Texture analysis plays an important role in content-based image retrieval and other areas of image processing. It is often desirable for the texture classifier to be rotation and scale invariant. Furthermore, to enable real-time usage, it is desirable to perform the classification efficiently. Toward these goals, we propose several enhancements to the multiresolution Gabor analysis. The first is a new set of kernels called Slit, which can replace Gabor wavelets in applications where high computational speed is desired. Compared to Gabor, feature extraction using Slit requires only 11 to 17% of the numeric operations. The second is to make the features more rotation invariant. We propose a circular sum of the feature elements from the same scale of the feature vector. This has the effect of averaging the feature vector from all orientations. The third is a slide-matching scheme for the final stage of the classifier, which can be applied to different types of distance measures. Distances are calculated at slightly different scales, and the smallest value is used as the actual distance measures. Experimental results using different image databases and distance measures show distinct improvements over existing schemes.


In the Riau Islands of Indonesia significant numbers of women have entered into marriages with men from the nearby countries of Singapore and Malaysia. In many cases, neither spouse migrates after marriage: instead, husband and wife continue to reside in their country of origin. Their close geographical proximity means that the couples can see each other regularly while at the same time taking advantage of the economic opportunities presented by living on different sides of the border. These cross-border marriages challenge the normative model of the nuclear cohabiting couple/family. Our research into the motivations and desires of these cross-border couples living in the Riau borderlands reveals that space and mobility mediate their interactions with the Singaporean, Malaysian and Indonesian states, thus producing localized accounts of citizenship in which class mobility (rather than physical mobility) becomes the dominant frame through which they view state regulation of marriage and migration. This research challenges the state-centric tendencies in some of the scholarly literature on international and transnational marriage which places overwhelming emphasis on the ability of states to regulate access to citizenship rights. In presenting a view of inconsistent and sometimes incoherent states, we highlight the significant differences between perceptions of state influence and actual state practices in relation to the regulation of international marriages.


Terahertz spectroscopic measurements are usually performed in focused beam geometry while the standard routine for the retrieval of the sample refractive index assumes plane-wave approximation. In this paper we propose a model for the transmission function which accounts for spatially limited Gaussian terahertz beams. We demonstrate experimentally its validity and applicability for an accurate extraction of the refractive index from experimental data.


This article seeks to improve our grasp of the societal foundations of US foreign policy by examining how race and gender - two fundamental dimensions of social stratification of US society - affect support for military force in the pursuit of external objectives. It is generally appreciated that, in the United States, women are less inclined to support armed intervention than are men, and feminist theory provides some foundation for explaining the gap. It is less widely recognized that a similar gap separates the attitudes of African-Americans and white Americans, but there is little in the social science literature to suggest why this should be so. The authors examine a number of possible explanations for the parallel, focusing both on attributes that are specific to women and blacks, and on one common to both groups (a high level of political alienation) but not shared by white men. They conclude that, while alienation partially accounts for the parallel attitudes toward force, properties specific to the two demographic groups nevertheless carry part of the burden for explaining their shared relative aversion to military intervention.


This paper exploits the original introduction of Medicaid (1966-1970) and the federal mandate that states cover all cash welfare recipients to estimate the effect of childhood Medicaid eligibility on adult health, labor supply, program participation, and income. Cohorts born closer to Medicaid implementation and in states with higher pre-existing welfare-based eligibility accumulated more Medicaid eligibility in childhood but did not differ on a range of other health, socioeconomic, and policy characteristics. Early childhood Medicaid eligibility reduces mortality and disability and, for whites, increases extensive margin labor supply, and reduces receipt of disability transfer programs and public health insurance up to 50 years later. Total income does not change because earnings replace disability benefits. The government earns a discounted annual return of between 2 and 7 percent on the original cost of childhood coverage for these cohorts, most of which comes from lower cash transfer payments.


With an increase in the number of students and the
number of courses offered by universities, examination scheduling
based on the available facilities becomes much more complicated. At
present, examinations must be appropriately scheduled not only
based on the offered courses, but also with respect to the rooms'
capacities, available time-slots, days-off rules and other soft and
hard constraints. From the Mathematical Programming point of view,
timetabling and scheduling problems are somewhat related to
Assignment problems, but have additional constraints that make them
computationally challenging. Timetabling problems are NP-hard
problems for which there is unlikely to be an economically viable
method for finding the optimal solution. In our studies, we use
Python interfaced with CPLEX as optimization software to find
approximately optimal results for large problems in reasonable
time.


Accumulation of the microtubule-binding protein tau is a key event in several neurodegenerative disorders referred to as tauopathies, which include Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal lobar degeneration, Pick's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration. Thus, understanding the molecular pathways leading to tau accumulation will have a major impact across multiple neurodegenerative disorders. To elucidate the pathways involved in tau pathology, we removed the gene encoding the beta-2 adrenergic receptors (β2ARs) from a mouse model overexpressing mutant human tau. Notably, the number of β2ARs is increased in brains of AD patients and epidemiological studies show that the use of beta-blockers decreases the incidence of AD. The mechanisms underlying these observations, however, are not clear. We show that the tau transgenic mice lacking the β2AR gene had a reduced mortality rate compared with the parental tau transgenic mice. Removing the gene encoding the β2ARs from the tau transgenic mice also significantly improved motor deficits. Neuropathologically, the improvement in lifespan and motor function was associated with a reduction in brain tau immunoreactivity and phosphorylation. Mechanistically, we provide compelling evidence that the β2AR-mediated changes in tau were linked to a reduction in the activity of GSK3β and CDK5, two of the major tau kinases. These studies provide a mechanistic link between β2ARs and tau and suggest the molecular basis linking the use of beta-blockers to a reduced incidence of AD. Furthermore, these data suggest that a detailed pharmacological modulation of β2ARs could be exploited to develop better therapeutic strategies for AD and other tauopathies.


The link between sex and privacy is not self-evident. The protection of the 'right to privacy' is accorded to only those sex acts that have the normative qualities of patriarchal, heterosexual marriage. Additionally, a privacy-focused legal intervention to extend protection and recognition to nonnormative sexualities, could have problematic implications for queer politics itself. This article is an assessment of the 'privacy argument' as articulated in the Naz Foundation judgment, against the backdrop of this troubled relationship between non-normative sexualities and dominant understandings of privacy. While the court in Naz has moved away from a narrow 'space-based' notion of privacy, it continues to view privacy as a negative freedom, the scope of which is rather limited. Additionally, while the exclusivity and ideological dominance of the 'private' is busted by dissociating the claim to privacy with heterosexual marriage, the judgment introduces other normative codes for sexual relationships that are protected by privacy. The article notes that the privacy analysis in Naz Foundation has both possibilities, which must be emphasized and limitations, which must be regarded as areas of further struggle. In the final analysis, one must however acknowledge the limited role that any privacy-based intervention can play in counter-heteronormative struggles, since the ideas of 'natural' and 'unnatural' sexualities are left unexamined, no matter how one may frame the privacy question.


We consider the problem of fairly dividing a collection of indivisible goods among a set of players. Much of the existing literature on fair division focuses on notions of individual fairness. For instance, envy-freeness requires that no player prefer the set of goods allocated to another player to her own allocation. We observe that an algorithm satisfying such individual fairness notions can still treat groups of players unfairly, with one group desiring the goods allocated to another. Our main contribution is a notion of group fairness, which implies most existing notions of individual fairness. Group fairness (like individual fairness) cannot be satisfied exactly with indivisible goods. Thus, we introduce two "up to one good" style relaxations. We show that, somewhat surprisingly, certain local optima of the Nash welfare function satisfy both relaxations and can be computed in pseudo-polynomial time by local search. Our experiments reveal faster computation and stronger fairness guarantees in practice.


Forests out of balance Are tropical forests a net source or net sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide? As fundamental a question as that is, there still is no agreement about the answer, with different studies suggesting that it is anything from a sizable sink to a modest source. Baccini et al. used 12 years of MODIS satellite data to determine how the aboveground carbon density of woody, live vegetation has changed throughout the entire tropics on an annual basis. They find that the tropics are a net carbon source, with losses owing to deforestation and reductions in carbon density within standing forests being double that of gains resulting from forest growth. Science, this issue p. 230 Tropical forests release more CO2 to the atmosphere than they remove from it. The carbon balance of tropical ecosystems remains uncertain, with top-down atmospheric studies suggesting an overall sink and bottom-up ecological approaches indicating a modest net source. Here we use 12 years (2003 to 2014) of MODIS pantropical satellite data to quantify net annual changes in the aboveground carbon density of tropical woody live vegetation, providing direct, measurement-based evidence that the world's tropical forests are a net carbon source of 425.2 ± 92.0 teragrams of carbon per year (Tg C year–1). This net release of carbon consists of losses of 861.7 ± 80.2 Tg C year–1 and gains of 436.5 ± 31.0 Tg C year–1. Gains result from forest growth; losses result from deforestation and from reductions in carbon density within standing forests (degradation or disturbance), with the latter accounting for 68.9% of overall losses.


OBJECTIVE
To provide a single source for the best available estimates of the US prevalence of and number of individuals affected by osteoarthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis, gout, fibromyalgia, and carpal tunnel syndrome, as well as the symptoms of neck and back pain. A companion article (part I) addresses additional conditions.

METHODS
The National Arthritis Data Workgroup reviewed published analyses from available national surveys, such as the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the National Health Interview Survey. Because data based on national population samples are unavailable for most specific rheumatic conditions, we derived estimates from published studies of smaller, defined populations. For specific conditions, the best available prevalence estimates were applied to the corresponding 2005 US population estimates from the Census Bureau, to estimate the number affected with each condition.

RESULTS
We estimated that among US adults, nearly 27 million have clinical osteoarthritis (up from the estimate of 21 million for 1995), 711,000 have polymyalgia rheumatica, 228,000 have giant cell arteritis, up to 3.0 million have had self-reported gout in the past year (up from the estimate of 2.1 million for 1995), 5.0 million have fibromyalgia, 4-10 million have carpal tunnel syndrome, 59 million have had low back pain in the past 3 months, and 30.1 million have had neck pain in the past 3 months.

CONCLUSION
Estimates for many specific rheumatic conditions rely on a few, small studies of uncertain generalizability to the US population. This report provides the best available prevalence estimates for the US, but for most specific conditions more studies generalizable to the US or addressing understudied populations are needed.


This thesis investigates, within a minimalist framework (Chomsky (1993 et seq.)), some of the properties of "subjects". It is demonstrated that the term "subject" picks out whatever element occupies the highest argumental position within its clause at LF, following reconstruction effects. -- In Chapter One, several recent analyses of certain "non-finite" clauses in the ergative Inuktitut/West Greenlandic languages and Lezgian are examined. I conclude that, in each case, the clauses in question are finite. It is proposed that the conspicuous absence, or near-absence, of non-finite control structures in ergative languages derives from the fact that arguments licensed as PRO in such languages do not typically occupy a position where they can be controlled by an element in a higher clause. I consider one strategy made use of by the (ergative) Mayan language Jacaltec to make such clauses possible. -- In Chapter Two, standard assumptions with respect to a 'subject/object' extractability asymmetry are reconsidered, in light of data from English. It is shown that A'-extraction of 'subjects' of unaccusative or passive VPs is not as sensitive to intervening islands as is extraction of 'subjects' of transitive or unergative VPs. This follows, I demonstrate, from the requirement that both types of arguments raise overtly to an A'-position prior to extraction, attracted by an [event] feature of the C head, with the former type of argument necessarily raising via an intermediate A-position, while the latter type must raise directly. Second, two non-finite constructions — one in Italian and another in European Portuguese - are considered. The interaction of the proposed [event] feature of C⁰ with certain other features is shown to derive both fixed word-ordering restrictions and the unexpected availability of 'nominative' Case in these clauses in both languages. -- In Chapter Three, I offer a preliminary analysis which derives 'accusative' versus 'ergative' Case checking patterns in strict terms of Economy, depending on the strength of certain features. I show that no special condition, like the Obligatory Case Parameter (Bobaljik (1993)), need be introduced to derive the differences between the Case patterns of accusative and ergative languages.


ADOR, an unconventional synthesis strategy based on a four-step mechanism: assembly, disassembly, organization, and reassembly, has opened new possibilities in zeolite chemistry. The ADOR approach led to the discovery of the IPC family of materials with tuneable porosity. Here we present the first pressure-induced ADOR transformation of 2D zeolite precursor IPC-1P into fully crystalline 3D zeolite IPC-2 (OKO topology) using a Walker-type multianvil apparatus under a pressure of 1 GPa at 200 °C. Surprisingly, the high-pressure material is of lower density (higher porosity) than the product obtained from simply calcining the IPC-1P precursor at high temperature, which produces IPC-4 (PCR topology). The sample was characterized by PXRD, 29Si MAS NMR, SEM, and HRTEM. Theoretical calculations suggest that high pressure can lead to the preparation of other ADOR zeolites that have not yet been prepared.


BACKGROUND
Coronary vasospasm causes variant angina, as well as acute myocardial infarction, ventricular tachycardia, and sudden cardiac death. We evaluated morphological changes due to vasospastic lesions, which may cause acute coronary syndrome (ACS), using a novel technique called optical coherence tomography (OCT).

METHODS
Twenty patients (40-83 years old, 19 males) with vasospasm-induced ACS who visited the emergency room because of continuous chest pain and displayed transient ST segment elevation in their electrocardiogram were enrolled in the study. None of these patients had significant coronary artery disease and all had positive results in the provocation test. OCT examinations were performed for evaluation of vasospastic lesions.

RESULTS
Intraluminal thrombi and intimal erosion were found in 6 (33.3%) and 2 patients (10%), respectively. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels were significantly higher in patients with microthrombi (2.66 ± 3.33 mg/L) compared with those in patients without microthrombi (0.49 ± 0.30 mg/L; P = 0.022). Serum cardiac troponin-I levels were not significantly different between patients with or without microthrombi (2.37 ± 5.31 ng/mL vs. 1.45 ± 4.68 ng/mL; P = 0.704). Other parameters, including creatinine kinase-myocardial band isoenzyme, total cholesterol, pain duration, residual stenosis, lesion length, and coronary risk factors, were not significantly different between the 2 groups.

CONCLUSION
In patients with vasospasm-induced ACS, microthrombi with or without intimal erosion are major abnormal morphologic findings of OCT examinations. However, further large-scale studies are required for validation.


This study examines how social network integration (i.e., integration of online platforms with other social media services, for example, with Facebook or Twitter) can affect the characteristics of user-generated content (volume and linguistic features) in the context of online reviews. Building on the social presence theory, we propose a number of hypotheses on how social network integration affects review volume and linguistic features of review text. We consider two natural experiments at leading online review platforms (Yelp.com and TripAdvisor.com), wherein each implemented a social network integration with Facebook. Constructing a unique panel dataset of online reviews for a matched set of restaurants across the two review sites, we estimate a difference-in-differences (DID) model to assess the impact of social network integration. We find that integration with Facebook increased the production of user-generated content and positive emotion in review text, while simultaneously decreasing cognitive language, negative emotion, and expressions of disagreement (negations) in review text. Our findings demonstrate that social network integration works as a double-edged sword. On the one hand, integration provides benefits in terms of increased review quantity. On the other hand, these benefits appear to come at the cost of reduced review quality, given past research which has found that positive, emotional reviews are perceived by users to be less helpful. We discuss the implications of these results as they relate to the creation of sustainable online social platforms for user content generation.


It is shown that any singular Lagrangian theory: 1) can be formulated without the use of constraints by introducing a Clairaut-type version of the Hamiltonian formalism; 2) leads to a special kind of nonabelian gauge theory which is similar to the Poisson gauge theory; 3) can be treated as the many-time classical dynamics. A generalization of the Legendre transform to the zero Hessian case is done by using the mixed (envelope/general) solution of the multidimensional Clairaut equation. The corresponding system of motion equations is equivalent to the Lagrange equations and has a linear algebraic subsystem for "unresolved" velocities. Then the equations of motion are written in the Hamilton-like form by introducing new antisymmetric brackets. This is a "shortened" formalism, since it does not contain the "nondynamical" (degenerate) momenta at all, and therefore there is no notion of constraint. It is outlined that any classical degenerate Lagrangian theory (in its Clairaut-type Hamiltonian form) is equivalent to the many-time classical dynamics. Finally, the relation between the presented formalism and the Dirac approach to constrained systems is given.


GDP forecasts for 2017 have been revised upwards for all Central and East European EU Member States (EU-CEE). Farther east, especially in Russia, but also in the Western Balkans, the post-crisis recovery has been much weaker. Private consumption is the main growth driver, underpinned by rising wages and household incomes. Nonetheless, CESEE labour cost competitiveness is not yet endangered. Gradually, along with expanding private consumption, investments have also gained strength and have increasingly emerged as a driver of growth. Trade balances have improved, and many EU-CEE countries (as well as Russia) also report current account surpluses. Growth is thus becoming broader based, more robust, and probably also more sustainable. Improvements in labour markets are spectacular, with rising employment levels mirrored by declining unemployment. Simultaneously, emerging labour shortages are acting as a potential constraint on future growth. In terms of current GDP growth prospects, the CESEE region is split into three sub-regions the EU-CEE, with average annual growth close to 4% in the forecasting period; the Western Balkans, with GDP growing by around 3% per year; and finally, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Ukraine, where growth will be around 2% annually in the medium term. The EU-CEE region is thus catching up again with Western Europe, and the process of economic convergence has resumed at a greater pace than previously expected. This catching-up process will continue probably for the rest of the decade. Importantly, economic convergence is not expected to resume in Russia, where the lack of structural change, lasting investment climate deficiencies and geopolitical conflicts impose a burden on growth. Meagre growth in Russia adversely affects the growth prospects of her CIS partners. But there are several other CESEE countries where recent political developments are not very conducive to growth and European integration in the medium term. However, for the moment, economic growth seems to be unaffected by domestic political instability. Globally, economic resilience persists, regardless of the elevated geopolitical risks. The Forecast Report also includes three special topics (on income convergence with Western Europe, on euro accession and on higher yields on hard currency sovereign debt in CESEE). The key findings of these reports are Convergence in terms of per capita GDP levels in CESEE is a long-term process; by 2050, most of the region will only have bridged half the current gap with the EU-28 level; during the next decade, no country in the region will catch up with average EU-28 wealth levels, and advanced EU-CEE countries like Poland and Hungary will not even reach the 80% mark. Despite sustained criticism since its inception, the euro may yet survive and attract new members in the EU-CEE; it is in the interests of Croatia and Bulgaria to join, and is potentially advantageous for Hungary and Poland; the case is less clear cut for the Czech Republic and Romania, although in neither case would accession be harmful. Many CESEE sovereigns are not in a markedly better shape to deal with a sharp rise in debt yields than they were 10 years ago, and in some cases they are in a worse position; for countries with heavy debt loads and little apparent prospect of achieving high and sustained growth, bond markets could panic, leading to funding difficulties; Ukraine stands out as particularly vulnerable from a sovereign risk perspective, while we conclude that Belarus and many countries in the Western Balkans are also in a weak position.


Correcting law is an important component for two-dimensional trajectory correction technology of spin-stabilized projectile, and it is a key issue to acquire the ideal circular error probability (CEP) of impact points by reasonable correction interval. This paper focuses on the influence factors to determine the correction interval, correction interval determining method based on transient duration of ballistic dynamic process is proposed. The optimum correction interval can be obtained by comprehensive consideration of initial launch parameters, dynamic transient duration and on-board electronics response time. Monte Carlo experiments are performed on square-crossing fixed-cant canard configuration of 155mm spin-stabilized projectile to verify the proposed approach.


This article explores the juxtaposition of prostitution, masculinity, and nationalism in the works of Hebrew writers at the beginning of the twentieth century. By discussing the psycho-poetical elements that underlie David Vogel's depiction of prostitution and the ideological elements in Gershon Shofman's work, and by exposing their dialogue with Hayim Nahman Bialik, this project explores power, vulnerability, gender, sexuality, and nationalism in Hebrew literature of the first half of the twentieth century.My study argues that the trope of the prostitute enables writers of early Hebrew literature to negotiate questions of strength and weakness in the Jewish world. Although Bialik's option of sovereign masculinity became the norm for the Zionist discourse, Shofman, Vogel, Brenner, Reuveni and others expressed different perceptions of gender and power. Hence, in order to understand the intensity of the poetic, national, and gendered dilemmas and struggles of this generation, this study offers to listen not only to their concepts of revival, renewal and empowerment, but also to their expressions of weakness, frustration, loss, anger and aggression.


Foreword Linda-Darling-Hammond Introduction & Overview Cynthia A. Tyson Arnetha F. Ball SECTION I. HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND PERSISTING CHALLENGES: PREPARING TEACHERS FOR DIVERSITY Chapter 1: Diversity & Teacher Education: A Historical Perspective on Research & Policy Carl Grant and Melissa Gibson Chapter 2: Creating Interdisciplinary Multicultural Teacher Education: Courageous Leadership is Crucial Valerie Ooka Pang and Cynthia D. Park Chapter 3: Researching Successful Efforts in Teacher Education to Diversify Teachers Christine E. Slater and H. Richard Milner IV Chapter 4: The Meaning of Culture in Learning to Teach: The Power of Socialization and Identity Formation Etta R. Hollins SECTION II. CURRENT TRENDS AND INNOVATIONS IN RESEARCH ON DIVERSITY: IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHER EDUCATION A. CENTERING RESEARCH ON DIVERSE POPULATIONS IN TEACHER EDUCATION Chapter 5: Teacher Education, Struggles for Social Justice, and The Historic Erasure of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Lives Therese Quinn and Erica R. Meiners Chapter 6: Crossing Boundaries, Studying Diversity: Lessons from Preservice Teachers and Urban Youth Valerie Kinloch Chapter 7: Power in Community Building: Learning from Indigenous Youth How to Strengthen Adult-Youth Relationships in School Settings Patricia D. QuijadaCerecer Chapter 8: "Something to brag about": Black males, literacy, and diversity in teacher education David E. Kirkland Chapter 9: Preparing Teacher Education Candidates to Work with Students with Disabilities and Gifts and Talents Michelle Trotman Scott and Donna Y. Ford Chapter 10: Researching Speakers of Non-Dominant Languages: Tapping into Perceived Barriers to Promote Teaching and Learning in a Diverse South Africa Mandie Uys, Maryna Reyneke, and Kotie Kaiser B. FRAMEWORKS, PERSPECTIVES AND PARADIGMS IN RESEARCH ON DIVERSITY: IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH IN TEACHER EDUCATION Chapter 11: A Critical Race Theory Analysis of Past and Present Institutional Processes and Policies in Teacher Education Thandeka K. Chapman Chapter 12: "I am large, I contain multitudes": Teacher Identity As Useful Frame For Research, Practice, and Diversity in Education Brad Olsen Chapter 13: Shifting the Paradigm to Socio-Culturally Responsive Education: Teaching Native Youth, Teaching About Native Peoples Tiffany S. Lee Chapter 14: Worthy Witnessing: Collaborative Research in Urban Classrooms Maisha T. Winn Chapter 15: The Principal Facts: New Directions for Teacher Education Jeffry M. R. Duncan-Andrade SECTION III. FUTURE TRENDS AND DIRECTIONS: AN AGENDA FOR THE WORK THAT STILL NEEDS TO BE DONE Chapter 16: What We Know and What We Need To Know About Research in a Changing World Kenneth Zeichner Chapter 17: Teacher Education for Diversity: Policy and Politics Marilyn Cochran-Smith and Kim Fries Chapter 18: Placing Equity Front and Center Revisited Sonia Nieto and Kathy McDonough Chapter 19: Asking the Right Questions: A Research Agenda for Researching Diversity in Teacher Education Gloria Ladson-Billings Chapter 20: Preparing Teachers for Diversity in the 21st Century Arnetha F. Ball and Cynthia A. Tyson


There is much interest in building ontologies, however, there is little work and use of ontologies in large-scale. Some reasons for this are time, cost and resources associated with the development. Aiming to reduce these efforts, ontology learning methods have been developed. Therefore, it is necessary to automate the process of acquiring knowledge and different approaches have been suggested. The use of texts as a source of knowledge acquisition appears to be a correct path, since language is the first transfer of knowledge between human beings, besides having a diversity of digital documents available. To support semi-automatic construction of ontologies from texts, several tools were developed, each one using different techniques and methods. Due to the importance of using these tools, this paper aims to present the tools available, and their main features and usability.


PURPOSE
Significant anomalies in scanner reported values of CTDIvol for stationary table protocols (with aberrant, elevated values of CTDIvol up to 300 % higher than the actual dose to the phantom), have been observed; well beyond the typical accuracy expected of CTDIvol as a phantom dose. Recognition of these outliers as bad data is important to users of CT dose index tracking systems (e.g. ACR DIR), and a method for recognition and correction is provided. A second anomaly is that the reported CTDIvol for automatic tube current modulation (TCM) has a different physical meaning from the traditional CTDIvol at constant mA, resulting in the dichotomy CTDIvol of the first and second kinds.

METHODS
Rigorous equations are derived to describe the accumulated dose distributions for auto TCM and for stationary table CT. A comparison with formulae for scanner reported values of CTDIvol clearly identifies the source of these anomalies.

RESULTS
For the stationary table, use of the CTDI100 formula (applicable to a moving phantom only) generates extra scatter and an over beaming correction, both of which are non existent if the phantom is held stationary. It is shown that CTDIvol is not robust between fixed mA and auto TCM in this case only DLP is robust.

CONCLUSION
For the case of a stationary phantom, correction of CTDI100 prior to its use in the calculation of CTDIvol using the approach to equilibrium formula H(a) serves as a method of recognition of bad data and as a correction factor for same. In the case of auto TCM, the use of CTDIvol is compromised, and an alternative (approximate) physical interpretation is suggested. However, the reported DLP value (integral dose) remains robust between the fixed and auto mA modes.


Abstract. We present a technique for estimating the optical thickness of subvisual cirrus clouds detected by OSIRIS (Optical Spectrograph and Infrared Imaging System), a limb-viewing satellite instrument that measures scattered radiances from the UV to the near-IR. The measurement set is composed of a ratio of limb radiance profiles at two wavelengths that indicates the presence of cloud-scattering regions. Cross-sections and phase functions from an in situ database are used to simulate scattering by cloud-particles. With appropriate configurations discussed in this paper, the SASKTRAN successive-orders of scatter radiative transfer model is able to simulate accurately the in-cloud radiances from OSIRIS. Configured in this way, the model is used with a multiplicative algebraic reconstruction technique (MART) to retrieve the cloud extinction profile for an assumed effective cloud particle size. The sensitivity of these retrievals to key auxiliary model parameters is shown, and it is shown that the retrieved extinction profile, for an assumed effective cloud particle size, models well the measured in-cloud radiances from OSIRIS. The greatest sensitivity of the retrieved optical thickness is to the effective cloud particle size. Since OSIRIS has an 11-yr record of subvisual cirrus cloud detections, the work described in this manuscript provides a very useful method for providing a long-term global record of the properties of these clouds.


So-called reliability adaptive systems are able to adapt their system behavior based on the current reliability of the system. This allows them to react to changed operating conditions or faults within the system that change the degradation behavior. To implement such reliability adaptation, self-optimization can be used. A self-optimizing system pursues objectives, of which the priorities can be changed at runtime, in turn changing the system behavior. When including system reliability as an objective of the system, it becomes possible to change the system based on the current reliability as well. This capability can be used to control the reliability of the system throughout its operation period in order to achieve a pre-defined or user-selectable system lifetime. This way, optimal planning of maintenance intervals is possible while also using the system capabilities to their full extent. Our proposed control system makes it possible to react to changed degradation behavior by selecting objectives of the self-optimizing system and in turn changing the operating parameters in a closed loop. A two-stage controller is designed which is used to select the currently required priorities of the objectives in order to fulfill the desired usable lifetime. Investigations using a model of an automotive clutch system serve to demonstrate the feasibility of our controller. It is shown that the desired lifetime can be achieved reliably.


There is always a strong pressure on Information Technology (IT) to do more with fewer resources. Over the decades, this pressure to rationalize IT costs spurred a number of paradigms, technologies and buzzwords. Some of them failed to meet their promises, while others became successfully embed in IT practices and infrastructures, providing sizeable benefits. The paradigm of cloud computing is currently riding this wave, promising to be the next great revolution in IT. Cloud computing appears to have the right technological and market ingredients to become widely successful. However, there are some key areas where cloud computing is still underperforming – such as security. Availability, security, privacy and integrity of information are some of the biggest concerns in the process of designing, implementing and running IT services based on cloud computing, due to technological and legal matters. There is already an extensive set of recommendations for IT management and IT governance in general – such as the popular Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) guidelines and Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT) recommendations. However, the field of cloud computing remains poorly covered. ITIL and other general sources can be sometimes translated to the context of cloud computing, but there are many new challenges not addressed by those generic resources. Recognizing this state of affairs, a number of initiatives already started focusing on novel proposals specifically targeting cloud computing but, up to now, with no significant outcomes. In this paper, we discuss the security implications involved in the migration of IT services to the cloud-computing model, proposing a set of rules and guidelines to be followed in the process of migrating IT services to the cloud. This set of rules and guidelines largely builds on general ITIL recommendations, discussing how to extend/adapt them to the field of cloud computing and identifying which a number of novel areas not covered by current ITIL recommendations.


Today's geography is tomorrow's history. As spatial data become digital, we are in danger of losing that history. The high profile of government mapping agencies has ensured the preservation of present and future time slices of our evolving topography, but there are many other data sets to consider: thematic, often ephemeral, and sometimes of only local significance. Digital data are more easily lost than paper-based records. Should it be the responsibility of the data providers to archive their data, or do national and local map collections have a role to play in acquiring, archiving, and making such data available? The paper considers these issues, taking examples from the UK and from the author's local region.


This paper explores what it means to formulate and assess theories about law and the interpretation of authoritative sources of law. In particular, the paper looks closely at the idea of 'explanatory power' as a way of understanding the kinds of criteria by which legal theories are formulated and assessed. The intuition here is that when we formulate and assess theories within the discipline of law we routinely, though often only tacitly, appeal to standards of explanatory power which philosophers say are central to the norms of theory formation in all disciplines which seek to describe and explain phenomena. Indeed, as the paper shows, there are numerous instances where explanatory power has been explicitly appealed to in a wide range of fields of inquiry within the discipline of law. However, in almost all such analyses scholars do not explain what they mean by explanatory power, but rather use the term as if its meaning was somehow self-evident. The goal of this article is to make this meaning more explicit and precise, by exploring the role that the idea plays in philosophical discussions about theory formation in the natural and social sciences, and then discussing its application as a norm of theory formation within the discipline of law in particular. To do this, the article proceeds in three steps.The first step is to identify and discuss what philosophers of the natural and social sciences have said about the nature and constituent features of a theory that has explanatory power. This part of the paper surveys and classifies the various philosophical approaches to explanatory power (logical, nomological, counter-factual and unificationist) and seeks to articulate an account which can help us understand the nature of explanation within the discipline of law. In particular it is argued that the explanatory power of a theory is a function of four paired qualities, these being (1) the simplicity and intricacy of the theory, (2) the range and complexity of the phenomena that the theory seeks to explain, (3) the specificity and generality of the theory's explanations in relation to those phenomena, and (4) the capacity of the theory to be integrated with other theories or to unify the explanations provided by them.The second part of the paper is concerned with the application of explanatory power within the discipline of law. This part addresses four important objections that can be made against the proposition that explanatory power has an application to the formation and assessment of legal theories. These objections have to do with four important qualities of human law, namely that (1) law is a social fact, (2) law is normative, (3) law is linguistic, and (4) law is complex. Each of these characteristics might suggest that the task of knowing or understanding the law cannot simply be a matter of explanation, analogous to the kind of explanations that are characteristically offered by the natural sciences. However, while these objections draw attention to very important qualities of law that must be taken fully into account, it is argued that it remains possible and indeed fruitful to think about theorisation within the discipline of law as involving in certain important respects a kind of explanation in which the explanatory power of our theories is a prime desideratum.The third and final part of the article explores how explanatory power as a fundamental norm of theory formulation applies in practice, with particular attention being given to its potential application to a specific area of law: in this instance, constitutional law. The objective of this part of the paper is to identify the practical difference that a deliberately rigorous pursuit of explanatory power makes to the formation and assessment of theories of particular areas of law. This is pursued through a critical discussion of the influential theories of constitutional and legal interpretation advanced by Philip Bobbitt, Ronald Dworkin and Jules Coleman. Taking Bobbitt's well-known six modalities of constitutional interpretation as a starting point, it is argued that maximizing the explanatory power of one's interpretation will involve a rigorous inquiry into the text and structure of the constitution, understood in the light of its history, illuminated by the prudential judgments and ethical goals that demonstrably shaped that text and structure. Contrary to Dworkin's approach, which settles for a preliminary analysis of text and structure at a relatively high level of abstraction, leaving room for substantive normative assessment to do most of the decisive work, such an approach seeks to maximize our understanding of text and structure, using history, ethics and prudence to illuminate the document, down to its finest details and extending to its most fundamental principles and comprehensive structural ideas. Indeed, it is argued that there is an important relationship between text, structure and history such that when these three modalities of constitutional interpretation are pursued with as much rigour as the available evidence allows, they tend to shed light on the prudential judgments and ethical goals which actually shaped the constitution's text and structure, thus reinforcing each other and helping us to maximize the explanatory power of our interpretations.


AnyType is a mobile application that generates unique typefaces from photographs of shapes that people find in their environment. In keeping with the principles of aesthetic interaction, the design of AnyType supports opportunities for surprise, storytelling, and expression. This paper presents data collected from two observational studies of AnyType. In both studies, we found that people appropriated the application to create highly personalized messages. They found inspiration in unexpected locations, created memories from nuanced details in their lives, and creatively explored the design space provided by the system. Drawing from our observations, we discuss possible roles mobile devices could play in people's personal meaning making, creative process, and discovery, in interaction with elements of their physical environment.


A multielectrode ion cyclotron resonance (ICR) cell, herein referred to as the "4X cell", for signal detection at the quadruple frequency multiple was implemented and characterized on a commercial 10 T Fourier transform ICR mass spectrometer (FT-ICR MS). Notably, with the 4X cell operating at a 10 T magnetic field we achieved a 4-fold increase in MS acquisition rate per unit of resolving power for signal detection periods typically employed in FTMS, viz., shorter than 6 s. Effectively, the obtained resolution performance represents the limit of the standard measurement principle with dipolar signal detection and FT signal processing at an equivalent magnetic field of 40 T. In other words, the achieved resolving powers are 4 times higher than those provided by 10 T FT-ICR MS with a standard ICR cell. For example, resolving powers of 170,000 and 70,000 were obtained in magnitude-mode Fourier spectra of 768 and 192 ms apodized transient signals acquired for a singly charged fluorinated phosphazine (m/z 1422) and a 19-fold charged myoglobin (MW 16.9 kDa), respectively. In peptide analysis, the baseline-resolved isotopic fine structures were obtained with as short as 768 ms transients. In intact protein analysis, the average resolving power of 340,000 across the baseline-resolved (13)C isotopic pattern of multiply charged ions of bovine serum albumin was obtained with 1.5 s transients. The dynamic range and the mass measurement accuracy of the 4X cell were found to be comparable to the ones obtained for the standard ICR cell on the same mass spectrometer. Overall, the reported results validate the advantages of signal detection at frequency multiples for increased throughput in FT-ICR MS, essential for numerous applications with time constraints, including proteomics.


Stiff-person syndrome (SPS) is a rare neurological disorder with features of an autoimmune disease. SPS is characterized by fluctuating muscle rigidity in the trunk and limbs and a heightened sensitivity to stimuli such as noise, touch, and emotional distress, which can set off muscle spasms. Abnormal postures, often hunched over and stiffened, are characteristic of the disorder. People with SPS can be too disabled to walk or move, or they are afraid to leave the house because street noises, such as the sound of a horn, can trigger spasms and falls. SPS affects twice as many women as men. It is frequently associated with other autoimmune diseases such as diabetes, thyroiditis, vitiligo, and pernicious anemia. Scientists don't yet understand what causes SPS, but research indicates that it is the result of an autoimmune response gone awry in the brain and spinal cord. T he disorder is often misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, psychosomatic illness, or anxiety and phobia. A definitive diagnosis can be made with a blood test that measures the level of glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) antibodies in the blood. People with SPS have elevated levels of GAD, an antibody that works against an enzyme involved in the synthesis of an important neurotransmitter in the brain. Qeios · Definition, November 14, 2019


Recent work in equivariant deep learning bears strong similarities to physics. Fields over a base space are fundamental entities in both subjects, as are equivariant maps between these fields. In deep learning, however, these maps are usually defined by convolutions with a kernel, whereas they are partial differential operators (PDOs) in physics. Developing the theory of equivariant PDOs in the context of deep learning could bring these subjects even closer together and lead to a stronger flow of ideas. In this work, we derive a $G$-steerability constraint that completely characterizes when a PDO between feature vector fields is equivariant, for arbitrary symmetry groups $G$. We then fully solve this constraint for several important groups. We use our solutions as equivariant drop-in replacements for convolutional layers and benchmark them in that role. Finally, we develop a framework for equivariant maps based on Schwartz distributions that unifies classical convolutions and differential operators and gives insight about the relation between the two.


GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellite data monitor large-scale changes in total terrestrial water storage (ΔTWS), providing an invaluable tool where in situ observations are limited. Substantial uncertainty remains, however, in the amplitude of GRACE gravity signals and the disaggregation of TWS into individual terrestrial water stores (e.g. groundwater storage). Here, we test the phase and amplitude of three GRACE ΔTWS signals from five commonly used gridded products (i.e. NASA's GRCTellus: CSR, JPL, GFZ; JPL-Mascons; GRGS GRACE) using in situ data and modelled soil moisture from the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) in two sub-basins (LVB: Lake Victoria Basin; LKB: Lake Kyoga Basin) of the Upper Nile Basin. The analysis extends from January 2003 to December 2012, but focuses on a large and accurately observed reduction in ΔTWS of 83 km3 from 2003 to 2006 in the Lake Victoria Basin. We reveal substantial variability in current GRACE products to quantify the reduction of ΔTWS in Lake Victoria that ranges from 80 km3 (JPL-Mascons) to 69 and 31 km3 for GRGS and GRCTellus respectively. Representation of the phase in TWS in the Upper Nile Basin by GRACE products varies but is generally robust with GRGS, JPL-Mascons, and GRCTellus (ensemble mean of CSR, JPL, and GFZ time-series data), explaining 90, 84, and 75 % of the variance respectively in "in situ" or "bottom-up" ΔTWS in the LVB. Resolution of changes in groundwater storage (ΔGWS) from GRACE ΔTWS is greatly constrained by both uncertainty in changes in soil-moisture storage (ΔSMS) modelled by GLDAS LSMs (CLM, NOAH, VIC) and the low annual amplitudes in ΔGWS (e.g. 1.8–4.9 cm) observed in deeply weathered crystalline rocks underlying the Upper Nile Basin. Our study highlights the substantial uncertainty in the amplitude of ΔTWS that can result from different data-processing strategies in commonly used, gridded GRACE products; this uncertainty is disregarded in analyses of ΔTWS and individual stores applying a single GRACE product.


Community engagement is increasingly important in environmental management. While such engagement has tended to comprise only one-way communication, genuine engagement often requires meaningful cross-cultural communication. This paper explores issues surrounding engagement with Australian indigenous communities, suggesting that the construction of the cultural identity of these communities is an important impediment to meaningful social engagement. Drawing on schema theory and the notion of Bhabha's interstitial space, we argue that environmental management needs to embrace such ideas. Using examples from a study of the non-indigenous construction of Australian Aboriginal identity through a long-established Australian newspaper, we explore implications of non-indigenous construction of Australian Aboriginal identity in environmental management. We argue, thus, that contemporary environmental management needs to encourage a focus on conscious engagement or self-critique of identity statements. This focus would have an emphasis on the constructedness of cultural identity and conscious rejection of the unthinking assumptions they engender.


Natural polymers like cellulose are rich in hydrophilic groups those are able to form intermolecular and intramolecular hydrogen bonding interactions. The regulation of such interactions can be critical for tuning material functionality. In this work, we designed a sustainable hybrid comprising of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (SCMC) and xylitol, in which the molecular interaction is tuned for significantly enhanced thermal conductivity (TC). With optimized ratio of SCMC and xylitol, enhanced TC of up to 1.75 times of neat SCMC was achieved in addition to excellent flexibility and optical transparency. These enhancements are attributed to the formation of new H-bonds between SCMC and xylitol molecules resulting in formation of homogenously distributed thermal bridges throughout the polymer matrix. The intermolecular interaction in SCMC-xylitol composites elucidates some of the fundamental factors (e.g. H-bond intensity) responsible for promoted phonon transfer in polymeric materials, and at the same time sheds light on the capability of employing biopolymer-polyol based materials for thermal management applications.


We consider the problem of joint source-channel coding for transmitting K samples of a complex Gaussian source overT bK uses of a block-fading multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channel with M transmit and N receive antennas. We consider the case when we are allowed to code over L blocks. The channel gain is assumed to be constant over a block and channel gains for different blocks are assumed to be independent. The performance measure of interest is the rate of decay of the expected mean-squared error with the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), called the distortion SNR exponent. We first show that using a broadcast strategy similar to that of Gunduz and Erkip, but with a different power and rate allocation policy, the optimal distortion SNR exponent can be achieved for 0 les b les (|N - M| + 1)/ min(M,N) and for b > MNL2. This is the first time the optimal exponent is characterized for 1/min(M, N) < b < (|N - M| + 1)/min(M, N). Then, we propose a digital layered transmission scheme that uses both time layering and superposition. The new scheme is at least as good as currently known schemes for the entire range of bandwidth expansion factors b, whereas at least for some M, N, and b, it is strictly better than the currently known schemes.


By presenting rigorous situated histories of changing training regimen in different cultures, this collection of papers collectively challenge orthodox notions of the perfect body and its pursuit. The introductory essay by the editor compares and contrasts the different methods and ideals. Ancient regimen and techniques may seem remote, yet many attempt to resolve issues that are common to us all. Some are directed at the immortality or longevity of the physical body, and include performance-enhancing nutrition and drug taking; others train the spirit and souls for the afterlife. Many emphasise the interconnectedness of the human body with its environment. The papers set their topic in its broad socio-political and cultural context, facilitating a dialogue with other contributors who considered many similar questions for the 20th and 21st centuries. Histories of sports, body cultivation and sports medicines in non-European cultures are only just now beginning to emerge. With the Olympics approaching in London, it is timely to explore the diverse traditions of perfecting body and soul, as a fascinating historical project in itself, but also to provide a rich context for envisioning a more widely beneficial approach to sports, medicine and immortality for all.


Cotton is a basic raw material processed in the textile industry all over the world. Some new cotton products have been developed thanks to the inventions and efforts of scientists and engineers dealing with cotton. One of the innovative cotton products is SPINAIR yarn by Kurabo (Japan). It is so called "hollow" yarn made of cotton and PVA fibres. PVA fi bres are introduced into the yarn during the spinning process. Next they are dissolved and removed in fabric finishing, thanks to which in the final product the yarn is composed only of cotton fibres. The yarn has been developed to improve the thermal insulation of cotton fabrics. Due to the dissolving of PVA fibres, the structure of yarn and fabrics made of it is loose and porous. The air trapped inside the yarn between the cotton fibres increases the thermal resistance of fabrics. Within the framework of the work presented composite "hollow" yarn 42 tex made of cotton (80%) and modified PVA (Polyvinyl alcohol) fibres (20%) was investigated within the range of its structural, mechanical and technological parameters. Woven fabric was then manufactured with the application of the 42 tex CO80/ PVA20 yarn in the weft direction. Investigation of the manufactured woven fabric with Alambeta confirmed that fabric with weft yarn 42 tex CO80/PVA20 is characterised by a higher thermal resistance and warmer sensation while touching than that made of 42 tex cotton rotor yarn in the weft.


Globalization as an inevitable process in the twenty-first century in economic, political and cultural dimensions creates changes in education and higher education. Virtual universities have important role in globalization. It is clear that globalization in higher education can affect on other area same economic, culture and etc. Virtual university with special programs and use of information and communication technology (ICT) can show the impact of globalization on society, the economy, and the world system. At virtual universities there are international programs that extend globalization. Globalization requires the existence and development of an advanced information and communications infrastructure. And at virtual university that is new phenomenon in new age we can provide these infrastructures. Also, globalization requires a different education that enhances the ability of learners to access, assess, adopt, and apply knowledge, to think independently to exercise appropriate judgment and to collaborate with others to make sense of new situations. In this paper researcher want to show the impact of keys factors at virtual university on the globalization.
Keywords: Virtual University, Globalization, Higher education.


Discover the incredible possibilities of ImageJ, from basic image processing to macro and plugin development Overview Learn how to process digital images using ImageJ and deal with a variety of formats and dimensions, including 4D images Understand what histograms, region of interest, or filtering means and how to analyze images easily with these tools Packed with practical examples and real images, with step-by-step instructions and sample code In Detail Digital image processing is an increasingly important field across a vast array of scientific disciplines. ImageJs long history and ever-growing user base makes it a perfect candidate for solving daily tasks involving all kinds of image analysis processes. Image Processing with ImageJ is a practical book that will guide you from the most basic analysis techniques to the fine details of implementing new functionalities through the ImageJ plugin system, all of it through the use of examples and practical cases. ImageJ is an excellent public domain imaging analysis platform that can be very easily used for almost all your image processing needs. Image Processing with ImageJ will start by showing you how to open a number of different images, become familiar with the different options, and perform simple analysis operations using the provided image samples. You will also learn how to make modifications through ImageJ filters and how to make local measurements using the selections system. You will also find the instructions necessary to record all the steps you perform so they can be saved and re-run on the same image to ensure analysis reproducibility. Finally, you will get to know some different ImageJ plugins and will learn how to implement your own. What you will learn from this book Install and configure ImageJ and its plugins Open different image formats Move around the image, zoom in and out, and obtain pixel values Master the different selection tools Plot the image profile and understand the histograms Handle 3D and 4D images Use the macro recording system Create your own macros beyond the recorder Build your own plugins using the ImageJ editor Integrate ImageJ with the Eclipse IDE to improve the plugin development process Approach The book will help readers discover the various facilities of ImageJ through a tutorial-based approach. Who this book is written for This book is targeted at scientists, engineers, technicians, and managers, and anyone who wishes to master ImageJ for image viewing, processing, and analysis. If you are a developer, you will be able to code your own routines after you have finished reading this book. No prior knowledge of ImageJ is expected.


Most people in human history have lived under some kind of nondemocratic rule. Political scientists, on the other hand, have focused most efforts on democracies. The borders demarcating ideal types of democracies from nondemocracies are fuzzy, but beyond finding those borders is another, arguably greater, inferential challenge: understanding politics under authoritarianism. For instance, many prior studies ignored transitions between different authoritarian regimes and saw democratization as the prime threat to dictators. However, recent scholarship has shown this to be an error, as more dictators are replaced by other dictators than by democracy.
 A burgeoning field of authoritarianism scholarship has made considerable headway in the endeavor to comprehend dictatorial politics over the past two decades. Rather than attempting to summarize this literature in its entirety, three areas of research are worth reviewing, related to change inside of the realm of authoritarian politics. The two more mature sets of research have made critical contributions, the first in isolating different kinds of authoritarian turnover and the second in separating the plethora of authoritarian regimes into more coherent categories using various typologies. How do we understand authoritarian turnover? Authoritarian regimes undergo distinct, dramatic, and observable changes at three separate levels—in leaders, regimes, and authoritarianism itself. Drawing distinctions between these changes improves our understanding of the ultimate fates of dictators and authoritarian regimes. How do we understand the diversity of authoritarian regimes? Scholarship has focused on providing competing accounts of authoritarian types, along with analyses of institutional setup of regimes as well as their organization of military forces. Authoritarian typologies, generally coding regimes by the identities of their leaders and elite allies, show common tendencies, and survival patterns tend to vary across types. The third research area, still developing, goes further into assessing changes inside authoritarian regimes by estimating the degree of personalized power across regimes, the causes and consequences of major policy changes—or reforms—and rhetorical or ideological shifts.


The Fukushima accident has demonstrated the possibility of long-lasting releases of radionuclides from a nuclear power plant over several weeks. Within the framework of the "PREPARE" research project one work package focused on testing emergency preparedness arrangements in various countries for the special case of long lasting emissions. The aim of this study was to test whether protection strategies included in current nuclear emergency planning in various European countries could adequately reduce the radiological consequences of Nuclear Power Plant accidents with long lasting severe releases. This paper presents an overview and the conclusions of this study, more details of the work can be found in the following articles.


In recent years, application of Social Networking Services (SNS) and Blogs are growing as new communication tools on the Internet. Several large-scale SNS sites are prospering; meanwhile, many sites with relatively small scale are offering services. Such small-scale SNSs realize small-group isolated type of communication while neither mixi nor MySpace can do that. However, the studies on SNS are almost about particular large-scale SNSs and cannot analyze whether their results apply for general features or for special characteristics on the SNSs. From the point of view of comparison analysis on SNS, comparison with just several types of those cannot reach a statistically significant level. We analyze many SNS sites with the aim of classifying them by using some approaches. Our paper classifies 50,000 sites for small-scale SNSs and gives their features from the points of network structure, patterns of communication, and growth rate of SNS. The result of analysis for network structure shows that many SNS sites have small-world attribute with short path lengths and high coefficients of their cluster. Distribution of degrees of the SNS sites is close to power law. This result indicates the small-scale SNS sites raise the percentage of users with many friends than mixi. According to the analysis of their coefficients of assortativity, those SNS sites have negative values of assortativity, and that means users with high degree tend to connect users with small degree. Next, we analyze the patterns of user communication. A friend network of SNS is explicit while users' communication behaviors are defined as an implicit network. What kind of relationships do these networks have? To address this question, we obtain some characteristics of users' communication structure and activation patterns of users on the SNS sites. By using new indexes, friend aggregation rate and friend coverage rate, we show that SNS sites with high value of friend coverage rate activate diary postings and their comments. Besides, they become activated when hub users with high degree do not behave actively on the sites with high value of friend aggregation rate and high value of friend coverage rate. On the other hand, activation emerges when hub users behave actively on the sites with low value of friend aggregation rate and high value of friend coverage rate. Finally, we observe SNS sites which are increasing the number of users considerably, from the viewpoint of network structure, and extract characteristics of high growth SNS sites. As a result of discrimination on the basis of the decision tree analysis, we can recognize the high growth SNS sites with a high degree of accuracy. Besides, this approach suggests mixi and the other small-scale SNS sites have different character trait.


America is on fire. The damage, destruction, and loss of life caused by wildfires have exploded over the past few decades. Nine of the ten worse fire seasons have occurred in the past fifteen years, with 2017 and 2018 being the worst years ever. Despite spending approximately $3.7 billion annually on fire suppression, more than 35,000 structures were lost to wildfires in 2017 and 2018, approximately $32 billion in property losses occurred, and more than 100 people were killed. More than forty million homes worth approximately $187 billion in the U.S. are currently at a high risk of destruction due to wildfires. In response to this crisis, the insurance industry has been dropping customers and refusing to insure homes that are considered at high risk for wildfires, while also excluding coverage under homeowners policies for other natural catastrophes such as floods and earth movement. As a result, natural catastrophes are largely uninsured in America today.

In addition to discussing the causes of the wildfire crisis, including climate change, and ways to mitigate the crisis, this Article analyzes the current insurance market for wildfires and other natural catastrophes in America. In doing so, it explores how other developed countries, such as Australia, Belgium, France, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, and Switzerland, insure natural catastrophes. It concludes by seeking to transform the insurance market in America for natural catastrophes by proposing the creation of a governmental insurance program that "bundles" coverages for natural catastrophes together in a single policy. Bundling the coverages would be a way to solve the correlated risk, adverse selection, and moral hazard problems that have driven private insurers from the insurance market for natural catastrophes and that plague insurance programs that cover only a single catastrophic peril, such as the National Flood Insurance Program.


Joint technology projects or alliances between and among companies require clear and logical planning up front, appropriate monitoring during the project's lifetime, and clear criteria for ending the relationship. Do this, paying attention to some critical details listed below, and you can realize tremendous leverage. Up Front 1. Define the value you each expect from the project/alliance. * Articulate the expectations you have of each other and the project. * Discuss and clarify the needs you each have before, during and after product commercialization. * Define the strategic impact/fit of the alliance for each side. * Articulate the advantage to both of you from the relationship. 2. Define the benefits/rewards you each expect from the project. * Clearly articulate both the tangible and intangible benefits: solely profits or exclusive suppliership, lead time on the market, patent rights, publications and presentations. * Discuss the timing required by each side before gaining the reward/benefits. * Come to closure on the risk associated with the reward, and if you both agree to it. 3. Discuss each of your cultures and general practices--culture always wins out; compatibility and flexibility are critical. Discuss each of your processes/criteria for project selection to assure strategic fit. * Agree on project planning and monitoring processes to indicate level of detail and presentation style. * Discuss your levels of risk tolerance or aversion, and gain agreement. * Communicate your corporate values to assure they are compatible. Set-up Once you have laid the groundwork for the interaction and believe there are reasons for mutual benefit, the alliance must be able to codify, in some manner, the agreements reached in points 1-3, above. 4. Develop and finalize formal agreements. * Through joint development and confidentiality agreements, define rights to technology, timing for commercialization, patent or trade secret rights, cost recovery, and technology exclusivity. * Define clearly the processes for amicably following up and assuring compliance with written agreements. 5. Define roles and resources--there is no silent partner in a true cross-functional team. * Define the role and responsibilities of the project team, who they report to and how. * Spell out the resources each side will supply--equipment/facilities and people. * Articulate the priority of this project to each partner, and the time available. Planning and Monitoring With the legal documentation and resource allocation clearly defined, the team must now get the job done. …


Network advance reservation is an area of growing interest and focus today. However most proposed solutions in this field have only focused on the scheduling of point-to-point client connections. Now as applications and user communities continue to expand, there is a growing need to extend advance reservation support for multipoint services. To address this concern, a heuristic solution is presented for virtual overlay network scheduling. The scheme uses graph-theoretic schemes and is analyzed in detail using network simulation.


Echinacoside is a phenylethanoid glycoside and possesses neuroprotective activity in vitro and in vivo. This study investigates the role of the amyloid cascade and central neuronal function on the protective effects of echinacoside in amyloid β peptide 1-42 (Aβ 1-42)-treated SH-SY5Y cells and an Aβ 1-42-infused rat. Echinacoside inhibited Aβ 1-42 oligomerization in vitro and restored the cell viability that was reduced by Aβ 1-42 in SH-SY5Y cells. Intracisternal infusion with Aβ 1-42 by an osmotic pump caused cognitive deficits, an increase in amyloid deposition and acetylcholinesterase activities, and a decrease in the brain's levels of acetylcholine and dopamine. Echinacoside reduced the cognitive deficits and amyloid deposition, and it reversed the cortical cholinergic dysfunction that was caused by Aβ 1-42 in rats. Echinacoside further reversed the memory impairment in the Morris water maze task caused by scopolamine in mice. Therefore, we suggest that echinacoside ameliorated cognitive dysfunction that was caused by Aβ 1-42 by blocking amyloid deposition via inhibiting amyloid oligomerization and reversing the cortical cholinergic neuronal function via decreasing amyloid neurotoxicity.


This study focuses on surveying different turbulence models and dynamic mesh techniques to simulate a marine hydrokinetic (MHK) crossflow turbine at Rec ≈ 7,000. While several research projects have shown that studies of MHK devices in low Re flow could still yield interesting and significant results, existing computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations were conducted at the chord based Re of 105 ∼ 106. The wake and power production of a laboratory-scaled MHK crossflow turbine were numerically simulated and compared with relevant experimental data. The vertical axis turbine operated in a small flume with 20% blockage ratio and was fabricated by mounting three NACA0012 (2.54 cm chord length) straight blades at a radius of 3.41 cm and 15° pitch angle. Within OpenFOAM environment, blade-resolved models were built with Spalart-Allmaras, k-omega shear stress transport (SST), and k-kl-omega unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes simulation (URANS) in both two and three dimensions. Results from each model were compared with the experimental power measurement and flow field obtained by monoscopic particle image velocimetry (2D PIV). Additionally, four different techniques for moving the solid boundaries (turbine blades) in the unsteady simulation were presented and compared in terms of solution consistency and required computational power. Overset mesh, time-deforming mesh, and moving immersed boundary are all available in this open source environment, beside the common rotating mesh technique, and possess the potential to be applied to a more complicated configuration of turbines.


EQ-5D is used in cost-effectiveness studies underlying many important health policy decisions. It comprises a survey instrument generating a description of health states across five domains, and a system of utility values for each state. The original 3-level version of EQ-5D is being replaced with a more sensitive 5-level version but little is known about the consequences of this change. We develop a multi-equation ordinal response model incorporating a copula specification with normal mixture marginals to analyse the joint responses to EQ-5D-3L and EQ-5D-5L in a survey of people affected by rheumatoid disease, and use it to generate mappings between the 3-level and 5-level descriptive systems. We find significant conflicts between the two, which would imply the reversal of an important conclusion in a real-world evaluation of drug therapies.


The recent wave of enacted and proposed U.S. energy regulations imposes energy efficiency standards on light bulbs, appliances, and motor vehicles based on the unsupported assumption that consumers and firms are irrational and that energy efficiency should be the paramount concern. The regulatory analyses do not document these purported failures in consumer choices or firms' energy utilization decisions with any empirical evidence. The preponderance of the benefits that agencies claim for the regulations is derived from private benefits to consumers and firms attributable to lower energy costs. Without these benefits, the regulatory costs would greatly exceed the benefits. The regulatory analyses consider only mandates as a means of achieving energy-efficiency improvements and ignore other policy options.


In the nearly saturated human respiratory tract, the presence of water-soluble substances in inhaled aerosols can cause change in the size distribution of particles. This consequently alters the lung deposition profiles of the inhaled airborne particles. The magnitude of particle deposition in the lung is affected by the soluble component present in the particle. This is estimated by a numerical model. The model solves the condensation growth equation to determine the size evolution of respirable particles within the human respiratory tract. The water uptake by the particles in the respiratory tract results in change of size and density of the particles, and these changes are incorporated for estimating the particle deposition efficiency. The model results are compared with experimental results of sodium chloride particles. The model reproduces the major features of the experimental data. The simulations indicate that the particle can grow up to two times or more of its original size due to water uptake, depending on the quantity of the soluble matter it carries and thus can have significant effect on particle deposition efficiency. The study investigated the effect of soluble compounds in estimating total and regional lung dose of ambient particulate matter measured in Mumbai, India. The particle mass size distribution and composition considered for the ambient particulate matter, the variation in the total mass dose due to the growth was modest. But, the regional lung dose was significantly affected by the hygroscopic growth.


Some animals migrate long distances to exploit important seasonal food resources in the northern regions of the northern hemisphere, whilst avoiding winter starvation. Changes in the individual's age and navigational skills are likely to affect migration, which in turn influences the geographic distribution of individuals. Processes such as sexual maturation and navigational abilities are affected by age, and age is thus a key factor in understanding migration patterns and differences in distribution ranges. In the present study, we investigated the effects of age on the geographic distribution of a population of Lesser Black-backed Gulls Larus fuscus throughout its annual cycle, by analyzing a dataset of 19,096 records from 10,000 color-ringed gulls. In contrast to previous assumptions, the results showed that gulls were geographically segregated by age throughout the entire annual cycle, rather than showing a geographic age-related cline only in the wintering areas. This asymmetric distribution results from a reduction in the annual range of sexually mature gulls, and the differential distribution of mature and immature individuals (mature birds remained in more northern areas, compared to immature birds, throughout the annual cycle). Furthermore, although immature gulls travelled longer distances than adults, they initiated their fall migration with short movements, in contrast to adults that migrated using longer movements. The effects identified in this study explain the non-homogenous distribution of populations throughout the annual cycle, with wide implications for the development of effective human health policies and/or wildlife management strategies.


Epithelial tissue morphogenesis relies on tightly regulated cell shape changes and local cell-cell contact rearrangements. However, our knowledge on how these cells' behaviours are controlled and implemented during organogenesis remains incomplete. To address this issue, I have made use of the genetically amenable developing Drosophila eye. Patterning of the Drosophila eye is initiated by the morphogenetic furrow (MF), a developmental compartment characterized by a wave of apically constricted cells that travels from the posterior pole of the disc. In the wake of the MF emerges a regular array of aligned photoreceptor-precursor cells that will further assemble into mature ommatidia, the building blocks of the fly's compound eye. My thesis work is concerned with characterizing the cellular and molecular mechanisms directing early ommatidia patterning. My work demonstrates that the alignment of the ommatidial precursor cells is directed by the basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor Atonal (Ato). In the wake of the MF, interfaces between ato-expressing and non-expressing cells promote the planar polarization of the acto-myosin (MyoII) cortex along the anterior-posterior axis. Consequently, MyoII is required to establish the complementary polarisation of the zonula adherens factors ECadherin (E-cad) and Bazooka (Baz) and to direct multicellular alignment. Further, my work indicates that in parallel, transcription downstream of Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signalling is required to sustain MyoII planar polarization as the clusters of aligned cells evolve toward more mature ommatidia. Importantly, both Ato and EGFR modulate E-cad levels in the wake of the MF and we propose that differences in ECad expression create interfacial tensions at the boundary between the MF and more posterior cells. In my model, this provides the directionality for polarizing MyoII. I propose that this cell response directs the alignment of group of cells such that the subsequent orderly and stereotyped EGFR-dependent recruitment of photoreceptors can proceed.


A survey was conducted in laboratories across Canada to determine rates of compliance with recommended safety precautions against exposure to bloodborne pathogens and the rationale for current behaviors. Laboratory workers reported high rates of exposure to bodily fluids and poor rates of compliance with personal protective behaviors. This national study has identified several deficiencies and strategies for improvement.


Vibrational Spectroscopy of Laser Cooled CaH+ Report Title Cold molecules and molecular ions are leading to a renaissance in the field of molecular spectroscopy just as lasercooled atoms resulted in a renaissance of atomic physics. Cold molecules enable the performance of spectroscopy with unprecedented precision. Spectroscopy with cold molecules is driven by many of its modern applications such as precision measurements, cold chemistry and quantum information. Molecular ions trapped in RF Paul traps and sympathetically-cooled with laser-cooled atomic ions have been shown to be a great platform to measure spectroscopic transitions lines at a precision beyond traditional methods, where high ion density is necessary but difficult to achieve with the classical preparations. In this thesis, we perform vibrational spectroscopy on the ?? = 10??=0 and ?? = 9 ? ? = 0 overtone of a trapped and sympathetically-cooled 40CaH+ molecular ion using a resonanceenhanced two-photon dissociation scheme. Our experiments are motivated by theoretical work that proposes comparing the vibrational overtones of 40CaH+ with electronic transitions in atoms to detect possible time variation of in the mass ratio of the proton-to-electron. Due to a lack of experimental data, we start the search using a broadband femtosecond Ti:Sapph laser and the guidance of theoretical calculations. Our initial spectroscopy opens the path for more precise measurements to detect the variation of proton-to-electron mass ratio and to search for astrophysical presence of 40CaH+. Our method fits a wide range of molecular ions that can be co-trapped and efficiently cooled by atomic ions and is the first step to higher precision measurements. This enabled us to measure high-order vibrational overtones of a molecule using only less than 300 molecules for the entire spectrum. High precision measurements on 40CaH+ are enhanced by cooling down the motional temperature ion down to the motional ground state. Future high precision measurements will be conducted on narrow transitions using techniques that transforms the internal state changes into changes in temperature of the ions of 40CaH+. VIBRATIONAL SPECTROSCOPY OF SYMPATHETICALLY LASER-COOLED CaH A Thesis Presented to The Academic Faculty


Manucaritramu, " or The Story of Manu, " by the early sixteenth-century poet Allasani Peddana, is the definitive literary monument of Telugu civilization and a powerful embodiment of the imperial culture of Vijayanagara, the last of the great premodern south Indian states. It is the story of Svarochisha Manu, who ruled over the previous cosmic age and who serves here as prototype for the first human being. Peddana explores the dramatic displacements, imaginative projections, and intricate workings of desire necessary for Manu s birth and formation. The Story of Manu" is also a book about kingship and its exigencies at the time of Krishnadevaraya, the most powerful of the Vijayanagara rulers, who was a close friend and patron of the poet. The Story of Manu," presented in the Telugu script alongside the first translation into any language, is a true masterpiece of early modern south Indian literature.The Murty Classical Library of India makes available original texts and modern English translations of the masterpieces of literature and thought from across the whole spectrum of Indic languages over the past two millennia in the most authoritative and accessible formats on offer anywhere."


The article is examined the financial statement analysis which usually is made up in price measurement and the items reflect the prices of time different periods. The problem is how to compare these items, how does it manipulate for such information characters of financial statements as understandability, relevance, reliability, comparability. There are some methods of price behavior reflections which based on different capital maintenance concepts, everyone has got its positive and negative aspects


The control of wastewater treatment plants can help to achieve good effluent quality, in a complex, highly non-linear environment. A key but time-demanding component of such modelling studies is uncertainty analysis (UA). The general aims of this paper are (a) to evaluate methods for reduction of the time necessary to conduct an UA, and (b) to evaluate the sensitivity of parameters and model subsystems. Two UA studies on the Benchmark Simulation Model no. 2 (BSM2) are used to illustrate how the above mentioned aims can be achieved: (1) robustness of performance evaluations against changing operation and design conditions; and (2) uncertainty of performance evaluations for a given plant layout and operation. The main conclusions are: (1) solver settings have a large impact on simulation speed and require proper attention; (2) to reach convergence in Monte Carlo simulations with Latin Hypercube Sampling, the number of simulations should be at least 50 times the number of sampled parameters, which is more than what is reported in similar studies; and (3) the number of uncertain parameters that needs to be considered to make a proper uncertainty assessment of a model can be reduced significantly by omitting parameters that have little influence.


The effect of ambient solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) on a shallow-water (4 cm) tropical fouling community was assessed during the succession of macrobenthic species on artificial substrates at the Wong Shek fish farm, Hong Kong. The early successional communities developing under 3 radiation treatments (PAR + UV-A + UV-B = 280 to 700 nm; PAR + UV-A = 320 to 700 nm, and PAR = 400 to 700 nm) were monitored for 14 wk. A total of 8 species of algae and 8 species of invertebrates colonised the experimental tiles. During the first 8 wk of the experiments, there were no differences among treatments in diversity, percentage of cover of species and the biomass of the colonisers. During the following 6 wk, the communities exposed to UVR had lower species richness than the communities exposed to only PAR had. The species diversity (after 79 and 98 d) of the 3 treatments varied, but the total percentage of species cover and the entire community biomass were not significantly different across the experiment. Juveniles of the polychaete Hydroides elegans and the barnacle Balanus amphitrite, juveniles of the clams Perna viridis and Modiolus comptus, and the algae Enteromorpha sp., Ectocarpus sp. and Cladophora sp. were responsible for the dissimilarity between communities developed under different UVR treatments. The algae constituted a higher percentage of the cover under the full sunlight spectrum, whereas the polychaete, the barnacle and the clams were dominant in the no-UVR treatment. Our outdoor experiment revealed that UVR inhibited the settlement and decreased post-settlement survival of H. elegans. We concluded that UVR affects the composition of early successional, shallow water biofouling communities in tropical waters as well as the settlement and mortality of single species.


Epicentres is a series of computer-generated images that indicate the position of earthquakes in remote locations, in this case, Alaska in winter. Tremors that are low on the Richter scale might only be sensed by seismological recording equipment rather than be felt by humans. Twenty-four of these images were collected in a softback publication, produced as part of 'The Editions', by Guerilla Writers, edited by Sharon Kivland.

The research is part of a wider inquiry into the devolution of the experience of noticing external phenomena to digital sensing equipment. Here, technology pays attention to this visceral geological event so we don't have to; data is silently gathered, quantified, and visualised, and everyday life remains uninterrupted by these events. It might be said that the sensing apparatus constructs the real through an automated mediation of it, by determining what constitutes a seismological 'event to be noticed'. The utilitarian aesthetic qualities of these images, whose diagrammatic form reveals almost nothing about the physically unsettling affective experience they refer to, further distances the event from the realm of the subjective. Collecting the images in a book could be seen as an attempt to reclaim some humanness, or relatable materiality, from this automated sensing system, while the form of the book also invites the type of focused human attention that is often claimed to be eroded by digital technologies.


Ceres' surface has commonly been linked with carbonaceous chondrites (CCs) by ground‐based telescopic observations, because of its low albedo, flat to red‐sloped spectra in the visible and near‐infrared (VIS/NIR) wavelength region, and the absence of distinct absorption bands, though no currently known meteorites provide complete spectral matches to Ceres. Spatially resolved data of the Dawn Framing Camera (FC) reveal a generally dark surface covered with bright spots exhibiting reflectance values several times higher than Ceres' background. In this work, we investigated FC data from High Altitude Mapping Orbit (HAMO) and Ceres eXtended Juling (CXJ) orbit (~140 m/pixel) for global spectral variations. We found that the cerean surface mainly differs by spectral slope over the whole FC wavelength region (0.4–1.0 μm). Areas exhibiting slopes <−10% μm−1 constitute only ~3% of the cerean surface and mainly occur in the bright material in and around young craters, whereas slopes ≥−10% μm−1 occur on more than 90% of the cerean surface; the latter being denoted as Ceres' background material in this work. FC and Visible and Infrared Spectrometer (VIR) spectra of this background material were compared to the suite of CCs spectrally investigated so far regarding their VIS/NIR region and 2.7 μm absorption, as well as their reflectance at 0.653 μm. This resulted in a good match to heated CI Ivuna (heated to 200–300 °C) and a better match for CM1 meteorites, especially Moapa Valley. This possibly indicates that the alteration of CM2 to CM1 took place on Ceres.


Duplication of 15q11.2‐q13.1 (dup15q syndrome) is one of the most common copy number variations associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID). As with many neurogenetic conditions, accurate behavioral assessment is challenging due to the level of impairment and heterogeneity across individuals. Large‐scale phenotyping studies are necessary to inform future clinical trials in this and similar ID syndromes. This study assessed developmental and behavioral characteristics in a large cohort of children with dup15q syndrome, and examined differences based on genetic subtype and epilepsy status. Participants included 62 children (2.5–18 years). Across individuals, there was a wide range of abilities. Although adaptive behavior was strongly associated with cognitive ability, adaptive abilities were higher than cognitive scores. Measures of ASD symptoms were associated with cognitive ability, while parent report of challenging behavior was not. Both genetic subtype and epilepsy were related to degree of impairment across cognitive, language, motor, and adaptive domains. Children with isodicentric duplications and epilepsy showed the greatest impairment, while children with interstitial duplications showed the least. On average, participants with epilepsy experienced seizures over 53% of their lives, and half of children with epilepsy had infantile spasms. Parents of children with isodicentric duplications reported more concerns regarding challenging behaviors. Future trials in ID syndromes should employ a flexible set of assessments, allowing each participant to receive assessments that capture their skills. Multiple sources of information should be considered, and the impact of language and cognitive ability should be taken into consideration when interpreting results.


Previous researchers studying the Australian Aboriginal bark burial mortuary practice unique to the Central Queensland Highlands maintain that these specific burial rites were reserved for young men who died an un-natural death and children only. Furthermore, it has been assumed that this practice was a recent phenomenon derived from European influences.  However, archaeological and anthropological researchers have based their assumptions on limited ethnographical sources, most of which derive from the south-western areas of the Central Queensland Highlands during the post-contact period. In addition, the archaeological literature also relies on methods of age and sex identification that are unclear. The assumptions that age and sex were social distinctions at death in Aboriginal populations throughout the Central Queensland Highlands have never been adequately tested. In addition to this, the issues of antiquity and its obvious implications for management strategies, issues of cultural continuity, and cultural transition for the mortuary practice, have never been adequately explored.  This thesis is concerned with age and sex as possible social distinctions at death in the Central Queensland bark burial mortuary practice. Through employing proven ageing and sexing techniques on a sample of human remains from previously opened bark coffins, this thesis identifies who was included within this unique and elaborate mortuary practice.  It is demonstrated that the bark burial mortuary practice was not reserved exclusively for young men and children; all age groups and both sexes were included. Furthermore, although the inclusion of people in the mortuary practice was not based on age or gender, other basic social divisions within the mortuary practice exist. It was found that some individuals were deliberately isolated and placed for final internment alone, while others were placed together in multiple burials. It is argued that the inclusion of individuals in single and multiple burials was based on basic social/cultural divisions.  In addition to this, this thesis also examines the age of bark coffins and the associated mortuary practice. Previous archaeological investigations throughout the region suggest that the mortuary practice may extend back to 4000 BP. A relative dating technique, that examined differences in cut marks made on bark between stone, trade and steel axes was developed. The results show clear differences in cut marks made on bark at both a macro level (naked eye and magnifying glass) and a micro level (SEM). The method was applied to a sample of bark coffins to determine if they were pre- or post-contact in age. In addition, in conjunction with the Bowen Basin Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Project's dating program, samples of the bark from crypt floors were also AMS dated as part of the Bowen Basin Aboriginal Cultural heritage Project.  The AMS dates obtained from crypts support the relative dating evidence. The method of determining a relative age (pre- or post -contact) of cultural materials made of bark of through cut marks made on the bark is found to be a reliable method that is easily applied in the field with no disturbance to cultural materials. It can be concluded that the bark burial mortuary practice has a long and continuous history that extends back at least 850 BP, possibly 4000 BP, and although modified by European influences, this mortuary tradition is still being practised today.