Coronary artery disease (CAD) is one of the leading causes of death in the developed world. CAD occurs due to the build up of plaque in the coronary arteries which supply fresh blood to the constantly active heart muscle. Several methods exist to alleviate CAD such as coronary artery bypass grafting, balloon angioplasty and coronary stenting. A coronary stent is a small tubular prosthesis which can improve blood flow by acting as a scaffold to prop the diseased artery open. However, stent restenosis (re-blockage) remains a common problem with different stent designs leading to different restenosis rates. This work investigates a relationship between restenosis and the induced flow fields for two different stent designs. Two models have been developed using advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in order to assess the haemodynamic impact of coronary stent implantation. One model represents the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery implanted with a Palmaz-Schatz (PS) stent and the second model represents the same artery implanted with a Gianturco-Roubin-II (GR-II) stent. Mathematical models were constructed to simulate the fully developed, non-Newtonian nature of the coronary blood flow. Two flow characteristics that are known to encourage restenosis are low wall shear stress (WSS) and high wall shear stress gradient (WSSG) and both have been identified from the computational simulations. Using data from a recent clinical restenosis trial of the GR-II stent and the PS stent, correlations between flow characteristics and restenosis rates have been investigated.


Abstract. Depth profiles of nitrous oxide (N2O) were measured during six cruises to the upwelling area and oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) off Peru in 2009 and 2012/2013, covering both the coastal shelf region and the adjacent open ocean. N2O profiles displayed a strong sensitivity towards oxygen concentrations. Open ocean profiles with distances to the shelf break larger than the first baroclinic Rossby radius of deformation showed a transition from a broad maximum close to the Equator to a double-peak structure south of 5° S where the oxygen minimum was more pronounced. Maximum N2O concentrations in the open ocean were about 80 nM. A linear relationship between ΔN2O and apparent oxygen utilization (AOU) could be found for measurements within the upper oxycline, with a slope similar to studies in other oceanic regions. In contrast, N2O profiles close to the shelf revealed a much higher variability, and N2O concentrations higher than 100 nM were often observed. The highest N2O concentration measured at the shelf was  ∼  850 nM. Due to the extremely sharp oxygen gradients at the shelf, N2O maxima occurred in very shallow water depths of less than 50 m. In the coastal area, a linear relationship between ΔN2O and AOU could not be observed as extremely high ΔN2O values were scattered over the full range of oxygen concentrations. The data points that showed the strongest deviation from a linear ΔN2O ∕ AOU relationship also showed signals of intense nitrogen loss. These results indicate that the coastal upwelling at the Peruvian coast and the subsequent strong remineralization in the water column causes conditions that lead to extreme N2O accumulation, most likely due to the interplay of intense mixing and high rates of remineralization which lead to a rapid switching of the OMZ waters between anoxic and oxic conditions. This, in turn, could trigger incomplete denitrification or pulses of increased nitrification with extreme N2O production.


What is so special about the pair of words 'spatial planning'? Is there any difference when we just say 'planning', without adding the word spatial? After all, planning in its essence is spatially bounded. Planning thought and action are depended upon space, namely: cities, regions, metropolitan areas, neighborhoods, shanty-towns, streets, highways, roads, forests, nature reserves, and even the sea shores. Planning as a discipline and as a profession was developed as an integral part of modernity, which has created functional systems, such as planning, that operate according to technocratic principles, i.e., efficiency, bureaucracy, hierarchal chain of authority, which is a-personal and legitimate by the laws of the states (Bauman, 2002). For many decades, planning was motivated by efficiency and actions based on factual knowledge (Friedmann & Hudson, 1974). However, reality proves that scientific and allegedly 'objective' knowledge is incapable to ensure the desired outcomes, especially when social relations are involved (Davidoff, 1965; Morris, 1996).


The Red de Popularizacion de la Ciencia y la Tecnologia en America latina
y el Caribe (RedPOP) (Latin American and Caribbean Network for the
Popularization of Science and Technology) was created 25 years ago as an
expression of a movement that started in the 1960s in favour of a scientific
education. The purpose of this movement was to incorporate science into
the general knowledge of the population by communicating science
through different media, products and spaces such as museums and
science centres. Since then, the movement has acquired considerable
strength in Latin America and RedPOP has been a key factor to the
development of this activity in the region, although several challenges still
have to be addressed.


Highly frequent in language and communication, metaphor represents a significant challenge for Natural Language Processing (NLP) applications. Computational work on metaphor has traditionally evolved around the use of hand-coded knowledge, making the systems hard to scale. Recent years have witnessed a rise in statistical approaches to metaphor processing. However, these approaches often require extensive human annotation effort and are predominantly evaluated within a limited domain. In contrast, we experiment with weakly supervised and unsupervised techniques—with little or no annotation—to generalize higher-level mechanisms of metaphor from distributional properties of concepts. We investigate different levels and types of supervision (learning from linguistic examples vs. learning from a given set of metaphorical mappings vs. learning without annotation) in flat and hierarchical, unconstrained and constrained clustering settings. Our aim is to identify the optimal type of supervision for a learning algorithm that discovers patterns of metaphorical association from text. In order to investigate the scalability and adaptability of our models, we applied them to data in three languages from different language groups—English, Spanish, and Russian—achieving state-of-the-art results with little supervision. Finally, we demonstrate that statistical methods can facilitate and scale up cross-linguistic research on metaphor.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Since the approval of intravenous tissue plasminogen activator for acute ischemic stroke, great interest has been generated in cerebral fibrinolysis. Our purpose was to assess long-term outcome and hemorrhagic risk in patients with anterior circulation ischemic stroke treated with intraarterial urokinase.

METHODS
Twenty-six patients were treated within 6 hours of ictus; of these, 21 were followed up for an average of 23 months. Angiographic reperfusion was classified according to thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) grades. The Rankin Scale (RS) and the modified Barthel Index (mod BI) were used as outcome measures (good outcome: RS = 0-2, mod BI = 16-20; poor outcome: RS = 3-5, mod BI < or = 15).

RESULTS
Ten of the 21 patients (average age, 48 years) had a good outcome; three (average age, 71 years) had a poor outcome; eight patients (average age, 78 years) died. Partial/complete (successful) recanalization was observed in 11 of 26 patients and minimal or no (unsuccessful) recanalization in 15. Recanalization favored a better outcome: nine of 21 had successful recanalization, with a good outcome in seven; 12 of 21 had unsuccessful reperfusion, with poor outcome/death in nine. Poor outcome was noted in five patients with internal carotid artery (ICA) bifurcation occlusions, four of whom had unsuccessful recanalization and poor outcome or death. Hemorrhage occurred in 10 of the 26 patients, with clinical deterioration in three. The average dose of urokinase was higher in the hemorrhage group, and mortality was higher in patients who hemorrhaged.

CONCLUSION
Intraarterial thrombolysis is feasible in the setting of acute stroke. Successful reperfusion is associated with a better outcome, and the prevalence of hemorrhage does not exceed that which occurs in the natural history of embolic stroke. Poor outcome or death is associated with nonrecanalization, older age, hemorrhage, and ICA bifurcation occlusions.


Abstract We model buoyancy-driven convection with chimneys – channels of zero solid fraction – in a mushy layer formed during directional solidification of a binary alloy in two dimensions. A large suite of numerical simulations is combined with scaling analysis in order to study the parametric dependence of the flow. Stability boundaries are calculated for states of finite-amplitude convection with chimneys, which for a narrow domain can be interpreted in terms of a modified Rayleigh number criterion based on the domain width and mushy-layer permeability. For solidification in a wide domain with multiple chimneys, it has previously been hypothesized that the chimney spacing will adjust to optimize the rate of removal of potential energy from the system. For a wide variety of initial liquid concentration conditions, we consider the detailed flow structure in this optimal state and derive scaling laws for how the flow evolves as the strength of convection increases. For moderate mushy-layer Rayleigh numbers these flow properties support a solute flux that increases linearly with Rayleigh number. This behaviour does not persist indefinitely, however, with porosity-dependent flow saturation resulting in sublinear growth of the solute flux for sufficiently large Rayleigh numbers. Finally, we consider the influence of the porosity dependence of permeability, with a cubic function and a Carman–Kozeny permeability yielding qualitatively similar system dynamics and flow profiles for the optimal states.


New developments in real-time computing and body-worn sensor technology allow us to explore not just visible gestures using inertial sensors, but also invisible changes in an individual's physiological state using bio-sensors (Kim & Andre 2008). This creates an opportunity for a more intimate interaction between the observer and technology-based art (Gonsalves 2008). We present a technical overview of the AffecTech system; a bio-signal based interactive audio-
visual installation commissioned as part of the pre-ISEA symposium in November 2008. Observers were invited to sit on one of 2 sensor-enhanced chairs (Coghlan & Knapp 2008), which transmitted physiological data about the occupant to a central control system. This data was used to control and modulate interactive visuals, live video feeds and a surround sound score, with events and interactions dependent on the observers' affective/emotional state and the disparity or similarity between the bio-signals of the chairs occupants. This technical
overview is followed by an examination of the outcomes of the project, from both the artistic and technical viewpoints, with recommendations for modification in future implementations.


Increasing demands for credible, rigorous monitoring and evaluation of empowerment in the context of development will challenge theorists and practitioners to find innovative, but credible ways of understanding empowerment. This paper provides a theoretical rationale for, and a practical description of an integrated mixed-methods approach for evaluating the empowerment contributions of the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development program. The paper explores the value of employing mixed-methods for increasing the credibility of results, and for improving understanding of the ways in which the program facilitates change for its participants. This paper assesses the process of data integration and analysis to provide a set of practical recommendations for practitioners seeking to employ similar approaches. The paper finds that managerial commitments, adequate investment in ongoing monitoring and evaluation activities, and openness to methodological innovation are essential for the effective development and use of mixed-method approaches in complex development interventions.


www.genevapress.com TMx ISBN 0-664-50114-1 JAMES G. KIRK is an essential resource for pastors, worship committees, and others who plan weekly congregational worship. For every Sunday in the church year, James Kirk provides contemporary, theologically solid prayers and other elements for use in worship. Included are prayers of praise and adoration, confession and pardon, dedication, thanksgiving and petition, as well as concise comments on the lectionary scripture readings for each Sunday. Now expanded and updated to conform to the Revised Common Lectionary, this revised edition of When We Gather combines the original three-volume set into a single handy volume covering all of the Sundays in lectionary cycles A, B, and C.


In quantum mechanics a particle can behave like a particle or a wave. Thus, systems of particles can be likened to a superposition of waves. Since sound can be described as a superposition of frequencies, it can also be described in terms of a system of particles manifest as waves. This metaphor between 'particle physics' and sound synthesis is quantitatively developed here, suggested initially from some similarities between the two domains. It is applied to a few fundamental physical principles to show how these can be sonified. The author discusses the process of using a simulated 'atom trap' to compose a piece that does not require a physicist to appreciate it. This metaphor blurs the distinctions between science and art, where scientific experiment becomes musical composition, and exploring a musical idea involves playing with particle system dynamics. In the future, methods like these could be used with a real system of particles – the particle accelerator will become an expressive musical instrument, and the particle physicist will become the composerscientist.


A new experimental method of investigating phase transitions of solids, photothermal radiometry, is described. The effects of modulation frequency, laser intensity, and heating-cooling rates on the first-order semiconductor-to-metal phase transition of a microcystalline vanadium dioxide sample have been studied. The PTR signal increases with temperature in both phases, and a negative peak occurs at the phase transition. The intensity of signal is inversely proportional to the square root of frequency at laser-beam chopping frequencies lower than 100 Hz, indicating that the sample is thermally thick, and the signal is controlled by the thermal conductivity and the heat capacity and is independent of the optical properties of the material. The relative peak intensity decreases slightly in the low-frequency range with increasing frequency and more sharply at higher frequencies. The measured temperature of the phase transition decreases linearly with the intensity of illuminating light, from which the static component of the temperature rise at the surface can be determined. From the increase of linewidth with the laser intensity one may estimate the amplitude of the temperature modulation at the surface. The measured temperature of the phase transition increases with increasing heating rate and decreases with increasing cooling rates. The effects of variable light intensity and heating-cooling rates can be eliminated by extrapolation, and the exact temperature of the phase transition is obtained.


Abstract:  Bacteria in milk have the ability to adhere and aggregate on stainless steel surfaces, resulting in biofilm formation in milk storage tanks and milk process lines. Growth of biofilms in milk processing environments leads to increased opportunity for microbial contamination of the processed dairy products. These biofilms may contain spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms. Bacteria within biofilms are protected from sanitizers due to multispecies cooperation and the presence of extracellular polymeric substances, by which their survival and subsequent contamination of processed milk products is promoted. This paper reviews the most critical factors in biofilm formation, with special attention to pseudomonads, the predominant spoilage bacteria originating from raw milk. Biofilm interactions between pseudomonads and milk pathogens are also addressed, as emerging risks and future research perspectives, specifically related to the milk processing environment.


Hospitals generate and reject material regularly, and improper management of these wastes leads to public health hazards and environmental pollution. The survey presented in this article was carried out in two major private hospitals, namely, Al-Hadi and Al-Salam Hospitals, to determine quantities of different kinds of waste produced, segregated, collected, stored, transported and disposed off. The results indicate that the waste generation rate is between 1.77 kg/bed/day and 3.27 kg/bed/day, comprising 27% of domestic waste, 61% of infectious waste, and 12% of sharps. Segregation of the different types of waste is carried out in nearly all of the hospitals. All infectious/medical wastes are finally disposed off through incineration. The hospitals surveyed do not provide their staff with any training courses on the management of hospital wastes and associated hazards. The study offers suggestions on how existing shortfalls can be remedied.


Aim
Interacting communities of species are organized into complex networks, and network analysis is reckoned to be a strong tool for describing their architecture. Many species assemblies show strong macroecological patterns, e.g. increasing species richness with decreasing latitude, but whether this latitudinal diversity gradient scales up to entities as complex as networks is unknown. We investigated this using a dataset of 54 community-wide pollination networks and hypothesized that pollination networks would display a latitudinal and altitudinal species richness gradient, increasing specialization towards the tropics, and that network topology would be affected by current climate.

Location
Global.

Methods
Each network was organized as a presence/absence matrix, consisting of P plant species, A pollinator species and their links. From these matrices, network parameters were estimated. Additionally, data about geography (latitude, elevation), climate at the network site (temperature, precipitation) and sampling effort (observation days) and extent (study-plot size) were gathered. Analyses were done using simultaneous autoregressive modelling (SAR).

Results
Species richness did not vary strongly with either latitude or elevation. However, network modularity decreased significantly with latitude whereas mean number of links per plant species (L p) and A/P ratio peaked at mid-latitude. Above 500 m a.s.l., A/P ratio decreased and mean number of links per pollinator species (L a) increased with elevation. L p displayed mid-ambient peaks with temperature and nestedness and modularity displayed linear relationships with precipitation.

Main conclusion
Pollination networks showed macroecological patterns. No strong latitudinal or altitudinal gradient in species richness was observed. L p and the A/P ratio peaked at mid-latitude whereas modularity decreased linearly. Both patterns are suggestive of a more specialized interaction structure towards the tropics. In particular, mean annual precipitation appeared influential on network topology as both nestedness and modularity varied significantly. Importantly, corrected regressions suggest that neither sampling effort nor extent affected the observed patterns.


Technological innovation is a predominant source of persistent economic growth. Endogenous factors, principally human capital, financial capital, and government intervention play an important role in how the innovation process can enhance welfare through the grant of intellectual property rights. However, the expansive reacts of such proprietary interests in cyberspace has important implications for how e-commerce might contribute to overall economic growth. Thus far, the scope of intellectual property rights in cyberspace has been examined in isolation from empirical data reflecting how businesses seek to create value and effectively capture the benefits that the Internet offers over real-space markets. This Article argues that expansive construction of intellectual property rights distorts the informational properties of such rights and reintroduces high search and use costs to transactions in cyberspace. It also deters development and use of innovative business strategies that could generate greater value from e-commerce. Consequently, there is a need for more government intervention in regulating competition for markets in cyberspace.


In the past decades, great efforts have been developed for neurobiologists and neurologists to restore nervous system functions. Recently much attention has been paid to electrical stimulation (ES) of the nervous system as a potential way to repair it. Various conductive biocompatible materials with good electrical conductivity, biocompatibility, and long-term ES or electrical stability have been developed as the substrates for ES. In this review, we summarized different types of materials developed in the purpose for ES of nervous system, including conducting polymers, carbon nanomaterials and composites from conducting polymer/carbon nanomaterials. The present review will give our perspective on the future research directions for further investigation on development of ES particularly on the nerve system.


Developed from an expert workshop convened by the World Health Organization and US Environmental Protection Agency, Safe Management of Shellfish and Harvest Waters provides a thorough review of the issues surrounding public health concerns associated with shellfish consumption. The trade and consumption of bivalve shellfish is a global industry and is increasing. Human illness caused by infectious agents transmitted through animal or human sources through shellfish consumption has been recognized for many years. Safe Management of Shellfish and Harvest Waters addresses contaminant sources and means of transmission to bivalve shellfish and where possible, identifies options to interrupt the cycle. The efficacy of current practices is discussed with the aid of case studies written by practitioners working in the field from a number of developed and developing countries. The need for the deployment of new approaches to protect human health from infectious diseases associated with the consumption of contaminated bivalve shellfish is discussed, focusing specifically on water management aspects and strategies. Safe Management of Shellfish and Harvest Waters provides valuable information on the real health risks posed by shellfish consumption. It distills worldwide experience; identifies the challenges and opportunities that face the industry and suggests responses to those challenges. It provides the scientific basis for regulation and associated monitoring and risk reduction programmes to enable health agencies, water quality and shellfish regulatory agencies and other stakeholders worldwide to control and reduce the existing and potential future infectious disease problems through better management of shellfish waters. Safe Management of Shellfish and Harvest Waters will be invaluable for health agencies, water quality and shellfish regulatory agencies, and other environmental professionals working in the shellfish industry. Access the OECD area on the IWA WaterWiki here: http://www.iwawaterwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Articles/UsefulResourcesforDevelopingCountries_0


Road Transport emissions (RTE) are a significant anthropogenic global NOx source responsible for enhancing the chemical production of tropospheric ozone (O3) in the lower troposphere. Here we analyse a multi-model ensemble which adopts the realistic SRES A1B emission scenario and a "policyfailure" scenario for RTE (A1B_HIGH) for the years 2000, 2025 and 2050. Analysing the regional trends in RTE NOx estimates shows by 2025 that differences of 0.2e0.3 Tg N yr 1 occur for most of the world regions between the A1B and A1B_HIGH estimates, except for Asia where there is a larger difference of w1.4 Tg N yr 1. For 2050 these differences fall to w0.1 Tg N yr 1, with shipping emissions becoming as important as RTE. Analysing the seasonality in near-surface O3 from the multi-model ensemble monthly mean values shows a large variability in the projected changes between different regions. For Western Europe and the Eastern US although the peak O3 mixing ratios decrease by w10% in 2050, there is an associated degradation during wintertime due to less direct titration from nitric oxide. For regions such as Eastern China, although total anthropogenic NOx emissions are reduced from 2025 to 2050, there is no real improvement in peak O3 levels. By normalizing the seasonal ensemble means of near-surface O3 (0e500 m) with the recommended European Commission (EC) exposure limit to derive an exceedence ratio (ER), we show that ER values greater than 1.0 occur across a wide area in the Northern Hemisphere for boreal summer using the year 2000 emissions. When adopting the future A1B_HIGH estimates, the Middle East exhibits the worst regional air quality, closely followed by Asia. For these regions the area of exceedence (ER > 1.0) for 2025 isw40% andw25% of the total area of each region, respectively. Comparing simulations employing the various scenarios shows that unmitigated RTE increases the area of exceedence in the Middle East by w6% and, for Asia, by w2% of the total regional areas. For the USA the area of exceedence approximately doubles in 2025 as a result of unmitigated RTE, with the most exceedences occurring in the southern USA. The effects across the various rological Institute, WilhelmiJ.E. Williams et al. / Atmospheric Environment 89 (2014) 633e641 634 regions implies that unmitigated RTE would have a detrimental effect on regional health for 2025, and potentially offset the benefits introduced by mitigating e.g. international shipping emissions. By 2050 the further mitigation of non-transport emissions results in much cleaner air meaning that mitigation of RTE is not critical for achieving the defined limits in many world regions. 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


Reticulinella kaeveri Cherchi, Radoicic & Schroeder is recorded for the first time in the Upper Cretaceous shallow-water carbonates of the southern Apennines. The narrow stratigraphical range and the wide geographical distribution of this species makes it a very valuable biostratigraphic marker in the Turonian of the peri-Adriatic carbonate platforms. Strontium isotope stratigraphy of well preserved rudist shells from levels containing Reticulinella kaeveri, or immediately above its last occurrence, allows the chronostratigraphic age of this, species to be defined more precisely. However, owing to the presence of a distinct late Turonian minimum in the marine reference curve, the strontium isotope ratios of the studied samples are compatible both with a late middle Turonian (upper part of the Romaniceras deverianum ammonite zone) and with a late Turonian age (Subprionocyclus nepiuni ammonite zone).


Tidal-wetland stratigraphy reveals that great plate boundary earthquakes have caused hundreds of kilometers of coast to subside at the Cascadia subduction zone. However, determining earthquake recurrence intervals and mapping the coastal extent of past great earthquake ruptures in this region are complicated by the effects of many sedimentologic, hydrographic, and oceanographic processes that occur on the coasts of tectonically passive as well as active continental margins. Tidal-wetland stratigraphy at many Cascadia estuaries differs little from that at similar sites on passive-margin coasts where stratigraphic sequences form through nonseismic processes unrelated to coseismic land level changes. Methods developed through study of similar stratigraphic sequences in Europe provide a framework for investigating the Cascadia estuarine record. Five kinds of criteria must be evaluated when inferring regional coastal subsidence due to great plate boundary earthquakes: the suddenness and amount of submergence, the lateral extent of submerged tidal-wetland soils, the coincidence of submergence with tsunami deposits, and the degree of synchroneity of submergence events at widely spaced sites. Evaluation of such criteria at the Cascadia subduction zone indicates regional coastal subsidence during at least two great earthquakes. Evidence for a coseismic origin remains equivocal, however, for the many peat-mud contacts in Cascadia stratigraphic sequences that lack (1) contrasts in lithology or fossils indicative of more than half a meter of submergence, (2) well-studied tsunami deposits, or (3) precise ages needed for regional correlation. Paleoecologic studies of fossil assemblages are particularly important in estimating the size of sudden sea level changes recorded by abrupt peat-mud contacts and in helping to distinguish erosional and gradually formed contacts from coseismic contacts. Reconstruction of a history of great earthquakes for the Cascadia subduction zone will require rigorous application of the above criteria and many detailed investigations.


Abstract Objective: Studies comparing medications adherence have become common yet they often do not account for differences in relative follow-up. Patient selection criteria may impact validity and comparability of these studies as well. Methods: Adults with non-valvular atrial fibrillation, ≥1 rivaroxaban or apixaban dispensing (index date), and ≥1 year of pre-index eligibility were selected from IMS Health Real World Data Adjudicated Claims (IMS RWD Adjudicated Claims) and Truven Health MarketScan Research (Truven MarketScan) databases. Adherence was evaluated using proportion of days covered (PDC) ≥ 0.8 for treatment cohorts: (1) unmatched, with different follow-up, (2) propensity-score matched with similar follow-up, (3) matched, with similar follow-up and ≥2 rivaroxaban or apixaban dispensings, and (4) matched, with similar follow-up and chronic medication users only. Robustness was verified with PDC ≥0.9. Results: In the IMS RWD Adjudicated Claims database, rivaroxaban users had a longer mean follow-up than apixaban users (408 versus 254 days, respectively; p < .01). While crude comparisons demonstrated lower adherence rates for rivaroxaban than apixaban (−12.4 percentage points [pp]; p < .05), these difference attenuated after matching and (1) balancing follow-up (−2.2 pp; p < .05), (2) excluding single-time medication users (0.2 pp; p > .05), and reversed after (3) excluding non-chronic medication users (5.0 pp; p < .05). Results obtained were consistent when these analyses were repeated within the Truven MarketScan databases and when using a PDC ≥0.9. Conclusion: Medication adherence comparisons need to account for differences in follow-up. Selection of chronic medication users may impact comparative adherence advantage between medications.


This paper introduces the quality inspection of nanoscale patterns produced by the Laser Interference Lithography (LIL) technology using image analysis techniques. In this paper, patterns of two-beam and four-beam interferences are considered. Image analysis techniques based on the Hough transform (HT) and Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) have been applied to detect and estimate various quality parameters for the two types of textures. The HT and a modified grey-scaled HT are introduced as a global approach for the analysis of the two-beam interference patterns. Surface parameters, such as the period, depth, and their uniformities, can be obtained directly without a priori knowledge of the textures. Due to different pattern structures and strong noise effects, the four-beam patterns are dealt with a different approach, using a statistical method based on the likelihood function to estimate each circle's center and shape. Taking into consideration of noises and defects, another further rejection step is introduced to filter out noises and defects. Results from experimental samples are presented.


In an accompanying paper (Sauls and Eschrig 2009 New J. Phys. 11 075008) we have studied the equilibrium properties of vortices in a chiral quasi-two-dimensional triplet superfluid/superconductor. Here we extend our studies to include the dynamical response of a vortex core in a chiral triplet superconductor to an external ac electromagnetic field. We consider in particular the response of a doubly quantized vortex with a homogeneous core in the time-reversed phase. The external frequencies are assumed to be comparable in magnitude to the superconducting gap frequency, such that the vortex motion is nonstationary but can be treated by linear response theory. We include broadening of the vortex-core bound states due to impurity scattering and consider the intermediate-clean regime, with a broadening comparable to or larger than the quantized energy level spacing. The response of the order parameter, impurity self-energy, induced fields and currents are obtained by a self-consistent calculation of the distribution functions and the excitation spectrum. Using these results we obtain the self-consistent dynamically induced charge distribution in the vicinity of the core. This charge density is related to the nonequilibrium response of the bound states and order parameter collective mode, and dominates the electromagnetic response of the vortex core.


Sarcoidosis is a systemic inflammatory disorder that is characterized by granuloma formation in different organs. Sarcoidosis patients frequently report fatigue. Even when the clinical symptoms of the inflammatory disease sarcoidosis have resolved, chronic fatigue may persist. In this study 75 patients with sarcoidosis in clinical remission were evaluated. Median time since diagnosis was 9 years (interquartile range 5 – 17). Chronic fatigue was present in 49% of patients. The fatigued patients reported significantly more pain points, lower scores on health status, higher levels of psychological distress, higher scores the personality trait Harm-Avoidance, a higher percentage of days awaking unrefreshed, and lower scores on muscle strength tests (respiratory muscles, handgrip and quadriceps) than the non-fatigued patients. Criteria for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome were met in 47% of fatigued cases. Compared to normscores, fatigued patients showed significantly reduced physical activity levels as measured with an accelerometer.

Immunologically, - after in vitro stimulation of supernatants of whole blood cultures – a complex of T cell produced cytokines/chemokines was identified which consisted of interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5 and IL-10. This so called Th2-complex was negatively associated with chronic fatigue. In addition, in fatigued patients in vitro production of monocyte-derived IL-8 was higher while plasma levels of MCP-1 was lower compared to non-fatigued patients. This observation led to the hypothesis that fatigued patients had been sensitized by the immense inflammation during the active phase of sarcoidosis. This sensitization of the neuronal system together with the reduced capability to produce Th2 cytokines (this Th2 response is necessary to restore the immune balance) contributes to the persistence of chronic fatigue, even after the clinical signs of disease activity have resolved.

Furthermore, in response to acute psychosocial stress (Trier Social Stress Test) fatigued patients released less epinephrine than non-fatigued patients. Fatigued female patients also tended to have overall lower blood pressure levels compared to non-fatigued females.
Moreover, compared to controls AUC's and N2P2-amplitudes of EEG recorded Laser Evoked Potentials of the study group were decreased while N2- and P2-latencies were normal. This points to reduced nociception via small Aδ-fibers, without damage of the myeline layer that surrounds the fibers.

At one year follow up in 50% of the study cohort reported chronic fatigue. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the cytokine/chemokine profile and psychoneurotic distress were significant predictors of fatigue severity as measured at follow up.
As chronic post-inflammatory fatigue is a severe problem which persists over many years, accurate treatment is of the utmost importance. Therefore, we recommend a trial to assess the usefulness of cognitive behavior therapy (in order to alleviate psychological symptoms) in combination with graded exercise therapy (so as to enhance physical activity levels and muscle force, but also to stimulate sympathetic output and epinephrine secretion, which subsequently enhances Th2 cytokine production) in a group of chronically fatigued sarcoidosis patients in clinical remission.


New organizational population emerged in the larger Russian cities during 2000s. Declared goal of these organizations is distribution of contemporary artistic production. This type of organizations is labelled "creative" in contemporary sociological discussion. This label should reveal new characteristic of these institutions: synthesis of different artistic (exhibitions, performances, film screening), academic (lections and seminars) and commercial (cafe and shops) activities within same public space. Expansion of creative institutions in the Russian cities reflects global tendency since economies of many world cities were transformed into economy of symbolic goods. This process is described as the rise of "creative city". These organizations are numerically growing, but they are extremely unstable demonstrating that this organizational form is not crystallized. The paper aims at describing development of creative sector in postsoviet St.-Petersburg – as a case. The study is based on two types of data: (1) monitoring of cultural media (electronic and pinted magazines focused on cultural events in the city) and (2) sample of 40 semi-structured interviews with managers and/or art curators, representing creative institutions. We discuss (1) strategies of professional networks development, (2) type of cultural products distributed by the institutions, (3) professional qualification of employees, (4) institutional goals and values adopted. Social network analysis tools are used to map interorganizational networks of the institutions. This mapping demonstrates latent value conflict arguably discovered in the patterns of organizational networks.


Background: Patients with Alzheimer disease (AD), the most common form of dementia. The present study was conducted to assess effectiveness of vitamin D supplements in the patients suffering from Alzheimer disease. Materials & Methods:60 patients of Alzheimer disease of both genders were divided into 3 groups of 20 each. Group I were prescribed memantine alone, group II were prescribed vitamin D alone and group III were prescribed memantine plus vitamin D for 6 months. Cognitive change with the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) was assessed. Results: Group I had 20 males and 10 females, group II had 12 males and 18 females and group III had 16 males and 14 females. The mean MMSE score before treatment in group I was 16.8 and after treatment was 16.4, in group II before treatment was 18.3 and after treatment was 17.5, in group III before treatment was 13.4 and after treatment was 17.2. The difference was significant (P< 0.05). Conclusion: Patients who took memantine plus vitamin D had a statistically and clinically relevant gain in cognition as compared to memantine and vitamin D alone.


Machine learning algorithms are widely used today for analytical tasks such as data cleaning, data categorization, or data filtering. At the same time, the rise of social media motivates recent uptake in large scale graph processing. Both categories of algorithms are dominated by iterative subtasks, i.e., processing steps which are executed repetitively until a convergence condition is met. Optimizing cluster resource allocations among multiple workloads of iterative algorithms motivates the need for estimating their runtime, which in turn requires: i) predicting the number of iterations, and ii) predicting the processing time of each iteration. As both parameters depend on the characteristics of the dataset and on the convergence function, estimating their values before execution is difficult.

This paper proposes PREDIcT, an experimental methodology for predicting the runtime of iterative algorithms. PREDIcT uses sample runs for capturing the algorithm's convergence trend and per-iteration key input features that are well correlated with the actual processing requirements of the complete input dataset. Using this combination of characteristics we predict the runtime of iterative algorithms, including algorithms with very different runtime patterns among subsequent iterations. Our experimental evaluation of multiple algorithms on scale-free graphs shows a relative prediction error of 10%-30% for predicting runtime, including algorithms with up to 100× runtime variability among consecutive iterations.


Little is known about the impact of aerial 1080 control on nesting success and abundance of birds. The South Island (SI) robin (Petroica australis) is vulnerable to predation by exotic mammals, with declining populations on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. We document the effect of an aerial 1080 operation carried out in 2011 on the relative abundance of brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula), rats (Rattus spp.), house mice (Mus musculus), and on SI robin nest success, comparing a site receiving aerial 1080 (Silver Peaks) to a non-treated site (Silverstream) in the Dunedin region. Although control reduced predator numbers, the relative abundance of house mice had recovered to pre-control levels after five months, as had rats after 12 months and brushtail possums after 15 months. There were no significant differences in SI robin nest success and nest survival over time between the treated and untreated sites, although negative relationships between nesting success and possum and rat abundance were observed.


The politics of the Middle East region in particular and the Muslim world in general have been characterized by the Islamic movement in the aftermath of the lslaj.uic revolution in hank. Alongside with nationalism, socialism and their variations, political Islam has been put forth as a construct and a prescript Hon for state crate the mainly .enhance of political sovereignty as well as a social model for Muslim countries by the Islamists. Though in most countries political Islam is a movement or is organized around a political party, and some states like Sudan, Pakistan and Afghanistan have labeled themselves as "Islamic Republic," it is only in the case of Iran that Islam is modeled as a system of governance. During the same period that political Islam has stood both as a movement as well as a model of rule, the global system beginning in the early l8Os, has seen unprecedented levels of change. Significant among them are: the downfall of the USSR and the attenuation of the socialist model thereafter. Intensification of the global economic, technological and financial interdependence, intensive privatization of economic activity and the universalization of liberal democracy with its numerous variations as the model of governance. This article intends to relate these two developments. A number of salient questions stand Out as the two significant developments are correlated: I) To what degree the Islamic movement since its introduction in Egypt in the I 930s and later on in many of its actual examples has produced a model? Second, to what degree has the Islamic movement been a political reaction to Western colonialism? And third, to what degree the globalization processes and the principles of the Islamic movement complement one another? In light of the aforementioned conceptual formulation, the major assumption is ibis article maintains that the economic and political dynamics of the current globalization processes led by the Western world are not only intensifying in the coming decade but are proving its.


This research examines the regulatory fit effect on perceived value and buying intentions in the context of private health insurance decisions. The so-called value-from-fit effect is assessed in conjunction with the effect of risk perceptions. Value-from-fit results from the interaction effect between regulatory focus concerns (discount vs. cost-sharing policies) and message framing (gain vs. loss). The results show that the fit effect on buying intentions is fully mediated by the perceived value of a health insurance policy and that perceived value functions as partial mediator of the effect of risk perceptions. The relative strength of the regulatory fit effect in explaining customer perceived value is small compared with the impact of perceived risk. The findings suggest that if health insurance providers wish to offer a premium discount, communicating the policy by emphasizing the benefits consumers attain from purchasing a deductible policy (i.e., getting the discount) may enhance the value of the policy. On the other hand, positioning a premium copayment policy can be more effectively done by emphasizing the costs associated with not choosing this policy.


The Review summarizes much of particle physics and cosmology. Using data from previous editions, plus 2,873 new measurements from 758 papers, we list, evaluate, and average measured properties of gauge bosons and the recently discovered Higgs boson, leptons, quarks, mesons, and baryons. We summarize searches for hypothetical particles such as supersymmetric particles, heavy bosons, axions, dark photons, etc. Particle properties and search limits are listed in Summary Tables. We give numerous tables, figures, formulae, and reviews of topics such as Higgs Boson Physics, Supersymmetry, Grand Unified Theories, Neutrino Mixing, Dark Energy, Dark Matter, Cosmology, Particle Detectors, Colliders, Probability and Statistics. Among the 118 reviews are many that are new or heavily revised, including a new review on Neutrinos in Cosmology.Starting with this edition, the Review is divided into two volumes. Volume 1 includes the Summary Tables and all review articles. Volume 2 consists of the Particle Listings. Review articles that were previously part of the Listings are now included in volume 1.The complete Review (both volumes) is published online on the website of the Particle Data Group (http://pdg.lbl.gov) and in a journal. Volume 1 is available in print as the PDG Book. A Particle Physics Booklet with the Summary Tables and essential tables, figures, and equations from selected review articles is also available.The 2018 edition of the Review of Particle Physics should be cited as: M. Tanabashi (Particle Data Group), Phys. Rev. D 98, 030001 (2018).


PURPOSE
The objective was to determine whether speech perception could be improved for bimodal listeners (those using a cochlear implant [CI] in one ear and hearing aid in the contralateral ear) by removing low-frequency information provided by the CI, thereby reducing acoustic-electric overlap.

METHOD
Subjects were adult CI subjects with at least 1 year of CI experience. Nine subjects were evaluated in the CI-only condition (control condition), and 26 subjects were evaluated in the bimodal condition. CIs were programmed with 4 experimental programs in which the low cutoff frequency (LCF) was progressively raised. Speech perception was evaluated using Consonant-Nucleus-Consonant words in quiet, AzBio sentences in background babble, and spondee words in background babble.

RESULTS
The CI-only group showed decreased speech perception in both quiet and noise as the LCF was raised. Bimodal subjects with better hearing in the hearing aid ear (< 60 dB HL at 250 and 500 Hz) performed best for words in quiet as the LCF was raised. In contrast, bimodal subjects with worse hearing (> 60 dB HL at 250 and 500 Hz) performed similarly to the CI-only group.

CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that reducing low-frequency overlap of the CI and contralateral hearing aid may improve performance in quiet for some bimodal listeners with better hearing.


The 2007 subprime mortgage crisis resulted in home foreclosures at unprecedented levels, and calls for government action. The Bush Administration's response relied primarily on exhorting the mortgage industry to voluntarily modify the terms of existing mortgages to help struggling homeowners reduce their debt burden and bring mortgage debt in line with declining home values. Industry reports have tallied the rapid increase in voluntarily negotiated workouts, without specifying what the terms of those workouts have been.To better understand the effectiveness of the voluntary mortgage crisis resolution plan, this paper reports detailed empirical information from a newly-created database. Loan-level information on the number and type of negotiated mortgage modifications was compiled from monthly servicer remittance reports from July 2007 through June 2008 for twenty-six mortgage loan pools. The data show that while the number of modifications rose rapidly during the crisis, mortgage modifications in the aggregate are not reducing subprime mortgage debt. Mortgage modifications rarely if ever reduced principal debt, and in many cases increased the debt. Nor are modification agreements uniformly reducing payment burdens on households. About half of all loan modifications resulted in a reduced monthly payment, while many modifications actually increased the monthly payment. Finally, there is tremendous variation in the extent, if any, of payment relief offered by different mortgage servicers.The combined effect of dwindling refinancing activity and modifications that do not write down mortgage debt, and in many cases do not even reduce monthly payments, is to delay, but not prevent, large numbers of foreclosures. Given the continuing accumulation of loans in the foreclosure and real-estate-owned categories, the subprime crisis will be worked out only over many years through painstakingly slow repayment, foreclosure and disposition of properties.


Energy crisis is slowly building up due to the increase in the amount of energy requirement in every field of human existence. Pollution free energy is in great demand due to the government norms implemented worldwide in reducing global warming. Infinite energy from low radiation reactions are currently being explored into. Nuclear Fusion is one of the methods which produces high energy yield with very low radiation effects. This paper explores into the possibility of Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR) [1] which has the potential to curb the ever increasing energy scarcity. Bubble fusion a type of cold fusion, is highlighted in this paper as a major breakthrough in this research field. This paper intends to revive a research in the field of nuclear fusion reactors in the small form factor structure that could be a possible solution for the existing energy crisis.


Silicon Valley's success has led other regions to attempt their own high-tech transformations, yet most imitators have failed. Entrepreneurs may be in short supply in these "non-tech" regions, but some non-tech regions are home to high-quality entrepreneurs who relocate to Silicon Valley due to a lack of local financing for their start-ups. Non-tech regions must provide local finance to prevent entrepreneurial relocation and reap spillover benefits for their communities. This Article compares three possible sources of entrepreneurial finance - private venture capital, state-sponsored venture capital, and angel investor groups - and finds that angel groups have distinct advantages when it comes to funding innovation in non-tech regions. This entrepreneurial finance story is then supplemented by a "law and entrepreneurship" story - specifically, a look at securities laws that might impede optimal levels of angel group financing.


panied by an editorial by Johan Ræder in Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica [1]. Over the last four years, a number of papers and abstracts have been published validating the qCON. The present article by Kim et al. [2] 'Influence of electrocautery-induced electromagnetic interference on quantitative electroencephalographic monitoring of hypnosis during general anesthesia: comparison between the ADMS and the BIS VISTA' [2], compares the qCON with the BIS and their resistance to electrocautery. This is an important issue because electroencephalogram (EEG) monitors, which show too high values during the maintenance phase, could give rise to wrong conclusions, and hence erroneous administration of anesthetics. In the worst case, if a processed EEG monitor shows a too high value, for example, 50 instead the real value 30, then too deep anesthesia may not be detected. Recent science has shown that too deep anesthesia might lead to post-operative cognitive dysfunction, which is a serious adverse effect of anesthesia. The article by Kim et al. [2] shows that the BIS increased on average 16 units during extended use of electrocautery, while the qCON only increased 1 unit. The EEG is a small electrical signal and is therefore susceptible to external interference. Consequently, the design of the electronics of the monitors must be of high quality to ensure that electrical interferences do not affect the index. The EEG reflects the changes in the brain caused by the anesthetics. For two decades, depth of anesthesia monitors have been on the market to predict the hypnotic effect of intravenous as well as volatile anesthesia [3,4]. The new trend is to include predictions of the nociception/antinociception balance as well. The Conox monitor is equipped with an index of nociception, the qNOX, which is a prediction of the probability of response to noxious stimulation during surgery. The qNOX is an index using a scale from 0 to 99 where 99 indicates high probability of response to noxious stimulation. Decreasing index values mean less probability of response to surgical stimuli [1]. There are other methods for prediction of the antinociception balance based on hemodynamic parameters such as heart rate variability [5] or the surgical pleth index [6]. Another method is based on the change of the size of the pupil [7]. Another new trend is advisory systems or closed loop where a processed EEG monitor is controlling the amount of anesthetics to be administered to the patient. Rugloop, developed by Tom de Smet and Michel Struys, uses a TCI system to define a closed loop algorithm for the control of Propofol. The system is performing well and described in a number of articles [8]. Besides, Medsteer has the capacity of controlling both Propofol and remifentanil. They have used the qCON and qNOX in their closed loop system and shown that closed loop ensures a higher percentage of patients within the adequate anesthesia range and hence lowering the risk of awareness on one side and too deep anesthesia on the other side [9]. Editorial


presentations of emotional singing. Although manystudies have now found evidence for facial responsesto emotional stimuli, most have involved static facialexpressions and none have involved singing. Singingrepresents a dynamic ecologically valid emotional stim-ulus with unique demands on orofacial motion that areindependent of emotion, related to pitch and linguisticproduction. Observers' facial muscles were recordedwith electromyography while they saw and heardrecordings of a vocalist's performance sung with differ-ent emotional intentions (happy, neutral, and sad).Audio-visual presentations successfully elicited facialmimicry in observers that were congruent with the per-former's intended emotions. Happy singing perfor-mances elicited increased activity in the zygomaticusmajor muscle region of observers, while sad perfor-mances evoked increased activity in the corrugatorsupercilii muscle region. These spontaneous facial mus-cle responses occurred within the first three secondsfollowing onset of video presentation indicating thatemotional nuances of singing performances can elicitdynamic facial responses from observers.Received: January 18, 2012, accepted June 3, 2012.Key words: facial mimicry, emotion, song, EMG, facialexpressions


With the expanding availability of computer facilities in the universities, there seems to be a growing trend to emphasize the use of large computer codes, originated as general purpose commercial software and research oriented programs. This practice leads to a black-box approach with overemphasis on the tools of analysis to the detriment of proficiency in fundamental engineering concepts. Here, a critique of this approach as used in the initial stages of a student's training period is presented. It is the authors' contention that students gain maximum understanding of individual subject matter when they are required to develop application software. Of course, the software must utilize 'top-down' programming techniques and be structured. The inclusion of this process into the Civil Engineering curriculum is considered herein.


Serving the Amish is a targeted guide for professionals who care for or interact with Plain people: doctors, nurses, law enforcement officers, judges, social workers, psychotherapists, and addiction counselors, among others. For these professionals, knowing the "what" of Amish life is not enough. They must go deeper, understanding the "why" - the ideologies that both drive and bind this community in a system of beliefs that seems alien to those who embrace the technological and social turbulence of the twenty-first century. James A. Cates draws heavily on his experiences as a clinical psychologist in private practice in northeastern Indiana, a region that is home to more than 35,000 Amish people. He combines anecdotal evidence and first-person narrative to shed light on the social, emotional, and psychological foundations of Amish life to help professionals interact competently and build rapport with Amish clients. He also explains the unique challenges outsiders face in offering aid to a people whose lifestyle and rules dictate a distance from all things worldly. This practical book balances evidence-based principles of care with an emphasis on reducing anxiety and establishing warm relationships. From the police officer dispersing a party full of Amish Youngie to the social worker staffing a child protective services hotline, professionals who work with the Amish will benefit from this one-of-a-kind guide.


Uniform germination is one of the important agronomic requirements for successful domestication of wild-harvested economic plants. In this study we investigated the effects of storage and hydration-dehydration regimes on Vitex doniana seed viability, germination speed and seedling growth and vigour. These effects were tested in a factorial combination of four storage durations (0, 2, 4 and 8 months) and five hydration-dehydration regimes including the control, alternating one hour soaking in tap water with eight hours sun-drying for 3, 7, 14 and 21 days. After two months storage at room temperature, germination percentage was not significantly different from initial germination; seed viability and germination decreased with storage beyond two months. For the first time, germination in V. doniana reached 83%, for seeds stored for two months and then submitted to 21 days of hydration-dehydration cycles. Two months storage combined with hydration-dehydration regimes for 14 or 21 days improved germination speed and seedling growth and vigour. We recommend that fresh seeds be stored for a maximum of two months and stratified by consecutive hydration-dehydration cycles for 14 or 21 days to obtain a homogenous seedling cohort. These results represent an important step towards domesticating V. doniana in West Africa.


During the discussions at Professor Fineman's recent feminist legal theory workshops, several participants argued that feminists should use the "tools" of mainstream economics to build a more rigorous foundation for their analyses. Feminist legal theorists, it was argued, had their hearts in the right place, but their arguments lacked sufficient intellectual ("hard-headed") rigor to carry the day. Based on this view, the best strategy would be to use economic tools (which, these participants argued, are value neutral) to build a rigorous, logical foundation on which legal feminists could confidently stand. The problem – which applies to all areas of legal analysis, not just feminist legal theory – is that the use of so-called economic tools is almost certain to lead to the unintentional importation of hidden assumptions that permeate mainstream economics.


Under irrigated conditions agricultural producers are expected to adjust their crop patterns, irrigation systems, and production practices as ground water tables decline and irrigation costs increase. This study provides insight into the efficient path of irrigation technology adoption and the implications associated with this process. It is shown that: (a) the efficient crop pattern is related to the ground water supply condition; (b) declines in the proportion of high water requirement crops produced are rapid with high pumping lift and thin saturated thickness; and (c) declines in saturated thickness appear to have a greater impact on crop pattern and irrigated acreage than do increases in pumping lift. Furthermore, it is shown that the adoption rate of advanced irrigation systems is expected to be higher the more abundant is the ground water source.


The recent financial turmoil has stressed the need to assess
the risk contribution of market players to the sustainability
of financial systems. Systemic risk detection is a current field
of research which includes a variety of techniques borrowed
from different methodologies. These approaches are designed
to both evaluate how financial institutions contribute to the
stability of the system and to measure how they are resilient
against financial distress that might propagate throughout
their connections. Cornerstone of systemic risk assessment
is the representation of the system as a complex environment
where agents are mutually interconnected. The aim of this
thesis is to provide different perspectives on the study of systemic
risk and financial stability. The first chapter introduces
the assessment of co-dependencies in over-the-counter submarkets,
providing a novel investigation on very detailed transactions
data that have been available thanks to the new regulatory
framework. Next, I exploit network theory tools to depict
banking system and to analyze how the emergence of homogeneous
clusters of financial institutions characterized the
last decade, showing that regional communities converged to
more similar banking practices after the outbreak of financial
markets. Finally, I propose a rare-events logistic regression
model to assess the risk of distress in a wide and globally
distributed sample of financial institutions; this chapter is intended
to provide evidence in support of a target risk monitoring
for institutions with different business models.


Business managers have long known the power of the Balanced Scorecard in executing corporate strategy. Implementing the Project Management Balanced Scorecard shows project managers how they too can use this framework to meet strategic objectives. It supplies valuable insight into the project management process as a whole and contains detailed explanations on how to effectively implement the balanced scorecard to measure and manage performance and projects. The book details a tactical approach for implementing the scorecard approach at the project level and investigates numerous sample scorecards, metrics, and techniques. It examines recent research on critical issues such as performance measurement and management, continuous process improvement, benchmarking, metrics selection, and people management. It also explains how to integrate these issues with the four perspectives of the balanced scorecard: customer, business processes, learning and innovation, and financial. Filled with examples and case histories, the book directly relates the scorecard concept to the major project management steps of determining scope, scheduling, estimation, risk management, procurement, and project termination. Complete with a plethora of resources in its appendices and on the accompanying CD, the text includes detailed instructions for developing a measurement program, a full metrics guide, a sample project plan, and a set of project management fill-in forms.


Mediterranean countries are indispensable places of tourism with their world-famous shores, wonderful climate and impressive historical places. The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between tourist arrivals and economic freedom indicators such as government integrity, tax burden, government spending, business freedom and trade freedom. For this purpose, the panel vector autoregression (PVAR) method was used for a Mediterranean countries sample covering the period from 1996 to 2016. The results of causality testing showed that the tourist arrivals have a bidirectional causality relationship with each explanatory variable, while the coefficient estimates showed that an increase in economic freedom indices affected tourist arrivals negatively in Mediterranean countries. That is, economic freedoms do not mean an advantage for tourists without supportive public policies for tourism. The test results suggest that policymakers should take into account the various aspects of the tourism sector, particularly natural resources and environmental factors, while making policies that increase economic freedom in Mediterranean countries


As organizations face rapidly changing and increasingly complex issues, it is critical they take advantage of potential opportunities to maintain their impact over time. This paper explores the discursive methods that support the co-construction, evolution, and transmission of organizational values and vision. It was theorized that if Large Group Design (LGD) principles are applied as an organization goes about its everyday work, it would be possible to develop a shared understanding and generational enculturation of organizational values and vision. Two large-scale interventions were conducted with the Bureau of Autism Services, PA Department of Public Welfare, through an action research project designed to test the effectiveness of the approach. It was determined that consistently applying large-scale principles throughout the planning and implementation process has an impact on the outcome of an intervention effort. Even when implemented imperfectly, the application of large-scale intervention principles to an organization's everyday work is an effective approach for systems looking to inculcate values and maintain their impact over time. This research has considerations for organizations designing Large Scale Meetings (LSM) for their own unique purposes. Comments Submitted to the Program of Organizational Dynamics in the Graduate Division of the School of Arts and Sciences in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Organizational Dynamics at the University of Pennsylvania Advisor: Nancie Zane This thesis or dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/od_theses_msod/43 CREATING AND MAINTAINING A SHARED ORGANIZATIONAL VISION THROUGH EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION


Locationand context-awareness significantly enhance the functionality of pervasive computing services and applications, and enrich the way they interact with users and resources in the environment. Much of this functionality depends on validating context information and using it for granting access to data or resources. Since location and context services are usually composed of various distributed components spread throughout the pervasive environment, it is essential to develop a threat model that can be used as basis for developing a trustworthy platform for managing location and context information. In this paper we examine the various ways that trust can be incorporated and asserted in a location service for a pervasive environment. We specify the trust requirements for a non-forgeable location service for a pervasive computing space. Our approach is unique in that it is based on certification of behavior rather than a traditional reputation-based approach to trust. In our system, trust in a particular component is derived from its ability to attest that its actions meet the trust requirements.


Preface. Contributors. Preparing for Success in the Laboratory (P. Franciskovich). Getting What You Need from a Supplier (T. Tyre & G. Krueger). The Preparation of Buffers and Other Solutions: A Chemist's Perspective (E. Pfannkoch). How to Properly Use and Maintain Laboratory Equipment (T. Troutman, et al.). Working Safely with Biological Samples (C. Haidaris & E. Brownlow). Working Safely with Radioactive Materials (W. Volny). DNA Purification (S. Herzer). RNA Purification (L. Martin, et al.). Restriction Endonucleases (D. Robinson, et al.). Nucleotides, Oligonucleotides, and Polynucleotides (A. Gerstein). PCR (K. Aoyagi). Electrophoresis (M. Booz). Western Blotting (P. Riis). Nucleic Acid Hybridization (S. Herzer & D. Englert). E. coli Expression Systems (P. Bell). Eukaryotic Expression (J. Trill, et al.). Index.


During the years of imposed Soviet rule in Estonia from 1940 to its collapse in 1991, Estonian culture and the written word were subject to Soviet censorship which due to its perseverance, extent and rigidity constrained creativity and self-expression. At the same time, archival documents and memories testify that considerable shifting could take place within this censorship which on the surface appeared strict and regulated, depending on the general ideological stance and the officials and party functionaries in place at the time. Soviet censorship is usually studied and described with the activities of the censorship office Glavlit as the focal point. However, for a more complete overview, it would be wise to keep in mind that a whole row of other institutions and authorities with the Communist Party in front also were involved in censorship matters. When it came to censorship, it was the party that had the final word – as it did with everything else – and if needed, it also acted as punisher. Apart from the role of censor, the Communist Party, its departments (with the Department for Propaganda and Agitation or Ideology in front ) and its officials also took part in hands-on censorship work, both in terms of decision-making and in dealing with concrete incidents (breach of censorship rules and censor mistakes but also in the search for and pointing out of ideological flaws). One area in which the party's censorship activities manifested itself in a rather vivid manner was the leadership and control of the Soviet press. When analysing materials from the bureau of the Communist Party of Estonia's Central Committee, it becomes clear that the party's governing organs were constantly active in this area. The manifestation of problems and discussion of flaws here point to the circumstance that journalists and editors did not accept the censorship rules, but rather tried to find possibilities and means through which to modify or ignore them. Journalists' attempts at rather making 'real journalism' than congenial propaganda work for Soviet ideologists are particularly telling – this was during the Khrushchev Thaw of the 1960s, when several Estonian publications headed by 'ideologically less significant' and thus also less controlled local papers, cultural and youth journalists looked for new means and opportunities of expression. Repeated discussions, admonitions and decisions within the party's governing organs and disputes between the party and the Glavlit censors point to a Soviet censorship which up until the end couldn't be used in an efficient manner in Estonia. Orders and prohibitions which often were rather vague created confusion even among the censors themselves and the multi-layered system of institutions. Estonia as a peripheral area became even more obliged to follow the dictates of the centre – that is, of Moscow. This led the censorship system to a situation where it became more of an awkward and vulnerable system than an efficient machine.


The United States and the colonial society that preceded it were created by successive waves of immigration from all corners of the globe. But public and political attitudes towards immigrants have always been ambivalent and contradictory, and sometimes hostile. The early immigrants to colonial America—from England, France, Germany, and other countries in northwestern Europe—came in search of economic opportunity and political freedom, yet they often relied upon the labor of African slaves working land taken from Native Americans. The descendants of these first European immigrants sometimes viewed as "racially" and religiously suspect the European immigrants who came to the United States in the late 1800s from Italy, Poland, Russia, and elsewhere in southeastern Europe. The descendants of these immigrants, in turn, have often taken a dim view of the growing numbers of Latin American, Asian, and African immigrants who began to arrive in the second half of the 20 th century.


Speculative execution attacks exploit vulnerabilities at a CPU's microarchitectural level, which, until recently, remained hidden below the instruction set architecture, largely undocumented by CPU vendors. New speculative execution attacks are released on a monthly basis, showing how aspects of the so-far unexplored microarchitectural attack surface can be exploited. In this paper, we introduce, Speculator, a new tool to investigate these new microarchitectural attacks and their mitigations, which aims to be the GDB of speculative execution. Using speculative execution markers, set of instructions that we found are observable through performance counters during CPU speculation, Speculator can study microarchitectural behavior of single snippets of code, or more complex attacker and victim scenarios (e.g. Branch Target Injection (BTI) attacks). We also present our findings on multiple CPU platforms showing the precision and the flexibility offered by Speculator and its templates.


Electron multipacting is a resonant process by which electrons build-up under the influence of a radio-frequency (RF) field. This process can occur in evacuated RF equipment such as the input coupler of accelerator cavities. The superconducting RF cavities designed by Cornell University, that are used in a number of synchrotron light sources including the DIAMOND Light Source, have had a history of vacuum breakdown in the CESR ring at Cornell with frequencies that would be inappropriate for a reliable synchrotron facility. This work aims to understand and correct the problem and ensure smooth operation of the cavities. The cause of the vacuum breakdown hindering the cavities' operation at Cornell was identified as being multipactor in the rectangular input coupler waveguide. Prior studies carried out by R.L. Geng at Cornell University identified a number of solutions which he proposed to verify experimentally. Two series of experiments were carried out at Cornell University on short waveguide sections. The first session allowed us to observe, measure and attempt to suppress multipactor using techniques such as a longitudinal static magnetic bias field and a groove cut along the waveguide centreline. While the first technique was found to be quite effective, since a relatively weak 10G field was found to be sufficient to achieve complete multipactor suppression, the groove did not allow such total suppression of the multipactor though it did mitigate its effects. The second experimental session was designed to complement the first. The waveguide allowed the testing of other methods such as multiple grooves, a ridge in place of the groove, or surface coatings. The ridge proved to be as effective as a groove with regards to multipactor suppression, while multiple grooves proved to increase rather than reduce the total multipacting current. The waveguide could also be heated or cooled to study the effect of baking the surface as well as that of condensed gases. Surface coatings were tested and found to have the expected effect of lowering the multipactor current, but the surface areas covered as well as the vacuum quality achieved were insufficient to conclusively validate the use of coatings as a means of achieving multipactor-free operation of the coupler. Both series of experiments provided extensive measurements of electron currents at various locations on the waveguide and at a range of RF power levels; these were compared to simulations of multipactor developed using the MAGIC PIC code. The code results and the simulations were found to agree closely when using a secondary electron model including backscattered low energy electrons. The code was able to predict the effectiveness of a ridge, as well as agreeing with experimental observations. Instead of sharply defined multipactor bands as predicted by simple multipactor models, the multipactor current (above a certain power level) does not disappear completely even though it may show peaks and troughs for various values of the RF power. In conclusion, the magnetic bias is the only proven method to ensure multipactor-free operation of the CESR-type cavities. A ridge or a groove cut along the centreline of the waveguide could be a simple, passive way of limiting and retarding the effects of multipactor in the input coupler, while coatings should certainly be considered, though more research is needed to fully validate the concept.


Learning approaches have a long history in medical education. Recent research suggests that learning approaches reflect the nature of the educational program. Problem-based learning has been said to promote deep learning; however, previous studies have questioned this assumption. This study explored whether there was a shift in learning approaches in an undergraduate medical course and whether students with employment outside of study or from a non-English-speaking background were more likely to demonstrate a reduction in deep learning across the first year of medicine. Methods: First-year medical students at a university in Australia were invited to complete a survey about their approaches to learning. Data collection occurred at the start and end of the year. The survey collected demographic and employment information from participants and included the Study Process Questionnaire to assess deep and surface approaches to learning. Results: Eighty-eight students completed the baseline survey, and 58 students completed the follow-up survey. There was a decrease in the mean score of deep learning approach across the year. In contrast, there was an increase in the mean score of surface learning approach. There were no statistical differences between learning approaches and student characteristics, including age, gender, language spoken and employment status. Conclusion: Three important issues that arise from this research. Firstly, learning approaches are not fixed; they vary as the context changes. Secondly, problem-based learning does not seem to promote or maintain deep learning approaches, and finally, medical students' learning approaches are not affected by non-Englishspeaking background or employment.


The organisation under discussion is a part of a Steel Company and consists of a group of captive underground coal mines required to produce coking coal, wash it in the coal washeries (benefitiation plants) and send the good quality clean coal to the steel plant for steel-making. The emergence of liberalisation in India has affected Indian industries and compelled them to think of ways to become more competitive. The very existence of this coking coal-mining division is at stake due to the availability of better quality imported coal at a cheaper price. Also, the demand for metallurgical-grade coking coal has reduced due to an improvement in coke-making technology, which does not require very high quality metallurgical-grade coking coal. In order to become competitive, the organisation has adopted the strategy of downsizing by technological upgradation and outsourcing the non-core activities. This paper uses System Dynamics Simulation methodology as a tool for structuring as well as evaluating the different alternative policies and scenarios for the future.


The food packaging industry handles an immense variety of food products with wide-ranging shapes and sizes, even within one kind of food. Menus are also diverse and change frequently, making automation of pick-and-place difficult. A popular approach to bin-picking is to first identify each piece of food in the tray by using an instance segmentation method. However, human annotations to train these methods are unreli-able and error-prone since foods are packed close together with unclear boundaries and visual similarity making separation of pieces difficult. To address this problem, we propose a method that trains purely on synthetic data and successfully transfers to the real world using sim2real methods by creating datasets of filled food trays using high-quality 3d models of real pieces of food for the training instance segmentation models. Another concern is that foods are easily damaged during grasping. We address this by introducing two additional methods- a novel adaptive finger mechanism to passively retract when a collision occurs, and a method to filter grasps that are likely to cause damage to neighbouring pieces of food during a grasp. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method on several kinds of real foods.


Objective: Cerebrospinal fluid leakage remains a significant cause of morbidity following posterior fossa surgery, and its treatment remains a difficult problem. The aim of the study was to propose a treatment algorithm for its management. Methods: A retrospective, single-center study was conducted on 147 patients who underwent elective posterior fossa surgery for a variety of diseases. Patients with post operative CSF leakage had either been treated initially with conservative measures including re-suturing of the wound, with CSF lumbar drainage to be employed in case the CSF leakage didn't stop, or the initial intervention was the institution of CSF lumbar drainage simultaneously with conservative measures. VP (ventriculo-peritoneal) shunt was done in patients with gross hydrocephalus on postoperative CT brain. Results: There were 25 (17%) cases of CSF leakage, including 24 incisional CSF leaks and one case of CSF otorrhea. In eight patients with incisional CSF leakage treated initially with conservative measures including re-suturing of the wound, CSF leakage stopped in only two cases. CSF lumbar drainage instituted later on in six cases with persistent leakage stopped the CSF leakage. In fourteen patients managed initially with re-suturing of the wound and concomitant CSF lumbar drainage, CSF leakage settled in all the cases. Two patients with gross hydrocephalus on post operative CT were managed successfully with VP shunt. Re-suturing of the wound with concomitant CSF lumbar drainage was found to be significantly associated (p=0.003) with the stoppage of CSF leakage, and the settlement of meningitis (p= 0.014). Conclusion: Incisional CSF leaks after posterior fossa surgery should be managed with re-suturing of the wound and concomitant CSF lumbar drainage, instead of an initial trial of conservative therapy alone.


The current extent of publicly available space-based imagery and data products is unprecedented. Data from research missions and operational environmental programs provide a wealth of information to global users, and in many cases, the data are accessible in near real-time. The availability of such data provides a unique opportunity to investigate how information can be cascaded through multiple spatial, spectral, radiometric, and temporal scales. A hierarchical image classification approach is developed using multispectral data sources to rapidly produce large area landuse identification and change detection products. The approach derives training pixels from a coarser resolution classification product to autonomously develop a classification map at improved resolution. The methodology also accommodates parallel processing to facilitate analysis of large amounts of data. Previous work successfully demonstrated this approach using a global MODIS 500 m landuse product to construct a 30 m Landsat-based classification map. This effort extends the previous approach to high resolution U.S. commercial satellite imagery. An initial validation study is performed to document the performance of the algorithm and identify limitations in the process. Results indicate this approach is scalable and has broad applications to target and anomaly detection applications. In addition, discussion is focused on how information is preserved throughout the processing chain, as well as situations where the data integrity could break down. This work is part of a larger effort to deduce practical, innovative, and alternative ways to leverage and exploit the extensive low-resolution global data archives to address relevant civil, environmental, and defense objectives.


In this communication, we will describe one unique phenomenon and the potential application of it. In this work, the dispersion relation of an air-silver-silicon-silver-fluid (air-Ag-Si-Ag-fluid) five-layer slab is analyzed theoretically, in which the super-long range surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) modes, whose energy penetrates deeply into the fluid, are found with their losses being extremely small and sensitive to the change of the fluid refractive index when operating near their interspace cut-off regions, where the dispersion curves are non-continuous. By applying this phenomenon in detecting the fluid refractive index change, a SPP sensor based on intensity measurement is proposed. It is a waveguide structure with an Ag-Si-Ag slab together with a flow cell filled with the detecting fluid. It is found that a large scale of linear detection (e.g., 0.08, for 1550 nm ~1.33 to 1.41) with high resolution (e.g., 7.9 × 10(-6) Refractive Index Units) can be achieved for a very short device, which is 200 μm.


Abstract This study explored Russian as a foreign language (RFL) learners' self-reported strategic uses of VoiceThread (VT)—a multimodal asynchronous computer-mediated communication tool—in order to gain insights into learner perceived effectiveness of VT for second language (L2) oral skills development and to determine the factors that contributed to those perceptions. The participants were eight undergraduate students who attended six weekly tutoring sessions that combined face-to-face (F2F) RFL instruction with VT activities. VT allowed them to access text-based, graphic, video, and aural linguistic input; record and store audio/video-recorded output; listen and comment on peers' recordings; and receive individualized teacher feedback on oral performance. Data from activity logs and researcher field notes were triangulated with participants' responses to two surveys and a semi-structured oral interview. Findings indicated that participants believed that VT supported their oral proficiency development through the provision of additional time and resources for independent planning, rehearsal, and controlled production of L2 forms. Most participants also agreed that VT's playback and record features were the most beneficial for developing language skills, enhancing the reflection process, and facilitating self-assessment and creativity in the L2. Yet, despite VT's multimodal affordances and the availability of communicative tasks via VT, participants did not perceive VT as a social environment that could promote peer-to-peer interaction or replace F2F communication. A thematic data analysis suggested that participants' preferences for language learning tasks influenced their strategic uses of VT's features, which ultimately affected their perceptions of VT's value for promoting meaningful language learning interactions. Pedagogical considerations are discussed.


The networks in campuses, companies, and data centers are growing larger and becoming more complicated to manage. Today, network operators devote tremendous time and effort to three key management tasks — routing, access control, and troubleshooting. Rather than trying to make today's brittle networks easier to manage, we focus on new network designs that are inherently easier to manage and scale to many hosts, switches, and applications.
We design and develop a new management system that scales the routing, access control, and performance diagnosis in enterprise and data center networks. The key challenges are the large number of hosts, switches, and applications in these networks and the need for flexible policies, while faced with strict memory and power constraints in the switches. To address these challenges, we propose three key ideas: (1) designing new data structures and algorithms that make effective use of limited memory in switches; (2) redirecting traffic when simple switches do not have enough memory to handle packets; (3) rethinking the division of labor among switches, hosts, and a centralized management system to make the network both flexible and scalable.
Based on the key ideas, we propose a new management system that addresses the scalability challenges of routing, supporting flexible policies, and performance diagnosis with three key components: (i) BUFFALO: A scalable packet forwarding architecture that reduces the switch memory usage for storing the forwarding table using Bloom filters — a compact way of representing a set of elements. To gracefully handle the false positives caused by Bloom filters, BUFFALO sends packets through a slightly longer path. (ii) DIFANE: A scalable way to enforce flexible management policies from the centralized management system to the switches. DIFANE rethinks the division of labor between the centralized management system and the switches, by pulling some rule processing functions back to the switches, to achieve better scalability. (iii) SNAP: A scalable network performance diagnosis architecture that exposes the interactions between the network and applications in data centers. SNAP passively logs traffic statistics in the end-host network stack and pinpoints problems that occur at the network device, network stack and the application software.
Our systems can be easily implemented with small modifications in today's switches and end hosts, as demonstrated by our prototypes built using the OpenFlow switches and Microsoft Windows servers, and our evaluation using configuration data from AT&T networks and a deployment in a production data center.


In this study, a novel ab initio cosmic ray (CR) modulation code that solves a set of stochastic transport equations equivalent to the Parker transport equation, and that uses output from a turbulence transport code as input for the diffusion tensor, is introduced. This code is benchmarked with a previous approach to ab initio modulation. The sensitivity of computed galactic CR proton spectra at Earth to assumptions made as to the low-wavenumber behavior of the two-dimensional (2D) turbulence power spectrum is investigated using perpendicular mean free path expressions derived from two different scattering theories. Constraints on the low-wavenumber behavior of the 2D power spectrum are inferred from the qualitative comparison of computed CR spectra with spacecraft observations at Earth. Another key difference from previous studies is that observed and inferred CR intensity spectra at 73 AU are used as boundary spectra instead of the usual local interstellar spectrum. Furthermore, the results presented here provide a tentative explanation as to the reason behind the unusually high galactic proton intensity spectra observed in 2009 during the recent unusual solar minimum.


Speakers often use ordinary words and phrases, unembedded in any sentence, to perform speech acts—or so it appears. In some cases appearances are deceptive: The seemingly lexical/phrasal utterance may really be an utterance of a syntactically eplliptical sentence. I argue however that, at least sometimes, plain old words and phrases are used on their own. The use of both words/phrases and elliptical sentences leads to two consequences: 1. Context must contribute more to utterance meaning than is often supposed. Here's why: The semantic type of normal words and phrases is non-proppositional, even after the usual contextual features are added (e.g., reference assignment and disambiguation). Yet an utterance of a word/phrase can be fully propositional. 2. Often, a hearer does not need to know the exact identity of the expression uttered, to understand an utterance. The reason: Typically, words/phrases in context will sound the same, and mean the same, as some elliptical sentence token.


This article shows how activists in the open data movement re-articulate notions of democracy, participation, and journalism by applying practices and values from open source culture to the creation and use of data. Focusing on the Open Knowledge Foundation Germany and drawing from a combination of interviews and content analysis, it argues that this process leads activists to develop new rationalities around datafication that can support the agency of datafied publics. Three modulations of open source are identified: First, by regarding data as a prerequisite for generating knowledge, activists transform the sharing of source code to include the sharing of raw data. Sharing raw data should break the interpretative monopoly of governments and would allow people to make their own interpretation of data about public issues. Second, activists connect this idea to an open and flexible form of representative democracy by applying the open source model of participation to political participation. Third, activists acknowledge that intermediaries are necessary to make raw data accessible to the public. This leads them to an interest in transforming journalism to become an intermediary in this sense. At the same time, they try to act as intermediaries themselves and develop civic technologies to put their ideas into practice. The article concludes with suggesting that the practices and ideas of open data activists are relevant because they illustrate the connection between datafication and open source culture and help to understand how datafication might support the agency of publics and actors outside big government and big business.


Massive Black: Volume 1 brings together more than 700 pieces of artwork by the Massive Black team from studios in North America and Asia. Founded in 2002 by a group of passionate developers, Massive Black has grown to become a powerhouse of the entertainment industry--particularly in the areas of concept art, illustration, 3D, animation and intellectual property development. During its six-year history, the company has worked on 210 projects, generating a staggering 30,000 pieces of concept art for games, film, television, graphic novels, toys, and advertising. Now is your chance to get your hands on this spectacular collection of art from the world's most exciting concept art studio--Massive Black.


The Cambrian-Ordovician transition in the southern Montagne Noire records a major siliciclastic regressive trend of prograding shoaling complexes (the La Dentelle Formation), separating two transgressive storm-dominated sedimentary systems of mixed (carbonate-siliciclastic) deposits. The latter comprise the underlying La Gardie and Val d'Homs Formations, and the overlying Mounio Formation, all of them displaying evidence of an important synsedimentary tectonic activity. Isolated settings of carbonate productivity, located on intra-shelf ramps and horsts, contain the richest and diversified faunistic communities comprising trilobites, echinoderms, conodonts, carbonate- and phosphate-shell brachiopods, sponge spicules, etc. Although the Cambrian-Ordovician transition of the southern Montagne Noire did not record volcanic events but a rather distensive regime inducing paleotopographies, the latter may reflect a distinct extensional regime recorded in other earliest Ordovician platforms of the French Massif Central, involving oceanization and a major magmatic activity.


This book explores the fusion of myth, history and geography which leads to ideas of primitivism, and looks at their construction, interpretation and consumption in Western culture. Contextualized by Susan Hiller's introductions to each section, discussions range from the origins of cultural colonialism to eurocentric ideas of primitive societies, including the use of primitive culture in constructing national identities, and the appropriation of primitivist imagery in modernist art. The result is a controversial critique of art theory, practice and politics, and a major enquiry into the history of primitivism and its implications for contemporary culture.


Open source has democratized software innovation to an unprecedented degree, but doubts persist as to whether democratized innovation can extend to business applications, where individual developers are not the end users. We report on a new kind of ecosystem around extensions to open source business applications, and examine the types of contributors and contributions relative to previous open source research. Our results show a surprising presence of small businesses, particularly consultants and freelance developers. These smaller firms bridge an important gap between lead users and producers, contributing disproportionately to new back-end and integration features. This study shows how new networks of commercial and semi-commercial players, particularly small businesses, are combining their efforts to create viable business ecosystems around successful open source business applications.