The objective of this study was to determine the utility of Doppler tissue echocardiography in the evaluation of diastolic filling and in discriminating between normal subjects and those with various stages of diastolic dysfunction. We measured myocardial velocities in 51 patients with various stages of diastolic dysfunction and in 27 normal volunteers. The discriminating power of each of the standard Doppler indexes of left ventricular filling, pulmonary venous flow, and myocardial velocities was determined with the use of Spearman rank correlation and analysis of variance F statistics. Early diastolic myocardial velocity (E(m)) was higher in normal subjects (16.0 +/- 3.8 cm/s) than in patients with either delayed relaxation (n = 15, 7.5 +/- 2.2 cm/s), pseudonormal filling (n = 26, 7.6 +/- 2.3 cm/s), or restrictive filling (n = 10, 7.4 +/- 2.4 cm/s, P <.0001). E(m ) was the best single discriminator between control subjects and patients with diastolic dysfunction (P =.7, F = 64.5). Myocardial velocities assessed by Doppler tissue echocardiography are useful in differentiating patients with normal from those with abnormal diastolic function. Myocardial velocity remains reduced even in those stages of diastolic dysfunction characterized by increased preload compensation.


In this paper, thermal degradation (TGA) and pyrolysis studies of sunflower shell biomass (SSB), eucalyptus biomass (EB), wheat straw biomass (WSB), and peanut shell biomass (PSB) were carried out using the thermogravimetric analysis and stainless steel tubular reactor. Thermal degradation of all biomass wastes was examined at a heating rate of 10 °C/min in nitrogen atmosphere between 20 and 800 °C. Experiments of pyrolysis were carried out in a tubular reactor from 300 to 700 °C with a heating rate of 10 °C/min, a particle size of 0.1–0.3 mm and nitrogen flow rate of 100 mL.min−1, which the aim to study how temperature affects liquid, solid, and gas products. The results of this work showed that three stages have been identified in the thermal decomposition of SSB, EB, WSB, and PSB wastes. The first stage occurred at 120–158 °C, the second stage, which corresponds to hemicellulose and cellulose's degradation, occurred in temperatures range from 139 to 480 °C for hemicellulose, and from 233 to 412 °C for cellulose, while the third stage occurred at 534–720 °C. It was concluded that temperature has a significant effect on product yields. The maximum of bio-oil yields of 37.55, 30.5, 46.96, and 50.05 wt% for WSB, PSB, SSB, and EB, were obtained at pyrolysis temperature of 500 °C (SSB, PSB, and WSB) and 550 °C (EB). Raw biomass, solid and liquid products obtained were characterized by elemental analysis, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The analysis of solid and liquid products showed that bio-oils and bio-chars from agricultural biomass wastes could be prospective sources of renewable fuels production and value added chemical products.


The pervasive consumption of smuggled foreign media in North Korea means that societal changes may bring political economic changes. To analyze how drastic political and economic changes may relate to and resulted from changing media systems and cultures, we conducted a 3-country comparison between present-day North Korea, China from the late 1970s to present day, and East Germany before the reunification with West Germany. We compared government control of media ownership and content; the flow and consumption of foreign media among citizens; the sizes of the media economy and the black market in which legal and illegal media, respectively, circulates; and the adoption of nonlocal cultures in relation to citizens' political views. Reflecting on the experiences of China and East Germany, we believe that the North Korean case is more similar to the East German case rather than to the Chinese case because the government cannot effectively control foreign media consumption and its influence on the citizens, so the country may eventually allow for some foreign media in the country.


In recent years, cultural institutions and commercial providers have created extensive digitised newspaper collections. This book asks the timely question: what can the large-scale digitisation of newspapers tell us about the wider cultural phenomenon of mass digitisation? The unique form and materiality of newspapers, and their grounding in a particular time and place, provide challenges for researchers and digital resource creators alike. At the same time, the wider context in which digitisation of cultural heritage occurs shapes the impact of digital resources in ways which fall short of the grand ambitions of the wider theoretical discourse. Drawing on case studies from leading digitised newspaper collections, the book aims to provide a bridge between the theory and practice of how these digitised collections are being used. Beginning with an exploration of the hyperbolic nature of technological discourses, the author explores how web interfaces, funding models and the realities of contemporary user behaviour, contrast with the hyperbolic discourse surrounding mass digitisation. This book will be of particular interest to those who want to investigate how user studies can inform our understanding of technological phenomena, including digital resource creators, information professionals, students and researchers in universities, libraries, museums and archives.


We report an experimental and theoretical investigation into the dynamics of electron-impact ionization of R-carvone. Experimental triple differential cross sections are obtained in asymmetric coplanar kinematic conditions for the ionization of the unresolved combination of the three outermost molecular orbitals (41a-39a) of R-carvone. These cross sections are compared with theoretical cross sections calculated within a molecular 3-body distorted wave (M3DW) framework employing either a proper orientation average or orbital average to account for the random orientation of the molecule probed in the experiment. Here, we observe that the overall scattering behavior observed in the experiment is fairly well reproduced within the M3DW framework when implementing the proper average over orientations. The character of the ionized orbitals also provides some qualitative explanation for the observed scattering behavior. This represents substantial progress when trying to describe the scattering dynamics observed for larger molecules under intermediate-impact energy and asymmetric energy sharing scattering conditions.


Great leaders have many talents, but one critical skill--often unrecognized--is the ability to ask and answer questions. This unique book offers 78 questions that leaders at all levels need to ask and answer both inside and outside the organization. Leaders who master this question-response technique will gain much useful information about what is really going on in their businesses, as well as the admiration of employees, customers, and others with whom they interact. The questions and answers cover a range of common and uncommon situations, including: the need to connect employees' efforts to company goals; layoffs, business downturns, and mergers; personal crises of employees; coaching and mentoring sessions; and customer retention. The book even includes advice on answering questions when the answer is "I don't know" or "I can't tell you." With worksheets in each chapter, it prepares leaders to ask important questions of: Customers ("Why do you do business with our competition?") Employees ("What's a recent management decision you didn't understand?") And even themselves ("What do I want to be remembered for?")


Three-dimensional finite-element (FE) analysis of a fold-thrust belt wedge model provides graphical and quantitative information for the strain geometry, kinematics, and mechanics of salient formation in three-dimensionalspace. A nonlinear, elastic-plastic FE model, using the initial basin configuration of the restored Provo salient, Utah, develops realistic deformation features (e.g., salient) in the deformed sedimentary prism. The three-dimensional fold-thrust belt wedge model shows different deformation characteristics (based on S 1 , γ m a x , and σ 1 orientations and material-displacement directions) in different parts of the salient, and its behavior is closely related to the preexisting template of the predeformational basin shape. The model results indicate plane-strain deformation with symmetric finite-strain geometry in the middle of the salient and nonplane-strain deformation with nonsymmetric finite-strain geometry at the lateral boundaries. Thus, conventional two-dimensional plane-strain assumptions in fold-thrust belt analysis (e.g., in balancing cross sections) are reasonable only in the middle of the salient; however, at the lateral boundaries, the results indicate fully three dimensional deformation and suggest that restorations need to be more carefully constrained in three dimensions on the basis of detailed geologic data.


Background: In 2005, guidance on how to prevent wrong site surgery in the form of a national safety alert was issued to all NHS hospital trusts in England and Wales by the National Patient Safety Agency. Objective: To investigate the response to the alert among clinicians in England and Wales 12–15 months after it had been issued. Methods: A before–after study, using telephone/face-to-face interviews with consultant surgeons and senior nurses in ophthalmology, orthopaedics and urology in 11 NHS hospitals in England & Wales in the year prior to the alert and 12–15 months after. The interviews were coded and analysed thematically. Results: The study revealed marked heterogeneity in organisational processes in response to a national alert. There was a significant change in surgeons' self-reported practice, with only 48% of surgeons routinely marking patients prior to the alert and 85% after (p<0.001). However, inter-specialty differences remained and change in practice was not always matched by change in attitude. Compliance with the detailed recommendations about how marking should be carried out was inconsistent. There were unintended consequences in terms of greater bureaucracy and concerns about diffusion of responsibility and hastily performed marking to enable release of patients from wards. Conclusion: The alert was effective in promoting presurgical marking and encouraging awareness of safety issues in relation to correct site surgery. However, care should be taken to monitor unintended consequences and whether change is sustained. Greater flexibility for local adaptation coupled with better design and early testing of safety alerts prior to national dissemination may facilitate more sustainable changes in practice.


This book is the major output of a research project exploring the relationship between social partnership and trade union renewal in a comparative context by reporting on recent experiences of co-operative approaches to industrial relations in eight countries: the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Romania and the US. Case studies were compiled to draw out illustrative aspects from the countries in question. Methodologically, the project was organised as a network of researchers and union practitioners from the participant countries. This network, supported by the SALTSA Programme, met over a three-year period with a view to developing a dialogue on the issues of social partnership with the specific aim of informing trade union futures. How do we understand 'social partnership'? How does partnership vary across Europe and beyond? What are the implications of partnership for union renewal? This book addresses these questions by exploring the relationship between union renewal and partnership in an international context. The authors introduce and develop the terms 'boxing' and 'dancing' as metaphors for adversarial and co-operative industrial relations, and then offer an in-depth investigation of 'dancing' as a trade union strategy. There is little evidence across the countries covered in the paper to suggest that the pursuit of the dance, whether leading it or following it, is resulting in any new end state or convergent industrial relations dancing paradigm (cf European Commission, 1997). Rather, many cases show dynamic shifts between modes of industrial relations engagement that are predominantly boxing or predominantly dancing. Such dynamics, in our view, are better understood as the outcomes of strategic choices shaping long-run movements back and forth along a continuum from one dominant mode to the other. Effective unions will need to skilfully combine activities in both modes, which should be seen as mutually supportive and not comprising a trade-off. The book is an important contribution to debates on 'new unionism' internationally and will be essential reading for practitioners and policy makers. It is also aimed at academic audiences, specifically researchers and undergraduates in fields of human resource management and industrial relations. (Less)


Title of Dissertation : ACTIVE MICRORING AND MICRODISK OPTICAL RESONATORS ON INDIUM PHOSPHIDE Kuldeep Amarnath Doctor of Philosophy, 2006 Dissertation Directed By: Professor Ping-Tong Ho Electrical and Computer Engineering Photonic or optical logic holds the promise of ultra-fast logic circuits with capability for speeds beyond what is possible using conventional silicon electronics. However, the jump from theory to practice has a high barrier set by critical issues such as integration, scalability and power requirements. Optical micro-resonator based schemes have the potential of addressing some of these issues. This thesis focuses on the development of active InGaAsP/InP microdisk and microring optical resonators to lower that barrier a little. Microrings and disks provide a compact and cascadable device platform to achieve resonance enhancement of optical non-linearity. By incorporating gain in such devices, the optical power needed for carrying out switching can be greatly reduced. Electrically pumped microring and microdisk resonators are fabricated on indium phosphide in both vertically and laterally coupled bus-waveguide configurations. The gain saturation non-linearity is used to demonstrate all-optical switching and bistable operation at optical powers more than two orders of magnitude lower compared to passive devices. The shift in the ring/disk resonances caused by the refractive index change due to a pump beam is used to switch a weaker probe beam tuned to one of the resonances. The non-linear response and switching mechanism is modeled numerically. A novel pseudodisk configuration that combines the best of microdisks and microrings is used to minimize device heating and surface recombination as well as provide near single-mode operation. Additionally, optical amplifiers based on microrings are also developed for cascading passive optical gates. Optical amplification up to 10 db in pulsed mode has been observed for 20 μm radius microrings. The control of surface recombination on the microring sidewalls is critical to avoid carrier loss and device heating. A sulfur passivation scheme is used to reduce the surface recombination velocity. The lateral carrier transport and surface recombination in microrings is analyzed by an ambipolar diffusion model. ACTIVE MICRORING AND MICRODISK OPTICAL RESONATORS ON INDIUM PHOSPHIDE


ABSTRACT We apply univariate GARCH models to construct a computationally simple filter for estimating the conditional correlation matrix of asset returns. The proposed Variance Implied Conditional Correlation (VICC) exploits the polarization result that links the correlation between two standardized variables with the variances of linear combinations thereof. In a Monte Carlo study, we show that the VICC yields accurate correlation estimates for common choices of the correlation dynamics. We also provide an empirical application to cross hedging that confirms the effectiveness of the VICC.


We present a novel algorithm to extract the rotational part of an arbitrary 3 X 3 matrix. This problem lies at the core of two popular simulation methods in computer graphics, the co-rotational Finite Element Method and Shape Matching techniques. In contrast to the traditional method based on polar decomposition, degenerate configurations and inversions are handled robustly and do not have to be treated in a special way. In addition, our method can be implemented with only a few lines of code without branches which makes it particularly well suited for GPU-based applications. We demonstrate the robustness, coherence and efficiency of our method by comparing it to stabilized polar decomposition in several simulation scenarios.


The development and deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) is rapidly emerging as the next major step in the ongoing evolution of the digital society and economy. To gain better insight and foresight into key characteristics that will differentiate this more intensely connected future from the present, we shift the focus of attention in this paper from the Internet of 'things' per se , to the data that the Internet of Things will generate. We put forward four provocations about IoT data that pose what we argue will be the most critical questions about business models, privacy, economic geography, and security. The next phase of Internet development will raise new challenges — in particular, around risk, governance, and responsibility — that we articulate here as a forward-looking research and action agenda aimed at maximizing the upside potential of IoT over the next decade.


The extant literature provides evidence that, for many SEC 8-K filings, there is a significant market reaction on the date of the event that led to the 8-K filing, on the days between the event date and the filing date and on the filing date. We address the question, who pays attention and who trades on these days – institutional investors, retail investors, or both? We show that there is significant abnormal attention paid by institutional investors on both the filing date and the event date, more so on the event day; but there is no obvious pattern of abnormal attention from retail investors on either of these dates. Moreover, most price discovery occurs during the pre-filing period when institutional investors are paying attention; suggesting that the 8-K filing has less informational benefit, particularly to retail investors. We observe, for several events related to company senior management, that the 8-K filings appear to attract media coverage and retail attention, which has the undesirable consequence of price pressure on the filing date and this price change eventually reverts.


The DART model is a multi-sectoral, multi-regional dynamic computable general equilibrium model of the world developed for the analysis of international climate policies. Since the first version of DART was developed at the Kiel Institute for World Economics in 1998, the model has undergone a number of changes to run on more recent data and to analyze prevailing issues associated with international emission trading. The aim of this paper is to provide an up-to-date model description and thus to lay open the basis of the results of past and future policy analysis with DART97.


There has been a surprising dearth of research on language maintenance and shift in New Zealand over the last decade. This thesis addresses this gap by examining incipient patterns of language maintenance and shift in families in two refugee communities in Wellington. Earlier research suggests that immigrants may maintain their ethnic languages in spite of societal factors pressuring language shift for up to three generations. By then, however, language shift is often completed, with the third generation using the majority language only (Fishman 1991). In a largely monolingual country such as New Zealand, this shift may be accomplished in only two generations (Holmes et al. 1993).  Understanding the language dynamics at the micro level that eventually lead to language maintenance or shift requires more research into actual language use among family members than traditional methods provide. This investigation therefore uses ethnographic observations, semi-structured interviews and recordings of naturally-occurring interactions between mothers and their children to highlight the challenges involved in transmitting a minority language. Using Spolsky's (2004) tripartite model of language policy, I investigate family language beliefs, practices, and management in the refugee-background Ethiopian and Colombian communities.  The Amharic-speaking Ethiopian community consists mostly of first and second generation members. They first settled in New Zealand in the 1990s and now display awareness of the challenges of maintaining their language. Most Ethiopian parents consider it their responsibility to teach their children Amharic in the home and many have introduced explicit language policies to promote Amharic use. These families exhibit an 'impact belief' (De Houwer 1999) which links their positive beliefs about Amharic with their management of family language practices. Nevertheless, in some cases children subvert and contest explicit language management and become primary agents of language shift. Supporting the parents' efforts, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church provides a social space where Amharic may be used backed by an explicit policy which requires all members to use the language when at church. This policy provides valuable institutional support and cultural capital for Amharic and contributes to the vitality of the language in Wellington.  The Colombian community has had a relatively shorter stay in Wellington, with the first members arriving as recently as 2008. Colombian mothers want to transmit Spanish and many seem confident that their children will maintain the language. In particular, they consider the Colombian variety of Spanish to be a source of pride and a core value (Smolicz 1992), as many participants closely link this variety to their Colombian identity. They further capitalise on the prestige of Spanish as a world language that motivates them to use it even outside their ethnic community. However, few families have put in place explicit language policies to use Spanish in the home; instead, many regard it as a more urgent concern that their children learn English.  Overall, despite the community members' positive attitudes towards their ethnic languages, their efforts to transmit these languages appear to be constrained by the fact that English is invested with considerable cultural capital (Bourdieu 1977) in New Zealand. English acquisition often takes priority, particularly for many newly arrived Colombian families. The participants' refugee experiences, length of residence in New Zealand and the societal status of their ethnic languages seem influential factors on the degree of control they assume over their children's language practices. Families also dynamically adapt their language policies to the circumstances, for example by introducing an explicit minority language policy after their children have acquired what they consider to be enough English. Despite a strong desire for their children to continue speaking the ethnic language, the parents have many other (non-linguistic) responsibilities and they frequently lack knowledge about "success strategies" for minority language transmission. Moreover, the children often take significant agency by introducing English into the home domain, in some cases even influencing other family members to use it, and thus initiating language shift. The detailed interactional data in this research provides insight into the different ways parents have instantiated their varying language policies and negotiated home language choice with their children.  In sum, this research provides insight into language transmission efforts at the family level, and, using data from observations, interviews and recordings of mother-child interaction, describes in detail the unfolding of language maintenance dynamics. The thesis presents valuable insight into the underlying beliefs about Amharic and Spanish, the role of explicit language management strategies, parental socialisation and discourse styles and children's agency. As the first such research covering two recent refugee communities it will hopefully assist the individual families to socialise their children in a way that enables them to become proficient minority language speakers. This will ensure a linguistically rich future for New Zealand.


We use an implicit association test (IAT) to measure implicit gender attitudes and examine the malleability of these attitudes using a randomized field experiment and quasi-experimental data from Tunisia. Women that appear most conservative respond to a randomized video treatment by reducing their implicit gender bias. Also, female interviewers invite more conservative responses to the IAT, especially among the male subsample. Perceived religiosity of the interviewer affects self-reported gender attitudes, but not IAT measures, suggesting social desirability may be at work. We discuss the implications of our findings for the use of implicit measures in development research.


Investigations of sport and recreation in Canada have, with very few exceptions, been limited to the portion of our country that borders the United States. Sport history, sport sociology, and the few sport anthropology texts that exist virtually ignore the recent developments in sport and recreation above the 60 th parallel, particularly those that pertain to women. As a result, the current study of sport and recreation in Canada is incomplete and continues a tradition of giving voice to dominant groups while marginalizing the experiences of minority groups and women. However, the stories of those who do not comfortably reside in Eurocanadian society need to be shared. As Denis (1997) points out, Eurocanadians could benefit from discovering that they, in fact, have something to learn from Aboriginal peoples' ways; traditions surrounding Dene women's participation in physical practices are no exception. This dissertation examines how competing notions of both tradition and community in Dene settlements create tensions for the delivery of and participation in programs involving physical practices, particularly Dene games. The Arctic Winter Games (AWG) is the point of articulation for Dene games and Dene communities. It serves as a paradoxical example of a unique celebration of Northern culture that concomitantly homogenizes Dene practices and people, especially women, through the standardization of Dene games events, thus erasing inter- and intra-community differences in participation. As such, women's involvement in Dene games can be investigated using Foucaultian poststructuralism, notions of tradition, the politics of difference, Berry's (2001) acculturation framework, feminist development theory, and King's (2003) understanding of the ways in which stories operate. Importantly, though, Dene games provide a lens through these very frameworks can be examined. This bidirectional approach towards analysis is taken up in this text, allowing for an interrogation of what is at stake---the power relations and associated complexities---with women's participation in Dene games.


Aim: In Germany, very little is known about the need for assistance and nursing care support among cancer patients after hospitalization. The aim of this study was to describe nursing care support for cancer patients and to analyse whether these patients need more care assistance than other persons in need for care.
Methods: This was a registry linkage study conducted in 2011. Cases were identified from the population-based cancer registry for the Muenster District in north-western Germany and in factually anonymised form linked by a semi-automatic probabilistic procedure (the standard procedure of the cancer registry) with medical examination records of patients applying for assistance and nursing care support from the regional statutory health insurance. The application records of 4,029 patients with colon, breast and prostate cancer were compared to a reference group of 13,104 non-cancer patients.
Results: In only 41.7% of colon, 45.8% of breast and 37.4% of prostate cancer patients was the malignancy the main underlying diagnostic cause for the application of assistance and nursing care. These patients were on average younger (mean age 71.1 vs. 76.8 years) than the non-cancer reference group, required higher levels of support (79.5 vs. 58.1% "considerable" or higher level care need) and their applications were less likely to be rejected (odds ratios [ORs] 0.26, 0.28, and 0.31, respectively). By contrast, the proportion of successful applications and the level of support granted did not differ between multimorbid cancer patients with other main diagnoses as compared to non-cancer applicants.
Conclusion: Patients with colon, breast or prostate cancer do not need per se more nursing care than non-cancer patients. Only if cancer is the main underlying diagnosis for nursing care support, higher levels of support are needed.


We study the properties of 66 galaxies with kinematically misaligned gas and stars from MaNGA survey. The fraction of kinematically misaligned galaxies varies with galaxy physical parameters, i.e. M∗, SFR and sSFR. According to their sSFR, we further classify these 66 galaxies into three categories, 10 star-forming, 26 'Green Valley' and 30 quiescent ones. The properties of different types of kinematically misaligned galaxies are different in that the starforming ones have positive gradient in Dn4000 and higher gas-phase metallicity, while the green valley/quiescent ones have negative Dn4000 gradients and lower gas-phase metallicity on average. There is evidence that all types of the kinematically misaligned galaxies tend to live in more isolated environment. Based on all these observational results, we propose a scenario for the formation of star-forming galaxies with kinematically misaligned gas and stars − the progenitor accretes misaligned gas from a gas-rich dwarf or cosmic web, the cancellation of angular momentum from gas–gas collisions between the pre-existing gas and the accreted gas largely accelerates gas inflow, leading to fast centrally concentrated star formation. The higher metallicity is due to enrichment from this star formation. For the kinematically misaligned green valley and quiescent galaxies, they might be formed through gas-poor progenitors accreting kinematically misaligned gas from satellites which are smaller in mass.


Heart rate variability was measured in 77 healthy controls and 343 diabetic patients by a count of the number of beat-to-beat differences greater than 50 ms in the RR interval during a 24 hour ambulatory electrocardiogram. In the healthy controls the lower 95% tolerance limits for total 24 hour RR interval counts were approximately 2000 at age 25, 1000 at 45, and 500 at 65 years. Six controls confined to bed after injury had normal 24 hour patterns of RR counts, while eight other controls showed loss of diurnal variation in both heart rate and RR counts during a period of sleep deprivation. RR counts in ten controls on and off night duty increased during sleep whenever it occurred. Nearly half (146) the 343 diabetic patients had abnormal 24 hour RR counts. The percentage of abnormal RR counts increased with increasing autonomic abnormality assessed by a standard battery of tests of cardiovascular autonomic function. A quarter of those with normal cardiovascular reflex tests had abnormal 24 hour RR counts. There were close correlations between 24 hour RR count results and the individual heart rate tests (r = 0.6). The assessment of cardiac parasympathetic activity by 24 hour RR counts was reliable. The diurnal variations in RR counts seen in the controls were probably related to sleep rather than either posture or time of day. The method was more sensitive than conventional tests of cardiovascular reflexes.


We characterize the soliton-train emission from an Er–Yb-doped fiber loop laser. We discuss the self-starting dynamics and pulse-repetition-rate control in this sliding-frequency soliton laser. We show that the laser truly self-starts after only one cavity round trip. In the steady state the laser emits a closely spaced train of solitons. We also show that the output pulse width may be controlled by the interplay of continuous frequency shifting, bandwidth-limited amplification, and nonlinear polarization rotation of the circulating solitons. The repetition rate is fixed by means of a weak intracavity feedback. The laser is tunable by shifting of the filter wavelength through the whole spectral band of the active fiber.


In the discussion of fees for water supply services, companies are increasingly searching for effective measures to improve their economic management. Benchmarking is a management tool to identify room for improvement in undertakings. Focussing the processes in a water supply service can show measures to enhance the company's activities. A pilot project at the University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich was started in 2001 to test the method of Process-Benchmarking with two Gemman water supply services. Therefore a system methodology was designed for water supply services with drinking water dams. Afterwards the systematic was successfully tested by implementing the companies' data. The administration of these undertakings was especially focussed in this project because it is a very large part of a company in respect to the employees and the amount of the expenses and its work has effects on all other parts. Room for improvements could be found for both water supply services and measures were designed to be implemented. The analysis of the administration in the described project was beneficial to raise the companies' efficiency. It showed that this method can be useful and is important for any other field of activity, too.


We establish an exact formula relating the survival probability for certain Lévy flights (viz. asymmetric α-stable processes where ) with the survival probability for the order statistics of the running maxima of two independent Brownian particles. This formula allows us to show that the persistence exponent δ in the latter non-Markovian case is simply related to the persistence exponent θ in the former Markovian case via: . Thus, our formula reveals a link between two recently explored families of anomalous exponents: one exhibiting continuous deviations from Sparre-Andersen universality in a Markovian context, and one describing the slow kinetics of the non-Markovian process corresponding to the difference between two independent Brownian maxima.


OBJECTIVES
Partial cystectomy is a recognized bladder sparing surgical technique. Patient selection is essential in order to optimize long term results. We present our initial experience with laparoscopic partial cystectomy performed in a selected group of patients that includes both benign and malignant lesions.

METHODS
Nine patients were surgically treated with laparoscopic partial cystectomy between July 2002 and September 2006 in our institution. Partial cystectomy was indicated for the treatment of a foreign body, endometriosis, urachal adenocarcinoma, trancisional cell carcinoma, acquired lesions of urachus and extravesical tumor. Analyzed surgical variables were operative time, conversion rate, blood loss, hospital stay and catheterization period.

RESULTS
Nine patients with bladder lesions were laparoscopically operated for partial cystectomy. Transperitoneal technique was employed and no conversion to open surgery was performed. Median operative time was 77.77 min (range 30-120 min.). No patient received any transfusion. No intraoperative lesions were verified. Median hospital stay was 4.22 days (range 3-5 d.), median catheterization period was 7 days (range 5-10 d.).

CONCLUSIONS
Laparoscopic partial cystectomy is a doable surgical procedure. It is a useful technique for both benign and malignant bladder disease. In TCC and urachal carcinoma oncological safety prevails. Patient selection is essential for this procedure.


Higher education groups like the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) have been examining US graduate education in an attempt to understand where improvements are needed. Many critics of graduate education would echo the sentiments of Lee S. Shulman, President Emeritus of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, who recently wrote, "Doctoral preparation remains a striking example of faithbased education... Our practices in doctoral education are a combination of longstanding traditions, replications of how we ourselves were trained, administrative convenience, and profound inertia." One of the areas where this is most striking is in the dissertation stage of doctoral education. There is growing concern both about the length of time for candidates to complete their dissertations, and completion rates, particularly in the humanities. Often advisors and members of a student's doctoral committee, who completed their own doctoral work in a pre-Internet era, interact with and guide their advisees in the same manner that they were treated when they wrote their dissertations. Generally, graduate students are advised to produce straightforward text dissertations that do not take advantage of new technologies. For years now, virtually every dissertation in the United States has been created in electronic form, yet students may still be required to submit their work in very precisely specified paper form and their institution may only keep bound print copies as part of the institution's permanent record. The electronic thesis and dissertation initiative was launched in the early 1990s to change this. As part of an electronic thesis and dissertation (ETD) program, services are put in place for electronic submission of the thesis or dissertation to the graduate school or other designated academic unit, and for subsequent ingest into a repository managed by the institution's library. Generally the RLI 270 6


For many years, spatial (3D) sound using headphones has been widely used in a number of applications. A rich spatial sensation is obtained by using head related transfer functions (HRTF) and playing the appropriate sound through headphones. In theory, loudspeaker audio systems would be capable of rendering 3D sound fields almost as rich as headphones, as long as the room impulse responses (RIRs) between the loudspeakers and the ears are known. In practice, however, obtaining these RIRs is hard, and the performance of loudspeaker based systems is far from perfect. New hope has been recently raised by a system that tracks the user's head position and orientation, and incorporates them into the RIRs estimates in real time. That system made two simplifying assumptions: it used generic HRTFs, and it ignored room reverberation. In this paper we tackle the second problem: we incorporate a room reverberation estimate into the RIRs. Note that this is a nontrivial task: RIRs vary significantly with the listener's positions, and even if one could measure them at a few points, they are notoriously hard to interpolate. Instead, we take an indirect approach: we model the room, and from that model we obtain an estimate of the main reflections. Position and characteristics of walls do not vary with the users' movement, yet they allow to quickly compute an estimate of the RIR for each new user position. Of course the key question is whether the estimates are good enough. We show an improvement in localization perception of up to 32% (i.e., reducing average error from 23.5° to 15.9°).


The advent of nanoscientific applications in modern life is swiftly in progress. Nanoscale innovation comes with the pressing need to provide citizens and learners with scientific knowledge for judging the societal impact of nanotechnology. In rising to the challenge, this paper reports the developmental phase of a research agenda concerned with building and investigating a virtual environment for communicating nano-ideas. Methods involved elucidating core nano-principles through two purposefully contrasting nano "risk" and "benefit" scenarios for incorporation into an immersive system. The authors implemented the resulting 3D virtual architecture through an exploration of citizens' and school students' interaction with the virtual nanoworld. Findings suggest that users' interactive experiences of conducting the two tasks based on gestural interaction with the system serve as a cognitive gateway for engendering nano-related understanding underpinning perceived hopes and fears and as a stimulating pedagogical basis from which to teach complex science concepts.


Objective To test the hypothesis that the inflammatory marker plasma soluble CD14 (sCD14) associates with incident dementia and related endophenotypes in 2 community-based cohorts. Methods Our samples included the prospective community-based Framingham Heart Study (FHS) and Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) cohorts. Plasma sCD14 was measured at baseline and related to the incidence of dementia, domains of cognitive function, and MRI-defined brain volumes. Follow-up for dementia occurred over a mean of 10 years (SD 4) in the FHS and a mean of 6 years (SD 3) in the CHS. Results We studied 1,588 participants from the FHS (mean age 69 ± 6 years, 47% male, 131 incident events) and 3,129 participants from the CHS (mean age 72 ± 5 years, 41% male, 724 incident events) for the risk of incident dementia. Meta-analysis across the 2 cohorts showed that each SD unit increase in sCD14 was associated with a 12% increase in the risk of incident dementia (95% confidence interval 1.03–1.23; p = 0.01) following adjustments for age, sex, APOE ε4 status, and vascular risk factors. Higher levels of sCD14 were associated with various cognitive and MRI markers of accelerated brain aging in both cohorts and with a greater progression of brain atrophy and a decline in executive function in the FHS. Conclusion sCD14 is an inflammatory marker related to brain atrophy, cognitive decline, and incident dementia.


The underwater flexible robot is a field of continuous exploration and innovation. An underwater flexible manipulator with the functions of bending and grasping is presented in this paper, which is driven by the water hydraulic. The flexible manipulator is consisted mainly of three sets of transverse and three sets of longitudinal Mckibben artificial muscles (MAM) equidistantly arranged. The motions of the manipulator were driven by accurately controlling the length of each MAM that was changed by controlling the internal pressure, which was provided by the hydraulic power subsystem. The flexible manipulator was controlled remotely by the control subsystem. The inverse kinematics of the flexible manipulator was studied based on the neural network in this paper. The feasibility of the neural network inverse kinematics was proved by the data analysis. The three-dimensional virtual model of the flexible manipulator was projected into the captured real scene by the augmented reality (AR) technology to judge the bending degree of the manipulator operation, which could be seen in the experiment image.


This paper presents a channel-aware access scheme for Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA) aiming to take advantage of multi-user diversity and improve throughput, while supporting distributed and asynchronous operation. By dynamically adjusting the contention window of each station (STA) according to its channel state, this method prioritizes STAs that gain most from using a channel, and hence, enhances channel utilization in comparison with a simple random access scheme. To model the proposed Adaptive CSMA/CA (A-CSMA/CA) protocol, a three-dimensional Markov chain is developed. With the aid of such model, performance of the proposed A-CSMA/CA is analytically studied in terms of saturation throughput. Furthermore, illustrative results confirm that A-CSMA/CA significantly improves the throughput, specifically in a large network.


BACKGROUND
In treating glioblastoma, irradiation of the neural progenitor cell (NPC) niches is controversial. Lower hippocampal doses may limit neurocognitive toxicity, but higher doses to the subventricular zones (SVZ) may improve survival.

OBJECTIVE
To prospectively evaluate the impact of limiting radiation dose to the NPC niches on tumor progression, survival, and cognition in patients with glioblastoma.

METHODS
Patients with glioblastoma received resection followed by standard chemoradiation. Radiation dose to the NPC niches, including the bilateral hippocampi and SVZ, was minimized without compromising tumor coverage. The primary outcome was tumor progression in the spared NPC niches. Follow-up magnetic resonance imaging was obtained bimonthly. Neurocognitive testing was performed before treatment and at 6- and 12-mo follow-up. Cox regression evaluated predictors of overall and progression-free survival. Linear regression evaluated predictors of neurocognitive decline.

RESULTS
A total of 30 patients enrolled prospectively. The median age was 58 yr. Median mean doses to the hippocampi and SVZ were 49.1 and 41.8 gray (Gy) ipsilaterally, and 16.5 and 19.9 Gy contralaterally. Median times to death and tumor progression were 16.0 and 7.6 mo, and were not significantly different compared to a matched historical control. No patients experienced tumor progression in the spared NPC-containing regions. Overall survival was associated with neurocognitive function (P ≤ .03) but not dose to the NPC niches. Higher doses to the hippocampi and SVZ predicted greater decline in verbal memory (P ≤ .01).

CONCLUSION
In treating glioblastoma, limiting dose to the NPC niches may reduce cognitive toxicity while maintaining clinical outcomes. Further studies are needed to confirm these results.


Educational institutions are today facing increasing pressures due to economic, political and social upheaval. This is only exacerbated by the nature of education as an intangible good which relies upon the intellectual assets of the organisation, its staff. Top management support has been acknowledged as having a positive general influence on knowledge management and creativity. However, there is a lack of models linking top management support, knowledge sharing, and innovation within higher education institutions, in general within developing countries, and particularly in Iraq. This research sought to investigate the impact of top management support on innovation through the mediating role of knowledge sharing in Iraqi private HEIs. A quantitative approach was taken and 262 valid responses were collected to test the causal relationships between top management support, knowledge sharing, and innovation. Employing structural equation modelling with AMOS v.25, the research demonstrated that knowledge sharing plays a pivotal role in the relationship between top management support and innovation. The research has produced some guidelines for researchers as well as leaders, and provided evidence to support the use of knowledge sharing to increase innovation within the higher education environment in developing countries, particularly Iraq. Keywords—Top management support, knowledge sharing, innovation, structural equation modelling.


This paper reports on an investigation of financial management practices used by small, medium-sized and micro-enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa. It was found that more than half the SMMEs examined use external accounting staff to prepare accounting reports and more than 60% rely on external accounting staff to interpret and use accounting information. A majority of the SMME owners were found to lack interpretation skills and an awareness of how to use information from financial statements. An implication of this study therefore is that policy makers, business support organizations, banks and academic institutions need to focus on educating SMMEs more effectively in financial management, thereby mitigating the risk of cash flow problems and business failure.


Many politicians believe they can intervene in the economy to improve people's lives. But can they? In a social experiment carried out in the United Kingdom, extensive in-work support was randomly assigned among 16,000 disadvantaged people. We follow a sub-sample of 3,500 single parents for 5 ensuing years. The results reveal a remarkable, and troubling, finding. Long after eligibility had ceased, the treated individuals had substantially lower psychological well-being, worried more about money, and were increasingly prone to debt. Thus helping people apparently hurt them. We discuss a behavioral framework consistent with our findings and reflect on implications for policy.


The impacts of the New Economy are not limited only to recently developed technologies, but involve new opportunities for more "traditional" technologies to develop. Knowledge-based industries, and information technologies in particular, hold both promises and threats in many fields. However, as technical know-how is both an input to and an output of knowledge-based industries, IPR regimes may have a large effect on the pace of innovation in knowledge-based technologies. Knowledge is a stimulus for innovation, particularly in knowledge-based technologies where large shares of technical know-how are embedded in final goods. Information goods are described as public goods: if information is disclosed to the public, its originator loses the advantages of propriety, but a new generation of know-how and ideas is stimulated and expanded as a result of its publication. However, knowledge is not legally a public good because unauthorized reproduction can be monitored by IPR. Whether IPR regimes facilitate innovation or reduce its pace has been raised as a pressing issue by the emergence of new technological paradigms and recent economic changes, namely the New Economy. This paper discusses four technologies which are emblematic of the new economy, and which raise important issues regarding IPRs. The technologies presented in this report were selected for analysis on three criteria. First, they are predicted to see rapid evolution during the coming decade and to hold a major share of both economic activity and growth. Second, these technologies are knowledge-based and most have been developed since the mid 1980s. Third, in the context of the technologies discussed here, the current design of IPR regimes seems to conflict with their original aims, namely fostering innovation and technological diffusion by promoting knowledge disclosure and granting monopoly. This report also reviews alternative economic and business models that question the need to protect information goods by IPRs.


The conditions for preparing evaporated Al films of highest reflectance for mirrors and gratings to be used in the vacuum ultraviolet are summarized, and an account is given of aging studies. The preparation of bloom-free, one-micron thick coatings for grating blanks is described, and the effect of thin overcoatings on the efficiency of ruled gratings is discussed. Data are presented on the reflectance and aging of other film materials, such as Pt, ZnS, and Al2O3, which are more suitable for use at wavelengths below 1200 A. A discussion is given of the preparation and the reflecting properties of various multilayer film combinations suitable for reducing the reflectance of mirrors and gratings in the visible and the near ultraviolet while at the same time preserving a high reflectance in the extreme ultraviolet. A 250-A thick layer of MgF2 evaporated onto an Al coating immediately after its deposition was found both to raise the reflectance to about 80% at wavelengths down to 1200 A, and to retard aging.


The importance of Internal corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an important issue for banks to address, however, these issues have been neglected and do not appear to have the desired impact on all employees as expected by the management. Therefore this study intended to determine the effects of internal CSR practices on employee job satisfaction among the commercial Banks in Kenya. The study was to ascertain the effect of workplace health and safety conditions, work life balance, pay and benefits, and equality and diversity, on employee job satisfaction. The study was guided by Social exchange theory, the theory of planned behavior and Stakeholder theory. Explanatory research design was used. The study targeted 283 employees from 17 Commercial Banks in Uasin-Gishu (Kenya Commercial Bank data base, 2013). Stratified and random sampling technique was used to obtain sample size of 165 employees. The study used questionnaires as a tool for data collection. In order to test the reliability of the instrument, Crobanch alpha test was used. The study adopted both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics such as Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis to estimate the causal relationships between internal CSR and employee job satisfaction, and other chosen variables. Study findings indicate that workplace health and safety, pay and benefit, equality and diversity, and work-life balance has a positive and significant effect on employee job satisfaction. Thus, the study concluded that pay and benefits are motivating factor to employees' job satisfaction, fair treatment of workers in accordance with their individual needs and circumstances in the workplace contributes to employee job satisfaction. Therefore the study recommends that organizations should include the development of health management policies to implement health practices as a way of improving employee health. There should be diversity training programs with compulsory participation for all employees and offer equal opportunities for employees in terms of promotion and also education scholarships. There is also need for the organization to provide allowances for employees on participation of social responsibility.


Abstract Background Rugby results in more hospitalisations and visits to the emergency rooms of hospitals than any other sport. It is also the sport with the highest injury rate. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence and profile of the rugby injuries that were sustained by hostel-league rugby players at the University of the Free state. Methods This analytical prospective cohort study included all the rugby players playing in the Free state University Rugby Hostel League in the 2003 rugby season. Throughout the rugby season, the rugby coaches documented the dates of each practice session, the duration of each practice and the players present at each practice and each match. The captains reported the injuries in their teams. Each player also personally completed a separate injury form for each injury. All the players who had been injured gave informed, written consent for their data to be used. The protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Free state. The main outcome measures were the incidence of injury, injury risk per 100 hours played and the profile of the injuries. Results The results of only four of the six hostels are reported due to a lack of cooperation from the other two hostels. Fifty-eight (26.4%) of the 220 players were injured during the season, with 61 injuries being recorded, three of the players being injured twice. The incidence of the injuries ranged from 21.4% to 32% per hostel. Forty per cent of the injured players had also been injured during the previous season. Only three hostels had sufficient information for their risk per time exposure to be calculated. The risk was 0.4, 6.2 and 6.3 per 1 000 hours of exposure. The overall risk of injury per 1 000 hours of rugby played was 5.3. The majority of injuries occurred in the first league and in the lower limbs, with the most common type of injury involving ligaments. Most injuries were caused by tackling. The occurrence of injuries took place evenly throughout both halves of the matches. One date and one time interval during the rugby season stood out due to the high incidence of injuries sustained: on 9 May 2003, 10 injuries were sustained, eight in a game between the first teams of two hostels (seven from Hostel A and one from Hostel B). From 18 July 2003 to 1 August 2003 (the first three weeks after the June/July holidays), 25 injuries occurred. Conclusion Our findings were similar to those of other studies in certain respects but differed in others. Further research should investigate the effect of coaching techniques, fitness levels, protective gear and first aid provided on the injuries sustained.


: Since the discovery that mitochondrial membrane permeabilization represents a critical step in the regulation of intrinsic apoptosis, mitochondria have been viewed as pluripotent organelles, controlling cell death as well as several aspects of cell survival. Mitochondria constitute the most prominent source of ATP and are implicated in multiple anabolic and catabolic circuitries. In addition, mitochondria coordinate cell-wide stress responses, such as autophagy, and control nonapoptotic cell death routines, such as regulated necrosis. Thus, mitochondria seem to regulate a continuum of cellular functions, spanning from physiological metabolism to stress responses and death. The involvement of mitochondria in both vital and lethal processes is crucial for both embryonic and postembryonic development, as well as for the maintenance of adult tissue homeostasis. In line with this notion, primary mitochondrial defects or alterations in the signaling pathways that converge on or emanate from mitochondria underpin a large number of human diseases, including premature aging, neurodegenerative disorders, cardiovascular disorders, and cancer. Here, we provide an overview of the molecular mechanisms that enable mitochondria to sustain cell survival, coordinate stress responses, and mediate cell death, linking these pathways—whenever relevant—to cardiovascular health and disease. ( Circ Res . 2012;00:1198-1207.)


This book examines the language development of two children from the ages of two till four, who are growing up exposed to English, Swiss German and French. Its aim is to ascertain the importance of different environmental factors in fostering active trilingualism. These factors include the quantity of input for each language, whether or not the societal language is spoken in the home, and the conversational style of the caregivers. Although increasing numbers of children are being raised trilingually, research in this field is scarce; this study thus makes an important contribution to our knowledge of trilingual language acquisition. A special point of interest lies in a comparison of the acquisition of two minority languages by a single child, since this allows us to pinpoint more precisely how the development of non-societal languages can be influenced. This book will be of considerable interest to researchers and students working on multilingualism and language acquisition alike.


Objective: Many patients with malignancies demonstrate coagulation abnormalities as activated coagulation and activation of fibrinolysis. Chemotherapy used for the treatment of leukemia may influence the coagulation changes. The purpose of this study was to examine hematological changes in patients with de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML) before and after the start of induction treatment and during the following two weeks. Methods: In 13 patients with de novo AML, markers of coagulation were determined before induction treatment and daily for 13 days. Results: At start, Hb and platelets were low and levels diminished during induction therapy. INR was elevated at days 3-5 and APTT was prolonged at days 13-14. VWF: Ag, VWF: RCo, and FVIII were elevated during the observation period but the increase was lower during chemotherapy. The VWF: MS quotient rose. The APC-PCI complex, TAT, F1+2 and D-dimer were all increased before start of induction therapy, peaked during chemotherapy, and afterwards returned to more normal values. Antithrombin and protein C were within normal limits at the onset and remained relatively stable. Conclusions: Results suggest that coagulation is activated in patients with de novo AML, with a peak during induction treatment, and decline in activation subsequently. Increased thrombin generation occurs before consumption of clotting factors is apparent in global hemostatic tests (e.g. prolonged APTT).


Abstract
This doctoral thesis defines the relationship between the urban and rural in the 21st century, and focuses on food as a key component. The fact that food is, for the most part, produced in the countryside and then transported to the city has a significant influence on this very unbalanced relationship today. The main goal was to show that it is necessary to bring agriculture, urban gardening, the breeding of domestic farm animals, and beekeeping back to the city, which would have a positive affect on both the city and the countryside. All of this is already taking place at the local level, within the neighbourhoods of our cities and through the work of self-organised activities and initiatives, which have been taken up by city residents themselves. One example of this is the community garden, a new model of gardening which offers fertile ground for growing vegetables and to test various forms of co-existence, different ways of designing spaces, the creation of alternative values, and a positive vision for the future of city residents.

In 2010, I co-created the community urban garden Beyond a Construction Site, which is the central part of this artistic research. Throughout the entire four-year process of creating this community garden, theory and artistic practice were intertwined, and informed one another. This community garden is an example of a self-organised and self-managed community space located in a residential neighbourhood in the centre of the city of Ljubljana, and as such is a typical example of urbanism from the bottom up. I placed the creation and development of our community garden in a dialogue with the formal way of arranging urban gardening in Ljubljana, a top-down approach, which the city has been carrying out intensively since 2007. I compared the solutions being proposed by the city of Ljubljana for organising urban gardening with the way it is organised in other European cities, the UK, and the USA. I also researched the recent rapid growth of self-organised initiatives which are focused on the local production of food and seek to find more economic and ecologically friendly models to visibly influence the future of cities and the countryside. Here, community gardens play an important role, as in addition to the production of food they are also spaces for the criticism of existing urban policies, a self-organised revitalisation of neglected spaces, and places of resilience, because they differ from that which real estate agencies, large financial companies, and city authorities desire them to be.

The community garden Beyond a Construction Site has become living proof that, through a group action, the residents of a neighbourhood can influence existing city policies and the future of both their own neighbourhood and that of the entire city. The initiators of this garden are artists and architects, and we began this community garden in the context of an art festival, which also shows that art can influence the processes of everyday life and help to create much needed spaces within cities to serve various purposes. Our community garden has also shown itself to be an important platform for the exchange of knowledge on organic gardening, ecology in everyday life, and critical architecture, as well as serving to connect related initiatives. Together with these other initiatives we are stronger, and are influencing structural changes within city politics, thereby also co-creating the future of Ljubljana. This community garden is helping us to redefine our relationship with the city and re-awaken the desires and actions of residents connected with realising their fundamental right, the right to the city.

My other artworks, which I am presenting in the context of this doctoral thesis, show an optimistic vision for the future of cities. The video animations Back to the City (2011) and The Right Balance (2013), as well as the accompanying collages, visualise a city of the future where urban and rural practices live together side-by-side. This vision is being realised by city residents themselves, with their active participation in the creation of community gardens, growing their own vegetables, urban beekeeping, and by having egg-laying hens in their gardens. My desire was also to present the theoretical concept and scientific research to a non-academic public, and to people without specialised training. Using the method of storytelling I included knowledge from the research into the video animations and collages. In this way my artistic work, with an intentional playfulness, challenges today's faith in science and theoretical concepts, as well as directing attention to working with common sense, with one's own hands, and with the earth. This can contribute to a change in the still dominant anthropocentric view of nature, which is an urgently needed change for our future.

Keywords: rural, urban agriculture, community gardens, urban beekeeping, the bottom-up approach to urban planning, alternative spaces


In this paper we describe some explorations of the potential of genre-revealing features on automatic sentiment analysis. In particular, we use a small subset of the 'linguistic facets' employed in recent experiments on automatic genre identification in combination with more traditional sentiment-revealing features on two different single-genre corpora: a corpus of English blogs and a corpus of French reviews(relectures). Although still preliminary, results show that linguistic facets might have a positive influence on sentiment analysis because 6 out of 14 facets used in the experiments are among the first 22 most important discriminative features.


Originally inspired by categorical quantum mechanics (Abramsky and Coecke, LiCS'04), the categorical compositional distributional model of natural language meaning of Coecke, Sadrzadeh and Clark provides a conceptually motivated procedure to compute the meaning of a sentence, given its grammatical structure within a Lambek pregroup and a vectorial representation of the meaning of its parts. The predictions of this first model have outperformed that of other models in mainstream empirical language processing tasks on large scale data. Moreover, just like CQM allows for varying the model in which we interpret quantum axioms, one can also vary the model in which we interpret word meaning.
In this paper we show that further developments in categorical quantum mechanics are relevant to natural language processing too. Firstly, Selinger's CPM-construction allows for explicitly taking into account lexical ambiguity and distinguishing between the two inherently different notions of homonymy and polysemy. In terms of the model in which we interpret word meaning, this means a passage from the vector space model to density matrices. Despite this change of model, standard empirical methods for comparing meanings can be easily adopted, which we demonstrate by a small-scale experiment on real-world data. This experiment moreover provides preliminary evidence of the validity of our proposed new model for word meaning.
Secondly, commutative classical structures as well as their non-commutative counterparts that arise in the image of the CPM-construction allow for encoding relative pronouns, verbs and adjectives, and finally, iteration of the CPM-construction, something that has no counterpart in the quantum realm, enables one to accommodate both entailment and ambiguity.


Abstract Assessment of climate change policies requires aggregation of costs and benefits over time and across generations, a process ordinarily done through discounting. Choosing the correct discount rate has proved to be controversial and highly consequential. To clarify past analysis and guide future work, we decompose discounting along two dimensions. First, we distinguish discounting by individuals, an empirical matter that determines their behavior in models, and discounting by an outside evaluator, an ethical matter involving the choice of a social welfare function. Second, for each type of discounting, we distinguish it due to pure time preference from that attributable to curvature of the pertinent function: utility functions (of consumption) for individuals and the social welfare function (of utilities) for the evaluator. We apply our analysis to leading integrated assessment models used to evaluate climate policies. We find that past work often confounds different sources of discounting, and we offer suggestions for avoiding these difficulties. Finally, we relate the standard intergenerational framework that combines considerations of efficiency and distribution to more familiar modes of analysis that assess most policies in terms of efficiency, leaving distributive concerns to the tax and transfer system.


We report the first in-depth study of single-molecule polarization behavior of a species that is undergoing reversible binding with its biological receptor. We examine the utility of the information in single-molecule polarization measurements for investigations of binding. The human δ-opioid receptor, which is a G protein-coupled receptor, was incorporated into a supported lipid bilayer. A Cy3 label was covalently attached by a hydrophilic linker to a peptide agonist, Deltorphin II (5,6 Ile-Ile). The fluorescence excitation was alternated between s- and p-polarization using a microscope having the capability of total internal reflectance fluorescence (TIRF) excitation. The polarization behavior reveals that nonspecific binding events for this system give emission that is mostly s-polarized, while binding to the receptor gives emission that has a strong component of p-polarization. The results show that a high signal-to-noise ratio is achievable with single-molecule polarization measurements. The experiment detected 37 binding events of short duration (<30 s) and 35 binding events of long duration (from 30 s to 500 s). The polarization studies indicate that the receptors in the bilayer do not freely rotationally diffuse in the plane of the bilayer when the peptide is bound. The system exhibits two types of polarization behavior. One type has the dye label with fixed orientation, which sometimes abruptly switches. The other type has the dye orientation continuously fluctuating over time, typically exhibiting occasional periods of fixed orientation. For a long binding event of fixed orientation, it is established through analysis of the variance that the orientation actually is fluctuating through a range of angles on the order of 6°. It is shown that precise measurements of reorientation are achievable, with a detection limit of 1.3° for a typical single-molecule signal.


Arguments about the proper scope of copyright protection focus on the economic consequences of varying degrees of protection. Most analysts view copyright as an economic phenomenon, and the size and health of our copyright industries measure the success of copyright policies. The constitutional text granting Congress the copyright power and the nature of special interest lobbying naturally create this economic focus; but this is a serious mistake. An exclusively economic focus makes no more sense than measuring the nutritional merits of our food supply from the size and profitability of the fast food industry. The expressive culture that copyright protects arose tens of millennia before markets developed and mediums of exchange were invented. Cultural artifacts, from cave paintings to grave goods and myths of origin define our species as human. For our ancestral societies, whose hunting and gathering existence was always marginal at best, expressive culture was extraordinarily expensive to sustain, yet everywhere they did. No consensus has emerged as to what purpose expressive culture serves, but its universality strongly suggests that it served an important social purpose, perhaps one necessary for survival. The technology that now places the world's culture, past and present, at everyone's fingertips (poised over a keyboard) has also quietly worked a profound change in the way we experience expressive culture. It has largely eliminated the live performance and replaced it with recorded media. Books have supplanted storytellers, records have replaced musicians, television and movies have superseded dance and drama. Of equal significance, technology has changed a communal and social experience into a private and solitary one. We no longer gather and experience our culture as cohesive groups bound by ties of kinship or other bonds of mutual obligation. These significant changes brought by technological innovation have occurred without comment or examination. As with environmental harms like climate change, we might confront unanticipated injuries to the social fabric that cannot easily be remedied if we fail to adequately comprehend what technology has done to our experience of expressive culture. To do this we need to understand the social experience of expressive culture. This perspective also gives us a policy objective by which to structure copyright besides the economic statistics provided by the copyright industries. Until such time as we know the consequences of the decline of social experience from expressive culture, and are assured that these are not significant, we can with little adverse economic impact, revise copyright policies with a goal of reviving the social experience. Not only might this avoid the unknown and potentially disrupting consequences, but given the social creation of much culture, it may generate a new bounty of expressive works. Surprisingly, minor changes in copyright will strengthen the social experience of expressive culture.


This paper extends a popular no-arbitrage affine term structure model to model jointly bond markets and exchange rates across the United Kingdom, United States and euro area. Using a monthly data set of forward rates from 1992, we first demonstrate that two global factors account for a significant proportion in the variation of bond yields across countries. We also show that, in order to explain country-specific movements in yield curves, local factors are required. Although we implement a very general factor structure, we find that our global factors are related to global inflation and global economic activity, while local factors are closely linked to monetary policy rates. In this respect our results are similar to previous work. But an important advantage of our joint international model is that we are able to decompose interest rates into risk-free rates and risk premia. Additionally, we are able to study the implications for exchange rates. We show that while differences in risk-free rates matter, to a large extent changes in the exchange rate are determined by time-varying exchange rate risk premia.


The purpose of this study was to quantify changes in volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) in the tibial plateau of the operated and contralateral leg measured using peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) before and 3, 6, and 12 months after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. The ACL was reconstructed with a hamstring tendon autograft using press‐fit fixation. pQCT measurements of the proximal tibia were obtained in 61 patients after ACL reconstruction, and total, cortical, and trabecular vBMD were calculated. vBMD in the operated leg decreased from baseline to 3 months (−12% [total], −11% [cortical], and −12.6% [trabecular]; p < 0.001) and remained below baseline for 12 months after surgery (6 months: −9.5%, −9.4%, and −9.6%, p < 0.001; 12 months: −8%, −5%, and −11%, p < 0.001). vBMD in the contralateral leg was slightly reduced only 6 months after surgery. Including age and sex as covariates into the analysis did not affect the results. ACL reconstruction contributed to loss in bone mineral density within the first year after surgery. The role of factors such as time of weight‐bearing, joint mechanics, post‐traumatic inflammatory reactions, or genetic predisposition in modulating the development of posttraumatic knee osteoarthritis after ACL injury should be further elucidated. © 2015 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 33:1804–1810, 2015.


Many distributed applications can be understood in terms of components interacting in an open environment such as the Internet. Open environments are subject to change in unpredictable ways, as other applications may arrive, evolve, or disappear. In order to validate components in such environments, it can be useful to build a simulation environment which reflects this highly unpredictable behavior. In this paper, the validation of components with respect to behavioral interfaces is considered. Behavioral interfaces specify semantic requirements on the observable behavior of components, expressed in an assume-guarantee style. In our approach, a rewriting logic model is transparently extended with the history of all observable communication, and metalevel strategies are used to guide the simulation of environment behavior. Over-specification of the environment is avoided by allowing arbitrary environment behavior within the bounds of the assumption on observable behavior, while the component is validated with respect to the guarantee of the behavioral interface.


This seminar, which took place in Northern Lapland in the midst of the largest national parks and wilderness areas of Finland, was part of the IUCN/WCPA Parks for Life Programme in Europe and was co-organised by the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) of The World Conservation Union (IUCN), the European Committee for Environmental Education (ECEE) of IUCN and the EUROPARC Federation. The seminar was supported and organised in practice by Metsähallitus and its Northern Lapland District for Wilderness Management. The seminar was meant for the park managers and other people working with visitor centres and conservation communication. EUROPARC organised and financed eight participants through the EUROPARC Expertise Exchange – Project which is part of the EU Phare programme. The main venue of the seminar was the Sámi Museum and Northern Lapland Nature Centre SIIDA in the town of Inari, 300 km north of the Arctic Circle. The seminar focused on the role visitor centres play in environmental education and in the relationship of the protected areas to the surrounding society. The seminar also focused on conservation communication. The purpose of the seminar was to provide professionals with an opportunity to exchange ideas and learn from each others' experiences. All together there were 34 participants from 16 European countries. There were lectures, case studies, site visits and group works. In these groups an attempt was made to list possible needs to adapt to the changes in the working environment and in the conservation message in general. The exhibitions at Siida Nature Centre were also evaluated.


IEEE 802.11 is probably the most widely used, medium access control protocol in current wireless networks. In the Wireless LAN (i.e., single-hop) setting, its performance is by now quite well understood. However, in the multi-hop setting where relay nodes are used to achieve end-to-end communication, there is, to date, no widely accepted model. Consequently, when confronted with experimental results, people often find it hard to interpret them. The goals of this thesis are (i) to model protocols "a la 802.11" in the context of multi-hop ad hoc networks, (ii) to derive theoretical limits for their performance, (iii) to contrast the performance of the current IEEE 802.11 protocol with these limits and (iv) to identify all the factors that prevent IEEE 802.11 from reaching these limits. Most of this thesis is dedicated to achieving the two first goals. We begin by proposing an idealized version of IEEE 802.11. We model this idealized protocol using a continuous Markov chain. We then use the properties and the stationary distribution of this Markov chain to derive the performance of the idealized 802.11 protocol. We first look at its spatial reuse or, in other words, at its ability to schedule a large number of concurrent successful transmissions. We show that the idealized 802.11 protocol organizes the transmissions in space in such a way that it leads to an optimal spatial reuse when its access intensity is large. This is encouraging, as it shows that a protocol using only local interactions can find a global optimum in a completely decentralize way. We then consider the short and long-term fairness properties of the idealized 802.11 protocol. We observe a clear trade-off between its spatial reuse and its fairness. At low access intensities, its fairness is high but its spatial reuse is low; whereas at high access intensities, the reverse is true. As a result, the access intensity of the protocol can be used to adapt its performance to fit the requirements of the applications running on top of it. The fairness performance of 802.11 also highly depends on the underlying network topology – 802.11 only amplifies the existing topological inequalities. In regular lattice topologies these inequalities arise only at the border where the nodes have fewer neighbors than the nodes inside the network. We demonstrate that, in large line networks and for all finite access-intensities, this border effect does not propagate inside the network, as a result 802.11 is fair. In contrast, we demonstrate that in large grid topologies a phase transition occurs. Under a certain access intensity, the border effect fades away; whereas above a certain access intensity, it propagates throughout the network, and the protocol is severely unfair. Finally, after extending our model to consider different node sensing and capture capabilities, we compare the performance of the ns-2 implementation of IEEE 802.11 and of the idealized protocol. We observe a large gap between the theoretical and practical performance. We identify the three problems that are responsible for this gap. We then propose a remedy to address each of these problems, and show that a 'cured' IEEE 802.11 can achieve the level of performance of the idealized 802.11 protocol.


Objective The quality of end-of-life (EOL) care in acute hospitals is variable and interventions to improve this care, such as EOL care pathways, are not always used. The underlying reasons for this variability are not fully understood. We explored healthcare professionals' views on delivering EOL care within an acute hospital trust in the South West of England. Methods We employed qualitative methods (focus groups, in-depth interviews and questerviews) within a study investigating the impact of a simple EOL tool on the care of dying patients. We invited a range of staff of all grades with experience in caring for dying patients from medicine, surgery and care of the elderly teams to participate. Results Six focus groups, seven interviews and five questerviews were conducted. Two main themes emerged: (a) delays (difficulties and avoidance) in diagnosing dying and (b) the EOL tool supporting staff in caring for the dying. Staff acknowledged that the diagnosis of dying was often made late; this was partly due to prognostic uncertainty but compounded by a culture that did not acknowledge death as a possible outcome until death was imminent. Both the medical and nursing staff found the EOL tool useful as a means of communicating ceilings of care, ensuring appropriate prescribing for EOL symptoms, and giving nurses permission to approach the bedside of a dying patient. Conclusions The culture of avoiding death and dying in acute hospitals remains a significant barrier to providing EOL care, even when EOL tools are available and accepted by staff.


Ta and N co-doped SrTiO3 was synthesized by microwave-assisted solvothermal reaction using SrCl2·6H2O, Ti(OC3H7)4, TaCl5, and HMT (hexamethylenetetramine) in KOH and oleic acid mixed solutions. The products were characterized by XRD, TG-DTA, BET surface area measurement, TEM, EDX, DRS, PL-Spectra, and XPS. The nanoparticles of perovskite-type SrTi1−xTaxO3−yNy (x = 0−0.1) were successfully synthesized. The photocatalytic activity of SrTiO3 for DeNOxability in the visible light region could be improved by the codoping of Ta5+ and N3−. The excellent visible light photocatalytic activity of this substance may be due to the generation of a new band gap by doping nitrogen that enables the absorption of visible light as well as a decrease in the incidence of the lattice defects, which acts as a recombination center of photo-induced electrons and holes by codoping with Ta5+.


This research is motivated by the rapid pace of medical device and information system integration. Although the ability to interconnect many medical devices and information systems may help improve patient care, there is no way to detect if incompatibilities between one or more devices might cause critical events such as patient alarms to go unnoticed or cause one or more of the devices to become stuck in a disabled state. Petri net tools allow automated testing of all possible states and transitions between devices and/or systems to detect potential failure modes in advance. This paper describes an early research project to use Petri nets to simulate and validate a multi-modality central patient monitoring system. A free Petri net tool, HPSim, is used to simulate two wireless patient monitoring networks: one with 44 heart monitors and a central monitoring system and a second version that includes an additional 44 wireless pulse oximeters. In the latter Petri net simulation, a potentially dangerous heart arrhythmia and pulse oximetry alarms were detected.


A repeat 4D seismic survey was acquired in 2012 over the Halfdan oil field in the Danish North Sea Central Graben. The main objectives were to understand the lateral and vertical waterflood sweep in the reservoir, to identify unswept areas, to guide future well interventions, and to improve the reservoir model. The main oil reservoir is the Cretaceous chalk Tor Formation, and the field is developed via a line-drive waterflood. The reservoir saturation changes caused by water injection lead to large changes in acoustic impedance which can be imaged with 4D seismic. There were two main 4D processing projects for the Halfdan field. The 2012–2005 4D data were processed as a stand-alone project because of the high repeatability of the surveys, and a separate three-vintage processing project for all time steps also was carried out. When the three-vintage processing was not available, the original 4D processing was used for the 2005–1993 time step. Seismic inversion was performed because production effects have a large impact on the acoustic impedance in the chalk reservoir. The rock-physics model was also used to model 4D acoustic-impedance changes based on pressure and saturation changes in the reservoir. The 4D acoustic-impedance changes from the seismic and reservoir model were analyzed in conjunction with the production and geologic data on a well-by-well basis to better understand sweep efficiency.


Background: When running large trials, histopathology services are used to assess the state of a tissue. However, in many clinics in low resource settings there are large variations in quality of such services, specifically in biopsy processing and histopathological interpretation/assessment of images. Quality assurance (QA) is needed, but it involves physically mailing slides to a remote clinic. A telemedicine solution can address this challenge. Methods: A novel smartphone adapter for microscopes was developed, consisting of a 3D printed attachment and software integration for the image capture. The attachment is used to couple the eyepiece of a low end microscope to a smartphone (Samsung J530). Image capture was controlled through the EVA System app. The entire system was characterized optically using standard calibration targets. Additionally, images captured on the attachment were compared to the standard method of shipping and scanning slides in a high end slice scanner at a remote clinic. Results: The resolution of the entire system (microscope + phone) with a 40X objective was <1 μm. The system is currently undergoing testing in Nigeria as part of a broader cervical cancer screening study.1 Preliminary testing showed similar image quality between the smartphone-based system and high end scanner. Whole slide imaging requires stitching together images into a mosaic, made possible by a mobile application. Conclusion: The results here show that coupling a low end microscope to a smartphone yields similar results to a transporting slides to a high end microscope. Such an attachment can thus potentially provide a telemedicine solution to researchers in low resource settings.


This article proposes that the social and local contexts of gamers should be considered to explain the signifi cations of gamers' behaviours. For that reason, the concept of 'leisure capital' is taken as the key concept and methodology for an integrated approach linking location and social context as the major analysis structure for online game play. The framework of leisure capital in the game generation is divided into macro and micro levels. In the macro context, political forces (education policy and internet infrastructure construction) and commercial forces (low-priced promotion) are two main factors of social context to create affordable and easy access to online games for youth. In the micro context, leisure capital refers to the set of usable resources of individual gamers and contains three dimensions: economic capital, social capital and cultural capital. The volume of capital, composition of capital, and changes in these two properties are explored in this article.


A large emphasis within the National Science Education Standards has been placed on using inquiry learning to deliver instruction. Many teachers either struggle with using inquiry learning or believe they are using inquiry learning due to lack of understanding. This paper set out to consider the effectiveness of guided inquiry in the middle school physics classroom. This project spanned a total of two months, where students were taught introductory physic concepts using one investigation that used traditional methods of instruction and three investigations using guided inquiry learning. Data collected identified the effects on understanding content, long-term memory, and student and teacher motivation using preunit, postunit, and delayed assessments, interviews, concept mapping, surveys, teacher journaling, and peer teacher observations. The study results were mixed. Understanding content and concept mapping had a positive impact on guided inquiry learning in general, while long-term memory showed mixed results. Data also indicated that guided inquiry increased student and teacher motivation.


On the 2 March 2020, the COST Action - Harmonising standardisation strategies to increase efficiency and competitiveness of European life-science research (CHARME) - held its final conference in Brussels After four years of successful work, the members of the COST Action CHARME met in Brussels to summarise the achievements and to discuss future perspectives and challenges for standardisation in the life sciences. Following the motto "Standards make the world go round", the outcomes of the COST Action are manifold and introduced some basic concepts and definitions that support a better understanding of the challenges and requirements. The results of this COST Action's network will be subject of a White Paper addressing the needs of standardisation, including a catalogue of requirements and recommendations to be disseminated to decision-makers at all levels to enable the implementation of standards in the daily workflow of research in academia and industry. The Action, ending this month, has given the opportunity to its members to tentatively presenting a set of preliminary requirements to develop further the harmonisation of standards. We hope this will inspire other Actions for the future.


During the interaction of sulphide minerals with the environment many reactions may occur. The knowledge of sulphur chemical state is important in order to clarify the mechanisms of oxidation/dissolution and precipitation reactions also in biotic conditions on the surface of these minerals. To date different hypotheses have been proposed for identifying the sulphur compounds that may form but no consensus is reached so far because the identification has been carried out either only on the basis of the photoelectron signals or combining the photoelectron signal with the centroid of the X-ray induced SKLL Auger line.
The objectives of this thesis are: the development of an analytical strategy for the unambiguous identification of sulphur chemical state in nanometer thick layers that form on mineral surfaces after leaching. To this purpose the acquisition of detailed spectra of a series of metal sulphides and of model systems made of mixtures of sulphur and polysulphides prepared under controlled conditions is necessary. Second objective was the establishment of the curve-fitting procedure to allow the separation of the different components present on the surface (sulphide, polysulphides, sulphates) not only of the S2p XP-spectra but also of the SKLL spectra. Based on these results the Auger parameter values will be determined and will be used together with the chemical state plot to distinguish the chemical state of sulphur species formed on the mineral surfaces after different surface treatments. In this way, the surface reactivity of sulphide minerals and more in general, of sulphur –bearing particles will be determined
The present work is organized in six chapters: the first one presents a short overview on the environmental problems that may occur when sulphide minerals, especially, those bearing eco-toxic elements such as arsenic, are exposed to the acidic mine drainage in the presence of oxidants and/or of microorganisms which enhance oxidation kinetics. It then outlines the analytical strategy that was adopted in this work for the identification of the sulphur chemical state.
In the second chapter a literature survey is provided: it underlines the role of sulphur in sulphide bearing minerals: Section 2.1 reports information about the mineral enargite and the chemical state of sulphur on its surface as it is available to date. Section 2.2 deals with the literature on the possibility of using the KLL Auger transition. In chapter 3 a brief description of X-ray photoelectron and X-ray excited Auger electron spectroscopy is given while the materials and methods used in the present work are presented in chapter 4.
In chapter 5 – results and discussion - the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray excited Auger electron spectroscopy (XAES) analyses on alkaline and transition metal sulphide and sulphates, polysulphides and sulphide minerals are presented. In particular the spectra recorded on the S2p and S KLL lines of the sulphides and sulphates are shown: they were collected for getting the peak fitting parameters and apply them to the model systems obtained by mixing sulphur with sodium tetrasulphide and to investigate the composition of mineral surfaces. Minerals were analysed freshly cleaved, ground and after air exposure. The chemical state of sulphur in sulphates, sulphides (alkali- and transition metal compounds, minerals) and polysulphide is then discussed. For the first time the X-ray excited Auger SKLL lines were fitted with parameters based on standards. In this way, which can be considered as an extension of previous work, a separation of the different components and a more precise determination of their kinetic energy were achieved. The Auger parameter and the chemical state plot were obtained by combining the S2p photoelectron lines and the SKLL Auger lines. On this basis a clear distinction of the chemical state of sulphur in sulphates, in alkali sulphides and in transition metal sulphides was possible. The chemical state of sulphur in the bulk of minerals such as enargite or pyrite was determined. The chemical state of sulphur that formed on the surface of compounds after exposure to air or after grinding was found to vary according the coordinating metal and its concentration.
It can be assessed that the analytical approach developed in the presented thesis and based on the curve – fitting procedure applied to the X-ray induced Auger electron spectroscopy appears to be a very promising method for identifying the chemical state of sulphur and for providing a new insight in the surface chemistry of sulphide minerals.


Anonymous credential systems allow users to obtain certified credentials (a driving license, a student card, etc.) from organizations and then later to prove the possession of one (or more) credential(s) to another party, while minimizing the information given to the latter. While current constructions use zero-knowledge proofs of knowledge of a signature or blinding mechanisms, we keep in this paper a new approach, based on aggregate signature schemes.
 In particular, we use the notion of indexed aggregate signature by which we aggregate several signatures into a single one, but only if they are initially related to the same index. The resulting anonymous credential system is the first one which efficiently enables a user to prove the possession, in an untraceable way, of several credentials issued by possibly several organizations.