TW O DIMENSIONAL AG O NISTIC CONTROL by Daqing Yang The conventional method of precise multiple-axis motion control entails use of a multiple axis positioning system with each axis carrying not only the workpiece but also the positioning system of the remaining axes. The resultant structure is heavy, sluggish, and expensive. An alternative positioning technique is being investigated in which the motion of the workpiece is controlled by pulling it with tendons, each of which has its own actuator. Since the actuators can be mounted on the base of the structure instead of being carried by motion system of the other axes, they can be relatively large and powerful without the need for a massive structure such as is found in a conventional motion control system. This method of control is given the appellation agonistic, based on the usages of the word suggesting tension or a contest. Agonistic control system can be used for low cost accurate positioning of workpiece. The control task can be moving the workpiece from one point to another point and kept there or tracking a given trajectory. While the workpiece moves, the tendons should be always kept in tension. In this thesis, the model of two dimensional agonistic control (in the case of tendons of infinite elastic modulus) is established. It leads to a nonlinear multivariable control problem. Based on this nonlinear model, a full-state feedback control law is synthesized. It is composed of two paxts. The first part is a feedforward control to cancel the nonlinear dynamics. The second part is a PD control term which requires velocity information. In the practice, velocity measurement may be contaminated by noise. In order of only using position measurement in the control law, a nonlinear observer is designed to provide the velocity information. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Numerical simulation is performed to verify the ability of the proposed control law. In reality, the tendon has some elasticity. This finite elasticity, if not accounted for, can render the closed-loop system unstable. The investigation shows that the effect of elastic tendons can be compensated for by appropriately modifying the control law designed for inelastic tendons. In particular, the control law is synthesized using the singular perturbation method. It consists of a fast control and a slow control. The fast control is used to stablize the oscillations incurred by the finite elasticity of the tendon. The slow control drives the system to track the desired trajectory. Robustness of the controller is enhanced by using sliding mode control. In the chapter 4, the design of observer in the elastic case is addressed. Linear uncertain system theory is used. The observer is globally stable. The use of decentralized control scheme makes very simple the controller design and reduces the computational complexity. It is very useful for real time agonistic control. A design approach is presented for the decentralized control scheme. A simple linear second order model is used instead of complex nonlinear model used in centralized version. In this approach, the tension in each tendon is treated as disturbance, estimated by an observer, to be compensated. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TW O DIMENSIONAL AGONISTIC CONTROL


In recent years, the study of fiduciary law has undergone a paradigm shift. Rather than treat fiduciary principles as subsidiary elements of legal fields, such as trust law or corporate law, a burgeoning group of scholars has undertaken to study fiduciary law as a coherent general field of study that encompasses aspects of both private and public law. Case law and academic commentary have progressed to the point that it is now possible to generate a detailed mapping of the field. To this end, the newly published Oxford Handbook of Fiduciary Law provides a near-encyclopedic survey of the terrain, focusing primarily on U.S. jurisprudence but also incorporating perspectives from other legal traditions. In its breadth and depth of coverage, the Handbook stands alone as a uniquely authoritative guide to the current state of the law and scholarship in the field.

This essay, which is the Introduction to the Handbook, explores fiduciary law's emergence as a general field of study and explains the Handbook's ambitious contributions to the field. These contributions are grouped thematically into four parts. First, the Handbook surveys fiduciary principles across diverse contexts, ranging from agency law and the law of investment advice, to family law and the law of lawyering, to public offices and public international law. Second, the Handbook identifies and synthesizes several fundamental principles of fiduciary law that apply across these contexts, including the core fiduciary duties of loyalty and care. Third, the Handbook explores how fiduciary principles have developed across time and in different legal traditions around the world. Lastly, the Handbook considers how different legal theories, interdisciplinary approaches, and social institutions may contribute to the academic study and development of fiduciary law. The Handbook thus furnishes a single source to which readers can turn for guidance on fiduciary principles across a host of substantive fields, jurisdictions, and epochs.


The focus of this thesis is on the possibilities and limitations of sustainable bioenergy production systems. First, the potential contribution of bioenergy to the energy supply in different world regions in the year 2050 from different biomass sources (dedicated woody energy crops, residues and waste and biomass from forest growth) is analysed. The results show that particularly the potential of dedicated crops produced on land that is no longer required for the production of food can be very large in various world regions. However, a reduction of the area of agricultural that is needed to cover the demand for food requires substantial increases in the efficiency with which food is being produced through the application of state-of-the-art technologies, which are not realistic considering current socio-economic trends. Next, the possibilities and limitations of a certified production of short rotation coppice in Brazil and Ukraine and ethanol from sugar cane in Brazil are investigated. Compliance with sustainability criteria may require changes in the management of energy crop production or in the operation of processing plants that may limit the potential or increase the costs of bioenergy. Potential bottlenecks are the impacts on biodiversity and food security, because of the increase of the area of land used for the production of energy crops. Genetically modified sugar cane is currently being developed, but not (yet) applied. Both a ban on and an allowance of the use of genetically modified cane could become a bottleneck, considering the potentially large advantages as well as disadvantages involved. Both are highly uncertain at this moment. Compliance with most other environmental and socio-economic criteria can be guaranteed at limited additional costs and using existing certification systems. Further, special attention has been paid to the impact of fertilizer- and manure-induced nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from energy crop production on the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when replacing conventional transportation fuels by first-generation biofuels (taking into account also other GHG emissions across the life cycle) is analysed. The results show that N2O emissions can be very important for the GHG balance of biofuels depending, amongst others, on the type of land use that is replaced by energy crops. Finally, the economic performance and environmental performance of switchgrass and miscanthus production chains in the European Union are analysed. The results show that miscanthus and switchgrass have a favourable and robust greenhouse gas and energy balance compared to oil and natural gas. Miscanthus and switchgrass can be produced in East Europe at competitive costs compared to fossil fuels. Also the impacts on biodiversity can be favourable, provided that attention is paid to the harvest regime and the size and location relative to existing areas of natural vegetation.


We present a new method for the realistic real‐time simulation of rivers. Our solution includes a 2D fluid solver that simulates the flow of a river's surface, an efficient method for adaptively computing 3D flow information and an animated 3D procedural wave texture that is advected through the fluid via advection particles in order to mimic the highly detailed fluid surfaces that are characteristic of rivers. Our technique that couples animated texture advection with a pseudo‐3D fluid simulation produces stable results that are representative of large‐scale real‐world rivers and suitable for use in real‐time applications. Our system surpasses prior work on real‐time river rendering both with regards to efficiency and visual quality, which we establish through the rendering of rivers tens of kilometers long. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Background In Morocco, there is little information on the circumstances surrounding maternal near misses. This study aimed to determine the incidence, characteristics, and determinants of maternal near misses in Morocco. Method A prospective case-control study was conducted at 3 referral maternity hospitals in the Marrakech region of Morocco between February and July 2012. Near-miss cases included severe hemorrhage, hypertensive disorders, and prolonged obstructed labor. Three unmatched controls were selected for each near-miss case. Three categories of risk factors (sociodemographics, reproductive history, and delays), as well as perinatal outcomes, were assessed, and bivariate and multivariate analyses of the determinants were performed. A sample of 30 near misses and 30 non-near misses was interviewed. Results The incidence of near misses was 12‰ of births. Hypertensive disorders during pregnancy (45%) and severe hemorrhage (39%) were the most frequent direct causes of near miss. The main risk factors were illiteracy [OR = 2.35; 95% CI: (1.07–5.15)], lack of antenatal care [OR = 3.97; 95% CI: (1.42–11.09)], complications during pregnancy [OR = 2.81; 95% CI:(1.26–6.29)], and having experienced a first phase delay [OR = 8.71; 95% CI: (3.97–19.12)] and a first phase of third delay [OR = 4.03; 95% CI: (1.75–9.25)]. The main reasons for the first delay were lack of a family authority figure who could make a decision, lack of sufficient financial resources, lack of a vehicle, and fear of health facilities. The majority of near misses demonstrated a third delay with many referrals. The women's perceptions of the quality of their care highlighted the importance of information, good communication, and attitude. Conclusion Women and newborns with serious obstetric complications have a greater chance of successful outcomes if they are immediately directed to a functioning referral hospital and if the providers are responsive.


This paper broadly reflects on the identity and status of community-based interpreting as a field of practice and academic study. With a focus on research and its role in the process of professionalization, it explores the kinship among the various domains of interpreting from a historical, conceptual and socioacademic point of view. Based on a review of the recently emerged discipline of interpreting studies in terms of different paradigms, an analysis of common ground and interrelations is undertaken for interpreting studies as part of the wider field of translation studies and for community interpreting as such. The picture that emerges from this analysis shows the dialogic interactionist approach developed mainly for research on community interpreting as a distinct paradigm which offers great potential for a synergistic relationship with other theoretical and methodological approaches in interpreting studies.


In this study, fluid flow induced by a two stage electrohydrodynamic (EHD) gas pump in a square channel has been evaluated by experimental measurement and numerical simulations. This study is implemented for a two stage EHD gas pump with three emitting electrode configurations: 8, 24, and 56 respectively to seek the relation between the number of stages and emitting electrodes. The EHD pump is evaluated for a wide range of operating voltages starting from 20 kV up to 28 kV for further improvement in its performance over a single stage. To achieve the maximum enhancement, the emitting electrodes of the EHD gas pump are flush mounted on the channel walls so that the corona wind produced directly disturbs the boundary layer thickness and improves the heat transfer. This is leading to a higher velocity near the channel walls and resulting in an inverted parabolic velocity profile at the center of the channel, which is opposite to the fully developed velocity profile of a forced flow. Velocities are measured at three cross-sections along the tube length and then integrated to obtain the volume flow rate. The results show that EHD technique has a great potential for many engineering applications.


Multiple imputation of missing data continues to be a topic of considerable interest and importance to applied researchers. In this article, the ice package for multiple imputation is further updated. Special attention in this article is paid to imputing interval-censored observations, and a suggestion to use imputation of right-censored survival data to elucidate covariate effects graphically.


In earlier papers the author has formulated an axiomatic foundation for an abstract theory of Baire category, one of whose purposes is the unification of analogous concepts and theorems occurring in topology and measure theory. In the present article, a method is presented for unifying, within this axiomatic framework, the Baire property in the restricted sense and absolute measurability in complete separable metric spaces.


Summer 2018 has been rocked by the Trump Administration's new immigration policy of family separation at the U.S./Mexico border. Yet family separation is the prerequisite to every legal adoption. The circumstances are different, of course; in legal adoption, the biological parents have been provided with all the constitutional protections required in involuntary termination of parental rights, or they have voluntarily consented to family separation. But what happens when that family separation is wrongful, when the birth mother's consent is not voluntary or when the birth father's wishes to parent are ignored? In theory, the child can be returned to the birth parents when consent is invalid because of fraud, coercion or deceit. In actuality, courts are very reluctant to undo an adoption. How, then, to deter adoption agencies and workers from wrongfully separating birth parents and their children? Adoption agencies are not just social welfare institutions, but also businesses motivated by money. Lawsuits, as a cost of doing business, can affect their bottom line. The adoption industry has been responsive in the past to lawsuits from adoptive parents seeking money damages, which suggests that lawsuits from birth parents that affect the bottom line could incentivize better behavior from adoption agencies. This article explores possible tort causes of action available to birth parents, including a proposed new tort of wrongful family separation, with the long-term objective of changing adoption agency behavior, potentially transforming adoption practice.


This study examines the form and effects of globalization on North Carolina's sweetpotato industry. A commodity chain analysis was conducted by constructing North Carolina's sweetpotato commodity chain (SPCC) through the collection of quantitative data and interviews with various individuals (growers packers exporters etc.) within North Carolina's sweetpotato industry. This study has demonstrated that there are several effects of globalization seen throughout the sweetpotato commodity chain including the changing roles of the various actors within the SPCC and how North Carolina's sweetpotato industry functions through changes in marketing distribution and various technologies. As globalization has unfolded the SPCC has expanded and lengthened incorporating new sets of actors such as third-party food safety auditors into its nodes who have influenced the particular form of globalization within the North Carolina sweetpotato industry. Institutions that have played a particularly influential role have been the state and grower organizations. Findings have also shown that an industry must be prepared through investments in technology marketing and distribution in order to meet the demands of new buyers that globalization brings to a commodity chain. Globalization comes swiftly when an industry is ready to meet the demands of entering the global market as this study shows by tracing the history of North Carolina's sweetpotato industry and its role in the global sweetpotato economy. Finally I show that globalization has had positive and negative effects on North Carolina's sweetpotato industry suggest how these effects can be used as learning tools for other industries yet to globalize and suggest further areas of research within the sweetpotato economy.


The properties and high-efficiency potential of front- and rear-emitter silicon heterojunction solar cells on n- and p-type wafers were experimentally investigated. In the low-carrier-injection range, cells on p-type wafers suffer from reduced minority carrier lifetime, mainly due to the asymmetry in interface defect capture cross sections. This leads to slightly lower fill factors than for n-type cells. By using high-quality passivation layers, however, these losses can be minimized. High open-circuit voltages (Vocs) were obtained on both types of float zone (FZ) wafers: up to 735 mV on n-type and 726 mV on p-type. The best Voc measured on Czochralski (CZ) p-type wafers was only 692 mV, whereas it reached 732 mV on CZ n-type. The highest aperture-area certified efficiencies obtained on 4 cm2 cells were 22.14% (Voc = 727 mV , FF = 78.4%) and 21.38% (Voc = 722 mV, FF = 77.1%) on n- and p-type FZ wafers, respectively, proving that heterojunction schemes can perform almost as well on high-quality p-type as on n-type wafers. To our knowledge, this is the highest efficiency ever reported for a full silicon heterojunction solar cell on a p-type wafer, and the highest Voc on any p-type crystalline silicon device with reasonable FF.


Recent results from summer measurement campaigns over the partly ice covered central Arctic Ocean show that thehigh Arctic aerosol has a larger organic fraction than previously thought.We use a Lagrangian parcel model to infer theproperties of the unexplained organic aerosol fraction that is necessary for reproducing the observed concentrations ofcloud condensation nuclei (CCN). With increasing distance from the open ocean a highly surface-active Aitken mode, associated with particles found in the open lead surface microlayer, becomes increasingly important for cloud dropletformation. The presence of such an Aitken mode population increases the high Arctic indirect aerosol effect (addedcooling) relative to just a marine source of CCN from oxidation products of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) released from phytoplankton.


This thesis is situated in the field of digital cultural heritage and uses 3D scanning and printing as both a method and a provocation to reveal the curatorial process while simultaneously examining how the technology affects museum practice from the perspective of the museum curator. 3D scanning and printing (henceforth 3DSP) has become a keen area of interest among museum practitioners and researchers. The ever-increasing accessibility of 3D technology opens up new possibilities for audiences and curators alike, with the potential to establish new structures of practice and engagement. Yet despite the growing interest in 3DSP, very little is known about how integration of 3DSP does and could affect museum practice and its traditional methods of working.
This thesis will investigate how and why 3DSP is affecting the practices and traditions of the museum from the perspective of the curator, a member of staff who is arguably the first and primary engager with museum objects. The research undertaken for this study will focus on two museums, Museums Sheffield and The British Museum, to provide an account of how 3DSP affects curatorial practice when it is first introduced and an account of cases where 3DSP is already in operation.
The reader is first introduced to the concept of the 3DSP and its surrounding literature in the contextual review. The chapter acknowledges that 3DSP is relatively new within the museum sector and that such a novelty impacts on the breadth and depth of heritage sector literature on 3DSP. The contextual review thus provides a background to museum discourse before discussing the changing role of the museum curator. The literature concerning 3DSP in the museum is positioned and examined as a tool for simultaneously frustrating and supporting the role of the museum and its curators.
With the above arguments in mind, the thesis then moves on to discuss the methods and data used to examine 3DSP in the museum. Drawing on curatorial museum-based methods conducted over the past 3 years, this thesis details the perceived effect of 3DSP on museum practice and traditions. Daily tasks, such as planning exhibition concepts, accessioning and object research are reinterpreted as methods for this study, with the aim of understanding not only the role of the museum curator, but also how 3DSP impacts on the practice of museum curators.
By situating 3DSP at the heart of this study and working with pre-existing 3DSP projects, this study provides real-world practice examples of how the integration of 3DSP affects the museum.
At the centre of this thesis are three discussion chapters which examine the data gathered from an Acclimatisation Study and two curatorial residencies at Museums Sheffield and The British Museum. The chapters examine the curatorial positionality of 3DSP, where 3DSP sits with the museum structure and politics, and finally the digital implications of introducing 3DSP into the museum. Across all three chapters there is an attempt to position 3DSP within the wider narrative of digital cultural heritage, examining, for example, 3DSP's effect on our current understanding of authenticity and authority.
The first of the discussion chapters focuses on the curatorial intention and seeks to understand the perceived role and position of 3DSP in the museum. The chapter examines how participating curators from Museums Sheffield and The British Museum and their curatorial departments have responded to 3DSP and how their curatorial position could either work with or against the framework of the museum.
In the second discussion chapter the focus is on where 3DSP objects sit within in the museum. The chapter reveals the changes, frustrations and enrichments 3DSP has brought to curatorial practice and makes comparisons with alternative replicas, which have formed part of museum practice for decades. The material and immaterial properties of 3DSP museum objects are discussed in the chapter and applied to how curators believe this impacts on the object's sense of authenticity and authority.
In the final discussion chapter, the focus is on the digital challenges and benefits of introducing 3DSP into the practices of the museum. The chapter explores how curators responded to the introduction of 3DSP and furthers discussions from the first chapter. Within this chapter are examinations of how 3DSP affects copyright law, debates concerning how to treat data points added by the scanning software, and data storage concerns.
The conclusions, detailed in this thesis, reveal complex and shifting perceptions on the role and position of 3DSP within the museum that is interlinked with the museum's practice and traditions. Preconceptions exist about the use of the replica and its potential frustration of
5 museums' objects' authenticity as well as the transformations of digital objects and their use beyond the collection.


The formation of illite through the smectite-to-illite (S-I) reaction is considered to be one of the most important mineral reactions occurring during diagenesis. In biologically catalyzed systems, however, this transformation has been suggested to be rapid and to bypass the high temperature and long time requirements. To understand the factors that promote the S-I reaction, the present study focused on the effects of pH, temperature, solution chemistry, and aging on the S-I reaction in microbially mediated systems. Fe(III)-reduction experiments were performed in both growth and non-growth media with two types of bacteria: mesophilic (Shewanella putrefaciens CN32) and thermophilic (Thermus scotoductus SA-01). Reductive dissolution of NAu-2 was observed and the formation of illite in treatment with thermophilic SA-01 was indicated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). A basic pH (8.4) and high temperature (65°C) were the most favorable conditions forthe formation of illite. A long incubation time was also found to enhance the formation of illite. K-nontronite (non-permanent fixation of K) was also detected and differentiated from the discrete illite in the XRD profiles. These results collectively suggested that the formation of illite associated with the biologically catalyzed smectite-to-illite reaction pathway may bypass the prolonged time and high temperature required for the S-I reaction in the absence of microbial activity.


ITS Surabaya campus has a biodiversity potential, especially plants that can be utilized. Different types of plants have been known as a potential insecticide because they contain bioactive compounds, such as essential oils, saponins, tannins, alkaloids, phenolics, flavonoids, alkenes and these terpenoids. This research was a descriptive experimental, which aimed to explore the vegetation potential as plant-based insecticide or bio-insecticide. Tracking method to obtain plant leaves samples in ITS campus was used in this study. Leaf extracts were obtained using methanol solvents after the freeze-drying method that will change leaf into powder form. The extracts were then stored in the refrigerator and ready to be applied. Leaf dipping method was used as biological test. The test conducted on Spodoptera litura larvae that obtained from Balittas Malang. Larvae rearing trials were carried out in the Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology ITS. The larvae examined were the third instar fed on fodder greens of leaf mustard. Toxicity effects of extract were observed from mortality of Spodoptera litura during 5 days. Ten plants species with bio-insecticide potential in this study were Ageratum conyzoides L., Crynum asiaticum L., Calotropis gigantea R., Eugenia cumini Merr., Eichornia crassipes, Crescentia cujete L., Nothopanax scutellarium Merr., Morinda citrifolia L., Azadirachta indica, and Lantana camara L. Keywords : Bio-insecticide, potential plants, Spodoptera litura


BACKGROUND
Plasma adipokine concentrations are variably related to fatness/insulin resistance and may act via endocrine mechanisms. We assessed the relationship among plasma adipokine concentrations and their relationship with insulin sensitivity and body composition in obese adults before and after insulin sensitization accomplished using diet/exercise or pioglitazone.

METHODS
Plasma adipokine concentrations, insulin sensitivity, and body composition were assessed in 39 upper-body obese insulin-resistant, nondiabetic adults before and after 19 wk of diet/exercise or 30 mg/d pioglitazone.

RESULTS
Diet/exercise reduced body fat and visceral fat and improved insulin sensitivity parameters; pioglitazone improved insulin sensitivity to a similar degree but increased body fat. Adiponectin increased more after pioglitazone (4770 +/- 487 vs. 8351 +/- 693.6 ng/ml, P < 0.001) than after diet/exercise (4704 +/- 367 to 5426 +/- 325.3 ng/ml, P < 0.01), whereas TNFalpha, IL-6, and resistin did not change. C-reactive protein decreased with diet/exercise. Adipokine concentrations were not correlated with each other at baseline or after insulin sensitization, except TNFalpha and IL-6 (r = 0.43, P < 0.05); IL-6 was inversely correlated with resistin. Only adiponectin was correlated (P < 0.05) with indices of insulin sensitivity. Adiponectin concentrations were inversely correlated with visceral fat and with sc fat depots in men but positively correlated with sc fat in women.

CONCLUSION
Plasma adipokine concentrations were not consistently interrelated, and only adiponectin displayed the expected relationship with insulin sensitivity and sensitization. These findings do not support an endocrine role for resistin, TNFalpha, and IL-6 in mediating changes in insulin resistance after diet/exercise or pioglitazone.


Abstract Previous research has highlighted the need for engineers to have some background knowledge of Indigenous Australian histories, cultures and politics, in order to adhere to relevant legislation protecting Aboriginal cultural heritage. This study explored recent engineering graduates' experiences of managing Aboriginal cultural heritage matters in engineering projects, their experience of related education and training, and their perceptions of preparedness for effectively managing heritage protections. An online survey of engineering graduates was developed and distributed through networks of young engineers across Australia. The results indicate that it is common for young engineers to encounter Aboriginal cultural heritage on engineering project sites. Survey participants received little formal education on Aboriginal cultural heritage beyond high school, and reported low levels of confidence in dealing with such heritage matters. It was also apparent that education and training, particularly within higher education, is lagging behind legislated requirements for engineers and project managers. With the continued growth of Australia's population, large infrastructure projects will continue to impact on Aboriginal cultural heritage. Young engineers will need to be prepared to meet evolving legal and societal expectations for the preservation of the nation's Aboriginal heritage.


Cake-cutting is a longstanding metaphor for 'a wide range of realworld problems that involve' the division of anything of value.1 Unsurprisingly, where owners of a strata scheme wish to end the strata scheme and collectively sell their development, one of the most contentious issues may be the apportionment of sale proceeds.2 In Singapore, this problem is compounded in mixed developments which have both commercial and residential elements as well as in developments with different sized units, often with disproportionate strata share values; even differing facings and the state of one's unit may attract disenchantment when trying to apportion proceeds. This article critically analyses how New South Wales ('NSW') and Singapore allocate proceeds pursuant to a collective sale of strata property. In this respect, the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 (NSW) and Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) are significantly clearer than Singapore's Land Titles (Strata) Act (Singapore, cap 158, rev ed 2009) as the latter does not prescribe any statutory formula for apportionment. In examining the jurisprudence and respective strata frameworks, this article proposes how proceeds in a collective sale could be more fairly apportioned.


This study analyses empirically the effects of import competition on firm productivity (TFPQ) using administrative firm-level panel data from German manufacturing. We find that only import competition from high-income countries is associated with positive incentives for firms to invest in productivity improvement, whereas import competition from middle- and low-income countries is not. To rationalise these findings, we further look at the characteristics of imports from the two types of countries and the effects on R&D, employment and sales. We provide evidence that imports from high-income countries are relatively capital-intensive and technologically more sophisticated goods, at which German firms tend to be relatively good. Costly investment in productivity appears feasible reaction to such type of competition and we find no evidence for downscaling. Imports from middle- and low-wage countries are relatively labour-intensive and technologically less sophisticated goods, at which German firms tend to generally be at disadvantage. In this case, there are no incentives to invest in innovation and productivity and firms tend to decline in sales and employment.


Recent scholarship on Hamlet has highlighted the material practices of textual production and circulation that saturate the play. Yet aural performances and other endeavors that do not find a stable foothold in writing have received less attention, including Ophelia's "posies" of emblematic flowers, snatches of popular ballads, and mad utterances. This essay draws on media theory in order to argue that Ophelia offers a new way of thinking about Hamlet's meta-dramatic conflict. By exploiting the disruptive tendencies of theatrical music and alluding to the legend of Orpheus, Ophelia produces an unwieldy form of poesie that does not congeal into stable matter. Her song-speech takes shape within an adaptive process of transmission through recycled quotations, technologies, bodies, music, and other structures that continually shift and adapt. Ophelia demonstrates the ways in which early modern poesie is embedded within a media ecology, a nexus of communication in which meaning does not result from the concrete manifestation of an external source but emerges in relation to the contingencies of its environment.


Many mobile applications running on smartphones and wearable devices would potentially benefit from the accuracy and scalability of deep CNN-based machine learning algorithms. However, performance and energy consumption limitations make the execution of such computationally intensive algorithms on mobile devices prohibitive. We present a GPU-accelerated library, dubbed CNNdroid [1], for execution of trained deep CNNs on Android-based mobile devices. Empirical evaluations show that CNNdroid achieves up to 60X speedup and 130X energy saving on current mobile devices. The CNNdroid open source library is available for download at https://github.com/ENCP/CNNdroid


The UK has an obligation for its waters to meet the minimum standards as set out in the Water Framework Directive legislation by 2015. In recent years tighter controls on pollutants from point sources has led to diffuse sources (i.e. agricultural) having a greater contribution to degradation in water quality. The Catchment Sensitive Farming program has been set up to attempt to advise and support landowners and farmers with various land mangement techniques which can be applied to rural areas to mitigate against some of the contributions that agricultural activities have to poor water quality. In order for any such measures to be either cost-effective or successful at improving water quality they must be applied in suitable areas of a catchment. This research takes the River Eden catchment in Cumbria as a case study and uses mathematical modelling of measured low resolution field nutrient data together with high-resolution quasi-continuous discharge data to drive a reduced complexity diffuse pollution modelling framework (SCIMAP) to identify the areas most likely to be causing water quality problems. Results of inverse modelling showed arable land was a particular risky land use within the Eden catchment. Several areas (mainly surrounding the River Eden in the lower reaches) within the catchment were identified as being the most likely to be causing water quality problems. As a form of control the SCIMAP model was run with logical risk values assigned to diferent landuses as well as those derived from inverse modelling of nutrient data. The model outputs driven by the statistically improved data were very similar to those which were driven by a priori judgment. Several conclusions were drawn; (1) the SCIMAP model run driven by a very simple dataset based on nationally available data produced similar results to an identical model run driven by a large nutrient and discharge dataset, suggesting that the process of identifying risky areas to further examine within a catchment can be completed relatively easily (in terms of data availability), and (2) even low infrequent nutrient data can capture enough information when combined with continuous discharge data to be used in the SCIMAP model.


It is well known that the electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) are useful techniques for the study of brain dynamics, due to their high temporal resolution. However, it is known that the spatial resolution of the standard EEG is rather low, due to the different electrical conductivities of brain, skull, and scalp that markedly blur the EEG potential distributions, making the localization of the underlying cortical generators problematic. In the last ten years, a body of mathematical techniques, known as high-resolution EEG, was developed to estimate more precisely the cortical activity from non-invasive EEG measurements. Such techniques include the use of a large number of scalp electrodes, realistic models of the head derived from magnetic resonance images (MRIs), and advanced processing methodologies related to the solution of the so-called "inverse problem," that is, the estimation of the brain activity (i.e., electromagnetic generators) from the EEG/MEG measurements. The approach implies both the use of thousands of equivalent current dipoles as a source model and the realistic head models, reconstructed from magnetic resonance images, as the volume conductor medium. The use of geometrical constraints on the position of the neural source or sources within the head model generally reduces the solution space (i.e., the set of all possible combinations of the cortical dipoles strengths). An additional constraint is to force the dipoles to explain the recorded data with a minimum or a low amount of energy (minimum-norm solutions). The solution space can be further reduced by using information derived from hemodynamic measures (i.e., fMRI-BOLD phenomena) recorded during the same task. The rationale of a multimodal approach is that neural activity, modulating neuronal firing and generating EEG/MEG potentials, increases glucose and oxygen demands. This results in an increase in the local hemodynamic response that can be measured by functional magnetic resonance images (fMRIs). Hence, fMRI responses and cortical sources of EEG/MEG data can be spatially related, and the fMRI information can be used as a priori in the solution of the inverse problem. As a result of all these computational approaches, it is possible to estimate the cortical activity with a spatial resolution of few millimeters and with a temporal resolution of milliseconds from non-invasive EEG measurements.

However, static images of brain regions activated during particular tasks do not convey the information of how these regions communicate to each other. The concept of brain connectivity is viewed as central for the understanding of the organized behavior of cortical regions beyond the simple mapping of their activity. This organization is thought to be based on the interaction between different and differently specialized cortical sites. Cortical connectivity estimation aims at describing these interactions as connectivity patterns which hold the direction and strength of the information flow between cortical areas. To achieve this, several computational methods have been already applied on data gathered from both hemodynamic and electromagnetic techniques. By using such methods, it is possible to infer the information flows between the cortical areas in human during particular motor and cognitive tasks. Possible applications of this promising technology are in the fields of the study of human behavior and cognition and in the brain computer interface area. Methods for the estimation of brain connectivity have been scattered proposed in literature related to the fMRI, NIRS, and EEG or MEG technologies.

Hence, the main objective of this special issue is to increase the knowledge on the mathematical methods able to estimate the cortical activity and connectivity in the human brain from non-invasive neuroelectric and hemodynamic measurements. Such special issue includes both the state-of-technique review articles on the EEG and MEG methodologies written by world-class scientists, as well as the description of particular cortical models that can be used to generate cortico-cortical connectivity.

Several papers of this special issue are devoted to the theme of brain-machine interfaces, treating the collection and the analysis of brain signals related to the imagination of motor acts, in the context of brain-computer interface. Applications of the techniques of source estimations were provided also in the field of neuroeconomics, with an example of the track of the brain activity with the EEG during the observation of TV clips, or even during the car driving, by using NIRS device, or in the study of emotional processing with the ERD/ERS techniques. Other papers in this special issue are related to the use of different advanced methodologies for the analysis of brain signals in psychiatric patients, and one is devoted to the description of a possible WEB structure for data sharing in the field of neuroscience.

In summary, this special issue conveys interesting information about the state-of-the-art methodologies able to track the brain activity and connectivity during different tasks in the healthy subjects as well as in the psychiatric patients. We hope that the readership of CIN could appreciate this special issue as we appreciated it during its composition.

Laura Astolfi

Andrzej Cichocki

Fabio Babiloni


In recent years, a record number of women have been breaking out of corporate life and embracing entrepreneurial careers partly as a redress to the discriminations they experience in paid employments. Female entrepreneurship is emerging as a potent force as more women emerge as business owners even in economic sectors that were previously thought to be the preserve of men. Women in Business: Theory, Practice and Flexible Approaches is a practical book that sets out to provide support and practical planning tools to guide both established and aspiring female entrepreneurs. These include checklists and tests, which could make the decision-making processes easier because self-employment and entrepreneurial activities are decisions that cannot be taken lightly. Women entrepreneurs are seen to be more realistic about their commercial prodigies and often make attempts to develop them within a family environment, while men gravitate more towards developing business hierarchies with defined rules and working business procedures. A number of theories, based on feminist analyses of the same, are also explored.
The recognition of the capacity of women entrepreneurs in our global community is no longer a matter of debate, but a realisation that female entrepreneurship is now forming one of the major factors contributing to the development of many countries, and not just countries in transition.


This thesis is about the relationship between popular cultures and public order. Although it is located in a particular setting for good sound empirical reasons, the analysis could just as easily have been about any urban setting. I chose the words public order since they seemed to describe best the process by which urban public space has come to carry a vocabulary or rules and expectations which the inhabitants are supposed to acknowledge in their routine everyday encounters and interactions. What I have tried to illustrate is that the orderliness of public life is permeated with specific assumptions about how people should behave in public; about what is considered to be respectable, moral, decent, profane or depraved. I therefore take as a starting point the fact that the assumptions which underlie public order are not the product of society 'per se' but of specific social groups such as architects, planners and politicians. The assumptions which lie behind public order are, of course, ideological and quite clearly fused with political strategies designed to elicit a "civilised" and "cultured" population. Consequently, if urban "civilization" was founded on the belief that the good, moral, order was shaped by the physical setting or environment then Culture came to describe the process through which people had to pass in order to enter the terrain of the cultivated. From the perspective of the sociology of culture the word "culture" is an analytical metaphor for understanding social process: for describing, delineating, and interpreting what it is that people actually do when they communicate to one another. Seen this way popular culture implies culture "of the people" and "by the people" but definitely not "for the people". Popular culture, then, is the. process by which people themselves construct social space and thereby imprint meaning, purpose, value, etc., on actions, symbols and intentions.


Tendering process is central to national government in South Africa. The goods and services bought by national government in South Africa represent a large amount of public money, and it is very important that national government put in place measure to manage how these goods and services are acquired. In the main government acquire goods and services through tender system and the focus of the study was tendering process in national government in South Africa. The amount of public resources that national government uses in the tendering process is huge and is approximately over 20% of GDP, which has direct implication for service delivery and job creation as well as redressing past discrimination by empowering designated groups of peoples to receive preference in tendering. South Africa is one of the countries with the highest level of corruption rate in the world, of which tender fraud and corruption play a major part. Considering that, the reform of tendering process in national government is therefore inevitable and has to take place. The primary objective of this study is to analyse national government tender system, and identify the tendering problems facing South African national departments. The study further made practical recommendations to National Government, National Treasury, and all the relevant stakeholders relating to the management of tendering process. Data from 355 questionnaires completed by participants, represented 45 national department was collected and analysed. This study found that national government is facing major challenges in managing of tendering process, and these challenges relates to implementation and adoption of the code of best practice. The most important conclusions drawn from the study are: iii  The department complies with all the above legislation and keep the rules as stipulated in the legislation;  There is a need to issue a single national legislative framework in terms of section 76(4)(c) of the PFMA to guide uniformity in tendering process;  The tendering legislations and its associated regulations are complex and may make it difficult to implement correctly;  The department follow all tendering process generic steps at all times;  The current evaluation system is not a good system and is biased towards the lowest price bidders;  The current tendering practices in government are outdated and inefficient;  Tender practitioners are not adequately trained in the application of the tender process and its associated regulations;  The departments did not keep a detailed and consistent documentation of all events of the whole tendering procedure at all times;  The current tendering practices do not conform to internationally accepted best practices;  The department's tendering function is not carried out in a cost-effective way; and  The current tendering system is fair, encourages competition, and has integrity. Practical recommendations are suggested to ensure the effective management of tendering process in national government.


Although two-phase flow instabilities are attributed to be one of the impediments for achieving high heat flux in boiling systems, most of their fundamental characteristics remain uncharted. In particular, pressure drop oscillations and density wave oscillations are two types of dynamic two-phase flow instabilities that can cause large variations in pressure and temperature. Under particular working conditions, both oscillations have been observed to interact, resulting in long-period pressure drop oscillations with superimposed short-period density wave oscillations. However, in this situation, the amplitude of the density wave oscillations is typically larger than the corresponding to a pure density wave oscillation. Here, we show that a compressible volume in the system, essential for the occurrence of pressure drop oscillations, plays a major role in amplifying the amplitude of the superimposed density wave oscillations.Although two-phase flow instabilities are attributed to be one of the impediments for achieving high heat flux in boiling systems, most of their fundamental characteristics remain uncharted. In particular, pressure drop oscillations and density wave oscillations are two types of dynamic two-phase flow instabilities that can cause large variations in pressure and temperature. Under particular working conditions, both oscillations have been observed to interact, resulting in long-period pressure drop oscillations with superimposed short-period density wave oscillations. However, in this situation, the amplitude of the density wave oscillations is typically larger than the corresponding to a pure density wave oscillation. Here, we show that a compressible volume in the system, essential for the occurrence of pressure drop oscillations, plays a major role in amplifying the amplitude of the superimposed density wave oscillations.


In the context of the DCMI RDF Application Profile task group and the W3C Data Shapes Working Group solutions for the proper formulation of constraints and validation of RDF data on these constraints are being developed. Several approaches and constraint languages exist but there is no clear favorite and none of the languages is able to meet all requirements raised by data practitioners. To support the work, a comprehensive, community-driven database has been created where case studies, use cases, requirements and solutions are collected. Based on this database, we have hitherto published 81 types of constraints that are required by various stakeholders for data applications. We are using this collection of constraint types to gain a better understanding of the expressiveness of existing solutions and gaps that still need to be filled. Regarding the implementation of constraint languages, we have already proposed to use high-level languages to describe the constraints, but map them to SPARQL queries in order to execute the actual validation; we have demonstrated this approach for the Web Ontology Language in its current version 2 and Description Set Profiles. In this paper, we generalize from the experience of implementing OWL 2 and DSP by introducing an abstraction layer that is able to describe constraints of any constraint type in a way that mappings from high-level constraint languages to this intermediate representation can be created more or less straight-forwardly. We demonstrate that using another layer on top of SPARQL helps to implement validation consistently accross constraint languages, simplifies the actual implementation of new languages, and supports the transformation of semantically equivalent constraints across constraint languages.


Naturalistic theories of intentional content aim at explaining the phenomenon of representation in naturalistic terms: what kind of relation is a representational relation? What grounds the fact that certain states qualify as representations and some do not? What determines representational content? In my dissertation, I provide an original naturalistic theory of representational content along the lines of teleosemantics and use it in order to solve several questions related to cognition. So my thesis is divided into two main parts. The goal of the first part of the project was to provide a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for a state to be endowed with representational content and, in the second part, I apply this naturalistic framework to cognition, focusing on perception and concepts


Online dynamic signature verification systems were designed and tested. A database of more than 10,000 signatures in (x(t), y(t))-form was acquired using a graphics tablet. We extracted a 42-parameter feature set at first, and advanced to a set of 49 normalized features that tolerate inconsistencies in genuine signatures while retaining the power to discriminate against forgeries. We studied algorithms for selecting and perhaps orthogonalizing features in accordance with the availability of training data and the level of system complexity. For decision making we studied several classifiers types. A modified version of our majority classifier yielded 2.5% equal error rate and, more importantly, an asymptotic performance of 7% false acceptance rate at zero false rejection rate, was robust to the speed of genuine signatures, and used only 15 parameter features.


Hydrothermal venting, an important cooling mechanism of the Earth, supports a diverse array of seafloor and sub-seafloor ecosystems that are sustained by large thermal and chemical fluxes. Vents have been found along even the slowest and coldest spreading centers, calling into question the driving heat source for these vents. The ultraslow-spreading Mid-Cayman Spreading Center in the Caribbean Sea, which hosts the axial-flank Von Damm Vent Field (VDVF), provides an opportunity to probe the mechanisms for venting at ultraslow spreading rates. Using active-source seismic data from the 2015 CaySeis (Cayman Seismic) experiment, we determined the seismic velocities in the large massif beneath the VDVF. We propose that this massif was produced by a pulse of on-axis magmatism at ca.2 Ma, which was then followed by exhumation, cooling, and fracturing. A low seismic velocity anomaly 5 km below the VDVF is evidence for either a cracking front mining lithospheric heat or intrusive magmatic sills, both of which could drive ongoing deep hydrothermal fluid circulation. We conclude that the transient magmatism and variable crustal thickness at ultraslow-spreading centers create conditions for long-lived hydrothermal venting that may be widespread, and other VDVF-like vents may be common in these areas.


This article explores relations among trauma, writing, and healing while connecting writing pedagogy and literary studies to insist that courses move past product-focused pedagogies and student experiences alone. Merging theory with praxis, this article underscores the roles and experiences of all course participants, highlights stories of trauma as catalysts for transformation, and outlines a "wounded healer pedagogy"—a pedagogical approach contingent upon interconnectedness, driven by writing purposes, and linked to individual and communal healing processes.


The call to address curriculum in terms of the 'local to global/global to local' cultural and environmental commons—"those material and cultural spaces that belong to everyone" (AAACS CFP, 2009)—requires some conceptual finesse. This is due in part to the presumption inherent in this call that there are yet, in reality, 'material and cultural spaces' at the intersection of the global and the local that 'belong to everyone' in an age in which the ownership society has been taken to global scale, the bases for preserving cultural autonomy are increasingly made elusive by 'neocapitalism' (Deleuze & Guattari, 1987, p. 20), and the captains of commerce and industry are plundering the cultural and natural resources of the entire planet. However, the need for conceptual finesse is also due to the fuzziness of the idea that cultural and environmental spaces 'belong to everyone' in a de facto sense: that is, in relation to an established foundation of use and/or participation rights supported by genuine and actionable public consensus. Such rights, as we know, have been the focus of struggles for access by people(s) everywhere, and belonging has become a major diacritic of our times. These issues form the core of concerns in this paper, since the focal point here is how the commons of nation-ness has come to be disputed in the 'global now' (Appadurai, 1996, p. 2) and how autobiography (Pinar, 2000/1975, 2004, 2006) may assist in understanding the fray—in this case, the fray of post-9/11 American being, becoming, and belonging. To elaborate how such a study may serve as a curriculum inquiry project requires a few words about focus and method.


Last Boat to Yokohama tells a story of both tragedy and grandeur in the 20th century. It recounts the life and work of Beate Sirota Gordon: the influence of her father, Leo Sirota, one of the greatest pianists of his generation; her secret work ensuring women's equality while helping to develop the post-WWII Japanese constitution--at the age of 22; her broad influence on hundreds of Western artists such as Robert Wilson, David Byrne and Peter Sellars--who were introduced to leading contemporary Asian music, dance, theater and visual artists through her extraordinary cross-cultural efforts. The book relives Beate's drive, talent, ambition, and influence, with intimate diary excerpts from her mother, an introduction by Beate herself, and an afterword from her daughter, Nicole.


Over the last twenty years, after corporations have historically focused their reporting systems on the provision of financial information needed by managers and shareholders to assess risks and calculate returns, the global awareness of the need to assess the full spectrum of corporate value has grown dramatically. The triple bottom line or total returns on capital—economic, social, or environmental—are now tracked with increasing regularity. Prior research has revealed that a significant pressure of economic changes, an increase in interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) in recent years, and an acknowledgement of it as an important research topic has brought a bigger and wider effort to build a comprehensive framework. Little empirical research on the effect of corporate social responsibility together with profitability on firm value is done in Southeast Asian countries. This study extends the literature that has been done mostly in western societies by proposing a further linkage between social responsibility, profitability, and firm value, which is rarely investigated in non-western societies. The study analyzed 35 Indonesian manufacturing firms that are listed in Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) and report their CSR as the supplement in the annual report. Statistic methods used for testing the hypothesis are T-test and multivariate regression model. The empirical results reveal that CSR has significantly influenced the firm value of Indonesian manufacturing companies. However, one striking finding in this study is the insignificant influence of two measures of profitability, i.e. ROA and ROE, over firm value of those companies have good CSR. These results explicitly show how firms in emerging countries are going to be more concerned with social sustainability and long-run profitability.


Background Prevailing health care structures and cultures restrict intraprofessional communication, inhibiting knowledge dissemination and impacting the translation of research into practice. Virtual communities may facilitate professional networking and knowledge sharing in and between health care disciplines. Objectives This study aimed to review the literature on the use of social media by health care professionals in developing virtual communities that facilitate professional networking, knowledge sharing, and evidence-informed practice. Methods An integrative literature review was conducted to identify research published between 1990 and 2015. Search strategies sourced electronic databases (PubMed, CINAHL), snowball references, and tables of contents of 3 journals. Papers that evaluated social media use by health care professionals (unless within an education framework) using any research design (except for research protocols or narrative reviews) were included. Standardized data extraction and quality assessment tools were used. Results Overall, 72 studies were included: 44 qualitative (including 2 ethnographies, 26 qualitative descriptive, and 1 Q-sort) and 20 mixed-methods studies, and 8 literature reviews. The most common methods of data collection were Web-based observation (n=39), surveys (n=23), interviews (n=11), focus groups (n=2), and diaries (n=1). Study quality was mixed. Social media studied included Listservs (n=22), Twitter (n=18), general social media (n=17), discussion forums (n=7), Web 2.0 (n=3), virtual community of practice (n=3), wiki (n=1), and Facebook (n=1). A range of health care professionals were sampled in the studies, including physicians (n=24), nurses (n=15), allied health professionals (n=14), followed by health care professionals in general (n=8), a multidisciplinary clinical specialty area (n=9), and midwives (n=2). Of 36 virtual communities, 31 were monodiscipline for a discrete clinical specialty. Population uptake by the target group ranged from 1.6% to 29% (n=4). Evaluation using related theories of "planned behavior" and the "technology acceptance model" (n=3) suggests that social media use is mediated by an individual's positive attitude toward and accessibility of the media, which is reinforced by credible peers. The most common reason to establish a virtual community was to create a forum where relevant specialty knowledge could be shared and professional issues discussed (n=17). Most members demonstrated low posting behaviors but more frequent reading or accessing behaviors. The most common Web-based activity was request for and supply of specialty-specific clinical information. This knowledge sharing is facilitated by a Web-based culture of collectivism, reciprocity, and a respectful noncompetitive environment. Findings suggest that health care professionals view virtual communities as valuable knowledge portals for sourcing clinically relevant and quality information that enables them to make more informed practice decisions. Conclusions There is emerging evidence that health care professionals use social media to develop virtual communities to share domain knowledge. These virtual communities, however, currently reflect tribal behaviors of clinicians that may continue to limit knowledge sharing. Further research is required to evaluate the effects of social media on knowledge distribution in clinical practice and importantly whether patient outcomes are significantly improved.


Landscapes provide a broad range of services to society. To date, however, only few regional to continental scale studies assess the capacity of landscapes to provide these services under changing environmental conditions. This is required if the maintenance of current landscape multifunctionality remains a long-term goal. The presented mini review highlights and promotes the concept of landscape functions, defined as the capacity or potential of landscapes to provide services. Ultimately, spatially explicit landscape-function assessments may provide baseline information for society to engage in an open discussion on future landscape development and its potential impact on landscape character. Our mini review is supported with recent literature as well as insights gained at a symposium held at the IALE 2009 conference in Salzburg, Austria as well as a workshop held in Salzau, Germany 2010 and the Global Initiative of the The Ecosystem Services Partnership (http://www.fsd.nl/esp, 30. May 2010)


The basic principles and the application of hydride-generation multichannel atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HG-MC-AFS) in soil analysis are described. It is generally understood that only one or two elements can be simultaneously detected by commonly used one- or two-channel HG-AFS. In this work, a new sample-sensitive and effective method for the analysis of arsenic, bismuth, tellurium, and selenium in soil samples by simultaneous detection using HG-MC-AFS was developed. The method detection limits for arsenic, bismuth, tellurium, and selenium are 0.19 μ/g, 0.10 μg/g, 0.11 μg/g, and 0.08 μg/g, respectively. This method was successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of arsenic, bismuth, tellurium, and selenium in soil samples.


This paper describes the development and assessment of global 0.5° near-surface atmospheric data from 1948 to 2006 at daily (for precipitation, snowfall, and specific humidity) to 3-hourly (for temperature, shortwave radiation, and longwave radiation) time scales, which can be used to drive land surface models. Using newly available monthly precipitation and temperature data extending to recent years, the variables were created by statistical methods, the parameters of which were obtained from available daily to 3-hourly observations. The daily precipitation developed in this paper produces reasonable numbers of precipitation days and heavy precipitation days, different from previous longterm meteorological data sets based on reanalysis. Together with its relatively high spatial resolution (0.5°) and availability of recent years, the newly obtained data may be preferred to other forcing data sets in case of hydrological and climate change studies, in particular if the study results are sensitive to daily variations in atmospheric conditions.


Although once considered quite a rare condition in the past, female urethral diverticulum (UD) would now appear to have a higher frequency, perhaps due to greater attention from physicians. To date, there is no agreement on which is the best method for diagnosis of female UD. Traditionally, the approach was based on quite invasive techniques, such as voiding cystourethrography, and double-balloon urethrography, with satisfactory results but relevant limitations. More recent high-resolution imaging techniques, such as 2D-3D ultrasonography (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have also been applied in the study of the abnormalities of the female urethra. US had the advantage of the outpatient setting, non-invasiveness and absence of contrast medium use; MRI, is characterized by high sensitivity thanks to multiplanar capability, with an optimal characterization of periurethral diseases or its abnormalities, and lack of ionizing radiation. A real innovation is represented by computer tomography-voiding cystourethrography, a rapid technique that allows for high quality simultaneous 2D and 3D images of the urethra, well correlated to MRI and consequently with surgical results. Here, we report and comment the available tools in the diagnosis of female UD, focusing particularly on pros and contra of different methods.


In Tanzania 80% of the population live in informal settlements. Most of these settlements are built in areas that are susceptible to extreme weather conditions such as flooding. Such conditions have significantly contributed to the destruction of housing stock and other valuable properties. There is considerable awareness amongst people living in the informal settlements, government representatives and other key stakeholders about the various flood risks affecting informal settlements. Based on this understanding, several attempts to minimize flood risks have been initiated in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania yet these initiatives have largely failed to deliver the desired impacts. This article aims to investigate core reasons for this through a case study of Keko Machungwa informal settlement in Dar es Salaam City. The study explores the extent to which mainstreaming of disaster risk reduction (DRR) in housing development in informal settlements has been considered and implemented; and recommends measures for improvement. Key methods employed for the research included physical observation, household interviews, mapping, photographing, and in-depth interviews. Overall, the study found that mainstreaming of DRR in housing development was hardly practiced at the household level, as houses are predominantly being built without resistant building materials and supervision of relevant professionals. In order to mainstream DRR in housing development in informal settlements, it is recommended that the government direct its efforts towards regulating, controlling and monitoring the housing development sector by emphasizing the use of flood resistant building materials and establishing resilient infrastructures for flood mitigation in every flood prone informal settlement.


Since two decades ago, Service Design as a design-led approach to service development and innovation has expanded its scope of interventions and contributions. It has been repositioning itself from a rendering activity for supporting the development of service concepts and structures to a human-centred and holistic approach to service development. However, this expanding conceptualization of Service Design has not drawn much attention from wider service research communities. It may be partly because Service Design has had weak connections to other service disciplines while remaining as a design-centred description of knowledge and practice within the boundary of Design. To address this issue, this thesis paid attention to New Service Development (NSD) theory as a frame of reference for studying Service Design. Relating Service Design to NSD theory may be helpful in enhancing the legitimacy of Service Design by demonstrating how the 'designerly' approach could contribute to organizational NSD practices and processes. Yet, Service Design has seldom been investigated systematically in relation to NSD theory. This thesis aimed to understand how Service Design practice is involved alongside the NSD process in terms of its interventions, characteristics, outcomes, and what are the contributions and implications for NSD theory. The literature review and expert interviews were conducted to build a theoretical relationship between Service Design and NSD theory as a foundation for studying Service Design in the context of NSD theory. Also, 10 case studies were undertaken to explore Service Design approaches and contributions to the service development process and practices. As a result, four Service Design intervention areas: INFORMING; SPECIFYING; ACTIVATING; and SUSTAINING were identified with associated key design activities. The intervention areas and design activities were then positioned into the existing NSD process literature to identify Service Design contributions to NSD theory, and they were interpreted through the lens of the Service Logic. The Service Logic served as a useful framework through which to articulate how Service Design practice can operationalize the user-centred perspective and approach in NSD. Moreover, the case studies indicated that different designer-client relationships can influence the quality of Service Design practices and can have different degrees of transformative impacts on the client's service development and operations. The design practices in the 'Delivering' relationship stayed at a peripheral level, just providing the client with user-centred reference data. The designer's activities in the 'Assisting' relationship motivated the client to design and realize user-centred service experiences. In the 'Facilitating' relationship, the design practices transformed the client to become a main agent for sustainable user-centred service innovation. This finding, on the one hand, can help organizations to recognize the potential contributions of service designers while encouraging them to be more receptive to the Service Design approach to reap the full benefits of it. On the other hand, the finding suggests that service designers need to learn more about organizations to better implement the design outcomes and affect organizational NSD practices and processes. Also, it implies the needs for developing more specialized Service Design strategies and approaches geared toward different project purposes and different organizational contexts.


Country market shares of U.S. non-energy imports have changed considerably since 2002, with varying volatility across three subperiods: pre-crisis (2002–07), crisis (2007–09) and post-crisis (2009–14). In this paper, we analyze market shares for four main trading partners of the United States (Canada, Mexico, China and Japan). We use shift-share analysis to decompose movements in the aggregate market shares into those related to actual shifts in product-specific market shares, versus shifts in the composition of U.S. import demand and the interaction between these two effects. Our analysis shows that separating these effects is important, since shifts in product-specific market shares explain varying amounts of movements in the overall market shares across countries and between time periods. Specifically, we find that two-thirds of Canada's decline in U.S. market share is due to shifts in product-specific market shares and that these losses were relatively stable across subperiods. In contrast, losses associated with a shift in the composition of U.S. import demand were most important during the crisis and have in fact supported Canada's market share since 2009. We also find that almost three-quarters of Canada's total loss in market share was concentrated in two sectors: (i) motor vehicles and parts, and (ii) forestry products and building and packaging materials. Japan's loss in U.S. market share was very similar to Canada's over this period. In contrast, China and Mexico both gained market share between 2002 and 2014. China gained mostly in product-specific market share, while Mexico benefited from favourable shifts in U.S. import demand.


Three simple, precise and accurate spectrophotometric methods have been developed for the estimation of emtricitabine in bulk and pharmaceutical formulations. Emtricitabine exhibits maximum absorbance at 282.0 nm in method A. The amplitude shows at 269.0-298.0 nm in method B and method C is based on calculation of area under curve (AUC) in the wavelength region of 272.0-292.0 nm. The drug obeys the Beer-Lambert's law in the concentration range of 1.0-100 µg/mL in all three methods. The methods were validated by following the analytical performance parameters suggested by the International Conference on Harmonization. All validation parameters were within the acceptable range. The developed methods were successfully applied to estimate the amount of emtricitabine in bulk and pharmaceutical dosage forms.


We report first-principles calculations for determining the phase relationships in multi-component cathode materials. We investigate the effect of delithiation on the phase stability, chemical potential, and open circuit voltage for a selection of cathode materials based on Li–Mn–Ni oxides at various temperatures. Entropic contributions are included by calculating the phonon frequencies in the harmonic approximation. The open circuit voltage in multi-component systems is estimated by a convex hull approach. We confirm that spinel-like phases are predominant during the charging process of layered Li–Mn–O cathode materials and that the addition of Ni reduces the spinel content. The analysis of phase stability upon delithiation suggests that the Li2MnO3 component in the Li2MnO3·Li(Mn,Ni)O2 electrode material should not exceed 60% and that the amount of Ni in the LiMnO2 component should be above 40 at% for minimizing spinel-type phase formation and minimizing oxygen formation. Using the computed structural stability at room temperature, we derive property maps for the design of Li–Mn–Ni–O cathode materials.


Hospitalists are at the forefront of decisions, innovations, and system-improvement projects that impact hospitalized patients. However, many of our decisions—while centered on patient care—fail to include their perspectives or views. In his book Total Leadership, Stewart Friedman describes the importance of identifying and engaging key stakeholders.1 Friedman exhorts leaders to engage stakeholders in conversations to "confirm or correct your current understanding of stakeholder expectations." In other words, instead of assuming what stakeholders want, ask and verify before proceeding. Although hospitalists frequently include stakeholders such as nurses, pharmacists, and therapists in system-improvement initiatives, engaging patients is less common. Why do we omit patients as stakeholders? There are considerable barriers to seeking patient input. The busy hospital environment or the acuity of a patient's illness may, for instance, limit engagement between hospital caregivers and patients. Further, the power imbalance between physicians and patients may make it uncomfortable for the patient to offer direct feedback. However, the importance of patient input is increasingly recognized by researchers. For example, community-based participatory research "involves community members or recipients of interventions in all phases of the research process."2 Similarly, we believe hospitalists should engage patients when designing new clinical initiatives. Examples from some institutions provide further support of this concept. The Dana Farber Cancer Institute created a patient and family advisory council in response to the loss of trust over errors and in the face of community outrage over an impending joint venture. While the scope was initially limited to the collection of feedback regarding patient satisfaction and preferences, the council evolved to become an integral part of organizational decision making. Patient contributions were subsequently assimilated into policies, continuous improvement teams, and even search committees. Additional benefits included patient-generated initiatives such as "patient rounds."3 Specifically soliciting input from hospitalized patients to inform hospital-based interventions may be uncommon, but this practice holds the potential to yield vital insights.4 We have experienced this benefit at our institution. For example, before implementing an inpatient addiction medicine consult service, we asked hospitalized patients struggling with addiction about their needs. The patient voice highlighted a lack of trust for hospital providers and led directly to the inclusion of peer-recovery mentors as part of the consulting team.5 Many organizations, including our own, have instituted a patient/family advisory committee comprising former patients and family members who participate voluntarily in projects and provide input. This resource can serve as an excellent platform for patient involvement. At the University of Michigan, the patient and family advisory council provides input on every major institutional decision, from the construction of a new building to the introduction of a new clinical service. This "hardwired" practice ensures that patients' voices and views are incorporated into major health system decisions. In order to engage patients as stakeholders, we recommend: (1) Be sensitive to the power imbalance between clinicians and patients and recognize that hospitalized patients may not feel comfortable providing direct feedback. (2) Familiarize yourself with your institution's patient/family advisory committee. If one does not exist, consider soliciting responses from patients via interviews and/or postdischarge surveys. (3) Deliberately seek the opinions, experience, and values of patients or their representatives. (4) For projects aimed at improving patient experience, include patients among your key stakeholders. Involving patients as stakeholders requires effort; however, it has potential to reap valuable rewards, making healthcare improvements more effective, inclusive, and healing.


Drawing a sample from a discrete distribution is one of the building components for Monte Carlo methods. Like other sampling algorithms, discrete sampling suffers from the high computational burden in large-scale inference problems. We study the problem of sampling a discrete random variable with a high degree of dependency that is typical in large-scale Bayesian inference and graphical models, and propose an efficient approximate solution with a subsampling approach. We make a novel connection between the discrete sampling and Multi-Armed Bandits problems with a finite reward population and provide three algorithms with theoretical guarantees. Empirical evaluations show the robustness and efficiency of the approximate algorithms in both synthetic and real-world large-scale problems.


Fast solvers for Poisson's equation with boundary conditions at infinity are an important building block for molecular dynamics. One issue that arises when this equation is solved numerically is the infinite size of the domain. This prevents a direct solution so that other concepts have to be considered. Within this paper a method is discussed that employs hierarchically coarsened grids to overcome this problem. Special attention has to be paid to the discretization at the grid interfaces. A finite volume approach is used for the same. The resulting set of linear equations is solved using a fast‐adaptive composite grid algorithm. Emphasis is put on the implementation of the method on the STI cell broadband engine, a modern multi core processor, that is powerful in floating point operations and memory bandwidth. Code optimization techniques are applied as well as parallelization of the code to get maximum performance on this processor. For validation of the performance test runs are executed and the runtime is analyzed in detail. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Abstract. Land surface albedo, the fraction of incoming solar radiation reflected by the land surface, is a key component of the Earth system. This study evaluates snow-free surface albedo simulations by the Community Atmosphere Biosphere Land Exchange (CABLEv1.4b) model with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Satellite Pour L'Observation de la Terre (SPOT) albedo. We compare results from offline simulations over the Australian continent. The control simulation has prescribed background snow-free and vegetation-free soil albedo derived from MODIS whilst the experiments use a simple parameterisation based on soil moisture and colour, originally from the Biosphere Atmosphere Transfer Scheme (BATS), and adopted in the Common Land Model (CLM). The control simulation, with prescribed soil albedo, shows that CABLE simulates overall albedo over Australia reasonably well, with differences compared to MODIS and SPOT albedos within ±0.1. Application of the original BATS scheme, which uses an eight-class soil classification, resulted in large differences of up to −0.25 for the near-infrared (NIR) albedo over large parts of the desert regions of central Australia. The use of a recalibrated 20-class soil colour classification from the CLM, which includes a higher range for saturated and VIS (visible) and NIR soil albedos, reduced the underestimation of the NIR albedo. However, this soil colour mapping is tuned to CLM soil moisture, a quantity which is not necessarily transferrable between land surface models. We therefore recalibrated the soil color map using CABLE's climatological soil moisture, which further reduced the underestimation of the NIR albedo to within ±0.15 over most of the continent as compared to MODIS and SPOT albedos. Small areas of larger differences of up to −0.25 remained within the central arid parts of the continent during summer; however, the spatial extent of these large differences is substantially reduced as compared to the simulation using the default eight-class uncalibrated soil colour map. It is now possible to use CABLE coupled to atmospheric models to investigate soil-moisture–albedo feedbacks, an important enhancement of the model.


In this sweeping history, bestselling author Amy Chua explains how globally dominant empires—or hyperpowers—rise and why they fall. In a series of brilliant chapter-length studies, she examines the most powerful cultures in history—from the ancient empires of Persia and China to the recent global empires of England and the United States—and reveals the reasons behind their success, as well as the roots of their ultimate demise. Chua's analysis uncovers a fascinating historical pattern: while policies of tolerance and assimilation toward conquered peoples are essential for an empire to succeed, the multicultural society that results introduces new tensions and instabilities, threatening to pull the empire apart from within. What this means for the United States' uncertain future is the subject of Chua's provocative and surprising conclusion.


In a critique of Horkheimer and Adorno's Dialectic of Enlightenment, Habermas (1982) comments that enlightened thinking has been understood as an opposing force to myth, and yet Horkheimer and Adorno proclaim that "myth is already enlightenment; and enlightenment reverts to mythology." In Habermas's view, the critique of enlightenment provided by Horkheimer and Adorno is one-sided and totalizing. What it sees about enlightenment is a domination of an objectified external nature and a repressed inner nature; what it sees is: enlightenment is domination. Habermas criticizes this view of enlightenment as one-sided since it fails to affirm the achievements of the Enlightenment which manifest elements of reason. Moreover, he contends that their critique is totalizing since it turns against reason and deprives itself of the ground of critique. In Habermas's view, Foucault's critique has made the same mistake.1 He comments that Foucault's totalizing critique turns against truth and deprives itself of the ground of critique. For him, Foucault's last essays on Enlightenment demonstrate that he has come to recognize the mistake he made and seeks to have a notion of reason to ground his critique. Habermas says, Foucault contrasts his critique of power with the "analysis of truth" in such a fashion that the former becomes deprived of the normative yardsticks that it would have to borrow from the latter. Perhaps the force of this contradiction caught up with Foucault in this last of his texts, drawing him again into the circle of the philosophical discourse of modernity which he thought he could explode. (Habermas, 1986:108) For Habermas, Foucault's later writings, which identify the connection of his project with the Enlightenment, represent a pro-Enlightenment stance which contradicts his anti-Enlightenment position in the earlier work. Some critics, arguing in line with Habermas, view Foucault's later essays as an indication of Foucault's moving away from his earlier position, and toward a convergence with Habermas's position. For example, Norris (1995) contends that Foucault was moving to embrace a Kantian position and to reject the ultra-relativist orthodoxy of his Nietzschean skepticism displayed in the earlier work. Ingram (1995) and McCarthy (1990) suggest that, after taking Foucault's later works into account, Foucault's studies should be understood as a continuation and enrichment of the critical-theoretical tradition of Habermas rather than a break from or an antithesis of it. No one can deny that Foucault has, indeed, come to identify Enlightenment as a certain attitude, a certain philosophizing ethos, which has affinities with his project. But does it mean that Foucault is now identifying with the Enlightenment and seeking to remain within its tradition? Does it mean that Foucault is now, as Habermas does, affirming the achievements of the Enlightenment and treating them as elements of reason that have to be preserved? Has Foucault adopted, as Habermas and some critics see it, contradictory positions in his earlier and later discussions of Enlightenment? This essay will answer the above questions by examining Foucault's works on Enlightenment. In discussing Foucault's views of Enlightenment, I do not only intend to clarify the differences between Foucault and Habermas on the subject of Enlightenment, power and critique, but also to elaborate Foucault's insights for Habermas's theory. I understand this article as an attempt to recast the Habermas/ Foucault debate.2 For insofar as the debate did take place, the amount of discussion by each philosopher about the other was unintentionally lopsided in Habermas's favor. Habermas (1987a) devoted two chapters of The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity to criticizing Foucault, but as the book was published after Foucault's death, it received no reply. This article can be seen as providing a certain reply to Habermas's criticism. More importantly, the debate has often been construed in Habermas's terms and hence results in a failure to appreciate the extent and nature of Foucault's insights. …


We report the generation and analysis of mice homozygous for a targeted deletion of the Dlx5 homeobox gene. Dlx5 mutant mice have multiple defects in craniofacial structures, including their ears, noses, mandibles and calvaria, and die shortly after birth. A subset (28%) exhibit exencephaly. Ectodermal expression of Dlx5 is required for the development of olfactory and otic placode-derived epithelia and surrounding capsules. The nasal capsules are hypoplastic (e.g. lacking turbinates) and, in most cases, the right side is more severely affected than the left. Dorsal otic vesicle derivatives (e. g. semicircular canals and endolymphatic duct) and the surrounding capsule, are more severely affected than ventral (cochlear) structures. Dlx5 is also required in mandibular arch ectomesenchyme, as the proximal mandibular arch skeleton is dysmorphic. Dlx5 may control craniofacial development in part through the regulation of the goosecoid homeobox gene. goosecoid expression is greatly reduced in Dlx5 mutants, and both goosecoid and Dlx5 mutants share a number of similar craniofacial malformations. Dlx5 may perform a general role in skeletal differentiation, as exemplified by hypomineralization within the calvaria. The distinct focal defects within the branchial arches of the Dlx1, Dlx2 and Dlx5 mutants, along with the nested expression of their RNAs, support a model in which these genes have both redundant and unique functions in the regulation of regional patterning of the craniofacial ectomesenchyme.


In a culture where the media provide a steady diet of stories of conflict, this collection is among the first to study the phenomenon of conflict itself as well as its relationship with the media. Mary S. Mander's introduction provides an intellectually rich foundation for this diverse exploration of the nature and implications of studying media and social conflict. Contributors address such topics as the black press and the black community, industrial and institutional control of television programming, and media depictions of police-mediated hostage negotiation. Framing Friction is both a comparison of current modes of communications research and a persuasive call to move beyond conceiving of conflict as a state of dysfunction. These essays bring a new and invigorating perspective to the role of conflict, describing it as a constructive rather than a destructive social force.


Armoured ground crickets Acanthoplus discoidalis (Bradyporidae) have an arsenal of defence mechanisms in response to attack. Males but not females can stridulate when attacked, while both sexes will bite and regurgitate upon provocation. They will also autohaemorrhage. Here we have quantified these responses, examining how individuals of both sexes respond to repeated simulated predatory attack from the side (grabbing the legs with forceps) or from above (grabbing the animal by the pronotum). We found different responses depending on the method of attack. When attack was directed from the side (at the legs) the crickets can bite their attacker and males stridulate intensely. About 62% of such attacks elicited an autohaemorrhage response, where the crickets squirt 13±22 mg of acrid-smelling haemolymph 43±63 mm from seams in the connective tissue between the trochanter and coxa of each leg and from under the pronotum. By contrast, animals attacked from above could not turn and bite their attacker, and stridulation was also reduced in males. About 86% of such attacks elicited an autohaemorrhage response with 19±19 mg of haemolymph projecting 10±30 mm from the body. Autohaemorrhaging is an effective form of chemical defence against bearded dragon lizards Pogona vitticeps (Agamidae) and Aca. discoidalis haemolymph applied to Gryllus bimaculatus nymphs (which have no such chemical defence) successfully saved them from predation by striped skinks Trachylepis punctatissima (Scincidae).


Peak bone mass for spine and hip is reached in the mid-twenties and adolescents should be counselled on adequate nutrition to ensure sufficient calcium intake, regular weight-bearing exercise, maintaining normal body weight, avoiding smoking and limiting alcohol intake. These measures are important to prevent osteopenia and osteoporosis by obtaining a maximum peak bone mineral density (BMD) and to maintain it by avoiding excessive bone loss. One year before the onset of menopause, however, as a result of oestrogen deficiency, there is an increase in osteoclastic activity without a similar increase in osteoblastic activity, resulting in accelerated bone loss. The average decrease in BMD during the menopausal transition is estimated to be about 10% and a woman's risk of sustaining an osteoporotic or fragility fracture doubles for each decade after the age of fifty. Half of women older than 50 years of age will be osteopenic compared to 10% who are osteoporotic and only 40% will have normal BMD. This article gives an overview of the prevention, diagnosis and management of osteoporosis during and before menopause.


Jihadist movements have claimed that they are merely vehicles for the application of God's word, distancing themselves from politics, which they call dirty and manmade. Yet on closer examination, jihadist movements are immersed in politics, negotiating political relationships not just with the forces surrounding them, but also within their own ranks. Drawing on case studies from North Africa and the Sahel - including Algeria, Libya, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mauritania - this study examines jihadist movements from the inside, uncovering their activities and internal struggles over the past three decades. Highlighting the calculations that jihadist field commanders and clerics make, Alexander Thurston shows how leaders improvise, both politically and religiously, as they adjust to fast-moving conflicts. Featuring critical analysis of Arabic-language jihadist statements, this book offers unique insights into the inner workings of jihadist organisations and sheds new light on the phenomenon of mass-based jihadist movements and proto-states.


An analytical investigation of the difference in the constitutive behavior of silicon carbide-aluminum (SiC-Al) composites under uniaxial compressive and tensile loading was carried out, and the associated changes of the residual stresses were studied. It is suggested that the observed asymmetric response of the constitutive behavior is primarily due to the existence of residual stresses in the composite. These residual stresses are initially introduced because of the differences in the coefficients of thermal expansion (ΔCTE) during the cooling process and subsequently changed after the external load is applied. A two-dimensional (2-D) finite element analysis of a hexagonal array of SiC whiskers in an Al matrix was performed, the result of which testifies to the appropriateness of the proposed explanation. It is concluded that the 2-D finite element analysis is an economical way of adequately reproducing the most prominent features of the material's constitutive behavior. Based upon the theory of mechanics of composite material, simplified analytical models were developed which can be used to investigate the influences of the whisker-matrix interface shear load transfer and the volume mismatch on the residual stresses. It is concluded that the mechanism of load transfer in terms of normal stress at the whisker tip, which is governed by the volume (bulk) mismatch between the matrix and the whisker, is predominantly responsible for altering the specific pattern of the residual stresses under the applied load. In contrast, the effect of shear load transfer at the longitudinal whisker-matrix interface is only restricted to a very small region in the vicinity of the whisker and does not influence the overall symmetry of the constitutive behavior.


The 2007 death by self-induced strangulation in prison of nineteen year old inmate Ashley Smith drew a great deal of public attention. The case gave rise to a shocking verdict of homicide in the 2013 inquest into the cause of her death. In this book, I inquire into questions about of what social problem or phenomenon Ashley Smith is a "case," and what governmental work is done by prevalent constructions of her as an exemplar. This book performs a critical discourse analysis of figures of Ashley Smith that emerge in her case, looking at those representations as technologies of governance. It argues that the Smith case is read most accurately not as an isolated system failure but an extreme result of routine, everyday brutality, of a society and bureaucracies' gradual necropolitical successes. It critically analyzes how representations of Ashley in the case leave intact, and even reinforce, logics and systems governing gender, motherhood, security, risk, race thinking and exclusion, in power and knowledge that make it predictable for similar deaths in prison to recur. It argues that, in the logics underlying constructions through which Ashley Smith was celebritized and sacralized, mothers', girls' and women's subjectivities and agencies are made unknowable and even unthinkable while the racialized social boundaries of a white settler society are maintained. This book attempts to intervene in those logics to help make alternative outcomes possible and to take steps towards questioning the raced, classed and heteronormative boundaries of commonly assumed figures of the "noble victim", "good girl" and "good mother" while supporting the agencies of adolescent girls in actively playing a part in the authoring of their lives.