake suggests that the MOFs could be used for the sequestration of radioactive iodine released from nuclear accidents.

In Chapter 4, a series of interpenetrated Zr and Hf MOFs containing functionalised ligands, with pendant methyl, fluorine, naphthalene or benzothiadiazole moieties are reported. Twelve MOFs are synthesised, eleven of them as single crystals and it is found that they demonstrate interesting structural behaviour under different external stimuli. High pressure crystallography reveals that in the unfunctionalised derivative (Hf-L11), the phenylene core of the ligands twists by ~90° upon application of pressure, enabling bifurcated hydrogen bonds to form between the two interpenetrated nets, resulting in an overall stabilisation of the material. When pendant methyl groups are incorporated onto the ligands, a structural perturbation is observed where the ligands twist out of the plane of conjugation to minimise steric interactions in the ambient structure. Variable temperature powder X-ray diffraction and solid state fluorescence emission spectroscopy reveal that the ligands are able to rotate to adopt a linear geometry, resulting in a structural change and an associated change of symmetry. Fluorescence emission spectroscopy is used to probe host-guest interactions, investigating the effect of a range of analytes on the MOFs solid-state fluorescence, with sensitive emission behaviour upon wetting suggesting their possible use as water vapour sensors.


How can coalition cabinets make policy decisions if the policy preferences of the coalition partners are private information? We use a mechanism design approach to study the important process of coalition governance in this setting. We show that, among all possible mechanisms that could structure decision making within a coalition government, the mechanism that leads to the "best" policy compromise among coalition partners when members' preferences are private information is "constrained ministerial government." This gives each particular cabinet minister considerable policy-making power within her policy jurisdiction, subject however to the key constraint that other cabinet members maintain some control by setting a bound on how far policy can be changed from the status quo. Our analysis develops a systematic account of what is gained and lost by using any given decision-making procedure and of what types of "compromise" are feasible or desirable when public policy is made by coalitions.


The elemental composition of biogenic carbonates has become, in the last decade, an important tool to reconstruct past oceanic conditions. My thesis aimed to optimise these reconstructions by developing a mechanistic understanding of the biotic processes that control divalent cation concentration into calcitic foraminiferal tests. On timescales much shorter than their residence time, the elements strontium and magnesium occur in seawater with nearly constant ratios to calcium. Variation in Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca in foraminiferal tests can then be explained as a function of environmental parameters that control their incorporation into the tests. For foraminifera, temperature appears to be the dominant parameter controlling the incorporation of Mg, however, a better understanding of the possible impact of other parameters such as pH or [CO32-], and salinity is needed to increase the accuracy of element ratio proxies. Culture studies carried out under controlled physico-chemical conditions can rule out microhabitat effects and provide the best opportunity to deconvolve potential environmental effects. However, laboratory experiments with benthic foraminifera are long-lasting as their life cycle is typically longer than that of other unicellular marine calcifier, and therefore fastidious. Analytical improvement allows to determine elemental concentration on a single chamber. The latter is crucial in the investigation of benthic foraminifera since the growth of new chambers under laboratory conditions do not face the difficulties associated with experiments involving reproduction. The addition of chambers can be recognized by the incorporation of the fluorescent dye calcein. In order to use this experimental technique, the potential impact of calcein on the elemental composition of calcium carbonate (both biotic and abiotic) was investigated. In that aim, specimens of the shallow water benthic foraminifera Ammonia tepida were cultured in the presence and absence of calcein (15°C, salinity 33), and Mg and Sr in newly formed chambers were analysed. Additionally, the impact of calcein on Mg and Sr incorporation in inorganically precipitated calcium carbonate crystals was quantified. Results show that presence of calcein does not significantly impact the incorporation of Mg and Sr into biologically and inorganically precipitated calcium carbonate (publication I). In the light of results from publication I, several culture experiments were performed in order to quantify in isolation the effect of temperature and salinity on Mg and Sr incorporation into benthic foraminifera calcite. Individuals of Ammonia tepida were cultured under three different salinities (20, 33 and 40) and two different temperatures (10 and 15°C). Weights and elemental composition were determined. Results indicate that both Mg and Sr incorporation are enhanced with increasing temperatures and increasing salinity (salinity increase of 2 results in enhanced Mg incorporation equivalent to 1°C temperature increase). However, the temperature dependency for Sr disappears when the distribution factor DSr is plotted as a function of calcite saturation state (Ω). This suggests that a kinetic process related to Ω is responsible for the observed dependency of Sr incorporation on sea water temperature. Alternatively, Mg incorporation appeared independent of calcification rate. (publication II). To assess the sensitivity of benthic foraminifera to changing carbon dioxide levels and subsequent alteration in seawater carbonate chemistry, a second series of experiment were performed. Individuals of Ammonia tepida were maintained under two concentrations of atmospheric CO2 (120 and 2000 ppm) and two temperatures (10°C and 15°C). Shell weights and elemental compositions were determined. Results indicate that shell weights decrease with decreasing [CO32-], and increase with decreasing temperature. Changes in [CO32-] or total dissolved inorganic carbon do not affect the Mg partition coefficient. On the contrary, Sr incorporation is enhanced under increasing [CO32-] (publication III). Finally, Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca ratio and oxygen isotope composition of Globigerinoides sacculifer specimens collected in surface waters (0-10m) along an eastern transect of the tropical Atlantic Ocean were measured, in order to test and further calibrate geochemical proxies based on planktonic foraminifera species. This allowed for establishment of (1) a new calibration for the paleo-temperature reconstruction equation considering Mg/Ca but also Sr/Ca ratios and, (2) a new calibration for the oxygen isotopes paleo-temperature equation for surface waters collected G. sacculifer specimens. Subsequently, several paleo-reconstruction scenarios were tested in which, one, two, or three reconstruction equations were considered. Results indicate that foraminiferal Mg/Ca ratios allow for an accurate reconstruction of surface water temperature. In contrast, δ18Ow can only be reconstructed within a precision of about ±0.5. No reliable salinity reconstruction could be performed in this study (publication VI).


Rockfall hazard assessment without the use of rockfall trajectory and runout zone models is unthinkable in the 21st century. Such rockfall models have existed since the sixties, but nowadays an almost confusing palette of rockfall trajectory and runout zone models in 2- and 3-D exists. Each of those adapted to specific rockfall problems. This chapter will give an exhaustive overview of available rockfall models. In addition, it will present state of the art solutions for the integration of protective measures, either being technical structures or existing forest cover, in rockfall trajectory and runout zone models. Then, considerable attention will be given to a typical workflow, including its critical activities and milestones, for a combined field and modeling rockfall hazard study. The chapter will be finalized by a discussion of potential future improvements in methods for predicting rockfall trajectories and runout zones.


We analyze the clustering problem through a flexible probabilistic model that aims to identify an optimal partition on the sample X 1 , ..., X n. We perform exact clustering with high probability using a convex semidefinite estimator that interprets as a corrected, relaxed version of K-means. The estimator is analyzed through a non-asymptotic framework and showed to be optimal or near-optimal in recovering the partition. Furthermore, its performances are shown to be adaptive to the problem's effective dimension, as well as to K the unknown number of groups in this partition. We illustrate the method's performances in comparison to other classical clustering algorithms with numerical experiments on simulated data.


In the standard feature selection problem, we are given a fixed set of candidate features for use in a learning problem, and must select a subset that will be used to train a model that is "as good as possible" according to some criterion. In this paper, we present an interesting and useful variant, the online feature selection problem, in which, instead of all features being available from the start, features arrive one at a time. The learner's task is to select a subset of features and return a corresponding model at each time step which is as good as possible given the features seen so far. We argue that existing feature selection methods do not perform well in this scenario, and describe a promising alternative method, based on a stagewise gradient descent technique which we call grafting.


Despite more than half a century of criticism, significance testing continues to be used commonly by ecologists. Significance tests are widely misused and misunderstood, and even when properly used, they are not very informative for most ecological data. Problems of misuse and misinterpretation include: (i) invalid logic; (ii) rote use; (iii) equating statistical significance with biological importance; (iv) regarding the P-value as the probability that the null hypothesis is true; (v) regarding the P-value as a measure of effect size; and (vi) regarding the P-value as a measure of evidence. Significance tests are poorly suited for inference because they pose the wrong question. In addition, most null hypotheses in ecology are point hypotheses already known to be false, so whether they are rejected or not provides little additional understanding. Ecological data rarely fit the controlled experimental setting for which significance tests were developed. More satisfactory methods of inference assess the degree of support which data provide for hypotheses, measured in terms of information theory (model-based inference), likelihood ratios (likelihood inference) or probability (Bayesian inference). Modern statistical methods allow multiple data sets to be combined into a single likelihood framework, avoiding the loss of information that can occur when data are analyzed in separate steps. Inference based on significance testing is compared with model-based, likelihood and Bayesian inference using data on an endangered porpoise, Phocoena sinus. All of the alternatives lead to greater understanding and improved inference than provided by a P-value and the associated statement of statistical significance.


Recent studies have shown that service-oriented architecture (SOA) has the potential to revive enterprise legacy systems (Cai et al., 2011; Gasevic and Hatala, 2010; De Castro et al., 2011; Chengjun, 2008; Elgedawy, 2009; Tian et al., 2007; Chen et al., 2009; Zhang et al., 2006; Sindhgatta and Ponnalagu, 2008; Khadka, 2011), making their continued service in the corporate world viable. In the process of reengineering legacy systems to service-oriented architecture, some software services extracted in legacy systems can be reused to implement business services in target systems. In order to achieve efficient reuse to software services, a matching approach is proposed to extract the software services related to specified business services, where service semantics and structure similarity measures are integrated to evaluate the similarity degree between business service and software services. Experiments indicate that the approach can efficiently map business services to relevant software services, and then legacy systems can be reused as much as possible.