The premise of scarcity is central in economics, sociology and politics: we find it, for example, in Hobbes problem of order, Durkheim's problem of solidarity, or in Menger's economic problem. However, there could not be any scarcity without there being no wantingness (Robbins 1932/1945). Therefore, it is essential to study the underlying mechanisms of human wants. The purpose of this paper is thus to develop an explanatory approach of wants. We do this in relation to the concept of preferences of rational choice theory (Becker 1996). By using a favorite case of this theory, namely choices in meritocratic education (Coleman, and Goldthorpe), we manage to show that the assumption of stable preferences is unrealistic. The want-lists of different student's (n=27) demonstrate this. These lists contain, from the perspective of rational choice, high level of inconsistency (Elster 1990): that is, they violate the principle of transitivity (leads to irrationality) and manifests indifference which is derived from the principle of completeness (leads to indeterminacy). We argue that this inconsistency arise because of radical uncertainty (Beckert 2002), denominated as epistemological opaqueness. From this we propose an alternative approach to want formation anchored in the concept of the habitus (Bourdieu 1986) and reflexivity (Archer 2003). The habitus establish the set of wants (merely the bundle of wants), whereas reflexivity condition the want-list (the interconnectedness of wants). This approach does both ease the problem of epistemic opaqueness and maintains that wants form an organic totality. Consequently, choice as well as scarcity on an individual level depends on the habitus and the reflexive capability of an individual, which ultimately hinges on an agent's ability to deal with micropolitical affairs. Keywords: preference, wants, rational choice theory, habitus, reflexivity


A central tenet of Anglo-American penal law is that in order for an actor to be found criminally liable, a proscribed act must be accompanied by a guilty mind. While it is easy to understand the importance of this principle in theory, in practice it requires jurors and judges to decide what a person was thinking months or years earlier at the time of the alleged offense, either about the results of his conduct or about some elemental fact (such as whether the briefcase he is carrying contains drugs). Despite the central importance of this task in the administration of criminal justice, there has been very little research investigating how people go about making these decisions, and how these decisions relate to their intuitions about culpability. Understanding the cognitive mechanisms that govern this task is important for the law, not only to explore the possibility of systemic biases and errors in attributions of culpability but also to probe the intuitions that underlie them.
In a set of six exploratory studies reported here, we examine the way in which individuals infer others' legally relevant mental states about elemental facts, using the framework established over fifty years ago by the Model Penal Code ("MPC"). The widely adopted MPC framework delineates and defines the four now-familiar culpable mental states: purpose, knowledge, recklessness, and negligence. Our studies reveal that with little to no training, jury-eligible Americans can apply the MPC framework in a manner that is largely congruent with the basic assumptions of the MPC's mental state hierarchy. However, our results also indicate that subjects' intuitions about the level of culpability warranting criminal punishment diverge significantly from prevailing legal practice; subjects tend to regard recklessness as a sufficient basis for punishment under circumstances where the legislatures and courts tend to require knowledge.


Hyperkalemia is a common electrolyte disorder observed in the emergency department. It is often associated with underlying predisposing conditions, such as moderate or severe kidney disease, heart failure, diabetes mellitus, or significant tissue trauma. Additionally, medications, such as inhibitors of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, potassium-sparing diuretics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, succinylcholine, and digitalis, are associated with hyperkalemia. To this end, Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) convened a conference in 2018 to identify evidence and address controversies on potassium management in kidney disease. This review summarizes the deliberations and clinical guidance for the evaluation and management of acute hyperkalemia in this setting. The toxic effects of hyperkalemia on the cardiac conduction system are potentially lethal. The ECG is a mainstay in managing hyperkalemia. Membrane stabilization by calcium salts and potassium-shifting agents, such as insulin and salbutamol, is the cornerstone in the acute management of hyperkalemia. However, only dialysis, potassium-binding agents, and loop diuretics remove potassium from the body. Frequent reevaluation of potassium concentrations is recommended to assess treatment success and to monitor for recurrence of hyperkalemia.


In northern Thailand, Laos, and southern China, marginal fishing communities along the Mekong River and its tributaries are experiencing the adverse effects of changing ecosystems on their fish stocks, local economies, lifestyles, and cultural practices. Transnational mega-projects are causing great environmental degradation and endangering people's livelihoods. While depicting a stark future for less advantaged Mekong communities, this book sees reasons for hope in the communities' capacity to respond to these changes. Using their knowledge and experience to cope with evolving historical realities such as erratic water levels, many local communities have devised conservation measures for fishing. The author advocates bottom-up planning and transnational civil society alliances between local groups and regional and international organizations to bring about more balanced development and sounder natural resource management in the region. Appendixes contain an extensive inventory of fish species, habitat, conservation status, and fishing techniques.


Energy losses in farm shops resemble those in homes, but we often ignore these losses. The farm shop is usually not heated to as high a temperature as the home and not as constantly, but energy savings in the shop are attainable with some conservation and efficiency practices. The first step to consider is to obtain an energy audit, especially if you feel you have high energy use in the shop. The energy audit for a farm shop is similar to one for a home. An energy audit is an in-depth examination that determines: • if and how energy is being lost, • which systems are operating inefficiently, and • what type of cost-efficient measures can be implemented to make the farm more energy-efficient. To explain further, an energy audit evaluates the current energy usage, makes calculations of existing systems' efficiency and compares them to proposed new systems. The Agricultural Energy Management Plan (AgEMP) created afterward explains any energy-saving measures recommended for the shop. AgEMP reports may qualify for financial assistance from various funding sources, including but not limited to federal grants, loan programs or energy tax credits. The MAESTRO program was created to strengthen the financial viability of Missouri's livestock producers through energy efficiency. All data on potential energy savings for shops were obtained through this program. Sixty farms representing beef, swine and dairy operations had their shops evaluated for energy usage. The energy savings came from updating lighting, insulating and sealing the shops from air leakage, and upgrading to more efficient heaters. Of the 60 farm shops evaluated, the projected electrical savings were 88,160 kwh. The estimated payback on renovations was 9.7 years, using the estimated savings detailed in Table 1.


This study aims to investigate the relation between evolving graphic representations and due to new digital tools and how they affect architects' approach to design process. In order to do this, Yap_ Magazine being published since 1973 in Turkey will be retrieved and data related to types of architectural design representation used will be recorded. The study will conclude with an evaluation of new representation means such as 3D render, other 3D digital products and diagrams and how they have influenced new approach to design.


Shell-stabilized gas nanobubbles have recently captured the interest of the research community for their potential application as ultrasound contrast agents for molecular imaging and therapy of cancer. However, the very existence of submicron gas bubbles (especially uncoated bubbles) has been a subject of controversy in part due to their predicted Laplace overpressure reaching several atmospheres, making them supposedly thermodynamically unstable. In addition, the backscatter resulting from ultrasound interactions with nanoparticles is not predicted to be readily detectable at clinically relevant frequencies. Despite this, a number of recent reports have successfully investigated the presence and applications of nanobubbles for ultrasound imaging. The mechanism behind these observations remains unclear but is thought to be, in part, influenced heavily by the biophysical properties of the bubble-stabilizing shell. In this study, we investigated the effects of incorporating the triblock copolymer surfactant, Pluronic, into the lipid monolayer of nanobubbles. The impact of shell composition on membrane equilibrium surface tension was investigated using optical tensiometry, using both pendant drop and rising drop principles. However, these techniques proved to be insufficient in explaining the observed behavior and stability of nanobubbles under ultrasound. Additionally, we sought to investigate changes in membrane surface tension (surface pressure) at different degrees of compression (analogous to the bubble oscillations in the ultrasound field) via Langmuir-Blodgett experiments. Results from this study show a significant decrease ( p < 0.0001) in the nanobubble equilibrium surface tension through the incorporation of Pluronic L10, especially at a ratio of 0.2, where this value decreased by 28%. However, this reduction in surface pressure was seen only for specific compositions and varied with monolayer structure (crystalline phase or liquid-crystalline packing). These results indicate a potential for optimization wherein surface pressure can be maximized for both contraction and expansion phases with the proper lipid to Pluronic balance and microstructure.


This new volume presents facsimile copies of over two hundred previously unpublished Babylonian letters and documents written in cuneiform script. The texts, dating from the sixth century B.C., mainly originate from the archives of the Eanna temple in Uruk in southern Mesopotamia, and they contribute important information relating to the political, social, and economic history of this period. In a detailed introduction the authors discuss the significance of these texts and explore their historical and socioeconomic implications. The volume also includes summaries of the contents of the individual documents and comprehensive indices to facilitate full access to the primary data for students and scholars.


Previous researchers have examined the motivations of developers to participate in hackathons events and the challenges of open data hackathons, but limited studies have focused on the preparation and evaluation of these contests. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to examine factors that lead to the effective implementation and success of open data hackathons and innovation contests. Six case studies of open data hackathons and innovation contests held between 2014 and 2018 in Thessaloniki were studied in order to identify the factors leading to the success of hackathon contests using criteria from the existing literature. The results show that the most significant factors were clear problem definition, mentors' participation to the contest, level of support to participants by mentors in order to launch their applications to the market, jury members' knowledge and experience, the entry requirements of the competition, and the participation of companies, data providers, and academics. Furthermore, organizers should take team members' competences and skills, as well as the support of post-launch activities for applications, into consideration. This paper can be of interest to organizers of hackathon events because they could be knowledgeable about the factors that should take into consideration for the successful implementation of these events.


Objective: To examine the relationship between perceived stigma and depressive symptoms among caregivers of persons with dementia (PwD). Methods: A descriptive longitudinal study of 51 caregivers of persons with dementia and 47 PwD, recruited from memory disorders and diagnostic centers and the VA Healthcare system. Modified Labeling Theory served as the organizing framework. Data were collected at baseline, 6, 12 and 18 months to assess changes in perceived stigma and depressive symptoms over the early-mid disease stages as part of a multisite study. Caregivers provided information on ethnic background, geographic location (rural/urban), knowledge of dementia, perceived stigma, depressive symptoms, and the PwD's behavioral symptoms and their reactions to the behaviors. PwD were assessed on their mental ability and disease stage. Inclusion criteria for PwD included a physician-confirmed dementia diagnosis within the last 12-18 months, a Mini Mental State Examination score >15 (to target early-mid disease stage participants), and residence in the community or assisted living facility. Caregivers were non-paid primary caregivers who had ≥ 3 contacts weekly with the PwD, and were ≥21 years old. A linear mixed model analysis was used to determine the relationship between variables, and to examine missing data. Results: Caregivers' perceptions of stigma were significantly associated with depressive symptoms both at baseline (r=0.36, p=0.017) and over 18 months (p=0.004). Results also indicated that caregivers of PwD felt more depressed when they perceived more stigma (p=0.016), despite differences in ethnicity/race, geographic location as well as different levels of cognitive impairment of the person with dementia, and caregiver reactions in response to PwD memory and behavior problems. We also found that perceived stigma minimally mediated the effect between caregivers' reaction toward PwD's memory and behavior problems and depressive symptoms (13.7% decrease in the coefficient). Conclusions: Caregivers of persons with dementia felt more depressed when they perceived more stigma after adjusting for other covariates in the model. Perceived stigma minimally mediated the effect between caregivers' reactions toward the PwD's memory and behavior symptoms and depressive symptoms. Results underscore the effects of stigma in relation to caregiver depressive symptoms. Effective interventions to combat caregiver perceived stigma are needed to enhance caregiver psychological well-being and to increase positive responses to PwD behaviors.


This essay presents, within a broader research program, three sets of conjectures relating to the intertwining of childhood images, biopolitic dispositifs and pedagogic and educational research activities. In the first set of conjectures, some peculiarities of both the market and the democratic approaches to early childhood education are examined, and some characteristics of the possible images of the child and childhood are illustrated relating to the twoapproaches. The second set of conjectures shows, through a circumstantial reasoning, how the proposal of a democratic approach, which arises as a critical response to the market approach, potentially could contribute to the legitimisation of neoliberal biopolitical governmentality.Finally, the last set of conjectures indicates, although cautiously and for the purpose of illustration, one of the ways to escape biopolitical governmentality: rethinking the categories that inform politics and education in order to move towards the resolution of the schism between bare life and form-of-life.


It was suggested in a recent statistical correlation analysis that predictability of monthly‐seasonal precipitation could be improved by using coupled singular value decomposition (SVD) patterns between soil moisture and precipitation instead of their values at individual locations. This study provides predictive evidence for this suggestion by comparing skills of two statistical prediction models based on the coupled SVD patterns and local relationships. The data used for model development and validation are obtained from a simulation over East Asia with a regional climate model. The results show a much improved skill with the prediction model using the coupled SVD patterns. The seasonal prediction skill is higher than the monthly one. The most remarkable contribution of soil moisture to the prediction skill is found in warm seasons, opposite to that of sea surface temperature.


The Supreme Court's decision in Burnham v. Superior Court — despite producing a splintered vote with no opinion garnering a majority of the Court — made one thing clear: an individual defendant can be subject to personal jurisdiction simply by being served with process while he or she happens to be in a forum regardless of whether the defendant has any contacts with that forum. This method of acquiring personal jurisdiction is called transient or "tag" jurisdiction. Tag jurisdiction is older than minimum contacts jurisdiction, and used to be the primary method for determining whether an out of state defendant could be haled into a court. While Burnham held that tag jurisdiction remained constitutionally valid, the court split on the justification for allowing this form of jurisdiction, with four Justices approving the practice under an originalist methodology, and four others approving it based on contemporary notions of fairness.This article argues that both the originalist and fairness-based tests proposed by the principal opinions in Burnham support allowing the assertion of tag jurisdiction over corporations and other entity defendants through in-state service on their officers. This article shows that at the time of the Fourteenth Amendment's ratification, corporations were often subject to personal jurisdiction based only on their officers' physical presence in a forum when served with process. The article also demonstrates that the fairness considerations that led four Members of the Court to endorse tag jurisdiction in Burnham apply with even greater force to modern corporations because of their greater ability to take advantage of the protections and services offered by states outside of their own. Finally, the article examines how the application of tag jurisdiction to corporate entities would be in accord with general trends in constitutional law affording corporations rights equivalent to those of natural persons.


Acknowledging the significance of the above quote, the attempt to theorise and understand power has been one of the principal concerns of sociological analysis. Indeed, power is considered an omnipresent feature of social life, with even the most basic interaction being 'tinged by issues of power differences' (Snyder & Kiviniemi, 2001: 133). Despite acknowledgement of its pervasiveness, agreement on a common perception of power has not been forthcoming. The purpose of this chapter is to locate some of the conceptualisations of power introduced in Part II within the field of sports coaching. It builds on earlier discussions of coaches' power and how it is evidenced (e.g., Cassidy et al., 2009; Jones et al., 2004). Some of this previous work has tended to view power as a finite resource, part of a zero-sum game, where one party has power and the other does not (e.g., Jones et al., 2005; Johns & Johns, 2000). It is analogous here to a football game where one team has possession of the ball and the other does not (Westwood, 2002), emphasising notions of repression and coercion, and power as 'power over'.


PURPOSE
Following accepted procedures for configuring Image-Value to Density Tables (IVDT) can lead to overestimation of skin dose due to exaggerated buildup and scatter in air. Treatment planning systems (TPS), such as Tomotherapy, which calculate dose to air before entering the body, can overestimate air density, leading to buildup and high skin dose. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the magnitude of errors in planned skin dose from incorrect air density assignment on various TPS.

METHODS
Air in a sample patient CT scan was contoured and manually assigned mass densities. Planning was performed using Pinnacle, Eclipse, and Tomotherapy TPS. Air densities were overridden to values between 0.0013 and 0.02 g/cc. A single anterior 6 MV breast tangent was applied to a sample patient to deliver 20 Gy, half the dose under RTOG protocol 1005.

RESULTS
Pinnacle and Eclipse assume negligible dose delivered along the beam path in air, so varying air density did not affect dose with these TPS. Using Tomotherapy, a test site 1 mm under the skin received 168% more dose with an air density of 0.02 g/cc than with normal air density of 0.0013 g/cc. The dose to contralateral breast was 1.40 Gy with air density of 0.0013 g/cc, but rose to 3.05 Gy with a slightly elevated density of 0.003 g/cc, greater than the limit of 2.4 Gy under RTOG 1005.

CONCLUSION
Following procedure by adding a point at the average HU for air will assign half the air voxels excessive density. An IVDT that generated air density of 0.003 g/cc can increase the contralateral breast dose above the max dose limit of RTOG 1005. We recommend placing the IVDT point for air near the maximum image value for air to assure all air voxels are assigned accurate density.


Considering the key evolutions within the access network technologies as well as the unprecedented levels of bandwidth demands by end users, this book condenses the relentless research, design, and deployment experience of state-of-the-art access networks. Furthermore, it shares the critical steps and details of the developments and deployment of these emergent technologies; which is very crucial particularly as telecommunications vendors and carriers are looking for cost-effective ultra-broadband last-mile access solutions to stay competitive in the post bubble era. The book is written to provide a comprehensive overview of the major broadband access technologies and deployments involving internationally recognized authors and key players. Due to its scope and depth, the proposed book is able to fill an important gap of todays available literature.


Recent years have seen a rush toward evidence-based tools in criminal justice. As part of this movement, many jurisdictions have adopted actuarial risk assessment to supplement or replace the ad-hoc decisions of judges. Proponents of risk assessment tools claim that they can dramatically reduce incarceration without harming public safety. Critics claim that risk assessment will exacerbate racial disparities. Despite extensive and heated rhetoric, there is virtually no evidence on how use of this "evidence-based" tool affects key outcomes such as incarceration rates, crime, or racial disparities. The research discussing what "should" happen as a result of risk assessment is hypothetical and largely ignores the complexities of implementation. This Article is one of the first studies to document the impacts of risk assessment in practice. It evaluates pretrial risk assessment in Kentucky, a state that was an early adopter of risk assessment and is often cited as an example of best-practices in the pretrial area. Using rich data on more than one million criminal cases, this Article shows that a 2011 law making risk assessment a mandatory part of the bail decision led to a significant change in bail setting practice, but only a small increase in pretrial release. These changes eroded over time as judges returned to their previous habits. Furthermore, the increase in releases was not cost-free: failures-to-appear and pretrial crime increased as well. Risk assessment had no effect on racial disparities in pretrial detention once differing regional trends were accounted for.

Kentucky's experience does not mean we should abandon risk assessment, but it should temper the hyperbolic hopes (and fears) about its effects. Risk assessment in practice is different from risk assessment in the abstract, and its impacts depend on context and details of implementation. If indeed risk assessment is capable of producing large benefits, it will take research and experimentation to learn how to achieve them. Such a process would be evidence-based criminal justice at its best: not a flocking toward methods that bear the glossy veneer of science, but a careful and iterative evaluation of what works and what does not.


There is a great need for decision makers in healthcare to use robust and reliable evidence to support clinical and health policy choices that aim to improve the quality of healthcare and support the efficient use of scarce resources. This evidence is, however, often lacking in quality, quantity and reliability. While many health interventions hold good face validity, their implementation and use in practice may not always produce the desired improvements in patient care. This gap suggests that challenges exist in the production of such evidence. This thesis sought to respond to this challenge through the undertaking of two health service evaluations. Each evaluation representing an independent, discrete piece of work addressing the primary objective of this thesis—to evaluate the impact of specific complex health interventions —providing evidence for, or against, its ongoing use. These evaluation case studies then provided a platform for reflecting on the contextual issues of the evaluation, lessons learnt and challenges confronted, addressing the second objective of this thesis—to describe the methodological and practical challenges experienced when undertaking such health service evaluations. Case study 1 was a retrospective evaluation of a Telephone Support Program for elderly people with Chronic or Complex care needs. The intervention was developed and implemented by a private healthcare provider and commissioned by a private health insurer, aimed at reducing avoidable hospital admissions for elderly members living in the community. A non-randomised controlled study design was employed using propensity score matching. Compared to matched controls, the intervention was not observed to reduce hospital use of healthcare utilisation costs. However it was unclear if the finding of no effect was due to poor implementation fidelity, issues with data quality and integrity, methodological limitations of the evaluation or an ineffective intervention. Case study 2 was a comprehensive evaluation of the 6-PACK program, a falls prevention intervention specifically developed for acute hospital wards. It was undertaken as part of a rigorously designed cluster randomised control trial (RCT) involving six hospitals (24 acute wards) across Australia and included an economic evaluation, a cost of fall study and an examination of implementation fidelity. The program was found to be ineffective at reducing fall (IRR = 1.04, 95% CI, 0.78 to 1.37; P=0.796) or fall injuries (IRR, 0.96, 95% CI, 0.72 to 1.27; P=0.766), above that of usual care, as such an economic evaluation was not undertaken. The cost of fall study found that patients who experienced an in-hospital fall were observed to have a 7 day longer hospital stay (p<0.000) and an additional AUD$5,395 in hospitalisation costs (p<0.000), compared to those without a recorded fall. While patients who experienced a fall-related injury had an 11 day longer hospital stay (p<0.000) and an additional AUD$9,917 in hospitalisation costs (p=0.003), compared to those without a recorded fall. The examination of implementation fidelity found reasonable levels of implementation fidelity during the cluster RCT. Therefore implementation failure did not appear to have been a key factor for the observed no effect in the 6-PACK trial. These case studies highlighted some common challenges faced by evaluators when examining the impacts of an intervention in the 'real-world' setting. Three key themes emerged from the two case studies: 1) the challenges with designing and undertaking rigorous evaluations in the 'real-world' setting; 2) the use of secondary data sources, particularly with the measurement of outcome and confounding variables and the use of data across organisations and jurisdictions; and 3) the ability to define and examine implementation fidelity of complex health interventions. When examining complex health interventions determining the level of implementation fidelity is essential to the interpretation of study findings, particularly when conducted in the dynamic and complicated environment, that is, healthcare. In addition, to ensure a more rigorous approach to health service evaluation in the 'real-world' is taken, resources need to be dedicated to enhance existing data sources and systems that are more conducive to evaluation, improving the strength of measures and the ability for data linkage to occur easily across sites and jurisdictions.


As environmental issues become more serious, governments and customers are more sensitive about the environmental impacts which are produced by products. Many methods have been proposed to assess environmental impacts. The interdependent relationship among different lifecycle phases must be considered during the assessment of environmental impacts as the complex network relationship existing in different phases. The network is built on the phenomena that the output of one lifecycle phase may be the input of the other phases. The existing environmental impacts assessment adapts the idea of collecting all the potential data from all the lifecycle phases which is quite time-consuming. With the aim of describing the pollution transfer varied in a phase caused by the mass of materials changed in the lifecycle phases, this paper innovatively proposes a matrix-based approach to depict the interdependent relationship. A case study of printed circuit board production is conducted. The main lifecycle phases are taken into account and the results show that the new approach can more precisely assess the global environmental impacts of different designs.


Context. In analyses of stellar spectra and colours, and for the analysis of integrated light from galaxies, a homogeneous grid of model atmospheres of late-type stars and corresponding flux spectra is needed. Aims. We construct an extensive grid of spherically-symmetric models (supplemented with plane-parallel ones for the highest surface gravities), built on up-to-date atomic and molecular data, and make it available for public use. Methods. The most recent version of the MARCS program is used. Results. We present a grid of about 104 model atmospheres for stars with 2500K <= T-eff <= 8000 K, -1 <= log g = log (GM/R-2) <= 5 (cgs) with various masses and radii, -5 <= [Me/H] <= + 1, with [alpha/Fe] = 0.0 and 0.4 and different choices of C and N abundances. This includes "CN-cycled" models with C/N=4.07 (solar), 1.5 and 0.5, C/O ranging from 0.09 to (normally) 5.0 to also represent stars of spectral types R, S and N, and with 1.0 <= xi(t) = 5km s(-1). We also list thermodynamic quantities (T, P-g, P-e, rho, partial pressures of molecules, etc.) and provide them on the World Wide Web, as well as calculated fluxes in approximately 108 000 wavelength points. Underlying assumptions in addition to 1D stratification (spherical or plane-parallel) include hydrostatic equilibrium, mixing-length convection and local thermodynamic equilibrium. We discuss a number of general properties of the models, in particular in relation to the effects of changing abundances, of blanketing, and of sphericity. We illustrate positive and negative feedbacks between sphericity and molecular blanketing. We compare the models with those of other available grids and find excellent agreement with planeparallel models of Castelli & Kurucz (if convection is treated consistently) within the overlapping parameter range. Although there are considerable departures from the spherically-symmetric NextGen models, the agreement with more recent PHOENIX models is gratifying. Conclusions. The models of the grid show considerable regularities, but some interesting departures from general patterns occur for the coolest models due to the molecular opacities. We have tested a number of approximate "rules of thumb" concerning effects of blanketing and sphericity and often found them to be astonishingly accurate. Some interesting new phenomena have been discovered and explored, such as the intricate coupling between blanketing and sphericity, and the strong effects of carbon enhancement on metal-poor models. We give further details of line absorption data for molecules, as well as details of models and comparisons with observations in subsequent papers.


Many soil physical properties and crop yield are affected by compaction. The effects of compaction of two axle loads resulting from wheel traffic on soil bulk density and crop growth were investigated. Subsoiling as a method to alleviate or reduce effects of soil compaction was evaluated. As a result of compacting loads in 2000, corn (Zea mays L.) yield was reduced by 26.8 and 14.5% in 2000 and 2001. Even two years after compaction, soil bulk density was 1.6 to 6.1% greater than the zero-load from 10- to 50-cm depths by 8- and 19-Mg axle loads. Plants in compacted plots had a greater concentration of roots near the base of the plant compared with the plants in the zero-load plots. Plants in the subsoiled plots had fewer roots concentrated near the base of the plant compared with the plants in the nonsubsoiled plots for each load. Plant height was also significantly reduced by compaction. Compaction affected plant and soil properties, but subsoiling removed the compaction effect and improved soil properties, growth, and yield.


The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are unique local laboratories for studying the formation and evolution of small galaxies in exquisite detail. The Survey of the MAgellanic Stellar History (SMASH) is an NOAO community Dark Energy Camera (DECam) survey of the Clouds mapping 480 deg2 (distributed over ∼2400 square degrees at ∼20% filling factor) to ∼24th mag in ugriz. The primary goals of SMASH are to identify low surface brightness stellar populations associated with the stellar halos and tidal debris of the Clouds, and to derive spatially resolved star formation histories. Here, we present a summary of the survey, its data reduction, and a description of the first public Data Release (DR1). The SMASH DECam data have been reduced with a combination of the NOAO Community Pipeline, the PHOTRED automated point-spread-function photometry pipeline, and custom calibration software. The astrometric precision is ∼15 mas and the accuracy is ∼2 mas with respect to the Gaia reference frame. The photometric precision is ∼0.5%–0.7% in griz and ∼1% in u with a calibration accuracy of ∼1.3% in all bands. The median 5σ point source depths in ugriz are 23.9, 24.8, 24.5, 24.2, and 23.5 mag. The SMASH data have already been used to discover the Hydra II Milky Way satellite, the SMASH 1 old globular cluster likely associated with the LMC, and extended stellar populations around the LMC out to R ∼ 18.4 kpc. SMASH DR1 contains measurements of ∼100 million objects distributed in 61 fields. A prototype version of the NOAO Data Lab provides data access and exploration tools.


Utilization rate is an important factor in calculating machine rates for forest harvesting machines. Machine rates allow an evaluation of harvesting system costs and facilitate comparisons between different systems and machines. There are many factors that affect utilization rate. These include mechanical delays, non-mechanical delays, operational lost time, and personnel time. As a result utilization rate can be highly variable and difficult to accurately estimate without detailed information. This paper reports on an ongoing study to measure the utilization rates for forest harvesting machines in the southern US, specifically rubber tired grapple skidders. Electronic service recorders were mounted on four grapple skidders on a harvesting operation in east central Alabama. To date, 44 working days have been monitored for three of the skidders and 19 for the fourth machine. The average utilization rate ranged from 76.5 percent to 64.8 percent.


Radar rainfall nowcasting, the process of statistically extrapolating the most recent rainfall observation, is increasingly used for very short range rainfall forecasting (less than 6 hr ahead). We performed a large‐sample analysis of 1,533 events, systematically selected for 4 event durations and 12 lowland catchments (6.5–957 km2), to determine the predictive skill of nowcasting. Four algorithms are tested and compared with Eulerian Persistence: Rainymotion Sparse, Rainymotion DenseRotation, Pysteps deterministic, and Pysteps probabilistic with 20 ensemble members. We focus on the dependency of nowcast skill on event duration, season, catchment size, and location. Maximum skillful lead times increase for longer event durations, due to the more persistent character of these events. For all four event durations, Pysteps deterministic attains the longest average decorrelation times, with 25 min for 1‐hr durations, 40 min for 3 hr, 56 min for 6 hr, and 116 min for 24 hr. During winter, with more persistent stratiform precipitation, we find three times lower mean absolute errors than for convective summer precipitation. Higher skill is also found after spatially upscaling the forecast. Catchment location matters too: Given the prevailing storm movement, two times higher skillful lead times are found downwind than upwind toward the edge of the domain. In most cases, Pysteps algorithms outperform the Rainymotion benchmark algorithms. We speculate that most errors originate from growth and dissipation processes which are not or only partially (stochastically) accounted for.


Adverse growth conditions, such as excess drought and salinity, tend to cause stunted growth in plants. Achard et al. now show that this growth restraint is an actively controlled process, not simply a by-product of disrupted metabolism. The growth restraint is imposed by DELLA proteins, normally localized to the cell nucleus. Arabidopsis has five related DELLA proteins encoded in its genome. The DELLA family of proteins seems to integrate hormonal and environmental signals to fine-tune the balance between growth and survival. P. Achard, H. Cheng, L. De Grauwe, J. Decat, H. Schoutteten, T. Moritz, D. Van Der Straeten, J. Peng, N. P. Harberd, Integration of plant responses to environmentally activated phytohormonal signals. Science 311, 91-94 (2006). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Offshoring is an important aspect of firms' internationalization. However, offshoring comes at a cost, especially where information or trust is lacking. Immigrant employees could reduce such offshoring costs through their knowledge of their former home countries and via access to foreign networks. We develop a framework of heterogeneous final-good firms to guide our empirical analysis and draw on new employer-employee data for approximately 12,000 Swedish firms during the time period 1998-2007. Our results support the hypothesis that immigrant employees spur offshoring activities by firms through lower offshoring costs. Hiring one additional foreign-born worker can increase offshoring up to three percent on average, with skilled migrants having the strongest effects.


Here, we show how seasonal changes in animal density drive strategic shifts in the activities of wildlife‐watching operators. These shifts result in high viewing intensity when animal densities are low, highlighting the need for modifications to existing wildlife‐watching guidelines. We used the endangered loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta as a model species that exhibits staggered departure from an important breeding area (Zakynthos, Greece, Mediterranean) over a 2‐month period (July to August) when tourism is at a peak, to investigate changes in wildlife‐watching strategies, zoning effectiveness and voluntary guideline compliance over time. We used a combination of direct land‐based observations, global positioning system tracking (of wildlife‐watching vessels and turtles) and models. The modelled number of turtles present in the breeding area decreased from > 200 in July to < 50 in August, while the intensity of turtle‐viewing increased from a mean 1.5 to 6.1 wildlife‐watching vessels per turtle‐viewing event (i.e. concurrent and consecutive vessels observing a single turtle) over the same period, respectively. During this period, the wildlife‐watching strategy changed and compliance to guidelines reduced (exacerbated by recreational vessels). However, wildlife‐watching activity was limited to a highly restricted 0.95‐km2 nearshore area, overlapping with just 9.5% of the core habitat area used by turtles. Our results have broad implications (whale watching etc.) by showing the importance of taking the number of animals available for viewing into consideration when assessing wildlife‐watching activity and when designing viewing guidelines, particularly for populations where numbers noticeably fluctuate.


We study the estimation of conditional mean regression functions through the so-called subset-based kernel principal component analysis (KPCA). Instead of using one global kernel feature space, we project a target function into different localized kernel feature spaces at different parts of the sample space. Each localized kernel feature space reflects the relationship on a subset between the response and covariates more parsimoniously. When the observations are collected
from a strictly stationary and weakly dependent process, the orthonormal eigenfunctions which span the kernel feature space are consistently estimated by implementing an eigenanalysis on the subset-based kernel Gram matrix, and the estimated eigenfunctions are then used to construct the estimation of the mean regression function. Under some regularity conditions, the developed estimator
is shown to be uniformly consistent over the subset with a convergence rate faster than those of some well-known nonparametric estimation methods. In addition, we also discuss some generalizations of the KPCA approach, and consider using the same subset-based KPCA approach to estimate the conditional distribution function. The numerical studies including three simulated examples and two real data sets illustrate the reliable performance of the proposed method. In particular, the improvement over the global KPCA method is evident.


Background/aim There is limited and conflicting epidemiological evidence on the long-term health effects of currently used agricultural pesticides in children. We aim to investigate neurobehavioral effects due to pesticide exposure in school children in the rural Western Cape (WC), one of the largest fruit producing agricultural areas in South Africa. Methods The 3 year cohort study entails a baseline (2017), 4 monthly exposure assessments covering all seasons in the second year and a final follow-up (2019) examination of 1.000 children aged 9–16 years old, from three different agricultural farming areas in the WC region. Exposure to neurotoxic pesticides is measured in urine and hair samples and questionnaires related to pesticide contact including confounding variables. Further, pesticides measured in air and water samples will describe environmental occurrence over the study period. The primary outcome of cognitive functioning is measured through the iPad-based Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) including dimensions for attention, memory, executive functioning, and processing speed. Results Between April and September we enrolled 950 children in the baseline survey, including 53% females and 47% males, 9 to 16 years (11±1.69) in grade 1 to 8 (4±1.6) distributed equally over the three farm areas (~30%). Almost half of the children (47%) have parents who are farmworkers and live on a farm (45%). Majority of participants (96%) coresponded accurately on all 10 preliminary assessment trials to continue further cognitive testing. As an example, the reaction time in the motor screening test ranged from 475 to 3730 milliseconds, median time 875 ms (25th percentile=703 ms; 75th percentile=1266 ms). The response latency during the average correct responses when measuring sustained attention, ranged from 179 to 1739 ms, median time 443 ms (25th percentile=361 ms; 75th percentile=531 ms) Conclusion Preliminary data suggest adequate data distribution for farm and non-farm exposure, to investigate effects. We present for the first time a study using the CANTAB test battery and pesticide exposure in South Africa. Further analysis will determine potential associations between the exposure and neurobehavior of children by controlling for a wider range of confounders from a guardian survey


This article tries to explore earnings management of Taiwanese banking industry. It adjusts the Shen (2008) Model to measure loan loss provision earnings management of banks, and following Jones Model (1991) and Dechow Model (1995) reclassifies non-discretionary and discretionary items to detect accrued earnings management of banks. The empirical results show that banks downward earnings are different to pre-reclassifying discretionary earnings management, and banks employ loan loss provision earnings management upward earnings. Furthermore, different research purposes may adopt different measures to measure the degree of Taiwanese banking industry earnings management.


. Subspace clustering methods with sparsity prior, such as Sparse Subspace Clustering (SSC) [1], are effective in partitioning the data that lie in a union of subspaces. Most of those methods require certain assumptions, e.g. independence or disjointness, on the subspaces. These assumptions are not guaranteed to hold in practice and they limit the application of existing sparse subspace clustering methods. In this paper, we propose ℓ 0 -induced sparse subspace clustering ( ℓ 0 -SSC). In contrast to the required assumptions, such as independence or disjoint-ness, on subspaces for most existing sparse subspace clustering methods, we prove that subspace-sparse representation, a key element in subspace clustering, can be obtained by ℓ 0 -SSC for arbitrary distinct underlying subspaces almost surely under the mild i.i.d. assumption on the data generation. We also present the \no free lunch" theorem that obtaining the subspace representation under our general assumptions can not be much computationally cheaper than solving the corresponding ℓ 0 problem of ℓ 0 -SSC. We develop a novel approximate algorithm named Approximate ℓ 0 -SSC (A ℓ 0 -SSC) that employs proximal gradient descent to obtain a sub-optimal solution to the optimization problem of ℓ 0 -SSC with theoretical guarantee, and the sub-optimal solution is used to build a sparse similarity matrix for clustering. Extensive experimental results on various data sets demonstrate the superiority of A ℓ 0 -SSC compared to other competing clustering methods.


Each drug shows two types of effects, one is useful or wanted therapeutic effect and other is harmful or unwanted secondary effect. One of the common and known effects of drug is on the central nervous system (CNS) or peripheral nerves which results into disturbances in patient's memory, sleeping habit and daily biological rhythms. The outcome of this review appraised herein will help the workers of this field to understand the drug-induced iatrogenic neurological disorders, neurotoxicity, drug reactions and drugdisease interactions.


Extracted from text ... CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Several policy documents approved in the
late 1990s are explicit with respect
to local government's role in ensuring the
safety of people living in their
jurisdictions. The 1996 National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS) and the
1998 White Paper on Safety and Security gave local government new
responsibilities such as the
co-ordination and implementation of crime
prevention programmes within their areas of jurisdiction. The 1998 White
Paper on Local Government determined that municipalities should co-operate
with the
South African Police Service (SAPS), other national and provincial
government departments, the
private sector, and non-governmental and
community based organisations in ..


Hollow reinforced concrete columns have been used in the past in place of their solid counterparts in the construction of bridges. These hollow columns have several benefits over solid columns, including the reduction of vertical load applied to the foundation as well as the reduction of seismic mass. Despite the benefits of hollow reinforced concrete columns, little is known about the effectiveness of transverse reinforcement to confine the concrete in these columns when only one layer of transverse reinforcement is provided. The goal of this research is to develop design procedures and modeling techniques which can accurately describe the behavior of hollow columns with one layer of transverse reinforcement. To achieve this goal, a review of previous research was conducted and the findings were used to propose an adjustment to an existing confined concrete model. A modeling technique for hollow columns was then described, which utilizes the proposed confinement model adjustment. The model has been verified using test specimens presented in previous research, and it has been found to provide a conservative estimate of the response of these columns. Experimental testing of hollow circular and square columns with one layer of transverse reinforcement was performed to gain more understanding of the hollow columns' behavior, as well as to provide further validation of the proposed model. The test results found that hollow specimens with low axial load, low flexural demand, and sufficient wall thickness can produce a limited ductile response. Additionally, it was found that shear effects can be more significant in hollow columns than in equivalent solid columns. The literature review and experimental program demonstrate that hollow columns can achieve a response very similar to that of a solid column with the same outer dimensions and reinforcement details, as long as the hollow column is designed appropriately. A recommended design procedure is proposed, which provides a simple estimate of the required wall thickness to achieve a ductile response for hollow columns with one layer of transverse reinforcement. The modified analysis method is incorporated into this design procedure, producing guidelines for the design and analysis of these hollow columns.


Previous studies have investigated biological activities of plant extracts and their subcomponent compounds as antimicrobial treatments. The addition of adjunct substances in varying
combinations to such agents has also been shown to enhance their antimicrobial activities - a desirable outcome in the development of novel treatment substances to combat pathogens. Whole extracts of tea leaves processed in different ways to produce black, green and white tea types (BT, GT, WT) show different activities. In addition, the effects on pathogens of highly active GT extract rich in flavan-3-ols which are catechins have also been investigated alone and with additives and these can compare favourably with the activities of conventional antibiotics such as oxacillin and ciprofloxacin. However, relatively little attention has been paid to enhancing the activity of whole WT or its weak antimicrobial subcomponents.
The activities of GT and BT were compared to the less researched white tea (WT). Principal tea flavan-3-ols were also screened for activity alone, and combined with a known antimicrobial agent copper(II)sulphate against 'Staphylococcus aureus' NCTC 06751. WT, a sub-fraction, (WTF<lkDa)
and the weak antimicrobial catechin were further tested with another antimicrobial agent vitamin C.
A catechin-copper(II) combination was initially tested against a panel of 4 bacterial species and then investigated further against the least susceptible 'S. aureus' using the antimicrobial agents: caffeine, and iron(II), as well as vitamin C additions. 'Escherichia coli' NCTC 14441 was also tested for comparison. Reaction mechanisms of catechin enhanced with additives were investigated using stoichiometry, crystallisation, UV-vis, solubility, heat treatment, pH, EDTA, H2O2 generation,
catalase, kinetics and the effects of storage on antimicrobial activity.
In 30 minute exposures and within the other conditions tested, the following were seen: Copper(II) alone, and combined with WT produced similar antimicrobial activities. Other teas reduced the copper(II) activity indicating the presence of inhibitory components. Copper(II) combined with vitamin C or WTF increased activity. Iron(II) enhanced catechin against 'S. aureus' but not against 'E. coli'; subsequent addition of copper(II) or vitamin C did not raise activity further. Caffeine, and further antimicrobial agent zinc, and manganese had no effect against 'S. aureus' whereas heat treatment of catechin raised activity of catechin-copper(Il) against 'S. aureus'. A catechin-copper(II) solution, stored at 20 degrees C for 1 day, revealed enhanced activity against 'Proteus mirabilis' NCTC
7827 and E. coli. Vitamin C added to catechin-copper(II) did not enhance activity of stored solutions, but caused losses in activity. However, freeze-drying preserved mixture activities. WTF; freshly-made as well as stored catechin solution; and iron(II) combined with copper(II) generated bactericidal H2O2 whose formation was prevented by EDT A and removed by catalase. Addition of copper(II) to catechin caused a fall in pH, a rise in solubility and in UV-vis absorption indicating a complex which showed rapid effects against 'S. aureus'. Catechin heat treatment raised both speed and level of effect against 'S. aureus' probably due to the production of novel substances.
This is the first time, we believe, an enhancement of a weak antimicrobial such as catechin by adjuncts and by heating has been reported and the findings suggest new ways to develop
antimicrobials. An additional finding was that catechin was enhanced mist by copper(ll) in its activity 'Pseudomonas aeruginosa' NCTC 950, a finding which may find importance in
agricultural well as other settings. The addition of catechin may facilitate a reduction in the use and footprint of copper(ll) in the environment.


In the domain of entrepreneurship, mentors are considered as volunteers and philanthropists yet their value is undermined, the purpose of this paper is to explore the feasibility of financial rewards for mentors, which could help in understanding the perspective of mentors towards the opportunity cost associated with mentoring. This study uses a survey to explore the viability of different types of financial reward models based on the responses of mentors engaged in the mentoring of entrepreneurs. The results are analysed using multivariate techniques, followed by post hoc analysis; a combination of both approaches helps to increase the validity of findings in an exploratory study. The findings of this study show that there is a need to restructure the mentoring system in the entrepreneurship domain, wherein the findings reveal that mentors are more professional in today's competitive business environment, with intentions to receive financial rewards for the long term showing a possible link between mentor growth and the growth of mentees. The pattern found in this study describes a new approach for mentoring in entrepreneurship and for this reason more research is needed to confirm the emerging pattern underlined in this research. This study is first of its kind that reviews the financial opportunities for mentors, especially in context of India, and develops groundwork for future empirical research in this area.


The discovery of high-temperature superconductors (HTS) has opened new opportunities for applications of superconductors in optoelectronics. The HTS perovskites represent a new class of solid-state materials, exhibiting many very interesting and potentially electronic, optical, and electro-optical properties. They also operate int he 30 - 80 K temperature range, where refrigeration is cheap and the parameters of semiconducting devices are optimal. A review of the substrate materials and deposition techniques suitable for fabrication of high-quality epitaxial HTS films for electronic and optoelectronic applications is given. Laser processing techniques of HTS films are presented, with a special emphasis put on the laser writing method. Two possible approaches for the development of a complete optoelectronic system with the elements based on the HTS films and operational at liquid- nitrogen temperatures are presented. The first approach consists of manufacturing the devices made of conventional electro-optic materials and containing HTS transmission lines and electrodes. Design and properties of ultrafast HTS interconnects are discussed, and a new concept of the Mach- Zehnder-type YBa2Cu3O7-y-on LiNbO3 optical modulator is introduced. The second, more futuristic, approach, is to exploit contrasting properties of the oxygen-poor and oxygen-rich HTS phases to fabricate novel, monolithic devices. Recent experiments are discussed which reveal intriguing optical properties of HTS films, and are most relevant for the development of all-HTS optoelectronic devices. Several practical devices, such as high- frequency modulators, ultrafast-pulse generators, and sensitive photodetectors, are presented.


Total fertility rates in sub-Saharan Africa are nearly double that of any other region in the world. Some argue that providing contraceptives has only a negligibly small impact on fertility. I exploit exogenous, temporary reductions in contraceptive supply in Ghana, resulting from cuts in US funding, to examine impacts on pregnancy, abortion, and births. Women are unable to fully compensate for the 10%–16% supply reduction using traditional methods for preventing pregnancy, which increases by 10%. Only nonpoor women offset these unwanted pregnancies with induced abortion. Using separate data, I find that poor women experience increases in realized fertility of 7%–10%.


Corruption manifests itself in many ways and at different levels. Corrupt behavior causes outrage to victims and those who value civil society, it impedes good government and administrative practice. The policy challenge in reducing corruption is to identify the component parts of corrupt behavior and the risk–reward profiles of offenders. This exploratory article begins this process by reporting data from 100 successfully prosecuted cases from New York City. The article analyzes data on varying degrees of corruption in service provision in New York City. The loss to the city is much more a loss of governance capacity than it is a monetary loss.


The discretization of integral equations can lead to systems involving symmetric Toeplitz matrices. We describe a preconditioning technique for the regularized solution of the related discrete ill-posed problem. We use discrete sine transforms to transform the system to one involving a Cauchy-like matrix. Based on the approachof Kilmer and O'Leary, the preconditioneris a symmetric, rank m approximation to the Cauchy-like matrix augmented by the identity. We shall show that if the kernel of the integral equation is smooth then the preconditioned matrix has two desirable properties; namely, the largest m magnitude eigenvalues are clustered around and bounded below by one, and that small magnitude eigenvalues remain small. We also show that the initialization cost is less than the initialization cost for the preconditioner introduced by Kilmer and O'Leary. Further, we describe a method for applying the preconditioner in O((n + 1) lg(n + 1)) operations when n+1 is a power of 2, and describe a variant of the MINRES algorithm to solve the symmetrically preconditioned problem. The preconditioned method is tested on two examples.


Digital storytelling has emerged over the last few years as a powerful teaching and learning tool that engages both teachers and their students. However, until recently, little attention has been paid to a theoretical framework that could be employed to increase the effectiveness of technology as a tool in a classroom environment. A discussion of the history of digital storytelling and how it is being used educationally is presented in this article. The theoretical framework, technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK), is described, along with a discussion of how this model might be used with digital storytelling.


The optical response of a Kronig–Penney type graphene superlattice is investigated. When an external field is applied along the periodicity of the superlattice, the total optical response of the graphene superlattice is enhanced due to the formation of anisotropic Dirac fermions. Such anisotropy tunes up the total optical spectra while maintaining the same critical electric field regardless of the degree of anisotropy. The optical conductance of anisotropic Dirac fermions exhibits two contrasting behaviours: (i) inversely proportional to the anisotropy and (ii) directly proportional to the anisotropy, depending on the direction of the external field. Interestingly, the anisotropy-induced optical conductance enhancement also occurs in gapped graphene with band structure anisotropy. This suggests that the enhanced electron–photon couplings in the presence of anisotropy is a general feature of the relativistic nature of the Dirac fermions in both massless and massive form. It is also revealed that the strong optical nonlinearity is a consequence of the relativistic nature of the Dirac fermions and the Dirac cone isotropy is not required.


Recently, distributed computing systems based on context awareness have been proposing in several domains such as healthcare, logistics and tourism. The study described in this thesis is a part of a broader project of E-Tourism system that provides nomad user, context-aware personalized services. The work of this thesis focuses on the issues raised by web service composition and execution. Web service composition brings benefits of reusing existing services to synthesize the new resulting service that meets users needs. The way to create web service composition normally happens at design time, but this limits choices of services. This thesis presents a novel approach of automated web service composition and execution framework. Our approach aims to compose service operations that fulfill mobile users' requirements expressed in propositional logic and execute the resulting service based on aggregating multi service components. In the proposed framework, we have introduced our planning algorithm based on abstract goal states to search and connect to service operations, by mean of service operation annotations, for an abstract plan. The abstract plan is expected for workflow model of sequencing, paralleling and conditioning among service operations. However, the generated workflow is not in an executable form, this is why we perform the transformation of the workflow into an executable business process. To achieve the business process execution, we defined context based BPMN model for mapping the abstract plan to BPMN semantics. We also propose a new validation algorithm and exploited planning-as-model-checking approach to validate the semantic BPMN model whether it is Well-formed and Well-defined BPMN process. Finally, we implemented the automated service composition and execution framework system in Java platform as a proof of concept. We developed the logical composition and, transformation and validation BPMN algorithms written in Prolog. We have integrated these algorithms into the whole system. From the perspective, we plan to extend our current work and take into account more complex user's scenarios that explicitly and implicitly express other pattern controls and we will also consider the scenarios required for stateful web services


We need to consider how to improve the signal-tonoise ratio in managing the lower limb in diabetes and stratification of risk is an option. Stratifying risk is likely to be helpful, though probably as part of a package of other measures. Whilst the combination of risk stratification and pay-for-performance has improved care in cardiovascular disease, it did not result in instant optimal management - gaps in quality and technical implementation issues remain. 13,14 Although the effectiveness of P4P remains a matter of debate; 15 there are indicators that introducing P4P has improved intermediate markers in the quality of care in diabetes. 16 Previous studies have suggested that the introduction of a shared information system is associated with improving care in diabetes. 17 However, caution is needed in deciding whether this represents cause and effect. 18 As incorporation into P4P indicators improves data recording there maybe scope to include stratification of risk of lower limb problems and appropriate referral into P4P indicators. It is also possible that other professional groups might be more effective in detecting changes in the foot in people with diabetes. In Salford a care pathway which involves paper based assessment by podiatrists is associated with a substantial fall in the rate of amputation. 19 The purpose of informatics is how to better use data and information to improve the quality of care. 20 The ongoing rise, or at best lack of any fall, in the rate of amputationin diabetesis achallenge for us all. Sharing information, stratifying risk, and providing the right care are critical. We also need to explore how P4P might help achieve better outcomes. Improving the signal to noise ratio by focussing care on higher risk individuals and providing feedback about outcomes, in this case rates of amputation, are recommended as the next steps to improve quality. © 2011 PHCSG, British Computer Society.


In 1987 Neville Crowther (Moray I-louse College) compiled a booklet entitled 'Resources for Teachers of Outdoor Education'. Although much of the information included in a publication of this type has a fairly short life expectancy, this booklet was for several years, a useful reference source for many Outdoor Educators. One of the impediments to revising the book has been the rapid growth in the number and range of organisations, texts and other resources. This has been particularly true of the Environment and Environmental Education. However, in 1994 the Scottish Environmental Education Council produced a 'Guide to Resources for Environmental Education' (soon due for revision) and recently Scottish Natural Heritage have published 'Who's Who in the Environment: Scotland' (1996). Chris Loynes (Adventure Education) first published 'the Outdoor Sourcebook' in 1989. This gives brief details of a wide range of 'outdoor providers' throughout the UK. The production of these greatly simplifies the task of updating the Outdoor Education guide, and has allowed us to develop a number of themes which provide general background and advice. Recent analysis of the needs of teachers by the National Association for Outdoor Education highlights the need to raise awareness that Outdoor Education is worthwhile, as well as to develop the confidence to lead it. The aim of this guide is to support both of these needs. Although this Guide is written with the primary intention of satisfying a need within Scotland, much of the guidance and information will certainly have validity throughout the UK.

Despite many changes in the pattern of Outdoor Education provision in Scotland and the UK over recent years the subject area seems quite resilient. Whilst there have been closures of a number of Outdoor Education Centres as a result of the reorganisation of local government there seems to have been an increase in the number of commercial and charitable trust providers. These range from large organisations with a number of employees to individuals who provide specific services. One result of this shift is a reduction in access to established advice structures such as those to be found within a Centre or a Local Education Authority. With so much change, questions such as 'who can I ask T and 'what resources are available ?'are not so easily answered. Recent changes in legislation (eg Activity Centres (Young Person's Safety) Act 1995) and education provision (5 - 14 curriculum etc) also generate new responsibilities and opportunities, as have rapid changes in Information Technology.

Recent reports indicate that recreational use of the outdoors in Scotland is a major contributor to the economy. For example Highlands and Islands Enterprise concluded in 1996 that within the HIE area, mountaineering related expenditure alone amounted to almost £149 million. Other reports suggest figures of a similar order for watersports. Tourism is currently the greatest contributor to the Scottish Economy and, according to Scottish Enterprise, activity holidays now represent the fastest growing sector of the Scottish tourist industry. These findings lend support to the notion that there are an increasing number of independent providers who may wish to access the broad range of information provided in this Guide.

References:
Adventure Education. The Outdoor Source Book, Adventure Education, Penrith. Published annually.
Crowther, N. (1987) Resources for Teachers of Outdoor Education. Edinburgh: Moray House College of Education, 46p.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (1996) The Economic Impacts of Hillwalking, Mountaineering and Associated Activities in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Inverness: HIE.
Loynes, C. (1996) Meeting the Needs of the Teacher. In: Outdoor Education within Schools, NAOE Conference Report.
Scottish Environmental Education Council (1994) A Guide to Resources for Environmental Education. Stirling: SEEC.
Scottish Natural Heritage (1996) Who's Who in the Environment: Scotland. Perth: SNH Publications.


The use of "card checks" as a method of union organizing has recently garnered considerable attention, much of it surrounding the proposed Employee Free Choice Act. The proposed legislation seeks to amend the National Labor Relations Act by requiring employers to recognize a union when the employer is presented with evidence of majority support for union recognition via card checks. Despite this recent interest in card checks, there is little empirical research on the topic due, in part, to the lack of available data. Although card-check organizing in the private sector is not rare, such organizing is voluntary, and does not require government approval. Thus, there is little data chronicling the frequency of such events. However, card-check legislation has become increasingly common among public employees at the state and local levels. In this article, we draw upon the public sector experience to help fill the gap in our understanding of card-check organizing. In particular, the article explores card-check organizing by public sector employees in Illinois which has allowed card-check organizing since 1983, but which in 2003 amended its statute to require employers to recognize unions on the basis of card checks, and Ohio which also has allowed card-check recognition to occur since 1983, but has not passed legislation requiring card-check recognition. An analysis of public sector organizing activity in Illinois before and after the law was changed, allows us to identify the effects of changes in the law and to explore the possible implications in other contexts. Moreover, by comparing the Illinois' experience to that of Ohio, we can more fully understand the extent to which both the presence and absence of card check legislation may have affected organizing activity. The experience of these two states provides us with a natural experiment on the effects of public sector card check legislation on organizing activity. We use data collected from state labor relations agencies in Illinois and Ohio to examine the overall levels and patterns of organizing activity in both states during the period under study (1998-2008), as well as specific contextual conditions associated with organizing activity in the two states. Our data show that in Ohio, where card-check recognition is voluntary, elections run by the state labor agency have been the predominant means of organizing new members. That was also the case in Illinois until 2003, when mandatory card-check legislation was enacted. Since then, the overwhelming majority of organizing has occurred via the mandatory card-check provision. Moreover, cross-sectional (i.e., Illinois and Ohio) and time-series (i.e., pre and post card check legislation in Illinois) comparisons of various contextual characteristics associated with organizing activity provide a more complete picture of the effects of the Illinois' legislation. For part of our analysis, we use a methodological technique known as Qualitative Comparative Analysis ("QCA") to identify combinations of conditions that are distinctively associated with the use of either card-checks or elections. We find that the Illinois' legislation not only facilitated the ability of unions to organize, but also that unions responded by shifting to card checks as their primary means of organizing under certain contextual conditions and by expanding their organizing activity into different contexts.


Whereas state-of-the-art single-channel noise reduction algorithms for auditory prostheses demonstrate an appreciable suppression of the noise and improved speech quality, they are unable, thus far, to improve the intelligibility of noise-degraded speech signals. Alternative approaches to speech enhancement using a binary time-frequency mask have demonstrated substantial intelligibility improvements in low signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) conditions under ideal settings, making this a promising research direction for auditory prostheses. These approaches exploit the sparsity and disjoint-ness of speech spectra in their short-time-frequency representation to preserve only the target-dominant time-frequency regions in the processed output. State-of-the-art noise reduction algorithms in contrast are soft-decision approaches which weight each time-frequency region in proportion to the prevailing SNR. However, the potential for intelligibility improvement using these approaches has not been examined systematically vis-à-vis the binary mask alternative. This contribution compares the performance of an ideal soft-decision system, exemplified by the ideal Wiener filter (IWF), and the ideal binary mask (IBM) for single-channel speech enhancement for auditory prostheses. To obtain results relevant to this application area, a (relatively) low spectral resolution, modelled using the Bark-spectrum scale, is used for both the IWF and the IBM. This spectral resolution is comparable to that being used in commercial hearing instruments. The comparison is in terms of potential for intelligibility improvement and resulting signal quality. Intelligibility tests carried out under various noise conditions and SNRs show that the IWF leads to higher intelligibility scores than the IBM in low SNR conditions. Under non-ideal parameter estimates, it is demonstrated that the IWF approach is also much less sensitive to estimation errors. Quality-wise, a preference for the IWF exists. This was evaluated using a two-stage, pair-wise preference-rating test.


In the last years, cryptocurrencies have become increasingly popular along with their underlying distributed ledger technology, referred to as a Blockchain (BC). Nowadays, a wide variety of BC implementations are available. However, the selection of a suitable implementation for a particular application or use case is complex because it requires a technical understanding of the underlying BC implementation aspects. Therefore, this paper proposes a Controlled Natural Language (CNL) to extends existing BC selection solutions to abstract underlying implementation details. The approach allows the specification abstract high-level policies, referred to as intents, in an English-based language. The approach is inspired by previous approaches from the network management field. Moreover, a state machine-based refinement technique is proposed to refine these intents into low-level BC selection policies. The results of the performance evaluation of the prototype implementation show that the refinement process presents a minimal overhead. In addition, the perceived intuitiveness of the CNL by users was assessed in a survey. The results of the survey suggest that technical and non-technical individuals benefit from an intentbased approach equally.


Though case law typically suggests otherwise, attorney negligence is the primary cause of negligent spoliation of evidence. With the advent of ediscovery, it became markedly more difficult for attorneys to competently guide their clients through the steps necessary to preserve evidence – particularly the categories of evidence most likely to help an opponent in a case. Unlike intentional spoliation instigated by an attorney, negligent spoliation is not the product of calculation. If an attorney were to undertake a cost-benefit analysis, negligent spoliation would not be a rational choice. The field of behavioral legal ethics provides insight into other reasons attorneys fail to develop competence in this area. Some attorneys may have a self-interested motive in taking a less than competent approach to preservation. For others, partisan bias may cause them to misjudge the evidence to be preserved or the effort necessary to do it.
Whatever the causes, the usual disincentives to attorney negligence are absent in this area: malpractice liability, sanctions, and professional discipline are all unlikely in this setting. With an understanding of the current causes of negligent spoliation, this Article proposes new ways that rule-makers, opposing attorneys, and judges can apply pressure to encourage attorney competence in preservation. A Federal Rule of Civil Procedure requiring the initial disclosure of preservation efforts may prompt attorneys to act competently to preserve information at the beginning of the case. Even in the absence of such a rule, opposing attorneys and judges can communicate expectations to attorneys that may encourage competence and discourage negligent spoliation.


This is an essay concerned with sex, or more specifically my recent experiences of sex, sexual attraction and how they seem to help define me. As a story about sex it is (possibly) salacious and will reveal things about me that some may regard as private, better left unsaid and unsuitable in an academic essay. Except that I am not an academic and this is not an academic essay but a story of someone usually identified as a (transsexual) woman. Except I don't identify myself as a binary transsexual woman but as a non-binary assigned male at birth (AMAB) person. In writing about my sex life I want to ask a few questions about (my) gender, sexuality, identity and deception.

Sex, at least for me, can be risky in more ways than one. I'm anally receptive but sexual risk for me is not all about possible exposure to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), it is also whether a sexual encounter might leave me as a victim of "trans panic": will the next person who fucks me perhaps beat me senseless before claiming I deceived them and they didn't know I was AMAB until it was too late? Am I at more risk, and also more deceptive, if a partner thinks I'm a cis-gender woman or a binary transsexual woman? Just where does the line between being "out and proud", passing and deception lie for me as a non-binary AMAB surviving in a largely binary world?

In this essay, I thus wish to explore how issues of sex and deception might interact and raise questions for me as a non-binary, AMAB person. In doing so I will attempt to interweave a critical analysis of some media stories of sexual deception with an autoethnographic account of sex. I am not wise enough to have answers to my questions, however, but instead hope that others may do so.


ICPSR is building LinkageLibrary, a repository and community space for researchers involved in linking and combining datasets, as a collaboration between social, statistical, and computer scientists. Unlike surveys or experiments where causal and outcome variables are measured in tandem, it is often necessary when working with organic, non-design data to link to other measures. This makes linkage methodologies particularly important when conducting analyses using administrative data. A common benchmarking repository of linkage methodologies will propel the field to the next level of rigor by facilitating comparison of different algorithms, understanding which types of algorithms work best under different conditions and problem domains, promoting transparency and replicability of research, and encouraging proper citation of methodological contributions and their resulting datasets. It will bring together the diverse scholarly communities (e.g., computer scientists, statisticians, and social, behavioral, economic, and health (SBEH) scientists) who are currently addressing these challenges in disparate ways that do not build on one another's work. Improving linkage methodologies is critical to the production of representative samples, and thus to unbiased estimates of a wide variety of social and economic phenomena. The repository will accelerate the development of new record linkage algorithms and evaluation methods, improve the reproducibility of analyses conducted on integrated data, allow comparisons on same and different data, and move forward the provision of privacy-aware integrated data. The presentation will focus on lessons learned while building the repository and the community, and introduce the LinkageLibrary website.


The Public Funds Investment Policies Survey is an annual publication, now in its fourth year, which surveys the current investment policy disclosures of the 25 largest (by AUM) sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in the world, as listed by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, and the 25 largest (by AUM) sovereign pension funds (SPFs). The policies reviewed in this survey were obtained directly from the funds when possible, using data available as of summer 2016. Because a minority of funds (primarily SWFs) do not disclose investment policies, caution should be used in interpreting these results. Many funds may have extensive internal policies but choose not to disclose these policies, and the lack of disclosure should not be taken as evidence that such policies do not exist. When possible, reference was made to other sources of data to corroborate or augment disclosed data.


SUMMARY We present a mathematical transmission model of tuberculosis in the USA. The model is calibrated to recent trends of declining incidence in the US-born and foreign-born populations and is used in assessing relative impacts of treatment of latently infected individuals on elimination time, where elimination is defined as annual incidence <1 case/million. Provided current control efforts are maintained, elimination in the US-born population can be achieved before the end of this century. However, elimination in the foreign-born population is unlikely in this timeframe even with higher rates of targeted testing and treatment of residents of and immigrants to the USA with latent tuberculosis infection. Cutting transmission of disease as an interim step would shorten the time to elimination in the US-born population but foreign-born rates would remain above the elimination target.


c-myc RNA rapidly decreases to barely detectable levels in Friend erythroleukemia cells induced to differentiate upon the addition of dimethylsulfoxide. We show here that c-myc gene is down-regulated both at the transcriptional level presumably by a block in the elongation of primary transcripts and at the post-transcriptional level by an increase in the degradation of its mRNA.


Hypabyssal kimberlites are subvolcanic intrusive rocks crystallised from mantle-derived magmas poor in SiO2 and rich in CO2 and H2O. They are complex, hybrid rocks containing significant amounts of mantle-derived fragments, primarily olivine with rare diamonds, set in a matrix of essentially magmatic origin. Unambiguous identification of kimberlites requires careful petrographic examination combined with mineral compositional analyses. Melt inclusion studies have shown that kimberlite melts contain higher alkali concentrations than previously thought but have not clarified the ultimate origin of these melts. Because of the hybrid nature of kimberlites and their common hydrothermal alteration by fluids of controversial origin (magmatic and/or crustal), the composition of primary kimberlite melts remains unknown.


Oncolytic viruses are native or engineered viruses that preferentially replicate in and lyse cancer cells. Selective tumor cell replication is thought to depend on infection of neoplastic cells, which harbor low levels of protein kinase R (PKR) and dysfunctional type I IFN signaling elements. These changes allow more efficient viral replication, and with selected deletion of specific viral genes, replication in normal cells with activated PKR may not be possible. Direct tumor cell lysis, release of soluble tumor antigens, and danger-associated molecular factors are all thought to help prime and promote tumor-specific immunity. Talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) is a genetically modified herpes simplex virus, type I and is the first oncolytic virus to demonstrate a clinical benefit in patients with melanoma. T-VEC has also been evaluated for the treatment of head and neck cancer, pancreatic cancer, and likely other types of cancer will be targeted in the near future. T-VEC has been modified for improved safety, tumor-selective replication, and induction of host immunity by deletion of several viral genes and expression of human granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor. Although the mechanism of action for T-VEC is incompletely understood, the safety profile of T-VEC and ability to promote immune responses suggest future combination studies with other immunotherapy approaches including checkpoint blockade through PD-1, PD-L1, and CTLA-4 to be a high priority for clinical development. Oncolytic viruses also represent unique regulatory and biosafety challenges but offer a potential new class of agents for the treatment of cancer. Clin Cancer Res; 22(5); 1048–54. ©2015 AACR.


Regressions of investment on Tobin's Q are misspecified in the presence of capital gestation lags because they don't distinguish between the value of existing capital and the value of capital at a future date. Current investment should be determined by the anticipated shadow value of capital at the gestation horizon. Under homogeneity conditions analogous to Hayashi[1982], this value is equal to the forecast of an adjusted version of Q. This misspecification helps to explain many pathologies in the literature: attenuated estimates of the coefficient on Q, low R2, and serially-correlated errors. Regressions using aggregate data suggest that (1) endogeneity problems associated with the standard regression of investment on Q can be eliminated by reversing the regression, (2) forecastable changes in Q provide additional information about investment not captured in current Q, and (3) specifications that explicitly account for gestation lags yield capital adjustment costs of a more reasonable magnitude.


An overview of aeroacoustics is provided, beginning with a discussion of the properties of point sources of sound of various orders. This is followed by treatment of the sound generated by a free aerodynamic flow (in the absence of rigid surfaces), and finally by a discussion of the effects of surfaces—very small (aeolian tones), very large (boundary layers), and the important effect of the edge of a large surface (trailing edge noise). In the first part, it is assumed that the aerodynamic flow is given, and that the sound produced by the flow does not act on the flow itself. In the second part, there is a reaction on the flow, and the effect is first order. Then a flow resonance occurs, even though no physical resonator is present; and of course, a physical resonator can be present, as in the familiar case of the organ pipe.


Apelin is a potent inodilator with recently described antiatherogenic properties. We hypothesized that apelin might also attenuate abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) formation by limiting disease-related vascular wall inflammation. C57BL/6 mice implanted with osmotic pumps filled with apelin or saline were treated with pancreatic elastase to create infrarenal AAAs. Mice were euthanized for aortic PCR analysis or followed ultrasonographically and then euthanized for histological analysis. The cellular expression of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in response to apelin was also assessed in cultured macrophages, smooth muscle cells, and fibroblasts. Apelin treatment resulted in diminished AAA formation, with a 47% reduction in maximal cross-sectional area (0.74 vs. 1.39 mm(2), P < 0.03) and a 57% reduction in macrophage infiltrate (113 vs. 261.3 cells/high-power field, P < 0.0001) relative to the saline-treated group. Apelin infusion was also associated with significantly reduced aortic macrophage colony-stimulating factor expression and decreased monocyte chemattractant protein (MCP)-1, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1alpha, interleukin (IL)-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha mean mRNA levels. Apelin stimulation of cultured macrophages significantly reduced MCP-1 and TNF-alpha mRNA levels relative to baseline (2.03- and 1.89-fold reduction, P < 0.03, respectively) but did not affect intimal adhesion molecule expression or medial or adventitial cell cytokine production. Apelin significantly reduces aneurysm formation in the elastase model of human AAA disease. The mechanism appears to be decreased macrophage burden, perhaps related to an apelin-mediated decrease in proinflammatory cytokine and chemokine activation.


Discrete stage-structured prey and prey-predator models are considered. Regarding the former, we prove that the models at hand are permanent (i.e., the population will neither go extinct nor exhibit explosive oscillations) and, moreover, that the transfer from stability to nonstationary behaviour always goes through a supercritical Neimark−Sacker bifurcation.The preymodel covers species that possess a wide range of different life histories. Predation pressure may both stabilize and destabilize the prey dynamics but the strength of impact is closely related to life history. Indeed, if the prey possesses a precocious semelparous life history and exhibits chaotic oscillations, it is shown that increased predation may stabilize the dynamics and also, in case of large predation pressure, transfer the population to another chaotic regime.


We present a new run-time system that supports object sharing in a distributed system. The key insight in this system is that a handle-based implementation of such a system enables efficient and transparent sharing of data with both fine- and coarse-grained access patterns. In addition, it supports efficient execution of garbage-collected programs. In contrast, conventional distributed shared memory (DSM) systems are limited to providing only one granularity with good performance, and have experienced difficulty in efficiently supporting garbage collection. A safe language, in which no pointer arithmetic is allowed, can transparently be compiled into a handle-based system and constitutes its preferred mode of use. A programmer can also directly use a handle-based programming model that avoids pointer arithmetic on the handles, and achieve the same performance but without the programming benefits of a safe programming language. This new run-time system, DOSA (Distributed Object Sharing Architecture), provides a shared object space abstraction rather than a shared address space abstraction. The key to its efficiency is the observation that a handle-based distributed implementation permits VM-based access and modification detection without suffering false sharing for fine-grained access patterns. We compare DOSA to TreadMarks, a conventional DSM system that is efficient at handling coarse-grained sharing. The performance of fine-grained applications and garbage-collected applications is considerably better than in TreadMarks, and the performance of coarse-grained applications is nearly as good as in TreadMarks. Inasmuch as the performance of such applications is already good in TreadMarks, we consider this an acceptable performance penalty.


This paper proposes a mechanism to assess the safety of autonomous cars. It assesses the car's safety in scenarios where the car must avoid collision with an adversary. Core to this mechanism is a safety measure, called Safe-Kamikaze Distance (SKD), which computes the average similarity between sets of safe adversary's trajectories and kamikaze trajectories close to the safe trajectories. The kamikaze trajectories are generated based on planning under uncertainty techniques, namely the Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes, to account for the partially observed car policy from the point of view of the adversary. We found that SKD is inversely proportional to the upper bound on the probability that a small deformation changes a collision-free trajectory of the adversary into a colliding one. We perform systematic tests on a scenario where the adversary is a pedestrian crossing a single-lane road in front of the car being assessed --which is, one of the scenarios in the Euro-NCAP's Vulnerable Road User (VRU) tests on Autonomous Emergency Braking. Simulation results on assessing cars with basic controllers and a test on a Machine-Learning controller using a high-fidelity simulator indicates promising results for SKD to measure the safety of autonomous cars. Moreover, the time taken for each simulation test is under 11 seconds, enabling a sufficient statistics to compute SKD from simulation to be generated on a quad-core desktop in less than 25 minutes.


Abstract. In this study we analyzed how an improved representation of snowpack processes and soil properties in the multilayer snow and soil schemes of the Interaction Soil-Biosphere-Atmosphere (ISBA) land surface model impacts the simulation of soil temperature profiles over northern Eurasian regions. For this purpose, we refine ISBA's snow layering algorithm and propose a parameterization of snow albedo and snow compaction/densification adapted from the detailed Crocus snowpack model. We also include a dependency on soil organic carbon content for ISBA's hydraulic and thermal soil properties. First, changes in the snowpack parameterization are evaluated against snow depth, snow water equivalent, surface albedo, and soil temperature at a 10 cm depth observed at the Col de Porte field site in the French Alps. Next, the new model version including all of the changes is used over northern Eurasia to evaluate the model's ability to simulate the snow depth, the soil temperature profile, and the permafrost characteristics. The results confirm that an adequate simulation of snow layering and snow compaction/densification significantly impacts the snowpack characteristics and the soil temperature profile during winter, while the impact of the more accurate snow albedo computation is dominant during the spring. In summer, the accounting for the effect of soil organic carbon on hydraulic and thermal soil properties improves the simulation of the soil temperature profile. Finally, the results confirm that this last process strongly influences the simulation of the permafrost active layer thickness and its spatial distribution.


For a holistic understanding of violence, the study of its antithesis, nonviolence, is necessary. A primary example of nonviolence is charity. Not only does charity prevent violence from rogue vagrants, but it also is an act of kindness. In seventeenth-century England, when a third of the population lived below the poverty line, charity was crucial. Especially successful were Quaker charity communities and the early involvement of Quaker women in administering aid. This is remarkable, considering that most parish-appointed overseers of the poor were usually male. What explains this phenomenon that women became the main administrators of Quaker charity? Filling in this gap of knowledge would shed further light on Quaker gender dynamics and the Quaker values that are still found in American culture today.