Anagarika Dharmapala is one of the most galvanizing figures in Sri Lanka's recent turbulent history. He is widely regarded as the nationalist hero who saved the Sinhala people from cultural collapse and whose "protestant" reformation of Buddhism drove monks toward increased political involvement and eventual militarization. Yet as tied to Sri Lankan nationalism as Dharmapala is in popular memory, he spent the vast majority of his life abroad, engaging other concerns. In Rescued from the Nation, Steven Kemper reevaluates this important figure in the light of an unprecedented number of his writings, ones that paint a picture not of a nationalist zealot but of a spiritual seeker earnest in his pursuit of salvation. Drawing on huge stores of source materials - nearly one hundred diaries and notebooks - Kemper reconfigures Dharmapala as a world-renouncer first and a political activist second. Following Dharmapala on his travels between East Asia, South Asia, Europe, and North America, he traces his lifelong project of creating a unified Buddhist world, recovering the place of the Buddha's Enlightenment, and imitating the Buddha's life course. The result is a needed corrective to Dharmapala's embattled legacy, one that resituates Sri Lanka's political awakening within the religious one that was Dharmapala's life project.


We present the first quantitative palaeobiogeographical analysis in terms of distribution and abundance of Early Triassic ammonoids from the western USA basin during the Smithian, c. 1 myr after the Permian–Triassic boundary mass extinction. The faunal dataset consists of a taxonomically homogenized compilation of spatial and temporal occurrences and abundances from 27 sections distributed within the western USA basin. Two complementary multivariate techniques were applied to identify the main biogeographical structuring recorded in the analysed presence/absence data: additive cluster analysis using the neighbor‐joining algorithm (NJ) and non‐metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS). Regarding abundance data, a taxonomic diversity (sensu evenness) analysis was coupled with graphical comparisons of relative abundances of selected taxa. The identified relationships indicate that middle Smithian ammonoids of the western USA basin were geographically organized in terms of both distribution and abundance, with the biogeographical distinction of a southern and a northern cluster. This N–S structuring in the distribution and abundance of middle Smithian ammonoids is notably paralleled by the relative amount of siliciclastics, which suggests that clastic load of the water column was a major controlling factor. In marked contrast with the middle Smithian, the studied late Smithian ammonoid assemblages do not show any significant differences, whatever the depositional environment. This abrupt biogeographical homogenization, independent from intrabasinal facies heterogeneity, indicates a switch from regional to global drivers, associated with the well‐known late Smithian global extinction and remarkable cosmopolitan ammonoid distributions during that time.


Abstract. This paper presents a novel approach to automated generation of driving lines from mobile laser scanning (MLS) point cloud data. The proposed method consists of three steps: road surface segmentation, road marking extraction and classification, and driving line generation. The voxel-based upward-growing algorithm was firstly used to extract ground points from the raw MLS point clouds followed by segmentation of road surface using a region-growing algorithm. Then, the statistical outlier removal filter was applied to separate and refine the road marking points followed by extracting and classifying the lane markings based on the geometric features of different road markings using empirical hierarchical decision trees. Finally, land node structures were constructed followed by generation of driving lines using a curve-fitting algorithm. The proposed method was tested on both circular road sections and irregular intersections. The smoothing spline curve fitting model was tested on the circular road sections, while the Catmull-Rom spline with five control points was used to generate the driving lines at road intersections. The overall performance of the proposed algorithms is promising with 96.0% recall, 100.0% precision, and 98.0% F1-score for the lane marking extraction specifically. Most significantly, the validation results demonstrate that the driving lines can be effectively generated within 20 cm-level localization accuracy at an average of 3.5% miscoding using MLS point clouds, which meets the requirement of localization accuracy of fully autonomous driving functions. The results demonstrate the proposed methods can successfully generate road driving lines in the test datasets to support the development of high-definition maps.


The increasing level of mobility confirms the internationalization of professional labor market. The article investigates different approaches to migration of high-quality specialists with main goal to present an overview of its main topics. As a particular case the situation in the Russian IT sphere is considered. It is shown how it is embedded in the whole picture and reflects main tendencies in this field. We discuss different theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches applied to the study of migration of high-quality specialists starting from brain drain/brain gain paradigm and proceeding to network approach, diaspora studies and transnationalism. The latter have significantly changed analytical perspective allowing for conceptual and empirical discoveries in migration studies and research of technological innovations.


This paper studies the welfare of time-inconsistent, partially sophisticated agents living under two different regimes, one with complete, unfettered credit markets (CM) and the other with endogenous borrowing constraints (EBC) where the borrowing limits are set to make agents indifferent between defaulting and paying back their unsecured loans. The CM regime cannot deliver the first best because partially sophisticated agents would undo plans laid out by previous selves and borrow too much. Somewhat counterintuitively, in some cases, the EBC regime may deliver higher welfare than the CM regime. These results speak to the academic debate surrounding the creation and functioning of the CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) in the U.S. and its implementation of the ability-to-repay rule on lenders after the 2007-8 crisis. Such institutions generate commitment publicly and may help time inconsistent agents economize on the costs of private commitment provision.


A reaction-diffusion-advection model of multicellular morphogenesis during in the aggregation phase of the microorganism Dictyostelium discoideum is reviewed. Linear analysis identifies a novel chemotaxis-driven instability which appears to underlie the cell streaming phenomenon observed experimentally. Numerical simulations show that the model captures in considerable detail the establishment of aggregation territories and the formation of branching cell stream patterns which characterize aggregation in situ.


We consider an agent interacting with an environment in a single stream of actions, observations, and rewards, with no reset. This process is not assumed to be a Markov Decision Process (MDP). Rather, the agent has several representations (mapping histories of past interactions to a discrete state space) of the environment with unknown dynamics, only some of which result in an MDP. The goal is to minimize the average regret criterion against an agent who knows an MDP representation giving the highest optimal reward, and acts optimally in it. Recent regret bounds for this setting are of order O(T2/3) with an additive term constant yet exponential in some characteristics of the optimal MDP. We propose an algorithm whose regret after T time steps is O(√T), with all constants reasonably small. This is optimal in T since O(√T) is the optimal regret in the setting of learning in a (single discrete) MDP.


Social life is generally associated with an increased exposure to pathogens and parasites, due to factors such as high population density, frequent physical contact and the use of perennial nest sites. However, sociality also permits the evolution of new collective behavioural defences. Wood ants, Formica paralugubris, commonly bring back pieces of solidified coniferous resin to their nest. Many birds and a few mammals also incorporate green plant material into their nests. Collecting plant material rich in volatile compounds might be an efficient way to fight bacteria and fungi. However, no study has demonstrated that this behaviour has a positive effect on survival. Here, we provide the first experimental evidence that animals using plant compounds with antibacterial and antifungal properties survive better when exposed to detrimental micro-organisms. The presence of resin strongly improves the survival of F. paralugubris adults and larvae exposed to the bacteria Pseudomonas fluorescens, and the survival of larvae exposed to the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae. These results show that wood ants capitalize on the chemical defences which have evolved in plants to collectively protect themselves against pathogens.


In the age of rapid globalization many nations face the
challenge of redefinition of their identity. This is certainly
the case of the countries of the Visegrad group which entered
the European Union in 2004 and therefore had to cope with the
integration into the most successful international
organization. This integration challenged the existing
self-perception of the new members of the Union and triggered
long dormant nationalism and identity politics in the Central –
Europe. Publication Political Parties and Nationalism in
Visegrad Countries strives to map attitudes of political
parties in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia
towards nationalism and national identity as well as
minorities, other countries and international influences. Based
on the analysis of the election manifestos of relevant
political parties between years 2005 and 2010 publication
identifies common approaches on the national and further on
regional level. Substantive differences between those
approaches are examined in order to give reader a comprehensive
picture about deep cleavages in societies of the Visegrad
region.


In asylum cases, some western countries use global gay discourses and teleological developmental narratives to (mis)recognise non-Western queerness. This paper investigates a number of queer asylum cases to explain how the set conditions for a queer asylum status in those countries tend to reinforce homonationalist ideologies underpinned by global gay discourses. Consequently, some non-Western queers are compelled to bring forth a particular brand of personal disaster spectacle that validates ingrained imperialist Islamophobia in host countries and beyond. The paper argues that under the rubrics of provable persecution, the shock value in the personal disaster spectacle of Muslim queers in their home countries is utilized to validate another pervasive violence: reinforcement of Islamophobic ideologies that are used to justify the 'war on terror'.


Background: Sleep disordered breathing, speci�耀 cally obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is due to constriction of the oropharyngeal airway during sleep and has major public health implications. By conservative estimates, 3% of the adult population are su�耀 ering from OSA characterized by sleep deprivation, fatigue during the day and somnolence. �怀 e most common treatment for sleep apnea is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). However, CPAP does not eliminate the cause of OSA. Methods: �怀 e goal of this prospective pilot study was to evaluate the changes of the total airway volume and most constricted area of the oropharyngeal airway using a non-ablative laser procedure. Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans were obtained from seven patients enrolled in the study. Airway volume measurements were calculated before and after laser treatment using 3D volumetric software. Results: �怀 e photothermic e�耀 ects of a non-ablative laser procedure increased the mean total airway volume from 10.23 ± 0.94 mL to 12.54 ± 1.01 mL (p=0.0179), and the minimum cross-sectional area from 109.7 ± 20.6 mm 2 to 142.4 ± 29.2 mm 2 (p=0.0484) approximately 12 weeks post-laser treatment. Conclusions: Non-ablative laser therapy may be a promising non-surgical treatment modality for increasing the oropharyngeal airway volume, especially the most constricted area. Clinical implications: �怀 e results of this pilot study demonstrate that photothermal energy applied to the pharyngeal and palatal soft tissues may prove to be bene�耀 cial in the non-surgical management of sleep disordered breathing, especially the CPAP intolerant individual.


Severnaya Zemlya (Kara-Tajmyr palaeocontinent) is a key-zone in understanding the palaeogeographical relationships of the Old Red Sandstone Continent and Siberia in Mid-Palaeozoic times. Its Upper Silurian-Devonian sedimentary sequence bears a rich fauna of heterostracans which allows biostratigraphical correlation to be made with Spitsbergen (on the Barentsian palaeocontinent), but also with the Canadian Arctic (on the Old Red Sandstone Continent) and Central Tajmyr-NW Siberia (Siberian palaeocontinent). This fauna is composed of various assemblages from the Ludlow (Upper Silurian) to the Frasnian (Upper Devonian), with the richest assemblages in the upper Lochkovian, and a gap in the Emsian (Lower Devonian).


Background: Cost avoidance through reuse shows the benefits gained by the software organisations when reusing an artefact. Cost avoidance captures benefits that are not captured by cost savings e.g. spending that would have increased in the absence of the cost avoidance activity. This type of benefit can be combined with quality aspects of the product e.g. costs avoided because of defect prevention. Cost avoidance is a key driver for software reuse. Objectives: The main objectives of this study are: (1) To assess the status of capturing cost avoidance through reuse in the academia; (2) Based on the first objective, propose improvements in capturing of reuse cost avoidance, integrate these into an instrument, and evaluate the instrument in the software industry. Method: The study starts with a systematic literature review (SLR) on capturing of cost avoidance through reuse. Later, a solution is proposed and evaluated in the industry to address the shortcomings identified during the systematic literature review. Results: The results of a systematic literature review describe three previous studies on reuse cost avoidance and show that no solution, to capture reuse cost avoidance, was validated in industry. Afterwards, an instrument and a data collection form are proposed that can be used to capture the cost avoided by reusing any type of reuse artefact. The instrument and data collection form (describing guidelines) were demonstrated to a focus group, as part of static evaluation. Based on the feedback, the instrument was updated and evaluated in industry at 6 development sites, in 3 different countries, covering 24 projects in total. Conclusion: The proposed solution performed well in industrial evaluation. With this solution, practitioners were able to do calculations for reuse costs avoidance and use the results as decision support for identifying potential artefacts to reuse.


Sir As advocates of single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) we were interested in the paper by Keshava and colleagues describing the feasibility of SILS right hemicolectomy. The major advantage of SILS surgery as far as we are concerned is cosmesis, with effectively 'scarless' surgery owing to the wound being hidden within the umbilicus. The stated risks of abdominal wall and internal organ trauma, as well as port-site herniation, with two extra 5mm trocars placed to aid dissection are negligible. The median size of the midline laparotomy wound was 4 (range 3–6) cm and extended outside the borders of the umbilicus (Fig. 2). The cosmetic benefits of this method are therefore no different from those of the standard laparoscopic approach, barring two 5-mm incisions. Because of the size of the right hemicolectomy resection specimen it may not be possible to perform SILS surgery with the wound inside the umbilicus and therefore without external visible scarring. As the insertion of extra dissection ports would make the surgery quicker and easier, the value of a single-incision approach in this operation, although feasible, would have to be questioned. J. Hewes and M. Adamo University College London Hospital Centre for Weight Loss, Metabolic and Endocrine Surgery, London, UK (e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com) DOI: 10.1002/bjs.7469 Author's reply: Single-incision laparoscopic right hemicolectomy (Br J Surg 2010; 97: 1881–1883)


There is now a substantive body of academic literature which focuses on protests against local infrastructural developments. This literature is often characterised by the key words 'NIMBY' or (facility-) 'siting controversies'. The rapid development of renewable energy technologies – which are largely sited in rural areas – has created a new version of this controversy; energy-landscape conflicts. In many countries, large infrastructural developments are regulated through spatial planning legislation, often causing various tensions between new technologies, an evolving policy agenda, and a legislative framework which was largely conceived in a different era and which is slow to adapt. Alternatively, and in line with neo-liberal thinking, the logic of development can be subjected to cost-benefit analysis, whereby the value of the wind farm can be compared with the value of the 'unspoiled' landscape. This paper takes a more holistic approach to energy-landscape conflicts, by examining claims of ownership and notions and measures of value inherent in different claims and value systems which (seek to) influence decision-making. We examine both the logic of monetary valuation and the implicit value statements in various policy intervention options to point at the need for a more heterogeneous and multidisciplinary approach to policy evaluation. We then look at notions of ownership, rights and duties in relation to landscape and to our energy future, and we highlight the potential for using an analytical property rights framework which cuts across various levels of claims and value statements, from the national and ideological to the personal and practice-based.


There is no greater challenge than to learn how to worship God, the Creator and Redeemer. God's people must make an effort to search for this truth as it is found in Christ (John 5:39). They must learn how to worship Him, who created and redeemed them through His only Son, for true worship experience will add power to their faith and vitality to Christian practice. One must not only endeavor to acquire more knowledge and to gain increased understanding about the truth of worship, but also to share in a greater worship experience. This project report begins by discussing the theological principles of Christian worship that were the basis of a worship emphasis series consisting of six sermons preached to the congregation of the East Wenatchee Seventh-day Adventist Church with the intention of educating the congregation regarding worship and six of its elements. A questionnaire designed to determine the congregation's attitude towards and understanding of worship and its elements was handed out to the congregation before the worship education series and again after its conclusion. The post-test data seem to suggest that the worship emphasis series has accomplished two things: (1) it has given the East Wenatchee congregation some theological information about Christian worship and its essential elements, and (2) presented the information in such a way that the attitude toward worship has changed and spiritual development has taken place. The worship education appears to have taken place during the implementation period. This observation appears to be substantiated by the results of the post-test questionnaires and the written testimonies submitted by the members. The responses seem to indicate that many of the members have made an intelligent reassessment of Christian worship, have gained a better understanding of it, and are experiencing worship more fully. The worship emphasis series can be planned and implemented by the worship committee and the pastor in any local church. As a result, God's people may grow in grace so that their worship as a redeemed fellowship on the Sabbath may truly be "in spirit and truth." God's people will give Him an appropriate response as a worshipping fellowship by dedicating themselves in service to Him, entering into the world to honor and glorify Him.


PSP has funded R7540 Promotion of chickpea following rainfed rice in the Barind area of Bangladesh since 1999, building on earlier diverse crop-based initiatives to improve the livelihoods of poor farmers in the High Barind Tract (HBT) of Bangladesh. Chickpea was promoted as a suitable crop for farmers to grow on residual moisture, i.e. without irrigation, following the harvest of transplanted main season (aman) rice. A good combination of agronomic practices had been developed but the principal constraint remained the difficulty in establishing a reasonable crop stand once the surface layers of the soil had dried out. 'Onfarm' seed priming had been developed elsewhere in other PSP-funded projects (R6395, R7438) and was tested for chickpea in the Barind. A study was made in 2001/2002 of the uptake and impact of chickpea technology, including seed priming, by projectand non-project farmers. Survey results indicate that the project interventions have contributed positively in many ways to the socio-economic development of the farmers of the HBT. Most of the farmers in the project intervention areas recognize chickpea as a low-cost, highly profitable crop that can be cultivated without irrigation. Fiftyfive percent of the respondents practiced seed priming in 2001-02 and, on average, they sowed 60% of their chickpea crop using primed seed. The overall average additional yield due to use of seed-priming technology was 230 kg ha, which is about 44% higher than nonprimed plots that yielded an average of 600 kg ha. Location-wise benefit/cost analysis showed that chickpea is a very profitable crop in comparison to other major competing crops in almost all situations. The overall average income of the respondents from chickpea was Tk 7134, which is about 12% of the average reported farming income. Contribution of chickpea to incomes was higher in project intervention areas and was proportionally more important for smalland medium level farmers. The conservatively estimated return of seed priming alone indicates that, single-season benefits in this one year were 1.35 times the total project investment over three years. PSP Annual Report 2002. Section 1: Introduction and General Overview. Research Outcomes. Page 21. _______________________________________________________________________________________________


"Some day, the traffic of ideas between North Africa and Le Corbusier should form the subject of a separate study". Quote from "Le Corbusier - Elemente einer Synthese" by Stanislaus von Moos. Frauenfeld. Verlag Huber, 1968. Chapter 1 The motivations behind a young man's overwhelming desire to visit the Orient are presented. In Le Corbusier's case, it was the idea of the "Grand Tour" which at that time was a normal way of completing one's education, and this long journey brought him to a fundamental conclusion: In Architecture, everything has continually to be started afresh. And this belief opened a door which led Le Corbusier to become "The Architect of the Century" (title of an exhibition of his work in London 1987). Chapter 2 The demonstrable empathy between Le Corbusier and the Orient was already apparent in the early years at La Chaux-de-Fonds. This was later to be of great influence on the part taken by his education and development. The most important facts of his voyages of discovery of the Orient are as follows: 1911 : Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece 1931 : Morocco and above all Algeria 1951 : India, in particular the Punjab Chapter 3 and 4 Le Corbusier's first journeys to North Africa left the strongest impressions. In spring 1931, he visited Algiers, both the modern city and the old part of the town, the famous Casbah. He gave two lectures. In the following summer, he visited the oasis in the valley of M'Zab. For the already famous architect, the meeting with a 1000 year old civilisation became the highlight of the so called "Second Journey to the Orient" (Francesco Tentori). Both these chapters describe historical events. The problem with this is summed up by David Lowenthal's metaphor "The past is a foreign Country". Thus the author's task is doubly difficult, since the past, already a foreign country metaphorically speaking, is to be described in one that is so literally as well. However, the French Louis Miquel, Edmond Charlot and Jean de Maisonseul, who have lived in Algeria, were friends of Le Corbusier and thus able to provide useful insights, for which the author is grateful. Le Corbusier's view of Algeria from the inside with, – his "Eyes that see", – was greatly helped by his knowledge of Islamic culture. If one overlays the impressions of earlier travelers with those of Le Corbusier and also of his successors, a rough outline of contours emerges, which can provide a farely accurate picture of his true relationship with that country. This country, for which he elaborated many major projects – unfortunately never built, – yet gave him much. Chapter 5 The main subject in the last part of the thesis is Le Corbusier's admiration of traditional architecture. The construction plans of the Casbah surveyed by students from the school of Architecture in Algiers reveal the historic area of the city on the edge of ruin. The houses are quite unknown. Grateful thanks are due to Professor Delhoum for his cooperation. Concerning the M'Zab, his architecture is well known. Our thesis refers to books giving an excellent documentation; one of them had been studied by Le Corbusier with great attention ("La Civilisation urbaine au M'Zab" by Marcel Mercier. Algiers, 1922). 5.1 and 5.2 Le Corbusier's relations to the Casbah of Algiers and the valley of M'Zab are analysed. They create the basis of a discussion: To what extent was this architecture a stimulation reflected in the buildings and the projects? Did he ever quote the architecture or even copy it? However, to have done this would have been incompatible with the idea of architecture. Le Corbusier would never be interested in such or similar accusations. He wrote over and over again of the importance of restoring the timeless and eternal architecture of the Mediterranean with modern tools. This task took place in his subconscious, since he recognized himself as a human being from the Mediterranean area, an area with an endless horizon. 5.3 Le Corbusier left Algeria in 1942 for good and he never explicitly referred this country again ("Poesie sur Alger", published in 1951, had been written at this moment). His reason for this silence may be explained by himself: "The true world is unveiled to those who are committed to it, to those who serve it". His frustrations relating to his unbuilt projects were probably increased during the 50's and the construction boom surrounding them. According to Le Corbusier, the Mozabites, those Puritans of the desert, were the "Islamic Huguenots"; their intelligence, their diligence, their frugal way of life within a political system based on social justice due to stringent religious roles made it possible. Le Corbusier designated the "Holy City" of M'Zab, Beni-Isguen, as "Ville Radieuse", as "Sparkling City". All his life, this name signified the city which he had dreamt of building. However, for many architects, the valley of M'Zab with its five towns was and still is an "inexhaustible source" (Jean Bossu) or even a "Lesson" (Pierre-Andre Emery and Andre Ravereau). Conclusion Jean de Maisonseul, Le Corbusier's guide during his visits to the Casbah, has attempted to distill the essence of the experience of Algeria upon his friend: "It seems to me that Le Corbusier found the expression of the "World of Design" which belonged to the Mediterranean, parallel to those he had discovered as a young man in his travels to the Orient: A soft architecture without ornaments, a white architecture on the human scale... harmony. Drawing nude women in the same Casbah which he had surveyed in every detail, liberated him from Purism. During the course of a long period of maturation, Le Corbusier liberated Modern Architecture of the 30's from its transparent structures as he chose more to use full volumes as classical architecture had done".


This paper explores the role of study groups in mediating academic writing, particularly among multilingual black students at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). Using data from questionnaires, focus groups, and interviews, as well as academic texts generated by study groups, the paper focuses on the efficacy of study groups in mediating literacy events in multilingual educational contexts. Of particular interest here is the composition, i.e. the roles each member plays in the preparation and discussion of a particular topic.


The book is like a sniper's log, a register of events for the purpose of accumulating experience for future missions, be it academic or professional, trying to identify tendencies and to assess performances, rather than to establish truth. Written for different media and formats (professional magazines, speaking engagements, academic presentations...), the texts are thread together as part of a biographical experience that reveals that theory is here primarily instrumental and seeks efficiency rather than truth. We do not theorise because we want to understand the deep truths of the world, but because we need to organise the realm where we operate, understand how reality works and find an effective way to perform within it.When Alejandro Zaero Polo became the new dean, after Wiel Arets, of the postgraduate Laboratory of Architecture The Berlage Institute in the Netherlands, Roemer van Toorn head of theory and publications had a conversations with both Wiel Arets and Alejandro Zaero Polo. In this publication an abridged version of the dialogue between Van Toorn and Zaero Polo can be enjoyed.


Fiber optic sensors are increasingly used because of their outstanding performance or if special requirements avoid the application of conventional electrical sensors. The scientific background for optical fiber sensors is well developed; however, the characteristic of sensors applied in rather harsh environment are almost always different from characteristics determined in laboratory or before its installation. In order to achieve long-term stable function and reliable measurement data after application and under harsh environmental conditions, guidelines for characterization and specification of sensor components are needed as well as methodologies for testing the sensor performance must be developed. Performance tests carried out revealed that there are still some restrictions with respect to long-term reliable use: first, some sensor products available on the market are not very often appropriately characterized, described and validated; second, application procedures are not always defined due to a lack of understanding the micromechanical issues in the interface zone between sensor and measuring object. Application procedures and profound knowledge of materials behaviour are necessary to get results from the sensor that can be reliably used. The paper describes first guidelines to prove the quality of fiber optic strain sensors, a testing facility developed for unbiased tests and certification of surface-applied sensors as well as result from comparison of commercially available strain sensors.


"Since the 1970s the study of gender issues as they relate to the Caribbean has gone through several reinterpretations. The respectable wife and mother stereotype was replaced by that of the 'powerful matriarch', which was in turn challenged by studies exposing the poverty and vulnerability of women, not only of Afro-Caribbean descent but Indian, white and coloured middle-class women. These reinterpretations signal a departure from the European, American and African feminist scholarship; indeed Caribbean feminists are beginning to accept that perhaps the 'Caribbean woman' does not exist. Caribbean Portraits makes its contribution by focusing on issues of gender ideology and identity. The articles in the collection ask simple but fundamental questions: Who are Caribbean women and who are Caribbean men? How do gender ideologies and stereotypes define them and how in turn do they respond? How are gender identities and relations formed and how do imperialism, capitalism, racism, race and culture affect these identities and relationships? "


Problem statement: Decorticated sesame seed can supply us with nutritious, functional and healthy meals with relatively low cost. These properties make sesame a valuable source of protein and other nutrients to be utilized in imitated dairy products, which could be used for infant and adults with lactose intolerance as well as for vegetarian or others who like to eat dairy products free from cholesterol. Additionally, the production of sesame-based dairy products can overcome the problems that limit consumption of soy-based dairy products such as antinutritional factors, flavor and flatulence. The major challenges in developing dairy analogs from plant sources are: unacceptable flavor, low solids yield and low dispersion stability. Approach: The following factors were investigated to increase/optimize the sesame milk yield, dispersion stability and sensory acceptance: pretreatment of sesame seed with simple physical treatments (soaking in water, boiling, pressure cooking, steaming and combination treatments) and heat treatment of sesame milk (pasteurization or sterilization). Results: Heat treatments during all steps of processing proved to be the most important factor in determining the yield and quality of sesame milk. The best treatment was pasteurized sesame milk (75°C for 5 min) with 12% initial sesame seed concentration (previously dried at 170°C for 5 sec) and formulated with the addition of 2% sucrose. Conclusion: The developed procedure for sesame milk production resulted in high yield, excellent dispersion stability and good sensory acceptability.


Abstract While the semiconductor industry is still dominated by large vertically integrated firms, fabless firms, which outsource their manufacturing, are gaining market share. Fabless firms are considered to have an advantage in product innovation, as they can focus their innovation efforts on chip design and can benefit from investments in process innovation made by their manufacturing partners. However, there is little empirical evidence of the performance of fabless firms compared to vertically integrated firms. This research empirically examines the relationship between R&D and the financial performance of fabless and vertically integrated firms from 2000 to 2010. Our results show that fabless firms maintain higher gross and net margins, earn a higher return on assets (ROA) and have greater intangible value (Tobin's q) than vertically integrated firms when controlling for size, capital intensity and R&D ratio (R&D/sales). This supports the argument that fabless firms achieve greater performance by focusing on one part of the innovation process. The relationship of R&D ratio to net margin is negative for the whole sample, suggesting that the industry may be overinvesting in R&D. Notably, the negative relationship is greater for fabless firms, which spend a higher amount of their sales on R&D. The relationship of R&D ratio to ROA and Tobin's q is negative, and there is no significant difference between fabless and integrated firms. We conclude that fabless firms outperform integrated firms overall, but are somewhat worse in terms of increasing profits and creating value from their R&D investments.


This paper includes an in-depth analysis of EU law and Scandinavian law on injunctions against internet access providers (IAPs) performing as mere conduit of information protected by copyright. In recent Scandinavian case law, courts have granted preliminary injunctions which have caused IAPs to either shut down specific internet connections allegedly used to infringe copyright or to block access to internet content, which allegedly infringed applicable copyright rules. This paper considers some significant legal challenges, which are emerging in the wake of this case law, and which should attract attention in all European member states. Firstly, it is shown that rules on preliminary injunctions are generally unable to safeguard the significant legitimate interests of third parties, which may be harmed by such relief, and that a proper implementation of Art. 8(3) of the Infosoc Directive requires rules, which take into due consideration the special aspects related to enforcement of copyright on the internet through IAPs. Secondly, it is shown that the termination of internet connections and the blocking of access to internet content may not support the public policies behind copyright law and also may restrict the freedom of expression under European human rights law. The analysis is based on a brief account for the relevant EU Directives, the implementation of these Directives in the Scandinavian countries and the Scandinavian case law regarding use of injunctions against IAPs to enforce copyright on the internet. The paper has been accepted and published in International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law (IIC) - IIC 2011 Heft 2 pp. 151-180, which is available through www.beck-online.de.


As battery energy storage and solar cell technology improve, solar aircraft are increasingly being considered for high altitude long endurance missions. Although solar vehicles may theoretically remain on station indefinitely using the sun as a power source, their design and feasibility is sensitive to mission planning details as specific as the time history of the vehicle's deck orientation relative to the sun; the energy available for capture by the on-board solar array is governed by the solar incidence angle, and at certain orientations, the vehicle may cast shadows on itself and further reduce its energy capture capabilities. To quantify these losses, a batch mode program was developed that takes the vehicle geometry and sun orientation, integrates angle-of-incidence and shadow losses, and outputs an equivalent effective solar array collection area for use in a vehicle and mission analysis environment. In this paper, the need for such a tool is identified, tool methodology is described, and example output and validation cases are presented.


This interesting collection of writings presents a sensitive, complex, and wide-ranging analysis of the mechanism of nation-building in partition, both post-colonial and in the context of post 1989 transitions in Eastern Europe and the Balkans. The partition of the Indian subcontinent acts as a paradigm case and stands out as something of a reference point in the present volume. The texts critique the ways in which narratives of nationhood naturalize and essentialize difference and hierarchy, and how received histories erase memories of possible alternative histories in situations of shared experiences and a shared past. The particular histories of nationalism and partition are different in the countries involved, but commonalities in the narrative structures, state and nation-building strategies, patriarchal patterns of control, and mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion are striking. This particularly so with respect to the ways in which exclusive national identities are constituted through gendered representations of the nation and its members.A particularly critical and far-reaching analysis of the relationships of power involved in the state and nation-building projects, the critique is, at the same time, a dismantling of these power relations. The processes of transformation in different countries and at different times, however, are not identical and move at different rates of speed and in different historical contexts. This is one reason why they are not transparent to each other and why their interpretations may clash with one another. The events following 1989 and those at the end of the colonial era exemplify these conflicts. The authors of this volume confront these clashes, compare these situations and see the entanglement of these processes not as deadlock, but rather as a challenge for theory and practice.


Energy efficient power coefficients at the relay are derived in a closed-form expression for the green multi-input-multi-output relaying system in the high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime, where the objective is to maximize the energy efficiency (EE), which is defined by the ratio of the spectral efficiency (SE) to total power consumption, with a minimum SE requirement under practical power consumption models. In particular, we derive closed-form solutions using the high SNR approximation, which turn out to be different from the water-filling solution. Simulation results show that the proposed solution nearly achieves the optimal EE in all SNR regimes.


National is a non-traditional university that provides higher education to working adults in an accelerated (one-month) format. It is projected that by the end of 2007 over half of the 22,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) students will be taking classes online. To meet this change in student demographics, the Library changed its service model and now provides all library instruction online via voice and video over the Internet or as web-based interactive tutorials. The move to synchronous training over the Internet has called on us to develop new pedagogical approaches to our instruction to encourage active learning and HOTS (higher order thinking skills). Through the process, faculty have been surveyed for their perceptions of student competencies for skills they see as critical to success in their programs. The content from the library instruction list of over 25 classes serves as the baseline for developing parallel multimedia tutorials and just-intime (JIT) training aids. This presentation focuses on three aspects of this new service model: collaborating with faculty to better integrate information literacy into the curriculum; exploring online pedagogies and assessment; and redesigning library presence to better meet student needs. Participants will be able to view a demonstration of the online class sessions.


This paper explores the economic impact of a free trade agreement (FTA) between Egypt and the United States, assuming that Egypt implements both the recently agreed Arab League FTA and a Partnership Agreement with the European Union. An Egypt-United States agreement would improve Egypt's economic welfare. Gains would be maximized if the agreement were to greatly reduce the prevalence of non-tariff barriers and 'red tape' costs, something that does not appear to be likely under the Arab and EU FTAs. If so, the modelling exercise suggests that both welfare and US exports to Egypt would rise significantly. Arab countries should not be concerned with an Egypt-United States agreement, as there are no major implications for exports to Egypt. The share of Egypt's imports originating in the rest of the world declines significantly under the FTA scenarios, however. This is costly to both Egypt and to these trading partners. Such costs can be avoided if external trade barriers are lowered in conjunction with the implementation of the various FTAs.


Abstract In May 2016 conjoined white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fawns were found deceased in southeastern Minnesota. The bodies of the fawns were joined ventrally and laterally with two separate necks and heads. This is the first case described of conjoined two-headed white-tailed deer brought to full-term gestation and delivered.


Complex interacting networks are observed in systems from such diverse areas as physics, biology, economics, ecology, and computer science. For example, economic or social interactions often organize themselves in complex network structures. Similar phenomena are observed in traffic flow and in communication networks as the internet. In current problems of the Biosciences, prominent examples are protein networks in the living cell, as well as molecular networks in the genome. On larger scales one finds networks of cells as in neural networks, up to the scale of organisms in ecological food webs.
This book defines the field of complex interacting networks in its infancy and presents the dynamics of networks and their structure as a key concept across disciplines.
The contributions present common underlying principles of network dynamics and their theoretical description and are of interest to specialists as well as to the non-specialized reader looking for an introduction to this new exciting field.
Theoretical concepts include modeling networks as dynamical systems with numerical methods and new graph theoretical methods, but also focus on networks that change their topology as in morphogenesis and self-organization. The authors offer concepts to model network structures and dynamics, focussing on approaches applicable across disciplines.


Advanced driver assistance systems are designed to make driving easier that is, to alleviate the driver's workload, and to increase traffic safety. However, traffic safety is affected by negative behavioral adaptation, meaning that drivers tend to increase speed and pay less attention to driving when supported by an advanced assistance system. We relate behavioral adaptation to reinforcement learning at a subconscious level, and propose that driver assistance is dynamically varied within predetermined safety limits. The aim of employing a dynamic assistance policy is to prevent the driver from noticing a constant improvement in vehicle handling. We conclude by describing ongoing work for empirically evaluating an improved lane departure warning system that uses a dynamic assistance policy.


Abstract This paper takes a dynamic approach to understanding the nature and role of boundary objects by examining them in relation to the social infrastructures within which they are embedded and to the social identities of the groups that share them. It explores the premise that boundary objects are used not only as a translation device, but also as a resource to form and express social identities. It further suggests the occurrence of a dynamic process whereby changes in boundary objects enable changes in social infrastructures and social identities in one group. These changes, in turn, create the conditions for change in bordering groups through shared boundary objects. Based on interviews which were conducted over three years, we illustrate these ideas by presenting three vignettes that describe the introduction of 3D modelling technologies into the AEC industry and the changes that consequently occurred. Keywords: Boundary Objects, Social Infrastructures, Social Identities, Organisational Change.


This paper presents a detailed examination of how the dynamic and heterogeneous nature of real-world peer-to-peer systems can introduce bias into the selection of representative samples of peer properties (e.g., degree, link bandwidth, number of files shared). We propose the Metropolized Random Walk with Backtracking (MRWB) as a viable and promising technique for collecting nearly unbiased samples and conduct an extensive simulation study to demonstrate that our technique works well for a wide variety of commonly-encountered peer-to-peer network conditions. We have implemented the MRWB algorithm for selecting peer addresses uniformly at random into a tool called ion-sampler. Using the Gnutella network, we empirically show that ion-sampler. yields more accurate samples than tools that rely on commonly-used sampling techniques and results in dramatic improvements in efficiency and scalability compared to performing a full crawl.


In the specialist literature, the Berlin tenement ( Berliner Mietskaserne ) is considered as the epitome of speculative overuse of the residential block on the eve of the Modern period. This view misses the fact that at the turn of the 19 th century, several urban districts in Berlin were built for an emerging middle class that are of outstanding urban quality. The entrepreneur Georg Haberland ( Berlinische Boden-Gesellschaft ) developed entire neighborhoods that contributed greatly to the history of urban development at the beginning of the 20th century – a contribution seriously underestimated. In addition to the Anglo-Saxon way of suburbanization of the middle class and the French way of urbanization of the bourgeoisie within the existing town – which are commented on extensively – the urban interventions of Haberland are a little-documented third way in the history of city expansions. In this paper, first, I address the question of the urban qualities of the Bavarian District ( Bayerisches Viertel ), drawing on previously unpublished historical sources. And second, I propose a thesis how to place Haberland's undervalued contribution in the wider context of Berlins planning history and beyond. Planning urban settlements from scratch is a current and crucial topic particularly in the US and in East Asia. Corresponding current projects – often designed by European planners – can be found especially in China.


Coaches of professional sports teams are often credited or blamed for the success or failure of their teams, and they are compensated as if they are one of the most important features of a franchise. Although we have anecdotal evidence that coaches matter, the sports analytics literature has generally concluded that they do not. We present a new method for estimating coach effects, which we call Randomization Inference for Leader Effects, or RIFLE. We apply RIFLE to the MLB, NBA, NHL, NFL, college football, and college basketball. We detect coaching effects in all sports. Our estimates generally imply that coaches explain about 20-30 percent of the variation in a team's success, although coaching effects vary notably across settings and across various outcomes. For example, baseball managers affect runs allowed more than runs scored. Coaches matters more in college football than in the NFL, but do not meaningfully differ in their use of rushing vs. passing. In addition to estimating average coaching effects, we also discuss the difficult task of assessing the quality of an individual coach.


The information, practices and views in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). © 2018 Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers). This study invites readers to experience risk on Australia's hazardous rocky coasts with the rock fishing community. In the paper, we offer an understanding of risk that is relational, a process that emerges within human–environment interactions in a dynamic coastal space that is constantly changing. Exploring the in situ and ongoing sensory attunement of the fishers, we contend, expands upon the quantitative understandings that tend to be deployed by risk managers, offering an innovative approach to conceptualising risk. In identifying how fishers perceive and experience a rocky coastal location in Sydney, Australia, we track rock fishers' movements using global positioning systems (GPS), undertake participant observation, and draw on video footage, semi-structured interviews and participatory sketch maps. In doing so, fishers' perceptions of socio-environmental stimuli were spatially represented in a GIS, with sketch mapping being the proxy and/or the window into perception–environment relations that produce risk. We contend that the findings show that experienced fishers are more capable of anticipating and reacting to hazardous situations "safely" because they are more attuned to how changing coastal conditions affect risk. This study draws attention to the spatial and temporal phenomena that drive risk perceptions as well as the implications for future perception-oriented research that adopt a relational understanding.


Evening ensemble of olive green sequined chiffon and textured green taffeta consisting of:

Top of olive green chiffon embellished in green sequins and green, light green iridescent and black seed beads throughout. Sleeveless, with asymmetric shoulder widths and round neckline. Center back zipper closure with hook & eye. Lined in olive green chiffon.

Designer' label at center back neckline: "Vera Wang"
Size "4" tag at base of designer label.

B) Skirt of textured olive green silk/viscose blend taffeta. Full length; A-line silhouette. Released pleat with tie of self-fabric at each side. Left side hidden zipper and hook & bar on 1" waistband. Lined in gray/green silk.

Designer's label at center back waist: "Vera Wang"
Fiber content/cleaning instructions tag and size "4" tag at base of designer label.


Abstract. Arctic boundary-layer clouds in the vicinity of Svalbard (78° N, 15° E) were observed with airborne remote sensing and in situ methods. The cloud optical thickness and the droplet effective radius are retrieved from spectral radiance data from the nadir spot (1.5°, 350–2100 nm) and from a nadir-centred image (40°, 400–1000 nm). Two approaches are used for the nadir retrieval, combining the signal from either two or five wavelengths. Two wavelengths are found to be sufficient for an accurate retrieval of the cloud optical thickness, while the retrieval of droplet effective radius is more sensitive to the number of wavelengths. Even with the comparison to in-situ data, it is not possible to definitely answer the question which method is better. This is due to unavoidable time delays between the in-situ measurements and the remote-sensing observations, and to the scarcity of vertical in-situ profiles within the cloud.


Winner of the 2010 George Louis Beer Prize of the American Historical Association. The struggle between Hungary and Romania for control of Transylvania seems at first sight a side-show in the story of the Nazi New Order and the Second World War. These allies of the Third Reich spent much of the war arguing bitterly over Transylvania's future, and Germany and Italy were drawn into their dispute to prevent it from spiraling into a regional war. But precisely as a result of this interaction, the story of the Transylvanian Question offers a new way into the history of how state leaders and national elites have interpreted what "Europe" means. Tucked into the folds of the Transylvanian Question's bizarre genealogy is a secret that no one ever tried to keep, but that has remained a secret nonetheless: small states matter. The perspective of small states puts the struggle for mastery among its Great Powers into a new perspective.


Droughts and resulting low flows are a threat for society, economy, and ecosystems. Droughts are natural phenomena, but anthropogenic water use can increase the pressure on water resources. To analyze the effects of changing land-use or water management and climate variability/change on water resources, models integrating the most important hydrological processes are needed. These models must account for natural processes and water resources management at different spatial and temporal scales, e.g., reservoir operation, water withdrawals. Low flow indices are analyzed for observed and simulated flows for the highly managed São Francisco river basin in Brazil, showing that during wet, normal, and moderately dry years, the existing reservoir system is able to augment low flows while during strong droughts the system reaches its limits. This effect is also represented in the simulations using the eco-hydrological model SWIM, which was adapted to account for region-specific characteristics of land-use and water management. While good to very good performance was achieved for calibration and validation for most gauges, for some gauges at tributaries only insufficient quantitative criteria are reached. The reasons for the deviation between observations and simulation results are discussed. Overall, the model is able to represent natural discharges and observed, managed discharges.


Reflection characteristics of a novel fiber loop mirror (FLM), which is formed by inserting a fiber polarization controller (PC) into the loop, are investigated. Based on the equivalent optical-path analysis, a theoretical model for the FLM is presented. The reflection characteristics of the FLM are then simulated in detail with the model. Our simulation results show that, by varying the PC working conditions, i.e. the fast axis orientation or the intensity of the birefringence induced by the PC, the refrectivity of the FLM may be continuously tuned between 0 and 1. The spectral characteristic of reflectivity of the FLM is wide and flattened, limited only by the operating bandwidth of the optical fiber coupler used. Moreover, the reflection characteristics of the FLM are further investigated experimentally. The experimental results also show that by varying the working conditions of the PC, the reflectivity of the FLM may actually be continuously adjusted between its maximum and minimum values,which were measured to be 93% and 2%, respectively. The experimentally determined dependence of the fast axis orientation and intensity of the birefringence induced by the PC on the inclination angle of the three rigid discs with respect to the level of the PC verified the results of theoretical simulations.


Anti-tumor vaccines have demonstrated clinical benefit in patients with advanced prostate cancer, and the first vaccine approved by FDA as a treatment for human cancer was a vaccine targeting the prostate tumor antigen prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP). Plasmid DNA, as another method of antigen delivery, offers significant potential safety and manufacturing advantages over other immunization approaches. DNA vaccines have been approved by USDA as treatments for diseases in fish, horses, dogs, and non-human primates. However, DNA vaccines have generally been perceived as less immunologically potent than other methods of antigen delivery in human clinical trials, leading to efforts to increase their immunogenicity. Most of these efforts have focused on increasing the delivery of vaccine to antigen-presenting cells using different carriers or by electroporation. Our group has evaluated repetitive immunization with plasmid DNA vaccines in rodent models, and has translated this approach to early clinical trials in men with low-volume recurrent prostate cancer with a DNA vaccine encoding PAP. We have demonstrated that persistent Th1-biased PAP-specific T-cell immune responses can be elicited in men with prostate cancer. Moreover, the development of persistent immunity appeared to be associated with favorable changes in tumor growth rate. A randomized phase II trial using this approach is currently ongoing in men with minimal residual prostate cancer to determine whether immunization can delay the time to metastatic disease progression (NCT01341652). In an effort to further improve the immunogenicity of DNA vaccines, we have explored methods to increase antigen presentation by encoding epitopes with increased MHC class I affinity or by increasing the duration of target antigen expression. While such "optimized" vaccines elicited increased numbers of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells, these T cells had less anti-tumor activity in vivo. We determined that immunization with plasmid DNA elicited antigen-specific IFNγ-secreting T cells that led to increased expression of PD-L1 on antigen-expressing tumor cells. However, immunization with the vaccine encoding high affinity epitopes resulted in antigen-specific CD8+ T cells with higher PD-1 expression. In the presence of PD-L1-expressing tumors these CD8+ were less effective. The anti-tumor activity was restored in the presence of PD-1 or PD-L1 blockade. Conversely, immunization with plasmid DNA engineered to increase the duration of antigen expression led to CD8+ T cells with normal PD-1 expression but higher LAG-3 expression. The anti-tumor activity was similarly restored in the presence of LAG-3 blockade. We are currently studying the mechanisms by which different T cell regulatory ligands are expressed following immunization. Notwithstanding, such findings suggest that subtle differences in the method of immunization can affect these different regulatory mechanisms, and hence the choice of optimal combination strategies may depend on identifying the specific mechanisms of resistance to immunization. In the case of patients immunized with a DNA vaccine encoding PAP, we have recently found that PD-L1 expression on circulating tumor (CD45-EpCAM+) cells was increased following immunization, analogous to our murine studies. In addition, PAP-specific secretion of IFNγ and granzyme B by T cells obtained from patients after immunization was increased in the presence of PD-1/PD-L1 blockade. Finally, using a trans vivo delayed type hypersensitivity (tvDTH) assay, we observed that PAP-specific immune responses in T cells obtained from patients after immunization with a DNA vaccine encoding PAP could be "uncovered" with PD-1 blockade but not blockade with anti-LAG-3 or anti-TIM-3. Collectively, these findings suggest that the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway and mechanism of resistance is most relevant to a DNA vaccine encoding PAP, and the efficacy of this vaccine might be augmented with PD-1 blockade. A clinical trial testing this approach in men with advanced prostate cancer, using this DNA vaccine and pembrolizumab, delivered either concurrently or sequentially, is currently underway (NCT02499835). Citation Format: Brian T. Rekoske, Viswa T. Colluru, Douglas G. McNeel. DNA vaccines as treatment for prostate cancer - understanding mechanisms of resistance. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2015 Nov 5-9; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2015;14(12 Suppl 2):Abstract nr CN04-03.


For a few decades during the 20th century the public financing of arts and culture may have had it's glory days in Sweden as well as in other European countries. In the 21st century one trend is obvious; the call for private funding gets louder. Different systems are under development. Public-private partnerships is focusing on marketing and tourism. Private sponsors has turned out to be a short-sighted solution sensitive to business cycles. Social entrepreneurs are so far mainly focusing on social and environmental causes. What will then be next to finance local arts and culture? This article presents a theoretical model of a system where local businesses are co-financing local arts and attractions. The core of the model is the reinvestment of the revenues local companies are reaping from visitors to a destination. The modelling and analysis are based on existing financial systems, especially with inspiration from the Kulturprozent in Switzerland, together with interviews with key-persons in four case municipalities in the regions of Dalarna and Gavleborg. The success of such a system lies among others in mutual respect and the visible-making of the power positions of the funders and the funded respectively.


his thesis explores Early Bronze Age round barrows in a distinctive landscape, the Anglo-Welsh borderland. It is a landscape of contrasts, encompassing the lowlands and
plains of the Midlands counties to the east and the uplands of the west. Although the region has been recognised as a valid unit of study, many previous studies have been
constrained by national and county boundaries. Recent research on the prehistoric archaeology of the region has addressed this problem but until now the area's round
barrows have received little attention. This thesis se
rves to redress this imbalance and considers round barrows in their historic and regional context.
A multi-scalar approach to the study has been taken. At the macro scale, the morphology, distribution and broad topographic settings are examined in addition to an analysis of factors relating to the survival and destruction of the regions barrows. It is argued that the
location of the borderlands may have led to some of the distinct architectural elements present in the region.
For the most part, round barrows in the study area do not coalesce in to large cemeteries as seen elsewhere;
the general pattern being that of isolated or paired barrows, yet relatively dense clusters have been identified. These are analysed at the meso scale to
establish the relationships of barrows within these clusters to each other, to earlier monumentality and to the wider landscape. Here it is suggested that different rationales led to their formation, in some instances rep
resenting different communities' access to
resources and routeways. The analysis then proceeds at the micro - scale and considers the problem of why build a
round barrow in the first place. By examining a single, well excavated site of two barrows in close
proximity with a reasonable degree of contemporaneity, it is possible to mitigate against certain variables to explore the role of choice when a community built a barrow.
The role of deposition, including that of human remains is considered and it is argued that such practices were strategies to effect change within the world of the living.


The rapid increase in the prevalence of dementia associated with ageing populations has stimulated interest in identifying modifiable lifestyle factors that could prevent cognitive impairment. One such potential preventive lifestyle factor is the Nordic diet that has been shown to reduce the risk of CVD; however, its effect on cognition has not been studied. The aim of the present study was to estimate the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of the baseline Nordic diet with cognitive function at baseline and after a 4-year follow-up in a population-based random sample (n 1140 women and men, age 57–78 years) as secondary analyses of the Finnish Dose-Responses to Exercise Training study. The Nordic diet score was created based on reported dietary components in 4-d food records. Cognition was assessed by the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) neuropsychological battery and the Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE). The baseline Nordic diet score had been positively associated with Verbal Fluency (β 0·08 (95 % CI 0·00, 0·16), P= 0·039) and Word List Learning (β 0·06 (95 % CI 0·01, 0·10), P= 0·022) at 4 years but not with the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease total score (CERAD-TS) or MMSE at 4 years, after adjustment for baseline cognitive scores, demographic factors and health-related factors. After excluding individuals with impaired cognition at baseline, the baseline Nordic diet score had also been positively associated with the CERAD-TS (β 0·10 (95 % CI 0·00, 0·20), P= 0·042) and MMSE (β 0·03 (95 % CI 0·00, 0·06), P= 0·039) at 4 years. These associations disappeared after further adjustment for energy intake. In conclusion, the Nordic diet might have a positive association with cognition in individuals with normal cognition.


The problem of quantifying the difference between evolutions of an open quantum system (in particular, between the actual evolution of an open system and the ideal target operation on the corresponding closed system) is important in quantum control, especially in control of quantum information processing. Motivated by this problem, we develop a measure for evaluating the distance between unitary evolution operators of a composite quantum system that consists of a sub-system of interest (e.g. a quantum information processor) and environment. The main characteristic of this measure is the invariance with respect to the effect of the evolution operator on the environment, which follows from an equivalence relation that exists between unitary operators acting on the composite system, when the effect on only the sub-system of interest is considered. The invariance to the environment's transformation makes it possible to quantitatively compare the evolution of an open quantum system and its closed counterpart. The distance measure also determines the fidelity bounds of a general quantum channel (a completely positive and trace-preserving map acting on the sub-system of interest) with respect to a unitary target transformation. This measure is also independent of the initial state of the system and straightforward to numerically calculate. As an example, the measure is used in numerical simulations to evaluate fidelities of optimally controlled quantum gate operations (for one- and two-qubit systems), in the presence of a decohering environment. This example illustrates the utility of this measure for optimal control of quantum operations in the realistic case of open-system dynamics.


Adaptation to climate change, in terms of both academic and policy debates, has been treated predominantly as a local issue. This scalar focus points towards local agency as well as the contested responsibilisation of local actors and potential disconnects with higher-level dynamics. While there are growing calls for individuals to take charge of their own lives against mounting climatic forces, little is known about the day-to-day actions people take, the many hurdles, barriers, and limits they encounter in their adaptation choices, and the trade-offs they consider envisaging the future. To address this gap, this article draws on 80+ interviews with urban and rural residents in Western Australia to offer a nuanced analysis of everyday climate adaptation and its limits. Our findings demonstrate that participants are facing significant adaptation barriers and that, for many, these barriers already constitute limits to what they can do to protect what they value most. They also make visible how gender, age, and socioeconomic status shape individual preferences, choices, and impediments, revealing compounding layers of disadvantage and differential vulnerability. We argue that slow and reflexive research is needed to understand what adaptation limits matter and to whom and identify opportunities to harness and support local action. Only then will we be able to surmount preconceived neoliberal ideals of the self-sufficient, resilient subject, engage meaningfully with ontological pluralism, and contribute to the re-politicisation of adaptation decision making.


A new Anaxipha species is described from a locality in southeastern Arizona adjacent to the border with Mexico. The species is unique among the North American fauna by virtue of the broad tegmina, distinctive male genitalia, and calling song phrased in an irregular chirp with a variable pulse train rate. The possibility that the behavioral repertoire of this species includes aggressive song as well as calling song is discussed.


I introduce a new functional programming language, called Laconic/Web, for rapid development of web applications. Its strong static type system guarantees that entire sequences of interaction with these applications "can't go wrong." Moreover, a higherorder dependent type system is used to enable statically-checked metaprogramming. In contrast to most dependently-typed programming languages, Laconic/Web can be used by programmers with no knowledge of proof theory. Instead, more expert developers develop libraries that extend the Laconic/Web type checker with type rewrite rules that have proofs of soundness. I compare Laconic/Web against Ruby on Rails, the most well-known representative of a popular class of web application frameworks based around dynamic languages and runtime reflection, and show that my approach leads both to more concise programs and to better runtime efficiency.


The discourse on the need for water, energy, and food security has dominated the development agenda of southern African countries, centred on improving livelihoods, building resilience, and regional integration. About 60% of the population in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) live in rural areas relying mainly on rainfed agriculture, lacking access to clean water and energy, yet the region is endowed with vast natural resources. The water-energy-food (WEF) nexus is a conceptual framework that presents opportunities for greater resource coordination, management, and policy convergence across sectors. This is particularly relevant in the SADC region as resources are transboundary and supports efforts linked to regional integration and inclusive socio-economic development and security. We conducted an appraisal of WEF-related policies and institutions in SADC and identified linkages among them. The present 'silo' approach in resource management and allocation, often conducted at the national level, contributes to the region's failure to meet its development targets, exacerbating its vulnerabilities. The lack of coordination of WEF nexus synergies and trade-offs in planning often threatens the sustainability of development initiatives. We highlighted the importance of the WEF nexus to sustainably address the sectoral coordination of resources through harmonised institutions and policies, as well as setting targets and indicators to direct and monitor nexus developments. We illustrate the significance of the nexus in promoting inclusive development and transforming vulnerable communities into resilient societies. The study recommends a set of integrated assessment models to monitor and evaluate the implementation of WEF nexus targets. Going forward, we propose the adoption of a regional WEF nexus framework.


Laser-induced incandescence (LII) is a well-established technique for tracking soot, potentially enabling soot volume fraction determination. To obtain crank angle resolved data from a single cycle, a multi-kHz system should be applied. Such an approach, however, imposes certain challenges in terms of application and interpretation. The present work intends to apply such a high-speed system to an optically-accessible, compression ignition engine. Possible problems with sublimation, local gas heating or other multishot effects have been studied on an atmospheric co-flow burner prior to the engine experiments. It was found that, in this flame, fluences around 0.1 J/cm2 provide the best balance between signal-tobackground ratio, and soot sublimation. This fluence is well below the plateau regime of LII, which poses additional problems with interpretation of the signal. This is especially true when a wide span of temperatures and gradients is present, as encountered in diesel combustion. The purpose of this study is to provide an initial investigation into the feasibility of high-speed LII in engine applications. Particular attention will be given to the late combustion phase, i.e. after the end-of-injection, where phase-averaged data might not provide sufficient information. The pitfalls related to engine data interpretation are briefly discussed and some qualitative results are shown, which have been verified with high-speed luminosity measurements. To apply high-speed LII in an engine one should take utmost care with the selection of detection equipment (e.g. filters and detection gate) and settings to suppress the strong background radiation. All in all, the technique is found to be feasible, but the balance between fluence, signal strength, and effects on soot morphology was shown to be extremely delicate, and proper detection equipment is a requirement.


Neurotrophins such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) play an important role in the proliferation and survival of cholinergic, dopaminergic, and serotonergic neurons. With high BDNF gene expression in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, BDNF is a regulatory factor for building and maintaining cognitive reserves. The recently identified BDNF C270T polymorphism is understudied, especially in non-clinical samples. In this study, 106 adults completed a battery of executive function measures and were genotyped using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results indicated that the C/T group (n = 42) outperformed the C/C (n = 62) group on measures of cognitive flexibility. No genotype effects emerged for domains of abstract reasoning, planning/task initiation, response inhibition, self-monitoring, fluency, or working memory. Although the mechanism of C270T gene expression as it relates to BDNF


We measured cesium magneto-optic line filter spectra at 455 nm for several field orientations. When optimized to achieve the narrowest passbands and the highest transmission, the Faraday filter (B along k) exhibited near-unity transmission peaks of 0.7-GHz bandwidth with an integrated transmission of ∼3 GHz. A transmission calculation that includes the field angle was confirmed experimentally and used to show that the Faraday filter field of view is >60°. We devised a new type of magneto-optic atomic line filter that uses a transverse magnetic field, which we call the Voigt filter.


Biomolecular simulations play a key role in the study of complex biological processes at microscopic levels in which macromolecules such as proteins are involved. The simulations are usually computationally demanding and no single method can achieve all levels of details. Thus, the simulations at different levels need to be integrated to jointly manifest atomic insights into these processes. This paper presents a grid-based simulation framework to support the integration of multi-level simulations by means of dynamic coupling, automated workflow management, resource-dependent job distribution, and XML-based data representation. The framework provides an e-science infrastructure to support biomolecular simulations on grids. A biomolecular simulation markup language called BioSimML is developed to provide a formatted data representation to the multi-level simulations. Experimental simulations have shown flexible integration and high performance enhancement achieved in molecular simulations based on our framework.


It is well-known that the Gaussian functions and, more generally, their modulations-translations (the Gabor functions) have the unique property of being optimally localized in space and frequency in the sense of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. In this thesis, we address the construction of complex wavelets modeled on the Gabor function, and smoothing kernels based on the Gaussian. We proceed by relaxing the exact form of the Gaussian and Gabor function, and by approximating them using spline functions. In particular, we construct a family of spline wavelets, termed Gabor-like wavelets, which provide arbitrary close approximations of the Gabor function. On the other hand, we introduce a family of compactly supported box splines to approximate the Gaussian, both isotropic and anisotropic. The attractive feature of these spline wavelets and kernels is that we are able to develop fast and efficient algorithms for implementing the associated transforms. The Gabor-like wavelet is obtained within the framework of multiresolution analysis by combining Hilbert transform pairs of B-spline wavelets. To begin with, we provide a rigorous understanding of why the Hilbert transform goes well with wavelets. We show that at the heart of this is the characteristic vanishing-moment property of wavelets and certain fundamental invariances of the Hilbert transform. The former allows us to ensure that the Hilbert transform (which is non-local) of a localized wavelet is again well-localized provided that it has sufficient number of vanishing moments, while the latter allows us to seamlessly integrate it into the multiresolution framework of wavelets. Guided by these facts, we formulate a general recipe for constructing a pair of wavelet bases that form a Hilbert transform pair. Using this recipe, we are able to identify a pair of B-spline wavelets that are related through the Hilbert transform. We show that the complex wavelet derived from this pair converges to a Gabor function as its order gets large. We next extend the construction to higher dimensions using the directional Hilbert transform and tensor-products wavelets. This results in a system of complex wavelets that closely resemble the directional Gabor functions. We develop an efficient numerical algorithm for implementing the associated complex wavelet transforms on finite periodic data. We next identify the complete family of transforms which share the fundamental invariances of the Hilbert transform. Based on this family of transforms and its particular properties, we are able to provide an amplitude-phase interpretation of the signal representation associated with the Gabor-like wavelet transform. This allows us to understand the significance of the amplitude and phase information associated with the transform. As an application, we develop a coarse-to-fine stereo-matching algorithm that does dynamic programming on the sub-sampled Gabor-like wavelet pyramid instead of the raw pixel intensities. The crucial feature of our pyramid was that it provides near translation-invariance at the cost of moderate redundancy. The translation-invariance is absolutely essential for encoding the local spatial translations between the stereo pair. Based on the particular Gabor-like form of our wavelets, we also provided a mathematical explanation of the near translation-invariance of our pyramid. From a computational standpoint, we show that a significant reduction of the run time is achieved in comparison with the standard dynamic programming algorithm. In the second half of the thesis, we introduce a particular bivariate box spline termed the radially-uniform box spline. As an application of the Central Limit Theorem, we show that it converges to a Gaussian as its order gets large. For a fixed order, we show how the parameters of the box spline can be tuned to approximate a fixed anisotropic Gaussian. In particular, we develop a simple root-finding algorithm for controlling the anisotropy of the elliptical box splines. We next investigate the efficient realization of space-variant (or non-convolution) Gaussian filters using these box splines. The realization of even the simple convolution Gaussian filter is known to be computationally challenging, particularly when the size of Gaussian is large. The number of computations required per pixel for a direct implementation of the filter scales linearly with the size of the filter. We demonstrated that it is possible to filter an image with Gaussian-like box splines of varying size, elongation and orientation using a fixed number of computations per pixel (constant-time implementation). The associated algorithm is easy to implement and uses simple pre-integrations and local finite-differences. As an application of the Gaussian-like box splines and the associated filtering algorithm, we develop two algorithms for space-variant filtering. The first of these is inspired by anisotropic Gaussian diffusion. The space-variance in this case is in terms of the size, elongation, and orientation of the box splines, which are controlled using the local image features. The other scheme is based on a space-variant form of the Gaussian bilateral filter. The spatial adaptability in this case was in terms of the size of the spatial Gaussian filter. The highlight is that we are able to develop a constant-time algorithm for implementing the bilateral filter by approximating the variable spatial filter using isotropic box splines, and by approximating the fixed range filter (locally) using a class of shiftable kernels. We demonstrate their usage by developing smoothing algorithms for signal-adaptive denoising of images. As an application in a different direction, we develop box spline filters resembling the Laplacian-of-Gaussian. Using this particular detector, and by appropriately modifying the basic filtering algorithm, we develop a fast template-matching algorithm for the detection of bright cells and nuclei in fluorescence images.


Background There are > 80,000 chemicals in commerce with few data available describing their impacts on human health. Biomonitoring surveys, such as the NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey), offer one route to identifying possible relationships between environmental chemicals and health impacts, but sparse data and the complexity of traditional models make it difficult to leverage effectively. Objective We describe a workflow to efficiently and comprehensively evaluate and prioritize chemical–health impact relationships from the NHANES biomonitoring survey studies. Methods Using a frequent itemset mining (FIM) approach, we identified relationships between chemicals and health biomarkers and diseases. Results The FIM method identified 7,848 relationships between 219 chemicals and 93 health outcomes/biomarkers. Two case studies used to evaluate the FIM rankings demonstrate that the FIM approach is able to identify published relationships. Because the relationships are derived from the vast majority of the chemicals monitored by NHANES, the resulting list of associations is appropriate for evaluating results from targeted data mining or identifying novel candidate relationships for more detailed investigation. Conclusions Because of the computational efficiency of the FIM method, all chemicals and health effects can be considered in a single analysis. The resulting list provides a comprehensive summary of the chemical/health co-occurrences from NHANES that are higher than expected by chance. This information enables ranking and prioritization on chemicals or health effects of interest for evaluation of published results and design of future studies. Citation Bell SM, Edwards SW. 2015. Identification and prioritization of relationships between environmental stressors and adverse human health impacts. Environ Health Perspect 123:1193–1199; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1409138


Choice experiments are often used to determine consumers' preferences and willingness to pay for product attributes. The design of choice experiments and its influence on measurement of consumer choices has received considerable attention. This study analyzes the influence of attention on the final choice by combining choice experiments with eye tracking. Furthermore, the role of choice set complexity on choice is investigated. Results show that in less complex designs the total gaze time, i.e., overall attention, influences the choice. In contrast, in more complex designs the time to first fixation, i.e., the first look at an attribute affects the choice.


Title of Dissertation: STRATEGIC PRODUCT DESIGN FOR RETAIL CHANNEL ACCEPTANCE UNDER UNCERTAINTY AND COMPETITION Nathan Williams, Doctor of Philosophy, 2007 Dissertation directed by: Shapour Azarm, Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering A. J. Clark School of Engineering P. K. Kannan, Associate Professor Department of Marketing R. H. Smith School of Business Significant recent research has focused on the marriage of consumer preferences and engineering design in order to improve profitability. However, in many markets, the profitability of new products for manufacturers is also a significant function of the retail channel structure through which the new products reach the ultimate customer. At the crux of the issue is the fact that channel dominating retailers, like Home Depot, Toys R' Us, Wal-Mart have significant power arising from their hundreds of billions of dollars of sales revenue and have the ability to unilaterally control a manufacturer's access to the customers. A product design methodology is proposed that accounts for this new and important power asymmetry. Manufacturer's product success as defined by profit is affected by pricing at the retail and wholesale levels which in turn is dependent on the channel structure, i.e., retailer monopoly or duopoly. These channel structures are explored in this dissertation under an econometric or game theoretic framework and the results are shown to have important implications for designers. Additional nontraditional considerations for engineering product design such as bundling and exclusive contracts which are typical for retail channels are also explored by integrating marketing models with a design optimization structure. Lastly, some design methods for mitigating uncertainty in the strategic landscape of retailer dominated channels are developed. The dissertation has three research thrusts. Research Thrust 1 is devoted to developing a product design optimization approach with retailer acceptance as a probabilistic constraint on candidate designs. Slotting allowances are considered in concert with engineering design as complimentary approaches to achieving access to consumer markets. The retailer's decision framework and the design optimization approach of Thrust 1 are extended in Thrust 2 to include competitive pricing responses from both competing manufacturers and channel controlling retailers. In Thrust 2 the implications for product design when manufacturers face monopolistic and duopolistic retail channels is explored as well as the design implications of an exclusive manufacturer/retailer relationship. Finally, in Thrust 3 the prior thrusts are implemented for multiple product categories and product bundles in order to consider synergy and competition amongst multiple complementary designs. Under this final Thrust 3, an approach to mitigating the risk of uncertainty in competitor design attributes is also developed. STRATEGIC PRODUCT DESIGN FOR RETAIL CHANNEL ACCEPTANCE UNDER UNCERTAINTY AND COMPETITION


A new, easy to implement, solution to the consolidation of multilayered soil based on the spectral method is presented. Combined vertical and radial drainage under instantaneous or single ramp loading is considered, ignoring well resistance. Flow in the vertical direction is based on the average hydraulic gradient at a particular depth which allows smear effects to be included. The excess pore-water pressure profile across all soil layers is described by a single expression calculated with common matrix operations. Average excess pore pressures within or across any number of layers are easily calculated from the single expression. The new model is verified against other solutions from the current literature indicating that the more general spectral method model can replace the separate solutions developed for specific problems.


The UN's Sustainable Development Goals represent a world-wide endeavour to reduce inequality through addressing global challenges. Tackling global challenges requires scaling-up and accelerating professional learning in international development contexts worldwide.

The literature on professional learning suggests that conventional forms of workplace learning, such as Training, Continuing Education and Online Learning, enable large numbers of people to reach a specific level of competency. However, this does not take into consideration complicated situations where workplaces have to be adapted continually to address complex global challenges.

This presentation outlines an empirical study aiming to reduce the global challenge of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), the ability of bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics. The study is funded through the UK Government's Fleming Fund. AMR poses a catastrophic threat on a global scale. Drug resistant infections are on the rise with evidence that globally at least 700,000 die annually because of drug resistance.

The study identified a range of skills and knowledge gaps in health settings in a low-to-middle-income country. These skills and knowledge can be learned through online and 'blended' learning, integrating online with face-to-face, work-based training. However, learning skills and knowledge in itself is not sufficient to tackle AMR. For capacity building to be effective, skills training has to be accompanied by a reflection on and re-organisation of the work environment. This involves examination of current and future roles and work practices and making necessary adjustments to work processes and practices.

These findings offer a new perspective on capacity building for global challenges, arguing that professional learning must extend beyond knowledge and skills development, to include reflection on and making adjustments to the work system. These reflections can be supported through a Professional Learning Framework that can be applied generally across work based learning, helping to address a range of International development challenges.


This study investigates the problem of computing the exact greatest common divisor of two polynomials relative to an orthogonal basis, defined over the rational number field. The main objective of the study is to design and implement an effective and efficient symbolic algorithm for the general class of dense polynomials, given the rational number defining terms of their basis. From a general algorithm using the comrade matrix approach, the nonmodular and modular techniques are prescribed. If the coefficients of the generalized polynomials are multiprecision integers, multiprecision arithmetic will be required in the construction of the comrade matrix and the corresponding systems coefficient matrix. In addition, the application of the nonmodular elimination technique on this coefficient matrix extensively applies multiprecision rational number operations. The modular technique is employed to minimize the complexity involved in such computations. A divisor test algorithm that enables the detection of an unlucky reduction is a crucial device for an effective implementation of the modular technique. With the bound of the true solution not known a priori, the test is devised and carefully incorporated into the modular algorithm. The results illustrate that the modular algorithm illustrate its best performance for the class of relatively prime polynomials. The empirical computing time results show that the modular algorithm is markedly superior to the nonmodular algorithms in the case of sufficiently dense Legendre basis polynomials with a small GCD solution. In the case of dense Legendre basis polynomials with a big GCD solution, the modular algorithm is significantly superior to the nonmodular algorithms in higher degree polynomials. For more definitive conclusions, the computing time functions of the algorithms that are presented in this report have been worked out. Further investigations have also been suggested.


It is 2010, and Gary Swart, CEO of oDesk, is contemplating the next steps for his organization. Founded in 2004 in California, oDesk operates an online marketplace that matches Employers with Contractors. oDesk provides fact-based information on Contractors, including experience, skills, and certifications, to Employers, who use this information as a basis for interviewing and hiring Contractors. oDesk's online marketplace also includes a payment platform and tools that allow Employers to audit and verify Contractors' work and time sheets. oDesk collects commissions, approximately 10% of gross services, on all work that goes through its platform. oDesk has enjoyed robust growth since its inception and to date has focused on a very distinct market segment: small and medium-sized employers, Contractors who provide computer programming services, and U.S.-based employers hiring overseas Contractors. Swart believes that the time has come for oDesk to expand beyond this niche, but he is concerned about maintaining oDesk's strong reputation and market positioning and, as such, he wants to grow in a very focused manner. Should oDesk expand its customer focus to include large employers? Broaden the services its marketplace offers beyond computer programming? Widen its geographic reach? Each of these growth options offers opportunities and entails costs. Swart considers each of these in turn.Learning Objective:Understand challenges associated with leading and growing an innovative organization.


In the aftermath of the 2011 Arab uprisings in the southern and eastern Mediterranean, the region has reached a turning point in its history, presenting as many opportunities as challenges. The European Union itself is facing challenging conditions following the financial and economic crises that have hit its periphery. This MedPro Policy Paper examines and assesses various possible scenarios that could play out in EU-Mediterranean relations over the next two decades and offers recommendations towards long-term sustainable socio-economic development in the region.


Abstract Among young people's online activities, a significant portion involves social networking and communication. The additional social space afforded by the Internet has extended the way young people relate to their surrounding world. This study examined how young people adapt to the networked digital space. Semistructured interviews with adolescents (twelve to eighteen years old) in South Korea and Australia revealed that new norms of social interaction are constantly created and negotiated. First, online participants carefully curate what can be seen and what should be hidden from others. Knowing the global and permanent nature of digital traces, users are mindful of what they post and how they interact online. Second, the continuous presence online results in rapid cycles of interactions, pressuring network members to respond immediately. Online interactions are quickly replaced by new ones, creating a sense of ephemerality. Third, there is a close tethering of the online to the offline world. Young people constantly engage in multiple and simultaneous online social interactions while dipping in and out of their physical realities. The tension between permanency and ephemerality leads online participants to question the authenticity of the partial reality that is depicted online and adds complexity to the norms of social interaction. Fear of missing out (FOMO) existed in both groups of adolescents and was reflected in how frequently they engaged in online interactions.