"I became what the Crows call kaalisbaapite-a 'grandmother's grandchild.' That means that I was always with my Grandma, and I learned from her. I learned how to do things in the old ways."-Alma Hogan Snell Grandmother's Grandchild is the remarkable story of Alma Hogan Snell (1923-2008), a Crow woman brought up by her grandmother, the famous medicine woman Pretty Shield. Snell grew up during the 1920s and 1930s, part of the second generation of Crows to be born into reservation life. Like many of her contemporaries, she experienced poverty, personal hardships, and prejudice and left home to attend federal Indian schools. What makes Snell's story particularly engaging is her exceptional storytelling style. She is frank and passionate, and these qualities yield a memoir unlike those of most Native women. The complex reservation world of Crow women-harsh yet joyous, impoverished yet rich in meaning-unfolds for readers. Snell's experiences range from the forging of an unforgettable bond between grandchild and grandmother to the flowering of an extraordinary love story that has lasted more than five decades.


Sound financial management is crucial to the survival and well-being of small enterprises of all types. Studies of reasons for small business failure inevitably show poor or careless financial management to be the most important cause (see Berryman 1983, Peacock 1985 for reviews of the relevant literature). Potts (1977, p.2) states the case more succinctly: . . . the clearest and most startling distinctions between successful and discontinued small businesses lie in their approach to the uses which can be made of accounting information .... In recognition of such findings, recent years have seen increased attention to financial management in small business training and education programs and in the many books and articles written for small business. It is not unreasonable to ponder whether this attention has had a visible impact on the way in which small businesses are operated. It seems appropriate to review, and attempt to integrate, available empirical research findings concerning the financial management practices of small business in North America. Such a review can lead to improved understanding of both the research conducted to date and the financial management practices under scrutiny. Furthermore, it can act as a stimulus for future research. An additional function of this review is to identify and highlight trends in the financial management practice of small firms. This will assist policymakers in understanding the financial environment in which small firms operate and the possible impact of the current and proposed policies directed at the small business sector. Over the past decade there has been a significant increase in government sponsored agencies and educational programs directed at the small business sector and in interest in small firms, as illustrated by the President's annual report on small business. Such attention warrants consideration as to whether these policies have positively influenced the financial practices of small firms. This article provides a concise summary of research evidence which indicates that financial practice among small firms has not experienced any significant change over the past fifteen years. This result should have impact on future policy decisions. NORTH AMERICAN PRACTICE Accounting Systems It is clear that significant progress has been made in encouraging small business owner-managers to install and use accounting information systems. For example, in a survey of over 360 small businesses in Georgia, DeThomas and Fedenberger (1985) found a high standard of financial recordkeeping. Around 92 percent of respondents had some form of record-keeping beyond check stubs and deposit receipts. D'Amboise and Gasse (1980) studied the utilization of formal management techniques in 25 small shoe manufacturers and 26 small manufacturers in the plastics industry in Quebec, Canada. A cost accounting system was in operation in about 88 percent of businesses studied. It is also clear that the availability of affordable computers and suitable software has played an important part in promoting this situation. In a survey of 129 small manufacturing businesses in the province of Quebec, Raymond and Magnenat-Thalmann (1982) discovered a preponderance of accounting-related applications among computer software in use, particularly in the areas of accounts receivable, payroll, accounts payable, general ledger, sales analysis, and inventory. Further studies undertaken in a wide variety of settings by Cheney (1983), Raymond (1985), Malone (1985), DeThomas and Fredenberger (1985), Farhoomand and Hryck (1985), and Nickell and Seado (1986) confirm that accounting/financial management applications dominate as computer applications in the small businesses examined. Financial Reports Reflecting the availability of computerized accounting systems, there is some evidence that the standard of financial reporting in small businesses in North America is now quite high. …


Level 1 Biff, Chip and Kipper Stories: Decode and Develop are six exciting new wordless stories in the Oxford Reading Tree series. They continue to provide storylines full of humour and drama, with familiar settings and characters. The wordless stories introduce the characters and children learn that the pictures tell a story, where a story begins and how to turn the pages. They will also begin to identify sounds for objects they see in the pictures. Books contain inside cover notes to support children in their reading. Help with children's reading development is also available at www.oxfordowl.co.uk.


A typical starting point in dendroclimatological research is to statistically relate treering growth indices to local or regional climate variables (response function analysis). This sometimes leads to identification of links between tree growth and (often oscillatory) perturbations in atmospheric circulation, such as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. This approach relies on the researcher linking the (hopefully known) local-scale climate impacts of an oscillatory phenomenon with the response function results. A supplementary approach, advocated here, is to directly investigate relationships between tree growth and atmospheric circulation using composite mapping techniques. This paper demonstrates composite mapping, using the United Kingdom Meteorological Office gridded global monthly mean sea-level pressure (MSLP) data set and Agathis australis (kauri) tree rings. The results show that composite mapping is a powerful tool for tree-ring research, capable of identifying atmospheric circulation characteristics associated with wide and narrow tree rings, and helping to determine the potential of tree rings for reconstructing atmospheric circulation features. Results for kauri indicate that MSLP anomaly patterns associated with wide (narrow) tree rings have strong similarities to anomaly patterns associated with El Niño (La Niña) events. Relationships are strongest for wide tree rings and for the western pole of the Southern Oscillation. The results indicate that kauri is a strong ENSO proxy, with reconstruction potential strongest for the 6 mo from September to February.


Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of the medial branch nerve is a widely used therapeutic intervention for back pain originating from the facet joint. However, multifidus denervation is a well-known adverse effect of this RFA procedure. Computational simulations of RFA can be used to design a new multifidus-sparing RFA procedure for facet joint pain. Unfortunately, there is not a computational model available for RFA of porcine spines (a common animal model for the translation of spinal treatments). The objective of this study is to develop and verify a computational model for bipolar radiofrequency ablation of porcine spine muscle. To do this, the electrical and thermal conductivity properties were measured over a temperature range of 20 °C to 90 °C in ex-vivo porcine spinal. A proportional, integral, and derivative (PID) controlled finite element (FE) model was developed and tuned to simulate the ablation process. Finally, tissue temperatures from simulations and experimental ablations were compared. Thermal conductivity values of spinal muscle ranged from 0.33 W/mK to 0.57 W/mK. Similarly, electrical conductivity varied from 0.36 S/m to 1.28 S/m. The tuned PID parameters for temperature-controlled model were Kp=40, Ki=0.01, and Kd=0. A close agreement between experimental measurements of tissue temperature and simulations were observed in the uncertainty range with R-squared values between 0.88 and 0.98. The model developed in this study is a valuable tool for preclinical studies exploring new RFA methods of spinal nerves.


The 'task' has become a fundamental concept in language teaching pedagogy. However, there is a lack of studies which present a 'holistic' analysis and evaluation of the interaction produced by tasks in the classroom. Based on a database of lesson extracts, this article attempts to characterize task-based interaction as a variety, discusses its pedagogical and interactional advantages and disadvantages, and considers what kinds of learning it might be promoting.


Mobile and heavily protected forces are mainstays in the conduct of land combat. The platform best exemplifying the characteristics of mobility, protection and firepower for land forces is the tank. The last century of land warfare featured the dominance of the tank as a decisive tool of battle. Tanks were crucial to overcoming the stalemate of the trenches during battles in the last years of the First World War. They decided battles in the European, North African, and Eastern theatres during the Second World War. Heavy armoured forces formed the nucleus of a credible conventional deterrent force during the Cold War. Most recently, tanks delivered unparalleled protection to ground forces and lethal fires as an infantry support weapon during counter insurgency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Maintaining a heavy armour capability, however, comes at significant costs in terms of capital, personnel and resources. In an era of increased resource competition and where technological advances promise to offset conventional applications of hard power, many question if tanks remain operationally relevant.


1. Historical Background: Policy and Legislation Related to Ethnic Minorities in Thailand Until World War II, Thai governments viewed the country as ethnically homogeneous, consisting only of Thai people. Those who were ethnically non-Thai were outside the Thai social structure. They lived as separate group but inter-mixed with Thais, having free cultural and economic exchanges. Among lowland groups, cultural borrowing, adoption and assimilation had been observed, accepted or even welcomed. Questions of ethnic differences became important only after the formation of the nation-state (Likhit Dhiravegin, 1985). After King Rama VI (1910-1925), the Thai government was involved in the process of democratization. A constitutional government was formed after the 1932 coup d'etat and the government was busy with other political activities. The ethnicity/nationality issue did not come up until after World War II. During the Phibun Regimes (1938-1944 and 1948-1960), Prime Minister Phibun Songkhram himself was quite nationalistic. He adopted segregation and discrimination policies with regard to non-Thais. His government introduced the formal policy of nationalism or rathaniyom and changed the name of the country from Siam to Thailand. Government policy towards ethnic minorities was based largely on fear of communist ideology spreading among the hill people. According to the National Security Council, policies toward ethnic minorities with specific reference to highland settlements can be categorized into 3 periods. The first started in 1959 when a hilltribe development policy was proposed and was mainly concerned with issues of national security. Hilltribe self-help resettlement areas, hilltribe development units, and promotion of Thai identity among hill people were some of the activities carried out. The second period started around 1969 when opium-substitute crops were promoted. The Royal Project promoting opium-substitute agricultural development was one of the first such projects implemented that year. The Office of Narcotic Prevention and Control was later established in 1976; and the opium-substituted policy was reviewed and revised in 1982. The third period beginning around 1987 and continuing to the present time is concerned with natural resource management. In this period the Master Plan for Highland Settlement was proposed and approved by the Cabinet in 1989 (Suthanukul, no date). The government policies and legislation regarding social-environmental impact assessment that are discussed in this paper mainly concern the issues of national security and national identity. Limited space precludes addressing other issues. Ethnic minorities discussed in this paper include hill people, mostly Karen and Lawa; and lowland Mon, Laotian and Thai. 2. Development of Social Impact Assessment During the 1960's and 1970's Construction of large infrastructural facilities in Thailand took place about the time when the first national development plan was initiated. The Bhumibol Dam was constructed in 1957, a few years before the first plan was launched. During this time attention was given to only the engineering aspects. Impact studies were not required. Even in North America, the first environmental or social impact assessments were not made until after the United States Congress passed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 1969, and amended it in 1970, in response to widespread public concern with environmental pollution and degradation. The law required that Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) be undertaken prior to the implementation of large construction projects and these must have Social Impact Assessment (SIA) as a component. Since then, consulting firms have hired sociologists to help carry out social impact assessments as part of the required environmental impact studies. At the annual American Sociological Association meeting in 1973, the topic of social impact assessment was discussed and a committee was set up to provide guidelines for future SIA studies. …


It is extremely challenging to design a machine learning algorithm that is able to generate tolerable error rates for the class prediction of various types of genetic data. A particular system may be very effective for one microarray dataset but fail to perform in a similar fashion for another dataset. This paper introduces a neural approach to use Generalized Regression Neural Network (GRNN), Collimator Neural Network (CNN) which provides consistent performance stability for various types of microarray data. CNN performance has been cross validated with the k-fold cross validation (leave one out) technique for BRCA1, BRCA2 and Sporadic mutation classification for ovarian and breast cancer data. The paper presents comparative classification results for binary and multiclass prediction by CNN against previously presented work and other well established classifiers including, Support Vector Machines (SVM), Probabilistic Neural Network (PNN), single GRNN and novel Concurrent PNN (CPNN). Simulation results confirm that CNN performed significantly better than SVM, PNN, GRNN and CPNN for both the breast cancer and ovarian cancer datasets.


Each year, millions of tourists are drawn to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to experience first-hand the quintessential pastoral-both as an escape from urban life and as a rare opportunity to become immersed in history. The area has attracted visitors eager to catch a glimpse of the distinctive religious community of the Old Order Amish, to appreciate the beauty of the farmland, to enjoy the abundant and delicious food of the Pennsylvania Dutch...and, most recently, to shop at the area's outlet malls. For nearly three hundred years, Lancaster county has been a model of agricultural prosperity, rooted in the family farm. The rural character of the place remains Lancaster's predominant tourist attraction, but is at odds with its rapidly rising population and the commercial and residential growth that has brought. It is the tension between rural tradition, progress, and urbanization that lies at the core of Garden Spot. David Walbert examines how twentieth century American culture has come to define and appreciate rurality, and how growth and economic expansion can co-exist with preservation of the traditional ways of life in the region. Will small farms fail in a culture that has increasingly come to value productivity over quality of life? What impact will further development have on maintaining this region's character? Can rurality and progress co-exist in the 21st century? A vivid portrayal of the land and people, residents and outsiders alike, Garden Spot narrates the history of this region and considers the challenges Lancaster County and its people face in order to preserve their unique place.


Diel vertical distribution patterns of dominant zooplankton taxa were studied during a period of midnight sun (May 1999) in the Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ) of the Barents Sea along 2 tran- sects across the ice edge. Eight stations were sampled every 6 h over 24 h at 5 depth intervals. Our study confirmed that copepod nauplii (most probably Calanus hyperboreus and C. glacialis) together with Pseudocalanus spp. preferred the surface water layer. The herbivores C. finmarchicus, C. glacialis, and C. hyperboreus concentrated in the upper 50 m depth interval, whereas the omnivores Metridia longa and Microcalanus spp. were generally found in deeper waters. As a result of vertical distribution patterns of the numerically abundant taxa, a bulk of zooplankton was concentrated within the 0-50 m layer. Vertical distribution patterns of all examined taxa/groups varied in time as a result of habitat changes (with respect to water mass distribution and sea depth) as well as random patchiness. Based on our data and on a comprehensive literature survey on Arctic zooplankton diel vertical migration (DVM), we postulate that common zooplankton taxa in the MIZ of the Barents Sea do not perform DVM under the midnight sun. Arctic C. glacialis in May 1999 occupied deeper layers at stations with more ice cover and less melt water. This distribution pattern was probably related to the species' reproduction. At the same time, Atlantic C. finmarchicus was concentrated further away from the ice edge and chlorophyll a maximum, and presumably had not begun its seasonal reproduc- tion.


"The 2007–08 international food price crisis caused hardship on a number of fronts. The steep rise in food prices led to economic difficulties for the poor and generated political turmoil in many countries. The crisis could also result in long-term, irreversible nutritional damage, especially among children. There is a global interest in preventing such events from recurring. The price crisis was triggered by a complex set of long-term and short-term factors, including policy failures and market overreactions. One important factor in the crisis was the entry of significant financial resources into futures markets, including food commodity markets, which contributed to a price spike during the first six months of 2008. This episode highlights the need to modify the architecture of international financial and agricultural markets to address the problem of price spikes, especially their effects on the livelihoods of the poor. Although a set of guiding principles for regulating agricultural and commodity futures markets should be developed and recent inappropriate trade policy instruments such as export bans should be reviewed, these actions are not sufficient to avoid extreme price spikes and to ensure that the world can respond to emergency needs for food. We propose two global collective actions to meet these goals. First, a small physical food reserve should be established to facilitate a smooth response to food emergencies. Second, an innovative virtual reserve should be set up to help prevent market price spikes and to keep prices closer to levels suggested by long-run market fundamentals like supply and demand. This brief offers some specifics on implementing a proposal described in our earlier IFPRI policy brief titled Physical and Virtual Global Food Reserves to Protect the Poor and Prevent Market Failure (June 2008). Price instability is a general feature of agricultural markets. The proposals made here are designed not to stabilize prices generally, but to prevent damaging price spikes. The proposed actions will entail costs, but the modest costs of the required organizational elements must be balanced against the benefits of more effective international financial architecture. These benefits will include prevention of economic hardship, improved market efficiency, stronger incentives for long-term investment in agriculture, and prevention of political instability." from Author's text


The influence of patient values and patient perception of benefits on patient perceptions of quality have not been extensively investigated, even though patient and provider perceptions of quality have been widely studied. Refocusing quality assessment and improvement to include factors that infuence patient perceptions of quality is necessary for humanitarian and economic reasons. The health care patient has certain expectations of health care. These expectations are based on the value the patient places on the services. Value is a predictor of patient-perception of quality. The relative worth of patient goals may also be related to patient perceptions of quality. If so, providers need to consider this when giving care and assessing quality. This study was a secondary analysis of a study by Larrabee, "Hospital Patients' and Nurses' Perception of Quality". The sample consisted of 199 patients. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between quality and value as relative worth and quality and beneficence from the patient's perspective. There were four key findings. First, a close relationship was found between patient-perceived quality and value and patientperceived quality and beneficence. These findings supported the proposition that value and beneficence are related to quality. Second, this study provided partial support for the proposition that value as relative worth is related to quality. This finding identifies the need for further research into the qualitative nature of patient goals and their different rankings. Third, patients appeared to value all their goals equally even when pain relief was one of their goals. However, when pain relief was identified as goal one, the achievement of this goal was related to increased patient-perceived quality. Finally, a strongly positive relationship was found among all three patient goals. This indicated that patient goals may be interrelated and interdependent on each other, and that the achievement of one leads to the achievement of the others. The implications for nursing include nurses having patients identify their own health goals. By validating the worth of the patient's goals, by acknowledging them and assisting in their achievement, the nurse will demonstrate beneficence. As the patient perceives benefits from care, their perceptions of quality should increase. In conclusion, the findings in this study suggest that assisting patients in meeting all their health goals is an important strategy for improving patient outcomes and patient satisfaction. It also may help an agency maintain market share, since satisfied patients are more likely to return for future care.


The brain-computer interface (BCI) field has grown dramatically over the past few years, but there are still no coordinated efforts to ensure efficient communication and collaboration among key stakeholders. The European Commission (EC) has recently renewed their efforts to establish such a coordination effort by funding a coordination and support action for the BCI community called 'BNCI Horizon 2020' after the 'Future BNCI' project. Major goals of this new
project include developing a roadmap for the next decade and beyond, encouraging discussion and collaboration within the BCI community, fostering communication with the general public, and the foundation of an international BCI Society. We present a short overview of current and past EU-funded BCI projects and provide evidence of a growing research and industrial community. Efficient communication also entails the establishment of clear terminology, which is a major goal of BNCI Horizon 2020. To this end, we give a brief overview of current BCI-related terms and definitions. A major networking activity in the project was the BNCI Horizon 2020 Retreat in Hallstatt, Austria. Over 60 experts participated in this event to discuss the future of the BCI field in a series of plenary talks, targeted discussions, and parallel focus sessions. A follow-up event was the EU BCI Day at the 6th International Brain-Computer Interface Conference in Graz, Austria. This networking event included plenary talks by eight companies and representatives from all seven ongoing EU research projects, poster presentations, demos, and discussions. Another goal of BNCI Horizon 2020 is the foundation of an official BCI Society. In this article, we summarize the current status of this process. Finally, we present visions for future BCI applications developed within BNCI Horizon 2020 using input from external BCI experts as well. We identify common themes and conclude with six exemplary use cases.


The purpose of this paper is to present lessons learnt from a 3 year collaborative research project on the added value of Facilities Management (FM) involving institutions in five European countries. The starting point was the so-called FM Value Map developed earlier by the leader of the research group. The project applied three basic theoretical perspectives: FM, Corporate Real Estate Management (CREM) and Business to Business (B2B) marketing and started with a major literature review on added value based on each of these perspectives. The collaboration included a series of workshops and preparation of research papers covering theoretical, methodological and empirical aspects. The results were published as an anthology in May 2012. The three basic perspectives of FM, CREM and B2B marketing provide both overlapping and complementary focus areas in relation to adding value. Four conceptual models are presented and compared. They include parameters and strategies for how FM can add value with many similarities and a trend towards convergence. Stakeholder relationships and relationship management are seen as crucial in adding value, which for instance is expressed in the concepts FM Value Network and Value Adding Management. Besides adding value for the core business of organisations it is becoming increasingly important for FM to add value for society, for instance in terms of sustainability and corporate social responsibility. The advancement in knowledge and understanding presented in the paper offers a new state of the art, which can give inspiration and guidance for cutting edge FM organisations and professionals as well as for advanced teaching and future research.


A fast-paced PowerShell guide with real-world scenarios and detailed solutions Overview Discover and understand the concept of Windows PowerShell 3.0 Learn the advanced topics and techniques for a professional PowerShell scripting. Explore the secret of building custom PowerShell snap-ins and modules. Take advantage of PowerShell integration capabilities with other technologies for better administration skills Step-by-step guide rich with real-world script examples, screenshots, and best practices In Detail Technologys growing rhythm is running faster than before, and business needs are getting more complex every day. So, it is time to learn something new to help conquer the challenge. With PowerShell in your toolbox, you can easily perform many tasks with less time, effort, and cost. PowerShell is a helpful scripting technology that enables the automation of system management tasks and the creation of system management tools . "PowerShell 3.0 Advanced Administration Handbook" comes with a set of real-world scenarios and detailed scripts that will help you get started with PowerShell, learn what PowerShell is, how to write the syntax, and build your scripts, and how to use and integrate PowerShell with different technologies, products, and tools. This handbook starts with the essential topics of PowerShell, then introduces the new features in PowerShell 3.0. The book then goes through building PowerShell scripts, function, and developing extensions like snap-ins and modules, and continues with detailed examples showing the usage of PowerShell with different technologies and products to give you an idea of PowerShell usage in the real world. What you will learn from this book Learn Windows PowerShell 3.0 new features and enhancements. Learn PowerShell syntax and grammar such as pipeline, looping, and working with objects. Extend PowerShell capabilities with .NET framework, XML, WMI, and COM+. Configure and deploy Windows Server Core features, services, and components. Manage and configure the Microsoft virtualization platform, Hyper-V. Manage and configure Unified Communication environments such as Exchange Server and Lync Server. Manage and configure Collaboration and Data platforms such as SharePoint Server and SQL Server. Manage and configure Cloud technologies such as Office365, Windows Azure, and SQL Azure. Explore PowerShell in real-world scenarios, problems, and solutions. PowerShell tips and tricks and best practices. Approach This book is a collection of selected real-world scenarios, detailed solutions, and screenshots. Who this book is written for If you are a system administrator who wants to automate repeated daily tasks and perform complex administration requirements in a timely manner with less effort, then this is the book for you. In order to get the maximum benefit of this book you need to have some basic scripting knowledge and good administration experience


Although the Constitution is conventionally portrayed as the embodiment of what it means to be American, it is more accurate to describe the Constitution as the battleground over which disputes over national identity are fought. This article illustrates the dynamics that transform conflicts over national identity into constitutional issues by examining three episodes in the recurring debate over whether the United States should be considered a "Christian nation" — the nineteenth-century movement to add an expression of Christian faith to the Constitution, mid-twentieth-century Judeo-Christian nationalism, and the New Christian Right that began in the 1970s. These episodes reveal that over the past century a shift has occurred among Christian nationalists, who have moved from denouncing the Constitution as a godless document unworthy of a Christian people to lauding the Constitution as an expression of the nation's Christian identity. This article asks how the Constitution became (for many Americans at least) Christian.The answer lies in America's constitutional culture, which channels conflicts over national identity into constitutional disputes. The episodes examined here follow a similar pattern. In each case, members of a dominant religious group mobilized in response to perceived threats to their status — from Catholics, immigrants, Communists, and secular humanists. In each episode, members of the movement believed Christian devotion to be part of America's essence and therefore considered threats to Christian dominance as attacks on America itself. And in each case, the movement attempted to preserve the nation's supposedly Christian identity by making constitutional demands, either to amend the Constitution to proclaim the nation's Christian devotion or to interpret the Constitution to be Christian. Through this recurring pattern — in which a threat to group status is seen on nationalist terms and mobilizes a movement to make constitutional demands — fights about what it means to be American become fights over the meaning of the Constitution. Rather than embodying what it means to be American, the Constitution provides a seemingly neutral and patriotic language for making claims of national inclusion and exclusion, for asserting that some people and some values are authentically American, while others are dangerously foreign and must be rejected.


Twenty nine species of Delphacidae are recorded from the Yukon Territory, Canada, two additional ones from an adjacent region of Northwest Territories, and one species from coastal Alaska. Two new genera are described: Aschedelphax Wilson and Yukonwdelphax Wilson. Six new species are described: Aschedelphax hochae Wilson, Delphacodes anufrievi Wilson, D. emelianovi Wilson, Javesella lla Wilson, Nothdelphaxglacia Wilson, and Yukonodelphax kendallae Wilson. Aschedelphax coloradensis (Beamer), Javesella kilmani (Van Duzee), Yukonodelphax pediforma (Beamer) and Y.stramineosa (Beamer) are new combinations. Kusnezoviella matisi Anufriev and Emeljanov is a junior synonym of K. macleani Wilson and Delphacodes hyalina Beamer is a junior synonym of Nothodelphax albocarinata (Stal). Of the 32 species included in the study, 18 have a Holarctic distribution - 10 of these are amphi-Beringian. The remaining 14 species are restricted to the Nearetic, 5 of these are recorded only from the Yukon and Northwest Territories.


Facebook engineers query multiple databases to monitor and analyze Facebook products and services. The fastest of these databases is Scuba, which achieves subsecond query response time by storing all of its data in memory across hundreds of servers. We are continually improving the code for Scuba and would like to push new software releases at least once a week. However, restarting a Scuba machine clears its memory. Recovering all of its data from disk --- about 120 GB per machine --- takes 2.5-3 hours to read and format the data per machine. Even 10 minutes is a long downtime for the critical applications that rely on Scuba, such as detecting user-facing errors. Restarting only 2% of the servers at a time mitigates the amount of unavailable data, but prolongs the restart duration to about 12 hours, during which users see only partial query results and one engineer needs to monitor the servers carefully. We need a faster, less engineer intensive, solution to enable frequent software upgrades. In this paper, we show that using shared memory provides a simple, effective, fast, solution to upgrading servers. Our key observation is that we can decouple the memory lifetime from the process lifetime. When we shutdown a server for a planned upgrade, we know that the memory state is valid (unlike when a server shuts down unexpectedly). We can therefore use shared memory to preserve memory state from the old server process to the new process. Our solution does not increase the server memory footprint and allows recovery at memory speeds, about 2-3 minutes per server. This solution maximizes uptime and availability, which has led to much faster and more frequent rollouts of new features and improvements. Furthermore, this technique can be applied to the in-memory state of any database, even if the memory contains a cache of a much larger disk-resident data set, as in most databases.


I have been working in the field of radio art, and through creative practice have been considering how the convergence of new media technologies has redefined radio art, addressing the ways in which this has extended the boundaries of the art form. This practice-based research explores the rich history of radio as an artistic medium and the relationship between the artist and technology, emphasising the role of the artist as a mediator between broadcast institutions and a listening public. It considers how radio art might be defined in relation to sound art, music and media art, mapping its shifting parameters in the digital era and prompting a consideration of how radio appears to be moving from a dispersed "live" event to one consumed "on demand" by a segmented audience across multiple platforms. Exploring the implications of this transition through my radio practice focuses upon the productive tensions which characterise the artist"s engagement with radio technology, specifically between the autonomous potentialities offered by the reappropriation of obsolete technology and the proliferation of new infrastructures and networks promised by the exponential development of new media. Switch Off takes as its overarching theme the possible futures for FM radio, incorporating elements from eight "trace" stations, produced as a series of radio actions investigating these tensions. Interviews have been conducted with case study subjects Vicki Bennett, Anna Friz, LIGNA, Hildegard Westerkamp and Gregory Whitehead, whose work was chosen as being exemplary of the five recurrent facets of radio arts practice I have identified: Appropriation, Transmission, Activism, Soundscape and Performance. These categories are derived from the genealogy of experimental radiophonic practice set out in Chapter One.


Doctoral students have a high level of attrition, being between 30-50% in the UK, Australia and North
America. To inform how doctoral students can be better supported in order to increase retention,
performance and student satisfaction, this study had two aims. The first was to examine doctoral student
experiences of stress related to candidature and their perceptions of study progress. This highlights the
"student blend" between student welfare and study and how supporting one can benefit the other. The
majority of PhD candidates (70%) who participated in the study reported they were meeting or mostly
meeting their study schedule and these students had significantly greater psychological capital attribute
(hope, resilience, self-efficacy and optimism) values compared to students who were categorised as being
behind schedule. The biggest challenges in doctoral study reported were candidature- and project-related,
with self-confidence and motivation of particular note. The second aim was to determine whether a self-help
package could improve psychological indicators. Half of the participants were randomly allocated to an
intervention consisting of a daily mindfulness practice for 8 weeks (supported by an audio resource) and half
received no intervention. Preliminary findings indicate that the intervention led to a greater decrease in
depression, stress and anxiety compared to the control group and an increase in the psychological capital
attributes of hope, resilience and self-efficacy. The blend of support for student wellness and academic
outcomes is important for student progress.


This video describes the CAVE2 Hybrid Reality Environment developed by the Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). CAVE2 is a near-seamless flat-panel-based, surround-screen immersive system that can simultaneously display both 2D and 3D information, providing more flexibility for mixed media applications and more opportunities for groups of researchers to work together with large heterogeneous datasets [1]. CAVE2 is a cylindrical system of 24 feet in diameter and 8 feet tall, and consists of 72 near-seamless, off-axis-optimized passive-stereo LCD panels, creating a 320-degree panoramic environment for displaying information at 37 Megapixels (in stereoscopic 3D) or 74 Megapixels in 2D and at a horizontal visual acuity of 20/20 [2]. Custom LCD panels with shifted polarizers were built so the images in the top and bottom rows of LCDs are optimized for vertical off-center viewing, allowing viewers to come closer to the displays while minimizing ghosting. EVL's Omegalib middleware supports fully immersive OpenGL, OpenSceneGraph and VTK applications, as well as EVL's SAGE middleware to achieve a hybrid 2D/3D environment. CAVE2 also supports CalVR (developed at the Calit2 Qualcomm Institute at University of California, San Diego), Electro (by Robert Kooima, currently at Louisiana State University) and Google Earth.


Creating applications and systems that effectively motivate users is very important both in business and education. Using design practises from game development in nongame settings to exploit its ability to engage players has become increasingly more popular in recent time to attract and encourage users. This study examines how to effectively and systematically develop an application using a method based in both game design and interaction design to develop a learning application for programming. The results demonstrates the strengths of the applied iterative prototyping and powerful design tools of the specific method in a smaller scale project as well as the weaknesses of the vague description of tool usage with risk of derailing in the design steps.


Chronic Recurrent Parotitis or Juvenile Recurrent Parotitis (JRP) is an uncommon clinical condition that causes episodes of recurrent inflammation of the parotid gland, usually unilaterally. It affects children between 3 and 6 years of age and resolves spontaneously at puberty. Fever and general discomfort occasionally accompany it. In the periods between attacks, the patient is asymptomatic. Its prevalence is higher among men and, even its unknown etiology, it is related to autoimmune phenomena.
The true extent of this disease lies in the destruction of parenchyma that is caused by recurrent episodes. This reduces the functionality of the gland 50% to 80%.
Treatment options go from conservative treatments with anti-inflammatories, analgesic and antibiotics to invasive surgical treatments.
The aim of this article is to address the diagnosis and treatment of this rare disease from a case we deal with in our hospital.


After declining for much of the previous decade, the employment of hired farm laborers, supervisors, and managers stabilized in 2008 and rose somewhat in 2009 and 2010, according to data from USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service's Farm Labor Survey. Hired farmworkers were one of the few categories of predominantly manual laborers that did not suffer large employment losses during the Great Recession of 2007-09. In July 2011—fully 2 years after the official end of the recession—total nonfarm wage and salary employment was still 5 percent below its pre-recession peak, according to preliminary estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Data from the Current Population Survey indicate that nonfarm wage and salary employment fell 11 percent between 2007 and 2010 for those with no more than a high school degree, while farm employment for workers with this level of education held steady. Real (adjusted for inflation) wages, however, grew more slowly in the farm sector than elsewhere. Average hourly wages for nonsupervisory crop and livestock workers rose 2.4 percent from $9.98 in 2007 to $10.22 in 2010 (in constant 2010 dollars), while those for nonfarm production workers increased 4 percent to $19.07. Agricultural employment trends partly ref lect underlying trends in the value of agricultural production, which grew from $328 billion in 2007 to $356 billion in 2010. However, much of this increase was driven by greater production of crops that use relatively little hired labor, namely feed crops and oilseeds, for which production grew by almost $20 billion, or 30 percent, over this period. In contrast, fruit, tree nuts, nursery and greenhouse commodities, and dairy products, which together accounted for 61 percent of all U.S. farm labor expenses in 2008, experienced either more moderate output growth (12 percent for vegetables) or reductions in the value of output (11 percent for dairy). Overall, hired labor's share of net value added in agriculture slipped slightly, from 20.6 percent in 2007 to 19.3 percent in 2010, in part reflecting the shift in production shares toward less labor-intensive crops. Tom Hertz, firstname.lastname@example.com


The purpose of this study is to investigate the money demand function and its stability in Turkey using annual data over the period of 1970 and 2013. Based on the three specifications of money demand function, cointegration and the dynamic regression estimation results reveal that more flexible version of money demand specification that links the log of real money balances, ln M/P, to the log of real GDP, ln Y/P, and the log of the nominal interest rate, lni, performs better than the money demand specifications assuming unitary income elasticities. Moreover, based on the stability test on the flexible specification of money demand, the narrow monetary aggregate M1 is found to be stable.


The E-W−trending Jabal Qusaybah anticline, at the western termination of the Salakh arch, Oman Mountains, is characterized by a complex fault network that developed in layered Cretaceous carbonates. This network includes NE-SW left-lateral, N-S extensional, and subordinate E-W extensional fault zones. The N-S−striking extensional faults zones are roughly perpendicular to the fold axis and are best developed in the longitudinally bulged central sector of the anticlinal crest. They are likely due to along-strike outer-arc extension associated with positive fault inversion and salt migration. These extensional fault zones are confined within, and locally abut, major NE-SW left-lateral strike-slip fault zones. Extensional fault displacements range between a few decimeters and ∼60 m, whereas the maximum exposed trace lengths range between a few meters and ∼800 m. Narrow (∼1−15-cm-thick) cataclastic fault cores are surrounded by vein-dominated damage zones as thick as tens of meters. Moreover, fault zones show widespread evidence for substantial dilation in the form of (1) dilation breccias, (2) infilling by large columnar calcite crystals and aggregates, and (3) centimeter- to meter-thick veins. Dilation breccias and calcite infillings are primarily localized at fault tips, fault overlaps, and interaction zones between strike-slip and extensional fault segments. Displacement profiles along the N-S−striking extensional fault zones indicate that they are one order of magnitude shorter than values predicted by most published displacement-length scaling laws. By analyzing fault abutting geometries, detailed vein relative chronology, δ13C and δ18O signatures, and fluid inclusion data from calcite veins and calcite fault infillings, we propose a model whereby a deep-seated, regionally sized, left-lateral strike-slip fault system that was active during anticline growth inhibited the lateral propagation of late-stage transversal extensional fault zones. Our findings show that, in this geological setting, the structural position, rather than fault displacement, is the parameter controlling the location of the more dilatants (and permeable) fault segments. Results of the present work suggest that fault intersections may be more useful than fault throw for predicting zones of enhanced vertical fluid flow in structurally complex carbonate reservoirs.


From its inception at the time of the Enlightenment until the mid-twentieth century, the historical-critical method constituted the dominant paradigm in Old Testament studies. In this magisterial overview, Niels Peter Lemche surveys the development of the historical-critical method and the way it changed the scholarly perception of the Old Testament. He describes the rise and influence of historical-critical approaches and traces their decline and fall. Then, he discusses the identity of the authors of the Old Testament, based on the content of the literature they wrote, demonstrating that the "collapse of history" does not preclude critical study. Lemche goes on to investigates the theological consequences of this "collapse" and surveys Old Testament and biblical theology in its various manifestations in the twentieth century. An appendix includes a history of Palestine from the Stone Age to modern times, constructed without recourse to the Old Testament.


This study explores the inculcation of the civic ideal through the education system in Indonesia since its inception, and particularly during the New Order period. It seeks to show which factors, apart from the interests of successive regimes, have made the construction of the civic ideal possible.
Based on a critical approach to the analysis of texts, it argues that the role of Indonesian citizenship education, exemplified by the student textbooks produced in the last decade of New Order Indonesia, has been to regulate the moral reasoning and behaviour of Indonesian citizens on two dimensions: the relations between the state and Indonesian citizens, and the relations between citizens. Indonesia's state ideology, National Constitution and the notion of 'integral state', coupled with the sociological approach of structural-functionalism, were employed as the guiding principles in narrating the nation. These instruments were used to legitimate the authoritarian rule of the former New Order regime. The strategy of overemphasing the importance of macro-social ideology neglected micro-social interactions. In an attempt to forge national integration and identity, a conformist perspective was imposed to legitimate the suppression of cultural differences and individual rights.
This study argues that the structure and culture of post-colonial Indonesia made it possible for the regime to establish its ideological hegemony, and to reproduce the people's culture through the textbooks. The regime was able to treat these post-colonial conditions as 'resource' that enabled it to legitimate its hegemony, and at the same time, reproduce 'norms' which the people were required to practice. Instead of empowering the people, these norms constrained them to act as 'good democratic citizens' in their mutual interaction in the context of 'modern society'. The situation was exacerbated by the incompatibility of many cultural values (particularly the Javanese world-view and ethics, and aspects of Islamic morality), and both the physical and economic structural conditions of post-colonial Indonesia. Moreover, contrary to the textbook writers' assumptions that Indonesia's national identity is fixed and stable, it is still undergoing a process of 'becoming'. As a site of writing the nation, Indonesian citizenship education attempted to fix Indonesian students' identity by enforcing obligations for collective welfare, and imposing a set of local (particularly Javanese) values, traditions and myths of historical continuity. This conceptual framework is now being fundamentally challenged by globalisation and democratic localism.
The demise of the authoritarian regime in mid-1998 stimulated the introduction of a new national curriculum for citizenship education, intended to encourage active and participatory learning and promote democratic values. The adoption of elements of democracy means that individuals should enjoy greater 'freedom'. In the process of promoting democracy and human rights within the liberal tradition, the biggest question is the extent to which independent individuals are justified in choosing their own values.
In this context, the imposition of republicanism with an emphasis on duties in the name of social cohesion or national interests - something which Indonesian citizenship still needs to do - will be greatly challenged by the demand for greater individual rights and democratic localism. This constitutes the greatest dilemma in the reinvention of Indonesian citizenship. This study suggests that in the implementation of the new citizenship education, post-colonial conditions should be taken into account, and citizenship should be viewed from the perspective of social exchange networks rather than a dyadic relation between state and citizen. If national and social identity based on the cultural and structural conditions of post-colonial Indonesia is not properly interpreted and discussed, and students are not encouraged to analyse the relationship between the 'text' and relevant social, political and economic contexts, it is likely that the mistakes of the past will be repeated.


Over the last years promising cement bonded wood composites for structural purposes have evolved. Durability, toughness, high dimen-sional stability, resistance against environmental influences such as biodegradation or weathering but also availability of the raw material as well as economic factors are features which can make cement-bonded composites superior to conventionally bonded composites. This paper reviews the relationship of diverse parameters, including density and particle size on mechanical and physical properties of cement bonded composites, based on published sources from the last 60 years. For general and recent information about bonding mechanisms, compatibility and setting problems, determination and improvement of compatibility, the used raw materials as well as accelerators are discussed. The main part deals with failure mechanisms in connection with several production parameters. Furthermore, the influence of particle size and geometry, orientation of the particles, cement-wood ratio and the effect of accelerators and treatment of the particles on modulus of elasticity, modulus of rupture as well as thickness swelling are discussed.


Are you serious? Are you serious? Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, responding to a question about the constitutionality of an individual mandate for health insurance (1) INTRODUCTION The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) (2) has significantly reformed the U.S. health care system. As a result, nearly all Americans will be required to purchase health insurance. (3) An individual mandate for health insurance is not a new idea. In 1993, the Senate Republican Task Force drafted a health care reform bill that included an individual mandate. (4) As the debate over health care reform has unfolded, questions have been raised about whether the Constitution grants Congress the power to impose an individual mandate to purchase health insurance. (5) In 1994, the Congressional Budget Office addressed the issue, concluding that "[a] mandate requiring all individuals to purchase health insurance would be an unprecedented form of federal action." (6) More recently, the Congressional Research Service concluded that Congress might have the power to enact an individual mandate "as part of its taxing and spending power, or its power to regulate interstate commerce." (7) However, it acknowledged that "[w]hether such a requirement would be constitutional under the Commerce Clause is perhaps the most challenging question posed by such a proposal, as it is a novel issue whether Congress may use this clause to require an individual to purchase a good or a service." (8) This Note analyzes whether Congress has the power to enact an individual mandate for health insurance under the Taxing and Spending Clause and Commerce Clause. (9) Part I examines the problems with our current health care system and the policy argument for an individual mandate. Part II addresses the complaint that an individual mandate would be an unprecedented assault on individual liberty. It compares the effects that prohibitions and mandates have on personal freedom and notes that there is precedent for the federal government mandating action as a condition of citizenship. Part III examines whether Congress can enact an individual mandate under its taxing power. Finally, Part IV analyzes whether an individual mandate can be enacted under Congress's power to regulate interstate commerce. I. A BRIEF EXAMINATION OF HEALTH CARE IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE ARGUMENT FOR AN INDIVIDUAL MANDATE The rising cost of health care and the number of Americans without health insurance are two of the main concerns that drove the push for health care reform. (10) In 2007, health care spending in the United States was equivalent to 16.2% of gross domestic product (GDP). (11) This total is expected to rise to 25% of GDP by 2025 if our current health care system is not reformed. (12) Since 1980, the annual rate of growth in medical care prices was 4.7%--almost double the annual rate of inflation. (13) The cost of obtaining health insurance has increased significantly in the last decade, making it difficult for some Americans to afford health insurance. (14) In 2007, 45.7 million Americans were uninsured at some point during the year. (15) Over ninety-eight percent of the uninsured are under age sixty-five. (16) The two main groups of the uninsured are low-wage workers who do not receive health insurance through their employers and healthy young people unwilling to buy insurance at its current price. (17) Thirty-nine percent of the uninsured are nineteen to thirty-five years old, (18) and sixteen percent of the uninsured earn at least $50,000 per year in household income. (19) One recent study estimates that forty-three percent of uninsured Americans have enough disposable income to afford health insurance but voluntarily choose not to purchase it. (20) Being uninsured can adversely affect an individual's health. The uninsured have a higher premature mortality rate than people with health insurance. …


Brands and brand management have become a central feature of the modern economy and a staple of business theory and business practice. Contrary to the law's conception of trademarks, brands are used to indicate far more than source and/or quality. This volume begins the process of broadening the legal understanding of brands by explaining what brands are and how they function, how trademark and antitrust/competition law have misunderstood brands, and the implications of continuing to ignore the role brands play in business competition. This is the first book to engage with the topic from an interdisciplinary perspective; hence it will be a must-have for all those interested in the phenomenon of brands and how their function is recognized by the legal system. The book integrates both a competition and an intellectual property law dimension and explores the regulatory environment and case law in both Europe and the United States.


The region encompassing the collision of northern Arabia with Eurasia is a tectonically heterogeneous region of distributed deformation. The northern Arabia plate is bounded to the west by the subducting Sinai plate and the left-lateral Dead Sea transform. This complexity suggests that there are multiple competing processes that may influence regional tectonics in northern Arabia and adjacent areas. Earthquake mechanisms provide insight into crustal kinematics and stress; however, reliable determination of earthquake source parameters can be challenging in a complex geological region, such as the continental collision zone between the Arabian and Eurasian plates. The goal of this study is to investigate spatial patterns of the crustal stress in the northern Arabian plate and surrounding area. The focal mechanisms used in this study are based on (1) first-motion polarities for earthquakes recorded by Syrian earthquake center during 2000-2011, and (2) regional moment tensors from broadband seismic data, from Turkey and Iraq. First motion focal mechanisms were assigned quality classifications based on the variation of both nodal planes. Regional moment tensor analysis can be significantly influenced by seismic velocity structure; thus, we have divided the study area into regions based on tectonic units. For each region, the velocity model is described using a waveform-modeling technique prior to the regional moment tensor inversion. The resulting focal mechanisms, combined with other previously published focal mechanisms for the study area, provide a basis for stress inversion analysis. The resulting deviatoric stress tensors show the spatial distribution of the maximum horizontal stress varies from NW-SE along the Dead Sea Fault to the N-S toward the east. We interpret this to reflect the eastward change from the transform to collision processes in northern Arabia. Along the Dead Sea Fault, transposition of the sigma-1 and sigma2 to vertical and horizontal, respectively, may relate to influences from the subducted part of the Sinai plate. This change in regional stress is also consistent with extensional strains observed from GPS velocities.


A review is given of existing efforts and future challenges in
large-scale ocean modeling on unstructured meshes. Because of large
integration time the large-scale ocean circulation models require more
attention with respect to conservation and accuracy than their coastal
counterparts, and deal with different dynamics.
Numerous discretizations of finite-element and finite-volume type have been
proposed and explored, but only simplest approaches (like P1-P1 of
FESOM or cell-vertex of FVCOM) are realized as working tools.
While the results of first applications performed in global context are
very encouraging and show the feasibility of local refinement by a factor
of 30-50 in a global setup, they also indicate that further efforts
are needed if one aims at simulating the ocean in eddying
regimes. These efforts must concentrate on numerical efficiency of
unstructured-mesh codes and ensure much higher accuracy of advection schemes
than currently available on linear elements. Since the selection of
discretization introduces obvious limitations on unstructured meshes,
one has to re-consider it from the perspective that takes into account
the already available lessons, and not only the representation of linear
wave dynamics in the shallow-water context. In particular, too
large velocity spaces of many mixed discretizations as a rule lead to
difficulties in the performance of momentum advection in eddying
regimes, and continuous representation of scalar quantities creates
many inconveniences in hydrostatic codes.

While the need for improved advection schemes tells on its own in
favor of either discontinuous Galerkin methods or high-order
reconstructions with finite volumes, the key question is how to
implement them without significant loss of efficiency. The area of
large-scale ocean simulations is almost fully dominated by
structured-mesh models which are currently much more accurate and
efficient per degree of freedom than models on unstructured meshes.
The acceptance of unstructured-mesh technology on this `large-scale
background' depends on our progress with this question as well as
ability to show on practical examples that refinement is more
practical and consistent than nesting.


Summary The treatment of psychiatric illness requires novel pharmacological strategies. There is a growing body of evidence examining the role of neuronal phospholipid abnormalities in the pathogenesis of psychiatric illness, particularly in schizophrenia. However, work in other conditions like mood disorders are also showing interesting outcomes with EPA supplementation. Diseases that are considered to have a genetic basis may be significantly influenced by environmental factors including dietary supplementation. The suggestion that EFA supplementation may prevent the onset of symptoms of a psychiatric disease or aberrant behaviour needs longitudinal randomized controlled research. In recent years the focus has shifted from omega-6 to omega-3. It is true that western diets have far more omega-6 than omega-3. In the 1980s, there were positive outcomes in research studies using GLA in schizophrenia (Vaddadi et al., 18). Future research needs to incorporate studies using pure GLA. Research should not be restricted to parent fatty acid (omega-3) supplementation alone but be expanded to include bioactive down-the-chain metabolites. The recent identification of novel omega-3 derived mediators such as resolvins and neuroprotectins, which are a highly bioactive (1–10 nMol range), may well have some role to play in psychiatric disorders; however this remains highly speculative at this stage.


Different from previous focusing on subwavelength imaging in the near field, we outline another potentially useful application of the self-collimating photonic crystal -- low-pass spatial filtering. A two-dimensional square-lattice photonic crystal is taken as an example and the low-pass spatial filtering is demonstrated by the dispersion analysis and numerical simulations. The high-spatial-frequency components, whose incident angles exceed a critical value, are reflected totally because no Bloch modes of the photonic crystal can be excited. However, the low-spatial-frequency components are coupled to the self-collimating modes and permeate the photonic crystal with high transmissivity.


During the first half of 1941 a parallel growth of inventories and shipments is revealed by the figure. Expanding output called for larger stocks in this period as in previous years. By the middle of the year, however, the emphasis in over-all inventory policy had shifted from the maintenance of previously established stock-shipment patterns to protective buying on a large scale. Though further advance in production had now become dependent upon the relatively slow expansion and conversion of facilities, inventories piled up at an accelerated rate. Moreover, the scope of the movement gradually broadened until it embraced almost the entire producing economy. Durable goods industries continued to pace the rise with record accumulations of more than 700 million dollars in the final quarter and only slightly less in the third quarter of the year. Particularly large increases were recorded for those industries engaged in producing for the war effort. Thus, the index for transportation equipment closed the year at 662 compared with 428 in June and 278 at the beginning of the year. Similarly, the index for electrical machinery reached 238 at the year end—up nearly 100 points from the previous year. The Department's index of the value of inventories held by all durable goods industries rose from 130 to 176 during the year. The second half year also witnessed a tremendous advance in the value of stocks held by producers of nondurables. Large increases in foods, textiles, chemicals, and other nondurables were recorded as it became apparent that shortages were spreading to areas previously affected but little and that the upward pressure on prices was becoming more intense. Altogether, the value of inventories held by producers of nondurables rose more than 800 million dollars during the final quarter of 1941. For the year as a whole the index for nondurables advanced from 111 to 144 [average month, 1939 = 100]. Widespread protective buying coupled with slower advances in manufacturing production have thus strengthened the over-all inventory position of manufacturers. Wide variation exists among different industries, however. For example, the iron and steel and their products group increased shipments during 1941 with little change in inventories. Other industries, unable to expand shipments, continued to increase stocks. Large advances in the shipments of war industries kept their rapidly growing inventories closely in line with previously established patterns. But in the aggregate, the level of stocks with reference to shipments is now considerably higher than in the pattern exhibited prior to June. Retail and wholesale inventories were discussed in some detail in the January issue of the Survey. Since then, the year-end census of independent retail stores conducted by the Department of Commerce has shown that total stocks reported by more than 8,000 stores in 34 States were 21 percent higher on December 31, 1941, than they were one year ago. Increases ranged from 8 percent in drug stores to 30 percent in the furniture, household, and radio group. Dealers in commodities for which demand has been particularly heavy such as hardware stores, and lumber and building materials made much less than average additions to stocks.


The European Union's 1999 Financial Services Action Plan (the FSAP), an ambitious reform agenda of forty-two measures, was designed to provide the regulatory underpinning for a single deep and liquid capital market, in which pan-EU market actors are regulated by their home Member State under harmonized rules. This single capital market would lower the cost of capital, unlock funding sources for companies, and increase returns on savings, while widening choice and stimulating competition in the pan-EU financial services industry. After a surge of legislative activity over the last months of 2003 and through early 2004, the FSAP is on track for timely completion in mid-2004, as called for by the March 2003 Brussels European Council. The closing of the current session of the European Parliament in spring 2004, combined with a sharp political focus on the financial markets post-Enron and in the wake of Parmalat, has concentrated EU attention both inter-institutionally and in the market place on delivery of the outstanding measures.1 With the adoption of the cornerstone Financial Instruments Markets Directive in April 2004, the FSAP is now, in large part, complete. Implementation should be achieved across the EU by 2006.


This paper reports the findings of a study conducted amongst teachers from Botswana junior secondary schools. The study was on the outcomes of the separation of RE and ME as per the recommendations of the RNPE (1994). It is evident from the findings that the majority (73%) of the respondents are aware of both the recommendation and the separation of the two subjects. A wide range of information is made by teachers postulating a dominant view (90%) that both subjects have different emphasis, hence are to be separated.


The concept of fog computing has emerged driven by the Internet of
Things (IoT) due to the need of handling the data generated from the
end-user devices. The term fog is referred to any networked
computational resource in the continuum between things and cloud. In
fog computing, functions can be stiched together composing a service
function chain. These functions might be hosted on resources that are
inherently heterogeneous, volatile and mobile. This means that
resources might appear and disappear, and the connectivity
characteristics between these resources may also change dynamically.
This calls for new orchestration solutions able to cope with dynamic
changes to the resources in runtime or ahead of time (in anticipation
through prediction) as opposed to today's solutions which are
inherently reactive and static or semi-static. A fog monitoring
solution can be used to help predicting events so an action can be
taken before an event actually takes place. This solution is composed
of agents running on the fog nodes plus a controller hosted at another
device (running in the infrastructure or in another fog node). Since
fog environments are inherently volatile and extremely dynamic, it is
convenient to enable the use of autonomic technologies to autonomously
set-up the fog monitoring platform. This document aims at presenting
this use case as well as specifying how to use GRASP as needed in this
scenario.


Stop-motion animation is a traditional form of animation that has been practised for over 100 years. While the unique look and feel of stop-motion animation has been retained in modern productions, the production process has been modernised to take advantage of technological advancements. Modern stop-frame animation production integrates digital imaging technology and computational methods with traditional hand-crafted skills. This portfolio documents three projects undertaken at Aardman Animations, each investigated with the aim of improving efficiency in the stop-motion production process: - Rig removal is the removal of equipment, or 'rigging', used on set during stop-motion animation to hold characters or objects in unstable positions. All rigging captured in frames must be removed in post-production and currently manual methods are used which can be very time-consuming. The key task is to separate the character from the rig. In Chapter 2, I present a novel spatio-temporal segmentation algorithm for segmenting characters from stop-motion footage. The algorithm has been designed to work with stop-motion animated content, in contrast to other state of the art algorithms which struggled when tested on stop-motion footage. - Set shift is a problem which occurs when background items on set move subtly over the time taken to shoot a scene. For example, temperature and humidity changes can cause wood to warp during a weekend, changing the position of a background object the following week. These small 'shifts' are recorded in the footage and must be corrected in post-production. Chapter 3 describes the problem in detail, investigates potential solutions and explains why solving set shift automatically is a significant challenge. - Plasticine shading is required when a plasticine model has to be generated computationally. One motivation for producing footage computationally is that problems such as rig removal and set shift do not arise. In order to simulate plasticine accurately, the distinct reflectance model of this material must be known and reproduced. By collecting experimental data from plasticine samples and fitting parametric models, I have developed a bespoke surface shading model for plasticine (Chapter 4). This new model provides the best fit to the measured data when compared to existing state of the art surface shaders. It has been implemented into commercially used production systems, for use with existing rendering software. Advancing state of the art research is only one of the challenges when working in a production studio such as Aardman Animations. Additionally, findings must be integrated into the production pipeline. Chapter 5 discusses the challenges and constraints faced when conducting research in this environment. In order for stop-motion animation to remain competitive it is vital that production companies stay up-to-date with technological advancements in research areas that can contribute to their production processes. I conclude by discussing whether technological advancements can help Aardman Animations in improving the efficiency of their stop-motion production pipeline.


Endotoxin, a by-product of Gram-negative bacteria found ubiquitously in the environment, has elicited profuse interest in recent years. Workers in different occupational settings are exposed to organic dust containing endotoxins and are at risk of developing respiratory diseases. The relationship between endotoxin exposure and health effects is still controversial because of its paradoxical nature. Some studies have demonstrated protective response for developing asthma, while others show priming of the allergic response and an exacerbation of asthma. Endotoxins acting on their own cause neutrophilic inflammatory responses and a decline in lung function in exposed workers. Endotoxins in the presence of other allergens have also been shown to increase disease severity by acting as a natural adjuvant to augment atopic inflammation and asthma. No exposure limits have been set internationally as this substance is currently under review by exposure standards authorities.


We demonstrate a simple way of increasing the data acquisition and processing speed in a scanning white-light interferometer for surface topography measurement. The method consists of undersampling interference data and processing the resultant sub-Nyquist interferograms in the frequency domain to create complete three-dimensional images. Experimental results on a 20-μm step height standard show a measurement repeatability of 10 nm.


The transport of gasses dissolved in surface waters across the water‐atmosphere interface is controlled by the piston velocity (k). This coefficient has large implications for, e.g., greenhouse gas fluxes but is challenging to quantify in situ. At present, empirical k‐wind speed relationships from a small number of studies and systems are often extrapolated without knowledge of model performance. This study compares empirical k estimates from flux chamber and surface water gas concentration measurements (chamber method), eddy cell modeling and dissipation rates of turbulent kinetic energy (dissipation method), and a surface divergence method based on IR imaging, at a fetch limited coastal observation station. We highlight strengths and weaknesses of the methods, and relate measured k values to parameters such as wave height, and surface skin velocities. The chamber and dissipation methods yielded k values in the same order of magnitude over a 24 h period with varying wind conditions (up to 10 m s−1, closest weather station) and wave heights (0.01–0.30 m). The surface divergence method most likely did not resolve the small turbulent eddies that cause the main divergence. Flux chamber estimates showed the largest temporal variability, with lower k values than the dissipation method during calm conditions, where the dissipation method failed as waves and instrument noise dominated over the turbulence signal. There was a strong correspondence between k from chambers, the RMS of surface velocities from IR imaging, and wave height. We propose a method to estimate area integrated values of k from wave measurements.


Evaporation experiments using pyrrhotite single crystals (Fe0.886S) were carried out at temperatures between 500 and 1300°C at 1 atm in an H2-CO2 gas flow (0.62-0.64 atm H2), and at 500 and 900°C un der an evacuated condition. Under the H2-rich condition, spongy metallic iron layer was formed on the sulfide crystal surface at temperatures below the Fe-FeS eutectic point as a result of incongruent evaporation, and developed inward almost conserving its original shape. The thickness of the iron layer increases linearly with time at constant temperatures (linear rate law) due to transportation of evaporated gas species through pores in the spongy iron layers. If incongruent evaporation is controlled by diffusion of element(s) in an evaporation residue layer, a parabolic rate law is expected. The linear rate law shows that FeS evaporates more efficiently than expected based on a parabolic rate law. The linear rate constant obtained at various temperatures obeys the Arrhenius relation: kFes = (1.61 ± 0.42) x 10-3exp(-115 ± 2 [kJ/mol]/RT) [m/sec]. A minor part of metallic iron in the surface layer diffused into the inner sulfide to form stoichio metric FeS (troilite) in the early evaporation stage. Thus, the experiments can be almost regarded as evaporation of troilite. Evaporation coefficients of FeS were obtained by comparing the experimental results with calculated rates using the Hertz-Knudsen equation. They are small (1.4 x 10-4 9.4 x 10-6) due to slow surface reaction and/or slow escape of S-bearing gas species into the gas flow. Mass-dependent isotopic fractionation of S by the evaporation was not detected within an error of ±3%o probably due to slow diffusivity of S in the sulfide crystal. In the evacuated experiments, evaporation occurred very slowly due to the absence of H2 gas, which acts as a reducing agent. Iron residue layer was very thin or sometimes not detected probably because the evaporation rate of S from FeS became comparable to the evaporation rate of metallic iron, which can be neglected under the H2-rich condition.


Existing estimates of the cost of children focus on what parents spend on their children, which has limited relevance to parents' financial capacity to meet those costs. An alternative indicator of the affordability of children, their impact upon couples' wealth accumulation, is estimated using the lifecycle model and Australian household panel data. The results suggest children have a very small impact upon wealth accumulation, seemingly at odds with the large 'costs' implied from expenditure-based estimates. In reconciling these highly divergent estimates we argue that the net-wealth approach is an intuitively more appealing indicator of the financial impost of children.


In order to understand a country as large and diverse as Russia, it is extremely important to consider spatial patterns of economic development. As Russia looks for new drivers of economic growth, it is important to understand the structural conditions that have defined economic development in Russia's regions. This report uses the Economic Potential Index (EPI) methodology to identify the conditions that drive regional development. Economic potential is the level of productivity that is possible for a region to achieve given its structural endowments, which are characteristics that are hard to alter in the short run. The methodology used in this report combines quantitative analysis of drivers of productivity across regions with in-depth case studies that focus on the role of regional governments and institutions in converting endowments into economic outcomes. This methodology generates insights that are relevant for both national and regional governments. The first chapter of this report provides an overview of regional development in Russia over the last 25 years and identifies "Russia-specific" national structural conditions that may affect regional development. The second chapter discusses the results of an assessment of economic potential at the regional level and the factors that shape it in Russia. The third chapter focuses on the role of national and regional governance, policy, and institutions in promoting economic development of the regions. The final chapter proposes policy priorities for both regional and national authorities.


The total stray-load loss of a polyphase induction machine of the squirrel-cage type is given by the formula: WL = WC + WE + WSL1 + WSL2 + WZ + WB + WK (13) where the several items, except Wc, are given by equations 1, 7, 6, 9, 10, and 12. The sum of WE and Wc can be determined separately from the other losses by measuring the input to the stator when balanced polyphase currents are flowing, with the rotor removed, and subtracting from this the I2R losses calculated on the basis of the d-c resistance of the winding at the test temperature, as required in the Morgan method of load-loss measurement. However, the end loss will differ somewhat from that under load, because the rotor end winding currents are not present. The total loss can be measured by the dynamometer method, either as a motor alone, or by the differential dynamometer method as the average of a motor and a generator, or by the pump-back method or the Morgan method, as outlined in a companion paper. 1 From a theoretical point of veiw, all these methods should give equivalent results, except that the Morgan method would be expected to give a stray loss slightly lower than the true value when the rotor has closed slots.


We evaluated the efficacy of an oral rabies vaccination (ORV) program conducted in Erie County, New York, from July through September, 2002–2005. Ingress of the raccoon (Procyon lotor) rabies variant first occurred along the southern border of Erie County, New York, during 1992 and began to spread northward at a velocity of 31 km/year. Fixed-wing aircraft dropped ORV baits in rural landscapes; helicopters, hand baiting, and bait stations distributed baits in suburban landscapes ( bait densities ranged 59–118 baits/km2). Our study objectives were to quantify rabies case densities, evaluate efficacy of intervention efforts, and determine biological, census, geographical, and weather variables potentially affecting oralrabies vaccination of raccoons in Erie County. Overall, 16% and 9% of the raccoons in Erie County tested positive for virus-neutralizing antibodies (VNA) at the 0.125 and 0.5 international units (IU)/ml levels, respectively. We found no differences between baiting strategies and frequencies of antibody-positive raccoons. However, adult males generally consumed baits most often, and the probability of seropositivity increased with raccoon age. Seroprevalence of VNA differed among raccoon sex and age classes, and vaccination year. A post-hoc kernel density estimation of rabies-positive raccoons and skunks (Mephitis mephitis) from 1992– 2006 (n = 364) revealed clustering in northeastern Erie County. Our results should help ORV managers maximize limited resources.


The paper presents the design and implementation of an IOT-based health monitoring system for emergency medical services which can demonstrate collection, integration, and interoperation of IoT data flexibly which can provide support to emergency medical services like Intensive Care Units (ICU), using a INTEL GALILEO 2ND generation development board. The proposed model enables users to improve health related risks and reduce healthcare costs by collecting, recording, analyzing and sharing large data streams in real time and efficiently. The idea of this project came so to reduce the headache of patient to visit to doctor every time he need to check his blood pressure, heart beat rate, temperature etc. With the help of this proposal the time of both patients and doctors are saved and doctors can also help in emergency scenario as much as possible. The proposed outcome of the project is to give proper and efficient medical services to patients by connecting and collecting data information through health status monitors which would include patient's heart rate, blood pressure and ECG and sends an emergency alert to patient's doctor with his current status and full medical information.


The definitive guide to penetrating and defending wireless networks.Straight from the field, this is the definitive guide to hacking wireless networks. Authored by world-renowned wireless security auditors, this hands-on, practical guide covers everything you need to attack -- or protect -- any wireless network.The authors introduce the 'battlefield,' exposing today's 'wide open' 802.11 wireless networks and their attackers. One step at a time, you'll master the attacker's entire arsenal of hardware and software tools: crucial knowledge for crackers and auditors alike. Next, you'll learn systematic countermeasures for building hardened wireless 'citadels''including cryptography-based techniques, authentication, wireless VPNs, intrusion detection, and more.Coverage includes: Step-by-step walkthroughs and explanations of typical attacks Building wireless hacking/auditing toolkit: detailed recommendations, ranging from discovery tools to chipsets and antennas Wardriving: network mapping and site surveying Potential weaknesses in current and emerging standards, including 802.11i, PPTP, and IPSec Implementing strong, multilayered defenses Wireless IDS: why attackers aren't as untraceable as they think Wireless hacking and the law: what's legal, what isn'tIf you're a hacker or security auditor, this book will get you in. If you're a netadmin, sysadmin, consultant, or home user, it will keep everyone else out.


Abstract. We examined the influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) on the atmospheric dispersion of pollution by computing the emission, transport and removal of idealized insoluble gaseous and water-soluble aerosol tracers, tagged by the continent of origin. We simulated a period of 50 yr (1960–2010), using the ECHAM5/MESSy1 atmospheric chemistry (EMAC) general circulation model. The model accounts for anthropogenic, biogenic and biomass burning sources, removal of trace gases through OH oxidation, and precipitation, sedimentation and deposition of aerosols. The model is shown to reproduce the observed spatial features of the NAO, moisture transports and precipitation. During high NAO phase seasons the axis of maximum westerly North American trace gas transports extends relatively far to the north and east over Europe. The NAO phase is significantly correlated with North American insoluble gas and soluble aerosol tracer concentrations over the northwestern Atlantic Ocean and across northern Europe, and with European trace gases and aerosols over Africa and north of the Arctic circle. We find a strong anti-correlation between the phase of the NAO and European pollutant gas concentration over western and central Europe.


ABSTRACT
Eight composite PM10-2.5 source profiles were developed for resuspended dust and vehicle exhaust emissions with 32 chemical species, including 21 elements (Al, As, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, K, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, Pb, S, Sb, Se, V, and Zn), 9 water-soluble ions (Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, NH4+, Cl–, F–, NO3–, and SO42–), and carbonaceous fractions (OC and EC). Dust samples were dominated by crustal elements (Al, Ca, Fe, and Mg) while exhaust emissions showed high abundances of carbonaceous aerosol (OC and EC). Crustal species (Al, Fe, Mg, and Na) were more enriched over native soils in PM10-2.5 as compared to PM2.5. The higher coefficients of divergence (COD) indicate that profiles differ from each other. Ca accounted for nearly 30% of PM10-2.5 mass in construction dust while Fe accounted for nearly 20% of PM10-2.5 mass in paved road dust. Three- and four-wheeler diesel exhaust profiles consisted of 5–7% EC, with 6–10 times higher Pb, Se, and S abundances than those in two-wheeler gasoline exhaust profile. The heavy-duty diesel exhaust profile consist of nearly 20% EC with abundant (> 0.5%) trace elements (e.g., Pb, Se, and Zn).


Offering portraits of such key figures as the Lumiere brothers, Georges Melies, Charles Pathe and Leon Gaumont, he looks at the early pioneers who transformed a fairground novelty into a global industry. The crisis caused by the First World War led France to surrender her position as the world's dominant film-making power, but French cinema forged a new role for itself as a beacon of cinematic possibility and achievement. Producing such distinctive film-makers as Jean Renoir, Marcel Pagnol, Sachy Guitry and Julien Duvivier, the French cinema's Golden Age boasted an intelligence, maturity and flair that classical Hollywood could admire but struggle to emulate. Suggesting a Gallic attitude that has always considered the cinema to be as much a cause as a business, Drazin looks at the extraordinary resilience of the French film industry during the Second World War when, in spite of the national catastrophe of defeat and occupation, it was still able to produce such classics as "Le Corbeau" and "Les Enfants du Paradis". Finally, he traces its remarkable post-war regeneration. He looks at the seminal impact of the New Wave of film-makers - typified by Truffaut and Godard - but also at the other waves that have followed since. As he brings the story up-to-date - with Jacques Audaird's award-winning "A Prophet" - he seeks to capture the essence of the French film tradition and why it continues to matter to anyone who cares about the cinema.


Little is known about the nutrition of the Australian short-finned eel,
Anguilla.australis.australis (Richardson) although it is considered as a prime
candidate for inland aquaculture in Australia. This study provides information about
the protein metabolism of the juvenile Australian short-finned eel. The efficiency of
partitioning dietary protein into growth is closely related to the amount of nonprotein
energy yielding substrates and the quality of protein (the availability and
balance of amino acids) sources provided in the diet. The measurement of
nitrogenous excretion can also give an insight into the nitrogen balance of fish and
partly define the success of a particular nutritional regimen. Therefore, this study
aimed at measuring the growth, growth efficiency and nitrogenous excretion of the
juvenile Australian short-finned eel fed over a range of dietary protein:energy ratios
and with selected Australian plant and animal proteins. Since the maximum protein growth will occur over a narrow range of dietary
protein:energy ratios, the effects of increasing dietary crude protein contents at two
different energy levels on the growth and growth efficiency were measured. A 10 %
increase in dietary crude protein (from 25 to 35 %) in low protein:high non-protein
energy diets positively affected weight gain whereas significantly (P <0.05) reduced
weight gain was observed for a 10 % crude protein increase (from 45 to 55 %) in
high protein:low non-protein energy diets. The whole body crude protein content
was not affected by diet but the whole body crude lipid content decreased with the
10 % crude protein increase at each energy level. This study indicated a proteinsparing
effect of non-protein energy sources in the diets of short-finned elvers. A
lipid to carbohydrate ratio of 0.9 appeared to be needed for the maximum growth.
The optimum dietary digestible crude protein (DCP):digestible energy (MJ DE)
requirement of the short-finned elvers was investigated with 7.5 % crude protein
increments (from 25 to 55 % of the diets) in iso-energetic diets. The optimum dietary
digestible crude protein was estimated as dietary percentage (% CP DM) and as a
dietary digestible crude protein:digestible energy ratio (g DCP/MJ DE) using total
weight gain (g). Second order polynomial (quadratic) and 5-SKM (five parameter
saturation kinetics) models were chosen for the estimation of the optimum dietary digestible crude protein. Two models gave similar results estimating the optimum
dietary digestible crude protein as 43.0 % CP DM (±3.5) (r2 = 0.79; F=9.2157;
P=0.021) and 41 % CP DM (r2=0.77) or as 24.5 g.DCP/MJ DE (±1.7) (r2=0.83;
F=12.0573; P=0.012) and 23.5 g DCP/MJ DE (r2=0.75) respectively. Whole body
crude protein and lipid contents tended to increase with increasing dietary crude
protein in this experiment.
Nitrogen losses are primarily through faeces and metabolic excretion and largely
influenced by dietary composition. Increasing protein content at two energy levels
caused peak nitrogenous excretion rates 4-8 h following both the morning and
afternoon feed. Daily ammonia-nitrogen excretion was significantly (P<0.05) higher
on high protein:low non-protein energy diet (P55) compared to the P35 and P45
diets. Increasing dietary crude protein intake resulted in increasing ammonia-
(y=0.022x+0.058; n=12; ?=0.88; P<0.001) and urea-nitrogen (y=0.0044x+0.426;
n=12; r2=0.55; P<0.05) excretion in treatments. The proportional increase in ureanitrogen
excretion to total nitrogenous excretion with increasing dietary non-protein
energy sources also indicated that urea-nitrogen excretion in the Australian shortfirmed
eel could be more responsive to nutritional variables. Fish meal is an expensive component of fish feeds and replacement of it with
alternative protein sources without compromising the growth rate has been a priority
in aquaculture nutrition research. Apparent digestibility coefficients were measured
in order to assess the suitability of selected Australian plant and animal protein
sources for fish meal replacement. Apparent crude protein digestibility was high for
the selected Australian plant proteins and animal by-products. However, dry matter
and energy digestibilities were found to be significantly (P<0.0001) higher for
animal by-products than for plant proteins except for corn gluten meal. This was
explained by the higher content of nitrogen free extract (NFE) in all the plant
proteins except corn gluten meal. A final experiment was conducted to test the
effects of fish meal replacement with corn gluten meal, meat meal, lupin meal and
soy bean meal in diets using the optimum DCP/MJ DE ratio on growth, growth
efficiencies and nitrogenous excretion by the Australian short-finned elvers by
formulating the diets according to the optimum DCP/MJ DE ratio and ADC values
determined in the present study.
This study primarily showed better dietary protein retention efficiencies when
juvenile Australian short-finned eel were fed low protein:high non-protein energy
diets and established the optimum DCP/MJ DE requirement of this species for
maximum growth. The establishment of the optimum protein:energy ratio and
identification of highly digestible alternative protein sources provides a basis for
decreasing nitrogenous waste production, maximising protein retention and better
eel culture practises in Australia generally.


A new model of economic development focused on the encouragement of smart, inclusive and sustainable economic growth is the core of the Europe 2020 strategy. Education is widely acknowledged as being a key factor leading to economic growth and economic development, in the long term. But the impact of different kind of achievements in education on growth has little empirical evidence, especially when examining the South-Eastern European countries. This paper analyses the role played by different types of educational achievements, aggregated at the macroeconomic level, beside a set of other potential socio-economic drivers, on the economic growth and quality of life, in the South Eastern Europe, based on the Eurostat panel dataset. A number of panel data regression models using the GMM and FGLS estimators allow answering our research questions. Our empirical results indicate what policy measures are the most effective to target both the economic growth and quality of life.


After the U.S. Supreme Court upheld in the Kelo decision the use of eminent domain for private-to-private transfer of property for economic development, public outrage was followed by attempts to restrict such use of eminent domain. Opponents of restrictions predicted dire consequences for state and local economies. This study considers whether restricting the use of eminent domain for economic development results in negative economic effects. The authors examine economic indicators before and after legislative or judicial restrictions on eminent domain across all states and between states based on the type of legislative/judicial change. Results indicate that there appear to be no negative economic consequences resulting from limiting the use of eminent domain when examining economic indicators before and after legislative/judicial change. Adopting either moderate or major eminent domain restrictions appears to create no economic ill effects when analyzing differences in trends based on the type of legislation passed or scope of judicial decision.


We developed an application for Android™-based mobile devices that allows real-time electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring and automated arrhythmia detection by analyzing ECG parameters. ECG data provided by pre-recorded files or acquired live by accessing a Shimmer™ sensor node via Bluetooth™ can be processed and evaluated. The application is based on the Pan-Tompkins algorithm for QRS-detection and contains further algorithm blocks to detect abnormal heartbeats. The algorithm was validated using the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia and MIT-BIH Supraventricular Arrhythmia databases. More than 99% of all QRS complexes were detected correctly by the algorithm. Overall sensitivity for abnormal beat detection was 89.5% with a specificity of 80.6%. The application is available for download and may be used for real-time ECG-monitoring on mobile devices.