Early diagnosis of retinal diseases such as glaucoma will benefit from unbiased an precise estimation of both optical and structural properties of the RNFL as they provide a better understanding of the tissue characteristics. The main objective of this thesis was first to improve the estimation of the attenuation coefficients of layered samples and, second, to estimate the structural properties of RNFL. Unbiased estimation of optical tissue properties such as the attenuation coefficient require a model of the recorded OCT signal. To study the characteristics of the OCT signal, in Chapter 2, two simulation methods were presented for homogeneous samples. In both methods single-scattering of the OCT light was assumed and the effect of the shape of OCT beam was taken into account. The more complex simulation also takes into account the interference of the electrical fields in the sample and reference arms and several post processing steps. Later in this thesis the simpler model was used to model the OCT signal since both simulation methods generated similar results. In Chapter 3, we improved an existing depth-resolved method to estimate the attenuation coefficients. The existing method does not handle noise at the larger depths, where the OCT light is fully attenuated, which results in a variation of the estimated attenuation coefficient values. We introduced a technique to detect and exclude the noise regions from the OCT scans to improve the accuracy and reduce the Aline-by-Aline variation of the estimated attenuation coefficients. The results show a better accuracy of the estimated attenuation coefficient, especially in sub-RPE regions and a better quality of the attenuation coefficient images. In Chapter 4, a method was presented to estimate the attenuation coefficients of a homogeneous medium accounting for the shape of the focused light beam. For this, the model presented in Chapter 2 was fitted to the measured OCT signal of a homogeneous sample to estimate the model parameters. The presented method was first implemented for the semi-infinite samples and was tested for different concentrations of TiO2 in silicone for different locations of focus. In addition, a statistical and numerical analysis was performed to evaluate the presented method under various experimental conditions. The estimation result shows a reasonable correlation between the TiO2 weight-concentration and the estimated attenuation coefficient. While the method could estimate the attenuation coefficients of a uniform samples, most biological tissues such as the retina are layered, hence the method was extended in Chapter 5 to estimate the attenuation coefficients of the multi-layer samples. This method was tested on the simulation and measurements of a multi-layer phantom with different concentration of TiO2 in silicone with two systems: one with a small (40 μm) and one with a larger (300 μm) Rayleigh length. The numerical results show an acceptable estimation of the attenuation coefficients for the Rayleigh lengths less than 0.5 mm in air and acceptable for clinical application using clinical OCT systems. For both single- and multi-layer samples, a linear relation between the estimated attenuation coefficients and the particle concentration of the perspective layer was observed while using single and multiple B-scans. In Chapter 6, an automatic technique was developed to estimate the orientation of RNFBs from volumetric OCT scans. The RNFB orientations of six macular scans from three subjects were used to evaluate the results. We observed a good correlation between the manual tracing and the estimated orientations of the RNFLs. RNFBs orientation in combination with other techniques such as VF and SAP can assist the ophthalmologists to have a more reliable measurement for an early diagnosis of retinal diseases such as glaucoma.


wnloaded pose: Inhibitors of antiapoptosis protein (IAP) have been implicated in the resistance to cisplatin. ore, verifying which pathway is involved in cIAP2 upregulation may be helpful in finding a feasible ay inhibitor to increase the chemotherapeutic efficacy in human papillomavirus (HPV)–infected ancer. erimental Design: Specific inhibitors of different pathways were used to verify which pathway is ed in cIAP2 transcription. cIAP2 promoter fragments with various deletions and/or mutations were ucted by site-directed mutagenesis. cIAP2, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and phosphop-AKT) expressions in 136 lung tumors were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. ults: Our data show that two NF-κB (−209 to −200 and −146 to −137) and one CREB (cyclic AMP– sive element binding protein; −52 to −42) binding sites in cIAP2 promoter region were responsible P2 upregulated by E6 in TL-1 cells. Moreover, CREB was phosphorylated by EGFR/phosphatidytol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway. To test the involvement of cIAP2 on cisplatin resistance, IC50 was ed to 8.6 μmol/L in TL-1 cells with cIAP2 short hairpin RNA (shRNA) transfection and compared 9.7 μmol/L in TL-1 cells with nonspecific shRNA. Pretreatment with EGFR or PI3K inhibitor in ells diminished the resistance to cisplatin. Among the tumor groups, cIAP2 expression correlated cantly with HPV16/18 E6, EGFR, and p-AKT. We followed up 46 of 136 patients who had tumor ence and/or metastasis and underwent chemotherapy. Tumors with cIAP2-positive immunostaining associated with a poorer tumor response to chemotherapy compared with those with negative nostaining. clusions: cIAP2 upregulated by E6 via EGFR/PI3K/AKT cascades may contribute to cisplatin resisCon tance, revealing that the EGFR or PI3K inhibitor combined with cisplatin may improve the chemotherapeutic efficacy in HPV-infected lung cancer. Clin Cancer Res; 16(21); 5200–10. ©2010 AACR.


Background—Therapy for chronic systolic heart failure (sHF) has improved over the past 2 decades, but the armamentarium of drugs is limited and consequently sHF remains a leading cause of death and disability. In this investigation, we examined the effects of a novel cardiac myosin activator, omecamtiv mecarbil (formerly CK-1827452) in 2 different models of heart failure. Methods and Results—Two different models of sHF were used: (1) pacing-induced sHF after myocardial infarction (MI-sHF) and (2) pacing-induced sHF after 1 year of chronic pressure overload left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH-sHF). Omecamtiv mecarbil increased systolic function in sHF dogs, chronically instrumented to measure LV pressure, wall thickness, and cardiac output. Omecamtiv mecarbil, infused for 24 hours, induced a sustained increase without desensitization (P<0.05) in wall thickening (25±6.2%), stroke volume (44±6.5%) and cardiac output (22±2.8%), and decreased heart rate (15±3.0%). The major differences between the effect of omecamtiv mecarbil on cardiac function and the effect induced by a catecholamine, for example, dobutamine, is that omecamtiv mecarbil did not increase LV dP/dt but rather increased LV systolic ejection time by 26±2.9% in sHF. Another key difference is that myocardial O2 consumption (MVO2), which increases with catecholamines, was not significantly affected by omecamtiv mecarbil. Conclusions—These results demonstrate that chronic infusion of the cardiac myosin activator, omecamtiv mecarbil, improves LV function in sHF without the limitations of progressive desensitization and increased MVO2. This unique profile may provide a new therapeutic approach for patients with sHF.


Abstract Several types of authigenic illite differing in their distribution and morphology are described in Rotliegend (Permian) gas-bearing sandstones of northern Germany. The microtextural environment seems to control the K-Ar age variations of illite-fractions of different sizes. Thin, uncompacted, and radial coatings are 200 Ma old, whereas uncompacted fibrous laths filling enlarged secondary porosity are 180 Ma old, and compacted or recrystallized tangential particles yield intermediate or even younger ages. Such Liassic ages relate to a thermal event, the effects of which on the clay material have not been erased subsequently, despite present-day burial depth of 4500 m and temperatures of 150°C.


ABSTRACT The complexity of economic development and humanitarian crises means that energy science and technology should be involved in actions that address almost every major challenges of ecosystem health and sustainability. Energy is the engine of the world economy and the key to ecosystems' functioning, which also has a great impact on global warming. The energy crisis, environmental pollution, overuse of natural resources, water supply shortages, global climate disruption, and deteriorating ecosystems are major challenges to address in order to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In light of the frontiers in energy sciences and disruptive innovation in eco-tech, we recognize the need to review and establish working mechanisms that identify and examine issues that are critical to future sustainable development, to offer advice to decision-makers in different social sectors (public and private), to secure a shared future for mankind, and to achieve shared prosperity and common interests through international communications and collaborations.


Grouping plays a crucial role in the perception of metrically organized music, and it has been referred to as a key concept in increasing a subject9s efficiency in sequential motor tasks that require a precise organization of movements in the time domain. But very little attention has been given to the crucial question of what kind of role perception of rhythmic grouping plays in the acquisition of motor skills. In the present investigation, we examined whether the perception of the rhythmic grouping organization of music notation has a direct effect on the formation of motor patterns in piano playing. Pianists were asked to sightread a piece with and without grouping instructions. Movement recordings were made within a three-dimensional trajectory by using light-emitting diodes and infrared camera systems combined with Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) technology. Findings indicate that there was a marked change in motor performance when subjects were instructed to perceive the notation in a particular mode of metered pulse-beat grouping. It was concluded that how one perceives a music score—by single notes, articulated motivic patterns, or by the metered pulse-beat grouping—is reflected in the organization of motor patterns.


This is not simply the story of a year from our past but a dramatic account of a social and political uprising that became a crisis in the course of American development. By 1877 the United States had ground through four years of depression with no end in sight. The mood of the nation was explosive. As labor sought to unite against the great corporations, violence and lawlessness spread through the cities, accented by race riots, lynchings, government corruption, scandal in high places, and the shocking growth of teenage gangs. The summer of 1877 produced a climax: a nationwide railroad strike accompanied by rioting coast to coast. Mr. Bruce's moving account of these events portrays a nation trying to cope with an industrial depression before it had learned about the problems of industrialism. The upheaval was perhaps our closest brush with class revolution in America. "A taut narrative that is relieved by flashes of an appropriately sardonic humor. Mr. Bruce has resisted the temptation to let his spectacular story turn into a mere hour-by-hour re-creation of mayhem and emotion. All along the way he thoughtfully assesses just what this year meant in American history."-Eric F. Goldman, New York Times. "The author goes to the sources in scholarly fashion but reports it in a popular style...An informative and readable book."-C. Vann Woodward.


The concept of information fiduciaries has received considerable attention in recent years, as one way to impose greater societal obligations on Web-based entities. This paper seeks to probe the information fiduciaries concept, as a useful entree into a broader discussion of how to bring longstanding legal institutions into the online digital world.

This paper has five primary objectives. First, it will describe the information fiduciary (IF) model, as laid out by scholars Jack Balkin and Jonathan Zittrain, and criticized recently by Lina Khan and David Pozen. Second, it will undertake a deeper dive into the basics of the common law of fiduciary obligations, including the twin duties of care and of loyalty. Third, the paper will examine the information fiduciaries concept from the standpoint of traditional common law and modern-day commentary.

Fourth, the paper will explore a proposed alternative legal model, the "digital trustmediary" (or DTM), with entrusted entities voluntarily acting under a heightened fiduciary duty of loyalty to their clients. This DTM model will be posited as a viable response to the current Web ecosystem, which is presided over by online platforms extracting and analyzing end user data in the absence of express fiduciary obligations.

The paper concludes by suggesting ways to meld together the two different but complementary fiduciary approaches in the context of Web-based entities. Consistent with the author's prior written work on functional openness, the overarching intention is to breathe productive new life into old school legal doctrines.


Questionnaires and scales which are used in the researches to achieve the goals should be standardized to insure the results of the researches. This study planned to standardize, reliability and validity of the concepts of Health Belief Model in pill and condom users.

 Materials & Methods : In this study by reviewing documents and some of the applied questionnaires in the reproductive health and family planning studies some scales, which used health belief model, were collected. Then the primary questionnaire was designed and at the first step, its face validity and content was assessed by the expert opinion. At the second step, client understanding of the questionnaire was assessed with a study on 20 clients, in the third and fourth steps the reliability of the questionnaire was checked by the test- re test, LQAS and Cronbach alpha by the STATA software. To present the results of the test descriptive statistics were used.

 Results : In the scale reliability process, we omitted 3 items of condom and 4 items of pill questionnaire then it presented to 20 clients for client understanding assessment. According to the quality assurance measures 80% of the questions in the questionnaires were accepted. After necessary changes, questionnaires were presented to 30 clients two times with 15 day interval. By applying LQAS method some questions were corrected and again with 15 day interval they were presented to another 30 clients and results were assessed by LQAS method.

 Discussion : In majority of studies, preparing a standard questionnaire is one of the most important elements. With the high sensitivity of the issue mentioned above, the standardization process needs a long time, but reviewing the previous documents with approved reliability and validity could decrease this period. This study shows accepted reliability and validity of designed questionnaires in the assessment of Health Belief Model in family planning services.


Abstract We introduce a simple variational principle for coherent material vortices in two-dimensional turbulence. Vortex boundaries are sought as closed stationary curves of the averaged Lagrangian strain. Solutions to this problem turn out to be mathematically equivalent to photon spheres around black holes in cosmology. The fluidic photon spheres satisfy explicit differential equations whose outermost limit cycles are optimal Lagrangian vortex boundaries. As an application, we uncover super-coherent material eddies in the South Atlantic, which yield specific Lagrangian transport estimates for Agulhas rings.


The study is a systematic literature review that assembles scientific knowledge in local government transparency in the twenty-first Century. The study finds a remarkable growth in research on local government transparency in the first nineteen years, particularly in Europe and North America. Social, economic, political and institutional factors are found to account for this trend. In vogue among local governments is the use of information technology to enhance transparency. The pressure to become transparent largely comes from the passage of Freedom of Information Laws and open data initiatives of governments.


The study identifies the impact of tax planning on the firm value of consumer goods manufacturing companies in Cyprus. The specific objectives are to determine the impact of firm and leverage on firm value of Cypriot consumer goods manufacturing companies. The data included in the study were collected from the annual reports and accounts of consumer goods of the manufacturing companies in Cyprus and formulated hypotheses were tested with multiple regression analysis. The result had a positive effect on our leverage dependent variable. Based on the findings of the study, the application of the study with more samples may be recommended for future studies.


In 2001 the Federal Government of Germany formed by Social Democrats and Green Party declared a policy goal of 20 % of organic farming in Germany by 2010. This objective can only be achieved by behavioural changes of the actors within the food supply chain and consumers. Therefore, the proper political strategy has to be developed. The article starts with a theoretical overview of the social marketing approach. Then the social marketing approach is applied to the development of strategies and measures for the growth of organic production in Germany. The article concludes with a discussion of the suitability of the social marketing concept.


Abstract The well-known "sweep" algorithm for inverting the streaming-plus-collision term in first-order deterministic radiation transport calculations suffers from parallel scaling issues caused by a lack of concurrency in the spatial dimension along the direction of particle travel. We investigate a new class of parallel algorithms that involves recasting the streaming-plus-collision problem in prefix form and solving via cyclic reduction. This method, although computationally more expensive at low levels of parallelism than the sweep algorithm, offers better theoretical scalability properties. Previous work has demonstrated this approach for one-dimensional calculations; we show how to extend it to multidimensional calculations. Notably, for multiple dimensions it appears that this approach is limited to long-characteristics discretizations; other discretizations cannot be cast in practical prefix form. Computational results on two different massively parallel computer systems demonstrate that both our "forward" and "symmetric" algorithms behave similarly, scaling well to larger degrees of parallelism than sweep-based solvers. We do observe some issues at the highest levels of parallelism (relative to the computer system size) and discuss possible causes. We conclude that this approach shows good potential for future parallel systems but that parallel scalability will depend on the architecture of the communication networks of these systems.


The purposes of this study were to compare the differences in the use of geometry in elementary school mathematics textbooks among Finland, Mainland China, Singapore, Taiwan, and the USA and to investigate the relationships between the design of the textbooks and students' performance on large-scale tests such as TIMSS-4 geometry, TIMSS-8 geometry, and PISA space and shape. The content analysis method was used to collect data, and then chi-square tests and correlation analyses were used to analyze data. The results showed that there were significant differences in representation form, problem type, and question format among these mathematics textbooks from the five countries. Moreover, the strength of the positive relationships between visual form (combined form) and students' performance on TIMSS-4 geometry, TIMSS-8 geometry, and PISA space and shape decreases as students advance to higher grades, whereas increasing strength of correlations as students get older is found between contextual problems and students' performance on the three large-scale tests.


Empirical research into translation processes using think aloud protocols initially described the processes of naive translators, language students who were not studying translation. It then moved to a focus on novice translators, i.e., translation students, and finally investigated professional translators. Some of these latter studies showed that not all professional translators produced high-quality products, raising the question of how to define the notion of "professional translator." Recent studies of translation expertise have brought a new perspective to the question of professionalism and expertise in translation. This paper will look at some of the different ways of defining the two concepts, and some early findings in process studies will be reinterpreted from the point of view of more recent expertise research.


Batch normalization is a key component of most image classification models, but it has many undesirable properties stemming from its dependence on the batch size and interactions between examples. Although recent work has succeeded in training deep ResNets without normalization layers, these models do not match the test accuracies of the best batch-normalized networks, and are often unstable for large learning rates or strong data augmentations. In this work, we develop an adaptive gradient clipping technique which overcomes these instabilities, and design a significantly improved class of Normalizer-Free ResNets. Our smaller models match the test accuracy of an EfficientNet-B7 on ImageNet while being up to 8.7x faster to train, and our largest models attain a new state-of-the-art top-1 accuracy of 86.5%. In addition, Normalizer-Free models attain significantly better performance than their batch-normalized counterparts when finetuning on ImageNet after large-scale pre-training on a dataset of 300 million labeled images, with our best models obtaining an accuracy of 89.2%. Our code is available at https://github.com/deepmind/ deepmind-research/tree/master/nfnets


This article presents some qualitative findings extracted from a larger scale research on how English is taught at few Agama Rakyat schools (SAR) in Perak. Four English language teachers; Teacher A, B, C and D, teaching at four different SAR schools were interviewed. An in-depth, semi-structured interview questions were developed as a mean to gather data. The excerpts from the interview sessions reveal that all the teacher participants are not certified as English as a Second Language practitioners and rarely attend professional development courses. As a result, not only they lack in the basic of teacher teaching knowledge, the schools financial constraints also has led to the classrooms not having enough IT facilities to assist their teaching. Despite all the teachers show their deep interest and passion to teach English language, the constraints and challenges faced by them have somehow deter them from demonstrating their best teaching competence. We hope that these preliminary observations from our study will lead to more research efforts in order to understand the realities and complexities of teaching English language at the Agama Rakyat schools in Malaysia.


Diets of large marine predators have been extensively studied to assess
interactions with fisheries, monitor links between diet and reproductive success, and
understand trophic interactions in marine ecosystems. Since marine species can rarely
be observed foraging directly, most studies rely on the identification of prey remains
in stomach contents or faeces to determine the prey items being consumed. While this
approach has provided a wealth of information, it has several limitations resulting
primarily from difficulties identifying digested prey and from biased recovery of
remains due to differential digestion. My thesis explores the use of molecular genetic
methods in dietary studies of large marine predators. DNA-based identification
techniques have been used in several diet studies, but the methods and applications
are still in the early stages of development. Through a number of studies, I
investigated the ability to recover genetic data from various dietary samples using a
range of genetic techniques.
A) Genetic screening for prey in the gut contents from a giant squid - I assessed the
use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods for isolation of prey DNA
from an Architeuthis gut content sample. A taxonomically informative molecular
marker was selected and a screening method developed using denaturing gradient gel
electrophoresis. The methodology was used to identify prey from otherwise
unidentifiable hard-part remains and the amorphous slurry component of the squid gut
sample. The techniques developed here provided a framework for later chapters.
B) Analysis of prey DNA in faeces of captive sea lions
Part I: DNA detection, distribution and signal persistence - A feeding trial with
captive Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) was carried out to investigate the use of
genetic faecal analysis as a tool to study diet. I used group-specific PCR detection to
determine: (i) the reliability of prey DNA recovery, (ii) the distribution of prey DNA
within faeces and (iii) the persistence of the genetic signal after a prey item was
removed from the diet. The proportions of prey DNA in several samples were also
determined using a clone library approach to determine if DNA quantification could
provide semi-quantitative diet composition data. Results show that the prey DNA
could be reliably detected in sea lion faeces and the genetic signal could persist in
samples up to 48 hours after ingestion. Proportions of prey DNA isolated from faeces
were roughly proportional to the mass of the prey items consumed.
Part II: DNA quantification - Quantitative real-time PCR was used to further
investigate if quantitative diet composition data could be obtained through
quantification of the DNA present in faeces. I quantified the relative amounts of DNA
in three fish species being fed to captive sea lions, then determined the amount of
DNA recovered from these prey items in the sea lions - faeces. The results indicate
that diet composition estimates based on the relative amounts of DNA in faeces can
be biased due to the differential survival of DNA from different fish species; however,
these biases may be less than those commonly observed in the conventional analysis
of prey hard remains. C) Quantification of damage in DNA recovered from faecal samples - I developed a
general method to quantify the frequency of DNA damage present in specific gene
regions. The technique was applied to assess the amount of DNA damage in predator
and prey DNA recovered from sea lion faeces. The estimated frequency of DNA
damage was always higher for the prey DNA than for the predator DNA within a
faecal sample. The findings have implications for marker development and
comparison of results obtained in future DNA-based diet studies.
D) Studying seabird diet through genetic analysis of faeces - I investigated the diet of
macaroni penguins (Eudyptes chrysolophus) through conventional analysis of
stomach contents and through the analysis of prey DNA extracted from faeces.
Genetic data was obtained from faecal samples using PCR tests to determine the
presence or absence of DNA from potential diet items and also using a clone library
approach. Approximately half of the faecal samples tested positive for one or more of
the prey groups targeted with PCR tests. Euphausiid DNA was most commonly
detected in early stages of chick rearing and DNA from a myctophid fish was
prevalent in faeces collected later; this trend mirrored the data obtained from the
stomach contents. Analysis of prey sequences in 'universal'clone libraries revealed a
highly biased recovery of sequences from fish prey; this bias is most likely caused by
the use of degenerate primers with a higher binding affinity for fish DNA template
compared to DNA from other prey groups. Results obtained from the genetic and
traditional approaches are compared, and potential future applications of the genetic
techniques to studying seabird diet are discussed.
This series of studies has contributed significantly to our understanding of the
strengths and the limitations of DNA-based diet analysis. The work identifies
situations where genetic methods can be successfully applied to study the diet of
marine predators and provides guidance for future studies in this emerging field.


Liposarcoma in the spermatic cord is infrequent, and accurate diagnosis of histopathological subtype is often difficult in spite of the importance of differential diagnosis for adequate treatment. A 54-year-old man underwent left-sided high orchiectomy with inguinal lymphadenectomy for a spermatic cord tumor in July 2006. The initial histopathological report diagnosed leiomyosarcoma in the spermatic cord. He then underwent surgeries for repeated recurrences a further 6 times between July 2008 and May 2014. Pathological finding at the 7th resection of the recurrent tumor was osteosarcoma, which was uncommon in the spermatic cord. With a thorough overview of all specimens, the histopathological diagnosis was finally confirmed as dedifferentiated liposarcoma because of a biphasic pattern in the specimen of high orchiectomy at the first resection. A biphasic pattern represents high-grade sarcoma like osteosarcoma and well-differentiated liposarcoma, and is characteristic of dedifferentiated liposarcoma. Although the dedifferentiated type is one of poor prognosis, the diagnosing of liposarcoma histopathologically was found to be difficult throughout this case. In this report we discuss the accurate histopathological diagnosis of liposarcoma in the spermatic cord in order to prevent repeated recurrences based on a review of the literature, as well as the difficulty in recognizing dedifferentiated liposarcoma macroscopically and morphologically. Our experience suggests that, after much difficulty, accurate histopathological diagnosis of liposarcoma in the spermatic cord is still clinically challenging.


The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the relationship between fertility rates and the economy in Venezuela. In particular, it looks at the extreme fluctuations in oil revenues, Venezuela's main source of income, in the 1970s and their impact on fertility. It uses the 1998 National Survey of Population and Family collected in Venezuela by The Central Office of Statistics and Information to estimate a Poisson model of total fertility by union cohort and to empirically investigate changes in childbearing patterns. The results show that compared to the 1967-1968 union cohort, all subsequent union cohorts decline in total fertility in the first 14 years after entering the first union. This finding raises the possibility that the period fertility rate stall and reversal of the 1970s are not associated with rises in total fertility. Further, the simple two period model of fertility timing developed for this study illustrates how females may change their fertility timing by responding to temporary changes in income, either through changes in wages or changes in the amount of transfers. Also, the duration analysis presents differences in childbearing patterns where the boom cohort seems to be at a higher risk of an additional child for lower parities, but at a lower risk for higher parities when compared to the bust cohort. These differences seem to remain even after controlling for individual characteristics or secular changes between the two cohorts. This study is important, because it highlights how sharp and short changes in economic conditions faced by a Venezuelan household induce a change in the timing of birth, thereby creating unexpected moves in the period fertility rates. Understanding the source of these moves can help to plan for them in the future.


An estimated 60% of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) production worldwide is at risk of drought. A breeding program was developed at the International Center of Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) to create drought resistant breeding lines with varietal potential in the small red, small black, cream (mulatinho) and cream-striped (carioca) grain classes. Breeding populations were created from triple or double crosses. Field screening under terminal drought was performed at Palmira, Colombia in the dry season in F 2 , F 3:5 , and F 6:8 generations over two cycles of recurrent selection in the small red and small black classes, and one cycle in the mulatinho and carioca classes. Drought resistant lines yielded significantly more than commercial check cultivars under drought in all color classes. Some outyielded the respective checks by 15 to 25% (depending on color class and trial) in one or more of three favorable environments, or in the combined analysis across favorable environments, and were also earlier to mature. Drought resistant lines presented up to 36% greater yield d -1 in favorable environments. Some also expressed superior yields in a phosphorus-limited environment. Thus, selection for drought resistance has improved yield potential and plant efficiency across different environments. It is suggested that selection under drought stress reveals genes that correct inefficiencies inherited from the wild Phaseolus vulgaris, and are key to yield improvement of common bean.


This article explores how the Island of Ireland Peace Park, opened in 1998 in Belgium, intervenes in the discursive construction of national identity using the 'memory' of the First World War. Analysing memory as a discourse, it examines how the texts within the Park and their use in practices produce meanings which challenge the hierarchical binary of 'Irish/British', itself a product, in part, of previous memory work involving the war, and thus present the possibility of reimagined forms of subjectivity and reconceived senses of national identity. It goes on to argue that the Park's design as an unheroic anti-war memorial also intertextually challenges identities dependent on engagement in physical conflict on the island. In both ways, the Park works as part of the 'Northern Ireland Peace Process' and can be read not only as a monument to the dead of the First World War but also as a 'Troubles' memorial.


Surface plasmon resonance is conventionally conducted in the visible range and, during the past decades, it has proved its efficiency in probing molecular scale interactions. Here we elaborate on the first implementation of a high resolution surface plasmon microscope that operates at near infrared (IR) wavelength for the specific purpose of living matter imaging. We analyze the characteristic angular and spatial frequencies of plasmon resonance in visible and near IR lights and how these combined quantities contribute to the V(Z) response of a scanning surface plasmon microscope (SSPM). Using a space-frequency wavelet decomposition, we show that the V(Z) response of the SSPM for red (632.8 nm) and near IR (1550 nm) lights includes the frequential response of plasmon resonance together with additional parasitic frequencies induced by the objective pupil. Because the objective lens pupil profile is often unknown, this space-frequency decomposition turns out to be very useful to decipher the characteristic frequencies of the experimental V(Z) curves. Comparing the visible and near IR light responses of the SSPM, we show that our objective lens, primarily designed for visible light microscopy, is still operating very efficiently in near IR light. Actually, despite their loss in resolution, the SSPM images obtained with near IR light remain contrasted for a wider range of defocus values from negative to positive Z values. We illustrate our theoretical modeling with a preliminary experimental application to blood cell imaging.


The Cambridge Handbook of Strategy as Practice provides the first comprehensive overview of an emerging and growing stream of research in strategic management. An international team of scholars has been assembled to produce a systematic introduction to the various epistemological, methodological and theoretical aspects of the strategy-as-practice approach. This perspective explores and explains the contribution that strategizing makes to daily operations at all levels of an organization. Moving away from a disembodied and asocial study of firm assets, technologies and practices, the strategy-as-practice approach breaks down many of the traditional paradigmatic boundaries in strategy to investigate who the strategists are, what strategists do, how they do it, and what the consequences or outcomes of their actions are. Including a number of detailed empirical studies, the handbook will be an essential guide for future research in this vibrant field.


In the past, professors have always taught as they were taught, but this needs to change, Why? Due to the fact that the majority of professors completed their graduate degrees in a non-Adventist institution of higher learning. So if they teach like they are taught, they won't be teaching from an Adventist Christian worldview. In addition, the changing student demographics along with the infusion of technology into our daily lives is providing the tools and an opportunity for professors to teach differently than they were taught. Three main changes professors are facing today include: the professorate expectations, a different student body, and the changing nature of teaching. Each of these factors alone would encourage change, but added together they will require change. How will this happen and who will help professors make this transformational change which will lead to increased learning? This paper will describe a need for professional development specifically developed to meet the needs of professors hired to teach in Adventist Christian Institutions of Higher Learning, a model intentionally developed on a biblical foundation. These professional development activities must include opportunities for professors to learn how to develop their own courses on a biblical foundation with an emphasis on the Adventist Christian worldview. This professional development model for use in Adventist Christian Institutions of Higher Education will build professional development opportunities on Psalm 25:4-5, "Show me your ways (model), O Lord; teach me in your paths (teach). Guide me in your truth (mentor) and teach me. For you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you (reflect). This text highlights: model, teach, mentor, and reflect, research based best practices for professional development (McQuiggan, 2012). These professional development strategies will also reflect Jesus as the master developer of people.


We examined the relationship between body shape and choice of retreat for males of 17 species of Western Australian Ctenophorus dragon lizards, accounting for body size by using Somers' (1986, 1989) size-free principal component analysis. Ctenophorus species group strongly in size-free morphometric space (shape) based on the nature of their natural retreat (i.e. burrows, no burrows and rocks). Those species that dig their own burrow as a retreat have short tails and hind limbs, whereas that those do not generally retreat to a burrow have longer lower hind limbs and hind feet. Three of the four species that retreat to crevices or under rocks have a dorso-ventrally flattened head and body, and relatively long upper fore-limbs. The fourth rock-retreat species (C. caudicinctus) does not have a dorso-ventrally flattened head and body; its body shape is intermediate between those species in the three ecological groups.


In a globalized world, with interconnected societies experiencing a complexity of multicultural subgroups, designers cannot ignore the cultural aspects of their designs, of their way of designing and of themselves as designers. Culture sensitive designers are not only aware of the cultural dimensions of design, they know how to integrate these cultural dimensions into the practice of their designing, while staying in tune with their own cultural beliefs and values. Thereby, cultural sensitivity in designing is not merely about understanding cultural differences, but more important about unfolding cultural dilemma's and finding the common grounds to build up on. Cultural sensitivity in designing is about building the cultural bridges through design.

Cultural sensitivity is developed through exposure to cultural differences, by working in multi-cultural contexts, and by facing the dilemma's that are raised within those contexts. In a previous study, insights in how to develop cultural sensitivity were described from a methodological point of view, choosing the teachers perspective. (van Boeijen, Sonneveld & Hao, 2017).

This paper will address the perspective of the design students. How did they experience the design education initiatives that are focused on developing their cultural sensitivity?

The paper will be based on 5 international workshops on cultural sensitivity, 3 in Shanghai (China), 1 in Wuxi (China) and 1 in Kish (Iran). All workshops had the same learning objective and structure. However, the workshops differed in context and in focus: awareness of one's own culture through self-observation; awareness of subcultures involving participants; company cultures; and awareness of cultural encounters between cultures.

In this study, the students in Iran were asked to reflect on their experiences, not only regarding the learning outcomes (theory, methods, tools, and design approach), but also on the way they interacted with each other (group dynamics), and the way the workshop was organized (structure, education style, timing, topics etc.). Also, we asked the students how the learning experience could be improved.

Preliminary results show that these intercultural workshops have an important impact on the design students' culture sensitivity. This is not an easy process: students have to get used to each other and to the cultural context they are working in, have to understand their barriers and dilemma's, their misunderstandings and miscommunications. To achieve that, we identified three important factors that support both the process of finding a common ground and the differences. First, the value of a pressure cooker setting: working in teams for a whole week on just one project. Next, the value of a positive attitude of the workshop facilitators: allowing students to make mistakes and embracing differences and misunderstandings as learning potentials. Third, the value of taking care of social events, surrounding the workshop as much as taking care of the workshop itself.


A lack of direct electoral checks on government bureaucrats challenges norms of democratic accountability. One proposed solution is to increase the president's control over federal agencies. It is, however, an open question as to whether voters will attribute responsibility to the president even when in charge of agencies. A key empirical challenge has been that presidential control is not randomly assigned across agencies. To overcome this issue, I compare two agencies that enforce the same policy but differ in insulation from presidential control. I examine a large, unique dataset of news coverage, showing that news coverage of the presidentially-controlled agency features more politicized content that ties the agency to the president. I then demonstrate experimentally that this political content increases attribution of control to the president. The results support theories that claim agency design moderates voter attribution of responsibility to the president. This paper broadly adds to the literature on institutional design and the determinants of agency discretion.


'This is as much a mystery as the Immaculate Conception, which of itself must make a doctor an unbeliever.' A stunning pair of short stories about faith and sacrificial love. Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. Honore de Balzac (1799-1850). Balzac's works available in Penguin Classics are Old Man Goriot, Cousin Bette, History of The Thirteen, Selected Short Stories, Cousin Pons, A Harlot High and Low, Eugenie Grandet, The Wild Ass' Skin, The Black Sheep and Lost Illusions.


We examine the role of financial aid in shaping the formation of human capital in economics. Specifically, we study the impact of a large merit-based scholarship for graduate studies in affecting individuals' occupational choices, career trajectories, and labor market outcomes of a generation of Italian economists with special focus on gender gaps and the role of social mobility. We construct a unique dataset that combines archival sources and includes microdata for the universe of applicants to the scholarship program and follow these individuals over their professional life. Our unique sample that focuses on the high end of the talent and ability distribution also allows us to analyze the characteristics of top graduates, a group which tends to be under-sampled in most surveys. We discuss five main results. First, women are less likely to be shortlisted for a scholarship as they tend to receive lower scores in the most subjective criteria used in the initial screening of candidates. Second, scholarship winners are much more likely to choose a research career and this effect is larger for women. Third, women who work in Italian universities tend to have less citations than men who work in Italy. However, the citation gender gap is smaller for candidates who received a scholarship. Fourth, women take longer to be promoted to the rank of full professor, even after controlling for academic productivity. Fifth, it is easier to become a high achiever for individuals from households with a lower socio-economic status if they reside in high social mobility provinces. However, high-achievers from lower socio-economic status households face an up-hill battle even in high social mobility provinces.


As racial tensions rise in the United States, government employers, like their private-sector counterparts, have several legitimate interests in distancing themselves from an employee's opinion, especially when an employee's opinion is discriminatory. Municipalities, in particular, have a compelling interest in regulating police officers' speech. Repugnant police officer views, if published, could ostensibly interfere with a police department's ability to effectively or efficiently deliver public safety services to the city. The law must balance the city's compelling interests in public safety, however, with a police officer's right to free speech. The rapidly evolving pace of technological advances that enable instantaneous social media communication, and create records of online speech, exacerbate the need for an accurate balance.

What happens when nobody may have known about a police officer's controversial speech if the government had not published it, or republished it, on a scale and with tools sufficient to foment public outrage in a very short period of time? Current federal law provides no clear answer. Specifically, § 1983 jurisprudence, as currently conceived, does not account for potential First Amendment violations that result when a municipality publicizes or amplifies a police officer's offensive speech that the public may never have known about but for the municipality publishing or amplifying it, and then fires the officer as a result of public outrage. Although § 1983 jurisprudence allows municipal employers to override First Amendment protections and fire subordinate employees for offensive speech in certain situations, the current framework does not address whether the Constitution permits this overriding when the employer, rather than the employee, publicizes the speech. This uncertainty risks chilling debate on salient topics and exposing public employees to the threat of wrongful infringements on their constitutional rights to free speech. The lack of predictability will continue to pose challenges as information markets continue to change and become more dynamic through technological progress.

Against this backdrop, this Article proceeds by first recounting in Part I the tale of former Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County Police Officer Anthony Venable, whom the city fired in 2017 for comments he posted on Facebook, when he was off duty, about a fatal police shooting. Part II discusses § 1983 and sets forth free speech case law that governs public employment retaliation claims pursuant to the statute. Part III returns to the Venable Case and applies current law to demonstrate the failure of the prevailing retaliation framework to address government-manufactured public opinion crises. Next, Part IV sketches a new rule that courts should use in analogous cases. Simply put, taking into account the changing nature of the global information ecosystem and evolving speech paradigms in the digital age, and the primacy of protecting speech in American constitutional law, the Venable Rule first requires proof that controversial speech actually disrupted the efficient delivery of public services. Second, the Venable Rule requires that a terminated public employee has an opportunity to rebut a government employer's evidence of an actual disruption with his or her own proof that the government's republication of the speech, as opposed to the initial utterance, caused the disruption. This Part also provides practical and theoretical justifications for the Venable Rule, further demonstrating how it balances the weighty interests of the speaker, the public employer, and society at large, and better comports with due process of law than the status quo. Part IV additionally explores how the Venable Rule might apply outside the § 1983 context.


Thermolysis of dimethyl 2-[(3-oxo-3H-isoindol-1-yl)oxy]malonate (8) promotes a [1,4]-H shift in the imidic N¼C O CH fragment of the starting molecule, which leads to a reactive carbonyl ylide. This carbonyl ylide can be trapped by the C¼N bond of imidates and imines, as well as the C¼O bond of
benzaldehyde. The corresponding cycloadducts 11, 14, and 16 are formed regioselectively in good yields (60 – 95%) and with high stereoselectivity. In the case of 11, the minor cycloadduct in solution undergoes an isomerization to give the more stable stereoisomer. The structures of two cycloadducts, i.e., 11a and
14a, have been established by X-ray crystallography.


Recent research has produced a new and perhaps dangerous technique for uniquely identifying blocks that I will call compare-by-hash. Using this technique, we decide whether two blocks are identical to each other by comparing their hash values, using a collision-resistant hash such as SHA-1[5]. If the hash values match, we assume the blocks are identical without further ado. Users of compare-by-hash argue that this assumption is warranted because the chance of a hash collision between any two randomly generated blocks is estimated to be many orders of magnitude smaller than the chance of many kinds of hardware errors. Further analysis shows that this approach is not as risk-free as it seems at first glance.


This paper aims to review Indonesia's breakthrough on providing technical assistance under South-South Cooperation (SSC) scheme in Paci?c countries. For years, Indonesia has been engaging with the main bene?ciary countries: Timor Leste and Fiji. From one-off technical assistance programs, Indonesia tried to shift into more sustainable design in the form of pilot projects. By the given two case studies namely Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) Timor Leste and Gender Responsive Planning and Budgeting (GRPB) for Fiji, this article articulated Indonesia's national interests in term of economics and political level. Both countries also represented as a part of Indonesia's strategic way in to the South Paci?c area.


In this white paper, we have gathered thoughts on how policymakers, economic development
professionals, and other stakeholders can organize around economic continuity and recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even as communities are still dealing with the immediate health impacts, businesses are shuttered, and the initial wave of federal money flows in, local governments should start planning for recovery now. To jumpstart planning, we offer a framework for organizing longerterm continuity and recovery activities. We stop short of recommending specific objectives or actions.

Those should be regionally identified and should be vertically implemented at all levels. Effective
continuity and recovery efforts will require an unprecedented level of collaboration across a spectrum of public and private economic development partners.

We are aware that some regions and local governments are already implementing some of the
strategies discussed in this paper. We encourage others to consider them, understanding there is no single structure that will work for everyone. We also recognize that we are in a very fluid time and events are evolving rapidly. We share these thoughts in the spirit of learning of learning together as we go. We hope that it will open up productive conversations that lead to improved collaboration during recovery and beyond. We're all in this together.


Lexical bundles, frequent word combinations that commonly occur in different registers, have attracted researchers in corpus linguistics in the last decade. While most previous studies of bundles have been mainly concerned with variations in the use of these word sequences across different registers, very few studies have focused on their use across disciplines. To address possible disciplinary variations in the use of these word combinations in academic register, this quantitative and qualitative study chose to investigate, compare, and contrast range, frequency, and function of anticipatory it bundles as a sub-set of these word clusters with important metadiscursive functions in published writing. For this purpose, the study zoomed in research articles of applied linguistics and analytical chemistry as a soft and hard science, respectively. The results indicated that generally anticipatory it bundles could be regarded as a distinctive characteristic of academic writing in both disciplines. At the same time, each discipline was found to draw almost on a particular set of it bundles in the development of its discourse. However, analytical chemistry seemed to rely more on these bundles in the development of its discourse. Functional analysis also showed that it bundles served a wide variety of functions in both disciplinary areas. Therefore, this study called for a more robust pedagogical focus on different multiword sequences like anticipatory it lexical bundles. The findings also highlighted the importance of a more genre-focused EAP (English for academic purposes).


GEODIVERSITAS • 2009 • 31 (1) © Publications Scientifi ques du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris. www.geodiversitas.com Eugène Arnaud (1922-2009) had a passion for archaeology, geology and palaeontology. Member of the Archaeological Society of Saintonge during 30 years, he contributed to the discovery of several prehistorical and historical relics in Charentes. Working in a public works compagny, he had the possibility to collect many rocks and fossils and has gathered a remarkable collection. He lived at a few hundred metres only from the Cadeuil quarry and was probably the fi rst person to collect amber in this locality, several decades ago. Since our fi rst meeting in 2000, he donated us a large part of his amber collection, and was very enthousiastic for its scientifi c study. We have found several arthropod inclusions in his material and the two fi rst new species to be described have been named in his honour: namely the Hymenopteran Protorhyssalodes arnaudi Perrichot, Nel & Quicke, 2009, and the Heteropteran Ambarcader eugenei Perrichot, Nel, Guilbert & Néraudeau, 2006 and lot of other unknown taxa, are still waiting for being published. He made a major contribution to the knowledge of amber insects from the midCretaceous of Charentes and we are very grateful to him. Moreover, Eugène was an artist, sculpting both rocks and wood to give birth to strange and funny characters, and an extremely kind man. We dedicate this volume to him.


This document, the ''THERM 5/WINDOW 5 NFRC Simulation Manual', discusses how to use the THERM and WINDOW programs to model products for NFRC certified simulations and assumes that the user is already familiar with those programs. In order to learn how to use these programs, it is necessary to become familiar with the material in both the ''THERM User's Manual'' and the ''WINDOW User's Manual''. In general, this manual references the User's Manuals rather than repeating the information. If there is a conflict between either of the User Manual and this ''THERM 5/''WINDOW 5 NFRC Simulation Manual'', the ''THERM 5/WINDOW 5 NFRC Simulation Manual'' takes precedence. In addition, if this manual is in conflict with any NFRC standards, the standards take precedence. For example, if samples in this manual do not follow the current taping and testing NFRC standards, the standards not the samples in this manual, take precedence.


Atopic dermatitis (AD) pathogenesis is strongly influenced by Type 2 innate lymphoid cell and T-helper cell type 2 lymphocyte-driven inflammation and skin barrier dysfunction. AD therapies attempt to correct this pathology, and guidelines suggest suggest basics of AD therapy, which include repair of the skin barrier through bathing practices and moisturizers, infection control, and further lifestyle modifications to avoid and reduce AD triggers. While some patients' AD may be controlled using these measures, inflammatory eczema including acute flares and maintenance therapy in more severe patients are treated with topical pharmacologic agents such as topical corticosteroids, topical calcineurin inhibitors, and, more recently, topical PDE-4 inhibitors. This model of basic skin therapy and, as needed, topical pharmacologic agents may be used to treat the vast majority of patients with AD and remains the staple of AD therapy.


Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common, monogenetic cause of intellectual disability and autism-spectrum disorders. Although there is no effective therapy, greater understanding of disturbed neuronal pathways has introduced options for targeted therapy. But whereas many FXS phenotypes were improved in preclinical studies with drugs targeting these pathways in the FXS mouse model, attempts to translate these animal-model success stories into treatment of patients in clinical trials have been extremely disappointing. Complicating factors, particularly in animal studies, include mouse inbred strains, variability in functional studies between laboratories, publication bias and lack of reliable and objective primary outcome measures in both mice and patients. Possibly most important, however, is one factor that has been little explored: the complexity of the molecular imbalance in FXS and the need to simultaneously target several different disturbed pathways and different cellular compartments. New, well-conceived animal studies should generate more productive approaches in the quest for targeted therapy for FXS.


In this paper, we propose a new slotted multiband antennas simulated at different frequencies. The insertion of slots in the patch gives a good adapting frequency with various forms on the radiation pattern. The main feature of the proposed antenna is the capability to generate a near isotropic radiation pattern in different frequencies .The design details of the conceived antenna are presented and discussed. Simulations of the different reflection coefficient and radiation pattern are presented. These were carried out using CST Microwave Studio. This model has got numerous applications in network sensors, field measurements and electromagnetic compatibility.


This case study reports on a project funded by the Centre for Inquiry-based Learning in the Arts and Social Sciences (CILASS). At the University of Brighton undergraduates were given the opportunity to examine the social responsibility of the writer through a series of workshops and seminars led by local writers, actors, comedians and politicians. Students were expected to produce their own socially conscious creative piece and to reflect on the process. This study reports on the students' experience of this module and suggests ways in which the module impacts on their development. We argue that HE needs to create learning environments for undergraduates that can help students understand how their degrees might influence and help them in their sustainable careers, studies and lives post-university.


Ultrasonic methods used in the study of radiation damage and recovery in single crystals appear to also be useful for similar studies on polycrystalline alloys. Ultrasonic methods have demonstrated a sensitivity to radiation damage as affected by neutron fluence, irradiation temperature, large changes in composition, and possibly, as well, by neutron energy spectrum. On the microstructure defect evolution, only the residual defects created through the radiation event will contribute to the final macroscopic material property change. From a microstructure point, it is generally accepted that radiation hardening and embrittlement in metals are caused by clusters of vacancies, interstitial, and solute atoms that impede the motion of slip dislocations. Although vacancy-type defects are a major contributor to the material hardening, they also indicate the presence of other interstitial defects. Thus the total volume change of vacancy-type defects before and after irradiation can serve as a direct index to the final material property changes. The volume change of the vacancy-type defects can be determined by utilizing the two -phase composite model (matrix and void-type inclusion) to interpret wave velocities of baseline and irradiated specimens that are obtained from the ultrasonic wave experiment. This is a relatively economic and straightforward procedure. The correlationmore » of the volume change of the vacancy-type defects with the existing destructive mechanical test results may play an important role in the future for the prediction of the radiation embrittlement and remaining plant lifetime, especially for the older plants on the verge of exhausting all the available mechanical test specimens loaded in the surveillance capsules. The above hypothesis was supported by the limited irradiated data analyzed and presented in his paper. The proposed ultrasonic methodology also has a potential application to assess creep damage in fossil power plants.« less


The problem of distributed inference with M-ary quantized data at the sensors is investigated in the presence of Byzantine attacks. We assume that the Byzantine nodes attack the inference network by modifying the symbol corresponding to the quantized data to one of the other symbols in the quantization alphabet-set and transmitting falsified symbol to the fusion center (FC). In this paper, we find the optimal Byzantine attack that blinds any distributed inference network. As the quantization alphabet size increases, a tremendous improvement in the security performance of the distributed inference network is observed. In addition to the perfect channel case, in Appendix A , we also analyze the optimal Byzantine attack when the channel between the nodes and the FC is noisy and is modelled as a discrete M-ary channel. We also investigate the optimal attack within the restricted space of highly-symmetric attack strategies, that maximally degrades the performance of the inference network in the presence of resource-constrained Byzantine attacks. A reputation-based scheme for identifying malicious nodes is also presented as the network's strategy to mitigate the impact of Byzantine threats on the inference performance of the distributed sensor network. We also provide asymptotic analysis to find the optimal reputation-based scheme as a function of the fraction of compromised nodes in the network.


ABSTRACT Objectives: There is increasing literature supporting the adverse effects of disasters on substance use and psychiatric disorders. The co-occurrence of psychiatric disorders with substance use intensifies the challenge of treatment delivery. Thus the aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of substance use, treatment characteristics, and demographics of discharges from substance abuse treatment in New Orleans, post–Hurricane Katrina. Trends associated with discharges that have a co-occurring psychiatric and substance use disorder (COD) were also assessed. The secondary aim of this study was to examine the association of successful substance abuse treatment completion among those with a COD post–Hurricane Katrina. Methods: Substance abuse treatment discharge data (N = 16,507) from New Orleans, Louisiana, for years 2006 through 2011 were obtained from the Treatment Episode Data Set–Discharge. Multiple logistic regression analysis was employed to examine the association of discharges with a COD and completion of substance abuse treatment. Demographic, psychiatric, and treatment characteristics of discharges in 2006 were compared to characteristics in 2011. Trends of characteristics were also assessed through the study period. Results: Roughly a third (35.2%) of all discharges in New Orleans from 2006 to 2011 had a COD. After controlling for race, employment, treatment service setting at discharge, primary substance problem, and the discharge's principal source of referral, discharges with a COD were 29% less likely to complete treatment as compared to those with no COD (AOR = 0.71, 95% CI [0.56, 0.90], p = .004). Treatment completion among discharges with a COD has significantly declined from 36.8% in 2006 to 18.7% in 2011 (p < .0001). Notable significant trends in homelessness, criminality, and heroin use were identified among discharges with a COD. Conclusions: Substance abuse treatment undergoes various changes in the event of a natural disaster. These changes may increase challenges for successful treatment completion for vulnerable populations such as those with a COD. Results of this study demonstrate that discharges with a COD are less likely to complete treatment as compared to those with no COD disorder. Unmet treatment needs may also increase odds of criminalization and homelessness.


We consider a binary erasure version of the n-channel multiple descriptions problem with no excess rate and no distortion for every k out of n descriptions, i.e., any subset of k messages has a total rate of one and allows for perfect reconstruction of the source. Using a worst-case distortion criterion, we present an explicit coding scheme based on Reed-Solomon codes and, for any n and k, characterize its achievable distortion region when m ≪ k messages are received at the decoder. We prove that this scheme is Pareto optimal in the achievable distortions for all n and k for any number of received messages at the decoder, and is optimal for all n and k when a single message is received. We also provide optimality results for a certain range of values of n and k.


In The Triumph of Sociobiology, John Alcock reviews the controversy that has surrounded evolutionary studies of human social behavior following the 1975 publication of E.O. Wilson's classic, Sociobiology, The New Synthesis. Denounced vehemently as an "ideology" that has justified social evils and inequalities, sociobiology has survived the assault. Twenty-five years after the field was named by Wilson, the approach he championed has successfully demonstrated its value in the study of animal behavior, including the behavior of our own species. Yet, misconceptions remain-to our disadvantage. In this straight-forward, objective approach to the sociobiology debate, noted animal behaviorist John Alcock illuminates how sociobiologists study behavior in all species. He confronts the chief scientific and ideological objections head on, with a compelling analysis of case histories that involve such topics as sexual jealousy, beauty, gender difference, parent-offspring relations, and rape. In so doing, he shows that sociobiology provides the most satisfactory evolutionary analysis of social behavior today. "A clear, evocative, and accurate account of the history and content on the subject, inviting to the student and the general reader alike."-Edward O. Wilson, Harvard University.


ABSTRACT The Oxfordian fauna from the Terrain à Chailles Formation, eastern France (Haute-Saône, Franche-Comté) is remarkable for its exceptionally preserved crustaceans found in siliceous concretions locally named "chailles". The crustacean fauna includes 9 different species assigned to the Glypheidae, the Erymidae, the Eryonidae and the Axiidae. Glypheid and erymid lobsters are the most diversified groups with four and three different species respectively. Re-examination of numerous new specimens allows to a more modern and more complete characterization of Glyphea regleyana (Desmarest, 1822), Glyphea muensteri von Meyer, 1840 and Eryma ventrosa (von Meyer, 1835). New detailed anatomic descriptions of these species highlight the presence of marked sexual dimorphism in G. regleyana and probably in E. ventrosa. They reveal processes of autotomy and phenomena of ecdysis in G. regleyana, E. ventrosa and G. muensteri. Quantitative analyses based on 424 nodules show three dominant species: 1) Glyphea regleyana (50.5% of nodules); 2) Eryma ventrosa (24.8%); and 3) Glyphea muensteri (16.5%). Convergent lines of evidence from depositional environment, comparisons with others Jurassic crustaceans and modern analogues indicate that the crustacean fauna from the Terrain à Chailles Formation probably inhabited a moderately deep water setting most probably about 100–150 m (lower circalittoral zone) where light intensity was even sensitive. These crustaceans constitute a very original assemblage intermediary between the communities from the shallow carbonate platforms (e.g., Solnhofen) and those from the bathyal zone (e.g., La Voulte). This new set of data sheds new light on the colonization of the distal platforms by crustacean communities in the Mesozoic.


This paper presents an approach to input Korean letters by using depth information originating from a single depth camera. An index finger is detected based on the hand area of a user, which is extracted from the depth information. This paper suggests a way of recognizing gestures generated by tracking information on the index fingertips. To this end, two main approaches for recognition are suggested. The first is to simplify a gesture. A gesture is simplified with the use of specific angles that are extracted by using angles between points extracted from the index finger. Based on this approach, the error rate is found to be lower than that of the case where the approach was not applied. The second approach presents a modified $1 Recognizer. The existing $1 Recognizer is too robust to angles and, accordingly, a limited number of pattern numbers can be input and often this causes confusion depending on the input pattern. In order to resolve this problem, this paper presents an approach of comparing angles between the starting point and the end point from the center of the pattern. An experiment showed improved performance based on the approach. Key-Words: Gesture, Hand Gesture, Gesture Recognition, Text Input System, $1 Recognizer, Finger


Market access plays an important role in increasing smallholder's income; however, informal markets are typical in developing countries. Traders often dominate agricultural markets. In Vietnam aquaculture, collectors are important actors and act as an intermediary in linking farmers and buyers. This research aimed to explore and analysis the functions and the dominance of collectors in linking with smallholder fish farmers in Tam Giang lagoon, central Vietnam. The qualitative research is applied through 55 semi-structured interviews including smallholder fish farmers, collectors, wholesalers, retailers, officers of local government and second information from statistic data and reports. The research findings showed that linking of smallholder fish farmers to output market has dependence on collectors while all aquatic products have to pass on collectors before distributing to next buyers. Collectors always have strategies to maintain the relationship with smallholders and they always have an advantage status in aquaculture value chain. Collectors are also considered as a barrier of smallholder farmers to access potential marketing channels. Informal transaction and trust are characterized in the interaction between collectors and smallholders.


The melting mechanism in submonolayer films of ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}$ molecules adsorbed on the basal planes of graphite is studied using molecular-dynamics simulations. The melting is strongly correlated with the formation of vacancies in the films. As the temperature increases, the edges of the submonolayer patch become atomically rough and vacancies are first created there. Then there is an onset temperature at which the vacancies penetrate into the patch. At an intermediate region of coverages \ensuremath{\sim}0.3\char21{}0.8 commensurate layers, there is sufficient free volume for the film to melt at that temperature. At higher coverages, \ensuremath{\sim}0.8\char21{}1.0 layers, a solid with defects is formed, and additional free volume must be created by higher energy mechanisms such as layer promotion for melting to occur; thus, the melting temperature rises with coverage. In contrast, for very small patches, the atomically rough zone penetrates the entire patch at a lower temperature where the film melts. The calculated melting temperatures are significantly lower than observed experimentally, indicating a severe fault in the potential model. A possible source of the discrepancy is identified.


Abstract A new thermodynamic database has been combined with an existing kinetic database to perform coarsening simulations in ternary systems including MC and M7C3 carbides in an fcc matrix. The kinetic database was revised taking into consideration the new experimental information on the Fe–Cr–V–C system obtained in the present work, and available experiments on the ternary Fe–Cr–C and Fe–V–C systems. After revision the agreement between experimental results and simulations was satisfactory. It was found that the interfacial energy of M7C3 was twice as large as that of the MC carbide. The calculations for commercial steels with 6 alloy elements gave results in satisfactory agreement with new experimental measurements. The present coarsening simulations use the calculated equilibrium state and the observed particle sizes as the state for the start of the simulations. All the simulations were performed with the DICTRA software.


Aims. The continuum radiative transfer is a common problem in Astrophysics, that must be solved to describe the physics and interpret the observations of objects embedded (for instance) in a dusty medium (e.g. evolved stars, young stellar objects, …). Extreme high angular resolution observations reveal in general complex geometries (e.g. mediums with clumps of matter, warps …). It is thus necessary to solve the radiative transfer problem making no simplifying assumptions on the geometry, i.e.  resolve the full spatial three dimensional problem. Methods. We use the flexible Monte Carlo (MC) method to solve the continuum radiative transfer problem. We focus on the computation of the temperature structure of a dusty medium and the construction of the grid that samples this structure. We propose to use a natural by-product of the MC method, the locations of the photon package absorptions in the medium, to build an adaptive grid to reach the finest resolution in the regions of interest. Results. We present the details of the new algorithm used for the construction of the grid. We also propose modifications to a widely used MC propagation framework. The reliability of our method is numerically tested against well established numerical results in one and two dimensions. In order to illustrate the capabilities of our three dimensional methods, we examine the observational evidence for the presence of warps in circumstellar discs.


Female household headship is generally associated with higher poverty incidence relative to male headship. Female headship has generally been on the increase in South Africa. And while generally declining over the post-apartheid period, poverty has increased in the recent past. South Africa also has high unemployment rates. However, there is scant evidence on the role of employment in mediating the relationship between female headship and poverty in South Africa. Using South Africa's National Income Dynamics Study dataset, we find that female headship is positively associated with complete household non-employment, while the latter is positively associated with poverty. However, female-headed households (FHHs) are heterogeneous in nature, and the importance of employment in eradicating the poverty differential between FHHs and male-headed households (MHHs) depends on employment-related household structure. While employment generally eradicates the poverty differential between FHHs and MHHs, FHHs where only women are employed are very vulnerable to poverty.


In an age of high-tech and remotely controlled warfare new weapons are being developed to operate autonomously (i.e. without human input or oversight) in relation to critical functions of acquiring, tracking, selecting, and attacking targets. While debates continue as to whether autonomous weapons are ethical or legal, pre-deployment obligations in relation to their use exist in both domestic law and international humanitarian law. First, in Smith and Others v MOD (2013) the UK Supreme Court held that combat immunity does not apply in circumstances where military operations or acts take place before actual deployment or active combat. This raises interesting questions about types of pre-deployment activities which may be subject to a duty of care on the part of States towards members of their own armed forces and potentially others. Would Government decisions in the development, testing, and procurement of autonomous weapons attract a duty of care and fall outside the doctrine of combat immunity? Could this duty of care extend to civilians injured as a result of inadequate pre-deployment due diligence of autonomous weapons? Second, Article 36 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions (API) provides a pre-deployment review procedure for new weapons. At the pre-deployment stage where a new weapon is being developed and tested, Article 36 requires continuous assessment of whether normal or expected use of the weapon is prohibited by API or any other rule of international law, including principles of legitimate targeting, proportionality and unnecessary suffering. Could this be a duty of due diligence? What does it entail? How is it to be enforced?

This paper explores the interface between a pre-deployment common law duty of care and Article 36 pre-deployment review procedure in relation to autonomous weapons. It considers whether State and private actors (e.g. manufacturers of autonomous weapons; and telecommunications companies) involved in pre-deployment activities may owe a duty of care to combatants and civilians. Part II examines the UK Supreme Court's judgment in Smith and Others v MOD to identify the basis upon which a pre-deployment common law duty of care can be established and extended to pre-deployment activities relating to autonomous weapons. Part III attempts to map out the nature of a pre-deployment duty of care in relation to autonomous weapons and the content of specific duties. Part IV then moves on to examine the nature of the pre-deployment review procedure under Article 36 API, and the extent to which it establishes a legally enforceable obligation in relation to autonomous weapons. Although Article 36 does not provide for international supervision it does require domestic implementation of the obligation to review. Consideration is given as to whether it can be enforced at the domestic level by combatants and civilians.


The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is the guiding force behind much of the nation's flood mitigation activities. Set forth from the realization that the federal government cannot carry the entire financial burden of alleviating flood losses, the NFIP has attempted to balance flood relief expenditures with an income that is produced by the collection of flood insurance premiums. In this regard, a balance has been successfully achieved for most of the NFIP's history. However, the program has recently lost this balance owing in large part to a few catastrophic flood events taking place in coastal regions, namely Hurricane Katrina, but most recently Hurricane Sandy. Although the NFIP remains a powerful tool for encouraging mitigation, the debt that has been incurred over the past decade raises serious questions regarding its sustainability. The aim of this research paper is to provide a general overview of how the NFIP operates under the administration of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) while discussing its successes and highlighting some of the major obstacles that threaten the sustainability of the program.


Among the activities promoted by the original Council of the Queensland Ornithological Society (QOS, now known as Birds Queensland) in 1969 were participation in the Nest Record Scheme (NRS) of the Royal Australasian Ornithological Union (now BirdLife Australia) and involvement in bird banding studies. In this review I evaluate the contribution of Queensland birdwatchers to these two activities since 1969, and compare this with their participation in four national bird survey projects. Contrary to the aspirations of those QOS pioneers, participation in the NRS and bird banding has been poor. The number of nest records submitted in Queensland ranked fifth among the eight states and territories, and the number of participants in Queensland was second lowest. Similarly, the number of registered banders in Queensland from 1953 to 2013 ranked last and second last among all states and territories in terms of their total population and surface area. The number of birds banded in Queensland ranked third last.
During the two national bird Atlases, Queensland was the least well surveyed of the eastern states. However, in terms of its population, Queensland's contribution was 50-70% higher than that of either New South Wales or Victoria. Similarly, adjusting for its small population, Queensland was the largest contributor of the three eastern states to Eremaea-eBird from 2010 to 2014. Projects which involved counting birds, like the Annual Bird Counts (1972 1983) and Garden Bird Surveys (1979, 1999), were popular in the early days of QOS, but today, only the small, but highly dedicated Queensland Wader Study Group conducts regular counts. Predicting the responses of birds to climate change and other human-induced impacts rely on a detailed knowledge of the timing of breeding and movements, yet such information is still lacking for the majority of land bird species in Queensland. Birdwatchers and other 'citizen scientists' offer the only hope that such knowledge will be obtained before it is too late.


A Fourier-based method is presented to relate changes of the molecular structure during a molecular dynamics simulation with fluctuations in the electronic excitation energy. The method implies sampling of the ground state potential energy surface. Subsequently, the power spectrum of the velocities is compared with the power spectrum of the excitation energy computed using time-dependent density functional theory. Peaks in both spectra are compared, and motions exhibiting a linear or quadratic behavior can be distinguished. The quadratically active motions are mainly responsible for the changes in the excitation energy and hence cause shifts between the dynamic and static values of the spectral property. Moreover, information about the potential energy surface of various excited states can be obtained. The procedure is illustrated with three case studies. The first electronic excitation is explored in detail and dominant vibrational motions responsible for changes in the excitation energy are identified for ethylene, biphenyl, and hexamethylbenzene. The proposed method is also extended to other low-energy excitations. Finally, the vibrational fingerprint of the excitation energy of a more complex molecule, in particular the azo dye ethyl orange in a water environment, is analyzed.


Abstract. We present here a dynamical method for modelling temporal and geographical variations in ammonia emissions in regional-scale chemistry transport models (CTMs) and chemistry climate models (CCMs). The method is based on the meteorology in the models and gridded inventories. We use the dynamical method to investigate the spatiotemporal variability of ammonia emissions across part of Europe and study how these emissions are related to geographical and year-to-year variations in atmospheric temperature alone. For simplicity we focus on the emission from a storage facility related to a standard Danish pig stable with 1000 animals and display how emissions from this source would vary geographically throughout central and northern Europe and from year to year. In view of future climate changes, we also evaluate the potential future changes in emission by including temperature projections from an ensemble of climate models. The results point towards four overall issues. (1) Emissions can easily vary by 20% for different geographical locations within a country due to overall variations in climate. The largest uncertainties are seen for large countries such as the UK, Germany and France. (2) Annual variations in overall climate can at specific locations cause uncertainties in the range of 20%. (3) Climate change may increase emissions by 0–40% in central to northern Europe. (4) Gradients in existing emission inventories that are seen between neighbour countries (e.g. between the UK and France) can be reduced by using a dynamical methodology for calculating emissions. Acting together these four factors can cause substantial uncertainties in emission. Emissions are generally considered among the largest uncertainties in the model calculations made with CTM and CCM models. Efforts to reduce uncertainties are therefore highly relevant. It is therefore recommended that both CCMs and CTMs implement a dynamical methodology for simulating ammonia emissions in a similar way as for biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOCs) – a method that has been used for more than a decade in CTMs. Finally, the climate penalty on ammonia emissions should be taken into account at the policy level such as the NEC and IPPC directives.


In this paper we discuss some strands of the recent literature on the evolution of gender gaps and their driving forces. We will revisit key stylized facts about gender gaps in employment and wages in a few high-income countries. We then discuss and build on one gender-neutral force behind the rise in female employment, namely the rise of the service economy. This is also related to the polarization of female employment and to the geographic distribution of jobs, which is expected to be especially relevant for female employment prospects. We finally turn to currently debated causes of remaining gender gaps and discuss existing evidence on labor market consequences of women's heavier caring responsibilities in the household. In particular, we highlight how women's stronger distaste for commuting time may feed into gender pay gaps by making women more willing to trade off steeper wage gains for shorter commutes.


An essential goal of quantitative color encoding is the accurate mapping of perceptual dimensions of color to the logical structure of data. Prior research identifies weaknesses of 'rainbow' colormaps and advocates for ramping in luminance, while recent work contributes multi-hue colormaps generated using perceptually-uniform color models. We contribute a comparative analysis of different colormap types, with a focus on comparing single- and multi-hue schemes. We present a suite of experiments in which subjects perform relative distance judgments among color triplets drawn systematically from each of four single-hue and five multi-hue colormaps. We characterize speed and accuracy across each colormap, and identify conditions that degrade performance. We also find that a combination of perceptual color space and color naming measures more accurately predict user performance than either alone, though the overall accuracy is poor. Based on these results, we distill recommendations on how to design more effective color encodings for scalar data.


Law-and-literature scholars have paid scant attention to E. M. Forster's oeuvre, which abounds in legal information and which situates itself in a unique jurisprudential context. Of all his novels, A Passage to India (1924) interrogates the law most rigorously, especially as it implicates massive programs of 'liberal' imperialism and 'humanitarian' intervention, as well as less grand but equally dubious legal apparatuses – jail, bail, discovery, courtrooms – that police and pervert Chandrapore, the fictional Indian city in which the novel is set. The study of law in Anglo-India is particularly telling, if troubling, because India served as 'a model for colonial legal policy elsewhere' and because 'the legal history of empire has been a relatively untouched field' even though modern controversies are 'notably bound up with these inescapable legal pasts.' By scrutinizing the legal architecture of the British imperial project, Passage not only stimulates critical theory about law but also subverts a wide range of actual legal practices, most notably colonial trial procedures. To the extent that modern controversies are bound up with these practices and procedures, the study of Anglo-Indian legal history is imperative. Far from comprehensive, my treatment of colonial law (like Forster's) might offend specialists. My objective, however, is not to provide an exhaustive explanation of the legal system but to show how Forster's more than superficial knowledge of colonial law allowed him to comment on socio-political realities in India that never quite went away.


The growing importance of defined contribution (DC) pension plans is focusing attention on the decumulation or payout phase of pension systems. Where annuitization is encouraged or mandatory, how to ensure that individuals get the best price for annuity products is key. The complicated nature of these decisions means that purchases are highly dependent on the information and advice provided by the sellers of these products. This can be a problem where annuity providers are already involved in the preretirement, accumulation phase, leaving individuals open to abuse if 'locked-in' and not able to 'shop around' to find a better annuity rate from alternative providers. This paper discusses two countries building centralized information and quotation systems for annuity products to help individuals select the right retirement product at the right price. The SCOMP system in Chile is examined and developments around the Open Market Option (OMO) in the UK are discussed, with lessons drawn for other pension supervisory authorities contemplating introducing such centralized systems.


Market instruments are a core element of policies to mitigate climate change. Choosing and designing the right instruments can help to minimise mitigation costs. This paper seeks to analyse various market instruments for CO2 mitigation from the viewpoint of cost-effectiveness, using an AGE (applied general equilibrium) model for the case of Spain. A distinction is drawn between (1) quantity instruments, which represent different extents of a market for emission permits; and (2) price instruments, which represent different types of tax. The analysis quantifies the importance of making the right choice as to which sectors are excluded from the permit market, and of targeting taxes correctly.


Instruments of marketing management and techniques of credit support should be aimed at providing sustainable development of large industrial enterprises as well as at creation of effective systems of corporate governance on the basis of integration of service and knowledge-based technologies. Development of industrial technologies and modernization of financial services assumes formation and improvement of adaptable marketing model of technological development of the industrial policy. It is also considered to be aimed at technological development of large industrial companies which demand of credit and finance and organizational support in current economic, institutional and geopolitical context in Russia.


This thesis sets out to investigate current reconstruction of forms of African theology that is
taking place in parts of Africa. The specific interest is to identify emerging biblical
interpretative modes from these theologies and seek to suggest ways of making them effective
for the benefit of African communities of readers and the biblical academia as a whole.

After a brief consideration of the contribution of historical critical interpretation, this thesis
then focused specifically on the development of African scholarly readings. The specific interest
in these African readings is ·to provide the necessary criteria which will ensure that critical
scholarly readings can both be differentiated and derived from popular readings. My interest in
popular readings is because of the major role they play in the provision of contextual components
or the missing links that can only be obtained from ordinary readers, that the scholarly reader
needs in his/her reconstruction of· African self-understanding. I have therefore looked at the
attempts to structure the relationship between ordinary readers and scholarly readers and out of
that has come the contribution to the theologies of reconstruction in Africa.

In summary, to respond to the quest for acceptable critical models of reading the Bible using
African cultural texts and world view, it has become necessary to provide recommendations for
African hermeneuts which would enhance their readings in order to make their contributions to
scholarly biblical interpretation to the global
community more effective. This is exactly what this thesis aims at achieving.


Breast cancer is a disease that exhibits heterogeneity that goes from the genomic to the clinical levels. This heterogeneity is thought to be captured (at least partially) by the so-called breast cancer molecular subtypes. These molecular subtypes were initially defined based on the unsupervised clustering of gene expression and its correlate with histological, morphological, phenotypic and clinical features already known. Later, a 50-gene signature, PAM50, was defined in order to identify the biological subtype of a given sample within the clinical setting. The PAM50 signature was obtained by the use of unsupervised statistical methods, and therefore no limitation was set on the biological relevance (or lack of) of the selected genes beyond its predictive capacity. An open question that remains is what are the regulatory elements that drive the various expression behaviors of this set of genes in the different molecular subtypes. This question becomes more relevant as the measurement of more biological layers of regulation becomes accessible. In this work, we analyzed the gene expression regulation of the 50 genes in the PAM50 signature, in terms of (a) gene co-expression, (b) transcription factors, (c) micro-RNAs, and (d) methylation. Using data from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) for the Luminal A and B, Basal, and HER2-enriched molecular subtypes as well as normal tumor adjacent tissue, we identified predictors for gene expression through the use of an elastic net model. We compare and contrast the sets of identified regulators for the gene signature in each molecular subtype, and systematically compare them to current literature. We also identified a unique set of predictors for the expression of genes in the PAM50 signature associated with each of the molecular subtypes. Most selected predictors are exclusive for a PAM50 gene and predictors are not shared across subtypes. There are only 13 coding transcripts and 2 miRNAs selected for the four subtypes. MiR-21 and miR-10b connect almost all the PAM50 genes in all the subtypes and normal tissue, but do it in an exclusive manner, suggesting a cancer switch from miR-10b coordination in normal tissue to miR-21. The PAM50 gene sets of selected predictors that enrich for a function across subtypes, support that different regulatory molecular mechanisms are taking place. With this study we aim to a wider understanding of the regulatory mechanisms that differentiate the expression of the PAM50 signature, which in turn could perhaps help understand the molecular basis of the differences between the molecular subtypes.