A computational framework is presented to evaluate the stability of two inlets connecting the same bay to the ocean. It is assumed that both inlets are scoured in alluvial material. The main ingredients in the stability analysis are the closure surface and the equilibrium stress surface. The closure surface of an inlet is defined as the relation between the tidal maximum of the bottom stess and the cross-sectional areas of both inlets. The equilibrium stress surface of an inlet is the relation between the tidal maximum of the bottom stress and the cross-sectional area of that inlet at the time the inlet is in equilibrium with its hydraulic environment. The method is applied to Pass Cavallo and the entrance to the Matagorda Shipping channel further referred to as Matagorda Inlet. Both inlets connect Matagorda bay to the Gulf of Mexico.


Various studies show that infertility treatment in addition to physical involvement, cause undesirable psychological reactions. One of these cases is disorder and change in mental body image. This research is a case control study with aim of determination of mental image of fertile and infertile women referring to health and infertility treatment centers selected in Tehran city in year of 2000. Observed persons were divided as group of women with fertility problems (test group) and group of fertile women (control group). In this research, subjects as two groups of fertile and infertile were chosen from 5 Health centers namely: Panzdah Khordad, Hospitals of Shariati, Mirza Koochak Khan, Day and Saram Medical Center according to purposeful sampling. There were 100 persons in each group. Procedure of data gathering was with help of query form questionnaire of mental image of body, which was prepared with general construct procedure. This has been called mental structures list in Iran. Qualified fertile and infertile women were chosen from mentioned centers. A primary conversation was done with them regarding goals and ways of research. After their agreement, questionnaires were given to them. Then, considering score of each question, answers of fertile and infertile women were assessed and results were compared with help of statistical analysis methods. Information showed that studied mental image of fertile and infertile women were different from each other. In various elements of mental image (active body in isolation, real body, body in way which people see it, body in way which husband sees and knows it and body the way which family of husband see and know it), two groups had meaningful statistical differences (P<0.05). This means infertile women showed some degrees of mental image disorder. Self or body mental image can cause anxiety and depression. In this regard methods and behavioral techniques can control theses signs up great degrees.


THE TENTH BOOK OF THE LAWS, which contains Plato's last word on cosmology and theology, has often been considered as presenting Plato's views in a more exoteric way in contrast with the more esoteric style of the Timaeus. And there are good reasons to think that this view is correct. Whereas the Timaeus stresses that "to find the maker and father of this All is difficult, and, having found it, it is impossible to communicate it to the crowd" (28c),(1) Plato is in Laws 10 intending to establish a "proemium" (prooimion, 887a-b) or rational foundation for his laws against impiety, which are supposed to be known by all. in this proemium Plato tries to argue for three propositions: (1) that the gods exist (887c--899d); (2) that they take care of human affairs (899d-905d); (3) that they cannot be bribed by sacrifices or prayers (905d-907b).(2) The underlying assumption is that learning these facts about the gods will also help to prevent impiety which, like any kind of vice, is often due to ignorance (885b). If this is so, what most surprises us is that Plato does not however have qualms about introducing in this apologetic discourse a reference to an evil soul as acts alternative candidate to a good soul ruling over the universe (896e). This has provoked the most varied reactions, from ancient Platonistss attributing to Plato a dualism that would appear manichean to our eyes, to recent interpreters who have denied that Plato is at all concerned with the World-Soul in the Laws. It has also been very much debated whether the general account of Laws 10 is consistent with the Timaeus. This requires us to examine the status of soul and its connection with evil in Laws 10 against the background of Platb's cosmological account in earlier dialogues. I shall try to show that Laws 10 is to be taken as an emphatic assertion of cosmic teleology--based on the supremacy of soul--that follows the spirit of the earlier dialogues and that involves an explicit rejection of any kind of evil World-Soul ruling over the whole cosmos. This rejection, however, does not do away with the existence of an "evil kind of soul," nor does it do away with the problem of evil in general, about which Plato seems to be worried probably more than ever, though at the same time he wishes more than ever to be convincing about the existence of teleology. This, as we shall see, gives the Laws a fluctuating tone between optimism and pessimism, which could nevertheless be resolved as pessimism about individual human affairs but optimism about the victory of goodness in the whole that will subsume any partial evil. I The priority of soul over body. Why does Plato need to "prove" that god exists? It is obvious that this need arises when god's existence is no longer evident or a matter of consensus, as it used to be (885e-886a), but has now been controverted by modern theories. It will no longer be sufficent to point to the "sun, moon, stars and earth, as instances of divinity," because many people would say "that these things are simply earth and stone" and bulks of inanimate things (886d-e, cf. 12.967c). These matelialists claim the priority of body over soul (891c) and posit nature (phusis), chance (tuche), or chance by necessity (tuche ex anankes) (889c) as the main cause of everything: the random motion, collision, and admixture of opposite properties of water, earth, fire, and air (like hot-cold, wet-dry, soft-hard) gave rise to the heavenly bodies and the universe in general (889b-c). "And all this, as they assert, not by reason (nous), god (theos) or art (techne) but . . . by nature and chance" (889c). It is these materialists, then, who provide the scientific support for atheism. Plato purports to attack them by conversely establishing the priority of soul over body. To phusis understood as chance and necessity, Plato opposes his own principles, namely god and design (techne) and intellect (nous) as things akin to soul (889b-c, cf 892a-c). …


The literature on pricing implicitly assumes an "infinite data" model, in which sources can sustain any data rate indefinitely. We assume a more realistic "finite data" model, in which sources occasionally run out of data; this leads to variable user data rates. Further, we assume that users have contracts with the service provider, specifying the rates at which they can inject traffic into the network. Our objective is to study how prices can be set such that a single link can be shared efficiently and fairly among users in a dynamically changing scenario where a subset of users occasionally has little data to send. User preferences are modelled by concave increasing utility functions. Further, we introduce two additional elements: a convex increasing disutility function and a convex increasing multiplicative congestion-penalty function. The disutility function takes the shortfall (contracted rate minus present rate) as its argument, and essentially encourages users to send traffic at their contracted rates, while the congestion-penalty function discourages heavy users from sending excess data when the link is congested. We obtain simple necessary and sufficient conditions on prices for fair and efficient link sharing; moreover, we show that a single price for all users achieves this. We illustrate the ideas using a simple experiment.


Accurate measurements of the physical characteristics of a large number of exoplanets are useful to strongly constrain theoretical models of planet formation and evolution, which lead to the large variety of exoplanets and planetary-system configurations that have been observed. We present a study of the planetary systems WASP-45 and WASP-46, both composed of a main-sequence star and a close-in hot Jupiter, based on 29 new high-quality light curves of transits events. In particular, one transit of WASP-45 b and four of WASP-46 b were simultaneously observed in four optical filters, while one transit of WASP-46 b was observed with the NTT obtaining a precision of 0.30 mmag with a cadence of roughly three minutes. We also obtained five new spectra of WASP-45 with the FEROS spectrograph. We improved by a factor of four the measurement of the radius of the planet WASP-45 b, and found that WASP-46 b is slightly less massive and smaller than previously reported. Both planets now have a more accurate measurement of the density (0.959± 0.077 ρJup instead of 0.64 ± 0.30 ρJup for WASP-45 b, and 1.103 ± 0.052 ρJup instead of 0.94 ± 0.11 ρJup for WASP-46 b). We tentatively detected radius variations with wavelength for both planets, in particular in the case of WASP-45 b we found a slightly larger absorption in the redder bands than in the bluer ones. No hints for the presence of an additional planetary companion in the two systems were found either from the photometric or radial velocity measurements.


We present a powerful new tool for fitting broadband gamma-ray burst afterglow data, which can be used to determine the burst explosion parameters and the synchrotron radiation parameters. By making use of scale invariance between relativistic jets of different energies and different circumburst medium densities, and by capturing the output of high-resolution two-dimensional relativistic hydrodynamical (RHD) jet simulations in a concise summary, the jet dynamics are generated quickly. Our method calculates the full light curves and spectra using linear radiative transfer sufficiently fast to allow for a direct iterative fit of RHD simulations to the data. The fit properly accounts for jet features that so far have not been successfully modeled analytically, such as jet decollimation, inhomogeneity along the shock front, and the transitory phase between the early-time relativistic and late-time non-relativistic outflow. As a first application of the model we simultaneously fit the radio, X-ray, and optical data of GRB 990510. We find not only noticeable differences between our findings for the explosion and radiation parameters and those of earlier authors, but also an improved model fit when we include the observer angle in the data fit. The fit method will be made freely available on request and online at http://cosmo.nyu.edu/afterglowlibrary. In addition to data fitting, the software tools can also be used to quickly generate a light curve or spectrum for arbitrary observer position, jet, and radiation parameters.


The current condition of cities involved in recent wars are dramatic, only in Syria more than 4 million houses have been destroyed and almost a third of the entire population has been displaced. The constructive effort necessary for the upcoming reconstruction is well over the possibilities of the country: it would require the whole sector to produce more than ten times the houses produced in prewar years for over ten consecutive years (ESCWA, 2018). Materials and technologies will play a key role in the upcoming processes; for example the water shortage of the area will not allow to reconstruct with concrete technologies that are too water demanding (Dardari, 2016). It is necessary to identify, research and develop alternative materials that use rubbles and other wastes as resources through a process of sustainable transformation. Decisions made on the subject of materials and constructive technologies will be key elements in channeling future reconstruction policies.


Peer-assisted content delivery is an attractive way to distribute video content through the Internet at low costs. This approach combines the scalability of the peer-to-peer paradigm, in which users contribute their resources, and the service level guarantees of server-based systems. Thus, peer-assistance enables a content provider to reduce its server hosting costs, which is crucial in a commercial scenario. However, to be successful, such systems must take into account the interests of all three stakeholders involved: (1) users that demand high streaming quality with low fees and limited resource contribution, (2) content providers that aim to decrease server hosting costs, and (3) network operators that aim to avoid inefficient use of their infrastructure due to the network-oblivious behavior of peer-assisted overlays. In this thesis, we address these requirements and develop adaptive mechanisms to achieve a benefit for all three stakeholders, resulting in the so-called triple-win situation. Our main scenario is video-on-demand streaming, in which users can request pre-stored video content at any time and watch the video while downloading it. Thereby, video-on-demand streaming imposes stricter requirements compared to other systems that utilize peer resources, such as BitTorrent-like file sharing. Ideally, the video playback should start within few seconds and there should be no playback stalling. First, we focus on dedicated servers or caches that are essential resources in peerassisted streaming systems. Their provision is necessary to guarantee a satisfying quality of experience to consumers, yet they cause significant and largely avoidable costs for the content provider, which can be minimized. The high dynamics of uncontrolled peers, however, result in unpredictable changes of the resource demand. Since peers additionally offer services to other peers, the supply of resources is also dynamic. This behavior makes the management of peer-assisted systems and the proper allocation of resources challenging. This thesis proposes adaptive allocation policies, a new approach to address this issue. The policies estimate the capacity situation and service demand of the system to adaptively optimize allocated resources. Extensive simulations, verified by testbed measurements, prove the efficiency of our approach, which achieves a more competitive performance than well-dimensioned static systems. In the next step, we examine content delivery overlays from the network operators' perspective, since such overlays are responsible for a large amount of consumer traffic, including the costly inter-domain traffic. The existing approaches often fail to satisfy the requirements of all involved stakeholders.We propose a novel incentive-based traffic management mechanism where a network operator offers additional free resources to selected users. The mechanism assigns resources to users that behave compliant with the network and overlay policies. Our evaluation shows that this approach satisfies the requirements of network operators and overlay participants (provider and users). To this end, the proposed mechanism is able to reduce the inter-domain traffic while improving the overlay performance.We also show that even a single network operator can successfully apply the proposed mechanism. Finally, we consider the availability of peer resources in peer-assisted content distribution. Besides contributing upload bandwidth, it is important that peers stay online after finishing their downloads to serve new download requests. The longer a peer stays online the more it can help to offload the servers. However, too extensive online time often results in high energy consumption paid by users without an adequate benefit to the system. In upcoming decentralized architectures based on set-top boxes that act as tiny servers, their energy consumption can even dominate distribution costs. Therefore, we propose advanced standby policies that reduce the energy consumption of set-top boxes while still offloading servers significantly. We evaluate the standby polices in a lifelike scenario. The results show that a near-optimal behavior can be realized by utilizing common features of set-top boxes such as the wake-up timer. We further extend a standby policy with network awareness to address the needs of network operators. In this regard, the resulting policy takes into account the interests of all three stakeholders: users, content providers, and network operators.


Reaction of 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde-4(N)-ethylthiosemicarbazone [H2-(Nap-etsc)] with [RuHCl(CO)(PPh3)3] conferred two entities, namely [Ru(H-Nap-etsc)Cl(CO)(PPh3)2] (1) and [Ru(Nap-etsc)(CO)(PPh3)2]·Cl (2). The new complexes were characterized using various spectroanalytical and X-ray crystallographic techniques. In this reaction the dual coordination behaviour (thiolate/thione) of the ligand was observed. It acted as NS bidentate monobasic and ONS tridentate monobasic in entities 1 and 2 respectively. The binding ability of complexes (1 and 2) to calf thymus DNA (CT DNA)/BSA has been explored by absorption and emission titration methods. The cytotoxic nature of the complexes was evaluated on human lung cancer cells, A549. Complexes induced apoptotic cell death via ROS hypergeneration and mitochondrial membrane damage. In addition these newly synthesized ruthenium complexes inhibited A549 cell migration, as evidenced by wound healing assay. The activity of the complexes was found to be very high by comparing with cisplatin, a conventional standard. The time dependent release of the complexes from porous system was investigated by taking mesoporous silica as the host material. It was shown that the main portion of the embedded complexes was released after 20 h and reached a maximum after 96 h.


Abstract This paper uses the term 'liminality' to refer to the experience of feeling like an outsider when people are transitioning from one housing status (long-term homelessness) to another (housed). Three dimensions of liminality are identified: 'material', 'relational' and 'psychological'. The material dimension covers how people feel about their housing and whether they find it difficult to make the transition from homeless to housed. The relational dimension focuses on whether people are able to rebuild relations with family and friends. The psychological dimension includes how people deal with the stigma of homelessness. The paper demonstrates that most people can overcome the material dimension of liminality if they are given appropriate support, but they find it more difficult to overcome the relational and psychological dimensions of liminality. We conclude that moving on from long-term homelessness is not straightforward and we point to the policy implications of these findings.


A novel approach is presented to locate dense crowd of people in a network of fixed cameras given the severely degraded background subtracted silhouettes. The problem is formulated as a sparsity constrained inverse problem using an adaptive dictionary constructed on-line. The framework has no constraint on the number of cameras neither on the surface to be monitored. Even with a single camera, partially occluded and grouped people are correctly detected and segmented. Qualitative results are presented in indoor and outdoor scenes.


Perturb-and-MAP offers an elegant approach to approximately sample from a energy-based model (EBM) by computing the maximum-a-posteriori (MAP) configuration of a perturbed version of the model. Sampling in turn enables learning. However, this line of research has been hindered by the general intractability of the MAP computation. Very few works venture outside tractable models, and when they do, they use linear programming approaches, which as we will show, have several limitations. In this work we present perturb-and-max-product (PMP), a parallel and scalable mechanism for sampling and learning in discrete EBMs. Models can be arbitrary as long as they are built using tractable factors. We show that (a) for Ising models, PMP is orders of magnitude faster than Gibbs and Gibbs-with-Gradients (GWG) at learning and generating samples of similar or better quality; (b) PMP is able to learn and sample from RBMs; (c) in a large, entangled graphical model in which Gibbs and GWG fail to mix, PMP succeeds.


No one likes paying taxes, much less the process of filing tax returns. For years, would-be reformers have advocated replacing the return-based mass income tax with a flat tax, federal sales tax, or some combination thereof. Congress itself has commissioned studies on the feasibility of a system of exact withholding. But might the much-maligned return-based taxation method serve an important civic purpose? In "Learning to Love Form 1040", Lawrence Zelenak argues that filing taxes can strengthen fiscal citizenship by prompting taxpayers to reflect on the contract they have with their government and the value - or perceived lack of value - they receive in exchange for their money. Zelenak traces the mass income tax to its origins as a means for raising revenue during World War II. Even then, debates raged over the merits of consumption versus income taxation, as well as whether taxes should be withheld from payroll or paid at the time of filing. The result is the income tax system we have today - one whose maddening complexity, intended to accommodate citizens in widely different circumstances, threatens to outweigh any civic benefits. Zelenak clears up many common misconceptions and explains how the current system could be simplified to better serve its civic purpose.


This thesis describes a simulation modelof the complete perpendicular magnetic recording process, from write current to readback voltage. Gontradictory to most models published in literature, it is neither analytical nor iterative. In the model of this thesis, the actual physical process is piecewisely linearized during every stage of recording. Extensive attention is paid to the influence of the so-called "image-charge effect", caused by the presence of a head and a keeper layer in the vicinity of a magnetized recording layer. Part I gives an introduction to the problem and to the topic of image charges. The assumptions determining the validity of the model are described and accounted for. Also, a theoretical derivation concerning the "switching criterion", the level in the recording layer at which self-consistency is assumed, is given. In part II, the actual model is set up. First, the recording of a single magnetization reversal in a DG pre-magnetized recording layer with no head-to-medium motion is analyzed and modeled. Then, the recording layer is shifted along the activated head, which causes a relaxation of the original magnetization distribution. This part of the process, so far predominantly neglected in literature, is described in detail. Also, the influence of a varying head field is investigated to complete the modeling of the write process. Finally, the readback process is modeled using the well-known theorem of reciprocity. The effects of variations of the model's parameters are described in part III. The image-charge effect is treated in a quantitative manner and the influence of the obliquity of the recording layer's intrinsic hysteresis loop is investigated. Also, the influences of the bit density and the head field to coercive field ratio are described. Finally, the thicknesses of the recording layer and the air gap are varied to find that, as expected, the air gap should be chosen as small as possible. Some mathematical derivations concerning demagnetizing fields, image-charge fields and a conformal mapping have been put into appendices completing the thesis.


Vasopressin, endothelin and adrenomedullin are vasoactive peptides that regulate vascular tone and might play a role in hypertensive diseases. Recently, laboratory assays have been developed to measure stable fragments of vasopressin, endothelin and adrenomedullin. Little is known about their diagnostic and prognostic value in hemodialysis patients. In this study, we measured the plasma concentration of copeptin, mid-regional-pro-adrenomedullin (MR-pro-ADM) and C-terminal pro-endothelin 1 (CT-pro-ET1) in stable ambulatory hemodialysis patients (n = 239) and investigated their associations with clinical factors and mortality. In all patients enrolled, the plasma concentrations of copeptin, MR-pro-ADM and CT-pro-ET1 were largely elevated with a median concentration of 132 pmol/L (interquartile range [IQR] 78–192) for copeptin, 1.26 nmol/L (IQR 1.02–1.80) for MR-pro-ADM and 149 pmol/L (IQR 121–181) for CT-pro-ET1. The plasma concentrations of all vasoactive peptide fragments correlated with time on dialysis and plasma β2-microglobulin concentration and were negatively correlated to residual diuresis. The plasma concentration of MR-pro-ADM was a strong predictor of all-cause (univariate hazard ratio for a 10-fold increase 9.94 [3.14;32], p<0.0001) and cardiovascular mortality (hazard ratio 34.87 [5.58;217], p = 0.0001) within a 3.8-year follow-up. The associations remained stable in models adjusted for dialysis specific factors and were attenuated in a full model adjusted for all prognostic factors. Plasma copeptin concentration was weakly associated with cardiovascular mortality (only in univariate analysis) and CT-pro-ET1 was not associated with mortality at all. In conclusion, vasoactive peptide fragments are elevated in hemodialysis patients because of accumulation and, most likely, increased release. Increased concentrations of MR-pro-ADM are predictive of mortality.


We present a multitask, physics-infused deep learning model to accurately and efficiently predict refractive indices (RIs) of organic molecules, and we apply it to a library of 1.5 million compounds. We show that it outperforms earlier machine learning models by a significant margin, and that incorporating known physics into data-derived models provides valuable guardrails. Using a transfer learning approach, we augment the model to reproduce results consistent with higher-level computational chemistry training data, but with a considerably reduced number of corresponding calculations. Prediction errors of machine learning models are typically smallest for commonly observed target property values, consistent with the distribution of the training data. However, since our goal is to identify candidates with unusually large RI values, we propose a strategy to boost the performance of our model in the remoter areas of the RI distribution: We bias the model with respect to the under-represented classes of molecules that have values in the high-RI regime. By adopting a metric popular in web search engines, we evaluate our effectiveness in ranking top candidates. We confirm that the models developed in this study can reliably predict the RIs of the top 1,000 compounds, and are thus able to capture their ranking. We believe that this is the first study to develop a data-derived model that ensures the reliability of RI predictions by model augmentation in the extrapolation region on such a large scale. These results underscore the tremendous potential of machine learning in facilitating molecular (hyper)screening approaches on a massive scale and in accelerating the discovery of new compounds and materials, such as organic molecules with high-RI for applications in opto-electronics.


Conventional chromosomal preparations were made of three native mice from Huanuco, Peru: a male and a female of Thomasomys sp., and a male of Akodon orophilus. Thomasomys sp. had a karyotype of 2n = 42, XY (n = 21), meanwhile A. orophilus presented 2n = 22, XY (n = 11). Comparisons between chromosomal pairs from the existent literature indicate that both are new karyotypes. Thomasomys sp. has a distinct sexual Y chromosome, the only metacentric (m) reported for the genus. The chromosomes X and Y of A. orophilus are acrocentrics (a); and the length of chromosome Y (2/3 of the length of X) distinguishes A. orophilus from other congeneric. Because the structural differences between the sexual chromosomes usually generates mechanism of reproductive isolation at intraspecific level and are bigger still in interspecific crosses, we concluded that the karyotypes reported here support the validity of the species A. orophilus and suggest that Thomasomys sp. represents a new species to science.


Carbon footprint reduction is a global concern. For the papermaking industry, strategically effective measures of carbon footprint reduction can include many aspects such as energy efficiency improvement, use of renewable carbon-neutral energy, practicing of sustainable forestry, and development of an integrated forest products biorefinery. Filler addition in papermaking can save substantial amounts of pulp fibers, and reduce energy consumption, which can surely contribute to reduction in paper's carbon footprint. However, the negative effect of filler addition on paper recycling, and the energy consumption associated with the production, processing, and treatment of fillers, will contribute to the carbon footprint. On balance, it can be considered that filler addition in reasonable amounts is likely to lower the paper's carbon footprint. Certain research work is still needed to better understand the relationship between filler addition and the carbon footprint of papermaking.


Experimental studies have shown that antilymphocyte globulin combined with transfusion of donor-specific bone marrow cells can induce partial tolerance to allograft tissue. We have adapted these protocols to clinical use and present the results of 57 cadaveric renal allograft recipients who received Minnesota ALG followed by the transfusion of cryopreserved donor-specific bone marrow. A group of 54 patients received the contralateral kidney and similar immunosuppression without the marrow transfusion and serve as controls. Both groups received quadruple immunosuppression with MALG, cyclosporin, azathioprine, and prednisone. In the bone marrow group, after a 10-14 day induction course of ALG, cryopreserved marrow was transfused on the seventh day after the last dose of ALG. The median follow-up in both groups is 16 months, (range 2.5-33 months). Six grafts have been lost in the bone marrow group, (three rejections, 2 deaths [Cr 2.0, 2.3], 1 recurrent disease). In the control group 16 grafts have been lost (13 rejections, 3 deaths [Cr 1.7, 2.5, 3.0]). Five patients in the control group have biopsy-proved chronic rejection compared to one in the bone marrow group. 17 patients in the bone marrow group have been tapered off the prednisone, and three of these patients have had mild late rejection episodes without graft loss. The two groups were compared for differences in the number of rejection episodes, estimated renal plasma flow, glomerular filtration rate, and urine protein. No differences were found. The allograft survival of the bone marrow group was significantly greater (P less than .01) than the control group. The graft survival rates for the bone marrow group at 12 and 18 months were 90% (confidence limits [CL] 85-94) and 85% (CL 78-90), respectively. In the the control group the 12 and 18 month allograft survival rates were 71% (CL 63-78) and 67% (CL 58-74), respectively. The survival in the control group was similar to our overall transplant experience with quadruple therapy. Mixed lymphocyte culture analysis shows a trend to diminished donor-specific responsiveness in the bone marrow group. The use of cryopreserved donor-specific bone marrow is associated with improved allograft survival in cadaveric kidney allograft recipients. However, a more effective induction protocol is needed to reduce the overall number of rejection episodes.


We study the impact of capturing spatiotemporal correlations between multiple wind supply points on economic dispatch procedures. Using a simple dispatch model, we first show analytically that over/underestimation of correlation leads to positive and negative biases of dispatch cost, respectively. A rigorous, large-scale computational study for the State of Illinois transmission grid with real topology and physical constraints reveals similar conclusions. For this study, we use the RaoBlackwell-Ledoit-Wolf estimator to approximate the wind covariance matrix from a small number of wind samples generated with the numerical weather prediction model WRF and we use the covariance information to generate a large number of wind scenarios. The resulting stochastic dispatch problems are solved by using the interior-point solver PIPS-IPM on the BlueGene/Q (Mira) supercomputer at Argonne National Laboratory. We find that strong and persistent biases result from neglecting correlation information and indicate to the need to design a market that coordinates weather forecasts and uncertainty characterizations.


In many respects early Pennsylvania was the prototype of North American development. Its conservative defense of liberal individualism, its population of mixed national and religious origins, its dispersed farms, county seats, and farm-service villages, and its mixed crop and livestock agriculture served as models for much of the rural Middle West. To many western Europeans in the eighteenth century, life in early Pennsylvania offered a veritable paradise and refuge from oppression. Some called it "the best poor man's country in the world." The role of cultural backgrounds is important in this study of the development of early southeastern Pennsylvania, and as important is the interplay of people with the land. Lemon discusses the settlement of the land by western Europeans; the geographical and social mobility of the people; territorial organizations of farmlands, towns, and counties; and regional variations in land use, especially farming practices. Providing deeper access into the processes of social change, The Best Poor Man's Country remains a significant addition to the literature on colonial American historiography.


As geographic information systems (GIS) technology matures and develops sophisticated decision support applications, there is an increasing need to optimise human-computer interaction (HCI) aspects. Although further advances in graphic interface design and operator training are required, the principal challenge is now in the ergonomics of shared cognitive responsibility between operator and computer system. A sound and comprehensive theoretical framework is required to understand and develop this relationship. Mental modelling provides an appropriate psychological paradigm which may be applied through arranging appropriate levels of cognitive control, (modes of engagement), for GIS operations. The validation of such a theoretical model demands the use of appropriate research methodologies within a multi-disciplinary HCI in GIS research program. A substantial reference list is provided to assist research in this field.


This article shows that a sizable component of emerging market sovereign yield spreads is due to factors other than default risk, such as liquidity. The author estimates the non-default component of the yield spreads as the basis between the actual credit default swap (CDS) premium and the hypothetical CDS premium implied by emerging market bond yields. On average, the basis is large and positive for speculative-grade bonds and slightly negative for investment-grade bonds. The large positive basis for speculative-grade bonds supports the existence of speculation in the CDS market when the underlying's credit quality is bad. The author studies the effects of bond liquidity, liquidity in the CDS market, equity market performance, and macroeconomic variables on the non-default component of the emerging market yield spreads. The results show that bond liquidity has a significant and positive effect on the CDS–bond basis of investment-grade bonds. The results suggest that the liquid bonds of investment-grade bonds are more expensive relative to the prices implied their CDS premiums. However, the results are somewhat mixed and even contrary for the speculative-grade bond sample.


Chromatic aberration, caused by photographic lens imperfections, results in the image of only one spectral channel being sharp, while the other channels are blurred depending on their wavelengths difference with the sharp channel. We study chromatic aberration for a system that jointly records color and near-infrared (NIR) images on a single sensor. Chromatic aberration in such a system leads to a blurred NIR image when the color image is in-focus and sharp. We propose an algorithm that deblurs the NIR image using the gradients of the sharp color image, as both scene representations are generally similar. However, the details of these images often exhibit significant differences due to varying scene reflection and absorption in the corresponding bands. To account for this, we compute the correlation between color and NIR gradients, and use the gradients of the color image in reconstructing NIR only where the gradients are highly correlated. We propose a multiscale scheme that gradually deblurs NIR and accurately computes similarities between color and NIR gradients. Experimental results show that our algorithm recovers details of NIR without producing visible artifacts.


Co-creative dream theory posits that the dream is co-determined through the reciprocal interplay between the witnessing dream ego and the emergent content. Consequently, the resulting dream can be seen as one of many contingent outcomes based on the dreamer's range of response through the course of the dream, as well as the broad constraints of underlying domains that account for the nature and thrust of the emergent content. From this relational view of the dream, the visual imagery is not the content itself, but rather the "mutable interface" (Sparrow, 2013) between the dream ego and the emergent content. The purpose of this paper is to consider how the Co-creative Paradigm (CCP) builds on contributions by Jung (2014), Ullman (1969), Lakoff (1993), Lakoff & Johnson (1980), and Rossi (1972), in particular, to construct a view of metaphor formation in dreams. By viewing dream content as representing broad domains of human experience rendered as specific metaphoric imagery during the dream encounter itself, this approach can discern where the dream ego stands in relationship to the developmental tasks associated with these emergent domains. Finally, I will introduce a generic approach to co-creative dreamwork that includes several operations that may facilitate effective dreamwork practice. The hypothesis presented in this paper is that this novel view of metaphoric imagery construction, based on the Co-Creative Paradigm, opens up new questions, and fosters insights heretofore unavailable from the standpoint of traditional content-oriented dream analysis.


XML has become the standard for data representation on the web. This expansion in reputation has prompted the need for a technique to access XML documents. Many techniques have been proposed to tackle the problem of mining XML data. We study the various techniques to mine XML data and yet We presented a java based implementation of FLEX algorithm for mining XML data.


We evaluate the greenhouse gas footprint of natural gas obtained by highvolume hydraulic fracturing from shale formations, focusing on methane emissions. Natural gas is composed largely of methane, and 3.6% to 7.9% of the methane from shale-gas production escapes to the atmosphere in venting and leaks over the lifetime of a well. These methane emissions are at least 30% more than and perhaps more than twice as great as those from conventional gas. The higher emissions from shale gas occur at the time wells are hydraulically fractured—as methane escapes from flow-back return fluids—and during drill out following the fracturing. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, with a global warming potential that is far greater than that of carbon dioxide, particularly over the time horizon of the first few decades following emission. Methane contributes substantially to the greenhouse gas footprint of shale gas on shorter time scales, dominating it on a 20-year time horizon. The footprint for shale gas is greater than that for conventional gas or oil when viewed on any time horizon, but particularly so over 20 years. Compared to coal, the footprint of shale gas is at least 20% greater and perhaps more than twice as great on the 20-year horizon and is comparable when compared over 100 years.


Prior to the global financial crisis (GFC), there was a relatively stable relationship between the Official Cash Rate (OCR) and retail mortgage rates. Changes in the OCR were typically accompanied by a proportional change in floating mortgage rates. However, this relationship has deteriorated since the GFC and the OCR on its own has not been a good proxy for bank funding costs. This paper examines the change in the transmission of the OCR, and the role of other funding costs for retail mortgage rates since the GFC. Banks now place greater reliance on more stable (but more costly) sources of funding. They rely on domestic deposits and long-term wholesale funding more, and less on short-term wholesale funding. This has resulted in a wider and more volatile spread between mortgage rates and the OCR. Not all changes in the OCR have passed through one-for-one into floating mortgage rates, as funding costs from other sources have sometimes been offsetting. We construct a comprehensive estimate of bank funding costs using a weighted average of the cost of domestic deposits, short-term wholesale funding and long-term wholesale funding. This weighted-average measure is further decomposed into a monetary policy rate component and a funding spread component. We use an error correction framework to measure the relative contributions of the policy rate and funding spreads to the level of mortgage rates in New Zealand, and estimate the speed of pass-through to mortgage rates from changes in funding costs. Our results suggest that funding spreads have been larger post-GFC, and have had a larger impact on the level of fixed-rate mortgages than on floating rates. There has also been a significant slowdown in the pass-through from policy and funding spreads to the floating mortgage rate. The speed of pass-through to fixed-rate mortgages has slowed only slightly.


The objective of this study is to investigate the climate sensitivity of health in a moder- ate climate of SW Germany. Daily mortality rates for the 30 yr period 1968-1997 for Baden-Wurttem- berg (SW Germany) have been investigated with regard to the possible impacts of the thermal envi- ronment. A complete heat budget model of the human being (Klima-Michel model with outcome 'perceived temperature') has been used to assess the atmospheric conditions of heat exchange. Mor- tality data show a marked seasonal pattern with a minimum in summer and a maximum in winter. During the seasonal minimum in summer, death rates rise sharply with increasing heat load, reach- ing highest values during pronounced heat waves. Under comfortable conditions, mortality data show the lowest rates. Increasing cold stress also causes death rates to rise. In addition, thermal changes on a time scale of 1 wk have been considered in comparison to short-term exposures. In all seasons changes towards 'warmer' conditions in terms of perceived temperature result in adverse effects, while changes to 'colder' conditions provide relief. This is unexpected for the winter. The daily correlation coefficients between the deviations of perceived temperature and the deviations of mortality rate from the smoothed values (Gaussian filter, 101 d) show a pronounced seasonal pattern with significant differences from zero between March and August. From the end of June to the begin- ning of July, about 25% of the variance in the deviations of mortality rate from the smoothed values can be explained by the effects of the thermal environment. The winter values show only non-signif- icant correlations, strong day-to-day variability, but marked time lags of 8 d and more, while in sum- mer there is practically no difference in the results between the zero and 1 d lags. Cold spells lead to excess mortality to a relatively small degree, which lasts for weeks. The mortality increase during heat waves is more pronounced, but is followed by lower than average values in subsequent weeks.


Motivated by the wide applications of distortion function and copulas in insurance and finance, this paper generalizes the notion of deterministic distortion function to a stochastic distortion function, i.e., a random process, and employs the defined stochastic distortion function to construct a so-called stochastic distorted copula. One method for constructing stochastic distortions is provided with a focus on using time-change processes. After giving some families of stochastic distorted copulas, the stochastic distorted copula is applied to a portfolio credit risk model with a numeric study to show the advantage of using stochastic distorted copulas over conventional Gaussian copula and double t copula in terms of fitting accuracy and catching tail dependence.


Renewable energy is the energy generated from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides and geothermal heat. Turkey has a great renewable energy potential with its natural resources such as biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, and wind. Selection among energy alternatives is a multicriteria decision-making problem with conflicting and interactive criteria. In this paper, the best energy alternative of Turkey is determined by taking into interactions among criteria by using Choquet integral methodology.


Successful endurance training involves the manipulation of training intensity, duration, and frequency, with the implicit goals of maximizing performance, minimizing risk of negative training outcomes, and timing peak fitness and performances to be achieved when they matter most. Numerous descriptive studies of the training characteristics of nationally or internationally competitive endurance athletes training 10 to 13 times per week seem to converge on a typical intensity distribution in which about 80% of training sessions are performed at low intensity (2 mM blood lactate), with about 20% dominated by periods of high-intensity work, such as interval training at approx. 90% VO2max. Endurance athletes appear to self-organize toward a high-volume training approach with careful application of high-intensity training incorporated throughout the training cycle. Training intensification studies performed on already well-trained athletes do not provide any convincing evidence that a greater emphasis on high-intensity interval training in this highly trained athlete population gives long-term performance gains. The predominance of low-intensity, long-duration training, in combination with fewer, highly intensive bouts may be complementary in terms of optimizing adaptive signaling and technical mastery at an acceptable level of stress.


The diversity of plant community can greatly affect the abundance and diversity of arthropods associated to that community, but can also influence the composition or abundance of arthropods on individual plants growing in that community. We sampled arthropods and recorded plant size of individual ragwort, Jacobaea vulgaris Gaertner ssp. vulgaris [synonym Senecio jacobaea L. (Asteraceae)], plants transplanted into 70 experimental grassland plots that differed in plant diversity (1–9 species) or that were kept without vegetation. The arthropod fauna was dominated by the specialist aphid Aphis jacobaeae Schrank (Hemiptera: Aphididae). The abundance of aphids on ragwort plants decreased significantly with increasing plant diversity. The abundance of other arthropod species was not affected by the diversity of the surrounding plant community. Plant size was also not affected by the diversity of the surrounding plant community, but varied significantly among monocultures. Ragwort plants were largest in monocultures of legumes. Aphid abundance on ragwort plants, however, was not related to the size of the individual ragwort plants, but was high in monocultures consisting of Tanacetum vulgare L. (Asteraceae) plants. This plant is morphologically similar to ragwort. Even though we observed significant effects of plant diversity, ragwort plants were considerably larger – and the abundance of aphids and other arthropods on ragwort plants substantially higher – in plots without vegetation than in vegetated plots. Our results show that the presence and the diversity of neighbouring plants can provide associational resistance to focal plants growing in that community. We conclude that the surrounding plant community directly affects the abundance of arthropods on focal ragwort plants, and not via the effects of neighbouring plants on the performance of the focal plants.


This paper uses data for Australia, the United States, Japan and the euro area to examine the relative performance of the headline CPI, exclusion-based 'cores', and trimmed means as measures of underlying inflation. Overall, we find that trimmed means tend to outperform headline and exclusion measures on a range of different criteria, indicating that they can be thought of as having better signal-to-noise ratios. We also find that there is a wide range of trims that perform well. One innovation for the United States is to break up the large implicit rent component in the US CPI into four regional components, which improves the performance of trimmed means, especially large trims such as the weighted median. The results lend support to the use of trimmed means as useful measures of underlying inflation at the current juncture where the growth of China and other emerging markets is having two offsetting effects on global inflation. Whereas some central banks have tended to focus on headline inflation and others have focused more on exclusion measures, our results provide some justification for a middle path, namely using trimmed mean measures which deal with outliers at both ends of the distribution of price changes in a symmetric manner.


Originally published in 1981, The 36-Hour Day was the first book of its kind. Thirty years later, with dozens of other books on the market, it remains the definitive guide for people caring for someone with dementia. Now in a new and updated edition, this best-selling book features thoroughly revised chapters on the causes of dementia, managing the early stages of dementia, the prevention of dementia, and finding appropriate living arrangements for the person who has dementia when home care is no longer an option.


Precise information about kinetic properties of enzymes within a biochemical network is a necessary ingredient of any successful metabolic engineering design. Such information inevitably involves uncertainty due to changes in cellular and process parameters. In this contribution, we present a computational methodology that explores the kinetic data space, and accounts explicitly for mechanistic properties of enzymes and physico-chemical and thermodynamic constraints. Thus, the proposed framework allows us to characterize the meaningful kinetic responses of metabolic network in the presence of uncertainty. We integrate the kinetic models of the individual reactions with the thermodynamically feasible pairs of substrate and product concentrations to build a population of all biochemically and thermodynamically meaningful models of the metabolic network. The effectiveness of the employed sampling method allows implementing the proposed methodology for modeling of large-scale metabolic networks. We apply the proposed framework for the modeling of the central carbon metabolism of Escherichia Coli.


Neurofibrillary tangles, which contain a phosphorylated form of the microtubule-binding protein tau, and amyloid plaques, which contain the β-amyloid peptide Aβ1-42, are common in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients. Wang et al. showed that cells that express α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α7nAChRs) exhibit a dose-dependent Aβ1-42 stimulation of tau phosphorylation at all three residues commonly phosphorylated in tau found in neurofibrillary tangles. Specifically, cortical and hippocampal synaptosomes and human neuroblastoma SK-N-MC cells responded to Aβ1-42, whereas cells that did not express α7nAChRs, human Bowes melanoma cells and rat striatum synaptosomes, did not exhibit increased tau phosphorylation. The stimulation of tau phosphorylation was only observed in response to the Aβ1-42 fragment and not other fragments of Aβ. Furthermore, tau phosphorylation in response to Aβ1-42 was inhibited by pharmacological treatments that selectively blocked α7nAChRs or inhibition of α7nAChR expression by oligonucleotide antisense treatment. Interestingly, Aβ1-42 exhibits inhibitory activity toward α7nAChR with respect to calcium mobilization and acetylcholine release; however, Wang et al. reported that Aβ1-42 stimulated extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase 1 (JNK-1). Furthermore, stimulation of these kinases was inhibited by antisense oligonucleotide treatment to decrease α7nAChR. JNK-1 and ERK1/2 were able to phosphorylate tau in vitro. Thus, Aβ1-42 may contribute to tau phosphorylation through an α7nAChR pathway, further supporting a role for α7nAChRs in Alzheimer's disease progression. H.-Y. Wang, W. Li, N. J. Benedetti, D. H. S. Lee, α7 Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors mediate β-amyloid peptide-induced tau protein phosphorylation. J. Biol. Chem. 278, 31547-31553 (2003). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Fighting for Fisheries In the debate concerning the future of the world's fisheries, some have forecasted complete collapse but others have challenged this view. The protagonists in this debate have now joined forces to present a thorough quantitative review of current trends in world fisheries. Worm et al. (p. 578) evaluate the evidence for a global rebuilding of marine capture fisheries and their supporting ecosystems. Contrasting regions that have been managed for rebuilding with those that have not, reveals trajectories of decline and recovery from individual stocks to species, communities, and large marine ecosystems. The management solutions that have been most successful for rebuilding fisheries and ecosystems, include both large- and small-scale fisheries around the world. Catch restrictions, gear modification, and closed areas are helping to rebuild overexploited marine ecosystems. After a long history of overexploitation, increasing efforts to restore marine ecosystems and rebuild fisheries are under way. Here, we analyze current trends from a fisheries and conservation perspective. In 5 of 10 well-studied ecosystems, the average exploitation rate has recently declined and is now at or below the rate predicted to achieve maximum sustainable yield for seven systems. Yet 63% of assessed fish stocks worldwide still require rebuilding, and even lower exploitation rates are needed to reverse the collapse of vulnerable species. Combined fisheries and conservation objectives can be achieved by merging diverse management actions, including catch restrictions, gear modification, and closed areas, depending on local context. Impacts of international fleets and the lack of alternatives to fishing complicate prospects for rebuilding fisheries in many poorer regions, highlighting the need for a global perspective on rebuilding marine resources.


There are substantial disputes as to what sorts of behavior constitute coercion and thereby undermine consent. This disagreement was on full display during the public fray over Aziz Ansari's behavior on a date. Whereas some commentators condemned Ansari's behavior as nothing short of sexual assault, others believed his behavior did not rise to the level of undermining consent.

This Article claims that the way forward is to see that there are two normative functions for coercion, and each is at play with respect to consent. Sometimes coercion is about the blameworthiness of the coercer, and sometimes coercion is about the involuntariness of the consenter's choice. To deny the latter is not to deny the former. Because these are two disparate functions, much of the debate about Ansari may be commentators talking past each other.

After explaining this miscommunication, this Article broadens our understanding of how the blameworthiness of the coercer can bear on the permissibility of his actions. Just as no man may profit from his own wrong, coercers may not avail themselves of consent, even if it is sufficiently "freely given" such that the consenter is not acting involuntarily. This Article claims that the wrongful coercion "normatively impairs" the coercer, and that this normative impairment is at play in other legal doctrines.

With the normative grounding in place, this Article considers how and if these amendments to our view of coercion should be taken into account in the law, with a specific focus on sexual offenses. It offers a draft statute for discussion purposes, considers charges of paternalism in both the public and private sphere, and points to other reasons to be cautious about criminalization. Finally, this Article defends this view as a more perspicuous account of the normative landscape than other coercion theories.

Ultimately, the goal of this Article is to define new conceptual territory for normative debate. Progress cannot be made until we ask the right questions and answer the same ones. This Article aims to provide the framework within which more nuanced discussions can be had.


Eastern Anatolia is the location of a young continent-continent collision between the Arabian and Eurasian plates. Long-period magnetotelluric data have been used to image the electrical resistivity of the crust and upper mantle in this region. The Anatolian block is being extruded to the west and is characterized by a low-resistivity (fluid rich) lower crust underlain by relatively normal upper mantle structure. The Anatolian Plateau has a lower crust that contains pockets of very low resistivity that may indicate local accumulations of melt. This is underlain by an upper mantle with an anomalously low resistivity that can be accounted for by an asthenosphere containing a few percent partial melt. The presence of fluids may weaken the crust and mantle sufficiently to permit lateral flow, and may also allow a decoupling of the upper and lower portions of the lithosphere. The lithospheric structure of the Anatolian Plateau is similar to that of the northern Tibetan Plateau, with zones of elevated fluid content. However, low resistivity in the Anatolian crust is found in isolated pockets, rather than the widespread regions observed in Tibet.


The Verification and Validation provides support to improve the quality of the software. Verification and Validation ensures that the product is stable and developed according to the requirements of the end user. This thesis presents a systematic review of dynamic programming languages and verification & validation practices used for dynamic languages. This thesis presents results found in dynamic programming languages and verification & validation over the period of 1985 – 2008. The study is aimed to start from identification of dynamic aspects along with the differences between static and dynamic languages. Furthermore, this thesis is also intends to give overview of the verification and validation practices for dynamic languages. Moreover to validate the verification and validation results, a survey consisting of (i) interviews and (ii) online survey is conducted. After the analysis of systematic review, it has been found that dynamic languages are making progress in some of the areas like integration of common development framework, language enhancement, dynamic aspects etc. The Dynamic languages are lacking in providing a better performance than static languages. There are also some factors found in this study that can raise the popularity of dynamic languages in the industry. Based on the analysis of systematic review, interviews and online survey, it is concluded that there is no difference between the methodologies available for Verification and Validation. It is also revealed that dynamic languages provide support to maintain software quality with their characteristics and dynamic features. Moreover, they also support to test softwares developed with static language. It is concluded that test driven development should be adopted while working with the dynamic languages. Test driven development is supposed to be a mandatory part of dynamic languages.


As economists increasingly help governments design new policies and regulations, they take on an added responsibility to engage with the details of policy making and, in doing so, to adopt the mindset of a plumber. Plumbers try to predict as well as possible what may work in the real world, mindful that tinkering and adjusting will be necessary since our models gives us very little theoretical guidance on what (and how) details will matter. This essay argues that economists should seriously engage with plumbing, in the interest of both society and our discipline.


1 Abstract —This paper proposes a novel method for the fast determination of moment of inertia of permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM) drive systems. It is based on the use of sinusoidal perturbation signals and can determine the combined moment of inertia within one sinusoidal cycle of perturbation while the influence of viscous friction is eliminated during the modeling process. It does not need the aid of complex system identification algorithms, and thanks to the elimination of influence of viscous friction, the proposed scheme shows higher accuracy than the conventional method without taking into account. Furthermore, its accuracy is also competitive with the conventional method using complex system identification algorithms, for example, the model reference adaptive system (MRAS). Besides, the performance of designed speed regulators using the estimated mechanical parameters and the influence of mismatching of mechanical parameters are also investigated.


Sentiment analysis or opinion mining aims to use automated tools to detect subjective information such as opinions, attitudes, and feelings expressed in text. This paper proposes a novel probabilistic modeling framework called joint sentiment-topic (JST) model based on latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), which detects sentiment and topic simultaneously from text. A reparameterized version of the JST model called Reverse-JST, obtained by reversing the sequence of sentiment and topic generation in the modeling process, is also studied. Although JST is equivalent to Reverse-JST without a hierarchical prior, extensive experiments show that when sentiment priors are added, JST performs consistently better than Reverse-JST. Besides, unlike supervised approaches to sentiment classification which often fail to produce satisfactory performance when shifting to other domains, the weakly supervised nature of JST makes it highly portable to other domains. This is verified by the experimental results on data sets from five different domains where the JST model even outperforms existing semi-supervised approaches in some of the data sets despite using no labeled documents. Moreover, the topics and topic sentiment detected by JST are indeed coherent and informative. We hypothesize that the JST model can readily meet the demand of large-scale sentiment analysis from the web in an open-ended fashion.


This study aims to analyze demographic factors role (gender, age, education and work experience) in forming the counterproductive behavior of education personnel in Private Universities in Padang City, namely Bung Hatta University, Baiturrahmah University and Muhammadyah University. The sample in this study is the Education Personnel in 3 Private Higher Education institutions totaling 100 participant. Collecting data using a questionnaire, the method used to analyze the data is descriptive statistical analysis: Independent Sample T test and Anova test. The results showed: (1) counterproductive behavior of female education personnel tends to be higher than that of men, (2) the age range of 21-25 years is higher in counterproductive behavior than other age ranges, (3) the work period is 1-3 years higher behavior counterproductive from other work periods, (4) Diploma level education is higher in counterproductive behavior than other levels of education. In addition, it was also found that there were no counterproductive behavioral differences from gender, age, tenure and level of education. Higher Education Managers are advised to: provide opportunities and scholarships to continue their education, implement reward and punishman systems, provide training especially for young people and their work experience is still low, improve supervision and enforce discipline for all education personnel. Keywords : gender, age, years of service, education, counterproductive behavior


Hierarchical Pitman-Yor Process priors are compelling methods for learning language models, outperforming point-estimate based methods. However, these models remain unpopular due to computational and statistical inference issues, such as memory and time usage, as well as poor mixing of sampler. In this work we propose a novel framework which represents the HPYP model compactly using compressed suffix trees. Then, we develop an efficient approximate inference scheme in this framework that has a much lower memory footprint compared to full HPYP and is fast in the inference time. The experimental results illustrate that our model can be built on significantly larger datasets compared to previous HPYP models, while being several orders of magnitudes smaller, fast for training and inference, and outperforming the perplexity of the state-of-the-art Modified Kneser-Ney countbased LM smoothing by up to 15%.


This thesis primarily covers the automation problem for sleep versus awake detection, which is sometimes accomplished by differentiating the various sleep stages prior to clustering. This thesis documents various experimentation into areas where the performance can be improved, including classifier design and feature selection from EEG, EOG and Context. In terms of classifiers, it was found that the neural network MLP outperforms the continuous Hidden Markov Model with an accuracy of 91.91%, and additional performance requires better feature sets and more training data. Improved EEG features based on time frequency representation were optimized to differentiate Awake with 93.52% sensitivity and 94.60% specificity, differentiate REM with 96.12% sensitivity and 93.63% specificity, differentiate Stages II and III with 96.81% sensitivity and 89.28% specificity, and differentiate Stages III and IV with 93.60% sensitivity and 90.43% specificity. Due to the limited data set, an example of applying contextual information using a One-Cycle-Duo-Direction model was built and shown to improve EEG features by up to 10%. This level of performance is comparable if not superior to the human scorer accuracy of 88% to 94%. This thesis improved some aspects of sleep staging automation, but due to the limitations on resources, the full potential of these improvements could not be demonstrated. To further develop these improvements, additional data sets customized by sleep staging experts is crucial.


Epic poets of the Renaissance looked to emulate the poems of Greco-Roman antiquity, but doing so presented a dilemma: what to do about the gods? Divine intervention plays a major part in the epics of Homer and Virgil indeed, quarrels within the family of Olympian gods are essential to the narrative structure of those poems yet poets of the Renaissance recognized that the cantankerous Olympians could not be imitated too closely. The divine action of their classical models had to be transformed to accord with contemporary tastes and Christian belief. "From Many Gods to One" offers the first comparative study of poetic approaches to the problem of epic divine action. Through readings of Petrarch, Vida, Ariosto, Tasso, and Milton, Tobias Gregory""describes the narrative and ideological consequences of the epic s turn from pagan to Christian. Drawing on scholarship in several disciplines religious studies, classics, history, and philosophy, as well as literature "From Many Gods to One" sheds new light on two subjects of enduring importance in Renaissance studies: the precarious balance between classical literary models and Christian religious norms and the role of religion in drawing lines between allies and others. "


Health insurance contracts have long excluded coverage for care that is "experimental" or not "medically necessary." Historically, insurance policies defined these key terms of coverage using broad standards. For example, "medically necessary" care might be defined as care that is "generally accepted in the medical community." This contractual structure provided insurers with significant flexibility when making coverage determinations, even though denying coverage could pad their bottom line. For this reason, lawmakers developed various tools to prevent insurers from exploiting their discretion to determine when care was "medically necessary" or "experimental." These safeguards allowed insureds to challenge coverage denials internally within the insurance company, externally to an independent medical expert, and before courts via a contract law or ERISA cause of action. Additionally, state and federal mandates required insurers to cover specific medically necessary treatments and services. This Article documents a dramatic shift in health insurers' contracts and practices from a standard-based approach to determining the medical and scientific appropriateness of health care towards a rule-based approach for making these determinations. It shows how health insurers have increasingly made incredibly detailed and specific rules of medical necessity part of their formal contractual obligations to policyholders. The Article then argues that health insurers' shift from standards to rules for defining medically and scientifically appropriate health care undermines the effectiveness of traditional legal tools designed to constrain the risk of health insurer over-reaching. The Article concludes by exploring reforms that might effectively address the increasing rulification of medical necessity.


Since the introduction of Response Surface Methodology in the 1950s, there have been many developments with the aim of expanding the range of applications of the methodology. Various new design, modeling and optimization techniques have been introduced for coping with unknown input-output relationships, costly or time-consuming experimental studies and irregular experimental regions (e.g., non-cubic or non-spherical regions induced by constraints in the input variables). Such developments may involve many different research areas simultaneously (e.g., the statistical design of the experiments, multivariate modeling, and multi-objective optimization). Experts in various research fields have been embracing and combining methodologies from other areas in order to achieve an improved efficacy and efficiency. This article aims to throw light on these methodological developments and provide a self-contained literature review with a statistical perspective.


Large diameter Eucalyptus obliqua decaying logs are characteristic features of wet
eucalypt forests in Tasmania. In production coupes, however, rotation lengths of around
80 years will eventually lead to their elimination. This thesis investigates the role of
these features as habitat for saproxylic beetles, and thus whether their retention is
warranted to maintain biodiversity. Large diameter (> 1 OOcm) logs derived from
commercially over-mature trees were compared with small diameter (30-60cm) logs
derived from trees of an age approaching commercial maturity, in two forest types:
mature, unlogged forest; and 20-30 year logged forest that had regenerated after
clearfelling.
Two field studies were conducted, in which a highly species rich fauna of 360
saproxylic beetle species (representing 54 families) are first recorded.
The first, destructive sampling study investigated whether small diameter logs follow
similar decomposition processes to large diameter logs, and so support similar rot types
and beetle assemblages. Eleven rot types were differentiated, each associated with a
particular region within the log. Small diameter logs had a relatively high incidence of
white rot towards their outer edges, probably originating from fungal colonisation after
treefall. Large diameter logs had a higher incidence of brown rot towards their cores,
probably originating from internal decay already present in older, living eucalypt trees
prior to treefall. Some of the beetle species characteristic of this brown rot are possibly
poor dispersers and may be of particular conservation concern in production forests.
The second, log emergence trapping study examined the extent to which beetle
assemblages differ between small and large diameter logs, and whether they respond in
the same way to forest successional processes induced by stand level disturbance.
Distinct suites of species were associated with large diameter logs irrespective of forest
type, yet there were no apparent small log specialists. Assemblages differed
significantly between the mature and logging regenerated forests; there was also
significant variation among sites that could not be attributed to forest type. Small
diameter logs in the logging regenerated forest lacked some apparent mature forest
specialists that were present in large diameter logs in the same forest type. This research indicates that large diameter logs have unique habitat qualities for saproxylic beetles,
and they are important in providing continuity of habitat for the re-establishment of
certain species following stand level disturbances, whether induced by logging or by
wildfire.
A precautionary and multi-scaled approach towards dead wood management is
advocated, with particular consideration of the temporal scale at which the dynamics of
the forests operate. In line with current conservation management strategies employed
and explored by Tasmanian forestry, retention of some trees during harvesting to
improve stand structure complexity and future dead wood supply is strongly
recommended as one means of mitigating potential negative impacts. The planning of
tree retention should aim to provide sufficient oldgrowth features, and sufficient
quantity and continuity of dead wood types, throughout successive forest regeneration
cycles for conservation of dead wood dependent biota. At the landscape scale, managing
the production forest matrix as a habitat mosaic through diversifying silvicultural
regimes is also recommended.


Influenza A virus surveillance studies of wild bird populations are essential to improving our understanding of the role of wild birds in the ecology of low-pathogenic avian influenza viruses and their potential contribution to the spread of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses. Whereas the primary results of such surveillance programs have been communicated extensively, practical considerations and technical implementation options generally receive little attention. In the present study, the data obtained from 39,490 samples were used to compare the impacts of variables such as the sampling procedure, storage and transport conditions, and the choice of molecular and classical diagnostic tests on the outcome of the results. Molecular diagnostic tests allowed estimation of the virus load in samples, which has implications for the ability to isolate virus. Virus isolation in embryonated eggs was more sensitive than virus isolation in cell cultures. Storage and transport conditions had less of an impact on diagnostics by the use of molecular tests than by the use of classical approaches. These findings indicate that molecular diagnostic tests are more sensitive and more reliable than classical tests. In addition, molecular diagnostic tests facilitated analyses in real time and allowed the discrimination of H5 influenza viruses with low and high pathogenicities without the need for virus isolation. Critical assessment of the methods used in large surveillance studies like this will facilitate comparison of the results between studies. Moreover, the lessons learned from current large-scale influenza A virus surveillance activities could be valuable for other pathogen surveillance programs in the future.


Abstract Bromus Tectorum is an invasive plant species known to reduce abundance of native perennial grasses, increase fire frequency and intensity, decrease animal performance, and alter microbial communities and ecosystem processes. Specifically, in the Intermountain West, Bromus has been associated with decreases in livestock performance. Land managers use several methods to control invasion, but no previous studies fully integrate the dynamic interaction between control methods and the biophysical behavior of Bromus invasion. This research uses dynamic programming in conjunction with a process based ecological model to solve for optimal management strategies of Bromus invasion. The model represents biological responses to different management strategies given exogenous land, animal, and weather characteristics. The model is solved for both finite and infinite time horizons. This research tests the hypotheses that it is not always optimal to manage Bromus invasions, but more realistically, invasions should only be managed in specific instances. Moreover, the control sets that constitute optimal responses to Bromus invasion depend entirely on the specifics of each instance.


Imports of motor vehicles (automobiles and light trucks) from Japan increased by one-third in volume from 2005 to 2006, rising to more than two million units, the highest yearly total since 1989. Some Members of Congress have expressed concern that the export of cars from Japan to the U.S. market has been assisted by a policy of the Japanese government to reduce the exchange rate of the yen. This could give producers based in Japan a trade advantage when they export vehicles to the U.S. market, in competition against those made in the United States. Alternative factors that may also explain the 2006 import increase are rising sales of imported subcompact vehicles, which are not built in the United States by any manufacturer, and a shortage of U.S. manufacturing capacity by two leading Japanese-owned automotive manufacturers. Toyota and Honda are now rapidly expanding their North American production, a development that may reduce net imports, but could further increase the competitive pressure on the Detroit-based "Big Three" manufacturers.


Objective To study the prevalence and medium term outcome of subclinical rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in India. Design Cross sectional echocardiographic screening study. Setting School children aged 5–15 years living in rural areas of north India. Patients A cross sectional echocardiographic screening study was carried out among 6270 randomly selected school children aged 5–15 years (10.8±2.6 years; 52.7% male). Of all the abnormal cases, 100 children (78%) were restudied at a mean follow-up of 15.4±6.6 months. Intervention Echocardiographic screening. Main outcome measure Echocardiography–Doppler criteria based prevalence of RHD. Results Clinical examination detected mitral regurgitation in five patients and the estimated prevalence of clinical RHD was 0.8/1000 school children. Echocardiography–Doppler diagnosed RHD in 128 cases, giving a prevalence of 20.4/1000 school children (95% CI 16.9 to 23.9/1000 children). On multivariate analysis, older age (OR 1.93, 95% CI 1.29 to 2.88; p=0.001), female sex (OR 1.84, 95% CI 1.25 to 2.72; p=0.002) and government funded school student, which is a surrogate measure of lower socioeconomic status (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.02 to 2.34; p=0.039) were found to be independent predictors of RHD. On follow up, the severity of subclinical RHD was non-progressive in 68 children (68%) while it worsened in four (4%) and regressed in 28 children (28%). Conclusions The prevalence of RHD is several fold higher using echocardiographic screening compared with clinical examination. The prevalence is higher among girls and children of lower socioeconomic status. In the majority of cases, subclinical RHD appears to be non-progressive on medium term follow up. Routine echocardiographic screening may be indicated in populations at high risk of RHD.


Abstract:Since November 2018, a grassroots revolt of the forgotten lower middle classes from France's far-flung suburbs and rural areas has risen against high taxes; social injustice; and the elites, President Emmanuel Macron foremost among them. Although this "Yellow Vest" movement is not dead, it is now weakened by internal feuds, excessive violence, a takeover by the far left, and Macron's deft handling. Yet this revolt of "la France profonde" has underscored the fragility of Macron's narrow sociological and political base. Macron's decisive 2017 election victory owed more to his outsider status, the collapse of the traditional political establishment, and the rejection of the far right (led by Marine Le Pen) than to his free-market and pro-European agenda. In part, the Yellow Vest version of populism was a response to the "populism of the elites" embodied by Macron in 2017. The Yellow Vest movement further illustrates the central class and polarized ideological cleavages that shape the politics of a growing number of advanced democracies.


A three-field countercurrent flow limitation (CCFL) model based on the classic flooding curve methodology has been developed and successfully demonstrated in a derivative of the COBRA-TF code. The various physical mechanisms (wave reversal, liquid bridging, and wave interfacial instability) supposed to govern the flooding and flow reversal phenomena are extremely complex and geometric dependent. As a result universally applicable numerical models for these phenomena are not currently available. The chosen approach provides flexibility and leverages the available experimental data to improve the predictive capability of the code. The model is an extension of the standard two-field (liquid-vapor) CCFL model to a three-field (liquid films, vapor, and liquid droplets) CCFL model. This extension includes providing the appropriate set of momentum equations, definitions of required superficial velocities, and new entrainment rate correlations based on CCFL conditions. Necessary criteria to enter and exit the model in a numerically stable manner are also described. The implementation of the model was verified and was shown to provide increased numerical stability in the code predictions. Improvement in the code-to-data agreement of the allowable downward liquid penetration rate for the Dukler and Smith experiments is also demonstrated.


Leaf litter can be an important food resource in small forest streams, but its availability to detritivorous macroinvertebrates depends on stream retentiveness. Previous work in Hong Kong streams revealed a scarcity of large detritivores, and it is possible that this reflects the availability or instability of litter resources. Using leaf analogues made from waterproof paper, we undertook short-term experiments to measure the retentiveness of eight Hong Kong streams under baseflow conditions during the dry season; four streams had coarse bed sediments (boulder dominated) and four had relatively fine sediments (cobble-gravel dominated). Initially we compared the transport properties of soaked and unsoaked leaf analogues with the leaves of four native trees in one of the streams. Soaked and unsoaked analogues were used to mimic waterlogged and newly-fallen leaves. Mean travel distances (S p ) of leaves and analogues in the study streams ranged from 1-22 m. These are comparable to values recorded from similar-sized streams in temperate latitudes. Unsoaked analogues traveled further (mean S p = 10.2 m versus 3.1 m) than soaked analogues in all study streams, but retention behaviour of analogues generally matched that of real leaves. Mean travel distances of both analogue types were unrelated to streambed sediment size or sediment heterogeneity, but travel distance of soaked analogues was positively related to stream discharge. Litter retention remained high over a six-day period in one of the streams, suggesting that litter would be readily available to detritivores during periods with stable discharge, and that the scarcity of shredders must be caused by other factors.


Metal semiconductor field effect transistor, MESFET, structures have been grown in a hot-wall CVD reactor. Using trimethylaluminium and nitrogen as dopant sources, p- and n-type epitaxial layers were grown on semi insulating substrates. A comprehensive characterization study of thickness and doping of these structures has been performed by using scanning electron microscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry, capacitance-voltage measurements. Each technique is discussed concerning its advantage and disadvantage. Some transistor properties of MESFETs processed on the grown material are presented.


Many mRNAs are alternatively spliced to produce proteins with different functions or regulatory properties. Diversity in the BK (also known as Slo) family of potassium channels arises through alternative splicing, and inclusion of the STREX exon produces a channel with higher sensitivity to calcium. Xie and Black show that inclusion of the STREX exon is decreased when GH3 pituitary cells are depolarized. By using a splicing reporter construct and cotransfection of calcium-calmodulin kinase (CaMK) isoforms, CaMK IV was identified as the isoform able to repress inclusion of the STREX exon from transcripts produced from the reporter. Two sequences were found to be important for CaMK IV regulation of splicing: an exonic pyrimidine-rich repressor element (D56) and a sequence upstream of the 3′ splice site of the STREX exon called the CaMK IV-responsive RNA element (CaRRE). CaMK IV was also able to regulate the splicing of another Slo exon and two exons of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor. Thus, modification of splicing to produce different channels through activation of CaMK IV represents one mechanism of activity-dependent alterations in channel expression that can lead to synaptic plasticity. J. Xie, D. L. Black, A CaMK IV responsive RNA element mediates depolarization-induced alternative splicing of ion channels. Nature 410, 936-939 (2001). [Online Journal]


For the last several decades, there has been a pronounced influence of "retro" fashion and style on various youth subcultures. This occurrence has been in the form of larger, cultural trends in both the underground and mainstream, such as the Teddy Boy and Mod revivals of the late seventies. However, until recently, it has been far less common for youths to identify stylistically with a more distant past. Alongside a more longstanding fascination among goths with Stoker-era vampire chic, contemporary steampunks and Lolitas also adopt many signs and symbols of Victoriana. While steampunks romanticise mid-nineteenth century technology, both real and imagined, Lolitas, an originally Japanese subculture, are fascinated with a nineteenth century unrelated to their own nation's history. This article examines the lineage of so-called neo-Victorian subcultures, how they compare to one another, and what symbolic value they hold for young people today.


Strawberry is cultivated in north Europe, also in the higher latitudes and it is the most important soft fruit crop in Finland. The cool climate has limited the spread of many strawberry pests to Finland, but this is now changing. Benefiting from the warming climate, strawberry tarsonemid mite (Tarsonemus pallidus) continues to be the most important pest. Biological control by use of predatory mites is widely adopted by growers. Two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae) is favoured by use of fibre cloth used to protect plants during winter and spring. Strawberry blossom weevil (Anthonomus rubi) and European tarnished plant bug (Lygus rugulipennis) are among the key pests, and in northern Finland strawberry leaf beetles (Galerucella spp.) can cause severe damage. Monitoring methods have been developed for these pests. Warming climate has increased thrips damage on fruits, and favours also the black vine weevil (Otiorhynchus sulcatus). Grey mould (Botrytis cinerea) is the main disease, and controlled with fungicides. Recently, also biological control has become more popular. Crown rot (Phytophthora cactorum) has spread to production fields. However, anthracnose (Colletotrichum acutatum) has not established itself in production fields. Leaf diseases (Mycosphaerella fragariae, Diplocarpon earlianum and Gnomonia comari) are quite common and powdery mildew (Podosphaera aphanis) has not been an important disease in open field. The main vector of strawberry viruses, strawberry aphid (Chaetosiphon fragaefolii), occurs not yet in Finland. In the future, mites are expected to be more harmful and also thrips and black vine weevil are favoured by warmer conditions. Considering diseases, Phytophthora species can be expected to increase in Finnish strawberry fields.


CONTEXT
Electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) was designed for artificial muscle activation or superimposed training.

OBJECTIVES
To compare the effects of 8 weeks of superimposed technique (ST; application of electrical stimulation during a voluntary muscle action) and EMS on the cross-sectional area of the rectus abdominis, lateral abdominal wall, and on lumbopelvic control.

SETTING
University research laboratory.

DESIGN
Randomized controlled trial.

PARTICIPANTS
Fifty healthy subjects were recruited and randomly assigned to either the ST or EMS group.

INTERVENTION
The participants engaged with the electrical stimulation techniques (ST or EMS) for 8 weeks.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
In all participants, the cross-sectional area of the rectus abdominis and lateral abdominal wall was measured by magnetic resonance imaging and lumbopelvic control, quantified using the single-leg and double-leg lowering tests.

RESULTS
There were no significant differences in the cross-sectional area of the rectus abdominis (right: P = .70, left: P = .99) or lateral abdominal wall (right: P = .07, left: P = .69) between groups. There was a significant difference between groups in the double-leg lowering test (P = .03), but not in the single-leg lowering test (P = .88). There were significant differences between the preintervention and postintervention in the single-leg (P < .001) and double-leg lowering tests (P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS
ST could improve lumbopelvic control in the context of athletic training and fitness.


In Questions & Answers, we speak with Eric Cooper of the National Urban Alliance for effective education and Frankie Powell from the Maya Angelou Institute. They discuss two distinct approaches to address the achievement gap, Cooper focusing on aligning instructional practice with parental support in the home, and Powell with mobilizing community assets to enrich students' learning opportunities. In both cases, they urge action research as an invaluable tool for teacher practice as well as school-level strategic planning.


The goal of this Article is two-fold: (i) to identify the rationale for the emergence of independent directors by tracing their evolution in the U.S. and the U.K. where they originated; and (ii) to examine the transplantation of that concept into India with a view to evaluating the effectiveness of independent directors in that country. This Article finds that there are significant differences in the corporate ownership structures and legal systems between the countries of origin of independent directors on the one hand and India on the other. Due to the diffused shareholding structures in the U.S. and the U.K., the independent directors were ushered into corporate governance norms in those countries in order to operate as a monitoring mechanism over managers in the interest of shareholders. Each stage in the evolution of board independence bears testimony to this fact. However, a transplantation of the concept to a country such as India without placing emphasis on local corporate structures and associated factors is likely to produce unintended results and outcomes that are less than desirable. This Article finds that due to the concentrated ownership structures in Indian companies, it is the minority shareholders who require the protection of corporate governance norms from actions of the controlling shareholders. Board independence, in the form it originated, does not provide a solution to this problem. While this Article is skeptical about the effectiveness of board independence in India, it suggests reforms to embolden independent directors that may empower them to play a more meaningful role in corporate governance.


We present new findings about the relationship between marriage and socioeconomic background in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Imputing socioeconomic status of family of origin from first names, we document a socioeconomic gradient for women in the probability of marriage and the socioeconomic status of husbands. This socioeconomic gradient becomes steeper over time. We investigate the degree to which it can be explained by occupational income divergence across geographic regions. Regional divergence explains about one half of the socioeconomic divergence in the probability of marriage, and almost all of the increase in marital sorting. Differences in urbanization rates and the share of foreign-born across states drive most of these differences, while other factors (the scholarization rate, the sex ratio and the share in manufacturing) play a smaller role.


Christophe Bassons is a former professional cyclist. His career was a successful one albeit never in the full glare of the media. That all changed when, in 1998, the Festina doping scandal broke and Bassons shot to fame as one of the handful of clean riders in the peloton - and as the only professional who dared to speak openly about the topic. Having been seen as a possible champion, his instinctive and stubborn refusal to dope saw him outstripped in physique, stamina and speed by men he'd once equalled or exceeded. His willingness to denounce the doping culture set him against the entire ethos of professional cycling: owners, management and his peers - the likes of Lance Armstrong, Richard Virenque, Christophe Moreau. A year later, Bassons' career was over. Having clashed publicly with other riders - notably with Armstrong during the 1999 Tour de France - and written in French newspapers of his disbelief and disgust, Bassons found himself exhausted and exiled - chewed up and spat out by the sport he loved. First published in French in 2000 and now updated following recent revelations from Armstrong, Tyler Hamilton and other high-profile figures, A Clean Break is unmissable reading for all cycling fans. It offers a unique and heartbreaking take on the subject.


By using the data from 15 countries in Asia, this study aims to improve the current global flood risk assessment methods in the aspects of vulnerability proxy selection and a risk calculation formula. In estimating global flood risk, the current methods treat vulnerability in a very simplistic manner. Based on recent literature and empirical findings, this study classifies vulnerability into susceptibility (in terms of marginalized groups, unplanned urbanization, and weak governance), and coping capacity. Each of the four components is, in light of global data availability, expressed by eight proxies, namely, age-related dependency ratio, undernourishment prevalence, urbanization growth rate, deforestation, corruption perceptions index, and three core scores from the Hyogo Framework for Action. Regarding the risk calculation formula, this study tries to break through the limitations of the multiple regression, which is commonly used for estimating coefficients and parameters, by applying the partial least squares regression (PLSR) method. The PLSR method makes it possible to include many proxies in the formula without lowering the explanatory power, even when the proxies are highly correlated.


Understanding the effect of cooking on glucose availability will aid in the recommendation for including sweet potatoes as a regular component in American diets. Heating breaks down starch granules to allow amylopectin and amy- lose to be more readily digested by pancreatic amylase, which theoretically should increase the glycemic index of sweet potato. Twelve volunteers consumed 25 g of available carbohydrate from Beauregard sweet potato skin and flesh sepa- rately that were subjected to conventional cooking methods: baking at 163 °C for 1 hour; microwaving for five minutes in a 1000 watt microwave; dehydrating at 60°C for 16 hours; and steaming at 100°C for 45 minutes. Available carbohydrate was determined by difference from proximate analysis of protein, lipid, total dietary fiber, moisture, and ash. Fasted par- ticipants measured blood glucose levels at 0, 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes after consuming 25 g of carbohydrate from test foods or glucose. Glycemic indices calculated from these methods for steamed, baked and microwaved sweet potato flesh were 63 ± 3.6, 64 ± 4.3 and 66 ± 5.7, respectively, indicative of a moderate glycemic index food. However, dehydrated and raw sweet potato flesh had a low glycemic index (41 ± 4.0 and 32 ± 3.0, respectively). Steamed skin, baked skin, and dehydrated flesh did not have a statistically different glycemic index (P> 0.05) from that of raw sweet potatoes. A second experiment confirmed the low glycemic index of raw sweet potato, especially the skin, and showed that a commercial ex- tract of the sweet potato cortex, Caiapo, tended to lower the glycemic index of white potato to a level that was not differ- ent from the raw sweet potato peel. The physiological mechanism for the lower glycemic index was not due to a greater release or a greater clearance of insulin during the glycemic response. Depending on cooking methods, "Beauregard" sweet potato flesh and skin may be considered low and medium glycemic index foods, which may prove beneficial for diabetic or insulin-resistant consumers.