We describe an experimental study of porous media convection (PMC) from onset to 8Rac. The goal of this work is to provide non-invasive imaging and high-precision heat transport measurements to test theories of convection in PMC. We obtain velocity information and visualize the convection patterns using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We study both ordered and disordered packings of mono-disperse spheres of diameter d = 3.204 ± 0.029 mm, in circular, rectangular, and hexagonal planforms. In general, the structure of the medium plays a role which is not predicted by theories which assume a homogeneous system. Disordered media are prepared by pouring mono-disperse spheres into the container. Large ordered regions of close packing for the spheres, with grain boundaries and isolated defects, characterize these media. The defects and grain boundaries play an important role in pattern formation in disordered media. Any deviation from close packing produces a region of larger porosity, hence locally larger permeability. The result is spatial variations in the Rayleigh number, Ra. We define the critical Ra, Rac , as the Rayleigh number at the onset of convection in the ordered regions. We find that stable localized convective regions exist around grain boundaries and defects at Ra < Rac. These remain as pinning sites for the convection patterns in the ordered regions as Ra increases above Rac up to 5Rac , the highest Ra studied in the disordered media. In ordered media, spheres are packed such that the only deviations from close packing occur within a thin (<d) region near the vertical walls. Stable localized convection begins at 0.5Rac in the wall regions but appears to play only a weak role in the pattern formation of the interior regions (bulk), since different stable patterns are observed in the bulk at the same Ra after each cycling of Ra below Rac , even for similar patterns of small rolls in the wall regions. The experiments provide a test of the following predictions for PMC: (i) that straight parallel rolls should be linearly stable for Rac < Ra < 5Rac; (ii) that at onset, the rolls should have a dimensionless wavevector qc = π; (iii) that at the upper end of this range rolls should lose stability to cross-rolls; (iv) that the initial slope of the Nusselt curve should be 2; (v) that there should be a rapid decay of vertical vorticity - hence no complex flows, such as those which occur for Rayleigh- Benard convection (RBC) within the nominal regime of stable parallel rolls. These predictions are in partial agreement with our findings for the bulk convection in the ordered media. We observe roll-like structures which relax rapidly to stable patterns between Rac and 5Rac. However we find a wavenumber which is 0.7π compared to π derived from linear stability theory. We find an asymmetry between the size of the upfiowing regions and downfiowing regions as Ra grows above Rac. The ratio of the volume of the upfiowing to the volume of the downfiowing regions decreases as Ra increases and leads to a novel time-dependent state, which does not consist of cross-rolls. This time-dependent state begins at 6Rac and is observed up to 8Rac , the largest Ra which we studied. It seems likely that the occurrence of this state is linked to departures from the Boussinesq approximation at higher Ra. We also find that the slope of the Nusselt curve is 0.7, which does not agree with the predicted value of 2.


During a three-day workshop in February 2012, 45 Information Retrieval researchers met to discuss long-range challenges and opportunities within the field. The result of the workshop is a diverse set of research directions, project ideas, and challenge areas. This report describes the workshop format, provides summaries of broad themes that emerged, includes brief descriptions of all the ideas, and provides detailed discussion of six proposals that were voted "most interesting" by the participants. Key themes include the need to: move beyond ranked lists of documents to support richer dialog and presentation, represent the context of search and searchers, provide richer support for information seeking, enable retrieval of a wide range of structured and unstructured content, and develop new evaluation methodologies.


Length variation in short tandem repeats (STRs) is an important family of DNA polymorphisms with numerous applications in genetics, medicine, forensics, and evolutionary analysis. Several major diseases have been associated with length variation of trinucleotide (triplet) repeats including Huntington's disease, hereditary ataxias and spinobulbar muscular atrophy. Using the reference human genome, we have catalogued all triplet repeats in genic regions. This data revealed a bias in noncoding DNA repeat lengths. It also enabled a survey of repeat-length polymorphisms (RLPs) in human genomes and a comparison of the rate of polymorphism in humans versus divergence from chimpanzee. For short repeats, this analysis of three human genomes reveals a relatively low RLP rate in exons and, somewhat surprisingly, in introns. All short RLPs observed in multiple genomes are biallelic (at least in this small sample). In contrast, long repeats are highly polymorphic and some long RLPs are multiallelic. For long repeats, the chimpanzee sequence frequently differs from all observed human alleles. This suggests a high expansion/contraction rate in all long repeats. Expansions and contractions are not, however, affected by natural selection discernable from our comparison of human-chimpanzee divergence with human RLPs. Our catalog of human triplet repeats and their surrounding flanking regions can be used to produce a cost-effective whole-genome assay to test individuals. This repeat assay could someday complement SNP arrays for producing tests that assess the risk of an individual to develop a disease, or become part of personalized genomic strategy that provides therapeutic guidance with respect to drug response.


Part I: Upconversion Nanoparticles NaYF4:Yb, Er3+ upconversion nanoparticles are luminescent particles that are promising in a wide range of applications such as: biomarkers, solar-cells, displays and microbarcodes [1]. However, due to their small size, these particles are typically not very bright. Coating the particles with a uniform NaYF4 shell increases the brightness significantly. Interestingly, the brightness continues to increase even after applying very thick shells, but never reaches the brightness of the bulk counterpart. The reason for this is still unknown. The objective of this study is to characterize the brightness of core-only and core/shell particles with different shell thickness on a single particle scale. This study, being the first of its kind, aims for new insights on the reasoning behind the inability of core/shell particles to reach the brightness of the bulk counterpart. The results of the single particle characterization confirmed an increasing particle brightness with increasing shell thickness. A key observation is the broadening of the single-particle brightness distribution with increasing shell thickness. We attribute this broadening to the presence of dopants in the shell, which are incorporated into the shell during synthesis. This is contrary to the idea of a completely passive shell, which was always assumed. This new insight is important feedback for the materials group that synthesizes the particles. Alternative methods for creating dopant-free shells should be considered. Additional first experiments on the dependence of excitation power-vs-emission intensity showed a significant difference between core-only and core/shell particles, indicating that the shell does play a significant role in the particle brightness enhancement. Preliminary results on the particle emission spectrum showed an interesting additional peak at 700 nm in addition to the spectrum that is typically reported in literature. Part II: STED Setup Design The objective of the second part of the assignment was to design and realize an easy-touse and robust single molecule sensitive microscope setup with additional Stimulated Emission Depletion (STED) super-resolution capability. In this report, the design and initial characterization of this setup is presented. By imaging single quantum dots it is shown that the realized setup is single-emitter sensitive. Furthermore, we present that a diffraction limited resolution of ∼ 280 nm FWHM can be obtained in confocal-mode. For the STED functionality we chose to implement continuous-wave based STED, since this does not require tight laser pulse synchronization. A doughnut-shaped point-spread function (PSF) for the STED beam can be easily obtained in the realized setup. Optimization of the doughnut quality can be efficiently realized with the setup through polarization fine-tuning and spatial phase-adjustment of the STED beam. Furthermore, the realized setup allows easy initial alignment of the excitation PSF maximum with the intensity-null of the STED doughnut PSF to within an accuracy of ∼ 100 nm, which can be further improved by fine-tuning. These initial results demonstrate the possibility to obtain STED based super-resolution with the realized microscope setup.


The use of precipitation estimates from weather radar reflectivity has become widespread in hydrologic predictions. However, uncertainty remains in the use of the nonlinear reflectivity–rainfall (Z‐R) relation, in particular for mountainous regions where ground validation stations are often lacking, land surface data sets are inaccurate and the spatial variability in many features is high. In this study, we assess the propagation of rainfall errors introduced by different Z‐R relations on distributed hydrologic model performance for four mountain basins in the Colorado Front Range. To do so, we compare spatially integrated and distributed rainfall and runoff metrics at seasonal and event time scales during the warm season when convective storms dominate. Results reveal that the basin simulations are quite sensitive to the uncertainties introduced by the Z‐R relation in terms of streamflow, runoff mechanisms and the water balance components. The propagation of rainfall errors into basin responses follows power law relationships that link streamflow uncertainty to the precipitation errors and streamflow magnitude. Overall, different Z‐R relations preserve the spatial distribution of rainfall relative to a reference case, but not the precipitation magnitude, thus leading to large changes in streamflow amounts and runoff spatial patterns at seasonal and event scales. Furthermore, streamflow errors from the Z‐R relation follow a typical pattern that varies with catchment scale where higher uncertainties exist for intermediate‐sized basins. The relatively high error values introduced by two operational Z‐R relations (WSR‐57 and NEXRAD) in terms of the streamflow response indicate that site‐specific Z‐R relations are desirable in the complex terrain region, particularly in light of other uncertainties in the modelling process, such as model parameter values and initial conditions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Aim: Signal peptide complement C1r/C1s, Uegf, and Bmp1-epidermal growth factor-like domain-containing protein 1 (SCUBE1) has been used in research as a biomarker in acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The aim of this study is to determine if SCUBE1 and routine laboratory parameters are effective in distinguishing the patients presenting with clinical symptoms of unstable angina pectoris (USAP) from the patients who have non-ST-segment elevated myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and non-cardiac chest pain patients (NCCP). Materials and Methods: The study group consisted of patients having chest pain or those suspected of having an ACS complaint. The study consisted of 5 groups of 185 patients with USAP, NSTEMI, segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), or NCCP, and a control group of 45 healthy patients (CG). The study was conducted according to the American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines. Results: There was no statistical difference between the patient groups and CG in terms of SCUBE1 (p=0.650). The Troponin I value was significantly lower in the USAP group than the STEMI and NSTEMI groups (p<0.001). There was no difference among the sub-groups of USAP in terms of the SCUBE1, GENSINI, and the GRACE scores (p=0.485, 0.932, 0.585, respectively). Conclusion: SCUBE1 was not diagnostic for USAP, NSTEMI, and STEMI. Further studies to understand the value of SCUBE1 in ACS are needed.


The problem of finite mixture analysis from repeated data is considered. Data variability is taken into account through linear mixed models leading to a mixture of mixed models. The maximum likelihood estimation of this family of models through the EM algorithm is presented. The problem of selecting a particular mixture of mixed models is considered. Illustrative Monte Carlo experiments are presented and an application to the clustering of gene expression profiles is detailed. All those experiments highlight the interest of linear mixed model mixtur es for taking account of data variability in a proper way.


We consider the problem of load balancing in dynamic distributed systems in cases where new incoming tasks can make use of old information. For example, consider a multiprocessor system where incoming tasks with exponentially distributed service requirements arrive as a Poisson process, the tasks must choose a processor for service, and a task knows when making this choice the processor queue lengths from T seconds ago. What is a good strategy for choosing a processor in order for tasks to minimize their expected time in the system? Such models can also be used to describe settings where there is a transfer delay between the time a task enters a system and the time it reaches a processor for service. Our models are based on considering the behavior of limiting systems where the number of processors goes to infinity. The limiting systems can be shown to accurately describe the behavior of sufficiently large systems and simulations demonstrate that they are reasonably accurate even for systems with a small number of processors. Our studies of specific models demonstrate the importance of using randomness to break symmetry in these systems and yield important rules of thumb for system design. The most significant result is that only small amounts of queue length information can be extremely useful in these settings; for example, having incoming tasks choose the least loaded of two randomly chosen processors is extremely effective over a large range of possible system parameters. In contrast, using global information can actually degrade performance unless used carefully; for example, unlike most settings where the load information is current, having tasks go to the apparently least loaded server can significantly hurt performance.


There has been recent discussion regarding the need to teach introductory computer concepts courses at the university level, assuming that students graduating from high school already possess a broad base of knowledge about computers. This paper focuses on a program of research aimed at measuring student knowledge before taking a concepts course, and assessing the value of the introductory computing course in the IS/IT curricula. The first phase of this research stream involves the assessment of prior mastery of computing concepts by students entering the introductory computing concepts course, in 2004 and again in 2013. While considerable variation in the knowledge of entering students is observed, the average student failed to demonstrate acceptable "proficiency" levels in any of 15 computing content area. These results suggest that there is ample opportunity for an introductory course to enhance student knowledge of computing concepts. The second phase of this investigation assesses the extent to which the introductory course succeeds in broadening the breadth and depth of student knowledge of computing concepts. It assesses the extent to which the introductory course assists students in achieving acceptable proficiency levels in each of 15 computing concepts content areas. It also assesses some degree of change that may be observed in the breadth and depth of student knowledge of computing concepts between course entry and course completion.


Abstract Since the Middle Ages Milan obtained its water supply satisfactorily from shallow wells. Significant problems developed during the nineteenth century, however, prompting the Lombard Institute to announce the Cagnola Award for a three-year study project to analyse the water both chemically and physically and to remedy the problem of pollution. The award was made to Angelo Pavesi (1830–96), a chemist, and Ermenegildo Rotondi (1845–1915), a civil engineer. They concluded that cemetery wastewater should be prevented from entering the city and that the number of deep artesian wells should be increased. Some years later, another problem regarding hygiene and water supply arose and it seemed doubtful whether the principal hospital of the city could fulfil the new hygiene requirements. Pietro Canetta (1836–1903) studied the records of the main hospital's water supply and disposal from 1457, demonstrating that it could be regarded as a model for the supply of good-quality water and for wastewater disposal without polluting the city. Since 1906 all of Milan's drinking water has been derived from groundwater; untreated wastewater continued to be discharged into rivers until 2004 but since then all water has been treated.


This paper describes the field implementation and validation of the Becker‐DeGroot‐Marschak (BDM) (1964) mechanism to measure willingness to pay in the context of a point‐of‐use water treatment product in Ghana. BDM has the potential to provide precise data through which to study both screening and heterogeneous treatment effects, which are of central importance in understanding the optimal pricing and impact of health goods in the developing world. We validate BDM against valuations from a take it or leave it (TIOLI) offer in a true field setting, using sales of long‐lasting water filters to rural households in northern Ghana. We find that individuals systematically underbid in BDM relative to TIOLI. By this metric, BDM is not an accurate tool for eliciting willingness to pay. We find no evidence that these differences are driven by either anchoring to the TIOLI price or by strategic bidding on the part of respondents in the BDM treatment.


In the years between 1890 and 1920, there was an influx of immigration to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Due to the copper mines, towns and villages, such as Red Jacket (now known as Calumet) flourished. Surrounding the mines were smaller villages, such as Ahmeek, located five miles northwest of Calumet. Among those that came for a new and "better" life were the Croatians. Most of the Croatians who made their way over were from the same area in Croatia, Ravna Gora. This immigration pattern is an example of chain-migration, people helping those from their country, from the area of the country that they are from, come over to the States. This also shows a trend in men who were hired into the mines and how they were hired. For instance, the employment application for Calumet and Hecla asked not only where the immigrant was from, but who they knew working in the copper mines. The employment applications also asked the relationship the applicant had to that person.1 Degree Type Open Access Senior Honors Thesis Department History and Philosophy First Advisor Richard Nation Second Advisor Ronald Delph


Abstract Context Hormonal interventions in adolescents with gender dysphoria may have adverse effects, such as reduced bone mineral accrual. Objective To describe bone mass development in adolescents with gender dysphoria treated with gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues (GnRHa), subsequently combined with gender-affirming hormones. Design Observational prospective study. Subjects 51 transgirls and 70 transboys receiving GnRHa and 36 transgirls and 42 transboys receiving GnRHa and gender-affirming hormones, subdivided into early- and late-pubertal groups. Main Outcome Measures Bone mineral apparent density (BMAD), age- and sex-specific BMAD z-scores, and serum bone markers. Results At the start of GnRHa treatment, mean areal bone mineral density (aBMD) and BMAD values were within the normal range in all groups. In transgirls, the mean z-scores were well below the population mean. During 2 years of GnRHa treatment, BMAD stabilized or showed a small decrease, whereas z-scores decreased in all groups. During 3 years of combined administration of GnRHa and gender-affirming hormones, a significant increase of BMAD was found. Z-scores normalized in transboys but remained below zero in transgirls. In transgirls and early pubertal transboys, all bone markers decreased during GnRHa treatment. Conclusions BMAD z-scores decreased during GnRHa treatment and increased during gender-affirming hormone treatment. Transboys had normal z-scores at baseline and at the end of the study. However, transgirls had relatively low z-scores, both at baseline and after 3 years of estrogen treatment. It is currently unclear whether this results in adverse outcomes, such as increased fracture risk, in transgirls as they grow older.


This report examines the various dimensions of global water-related research over the 2012-2017 period, using extensive bibliographic data. The review covers trends in water-related publications and citations, the relative importance of water-related research in the overall body of scientific research, flows of water-related knowledge between countries and the dynamics of water research publishing opportunities. In summary, it shows that: less than 50% of all countries are publishing water-related research, that China and USA are the two top publishers, and that China's publishing rate has been growing steadily over the study period. More than 70% of water related publications originating in USA are being cited globally, while China's water research output appears to be primarily internally cited at present. Analysis of the global water knowledge flows suggests that research is hardly addressing a range of regional water challenges. Countries with protracted water problems – for example in infrastructure, environment, agriculture, energy solutions – do not seem to be at the forefront of water research production or knowledge transfer. Instead, global water research is reliant on Western, particularly US-produced, scientific outputs. A disconnect is also observed between the percentage increase in the publication and the number of citations, suggesting low quality or a narrow focus of many publications. Among other factors, this may reflect the pressure on researchers to contribute a certain number of publications per year, or of the progressively increasing role of grey literature in scientific discourse that 'diverts' some citation flow. Analysis of the number of research publications per million people suggests that water research does not necessarily emerge as a reaction to water scarcity in a specific country, but may be driven by the traditional economic value of water supply, geopolitical location, a focus on regional development - including cross-border water management - or development aid spending, or globally applicable research in water management. The proportion of water research in the overall research output of a country is small, including for some of the top-publishing countries. The number of water-related journals that create opportunities for publishing water research, has grown dramatically in absolute terms since 2000, and is now close 2100 journals. The metrics used in this report are based on readily available bibliographic data. They can be further focused to better understand a specific thematic domain, geographical region or country, or to analyze a different period. To help accelerate solutions to global and national water challenges that many of these research papers are highlighting, the water research community needs to look beyond the research 'box' and identify ways to measure development impact of water research programmes, rather 'impact' based solely on academic impact measured in citations. The research findings, learning and knowledge in these research publications needs to be conveyed in a practical way to the real users of this knowledge – stakeholders who are beyond research circles.


In recent ecocritical thought, different writers, have called for traditional distinctions such as human/nature, inside/outside, subject/object and mind/body to be overcome (Bennett, Moore, Morton). Arguing that anthropocentrism – the privileging of human experience and needs – is causing our world to become seriously endangered through climate change and mass extinction, a body of thought has emerged that encourages humans to differently understand their place in, and their relationship to, the natural world. Moving away from anthropocentric, hierarchical and exploitative positions, these writers are encouraging new subject positions that include the non-living and the non-human. Such ideas have also been accompanied by experimental ecoart that in many instances also calls for the human/non-human divide to be renegotiated. The purpose of this paper, though, will be to question the extent to which photography is productively contributing to these radical ways of understanding the biosphere and human/non-human relationships.
Photography, unlike other art forms such as performance art, has a tendency to be strongly rationalist. This is partly due to its ordering of space through perspective and through its structural relationship to notions of the "other": photographs can often have the effect of making people and places look as though they are "over there" rather than part of us in the here and now. Photographs, then, are perhaps not the obvious choice when it comes to representing new subjectivities or phenomenology. However, photographers are also becoming conscious of new ways of talking about human and non-human relationships, and photographic practices are developing that aim to problematise some long-held distinctions about the world. One such project is Lucas Foglia's (2017) book Human Nature. It opens with a statement about how climate change has affected his family's farm, and the entire biosphere. This led him to document places on Earth that are changed by humans, and the ways in which humans are changed. Smaller in scope than Edward Burtynsky's or Sabastiao Salgado's photographic projects, Foglia's photographs are richly poetic and visually stunning and avoid repeating representations of a ravaged landscape. Instead, Foglia's photographs offer something more tantalising: human-nature interactions that are interesting, inspiring, worrying, beautiful and compelling.


1 The aim of this study was to review the literature available regarding the various sites and techniques for corticosteroid injection of the subacromial space of the shoulder. Efficacy of corticosteroid injection in this area and accuracy of injection in three different sites were used as determinants. Data was collected using PubMed, ScienceDirect, JStorOnline, MedLine, WebScience, AccessMedicine, eMedicine, DynaMed, and Natural Medicine databases. Articles regarding injection site, technique, efficacy of subacromial corticosteroid injection, and measurement of injection accuracy were reviewed, as were articles clearly defining a preference for one site or method of injection over another. Twenty articles were reviewed and the three major techniques of subacromial injection are the anterolateral approach, the lateral approach, and the posterolateral approach. The exact point of injection may differ slightly based on physician preference, however the methods used to identify key anatomical landmarks for each injection site remain similar throughout the literature. Corticosteroid injection of all three sites either reduced patient pain levels, increased range of motion, or both. Up to 91% of test subjects have experienced improvement in one or both of these areas following corticosteroid injection (Yu et al 2006). Though there was no consensus over which approach is the most accurate, the evidence suggested that physician confidence of accurate injection and actual measured accuracy differ by as much as 20% (Blair et al. 1996). There was no preference, as defined by the literature, between general practitioners and surgeons in regard to site or technique.


Critical Essays Remarks on the Plays of Shakespeare, Charles Gildon * Love in a Forest, Charles Johnson * The Plays of William Shakespeare, Samuel Johnson * The Dramatic Censor or, Critical Companion, Francis Gentleman * Notes to As You Like It, Edward Capell * A Specimen of a Commentary on Shakespeare, Walter Whiter * The Works of William Shakespeare, J. Payne Collier * Shakespeare Commentaries, Dr. G. G. Gervinus * Shakespeare's Dramatic Art, Hermann P. Ulrici * System of Shakespeare's Dramas, Denton J. Snider * Miss Grace Latham on Rosalind, Celia, and Helen, W. E. Henley * Some of Shakespeare's Female Characters, Helena Faucit, Lady Martin * Shakespeare's Heroines, Charles Wingate * William Shakespeare: A Critical Study, Georg Brandes * William Shakespeare, John Masefield * The Culminating Comedies, C. Herford * Shakespeare as a Playwright, Brander Matthews * Disguise Plots in Elizabethan Drama, Victor O. Freeburg * Shakespeare's Use of Song, Richmond Noble * The English Comic Characters, J. B. Priestley * Shakespeare and His Plays from a Woman's Point of View, Rosa E. Grindon * Shakespeare's Way, Frederick C. Kolbe * Shakespeare and Psychology, Cumberland Clark * Shakespearian Comedy and Other Studies, George Gordon * Facing the Music in Arden: "'Twas I, But 'Tis Not I", Margaret Maurer * Reviews The Gentleman's Magazine, 1741 * The Times 7 February 1786 * London Gazette, 18 February 1786 * The Times, 12 December 1788 * The Times, 23 September 1789 * The Times 21 November 1789 * The Times, 3 October 1842 * The Athenaeum, July 1890 * Shaw on Shakespeare, George Bernard Shaw * The Stage Shakespeare, Austin Brereton * The Story of My Life, Ellen Terry * The Times, April 23, 1919 * A Definition of Arden, Bamber Gascoigne * Shakespearean Comedy and Some Eighteenth Century Actresses, Jeanne Addison Roberts * Players of Shakespeare, Philip Brockbank, ed. * Watching Shakespeare, Anthony R. Dawson * On Directing Shakespeare, Ralph Berry * As You Like It and the Perils of Pastoral, J. C. Bulman * Reflections Arising from Recent Productions of Love's Labour's Lost and As You Like It, Glynne Wickham * Staging Shakespeare: Seminars on Production Problems, Suzanne Bloch * Taint Not They Mind-problems and Pitfalls in Staging Plays at the Globe, Alan C. Dessen * The Televised Shakespeare Canon, Susan Willis * As You Like It-Performance and Reception, Michael Jamieson


Gradient structures, produced by interdiffusion in microlayers of a high density polyethylene/linear low density polyethylene polymer pair that cocrystallizes isomorphically, were studied experimentally. Microlayers were taken into the melt for a period of time, and the compositional gradient was fixed by crystallization upon quenching. High specific interfacial area of microlayers offset the low diffusion mobility of polymeric chains so that the microlayer in the melt approached compositional homogeneity on a laboratory time scale. Taking advantage of the systematic change of the melting temperature with the blend composition, the compositional gradient was visualized by progressively melting the microlayer with increasing temperature. This made it possible to monitor the kinetics of interdiffusion without using a chemical label. The compositional profiles were analyzed with a diffusion model formulated for a polydisperse system. Diffusion coefficients for lightly branched and linear polyethylene chains, which correlated well with the data of previous studies, were obtained. It was found that the interlayer boundaries remained stationary during a characteristic time of interdiffusion of the component main fractions, and moved at long times as high molecular weight fractions became involved in interdiffusion. The moving boundary phenomenon was investigated with optical and atomic force microscopy and the development of crystalline morphology in the microscopic compositional gradient was described. q 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.


China is facing many challenges in the water sector while implementing integrated water resources management (IWRM). Another daunting task – adapting to water-related impacts of climate change, is also challenging China's water managers. These challenges have been posing threats to China's economic, social and environmental development. While separate efforts in promoting IWRM and climate change adaptation have been made, the approach of mainstreaming climate change adaptation strategy within IWRM is seldom studied. Attempting to fill the gap, this paper argues that there is great potential in synergizing them after analysing their distinctions and common points. By developing climate-proofing strategies within IWRM, mainstreaming is able to minimize adverse water-related climate change risks and maximize the benefits of policies and plans. In this study, entry points of mainstreaming climate change adaptation in the sustaining environment of IWRM and its process will be identified and analysed.


This thesis is a study of inquiry. Drawing upon the work of American pragmatist John Dewey, this work seeks to contribute to our understanding of the construction of knowledge within the social system of communities of inquiry. The process of inquiry that is traced in this work is one effected in the course of architectural designing. An ethnographically informed study of an architectural masterplan project is used to illustrate Dewey's ideas and how they're played out in design practice. This thesis is understood to correspond with the growing interest of the students of organisational learning and knowledge management in knowledge creation and the underlying social processes. It is further seen as a response to the claim that the key processes of knowledge creation remain largely an enigma. Illuminating such processes is considered important for that they inform vital organisational practices such as innovation and change. Agreement has been established with Dewey that knowledge is not just an end in itself but a form of action, a medium of change and social transformation. The formation of knowledge, however, within the operation of inquiry is not a matter that "naturally" runs its course. The process of inquiry as studied both in theory and practice has shown just how much its results, which by definition constitute knowledge, are shaped by the institution and control of a problem. A problem is a social construct and the product of the purposeful selection and arrangement of pieces of information. Inquiry is therefore considered a process of controlled knowledge formation. That which counts as knowledge in the realm of social phenomena has been shown to be a matter not so much of agreement between actions and their consequences but agreement in terms of intellectual acceptance. What "satisfies" as a solution (such as the final masterplan) has therefore been shown to be not necessarily a question of its logical status.


This paper examines the dynamics of creative cognitive activity in the waking and dreaming processes that are often thought of as pathological and counterproductive but may, in fact, be healthy and useful. During waking states, there is evidence suggesting that there are healthy benefits for creativity, even in the context of bipolar spectrum mood disorders, as well as in daily life. Yet creativity is often pathologized and misunderstood because of its assumed links with pathology or "abnormalities." Creative functioning may be further understood as a metaphorical and perhaps as a psychoneurological descriptor. In view of these data, society might value innovative "divergence" rather than assuming that deviations from what is "normal" are invariably "pathological." Indeed, creative personality traits may be useful predictors for the enhanced generation of divergent thought. In dreaming, one may see certain of these phenomena in even bolder relief, where our sensory world and the usual rules of logic are suspended, yet valuable insights may emerge. However, some writers see dreaming as no more than random patterns due to random brain activity, rather than an intentional process holding potential meaning. Although dreaming may have random elements, one can also discover patterns of content for which the meaning has potential social as well as individual significance. These patterns are not only suggestive of immediate value, but also of potential value because they were adaptive. It is likely that further clarification of nonlinear dynamical processes and the balance between divergent and convergent forces can further reveal the healthy potentials of our creative minds, during both waking and dreaming states.


The past five years have seen a dramatic increase in the number of media and scientific publications on the topic of climate engineering, or geoengineering, and some scientists are increasingly calling for more research on climate engineering as a possible supplement to climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. In this context, understanding the current state of climate engineering research can help inform policy discussions and guide future research directions. Bibliometric analysis—the quantitative analysis of publications—is particularly applicable to fields with large bodies of literature that are difficult to summarize by traditional review methods. The multidisciplinary nature of the published literature on climate engineering makes it an ideal candidate for bibliometric analysis. Publications on climate engineering are found to be relatively recent (more than half of all articles during 1988–2011 were published since 2008), include a higher than average percentage of nonresearch articles (30% compared with 8–15% in related scientific disciplines), and be predominately produced by countries located in the Northern Hemisphere and speaking English. The majority of this literature focuses on land‐based methods of carbon sequestration, ocean iron fertilization, and solar radiation management and is produced with little collaboration among research groups. This study provides a summary of existing publications on climate engineering, a perspective on the scientific underpinnings of the global dialogue on climate engineering, and a baseline for quantitatively monitoring the development of climate engineering research in the future. WIREs Clim Change 2013, 4:417–427. doi: 10.1002/wcc.229


PURPOSE
Child and adult muscular power have been shown to associate with contemporary cardiometabolic health. Muscular power typically persists (tracks) between childhood and adulthood. Few studies span childhood to adulthood, so we aimed to identify modifiable and environmental factors associated with the persistence or change in muscular power across the life course.

METHODS
Prospective study examining 1,938 participants who had their muscular power (standing long jump distance) measured in 1985 as children aged 7-15-years and again 20-years later in adulthood (aged 26-36-years). A selection of objectively measured anthropometric characteristics (adiposity and fat-free mass), cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), self-reported physical activity, dietary (quality and fruit, vegetable, protein intake) and sociodemographic data were available at both time-points. Muscular power was separated into thirds and participants were reported as having persistently low, decreasing, persistently moderate, increasing, or persistently high muscular power.

RESULTS
Higher adiposity, lower physical activity, diet quality and socioeconomic status (SES) across the life course, and lower adult CRF were associated with persistently low muscular power. Lower adult protein intake and an increase in adiposity over time were associated with decreasing muscular power. An increase in fat-free mass was associated with a reduced probability of decreasing or persistently high muscular power, and an increased probability of increasing muscular power. Higher adult fruit intake was associated with increasing muscular power. Lower adiposity across the life course, higher adult CRF and SES, and higher child protein intake were associated with persistently high muscular power.

CONCLUSION
A healthy weight, good CRF, greater protein intake and high SES are important correlates of high muscular power maintained from childhood to adulthood.


In order to overcome the drawbacks of some control schemes, which depends
on modeling the system being controlled, and to overcome the problem of
inverse kinematics which are mainly singularities and uncertainties in arm
configuration.
Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) technique has been utilized where learning is
done iteratively based only on observation of input-output relationship.
The proposed technique does not require any prior knowledge of the kinematics
model of the system being controlled; the main idea of this approach is the use
of an Artificial Neural Network to learn the robot system characteristics rather
than having to specify an explicit robot system model.Since one of the most important problems in using Artificial Neural Networks, is
the choice of the appropriate networks' configuration, two different networks'
configurations were designed and tested, they were trained to learn desired set
of joint angles positions from a given set of end effector positions.
Experimental results have shown better response for the first configuration
network in terms of precision and iteration.
The developed approach possesses several distinct advantages; these
advantages can be listed as follows :(First) system model does not have to be
known at the time of the controller design, (Second) any change in the physical
setup of the system such as the addition of a new tool would only involve
training and will not require any major system software modifications, and
(Third) this scheme would work well in a typical industrial set-up where the
controller of a robot could be taught the handful of paths depending on the task
assigned to that robot.
The efficiency of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated through simulations of
a general 6 D.O.F. serial robot manipulator


This study assesses the quality of Chinese outbound FDI data. In our case study of the Netherlands, we checked the data quality of the often-used Orbis/Amadeus database and its data source, the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (Kamer van Koophandel, KVK), which has one of the oldest and, arguably, one of the better databases within Europe. We analysed Chinese investments in the Netherlands and show that six adjustments are necessary to clean up the data. We also show that not making these adjustments can significantly impact the outcome of research. The cleaned-up data show that sampled Chinese firms are young, small, and private.


Bitcoin replicates many of the formal aspects of real estate transactions. Bitcoin transactions have features that closely resemble grantor names, grantee names, legal descriptions, and signatures found in real property deeds. While these "Bitcoin deeds" may be interesting, they are not profound. Bitcoin goes beyond creating simple digital deeds, however, and replicates important institutional aspects of real estate transactions, in particular recordation and title assurance. Deeds to real property are recorded in a central repository (e.g., the public records office), which the parties (and the public) can search to determine title. When one grantor executes more than one deed covering the same property, recordation acts (race, notice, and race-notice) determine which grantee wins.

The Bitcoin blockchain replicates the public records office, giving anyone with a computer the ability to see any Bitcoin transaction. Bitcoin mining replicates the recording of deeds, a process by which formally valid transactions between two parties become essentially a public record. When one grantor executes more than one transaction covering the same Bitcoin, a miner determines which grantee wins simply by moving one transaction to the blockchain before the others.

Remarkably, Bitcoin replicates these aspects of real estate transfers without any governing authority to coordinate or supervise activities. It has no central database for the blockchain. Instead, users across the globe maintain the blockchain in identical form. Bitcoin has no recorder of deeds to time-stamp and process transactions. Instead, it relies on dispersed and competitive miners to, in effect, time-stamp transactions and add them to the blockchain. Ultimately, this Article will show that Bitcoin succeeds because it leads its community of users to a consensus about the blockchain.

Thus, this Article will conclude that Bitcoin replicates elemental pieces of property law, but it does so wholly outside of traditional legal structures. Ownership is based on computer protocols, computer records, community expectations, and nothing more. Bitcoin functions as law, even though it operates outside of the law.


Inverse kinematics (IK) is a central component of systems for motion capture, character animation, motion planning, and robotics control. The field of computer graphics has developed fast stationary point solvers methods, such as the Jacobian transpose method and cyclic coordinate descent. Much work with Newton methods focus on avoiding directly computing the Hessian, and instead approximations are sought, such as in the BFGS class of solvers. This paper presents a numerical method for computing the exact Hessian of an IK system with spherical joints. It is applicable to human skeletons in computer animation applications and some, but not all, robots. Our results show that using exact Hessians can give performance advantages and higher accuracy compared to standard numerical methods used for solving IK problems. Furthermore, we provide code and supplementary details that allows researchers to plug-in exact Hessians in their own work with little effort.


This article derives a European Herfindahl-Hirschman concentration index from 15 micro-aggregated country datasets. In the last decade, European concentration rose due to a reallocation of economic activity towards large and concentrated industries. Over the same period, productivity gains from an increasing allocative efficiency of the European market accounted for 50% of European productivity growth while markups stayed constant. Using country-industry variation, we show that changes in concentration are positively associated with changes in productivity and allocative efficiency. This holds across most sectors and countries and supports the notion that rising concentration in Europe reflects a more efficient market environment rather than weak competition and rising market power.


List of Contributors. Notes on the Editors. Notes on the Contributors. Preface. 1. Relationships between Practice and Research in Personnel Selection: Does the Left Hand Know What the Right Is Doing? (Neil Anderson). Part I: Preparing for Selection. 2. Job Analysis: Current and Future Perspectives (Olga F. Smit--Voskuijl). 3. The Impracticality of Recruitment Research (Alan M. Saks). 4. The Design of Selection Systems: Context, Principles, Issues (Robert A. Roe). 5. Is the Obvious Obvious? Considerations About Ethical Issues in Personnel Selection (Olga F. Voskuijl, Arne Evers and Sacha Geerlings. Part II: Developments in the Use of Different Kinds of Predictors. 6. The Selection/Recruitment Interview: Core Processes and Contexts (Robert L. Dipboye). 7. Cognitive Ability in Personnel Selection Decisions (Deniz S. Ones and Stephan Dilchert. 8. Personality in Personnel Selection (Jesus F. Salgado and Filip de Fruyt). 9. Emotional Factors as Selection Criteria (Charles Woodruffe). 10. Situational Judgment Tests (David Chan, and Neal Schmitt). 11. Assessment Centers: Recent Developments in Practice and Research (Filip Lievens and George C. Thornton). Part III: Decisions and their Context. 12. Decision Making in Selection (Marise Ph. Born and Dora Scholarios). 13. Relevance and Rigor in Research on the Applicant's Perspective: In Pursuit of Pragmatic Science (Anna L. Imus and Ann Marie Ryan). 14. Ethnic Bias and Fairness in Personnel Selection: Evidence and Consequences (Arne Evers, Jan Te Nijenhuis and Henk van der Flier). Part IV: Criterion Measures. 15. The Prediction of Typical and Maximum Performance in Employee Selection (Ute--Christine Klehe and Neil Anderson). 16. Job Performance: Assessment Issues in Personnel Selection (Chockalingam Viswesvaran and Deniz S. Ones). 17. The Prediction of Contextual Performance (Lisa M. Penney and Walter C. Borman). Part V: Emerging Trends and Assessment for Change. 18. Computer--Based Testing and the Internet (Dave Bartram). 19. A Review of Person----Environment Fit Research: Prospects for Personnel Selection (Annelies E. M. Van Vianen). 20. Selection of Leaders in Global Organizations (Nicole Cunningham--Snell and David Wigfield, Shell). 21. Expatriate Selection: A Process Approach (Annelies E. M. Van Vianen, Irene E. De Pater and Paula M. Caligiuri). 22. Selection for Teams (Natalie J. Allen and Michael M. West). 23. Multilevel Selection and Prediction: Theories, Methods, and Models (Robert E. Ployhart and Benjamin Schneider). Author Index. Subject Index.


Much of the success of the Internet services model can be attributed to the popularity of a class of workloads that we call Online Data-Intensive (OLDI) services. These work-loads perform significant computing over massive data sets per user request but, unlike their offline counterparts (such as MapReduce computations), they require responsiveness in the sub-second time scale at high request rates. Large search products, online advertising, and machine translation are examples of workloads in this class. Although the load in OLDI services can vary widely during the day, their energy consumption sees little variance due to the lack of energy proportionality of the underlying machinery. The scale and latency sensitivity of OLDI workloads also make them a challenging target for power management techniques. We investigate what, if anything, can be done to make OLDI systems more energy-proportional. Specifically, we evaluate the applicability of active and idle low-power modes to reduce the power consumed by the primary server components (processor, memory, and disk), while maintaining tight response time constraints, particularly on 95th-percentile latency. Using Web search as a representative example of this workload class, we first characterize a production Web search workload at cluster-wide scale. We provide a fine-grain characterization and expose the opportunity for power savings using low-power modes of each primary server component. Second, we develop and validate a performance model to evaluate the impact of processor- and memory-based low-power modes on the search latency distribution and consider the benefit of current and foreseeable low-power modes. Our results highlight the challenges of power management for this class of workloads. In contrast to other server workloads, for which idle low-power modes have shown great promise, for OLDI workloads we find that energy-proportionality with acceptable query latency can only be achieved using coordinated, full-system active low-power modes.


This study examines the extent to which land use planning can influence travel and how it might be able to
reduce the environmental impact of transport. Although other studies have examined this issue before, many
have only examined the influence of a small number of land use characteristics and most have not taken account
of socio-economic reasons for variations in travel in different areas. This study examines the influence of a range
of land use characteristics on travel and takes into account a large number of socio-economic characteristics. It
also examines whether the links between travel, socio-economic and land use characteristics have changed over
time.
The hypothesis of the study is that land use policies influence travel patterns even when differences in social and
economic characteristics are taken into account. The study examines several sets of data containing information
on travel, socio-economic characteristics and land use. Data from the National Travel Survey are examined to
identify relationships between land use, socio-economic characteristics and travel patterns. Data from four
separate National Travel Surveys are used to examine whether these relationships change over time. Data from
two local travel surveys from Kent and Leicestershire are also used to provide a more detailed level of analysis.
The data from the two local surveys also allow some comparison with the data from the National Travel Surveys.
The relationships between land use, socio-economic characteristics and travel patterns are examined using
multiple regression analysis. Although causal relationships cannot be identified in the absence of longitudinal
data, the study does provide insights into possible interactions between land use, socio-economic characteristics
and travel patterns. After identifying the land use characteristics associated with lower travel demand, the
planning implications for reducing the demand for travel are considered. Issues of policy implementation
including obstacles, barriers and responsibilities are discussed. The research contributes to knowledge about
planning policies that promote more sustainable development. It focuses on a topic that might practically
contribute to the search for indicators of sustainable development, the revision of government planning guidance
on transport and land use planning and the formulation of the recently announced Urban White Paper. The
research also identifies specific land use characteristics that might be used by local authorities in developing
more sustainable planning policies.
The results of the study show that the variation in travel patterns across different areas is often due more to
socio-economic reasons than land use characteristics. However, land use planning is still likely to have a
significant effect on influencing travel patterns, particularly if supported by complementary measures.


This dissertation investigates the use of biblical interpretation in the Book of Daniel. It demonstrates the spectrum in which Daniel uses older scriptural texts such as Genesis and Ezekiel in order to accomplish the theological concord with the earlier scriptural traditions of ancient Israel. Methodologically, the dissertation embraces the theory of literary allusion. The allusions in Daniel to Genesis 10-11 characterize Daniel as a literature of resistance to human imperialism. The motif of universal language, absolute dominion, symbolic construction for imperialism, collective power of human politics, and divine triumph over Babel, resurface to highlight the strong consonance between Genesis and Daniel. The allusions in Daniel to Ezekiel demonstrate that Ezekiel 1-3 is the greatest source of apocalyptic texts in Daniel 7 and 10-12. The anthropomorphic manifestation of God in Daniel's apocalyptic vision harks back to that in Ezekiel's prophetic vision. Both magnificent characters in Daniel 7 (the one like a son of man) and 10 (the heavenly revealer) are portrayed as liminal figures. The son of man figure alludes to the Glory of YHWH (Ezekiel 1), Israel (Daniel 7), the maskilim (Daniel 11-12), and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1-3). The heavenly figure in Daniel 10 alludes to Ezekiel 1, evoking the Glory of YHWH (Ezekiel 1), the maskilim (Daniel 11-12), and the four cherubim (Ezekiel 1). The links between the maskilim and Prophet Ezekiel show how Daniel 10-12 reshapes Ezekiel 1-3 to portray the critical period under Antiochus IV Epiphanes.


This Article shows that property rights held a central place in the republican ideology of the founding era by examining a crucially important but neglected founding document: the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. The Ordinance reflects the founding-era presumption that property rights were thought to promote the common good by encouraging the wide distribution of land among virtuous republican citizens. This challenges the conventional view in modern scholarship that associates the founders' regard for individual property rights more with Lockean classical liberal ideology or interest-group pluralism than with the civic republican tradition. Civic republican ideals - with their emphasis on public virtue and subordinating individual interests to the common good - are often invoked for their founding-era pedigree as much as for their normative merits. Thus, the protection of property rights is often disregarded in modern arguments that focus on promoting the common good. Recent controversies such as the Kelo v. City of New London case suggest, however, that we might question these assumptions. Returning to the founding-era roots of the American civic republican tradition, this Article shows that in fact individual property rights were an essential component of both liberalism and republicanism in political ideology. Jefferson and others strongly associated with republicanism believed that the constitutional protection of property rights was crucial for encouraging a virtuous, independent citizenry to thrive and build a republican society dedicated to promoting the common good. The Northwest Ordinance - enacted by Congress in July 1787, while the Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia - is a document that is pervasively concerned with property, yet thoroughly republican in character. It shows how the founding generation placed a high value on individual property rights as an essential part of building a virtuous, prosperous society of republican citizens. As the single most important legislative achievement of the Confederation Congress, the Ordinance was a response to a pressing need to establish order and security in the vast Northwest Territory and to pay down the nation's war debt through land sales. It contained precursors to many provisions that were included in the Constitution and Bill of Rights, including the Contracts Clause, the Due Process Clause, and the Takings Clauses. The Ordinance is thus an important source for the original public meaning of constitutional property rights. More than that, however, a close reading of the Northwest Ordinance shows a broader concern for property rights in establishing a republic based on ordered liberty. Only by securing property rights could the virtuous yeoman citizen be encouraged to settle the frontier and build republican society in what would become new states. The concern for property rights in the Northwest Ordinance therefore demonstrates a desire to promote not only liberty, but also the common good. This Article reasserts the importance of the Northwest Ordinance as a founding document, and suggests that a reassessment of the role of individual property rights in is needed in legal and policy arguments today.


A series of dedicated experiments with the Plasma Kristal Experiment (PKE)-Nefedov (Nefedov et al 2003 New J. Phys. 5 33) set-up were performed on board the International Space Station to measure the dispersion relation (DR) for the longitudinal dust-acoustic (DA) waves in quasi-isotropic three-dimensional (3D) complex plasmas. The waves were excited by applying ac electric modulation of variable frequency to the radio frequency (rf) electrodes. The amplitude of excitation was varied with frequency to ensure a 'sufficiently linear' regime of the dust density perturbations. The DR was obtained by measuring the induced density perturbations, revealing fairly good agreement with a simple multispecies theory of DA waves.


The purpose of this Chartbook is to present a summary of evidence about long-run changes in economic inequality – primarily income, earnings, and wealth – for 25 countries covering more than one hundred years. There is a range of countries and they account for more than a third of the world's population: Argentina, Brazil, Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mauritius, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US. The results are presented in 25 charts, one for each country, together with a description of the sources. The underlying figures are available for download at www.chartbookofeconomicinequality.com.


Established in 2005, the South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association (SAMEA) is celebrating its tenth anniversary as a voluntary organisation for professional evaluation (VOPE). This VOPE occupies a special space in South African society as an independent and credible voice of monitoring and evaluation practitioners, drawing its membership from individuals working for government, academia, civil society, consultancies, donor agencies and private sector foundations, including students and the international community. As the biggest user of evaluations, government has become a natural partner for SAMEA since its first conferences organised in partnership with the Public Service Commission. The establishment of the Department of Performance (now Planning,) Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) in the Presidency of South Africa in 2010 created new impetus for the institutionalisation of evaluation in government through the establishment of the National Evaluation System (NES). In 2012, DPME entered into a formal partnership with SAMEA to enhance monitoring and evaluation (M&E) capacity and continuous professional development. Working with the PSC and the DPME as well as other key partners like universities and development agencies, the role of SAMEA has been enhanced via the establishment of provincial associations, direct input to the development of government policy, evaluation standards, competencies and training – and co-hosting of high-profile conferences and workshops. The partnership between SAMEA and the government of South Africa is extremely useful for ensuring evaluation capacity development and institutionalisation of the practice in government and society. There have been tensions, especially as government's role in evaluation has strengthened. However, the significance of the partnership between SAMEA and the DPME has gained international interest and appreciation because of its structured nature, mutual respect, collaboration on capacity development and practical implementation of innovative projects.


Toroidal Alfven eigenmodes (TAE) were excited by the energetic neutral beam ions tangentially injected into plasmas at low magnetic field in the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) [Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion Research (IAEA, Vienna, 1987), Vol. 1, p. 51]. The injection velocities were comparable to the Alfven speed. The modes were identified by measurements from Mirnov coils and beam emission spectroscopy (BES). TAE modes appear in bursts whose repetition rate increases with beam power. The neutron emission rate exhibits sawtoothlike behavior and the crashes always coincide with TAE bursts. This indicates ejection of fast ions from the plasma until these modes are stabilized. The dynamics of growth and stabilization were investigated at various plasma currents and magnetic fields. The results indicate that the instability can effectively clamp the number of energetic ions in the plasmas. The observed instability threshold is discussed in light of recent theories. In addition to these TAE modes, intermittent oscillations at three times the fundamental TAE frequency were observed by Mirnov coils, but no corresponding signal was found in BES. It appears that these high‐frequency oscillations do not have a direct effect on the plasma neutron source strength.


This thesis confronts the ultimate limits of perceiving the constructed world and the limits of our ability to experience architecture. The imperative of architecture is poetic: to and project encounters between matter and energy that shape the existing and bring forth the as yet unimagined to form a continuing human world. This is explored through the imagining of a habitat and vessel that projects the human endeavor of architecture into the formless depth of space. In drawing the physical from the void, the page becomes a way to move architecture from non-existence into the real by means of the imagination. An imagined wold is drawn from the void in search of the center for a universal and humanist architecture. The thesis is conceived as a vehicle for drawing the limits of perception when we attempt to imagine that which is greater than ourselves.


Generally, machine tool monitoring is the prediction of the system's health based on signal acquisition and processing and classification in order to identify the causes of the problem. The producers of machine tools need to pay more attention to their products life cycle because their customers increasingly focus on machine tool reliability and costs. The present study is concerned with the development of a condition monitoring system for high speed Computer Numerical Control (CNC) milling machine tools.

A model is a simplification of a real machine to visualize the dynamics of a mechatronic system. This thesis applies recent modelling techniques to represent all parameters which affect the accuracy of a component produced automatically. The control can achieve an accuracy approaching the tolerance restrictions imposed by the machine tool axis repeatability and its operating environment. The motion control system of the CNC machine tool is described and the elements, which compose the axis drives including both the electrical components and the mechanical ones, are analysed and modelled. SIMULINK models have been developed to represent the majority of the dynamic behaviour of the feed drives from the actual CNC machine tool. Various values for the position controller and the load torque have been applied to the motor to show their behaviour.

Development of a mechatronic hybrid model for five-axis CNC machine tool using Multi-Body-System (MBS) simulation approach is described. Analysis of CNC machine tool performance under non-cutting conditions is developed. ServoTrace data have been used to validate the Multi-body simulation of tool-to-workpiece position.

This thesis aspects the application of state of art sensing methods in the field of condition monitoring of electromechanical systems. The ballscrew-with-nut is perhaps the most prevalent CNC machine subsystem and the condition of each element is crucial to the success of a machining operation. It's essential to know of the health status of ballscrew, bearings and nut. Acoustic emission analysis of machines has been carried out to determine the deterioration of the ballscrew. Standard practices such as use of a Laser Interferometer have been used to determine the position of the machine tool.

A novel machine feed drive condition monitoring system using acoustic emission (AE) signals has been proposed. The AE monitoring techniques investigated can be categorised into traditional AE parameters of energy, event duration and peak amplitude. These events are selected and normalised to estimate remaining life of the machine. This method is shown to be successfully applied for the ballscrew subsystem of an industrial high-speed milling machine.

Finally, the successful outcome of the project will contribute to machine tool industry making possible manufacturing of more accurate products with lower costs in shorter time.


The quality of a mechanical component such as its geometrical accuracy stability and fatigue life are significantly affected by the surface integrity generated by machining process. Residual stresses are a major part of the mechanical state of a machined layer and they can be beneficial or detrimental depending of their nature and magnitude. This study concerns phase analysis and residual stress profile characterization by X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique and microhardness profile of AISI H13 ESR mould steel, milled using carbide and CBN tools. Analysis of the cross-section of the AISI H13 ESR samples, milled using both tools, reveal a martensitic microstructure, with a very thin layer heavily deformed due to the machining process. However, no phase transformation was detected by XRD. Concerning the residual stresses, the results show that they are predominantly compressive at the samples surface. However, depending of the cutting tools, the in-depth residual stresses profiles present different evolutions. This difference in the in-depth residual stresses profiles between the two kind of cutting tools is attributed to the different cutting tool parameters, including the tool geometry.


Quantification of trace elements in used lubricating oil forms a vital part in monitoring engine conditions and impact on the environment. In this study, inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) was employed for the determination of Ag, Ba, Cu, Mn and Ni in used lubricating oils. Methodology was developed so as to minimize the oil's carbonaceous matter and its effect on viscosity.Accordingly, six oil sample preparation techniques (xylene dilution, detergent emulsion, microwave digestion, dry-ashing, wet-ashing and ultrasonic extraction) were investigated for their efficiency. Optimization of the factors influencing ultrasonic-assisted extraction and ICP-OES operating parameters enabled quantification of the trace metals in oils. Limits of detection (3 S b /m), in the ng g –1 range, were obtained for each element of interest using each method investigated. The validity of the methodologies studied was confirmed through the analysis of quality control (QC) samples. Analyte recoveries, ranging from 48.3 to 106 %, were obtained. Evaluation of the analytical methods studied with regard to accuracy, precision, LOD, linearity, applicability for routine analysis, preparation time and cost was made. Based on these evaluations, ultrasonic extraction has a clear advantage in terms of accuracy, applicability for routine analysis, time and cost of sample preparation. KEYWORDS  Lubricating oil, ICP-OES, optimization.


Background: To explore the prevalence of lacrimal duct obstruction in patients with infectious keratitis, and the necessity of lacrimal duct dredge in the treatment of human infectious keratitis. Methodology/Principle Findings: The design is prospective, non-control case series. Thirty-one eyes from twenty-eight continuous patients with infectious keratitis were included in this study. The presence/absence of lacrimal duct obstruction was determined by the lacrimal duct irrigation test. The diagnosis of infectious keratitis was made based on clinical manifestations, cornea scraping microscopic examination and bacterial/fungus culture. Diagnosis of viral keratitis was set up based on the recurrent history, deep neovascularization and typical outlook of the cornea scar. The treatment of keratitis included drugs, eye drops or surgery, while treatment of chronic dacryocystitis was lacrimal duct dredging with supporting tube implantation surgery. In the thirty-one eyes with infectious keratitis, fifteen suffered from fungal keratitis (48%), two bacterial keratitis (6%), and fourteen viral keratitis (45%). Eleven eyes (35%) from ten patients with infectious keratitis also suffered from lacrimal duct obstruction. In those cases, six eyes also suffered from lower canalicular obstruction, three nasolacrimal duct obstruction and chronic dacryocystitis, one a combination of upper and lower canalicular obstruction, one upper canalicular obstruction. After local and systemic applications of anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory drugs, twenty-eight eyes (90%) recovered within three weeks, while the ulceration of three patients required the lacrimal duct dredging and supporting tube implantation surgery for the healing. Conclusions: Herein, we first report that the prevalence of infectious keratitis is closely correlated to the occurrence of lacrimal duct obstruction. When both confirmed, simultaneous treatment of keratitis and lacrimal duct obstruction promptly is required. Further evaluation of mechanism, prevention and control of the diseases are warranted.


This work proposes a progressive manifold identification approach for distributed optimization with sound theoretical justifications to greatly reduce both the rounds of communication and the bytes communicated per round for partlysmooth regularized problems such as the `1and group-LASSO-regularized ones. Our twostage method first uses an inexact proximal quasiNewton method to iteratively identify a sequence of low-dimensional manifolds in which the final solution would lie, and restricts the model update within the current manifold to gradually lower the order of the per-round communication cost from the problem dimension to the dimension of the manifold that contains a solution and makes the problem within it smooth. After identifying this manifold, we take superlinear-convergent truncated semismooth Newton steps computed by preconditioned conjugate gradient to largely reduce the communication rounds by improving the convergence rate from the existing linear or sublinear ones to a superlinear rate. Experiments show that our method can be two orders of magnitude better in the communication cost and an order of magnitude faster in the running time than state of the art.


Purpose: The purpose of this study is first to describe the ideal characteristics of an effective mental health aftercare program based on a review of the literature. The second purpose is to conduct a case study and assess the aftercare program in Williamson County, Texas using the ideal characteristics. Finally, recommendations that should assist all juvenile probation departments in Texas more effectively to supervise youth with mental health needs are developed. Methodology: The methodologies used in this case study of Williamson County Juvenile Services include structured interviews, document analysis and archival data analysis. Document analysis was conducted using the County's policy and procedure manual and archival data such as case plans and chronological notes were used as a supplemental data collection method as well. A systematic sample of archival data was conducted of 21 youth randomly selected from a total of 103 youth sent to or released from post-adjudication facilities in Williamson County, during 2004 – 2005. Results: Overall, the Aftercare Program in Williamson County adheres to the practical ideal type model developed through the literature, but could improve services by: providing set guidelines in Policy and Procedure, providing specialized training for Aftercare Officers, developing a specialized Aftercare Team, and providing staff development through ongoing training and evaluation.


Background: Red betel vine (Piper crocatum Ruiz & Pav) is known empirically to have properties to cure various kinds of diseases. It contains flavonoids, alkaloids, polifenolat compounds, tannins and essential oil compounds. Standardization in the pharmacy is required to ensure the level of quality, fulfill the standard requirement of chemical, biological, and pharmaceutical, including the guarantee of stability as pharmaceutical products generally. Objective : To investigate the standard specific and non-specific parameters set by Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (FDSA) of ethanol leaf extract of red betel leaves. Methods : The study began with sample preparation, then extracted by maceration method to get the active compounds in the lumpy extract. Extract was analyzed with standard specific and non-specific parameters set by FDSA. Results were analyzed with descriptive analysis method. Results : The features of leaf extract of red betel vine leaves using are organolepticly viscous, dark green,and has a distinctive odor with a bitter spicy taste. The yield, water content, ash content, and specific gravity of extract were 14.8%, 0.353%, 0.16%, 0.729 respectively. Total mold contamination of extract satisfied the standard criteria that was below the limit of a maximum of 10 colonies/gram. Metal contamination of lead (Pb) was 1. 404 mg/kg and Cadmium (Cd) was 0. 223 mg/kg. Chromatographic profile of the Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) red betel vine leaves ethanol extract contains compounds caryophyllene, germacrene-D and some other compounds with low similiaritas index, and has a marker compound which is suspected possibly trimethoxyallyl benzen. Conclusion : The ethanol extract of red betel vine (Piper crocatum Ruiz & Pav) leaves is an extract of the organolepticly viscous, dark green color, distinctive smell, bitter taste, and spicy. The ethanol extract of red betel vine leaves satisfies the standard level set by FDSA and has the marker compound which is expected likely Trimethoxyallyl benzen.


Importance Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is the cornerstone of prevention and management of HIV infection. Objective To evaluate new data and treatments and incorporate this information into updated recommendations for initiating therapy, monitoring individuals starting therapy, changing regimens, and preventing HIV infection for individuals at risk. Evidence Review New evidence collected since the International Antiviral Society–USA 2016 recommendations via monthly PubMed and EMBASE literature searches up to April 2018; data presented at peer-reviewed scientific conferences. A volunteer panel of experts in HIV research and patient care considered these data and updated previous recommendations. Findings ART is recommended for virtually all HIV-infected individuals, as soon as possible after HIV diagnosis. Immediate initiation (eg, rapid start), if clinically appropriate, requires adequate staffing, specialized services, and careful selection of medical therapy. An integrase strand transfer inhibitor (InSTI) plus 2 nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) is generally recommended for initial therapy, with unique patient circumstances (eg, concomitant diseases and conditions, potential for pregnancy, cost) guiding the treatment choice. CD4 cell count, HIV RNA level, genotype, and other laboratory tests for general health and co-infections are recommended at specified points before and during ART. If a regimen switch is indicated, treatment history, tolerability, adherence, and drug resistance history should first be assessed; 2 or 3 active drugs are recommended for a new regimen. HIV testing is recommended at least once for anyone who has ever been sexually active and more often for individuals at ongoing risk for infection. Preexposure prophylaxis with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine and appropriate monitoring is recommended for individuals at risk for HIV. Conclusions and Relevance Advances in HIV prevention and treatment with antiretroviral drugs continue to improve clinical management and outcomes for individuals at risk for and living with HIV.


The purpose of this research was to study agricultural crop production 'decision support systems' as a means of transferring agricultural technology from research labs and plots to producers, extension specialists, agriculture service agencies, and scientists, on the Western Canadian Prairies. A 'decision support system' is a computer program that analyses problems spanning several knowledge or problem areas producing results that aid the management decision-making process. The primary objective was to develop a computer application program that would fulfill the farm manager's decision support needs and be "open" to future enhancements. This interdisciplinary study has a strong agricultural presence in the application context of the resultant computerized agricultural decision support system, with agronomics being the foundation on which the system was built, and computer science being the toolbox used to build it. Farm Smart 2000 is the resultant decision support system, providing "single-window" access to three different tiers of decision support utilizing the Internet, ' expert systems' and integrated multiple heterogeneous 'reusable agents' in a cooperative problem-solving environment. An ' expert system' is a computer program that solves complicated problems, within a specific knowledge or problem area, that would otherwise require human expertise. Expert systems integrated with each other within a decision support system are called 'agents. Reusable agents' are modular computer programs (e.g. expert systems) which can be used in more than one computer application with little or no modification. Farm Smart 2000 provides support for most management aspects of crop production including variety selection, crop rotations, weed management, disease management, residue management, harvesting, soil conservation, and economics, for the crops of wheat, canola, barley, peas, and flax. Tier-3, the most sophisticated level of Farm Smart 2000, is the focus of this dissertation and utilizes multiple reusable agents, integrating them such that they cooperate together to solve complex interrelated crop production problems. A Global Control Expert achieves the required communication and coordination among the agents resulting in an "open system", enabling Farm Smart 2000 to extend its problem-solving capabilities by integrating additional agents and knowledge, without system re-engineering, thereby remaining an ongoing technology transfer vehicle.


The requirements for secure document workflows in enterprises become increasingly sophisticated, with employees performing different tasks under different roles using the same proprietary platform. Particularly, fine-grained access control to document information is necessary in certain scenarios where the integrity and confidentiality of parts of documents is of high priority.
 In this paper, we present a secure and flexible Enterprise Rights Management (ERM) system based on a refined version of the Trusted Virtual Domains (TVDs) security model that allows to establish isolated execution environments spanning over virtual entities across separate physical resources. Our security concept achieves a two-layered policy enforcement on documents: a TVD Policy ensuring isolation of the workflow from other tasks on the user platforms, and a role-based document-policy ensuring both confidentiality and integrity of document parts. Moreover, in contrast to existing solutions, our architecture offers advanced features for secure document workflows such as offline access to documents and transparent encryption of documents exchanged via USB, external storage or VPN communication between peer platforms. We also shed the light on key management, document structure and document policy enforcement mechanisms to support the ERM infrastructure. Finally, we prove our concept based on an implementation.


We compare welfare and macroeconomic effects of monetary policy and macroprudential policy, in particular targeting loan-to-value (LTV) ratios. We develop a DSGE model with collateral constraints and two types of agents. In this setup, we study seven potential policy rules responding to credit growth and fluctuations in prices of collateral. We show that monetary policy responding to deviations of collateral prices from their steady state value results in the highest level of social welfare. It is also useful in stabilizing output and inflation. Macroprudential policy using LTV ratio as the instrument is dominated in terms of output and inflation stability by the interest rate rules. If interest rate rules are not available, the LTV ratio can be used to improve welfare, but gains are small..


Abstract Composite soil samples from 7 sites on San Nicolas Island were evaluated quantitatively and qualitatively for the presence of cyanobacteria and eukaryotic microalgae. Combined data demonstrated a rich algal flora with 19 cyanobacterial and 19 eukaryotic microalgal genera being identified, for a total of 56 species. Nine new species were identified and described among the cyanobacteria and the eukaryotic microalgae that were isolated: Leibleinia edaphica, Aphanothece maritima, Chroococcidiopsis edaphica, Cyanosarcina atroveneta, Hassallia californica, Hassallia pseudoramosissima, Microchaete terrestre, Palmellopsis californicus, and Pseudotetracystis compactis. Distinct distributional patterns of algal taxa existed among sites on the island and among soil algal floras of western North America. Some algal taxa appeared to be widely distributed across many desert regions, including Microcoleus vaginatus, Nostoc punctiforme, Nostoc paludosum, and Tolypothrix distorta, Chlorella vulgaris, Diplosphaera cf. chodatii, Myrmecia astigmatica, Myrmecia biatorellae, Hantzschia amphioxys, and Luticola mutica. Some taxa share a distinctly southern distribution with soil algae from southern Arizona, southern California, and Baja California (e.g., Scenedesmus deserticola and Eustigmatos magnus). The data presented herein support the view that the cyanobacterial and microalgal floras of soil crusts possess significant biodiversity, much of it previously undescribed.


Current quantitative evaluations in various research areas for publish/subscribe systems use artificially created event messages to model the system workload. The assumptions made to create these workloads are rather strong and hardly ever described in detail. This does not allow for a repetition of experiments or comparative evaluations of different approaches by different researches. In this paper, we present an evaluation of the distributions of the values of attributes typically used in online auction scenarios. In particular, we focus on auctions of fiction books. We further show our approach of creating event messages by the help of the gained information. Publishing this information on how to create a typical workload for online auctions should allow for the repetition of experiments and the comparison of different evaluations.


Polymer composites are found throughout the world both natural and artificial in origin. In the vast majority of applications, composites serve as structural support or reinforcement roles. Demand for lightweight tough composites is growing in multiple application spaces such as areospace, biomaterials, and infrastructure with physical properties as diverse as the applications. The unifying component in all composites is the presence of an interphase. Many measurement techniques and measurement tools have been developed for the study of this crucial region in composite materials. Many of these methods are great for the measurment and study of bulk properties or model systems. However, development of methods that permit the direct observation of interactions at the interphase during applied stress are needed. Here we employ fluorescence lifetime imaging and hyperspectral imaging to observe activation of a fluorogenic dye at the composite interface as a result of applied stress. The advantages of this sytem include commercial availability of the dye precursor, and simple one‐pot functionalization. The attachment of the dye at the interface is easily monitored through emission wavelength shifts and fluorescence lifetime variations. Interfacial mechano‐responsive dyes have potential for both fundamental studies as well as industrial use as a structural health monitoring tool.


A key criticism levelled at social practice theorists is their seeming inability or reluctance to inform strategies and policies that seek to intervene in the trajectories of practices to address 'real-world' policy problems. In addressing this gap, the contributors in this ground-breaking edited collection take theories of social practice into new territory, seeking to identify opportunities to disrupt, reorient or otherwise redirect social practices in more sustainable directions. Drawing on findings from applied research projects and new theoretical developments, this book examines intersections between practice theories and attempts to govern, steer, or transform social life through policies and programs aimed at improving sustainability outcomes. In doing so, it addresses critical questions such as whether it is indeed possible to intervene in, or govern, social practices, and if so, what this might involve. In focusing on these tantalising prospects, the book draws attention to issues commonly overlooked in behavioural studies, such as large-scale material and infrastructural arrangements and the ways in which practices that move around the globe are resurrected in or rejected from new locales. A range of pressing global environmental policy problems are explored in the collection, such as climate change, drought, and peak electricity demand. These issues are explored through a range of specific case studies from Australia, the UK and the US, providing theoretical insights that are of international relevance. This book is of great interest to consumption and sustainability scholars and students interested in achieving social change. It crosses a diverse range of disciplines, including sociology, philosophy, science and technology studies, geography, politics and policy studies. It is also of interest to the behavioural sciences, particularly psychologists, as an alternative approach to social change.


Motivated by experimental and numerical studies revealing that discoidal high-density lipoprotein (HDL) particles may adopt flat elliptical and nonplanar saddle-like configurations, it is hypothesized that these might represent stabilized configurations of initially unstable flat circular particles. A variational description is developed to explore the stability of a flat circular discoidal HDL particle. While the lipid bilayer is modeled as two-dimensional fluid film endowed with surface tension and bending elasticity, the apoA-I belt is modeled as one-dimensional inextensible twist-free chain endowed with bending elasticity. Stability is investigated using the second variation of the underlying energy functional. Various planar and nonplanar instability modes are predicted and corresponding nondimensional critical values of salient dimensionless parameters are obtained. The results predict that the first planar and nonplanar unstable modes occur due to in-plane elliptical and transverse saddle-like perturbations. Based on available data, detailed stability diagrams indicate the range of input parameters for which a flat circular discoidal HDL particle is linearly stable or unstable.


In this paper we analyze the coverage of the pandemic influenza caused by the A (H1N1) virus by the main Brazilian TV news. Jornal Nacional (JN) – which can be roughly translated with National News – reaches an average of 25 million people throughout the country daily. We have observed that the attention cycle given to the new flu by JN lasted approximately five months with significant space given to the disease. Most of the news highlighted the number of illness cases and the health measures to control the infection. Only a small amount of news dealt with issues related to research and scientific development, and included scientists as interviewees or as information sources. We believe that the coverage made by JN may have contributed to the dissemination of what some authors refer to as a "pandemic of panic".


How should researchers design experiments to detect treatment effects with panel data? In this paper, we derive analytical expressions for the variance of panel estimators under non-i.i.d. error structures, which inform power calculations in panel data settings. Using Monte Carlo simulation, we demonstrate that, with correlated errors, traditional methods for experimental design result in experiments that are incorrectly powered with proper inference. Failing to account for serial correlation yields overpowered experiments in short panels and under-powered experiments in long panels. Using both data from a randomized experiment in China and a high-frequency data set of U.S. electricity consumption, we show that these results hold in real-world settings. Our theoretical results enable us to achieve correctly powered experiments in both simulated and real data. This paper provides researchers with the tools to design well-powered experiments in panel data settings.


The health and viability of colonies of the honey bee, Apis mellifera, in the United States have fluctuated dramatically over the past decade. This poses a substantial threat to agricultural production in this country. Currently, no single factor has been identified for this decline. Rather, it has been suggested that the interaction between multiple biotic and abiotic stressors may be responsible. Among these factors are pesticides, habitat loss, climate and weather, parasites and pathogens, and colony management techniques. For this reason, it is important to examine the prevalence of honey bee parasite and pathogen infection at the state level in comparison to national survey data. In the research described herein, molecular diagnostics were performed on worker honey bee samples from Arkansas hobbyist beekeepers and Oklahoma migratory beekeepers to detect the presence of the following A. mellifera pathogens and parasites: protozoans Nosema apis and N. ceranae; bacterial pathogens Spiroplasma apis and S. melliferum; Trypanosomatid parasites Crithidia mellificae and Lotmaria passim and the parasitic phorid fly Apocephalus borealis. A study including both migratory honey bee colonies and hobbyist managed colonies provides a more comprehensive distribution of where these parasite and pathogen species are occurring and potentially why they are occurring. The study determined that N. ceranae (H=11.6%, M=27.6), L. passim (H=11.3%, M=1.1%), and V. destructor (H=45.5%, M=17.2%), occur in both hobbyist and migratory managed colonies. Nosema ceranae was more prevalent in the migratory colonies than the hobbyist colonies. Spiroplasma was also detected in the Oklahoma migratory colony samples (8.05%), but not in the Arkansas hobbyist colonies. Both V. destructor and L. passim were more prevalent in the hobbyist managed colonies. This research resulted in the first detection of Lotmaria passim in Arkansas honey bees, as well as the first documented detection of L. passim and S. melliferum in Oklahoma. Apocephalus borealis, C. mellificae, N. apis, and S. apis were not detected in either the migratory nor the hobbyist colonies. This study compares honey bee management practices at the hobbyist and migratory level to better understand how management influences parasite and pathogen spread and abundance. The use of state-level surveys, when examining parasite and pathogen occurrence, allows for a better understanding of how these pests are spreading, as well as how quickly and by what means.


Abstract Background: The increase in hospital acquisition of community oncology clinics in the US has led to a shift in the site-of-care (SOC) for infusion therapy from the physician office (PO) to the hospital outpatient (HO) setting. Objective: To investigate differences by SOC in treatment patterns, quality, and cost among patients with cancer undergoing first-line infusion therapy. Research design and methods: This retrospective analysis identified adult patients from Humana medical claims who initiated infusion therapy from 2008–2012 for five common cancer types in which infusion therapy is likely, including early stage breast cancer; metastatic breast, lung, and colorectal cancers; and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Differences by SOC in first-line treatment patterns and quality of care at end-of-life, defined as infusions or hospitalizations 30 days prior to death, were evaluated using Wilcoxon-Rank Sum and Chi-square tests where appropriate. Differences in cost by SOC were evaluated using risk-adjusted generalized linear models. Main outcome measures: Treatment patterns, quality of care at end of life, healthcare costs. Results: There were differences in duration of therapy and number of infusions for some therapy regimens by SOC, in which patients in the HO had shorter duration of therapy and fewer infusions. There were no differences in quality of care at end-of-life by SOC. Total healthcare costs were 15% higher among patients in HO ($55,965) compared with PO ($48,439), p < .0001. Limitations: Analyses was restricted to a claims-based population of cancer patients within a health plan. Conclusion: This study, in an older, predominantly Medicare Advantage oncology cohort, found differences by SOC in treatment patterns and cost, but not quality. Where differences were found, patients receiving care in the HO had shorter duration of therapy and fewer infusions for specific treatment regimens, but higher healthcare costs than those treated in a PO.