1. Field-grown Cucurbita texana was used in a study to determine if stress ethylene from damaged leaves promotes changes in sex expression.

2. Internal ethylene concentrations were experimentally enhanced by inserting an ethylene-filled syringe into the hollow chamber of an internode seven nodes from the growing tip of a branch. Branches enhanced with ethylene produced significantly more pistillate buds than control branches and experienced greater bud abortion later in floral development.

3. The timing and magnitude of Diabrotica beetle leaf damage was simulated using a paper-hole puncher (15% removed from all leaves). Simulated herbivory was applied to new growth every 3 days throughout the growing season.

4. Endogenous ethylene concentrations recovered from the internode adjacent to the growing tip were significantly greater in damaged plants than undamaged plants 1 day after damage to new growth during the second and third week of the experiment, and 2 days after damage during the fourth and fifth week. By the sixth week, no significant differences were evident.

5. Damaged plants produced fewer pistillate buds than undamaged plants, indicating that stress ethylene from simulated herbivory does not induce femaleness. A second messenger that suppresses pistillate bud production may be produced during damage.


Chinese aid to Pacific Island countries (PICs) has received increasing attention from academic and policy circles in Australia in recent years. But is the Pacific unique in China's aid program? While the region is not comparable to Africa and Asia, which are the priorities in China's diplomacy towards the developing world, are there similar patterns in Chinese aid to the Pacific and the Caribbean, both of which comprise island countries? By providing a comparative analysis of these two island regions, this research aims to further our understanding of Chinese aid in the Pacific and shed light on the current debates on Chinese aid. Drawing upon the authors' own research and the literature, the paper focuses on Chinese aid modalities, motives and impact.


This is a special issue of Journal of Borderland Studies focused on the theme: "Rarely Studied Borderlands." The idea for this theme emerged during the organization of the last Border Region in Transition (BRIT IX) conference, held at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington, United States, in January 2008. The organizing committee, co-chaired by the editors of this special issue, Don Alper and Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly, had intentionally widened the call for papers to include countries outside of Europe and North America; that is, to South America, Asia, and Africa. As a result, the over 150 participants of the BRIT hailed from 18 different countries. The wide range and diversity of the participants and research presented highlighted the importance of moving borderlands research away from its usual European and North American focus and expanding its theoretical and empirical contributions to include research on borderlands from across the world. This special issue takes up the challenge of pulling together research on these rarely studied borderlands: the Russian/Chinese border, the "Caprivi Strip" (Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe), the border region of North Santander (Colombia) and Tachira (Venezuela), the Euregion Karelia on the Finish/Russian border, the internal borders of the European Union, and the Indigenous peoples' "non-borders" in North America.


Researchers often assume household structure is exogenous, but child fostering, the institution in which parents send their biological children to live with another family, is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa and provides evidence against this assumption. Using data I collected in Burkina Faso, I analyze a household's decision to adjust its size and composition through fostering. A household fosters children as a risk-coping mechanism in response to exogenous income shocks, if it has a good social network, and to satisfy labor demands within the household. Increases of one standard deviation in a household's agricultural shock, percentage of good network members, or number of older girls increase the probability of sending a child above the current fostering level by 29.1, 30.0, and 34.5 percent, respectively. Testing whether factors influencing the sending decision have an opposite impact on the receiving decision leads to a rejection of the symmetric, theoretical model for child fostering.


Video contains multiple types of audio and visual information, which are difficult to extract, combine or trade-off in general video information retrieval. This paper provides an evaluation on the effects of different types of information used for video retrieval from a video collection. A number of different sources of information are present in most typical broadcast video collections and can be exploited for information retrieval. We will discuss the contributions of automatically recognized speech transcripts, image similarity matching, face detection and video OCR in the contexts of experiments performed as part of 2001 TREC Video Retrieval Track evaluation performed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. For the queries used in this evaluation, image matching and video OCR proved to be the deciding aspects of video information retrieval.


This study has not been able to comprehend to any extent the wide range or scope of the entire subject. Rather the limitations imposed by time and requirements of the subject-matter have limited the work more to a detailed analysis of material gathered from various sources and to an orderly presentation of facts and figures regarding railway construction in China. Fundamental causes underlying many present-day conditions have been briefly noted, and it is hoped that a sufficiently broad outline of the work has been laid down to inspire others to work out specif problems along the many different lines indicated.


This article challenges the notion that tort law must be explained and justified either by reference to economics or by appeals to a particular conception of rights or justice. Section I suggests that, far from aiding an explanation or evaluation of the law of torts, such statements of tort law theory are becoming more like affirmations of fundamentalist religion, where theorists flaunt their piety by providing an ever purer statement of the faith. But, rather than challenge the values which underlie these approaches, this article takes the claims which each school of thought and subjects them to an analysis according to their own statements of faith. Section II of this article treats a recent book by English law professor Robert Stevens as a case study in the flaws of fundamentalism. Among those flaws is a tendency to re-engineer the case law to make the theory fit. This re-engineering often has implications which are then overlooked and which are actually the very opposite of what was intended. Stevens sees individual rights as the foundation of tort law. Yet his analysis actually turns out to have the perverse effect of downgrading individual rights to such an extent that his rights model turns out not to protect individual rights at all but to legitimize their destruction. Section III attempts to see whether Stevens's analysis can be rescued at any level. Using a methodology originally developed by the German political philosopher and sociologist, Max Weber, it argues that the best way to understand Stevens's analysis is actually as a purely theoretical construct or "ideal-type" which facilitates both comparison with other explanations and the identification of trends in tort law. Taken this way, however, it becomes clear that the law of torts is actually moving away from anything resembling Stevens's model. Section IV offers an equivalent critique of the fundamentalism of economic analysis, which worships at the altar of economic efficiency. It also fails entirely to address differences between jurisdictions, such as those which still recognize joint and several liability as compared to those where that doctrine has been abolished. Moreover, it is shown that the re-engineering of legal doctrine here depends on a confusion of micro- and macro-economics. Ironically, this re-engineering has the perverse effect of promoting a view which is the very opposite of Adam Smith's "invisible hand". As a result, the theory has more in common with the views of early Soviet legal theorists than with what could reasonably be expected of advocates of a free market. Section V opens by acknowledging the importance of economic factors and of ideas of rights or justice, but rejects the adoption of a simple compromise between the two theoretical schools as hopelessly compromised. It emphasizes that it is the form of law which is the law's distinguishing characteristic, and which creates for itself a degree of autonomy. It argues that it is the interplay of the form of law with external factors such as economics and ideas of rights which drives changes in the law of torts. The section concludes by advocating a new approach to tort law theory, which takes in these two dimensions - plus a third dimension of time - and which pushes the need to explain trends in tort law to the top of the scholarly agenda.


The Barra de Sao Joao Graben (BSJG), shallow water Campos Basin, is part of the Cenozoic rift system that runs parallel to the Brazilian continental margin. This system was formed in an event that caused the reactivation of the main Precambrian shear zones of southeastern Brazil in the Paleocene. We proposed a new structural framework of BSJG based on gravity data interpretation. Magnetic data, one available 2D seismic line, and a density well-log of a nearby well were used as constraints to our interpretation. To estimate the top of the basement structure, we separated the gravity effects of deep sources from the shallow basement (residual anomaly). Then, we performed a 2D modeling exercise, in which we kept fixed the basement topography and the density of the sediments, to estimate the density of the basement rocks. Next, we inverted the residual anomaly to recover the depth to the top of the basement. This interpretation strategy allowed the identification of a complex structural framework with three main fault systems: a northeast–southwest-trending normal fault system, a northwest–southeast-trending transfer fault system, and an east–west-trending transfer fault system. These trends divided the graben into several internal highs and lows. Our interpretation was corroborated by the magnetic anomalies. The existence of ultradense and strongly magnetized elongated bodies in the basement was interpreted as ophiolite bodies that were probably obducted by the time of the shutdown of the Proterozoic Adamastor Ocean.


Fifteen years after the WTO TRIPS Agreement entered into force, international IP law and policy have moved on. Since the mid-nineties, countries interested in higher IP standards have successfully shifted IP negotiations away from WIPO and WTO towards Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). The trend towards TRIPS-plus obligations in FTAs has led to changes in the perception of TRIPS: initially viewed by developing countries as serving primarily the interests of the IP exporting industries in the developed world, TRIPS is now often acknowledged for the flexibilities it offers. Various institutions, policy makers, and NGOs have highlighted the importance of TRIPS flexibilities - especially in the public health and human rights context - and have called for safeguarding the right of WTO Members to exercise them against TRIPS-plus obligations in FTAs. This includes the main demandeurs of TRIPS-plus obligations FTAs which increasingly commit themselves to safeguarding TRIPS flexibilities. Given all these statements and assurances, the question arises how FTAs have incorporated these promised policy changes and whether the relevant FTA provisions really translate political assurances into binding treaty language. This Article aims to examine this question from a public international law perspective. It analyses the relationship between TRIPS flexibility provisions and TRIPS-plus FTAs. By looking at norms in general international law, the TRIPS Agreement, and in TRIPS-plus FTAs which determine this relationship, the main research question is whether and when TRIPS flexibilities can prevail over TRIPS-plus obligations in FTAs.


The causative agent of the current pandemic and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)1. Understanding how SARS-CoV-2 enters and spreads within human organs is crucial for developing strategies to prevent viral dissemination. For many viruses, tissue tropism is determined by the availability of virus receptors on the surface of host cells2. Both SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 use angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as a host receptor, yet, their tropisms differ3-5. Here, we found that the cellular receptor neuropilin-1 (NRP1), known to bind furin-cleaved substrates, significantly potentiates SARS-CoV-2 infectivity, which was inhibited by a monoclonal blocking antibody against the extracellular b1b2 domain of NRP1. NRP1 is abundantly expressed in the respiratory and olfactory epithelium, with highest expression in endothelial cells and in the epithelial cells facing the nasal cavity. Neuropathological analysis of human COVID-19 autopsies revealed SARS-CoV-2 infected NRP1-positive cells in the olfactory epithelium and bulb. In the olfactory bulb infection was detected particularly within NRP1-positive endothelial cells of small capillaries and medium-sized vessels. Studies in mice demonstrated, after intranasal application, NRP1-mediated transport of virus-sized particles into the central nervous system. Thus, NRP1 could explain the enhanced tropism and spreading of SARS-CoV-2.


This article assesses the current state of, and threats to, financial stability in New Zealand. It does this against a backdrop of continued softness in global growth and in corporate credit quality abroad. It concludes that New Zealand's financial sector has remained resilient despite continued global economic weakness, and there do not appear to be any immediate concerns for financial stability locally. Banks are well capitalised, with sound asset quality and strong parent banks, and corporate credit quality remains satisfactory. New Zealand household leverage is high by the standards of many countries, though not by comparison with some of the more advanced economies of the OECD. While household gearing and debt servicing payments have remained stable, highly indebted households are vulnerable to interest rate volatility.


The potential role of a spaceborne SAR component within a dedicated global monitoring system for tropical rain forest areas is investigated. Use is made of NASA's airborne radar system AirSAR, which acquired C-band, L-band, and P-band polarimetric data of a colonization area located at the edge of the Colombian Amazon. Classification accuracy for primary forest, secondary forest, recently deforested areas, and pastures are studied to determine optimal wave parameter combinations, using an extensive database of 778 plots. Kappa statistics are used to compare results for different combinations. The relevance of polarimetry and the effect of speckle level are studied by incorporating the multilook pdf's of polarimetric phase differences and the polarimetric correlations. Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests of fit well confirm the agreement of theoretical pdf's used and experimental observations. In addition, possibilities for biomass estimation are studied using detailed vegetation structure measurements of bush-invaded grasslands (5 plots), secondary forest (10 plots), and primary forest (13 plots). Accuracy for land cover-type classification over 90% can only be obtained when two frequency bands are combined. L-band with HV polarization and P-band show the best possibilities for biomass estimation. After land cover-type classification, eight biomass classes can be differentiated at a high level of confidence. The results clearly indicate how SAR systems may be designed to accurately monitor processes of deforestation, land and forest degradation, and secondary forest regrowth. The effect of Faraday rotation on P-band data collected from spaceborne SAR is also taken into consideration.


INTRODUCTION It is virtually impossible to state the Protestant position on any bioethical problem or issue. As a result, interpreters must focus on one Protestant position or, at most, identify a few Protestant positions with respect to a particular bioethical problem. Thus, in addressing my assigned topic, I will focus on selected Protestant perspectives on informed consent/refusal, particularly in the context of research involving human subjects or participants. Several factors contribute to this limitation, not the least of which is that a couple of hundred denominations in the United States march under the banner of Protestantism. (1) Even if we start with the major Reformation traditions, we discover that the Lutheran and Calvinist (Reformed) traditions have splintered, (2) and that the so-called "radical" Reformation, or "left-wing" of the Reformation, encompasses numerous other groups, including the Anabaptists, a label that also covers different denominations. (3) An attempt to discern a broad Protestant tradition, in contrast to traditions, would necessarily operate at a very high and largely uninformative level of generality. For example, Paul Tillich identified what he called "the Protestant principle," which represents "the divine and human protest against any absolute claim made for a relative reality, even if this claim is made by a Protestant church." (4) For Tillich, this principle is "the theological expression of the true relation between the unconditional and the conditioned or, religiously speaking, between God and man." (5) It is "the guardian against the attempts of the finite and conditioned to usurp the place of the unconditional in thinking and acting." (6) However important this principle is, it provides little guidance about Protestant beliefs and practices, including bioethics. Yet another limitation is also worth noting. The assigned topic of informed consent, with particular attention to research involving human subjects or participants, has not received extensive treatment in Protestant denominational statements and guidance. To illustrate, I will draw examples from the valuable Park Ridge Center series on different religious traditions' beliefs and practices regarding health care. The document on the Lutheran tradition notes that "consistent with their general respect for medicine and informed decision making, [Lutherans] are likely to favor self-determination and informed consent." (7) The document on the Presbyterian tradition (out of the Calvinist or Reformed tradition) notes that, because of the emphasis on freedom of conscience, Presbyterians would emphasize free exchange of information by patient and caregiver and would tend to err on the side of patient autonomy rather than caregiver paternalism. Turning to research involving human subjects, the document notes that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) "generally supports self-determination and informed consent in medical procedures and experimentation. The General Assembly advocates that `human subjects be given the strongest human protections, including full information about the research, and that their consent be obtained without coercion.'" (8) The Park Ridge Center report on Anabaptist beliefs and practices--including the Mennonites and Amish--notes that no official positions were found on therapeutic or nontherapeutic medical experimentation on various populations or on self-determination and informed consent, but, the report continues, the Anabaptist tradition's theological-ethical beliefs, such as God's creation of persons in his own image and noncoercion in religious matters, tend to support self-determination and informed consent in such settings. (9) The report on the United Methodist tradition stresses that, for Methodists, personal autonomy and self-determination are highly valued because God has created human beings in his own image. …


PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it highlights the emergence of Generation Z and the interface of its members with the tourism system. Second, by way of a theoretical model, the paper provides a more holistic approach to understanding Generation Z travel experiences in which the emphasis is shifted from the destination to the traveller. This is in keeping with the trend which lays more emphasis on people rather than landscape.Design/methodology/approachThis is qualitative research founded on an interpretive (constructivist) paradigm. Selecting Generation Z as the subject locates this study under generational theory and assumesprima faciea socially constructed reality. The paper is based on research conducted in New Zealand aimed at understanding the travel experiences of inbound Generation Z travellers. Data were collected from 12 semi-structured interviews lasting about 30 min each and from 5 blogs. Nvivo 11 programme was used in analysing data and developing themes. Core categories and related themes were generated forming building blocks of a theoretical model.FindingsFindings revealed interplay of multiple factors in Generation Z's travel experiences at a destination. The factors are global in nature, destination centric and those which are immediate or proximate to the individual. To fully grasp the notion of experience requires the gestalt of the three as well as pre-trip, during-trip and post-trip factors.Research limitations/implicationsThe impact of significant events upon participants is assumed. A specific analysis of the events and the magnitude of their influence on the individual participants may be necessary.Practical implicationsDestination marketers tend to concentrate on psychological aspects to appeal to the traveller. The focus, in this case, is creating an attractive image in the mind of travellers to get them to come to the destination. This research suggests shifting the focus to understanding the evolving traveller.Social implicationsGovernments and tourism purveyors may require an ever-increasing budget to map out strategies to meet the continuously morphing needs of the future traveller. The constantly evolving global environment necessitates greater flexibility in institutional framework with less bureaucratic bottlenecks.Originality/valueGeneration Z is a relatively new entrant into the tourism market which makes this research relevant and timely. The paucity of academic literature on a generation which is contemporaneously in its "highly influenceable" period of life and entering adulthood in an increasingly changing world is further credence for this research. A more holistic theoretical model to understanding Generation Z travel experience is proposed.


Character rigs are procedural systems that deform a character's shape driven by a set of rig-control variables. Film quality character rigs are highly complex and therefore computationally expensive and slow to evaluate. We present a machine learning method for approximating facial mesh deformations which reduces rig computations, increases longevity of characters without rig upkeep, and enables portability of proprietary rigs into a variety of external platforms. We perform qualitative and quantitative evaluations on hero characters across several feature films, exhibiting the speed and generality of our approach and demonstrating that our method out performs existing state-of-the-art work on deformation approximations for character faces.


A simple and cost-effective multi-wavelength fiber ring laser based on a chirped Moire fiber grating (CMFG) and a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is proposed. Stable triple-wavelength lasing oscillations at room temperature are experimentally demonstrated. The measured optical signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) reaches the highest value of 50 dB and the power fluctuation of each wavelength is less than 0.2 dB within a 1-h period. To serve as a wavelength selective element, the CMFG possesses excellent comb-like filtering characteristics including stable wavelength interval and ultra-narrow passband, and its fabrication method is easy and flexible. The lasing oscillation shows a narrower bandwidth than SOA-based multi-wavelength fiber lasers utilizing some other kinds of wavelength selective components. Methods to optimize the laser performance are also discussed.


Exoplanets that orbit close to their host stars are much more highly irradiated than their solar system counterparts. Understanding the thermal structures and appearances of these planets requires investigating how their atmospheres respond to such extreme stellar forcing. We present spectroscopic thermal emission measurements as a function of orbital phase ("phase-curve observations") for the highly irradiated exoplanet WASP-43b spanning three full planet rotations using the Hubble Space Telescope. With these data, we construct a map of the planet's atmospheric thermal structure, from which we find large day-night temperature variations at all measured altitudes and a monotonically decreasing temperature with pressure at all longitudes. We also derive a Bond albedo of 0.18−0.12+0.07 and an altitude dependence in the hot-spot offset relative to the substellar point. Thermal spectra probe atmospheric layers of the day and night sides of a tidally locked planet and show poor heat circulation. Sunny side hot for tidally locked world Most planets in our solar system spread their heat evenly across their surfaces in the course of a day. They accomplish this with relatively fast rotations and a generous distance from the Sun. Some exoplanets, however, aren't so well balanced. Stevenson et al. show that planets like the Jupiter-sized WASP-43b whirl closely around their star in less than 24 hours, which leaves them tidally locked with little chance for heat redistribution. Science, this issue p. 838


Through quantitative and qualitative analysis of the effects of the phenomenon, the article focuses on the magnitude and social dangers of modern careless crime associated with emergencies and disasters. The emergence of the latter is becoming increasingly real in the face of unacceptable public policy, lack of effective controls, effective prevention mechanisms, inaction of control and oversight bodies and corrupt components in conducting inspections.
The criminogenic dimension of socio-humanitarian and socio-economic losses of society is outlined: in the form of dead and injured persons, material losses, destroyed and damaged buildings and structures; the dynamics of emergencies was evaluated. It is argued that human resource reductions, physical harm to health, property and other losses are relevant to the development and implementation of effective state counteraction policies. The position was expressed on the urgent need to adopt a long-term concept of prevention (prevention) of offenses and approval of a plan of measures aimed at its implementation. The current level of lawmaking does not meet the requirements of systematic and interconnectedness in terms of adoption of regulatory acts by the legislative and executive branches of government.
The enforcement level, as the level of implementation of the policy of combating negligent crime related to emergencies and catastrophes, does not explicitly take into account the danger of its consequences. On the basis of the analysis of the statistical information of judicial and law enforcement agencies (2014-2018), the status of pretrial investigation and trial of cases of individual crimes against public safety and security of production was determined. The ineffectiveness of the work of the bodies of the prosecutor's office in the part of the pre-trial investigation of criminal offenses envisaged by art. 270, 271-273, 275 of the Criminal Code ofUkraine was emphasized. The number of cases examined by the courts of Ukraine, as well as data on individuals whose life, health or material status were harmed, do not correspond to the actual state of negligent crime in the relevant sphere on a national scale.


This thesis is primarily an anthropological and historical study of transformations of labour regimes in Macedonia within the context of a changing political economy. This process can largely be situated in the "transition" from a socialist to a market-based economic model; a process which was never only about transforming the "economic" but touched upon every intimate aspect of people's lives. It is through these changes, and the reconceptualization of what work ought to be about, that we can explore larger questions of class identity, alienation, morality, personhood and the operations of power and social reproduction in contemporary Macedonian society. As such, this thesis is offered as a contribution to the traditional, yet, in the case of Macedonia, under-researched, themes of social and economic anthropology. My primary fieldsite and object of investigation, is the small township of Shtip, in eastern Macedonia, where I investigate the changing role and social status of industrial workers in the national economy, and the everyday working lives of garment labourers in one of Shtip's largest garment factories.

The historical chapters of this thesis analyse the making of an industrial working class within socialist Yugoslavia, and the subsequent attempts at unmaking the values, social relations and forms of personhood, that grew up within the specifics of Yugoslav socialism. I approach "class" through the indeterminate interplay of social, cultural and economic factors, and highlight the enduring cultural importance of embedded, relational forms of personhood. As I move towards more current events, and particularly the ethnographic chapters, I focus more strongly on the responses of industrial workers to such changes. I deal not only with specific practices, but also with questions of the "imagination", or how workers, experience, and reflect on these wider changes in ways that keep open the possibility of rearranging social relations at the work place, and beyond. In doing do, I propose that struggles over the definition of personhood, rather than class conflict, are at the forefront of debates about what work ought to be about. Also, I suggest that the outcome of these struggles has not been to challenge subordination and social inequality in itself, but to challenge the specific kinds of inequality and subject categories introduced by the transition to a neoliberal market economy (Dunn 2004).


This review gives a glimpse of probiotic role in human life and how it affects the individual. Probiotics have been studied as an alternative to antibiotic therapy. The term probiotics comes from the Greek word pro bios meaning for life opposed to antibiotics, which means against life. As the research is progressing, new approaches to treat diseases are being developed such as prebiotics and synbiotics. Probiotics work in our body through various modes of action, namely, production of inhibitory substances, stimulation of immunity, affecting host gene expression, blocking of adhesion sites, competition for nutrients, and degradation of toxin receptors. The various criteria employed to select strains for probiotics are acid-bile stability, adhesion stability, antimicrobial activity, viability and stability during processing and storage. Research has proved the therapeutic effects of probiotics in diseases such as diarrhea, rotavirus diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, Helicobacter pylori infection, hepatic encephalopathy, celiac disease, and hyperoxaluria. Probiotics have prophylactic effects in diseases such as pouchitis and ulcerative colitis that come under inflammatory bowel disease, antibiotic-induced diarrhea, necrotizing enterocolitis, ventilator-associated pneumonia, dental decay, periodontal infection, halitosis, constipation, gastrointestinal infections, and colon cancer. Probiotics also help in xenobiotic metabolism, lactose intolerance, cholesterol reduction, sucrase-isomaltase deficiency, stress, and hypertension. Further research is needed to prove the efficacy of probiotics in case of radiation-induced diarrhea, HIV/AIDS diarrhea, Crohn's disease, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and allergy.


Rapidly expanding urban areas in Central Asia are increasingly vulnerable to seismic risk; but at present, no earthquake early warning (EEW) systems exist in the region despite their successful implementation in other earthquake-prone areas. Such systems aim to provide short (seconds to tens of seconds) warnings of impending disaster, enabling the first risk mitigation and damage control steps to be taken. This study presents the feasibility of a large scale cross-border regional system for Central Asian countries. Genetic algorithms are used to design efficient EEW networks, computing optimal station locations and trigger thresholds in recorded ground acceleration. Installation of such systems within 3 years aims to both reducing the endemic lack of strong motion data in Central Asia that is limiting the possibility of improving seismic hazard assessment, and at providing the first regional earthquake early warning system in the area.


Background: The flora of serpentine/ultramafic soils provides an excellent model system for the study of natural selection in plant populations. Streptanthus polygaloides is a nickel hyperaccumulator that is endemic to serpentine soils in the Sierra Nevada of California, and has four floral morphs (yellow, purple, yellow-to-purple and undulate). Aims: We investigate three hypotheses: (1) the purple morph occurs in colder, wetter climates than the yellow morph; (2) tissue–soil ionic relationships differ among morphs; and (3) morphs occur on soils with differing elemental concentrations. Methods: We queried herbarium records to investigate patterns of occurrence among the yellow and purple floral morphs, and analysed soil and tissue samples from wild populations of all four morphs. Results: The purple morph inhabited serpentine outcrops with colder temperatures and greater precipitation levels than the yellow morph. Concentrations of elements in leaf tissue and rhizosphere soil differed little among populations of the morphs, but showed substantial within-site variation. Conclusions: Our results suggest that a climatic gradient may be responsible for divergence in floral colour among populations of S. polygaloides. Because of the large within-site variation in soil and tissue elemental concentrations, plants appear to have a varied physiological response to edaphic factors, regardless of morph membership.


Sleep quality can affect the physical and mental health, as well as the personal development of college students. Mindfulness practices are known to ameliorate sleep disorder and improve sleep quality. Trait mindfulness, an innate capacity often enhanced by mindfulness training, has been shown to relate to better sleep quality and different aspects of psychological well-being. However, how individual difference factors such as trait mindfulness relate to sleep quality remains largely unclear, which limits the optimization and further application of mindfulness-based intervention schemes targeting the improvement of sleep quality. In this study, we aimed to investigate how negative emotions and neuroticism may influence the relationship between trait mindfulness and sleep quality. A conditional process model was built to examine these relationships in 1,423 Chinese young adults. Specifically, the conditional process model was constructed with trait mindfulness as the independent variable, sleep quality as the dependent variable, negative emotions as the mediating variable, and neuroticism as the moderating variable. Our results showed that negative emotions mediated the link between mindfulness and sleep quality and that neuroticism had a moderating effect on the relationship between mindfulness and sleep quality. Together, these findings suggested a potential mechanism of how trait mindfulness influences sleep quality, provided a therapeutic target for which mindfulness-based interventions may act upon to improve sleep quality, and offered a basis for prediction of different intervention effects among individuals.


ABSTRACT Complexity theory is the study of complex systems composed of multiple interacting agents that function as a whole. A complexity-informed theory of social self-organisation is introduced and applied in this paper to explain the organisational behaviour of amateur translation networks. A case study is conducted on the self-organising dynamics of a group of Chinese amateur translators who collaborate to translate Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) provided by overseas educational institutions. Focusing on the outcomes and behavioural patterns of the group's operation, the case study uncovers mechanisms by which the group maintains and reproduces itself. The article concludes by discussing the implications of complexity thinking for the study of the organisational behaviour of amateur translation networks.


Adult female rats were trained for one week to consume a subnormal amount of food (12 gm.) in two one-hour feeding sessions per day: 4 gm. between 8 and 9 a.m. and 8 gm. between 6 and 7 p.m. At the end of the training period the animals were subjected to either bilateral electrolytic destruction of the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) or to a sham operation. The restricted feeding regime was continued for forty-eight hours postoperatively, when comparative studies were made. Plasma insulin response to intravenous Glibenclamide was greater in the rats with VMH lesions than in the pair-fed, sham-operated controls. The former rats also exhibited decreased initial plasma glucose levels, degranulation of the beta cells and reduced pancreatic insulin content. In addition to marked islet enlargement, similar though more severe signs of islet hyper-function were observed in rats with VMH lesions fed ad libitum, which became hyperphagic immediately after the operation. VMH lesions did not significantly affect the plasma and pituitary levels of growth hormone (GH). The restricted feeding regime, however, caused an increase in plasma GH, responsiveness to hypoglycemic stimulation and a tendency to decreased pituitary GH content both in injured and sham-operated rats. These findings indicate that VMH lesions per se enhance the responsiveness of the pancreatic islets to insulin secretory stimulation independent of changes in food intake, meal size and meal frequency. The resulting hyperinsulinism might play an essential role in the occurrence of hypothalamic hyperphagia and obesity following VMH injury. In hyperphagic rats with VMH damage, the islet stimulation is magnified, possibly due to the combination of a direct hypothalamic effect plus the secondary effect of increased food intake. Defective secretion of GH does not appear to be primarily involved in the induction of the hypothalamic syndrome.


This article describes the development of a new virtual research tool for the Arts and Humanities community. The E-Curator project led by Museums and Collections at University College London took a practical, multidisciplinary approach to traceable storage and transmission of three-dimensional (3D) laser scan data sets. The objective was to establish protocols for retrievable data acquisition and processing to facilitate remote web-based access to museum e-artefacts and thereby enhance international scholarship. An Internet capable 3D visualization tool was designed, using state-of-the-art colour laser scanning technology for digitizing museum objects in combination with an e-science developed data storage and retrieval solution (Storage Resource Broker). The prototype was developed in discussion with a team of museum curators and conservators who were able to compare the handling of a range of real objects with their virtual copies on-screen. This article will explore two case studies of objects recorded with an Arius3D colour laser scanner and a handheld Metris K-Scan laser scanner to illustrate the 3D recording methodology and highlight how the developed system is capable of complementing traditional cataloguing and analysis methods for museum artefacts and enable digital repatriation. Anthropological research, based on observations from the example of the E-Curator project, is discussing the production, reception, and circulation of 3D digital objects and the networked technology of the digital image.


The Gilgit-Baltistan region is neither a province of Pakistan nor part of the federation. Recently, the suggestion that Gilgit-Baltistan be made a province of Pakistan has stirred a new debate, especially about Pakistan's stance over Kashmir. Past "packages" could not be properly implemented due to the self-centred differences within the bureaucracy in Islamabad and Gilgit. Moreover, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passes through this region as well. The political government in Gilgit-Baltistan and the public, at large, with the support of all political parties in this region, have repeatedly expressed their concerns about its due share in CPEC. However, the Pakistani Government is of the view that the CPEC is a game changer for Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan whereas the projects and 51 MoUs, enlisted by Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs, have no mention of Gilgit-Baltistan for a single project or MoU. Added to this melee is the definite Chinese pressure to ensure that nothing impedes its progress. It is for Islamabad to come up with a reform package which will  pacify the people of Gilgit-Baltistan and bring them aboard the train to economic development. This paper aims to address the pertinent question of whether Pakistan can address the issue of the constitutional status of  Gilgit-Baltsiatn  without compromising on its stance on Kashmir. If not, what should be done to avoid any sort of hindrance to CPEC projects being carried out in that region.


Cryogenically cooled solid-state lasers promise a revolution in power scalability while maintaining a good beam quality because of significant improvements in efficiency and thermo-optic properties. This is particularly true for Yb lasers because of their relatively low quantum defect and relatively broadband absorption even at cryogenic temperatures. Thermo-optic properties of host materials, including thermal conductivity, thermal expansion, and refractive index at low temperature, are reviewed and data presented for YAG (ceramic and single crystal), GGG, GdVO4, and Y2O3. Spectroscopic properties of Yb:YAG and Yb:LiYF4 (YLF) including absorption cross sections, emission cross sections, and fluorescence lifetimes at cryogenic temperatures are characterized. Recent experiments have pushed the power from an end-pumped cryogenically cooled Yb:YAG laser to 455-W continuous-wave output power from 640-W incident pump power at an of M2 1.4.


Chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) has emerged as a predominant complication following HSCT and has a distinct etiology. We and others have previously demonstrated that bortezomib, a proteasome inhibitor, can prevent but not treat acute GVHD in mice. To assess the effects of bortezomib on cGVHD, a mouse minor histocompatibility antigen-mismatched strain combination was used to mimic clinical cGVHD sclerodermatous pathogenesis and phenotype. Treatment of ongoing cGVHD with bortezomib ameliorated cutaneous lesions, which were also associated with a reduction in total numbers of germinal center B cells and lower B-cell activating factor gene expression levels in cutaneous tissues. Importantly, lymphoma-bearing mice receiving allogeneic HSCT with bortezomib preserved graft-versus-tumor (GVT) effects. Based on these animal studies, we initiated an intrapatient dose escalation clinical trial in patients with extensive steroid-intolerant, dependent, or resistant cGVHD. Marked clinical improvement was observed in patients, which was also associated with reductions of peripheral B cells and minimal toxicity. These results indicate that bortezomib can be of significant use in the treatment of cGVHD and may also allow for maintenance of GVT. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01672229.


This study concerns an intra-organizational IT project in an inter-organizational setting. Based on a clinical research approach a major IS development project in the financial industry has been studied during four years. After a brief case description three emerging topics are discussed; intercontra intra-organizational projects, the importance of setting project goals and scope, and the role of the project initiator. A conclusion for all these topics is the need for widening one's horizon.


Abstract. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether the Matlab-based Damped Bundle Adjustment Toolbox (DBAT) can be used to provide independent verification of the BA computation of two popular software—PhotoModeler (PM) and PhotoScan (PS). For frame camera data sets with lens distortion, DBAT is able to reprocess and replicate subsets of PM results with high accuracy. For lens-distortion-free data sets, DBAT can furthermore provide comparative results between PM and PS. Data sets for the discussed projects are available from the authors. The use of an external verification tool such as DBAT will enable users to get an independent verification of the computations of their software. In addition, DBAT can provide computation of quality parameters such as estimated standard deviations, correlation between parameters, etc., something that should be part of best practice for any photogrammetric software. Finally, as the code is free and open-source, users can add computations of their own.


Izaak Walton first published his popular work The Compleat Angler in 1653. Charles I, the king of England, had been executed just four years earlier after almost a decade of civil war, and the king's opponents had also abolished the Church of England. Long hailed as a primary inspiration for the modern conservation movement, most scholarship on the Angler has either ignored or muted the political context of Walton's most famous book. However, the Angler is permeated with religious and political polemic. Revised multiple times before the author's death, Walton amplified and extended his arguments in response to changes in law, politics, and religion. The present essay argues that when read alongside his other works and related literature published during these same years, the successive editions of Walton's best seller emerge as one of the clearest, most consistent declarations of Anglican royalism in the mid-seventeenth century.


A total of 280 nursery pigs (DNA 241 × 600, initially 22.8 lb) were used in a 21-d growth trial to determine the available P (aP) release curve for Smizyme TS G5 2,500 (Origination, LLC., Maplewood, MN). Pigs were weaned at approximately 21 d of age, randomly allotted to pens based on initial body weight (BW), and fed common starter diets. On d 21 post-weaning, considered d 0 of the study, pens were blocked by BW and randomly allotted to 1 of 7 dietary treatments with 5 pigs per pen and 8 pens per treatment. Seven 1-ton batches of basal diet were manufactured and subsequently divided to be the major portion of experimental diets. Dietary treatments were formulated to include increasing aP derived from either an inorganic P source (0.11%, 0.19%, or 0.27% from monocalcium P) or increasing phytase (250, 500, 1,000, or 1,500 FTU/ kg). Diets were corn-soybean meal-based and contained 1.24% standardized ileal digestible (SID) lysine with other amino acids set to meet or exceed NRC5 requirement estimates. Prior to beginning the 21-d study, all pigs were fed the negative control diet containing 0.11% aP for a 3-d period (d 18 to 21 post-weaning). Diets containing phytase were submitted for complete phytase analysis (Eurofins Scientific Inc., Des Moines, IA) using the AOAC official method 2000.12,6 and analyzed concentrations were 265, 470, 1,000, or 1,450 FTU/kg. On d 21 of the experiment, the pig closest to the mean BW in each pen was euthanized and the right and left fibula were collected to determine bone ash with one fibula defatted and the other not prior to ashing. Overall (d 0 to 21), pigs fed increasing aP from inorganic P had improved (linear, P < 0.01) performance across all response criteria measured. When using both the defatted and non-defatted bone mineral procedures, pigs fed increasing aP from inorganic P had increased (linear, P < 0.01) bone ash weights and percentage bone ash. Pigs fed increasing phytase had increased (linear, P < 0.01) bone ash weights and percentage bone ash (linear and quadratic, P < 0.05). The aP release increased (linear, P < 0.01) up to the highest phytase dose when using gain-to-feed ratio (G:F), bone ash weight, or defatted percentage bone ash as indicators of release. When using average daily gain and non-defatted percentage bone ash, aP release increased in a linear and quadratic fashion (P < 0.01). In conclusion, the magnitude of aP release curves depends on the response criteria measured, but Smizyme TS G5 2,500 appears to have a similar aP release to other commercially available phytase sources. When combining the release values for defatted bones in this experiment with a previous experiment,7 the aP release equations for Smizyme TS G5 2,500 are: aP = (0.197 × FTU) ÷ (584.956 + FTU), aP = (0.175 × FTU) ÷ (248.348 + FTU), and aP = (0.165 × FTU) ÷ (178.146 + FTU) for ADG, G:F, and percentage bone ash, respectively.


Many policy decisions involve discontinuous and irreversible shifts, often in the face of substantial uncertainty. This dissertation studies two types of regime shifts under uncertainty: stabilization from hyperinflation, and privatization of a government corporation. In both cases, policy-makers face decisions that involve uncertainty and irreversibility. These topics are examined using a theoretical model (Chapter 1), econometric evidence (Chapter 2), and a case study (Chapter 3). The first chapter presents a real options model of stabilization given uncertainty over the behavior of inflation. The model is used to argue that despite the costs of hyperinflation, stabilization delays do not necessarily indicate either irrationality or the presence of political economy effects. The second chapter constructs a comprehensive data set of hyperinflations over the past 35 years. The data set is used to examine the empirical regularities of high inflation episodes, and to test the predictions of the model presented in Chapter 1. We conclude that (1) high inflation is rare; (2) most high inflation episodes are short; (3) most economies experience only one high inflation; (4) high inflation is noisy but not necessarily explosive; (5) many high inflations end without a large fall in inflation; and (6) there is weak evidence supporting the real options approach to stabilizations. The third chapter studies another type of regime shift, that of moving a corporation from public to private ownership. The proposed privatization of the U.S. Enrichment Corporation (USEC) illustrates the costs and benefits of privatization. While a private firm would be more efficient, privatization may endanger a crucial nuclear non-proliferation program of the U.S. government. The chapter examines the uranium enrichment market; analyzes the proposed privatization of USEC within a framework developed by Jones, Tandon and Vogelsang (1990); and extends the analysis to incorporate limited information and irreversibility.


Working in a software project is a challenge. People with different backgrounds are together working towards the goal of delivering a run able piece of software. As the development proceeds, different guidelines such as: Technology, quality directives, user goals, customer goals, style guides etc. will influence the design. This report will focus on the design of the graphical user interface and discuss how it benefits from making the guidelines explicit in the design process. Today it is identified that interaction design has a problem of reaching practical use in software industry. This thesis will present an approach to interaction design that can be used in practice in the complex nature of software development. The approach stresses the importance of not having only one perspective on design. A design group needs to have more than the end user's perspective when developing an interactive product. In order to fit reality and fulfill user goals in the design, it is important to make the design process and its guidelines explicit to the developers. During this spring I have been involved in a large software engineering project, developing the interface design of an instant messaging application. In this Master thesis, I will explain how I developed my approach to interaction design in the organization of a project. I will also describe my experiences of working with the method of persona in order to make the user goals explicit in the design. The main purpose of this report is to show a practical way of working with interface design. The work resulted in traceability of design decisions, which was not the goal of this project, merely the result of an approach to design.


Broken Theory is a jettisoned collection of fragmentary writing, collected and collaged by new media artist, writer, musician, and theorist Alan Sondheim. Folding theoretical musings, text experiments, and personal confessions into a single textual flow, it examines the somatic foundations of philosophical theory and theorizing, discussing their relationships to the writer and body, and to the phenomenology of failure and fragility of philosophy's production. Writing remains writing, undercuts and corrects itself, is always superseded, always produced within an untoward and bespoke silo – not as an inconceivable last word, but instead a broken contribution to philosophical thinking. The book is based on fragmentation and collapse, displacing annihilation and wandering towards a form of "roiling" within which the text teeters on the verge of disintegration. In other words, the writing develops momentary scaffoldings – writing shored up by the very mechanisms that threaten its disappearance. Broken Theory is prefaced by a text from Maria Damon and followed by an extensive interview with art historian Ryan Whyte.


Abstract
The shortage of teachers of color, specifically Black female teachers, is a problem that detrimentally impacts students in US public schools. The high turnover of Black teachers may be caused by the poor working conditions they experience in their schools. However, the literature lacks a broad overview that gives a national perspective on how working conditions in general, and interpersonal relationships in particular, affect the retention of Black female teachers. For this study, we analyzed data from a nationally representative sample of over 1,000 Black female teachers who participated in the 2007–2008 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). We addressed two main research questions. First, how do the working conditions in schools where Black female teachers are employed relate to their retention? Second, does the quality of the interpersonal relationships between Black female teachers and others at their schools predict career decisions? Our findings have implications for policymakers and school leaders who seek to improve teacher retention in US public schools.


Design of robot controller for motion planning, using fuzzy logic control, requires formulation of rules that are collectively responsible for necessary levels of intelligent behaviors. To ensure the model interpretability, this collection of rules can be naturally decomposed and efficiently implemented as a hierarchical fuzzy model. This paper describes how this can be done using hybrid hierarchical genetic fuzzy modeling. The idea is to combine, in a hierarchical design, "mapping" for sub-goal behavior (SGB), and "reactivity" for local avoiding obstacles behavior (LAOB), to have at the same time, an interpretable and precise communicating system for robot motion planning controller. The design of each fuzzy unit of the hierarchical model is automatically ensured by MAGAD-BFS method (multi-agent genetic algorithm for the design of beta fuzzy systems), promoting itself as an interpretability-accuracy trade-off. A proposed reduced version of generalized local Voronoi diagram (RGLVD) comes to guarantee a high degree of precision for robot motion to attempt destinations (sub-goals). Compared to the navigation using only fuzzy rules controller, the hybrid hierarchical model is more efficient in terms of saving time and optimizing path


The toxic effects of technical grade (95 %) malathion and commercial (25 %) malathion were investigated on young (£ 24 h old) Daphnia magna in static acute toxicity tests (24 and 48 h). The culture of D. magna and toxicity tests were performed at 24 ± 1 oC with a photoperiod of 16 h light and 8 h dark. To obtain a healthy population, the fecundity of each female in their life cycle was also investigated. The immobilization of daphnids was considered for determination of the 24 h / 48 h effective concentration (50 %). The EC50 values were found by the probit method 24 h /48 h for technical malathion as 0.8 and 0.028 ppm., and for commercial malathion as 0.11 and 0.003 ppm respectively.


Methane-related carbonates from Hydrate Ridge typically show several macroscopically distinguishable mineral phases, namely whitish aragonite, lucent aragonite, and gray micrite. The relationship of these phases to particular microorganisms or biogeochemical processes is as yet unclear. We used a miniaturized biomarker technique on mg samples, combined with factor analysis and subsequent electron microprobe analysis, to study lipid biomarkers and chemical compositions of the individual phases. This allows us to identify particular mechanisms involved in the formation of the different carbonate precipitates. Our combined analysis of biomarkers and petrographic traits shows that most of the lipids related to the anaerobic oxidation of methane ( >90% by weight) are concentrated within only a minor compartment ( ∼20% by volume) of the Hydrate Ridge carbonates, the whitish aragonite. The patterns indicate that the whitish aragonite represents fossilized biofilms of methanotrophic consortia containing mainly archaea of the ANME-2 group and sulfate reducing bacteria, whereas the precipitation of the lucent aragonite may have lacked the immediate proximity of microorganisms during formation. By contrast, the gray micrite formed by incorporation of allochthonous organic and inorganic matter during carbonate precipitation induced by the anaerobic oxidation of methane involving ANME-1 archaea. Correspondence to: V. Thiel (firstname.lastname@example.com)


In this thesis, the author explores and develops new attributes for machine performers and merges the trans-disciplinary fields of the performing arts and artificial intelligence. The main aim is to redefine the term "embodiment" for robots on the stage and to demonstrate that this term requires broadening in various fields of research. This redefining has required a multifaceted theoretical analysis of embodiment in the field of artificial intelligence (e.g. the uncanny valley), as well as the construction of new robots for the stage by the author. It is hoped that these practical experimental examples will generate more research by others in similar fields. Even though the historical lineage of robotics is engraved with theatrical strategies and dramaturgy, further application of constructive principles from the performing arts and evidence from psychology and neurology can shift the perception of robotic agents both on stage and in other cultural environments. In this light, the relation between representation, movement and behaviour of bodies has been further explored to establish links between constructed bodies (as in artificial intelligence) and perceived bodies (as performers on the theatrical stage). In the course of this research, several practical works have been designed and built, and subsequently presented to live audiences and research communities. Audience reactions have been analysed with surveys and discussions. Interviews have also been conducted with choreographers, curators and scientists about the value of machine performers. The main conclusions from this study are that fakery and mystification can be used as persuasive elements to enhance agency. Morphologies can also be applied that tightly couple brain and sensorimotor actions and lead to a stronger stage presence. In fact, if this lack of presence is left out of human replicants, it causes an "uncanny" lack of agency. Furthermore, the addition of stage presence leads to stronger identification from audiences, even for bodies dissimilar to their own. The author demonstrates that audience reactions are enhanced by building these effects into © Demers 2014 iv machine body structures: rather than identification through mimicry, this causes them to have more unambiguously biological associations. Alongside these traits, atmospheres such as those created by a cast of machine performers tend to cause even more intensely visceral responses. In this thesis, "embodiment" has emerged as a paradigm shift – as well as within this shift – and morphological computing has been explored as a method to deepen this visceral immersion. Therefore, this dissertation considers and builds machine performers as "true" performers for the stage, rather than mere objects with an aura. Their singular and customized embodiment can enable the development of non-anthropocentric performances that encompass the abstract and conceptual patterns in motion and generate – as from human performers – empathy, identification and experiential reactions in live audiences


The Order of Preachers is generally thought to be far from silent. The important vocational role of preaching and teaching doctrine often emerges as the sole motivation underlying the Order's spirituality and the friars are commonly portrayed as vociferous disputants, preachers and inquisitors. Yet some of the most important spiritual and mystical figures of the medieval Order, such as Meister Eckhart (c.1260-1328), emphasised repeatedly in their sermons and treatises the need for an inner contemplative silence attached to recognition of the divine ineffability. By considering Eckhart in his wider context as a member of a German Dominican School related to the studium generale in Cologne from 1250-1350, this thesis demonstrates that a current of respect for silence was an important aspect of German Dominican theology and practice. The interest in negative theology amongst Dominican theologians like Albert the Great, Ulrich of Strasbourg, Thomas Aquinas and Meister Eckhart provided the impetus for a re-evaluation of silence's role in the life of the spirit. Through their adoption of the heavily Neoplatonic apophasis found in the Corpus Dionysiacum and the categorical negation of divine attributes advanced by the Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides, these Dominicans crafted a rhetoric of inexpressibility connected to the silent praise of God in Psalms 64:2. This silent praise of the divine, grounded in the contemplative model of the Order, came to inform the mystical practice of the German laity in the fourteenth century. Transforming the monastic practice of silence into a soteriological virtue in their vernacular sermons and treatises, Eckhart and his confreres argued that silence as detachment was a spiritual ideal incumbent upon the wider Christian community. The scholastic debates about silence which formed a part of the theology of the German Dominican School in the thirteenth and fourteenth century had a direct impact on contemporary religious practice.


SCUBA diving as a sport has enabled people to explore the magnificent ocean diversity of beautiful corals, striking fish, and mysterious wrecks. However, only a small number of people are able to experience these wonders as diving is expensive, mentally and physically challenging, needs a large time investment, and requires access to large bodies of water. Most existing SCUBA diving simulations in VR are limited to visual and aural displays. We propose a virtual reality system, Amphibian that provides an immersive SCUBA diving experience through a convenient terrestrial simulator. Users lie on their torso on a motion platform with their outstretched arms and legs placed in a suspended harness. Users receive visual and aural feedback through the Oculus Rift head-mounted display and a pair of headphones. Additionally, we simulate buoyancy, drag, and temperature changes through various sensors. Preliminary deployment shows that the system has potential to offer a high degree of presence in VR.


Symbolic execution is an effective technique for exploring paths in a program and reasoning about all possible values on those paths. However, the technique still struggles with code that uses complex heap data structures, in which a pointer is allowed to refer to more than one memory object. In such cases, symbolic execution typically forks execution into multiple states, one for each object to which the pointer could refer. In this paper, we propose a technique that avoids this expensive forking by using a segmented memory model. In this model, memory is split into segments, so that each symbolic pointer refers to objects in a single segment. The size of the segments are bound by a threshold, in order to avoid expensive constraints. This results in a memory model where forking due to symbolic pointer dereferences is significantly reduced, often completely. We evaluate our segmented memory model on a mix of whole program benchmarks (such as m4 and make) and library benchmarks (such as SQLite), and observe significant decreases in execution time and memory usage.


Objective: To evaluate C-C chemokine receptor type 2 (CCR2) on monocyte subsets as a prognostic peripheral blood biomarker of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). Methods: Wecharacterized monocytepopulationsinHIV-infectedindividualswithandwithoutHAND from 2 cohorts and assessed their transmigration across an in vitro model of the human blood-brain barrier (BBB). We examined CCR2 expression among the monocyte populations as a prognostic/ predictive biomarker of HAND and its functional consequences in facilitating monocyte diapedesis. Results: We determined that CCR2 was significantly increased on CD14 1 CD16 1 monocytes in individuals with HAND compared to infected people with normal cognition. CCR2 remained elevated irrespective of the severity of cognitive impairment, combined antiretroviral therapy status, viral load, and current or nadir CD4 T-cell count. There was no association between CCR2 on other monocyte populations and HAND. There was a functional consequence to the increase in CCR2, as CD14 1 CD16 1 monocytes from individuals with HAND transmigrated across our model of the human BBB in significantly higher numbers in response to its ligand chemokine (C-C) motif ligand 2 (CCL2) compared to the cell migration that occurred in people with no cognitive deficits. It should be noted that our study had the limitation of a smaller sample size of unimpaired individuals. In contrast, there was no difference in the transmigration of other monocyte subsets across the BBB in response to CCL2 in seropositive individuals with or without HAND. Conclusions: Our findings indicate CCR2 on CD14 1 CD16 1 monocytes is a novel peripheral


We study the distributional effects of remote learning. Our approach combines newly collected data on parental preferences with administrative data from Los Angeles. The preference data allow us to account for selection into remote learning while also studying selection patterns and treatment effect heterogeneity. We find a negative average effect of remote learning on reading (–0.14 σ ) and math (–0.17 σ ). Notably, we find evidence of positive learning effects for children whose parents have the strongest demand for remote learning. Our results suggest an important subset of students who currently sort into post-pandemic remote learning benefit from expanded choice.


As the size of the biomedical databases are increasing day-by-day, finding an essential feature set for classification problem is complex due to large data size and sparsity problems. Text feature ranking and clustering is one of the major challenges to scientific and medical researchers due to its high dimensional feature space and limited number of samples. High dimensionality of the feature space is one of the major issues in biomedical document clustering due to large number of candidates sets. Selection of high probabilistic features for clustering is therefore essential for biomedical document analysis such as classification and clustering. In this paper, a novel probabilistic key phrase extraction and preprocessing model is designed and implemented on large number of biomedical documents. In this framework, a novel key-phrase extraction method is used to filter the large biomedical document sets. Experimental results show that the present key phrase extraction approach is better than existing key-phrase extraction approaches in terms of runtime and accuracy are concerned.


Surfing provides an excellent case study for power of extra-legal social norms to efficiently regulate public resources. A complicated, cross-cultural set of cooperative norms governs surfers' behavior in the water. These norms promote safety and the efficient sharing of a natural resource: waves. As an ever increasing number of surfers compete for this fixed resource, conflict has become more common and the cooperative norms of surfing are sometimes replaced by the exclusionary practice of "localism." Nevertheless, attempts at formal regulation of surfing have failed and surfing is still governed almost entirely by social norms.


Abstract This article examines the benefits of applying gamification in the recruitment process. It highlights how it can be effectively leveraged with the right design by involving various stakeholders at varied stages. The Actor Network Theory (ANT) as a theoretical ground has been used as a reference point to take a more detailed look at the ways in which gamification can be effectively deployed for recruitment by organizations. We refer to ANT and the interaction between the human and non-human elements, here, the applicants, the other stakeholders, and the gamification tools, to serve the greater organizational purpose. Questions that interrogate between rules and practices arise, viz. can the game be effectively customized to achieve sophisticated and enhanced selection outcomes. By applying gamification as the reference point within the Actor Network Theory, their associated potential for further research and applications is achieved. A valuable perspective in gaining insights for further understanding of this theory in today's technologically progressive environment has also been discussed for further reflection.


This letter presents a new perspective to block motion estimation for video compression referred to as high-frequency component matching. Taking into consideration the features of the transform encoder used to encode the prediction error in the motion-compensated predictive coding system, motion estimation is carried out such as to compensate for high-frequency components, leaving the compensation task of low-frequency components to the transform encoder. It is shown that this approach can outperform standard motion estimation that does not take transform encoder features into account and has the potential of changing the way motion estimation is being performed in video compression standards


Because all species are consumers and all, eventually, are consumed by other species, consumer-resource interaction is one of the most fundamental processes of ecology. Simple models that include the direct mechanisms of consumer-resource interactions may thus be the fundamental building-block for models of community structure. These models are easily extended to include such complexity as the effects of physical limiting factors, spatial heterogeneity in resource supply, fluctuating resource supply, and multiple trophic levels. Each such modification places constraints on the traits of species that can persist. Consumer-resource models make predictions about many aspects of community structure, including species richness, species composition, species dominance, population dynamics, morphological or physiological traits of species, and patterns of phenotypic variation within species. Thus, each model affords numerous opportunities to test and modify or reject it. A review of a variety of communities suggests that much of the structure of each community can be explained by a relatively simple consumer-resource model, but that different elements of complexity may be important in different communities.


Predators can indirectly structure local plant communities by altering the diversity and behaviour of herbivores. These 'trophic cascades' can be seriously disrupted by the local extinction of top predators. They can also be restored by the subsequent re-introduction of top predators by conservationists. Here, we investigated trophic cascades involving kākā, puriri moths and their host trees. New Zealand kākā (Nestor meridionalis, Nestoridae) are large parrots that were extirpated from most of its range in the 20th century. Unlike most other parrots, kākā forage primarily by digging through the vascular cambium of trees in search of wood-boring insects. They regularly consume puriri moths (Aenetus virescens, Hepialidae), a giant species of ghost moth whose larvae tunnel into the heartwood of trees for protection. Puriri moths are host specific and frequently attack makomako (Aristotelia serrata, Elaeocarpaceae), a sub-canopy tree species. We conducted a field experiment in Zealandia, a nature reserve to which kākā were reintroduced over a decade ago, to test the hypothesis that kākā would increase tree fitness by removing larval parasites (i.e. herbivores). Contrary to our expectations, results revealed an additive, negative effect of both the predator (kākā) and parasite (puriri moths) on plant fitness. Therefore, the tri-trophic interactions restored by the reintroduction of kākā into Zealandia appear to be unique, as the actions of the predator decreased fruit and flower production, rather than increasing plant fitness, as typically reported for trophic cascades.


Species are central to biology, but there is currently no agreement on what the adequate species concept should be, and many have adopted a pluralist stance: different species concepts will be required for different purposes. This thesis is a multidimensional analysis of species pluralism. First I explicate how pluralism differs from monism and relativism. I argue that we must re-frame the species problem, and that re-evaluating Aristotle's role in the histories of systematics can shed light on pluralism. Next I consider different forms of pluralism: evolutionary and extra-evolutionary species pluralism, which differ in their stance on evolutionary theory. I show that pluralism is more than a debate about the species category, but a debate about which concepts are legitimate and a claim about how they interact with one another. Following that, I consider what sort of ontology is required for different forms of species pluralism. I argue that pluralists who deny the unity of biology will require a further plurality of frameworks, while those that ground their pluralism in evolution need only one framework. Finally, I consider what pluralism means for biological practice. I argue that species concepts are tools, and reflect on how pluralism can illuminate the way systematists approach the discovery of new species of yeast. Pluralism can make sense of the way species concepts are used, and can be developed to aid researchers in thinking about how to use the right tools for the right jobs.


Algal species commonly occur in thermophilic environments and appear to have very wide geographical distributions. Presence of algal species is strongly influenced by temperature, pH and mineral content of thermal waters. No research has previously been documented on the algal diversity in South African thermal springs. This paper describes the algal distribution in 6 thermal springs in Limpopo Province, South Africa, and attempts to link this to the physical and geochemical properties of the springs. Water samples were collected from Mphephu, Siloam, Tshipise, Sagole, Eiland and Soutini thermal springs and algae identified. Temperature, pH and TDS were measured on site and water samples analysed for macro- and trace-elements. Cyanophyta was the algal group most often present, followed by Bacillariophyta, Chlorophyta, Euglenophyta and Dinophyta. Some of the algae were present in waters with pH ranging from 7.1–9.7 and temperatures ranging from 40–67°C. Others (the cyanobacteria and green algae: Nodularia, Schizothrix, Anacystis, Coelastrum, Chlorella and Spirogyra) only occurred in high temperature (60+°C) and pH>9 waters, while a number of diatoms (Synedra, Aulacoseira, Nitzschia, Cyclotella, Gyrosigma, Craticula) occurred exclusively at temperatures <45°C and pH values <8. Algae were also present in waters with fluoride values exceeding that which is considered safe for human consumption as well as in waters relatively rich in uranium, rubidium, vanadium and manganese. It was clear that the occurrence of algae coincided with specific geological formations. These algae could act as indicator species of geology and heavy metals. Keywords : thermal springs, Limpopo Province, algae, diversity, geochemical


This paper presents a new method for representing Light Propagation Volumes using an octree data structure, and for allowing light from regular point light sources to be injected into them. The resulting technique uses full octrees with the help of a separate data structure for representing the octree structure. The octree structure enables light propagation to be performed at a lower resolution than the base resolution, resulting in fast propagation and overall faster rendering times. The implementation of the technique is capable of rendering the Sponza scene at 9 frames per second, which is 8% faster than the original LPV technique.


This article makes a conceptual and methodological argument for ethnographically studying a certain type of paperwork in immigration bureaucracies, namely internal administrative guidelines. Much ethnographic research has focused on case files, application forms, identity documents and judicial decisions attempting to shed light on bureaucrats' discretionary power and migrants' strategies of navigating immigration laws. This article shifts attention from bureaucrats' discretionary practices to their efforts to standardise and codify their own practices. The administrative guidelines of the Foreigners' Registration Office of Berlin and the visa guidelines of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany are examined as legal documents that are produced in a web of textually grounded legal meanings, as well as in a meshwork of social and political relations and in turn reconfigure both social relations and legal meanings. Contextualised in such a way, these administrative guidelines shed light not only on 'immigration law at work' but also on 'immigration law in the making'.


There is a body of evidence indicating that the implementation of current Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry business models and practices have caused negative impacts on global energy supply, ecosystems, and local or regional economies. In order to eliminate such negative impacts, AEC practitioners are seeking new business models in which the Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology can be considered an important technology driver. Despite the fact that the majority of AEC practitioners have used BIM tools for construction-level modeling purposes, some early adopters of BIM technology began to use BIM tools to better inform their design decisions. Corresponding to the increasing demand for decision support functionality, a number of studies showed that a part of BIM technology will be developed toward decision support and artificial intelligence domains. The use of computer-based systems to support decision making processes can usually be found in the business management field. In this field, decision support and business intelligence systems are widely used for improving the quality of managerial decisions. Because of its theories and principles, Decision Support Systems (DSS) can be considered as one of the potential information technologies that can be applied to enhance the quality of design decisions. The DSS also has the potential to be constructed as a system platform for implementing building information contained in BIM models associated with other databases, analytical models, and expert knowledge used by AEC practitioners. This study explores an opportunity to extend the capability of BIM technology toward the decision support and artificial intelligence domains by applying the theories and principles of DSS. This research comprises the development of a prototype BIM interoperable web-based DSS for vegetated roofing system selection. The prototype development can be considered a part of an ongoing research agenda focusing on the development of the integrated web-based DSS for holistic building design conducted within the College of Architecture and Urban Studies (CAUS), Virginia Tech. Through a post-use interview study, the developed prototype is used as a tool for evaluating the possibility for the DSS development and the usefulness of DSS in improving the quality of vegetated roofing system design decisions. The understanding gained from the post-use study is used to create a guideline for developing a fully functional DSS for holistic building design that will be developed in the future.


A large number of nature-based optimization methods have been proposed
to use as efficient tools in scientific studies. Genetic Algorithm (GA), which operates based
on human genetical evolution, has been an outstanding mostly used solver in a wide range of applications.
This algorithm reflects the process of natural selection where the fittest individuals are
selected for reproduction in order to produce offspring of the next generation. Initialization, selection,
crossover, and mutation are the main parts of the GA population-based method which enables
GA to have a prominent explorative feature. On the other hand, the Teaching Learning
Based Optimization algorithm (TLBO) is of great performance during searching for the optimum
solution among individuals. Therefore, it is expected that the combination of both algorithms in a
certain logical way improves the optimization time.

The study intends to determine ways of improving performance of the TLBO algorithm
to solve a complex non-linear problem. Power system studies are one of the most complex problems
for analysis. Therefore, a powerful heuristic optimization procedure would have a valuable
contribution in solving such problems. In addition, the proposed heuristic algorithm will help scientists
to apply the technique to their problems.

 According to the aforementioned explanation, a new efficient optimization
approach is proposed which optimizes the parameters of multi-machine power system stabilizers
(PSSs). The TLBO algorithm includes two different stages in its main structure, which are
aptly called teacher and student stages. The student stage of TLBO is replaced by the genetic algorithm
in order to improve the explorative feature of the main TLBO. The PSS parameters are obtained
for four PSSs which are connected to four generators.

The performance of the proposed stabilizer is compared with other formerly designed
stabilizers reported in the literature consisting of multi-band PSSs for two areas four-machine
power system. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed
PSS in damping local and inter-area oscillation modes under various disturbances and confirm its
superiority in comparison with the other types of PSSs.

: A search heuristic method like the genetic algorithm can dramatically improve the
performance of meta-heuristic optimization technique. In actuality, the TLBO as a meta-heuristic
optimization technique suffers from a direct search of random solutions in its primary stage. Then,
the TLBO relinquishes some parts of search space which may restrict the algorithm to find absolute
maximums or minimums. In this condition, the GA with a great ability in searching the whole
search space effectively improves the TLBO. According to the obtained results, the proposed algorithm,
named Genetic-TLBO, obviates the conventional TLBO flaws successfully.


Large amounts of labeled data are typically required to train deep learning models. For many real-world problems, however, acquiring additional data can be expensive or even impossible. We present semi-supervised deep kernel learning (SSDKL), a semi-supervised regression model based on minimizing predictive variance in the posterior regularization framework. SSDKL combines the hierarchical representation learning of neural networks with the probabilistic modeling capabilities of Gaussian processes. By leveraging unlabeled data, we show improvements on a diverse set of real-world regression tasks over supervised deep kernel learning and semi-supervised methods such as VAT and mean teacher adapted for regression.


Many recent models underpredict secondary organic aerosol (SOA) particulate matter (PM) concentrations in polluted regions, indicating serious deficiencies in the models' chemical mechanisms and/or missing SOA precursors. Since tropospheric photochemical ozone production is much better understood, we investigate the correlation of odd-oxygen ([Ox]≡[O3]+[NO2]) and the oxygenated component of organic aerosol (OOA), which is interpreted as a surrogate for SOA. OOA and O x measured in Mexico City in 2006 and Houston in 2000 were well correlated in air masses where both species were formed on similar timescales (less than 8 h) and not well correlated when their formation timescales or location differed greatly. When correlated, the ratio of these two species ranged from 30 μg m −3/ppm (STP) in Houston during time periods affected by large petrochemical plant emissions to as high as 160 μg m −3/ppm in Mexico City, where typical values were near 120 μg m −3/ppm. On several days in Mexico City, the [OOA]/[O x] ratio decreased Correspondence to: E. C. Wood (email@example.com) by a factor of∼2 between 08:00 and 13:00 local time. This decrease is only partially attributable to evaporation of the least oxidized and most volatile components of OOA; differences in the diurnal emission trends and timescales for photochemical processing of SOA precursors compared to ozone precursors also likely contribute to the observed decrease. The extent of OOA oxidation increased with photochemical aging. Calculations of the ratio of the SOA formation rate to the Ox production rate using ambient VOC measurements and traditional laboratory SOA yields are lower than the observed [OOA]/[Ox] ratios by factors of 5 to 15, consistent with several other models' underestimates of SOA. Calculations of this ratio using emission factors for organic compounds from gasoline and diesel exhaust do not reproduce the observed ratio. Although not succesful in reproducing the atmospheric observations presented, modeling P (SOA)/P (Ox) can serve as a useful test of photochemical models using improved formulation mechanisms for SOA. Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. 8948 E. C. Wood et al.: Correlation between odd oxygen and secondary organic aerosol


The government's measures against COVID-19 have raised, in virtually all contemporary democracies, important issues regarding the proportionality of limitations on fundamental rights, including freedom of religion or belief. This paper analyses some of those issues with particular reference to religious freedom, in the light of the experiences of various European and American countries. It also examines the cooperation (or lack of) between governments and religious communities in the fight against the pandemic, as well the response of religious communities to anti-COVID-19 rules, which has included recently some litigation alleging the unequal treatment of religion in comparison with other activities or institutions. The author argues that more dialogue and reciprocal cooperation between governments and religious communities (and civil society in general) is needed in this type of crisis, as well a strict scrutiny of restrictions imposed on freedom of religion from the perspective of proportionality and equality.


The exchange of water masses between the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic constitutes an integral interocean link in the global thermohaline circulation. Long‐term changes in deep water flow have been studied using seismic reflection profiles but the seismic stratigraphy was poorly constrained and not resolved for the time period from the late Miocene onward. Here we present results from International Ocean Discovery Program Site U1475 (Agulhas Plateau) located over a sediment drift proximal to the entrance of North Atlantic Deep Water into the Southern Ocean and South Indian Ocean. Site U1475 comprises a complete carbonate‐rich stratigraphic section of the last ~7 Ma that provides an archive of climate‐induced variations in ocean circulation. Six marker reflectors occurring in the upper 300 m of the drift are identified here for the first time. The formation of these reflectors is mainly due to density changes that are mostly caused by changes in biogenic versus terrigenous sediment deposition. Synthetic seismograms allow age assignments for the horizons based on biostratigraphy and magnetostratigraphy. Prominent reflectors are related to late Pleistocene glacial/interglacial variability, the middle and early Pleistocene transitions, and the onset of the northern hemisphere glaciation. A peculiar early Pliocene interval (~5.3–4.0 Ma) bounded by two reflectors is characterized by fourfold elevated sedimentation rates (>10 cm/kyr) and the occurrence of sediment waves. We argue that this enhanced sediment transport to the Agulhas Plateau was caused by a reorganization of the bottom current circulation pattern due to maximized inflow of North Atlantic Deep Water.


This document describes the Application-layer Forward Error Correction
(FEC) protocol that was developed by the Digital Video Broadcasting
(DVB) consortium for the protection of media streams over IP networks.
The DVB AL-FEC protocol uses two layers for FEC protection. The first
(base) layer is based on the 1-D interleaved parity code. The second
(enhancement) layer is based on the Raptor code. Since both of these
codes have already been specified in separate documents, the current
document does not define the details of these codes but provides the
references to the respective specifications. By offering a layered
approach, the DVB AL-FEC offers a good protection against both bursty
and random packet losses at a cost of decent complexity.


The present study describes some of the applications of ultrasound in bone surgery, based on the presentation of two clinical cases. The Piezosurgery® ultrasound device was used (Tecnología Mectron Medical, Carasco, Italy). In one case the instrument was used to harvest a chin bone graft for placement in a bone defect at level 1.2, while in the other case a bony window osteotomy was made in the external wall of the maxillary sinus, in the context of a sinus membrane lift procedure. The Piezosurgery® device produces specific ultrasound frequency modulation (25-29 kHz), and has been designed to secure increased precision in application to bone surgery. This instrument produces selective sectioning of the mineralized bone structures, and causes less intra- and postoperative bleeding. One of the advantages of the Piezosurgery® device is that it can be used for maxillary sinus lift procedures in dental implant placement. In this context it considerably lessens the risk of sinus mucosa laceration by preparing the bony window in the external wall of the upper maxilla, and can be used to complete the lifting maneuver. The use of ultrasound in application to hard tissues can be regarded as a slow technique compared with the conventional rotary instruments, since it requires special surgical skill and involves a certain learning curve.


This paper presents a simple general equilibrium model of optimal taxation similar to that of Lucas and Stokey (1983), except that we let the government default on its debt. As a benchmark, we consider Ramsey equilibria in which the government can precommit its policies at the beginning of time. We then consider sustainable equilibria in which both government and private agent decision rules are required to be sequentially rational. We concentrate on trigger mechanisms which specify reversion to the finite horizon equilibrium after deviations by the government. The main result is that no Ramsey equilibrium with positive debt can be supported by such trigger mechanisms.


Background: The Spetzler–Martin arteriovenous malformation (AVM) grading system has proven to be useful in guiding treatment of cerebral AVMs with craniotomy. It is based on anatomical characteristics each of which makes surgical resection of an AVM more difficult, namely, deep venous drainage, eloquence of surrounding tissue, and large nidus size. A higher score correlates with more complications after treatment. Although this grading system has proven reliable over time, it does not reflect the major determinants of risk associated with endovascular treatment. The authors developed a grading system unique to endovascular treatment of cerebral AVMs. Methods: The proposed grading system accounts for the principal AVM anatomical and physiological features that make endovascular embolization more difficult and, thus, the likelihood of complications greater. These include number of arterial pedicles, diameter of arterial pedicles, and eloquent location of AVM nidus. The proposed grading system was retrospectively applied to 50 patients undergoing endovascular AVM embolization, and its ability to predict complications was compared to the Spetzler–Martin grading system. Results: Perioperative complications among the 50 patients included 4 major and 9 minor complications. The proposed grading system was predictive of complication risk, with an increasing rate of perioperative complications associated with an increasing AVM grade. An improved correlation of perioperative complication incidence was noted with the proposed system (P = 0.002), when compared with the Spetzler–Martin grading system (P = 0.33). Conclusion: This grading system for the endovascular treatment of AVMs is simple, easily reproduced, and clinically valuable.


In 1991 republics of Soviet Central Asia were reluctantly 'launched' into independence. The central puzzle of this dissertation is: "How has sovereign statehood been 'constructed' in the post-independence period in the absence of history of anti-colonial struggle?" This is an analysis of state sovereignty as a practice that is performative and interactive through the examination of 'discursive encounters' between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Such analysis traces temporal and spatial dimensions of dialogical sovereign identity construction. In post-Soviet Tajikistan and Uzbekistan sovereignties have been performed in a dialogue, through dynamic interactions with one another. The work of asserting state sovereignty is performed by various actors who claim to impersonate the state and speak on its behalf. Multiple narratives of the self are articulated in relation to the relevant "interlocutor", whose reactions and counter-articulations are "fed back" into the narrative of the self. The right to existence of these states as agents of international relations is justified through such 'discursive encounters' that simulate sovereignty. I propose the Möbius strip as a conceptual model for understanding the process of sovereignty-assertion. Competing historiographies present two irreconcilable narratives: history of an ethnic group and history of the territory of the current state. These are consistent with the nature of nationalisms in each state. While Tajik nationalists long for 'historical Tajikistan', Uzbek nationalism is inherently conservative and defensive of territorial sovereignty. The controversy surrounding the Roghun HPP is an example of the daily construction and maintenance a state. Competing principles of water sharing contributed to an ongoing crisis in Tajik-Uzbek relations. Sovereignty is simulated within the periods and zones of 'exception' via a Möbian mechanism of dialogical meaning-making, whereby each side strives to exploit the inherent ambiguity of signifiers in order to advance their own narrative of the self and other.