Most wildlife casualties seen in veterinary practice are from common species living in close proximity to humans. Despite recent declines in bat populations, certain species are still relatively abundant in the UK. Many of these bats roost in buildings, increasing their potential exposure to man-made hazards. Their small size and adaptations to flight make them a challenge for the veterinary practitioner. Vets should be aware of the health risks of handling bats, and should have realistic expectations regarding their chances of survival. Practitioners should also be familiar with the legislation pertaining to bats and their roosts. The successful rehabilitation of bats is often time consuming and specialised, and relies on collaborating with local bat groups and those experienced in caring for bats. This article describes the general approach to dealing with bats and outlines the common conditions that might be encountered in these animals.


While the courts of Member States are enabled or even required to submit preliminary questions concerning the interpretation of EU law to the Court of Justice of the European Union such referrals have traditionally been held inadmissible where made by arbitration panels. The article highlights a gradual softening of the Court of Justice's position on this matter which would allow arbitral tribunals in investment protection proceedings to address the Court of Justice already at present. It further outlines some fundamental changes in the overall environment of commercial arbitration which should lead to a reversal of the Court's position also in this field.


The growing gap between data and users calls for innovative tools that address the challenges faced by big data volume, velocity and variety. Along with these standard three V's of big data, an emerging fourth "V" is veracity, which addresses the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the data. Traditional cryptographic techniques that ensure the veracity of data can have overheads that are too large to apply to big data. This work introduces a new technique called Computing on Masked Data (CMD), which improves data veracity by allowing computations to be performed directly on masked data and ensuring that only authorized recipients can unmask the data. Using the sparse linear algebra of associative arrays, CMD can be performed with significantly less overhead than other approaches while still supporting a wide range of linear algebraic operations on the masked data. Databases with strong support of sparse operations, such as SciDB or Apache Accumulo, are ideally suited to this technique. Examples are shown for the application of CMD to a complex DNA matching algorithm and to database operations over social media data.


Snakebite is not an uncommon medical emergency in India; however, symptoms of autonomic dysfunction in snakebite are rare. The elapid snake envenomation is a frequent occurrence in India, and the krait bite is prevalent in the south Indian region. Here, we present three cases of snakebite with severe hypertension and requiring intravenous nitroglycerin (NTG). As the level of blood pressure (BP) decreased significantly following antisnake venom (ASV) injection in all three cases, it is likely that snake venom-induced dysautonomia might have contributed to severe hypertension in such patients. Clinical and therapeutic challenges of these cases are highlighted, so that practitioners coping with medical emergencies in resource-limited situations can consider snake (krait) bite in the differential diagnosis, and also manage effectively according to corroborative clinical evidences. Copyright 2013, SciBioIMed.Org, Published by Reed Elsevier India Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved.


Gallbladder volvulus or gall bladder torsion (GBT) is a relatively rare condition affecting roughly 1 in 365,520 patients. Only about 300 such cases have been reported in the literature but the age range is 2 to 100 years old. The first case was described by Wendel in 1898 in which he described it as a "floating gallbladder." It is defined as a rotation where there is a mechanical organo-axial torsion that occurs along the gallbladders longitudinal axis involving the cystic duct and artery. But the etiology is still not well known. The condition is overwhelming found in the geriatric population with 85% of patients being over the age of 60. There is a predilection for white females as well.


A novel multiport isolated bidirectional dc-dc converter for hybrid battery and supercapacitor applications is presented, which can achieve zero voltage switching for all switches in the whole load range. The bidirectional power flow between any two of the ports is free, and the circulating power is low for the well matching of the transformer voltages of all time regardless of the voltage variations of the battery and supercapacitor. Moreover, the current ripples are greatly decreased by interleaved control, which is good for battery and supercapacitor. The converter topology and the operation principle are introduced. Detailed analysis on soft-switching of all switches is given. On the basis of theoretical analysis, the principle and method for parameter designing are provided. A hybrid energy management strategy combining bus voltage control and energy management of the energy storage devices is proposed and the control scheme is presented. Moreover, detailed parameter design of a prototype converter is given for a 380-V dc-bus microgrid lab system. Effectiveness of the control strategy, correctness of the analysis on soft-switching, and the parameter design methods are verified by the simulation and experimental results.


Drunk driving, or officially Driving Under the Influence (DUI) of alcohol, is a major cause of traffic accidents throughout the world. In this paper, we propose a highly efficient system aimed at early detection and alert of dangerous vehicle maneuvers typically related to drunk driving. The entire solution requires only a mobile phone placed in vehicle and with accelerometer and orientation sensor. A program installed on the mobile phone computes accelerations based on sensor readings, and compares them with typical drunk driving patterns extracted from real driving tests. Once any evidence of drunk driving is present, the mobile phone will automatically alert the driver or call the police for help well before accident actually happens. We implement the detection system on Android G1 phone and have it tested with different kinds of driving behaviors. The results show that the system achieves high accuracy and energy efficiency.


An ancient Sumerian proverb may be read as "good fortune [is embedded in] organisation and wisdom."1 The present centennial survey is solely about organizing the last one hundred years of scholarship for a Sumerian afterlife myth named "Inanna's Descent to the Netherworld." The initial discovery of artifacts with snippets of the myth can be dated to as early as 1889. English translations of the myth emerged around 1920 and were followed by numerous archaeological expeditions and subsequent translation efforts. Such efforts, by many scholars and institutions, resulted in an authoritative 2001 version of the myth published by the University of Oxford via the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL). The 2001 version, titled "Inana's descent to the nether world" is 412 lines long and utilizes over fifty cuneiform artifacts (sources). The impact of this work has been mainstream and interdisciplinary interest in Inanna, the myth, and her role in antiquity. However, the technical nature of studying ancient Sumer may alienate a broader audience. The survey contained herein attempts to organize and explain the key people, concepts, events, and institutions involved with the discovery of "Inanna's Descent." Nontechnical readers can expect to learn how and why we arrived at the likely complete translation we have today. Light background information and a chronology of scholarly work are followed by a brief discussion on promising areas of further research. The appendix contains a comprehensive catalog of referenced artifact data. 1. Jeremy A. Black and Graham E. Cunningham, "Proverbs: Collection 1," The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL), University of Oxford (1998-2003), last modified June 13, 2002, http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/proverbs/t.6.1.01.html. [Segment A, No. 25]


Abstract. Aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrievals from geostationary satellites have high temporal resolution compared to the polar orbiting satellites and thus enable us to monitor aerosol motion. However, current Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) have only one visible channel for retrieving aerosols and hence the retrieval accuracy is lower than those from the multichannel polar-orbiting satellite instruments such as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). The operational GOES AOD retrieval algorithm (GOES Aerosol/Smoke Product, GASP) uses 28-day composite images from the visible channel to derive surface reflectance, which can produce large uncertainties. In this work, we develop a new AOD retrieval algorithm for the GOES imager by applying a modified Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) algorithm. The algorithm assumes the surface Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) in the channel 1 of GOES is proportional to seasonal average MODIS BRDF in the 2.1 μm channel. The ratios between them are derived through time series analysis of the GOES visible channel images. The results of AOD and surface reflectance retrievals are evaluated through comparisons against those from Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET), GASP, and MODIS. The AOD retrievals from the new algorithm demonstrate good agreement with AERONET retrievals at several sites across the US with correlation coefficients ranges from 0.71 to 0.85 at five out of six sites. At the two western sites Railroad Valley and UCSB, the MAIAC AOD retrievals have correlations of 0.8 and 0.85 with AERONET AOD, and are more accurate than GASP retrievals, which have correlations of 0.7 and 0.74 with AERONET AOD. At the three eastern sites, the correlations with AERONET AOD are from 0.71 to 0.81, comparable to the GASP retrievals. In the western US where surface reflectance is higher than 0.15, the new algorithm also produces larger AOD retrieval coverage than both GASP and MODIS.


In 2009 the Santa Barbara School District launched an intervention program for some of the students identified by school personnel as possibly involved in gangs. In this pilot year the program was evaluated by a research team led by Dr. Victor Rios, from the University of California, Santa Barbara, to document the program's implementation, analyze program efficacy, and determine student needs. This evaluation included qualitative pre test surveys completed by 59 students and qualitative post test surveys completed by 84 students. These surveys were designed to measure the students' attitudes towards school, community and family, and also allowed for the confidential reporting of violence, victimization, crime and gang-involvement. The evaluation also consisted of participant observations of group sessions, events and workshops in which four researchers shadowed the outreach worker to witness the immediate impact participation in the program had on students. The evaluators also conducted forty in-depth interviews with individual students and ten focus group interviews. These interviews included open-ended and structured questions regarding their perceptions of the outreach worker and how he has impacted their perceptions and aspirations. Finally, grade, attendance, suspension, and citizenship data were analyzed in an attempt to measure academic progress. We found that the program's "Gang Intervention Specialist" (from here on "outreach worker" or "GIS") employs a motivational approach that is supported by the findings of previous evaluations of gang prevention and intervention programs. A motivational approach emphasizes building a one-on-one relationship based on trust and advocacy. Some of the leading researchers specializing in gang intervention programs have concluded that these motivational, "detached worker programs" are particularly suited for helping gang youth by connecting with them on their level. Outreach workers with similar backgrounds who can understand the experiences of the students they work with are adept at connecting these youth with school and community. Overall, the outreach worker appears to be meeting the school district's primary goals of connecting the students with school and reducing the level of gang related conflict and violence. For example, students reported greater levels of attachment to school six months after the evaluation's pre test surveys. 71% of students reported that grades were always or usually very important to them in the post test survey and 54.2% indicated that they wanted to achieve a university degree, which represented a dramatic rise from the 26% who claimed to have similar aspirations in the pre test. Students also reported lower rates of delinquency, victimization, and pressure to join gangs after their participation in the outreach program. The program has been found as overall effective based on the improvement of student levels of self-esteem, educational attitudes, and self-reported decrease in negative gang behaviors. Thirty of 110 students that Mr. Huerta worked with, or 27% raised, their G.P.A by at least .25 points within two marking periods. 51% of students experienced no change in their G.P.A. 22% of students saw a drop of .25 points or more in their G.P.A. No significant changes in citizenship, attendance, or suspensions were found.


In this paper we show that highly skilled undocumented migrants are more likely to return home than migrants with low or no skills when illegality causes "skill waste", i.e. when illegality reduces the rate of return of individual capabilities (i.e. skills and human capital) in both the labor and the financial markets of the country of destination. This proposition is first illustrated in a simple life-cycle framework, where illegality acts as a tax on skills, and then is tested on a sample of apprehended immigrants that crossed unlawfully the Italian borders in 2003. The estimation confirms that the intention to return to the home country is more likely for highly skilled than low-skill illegal immigrants. The presence of migration networks in the destination country may lower the skill-waste effect. The empirical result of this paper contrasts with the common wisdom on return decisions of legal migrants, according to which low-skill individuals are more likely to go back home rather than highly skilled migrants.


Objective:To assess the performance of published risk prediction models in common use in adult critical care in the United Kingdom and to recalibrate these models in a large representative database of critical care admissions. Design:Prospective cohort study. Setting:A total of 163 adult general critical care units in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, during the period of December 1995 to August 2003. Patients:A total of 231,930 admissions, of which 141,106 met inclusion criteria and had sufficient data recorded for all risk prediction models. Interventions:None. Measurements and Main Results:The published versions of the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II, APACHE II UK, APACHE III, Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) II, and Mortality Probability Models (MPM) II were evaluated for discrimination and calibration by means of a combination of appropriate statistical measures recommended by an expert steering committee. All models showed good discrimination (the c index varied from 0.803 to 0.832) but imperfect calibration. Recalibration of the models, which was performed by both the Cox method and re-estimating coefficients, led to improved discrimination and calibration, although all models still showed significant departures from perfect calibration. Conclusions:Risk prediction models developed in another country require validation and recalibration before being used to provide risk-adjusted outcomes within a new country setting. Periodic reassessment is beneficial to ensure calibration is maintained.


Hopping is a complicated dynamic behaviour in the animal kingdom. Development of a hopping machine that can mimic the biomechanics of jumping in Homo sapiens is envisioned. In this context, the design, development and control of a cost-effective, pneumatically actuated, one-legged hopping machine were initiated at the University ofRegina in 2005. The pneumatic actuator has a simple design that employs an off-the-shelf on/off control valve which regulates the air pressure supplied to the hopper's body using a pulse width modulated PWM signal. The objective is to maintain a constant jumping height in the hopper after going through a finite number of hopping cycles. The mechanistic model of the system was investigated in full detail. This model facilitates: 1 the design of the actuating system, and 2 the synthesis and verification of different control strategies in a simulation environment prior to implementation in the real world. The movement of the hopper is supported by a vertical slide; therefore, the hopper can only jump in place. However, the proposed control strategy and the propulsion unit can be further utilised for stable hopping in a 3-D environment. A model-free Neuro-PD controller was then designed, trained and implemented on a real system. Simulation and experimentation showed promising results. This system can be used as an educational tool for teaching real-time control of hybrid and non-linear systems. It can be also used as a biomechatronics test bed to simulate the effect of different timings in firing action potentials in jump-causing leg muscles on achieving a desired jumping height in the animal kingdom.


This study investigates whether lexical knowledge in the first language (L1) of late Turkish-Dutch bilinguals becomes less accessible for the production of fluent speech and in controlled experimental tasks as a result of extended stay in the Netherlands. It is also considered to what degree extra-linguistic factors can account for this phenomenon. Data are collected from the first generation Turkish migrants (n = 52) and from a monolingual reference group in Turkey (n = 52) via a lexical naming task, a free speech task and a sociolinguistic background questionnaire. The results show that the bilingual group is indistinguishable from the monolinguals on the experimental task. However, in the free speech task, they not only are significantly more disfluent than the monolinguals but also make significantly less use of diverse, in particular low-frequency, vocabulary. Overall, the results signal that bilinguals were outperformed by the monolinguals in spontaneous language production but not on a controlled task. We interpret this finding to indicate a decrease of automaticity in the access to linguistic knowledge which impedes the rapid integration of information from all linguistic levels. Further analyses with respect to the relations between the L1 change and nonlinguistic factors are discussed within the Activation Threshold Hypothesis (ATH).


This second edition of the Age of Propaganda is excellent. (Should I explicitly tell you my conclusion?) I will use a two-sided argument to try to convince you to read this book. (Is a two-sided argument relevant in this situation and, if so, should I tell you the good news first or last?) I will reduce the asides in the rest of this review because are distracting (and distraction is not useful here, as the arguments to purchase this book are strong); suffice it to say that these are the types of issues that the authors address.


There is an urgent need to develop in situ sensors that monitor the continued release of H2S from biological systems to understand H2S-related pathology and pharmacology. For this purpose, we have developed a molybdenum disulfide supported double-layered zinc cobaltite modified carbon cloth electrode (MoS2-ZnCo2O4-ZnCo2O4) based electrocatalytic sensor. The results of our study suggest that the MoS2-ZnCo2O4-ZnCo2O4 electrode has excellent electrocatalytic ability to oxidize H2S at physiological pH, in a minimized overpotential (+0.20 vs. Ag/AgCl) with an amplified current signal. MoS2 grown on double-layered ZnCo2O4 showed relatively better surface properties and electrochemical properties than MoS2 grown on single-layered ZnCo2O4. The sensor delivered excellent analytical parameters, such as low detection limit (5 nM), wide linear range (10 nM-1000 μM), appreciable stability (94.3%) and high selectivity (2.5-fold). The practicality of the method was tested in several major biological fluids. The electrode monitors the dynamics of bacterial H2S in real-time for up to 5 h with good cell viability. Our research shows that MoS2-ZnCo2O4-ZnCo2O4/carbon cloth is a robust and sensitive electrode to understand how bacteria seek to adjust their defense strategies under exogenously induced stress conditions.


We enter the debate over the role of sex in judging by addressing the two predominant empirical questions it raises: whether male and female judges decide cases distinctly (individual effects) and whether the presence of a female judge on a panel causes her male colleagues to behave differently (panel effects). We do not, however, rely exclusively on the predominant statistical models - variants of standard regression analysis - to address them. Because these tools alone are ill-suited to the task at hand, we deploy a more appropriate methodology - non-parametric matching - which follows from a formal framework for causal inference. Applying matching methods to sex discrimination suits resolved in the federal circuits between 1995 and 2002 yields two clear results. First, we observe substantial individual effects: The likelihood of a judge deciding in favor of the party alleging discrimination decreases by about 10 percentage points when the judge is a male. Likewise, we find that men are significantly more likely to rule in favor of the rights litigant when a woman serves on the panel. Both effects are so persistent and consistent that they may come as a surprise even to those scholars who have long posited the existence of gendered judging.


The ability to sense iron ions (Fe3+) has attracted considerable attention because of the crucial role that Fe3+ plays in a variety of vital cell functions. In this article, two novel near-infrared (NIR) cyanine-based compounds CAM and CAT bearing specific binding functional groups were developed for the detection of iron ions (Fe3+). Intriguingly, compared with CAT, only CAM with an N-(2-hydroxyethyl)acetamide group as the receptor can recognize the Fe3+ ion with high selectivity and sensitivity. The "naked-eye" color change from pea green to deep blue enables CAM to act as a highly efficient colorimetric sensor for the Fe3+ ion. Moreover, the unique NIR fluorescence response of CAM with Fe3+ was also observed in the presence of other competitive transition metal ions or cellular cations. Finally, CAM, with its excellent membrane permeability, was successfully applied for monitoring Fe3+ in colorectal cancer cells by fluorescence microscopy. This work offers a convenient colorimetric and fluorometric NIR Fe3+-selective probe based on the modification of typical tricarbocyanines, and cell imaging studies demonstrate that this sensor is capable of intracellular sensing of Fe3+ in living colorectal cancer cells, and eventually whole organisms.


Abstract The clay mineralogy and surface charge characteristics of four basaltic soils from Western Samoa have been studied. The soils contained subordinate to dominant amounts of poorly ordered allophanic material in addition to varying amounts of crystalline free iron oxide minerals. Infrared studies revealed the presence of trace to subordinate amounts of kaolin minerals in all the soils. The surface charge-pH curves followed a constant potential model indicating the presence of substantial amounts of pH-dependent charge. Some negative charge was present, however, at pH values as low as 3.0 and small quantities of positive charge were detected at pH values as high as 9. Values for PZC ranged from 2.2 to 3.9 and these were generally higher than the pHo determined by the ∆pH method.


© 2019 The Authors. R & D Management published by RADMA and John Wiley & Sons Ltd This conceptual paper traces the origins and progress of Open Science and proposes its generative coupling to Open Innovation in the contemporary socio-political context; where universities are re-imaging their civic missions in the face of anti-establishment populist politics. This setting is one of changing knowledge production regimes and institutional pressures that create contradictions identifiable through the prism of the series of scientific norms conceptualised by Robert K. Merton. This paper privileges a sociological perspective to proffer scientific knowledge production as a societally embedded process, which is well illustrated by scholarship in the Science and Technology Studies (STS) and Science in Society fields. In doing so, it identifies the co-evolution, co-existence and co-production of Open Science with Open Innovation; and notes how it shares the attributes of other recent diagnoses of changing knowledge production regimes; in particular Mode 2, post-normal science and the Quadruple Helix. It also argues that Open Science can be coupled with Open Innovation to catalyse positive societal change, but that the rise of a populist post-truth era opposed to objectivity, expertise and technocratic political solutions gives the demand for openness and participation a different complexion. Merton's norms provide a useful lens to observe recent shifts in the delivery of science, knowledge and innovation in society towards more inclusive, ethical and sustainable outcomes; and expose the limited reflection on how the appropriation and exploitation of open scientific knowledge encounters industrial R&D and Open Innovation.


From the pyramids and the Parthenon to the Sydney Opera House and the Bilbao Guggenheim, this book takes readers on an eye-opening tour of the mathematics behind some of the world's most spectacular buildings. Beautifully illustrated, the book explores the milestones in elementary mathematics that enliven the understanding of these buildings and combines this with an in-depth look at their aesthetics, history, and structure. Whether using trigonometry and vectors to explain why Gothic arches are structurally superior to Roman arches, or showing how simple ruler and compass constructions can produce sophisticated architectural details, Alexander Hahn describes the points at which elementary mathematics and architecture intersect.

 Beginning in prehistoric times, Hahn proceeds to guide readers through the Greek, Roman, Islamic, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and modern styles. He explores the unique features of the Pantheon, the Hagia Sophia, the Great Mosque of Cordoba, the Duomo in Florence, Palladio's villas, and Saint Peter's Basilica, as well as the U.S. Capitol Building. Hahn celebrates the forms and structures of architecture made possible by mathematical achievements from Greek geometry, the Hindu-Arabic number system, two- and three-dimensional coordinate geometry, and calculus. Along the way, Hahn introduces groundbreaking architects, including Brunelleschi, Alberti, da Vinci, Bramante, Michelangelo, della Porta, Wren, Gaudi, Saarinen, Utzon, and Gehry.

 Rich in detail, this book takes readers on an expedition around the globe, providing a deeper understanding of the mathematical forces at play in the world's most elegant buildings.


Recent studies have found that self-reported life satisfaction drops during the transition into parenthood which has been mainly attributed to work-family conflict. This study investigates whether different forms of flexible employment can alleviate this drop in parental life satisfaction during this period. A fixed-effects analysis in an event study framework using Australian household survey data (HILDA) delivers convincing evidence that working flexibly indeed alleviates the drop in subjective well-being suggesting that it relieves the stress related to work-family conflict. Moreover, we find substantial gender heterogeneity in the effects different types of flexible employment have on mothers and fathers. Mothers with short part-time jobs (0-20 hours per week) exhibit greater life satisfaction than mothers who work full-time, especially when their children are younger than 4 years old. Among fathers, self-scheduling and home-based work yield a significant increase in perceived happiness as compared to fixed employment terms. This is especially true for fathers of one- and two-years-olds. These results are consistent with a typical intra-household time allocation of parents in Australia.


Water shortage is a severe problem for millions of people living along the southern fringe of the Sahara desert. Consequently, communities residing in the semi-arid, western Sahel zone fully depend on rivers such as the Niger for their livelihoods. Mali is a classic case of a 'river-dependent economy' that is subject to enormous seasonal variation in rainfall and river flow. A popular solution to this climate dependency in the western Sahel zone has been the development of hydro-electric and hydro-agricultural irrigation schemes. Although Mali's hydro-electric and hydro-agricultural potential has yet to be fully realised, it is widely questioned whether the costs and benefits of such mega-investments are properly estimated. Besides the economic feasibility (i.e. direct costs and benefits) of additional dams, it is still unclear what the indirect effects of hydro-electric and hydro-agricultural schemes are on downstream m beneficiaries of rivers. These beneficiaries include fishermen, cattle breeders, shipping companies and farmers, as well as the biodiversity of the river and connected flood-plains. The main objective of this study is to determine the role of dams and irrigation schemes in the overall economy and ecology of the Inner Niger Delta and the upstream region (extending across both Mali and Guinea). An integrated assessment has been conducted to determine the direct and indirect costs and benefits of different Niger River management regimes. This involved an analysis of i) potential changes to the hydrology, ii) subsequent ecological impacts, and iii) social and economic effects. Estimating the costs and benefits associated with dams in the Niger River basin required the use of various valuation techniques, such as the production function approach and the contingent valuation method. Overall, this study recommends improving the performance of the existing infrastructure, as well as the economic activities, in the Inner Niger Delta. Our analysis shows that this is a significantly more efficient way to increase economic growth, reduce poverty and protect the environment in the region, compared to building a new dam and hydropower plant.


Abstract. We present 5 years of GOSAT XCH4 retrieved using the "proxy" approach. The Proxy XCH4 data are validated against ground-based TCCON observations and are found to be of high quality with a small bias of 4.8 ppb (∼ 0.27 %) and a single-sounding precision of 13.4 ppb (∼ 0.74 %). The station-to-station bias (ameasure of the relative accuracy) is found to be 4.2 ppb. For the first time the XCH4 / XCO2 ratio component of the Proxy retrieval is validated (bias of 0.014 ppb ppm−1 (∼ 0.30 %), single-sounding precision of 0.033 ppb ppm−1 (∼ 0.72 %)). The uncertainty relating to the model XCO2 component of the Proxy XCH4 is assessed through the use of an ensemble of XCO2 models. While each individual XCO2 model is found to agree well with the TCCON validation data (r = 0.94–0.97), it is not possible to select one model as the best from our comparisons. The median XCO2 value of the ensemble has a smaller scatter against TCCON (a standard deviation of 0.92 ppm) than any of the individual models whilst maintaining a small bias (0.15 ppm). This model median XCO2 is used to calculate the Proxy XCH4 with the maximum deviation of the ensemble from the median used as an estimate of the uncertainty. We compare this uncertainty to the a posteriori retrieval error (which is assumed to reduce with sqrt(N)) and find typically that the model XCO2 uncertainty becomes significant during summer months when the a posteriori error is at its lowest due to the increase in signal related to increased summertime reflected sunlight. We assess the significance of these model and retrieval uncertainties on flux inversion by comparing the GOSAT XCH4 against modelled XCH4 from TM5-4DVAR constrained by NOAA surface observations (MACC reanalysis scenario S1-NOAA). We find that for the majority of regions the differences are much larger than the estimated uncertainties. Our findings show that useful information will be provided to the inversions for the majority of regions in addition to that already provided by the assimilated surface measurements.


ABSTRACT Increasingly, child welfare programs are encouraged to consider how technology can help meet the goals of child protection, permanency, and well-being. Qualitative inquiry was used in this study to explore caregivers' (biological parents, foster parents, kinship caregivers) perceptions of the use of smartphones to facilitate relational competence (an indicator of well-being) in foster youth. The implementation study (process and satisfaction evaluations) yielded mixed results concerning the viability of using smartphone technology to facilitate healthy, positive connections with appropriate adults. Although foster youth were highly satisfied with how this technology enabled them to forge relationships and establish connections, caregivers reported that the phone itself and the agency's rules and restrictions usurped their parental authority and responsibility. Foster youth reported gains with respect to relationship building with others, but caregivers felt the acquisition of smartphones, as a method of intervention, compromised their relationship with the youth and the youths' relationship with others. Caregivers also felt relations between foster youth and their workers were not necessarily enhanced via smartphone usage. Safeguards and recommendations concerning the use of smartphone technology, especially pertaining to prudent parenting, are discussed.


The problem addressed in this work is that of enhancing speech signals corrupted by additive noise and improving the performance of automatic speech recognizers in noisy conditions. The enhanced speech signals can also improve the intelligibility of speech in noisy conditions for human listeners with hearing impairment as well as for normal listeners.
The original Phase Opponency (PO) model, proposed to detect tones in noise, simulates the processing of the information in neural discharge times and exploits the frequency-dependent phase properties of the tuned filters in the auditory periphery along with the cross-auditory-nerve-fiber coincidence detection to extract temporal cues. The Modified Phase Opponency (MPO) proposed here alters the components of the PO model in such a way that the basic functionality of the PO model is maintained but the various properties of the model can be analyzed and modified independently of each other. This work presents a detailed mathematical formulation of the MPO model and the relation between the properties of the narrowband signal that needs to be detected and the properties of the MPO model. The MPO speech enhancement scheme is based on the premise that speech signals are composed of a combination of narrow band signals (i.e. harmonics) with varying amplitudes.
The MPO enhancement scheme outperforms many of the other speech enhancement techniques when evaluated using different objective quality measures. Automatic speech recognition experiments show that replacing noisy speech signals by the corresponding MPO-enhanced speech signals leads to an improvement in the recognition accuracies at low SNRs. The amount of improvement varies with the type of the corrupting noise. Perceptual experiments indicate that: (a) there is little perceptual difference in the MPO-processed clean speech signals and the corresponding original clean signals, and (b) the MPO-enhanced speech signals are preferred over the output of the other enhancement methods when the speech signals are corrupted by subway noise but the outputs of the other enhancement schemes are preferred when the speech signals are corrupted by car noise.


Researchers have explored a variety of technologies that enable a single display to simultaneously present different content when viewed from different angles or by different people. These displays provide new functionalities such as personalized views for multiple users, privacy protection, and stereoscopic 3D displays. However, current multi-view displays rely on special hardware, thus significantly limiting their availability to consumers and adoption in everyday scenarios. In this paper, we present a pure software solution (i.e. with no hardware modification) that allows us to present two independent views concurrently on the most widely used and affordable type of LCD screen, namely Twisted Nematic (TN). We achieve this by exploiting a technical limitation of the technology which causes these LCDs to show varying brightness and color depending on the viewing angle. We describe our technical solution as well as demonstrate example applications in everyday scenarios.


Spanish-dominant Hispanics in the United States face challenges to reaching optimal antiretroviral therapy adherence due to cultural-linguistic factors and motivation to adhere to medication. The authors used a mixed-methods approach using interviews guided by the Information-Motivation-Behavior Skills model to investigate motivational aspects associated with adherence in HIV-positive Spanish-dominant Hispanics. Twenty-five patients (aged 29–63 years, mean = 47.7 years) from a clinic serving the indigent/noninsured Hispanics were interviewed. Analyses revealed HIV stigma, the role of familia (family), social support, and depression were major themes within cultural contexts relevant to understanding motivational factors related to adherence. In addition, many participants reported worry about being seen taking HIV medications, that the medications will harm their health or will affect their looks, and medication side effects. The findings elucidate motivational factors and the influence of culture in adherence decision-making. For HIV-positive Spanish-dominant Hispanics, intervening to improve adherence will likely be most effective by targeting potential culturally relevant motivational barriers.


Study of the effect of Fermented Mixed Coconut Oil and Tofu Solid Waste Supplement on Meat Tenderness and Cholesterol of Broiler was aimed to determine the effect of the mixture of solid coconut oil and tofu waste that fermented with Aspergillus niger in ration on meat tenderness and meat cholesterol of broiler. Meat quality is one of final point of the consumer. There are some indicators such as meat tenderness and cholesterol contents. Solid coconut oil and solid tofu waste mixture and fermented by Aspergillus niger (CAKTAF) can be used as supplement in broiler feed. CAKTAF contained high protein and low fat; will improved the meat quality. 120 Cobb strain day-old chicks were used in this study for 5 weeks. The ration and drinking water was gave ad-libitum. This experiment used Completely Randomized Design (CRD) 6 x 4, consisted of six treatments (the usage rate of CAKTAF of 0% (R-0), 5% (R-1), 10% (R-2), 15% (R-3), 20% (R-4) and 25% (R-5) in the ration, and each treatment was repeated four times. Statistical tests performed by analysis of variance and differences between treatments effects were examined using Duncan's multiple range test. Results indicated that usage up to 25% CAKTAF in the ration will increase the meat tenderness and decrease the cholesterol contents in the meat.


Sustainability requires a wider awareness of the changing conditions for design today – rather than focused solely on preserving nature or conserving energy, per se, this opens up for challenging assumptions about relations between design and society and for constructing new forms of critical practice. Tracing tendencies in conceptual and (post)critical design, this paper argues for further developing the critical discourse within design today and design research as an important arena for extending the ideological and artifactual production of such discourse to users and stakeholders. In relation to my own experiences within the Static! and Switch! design research programs, these perspective are anchored in conceptual, operational, and practical examples of critical practices applied in the area of energy awareness.


In recent times, there has been considerable interest in creating and deploying modular cooperating collectives of robots. Interest in such cooperative systems typically arises when certain tasks are either too complex to be performed by a single agent or when there are distinct benefits that accrue by cooperation of many simple robotic modules. However, the nature of both the individual modules as well as their interactions can affect the overall system performance. In this paper, we examine this aspect in the context of cooperative payload transport by robot collectives wherein the physical nature of the interactions between the various modules creates a tight coupling within the system. We leverage the rich theoretical background of analysis of constrained mechanical systems to provide a systematic framework for formulation and evaluation of system-level performance on the basis of the individual-module characteristics. The composite multi-degree-of-freedom (DOF) wheeled vehicle, formed by supporting a common payload on the end-effectors of multiple individual mobile manipulator modules, is treated as an in-parallel system with articulated serial-chain arms. The system-level model, constructed from the twist- and wrench-based models of the attached serial chains, can then be systematically analyzed for performance (in terms of mobility and disturbance rejection). A two-module composite system example is used throughout the paper to highlight various aspects of methodical system model formulation, effects of selection of active, passive or locked articulations on system performance, and experimental validation on a hardware prototype test bed.


Increase of bandwidth demand in data networks, driven by the continuous growth of the Internet and the increase of bandwidth greedy applications, raise the issue of how to support all the bandwidth requirements in the near future. Three optical switching paradigms have been defined and are being investigated: Optical Circuit Switching (OCS); Optical Packet Switching (OPS); and Optical Burst Switching (OBS). Among these paradigms, OBS is seen as the most appropriate solution today. However, OBS suffers from high burst loss as a result of contention in the bufferless mode of operation. This issue was investigated by Coutelen et al., 2009 who proposed the loss-free CAROBS framework whereby signal convertors of the optical signal to the electrical domain ensure electrical buffering. Convertors increase the network price which must be minimized to reduce the installation and operating costs of the CAROBS framework.
An analysis capturing convertor requirements, with respect to the number of merging flows and CAROBS node offered load, was carried out. We demonstrated the convertor location significance, which led to an additional investigation of the shared wavelength convertors scenario. Shared wavelength convertors significantly decrease the number of required convertors and show great promise for CAROBS. Based on this study we can design a CAROBS network to contain a combination of simple and complex nodes that include none or some convertors respectively, a vital feature of network throughput efficiency and cost.


This paper looks at the current challenge facing higher education by exploring the historical relationship between higher education funding and long economic cycles in the UK, USA and France. It examines the consequence of the transformation of public-private income in higher education that followed the 1970s downturn, questioning whether the rise of private resources acted as additional or substitutive resources for public spending. The paper suggests that there is a risk that the cost-sharing strategy could be turned into a policy of public-private substitution of funding and provision, leading to a transfer rather than an increase of resources with strong implications on quality and equity. However, the Kondratiev cycle suggests an alternative route by designating the impact of the 1970s economic downturn on education as unique. Previous economic crises were contemporary of accelerations of public funding towards education which in fact contributed to economic recovery. The current crisis could represent an opportunity to revive counter-cyclical policy by looking not only at efficient public spending but also at developing fairer taxation. A revival of public funding complemented by an additional rather than substitutive diversification of income would rebalance the public-private structure of funding and drive a sustainable higher education system capable of playing a key part in these counter-cyclical transformations.


Scores in standardized international student achievement tests and some recent adult literacy studies provide interesting data on the quality of educational outputs and on the skill level of the population that can be a useful complement to the data on the quantity of schooling which have been most commonly used in the growth literature. This paper describes the most recent available primary data on the subject, reviews different attempts to organize, standardize, and summarize them, and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the existing indicators and their potential usefulness as explanatory variables in empirical analyses of the determinants of income and welfare levels and growth rates. A final section investigates the distribution of these indicators across a sample of 21 OECD countries.


Applied Optics
Specially designed two-dimensional (2D) arrays of nanometer-scale metallic antennas, or metasurfaces, may allow bulky optical components to be shrunk down to a planar device structure. Khorasaninejad et al. show that arrays of nanoscale fins of TiO can function as high-end optical lenses. At just a fraction of the size of optical objectives, such planar devices could turn your phone camera or your contact lens into a compound microscope. Maguid et al. interleaved sparse 2D arrays of metal antennas to get multifunctional behavior from the one planar device structure (see the Perspective by Litchinitser). The enhanced functionality of such designed metasurfaces could be used in sensing applications or to increase the communication capacity of nanophotonic networks.

Science , this issue pp. [1190][1] and [1202][2]; see also p. [1177][3]

 [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aaf6644
 [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aaf3417
 [3]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aaf8391


Introduction: There are general concerns about the hazardous impacts of the cell phones radiation on the human health. In this study, the structural and biochemical changes of the mice kidney were assessed after cell phone exposure in. Materials and methods: A total of 40 Balb/C mice were randomly divided into the control and experimental groups. The experimental group exposed to cell phone devices with a carrier frequency of 915 MHz, for 4 h a day during 60 consecutive days. After mobile phone exposure, the blood samples and also the renal tissues were taken out for histological and biochemical examinations. Results: The histological results revealed no light microscopic changes in the kidneys between two groups. Necrosis of the renal tubules epithelium was seen in some of the the sections belonging to the both control and experimental groups. Also, in the mice exposed to cell phone fields, the serum levels of creatinine, urea, chloride and total protein were not significantly altered. Although the serum levels of sodium and bicarbonate showed a significant increase, but the activity of alkaline phosphatase revealed no significant changes in comparison with control group. In addition, there are no morphometric, ultra-structural or light microscopic changes in the kidneys between two groups. In the treated animals; the mitochondria were often deformed in the shape and the cytoplasm of the renal tubules was folded in an abnormal manner. Conclusion: Based on the study, it could conclude that there is no toxic effect on the mice kidneys after exposure to cell phone radiation.


The United States Constitution is the longest-lasting written national constitution in the world. Its four parchment pages serve as the blueprint for a government under which more than 290 million Americans live. Its brevity and eloquence have inspired many other national constitutions. It is the document that established our three branches of government (legislative, executive, and judicial). It created our bicameral legislature (the House and Senate), and ensures a balance of power in our government through a careful system of checks and balances. Nearly one million people from around the globe visit the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C., annually to see the original, signed Constitution, along with other significant documents including the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. The United States Constitution holds great significance for the American people and for others around the world. But, when it was first drafted during the summer of 1787 by 55 delegates from 12 of the 13 states, the document's future, and that of the government it established, was uncertain. (1) This treasured document was then part of a six-page report that the delegates to the Philadelphia convention submitted to Congress after 87 days of deliberations. In addition to the four-page Constitution that was signed by 39 of the delegates, the report also included a resolution of the convention written on a single parchment page, and a letter of transmittal from George Washington, the president of the convention. (2) Washington's letter essentially explained to Congress how and why the convention arrived at the final Constitution, rather than simply at a revision of the Articles of Confederation, as had been its original charge. The resolution explained to Congress what the Convention delegates hoped would happen next. Congress received the report in New York City oil Thursday, September 20, 1787, three days after the delegates had signed it. It was assigned for consideration the following Wednesday. Then, the ratification process began. Teaching Suggestions: 1. Following a study of the convention and the resulting Constitution, remind students that the Constitutional Convention was a meeting of delegates from 12 states--that the convention was not the same as Congress. Explain to them that the Constitution was the final product of the convention that the delegates sent to Congress as a report. Tell students that two other documents accompanied the four-page Constitution: a letter of transmittal that explained why and how the delegates arrived at the Constitution and a resolution that explained what delegates hoped would happen next. Ask students to choose either the resolution or the letter and instruct them to draft their own. Invite volunteers to share their documents with the class. (For an overview of the convention see "A More Perfect Union" on the National Archives website at www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/ charters/constitution_history.html.) 2. Provide students with a copy of the resolution and the transcription of Washington's letter. Ask them to compare the documents they drafted in activity 1 with the actual documents. 3. Ask students to conduct research on the events that occurred relative to the Constitution between September 26, 1787, and March 1789. Direct them to annotate the resolution indicating on what dates the proposed events actually occurred. In other words, ask students to find out when each state ratified the Constitution and when elections for president and the Congress were held. Ask students if they find it surprising that the events described in the resolution played out as they did. 4. Direct students' attention to the last line of the resolution, "... the Congress, together with the President, should, without delay, proceed to execute this Constitution." Assign small groups of students to brainstorm the first five issues they think Congress and the president addressed immediately following the Constitution's ratification. …


The Antarctic muon and neutrino detector array (AMANDA) began collecting data with ten strings in 1997. Results from the first year of operation are presented. Neutrinos coming through the Earth from the Northern Hemisphere are identified by secondary muons moving upward through the array. Cosmic rays in the atmosphere generate a background of downward moving muons, which are about 106 times more abundant than the upward moving muons. Over 130 days of exposure, we observed a total of about 300 neutrino events. In the same period, a background of 1.05 × 109 cosmic ray muon events was recorded. The observed neutrino flux is consistent with atmospheric neutrino predictions. Monte Carlo simulations indicate that 90% of these events lie in the energy range 66 GeV to 3.4 TeV. The observation of atmospheric neutrinos consistent with expectations establishes AMANDA-B10 as a working neutrino telescope.


To obtain accurate trajectory tracking with robustness and faithful force feedback in a practical application, a sliding mode controller (SMC) combined with a compensation controller based on a nonlinear disturbance observer (DOB) is proposed. The DOB estimates the disturbances arising mainly from the uncertain dynamic model of a surgical manipulator, frictional forces and external interaction forces, and compensates for these disturbances in the control law. Accordingly, it alleviates the chattering problem caused by the SMC and improves tracking performance. The surgical teleoperation system using the proposed SMC-DOB is proved to be asymptotically stable using Lyapunov theory. The simulation and experiment results show that the surgical manipulator with the SMC-DOB can better track the trajectory of the master even in the presence of disturbances and the interaction forces between the instrument and the patient's tissues are faithfully presented to the surgeon.


We have synthesized and studied a supramolecular system comprising a 39-mer DNA with porphyrin-modified thymidine nucleosides anchored to the surface of large unilamellar vesicles (liposomes). Liposome porphyrin binding characteristics, such as orientation, strength, homogeneity, and binding site size, was determined, suggesting that the porphyrin is well suited as a photophysical and redox-active lipid anchor, in comparison to the inert cholesterol anchor commonly used today. Furthermore, the binding characteristics and hybridization capabilities were studied as a function of anchor size and number of anchoring points, properties that are of importance for our future plans to use the addressability of these redox-active nodes in larger DNA-based nanoconstructs. Electron transfer from photoexcited porphyrin to a lipophilic benzoquinone residing in the lipid membrane was characterized by steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence and verified by femtosecond transient absorption.


Trees provide numerous benefits crucial to urban environments, yet poor growing conditions often prevent trees from reaching their genetic potential for growth, longevity, and ecosystem function. To overcome these limitations, greater understanding of tree growth in the urban environment is needed. The goal of this research project was therefore to characterize a broad suite of soil characteristics associated with urban tree plantings and evaluate their suitability for modeling physical dimensions and growth rates of urban trees. A series of observational studies and experiments was conducted on urban soils inhabited by two tree species (Zelkova serrata (Thunb.) Mikano and Quercus phellos L.) in Washington, DC and one tree species (Quercus virginiana Mill.) in Jacksonville, FL – two major metropolitan areas of the eastern United States with contrasting climate and soils. Characterization of urban soil attributes within cities revealed low variability for some properties (soil texture, pH, and certain plant nutrients with coefficients of variation (CV) below 0.5), but high variability (CV>1.0) for others (nitrate, ammonium, copper, and zinc). This is dependent on the location. These findings suggest that tree planting site evaluations may not require measurements for all soil properties and that representative sampling may be sufficient to accurately characterize most soil properties within a city. Field assessment of urban tree soils also revealed that conventional measures of soil compaction are difficult to obtain due to obstructions by roots and other foreign objects. To address the critical need for efficient and reliable assessment of soil compaction around urban trees, an experiment was conducted to develop bulk density estimation models for four common soil texture classes using soil strength and soil moisture as predictor variables. These models provided medium (0.42) to high (0.85) coefficients of determination when volumetric water content (VWC) was log transformed, demonstrating that measurements of soil texture, strength, and moisture can provide rapid, reliable assessment of soil compaction. Tree growth modeling focused on three response variables: canopy projection (CP), canopy volume (CV), and peak-increment-area age (PIA). To calculate PIA, tree-ring analysis was used to determine the age at which maximal trunk diameter growth occurred between transplanting and time of sampling. Because Q. virginiana has iii difficult-to-distinguish growth rings, an intensive tree-ring analysis of cores collected from these trees was conducted. The analysis revealed interseries correlation coefficients of up to 0.66, demonstrating that Q. virginiana can be aged with fairly high confidence in an urban setting. Empirical models developed for all three tree species using the suite of soil and site variables explained 25% – 83% of the observed variability in tree physical dimensions and growth rates. Soil pH was found to be a significant predictor variable for the majority of growth models along with nutrients such as Fe, B, Mn, and Zn, which are also associated with soil alkalinity. Models for PIA possessed the highest coefficient of determination, suggesting that measurements of soil conditions can be used confidently to predict the age at which growth rate subsides in these species. CV and CP were not predicted as well by soil-related variables, presumably because above-ground constraints such as pruning and building encroachment can affect canopy size without necessarily affecting growth rate. Certain prediction models for all three species included predictor variables with counterintuitive influences on tree growth (e.g., negative influences of soil depth on Q. phellos and soil volume on Q. virginiana), suggesting that either these urban trees are responding to these variables in a novel manner or that variables unaccounted for in these models (perhaps related to urbanization or high vehicular traffic) are concomitantly influencing tree growth.


Introductions: Faculty development is important to promote the core education principles/philosophies and instil the innovations planned and/or carried out in any educational program. Thus, Patan Academy of Health Sciences (PAHS) has carried out regular faculty development programs for its faculty in order to effectively implement an innovative curriculum, teaching/learning methods and student assessment.  Methods: Effectiveness of the workshop was assessed by validated retro-pre questionnaire at the end of the workshop. Paired t-test was used to test the differences between before and after scores on knowledge and application on various aspects of the program. Effect size was also calculated to determine the size of the difference between before and after the workshop. Results: The core faculty development program was effective as it significantly increased the overall knowledge and application scores among most of the participants. The workshop benefitted the most to the experienced male faculty as the effect size for these groups were very high (Cohen's d>1.3). Conclusions: As PBL is implemented during the basic sciences years only, the concerned faculty benefitted the most from the workshop. Further such trainings are advocated to increase the pool of trained tutors for effective implementation of the PBL. Key words: faculty development, innovation, medicine, PAHS


INTRODUCTION
Amphibolic fibres with fluoro-edenitic composition characterize Biancavilla soil, including the major quarry from which building materials have been extensively extracted. These fibres induce mesothelioma in experimental animals and their in vitro biological action is similar to that of crocidolite.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Malignant mesothelioma case series and incidence were examined to evaluate the disease burden on Biancavilla inhabitants.

RESULTS
The incidence of pleural mesothelioma in Biancavilla is steadily higher than in the Sicilian Region, risk estimates are more elevated in women than in men, the most affected age class is constituted by subjects aged less than 50.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
Environmental exposure to fibres with fluoro-edenitic composition appears to be causally related to the elevated mesothelioma occurrence in Biancavilla. In this frame, environmental clean-up is the main goal to be pursued in public health terms. A contribution of scientific research to public health decision making with respect to priority setting for environmental clean-up can derive from some further selected epidemiological investigations.


Pigs occupy a special place in the human psyche. They are kept both as stock domesticates, like cattle and sheep, and they are treated as companions and aids, like cats and dogs. There are currently nearly two billion (c.1,984,607,000) domesticated pigs in the world kept as stock animals bred for slaughter (Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), 2012). Keeping pigs as pets has become increasingly popular in western society in recent years and commensalism with pigs is a long-held tradition in Island South East Asia (McDonald-Brown, 2009). Pigs are a key economic resource; however, they are also an animal that inspires strong emotions of attachment or revulsion; seen as loyal, intelligent, courageous and resourceful or unclean, licentious, gluttonous and ignorant (Albarella et al., 2007, Phillips, 2007). As such pigs and pig products are extensively referenced in classical literature and modern pop culture; examples include George Orwell's Animal Farm, Circe, a minor Greek goddess who transforms Odysseus' men into pigs when they feast at her table in Homer's Odyssey; the warthog Pumba from the movie The Lion King, Miss Piggy from The Muppets and Spiderpig in the Simpsons; pigs continued popularity is a testament to their enduring importance.

As a result of this unique dual positions of pet and produce, pigs have been intensively studied both as domestic and wild animals. The earliest studies of domestic pigs, their form and origins, come from Charles Darwin (1868) and Ludwig Rutimeyer (1860, 1864), whilst the first scientific description of wild Sus was by Karl Linnaeus (1740, 1758).

Here I continue the investigation of the pig, particularly the evolution of wild and domestic pigs, through a geometric morphometric analysis of cranial form. Whist the original concept of this study was derived from a grant concerned with the spread of domestic pigs across Europe at the beginning of the Neolithic, this thesis encompasses wider studies. By applying geometric morphometrics to questions of suid evolution and variability and domestication, we can effect a deeper understanding of how pigs colonised Africa, how suid morphology is affected by climate and geography, that wild and domestic pig cranial morphologies are distinct enough to discriminate between. These have implications for evolutionary studies of
the suid family, explaining apparent incongruence between morphological studies and genetics. There are significant implications for archaeological studies, especially those concerned with identifying the origins of domestication where inadequacies in the traditional methodology can be overcome through the application of geometric morphometrics. We also test and reject the traditional hypothesis of heterochrony as the causal mechanism for the development of the domestic morphotype.

Methodologies to test this have recently been developed for geometric morphometrics (Mitteroecker et al., 2005), but had not been applied to stock domesticates before. What is seen in suid ontogeny is not explained by the traditional language of heterochrony, nor are domestic pigs paedomorphic wild pigs. This leaves the cause of morphological changes observed during domestication unexplained, which should be a focus of future work.


The objective of this project is to develop an Arabic predictive communication system for physically disabled people with speech and language impairments who are resident at the Shafalah Qatari center for children with special needs in Doha. We aim to improve the learning and understanding skills of children with special needs. We aim to develop graphics-based and interactive tutorials. The main topics of these tutorials include: human body, transportation means, time and date, animals, food and plants. We design some intelligent puzzles to be assembled by the disabled children. Greedy algorithms will used to guide the potential users to reach a solution. The disabled children will be asked to arrange a set of simple words and phrases to form a meaningful sentence on the tutorials' topics that they learnt. The existing augmentative systems for disabled children are solely designated for western children (design, interface and contents). Thus the development of an Arabic augmentative communication system taking into consideration the culture and specificity of Qatari disabled children will be an important tool that helps them to overcome communication problems and access independently digital information.


This study investigated the molecular epidemiology of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter nosocomialis and Acinetobacter pittii (ANAP). Clinical isolates of Acinetobacter spp. ABSTRACT This study investigated the molecular epidemiology of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter nosocomialis and Acinetobacter pittii (ANAP). Clinical isolates of Acinetobacter spp. collected by the biennial nationwide Taiwan Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance program from 2010 to 2014 were subjected to species identification, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and PCR for detection of carbapenemase genes. Whole-genome sequencing or PCR mapping was performed to study the genetic surroundings of the carbapenemase genes. Among 1,041 Acinetobacter isolates, the proportion of ANAP increased from 11% in 2010 to 22% in 2014. The rate of carbapenem resistance in these isolates increased from 7.5% (3/40) to 22% (14/64), with a concomitant increase in their resistance to other antibiotics. The blaOXA-72 and blaOXA-58 genes were highly prevalent in carbapenem-resistant ANAP. Various genetic structures were found upstream of blaOXA-58 in different plasmids. Among the plasmids found to contain blaOXA-72 flanked by XerC/XerD, pAB-NCGM253-like was identified in 8 of 10 isolates. Conjugations of plasmids carrying blaOXA-72 or blaOXA-58 to A. baumannii were successful. In addition, three isolates with chromosome-located blaOXA-23 embedded in AbGRI1-type structure with disruption of genes other than comM were detected. Two highly similar plasmids carrying class I integron containing blaIMP-1 and aminoglycoside resistance genes were also found. The universal presence of blaOXA-272/213-like on A. pittii chromosomes and their lack of contribution to carbapenem resistance indicate its potential to be a marker for species identification. The increase of ANAP, along with their diverse mechanisms of carbapenem resistance, may herald their further spread and warrants close monitoring.


Information Systems Development (ISD) progresses rapidly, continually creating new challenges for the professionals involved. New concepts, approaches and techniques of systems development emerge constantly in this field. Progress in ISD comes from research as well as from practice. This conference will discuss issues pertaining to information systems development (ISD) in the inter-networked digital economy. Participants will include researchers, both experienced and novice, from industry and academia, as well as students and practitioners. Themes will include methods and approaches for ISD; ISD education; philosophical, ethical, and sociological aspects of ISD; as well as specialized tracks such as: distributed software development, ISD and knowledge management, ISD and electronic business / electronic government, ISD in public sector organizations, IOS.


The usual approach to compressor design considers uniform inlet flow characteristics. Especially in aircraft applications, the inlet flow is quite often non uniform, and this can result in severe performance degradation. The magnitude of this phenomenon is amplified in military engines due to the complexity of inlet duct configurations and the extreme flight conditions. CFD simulation is an innovative and powerful tool for studying inlet distortions and can bring this inside the very early phases of the design process. This project attempts to study the effects of inlet flow distortions in an axial flow compressor trying to minimize the use computer resources and computational time. The first stage of a low bypass ratio compressor has been analyzed and its clean and distorted performance compared outlining the principal changes due to uneven flow distribution: drop in mass flow, increase in pressure and temperature ratios, decrease in surge margin. Three different studies have then been conducted to better understand the effects of the level, the type and the frequency of the distortion.Copyright © 2004 by ASME


There is at present an overlapping but inadequately coordinated combination of strategic trans-continental transport corridors or axes stretching across the Eurasian landmass, centred on or around Central Asia. There are three such initiatives - from the EU, China and the Asian Development Bank, and the Eurasian Economic Community. This paper reviews these several strategic transport maps, and makes proposals for their coordination and rationalisation. So far the EU Central Asia strategy has not paid much attention to these questions. However the EU's own initiatives (the Pan-European Axes and the TRACECA programme) are in need of updating and revision to take into account major investments being made by other parties.


Increasing global cement production faces challenges such as cost increases in energy supply, requirements to reduce CO2 emissions, and the supply of raw materials in sufficient quality and amounts. Worldwide cement manufacturing represents 5% of man-made CO2 emissions, from which 50% is related to chemical process of clinker production, 40% to burning fuel and 10% is split between electricity use and transportation. To conserve natural non-renewable resources and preventing unnecessary landfilling, wastes valorisation as raw materials has been suggested for partially substituting the portland clinker with alternative materials in cement manufacture process and also for using alternative fuels reducing fossil fuels consumption. Nowadays, SCMs are widely used in concrete either in blended cements or added separately in the concrete mixer (where no additional clinkering process is involved) to obtain sustainable or low-CO2 cements. In addition, cementitious solidification/stabilization –S/S- is a useful technique for most toxic elements disposal.
Leaching tests and subsequent geochemical modelling are commonly used to investigate pollutants' release behaviour.
Just a few mechanistic studies have been developed so far to assess the role of cement hydrates in the sorption and fixation of oxyanions (As, Cr, Se, Mo, Sb, V and W) considering that important tonnes of hazardous wastes are generated worldwide. Classical studies have focused on suggesting
that in highly alkaline systems, solid solution formation with these solid phases is most likely to control retention and release behaviour. However, the role of phases such as CSH and portlandite is poorly known, being both the major hydration products of cementitious materials. In addition to this, the increasing use of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) with the aim of producing more sustainable cements poses new questions on the geochemical behaviour of these elements under systems with significantly different mineral assemblages and subsequent physico-chemical conditions. The development of mechanistic models is, in turn, seriously limited by a lack of relevant thermodynamic data associated to cement hydrates.
The aim of this study is to contribute to understand how vanadium behaves in such highly alkaline systems because, if immobilised in cement matrix, it would be a very sustainable fate for oxyanionic species. Therefore, the retention mechanisms by C3S hydrates of vanadium species has been
established. Vanadium is a heavy metal that can be found at high concentrations in commonly used SCMs, particularly in fly ash and slag from steel industry. Since the behaviour of this trace element in cementitious systems is ill-known and linked to its potential environmental risk, this work deals with a relevant issue to understand the performance of more eco-friendly cementitious materials.


Although taxonomic proficiency is a prerequisite for understanding ideas central to biology, previous research has established that learners frequently misclassify animals by not following the tenets of accepted taxonomic rubrics. This has immediate relevance with the recently revised English National Curriculum now requiring concepts of animal classification to be taught to 5–6 year-olds. The current study represents an attempt to explore how preschool children aged 3–5 years classify animals, and patterns in the ways in which their taxonomic knowledge might progress with age were sought to illuminate potential origins of naive conceptions in the early years. A quantitative approach was employed with a sample of 75 children utilising a structured interview method to determine their ideas about the taxonomic labels animal, fish, amphibian, reptile, bird, mammal and insect. Findings revealed common learning trajectories as children's prototypes developed from 3 to 5 years. These trajectories confirmed that the preschool children held many of the same naive conceptions as those previously reported in older learners. Some of these conceptions started to dissipate with age; however, others began to emerge in the older children within the sample, representing a decline in performance with age. This decline is concerning though can be accounted for by contemporary categorization theory, giving support to the view that science misconceptions can emerge in the early years due to natural maturation (cognitive factors), as well as exposure to formal and informal learning experiences (socio-cultural factors). To supplement established conceptual change strategies, which deal with already-formed misconceptions, it is proposed that there be a fresh research emphasis towards conceptual creation where acceptable scientific ideas are seeded at the earliest years of schooling. Accordingly, the role of early years educators would become fundamental to effective science education. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 52: 107–134, 2015


A wealth of analysis tools are available to fMRI researchers in order to extract patterns of task variation and, ultimately, understand cognitive function. However, this 'methodological plurality' comes with a drawback. While conceptually similar, two different analysis pipelines applied on the same dataset may not produce the same scientific results. Differences in methods, implementations across software packages, and even operating systems or software versions all contribute to this variability. Consequently, attention in the field has recently been directed to reproducibility and data sharing. Neuroimaging is currently experiencing a surge in initiatives to improve research practices and ensure that all conclusions inferred from an fMRI study are replicable. In this work, our goal is to understand how choice of software package impacts on analysis results. We use publically shared data from three published task fMRI neuroimaging studies, reanalyzing each study using the three main neuroimaging software packages, AFNI, FSL and SPM, using parametric and nonparametric inference. We obtain all information on how to process, analyze, and model each dataset from the publications. We make quantitative and qualitative comparisons between our replications to gauge the scale of variability in our results and assess the fundamental differences between each software package. While qualitatively we find broad similarities between packages, we also discover marked differences, such as Dice similarity coefficients ranging from 0.000 - 0.743 in comparisons of thresholded statistic maps between software. We discuss the challenges involved in trying to reanalyse the published studies, and highlight our own efforts to make this research reproducible.


The visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel market is a significant segment of the tourism industry, accounting for 76% of all trips to Illinois in 1991. This study determined the demographic, geographic, and psychographic characteristics and the benefits sought by those visiting friends and relatives in a Central Illinois Community. A self-administered questionnaire was sent to a systematic random sample of 660 inquirers to the local Convention and Visitors Bureau. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the following: (a) mode of transportation; (b) number of trips and length of stay; (c) demographic profile; (d) economic impact; and (e) impact of local university. The results of the study defined three VFR travel market segments, two of which closely resembled market segments profiled by Plog.


This paper reports on research that was undertaken to determine the problems experienced by deputy principals in secondary schools, and the extent to which these problems were experienced. Although some research was conducted on the deputy principalship, no research treats the problems that deputy principals experience upon appointment comprehensively. An understanding of the problems experienced by secondary school deputy principals is a necessary precursor of an induction program to address the problems. A quantitative approach which was underpinned by the post-positivist paradigm was adopted. In order to determine the extent to which the problems were experienced, a survey was conducted among one hundred and fifty seven secondary school deputy principals in the North West Province. The participants came from a diverse context of rural, township and urban schools. The deputy principals who participated in the study included those who were newly appointed (one to three years of service) and those who were experienced (more than three years of service). Data were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics such as frequencies, means and percentages. There were no significant differences in the responses of both newly-appointed and experienced deputy principals. The results revealed that deputy principals experienced administrative, financial management, work pressure, personal and physical resources problems. In an attempt to address the problems identified, a context-specific induction program is recommended. The induction program should be an on-going program of professional development and should preferably include specific aims, action steps to be taken to achieve the aims that are set and measures to evaluate progress. Jan B Khumalo (South Africa), Herman J Van Vuuren (South Africa), Philip C Van der Westhuizen (South Africa), C.P. Van der Vyver (South Africa) BUSINESS PERSPECTIVES LLC "СPС "Business Perspectives" Hryhorii Skovoroda lane, 10, Sumy, 40022, Ukraine www.businessperspectives.org Problems experienced by secondary school deputy principals in diverse contexts: A South African study Received on: 13th of November, 2017 Accepted on: 30th of March, 2018


Submerged vanes alter sediment transport by inducing a secondary circulation without significantly compromising the conveyance capacity of the river. Similarly, large trunks of wood may be implemented in rivers as a means of sediment management, with the additional benefit of improving bio-diversity. A laboratory study is conducted to investigate the effects of large wood (LW) on flow patterns and bed morphology. The effectivity of a traditional vane field is compared to a set-up with screens composed of a stacked pile of wooden cylinders, and a set-up with an array of large individual trunks. Results from experiments with a fixed bed indicate that a reduction of streamwise velocity occurs for all configurations, and is markedly larger for the set-up with an array individual trunks. The trunks are least effective in inducing a secondary circulation and cause higher turbulence and drag. Increased porosity does not significantly influence the effectivity of the sediment management structures. In experiments with a mobile sediment bed, all three experimental set-ups have increased bed elevation conform expectations, but for different reasons. A field of trunks acts as a sediment trap because of strong reduction of the streamwise velocity, without producing a strong secondary flow such as dominant in the other configurations. Screens of large wood may be successfully implemented in rivers, as they are only slightly less effective than traditional vanes. The risk of piping underneath structures and the associated development of scour are points of concern. This dataset contains the ADV data, processed ADV data and bed elevation data measured with a line laser scanner and 3D camera.


A complete guide to achieving a fantastic spectrum of colourful glazes for the studio potter, Colour in Glazes looks at all the methods of acheiving colour in glazes, focusing on colouring oxides in detail, including the newly available rare earth oxides. Types of base glazes and the fluxes used to make them are discussed in relation to colour response. Emphasis is placed on using colouring oxides to achieve depth and variety of colour, rather than just resorting to commercial ceramic stains. The practical aspects of mixing, applying, testing and adjusting glazes are explained. and a large section of test tiles and glaze recipes is included, for use on white earthenware, stoneware and porcelain fired in electric, gas and salt kilns. A very useful book aimed at making glazes to achieve the colour you want, and to help you broaden your palette.


The structure, organisation and use of digital (CD-ROM) radiography and medical imaging film library, based on an analog (film) collection, is described. The analog collection has been specialised for radiographic educational use in an undergraduate program, and includes relevant pathological appearance for traditional teaching using radiographic film and light boxes for review. The digital library has been produced for a broad medical and allied health professional educational application for use on either IBM-PC or Macintosh platforms with CD-ROM facilities. Film libraries are an essential resource in any radiography teaching program. However, film is easily damaged, frequently lost and hard to keep in reasonable order, but relatively cheaply digitised and stored in a suitable file format for student access. This paper describes the development of a navigation program that allows students to access a range of digitised film images from general radiography, fluoroscopy, vascular imaging, mammography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance and ultrasound. Provision is made for storage and display of the original image, an annotated image indicating features that students should be able to identify and describe, and a screen with text that provides this information if required. The digital library is also readily enlarged.


Scrub typhus is an emerging and remerging disease in India and increasingly important cause of acute febrile illness. It is usually complicated by various organ dysfunctions, and is diagnosed by serology. We are reporting a case of 34 years old man resident of West Bengal presented to us with complaints of fever for 7 days with features of pneumonitis and Acute Kidney Injury (AKI). He received doxycyline after positive serology of IgM Scrub typhus, and responded very well. In tropical region any short duration fever with pneumonia, AKI with leukocytosis scrub typhus should be kept in differential as it is a fairly treatable and significantly under diagnosed condition.


In this work, a study was made of methods for converting a real gas from a full-scale compressor to a model one for low-temperature pure methane using the equations of state of a real gas Benedict-Webb-Rubin and Peng-Robinson. In the course of the work, the features of recalculation methods were studied, a model of an air compressor was selected, corresponding in parameters to a model of a low-temperature methane compressor using the theory of similarity, using similarity criteria. Also, in this work, the features of the application of various equations of state were studied when describing the model of a low-temperature methane compressor, as well as the features that arise when this model is converted to an air model analogue. Data were obtained on the possibility of applying the proposed methods on real units, and the invariance of the method with respect to the used equations of state of a real gas for pure methane at temperatures from 150 to 300 K and a division of 0.2 MPa was proved. At the final stage of the work, comparative characteristics of two models of natural methane compressors were obtained, based on different equations of real gas, describing the medium and two models of model compressors using air as a working medium and being model analogs of the above units.


The food and drink (F&D) industry is usually seen as a traditional sector with little potential for technological change owing to nutritional, bio-psychological and cultural constraints on the demand. F&D firms issue fewer patents than firms in other manufacturing sectors. As measured by the number of patented inventions, the pace of technological change in F&D seems less dynamic than in the rest of manufacturing. However, innovation provided by upstream industries represents a substantial portion of total technology available to F&D, especially in commodity-type industries. One symptom of the technological dynamism of this industry is the broadening of the spectrum of sciences and techniques now involved in food and drink processing. The innovativeness of upstream industries and the efforts displayed by the F&D industry to combine the new techniques provided by suppliers should be taken into account to characterise technological strength in F&D processing. The idea of productive inertia in this industry should be rejected.


Canine prostate adenocarcinoma (PAC) and transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of prostate and urinary bladder are highly invasive and metastatic tumors of closely neighbored organs. Cell lines are valuable tools to investigate tumor mechanisms and therapeutic approaches in vitro. PAC in dogs is infrequent, difficult to differentiate from TCC and usually characterized by poor prognosis, enhancing the value of the few available cell lines. However, as cell lines adapt to culturing conditions, a thorough characterization, ideally compared to original tissue, is indispensable. Herein, six canine PAC cell lines and three TCC cell lines were profiled by immunophenotype in comparison to respective original tumor tissues. Three of the six PAC cell lines were derived from primary tumor and metastases of the same patient. Further, two of the three TCC cell lines were derived from TCCs invading into or originating from the prostate. Cell biologic parameters as doubling times and chemoresistances to commonly used drugs in cancer treatment (doxorubicin, carboplatin and meloxicam) were assessed. All cell lines were immunohistochemically close to the respective original tissue. Compared to primary tumor cell lines, metastasis-derived cell lines were more chemoresistant to doxorubicin, but equally susceptive to carboplatin treatment. Two cell lines were multiresistant. COX-2 enzyme activity was demonstrated in all cell lines. However, meloxicam inhibited prostaglandin E2 production in only seven of nine cell lines and did neither influence metabolic activity, nor proliferation. The characterized nine cell lines represent excellent tools to investigate PAC as well as TCC in prostate and urinary bladder of the dog. Furthermore, the profiled paired cell lines from PAC primary tumor and metastasis provide the unique opportunity to investigate metastasis-associated changes PAC cells undergo in tumor progression. The combination of nine differently chemoresistant PAC and TCC cell lines resembles the heterogeneity of canine lower urinary tract cancer.


We demonstrate the use of photoinduced fluidity in low-loss chalcogenide fibers for producing tapers with fine control of the diameter and geometry. The tapers produced this way act as sensing zones along chalcogenide glass fibers used for evanescent wave spectroscopy. The optical microfabrication method consists in irradiating the chalcogenide fiber with sub-bandgap laser light under a tensile stress. The resulting athermal photoinduced fluidity permits to produce tapers with good control over the geometry without altering the optical properties of the fiber. Gains in detection sensitivity greater than 1 order of magnitude are measured using these tapers.


ABSTRACT This article analyzes two documentary films that figure the enmeshment of individuals and institutions in attitudes and practices of 'fortress USA' and studies the role of media in facilitating and resisting that process. Whereas a large share of the scholarly literature on trauma and documentary has focused for good reason on the atrocities of Hitler's Holocaust, the Cambodian Genocide, and the Rwandan Genocide, and on the testimonies of survivors, the documentary films under study here present certain actions by the United States as perpetrative: that is to say, as rife with casualties and as racist, media-dependent, and insupportable from the perspective of social justice. National Bird features whistleblowers of the U.S. drone war. Fahrenheit 11/9 probes Donald Trump's deployment of mediated, divisive speech. The particular aim of this article is to demonstrate how these significant and timely works make innovative and oftentimes reflexive use of testimony, drone imaginaries, and 'Border Spectacle', thereby interrupting the lethal agendas of fortress USA.


Seismic reflection and refraction data provide insights into the sedimentary infill and the underlying volcanic structure of Laguna Potrok Aike, a maar lake situated in the Pali Aike Volcanic Field, Southern Patagonia. The lake has a diameter of ~3.5 km, a maximum water depth of ~100 m and a presumed age of ~770 ka. Its sedimentary regime is influenced by climatic and hydrologic conditions related to the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the Southern Hemispheric Westerlies and sporadic outbreaks of Antarctic polar air masses. Multiproxy environmental reconstructions of the last 16 ka document that this terminal lake is highly sensitive to climate change. Laguna Potrok Aike has recently become a major focus of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program and was drilled down to 100 m below lake floor in late 2008 within the PASADO project. The sediments are likely to contain a continental record spanning the last ca. 80 kyrs unique in the South American realm. Seismic reflection data show relatively undisturbed, stratified lacustrine sediments at least in the upper ~100 m of the sedimentary infill but are obscured possibly by gas and/or coarser material in larger areas. A model calculated from seismic refraction data reveals a funnel-shaped structure embedded in the sandstone rocks of the surrounding Santa Cruz Formation. This funnel structure is filled by lacustrine sediments of up to 370 m in thickness. These can be separated into two distinct subunits with low acoustic velocities of 1500-1800 m s-1 in the upper subunit pointing at unconsolidated lacustrine muds, and enhanced velocities of 2000-2350 m s-1 in the lower subunit. Below these lacustrine sediments, a unit of probably volcanoclastic origin is observed (>2400 m s-1). This sedimentary succession is well comparable to other well-studied sequences (e.g. Messel and Baruth maars, Germany), confirming phreatomagmatic maar explosions as the origin of Laguna Potrok Aike.


Renewable energy resources such as wind and solar are intermittent, which causes instability when being connected to utility grid of electricity. Compressed air energy storage (CAES) provides an economic and technical viable solution to this problem by utilizing subsurface rock cavern to store the electricity generated by renewable energy in the form of compressed air. Though CAES has been used for over three decades, it is only restricted to salt rock or aquifers for air tightness reason. In this paper, the technical feasibility of utilizing hard rock for CAES is investigated by using a coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) modelling of nonisothermal gas flow. Governing equations are derived from the rules of energy balance, mass balance, and static equilibrium. Cyclic volumetric mass source and heat source models are applied to simulate the gas injection and production. Evaluation is carried out for intact rock and rock with discrete crack, respectively. In both cases, the heat and pressure losses using air mass control and supplementary air injection are compared.


In this paper we describe new software "CitySim" that has been conceived to support the more sustainable planning of urban settlements. This first version focuses on simulating buildings' energy flows, but work is also under way to model energy embodied in materials as well as the flows of water and waste and inter-relationships between these flows; likewise their dependence on the urban climate. We discuss this as well as progress that has been made to optimise urban resource flows using evolutionary algorithms. But this is only part of the picture. It is also important to take into consideration the transportation of goods and people between buildings. To this end we also discuss work that is underway to couple CitySim with a micro-simulation model of urban transportation: MATSim.


The oral tablet formulation of butylscopolamine, which is available without prescription, is commonly used by trainers of racing greyhounds to treat functional urethral obstruction. As medication control of butylscopolamine is therefore required for such use to ensure the integrity of greyhound racing, an administration study was performed in six greyhounds to determine the pharmacokinetics of orally administered butylscopolamine. A single dose of one 10 mg butylscopolamine tablet was administered orally to simulate this use in greyhound racing. Blood, urine and faeces were collected at regular intervals from the greyhounds for up to 9 days and butylscopolamine concentrations determined. There was some, but very limited, absorption of butylscopolamine, with rapid elimination from plasma with a mean half-life of 2 hr. Urine concentrations initially declined in a similar manner to the plasma pharmacokinetics but then entered a much longer half-life of approximately 50 hr. Faecal concentrations declined to very low levels between 48 and 120 hr. The use of orally administered butylscopolamine for functional urethral obstruction in greyhounds is unjustified due to this very limited drug absorption. Medication control of butylscopolamine's antispasmodic effect on the digestive tract is possible by setting screening limits based on the urinary and faecal drug levels as determined in this study.