Since April 1985, the Soviet Union has attracted considerable attention the world over for its ongoing process of 'perestroika' or restructuring and the accompanying phenomenon of 'glasnost' or openness. The processes signified by perestroika and glasnost are very complex, have specific historic origins and dynamics, and encompass economic, political and ideological aspects. A major part of the processes concern internal changes in Societ Union. There are, however, significant aspects of perestroika which have important international implications. It is not the purpose of this paper to go into all aspects of perestroika. Rather, this paper has the limited purpose of examining some of the implications of the 'new thinking' on international relations associated with perestroika specifically by looking at the changing status of the concept of 'neocolonialism' in Soviet literature, especially since the onset of perestroika. Before proceeding further, we must note that in discussing the changing coceptualisations of neocolonialism in current Soviet writing, we will be drawing not only on official CPSU documents (to which the present writer has a rather limited access), but also on writings of Soviet academicians. In the current period of 'glasnost' such writings need not always represent the 'official' view. However, we consider this procedure to be justified since often in the current Soviet debate such academic writings have been used as trial balloons to promote certain types of understanding which subsequently find their way into official documents.


A 2D recursive low-pass filter with adaptive coefficients for restoring images degraded by Gaussian noise is proposed. Some of the ideas developed are also submitted for nonGaussian noise. The adaptation is performed with respect to three local image features-edges, spots, and flat regions-for which detectors are developed by extending some existing methods. It is demonstrated that the filter can easily be extended so that simultaneous noise removal and edge enhancement is possible. A comparison with other approaches is made. Some examples illustrate the performance of the filter.


We explore the structure of the magnetopause using a crossing observed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft on 16 October 2015. Several methods (minimum variance analysis, BV method, and constant velocity analysis) are first applied to compute the normal to the magnetopause considered as a whole. The different results obtained are not identical, and we show that the whole boundary is not stationary and not planar, so that basic assumptions of these methods are not well satisfied. We then analyze more finely the internal structure for investigating the departures from planarity. Using the basic mathematical definition of what is a one‐dimensional physical problem, we introduce a new single spacecraft method, called LNA (local normal analysis) for determining the varying normal, and we compare the results so obtained with those coming from the multispacecraft minimum directional derivative (MDD) tool developed by Shi et al. (2005). This last method gives the dimensionality of the magnetic variations from multipoint measurements and also allows estimating the direction of the local normal when the variations are locally 1‐D. This study shows that the magnetopause does include approximate one‐dimensional substructures but also two‐ and three‐dimensional structures. It also shows that the dimensionality of the magnetic variations can differ from the variations of other fields so that, at some places, the magnetic field can have a 1‐D structure although all the plasma variations do not verify the properties of a global one‐dimensional problem. A generalization of the MDD tool is proposed.


The EU Member States are obliged to assess the scale of energy poverty in their respective national contexts. We propose a new definition of energy poverty in Poland, with different levels of specificity corresponding to the needs of different levels of administration. We also propose a set of five indicators for measuring energy poverty based on data from the Polish Household Budget Survey. Two expenditure-based indicators identify energy-poor households: a modified version of the Low Income High Cost indicator and an indicator based on actual energy expenditures. Three self-reported indicators related to financial capability, the physical condition of the dwelling, and the subjective level of thermal comfort are used to measure the severity of energy poverty. We find that all five indicators show that the older the dwelling is, the higher the risk of energy poverty is. Moreover, while the expenditure-based measures show that households living in detached houses have higher energy poverty rates than households living in multifamily buildings, the thermal comfort indicator shows the opposite relationship. Households living in dwellings without central heating are at a higher risk of energy poverty, according to all self-reported indicators.


If emotional inauthenticity in the form of confabulation with regard to moral issues is not a universal human condition, or at least is not always present in the same degree, then the dynamics of moral confabulation, as illustrated by the phenomenon of authoritarianism, should be able to teach us something by way of negative example about the motivation to pursue well-grounded ethical beliefs, which of course is a central question in moral psychology. My thesis is that what David Hume called a "love of truth" plays a more dominant role in moral psychology than either "fellow feeling" (natural empathy) or cooperative gamesmanship motivated indirectly by self-interest. I argue that the love of truth is grounded biologically in the exploratory drive, which is an independent and endogenous emotional system. This love of truth, along with our enhanced ability to universalize sentiments by seeking universal truth, is precisely what humans add to the natural mammalian tendency to selective altruism, and allows us to generalize altruism and think about issues like distributive justice. I explore the problem of the naturalistic fallacy in this regard, and also some recently examined neurophysiological correlates of the love of truth, by way of dispelling a reduction of altruism either to empathy with select individuals or to indirect egoism through "cooperation" for mutual self-interest.


The higher education (HE) context is constantly changing shape at the global level due to the massification of HE and the rapid growth of HE providers. A direct consequence is that government quality agencies are making explicit the importance of external referencing and peer review to ensure the comparability of standards across the HE sector. In Australia, the national government recently endorsed the Higher Education Standards Framework (HESF) which puts the focus on peer review, external referencing and benchmarking. Standard 5.3.4 which is about the regular external referencing of courses, including the comparison of student data, assessment methods and grading, has significant resource implications for the HE sector. Education Services Australia (ESA), a not-for-profit company owned by the Australian Education Ministers, commissioned a paper (Krause, 2014) to explore cost-effective solutions for the HE sector. This paper will provide an overview of the proof-of-concept trial to look for technology solutions that: 1) provide streamlined, sustainable and cost effective solutions to support interchange of good practice around core business operations, with a particular on assuring the quality of program level outcomes and assessment and; 2) address the quality assurance and standards imperatives for the HE sector.


We use variation in mortgage modifications to disentangle the impact of reducing long-term obligations with no change in short-term payments ("wealth"), and reducing short-term payments with approximately no change in long-term obligations ("liquidity"). Using regression discontinuity and difference-in-differences research designs with administrative data measuring default and consumption, we find that principal reductions that increase housing wealth without affecting liquidity have no effect, while maturity extensions that increase only liquidity have large effects. Our results suggest that liquidity drives borrower default and consumption decisions, and that distressed debt restructurings can be redesigned with substantial gains to borrowers, lenders, and taxpayers.


Background and aims : The aim of the present research was to design and test a structural modeling of precedents and outcomes of occupational commitment. The variables in this model are included: precedents (conscientiousness, transformational leadership and Islamic work ethic and psychological climate) and outcomes of occupational commitment (turnover intention, emotional exhaustion and self development behavior). Methods : The research method is descriptive-correlation. The sample (according to the entry requirements for this study) consist of 210 Khuzestan Steel Company employees who selected by Stage random sampling (males=199; female=11). The occupational commitment, psychological climate, NEO personality trait, General transformational leadership, Islamic work ethic, turnover intention, Burnout and self development behavior scales was used to collect research data. Fitness of the proposed model was examined through structural equation modeling) SEM (by using amos-21 software package.also the bootstrap procedure was used for examine the indirect effects. Results : Findings indicated that the proposed model fit the data properly. Better fit has been obtained by omitting 1 non-sighnificant path. Among 10 direct hypotheses just one hypothesis has not been confirmed (the direct effect of transformational leadership on the occupational commitmen).All of the indirect effects was confirmed. Conclusion : the present study provides insight about the role of individual, cultural and organizational variables in improving one's commitment to the occupational and thus reduce emotional exhaustion and turnover and the Costs arising from them.


Background: Obesity, and in particular severe obesity, is increasingly prevalent in the United States. Epidemiological studies have shown an association in multiple myeloma (MM) between obesity and mortality (Teras et al, Br J Haematol 2014). Autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (autoPBSCT) remains a crucial aspect of treating MM, and the NCCN Guidelines recommend all eligible patients be evaluated for transplant. There is limited data analyzing the relationship between severe obesity and transplant outcomes in MM patients in the era of modern therapy, routine post-transplant maintenance, and genetic-based risk stratification. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed consecutive patients undergoing autoPBSCT for MM at our institution from 2010–2017. Patients were categorized by body mass index (BMI) and Revised International Staging System (R-ISS) score. Patients were followed from time of first transplant until death. Surviving patients and those lost to follow-up were censored at last point of contact. Cox proportional hazard regression models and associated log-rank tests were used to assess whether age, BMI, lag time between diagnosis and transplant, and R-ISS score were associated with risk of death. Post-transplant hospital length of stay (LOS) was evaluated using generalized linear models with response following a gamma distribution. Results: 314 patients (59.2% male) were included. BMI was categorized as nonobese ([16, 30) kg/m2; n=178, 56.7%), obese ([30, 35) kg/m2; n=72, 22.9%) or severely obese ([35, 55) kg/m2; n=64, 20.4%) and was not found to be associated with risk of death following transplant, either independently (P=.17) or when adjusting for age, sex, lag, and R-ISS (P=.26). As expected, R-ISS score was associated (P=.006) with risk of death after transplant. No association was found between mean LOS and BMI (P=.875). Kaplan-Meier mortality estimates are shown in Figure 1. Conclusions: Obesity and severe obesity were not associated with an increased risk of mortality for MM patients receiving autoPBSCT. Although severe obesity is a health hazard, this should not be used to exclude patients from transplant.


Recent world events have renewed interest among social movement scholars in strategies and associated outcomes in campaigns against nondemocratic regimes. Most comparative work is limited to large-scale mobilization and takes violent/nonviolent tactics as given, thereby overlooking prior group mobilization and initial tactic choice. While a chosen tactic is plausibly related to group characteristics and resources, we argue that the mobilization process underlying large-scale campaigns begins when groups stake claims and assess those claims' potential. The proposed framework can help to explain both the specific tactics chosen and whether campaigns take on violent or nonviolent forms. We focus on grievances and the origins of mobilization through formulation of claims-making disputes over regime type, government composition, and electoral legitimacy—independent of mobilization—and consider how resources provide a comparative advantage for violence or nonviolence. An application to states in the former Sovi...


A simple procedure is presented for determining mean velocity profiles for purposes of structural design. The procedure is based on recent results of atmospheric boundary layer studies, for which a satisfactory theoretical, as well as experimental, foundation exists. It is shown that for high winds, e.g., these of interest to the structural engineer, the logarithmic law is valid up to heights of a few hundred meters. Similarity relations are used, on the basis of which it is possible to calculate wind speeds over built-up terrain if the wind speed over open terrain is known. Experimental data reported in the literature are presented, which confirm the validity of the procedure and suggest that the logarithmic law, widely recognized by meteorologists as an improvement over the power law, may supersede the latter for purposes of structural design.


Intermittent fluctuations and turbulence-induced transport of magnetically confined fusion plasmas are investigated by numerical computations. A reduced fluid model describing the evolution of plasma pressure and electric drift vorticity in a two-dimensional plane perpendicular to the magnetic field is derived. A numerical simulation code implemented on graphical processing units is presented. We observe significant speedup compared to sequential Fortran implementations. The convective motions are driven by a constant incoming heat flux at the inner radial boundary of the domain. We identify different transport and confinement states. We observe stationary convection and self-sustained shared flows for low heat flux drive. For increasing drive, oscillatory motion with sheared flows arise until the system enters a state of turbulent convection. At the onset of turbulent convection we observe that the probability density functions of the normalized radial velocity, pressure and flux fluctuations show nearly Gaussian form. This distributions get increasingly non-Gaussian and develop exponential tails for increasing heat flux drive. We observe quasiperiodic bursts at the state of intermittent convection, separated by quiescent periods. The waiting time and amplitude distribution of these bursts take a nearly exponential form. The conditionally averaged waveform and the autocorrelation function of the normalized pressure fluctuations are discussed. We further compare those results to experimental measurements and predictions from stochastic modelling and find very good agreement.


I WAS born in the year 1632, in the city of York, of a good family, though not of that country, my father being a foreigner of Bremen, who settled first at Hull. He got a good estate by merchandise, and leaving off his trade, lived afterwards at York, from whence he had married my mother, whose relations were named Robinson, a very good family in that country, and from whom I was called Robinson Kreutznaer; but, by the usual corruption of words in England, we are now called nay we call ourselves and write our name Crusoe; and so my companions always called me.


SUMMARY 1. Nineteen patients with louse-borne relapsing fever were studied in Addis Abeba (altitude 2285 m). 2. Following treatment with tetracycline a febrile Jarisch-Herxheimer-like reaction developed which showed the phases described in artificially-induced endotoxin fever. 3. During the chill phase body temperature, metabolic rate and pulmonary ventilation increased. Despite alveolar hyperventilation pulmonary venous admixture was high. Cardiac output, heart rate and systemic arterial pressure increased but pulmonary arterial pressure decreased. 4. During the flush phase systemic arterial pressure fell and remained low for many hours due to reduced vascular resistance, but pulmonary arterial pressure and inflow resistance increased. Small increases in glucose, lactate, and pyruvate concentrations were prevented by inhaling oxygen. 5. Stimulation of metabolic rate, ventilation and cardiac output during the reaction was not due simply to increased body temperature, hypoxia, or acidosis but was probably attributable to spirochaetal endotoxin. 6. Limitation of pulmonary oxygen diffusion may have been responsible for the impaired pulmonary oxygen uptake in these patients. 7. During the prolonged flush phase a greatly increased cardiac output is necessary to maintain systemic arterial pressure because of the very low vascular resistance. Prevention of extracellular fluid volume depletion, early detection and prompt treatment of cardiac failure and oxygen therapy may reduce fatalities during this critical period but hydrocortisone in large doses failed to reduce the severity of the reaction.


Mechanical Maxwell's demons, such as Smoluchowski's trapdoor and Feynman's ratchet and pawl need external energy source to operate. If you cease to feed a demon the Second Law of thermodynamics will quickly stop its operation. Nevertheless, if the parity is an unbroken symmetry of nature, it may happen that a small modification leads to demons which do not need feeding. Such demons can act like perpetuum mobiles of the second kind: extract heat energy from only one reservoir, use it to do work and be isolated from the rest of ordinary world. Yet the Second Law is not violated because the demons pay their entropy cost in the hidden (mirror) sector of the world by emitting mirror photons.


To counter a racial tilt in the funding of basic research grants, the National Institutes of Health should launch a "continuous" review and take remedial steps against bias, a working group told NIH Director Francis Collins at a meeting on 14 June. These recommendations, laid out in a draft report to the NIH Advisory Committee to the Director, are aimed at correcting what the working group calls a "disturbing discrepancy": Black applicants are less likely to win independent investigator grants than whites.


This paper proposes studying export frequency as an additional margin of international trade. While extensive margins of products and destination define the scope of firm's export, export shipment frequency is determined by sale method choice and cost structure of the trade technology. We define export shipment frequency as the per annum number of shipments of a given product, by a firm to a given destination. In order to more deeply understand the trade cost structure and sale methods, we estimate gravity models on export frequency and other margins of trade using monthly firm-product-destination level export data from France. We show that in key predictions of the model are validated. During the recent trade collapse, we also find a great deal of stability in shipment frequency with a modest adjustment to declining GDP.


The Constitution envisioned the exclusive rights of authors as a means to achieve the progress of knowledge. But the relationship of copyright to new technologies that exploit copyrighted works is often perceived to pit copyright against progress. As we tend to perceive progress as both inexorable and good, it would follow that if copyright is seen to conflict with the progress of technology, then the exclusive rights of authors should yield to the greater good of broader public dissemination of works of authorship. Recent legislation and caselaw have instead enhanced copyright owner control over new technologies of dissemination. Does this mean that our copyright laws are moving in the wrong direction? This article suggests that the relationship of copyright and technology is more nuanced than it might first appear. History shows that when copyright owners seek to eliminate a new kind of dissemination, and when courts do not deem that dissemination harmful to copyright owners, courts decline to find infringement. But, when copyright owners seek to participate in and be paid for the new modes of exploitation, the courts, and Congress, appear more favorable to the proposition that when the new market not merely supplements but also rivals prior markets, copyright owners should control that new market. With respect to current, Internet-related technologies, both courts and Congress seem to focus more on the role of copyright control in developing potential new markets than on the harm a lack of control would bring to old ones. This supportive approach derives from a perception that the unlicensed (and often unpaid) distribution of works over the Internet competes unfairly with the copyright owner's ability to avail itself of new markets for digital communication of works, and that this competition will ultimately lead to less rather than more public availability of works of authorship. But, even assuming that copyright owners can exercise effective control, is this power misplaced if it primarily benefits industrial-strength copyright owners, as opposed to authors themselves? The current debate over copyright control focuses on perceived or potential overreaching by powerful intermediaries; the prospects for authors most often are overlooked. Greater author control not only enhances the moral appeal of the exercise of copyright, it also may offer the public an increased quantity and variety of works of authorship, as authors whom the traditional intermediary-controlled distribution system may have excluded now may avail themselves of digital media and accompanying copyright controls directly to propose to the public (and be compensated for) their creations.


Objective: Itching erythematous or eczematous plaques around injection sites are fairly frequent side effects of subcutaneous (SC) heparin therapy. This allergic delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) to heparin can be diagnosed by skin tests (intradermal, patch) or, in cases where the skin tests are falsely negative, by a SC provocation test. After diagnosis, allergy to SC injected heparin raises the clinically important question of whether or not an intravenous (IV) heparin therapy would be tolerated. Materials and Methods: Therefore, in recent years, all patients presenting to our allergy unit with suspected heparin allergy underwent a standardized stepwise allergologic work-up including diagnostic tests and IV provocation tests. Results: The diagnosis of heparin DTH was made in approximately 70% of patients on the basis of skin tests alone, whereas in the remaining 30%, diagnosis could be confirmed only after subcutaneous provocation tests. Most importantly, all patients tolerated an IV provocation test. Conclusion: Intravenous heparin therapy is well tolerated despite heparin DTH after subcutaneous injection, and the risk of a generalized reaction following IV treatment in patients with heparin DTH appears to be minimal. In an emergency situation, the simple switch from subcutaneous to IV heparin therapy without prior allergologic testing may be justified according to the current data.


: Animal behavior studies employ various methodologies to collect the frequency of activities during observations. The use of video recording technologies as a way to facilitate the observation of several animals at the same time, eliminate doubts among observers, and optimize the observation time contributes to proper analysis of data. The intervals between observations in behavioral studies vary according to the animal species and purpose of the study. This research aimed to study the behavior of pigs in the growth phase using different observation intervals (continuous, 5, and 10 min). In a pen with 46 animals, 14 female and male pigs were identified, which were observed using the focal animal sampling method for 5 h. The treatments were the observations intervals, namely: T1 = continuous, T2 = every 5 min, and T3 = every 10 min. It was seen that, among the behaviors analyzed during the experiment, the different observation intervals did not impact the time the animals spent in the activities.


This paper develops and estimates a model with multiple schooling choices that identifies the causal effect of different levels of schooling on health, health-related behaviors, and labor market outcomes. We develop an approach that is a halfway house between a reduced form treatment effect model and a fully formulated dynamic discrete choice model. It is computationally tractable and identifies the causal effects of educational choices at different margins. We estimate distributions of responses to education and find evidence for substantial heterogeneity in unobserved variables on which agents make choices. The estimated treatment effects of education are decomposed into the direct benefits of attaining a given level of schooling and indirect benefits from the option to continue on to further schooling. Continuation values are an important component of our estimated treatment effects. While the estimated causal effects of education are substantial for most outcomes, we also estimate a quantitatively important effect of unobservables on outcomes. Both cognitive and socioemotional factors contribute to shaping educational choices and labor market and health outcomes. We improve on LATE by identifying the groups affected by variations in the instruments. We find benefits of cognition on most outcomes apart from its effect on schooling attainment. The benefits of socioemotional skills on outcomes beyond their effects on schooling attainment are less precisely estimated.


This paper introduces a particular game formulation and its corresponding notion of equilibrium, namely the satisfaction form (SF) and the satisfaction equilibrium (SE). A game in SF models the case where players are uniquely interested in the satisfaction of some individual performance constraints, instead of individual performance optimization. Under this formulation, the notion of equilibrium corresponds to the situation where all players can simultaneously satisfy their individual constraints. The notion of SE, models the problem of QoS provisioning in decentralized self-configuring networks. Here, radio devices are satisfied if they are able to provide the requested QoS. Within this framework, the concept of SE is formalized for both pure and mixed strategies considering finite sets of players and actions. In both cases, sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness of the SE are presented. When multiple SE exist, we introduce the idea of effort or cost of satisfaction and we propose a refinement of the SE, namely the efficient SE (ESE). At the ESE, all players adopt the action which requires the lowest effort for satisfaction. A learning method that allows radio devices to achieve a SE in pure strategies in finite time and requiring only one-bit feedback is also presented. Finally, a power control game in the interference channel is used to highlight the advantages of modeling QoS problems following the notion of SE rather than other equilibrium concepts, e.g., generalized Nash equilibrium.


Purpose of reviewObesity is a common secondary complication of chronic spinal cord injury and is associated with adverse metabolic sequelae. Because positive energy balance is the fundamental cause of obesity, we herein review the current knowledge pertaining to total daily energy expenditure, including resting metabolic rate, the thermic effect of food, and physical activity, in the spinal cord injury population. Recent findingsCommonly used equations to predict resting metabolic rate overestimate measured requirements in chronic spinal cord injury by 5-32%. Measured resting metabolic rate is 14-27% lower in persons with spinal cord injury versus those without, due to decreased fat-free mass and sympathetic nervous system activity in this population. However, preliminary evidence suggests that neither the metabolic activity of the fat-free body, nor the obligatory phase of the thermic effect of food is different between those with and without injury. Physical activity levels, especially in those with tetraplegia and complete lesions, are lower than recommended or lower than those of able-bodied persons. SummaryNew equations to predict resting metabolic rate should be validated and prospectively tested in a large sample of men and women with complete and incomplete paraplegia and tetraplegia. Whether the facultative phase of the thermic effect of food is different between those with and without SCI remains to be elucidated. Persons with chronic spinal cord injury, and perhaps those with tetraplegia and complete lesions especially, should be encouraged to engage in increased frequency, intensity and/or duration of physical activity. Future research efforts should explore the effects of level and completeness of neurological lesion on resting metabolic rate, thermic effect of food, and physical activity.


The volume of qualitative data (QD) available via the Internet is growing at an increasing pace and firms are anxious to extract and understand users' thought processes, wants and needs, attitudes, and purchase intentions contained therein. An information systems (IS) methodology to meaningfully analyze this vast resource of QD could provide useful information, knowledge, or wisdom firms could use for a number of purposes including new product development and quality improvement, target marketing, accurate "user-focused" profiling, and future sales prediction. In this paper, we present an IS methodology for analysis of Internet-based QD consisting of three steps: elicitation; reduction through IS-facilitated selection, coding, and clustering; and visualization to provide at-a-glance understanding. Outcomes include information (relationships),knowledge (patterns), and wisdom (principles)explained through visualizations and drill-down capabilities. First we present the generic methodology and then discuss an example employing it to analyze free-form comments from potential consumers who viewed soon-to-bereleased film trailers provided that illustrates how the methodology and tools can provide rich and meaningful affective, cognitive, contextual, and evaluative information, knowledge, and wisdom. The example revealed that qualitative data analysis (QDA) accurately reflected film popularity. A finding is that QDA also provided a predictive measure of relative magnitude of film popularity between the most popular film and the least popular one, based on actual first week box office sales. The methodology and tools used in this preliminary study illustrate that value can be derived from analysis of Internet-based QD and suggest that further research in this area is warranted.


This paper draws from a joint Mental Health Trust and a Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences funded project, in the UK. The Recovery Model (RM) was adopted by the Trust as a framework of care delivery. The concept of recovery is relatively new in the UK and takes the position that people can recover from a mental illness and go on to lead a meaningful, satisfying and valued life. However, since there was no evidence of clinicians' extent of understanding of the model and its application to care delivery within the Trust, an assessment of educational needs was considered necessary as well as fundamental changes in vision, culture and practice. Consequently, the project key aim was to establish the extent to which the nurses' care delivery and the Faculty continuing professional development (CPD) programmes were consistent with RM. The presentation will focus on an aspect of the project in which data were collected from a group of community psychiatric nurses (CPNs) for an Educational and Training Needs Analysis. A 'self-efficacy' questionnaire, which was constructed by translating key components of RM into a six-point scale with 12 items that measured the relationship between the CPNs' knowledge and skills, will be discussed. Additionally, a content analysis of pre-determined items, undertaken from all the Faculty CPD Mental Health curricula, will also be addressed. In conclusion, it will be argued that the outcomes of the project provided an evidence-based indicator for appropriate education that meets organisational and stakeholder needs.


The harmonization of CIM (IEC 61968/61970) and IEC 61850 standards is a major issue in the interoperability between smart grid devices, systems and applications. This paper describes how Ontology Matching methods, mainly developed for the Semantic Web, can be employed to solve the problems or mismatches that appear in this harmonization. The paper also includes a description of the ESODAT software tool, which processes OWL alignments to translate configuration files from one of the standards (CIM or IEC 61850) to the other one. The tests carried out with this tool proved its ability to solve mismatches that appear in the state of the art. Besides, the solution proposed in this work is based on open source resources and does not require any modification of the original standards.


Strategies for creating quantitative projections for human systems, especially impervious surfaces, are necessary to consider the human drivers of climate and ecosystem change. There are models that generate predictions of how impervious surfaces may change in response to different potential futures, but few tools exist for validating those predictions. We seek to fill that gap. We demonstrate a statistically robust sublinear scaling relationship between population and urban imperviousness across a 15 year history. We show that Integrated Climate and Land‐Use Scenarios (ICLUS) urbanization projections are also consistent with theory. These results demonstrate a theory that can be used to validate other models' predictions of urban growth and land cover change, analogous to the ways in which allometric scaling laws in biology have been used to validate process‐based models of ecosystem composition under different climate scenarios.


The list of key signaling events that are regulated by controlled ubiquitin-dependent degradation of proteins continues to grow. Brondello et al. report that MAP kinase phosphatase-1 (MKP-1), which dephosphorylates and inactivates the p42 and p44 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases, is degraded by the proteasome. The phosphatase itself is a target of the p42 MAPK and p44 MAPK enzymes that it inactivates. This phosphorylation of MKP-1 appears not to regulate its enzymatic activity, but rather to decrease its ubiquitin-dependent degradation. The MAP kinases also increase transcription of the gene encoding MKP-1, thus providing two signals that increase the abundance of MKP-1. Such regulation would appear to limit prolonged activation of the p42 and p44 MAP kinases. Brondello, J-M., Pouysségur, J., and McKenzie, F.R. (1999) Reduced MAP kinase phosphatase-1 degradation after p42/p44MAPK-dependent phosphorylation. Science 286: 2514-2517. [Abstract] [Full Text]


Mass spectra of six nitro-PAHs, 5-nitroacenaphthene, 9-nitroanthracene, 1-nitropyrene, 3-nitrofluoranthene, 6-nitrochrysene, and 3-nitrobenzanthrone, have been investigated using laser desorption/femtosecond laser mass spectrometry (LD/FLMS). A prominent parent ion was observed for each molecule along with the structurally-characteristic [M − NO]+ and [M− NO2]+ fragments. The consistent observation of the [M −NO]+ and [M−NO−CO]+ ions, in the mass spectra of all the nitro-PAHs, along with the presence of certain doubly charged fragments, is thought to be indicative of a molecular rearrangement. Although this photorearrangement may be occurring within the pulse duration ( <80 fs), it is thought that it is more likely to be taking place within the low intensity regions of the laser pulse. In addition to this, an abundance of doubly charged polyatomic ions were observed for the first time in the mass spectra of these molecules under laser irradiation. It was found that only the two smallest molecules (5-nitroacenaphthene and 9-nitroanthracene) were able to generate an observable dication, with the highest-mass doubly charged species corresponding to the [M − NO2]2+ fragment in the remaining molecules. An investigation has also been conducted into the effect of varying the molecular structure of the analyte and the position of the focussed beam. It was found that variation of molecular structure had little effect on the observed fragmentation pathways. However, movement of the focussed beam was found to exert a considerable influence over the observed mass spectra. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.


Tiny isn't a size—it's a state of mind

 Too many of us feel trapped by work that keeps us from living our purpose. We fantasize about starting our own business, yet we're warned against falling into debt, working eighty hours a week, and coping with the pressure to grow. Eco-Bags Products founder Sharon Rowe says there's another way: go tiny.

 Like a tiny house, a tiny business is built on maintaining a laser focus on what is essential by living an intentional life. As an entrepreneur and mother, Rowe is most concerned with putting family first, maintaining financial security, and doing something that makes an impact in the world. Using the success story of Eco-Bags Products, Rowe distills the step-by-step process of building a profitable, right-scaled, sustainable venture that doesn't compromise your values. She shows you how to test your concept, manage your money and priorities, and more, while staying true to the "tiny" ethos.


The advances and retreats of ice sheets during Pleistocene significantly changed high- and mid-latitude landscapes and hydrological systems, albeit differently, in North America and Europe. On the southern margin of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in the Baltic Sea basin, a specific type of valley has developed between glacial margins and upland or mountain slopes. We studied new geological data (boreholes, electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) from this geomorphic setting in Northeast Poland to understand: (1) how the landscape and river network evolved to eventually produce peat mires during the Holocene, and (2) the nature of groundwater recharge to fens in the upper Biebrza Valley. We present the results on a geological cross-section with hydrogeological interpretation. We also discuss regional geomorphology. In addition, we present the LGM extent derived from a spatial distribution of Vistulian (Weichselian) terminal moraines. These end moraines are also interpreted as Saalian kames. Thus, we additionally present another method of LGM extent delineation from a physicogeographical division. We link the steep slopes of the studied valley walls (kame terrace fronts) with thermokarst erosion in the periglacial zone. We then document the hydrogeological window (DISCONTINUITY in the till layer over the confined aquifer), which enables the outflow of groundwater into the peat bog. Although minerotrophic fen mire development in the study area is likely to be sustained in the near future through sufficient groundwater supply, the projected capture of the Biebrza River by the Neman River will not allow for sustaining peatland development.


This article deals with the problem of optimal allocation of capital to corporate bonds in fixed income portfolios when there is the possibility of correlated defaults. Using a multivariate normal Copula function for the joint default probabilities we show that retaining the first few moments of the portfolio default loss distribution gives an extremely good approximation to the full solution of the asset allocation problem. We provide detailed results on the convergence of the moment expansion and explore how the optimal portfolio allocation depends on recovery fractions, level of diversification and investment time horizon. Numerous numerical illustrations exhibit the results for simple portfolios and utility functions.


Patterned low-dimensional (1-D or 2D) nanomaterials have recently drawn tremendous attentions with their unique properties. To realize their wide potential applications in electronics, sensing and energy storage, it is critical yet still challenging to fabricate highly uniform 1-D material arrays (e.g. nanowire arrays) that simultaneously feature high resolution, large scale and tunable geometric parameters. Herein, w e report a novel method for fabricating large-area, highly aligned nanomaterials using a one-step residual-free nanopatterning via pressure-induced instabilities in thin polymer films. We demonstrate the fabrication of highly tunable, vertically aligned single-crystal zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowire (NW) arrays via low-temperature hydrothermal synthesis on arbitrary substrates. The dimensions, locations and orientations of ZnO NWs are precisely controlled through the spatial confinement effect of the spontaneously formed polymer masks. The high quality of the as-prepared NW arrays have been revealed by the systematic characterization of the morphology, crystalinity, and piezoelectric properties of single ZnO NWs . Conductive atomic force microscopy (cAFM) measurements show Schottky barrier characteristics in the I-V curves and a clear registration of the detected current signal with individual NWs. Mechanically-induced currents are observed to change with the deformation magnitude of NW, directly indicating the generation of piezoelectricity. This work provides a novel universal paradigm for patterned 1-D nanomaterial fabrication and opens up unprecedented opportunities for more design innovations and applications in nano-devices.


Most distributed systems are large-scale and dynamic. Communication has thus become a critical issue and the shared memory, which is a reliable paradigm of communication, allow distributed nodes to exchange information through read and write operations. In this article, I introduce the challenges related to emulating a shared memory in a dynamic message passing environment where nodes constantly leave the system and where new nodes arrive in an unpredictable manner. This article surveys the work on quorum systems and reconfigurable systems, and present solutions that cope with crash failures, dynamism and limited complexity.


This article combines insights from the literature on revolutions with that on non-violent protest in order to assess the causes and outcomes of the Arab Uprisings. The article makes three main arguments: first, international dynamics were the precipitant cause of the Arab Uprisings; second, because the region's 'neo-patrimonial' regimes were particularly vulnerable to shifts in state-military relations, the hold of elites over state coercive apparatuses played a decisive role in determining the outcomes of the revolutions; and third, the organizational character of the protest movements, including their use of information and communication technologies, helped to raise levels of participation, but limited their capacity to engender major transformations. Of particular interest to scholarship on non-violent movements, the article demonstrates the ways in which, as the revolutionary wave spread around North Africa and the Middle East, protestors in states outside the original onset of the crisis overstated the possibilities of revolutionary success. At the same time, regimes learned quickly how to demobilize their opponents. The lesson is clear: the timing of when movements emerged was just as important as their organizational coherence and levels of participation.


Thermal management is one of the challenging areas in the view of shrinking devices size requiring efficient cooling to take care of the thermal load. The shrinking size of devices require efficient cooling for thermal load balance capabilities. This complicated requirement can be fulfilled with the help of Thermal Energy Storage (TES) systems. Phase Change Material (PCM) is one of the best examples of TES system. This paper deals with experimental investigation on Chevron Plate Heat Exchanger (CPHE) filled with an organic PCM PureTemp 29. PCM offers efficient performance in storing and releasing large quantities of thermal energy at any given temperature. Water is used as a Heat Transfer Fluid. The melting of PCM also known as discharging is studied at 5, 8 and 10 GPH. The flow of hot water at 38 °C and 32 °C through CPHE leads to melting of PCM known as discharging process. While, the flow of cold water at 20 °C and 26°C respectively through CPHE leads to solidification of PCM known as charging process. Load capacity and thermal efficiency of the PCM has been discussed in order to provide and estimation for future design modifications and efficiency enhancement of heat exchangers.


Surfactant flooding comes up as a potential enhanced oil recovery method for heavy oil exploitation as a solution to energy losses in thermal processes. This research aims to use an inverse problem to determine the most suitable application scenario of this process at the laboratory scale by the use of reservoir simulation. First of all, a numerical laboratory model was built, representing an alkali-surfactant flooding test of crude oil with a viscosity of 1800 MPa*s; secondly, an optimization process was carried out, where operational parameters, such as, alkali and surfactant concentration, size of the main chemical slug and injection rate, were evaluated. Results showed that the most suitable scenario consisted on the injection of 0.5 PV from the combined mixture 0.2% Na2CO3 + 0.2% NaOH + 100 ppm Surfactant at an injection rate of 0.1 cm3/min, getting a final chemical-oil relation about 0.0010 cm3 of chemical per cm3 of oil.


The paper presents a new fractal color image compression method, called Fractal Hierarchical Color Block Coding (FHCBC), which transforms the three-color planes of a color image into a one-component image by extracting correlation among them. It hierarchically divides the three-color planes into homogeneous blocks, and for each such block, the variance of pixels' trichromatic coefficients is within a certain threshold value. Then, each block is represented by its mean value of the pixels' trichromatic coefficient ratios, and just a one-component image is composed and compressed by fractal coding. In the decoding process, the reconstruction is carried out by a fractal decoding algorithm and the associated mean values of trichromatic coefficient ratios. In comparison with the well known three-component Separated Fractal Coding (SFC), the suggested method generates performance gains in running time, high compression ratio and equal level of reconstruction quality.


This paper explores interactions between the lateral liquid l and the voiced stop d (with parenthetical remarks about n and t as well) in a variety of language families, especially Sino-Tibetan/Tibeto-Burman. These apical sounds participate both in synchronic patterns of variation and in diachronic patterns of sound change. Sometimes changes of *l > d or *d > l seem quite regular, as e.g. in the passage from Old to Middle Chinese. More often perhaps, these changes appear sporadic. Recognition of l >< d alternations in ST/TB permits the refinement of several etymologies. The phonetic similarity between these sounds accounts for the fact that they interact with such frequency in languages all over the world. Di gantse velt shteyt oyf der shpits tsung . (Yiddish proverb)


This study analyzed coverage of Muhammad Ali's death in three newspapers: Khaleej Times, The Guardian and The New York Times. Guided by framing analysis, the one-week long coverage period between his death and his burial provided insight into how Ali was portrayed both inside and outside the ring. The study suggested four frames to this media coverage: Ali the celebrity, the entertainer, the humanitarian, and the man of the people. Results indicated that Ali was mostly portrayed as a celebrity and as a man of the people. Ali's boxing prowess inside his ring and his outspoken nature outside of it ensured that he remained an instantly recognizable figure all over the world. Results also indicated that Ali was an inspiration to many since he stood up for his beliefs and against social injustices.

 Key words: Muhammad Ali, Khaleej Times, The Guardian, The New York Times, framing analysis.


Platelets respond to a large number of stimuli by undergoing complex biochemical and morphological changes. These changes are involved in physiological processes including adhesion, aggregation, and coagulation. Platelet activation produces membrane alterations that can be recognized by monoclonal antibodies. In this report we describe a novel activation-dependent protein recognized by a monoclonal antibody, JS-1. The platelet glycoprotein was designated p-155 according to its apparent reduced molecular weight, p-155 exists in the native state as varying sized, large multimers held together by disulfide bonds. p-155 is released upon platelet activation and binds to the activated platelet surface. Although p-155 and platelet glycoprotein Ia migrate similarly on reduced sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, immunodepletion and isoelectric focusing distinguished p-155 from glycoprotein Ia. p-155 differed from von Willebrand factor and from thrombospondin in its reduced molecular weight. Additionally, immunoblotting of immunoprecipitated p-155 with antisera to von Willebrand factor and to thrombospondin confirmed the unique identity of p-155. Evidence for a soluble, nonintegral membrane-associated protein was obtained by Triton X-114 phase separation studies, membrane elution studies, and by the demonstration of the protein in the aqueous phase of platelet releasate. Both radioimmunoprecipitation and direct binding techniques demonstrated the activation-dependent nature of p-155. The protein could not be detected in other blood cells, endothelial cells, HEL cells, liver, or in plasma. The functional role of p-155 in platelets is not yet known.


The present study aimed to know the influence of five phytoplankton species on the feeding behavior, reproduction and survival of the copepod A. tonsa. Biochemical parameters (total lipid, carbohydrate and protein) were measured to know the possible nutritional value of the diet. The species were offered to A tonsa as single and mixed diet. The species used were the flagellates C. acantha and R. baltica, the potentially toxic dinoflagellates A. tamarense and P. lima and the diatom S. costatum. Protein (55-69%) was the major biochemical components per cell volume, following for carbohydrate (17-31%) and lipid (13-18%). The concentration of the biochemical components measured per cell volume influenced the hatching success and survival of the adults. The hatching success was correlated with the egg production and ingestion rate of the copepod and survival of the early stages. No correlation was found between egg production and the biochemical concentration per cell volume. The biochemical components per cell volume showed a high interspecific difference between the species and seemed to better explain part of the nutritional value of the phytoplankton, as the concentrations per dry weight and volume medium. The copepod A tonsa had a selective feeding behavior feeding preferable on S. costatum and R. baltica in the mixed food. The ingestion rate of the specie C. acantha was reduced into the mixed food. The size range of the species offered to A. tonsa did not influence its ingestion rate.The flagellates R. baltica and C. acantha and the mixed food provided the best effects on the reproduction and survival of A. tonsa. The best results among the single foods treatments were found with the alga, with the higher lipid content (R. baltica and C. acantha). The dinoflagellates P. lima all showed eggs production and good hatching but, the survival of adults and early stages was affected. S. costatum prevented egg production. The survival and reproduction of A. tonsa fed on A. tamarense was reduced and comparable to the control (without food). In spite of, no influence was seen when S. costatum, P. lima and A. tamarense were offered mixed with the two flagellates. The mixed food was the best food. This result could demonstrate that the negative effect of these species on the reproduction and survival of A. tonsa was due their insufficient biochemical content as the presence of toxin. A good food muss proved not only a good egg production and hatching success, but a high the survival of the first stages, guaranteed the survival of the organism in the environment. The negative effect of the dinoflagellates on the survival of the early stages of the copepod indicated that these species were a bad food for A. tonsa. Therefore, A. tamarense, S. costatum and P. lima were no a good diet as single food to A. tonsa. The best results with the mixed food could be result from an increase on the levels of DHA, provided for R. baltica, and EPA, provided for S. costatum, also as for the increase of protein supplied for C. acantha, major content of protein per cell volume. But for a better understand of the relation of the biochemical contents with survival e reproduction of aquatic animals makes necessary a analysis of vitamins, minerals and of the constitutes of each gross biochemical composition, such as fatty acids, amino acids, sterols, sugars.


This article closely examines the Supreme Court's decision in Strickland v. Washington, as it applies to effective assistance of trial counsel. Part III analyzes the constitutional origin and current status of the right to effective assistance of counsel on appeal. Part IV discusses the functional differences between trial and appellate counsel, the differences in the two forums, and the different effect that a finding of ineffectiveness of counsel at trial or on appeal has on finality. Part V formulates a standard to govern ineffectiveness of appellate counsel claims that incorporates Strickland's "reasonable competence" standard, but applies that standard differently with respect to appellate counsel. It also rejects Strickland's prejudice requirement.


In this paper, we report the effect of GaN/graded-composition AlGaInN/GaN quantum barriers in active regions on the electrical and optical properties of GaN-based vertical light emitting diodes (VLEDs). By modifying the aluminum composition profile within the AlGaInN quantum barrier, we have achieved improvements in the output power and the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) as compared to VLEDs using conventional GaN barriers. The forward voltages at 350 mA were calculated to be 3.5 and 4.0 V for VLEDs with GaN/graded-composition AlGaInN/GaN barriers and GaN barriers, respectively. The light-output power and IQE of VLEDs with GaN/graded-composition AlGaInN/GaN barriers were also increased by 4.3% and 9.51%, respectively, as compared to those with GaN barriers.


Special solution methods are presented for the prediction of distortion in stiffened plate fabrications, caused by butt welds and fillet welds. These methods involve strategic reduction of the many complex features embodied in full multi-physics welding simulation. In particular, an analytical method is used to replace the thermo-elastic-plastic stage of a typical full computational analysis. The aim is to provide a robust solution strategy that enables clear understanding of the effects of different welding and fabrication procedures. The approach is underpinned by full-scale practical trials, and two case studies relating to typical fabrication questions are included.


The USB protocol has become ubiquitous, supporting devices from high-powered computing devices to small embedded devices and control systems. USB's greatest feature, its openness and expandability, is also its weakness, and attacks such as BadUSB exploit the unconstrained functionality afforded to these devices as a vector for compromise. Fundamentally, it is virtually impossible to know whether a USB device is benign or malicious. This work introduces FirmUSB, a USB-specific firmware analysis framework that uses domain knowledge of the USB protocol to examine firmware images and determine the activity that they can produce. Embedded USB devices use microcontrollers that have not been well studied by the binary analysis community, and our work demonstrates how lifters into popular intermediate representations for analysis can be built, as well as the challenges of doing so. We develop targeting algorithms and use domain knowledge to speed up these processes by a factor of 7 compared to unconstrained fully symbolic execution. We also successfully find malicious activity in embedded 8051 firmwares without the use of source code. Finally, we provide insights into the challenges of symbolic analysis on embedded architectures and provide guidance on improving tools to better handle this important class of devices.


In recent years, various discriminative learning techniques for HMMs have consistently yielded significant benefits in speech recognition. In this paper, we present a novel optimization technique using the minimum classification error (MCE) criterion to optimize the HMM parameters. Unlike maximum mutual information training where an extended Baum-Welch (EBW) algorithm exists to optimize its objective function, for MCE training the original EBW algorithm cannot be directly applied. In this work, we extend the original EBW algorithm and derive a novel method for MCE-based model parameter estimation. Compared with conventional gradient descent methods for MCE learning, the proposed method gives a solid theoretical basis, stable convergence, and it is well suited for the large-scale batch-mode training process essential in large-scale speech recognition and other pattern recognition applications. Evaluation experiments, including model training and speech recognition, are reported on both a small vocabulary task (TI-digits) and a large vocabulary task (WSJ), where the effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated. We expect new future applications and success of this novel learning method in general pattern recognition and multimedia processing, in addition to speech and audio processing applications we present in this paper


Abstract The late John Robertson is renowned for the theory of 'procreative liberty' that he expounded in his pioneering book, Children of Choice. Procreative liberty captures the 'freedom to reproduce without sex' above and beyond the 'freedom to have sex without reproduction' that are recognized by constitutional rights to abortion and birth control. Most controversial among Robertson's work on procreative liberty was its application to prenatal selection. Unless the state had very good reasons, he argued, people should be free to access reproductive medicine or technology to have a child who or would be born with particular traits. Prospective parents in the USA today face no official limits in using sperm banks, egg vendors, IVF clinics, or surrogacy agencies with an eye toward choosing for certain characteristics. But should they be protected, this essay asks, when mix-ups or misdiagnoses thwart the selection of offspring traits? The best answer to this question extends the theory of procreative liberty from government restrictions to professional negligence. It also demands sensitivity to genetic uncertainty, the limits of private law, and the history of eugenics in America. Or so I argue in this tribute to the inimitable John Robertson.


Aim: To establish the content validity and specific aspects of reliability for an assessment instrument designed to provide formative feedback to general practitioners (GPs) on the quality of their written analysis of a significant event. Methods: Content validity was quantified by application of a content validity index. Reliability testing involved a nested design, with 5 cells, each containing 4 assessors, rating 20 unique significant event analysis (SEA) reports (10 each from experienced GPs and GPs in training) using the assessment instrument. The variance attributable to each identified variable in the study was established by analysis of variance. Generalisability theory was then used to investigate the instrument's ability to discriminate among SEA reports. Results: Content validity was demonstrated with at least 8 of 10 experts endorsing all 10 items of the assessment instrument. The overall G coefficient for the instrument was moderate to good (G>0.70), indicating that the instrument can provide consistent information on the standard achieved by the SEA report. There was moderate inter-rater reliability (G>0.60) when four raters were used to judge the quality of the SEA. Conclusions: This study provides the first steps towards validating an instrument that can provide educational feedback to GPs on their analysis of significant events. The key area identified to improve instrument reliability is variation among peer assessors in their assessment of SEA reports. Further validity and reliability testing should be carried out to provide GPs, their appraisers and contractual bodies with a validated feedback instrument on this aspect of the general practice quality agenda.


We investigated the expression of Ad4BP (also known as SF-1), a transcription factor regulating steroidogenic P-450 genes, in the steroidogenic tissues such as adrenal glands, testes and ovaries through the prenatal and postnatal life of rats. Ad4BP was detected in the primordial adrenal glands and gonads of the 13.5 day postcoitum (d.p.c.) fetus. After the appearance of Ad4BP, a steroidogenic P-450 (P-450(SCC)) was also detected in the adrenal glands and its amount increased gradually. In the fetal gonads of 14.5 d.p.c., a significant amount of Ad4BP was detected in the somatic cells of the testes, whereas only a trace amount was present in the ovaries. The sexually dimorphic expression of Ad4BP continued throughout the neonatal age. Drastic alterations occurred during the first to third week of postnatal age accompanied by functional and structural changes of the gonads. The expression of Ad4BP in the testes attained a maximal level one week after birth and decreased markedly thereafter. By contrast, increase of Ad4BP in the ovary was detected after the first postnatal week. Expression of P-450c17 showed a good correlation with the proliferation of Leydig cells in the testes and theca cells in the ovaries. Immunohistochemical studies revealed the presence of Ad4BP in Sertoli cells as well as Leydig cells up to the pubertal age. In the adult rat testis, however, staining of Sertoli cells decreased significantly. Ad4BP was detected in granulosa, theca, corpus luteum and interstitial gland cells in the ovary although the expression levels in granulosa cells varied among follicles. It is suggested that the Müllerian inhibitory substance gene may be a target of Ad4BP since this gene has a conserved Ad4-binding site within the promoter, which is recognized by Ad4BP expressed in the fetal testes.


An illustrated depiction of Steve Jobs' friendship with Zen Buddhist Kobun Chino Otogawa and the impact it had on Jobs' career Apple cofounder Steve Jobs (1955-2011) had such an enormous impact on so many people that his life often took on aspects of myth. But much of his success was due to collaboration with designers, engineers and thinkers. The Zen of Steve Jobs tells the story of Jobs' relationship with one such person: Kobun Chino Otogawa. Kobun was a Zen Buddhist priest who emigrated to the U.S. from Japan in the early 1970s. He was an innovator, lacked appreciation for rules and was passionate about art and design. Kobun was to Buddhism as Jobs was to the computer business: a renegade and maverick. It wasn't long before the two became friends--a relationship that was not built to last. This graphic book is a reimagining of that friendship. The story moves back and forward in time, from the 1970s to 2011, but centers on the period after Jobs' exile from Apple in 1985 when he took up intensive study with Kobun. Their time together was integral to the big leaps that Apple took later on with its product design and business strategy. Told using stripped down dialogue and bold calligraphic panels, The Zen of Steve Jobs explores how Jobs might have honed his design aesthetic via Eastern religion before choosing to identify only what he needs and leave the rest behind.


The authors used a simple model and a prototype machine to study statics and dynamics of a magnetic brush in a two-component development system in electrophotography. In the model experiment, the authors measured the normal and tangential forces of the brush formed from a chain of magnetic carrier particles when it comes in contact with the photoreceptor to clarify the relationship between the tangential friction force and the diameter of the carrier particles, magnetic flux density, and the length of the brush. The tangential friction force increased with the magnetic flux density and decreased with an increase in the length of the brush; however, the total force was unaffected by the diameter of the carrier particles. On the other hand, numerical calculations performed using an improved distinct element method revealed that although the total force was not affected by the diameter of the carrier particles, the individual differential force acting on the magnetic particles of the chain was small, and the density of the carrier particles that come in contact with the photoreceptor drum was high when the size of the particles was small. In the investigation carried out using the prototype machine, it was found that the magnetic brush formed in the development area is inclined in a direction parallel to the magnetic field and that the chains are crushed by the photoreceptor drum. Although the total pressure applied on the photoreceptor was almost independent of the diameter of the carrier particles, the differential force exerted by individual chains is small and distributes dense when the size of the particles is small; on the other hand, it is large and distributes rough when the size of the particles is large as predicted by the model investigation. This result suggests that small carrier particles are advantageous in preventing any disturbances in the images developed on the photoreceptor. The effects of the development gap and the thickness of the laver of supplied carrier particles have also been evaluated.


The first purpose of any student's dictionary is to provide the basic information necessary to be able to understand a meaning, decipher a pronunciation, make a correct syllable break, and employ vocabulary appropriate to a particular situation. "The Facts On File Student's Dictionary of American English" is designed to provide such information as accurately, concisely, and clearly as possible. Its modest entry list of about 90,000 words includes the vocabulary most of us use every day in ordinary writing and encounter in reading a newspaper, novel, magazine, or online article. The dictionary also includes a selection of widely used new terms in English, from science and technology to contemporary American culture. The design is exceptionally user-friendly. Each entry of the standard vocabulary has been evaluated and revised according to current usage. Unlike other dictionaries - including collegiate - this dictionary features long entries that have been trimmed to their core meanings; shades of meanings are illustrated by phrases or sentences that follow a definition, rather than by different definitions entirely. The result is a reliable, easy-to-use guide to the English language.


Herein, a lift-off mesoporous GaN-based thin film, which consisted of a strong phase-separated InGaN/GaN layer and an n-GaN layer, was fabricated via an electrochemical etching method in a hydrofluoric acid (HF) solution for the first time and then transferred onto quartz or n-Si substrates, acting as photoanodes during photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting in a 1 M NaCl aqueous solution. Compared to the as-grown GaN-based film, the transferred GaN-based thin films possess higher and blue-shifted light emission, presumably resulting from an increase in the surface area and stress relaxation in the InGaN/GaN layer embedded on the mesoporous n-GaN. The properties such as (i) high photoconversion efficiency, (ii) low turn-on voltage (-0.79 V versus Ag/AgCl), and (iii) outstanding stability enable the transferred films to have excellent PEC water splitting ability. Furthermore, as compared to the film transferred onto the quartz substrate, the film transferred onto the n-Si substrate exhibits higher photoconversion efficiency (2.99% at -0.10 V) due to holes (h+) in the mesoporous n-GaN layer that originate from the n-Si substrate.


Increasingly, beekeeping sector attracts attention due to its potentialities linked to several aspects: Environmental benefits, commercial value and of promotion of rural development. Indeed, among the small-scale agro-food chains, beekeeping plays a significant role, especially in rural context, where the diversification of farms activities can be provide a relevant integration of income. However, frequently, apicultural activities are characterized by several weaknesses ascribable to the fragmented production, difficulty of marketing actions and lack of training of operators. These problems are particularly present in Calabria region in South Italy where, anyway, thanks to several suitable climatic conditions, high quality standards of honey are obtained. So, in order to achieve the efficiency of firms and to improve the business beekeeping production it is necessary to arrange a production system that takes into account the real availability of material resources. The economic behavior of beekeepers and their investment choices are fundamental to accomplish a successful business that, more and more today, needs to high productivity of labor and adequate equipment, guaranteed by optimization of production factors. This paper has a two-fold purpose: Firstly, it aims to conduct an economic analysis of beekeeping activities, as significant small-scale agri-food chain in southern Italy, by analyzing the production, processing and packaging of honey in farm realities of Calabrian region. The second objective of this paper is to evaluate the profitability of investments realized in beekeeping firms. For this purpose, a joint use of Life Cycle Costing (LCC) methodology and economic indicators was applied in order to analyze in detail cash outflows linked to each phase of honey production system (planning, management and disposal) and to identify key elements that can improve the farm management. Results showed the economic viability of the investment and a suitable level of profitability. Furthermore, the analysis carried out confirms these methodologies as useful tools to support investment choices and to improve economic performances of management strategies of agro-food producers.


• • F ree and open-source software (F/OSS) refers to nonproprietary but licensed software, much of which is produced by technologists located around the globe who coordinate development through Internet-based projects. The developers, hackers, and system administrators who make free software routinely include the following artifact in the software they write: This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABIL-ITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. While seemingly insignifi cant, this warning is quite meaningful for it reveals something important about the nature of free software and my subsequent representation of it. This legal notice is no doubt serious, but it also contains a subtle irony available to those who know about free software. For even if developers cannot legally guarantee the so-called FITNESS of software, they know that in many instances free software is often as useful as or in some cases superior to proprietary software. This fact brings hackers the same sort of pleasure, satisfaction, and pride that they derive when, and if, they are given free reign to hack. Further, even though hackers distribute their free software WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, the law nevertheless enables them to create the software that many deem superior to proprietary software— software that they all " hope [. .. ] will be useful. " The freedom to labor within a framework of their own making is enabled by licenses that cleverly reformat copyright law to prioritize access, distribution, and circulation. Thus, hackers short-circuit the traditional uses of copyright: the right to exclude and control. This artifact points to the GNU General Public License (GPL), an agreement that many hackers know well, for many use it (or other similar licenses) to transform their source code— the underlying directions of all software— into " free software. " A quick gloss of the license, especially its preamble, reveals a more passionate language about freedom and rights: No part of this book may be distributed, posted, or reproduced in any form by digital or mechanical means without prior written permission of the publisher.


Fluorescent paper sensors are widely used in the assays of environment, food and medicine; however, their applications usually have been limited due to the narrow color-change range and insensitivity of the color variation to dosage of target analytes. In this paper, we report a ratiometric fluorescent probe-based paper sensor regulated by the optimum proportion of gold nanoclusters stabilized by bovine serum albumin and fluorescent graphene oxide to achieve the maximum consecutive color change for visual determination of glucose in human serum. The oxidation of hydrogen peroxide produced by glucose quenches the red fluorescence emission of gold nanoclusters and unveils a consecutive color change from pink to blue with the corresponding dosage of glucose. This colorimetric paper sensor printed with the probe ink exhibits a dosage-sensitive allochromatic capability for the blood glucose concentration of 4–10 mM in human serum (normal concentration: 4.4–6.6 mM). The method reported here can open a window in predicting diseases related to abnormal glucose levels.


Objective To identify the relationship between intrauterine death (IUD) and various demographics, medical and obstetrics risk factors relating to the local population in Ealing. Methods There were 47 booked, singleton IUD cases amongst 7464 births in Ealing Hospital between April 2010 to September 2012. We retrospectively analysed the medical and obstetrics risk factors of IUDs (fetus ≥24/40 with absent fetal heart activity in-utero) in the local population. Results IUD occurred in 0.63% of all birth. Females of Asian origin are at increased risk of IUD (45%) compared to other ethnicities. Lifestyle risks like smoking and alcohol posed no significant increase in risk to the Ealing population, and consanguineous relationships only accounted for 8.5% of the cases. IUD was most prevalent amongst the young (20–25) primips (59.5%) with BMI > 25 (68%), mostly occurring between 37–40 weeks (47.7%). Majority of them were booked ≤12/40 (63.8%), had Dating and Anomaly scans, (87.2%, 89.3% respectively), low risk on antenatal screening (59.5%). Interestingly, previous caesarean section (6.3%) was the most prevalent in obstetrics history. 68% had presented antenatally with reduced fetal movements, vaginal bleeding or abdominal pain. Maternal conditions like Diabetes (4.2%), Obstetrics Cholestasis (2.1%) and Preeclampsia (10%) were not strongly associated with the IUD cases, indicating robust antenatal surveillance we provide to high risk women. Conclusion While further studies aiming to modify IUD risk factors are needed, careful planning on timing of induction of labour should be carried out specifically in young, Asian primips with BMI > 25 who present antenatally with significant episode(s).


This research focuses on the semantics acquisition of a child with language delay diagnosed as autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). The research problem is on how the child acquired the ability to comprehend meaning. It aims at answering the questions on how the child identified lexical meanings and how he labeled targeted lexicons of his first language. The approach employed in this research is descriptive qualitative to get adequate explanation on a specific language phenomenon, namely semantics acquisition. Its design is case study with the type neo-ethnographic. As the data collection method, it uses participant observation of longitudinal study considering that the research subject has familial relation with the researcher. The data analysis shows that the semantic acquisition of the research subject has complexity in vocabulary enrichment. The research subject often performs echolalic speech when he is asked to identify or label certain object given. The typical idiosyncratic speech is shown by the unique feature of limited syllable and prosody. In general, his ability to identify lexical meanings is far exceeding his ability to label objects. He also has sensitivity to perceive the non-verbal symbol performed by the people he knows well. The use of verbal language supported by non-verbal language facilitates his perception. He finds it difficult to comprehend the lexicons having similar sound as he assumes that one lexicon represents one object which typically belongs to concrete object. In addition, the ability of the research subject in labeling objects cannot be developed easily because of his difficulty in expressing ideas through words. To pronounce the words correctly, he shows high anxiety by lowering down his speech. In selecting the lexicon he also finds it hard to use pronoun, to label homonyms and to apply both polysemy and hyponym. Accordingly, he tends to communicate only to fulfill his needs by asking things, asking the listeners to do or not to do something, and protesting something as shown in the contexts. Further, he is likely to label objects by the lexicons got from the immediate exposure.


Nanosized cuprous oxide filler particles (nCOP) with octahedral morphology were synthesized through hydrazine reduction method and were used to develop a novel nanocomposites based on epoxy resin. The morphology of epoxy–nCOP nanocomposites were analyzed using transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis showed that the cure reaction rate of epoxy was found to increase with the addition of the nCOP and a plausible cure reaction mechanism was suggested. The activation energy required for the cure reaction reduced by 22% and 13% at the initial (E1) and final stage (E2) of the cure, respectively, by the incorporation of 3 phr nCOP. It was also shown that the kinetically controlled parts of reaction could be expressed well by Kamal's phenomenological model while end of curing process could not be completely expressed by this model as there it was diffusion controlled. The influence of nCOP on glass transition temperature (Tg), mechanical properties, and thermal stability of epoxy matrix was also investigated and the results showed that better characteristics were observed in presence of 3 phr nCOP loading. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 55:2293–2306, 2015. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers


Background: Regular physical activity contributes to the prevention of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic diseases. However, the frequency of physical activity often declines with age, particularly among the elderly. Thus, we investigated the effects of daily walking on mortality among younger-elderly men (65–74 years) with or without major critical diseases (heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, or cancer). Methods: We assessed 1239 community-dwelling men aged 64/65 years from the New Integrated Suburban Seniority Investigation Project. We estimated hazard ratios (HRs) of all-cause mortality and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) according to daily walking duration and adjusted for potential confounders, including survey year, marital status, work status, education, smoking and drinking status, BMI, regular exercise, regular sports, sleeping time, medical status, disease history, and functional capacity. Results: For men without critical diseases, mortality risk declined linearly with increased walking time after adjustment for confounders (Ptrend = 0.018). Walking ≥2 hours/day was significantly associated with lower all-cause mortality (HR 0.49; 95% CI, 0.27–0.90). For men with critical diseases, walking 1–2 hours/day showed a protective effect on mortality compared with walking <0.5 hours/day after adjustment for confounders (HR 0.29; 95% CI, 0.06–1.20). Walking ≥2 hours/day showed no benefit on mortality in men with critical diseases, even after adjustment for confounders. Conclusions: Different duration of daily walking was associated with decreased mortality for younger-elderly men with or without critical diseases, independent of sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, BMI, medical status, disease history, and functional capacity. Incorporating regular walking into daily lives of younger-elderly men may improve longevity and successful aging.


Unions of graph multiplier operators are an important class of linear operators for processing signals defined on graphs. We present a novel method to efficiently distribute the application of these operators. The proposed method features approximations of the graph multipliers by shifted Chebyshev polynomials, whose recurrence relations make them readily amenable to distributed computation. We demonstrate how the proposed method can be applied to distributed processing tasks such as smoothing, denoising, inverse filtering, and semi-supervised classification, and show that the communication requirements of the method scale gracefully with the size of the network.


This paper presents the results of a literature review on gender, ethnic and socioeconomic status differences related to ICT in primary and secondary education. The review was conducted in order to develop an index for analysing the inclusiveness of educational ICT applications. The research question was: 'How and to what extent do the characteristics of educational ICT tools enhance or inhibit learning for different groups of students?' A discussion of both research- and practice-oriented literature results in a proposal for such an index. The paper concludes with a discussion of various dilemmas associated with the idea of the index, and of the ways in which it may be used in research and educational practice.


Lady Birgitta Birgersdotter (ca 1303–1373), Saint Birgitta of Sweden, was born and lived in an environment with noble ideals and with extensive international contacts. She was a wife and mother of eight, and a lady at the court of king Magnus Eriksson and Magistra to Queen Blanche of Sweden. Lady Birgitta was a traveller and a pilgrim. As a widow, she chosed the spiritual life not by retreat to a nunnery, but by leaving the country with the aim of founding a new monastic order. Birgitta and her large entourage began the journey to Rome in 1349.Her background in the highest nobility, and a courtly culture that she highly esteemed, is reflected in her revelations. I will argue that this courtliness is also communicated in the use of imagery in Vadstena monastery the years around 1400. But pictures were not without its problems, as will become apparent in another example in the very same context.The Revelations were written down in Latin and in Old Swedish from the 1340s in Sweden to her death in Rome in July1373. Saint Birgitta had reason to reflect on issues like desire not only from her own private perspective, but also because her Revelations in the end formed the basis for an international monastic order. On the one hand there were bodily desires that should be mastered, on the other there was a religious desire for God.The revelations were widely spread. During the canonization to en elite among the clergy, kings and noblemen and later they were used in the Birgittine convents, and quoted in innumerable sermons and spread to cathedrals and the parish churces. Therefore, they can be used when the aim is to highlight the use of imagery and devotional life in the Middle Ages. These texts reached far beyond the scholarly and monastic environment.This paper focuses on expressions of the ambivalent relationship as indicated above. My intention is to highlight the often complex relation between text and image, and to include adopting of form between secular and spiritual imagery in the discussion. As desires involves feelings, I will pay attention to expressions of the senses. The question is if and how the presumed ambivalence between worldly and spiritual, is evident in the Revelations and imagery in Vadstena? What visual codes were used? How was imagery used, and what attitudes towards imagery can we trace through text and images?


Acid labile linkers have been used widely for various biomedical applications with preferential applications in drug delivery. In this report, we have synthesized, glycerol based β-thiopropionate esters having an acid-labile β-thiopropionate linker with Michael addition reaction between hydrophobic thiol and hydrophilic tri-glycerol diacrylate. The solvent free reaction and purification by simply solvent extraction instead of any sophisticated chromatographic techniques provide an upper edge for their application in biomedical or other fields. These β-thiopropionate esters can potentially be used for the delivery and release of hydrophobic drugs at acidic sites particularly in cancer cells.


Background: Poor wound healing is a complication of diabetes mellitus. Various agents have been used to promote wound healing in diabetic patients. Papain urea is used as a sloughing agent, whereas sodium fusidate and calcium mupirocin are used as topical antimicrobials for wounds in diabetics.

Aims and Objective: To evaluate effect of topical sodium fusidate, calcium mupirocin, and papain–urea on wound healing in diabetic wistar rats.

Materials and Methods: Incision and excision wound models were used. Each model had five groups of six rats each and one group was nondiabetic control. Diabetes was induced in the remaining four groups, one diabetic control, and three test groups in each model, using streptozotocin (30 mg/kg intraperitoneally). Wounds were made in diabetic rats with blood glucose levels of more than 250 mg/dL. Paraffin ointment base was applied to wounds of nondiabetic and diabetic control, whereas sodium fusidate, mupirocin, and papain–urea were applied topically to three test groups, respectively, in each model.

Result: In sodium fusidate-treated group, there was a significant increase in breaking strength of incision wound, contraction rate, and hydroxyproline content of excision wound as compared to diabetic control group. There was significant decrease in period of epithelization in sodium fusidate-treated group compared to diabetic control group. There was no significant alteration in wound healing by mupirocin and papain–urea.

Conclusion: Topical application of sodium fusidate promoted wound healing in diabetic rats.


Quantitative measurements of interactions between lava and ice/snow are critical for improving our knowledge of glaciovolcanic hazards and our ability to use glaciovolcanic deposits for paleoclimate reconstructions. However, such measurements are rare because the eruptions tend to be dangerous and not easily accessible. To address these difficulties, we conducted a series of pilot experiments designed to allow close observation, measurements, and textural documentation of interactions between basaltic melt and ice. Here we report the results of the first experiments, which comprised controlled pours of as much as 300 kg of basaltic melt on top of ice. Our experiments provide new insights on (1) estimates for rates of heat transfer through boundary layers and for ice melting; (2) controls on rates of lava advance over ice/snow; (3) formation of lava bubbles (i.e., Limu o Pele) by steam from vaporization of underlying ice or water; and (4) the role of within-ice discontinuities to facilitate lava migration beneath and within ice. The results of our experiments confirm field observations about the rates at which lava can melt snow/ice, the efficacy with which a boundary layer can slow melting rates, and morphologies and textures indicative of direct lava-ice interaction. They also demonstrate that ingestion of external water by lava can create surface bubbles (i.e., Limu) and large gas cavities. We propose that boundary layer steam can slow heat transfer from lava to ice, and present evidence for rapid isotopic exchange between water vapor and melt. We also suggest new criteria for identifying ice-contact features in terrestrial and martian lava flows.


The family service work environment has been linked to the parent–worker relationship (relationship) for many years. However, there is still much to understand about how the working environment and these relationships are connected. This paper reports on a small-scale qualitative study exploring the story of eight relationships between parents and family workers in four rurally based family services in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Hermeneutics provided a way of examining the dynamics of the relationships, as it enabled an in-depth exploration and interpretation of the participants' perspectives of how they experienced and understood the relationship. It became apparent that the work environment is an important influence on the relationship. New insights that emerged include the important role that staff not directly involved in the relationship (such as other family workers, supervisors, and administration and other professional staff) may play in assisting relationships. They also include the way in which flexible service delivery options support parent feelings of comfort, readiness to change, reciprocity, a sense of ownership to the service and need for support outside of planned appointments (both during and after intervention has ceased). These all support the development and maintenance of such relationships.


This paper studies the problem of learning image semantic segmentation networks only using image-level labels as supervision, which is important since it can significantly reduce human annotation efforts. Recent state-of-the-art methods on this problem first infer the sparse and discriminative regions for each object class using a deep classification network, then train semantic a segmentation network using the discriminative regions as supervision. Inspired by the traditional image segmentation methods of seeded region growing, we propose to train a semantic segmentation network starting from the discriminative regions and progressively increase the pixel-level supervision using by seeded region growing. The seeded region growing module is integrated in a deep segmentation network and can benefit from deep features. Different from conventional deep networks which have fixed/static labels, the proposed weakly-supervised network generates new labels using the contextual information within an image. The proposed method significantly outperforms the weakly-supervised semantic segmentation methods using static labels, and obtains the state-of-the-art performance, which are 63.2% mIoU score on the PASCAL VOC 2012 test set and 26.0% mIoU score on the COCO dataset.


Over the past decade, Voice over IP (VoIP) systems based on SIP have
replaced many traditional telephony deployments. Interworking VoIP
systems with the traditional telephone network has reduced the overall
level of calling party number and Caller ID assurances by granting
attackers new and inexpensive tools to impersonate or obscure calling
party numbers when orchestrating bulk commercial calling schemes,
hacking voicemail boxes, or even circumventing multi-factor
authentication systems trusted by banks. Despite previous attempts to
provide a secure assurance of the origin of SIP communications, we
still lack effective standards for identifying the calling party in a
VoIP session. This document examines the reasons why providing
identity for telephone numbers on the Internet has proven so difficult
and shows how changes in the last decade may provide us with new
strategies for attaching a secure identity to SIP sessions. It also
gives high-level requirements for a solution in this space.


The one-pot four-component reaction between isocyanide (1), dialkyl acetylene dicarboxylates (2) and five-membered cyclic imides such as succinimide or maleimide (3) was done to study the synthesis of highly functionalized pyrroles in attendance of ultrasound (sono-synthesis) and loss of ultrasound conditions (conventional method). The reaction speed was remarkably catalyzed with the aid of ultrasound irradiation. Moreover, this approach prepares multiple other benefits such as operational ease, higher yields and energy performance.


IANTCHEVA, A., I. BOYCHEVA and M. REVALSKA, 2015. Development of root tips synchronized system for the model legume Medicago truncatula upon replication stress. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 21: 1177–1184 Up to now the synchronized cell cultures were developed for alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and they served as a valuable tool for the identification and understanding of key regulators of the cell cycle. These cell culture systems were characterized with some disadvantages like continuous use of mitogenic compounds and conditions that differ from the stable physiological state in the plant meristem cells. The present procedure, described in this study is an easy and fast system for root tips synchronization of Medicago truncatula, upon hydroxyurea treatment. The system was originally developed for Arabidopsis thaliana and adapted for the model legume. The present study opens up possibility to investigate gene of interest that are involved in Medicago truncatula cell cycle progression.