Purpose: This paper combines a synthetic index system by the variables and evaluates China's financial safety through the change of indexes in a comprehensive way. First of all, it builds the financial industry evaluation index system composed of 25indicators in terms of the operation of the financial industry and external economic environment and particularly takes into consideration factors which might trigger liquidity risks such as off-balance-sheet business, interbank business and shadow banking; then it selects 10 indicators to conduct empirical analysis and identifies the indicator weight through principal component analysis; finally it combines the financial safety indexes through the linear weighted comprehensive evaluation model. Design/methodology/approach: Synthesis of indexes is made by constructing a proper comprehensive evaluation mathematical model, integrating a number of evaluation indexes into one comprehensive evaluation index and then obtaining corresponding comprehensive evaluation results. In this paper, it selects 10 indexes to conduct empirical analysis and identifies the index weight through principal component analysis; finally it combines the financial safety indexes through the linear weighted comprehensive evaluation model. Principal component analysis (PCA) is a statistical procedure that uses an orthogonal transformation to convert a set of observations of possibly correlated variables into a set of values of linearly uncorrelated variables called principal components. PCA was invented in 1901 and was later independently developed (and named) by Harold Hotelling in the 1930s. Findings: From 2003 to 2013 China's financial safety indexes fluctuated. From 2003 to 2007 indexes rose, which indicates China's financial safety status gradually improved; from 2007 to 2009 indexes declined, which indicates due to the impact of subprime crisis, China's financial safety status took a turn for the worse; from 2009 to 2012 indexes rose, which indicates the external environment improved so did China's financial safety status; from 2012 to 2013 indexes declined because due to the rapid development of banks' financial products and trust products, banks' off-balance-sheet assets and liquidity risks increased. The changes of financial safety indexes are generally identical with those of China's financial safety status. Research limitations/implications: In the empirical analysis part, this article tries to selective 24 indicators synthetic index of China's financial security, but due to some of the indicators data acquisition is relatively difficult, can only Selective 10 of 25 indicators and gather the annual data of 10 indicators from 2003 to 2013 to synthetic index. The information of eliminated indicators cannot be reflected in the index. Index change also does not reflect of the risk from these indicators. In order to make up for the above limitations, this paper is mainly to introduce and analysis our latest financial institutions business trends associated with these eliminated indicators to get the conclusions more reliable. Originality/value: The aim of this research is to estimate financial safety of China with the application of the index of financial safety of a country using the annual data of 2003-2013. Through synthetic index of financial security measure the risks of China's financial system, provide the basis for the government macro financial policy. The Originality of the paper is mainly manifested in incorporating factors which have made important impacts on China's financial safety in recent years, but have not been taken into consideration in the existing studies into the newly constructed financial safety index system. For example, some factors that cannot be controlled easily might have huge hidden risk hazards. To be more specific, factors such as off-balance-sheet business, interbank business and shadow banking might trigger liquidity risks. In this way, the research results will be more practical.


In this paper, we study the problem of question answering when reasoning over multiple facts is required. We propose Query-Reduction Network (QRN), a variant of Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) that effectively handles both short-term (local) and long-term (global) sequential dependencies to reason over multiple facts. QRN considers the context sentences as a sequence of state-changing triggers, and reduces the original query to a more informed query as it observes each trigger (context sentence) through time. Our experiments show that QRN produces the state-of-the-art results in bAbI QA and dialog tasks, and in a real goal-oriented dialog dataset. In addition, QRN formulation allows parallelization on RNN's time axis, saving an order of magnitude in time complexity for training and inference.


Copyright is a legal mechanism for promotion of useful knowledge. However, it is not the only means society could use to encourage information dissemination, and several alternative models have been suggested over the last 200 years. This article provides the results of a dynamic simulation of the publishing industry in the United States from 1800 to 2100, and tests the impact of different protection schemes on the development of authorship, the publishing industry, and reader access. It closes with a discussion of intellectual property information policy decisions that can be currently made, and their likely impacts on domestic and international copyright protection.


Multidrug-resistant human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) strains with reverse transcriptase (RT) mutations at codons A62-->V, V75-->I, F77-->L, F116-->Y, and Q151-->M have been reported in patients receiving combination therapy with zidovudine (AZT) and didanosine (ddI). Infectious clones with each mutation alone, all five mutations together, and various combinations of mutations were created by site-directed mutagenesis. Mutation Q151-->M conferred partial resistance to AZT, ddI, zalcitibine, and stavudine, whereas a combination of four mutations conferred increased resistance to AZT, ddI, zalcitibine, and stavudine. The positions of residues 75, 77, and 151 in the three-dimensional crystal structure of HIV-1 RT suggest that these residues may affect the ability of the enzyme to discriminate between deoxynucleoside triphosphates and nucleoside analog RT inhibitors. Replication experiments showed that clones with mutation F77-->L but without V75-->I (HIV-1(77), HIV-1(77,151), and HIV-1(77,116,151) had attenuated growth compared with that of the original HIV-1NL4-3 strain and strains containing mutations at both positions 75 and 77 (HIV-1(75,77,151) and HIV-1(75,77,116,15)). Sequence analysis of viral RNA and proviral DNA from several patients indicated that RT mutations developed in a sequential and cumulative pattern over the course of a 2- to 4-year observation period. The present results suggest that drug resistance and viral replicative capacity both may play a role in selection of HIV-1 RT mutations.


Dave BliDe Publisher The spring issue of The Journal of Trading begins with Lin, Van Ness, and Van Ness examining the determinants of canceled orders and hidden orders and their effects on market quality. Besson and Lasnier address trading algorithms and show that standard "volume-driven" algorithm performance could be greatly improved simply by changing "Standard Volume" indexing to "Passive Volume" indexing, whereby passive volume is defined as the volume traded passively, according to the side of the transaction. Next, Gomber, Clapham, Lausen, and Panz present the views of leading financial market experts concerning the impact of MiFID II/MiFIR on European market structure and the future relative importance of different types of trading venues and over-the-counter (OTC) trading. Buehler and Cusatis examine the use of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the implied volatility market and find that although the ETF trading strategies produce excess returns, these returns come with significant downside volatility. To continue, Lundström systematically analyzes the effect of leverage on profit when trading a popular day trading strategy and clarifies the relation to two optimal leverage strategies proposed for maximizing trading profit, the Kelly criterion and the optimal fraction criterion. To conclude this issue, Hessel, Nam, Wang, Xing, and Zhang study the strategy of shorting a leveraged ETF and an inverse leveraged ETF pair of the same index and show that it can generate mean monthly returns of over 1% in four markets. As always, we welcome your submissions. We value your comments and suggestions, so please email us at email@example.com.


ABSTRACT Although recent reviews of the effectiveness of male versus female leaders reveal little evidence of male superiority, evaluative and perceptual biases (beliefs about what constitutes good leadership, and stereotyped beliefs about men and women) among group members persist. To examine attributional biases against female leaders, 85 college students (41 males, 44 females) worked on a task under a female leader. Subjects, with either a stereotyped (conservative attitude) or a nonstereotyped (liberal attitude) toward women, as measured by the Attitude Towards Women Scale, worked under the guidance of a female leader, who adopted either a task oriented or a relationship leadership style. After working on the tasks, subjects completed questionnaire measures of the leader's abilities, their perceptions of the leader, and a checklist adapted from the SYMLOG method of group observation (Bales, 1980). An analysis of the results showed that biases against female leaders based on subordinates' intuitive prescriptive "theories" about leadership and their stereotyped expectations concerning men and women do exist. In general, more conservative group members rejected the task-oriented female leader, while more liberal group members preferred a leader with a strong focus on the task. (BL)


This article reflects on some aspects of E.J. Hobsbawm's work that seem to have been neglected in the numerous obituaries and assessments of his legacy. It also points out some peculiarities of Hobsbawm's texts that contributed to the high esteem in which he was held the world over. Attention is focused neither on Hobsbawm's famous trilogy about the "long 19th century" nor on his equally well-known account of the "age of extremes." Instead, the article reflects on his lifelong interest in "primitive rebels" and his highly original discussion of "nation", "nation-building" and "nationalism," an ever challenging subject for class-oriented Marxist historians. The article then goes on to consider a number of methodological principles evident in Hobsbawm's approach to a materialist social history. Finally, consideration is given to the ways in which Hobsbawm anticipated today's enthusiastically welcomed "global history." Hobsbawm's probing of the interrelationship between past and present always went hand in hand with the impetus to actively participate in politics.


We study the relationship between corruption in public procurement and economic growth within the Solow framework in discrete time, while assuming that the public good is an input in the productive process and that the State fixes a monitoring level on corruption. The resulting model is a bidimensional triangular dynamic system able to generate endogenous fluctuations for certain values of some relevant parameters. We study the model from the analytical point of view and find that multiple equilibria with nonconnected basins are likely to emerge. We also perform a stability analysis and prove the existence of a compact global attractor. Finally, we focus on local and global bifurcations causing the transition to more and more complex asymptotic dynamics. In particular, as our map is nondifferentiable in a subset of the states space, we show that border collision bifurcations occur. Several numerical simulations support the analysis. Our study aims at demonstrating that no long-run equilibria with zero corruption exist and, furthermore, that periodic or aperiodic fluctuations in economic growth are likely to emerge. As a consequence, the economic system may be unpredictable or structurally unstable.


FLACS is related to an increase of anterior chamber prostaglandin and cytokines, resulting in intra-operative miosis. This can be prevented by pre-operative non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug application. As a result of methodological problems, several studies on the association between femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery and cystoid macular oedema are inconclusive.


Decision making often requires the analysis of large amount of data and complex relations. Computerized tools designed and implemented for such purposes are called Decision Support Systems (DSS). A DSS, which is typically a problem specific tool, usually helps in the evaluation of consequences of given decisions and may advise what decision would be the best for achieving a given set of goals. In such cases, an analysis of a mathematical model can support rational decision making.

The paper provides an overview of the methodology of the design and deals with practical aspects related to implementations of model-based decision support systems. In particular, different approaches to the analysis of a model using simulation and optimization are summarized. Various optimization techniques are discussed in this context, including multi-criteria optimization used for a model analysis. The paper summarizes also problems of hardware selection and of software development. Modular software tools applicable to DSSs, including a tool for data interchange, are characterized. Selected issues of implementations of modular solvers and of applications of artificial neural nets to decision support are also presented.


Event studies, a half-century-old approach to measuring the effect of events on stock prices, are now ubiquitous in securities fraud litigation. In determining whether the event study demonstrates a price effect, expert witnesses typically base their conclusion on whether the results are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level, a threshold that is drawn from the academic literature. As a positive matter, this represents a disconnect with legal standards of proof. As a normative matter, it may reduce enforcement of fraud claims because litigation event studies typically involve quite low statistical power even for large-scale frauds.

This paper, written for legal academics, judges, and policy makers, makes three contributions. First, it contributes to a nascent literature demonstrating that the standard event-study methodology can be problematic in securities litigation. In particular, the paper documents the tradeoff between power and confidence level and the ensuing impact on the likelihood that valid claims of fraud will erroneously be rejected. In so doing, the article highlights that the choice of confidence level is a policy judgment about the appropriate balance between the costs of litigation and the costs of securities fraud. Second, the article argues that the SEC has both the legal power and the institutional competence to develop litigation standards that balance these costs.

Third, the article provides a novel and feasible framework through which the SEC can implement such litigation standards. The framework relies on an assessment of the defendant firm's market capitalization and abnormal returns distribution to determine the maximum confidence level (minimum significance level) that is consistent with the minimum required power of detecting a fraud of the benchmark magnitude. The SEC is uniquely positioned to make this determination based on the information it possesses about the level of fraud in the capital markets and the role of private litigation in deterring fraud.


Discourse about mononormativity has increased substantially over the last decade, categorically naming and addressing a North American bias to unintentionally privilege monogamous relationships. The Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association's code of ethics (CCPA, 2007) outlines a need for counsellors to be sensitive to the diversity of all clients and to refrain from discrimination. The code suggests an ethical imperative to examine one's values and attitudes when counselling clients who engage in consensual nonmonogamy (CNM). A paucity of understanding exists as to the potential impact a counsellor with a mononormative bias may have on the therapy process. Therapist assumptions, client perceptions, theoretical orientation, and clinical intervention strategies from the perspective of providing therapy to CNM clients will be discussed through a synthesis of the extant literature. Recommendations for counselling practice and suggestions for further research, as well as counselling education aimed at increasing counsellor competence when working with CNM populations, are provided. Implications of mononormativity on the Canadian counselling profession are highlighted.


Shading is a visual artist's tool. It enables the indication of 'landmarks' inside the outline of shapes. Shading triggers behavioral responses in organisms throughout the animal kingdom and even affects the habitus of plants. Radiometry might be expected to account for the phenomenology. We derive the formal structures of shading that are expected to play a dominant role in perception. That they fail to do so suggests that shading is more of an interface template than a 'cue'. This fits the artistic use as a 'releaser' very well. Pre-modern artists hardly acknowledge causal relations between various photometric variables. Their works show an effective use of various elements in their own right, without attempts at causal congruity. Modern art often defies physics on purpose. We identify manifest templates and relate these to conventional techniques in the visual arts.


All children do best when they live in safe, stable, and nurturing families, yet far too many children lack this fundamental foundation. Every year, millions of children are abused or neglected--close to 300,000 so egregiously that they are removed from their homes by the state and placed in foster care. For too many of these children, foster care is no safe haven. Instead, the children drift from foster home to foster home, lingering in care while awaiting a permanent, "forever family." In 1998, The Future of Children examined the problem of child maltreatment and offered recommendations for preventing abuse and neglect. This journal issue focuses on the challenges of helping children after abuse and neglect has occurred by strengthening the web of supports for children and families in foster care. Public opinion polls reveal that the public is largely uninformed about foster care, yet highly critical of the system. In a 2003 poll of voters by the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care, most respondents were generally unfamiliar with the child welfare system that administers foster care, but more than 50% believed it needed major changes, if not a complete overhaul. (1) These impressions are no doubt fueled by media accounts of tragic incidents, such as the death of 2-year-old Brianna Blackmond in Washington, D.C., two weeks after a judge returned her to her mother's custody without reviewing the child welfare agency's report recommending that she not be reunified; (2) or the inability of child welfare workers in Florida to find 5-year-old foster child Rilya Wilson and 500 others like her over the past decade; (3) or reports of Brian Jackson, a 19-year-old adopted foster youth in New Jersey who weighed only 45 pounds and was found rummaging through a garbage can for food because he and his brothers were apparently being starved by their adoptive parents. (4) Media reports of system failures are tragic, heartbreaking, and at times, chilling. In their wake, public calls to "do something" about foster care are made, and changes in organizational leadership, policy, and practice often follow. Yet policymaking in the aftermath of tragedy is often over reactive and piecemeal. Effecting enduring change requires a thoughtful understanding of the inherent challenges the child welfare system faces on a daily basis. As Judge Ernestine Gray states in her commentary in this journal issue, truly understanding the child welfare system and pursuing meaningful and lasting reform require a close examination of how the system works "when the cameras are off and the reporters are gone." This journal issue examines the current state of the foster care system and finds that it is really not a cohesive system but a combination of many overlapping and interacting agencies, all charged with providing services, financial support, or other assistance to children and their families. Lack of coordination among agencies, chronic underfunding, and low morale have led to a system that exacts a toll on everyone it touches. Children may suffer, as the incidents described above suggest. But so do foster parents and the relatives who step in to care for children who cannot remain with their birth parents; so do harried caseworkers; and so do birth parents who would like to reunite with their children but find the path difficult. Too few of the players in the system have adequate training for their responsibilities and, as a result, children and families frequently do not receive the services and supports they need. Instead, the child welfare system labors in an atmosphere of distrust, impending failure, and reflexive, uniform solutions that rarely succeed for anyone. Recent reforms have shifted some of the priorities within the system, but much more needs to be done. This article discusses the major challenges faced by the child welfare system and offers policy and practice recommendations that can improve how children and families experience foster care. …


[1] Controversy remains over a discrepancy between modeled and observed tropical upper tropospheric temperature trends. This discrepancy is reassessed using simulations from the Coupled Climate Model Inter-comparison Project phase 5 (CMIP 5) together with radiosonde and surface observations that provide multiple realizations of possible "observed" temperatures given various methods of homogenizing the data. Over the 1979–2008 period, tropical temperature trends are not consistent with observations throughout the depth of the troposphere, and this primarily stems from a poor simulation of the surface temperature trends. This discrepancy is substantially reduced when (1) atmosphere-only simulations are examined or (2) the trends are considered as an amplification of the surface temperature trend with height. Using these approaches, it is shown that within observational uncertainty, the 5–95 percentile range of temperature trends from both coupled-ocean and atmosphere-only models are consistent with the analyzed observations at all but the upper most tropospheric level (150 hPa), and models with ultra-high horizontal resolution (≤ 0.5° × 0.5°) perform particularly well. Other than model resolution, it is hypothesized that this remaining discrepancy could be due to a poor representation of stratospheric ozone or remaining observational uncertainty.


Because the receptor tyrosine kinase c-Met plays a critical role in tumor growth, metastasis, tumor angiogenesis, and drug resistance, the c-Met axis represents an attractive therapeutic target. Herein, we report the first preclinical characterization of SCC244, a novel, potent, and highly selective inhibitor of c-Met kinase. SCC244 showed subnanomolar potency against c-Met kinase activity and high selectivity versus 312 other tested protein kinases, making it one of the most selective c-Met inhibitors described to date. Moreover, this inhibitor profoundly and specifically inhibits c-Met signal transduction and thereby suppresses the c-Met–dependent neoplastic phenotype of tumor and endothelial cells. In xenografts of human tumor cell lines or non–small cell lung cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma patient-derived tumor tissue driven by MET aberration, SCC244 administration exhibits robust antitumor activity at the well-tolerated doses. In addition, the in vivo antitumor activity of SCC244 involves the inhibition of c-Met downstream signaling via a mechanism of combined antiproliferation and antiangiogenic effects. The results of the current study provide a strong foundation for the clinical investigation of SCC244 in patients with tumors harboring c-Met pathway alterations. Mol Cancer Ther; 17(4); 751–62. ©2017 AACR.


The amount of assets held by the Federal Reserve has dramatically increased since 2009. It recently crossed $4 trillion and will likely peak at about $4.5 trillion. This increase is the result of the Fed's large-scale asset purchase programs, which were intended to support economic growth. However, these purchases have created unprecedented amounts of liquidity in the financial system. Gagnon and Sack doubt that the Fed can smoothly conduct monetary policy along the lines of the previous operating framework in this environment of high liquidity. Instead of reducing bank reserves to achieve a target level for the federal funds rate, they propose a new operating framework that would allow the Fed to maintain an elevated balance sheet along with abundant liquidity in the financial system. They argue that the Fed should set the rate at which it will offer overnight reverse repurchase agreements as its policy instrument, with the interest rate paid on bank reserves set at the same level. The federal funds rate would become just one of the various overnight interest rates determined by the market in the normal transmission of monetary policy.


I present a number of core concepts from data science that are relevant to digital art history and the use of quantitative methods to study any cultural artifacts or processes in general. These concepts are objects, features, data, feature space, and dimension reduction. These concepts enable computational exploration of both large and small visual cultural data. We can analyze relations between works on a single artist, many artists, all digitized production from a whole historical period, holdings in museum collections, collection metadata, or writings about art. The same concepts allow us to study contemporary vernacular visual media using massive social media content. (In our lab, we analyzed works by van Gogh, Mondrian, and Rothko, 6000 paintings by French Impressionists, 20,000 photographs from MoMA photography collection, one million manga pages from manga books, one million artworks of contemporary non-professional artists, and over 13 million Instagram images from 16 global cities.) While data science techniques do not replace other art historical methods, they allow us to see familiar art historical material in new ways, and also to study contemporary digital visual culture.


While cities appeared and disappeared during the history, and different disciplines, such as ecology and geography attempted to model the process from a systemic perspective, the growth of modern cities, particularly under the form of urban sprawl, is an important phenomenon due to its environmental and socioeconomic impacts. CORINE data allow for analyzing the growth of cities based on the changes in land cover and use. This study aimed to assess the magnitude of long-term urban growth in Romania, chosen as an example of a transition country, hypothesizing that the phenomenon is visible at the national scale. The results locate urban growth in area where the real estate boom is prominent, but its extent is masked by the small share of urban areas from the total territory. If growth is analyzed in relationship to the urban area, its magnitude becomes visible, supporting the underlying hypothesis.


The cell-staining behaviour of a set of five emissive europium complexes has been studied in Nicotiana tabacum BY-2 cells and pollen tubes, Nicotiana benthamiana plant leaves and in the root hairs of the wild-type plant Arabidopsis thaliana (Columbia). The cell walls were stained selectively, notably in the tobacco BY-2 cells, by the complex [EuL1] that contains one azathiaxanthone chromophore. Internalisation only occurred in cells that had been deliberately permeabilised or were dying. No uptake was observed within healthy plant leaves. In root hairs, the cell wall was strongly stained as well as the mitochondria, revealed by time-lapsed microscopy that showed the tumbling of the mitochondria in the living tissue, confirmed by co-localisation studies. In pollen tubes, the cell wall was also stained; rapid bursting of the pollen tip occurred following incubation with [Eu.L1], triggered by excitation with 405 nm laser light. Such behaviour is consistent with local perturbation of cell wall permeability and integrity, associated with the reactivity of the chromophore triplet excited state.


Title of dissertation: FUNCTIONAL IMAGING OF PHOTOVOLTAIC MATERIALS AT THE NANOSCALE Elizabeth M. Tennyson, Doctor of Philosophy, 2018 Dissertation directed by: Professor Marina S. Leite Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics The ideal photovoltaic technology for global deployment must exhibit two key attributes: (i) high power-conversion efficiency, enabling a solar panel with a large power output per area and, (ii) low-cost/W, due to either being derived from earthabundant materials and/or ease of fabrication. For the past two decades, extensive efforts have been made to boost the efficiency of some of the most promising high performance and low-cost photovoltaic materials, such as CdTe, Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS), and hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites, to achieve higher efficiency devices. However, improvement in the overall performance is still limited by the open-circuit voltage (Voc). All of the solar cell materials listed above are composed of grains and grain boundaries on the order of microand nanometers, respectively, and their nanoscale interfaces can cause electrical charge carriers to become trapped and recombine non-radiatively, reducing the Voc. Therefore, in this thesis, I implement high spatial resolution functional imaging techniques to resolve the local voltage variations in the thin-film polycrystalline and hybrid perovskites materials for photovoltaic applications. First, I spectrally and spatially resolve the local photovoltage of CIGS solar cells through confocal optical microscopy to build a qualitative voltage tomography. From these photovoltage results, I discover variations in the electrical response of >20% that are also on the same length scale as the grains composing the CIGS material. Therefore, by enhancing the spatial resolution beyond the diffraction limit, the electronic properties of individual grains and the interfaces between the grains can be fully resolved. For this, I implement Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM), and demonstrate a universal method to directly map the Voc of any photovoltaic material with nanoscale spatial resolution. Next, we extend this ability of KPFM to rapidly image (16 sec/map) the real-time dynamics of perovskite solar cells, which are notorious for their slow and unstable electrical output. Through fast-KPFM imaging, we discover regions within a single grain that show a residual Voc response which pervades for ≈9 min, likely caused by a slow ion migration process. Finally, to understand how different perovskite compositions influence the behavior of the nanoscale electrical response, I utilize KPFM to realize both irreversible and reversible Voc signals. Compiling all these results discussed above, throughout my Ph.D. I have yielded the following contributions: (i) evidence that the photovoltage of polycrystalline solar cell materials varies at the same length scale as the grains composing them, (ii) a nanoscale imaging platform to directly map the Voc with unprecedented spatial resolution, and (iii) a technique to map the real-time voltage response of many perovskite compositions, ultimately indicating that the elements constituting the perovskite cation and halide positions are both directly related to their reversible vs. irreversible electrical nature. From these contributions, I foresee the functional imaging methods developed in this thesis to be widely implemented as a diagnostic tool for the rational design of photovoltaics with enhanced electrical performance and lower cost. FUNCTIONAL IMAGING OF PHOTOVOLTAIC MATERIALS AT THE NANOSCALE


This study examines the determinants of IPO withdrawal using a unique sample of Specified Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) in the period 2003-2019. Our results show that both prospectuses' characteristics and market characteristics determine choices of withdrawal. The likelihood of withdrawals is in direct relation with the level of volatility on the day of IPO/withdrawal and if the acquisition target is in the private equity domain. SPACs are less likely to withdraw their IPO if they have a clear focus of acquisition, have a larger number of underwriters in the syndicate, and if their legal counsel is specialized in the SPAC market. We also document that the speed of IPO for SPACs is directly related to the level of the market, size of IPO, and if the CEO was previously manager of other public companies. On the other side, IPO takes longer if two lead underwriters underwrite SPAC.


Background: Thyrotoxicosis is a condition occurs when excessive thyroid hormone level produced by overactive thyroid gland. It is the risk factor of getting atrial fibrillation (AF) as it could exert marked influences on electrical impulse generation and conduction which associated with shortening of action potential duration and contribute to AF. Case: A 57 years old Chinese female was diagnosed with thyrotoxicosis and atrial fibrillation when she was admitted to emergency department of hospital with complaints of shortness of breath, dyskinesia, on and off palpitation, fine tremor, tachycardia, warm skin, firm, enlarged and palpable thyroid, having patches of vitiligo on hands and feet and increase bowel movement. The CT scan has revealed small infarct near left band ganglia. Aims: The aims of management in this case were to resolve the symptoms presented and get the thyroid hormone levels restored to euthyroid state. Results: Aspirin and propranolol were given immediately after diagnosis for symptomatic relieve and rate control. Carbimazole and dexamethasone were given concurrently for hyperthyroid management. Aspirin was then replaced by warfarin before patient discharged to have better control and reduce risk of stroke. Furthermore, the patient's ECG and INR were monitored closely for stroke prevention. Key words: Antithyroid drugs, Atrial fibrillation, Hyperthyroidism, Stroke prevention, Thyrotoxicosis.


This paper surveys the existing empirical research that uses search theory to empirically analyze labor supply questions in a structural framework, using data on individual labor market transitions and durations, wages, and individual characteristics. The starting points of the literature are the Mincerian earnings function, Heckman's classic selection model, and dynamic optimization theory. We develop a general framework for the labor market where the search for a job involves dynamic decision making under uncertainty. It can be specialized to be in agreement with most published research using labor search models. We discuss estimation, policy evaluation with the estimated model, equilibrium model versions, and the decomposition of wage variation into factors due to heterogeneity of various model determinants as well as search frictions themselves. We summarize the main empirical conclusions. r 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V. JEL classification: J6; J42; J41; J31; J21; D8; C4


edited by Giovanni Carbone introduction by Paolo Magri The EU is struggling to cope with the so-called "migration crisis" that has emerged over the past few years. Designing the right policies to address immigration requires a deep understanding of its root causes. Why do Africans decide to leave their home countries? While the dream of a better life in Europe is likely part of the explanation, one also needs to examine the prevailing living conditions in the large and heterogeneous sub-Saharan region. This Report investigates the actual role of political, economic, demographic and environmental drivers in current migration flows. It offers a comprehensive picture of major migration motives as well as of key trends. Attention is also devoted to the role of climate change in promoting migration and to intra-continental mobility (two-thirds of sub-Saharan migrant flows start and end within the region). Two country studies on Eritrea and Nigeria are also included to get a closer sense of local developments behind large-scale migration to Europe. Giovanni Carbone


The female captivity narrative provides a complex view of colonial American history by recounting the experiences of women captured from their colonial homes by Native Americans. Male editors, often family friends or town ministers, generally compiled the experiences of female captives, and separating the voice of the female captive from influence of the male editor presents a challenge. Puritan captivity narratives in particular demonstrate conflict between attempts by Puritan ministers to impose a unified religious message in the sagas and the captives' individual experiences, which often contradicted Puritan doctrine. During the early colonial era, ministers' attempts to promote the Puritan covenant conflicted with the individual salvation testimonies of the female captives. In later narratives, white male editors attempted to impose white cultural values on the female stories, while the captives' experiences reflected acculturation and integration into Indian society. Female captivity narratives played contradictory roles; while they recorded each captive's unique experience, male editors often included their own cultural, moral and religious values in the written work.


To improve our understanding of the limiting factors during repeated sprinting, we manipulated hypoxia severity during an initial set and examined the effects on performance and associated neuro-mechanical alterations during a subsequent set performed in normoxia. On separate days, 13 active males performed eight 5-s sprints (recovery = 25 s) on an instrumented treadmill in either normoxia near sea-level (SL; FiO2 = 20.9%), moderate (MH; FiO2 = 16.8%) or severe normobaric hypoxia (SH; FiO2 = 13.3%) followed, 6 min later, by four 5-s sprints (recovery = 25 s) in normoxia. Throughout the first set, along with distance covered [larger sprint decrement score in SH (−8.2%) compared to SL (−5.3%) and MH (−7.2%); P < 0.05], changes in contact time, step frequency and root mean square activity (surface electromyography) of the quadriceps (Rectus femoris muscle) in SH exceeded those in SL and MH (P < 0.05). During first sprint of the subsequent normoxic set, the distance covered (99.6, 96.4, and 98.3% of sprint 1 in SL, MH, and SH, respectively), the main kinetic (mean vertical, horizontal, and resultant forces) and kinematic (contact time and step frequency) variables as well as surface electromyogram of quadriceps and plantar flexor muscles were fully recovered, with no significant difference between conditions. Despite differing hypoxic severity levels during sprints 1–8, performance and neuro-mechanical patterns did not differ during the four sprints of the second set performed in normoxia. In summary, under the circumstances of this study (participant background, exercise-to-rest ratio, hypoxia exposure), sprint mechanical performance and neural alterations were largely influenced by the hypoxia severity in an initial set of repeated sprints. However, hypoxia had no residual effect during a subsequent set performed in normoxia. Hence, the recovery of performance and associated neuro-mechanical alterations was complete after resting for 6 min near sea level, with a similar fatigue pattern across conditions during subsequent repeated sprints in normoxia.


LORAX is a robotic mission to characterize the distribution of microbes in Antarctica's ice sheets. Robotic platform requirements include navigational autonomy and clean, sustainable power systems to operate unattended for a month without introducing contamination that would affect the results. This paper details the LORAX investigation, the navigational autonomy development and testing, and an analysis of wind and solar power to accomplish this mission.


Chickpea is one of the most important grain legume crops in the world. Large collections of genetic resources are maintained in the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) genebanks. Association mapping using neutral markers has been suggested as a means to identify useful alleles in the vast reservoirs of genetic diversity existing in the germplasm collections that could be associated with the phenotypes among the population individuals. ICRISAT in collaboration with ICARDA developed a global composite collection of 3000 accessions that will be profiled using 50 polymorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. The data generated through this collaborative effort will be used to define the genetic structure of the global composite collection and to select a reference sample of 300 accessions representing the maximum diversity for the isolation of allelic variants of candidate gene associated with beneficial traits. It is then expected that molecular biologists and plant breeders will have opportunities to use diverse lines in functional and comparative genomics, in mapping and cloning gene(s), and in applied plant breeding to diversify the genetic base of the breeding populations which should lead to the development of broad-based elite breeding lines/cultivars with superior yield and enhanced adaptation to diverse environments.


Papuan supporters of the Special Autonomy Law hoped that it would become an instrument to ensure their right to equality through the respect and recognition of their unique identity. This recognition facilitated the blossoming of an adat institution called the Papua Customary Council (Dewan Adat Papua). This institution is an important representative of Papuan. However, it was opposed to the Special Autonomy Law, and several of its members have closed relations with the Council of Papua Presidium (Presidium Dewan Papua), which supports the pro-independence movement. Eight years after the implementation of this law, a new adat institution was formed called the Customary Community Council (Lembaga Masyarakat Adat (LMA)). The LMA is supported by the central government to vis a vis with the Dewan Adat Papua. This article analyses the reasons why the LMA was established as a form of government recognition in Papua. Interestingly, the LMA's strategy is similar to that employed under Suharto by the Customary Deliberative Council (LMA) prior to the Special Autonomy Period when adat institutions were formed and recognized, although with the new goal of achieving governmental policies of interest.


Cretaceous paleogeography of the U.S. Cordillera west of the Sevier fold-and-thrust belt is poorly known due to the scarcity of Cretaceous supracrustal rocks in the arc and backarc regions. The Lower Cretaceous King Lear Formation, exposed in the Jackson Mountains and the Krum Hills of northwest Nevada, provides a rare and important record of Early Cretaceous tectonism and paleogeography. Our work shows that the King Lear Formation everywhere overlies deformed and metamorphosed Triassic-Jurassic rocks across a major unconformity. The King Lear Formation is dominated by conglomerates and sandstones deposited in subaerial alluvial-fan and gravelly braided river systems, and it can be divided into three new members based on differences in clast provenance: a lower member derived from local arc and backarc rocks; a middle member dominated by externally derived quartzite and chert clasts; and an upper member derived largely from an intrabasinal volcanic complex. Sedimentary features and provenance analysis indicate that clasts in the middle member were derived from nearby exposures of Paleozoic rocks such as the Roberts Mountains and Golconda allochthons, which must have formed a topographically elevated area in central Nevada during the Early Cretaceous. The stratigraphic record provides evidence of deposition in a tectonically active basin. In contrast with some prior studies inferring that deposition was synchronous with contractional deformation, our new field observations, structural data, and a shallow seismic-reflection profile confirm that the King Lear Formation was deposited in an active half-graben in the Jackson Mountains. These results provide new upper age constraints on the timing of shortening deformation in the arc and backarc regions: shortening must have been complete not only before deposition of the King Lear Formation in the middle Early Cretaceous, but also prior to several kilometers of exhumation of its depositional basement. Possible driving forces for extension leading to development of the King Lear basin include relaxation of thick crust in the hinterland of thrust belts to the east, stresses associated with regional tilting and development of dynamic topography, and stresses related to dextral strike-slip deformation to the west.


Abstract. The Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP) is a sub-project of the Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project (PMIP) whose objective is to compare predictions of the mid-Pliocene climate from the widest possible range of general circulation models. The mid-Pliocene (3.3–3.0 Ma) is the most recent sustained period of greater warmth and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration than the pre-industrial times and as such has potential to inform predictions of our warming climate in the coming century. This paper describes the UK contribution to PlioMIP using the Hadley Centre Model both in atmosphere-only mode (HadAM3, PlioMIP Experiment 1) and atmosphere-ocean coupled mode (HadCM3, PlioMIP Experiment 2). The coupled model predicts a greater overall warming (3.3 °C) relative to the control than the atmosphere-only (2.5 °C). The Northern Hemisphere latitudinal temperature gradient is greater in the coupled model with a warmer Equator and colder Arctic than the atmosphere-only model, which is constrained by sea surface temperatures from Pliocene proxy reconstructions. The atmosphere-only model predicts a reduction in equatorial precipitation and south Asian monsoon intensity, whereas the coupled model shows an increase in the intensity of these systems. We present sensitivity studies using alternative boundary conditions for both the Pliocene and the control simulations, indicating the sensitivity of the mid-Pliocene warming to uncertainties in both pre-industrial and mid-Pliocene climate.


Damage growth models are the linchpin of model-based prognostics for aging or damaged structures. Fatigue damage growth in composites can be characterized through estimating strain energy release rates and observed through stiffness reduction in the structure. The work reported herein investigates several existing models for the estimation of strain energy release rate and reduction in effective stiffness of cross-ply laminates under multiple damage modes. These models account for coexistence of matrix cracks and delamination, and have been examined using publicaly available fatigue data on carbon fiber-reinforced polymers coupons. This study is driven by the desire to identify suitable models in a prognostic context, i.e., to predict the remaining useful life of composite laminates subject to fatigue loads. Therefore, the capability of models in estimating the strain energy release rate and in accurately describing progressive degradation of the material has been analyzed. Selected models will then be used in conjunction with modified Paris' law to predict the evolution of damage progression in cross-ply laminates. doi: 10.12783/SHM2015/78


The upcoming new generation of autonomous vehicles for transporting materials in industrial environments will be more versatile, flexible and efficient than traditional AGVs, which simply follow pre-defined paths. However, freely navigating vehicles can appear unpredictable to human workers and thus cause stress and render joint use of the available space inefficient. Here we address this issue and propose on-board intention projection on the shared floor space for communication from robot to human. We present a research prototype of a robotic fork-lift equipped with a LED projector to visualize internal state information and intents. We describe the projector system and discuss calibration issues. The robot's ability to communicate its intentions is evaluated in realistic situations where test subjects meet the robotic forklift. The results show that already adding simple information, such as the trajectory and the space to be occupied by the robot in the near future, is able to effectively improve human response to the robot.


This paper investigated the code-mixing features in Mandarin-English bilingual children in Singapore. First, it examined whether the code-mixing rate was different in Mandarin Chinese and English contexts. Second, it explored the syntactic categories of code-mixing in Singapore bilingual children. Moreover, this study investigated whether morphological information was preserved when inserting syntactic components into the matrix language. Data are derived from the Singapore Bilingual Corpus, in which the recordings and transcriptions of sixty English-Mandarin 5-to-6-year-old children were preserved for analysis. Results indicated that the rate of code-mixing was asymmetrical in the two language contexts, with the rate being significantly higher in the Mandarin context than that in the English context. The asymmetry is related to language dominance in that children are more likely to code-mix when using their nondominant language. Concerning the syntactic categories of code-mixing words in the Singaporean bilingual children, we found that noun-mixing, verb-mixing, and adjective-mixing are the three most frequently used categories in code-mixing in the Mandarin context. This pattern mirrors the syntactic categories of code-mixing in the Cantonese context in Cantonese-English bilingual children, and the general trend observed in lexical borrowing. Third, our results also indicated that English vocabularies that carry morphological information are embedded in bare forms in the Mandarin context. These findings shed light upon how bilingual children take advantage of the two languages in mixed utterances in a bilingual environment. Keywords—Code-mixing, Mandarin Chinese, English, bilingual children.


After treating the notification of affected parties as mere side-notes in research, our community has recently put more focus on how vulnerability disclosure can be conducted at scale. The first works in this area have shown that while notifications are helpful to a significant fraction of operators, the vast majority of systems remain unpatched. In this paper, we build on these previous works, aiming to understand why the effects are not more significant. To that end, we report on a notification experiment targeting more than 24,000 domains, which allowed us to analyze what technical and human aspects are roadblocks to a successful campaign. As part of this experiment, we explored potential alternative notification channels beyond email, including social media and phone. In addition, we conducted an anonymous survey with the notified operators, investigating their perspectives on our notifications. We show the pitfalls of email-based communications, such as the impact of anti-spam filters, the lack of trust by recipients, and hesitations to fix vulnerabilities despite awareness. However, our exploration of alternative communication channels did not suggest a more promising medium. Seeing these results, we pinpoint future directions in improving security notifications.


The World Bank's revised forest policy came into being in 2002 and covers all types of forests. It has the following key objectives: (i) harnessing the potential of forests to reduce poverty in a sustainable manner; (ii) integrating forests effectively into sustainable development; and (iii) protecting vital local and global environmental services and values. The policy enables the bank to fully engage in forestry throughout the developing world, while ensuring that it complies with such safe guard policies such as OP 4.01 (Environmental Assessment), OP 4.04 (Natural Habitats) and OD 4.20 (Indigenous Peoples). On the other hand, the policy provides only a general framework for its lending operations in forestry and cannot take account of the individual socio-economic and environmental needs of regions and sub regions. To carry out the work, experienced local consultants were recruited to prepare country level reports following guidelines provided by the FAO Investment Centre, the aim being to gain a strong local perspective on the main issues and potential for sustainable and equitable growth in the sector. These reports were complimented by reference to an extensive literature base to produce individual country reports and the summary which follows. Given the complexity of forestry in the region, the need to involve large numbers of stakeholders, and the need to accommodate change, the findings of this report should not be regarded as definitive, but rather as a first step to shaping the Bank's interventions in the sector in individual countries over the medium term. It should also be noted that data have been obtained from a variety of sources, and that inconsistencies and gaps were common; they should consequently be regarded as orders of magnitude.


Frasetya, B., Harisman, K., Sudrajat, D. & Subandi, M. (2019). Utilization of rice husk silicate extract to improve the productivity of paddy Ciherang cultivar. Bulgarian Journal of Agricultural Science, 25(3), 499–505 Rice is staple food of Indonesian and most of Asian people. Various researches were conducted to increase rice production. The practice of rice cultivation by farmers to restore rice straw and rice husks in the form of compost to agricultural land is rarely done. This practice causes the reduction of the silica availability in the soil. The element of silica in rice plants is a functional micro element in improving the quality of paddy grains. One of the efforts to overcome the lack of Si element, and increase the productivity of paddy in the fi eld is to give the silica from rice husk extraction and planted with using Jajar Legowo (planting arrangement). The experimental method using split plot design consists of two factors with three replications. The fi rst factor was Jajar Legowo (J), (j1) and (j2). The second factor is concentration of silica rice husk extract (S), ie 20 ml L-1 (s1), 25 ml L -1 (s2) and 30 ml L -1 (s3). The observed data were analyzed with the analysis of variance at 5% signifi cant level. Duncan's multiple range test was performed at 5% signifi cant level. The results showed that jajar legowo (j1) and 20 ml L-1 silica rice husk extracts with the best treatment yielded 1000 grains of 40.5 g, productivity per plot of 842.45 g m-2 or 8.42 t ha-1, yield of paddy per hill 54.09 g, plant height 107,91 cm, percentage of unfi lled grain 4.3 % and number of tillers 15.62.


A proposal for testing the feasibility of strong earthquake forecasting from space, using on board high energy particle detectors of existing NOAA polar satellites, is given. Previously, exceptional increases of particle fluxes prior to and after the largest quakes that struck the Indonesian and the Philippine areas were recently recognised utilising NOAA-15 particle telescopes. A statistically significant correlation between electron burst s of 30 – 100 keV and large seismic events was calculat ed in previous publications, occurring 2 – 3 hours between seismic events having M ≥ 6 and electron bursts. The 2 – 3 hour correlation supports the hypothesis that there is a physical link between ionospheric charged particle motions at around 2,000 km and seismic activities when earthquake depths are less than 200 km. Taking into account the corresponding electron drift periods and the detector energy corrections, the time interval of a possible physical interaction between high energy electrons of the inner radiation belts and the earth's crust of the future earthquake epicentre has been reduced to about 4 – 6.5 hours. A causal model is proposed for the entire process. Cross-c orrelation coefficients are calculated starting from the previously obtained correlations, so that a probability of earthquake forecasting corresponding to the 2 – 3 hour peak can be evaluated. Based on these results, false alarms can be reduced in an experiment where such probability is used for one year of average seismic and electron loss detections. Finally, an experiment is proposed here, which is currently feasible using ongoing NOAA satellites and USA West Coast antennas to test the forecasting.


Any numerical model needs to be evaluated in order to perform as accurately as possible. The aim of the present study is to develop an FE model of a seat structure with integrated safety belts evaluated to full-scale experiments. Simplified seat structures with 3-point integrated safety belt configurations and corresponding FE models were established. The dimension and the material states of the seat back frame were varied. A 50th percentile Hybrid III dummy was used as occupant. A number of biomechanical and mechanical responses of both experiments and simulations were compared and evaluated. The majority of the simulated responses showed good agreement with or slightly underestimated the corresponding experimental responses during belt loading but differed during belt unloading in some cases. Some inadequacies of the FE model were discovered and areas for further development are suggested. The FE model developed and evaluated in the present study may well be used in future studies.


Nuclear receptors activate transcription by recruiting multiple coactivators to the promoters of specific target genes. The functional synergy of the p160 coactivators [steroid receptor coactivator-1, glucocorticoid receptor interacting protein (GRIP1), or the activator for thyroid hormone and retinoid receptors], the histone acetyltransferases cAMP response element binding protein binding protein (CBP) and p300 and the histone methyltransferase coactivator-associated arginine methyltransferase (CARM1) depends on the methyltransferase activity of CARM1. CARM1 methylates histone H3 and other factors including the N-terminal region of p300. Here, we report that CARM1 also methylates Arg-2142 within the C-terminal GRIP1 binding domain (GBD) of p300. In the GBD, both Arg-2088 and Arg-2142 are important for binding GRIP1. Methylation of Arg-2142 inhibits the bimolecular interaction of GRIP1 to p300 in vitro and in vivo. This methylation mark of p300 GBD is removed by peptidyl deiminase 4, thereby enhancing the p300-GRIP1 interaction. These methylation and demethylimination events also alter the conformation and activity of the coactivator complex and regulate estrogen receptor-mediated transcription, and they thus represent unique mechanisms for regulating coactivator complex assembly, conformation, and function.


The effects of factorial combinations of four storage duration (in days after seed extraction) and surface sterilization with three dilution levels of sodium hypochlorite on seedling emergence and seedling quality of African breadfruit were studied. Storage duration significantly influenced days to seedling emergence, cumulative emergence and seedling quality traits. The effect of sterilization was, however, only significant on deformed seedlings and seedling foliage development. The combined effects of storage duration and sterilization were significant on all traits measured. Seedlings arising from previously sterilized seeds and planted within six days of extraction had fewer cases of deformity and had better foliage development. It was conclusive that after-ripening treatment was necessary to enhance the number of seedling emerging and quality of seedlings of African breadfruit. Sterilizing seeds with 10% dilution of NaOCl and air-drying under ambient tropical room condition for three to six days were found most appropriate, and thus, recommended.


Under what conditions do increasing food prices lead to urban unrest? Existing literature suggests a positive correlation between food prices and social unrest. Meanwhile, there is a large variation in the consequences of increasing food prices, indicating that this phenomenon has a heterogeneous effect across different contexts. The theoretical focus on grievances in the existing literature appears to be insufficient for explaining the variations in outcome. This study asks whether specific features in the domestic institutional setting can explain why food-price induced grievances sometimes lead to unrest and at other times do not. Specifically, the article argues that the manifestation of unrest when food prices increase is moderated by the degree to which the state represses societal organizations. Civil and political society have the potential to channel collective dissent around food-related grievances, as these organizations provide existing mobilization structures that people can draw on to engage in collective action. Further, they can translate an individual-level grievance into a group phenomenon by politicizing the cost of food through the formulation of grievance frames. If the state represses existing societal organizations that can help aggrieved individuals engage in collective action to voice discontent – or introduces barriers to initial mobilization – this will likely reduce the possibility of unrest when food prices go up. Using institutional data from the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project combined with the Social Conflict Analysis Database (SCAD), the findings suggest that repression of societal organizations decreases the likelihood of unrest when food prices rise.


Gilles Deleuze (1925-1995) was Professor of Philosophy at the University of Paris VIII. He is a key figure in poststructuralism, and one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century.
 Nietzsche and Philosophy has long been recognised as one of the most important accounts of Nietzsche's philosophy, acclaimed for its rare combination of scholarly rigour and imaginative interpretation. Yet this is more than a major work on Nietzsche; the book opened a whole new avenue in post-war thought. Here, Deleuze shows how Nietzsche began a new way of thinking which breaks with the dialectic as a method and escapes the confines of philosophy itself.
 Translated by Hugh Tomlinson.


It has sometimes been suggested that works on psychoanalysis, rather than being shelved in psychology sections in bookshops and libraries, should instead be listed under "Jewish Studies." This is not quite as whimsical as it might seem: not only have psychoanalysts often been Jewish, but those who are not Jewish are frequently thought of as if they were. In addition, it can be argued that psychoanalysis is heavily indebted to, and informed by, "Jewish" perspectives, attitudes, ethics, and methodological approaches. Starting as it did with Freud, its origins were deeply embedded in the secular Jewish culture of the late nineteenth century, at a time in Europe when Jewish and other identities were being debated and undergoing radical change (Yerushalmi 1991). Anti-Semitism was a powerful political and cultural force, science was struggling with religion, romanticism was having its nostalgic last gasp, and the revolutionary movements of the twentieth century in politics, science, and the arts were being born. The Jews were both inside and outside Western society: newly "emancipated" and able to claim influential positions, yet still victims of social exclusion, anti-Semitic populism, and new forms of "racial" anti-Semitism that were gradually replacing the old Christian anti-Judaism.


Probabilistic circuits (PCs) are a family of generative models which allows for the computation of exact likelihoods and marginals of its probability distributions. PCs are both expressive and tractable, and serve as popular choices for discrete density estimation tasks. However, large PCs are susceptible to overfitting, and only a few regularization strategies (e.g., dropout, weight-decay) have been explored. We propose HyperSPNs: a new paradigm of generating the mixture weights of large PCs using a small-scale neural network. Our framework can be viewed as a soft weight-sharing strategy, which combines the greater expressiveness of large models with the better generalization and memory-footprint properties of small models. We show the merits of our regularization strategy on two state-of-the-art PC families introduced in recent literature -- RAT-SPNs and EiNETs -- and demonstrate generalization improvements in both models on a suite of density estimation benchmarks in both discrete and continuous domains.


Policy analyses frequently clash. Their disagreements stem from many sources, including models, empirical estimates, and values such as who should have standing and how different criteria should be weighted. We provide a simple taxonomy of disagreement, identifying distinct categories within both the positive and values domains of normative policy analysis. Using disagreements in climate policy to illustrate, we demonstrate how illuminating the structure of disagreement helps to clarify the way forward. We conclude by suggesting a structure for policy analysis that can facilitate assessment, comparison, and debate by laying bare the most likely sources of disagreement.


Excel on medical pharmacology course exams and the boards with the help of the world's bestselling pharmacology review book! More than 800 Q&A From the authors of pharmacology's most trusted textbook, Katzung & Trevor's Basic & Clinical Pharmacology, this authoritative resource delivers a clear, concise review of fundamental concepts backed by more than 800 review questions and answers. The chapter-based approach facilitates use with course notes or larger texts. Valuable learning aids include: Short discussion of the major concepts that underlie basic principles or specific drug groups in every chapter Explanatory figures and tables (many in full color)* Review questions followed by answers and explanations Overview diagrams visually organize drug groups and concepts A list of high-yield terms and definitions you need to know Skill Keeper Questions prompt you to review previous material to understand links between related topics A checklist of tasks you should be able to perform upon completion of each chapter Summary tables that list the important drugs and include key information about their mechanisms of action and effects, clinical uses, pharmacokinetics, drug interactions, and toxicities Two comprehensive 100-question examinations followed by the answer keys and explanations for the correct answers An appendix describing test-taking strategies for improving your test performance


A one-year time series of 222 Rn measured in a rural area in the North of Italy in 1997 is analyzed. The scope of the investigation is to better understand the behavior of this common atmospheric tracer in relation to the meteorological conditions at the release site. Wavelet analysis is used as one of the investigation tools of the time series. The measurements and scalograms of 222 Rn are compared to those of wind-speed, pressure, relative humidity, temperature and NO x . The use of wavelet analysis allows the identification of the various scales controlling the influence of the meteorological variables on 222 Rn dispersion in the surface layer that are not visible through classical Fourier analysis or direct time series inspection. The analysis of the time series has identified specific periods during which the usual diurnal variation of radon is superimposed to a linear growth thus indicating the build up of concentration at the measurement level. From these specific cases an estimate of the surface flux of 222 Rn is made. By means of a simple model these special cases are reproduced.


Irreversible electroporation is a local, non-thermal ablation
method, where short electrical pulses of high voltage lead to
changes in cell membrane permeability and cell death. Recent
experimental studies have shown that it does not lead to damage
of blood vessels, nerves, bile duct or ureters. The aim of our
experimental study was to evaluate the negative effect of
irreversible electroporation regarding damage to the vascular
wall and porcine pancreatic tissue. Irreversible
electroporation of the pancreas was performed in 6 pigs after
medial laparotomy. Irreversible electroporation was applied to
each pig to the splenic lobe of the pancreas in order to assess
damage to the pancreatic tissue and to the duodenal lobe of the
pancreas to assess damage to the vascular structure of the
pancreatic tissue. Higher ablation electric intensity (minimum
500 V/cm - maximum 1,750 V/cm, step 250 V/cm) in 90 mu s pulses
was utilized on each pig. After 7 days, macroscopic and
microscopic evaluations of en bloc resected specimen (pancreas
with duodenum) were performed. During 7 post-ablation days, no
deaths or clinical worsening occurred in any of the pigs.
Necrotic changes in the pancreatic tissue were recorded at an
electric intensity of 750 V/cm. Changes in the outer layers of
the wall of the arteries and veins occurred at 1,000 V/cm.
Transmural vascular wall damage was not recorded in any case.
Irreversible electroporation allows for relatively efficient
cell death in the target tissues. Our independent experimental
work confirms the safety of this method towards vascular
structures located in the ablation zone.


The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of staff from a hospice, in New Zealand / Aotearoa, regarding the use of music therapy in the care of dying patients. The study has a particular focus on spiritual aspects of palliative care in music therapy, as spirituality is an inherent aspect of the work done by caregivers in palliative care. Hospice staff were asked to reflect on what they knew and understood of music therapy before, and after, a music therapy student arrived at the hospice, and their narratives were explored to uncover the links between patients, music and spirituality. The aim of this was to identify what might be needed to increase knowledge, to improve referral processes, and to increase opportunities for collaborative team work. A cross-section of staff, i.e. two nurses, one doctor, an occupational therapist, and a counsellor, who were part of the palliative care team, were recruited to participate in two semi-structured interviews to discuss their perceptions of the potential for music therapy to support the spiritual needs of hospice patients. A qualitative approach was employed and narrative analysis was used to interpret the interviews. Narrative research emphasises the language of human understanding and in this research it involved gathering participants' 'stories' of their evolving perceptions over time. Findings suggest the language used to describe spiritual care in music therapy was different for each participant although common meanings were drawn from the participants' stories. Commonalities included: music therapy in the hospice was valued by the participants; some participants would like more knowledge to make an informed referral. In addition, staff understanding appeared to have increased over time partly due to educational seminars, sharing at team meetings, actual exposure to music therapy, informal conversations with staff, and participants' growing knowledge of music therapy through their own personal process of learning.


Summary In this paper, we present a novel interpolation-based Stokes image reconstruction scheme for the division-of-focal-plane (DoFP) polarization image sensors. Different from the previous implementations, our proposed method first demosaics the raw image by mainstream interpolation algorithms then converts the up-sampled images to Stokes images with much richer polarization-related physical information. This not only leads to significant resolution improvement to the captured raw image, but also greatly reduces the caused pixel mean square error (MSE). Experimental data from the test images have validated the effectiveness of this proposed scheme. Motivation Solid-state image sensors, which are capable of extracting the incident light's polarization information in addition to intensity and color (i.e. wavelength), take great advantages in a wide range of applications [1]. By looking through a layer of patterned micrometer-scale pixelated polarizing elements, a set of mosaicked polarization raw sub-images can be generated simultaneously, namely DoFP polarization imaging. As shown in Fig. 1 (a), similar to the widely-exploited Bayer pattern of color imaging, the mosaicked polarization raw sub-images down-sample each polarization channel by 75%, leading to significant spatial resolution loss. Meanwhile, in order to make the raw sub-images physically meaningful, they are typically translated to Stokes sub-images, which correspond to first three Stokes parameters representing the unpolarized and linearly polarized components of the incident light. In the previously reported implementations, the neighboring four sub-pixels (i.e. I0, I90, I45, I135) are directly substituted to the Stokes parameters' classical expressions. As a result, a 75% down-sampled Stokes images are acquired. In order to compensate this resolution loss, we propose a new Stokes image reconstruction scheme: before the Stokes image conversion, interpolate the mosaicked polarization raw sub-images with mainstream algorithms, including linear, cubic and spline. Results Figure 1 (c) illustrates the proposed detailed image reconstruction flow. In addition, we have also compared our proposed method to the traditional implementation of directly applying the same interpolation algorithm to the aforesaid 75% down-sampled Stokes images [Fig. 1 (b)]. For the extracted down-sampled Stokes images in the previous implementations, even with the same interpolation algorithms applied, our proposed method still outperforms by almost 10 folds in term of Stokes parameter S2's MSE (Fig. 2), which well-balances the spatial resolution compensation and the Stokes image generation by minimizing the caused overall MSE. Figure 3 illustrates the real images with different Stokes image reconstruction schemes applied. Acknowledgments This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61504087), the Kongque Technology Innovation Foundation of Shenzhen (Grant No. KQCX20120807153227588), the Fundamental Research Foundation of Shenzhen (Grant No. JCYJ20140418095735624, and JCYJ20150324141711677). Reference [1] M. Kulkarni, V. Gruev, "Integrated spectral-polarization imaging sensor with aluminum nanowire polarization filters", Optics Express, vol. 20, no. 21, pp. 22997–23012, 2012.


Abstract Much of what is known about the long-term history of biodiversity and rates of taxonomic evolution in the fossil record derives from literature-based compilations of fossil stratigraphic ranges. It has been suggested that taxonomic and stratigraphic errors in these compilations are randomly distributed and, therefore, introduce no significant bias to macroevolutionary patterns. Here we compare a new, comprehensive global database of Ordovician and Early Silurian crinoids to Sepkoski's global genus compendium. Approximately 44% of the crinoid genera resolved to substage in Sepkoski's compendium are taxonomically inaccurate (i.e., invalid, nomina dubia, or column genera) or have incorrect first and/ or last occurrences. Errors in Sepkoski's compendium result from incomplete coverage of existing taxonomic work and incorrect stratigraphic correlations that, in some cases, are propagated throughout the taxonomic literature. Stratigraphic range errors are nonrandomly distributed among substages in Sepkoski's compendium. The result is underestimated richness in the Early Silurian and significantly overestimated rates of extinction in the Late Ordovician. There is no similar bias in Sepkoski's substage origination rates for crinoids. At the stage-level of temporal resolution, Sepkoski's crinoid data are more accurate. In this case, only 32% of the compendium's crinoid genera contain some stratigraphic or taxonomic inaccuracy. However, errors still result in incorrect macroevolutionary patterns, particularly with respect to rate of origination in the Ashgill, which is significantly underestimated in Sepkoski's compendium. Genera described since the completion of Sepkoski's compendium have had relatively little effect on estimated rates of evolution at both stage and substage resolution. These results suggest that macroevolutionary patterns among some taxa in Sepkoski's compilation may be significantly influenced by nonrandomly distributed taxonomic inaccuracies and stratigraphic range errors. In the case of the apparent end-Ordovician mass extinction among crinoids, the revised history reveals a dramatically reduced role for extinction at the substage-level of temporal resolution. At the stage level, Sepkoski's original compilation strongly exaggerates the excess of extinction over origination in the Ashgill. Although biases inherent in the stratigraphic record remain unaccounted for, removing taxonomic and stratigraphic errors in Sepkoski's compendium substantially changes our understanding of the nature of large-scale biotic change for an important Paleozoic taxon during the end-Ordovician.


Multiple light spots can be generated by modulating the spatial phase distribution of laser beam with a spatial light modulator (SLM). In this paper, we demonstrate the fabrication of three-dimensional 1 x 4 splitter waveguides inside a glass by focusing multiple light spots of femtosecond (fs) laser pulses, which can be controlled by switching spatial phase distributions on an SLM. In the conventional fs laser writing technique, a highly precise positioning of a substrate is essential for fabricating a branched waveguide in a splitter. Using the technique proposed in this paper, a continuously branched waveguide can be produced easily by translating a glass substrate only one time; therefore this technique can eliminate the need for a high precision in positioning of a substrate and save a fabrication time.


Analysis of behavioural consistency is an important aspect of software engineering. In process and service management, consistency verification of behavioural models has manifold applications. For instance, a business process model used as system specification and a corresponding workflow model used as implementation have to be consistent. Another example would be the analysis to what degree a process log of executed business operations is consistent with the corresponding normative process model. Typically, existing notions of behaviour equivalence, such as bisimulation and trace equivalence, are applied as consistency notions. Still, these notions are exponential in computation and yield a Boolean result. In many cases, however, a quantification of behavioural deviation is needed along with concepts to isolate the source of deviation. In this article, we propose causal behavioural profiles as the basis for a consistency notion. These profiles capture essential behavioural information, such as order, exclusiveness, and causality between pairs of activities of a process model. Consistency based on these profiles is weaker than trace equivalence, but can be computed efficiently for a broad class of models. In this article, we introduce techniques for the computation of causal behavioural profiles using structural decomposition techniques for sound free-choice workflow systems if unstructured net fragments are acyclic or can be traced back to S- or T-nets. We also elaborate on the findings of applying our technique to three industry model collections.


influenced by Cullen, to the eight initial years of practice in Stafford. It was during this period, perhaps around 1770, that he seems to have taken up field botany seriously. In 1775, seeking a larger stage for his abilities, he was told by Erasmus Darwin of a promising opening in the nearest city, the then fast-growing Birmingham. There, he speedily prospered, to such an extent that eleven years later he was wealthy enough to lease one of the local big houses, Edgbaston Hall. The career was not without its traumas, however, and latterly he fought a losing battle with consumption, twice having to spend winters in Portugal. He died a year or two just short of sixty. It was soon after the move to Birmingham that a patient asked him for his opinion of a recipe for the cure of dropsy which had been handed down within the family. It had come from an old Shropshire herb-woman, he discovered, and consisted of a "cocktail" derived from twenty or more different plants. Thanks to his botanical knowledge, Withering spotted at once that the foxglove was the key one of these, and there then followed ten years of patient experimenting by him to establish the therapeutic limits of the drug. The methods he used, his detailed and careful reporting of his results, the attention he gave to product quality and standardization, and his development of the technique of dose titration were all very advanced for the time and are what he primarily deserves to be remembered for-rather than (as popular legend wrongly has it) as the discoverer of digitalis. At the same time, Withering is rightly hailed today as a pioneer of the view that there is something to be learned of the properties and virtues of natural substances from "the empirical usages and experience of the populace". Here his expertise in botany came into its own. How far that expertise was crucial in his digitalis detective work is a matter for conjecture, but it is clear that it was important in a general way in giving him a wider awareness. It is therefore disappointing that the treatment in the book of the botanical dimension is so thin, for Withering is a figure of almost equal significance in the history of field botany as in that of clinical pharmacology. Indeed the second (1787) edition of his Botanical arrangement, the other publication he …


Navigating health insurance and health care delivery systems to obtain adequate access to health care can be challenging, and parents must act as advocates for their children in this process. Parents who are covered by the same insurance as their children are likely to be the most effective advocates because they are familiar with the specific systems. The burden on parents may be magnified if the child and the parents have different insurance plans or different types of coverage. Parents who do not have their own insurance are likely to be the least effective in working with the insurance system that covers their child. Changes in public program eligibility over the past 15 years have enhanced access to public insurance coverage, but they have created a situation in many low-income families where only some members are eligible for specific programs.


INTRODUCTION
Little is known about the nature of patients presenting to emergency departments (EDs) in South Africa. This study aimed to provide evidence on ED usage in Cape Town by studying patients at four community health centre (CHC) EDs, with details of the severity of their presentation and their disposal.

METHODS
A total of 16,392 patients presented in this 8-week prospective observational study, and 15,681 were included in the descriptive data analysis. One-quarter were children.

RESULTS
There were clear and predictable peaks in attendance after 1600 hr and at weekends, with a steady stream of patients presenting overnight. Case severity was evenly distributed between emergency, urgent and routine care. Nearly 10% of patients were referred on to a higher level of care.

CONCLUSION
The data from this study present a model for staffing and resource allocation. It has implications for the provision of emergency care in CHC EDs.


On tropical Pacific islands, a human-caused "biodiversity crisis" began thousands of years ago and has nearly run its course. Bones identified from archaeological sites show that most species of land birds and populations of seabirds on those islands were exterminated by prehistoric human activities. The loss of birdlife in the tropical Pacific may exceed 2000 species (a majority of which were species of flightless rails) and thus represents a 20 percent worldwide reduction in the number of species of birds. The current global extinction crisis therefore has historic precedent.


Assemblies of modular subsystems are being pressed into service to perform sensing, reasoning, and decision making in high-stakes, time-critical tasks in areas such as transportation, healthcare, and industrial automation. We address the opportunity to maximize the utility of an overall computing system by employing reinforcement learning to guide the configuration of the set of interacting modules that comprise the system. The challenge of doing system-wide optimization is a combinatorial problem. Local attempts to boost the performance of a specific module by modifying its configuration often leads to losses in overall utility of the system's performance as the distribution of inputs to downstream modules changes drastically. We present metareasoning techniques which consider a rich representation of the input, monitor the state of the entire pipeline, and adjust the configuration of modules on-the-fly so as to maximize the utility of a system's operation. We show significant improvement in both real-world and synthetic pipelines across a variety of reinforcement learning techniques.


Empire-building did not only involve the use of excessive violence against native communities, but also required the gathering of data about the native Other. This is a book about books, which looks at the writings of Western colonial administrators, company-men and map-makers who wrote about Southeast Asia in the 19th century. In the course of their information-gathering they had also framed the people of Southeast Asia in a manner that gave rise to Orientalist racial stereotypes that would be used again and again. Data-Gathering in Colonial Southeast Asia 1800-1900: Framing the Other revisits the era of colonial data-collecting to demonstrate the workings of the imperial echo chamber, and how in the discourse of 19th century colonial-capitalism data was effectively weaponized to serve the interests of Empire.


Two novel probabilistic models for viewed angles and distances are derived using an observability sphere method. The method, which is based on the assumption that the prior probability density is isotropic for all viewing orientations, can be used for the computation of observation probabilities for object's aspects, features, and probability densities of their quantitative attributes. Using the sphere, it is discovered that the probability densities of viewed angles, distances, and even projected curvature have sharp peaks at their original values. From this peaking effect, it is concluded that in most cases, the values of angles and distances are being altered only slightly by the imaging process, and they can still serve as a strong cue for model-based recognition. The probabilistic models for 3-D object recognition from monocular images are used. To form the angular elements that are needed, the objects are represented by their linear features and specific points primitives. Using the joint density model of angles and distances, the probabilities of initial matching hypotheses and mutual information coefficients are estimated. These results are then used for object recognition by optimal matching search and stochastic labeling schemes. Various synthetic and real objects are recognized by this approach. >


How are we moving, or how much physical activities are present in societal settingssuch as eldercare units, schools, universities and offices? This general question was explored using different design-oriented approaches in four cases, with children,elderly, students and office workers. The results unveil a complexity of the problemarea that initially seemed quite straightforward. In many of the explored settings and situations, and for many of the participants, the activities they are engaged with do not include or encourage their abilities for physical movements to any great extent and this is not in line with the extent of movement that they actually desire. Physical activity can be defined as an activity performed through movement that expends energy. Research results from the public health domains and related areas show a major concern for the negative effects related to low levels of physical activity and prolonged sedentary postures found in many of the above-mentioned settings. In general, physical activities of today seem mainly related to sports, and specific activities designed for improving health and well-being. The participants in the four explorative case studies in this thesis demonstrated how they would like their physical activities to be integrated in the everyday activities of the different settings explored and not mainly as a separate activity specifically dedicated for health and well-being. How can knowledge of physical activity inform the design and development of interactive products and systems in these settings? New insights were gained through design-oriented explorations together with the participants inthe different field settings and through analysis of these observations. The results are not only the insights gained through the analysed empirical observations but also include a physical activity-oriented design method called Physical Movement Sketching as well as experiences from using Movement Probes. The experiences from using these two design methods led me to formulate a proposal for a new approach called Movement Acumen Design. This approach applies a socioecological perspective on physical activities. It provides methods and concepts to support the integration of physical activities into everyday activities performed with the support of interactive technology and it argues that physical activity should reclaim a more central role in these situations. Let us design for it to happen!


An innovative aquaculture project involving the thermal seawater effluent of a thermoelectric power plant and a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) was implemented in the Atacama Desert, the driest in the world located in northern Chile to produce the warm water pelagic fish cobia ( Rachycentron canadum Linnaeus, 1766). An experimental land-based fish farm was built consisting of nine independent RAS provided with adequate temperature (28°C) and salinity (32) for cobia growth and overall aquaculture performance. Under these conditions, cobia was raised from egg to an average weight of 4 ± 0.4 kg in 12 months. Growth rates were similarly high for all the batches, and mortalities from weaning up to harvest sizes never exceeded 6%. Besides, no antibiotics were ever used, and no infectious diseases ever detected during the four years experimental phase reported herein. The batches of eggs arrived in Chile in 2012 and 2014. After three years, 12 t of cobia were consistently produced per every eight months' cycle. During this period, successful reproduction and routine volitional spawning of broodstock were achieved, producing offspring from F1 and F2 generations. The biological potential and economic feasibility of the RAS concept for raising cobia in temperate, desert regions was demonstrated and is described. Farm management, multi-trophic aquaculture, animal welfare, proactive health management, zero water effluent discharge, and total recycling of wastes are also discussed as a means of expanding the concept into a commercial phase.


During the first century of secondary school literature textbook publishing (from the introduction of Slovenian language as a school subject after the March Revolution in the Austrian Empire to the first Five-Year Plan after World War II) over a hundred texts featuring the topic of mining and related activities were included. The first writings have a clearly affirmative attitude towards mining, perceived and presented as a way of promoting general prosperity. The first mentions of the negative aspects of mining and the deceptive folly of coveting precious mineral resources appear towards the end of the 19th century. Only during the interwar period, however, were there various texts which presented mining as an inhumane and dangerous activity. After World War II the approach was again optimistic: in central literature textbooks mining was depicted as the glorification of socialist progress. Relevant texts were published in eight series of textbooks, the first as early as in the Bleiweis series for lower secondary schools in 1850 and the last in the ethnic Slovenian Beli?i? series of textbooks in 1947. The discovery of mercury in the Idrija mine was described by Valvazor, Kastelic, Hrovat and Oblak.


In this work, cyclic combustion simulations of a spark ignition engine were performed using the Large Eddy Simulation techniques. The KIVA-4 RANS code was modified to incorporate the LES capability. The flame surface density approach was implemented to model the combustion process. Ignition and flame kernel models were also developed to simulate the early stage of flame propagation. A dynamic procedure was formulated where all model coefficients were locally evaluated using the resolved and test filtered flow properties during the fully developed phase of combustion. A test filtering technique was adopted to use in wall bounded systems. The developed methodology was then applied to simulate the combustion and associated unsteady effects in a spark ignition engine. The implementation was validated using the experimental data taken from the same engine.

Results show that, even with relatively coarser meshes used in this work, present LES implementation has been able to resolve the evolution of a large number of in-cylinder flow structures, which are more influential for engine performance. Predicted combustion rate and pressure rise is also in good agreement with the measurements. The limits of cyclic variations are well within the experimentally observed range. It has also been able to demonstrate the limits of cyclic fluctuations to a reasonable degree even with a fewer number of simulation cycles. A significant variation of flame propagation has also been predicted by the simulations.


In this report a method is applied that was originally developed for the creation of evaluation frameworks for CASE-tools. Here the method is taken out of its original context and applied for the creation of an evaluation framework for database design transformation in CASE-tools. The focus of this report is on the process of creating the framework and not on the resulting framework. The creation of the framework is divided into two main processes. During phase1 a framework is developed from existing literature. This framework is then refined in phase 2 when the framework is tested in an in-depth exploratory study of support for design transformation in two commercial CASE-tools.


IMG/M is a data management and analysis system for microbial community genomes (metagenomes) hosted at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI). IMG/M consists of metagenome data integrated with isolate microbial genomes from the Integrated Microbial Genomes (IMG) system. IMG/M provides IMG's comparative data analysis tools extended to handle metagenome data, together with metagenome-specific analysis tools. IMG/M is available at http://img.jgi.doe.gov/m


Air pollution is a major environmental risk factor. There is accumulating evidence that air pollution could induce elevated blood pressure and potentiate hypertension. Acute elevations in the outdoor air pollution levels can trigger immediate or shortly delayed increases in arterial blood pressure. Moreover, few studies suggest that short-term increases in the levels of particulate and gaseous pollutants could lead to an acute onset of hypertension. Prolonged exposure to outdoor air pollution is associated with elevated blood pressure. Furthermore, some longitudinal studies have linked long-term exposure to air pollution with the incidence of hypertension. Various components of air pollution, such as inhalable particulate matter (PM 2.5 , PM 10 ), nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and ozone, have shown associations with blood pressure in some studies. The hypothesized underlying mechanisms include inflammatory reactions and oxidative stress in lungs and in systemic circu- lation, imbalance of autonomous nervous system, and pathologic changes in vascular endothelium. In addition to " traditional " susceptible groups such as elderly individuals or patients with chronic diseases, children and pregnant women could be especially susceptible to the adverse effects of air pollution. The interplay of air pollution with the related environmental exposures, such as traffic noise and climate change, should be investigated further.


We initiate the study of general neighborhood growth dynamics on two-dimensional Hamming graphs. The decision to add a point is made by counting the currently occupied points on the horizontal and the vertical line through it, and checking whether the pair of counts lies outside a fixed Young diagram. We focus on two related extremal quantities. The first is the size of the smallest set that eventually occupies the entire plane. The second is the minimum of an energyentropy functional that comes from the scaling of the probability of eventual full occupation versus the density of the initial product measure within a rectangle. We demonstrate the existence of this scaling and study these quantities for large Young diagrams.