We consider matrix eigenvalue problems that are nonlinear in the eigenvalue parameter. One of the most fundamental differences to the linear case is that distinct eigenvalues may have linearly dependent eigenvectors or even share the same eigenvector. This has been a severe hindrance in the development of general numerical schemes for computing several eigenvalues of a nonlinear eigenvalue problem, either simultaneously or subsequently. The purpose of this work is to show that the concept of invariant pairs offers a way of representing eigenvalues and eigenvectors that is insensitive to this phenomenon. To demonstrate the use of this concept in the development of numerical methods, we have developed a novel block Newton method for computing such invariant pairs. Algorithmic aspects of this method are considered and a few academic examples demonstrate its operability.


In human movement learning, it is most common to teach constituent elements of complex movements in isolation, before chaining them into complex movements. Segmentation and recognition of observed movement could thus proceed out of this existing knowledge, which is directly compatible with movement generation. In this paper, we address exactly this scenario. We assume that a library of movement primitives has already been taught, and we wish to identify elements of the library in a complex motor act, where the individual elements have been smoothed together, and, occasionally, there might be a movement segment that is not in our library yet. We employ a flexible machine learning representation of movement primitives based on learnable nonlinear attractor system. For the purpose of movement segmentation and recognition, it is possible to reformulate this representation as a controlled linear dynamical system. An Expectation-Maximization algorithm can be developed to estimate the open parameters of a movement primitive from the library, using as input an observed trajectory piece. If no matching primitive from the library can be found, a new primitive is created. This process allows a straightforward sequential segmentation of observed movement into known and new primitives, which are suitable for robot imitation learning. We illustrate our approach with synthetic examples and data collected from human movement.


Tablet coating is one of the Pharmaceutical Process in which coating material is being sprayed on granulated tablets. There are several types of equipment used in order to coat the tablets. Among them the one with perforated pan is quite effective in order to get proper flow of air when there is simultaneous process of spraying wetting and drying. Now there is the need of spraying system in order to get desired coating of tablets. In small size coaters the spraying system is not much complex as there is only one spray gun but in order to increase production there is need of multiple spray system in which multiple sprays can be mounted on single arm but then it increase weight of system and handling of the particular spray arm is difficult. The purpose of this study is to automate the coater spray arm in order to facilitate multiple spray system with automation to improve productivity and to provide easy handling to customer.


Stock-theft in the Conquered Territory during the 19th century. Little research has thus far been done on the role of stock-theft in the history of South African agriculture. This can be attributed, inter alia, to the fact that theft relates to negative interpersonal or intergroup relations as well as the sensitive and complex question of guilt. Some writers state in this regard that too much emphasis should not be placed on stock-theft in the analysis of border communities. They are of the opinion that claims to the same land were actually the ""fundamental basis of the conflict"". This article stresses the fact that during the 19th century stock-theft was indeed one of the most serious problems facing the agrarian community of the so-called Conquered Territory in the Eastern Free State border region. Cattle stealing was caused or facilitated by a host of factors, while the nature of the thefts and the way in which it was committed sheds some light on its seriousness. Although the extent of stock-theft can by no means be precisely calculated and losses cannot be quantified in exact financial terms, it becomes clear in this study that those who had to contend with it almost daily, regarded their position as intolerable, desperate and even hopeless. The continuous thefts, in fact, paralysed stock-farmers and filled them with a sense of insecurity, because in time it also caused their farms to diminish in value. Apart from its socio-economic implications stock-theft also had a negative effect on interstate relations since, together with border violations and squatting, it constituted the quintessence of the 19th century border issue between the Free State and Basutoland.


The advance in energy-sensing and smart-meter technologies have motivated the use of a Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring (NILM), a data-driven technique that recognizes active end-use appliances by analyzing the data streams coming from these devices. NILM offers an electricity consumption pattern of individual loads at consumer premises, which is crucial in the design of energy efficiency and energy demand management strategies in buildings. Appliance classification, also known as load identification is an essential sub-task for identifying the type and status of an unknown load from appliance features extracted from the aggregate power signal. Most of the existing work for appliance recognition in NILM uses a single-label learning strategy which, assumes only one appliance is active at a time. This assumption ignores the fact that multiple devices can be active simultaneously and requires a perfect event detector to recognize the appliance. In this paper proposes the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN)-based multi-label learning approach, which links multiple loads to an observed aggregate current signal. Our approach applies the Fryze power theory to decompose the current features into active and non-active components and use the Euclidean distance similarity function to transform the decomposed current into an image-like representation which, is used as input to the CNN. Experimental results suggest that the proposed approach is sufficient for recognizing multiple appliances from aggregated measurements.


Sure as a discourse marker is salient in Irish English, and it has been traditionally associated with the Irish since the seventeenth century. Its frequency in textual representations of Irish English seems to suggest that it was enregistered to audiences in historical contexts, and its occurrence in emigrant letters provides evidence of its use by letter-writers from different social and educational backgrounds since at least the 1760s. This study compares data from the Corpus of Irish English, which consists of literary texts, and the Corpus of Irish English Correspondence, which contains Irish emigrant letters. The comparison of historical corpora allows us to observe the structural positions in which DM sure is found from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries, and to examine the different pragmatic functions that it seems to fulfil. We suggest that its survival up to the present may have been due to sociolinguistic reasons: it was a useful feature for signalling identity and intimacy, and a pragmatic feature that enables IrE speakers to look for consensus, mitigate opinions, etc.


Deep learning algorithms classify plant species with high accuracy, and smartphone applications leverage this technology to enable users to identify plant species in the field. The question we address here is whether such crowd-sourced data contain substantial macroecological information. In particular, we aim to understand if we can detect known environmental gradients shaping plant co-occurrences. In this study we analysed 1 million data points collected through the use of the mobile app Flora Incognita between 2018 and 2019 in Germany and compared them with Florkart, containing plant occurrence data collected by more than 5000 floristic experts over a 70-year period. The direct comparison of the two data sets reveals that the crowd-sourced data particularly undersample areas of low population density. However, using nonlinear dimensionality reduction we were able to uncover macroecological patterns in both data sets that correspond well to each other. Mean annual temperature, temperature seasonality and wind dynamics as well as soil water content and soil texture represent the most important gradients shaping species composition in both data collections. Our analysis describes one way of how automated species identification could soon enable near real-time monitoring of macroecological patterns and their changes, but also discusses biases that must be carefully considered before crowd-sourced biodiversity data can effectively guide conservation measures.


A marketing strategy analysis is an overview of the potential that can be generated from marketing aspects. This analysis is conducted to overview the feasibility of the product if it entered the market. In this research, the marketing strategy analysis uses three methods: (1) Business Model Canvas (BMC) analysis as a business model of the product; (2) Competitor Intelligence (CI) analysis to observe the product's position to be developed, compared to the existing products in the market; and (3) Marketing Element analysis to analyze the potential market of the product which can be observed from segmentation, market size potential market, and also the size of the market share of the product. This study uses qualitative and quantitative methods by collecting both secondary and primary data. In the Business Model Canvas (BMC) analysis shows the nano tea product based on mangosteen peel has two business models that are being recommended for the marketing strategy, those are Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Customer (B2C) models. In the Competitor Intelligence (CI) analysis, shows that the product has two success factors to increase the competitive value of the product i.e. success factors in the form of tea powder and nano-size. Those factors will make the product has better efficacy and functions compared to similar tea in other form. While the results of marketing elements analysis of the product will be focused on West Java market, with the value of market share of 0.05% or about 35,904 ton/years from the total market of 72.903,6 tons/years. Keywords: market strategy, competitor intelligence, business model canvas, marketing analysis


This book begins with you working along as Scott Guthrie builds a complete ASP.NET MVC reference application. He begins NerdDinner by using the File-New Project menu command within Visual Studio to create a new ASP.NET MVC Application. You'll then incrementally add functionality and features. Along the way youll cover how to create a database, build a model layer with business rule validations, implement listing/details data browsing, provide CRUD (Create, Update, Delete) data form entry support, implement efficient data paging, reuse UI using master pages and partials, secure the application using authentication and authorization, use AJAX to deliver dynamic updates and interactive map support, and implement automated unit testing. From there, the bulk of the rest of the book begins with the basic concepts around the model view controller pattern, including the little history and the state of the MVC on the web today. We'll then go into the ways that MVC is different from ASP.NET Web Forms. We'll explore the structure of a standard MVC application and see what you get out of the box. Next we dig deep into routing and see the role URLs play in your application. We'll deep dive into controllers and views and see what role the Ajax plays in your applications. The last third of the book focuses entirely on advanced techniques and extending the framework. In some places, we assume that you're somewhat familiar with ASP.NET WebForms, at least peripherally. There are a lot of ASP.NET WebForms developers out there who are interested in ASP.NET MVC so there are a number of places in this book where we contrast the two technologies. Even if you're not already an ASP.NET developer, you might still find these sections interesting for context, as well as for your own edification as ASP.NET MVC may not be the web technology that you're looking for. Its worth noting, that ASP.NET MVC is not a replacement for ASP.NET Web Forms (aka just "ASP.NET"). Many web developers have been giving a lot of attention to other web frameworks out there (Ruby on Rails, Django) which have embraced the MVC (Model-View-Controller) application pattern, and if youre one of those developers, or even if youre just curious, this book is for you. MVC allows for (buzzword alert!) a "greater separation of concerns" between components in your application. The book goes into the ramifications of this, but if it had to be said it in a quick sentence: ASP.NET MVC is ASP.NET Unplugged. ASP.NET MVC is a tinkerers framework that gives you very fine-grained control over your HTML and Javascript, as well as complete control over the programmatic flow of your application.


As a member of the British Commonwealth, South Africa was part of Britain's war effort from September 1939 onward. When Italy entered the War on the side of Germany on 10 June 1940, the territories governed by Italy in East Africa comprised Abyssinia together with Eritrea, now part of Ethiopia, and Italian Somaliland, now part of the Somali Democratic Republic. Although pre-war plans did not anticipate that the South African (SA) Army would fight outside southern Africa, Italy's involvement in northeast Africa made it inevitable that SA troops would be deployed to the new war front. The SA forces (nicknamed 'Springboks' in the media) played a major role in the demise of Mussolini's East African Empire. The war was fought under extreme physical conditions, and it was especially the SAEC (South African Engineering Corps) who rendered invaluable service. By 1940 East Africa was still largely unmapped, and one of the SAEC units, 1 SA Survey Company (initially named the 1st Field Survey Company), supported by 60 Photographic Squadron of the SA Air Force (SAAF), mapped large parts of the war zone and provided essential military intelligence.Although the role the SAEC as a whole played in the East African Campaign has received attention in publications on South Africa's involvement in World War II, little attention has been paid to the essential cartographical services rendered by 1 SA Survey Company. This article deals with the formation and subsequent successful deployment of 1 SA Survey Company in Kenya, and the former Abyssinia and Somaliland, and the maps it produced for strategic and combat purposes. Attention is given to the operational structure of the Company, the mapping policy decisions the Company had to adhere to, the way the company sections operated in the field, the prevailing conditions under which the men worked, and the types of map that were produced.


The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission ('TRC') represents one model of dealing with human rights abuses at a national level. Such abuses, and the subsequent attempts to come to terms with them, can cause mental disorders and psychological pain. Consequently, mental health and mental health practitioners ('practitioners') will play an important role in the process of bodies such as the TRC. The aim of this article is to examine the TRC process from a psycholegal perspective and to recommend which aspects thereof can be improved in the future. For example, the use of terminology such as 'victim' and 'perpetrator' during the process may have influenced how participants were perceived and treated. Likewise, the emphasis on collective, rather than individual interests, restricted the role of survivors and amnesty seekers in the TRC process. This reduced the effectiveness of the TRC in bringing about reconciliation at an individual and a national level, and limited the TRC's potential as a therapeutic agent. Nevertheless, there were claims that the TRC process healed people. It is argued that the process in itself usually did not lead to healing. Instead, the TRC process highlighted great mental health needs, which were not adequately met. The article discusses the factors that make it difficult to meet mental health needs in countries where human rights abuses have taken place. The article then considers strategies to meet these needs and emphasizes how important it is that those who render mental health services are competent and seen to be credible by the consumers of such services. Finally, the article addresses the need for research in this field to be co-ordinated and professionally responsible.


Online collaborative environments have become important virtual workplaces for developers to work on a common problem. GitHub is an example of such environment that hosts a wealth of open source software projects. Questions such as "Who contributes to successful projects?" and "What are the characteristics of lead developers?" require further investigations. We qualitatively identify 211 maintainers in 25 maintained repositories and 23 unmaintained repositories in GitHub. We measure their Big Five personality traits (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism) as the weighted sum of their Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) dimensions. Our results indicate that maintainers and non-maintainers are significantly different in virtually all personality traits except in Neuroticism. Maintainers in maintained repositories tend to be more open, but less extraverted and less agreeable than maintainers in unmaintained repositories. In addition to Agreeableness being a significant predictor, our analysis suggest that the success of a repository may be explained by the absolute differences in personality traits between maintainers and non-maintainers. In sum, our work aims to understand the role of a maintainer and the effects of personality traits on project success. Our findings have direct implications such that developers can be more cognizant of their behaviours, as well as their colleagues, which can result in better collaboration. By highlighting personality differences, we show that studying social and psychological constructs can be invaluable in understanding group dynamics during collaborative process.


Overview This study examined the intersections between alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and sexual victimisation and trauma, how both support sectors currently work together, and how they can respond more effectively to the needs of those affected. The study found that: Participants from both the AOD and the sexual assault sectors demonstrated a practical understanding of the interrelationship between drug and alcohol use and sexual victimisation. The overlap between sexual victimisation and alcohol and other drug use was very relevant for AOD and sexual assault counsellors and managers who were aware of the very large numbers of potentially "shared" clients. Current practice in the assessment and intake processes in the AOD and sexual assault sectors varies considerably and reflects both the organisational frameworks that guide practice, as well as the initiative and confidence of individuals in the sectors in referring clients to other services. Factors that hinder collaboration included insufficient resources; uncertainty about how the other sector works; lack of communication; and role creep, which describes the expansion of demands and activities of a job or role over time that are not balanced by additional resources to support them. Practitioners and managers expressed great interest in expanding their understanding of the other sector through a variety of avenues, some of which included: shared focus on client-centred care; openness to discussion and sharing information; previous interagency collaboration; and policy and governance support. Findings from the report informed the development of practice guidelines to assist service providers with the identification, assessment, response and referral of individuals and families affected by co-occurring sexual abuse victimisation and substance use issues.


Effect of different chemicals and additives used in producing polyester foam was investigated. Reference samples were produced from polyol, toluene di isocyanate (TDI), amine stannous octoate distil water, and silicone oil using laboratory mix formulation based on 500 g polyether based polyol. Other samples were produced by consecutively varying the content of all the additives with the exception of polyol. Standard sample dimensions for density test, indentation test, compression set test, tensile strength and elongation tests were produced from the samples. The various tests were carried out on the samples using the ASTM-D3574 standards. It was observed that the degree of indentation affects the value of indentation hardness and increasing the percentage content of TDI results in acceptable compression set value for the polyester samples. It was concluded that Holding all other parameters constant, reducing the water content and increasing the TDI content will yield polyester foam of optimum properties.


This thesis addresses the relationship between formal and informal institutions in the European Parliament from a new institutionalist perspective. This is done in order to fulfill the aims of the thesis, which are: (1) to broaden our understanding of informal institutions and institutional change in the EP as well as (2) develop our understanding of the new institutionalist approaches: rational choice institutionalism, sociological institutionalism and historical institutionalism. The method of analysis is qualitative and the main material consists of 14 interviews with Swedish members and former members of the 4th to the 7th EP. The empirical investigation shows that the EP should be interpreted as institutionalized, but some informal institutional changes have, however, occurred due to changes in formal institutions. The enlargements and treaty changes have changed not only how the parliamentarians work in informal network, but also the internal selection procedures of the rapporteur and the internal view on the EP versus the European Commission and the Council of Ministers. The two central claims of this thesis are: (1) that new institutionalist approaches go well together and should be used parallel in order to get a comprehensive understanding of political phenomena and, (2) that the EP is characterized both by institutionalization and informal institutional changes and that these interplay with each other.


Background: Diabetes self-management education (DSME) is generally considered to be a key determinant of the treatment outcomes and related costs of diabetes mellitus. While DSME programmes generally have positive outcomes, their effects may depend on certain factors, such as the type of programmes provided and patients' level of health literacy (HL). Low HL has been associated with poorer self-management behaviours and poor medication adherence in diabetic patients, but its impact on the effects of DSME has not yet been systematically investigated. This study aimed to investigate the influence of HL on the self-reported effects of DSME programmes while taking the type of programme into consideration. Method: A total of 366 diabetic patients from nine countries completed a questionnaire measuring HL, self-management behaviours, problem perception, coping, perceived general health and well-being, before and after participating in a DSME programme. Results: DSME programmes were found to have positive effects on self-reported self-management behaviours and almost all psychological and health outcomes, regardless of HL level. Patients with high HL scored better on several diabetes outcomes than those with low HL, but all patients described benefiting from DSME. Individual and group-based programmes resulted in more positive effects on several diabetes outcomes than self-help groups, but no interaction with HL was found. Conclusion: Our findings confirm those of previous studies showing that DSME programmes have positive effects and that low HL is associated with lower diabetes outcomes but do not support the assumption that the effects of DSME programmes are influenced by the patient's HL. However, due to the limitations of this study, further investigation is necessary to support these findings and improve our understanding about the impact of HL on DSME programmes' effectiveness.


In this study, a novel strategy has been developed for the assembly of polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) on CaCO3 templates in acidic pH solutions, where consecutive polyelectrolyte layers (heparin/poly(allylamine hydrochloride) or heparin/chitosan) were deposited on PEM hollow microcapsules established previously on CaCO3 templates. The PEM build-up, hollow capsule characterization and successful encapsulation of fluorescein 5(6)-isothiocyanate (FITC)-Dextran by coprecipitation with CaCO3 are demonstrated. Improvement by the removal of CaCO3 core was achieved while the depositions. In the course of the release profile, high retardation for encapsulated FITC-Dextran was observed. The combined shell capsules system is a significant trait that has potential use in tailoring functional layer-by-layer capsules as intelligent drug delivery vehicles where the preliminary in vitro tests showed the responsiveness on the enzymes. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 44425.


This chapter sets out to explore tensions between bottom-up and top-down processesfrom a governmentality perspective. Using a discourse studies approach,we investigate how forms of public participation in a local climate mitigationproject can be viewed as an instance of governmentality in the sense of howthe conduct of groups and individuals is influenced by other forces and howgroups and individuals influence the conduct of others through participationand involvement. This implies that governmentality is analysed as emerging inconcrete, situated practices. Simultaneously, we investigate how a governmentalityapproach may enrich our understanding of public participation, dialogueand involvement, especially on the complex issue of sustainability and climatechange mitigation.


The main features of eigenfunctions and eigenvalues of integral equations connected with incoherent imaging through clear pupils are studied. As in the coherent imaging, both the object and the image can be expanded in eigenfunction series. On the contrary, the eigenvalue-step-function behavior typical of coherent imaging is not preserved when passing to the incoherent case. Upper and lower bounds for the eigenvalues are established in the one-dimensional case. They show that the eigenvalues, roughly speaking, decrease almost linearly with respect to the order index.


Policy gradient methods are a widely used class of model-free reinforcement learning algorithms where a state-dependent baseline is used to reduce gradient estimator variance. Several recent papers extend the baseline to depend on both the state and action and suggest that this significantly reduces variance and improves sample efficiency without introducing bias into the gradient estimates. To better understand this development, we decompose the variance of the policy gradient estimator and numerically show that learned state-action-dependent baselines do not in fact reduce variance over a state-dependent baseline in commonly tested benchmark domains. We confirm this unexpected result by reviewing the open-source code accompanying these prior papers, and show that subtle implementation decisions cause deviations from the methods presented in the papers and explain the source of the previously observed empirical gains. Furthermore, the variance decomposition highlights areas for improvement, which we demonstrate by illustrating a simple change to the typical value function parameterization that can significantly improve performance.


From the bustling cities of Zambia to the most rural parts of Lesotho, HIV/AIDS is a raging epidemic that affects over 15% of the adult population in many regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. Public health interventions often take the form of media campaigns, which utilize television, radio, and print advertisements to spread awareness and inform the population of risk factors, prevention methods, and treatment options. This paper will focus on HIV/AIDS radio programs in Malawi, Zambia, and other countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. It will analyze these programs' air times, audience, presentation style, and content, and identify how these factors influenced behavioral changes in the audiences. Additionally, this paper proposes promising techniques to ensure the success of future campaigns based on previous findings. Given these reviews of broadcasts of the past and their strengths and weaknesses, radio stations can better understand the reasons behind the programs' respective impacts on the target populations. Further, this methodology can be applied when considering new radio programs for health education for HIV/AIDS and beyond.


Via various forms of audio-visual communications, from chat protocols, net and software art to online theatre and immersive telepresence, artists are using a wide range of technologies to explore the digital network as a narrative space. Human presence is increasingly subject to a constant flow of online contributions, material, and data. How does this reposition our collective understanding of the physical and the virtual, the real and the imaginary? In this context the 'networked narrative environment' must be defined as an artistic modus operandi and experiment that reflects medial and social processes. The book documents exemplary and unique research positions within a developing genre. It serves as a resourceful illustration of the cultural debate on narratives, networking, and media art.
Leading international artists, writers, and curators examine specific examples of public installations and dramatic spaces that are linked to the Internet with the aim to integrate the viewer into the artwork. Key artistic projects and initiatives reflect sophisticated and complex new models of audience participation, real-time experience, and production of content.


Abstract. Accurate gas velocity measurements in emission plumes are highly desirable for various atmospheric remote sensing applications. The imaging technique of UV SO2 cameras is commonly used to monitor SO2 emissions from volcanoes and anthropogenic sources (e.g. power plants, ships). The camera systems capture the emission plumes at high spatial and temporal resolution. This allows the gas velocities in the plume to be retrieved directly from the images. The latter can be measured at a pixel level using optical flow (OF) algorithms. This is particularly advantageous under turbulent plume conditions. However, OF algorithms intrinsically rely on contrast in the images and often fail to detect motion in low-contrast image areas. We present a new method to identify ill-constrained OF motion vectors and replace them using the local average velocity vector. The latter is derived based on histograms of the retrieved OF motion fields. The new method is applied to two example data sets recorded at Mt Etna (Italy) and Guallatiri (Chile). We show that in many cases, the uncorrected OF yields significantly underestimated SO2 emission rates. We further show that our proposed correction can account for this and that it significantly improves the reliability of optical-flow-based gas velocity retrievals. In the case of Mt Etna, the SO2 emissions of the north-eastern crater are investigated. The corrected SO2 emission rates range between 4.8 and 10.7 kg s−1 (average of 7.1  ±  1.3 kg s−1) and are in good agreement with previously reported values. For the Guallatiri data, the emissions of the central crater and a fumarolic field are investigated. The retrieved SO2 emission rates are between 0.5 and 2.9 kg s−1 (average of 1.3  ±  0.5 kg s−1) and provide the first report of SO2 emissions from this remotely located and inaccessible volcano.


The international framework agreement concluded between the Spanish fashion retailer Inditex SA and the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation (ITGLWF) was lauded as the first IFA to apply to an outsourced apparel supply chain. Central to the implementation approach of both parties is an understanding that for progress to be made in the advancement of core labour standards in producing countries, compliance efforts need to be rooted in the promotion of freedom of association, dialogue and collective bargaining. This approach has informed the interventions of the ITGLWF and the multinational Inditex SA to resolve trade union recognition disputes in a number of developing countries. This article presents and critically examines an early test case of this approach at a knitwear factory in Cambodia. Drawing on empirical research, we find that the intervention resulted in the resolution of a recognition dispute, which led to significant membership gains for a local union and the removal of fixed duration contracts. However, the article raises questions about the effectiveness and sustainability of such an approach for advancing freedom of association and collective bargaining throughout a multinational apparel supply chain, particularly in the current global economic climate.


This is the industrys most comprehensive, realistic, and useful guide to Microsoft Lync Server 2010. It brings together in-the-trenches guidance for all facets of planning, integration, deployment, and administration, from expert consultants whove spent years implementing Microsoft Unified Communications solutions. The authors first introduce Microsoft Lync Server 2010 and show how it represents a powerful leap beyond earlier unified communications platforms. They systematically cover every form of communication Lync Server can manage, including IP voice, instant messaging, audio/video conferencing, web conferencing, and more. Youll find expert guidance on planning infrastructure, managing day-to-day operations, enforcing security, troubleshooting problems, and many other crucial topics. Drawing on their extensive experience, the authors combine theory, step-by-step configuration instructions, and best practices from real enterprise environments. They identify common mistakes and present proven solutions and workarounds. Simply put, this book tells you what worksand shows you how to make it work. Plan and manage server roles, including Front End, Edge, Monitoring, Archiving, and Director roles Understand Lync Server integration with Active Directory, DNS, certificates, and SQL Server Manage Lync Server through the Lync Server management shell and Microsoft Systems Center Operations Manager Migrate smoothly from OCS 2007, 2007 R2, or Live Communications Server Utilize Lync Servers new enterprise voice and audio conferencing features Use Lync Server with your PBX, as a PBX replacement, or in your call center Integrate presence into SharePoint pages or Exchange/Outlook web applications Build custom solutions with the new Unified Communications Managed API Deploy new Lync Server client software, including Mac, mobile, and browser/Silverlight clients Integrate headsets, handsets, webcams, and conference room phones Use the new virtualization policy to simplify deployment


Summary
By means of past medical records, personal interviews and current clinical evaluation, the course of filarial symptomatology over a 16-year span in 25 World War II veterans was studied. This group, now residing in Connecticut, consisted of 15 ex-infantrymen who acquired filariasis on Bora Bora, Society Islands, and 10 ex-Marines exposed on Pago Pago, Samoa. The average incubation period was 14.6 months on Bora Bora and only 6.8 months on Pago Pago.
Blood and skin-scarification smears for Wuchereria bancrofti were negative in all. However, 80 percent demonstrated an immediate positive reaction to Dirofilaria immitis adult worm antigen. There was an increase in the proportion of men with genital symptoms from an initial 52 percent to 88 percent by the end of 16 years. Constant or intermittent pain and swelling of the genital organs and inguinal lymph nodes precipitated or aggravated by exercise and hot, humid weather were common complaints. Abnormal genital findings were present in 40 percent and sterility was found in none. The proportion with swelling of the extremities not associated with recurrent filarial lymphangitis rose from 28 percent to 68 percent in 16 years. Swelling was constant in some and intermittent in others; in all it was aggravated by exercise of the part or hot weather. While 20 percent had initially had filarial lymphangitis, only 18 percent were having attacks after 15 years and the frequency, duration and severity of attacks had decreased markedly.
In all but one man minor variations in sise of the extremities not attributable to other medical causes were found. No frank case of elephantiasis of the genitals or extremities was seen although symptoms and clinical findings indicated varying degrees of lymphatic obstruction. The lack of severe, disabling symptoms or deformity can no doubt be attributed to relatively short exposure and absence of reinfection.


The design cycle for complex special-purpose computing systems is extremely costly and time-consuming. It involves a multiparametric design space exploration for optimization, followed by design verification. Designers of special purpose VLSI implementations often need to explore parameters, such as optimal bitwidth and data representation, through time-consuming Monte Carlo simulations. A prominent example of this simulation-based exploration process is the design of decoders for error correcting systems, such as the Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) codes adopted by modern communication standards, which involves thousands of Monte Carlo runs for each design point. Currently, high-performance computing offers a wide set of acceleration options that range from multicore CPUs to Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). The exploitation of diverse target architectures is typically associated with developing multiple code versions, often using distinct programming paradigms. In this context, we evaluate the concept of retargeting a single OpenCL program to multiple platforms, thereby significantly reducing design time. A single OpenCL-based parallel kernel is used without modifications or code tuning on multicore CPUs, GPUs, and FPGAs. We use SOpenCL (Silicon to OpenCL), a tool that automatically converts OpenCL kernels to RTL in order to introduce FPGAs as a potential platform to efficiently execute simulations coded in OpenCL. We use LDPC decoding simulations as a case study. Experimental results were obtained by testing a variety of regular and irregular LDPC codes that range from short/medium (e.g., 8,000 bit) to long length (e.g., 64,800 bit) DVB-S2 codes. We observe that, depending on the design parameters to be simulated, on the dimension and phase of the design, the GPU or FPGA may suit different purposes more conveniently, thus providing different acceleration factors over conventional multicore CPUs.


Abstract. Near global upper tropospheric concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO), ethane (C 2 H 6 ) and ethyne (C 2 H 2 ) from ACE (Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment) Fourier transform spectrometer on board the Canadian satellite SCISAT-1 are presented and compared with the output from the Chemical Transport Model (CTM) GEOS-Chem. The retrievals of ethane and ethyne from ACE have been improved for this paper by using new sets of microwindows compared with those for previous versions of ACE data. With the improved ethyne retrieval we have been able to produce a near global upper tropospheric distribution of C 2 H 2 from space. Carbon monoxide, ethane and ethyne concentrations retrieved using ACE spectra show the expected seasonality linked to variations in the anthropogenic emissions and destruction rates as well as seasonal biomass burning activity. The GEOS-Chem model was run using the dicarbonyl chemistry suite, an extended chemical mechanism in which ethyne is treated explicitly. Seasonal cycles observed from satellite data are well reproduced by the model output, however the simulated CO concentrations are found to be systematically biased low over the Northern Hemisphere. An average negative global mean bias of 12% and 7% of the model relative to the satellite observations has been found for CO and C 2 H 6 respectively and a positive global mean bias of 1% has been found for C 2 H 2 . ACE data are compared for validation purposes with MkIV spectrometer data and Global Tropospheric Experiment (GTE) TRACE-A campaign data showing good agreement with all of them.


High King of Heaven: Aspects of Early English Spirituality. By Benedicta Ward. Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1999. xiii + 114 pp. 5 black and white plates. $16.95 (paper). Vision and Image in Early Christian England. By George Henderson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. xviii + 292 pp. 8 color plates and 94 black and white plates. $90.00 (cloth). In High King of Heaven, Benedicta Ward writes with her customary verve about "what the Anglo-Saxons thought and said and did and prayed in the light of the Gospel of Christ" (p. xi). Her focus is on the period between Augustine's arrival at Canterbury in 597 and the sack of Lindisfarne by the Danes in 793, with a concluding glance at King Alfred near the end of the ninth century. Not surprisingly, the central figure in her appraisal is the Venerable Bede, about whom she has written extensively elsewhere. In her preface, Ward defines "spirituality" as a combination of "the desires and religious aspirations of men within their cultural context" and "a field of study earlier called ascetic theology, and/or mystical prayer" (pp. x-xi). While these themes are woven together throughout, the cultural context that looms largest in the first two chapters, with prayer and its attendant practices (e.g., biblical study, asceticism, devotion to the saints) holds center stage in the subsequent five chapters. The initial chapters explore the foundational influences of Gregory the Great in Rome and the Irish missionaries from Iona, respectively. As Ward notes, it is customary to play these two influences off one another, usually to the advantage of the "free-spirited" Celts over the "institutional" Romans (p. 16). But this author insists that she is writing "not about Celtic, Roman or Anglo-Saxon but about the mingling of those which produced English piety, stressing the mixture rather than the ingredients" (p. x). Her judicious discussion of the Synod of Whitby in 664 should be required reading for anyone who invokes the name of this famous council where it was decided that the kingdom of Northumbria would follow the Roman observance in the dating of Easter and the form of monastic tonsure: So almost everyone at Whitby had close and friendly contact with both Roman and Irish missionaries; it was not a clash of opposites, but an argument between friends on a matter the importance of which united them far more than the details divided. There was no sense that Romans were good and Irish were bad. In this matter of the Easter date, what needed sorting out were errors of calculation, whoever did it (p. 22). Ward may be overstating the irenic character of the debate at Whitby, but she is certainly correct about the lack of hard and fast party lines. Many in Ireland had long followed the "Roman" observance, and Wilfrid himself had been trained at the Irish foundation of Lindisfarne before he became the foremost proponent of the Roman cause. Nor was the dispute over Easter dating a mere ecclesiastical quibble; as Ward explains, Easter was "not to them an arbitrary date but the pivot of the whole of the cosmos, the central moment when reality was revealed in the face of Jesus Christ" (p. 17). Especially rewarding in Ward's chapters on Anglo-Saxon prayer and devotion are her well-chosen and often extensive quotations from biblical commentaries by Bede and Alcuin, the lives of saints Cuthbert and Guthlac, Old English poetry such as the Dream of the Rood, and private prayers from the Book of Cerne and the Book of Nunnaminster. …


The retrieval of wind fields from scatterometer observations has traditionally been separated into two phases; local wind vector retrieval and ambiguity removal. Operationally, a forward model relating wind vector to backscatter is inverted, typically using look up tables, to retrieve up to four local wind vector solutions. A heuristic procedure, using numerical weather prediction forecast wind vectors and, often, some neighbourhood comparison is then used to select the correct solution. In this paper we develop a Bayesian method for wind field retrieval, and show how a direct local inverse model, relating backscatter to wind vector, improves the wind vector retrieval accuracy. We compare these results with the operational U.K. Meteorological Office retrievals, our own CMOD4 retrievals and a neural network based local forward model retrieval. We suggest that the neural network based inverse model, which is extremely fast to use, improves upon current forward models when used in a variational data assimilation scheme.


John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) was the most important economist of the twentieth century. He was also a philosopher who wrote on ethics and the theory of probability and was a central figure in the Bloomsbury Group of writers and artists. In this volume, contributors from a wide range of disciplines offer new interpretations of Keynes's thought, explain the links between Keynes's philosophy and his economics, and place his work and Keynesianism – the economic theory, the principles of economic policy and the political philosophy – in their historical context. Chapter topics include Keynes's philosophical engagement with G. E. Moore and Franz Brentano, his correspondence, the role of his General Theory in the creation of modern macroeconomics and the many meanings of Keynesianism. New readers will find this themost convenient, accessible guide to Keynes currently available. Advanced students and specialists will find a conspectus of recent developments in the interpretation of Keynes.


The purpose of this memo is to explain how protocol standards are
adopted for the ARPA-Internet and the DARPA research community. There
are three important aspects to be discussed: the process, the
authority, and the complex relationship between the DARPA community
and the DDN community. This memo is a policy statement on how
protocols become official standards for the ARPA-Internet and the
DARPA research community. This is an official policy statement of the
ICCB and the DARPA.


ontext of the archaeological findings is an important part of these artifacts and many useful information, regarding the provenance, application and dating of findings must be determined considering the characteristic of corresponding context. In some cases, the context of an historical objects is missing and hence, the accuracy of the information regarding the historical object is unsatisfactory. However, some types of laboratory experiments are able to provide the required information regarding the archaeological context of the object. In this study, it was tried to find the context of five gray Iron Age pottery pieces belong to the Museum of Ancient Iran. In order to identify and measure the elements in sediments and body of the samples, inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) technique was used. Also, to identify the anions present in sediments on the samples, ion chromatography (IC) technique was employed. The results showed that, the sample MB-1 and MB-2, on the basis of elements present, have the same context, where the specifications are very close to the cemetery. Also, based on the high concentrations of calcium carbonate deposits in the chemical composition of MB-3, this sample could be related to the kitchen or floor of a residential area. Regarding the samples termed MB-4 and MB-5, as the results of elemental analysis showed the presence of some elements such as potassium, magnesium, iron, and titanium and, a positive correlation of these elements with each other, as well as a negative correlation between potassium and magnesium with Si, the context ought to be associated with fire, such as oven and grill found in the kitchen. Results of polarized light microscopy (PM) also showed a close correlation and structural similarity based on the type of tempering with gray earthenware tempering, traditionally used during the Iron Age, which are clay minerals having relatively smooth and homogeneous texture in all the samples.


Cognitive radio is a new paradigm for wireless communications offering a solution to conciliate the current spectrum demand growth and underutilization without changes to the existing legacy wireless systems. Secondary users should be able to identify spatial and temporal spectrum holes not occupied by primary users and use them opportunistically, without generating interference to primary receivers. For that purpose, having knowledge of the primary network is required to ensure an appropriate secondary user operation. In this context, and assuming there is no cooperation between primary and secondary networks, this paper proposes a new framework, based on image processing techniques, aimed at combining a number of sensed samples at different geographical positions collected by secondary sensors, in order to estimate the positions of the different primary transmitters. The results can be used to discover frequencies that can be used by a secondary network without disturbing primary receivers. Our results, performed in a realistic scenario, show the efficacy of the proposed framework in estimating transmitter positions.


The present age is called as Digital Age. In this age, there is a vast change in almost all
walks of life. Because of the electronics inventions, the education field is also greatly
affected. In the final decade of the last century, there is a great increment in the use of
electronic Medias and mediums in the educational field. Hence the present study is
carried of the e-resources & its impact on users need i.e information fulfillment


The notion that states' foreign and security policies are not exclusively driven by material interests is now firmly established. Whose ideas matter and in what way, however, has remained subject to debate. We advance this debate by studying the crisis diplomacy of liberal democracies towards North Korea during four crises around the country's violation of international norms between 1993 and 2009. Although liberal democracies share a common perception of North Korea's nuclear programme as a threat to international peace and security, they differ widely in either confronting or accommodating North Korea. We examine the explanatory power of two ideational driving forces behind the foreign policy of liberal democracies: the ideological orientation of the government, on the one hand, and a country's political culture, on the other. Our analysis of 22 liberal democracies demonstrates that different domestic cultures of dealing with norm violations have a significant impact on crisis diplomacy: countries with punitive domestic cultures tend to adopt confrontational policies towards international norm violators; while left governments are not more accommodationist than right governments. Ideational differences across states are thus more pronounced than those within states.


Chronic renal failure affects the physiological function of many organ systems. One of them is the exocrine pancreas. Although varying degrees of pancreatic insufficiency are the dominating clinical characteristic of uraemic pancreatic disease, it remains unclear whether this disease should be regarded as a manifestation of chronic pancreatitis, arising from recurring attacks of acute pancreatitis, or represents a distinct entity. The exocrine pancreas was studied in a model of experimental renal failure. The pancreas was removed from each rat at selected time points over eight weeks after subtotal nephrectomy and from a standard rat model of pancreatitis for comparison. The data show that the in vitro secretory response is considerably changed in renal failure (increased during early acute and decreased during chronic renal failure). While the pancreatic content of digestive enzymes progressively declines, DNA and protein synthesis increase over time. Acinar cell deletion is increased and accompanied by an increased rate of mitosis. This increased cellular turnover is not associated with tissue oedema, pancreatic fibrosis, inflammatory changes, autophagocytosis or subcellular redistribution of lysosomal hydrolases, all of which are characteristic for pancreatitis. The ultrastructural changes of uraemic pancreatic disease bear no resemblance to the changes seen in pancreatitis. It is concluded that the morphological and biochemical changes in early uraemic pancreatic disease are quite distinct, correspond with toxic damage of the pancreas, and are dominated by functional impairment and an increased cellular turnover.


Chronic neutrophilic leukemia (CNL) is a rare, often aggressive myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) defined by persistent mature neutrophilic leukocytosis, bone marrow granulocyte hyperplasia, and frequent hepatosplenomegaly. The seminal discovery of oncogenic driver mutations in colony‐stimulating factor 3 receptor (CSF3R) in the majority of patients with CNL in 2013 anchored a new scientific framework, deepening our understanding of its molecular pathogenesis, providing a diagnostic biomarker, and rationalizing the use of pharmacological targeting.


Plasmids are extrachromosomal DNA molecules which code for their own replication. We previously reported a setup using genes coding for fluorescent proteins of two colors that allowed us, using a simple model, to extract the plasmid-copy-number noise in a monoclonal population of bacteria [J. Wong Ng, Phys. Rev. E 81, 011909 (2010)]. Here we present a detailed calculation relating this noise to the measured levels of fluorescence, taking into account all sources of fluorescence fluctuations: not only the fluctuation of gene expression as in the simple model but also the growth and division of bacteria, the nonuniform distribution of their ages, the random partition of proteins at divisions, and the replication and partition of plasmids and chromosome. We show how to use the chromosome as a reference, which helps extracting the plasmid-copy-number noise in a self-consistent manner.


Case report A 22 year old MSM was diagnosed HIV positive with a CD4 cell count was 475 cells/mm3 (35%). He suffered urinary symptoms and Salmonella typhi was isolated from urine culture. He recalled a self-limiting afebrile diarrhoeal illness 2 weeks earlier. Stool and blood cultures were negative. He completed a one-week course of ciprofloxacin with subsequently negative cultures. He had no past medical history or significant travel history. He reported unprotected anal intercourse one month before HIV diagnosis, and protected anal intercourse with several partners since diagnosis, but no other infections have been reported locally. All named contacts have declined testing. Discussion The most common manifestation of S.typhi infection is typhoid fever. Most cases in the developed world have been acquired through faeco-oral transmission in endemic areas. Haematogenous dissemination can be widespread and more severe among the immunocompromised. Death ensues in up to 32%. Infection of the genitourinary system is rare. Cases reported have a background of urinary tract abnormalities, invariably with blood and/or stool culture positivity. There are no cases in the literature of sexually acquired S.typhi UTI. Infections were acquired through oro-anal contact and pathogen ingestion. None had UTI. Our patient had repeatedly negative blood and stool cultures, reducing the likelihood that this was a disseminated infection leading to UTI, and raising the possibility that the route of infection was though insertive anal intercourse with direct urethral inoculation with S.typhi. Unfortunately partner notification has not identified an infected sexual contact to add further weight to this theory.


In this paper we describe a multimedia application called Computer Aided Facial Image Inferencing and Retrieval (CAFIIR) system. This system uses both Case Based Reasoning and Information Retrieval Techniques. In CAFIIR we use fuzzy measures to represent characteristic features of a human face. This paper describes a method designed to implement inferencing using fuzzy measures. It also describes how CAFIIR handles CHFs values that may span across two or more Fuzzy sets. The paper illustrates how Dempster Sharer theory can be useful for extracting weights for individual characteristic features when weights are given for combined features. Some parts of the application have been implemented while others are still under implementation.


The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of success on athletes who reached the top of the world in their sport. Individual in-depth interviews were conducted with 17 world champion athletes, representing 7 different sports and 4 different countries. All athletes, 11 males and 6 females, had won major international competitions (World Cup, World Championships, and/or Olympic Games) between the years 1964 and 1988. The number of individual World Cup wins ranged from 1 to 86. The results indicate that athletes who became the best in their sport, subsequently experienced many additional demands. Most had little or no assistance in dealing with these demands. Approximately one third of these athletes coped well with the additional demands and continued to win. The remaining two thirds did not handle the additional demands as well and either never repeated their winning performance or took a significant amount of time to do so. Strategies to help prepare future champions to handle the demands of wi...


Cassia auriculata is an Ayurvedic medicinal herb, traditionally indicated for diabetes and hyperlipidemia. Several works have demonstrated its antioxidant, antidiabetic and anti-hyperlipidemic activity in vivo and in vitro. Nevertheless, only a few works have investigated its phytochemical composition, and specifically, the polyphenolic composition of the various plant parts that are traditionally used. In this work, the polyphenolic composition of C. auriculata leaves, flowers and flower buds were evaluated using UPLC-QqQ-MS/MS. Our results demonstrated the polyphenolic profile of C. auriculata plant parts. A total of five benzoic acids, four hydroxycinnamic acids, three flavonoids and two other phenolic compounds were identified and quantified. Our results show that in C. auriculata leaves, flavonoids were most abundant (4204 µg/g DW), while in flowers benzoic acids were the most prominent (3924 µg/g DW). Total benzoic acid contents ranged from 1580 to 3924 µg/g DW in leaf and flower, respectively. Hydroxycinnamic acids ranged from 404 µg/g DW in flower buds to 2623 µg/g DW in leaves. Flavonoids showed the highest contents in leaves, while the lowest levels were observed in flowers (2626 µg/g DW). The meaning of the results is discussed in light of the bioactivities of phenolic compounds, concomitant with C. auriculata reported medicinal bioactivities. To our knowledge, this is the first work to identify and quantify polyphenolic compounds in flower and bud of C. auriculata.


The Society for Computer Applications in Radiology (SCAR) Transforming the Radiological Interpretation Process (TRIP) Initiative aims to spearhead research, education, and discovery of innovative solutions to address the problem of information and image data overload. The initiative will foster inter-disciplinary research on technological, environmental and human factors to better manage and exploit the massive amounts of data. TRIP will focus on the following basic objectives: improving the efficiency of interpretation of large data sets, improving the timeliness and effectiveness of communication, and decreasing medical errors. The ultimate goal of the initiative is to improve the quality and safety of patient care. Interdisciplinary research into several broad areas will be necessary to make progress in managing the ever-increasing volume of data. The six concepts involved include: human perception, image processing and computer-aided detection (CAD), visualization, navigation and usability, databases and integration, and evaluation and validation of methods and performance. The result of this transformation will affect several key processes in radiology, including image interpretation; communication of imaging results; workflow and efficiency within the health care enterprise; diagnostic accuracy and a reduction in medical errors; and, ultimately, the overall quality of care.


This paper considers how ideas about language and culture influence language learning. The methodology for the study is a comparison of the tasks involved in learning introductory Hindi and Japanese. The paper was written after 132 hours of study of Japanese. Through comparing how Japanese and Hindi are taught I demonstrate that integral to the learning of these languages is the need to understand linguistic forms as expressions of distinctive cultural practices. This is prefaced by a discussion of standards being advocated for language teaching in the Common European Framework (CEFR) and in the American Council for the Teaching of foreign languages (ACTFL). I argue that further work needs to be done examining how Asian cultures influence language usage and how standards might be set for understanding the relationship between languages and cultures. The conclusion which I draw from this is that the adoption of neither CEFR nor ACFTL standards will not have beneficial impact on learners without further studies of the relationship between sociocultural and communicative approaches to language teaching.


The coupling between apertures or slots in airflow arrays is investigated numerically by means of the method of moments (MoM). Application to shielding enclosure design is of particular interest. Justification for a previously extracted simple empirical design approach for the relation between the number N and size a of apertures, and the shielding effectiveness /spl sim/Na/sup 3/ for an airflow aperture array is given. The coupling between slots is also investigated. The application limit of the empirical design approach is demonstrated.


The dynamics of a vertical stack of particles subject to gravity and a sequence of small, periodically applied taps is considered. First, the motion of the particles, assumed to be identical, is modeled as a system of ordinary differential equations, which is analyzed with an eye to observing connections with finite-dimensional Hamiltonian systems. Then, two approaches to obtaining approximate continuum models for large numbers of particles are described: the long-wave approximation that yields partial differential equations and the BSR method that employs integro-partial differential models. These approximate continuum models, which comprise infinite-dimensional dynamical systems, are studied with a focus on nonlinear wave type behavior, which naturally leads to investigating links to infinite-dimensional Hamiltonian systems. Several examples are solved numerically to show similarities among the solution properties of the finite-dimensional (lattice-dynamics), and the approximate long-wave and BSR continuum models. Extensions to higher dimensions and more general dynamically driven particle configurations are also sketched.


The effect of ouabain on exocytotic and nonexocytotic norepinephrine release was investigated in perfused rat and guinea pig hearts. The overflow of endogenous norepinephrine and its neuronal metabolite 3,4-dihydroxyphenylethyleneglycol (DOPEG) was determined by high-pressure liquid chromatography. DOPEG served as the indicator of free axoplasmic norepinephrine concentrations. The overflow of the norepinephrine cotransmitter neuropeptide Y (NPY) was determined by radioimmunoassay and NPY was used as marker for exocytotic release. Electrical stimulation of the left stellate ganglion resulted in exocytotic norepinephrine release in rat and guinea pig hearts. Ouabain caused an increase in stimulation-induced norepinephrine overflow from rat and guinea pig hearts by 40%. However, overflow of NPY was decreased by 40%, indicating a reduced exocytosis rate. Ouabain increased both norepinephrine and NPY overflow, suggesting enhancement of exocytosis, when neuronal catecholamine uptake (uptake1) was blocked by desipramine or when presynaptic alpha 2-adrenoceptors were inhibited by yohimbine. The results demonstrate an interaction of ouabain with both calcium-dependent exocytosis and uptake1 of norepinephrine. Under calcium-free conditions, ouabain or potassium-free perfusate resulted in norepinephrine release from hearts when the axoplasmic norepinephrine concentration was elevated by the reserpinelike agent Ro 4-1284. This release was independent from neural activity, not accompanied by NPY overflow, and suppressed by the uptake1 blocker desipramine. These findings are in keeping with carrier-mediated nonexocytotic norepinephrine release that is caused by reversal of the transport direction of the uptake1 carrier. During myocardial ischemia nonexocytotic norepinephrine release was accelerated and enhanced by inhibition of Na+,K(+)-ATPase before ischemia. This study demonstrates the potential of digitalis glycosides to interact both with transmitter exocytosis and with the neuronal catecholamine transport system by Na+,K(+)-ATPase inhibition. Interaction with the catecholamine transport system involves both inhibition of norepinephrine inward transport and induction of norepinephrine outward transport, resulting in nonexocytotic norepinephrine release.


This Article sketches the goals of antitrust law, describes the causes and effects of anticompetitive pricing generally and supracompetitive pricing specifically, explains the inability of antitrust law to suppress some instances of supracompetitive pricing, establishes the importance of trust between firms as a necessary condition for supracompetitive pricing, and illustrates how the strategic exchange of information is crucial to the creation and destruction of trust and thus to the evolution and devolution of price cartels. Part II develops a positive theory that explains and predicts the evolution and devolution of price cartels as a function of the ability of rival firms to exchange information and, in turn, to enable the generation and sustenance of trust that cooperation in supracompetitive pricing decisions will be reciprocated. Part III, followed by a Conclusion, uses game theory as a heuristic to develop and test the proffered theory, posit working hypotheses, and discusses the implications for the creation, interpretation, and adjudication of antitrust law in the context of price cartels.


Existing content-based publish/subscribe systems are designed assuming that all matching publications are equally relevant to a subscription. As we cannot know in advance the distribution of publication content, the following two unwanted situations are highly possible: a subscriber either receives too many or only few publications. In this paper we present a new publish/subscribe model which is based on the sliding window computation model. Our model assumes that publications have different relevance to a subscription. In the model, a subscriber receives k most relevant publications published within a time window w, where k and w are parameters defined per each subscription. As a consequence, the arrival rate of incoming relevant publications per subscription is predefined, and does not depend on the publication rate. Since all relevant objects (i.e. publications in our case) cannot be kept in main memory, existing solutions immediately discard less relevant objects, and store only a small representative set for subsequent delivery. In this paper we develop a probabilistic criterion to decide upon the arrival of a new object whether it may become the top-k object at some future point in time and should thus be stored in a special publications queue. We show that by accepting typically very small probability of error, the queue length is reasonably small and does not significantly depend on publication rate. Furthermore, we experimentally evaluate our approach to demonstrate its applicability in practice.


Although the need for adaptation to climate variability and change is increasingly recognized, identifying and implementing adaptation options on the ground still presents a challenge. Especially for Africa, which is regarded as being particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate variability and change, identifying viable adaptation strategies that can be implemented at the community level are of critical importance.

This study uses participatory approaches to assess vulnerability to climate variability and change and to identify adaptation options for a watershed in Kenya, which presents a critical water resource for the city of Nairobi. Participatory approaches have been applied in the development community for years through the use of participatory rural appraisal techniques and have recently also been advocated in the context of adaptation to climate change. The application of participatory approaches for the purpose of this study allowed identifying key constraints in adaptive capacity and ways on how to overcome these together with the affected communities.


This paper introduces a fresh perspective on product modularization and proposes a process for modular product realization called Holonic Product Design (HPD). The holon has recently been adopted from Arthur Koestler's work to represent subsystem entities within manufacturing systems and the enterprise chain. In addition, it has been embraced as a philosophy for change that attempts to fashion modern manufacturing businesses and manufacturing activity. This paper demonstrates the holon as being equally valid as an approach to product development. Through research at a number of UK companies, HPD is developed and presented as a structured approach to product realisation. Addressing a total view through systems engineering, HPD provides an accessible and customizable modular product development workbook. The efficacy of the new approach is demonstrated through the initial results from an HPD case study. Further work remains in refining the integration of HPD elements and thoroughly testing the approach through a full new product development process.


In this thesis, we are concerned with the finite-time ruin probabilities in two alternative dependent risk models, the insurance risk model and the dual risk model, including the numerical evaluation of the explicit expressions for these quantities and the application of the probabilistic results obtained. We first investigate the numerical properties of the formulas for the finite-time ruin probability derived by Ignatov and Kaishev (2000, 2004) and Ignatov et al. (2001) for a generalized insurance risk model allowing dependence. Efficient numerical algorithms are proposed for computing the ruin probability with a prescribed accuracy in order to facilitate the following studies. We then propose a new definition of alarm time in the insurance risk model, which generalizes that of Das and Kratz (2012), expressed in terms of the joint distribution of the time to ruin and the deficit at ruin. The alarm time is devised to warn that the future ruin probability within a finite-time window has reached a pre-specified critical level and capital injection is required. Due to our definition, the implementation of the alarm time highly relies on the computation of the finite-time ruin probability, which utilizes the previous results on computing the ruin probability with a prescribed accuracy. The results of the ruin probability and the alarm time are then transferred nicely to a generalized dual risk model, whose name stems from its duality to the insurance risk model, through an enlightening link established between the two risk models. Finally, based on the two alternative risk models, we introduce a framework for analyzing the risk of systems failure based on estimating the failure probability, and illustrate how the probabilistic models and results obtained can be applied as risk analytic tools in various practical risk assessment situations, such as systems reliability, inventory management, flood control via dam management, infection disease spread and financial insolvency.


This book addresses a fundamental software engineering issue, applying formal techniques and rigorous analysis to a practical problem of great current interest: the incorporation of language-specific knowledge in interactive programming environments. It makes a basic contribution in this area by proposing an attribute-grammar framework for incremental semantic analysis and establishing its algorithmic foundations. The results are theoretically important while having immediate practical utility for implementing environment-generating systems.The book's principal technical results include: an optimal-time algorithm to incrementally maintain a consistent attributed-tree of attribute grammar subclasses, allowing an optimizing environment-generator to select the most efficient applicable algorithm; a general method for sharing storage among attributes whose values are complex data structures; and two algorithms that carry out attribute evaluation while reducing the number of intermediate attribute values retained. While others have worked on this last problem, Reps's algorithms are the first to achieve sublinear worst-case behavior. One algorithm is optimal, achieving the log n lower space bound in nonlinear time, while the second algorithm uses as much as root n. space but runs in linear time.


The photo-oxidative effect of sunlight on the tryptophan residues of proteins and on free tryptophan is described. Evidence is presented that the indole ring is split to yield N'-formylkynurenine. The possible relation of this photo-oxidative change to changes in the lens proteins of brown cataracts is discussed.


This is the First part of a two-part series on forced lattice vibrations in which a semi-infinite lattice of one-dimensional particles {xn}n≧1

is driven from one end by a particle x0. This particle undergoes a given, periodically perturbed, uniform motion, x0(t) = at + h(yt), where a and γ are constants and h(·) has period 2π. For a wide variety of restoring forces F (i.e., F′ > 0), numerical calculations indicate the existence of a sequence of thresholds γ1 = γ1(a, h, F) > γ2 = γ2(a,h,F) > … > γk = γk(a,h,F) > …, γk 0, as k ∞. If γk > γ > γk+1, a k-phase wave that is well described by the wave form,

emerges and travels through the lattice.

The goal of this series is to describe the emergence and calculate some properties of these wave forms. In Part I the authors first consider the case where F(x) = ex (i.e., Toda forces) but h is arbitrary, and show how to compute a basic diagnostic (see J(λ), formula (1.26)) for the system in terms of the solution of an associated scalar Riemann-Hilbert problem, once a certain finite set of numbers is known. In another direction, the authors consider the case where F(x) is restoring but arbitrary, and h is small. Here the authors prove a general result, asserting that if there exists a sufficiently ample family of traveling-wave solutions of the doubly infinite lattice,

then it is possible to construct time-periodic k-phase wave solutions with asymptotics in n of type (iii) for the driven system (i).

In Part II, the authors prove that sufficiently ample families of traveling-wave solutions of the system (iv) exist in the cases γ > γ1 and γ1 > γ > γ2 for general restoring forces F. In the case with Toda forces, F(x) = ex, the authors prove that sufficiently ample families of traveling-wave solutions.


Copy number variations (CNVs) play a crucial role in the intricate genetics of autism spectrum disorders. A region on chromosome 15q24 vulnerable to both deletions and duplications has been previously implicated in a range of phenotypes including autism, Asperger's syndrome, delayed development, and mild to severe mental retardation. Prior studies have delineated a minimal critical region of approximately 1.33 Mb. In this study, a multiplex autism family was evaluated for CNVs using genotyping data from the Illumina 1 M BeadChip and analyzed with the PennCNV algorithm. Variants were then identified that co‐segregate with autism features in this family. Here, we report autistic first cousins who carry two microduplications concordant with disease. Both duplications were inherited maternally and found to be identical by descent. The first is an approximately 10,000 base pair microduplication within the minimal region on 15q24 that falls across a single gene, ubiquitin‐like 7. This is the smallest duplication in the region to result in a neuropsychiatric disorder, potentially narrowing the critical region for susceptibility to developmental and autism spectrum disorders. The second is a novel, 352 kb tandem duplication on 7p21 that replicates part of the neurexophilin 1 and islet cell autoantigen 1 genes. The breakpoint junction falls within the intronic regions of these genes and demonstrates a microhomology of four base pairs. Each of these microduplications may contribute to the complex etiology of autism spectrum disorders. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


The research is conducted to find out whether teaching speaking by using cartoon movie improved students' speaking skill. For this purpose, 40 students of class VII of SMP 19 Banda Aceh participated in this study which was divided into control and experimental class. The data were collected by using oral test (pre-test and post-test). Then, the results of the test were analysed by using t-test and speaking criteria proposed by Folse (2006). The findings (post-test of experimental and control class) revealed that t-score was higher than t-table (13.40 > 1.68) with the significant standard α = 0,05 and the degree of freedom = 38. As a result, there was a significant improvement on students' speaking ability after they learnt with cartoon movies. In this study, the highest points of improvement were vocabulary and pronunciation, followed by grammar and fluency . It may be concluded that the use of cartoon movies improved students' speaking ability .


New marine geophysical data along the Macquarie Ridge Complex, the Australia-Pacific plate boundary south of New Zealand, illuminate regional neotectonics. We identify tectonic spreading fabric and fracture zones and precisely locate the Australia-Pacific plate boundary along the Macquarie Ridge Complex. We interpret a ∼5–10 km wide Macquarie Fault Zone between the two plates along a bathymetrie high that extends nearly the entire length of the Australia-Pacific plate boundary south of New Zealand. We conclude that this is the active Australia-Pacific strike-slip plate boundary. Arcuate fracture zones become asymptotic as they approach the plate boundary. A broad zone of less intense deformation associated with the plate boundary extends ∼50 km on either side of the Macquarie Fault Zone. Marine geophysical data suggest that distinct segments of the plate boundary have experienced convergence and strike-slip deformation, although teleseismic evidence overwhelmingly indicates strike-slip motion along the entire surveyed boundary today. The McDougall and southernmost Puysegur segments show no evidence for past underthrusting, whereas data from the Macquarie and Hjort segments strongly suggest past convergence. The present-day strike-slip plate boundary along the Macquarie Ridge Complex coincides with the relict spreading center responsible for Australia-Pacific crust in the region. Our conceptual model for the transition from seafloor spreading to strike-slip motion along the Macquarie Ridge Complex addresses the decreasing length of spreading center segments and spacing between fracture zones, as well as the arcuate bend of the fracture zones that become asymptotic to the current transform plate boundary.


Rats selectively bred for low (LCR) or high (HCR) intrinsic running capacity simultaneously present with contrasting risk factors for cardiovascular and metabolic disease. However, the impact of these phenotypes on left ventricular (LV) morphology and microvascular function, and their progression with aging, remains unresolved. We tested the hypothesis that the LCR phenotype induces progressive age-dependent LV remodeling and impairments in microvascular function, glucose utilization, and β-adrenergic responsiveness, compared with HCR. Hearts and vessels isolated from female LCR (n = 22) or HCR (n = 26) were studied at 12 and 35 wk. Nonselected N:NIH founder rats (11 wk) were also investigated (n = 12). LCR had impaired glucose tolerance and elevated plasma insulin (but not glucose) and body-mass at 12 wk compared with HCR, with early LV remodeling. By 35 wk, LV prohypertrophic and glucose transporter GLUT4 gene expression were up- and downregulated, respectively. No differences in LV β-adrenoceptor expression or cAMP content between phenotypes were observed. Macrovascular endothelial function was predominantly nitric oxide (NO)-mediated in both phenotypes and remained intact in LCR for both age-groups. In contrast, mesenteric arteries microvascular endothelial function, which was impaired in LCR rats regardless of age. At 35 wk, endothelial-derived hyperpolarizing factor-mediated relaxation was impaired whereas the NO contribution to relaxation is intact. Furthermore, there was reduced β2-adrenoceptor responsiveness in both aorta and mesenteric LCR arteries. In conclusion, diminished intrinsic exercise capacity impairs systemic glucose tolerance and is accompanied by progressive development of LV remodeling. Impaired microvascular perfusion is a likely contributing factor to the cardiac phenotype.


Title: STUDY OF ELECTROSTATIC INTERACTION BETWEEN CHARGED SURFACTANT VESICLES AND IONIC MOLECULES BY BULK AND FLUORESCENCE CORRELATION SPECTROSCOPY MEASUREMENTS Xiang Wang, Doctor of Philosophy, 2007 Directed By: Professor Douglas S. English Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Phospholipid vesicles (Liposomes) for controlled release applications such as drug and gene delivery have attracted great interest. However, lack of long term stability and low solute encapsulation efficiency limit the usage of liposomes in many areas. In this thesis, charged surfactant vesicles that are formed spontaneously in mixtures of single-tailed surfactants are investigated as an alternative for liposomes in applications where improved long-term capture of charged organic molecules is desirable. The system of interest is dilute solutions of cetyltrimethylammonium tosylate (CTAT) and sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS). It is shown that charged surfactant vesicles have a high efficiency for encapsulating oppositely charged probe molecules with extremely slow release rates. Several probe molecules, both anionic and cationic, were studied including the cancer chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin (Dox). All probe molecules were captured at high efficiency (ca. 20-70%) when the vesicle bilayer was of opposite charge from the probe molecule; when the charge of vesicle and probe molecule was the same, encapsulation was diminished (ca. 0-8%). Strong electrostatic interaction between surfactant vesicles and charged molecules are responsible for the extremely high encapsulation efficiency. The vesicle/probe formulations are stable for weeks to months due to the inherent stability of these vesicles which form spontaneously and are believed to be equilibrium structures. These properties allow surfactant vesicles to be used to selectively separate oppositely charged dye molecules, and this is demonstrated. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) was used to gain deeper understanding into the role of electrostatics in the capture of charged probe molecules by charged surfactant vesicles. FCS measures the diffusion of fluorescent probe molecules in aqueous solutions at very low concentrations (10-10 M) and distinguishes between rapidly diffusing single molecules and slowly diffusing molecules that are adsorbed on a vesicle bilayer. This method is sensitive enough to rapidly determine the fraction of probe molecules bound to the bilayer interface in a given sample. Binding isotherms were constructed from FCS measurements in which a series of solutions were measured by holding the dye concentration constant while increasing the vesicle concentrations. The resulting isotherm yields a measure of binding energy. Comparisons of binding energies show that probe/bilayer interactions are mainly governed by charge-charge interactions but may also depend on the size and structure of the surfactant counter ions. Our findings provide useful guidelines for implementing surfactant vesicles in biotechnological applications and also serve as an intriguing example of charge-mediated bilayer interactions. STUDY OF ELECTROSTATIC INTERACTION BETWEEN CHARGED SURFACTANT VESICLES AND IONIC MOLECULES BY BULK AND FLUORESCENCE CORRELATION SPECTROSCOPY MEASUREMENTS


441 Abstract The Māori concept of ahikā (burning fires of occupation) was once a necessary part of asserting one's mana whenua (rights to land) over customary territories. If ahikā was exercised over land, that land would be open for others to take and use. Physical presence, kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face), was therefore required in order to exercise ahikā over land. The notion of ahikā has significantly changed as new ideas developed to encompass a steadily increasing national and international Māori diaspora with more Māori living away from their tribal boundaries, lands, and waterways. This paper investigates the tensions and challenges that Māori living away from home face in the maintenance of ahikā, illuminating the pressures on the deeply held values and practices of kanohi ki te kanohi. A key aim is to provide greater understanding around the significance of kanohi ki te kanohi and its place in modern Māori society particularly in the context of the new technologies and practice known as social networking sites.


Changes in communication technology have allowed for the expansion of data collection modes in survey research. The proliferation of the computer has allowed the creation of web and computer assisted auto-interview data collection modes. Virtual worlds are a new application of computer technology that once again expands the data collection modes by VASI (Virtual Assisted Self Interviewing). The Virtual Data Collection Interface (VDCI) developed at Indiana University in collaboration with the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) allows survey researchers access to the population of virtual worlds in fully immersive Heads-up Display (HUD)-based survey instruments. This expansion needs careful consideration for its applicability to the researcher's question but offers a high level of data integrity and expanded survey availability and automation. Current open questions of the VASI method are an optimal sampling frame and sampling procedures within e. g. a virtual world like Second Life (SL). Further multimodal studies are proposed to aid in evaluating the VDCI and placing it in context of other data collection modes.


The Kelabu-Jingga area, located in the Kiri Trough of the Central Sumatra Basin, produces gas from the Paleogene Pematang Group. The Pematang Group consists of sandstones, claystones, organic-rich shales and conglomerates deposited in fluvial and fresh-water deltaic and lacustrine environments. Deposition occurred during regional tectonism associated with a major plate reorganization in the Pacific and Indian Oceans during the Paleogene. Subsequent rifting and basin development occurred in the Kiri Trough area in Central Sumatra. Syngenetic listric faults and associated "rollover" folds formed during rifting .. The Pematang Group was deposited in deep, transtensional pull-apart grabens and shallow extensional rifts. Tectonics strongly influenced the geometry and lateral continuity of the fluvial-deltaic sands. During the Neogene, oblique convergence of the Indian Ocean plate with the Asian plate resulted in a regional dextral-wrenching event in the Central Sumatra Basin that overprinted the earlier extensional style of faulting~ In the Kiri Trough, both extensional and compressional features are evident. Interpretation of a 3D seismic survey, wireline logs (including dipmeter and FMS data) and core data has delineated fault styles and depositional trends within the Pematang Group in the Kelabu-Jingga Fields. The resultant maps and cross sections reveal hydrocarbon reserves and new drilling opportunities.


'wavespeech' explores a remarkable collaboration between artists Edmund de Waal, famed for his porcelain vessels and installations, and David Ward, a wide-ranging creator in paint, photography, light, and sound. Together they produced new, individually-made and interrelated works that responded not only to the architectural space of the Pier Arts Centre but also the artworks within it and the seascape and landscape of the Orkney Islands in which the gallery is located. The publication celebrates this unique collaboration, and includes a reproduction of a large scale wall text jointly conceived, as well as a sound installation and excerpt featuring readings of these passages by both artists.


We demonstrate binary spectral phase coded waveform discrimination at 10 GHz for narrow band optical code-division multiple-access (NB-OCDMA) via direct electrical detection without using any optical hard-limiter. Only 9 phase-locked, 10 GHz spaced, spectral lines within a 100 GHz spectral window are used for the phase coding. Considerably high contrast ratio of 5 between signal and multiuser access interference noise can be achieved for $4{\times}10\;G\;pulse/sec$ timing coordinated OCDMA at a simple electrical receiver with 50 GHz bandwidth.


We studied roost structure, modification, and availability in Lophostoma silvicolum (Phyllostomidae), an insectivorous gleaning bat, on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panamá. Collection of nest material beneath termitaria and infrared video filming indicated that males of L. silvicolum excavate and maintain cavities inside active termite nests. A binary logistic regression analysis showed that to be suitable as roosts, termite nests have to be larger than 30 cm in diameter and taller than 30 cm, well shaded, with few transecting branches, and freely accessible from below. Use of active termite nests as roosts may provide several benefits to L. silvicolum, including reduction of competition for roost sites with sympatric bat species, reduced parasite load and a suitable microclimate. A comparison of number of all termite nests in selected forest plots with number of termite nests that are potentially suited as bat roosts and number of termite nests that are actually used by bats suggests that L. silvicolum may not be roost‐limited on BCI in spite of its highly specialized roost choice.


The purpose of the study was to explore ways of making ESL classes more engaging for language learners at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). To this end, an instructional method known as 'Community of Inquiry' (CI) where students sit in a circle and explain, challenge and justify one another's opinions, arguments and assertions was combined with specially written 'thinking stories' containing philosophical issues and elements of relevance to learners' culture. Two such stories were written and taught to a class of intermediate level, ESL learners at IIUM, over a five-week period, using CI method. Qualitative research methodology was utilized to evaluate learners' responses to the method and materials. Data collection instruments included: in-depth interviews, student-diaries, focused-group observation and teacher's diary entries. The data was subsequently transcribed, analysed and arranged into themes and sub-themes using Nvivo - a qualitative research software. The results of the research showed that CI method, combined with thinking stories, holds great potential for improving all four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) in a holistic way. For example, speaking and listening were practiced through CI discussions; grammar and vocabulary were learnt in-context using the thinking stories; pronunciation was practiced during read-aloud sessions of the stories and the philosophical issues and questions discussed provided an excellent stimulus for written work. In addition, students' confidence to speak-up in class grew, as did their ability to use critical thinking skills. It appears that combining CI method with thinking stories satisfied learners' cognitive, affective and cultural needs, and this, in turn, helped to increase their intrinsic motivation to study English - an important factor for effective language learning. The paper ends by suggesting ways to improve CI method for future implementations of this new approach to second language learning.


A juvenile offender waits for sentencing while a court calculates his life expectancy and determines the point at which his sentence effectively becomes his entire life. This is the scenario posed by recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have struck down life without parole (LWOP) sentences for most juvenile offenders but have left open the possibility of lengthy term-of-years sentences. Consecutive term-of-years sentences may leave many juvenile offenders in prison for the majority of their lives despite the holdings in Miller v. Alabama and Graham v. Florida that juveniles are different and more capable of reform than most adult offenders. This Note examines the issues created by long term-of-years sentences or "virtual LWOP" after Miller and Graham. Specifically, this Note addresses the (1) unconstitutionality of virtual LWOP sentences under Graham; and (2) inconsistencies created between sentences given to homicide and nonhomicide juvenile offenders after Miller. Ultimately, this Note analyzes statutory responses to juvenile LWOP sentences and proposes that either parole restrictions for juveniles must be removed entirely or comprehensive statutory schemes must be enacted to provide multiple opportunities for release.


A week after the US Food and Drug Administration announced that it was to review unpublished data from a group of unnamed researchers linking certain antidiabetes drugs with pancreatitis,1 the findings have been published in a specialty journal, Diabetes .2

The FDA's statement said that glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) based drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes could raise the risk of pancreatitis and precancerous pancreatic lesions and induce pancreatic duct metaplasia.

However, the findings in the small study go further than the US agency suggested.

Studies have previously shown that GLP-1 based drugs may cause pancreatic inflammation and focal proliferation in the exocrine pancreas in rodents. And a 2011 study published in Gastroenterology showed increased signals in the FDA's adverse event reporting system of pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer in patients who used this class of drugs.3

So researchers from the University of California at Los …


There is much controversy about the mining of shale gas through a process known as hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) in the Marcellus Shale formation, one of the largest shale gas areas in the world. A debate is raging about its economic benefits and environmental impacts as the New York State's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) considers what standards to require when it issues permits to drillers. New York State law gives permitting authority to DEC and calls into question the historical home rule authority of localities to control the location and land use impacts of gas wells, through comprehensive planning, zoning, and development regulations. This article describes and discusses this debate, the tension between state and local control, local zoning limitations imposed on drilling and ensuing litigation, and options available to municipalities to control the impact of drilling on their local environment and economies. The regulation, advocacy, and negotiation regarding hydrofracking raise critical questions for economic and environmental policy because the facts regarding this emerging technology are highly disputed, the forces pushing and resisting shale gas mining are powerful, and the authority of each level of government is unclear. At stake are critical policy issues about who decides issues that have national, regional, and local impacts and the role of regulation in developing effective strategies for resolving such complex environmental and economic conflicts.


We have developed a novel batch-type technology for making three-dimensional (3-D) millimeter-sized transformers for ultrasmall low-power (0.1 to 1 Watt) applications. The technology uses the 3-D micropatterning of ferrite wafers by powder blasting to form the magnetic cores of the inductive devices, and combines these cores with electrical windings made by flex-foil printed circuit board technology. Microfabrication and assembly of the parts can be done in a batch process on a wafer/foil level, opening the way to further size reduction of the components. We have measured the inductive and resistive properties of our devices as a function of frequency and device geometry. The results clearly show the high potential of our technology for power applications in which small-size is important.