Florida skullcap, Scutellaria floridana Chapm. (Lamiaceae), is a federally threatened species found in the Florida Panhandle. Its habitat is a fire-prone, longleaf pine forest dominated by Aristida stricta Michx. var. beyrichiana (wiregrass). Other Scutellaria species used in the study are found in southeastern U.S., including two within the Florida Panhandle. The objective of this study was to compare several techniques to germinate seeds of Scutellaria incana, Scutellaria lateriflora, Scutellaria ovata ssp. ovata, and Scutellaria floridana, and to access the presence of a seed bank for S. floridana. For the germination study, Scutellaria lateriflora and S. ovata ssp. ovata were stratified for one and two months at 4C, whereas S. floridana was stratified for 1.5 months. All four species were scarified with concentrated sulfuric acid for various times (15 to 60 minutes). Smoke treatments were: Wright's Natural Hickory Seasoning (1:100 to 1:1000) for all species, and also plant debris smoke (half and full strength) for S. floridana. Only S. floridana seeds were soaked in gibberellic acid (500 mg/L GA3) and tested for seed viability (40%). For each treatment, 3 replications of 10, 25 or 50 seeds per Petri dish with moistened filter paper were used depending on the species. After dusting with Thiram to prevent fungal contamination, dishes were placed in colorless tubs in a seed germination chamber with 16 hours light at 17 μmol·m·sec and 25C. Germinated seeds were counted for 30 days. Arcsine transformation of germination percentages were analyzed with a one-way analysis of variance at 5% level. The best treatment for all species, excluding S. floridana, was 15 minutes acid scarification for S. lateriflora with all other treatments yielding 13% germination or less for the 3 species. Control seeds of S. floridana germinated significantly higher than seeds with stratification, scarification, and plant debris smoke solutions, but were similar with Hickory Smoke Seasoning and GA3. For the control of S. floridana, 83% of viable seeds germinated. For the seed bank study, soil samples were collected in 2 years from 8 different sites with S. floridana in Florida by scraping the soil surface near plants to collect 600 mL per site. The first seed bank soils were collected in February 2012 and the second seed bank soils in December 2012 – January 2013. Soil texture particles varied from 0-100% sand, 0-88% silt, and 0-38% clay. Soil pH ranged from 4-5, and soil moisture was between 17-63%. Planting pots were filled with sterilized sand and a layer of soil on top, and placed in a growth chamber at 25C with 16 hours light at 90 μmol/m/sec for 64 days. Six replications per site were used. Emergence was recorded as either monocot or dicot seedlings. A total of 11 dicots and 7 monocots emerged from all three sites in the first study. For the second study, 73 monocots and 34 dicots emerged from the 7 sites. No seedlings of S. floridana emerged after 64 days. Overall, seeds of S. floridana responded differently than the other three Scutellaria species. Based on lack of dormancy, seeds of S. floridana are likely to germinate, but its seedlings were not observed in the seed bank, suggesting no seeds were present or seeds were not able to germinate and emerge in our conditions.


This paper shows our design of a hybrid control model for flow-based networks designed to aid the OpenFlow controller. There are many research efforts related to the flow-based networks; however, our work was inspired by OpenFlow (McKeown, et al., 2008) technology. OpenFlow is a promising future Internet enabling technology; especially that it was counted as a key enabler technology for Software Defined Networks (SDN) as explained in (Open Networking Foundation, 2012). And thus, it has a great potential to improve the current Internet by providing new functionalities and a new control scheme and thus enabling new smarter applications to be created. However, there have been some debates regarding the scalability of the OpenFlow's controller; this is due to the design of OpenFlow as it depends on a centralized controller to control flows. Our study aims to provide flow-based networks with a hybrid control model that combines both central control and distributed control, in order to provide a more relaxed control. This is done by designing two new features; network equipment to equipment flow installation, and a new type of proactive flows. Through which we aim to relieve some of the load off the central controller, make flow-based networks more self-aware, and provide a method to support flows with strict timing requirements. This hybrid control model is proposed as a step forward towards encouraging a wider adoption of flow-based networks as an easily programmed network that holds a great potential as a future Internet technology.


In many Western countries, citizens tend to support democratic ideals, while at the same time being increasingly critical of the functioning of key democratic institutions, including political representation. This paper explores how the innovation of representative democracy might help to resolve this Democratic Paradox (as presented by Robert Dahl) that is experienced by many citizens. Taking people's views as a starting point, our main question is: How do citizens evaluate innovative roles of elected and non-elected representatives, and what are the implications of these findings evaluations in terms of strengthening local democracy? Using unique survey-data from the 2018 Dutch Local Election Studies, wWe answer this question by building upon theories of political representation by both elected and non-elected representatives, which are actors (i.e. actors - such as social or medical professionals - who are not authorized through political election, but nevertheless claim to represent citizens' interests) using unique survey-data from the 2018 Dutch Local Election Studies. On this basis, we conclude that Dutch citizens are not particularly satisfied with the performance of their elected representatives. Furthermore, our analyses suggest two innovations that, in combination, can help address the challenges posed by the Democratic Paradox. First, in response to the rise of interactive and collaborative governance, elected representatives could consider adopting new roles as democratic facilitators and monitors. Second, as part of these new roles, elected representatives could consider innovating representative democracy by integrating non-elected representatives in the local representative system, as the involvement of these non-elected representatives might address the weaknesses of the current system.


Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC), such as isoprene and monoterpenes, play an important role in atmospheric processes. BVOC species are oxidized in the atmosphere and influence levels of ozone. The less volatile amongst the BVOC and their oxidation products are important for the formation and growth of secondary biogenic aerosol. In this way, the Earth's radiation balance is affected. Geographic distribution and temporal changes in BVOC emissions are highly uncertain. Here we assessed changes in emission patterns across Europe since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) with a dynamic vegetation model. This model reproduces European tree species distribution and includes a process-based algorithm for terpenoid production. In a set of simulations the model was driven with paleoclimate anomalies and reconstructed CO 2 concentrations. We quantified three main driving factors for the changes in emissions of isoprene and monoterpenes since the LGM: (1) the changes in climate, with temperature changes as the most important factor affecting plant physiology and terpenoid production in all plant species, (2) a change in species distribution related to the changes in climate, causing local shifts in emission characteristics of the vegetation, and (3) a change in CO 2 concentration, causing opposing effects on the availability of different substrates for terpenoid production. The effect of atmospheric CO2 concentration is particularly uncertain, but sensitivity simulations showed an increase in European BVOC emissions in all sensitivity experiments irrespective of the use of a direct inhibition of terpenoid production by CO2. The effects of climate change on physiology and terpenoid production resulted in an overall relatively uniform increase of emissions in Europe over the simulation period, Correspondence to: G. Schurgers (firstname.lastname@example.com) but regionally the effect of changes in species distribution and the related changes in emission capacities resulted in changes of emissions that can dominate over the physiology effects. This may have consequences for regional atmospheric chemistry simulations for the past, that have to rely on suitable geographic patterns of forest emissions.


Since its publication in 2000, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology of Plants, has been hailed as a major contribution to the plant sciences literature and critical acclaim has been matched by global sales success. Maintaining the scope and focus of the first edition, the second will provide a major update, include much new material and reorganise some chapters to further improve the presentation. This book is meticulously organised and richly illustrated, having over 1,000 full-colour illustrations and 500 photographs. It is divided into five parts covering: Compartments: Cell Reproduction: Energy Flow; Metabolic and Developmental Integration; and Plant Environment and Agriculture. Specific changes to this edition include: Completely revised with over half of the chapters having a major rewrite. Includes two new chapters on signal transduction and responses to pathogens. Restructuring of section on cell reproduction for improved presentation. Dedicated website to include all illustrative material. Biochemistry & Molecular Biology of Plants holds a unique place in the plant sciences literature as it provides the only comprehensive, authoritative, integrated single volume book in this essential field of study.


Managers want great teams, but most build them around decades-old ideas and practices made popular by companies that have lost their edge.

 Extreme Teams looks at the new generation of teams driving growth in today's most innovative firms. They do this by doing things differently: hiring the right person instead of the best person; focusing on one priority while leaving room to explore new ideas; creating an environment where people are comfortable dealing with the uncomfortable; and maximizing profit by not making profit what matters most.

 The book takes you inside top companies and examines the teamwork experiments powering their results, including how:

 Pixar's teams use constant feedback and debate to transform initially flawed films into billion-dollar hits

 A culture of radical ?freedom and responsibility? helps Netflix execute on the next big thing

 Whole Food's super-autonomous teams embrace hard metrics and friendly competition to drive performance

 Zappos fuels the weirdness and fun that sustains its success

 Times change, and so must teams. Designing and managing high-performance teams requires upgrading outdated beliefs and behaviors, and spurring a level of intensity and collaboration that lets them face down any challenge.


Giant X-ray outbursts, with luminosities of about 1037 erg s−1, are observed roughly every five years from the nearby Be/pulsar binary 1A 0535+262. In this article, we present observations of the source with VERITAS at very high energies (VHEs; E >100 GeV) triggered by the X-ray outburst in 2009 December. The observations started shortly after the onset of the outburst and provided comprehensive coverage of the episode, as well as the 111 day binary orbit. No VHE emission is evident at any time. We also examined data from the contemporaneous observations of 1A 0535+262 with the Fermi/Large Area Telescope at high-energy photons (E > 0.1 GeV) and failed to detect the source at GeV energies. The X-ray continua measured with the Swift/X-Ray Telescope and the RXTE/PCA can be well described by the combination of blackbody and Comptonized emission from thermal electrons. Therefore, the gamma-ray and X-ray observations suggest the absence of a significant population of non-thermal particles in the system. This distinguishes 1A 0535+262 from those Be X-ray binaries (such as PSR B1259–63 and LS I +61°303) that have been detected at GeV–TeV energies. We discuss the implications of the results on theoretical models.


This article asks how venture labor manifests in the work of producing journalism on a freelance basis in a time of labor precarity. While freelancing offers journalists much-desired flexibility and autonomy, it is also a way for corporations to offload the risk of producing media onto individuals, infusing freelance work with instability. Freelancers earn low wages and face increasing pressure to work for no pay, have limited social protections, and are presented with exploitative contracts for their work. In the face of competing risks and rewards, collective action holds potential for improving freelancers' conditions.


Lineament enhancement is an important subject in image,processing. In this paper a simple but powerful lineament enhancement technique is presented, which consists of a unique differentiation and a directional filtering. A preprocessing and postprocessings are also described. And some results from LANDSAT images are selected and exhibited for comparison of the effects of several parameters in each step.


In this paper, I trouble constructions of community through exploring temporal spatial configurations of support for queer-identified Muslims living in America. I assert that when community is not something one can physically access, use of the internet to create temporary spaces of community is critical in assessing identity reconciliation between intersectional conflicting identity. As it relates to queer Muslims, where there is a distinct lack of public community, the level of crisis some individuals face is explored through their use of online vehicles to establish social support systems that would otherwise not be available. My paper provides a framework in which to discuss queer Muslim challenges to traditional narratives among American LGBTQ existence and resilience. Based on ethnographic research among several online communities, I analyze how queer Muslims negotiate the authority of dominant narratives concerning identity conflict, activism, community, and space through digital forums. Based on virtual participant observation within queer Muslim online communities and interviews with those who use them, this paper advances ethnographic work on the intersecting projects of identity reconciliation and community formation through digital means.


OBJECT
Brain tumors are the most common category of childhood solid tumors. In the 1970s and 1980s, treatment protocols for benign tumors focused almost exclusively on surgery, with radiation treatment as a salvage modality, whereas the management of malignant tumors employed a combination of surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, with therapeutic approaches such as "8-in-1" chemotherapy often applied across histological tumor subsets that are now recognized to be prognostically distinct. During the ensuing years, treatment has become increasingly refined, based on clinical and, more recently, molecular factors, which have supported risk-adapted treatment stratification. The goal of this report is to provide an overview of recent progress in the field.

METHODS
A review of the literature was undertaken to examine recent advances in the management of the most common childhood brain tumor subsets, and in particular to identify instances in which molecular categorization and treatment stratification offer evidence or promise for improving outcome.

RESULTS
For both medulloblastomas and infant tumors, refinements in clinical and molecular stratification have already facilitated efforts to achieve risk-adapted treatment planning. Current treatment strategies for children with these tumors focus on improving outcome for tumor subsets that have historically been relatively resistant to therapy and reducing treatment-related sequelae for children with therapy-responsive tumors. Recent advances in molecular categorization offer the promise of further refinements in future studies. For children with ependymomas and low-grade gliomas, clinical risk stratification has facilitated tailored approaches to therapy, with improvement of disease control and concomitant reduction in treatment sequelae, and recent discoveries have identified promising therapeutic targets for molecularly based therapy. In contrast, the prognosis remains poor for children with diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas and other high-grade gliomas, despite recent identification of biological correlates of tumor prognosis and elucidation of molecular substrates of tumor development.

CONCLUSIONS
Advances in the clinical and molecular stratification for many types of childhood brain tumors have provided a foundation for risk-adapted treatment planning and improvements in outcome. In some instances, molecular characterization approaches have also yielded insights into new therapeutic targets. For other tumor types, outcome remains discouraging, although new information regarding the biological features critical to tumorigenesis are being translated into novel therapeutic approaches that hold promise for future improvements.


This paper explores some of the ways in which the positionality of the child and adult 'voice' can influence research. It builds on previously published work into positionality and will present a consideration of the complexities of positional exchanges between adults and children in research which seeks to gain the views of children, adults, or both. Reviewing the ways in which positionality can work to impact on research is central to ensuring that projects are undertaken in ways that enable participants of any age to share their views in a supportive environment. The changing nature of positionalities within project work can necessitate constant (re)negotiation of roles for researchers and participants alike, challenging the planning of studies, data collection, analysis and dissemination. The work will draw on examples from a range of completed projects which focussed on the lifeworlds of children and families. Using data and researcher reflections it will signal the potential and realised impacts of positionality at various stages of the research process; from design to completion. Examples will be drawn from UK-based studies which reflect diversity of research topic, design and samples, including young teenage parents, young wheelchair users, young users of mental health services and family support centres. In addition, the studies offer an opportunity to reflect on the impact of positionality where researchers seek to involve children and adults in different ways, from participant to peer researcher. The work will conclude by suggesting a range of methodological and practical recommendations for research into childhood and families.


Very smooth relief microstructures were fabricated in X-cut Lithium Niobate by using an improved ion implantation-assisted wet etching technique. The substrates were implanted with 5 MeV Cu ions at a fluence of 1× 1015 cm-2 through a masking layer. Three kinds of layers were patterned and tested: Au, positive photoresist and SU-8 negative photoresist. The damaged regions were then etched with a HF solution at a rate of 100 nm/s. The process can be repeated to obtain higher aspect ratios. The relief structures fabricated with this technology are presented and discussed. In order to explore a possible application of our technique optical waveguides were created in the best quality structures by means of a multi-step carbon ion implantation process with ten different energies followed by an annealing at 280°C for 30 minutes. In this way a step-like enhanced extraordinary refractive index profile was obtained inside the ridges extending from surface to a depth of 2.75 μm. Optical characterization @ 660 nm of the waveguides yielded a propagation loss of 0.23 ± 0.09 dB/cm. The very good results of the best structures make them very promising for integrated optics and acousto/opto-ίuidics.


Unsupervised disentangled representation learning is one of the foundational methods to learn interpretable factors in the data. Existing learning methods are based on the assumption that disentangled factors are mutually independent and incorporate this assumption with the evidence lower bound. However, our experiment reveals that factors in real-world data tend to be pairwise independent. Accordingly, we propose a new method based on a pairwise independence assumption to learn the disentangled representation. The evidence lower bound implicitly encourages mutual independence of latent codes so it is too strong for our assumption. Therefore, we introduce another lower bound in our method. Extensive experiments show that our proposed method gives competitive performances as compared with other state-of-the-art methods.


It has recently been possible to synthesize ordered assemblies composed of magnetic superatomic clusters Ni9Te6(PEt3)8 separated by C60 and study their magnetic behavior. We have carried out theoretical studies on model systems consisting of magnetic superatoms separated by non-magnetic species to examine the evolution in magnetic response as the nature of the magnetic superatom (directions of spin quantization), the strength of isotropic and anisotropic interactions, the magnetic anisotropy energy, and the size of the assembly are varied. We have examined square planar configurations consisting of 16, 24 and 48 sites with 8, 12 and 24 magnetic superatoms respectively. The magnetic atoms are allowed 2 or 5 orientations. The model Hamiltonian includes isotropic exchange interactions with second nearest neighbor ferromagnetic and nearest neighbor antiferromagnetic couplings and anisotropic Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions. It is shown that the inclusion of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction that cause spin canting is necessary to get qualitative response as observed in experiments.


In the Pauline communities, ethics, ethos and identity were closely intertwined. This essay analyses the way in which Paul emphasised the mental boundaries of the Christ communities to turn them into moral boundaries. In this process, the fencing off of these communities over against their past and their present was a fundamental feature of Paul's reasoning. The communities thus became fenced off from their past, because the Christ event was seen as causing a major change in history. This change affected both Gentile and Jewish believers. At the same time, Paul stressed the boundaries with the outside world: he characterised the inside world as the loyal remnant of Israel, consisting of Jews and Gentiles alike, and pointed out that this group is the group of the elect 'saints'. The perspective with which Paul looked at ethics and morality inside this group was strongly coloured by the assumed identity of this group as 'Israel'. Even though the Mosaic Law was no longer the focal point for the identity of this eschatological Israel, the ethical demands Paul mentioned over against the members of this new Israel were highly influenced by the morality of the law. For Paul, sanctification was a fundamental ideal, and this ideal reflected the spirituality of the Holiness Code of Leviticus. This particular ethical model was framed by the awareness that Paul (and Christ before him) was 'sent' by God, much in the same way the prophets of Israel themselves had been sent.


Abstract This discussion paper presents a framework for spatiotemporal differentiation in ecological protection goals to assess the risks of pesticides in surface waters. It also provides a proposal to harmonize the different scientific approaches for ecotoxicological effect assessment adopted in guidance documents that support different legislative directives in the European Union (Water Framework Directive and Uniform Principles). Decision schemes to derive maximum permissible concentrations in surface water are presented. These schemes are based on approaches recommended in regulatory guidance documents and are scientifically underpinned by critical review papers concerning the impact of pesticides on freshwater organisms and communities. Special attention is given to the approaches based on standard test species, species sensitivity distribution curves, and model ecosystem experiments. The decision schemes presented here may play a role in the "acceptability" debate and can be used as options in the process of communication between risk assessors and risk managers as well as between these risk experts and other stakeholders.


Corrosion of metallic oilfield pipelines by microorganisms is a costly but poorly understood phenomenon, with standard treatment methods targeting mesophilic sulfatereducing bacteria. In assessing biocorrosion potential at an Alaskan North Slope oil field, we identified thermophilic hydrogen-using methanogens, syntrophic bacteria, peptideand amino acid-fermenting bacteria, iron reducers, sulfur/thiosulfate-reducing bacteria and sulfate-reducing archaea. These microbes can stimulate metal corrosion through production of organic acids, CO2, sulfur species, and via hydrogen oxidation and iron reduction, implicating many more types of organisms than are currently targeted. Micromolar quantities of putative anaerobic metabolites of C1-C4 n-alkanes in pipeline fluids were detected, implying that these low molecular weight hydrocarbons, routinely injected into reservoirs for oil recovery purposes, are biodegraded and provide biocorrosive microbial communities with an important source of nutrients.


This paper deals with the problem of optimum design of reinforced concrete flat slabs by genetic algorithm. Four case studies are discussed; flat slabs with and without edge beams, and, flat-plate with and without edge beams. The cost function represents the cost of concrete, steel reinforcement, and formwork. The design variables are: the effective depth of the slab, dimensions of drop panel, the area of flexural reinforcement at the critical sections of slab, and of edge beams. The constraints are taken on slab dimensions, and area of steel reinforcements. The results showed that the optimum ratio of (effective depth /span length) are within the ranges (1/39-1/27) for flat slabs without edge beams, (1/43-1/30) for flat slabs with edge beams , (1/30-1/23) for flat-plate without edge beams and (1/35-1/25) for flat-plates with edge beams. It is also found, that for same span length, the flat slab without edge beams is more economical slab types.


Purpose Prolonged cycling exercise performance in normoxia is limited because of both peripheral and central neuromuscular impairments. It has been reported that cerebral perturbations are greater during short-duration exercise in hypoxia compared with normoxia. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that central deficits are accentuated in hypoxia compared with normoxia during prolonged (three bouts of 80 min separated by 25 min) whole-body exercise at the same relative intensity. Methods Ten subjects performed two sessions consisting of three 80-min cycling bouts at 45% of their relative maximal aerobic power in normoxia and hypoxia (FiO2 = 0.12). Before exercise and after each bout, maximal voluntary force, voluntary activation assessed with nerve stimulation and transcranial magnetic stimulation, corticospinal excitability (motor evoked potential), intracortical inhibition (cortical silent period), and electrical (M-wave) and contractile (twitch and doublet peak forces) properties of the knee extensors were measured. Prefrontal and motor cortical oxygenation was also recorded during each cycling bout in both conditions. Results A significant but similar force reduction (≈−22%) was observed at the end of exercise in normoxia and hypoxia. The modifications of voluntary activation assessed with transcranial magnetic stimulation and nerve stimulation, motor evoked potential, cortical silent period, and M-wave were also similar in both conditions. However, cerebral oxygenation was reduced in hypoxia compared with normoxia. Conclusion These findings show that when performed at the same relative low intensity, prolonged exercise does not induce greater supraspinal fatigue in hypoxia compared with normoxia. Despite lower absolute exercise intensities in hypoxia, reduced brain O2 availability might contribute to similar amounts of central fatigue compared with normoxia.


Although standards of rigor in mathematics are subject to debate among philosophers, mathematicians and educators, proof remains fundamental to mathematics and distinguishes mathematics from other sciences. There is no doubt that the ability to appreciate, understand and construct proofs is necessary for students at all levels, in particular for students in advanced undergraduate and graduate mathematics courses. However, studies show that learning and teaching proof may be problematic and students experience difficulties in mathematical reasoning and proving.
This thesis is influenced by Lakatos' (1976) view of mathematics as a 'quasi-empirical' science and the role of experimentation in mathematicians' practice. The purpose of this thesis was to gain insight into undergraduate students' ways of validating the results of their mathematical thinking. How do they know that they are right? While working on my research, I also faced methodological difficulties. In the thesis, I included my earliest experiences as a novice researcher in mathematics education and described the process of choosing, testing and adapting a theoretical framework for analyzing a set of MAST 217 (Introduction to Mathematical Thinking) students' solutions of a problem involving investigation. The adjusted CPiMI (Cognitive Processes in Mathematical Investigation, Yeo, 2017) model allowed me to analyze students' solutions and draw conclusions about the ways they solve the problem and justify their results. Also I placed the result of this study in the context of previous research.


Phase I: Ericksonian/Strategic Approaches. Milton Erickson: An Uncommon Therapist - Part I. Milton Erickson: An Uncommon Therapist - Part II. What Constitutes an Ericksonian Approach? Custom Reframing: The Use of Analogies for a Change. The Use of Metaphor to Treat Somatic Complaints in Therapy. The Tape Recorder. CureContextual Pattern Intervention: Integrating Individual and Interactional Approaches to the Treatment of Bulimia and Bingeing. Not Strategic, Not Systemic: Still Clueless After All These Years. Phase II: Solution-Oriented Therapy. Solution-Oriented Therapy: A Megatrend in Psychotherapy. Take Two People and Call Them in the Morning: Brief Solution-Oriented Treatment of Depression. Accountability in Psychotherapy: A Quality Assurance Method. History Becomes Herstory: Collaborative Solution-Oriented Therapy of the Aftereffects of Sexual Abuse. Fragments for a Therapeutic Autobiography. Debriefing Myself: When a Brief Therapist Does Long-Term Work. Phase III: Possibility Therapy. Possibility Therapy: From Iatrogenic Injury to Iatrogenic Healing.My Guess Syndrome. DSM-V: A Modest Proposal. Frozen in Time: Possibility Therapy with Adults Who Were Sexually Abused as Children. Possibility Therapy with Families. Phase IV: Inclusive Therapy. What's the Story? Narrative Therapy and the Third Wave of Psychotherapy.


Disentanglement is at the forefront of unsupervised learning, as disentangled representations of data improve generalization, interpretability, and performance in downstream tasks. Current unsupervised approaches remain inapplicable for real-world datasets since they are highly variable in their performance and fail to reach levels of disentanglement of (semi-)supervised approaches. We introduce population-based training (PBT) for improving consistency in training variational autoencoders (VAEs) and demonstrate the validity of this approach in a supervised setting (PBT-VAE). We then use Unsupervised Disentanglement Ranking (UDR) as an unsupervised heuristic to score models in our PBT-VAE training and show how models trained this way tend to consistently disentangle only a subset of the generative factors. Building on top of this observation we introduce the recursive rPU-VAE approach. We train the model until convergence, remove the learned factors from the dataset and reiterate. In doing so, we can label subsets of the dataset with the learned factors and consecutively use these labels to train one model that fully disentangles the whole dataset. With this approach, we show striking improvement in state-of-the-art unsupervised disentanglement performance and robustness across multiple datasets and metrics.


This thesis comprises three essays. The first two make use of individual-level data on British workers from the British Household Panel Survey to study different aspects of nonstandard employment.
The first essay, co-authored with Mark Bryan, presents estimates of the implicit monetary value that workers attach to non-standard work. We employ and compare two alternative methods to measure workers' willingness to pay for four non-standard working arrangements: flexitime, part-time, night work, and rotating shifts. The first method is based on job-to-job transitions within a job search framework, while the second is based on estimating the determinants of subjective well-being. We find that the results of the two methods differ, and relate them to conceptual differences between utility and subjective wellbeing proposed recently in the happiness literature.
The second essay builds on economic theories of consumption and saving choices to investigate whether workers expect temporary work to be a stepping stone towards better jobs, or a source of uncertainty and insecurity. The evidence provided shows that temporary
work entails both expected improvements in future earnings, and uncertainty. Households' consumption and saving choices are used to assess which of these two effects is prevailing, providing an alternative empirical approach to measure the consequences of temporary work for workers' welfare. The results suggest that a stepping stone effect towards better jobs is present and, more importantly, is perceived by individuals and internalized in their behaviour.
Finally, the last essay has a specific focus on econometric methods. A Monte Carlo experiment is used to investigate the extent to with the Poisson RE estimator is likely to produce results similar to ones obtained using the Poisson FE estimator when the random effects assumption is violated. The first order conditions of the two estimators differ by a term that tends to zero when the number of time periods (T), or the variance of the time-constant unobserved heterogeneity (V), tend to infinity. Different data generating processes are employed to understand if this result is likely to apply in common panel data where both characteristics are finite. As expected, the bias of RE estimates decreases with T and V. However, the same does not hold for the estimated coefficient on the time invariant dummy variable embedded in the conditional mean, which remains substantially biased. This raises a note of caution for practitioners.


The purpose of this study was to determine entry level vision rehabilitation competencies for graduating optometrists and to examine the level of agreement about those opinions using consensus methodology. A mixed methods consensus approach to define competencies in entry level low vision rehabilitation was used. The study extended 6 months, incorporating online surveys and a 2-day meeting. Twenty entry level low vision competencies were approved by the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry in 2009. A 2-level approach to the education and practice of low vision may be a solution to the call for trained doctors who can meet the growing need in the current low vision landscape.


Using the so-called embeddedness perspective, this article highlights the importance of context (time, space and institutions) for the direction of current research on the gender structure of entrepreneurship. The authors focus mainly on the effects of institutional context, namely tax and family policies, on business couples (copreneurs). The emphasis is on how these factors and formal institutions, which are reflected in informal gender norms, influence the work-life balance strategies of copreneurs. Based on a qualitative analysis of 24 in-depth interviews, the authors identify three strategies of achieving work-life balance and using welfare state measures: individualistic, adapting and innovating. Based on separate in-depth interviews with these business and life partners, we are also able to analyse the dynamics of communication between them. We draw attention to the finding that the strategies identified are not exclusive and may change during one's life course and business career. Despite their differences, in some respects all these strategies preserve and reproduce gender inequality because it is embedded in the social context and institutional framework for economic activity and work-life balance in the Czech Republic.


Arterial calcification is a manifestation of atherosclerosis, which over the last two
decades has become a recognised predictor of cardiovascular disease. Abdominal
Aortic Calcification (AAC) and osteoporosis have been shown to coincide in older
individuals. The accepted method of diagnosing osteoporosis is through the
measurement of bone mineral density by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA).
Vertebral fracture assessment (VFA) images obtained alongside BMD using DXA
technology provide an inexpensive resource for AAC diagnosis.
Although several simple methods have been proposed for manual semi-quantitative
scoring of AAC in x-ray images in the past, these methods have limitations in terms of
capturing small changes in atherosclerosis progression and are time-consuming.
Several automatic approaches have been proposed to measure AAC on radiographs.
However, these methods have not been related to any accepted medical AAC scoring
systems and thus are not likely to be adopted easily by the medical community. In
addition, there has been no attempt to apply the proposed methods to VFA images.
The main focus of the research presented in this thesis is the automatic quantification of
AAC in VFA images acquired in single energy mode. The thesis is divided into two main
parts. In the first part, an automatic method for AAC detection and quantification in VFA
images is proposed and evaluated on a large number of images. In the second part, the
performance of both single and dual energy VFA imaging for the detection of uniformly
distributed calcification is investigated.
The automatic method for AAC detection consists of two stages. In the first stage an
active appearance model was employed for the purpose of segmentaion. In the second
stage, adaptive thresholding techniques were used to detect AAC, whilst automatic
iii
classification techniques were used to quantify the detected calcification. The
performance of several classifiers were investigated, and the proposed method was
evaluated against the manual AC-24 scoring method using several hundred images and
two human readers. A thorough statistical analysis of the results showed that, overall,
the SVM classifier gave the best results. Weighted accuracy, sensitivity, specificity
assessed for 4 AAC categories were 89.2%, 78.5% and 92.3% respectively while the
corresponding values for 3 AAC categories were 88.6%, 86%, 90.4%.
In the second part, a study using a tissue-mimicking physical phantom is described. The
phantom consists of an aluminium strip within Perspex to simulate calcification and
abdominal soft tissue respectively.
VFA images of different phantom configurations were acquired in single energy (SE) and
dual energy (DE) modes. The minimum detectable aluminium thickness was assessed
visually and related to contrast and contrast-to-noise ratio. Percentage coefficient of
variation was used to quantify uniformity, repeatability and reproducibility with a Perspex
width of 25 cm, the smallest thickness of aluminium that could be detected was 0.20-
0.25 mm.
The initial results are promising, and the system proposed in this research can be used
as an alternative method to the manual scoring system (AC-24) for a wide range of AAC.
The principal conclusion from the phantom work is that under idealised imaging
conditions, VFA images have the potential to be used for detecting small thicknesses of
calcification with good linearity, repeatability and reproducibility in SE and DE modes for
patients with a body width < 30 cm.


The solid-state hole transporting material 2,2′,7,7′-tetrakis(N,N′-di-p-methoxyphenylamine)-9,9′-spirobifluorene (spiro-OMeTAD) has been applied as an interlayer for graphene oxide/single walled carbon nanotube–silicon (GOCNT/Si) heterojunction solar cells, forming a GOCNT/spiro-OMeTAD/Si structure. An organic–aqueous transfer method was developed to deposit the GOCNT electrode onto the spiro-OMeTAD coated Si surface without dissolving the organic layer. The influence of the thickness of the organic layer and the thin film GOCNT transparent conducting electrodes as well as the doping of the films with gold chloride (AuCl3) on device performance is explored. With the optimized thickness of the spiro-OMeTAD interlayer and the GOCNT electrode with transmittance above 80% at 550 nm, devices with solar power conversion efficiency of 12.83 ± 0.22% have been fabricated. This study reveals that adding a hole-conducting organic interlayer is able to significantly minimize the recombination at the heterojunction interface. In addition to improving performance, the spiro-OMeTAD behaves as a physical protection layer to significantly enhance device stability.


A series of bis-Schiff bases (3a-l) has been synthesized by condensation of substituted hydrazones (1a-l) with 3,5-dibromosalicylaldehyde (2) at room temperature within a short period of time under catalytic free conditions. The chemical structures of the synthesized compounds were confirmed on the basis of spectral analysis data. The bis-Schiff base derivatives (3a-l) were further screened for their in vitro antibacterial activity against plant, human pathogenic bacteria ( Erwinia carotovora , Xanthomonas citri , Proteus vulgaris , Staphylococcus aureus ) and antifungal ( Alternaria and Curvularia lunata ) studies. Compounds (3a-l) showed promising activities against S. aureus and Proteus vulgaris .


This paper provides a status report on the development of the GLII land indicators, including the latest listing and formulations of proposed indicators, key elements for disaggregation, and broad considerations on data sources and methodologies for data collection and assessment. It is made available for consideration by GLII participants, partners and stakeholder organizations, together with a series of working papers on the GLII Conceptual Framework, and Operationalizing the GLII indicator framework a Sourcebook and a Curriculum for prepared by a team managed by the Natural Resources Institute (NRI, University of Greenwich). The proposed indicators and continuing development of the GLII indicator framework are informed by discussions with a GLII Data and Statistics Reference Group, convened by GLTN to assist in refining the full list of indicators indicator and defining the data sources and methods. This group has discussed extensively the latest formulations, disaggregation, data sources and methodology of draft land indicators, in relation to the formulations of land indicators proposed for and now adopted for the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UNSDSN) and United Nations Statistics Commission (UNSC). These discussions, resulted in a number of proposed revisions to the indicators as formulated by the GLII Working Group in The Hague in October 2014, and accepted by a GLII EGM held in Addis Ababa the following month. At the time of writing the priorities were for GLII is to finalise the indicator framework based on the share principles and priorities of GLII participants and the organizations represented, to define relevant data sources and to propose feasible and robust methodologies for measurement and reporting, linked to existing relevant initiatives. Now that GLII indicators 1 and 2 have been incorporated into the SDG indicator framework, those ongoing activities remain essential for operationalizing the GLII indicator framework and enabling the collaboration of national statistical organizations in land monitoring.


Model selection is commonly based on some variation of the BIC or minimum message length criteria, such as MML and MDL. In either case the criterion is split into two terms: one for the model (data code length/model complexity) and one for the data given the model (message length/data likelihood). For problems such as change detection, unsupervised segmentation or data clustering it is common practice for the model term to comprise only a sum of sub-model terms. In this paper it is shown that the full model complexity must also take into account the number of sub models and the labels which assign data to each sub model. From this analysis we derive an extended BIC approach (EBIC) for this class of problem. Results with artificial data are given to illustrate the properties of this procedure.


ABSTRACT Elections generate incentives for contention and violence. However, collective action problems mute responses to strategic incentives by unorganized individuals, relative to organized groups. Variation in the severity of collective action problems and the degree of strategic behaviour results in distinct patterns of mobilization across these two types of groups that have been overlooked in previous literature. We explore variation in organized and unorganized political mobilization and violence at elections using new event data for over one hundred cities in the developing world from 1960 to 2014. We find that organized groups are more likely to mobilize before elections to influence their outcome, and under permissive opportunity structures at moderate levels of democracy. Mobilization by unorganized individuals occurs at and directly after elections but does not vary by regime type. Distinct mobilization patterns across group type are a major addition to our understanding of the link between elections, democracy, contention and violence.


Naturalistic ethics is the reigning paradigm among contemporary ethicists; in God and Cosmos, Baggett and Walls argue that this approach is seriously flawed. This book canvasses a broad array of secular and naturalistic ethical theories in an effort to test their adequacy in accounting for moral duties, intrinsic human value, prospects for radical moral transformation, and the rationality of morality. In each case, the authors argue, although various secular accounts provide real insights and indeed share common ground with theistic ethics, the resources of classical theism and orthodox Christianity provide the better explanation of the moral realities under consideration. Among such realities is the fundamental insight behind the problem of evil, namely, that the world is not as it should be. Baggett and Walls argue that God and the world, taken together, exhibit superior explanatory scope and power for morality classically construed, without the need to water down the categories of morality, the import of human value, the prescriptive strength of moral obligations, or the deliverances of the logic, language, and phenomenology of moral experience. This book thus provides a cogent moral argument for God's existence, one that is abductive, teleological, and cumulative.


This work presents an accurate computer aided design (CAD) for microstrip taper lines in the microwave range of frequency. This CAD considers all design parameters affecting the characteristics of the line for different terminal impedances. The CAD takes into consideration the dispersion of effective permittivity at high frequency , different substrates materials, different shape ratios (wlh) and metalization thickness. The CAD is designed based on accurate formulas to obtain the matching requirements for any section. Evaluation of the reflection coefficient takes into account the variation of effective permittivity with line width and frequency, and then a modified reflection pattern is applied to obtain the optimum bandwidth for the tapered line. Restrictions for accurate calculations of the effective permittivity and the characteristic impedance at high frequency are underlined.


Atmospheric chemistry dominates the size distribution and composition of most fine particles inhaled by humans. However, it is important to distinguish between secondary particles—new particles formed in the atmosphere—and secondary mass—molecules formed in the atmosphere that condense to existing particles. In many ways the life stories of particles viewed from the perspectives of particle number concentrations and particle mass concentrations are distinct. Individual particle cores can often be said to have an individual source, while the mass on individual particles comes from myriad sources. This, plus the aforementioned chemical processing in the atmosphere, must be kept in mind when considering the health effects of fine particles.


How convergent systems distribute strain among frontal thrusts is a major concern regarding seismic hazard assessment. Along the 2500 km Himalayan arc, the seismic behavior of the Bhutan region is unknown, because it corresponds to the only portion of the arc where no evidence of major earthquakes has been reported. This can be due either to the fact that no active tectonic studies have been conducted or to continental shortening being absorbed by the Shillong plateau 150 km farther south. Analyzing offset fluvial terraces in south-central Bhutan shows that two major earthquakes ruptured the Himalayan frontal thrust during the last millennium, and that a comparable rate of Holocene deformation (∼20 mm/yr) is accommodated across the Himalaya in Bhutan as in central Nepal. Thus, the propensity for great earthquakes in Bhutan is similar to what is observed in neighboring portions of the Himalaya arc. This in turn suggests that the shortening process beneath the Shillong plateau has little effect on how strain accumulates within the Bhutanese Himalaya.


The ultimate goal of Computer-Aided Design research in the area of digital circuits is the automatic synthesis of a complete solution from a behavioural specification. This thesis describes an attempt to attain this ideal in the more limited realm of designing single-board control systems, constructed from general-purpose microprocessor components. The difficulties currently encountered in designing and implementing microprocessor control systems are outlined, and the architecture of an integrated, knowledge-based design system is proposed as a method of overcoming these difficulties. The design system encompasses both behavioural and structural design functions. However, only the tools and techniques required to fulfil the behavioural design functions are considered in detail in this project.A review of previous work in the field of automated digital circuit design and software and hardware specification languages is presented. The major features of a novel language for specifying and simulating control system behaviour are then described, together with an intermediate design description notation, which facilitates the generation of microprocessor assembly language code directly from behavioural specifications. The design and implementation of a fast, generalised microprocessor simulation facility constructed from transputers is discussed, and its performance potential analysed. The simulation facility enables the complete design for a given application to be tested, before any actual hardware construction takes place. Finally, an evaluation of the behavioural specification, synthesis and simulation techniques developed in this project is presented, and the benefits perceived from adopting such techniques are summarised. Issues concerning the integration of these techniques with the knowledge-based structural design tools are also dealt with, and suggestions for further developments and enhancements are identified.


The photorefractive properties of semi-insulating AlGaAs–GaAs multiple quantum wells are described for the transverse Franz–Keldysh geometry with the electric field in the plane of the quantum wells. Combining the strong electroabsorption of quantum-confined excitons with the high resistivity of semi-insulating quantum wells yields large nonlinear optical sensitivities. The photorefractive quantum wells have effective nonlinear optical sensitivities of n2 ≈ 103 cm2/W and α2/α0 ≈ 104 cm2/W for applied fields of 10 kV/cm. Photorefractive gains approaching 1000 cm−1 have been observed in two-wave mixing under dc electric fields and stationary fringes. The transverse Franz–Keldysh geometry retains the general transport properties and behavior of conventional bulk photorefractive materials. The resonant excitation of free electrons and holes in the quantum wells leads to novel behavior associated with electron–hole competition. We demonstrate that under resonant excitation of electrons and holes the device resolution is fundamentally limited by diffusion lengths but is insensitive to long drift lengths.


Metazoan germ cells develop as sperm or oocytes, depending on chromosomal sex, extrinsic signaling from somatic tissue and intrinsic factors within the germ cells. Gamete fate regulatory networks have been analyzed in nematodes, flies and mammals, but only in C. elegans have terminal intrinsic regulators been identified, which include a Tob/BTG protein family member, FOG-3. Canonical Tob/BTG proteins function as monomeric adaptor proteins that link RNA binding proteins to deadenylases. To ask if FOG-3 functions similarly, we first determined its crystal structure. FOG-3 harbors a classical Tob/BTG fold, but unlike other Tob/BTG proteins, FOG-3 dimerizes and these FOG-3 dimers assemble into polymers. The importance of FOG-3 polymers to sperm fate specification was confirmed in vivo using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to create mutations designed to disrupt the polymer interface. The FOG-3 surface potential is highly basic, suggesting binding to nucleic acid. We find that FOG-3 binds RNA directly with a strong preference for 3'UTRs of oogenic mRNAs. Our results reveal a divergent but striking molecular assembly for proteins with a Tob/BTG fold, make key advances in understanding the mechanism of sperm fate specification and highlight the potential for undiscovered protein polymers in biology.


Failures in electronics subjected to shock and vibration are typically diagnosed using the built-in self test (BIST) or using continuity monitoring of daisy-chained packages. The BIST which is extensively used for diagnostics or identification of failure, is focused on reactive failure detection and provides limited insight into reliability and residual life. In this paper, a new technique has been developed for health monitoring and failure mode classification based on measured damage pre-cursors. A feature extraction technique in the joint-time frequency domain has been developed along with pattern classifiers for fault diagnosis of electronics at product-level. The Karhunen Loéve transform (KLT) has been used for feature reduction and de-correlation of the feature vectors for fault mode classification in electronic assemblies. Euclidean, and Mahalanobis, and Bayesian distance classifiers based on joint-time frequency analysis, have been used for classification of the resulting feature space. Previously, the authors have developed damage precursors based on time and spectral techniques for health monitoring of electronics without reliance on continuity data from daisy-chained packages. Statistical Pattern Recognition techniques based on wavelet packet energy decomposition [Lall 2006a] have been studied by authors for quantification of shock damage in electronic assemblies, and auto-regressive moving average, and time-frequency techniques have been investigated for system identification, condition monitoring, and fault detection and diagnosis in electronic systems [Lall 2008]. However, identification of specific failure modes was not possible. In this paper, various fault modes such as solder inter-connect failure, inter-connect missing, chip delamination chip cracking etc in various packaging architectures have been classified using clustering of feature vectors based on the KLT approach [Goumas 2002]. The KLT de-correlates the feature space and identifies dominant directions to describe the space, eliminating directions that encode little useful information about the features [Qian 1996, Schalkoff 1972, Theodoridis 1998, Tou 1974]. The clustered damage precursors have been correlated with underlying damage. Several chip-scale packages have been studied, with leadfree second-level interconnects including SAC105, SAC305 alloys. Transient strain has been measured during the drop-event using digital image correlation and high-speed cameras operating at 100,000 fps. Continuity has been monitored simultaneously for failure identification. Fault-mode classification has been done using KLT and joint-time-frequency analysis of the experimental data. In addition, explicit finite element models have been developed and various kinds of failure modes have been simulated such as solder ball cracking, trace fracture, package falloff and solder ball failure. Models using cohesive elements present at the solder joint-copper pad interface at both the PCB and package side have also been created to study the traction-separation behavior of solder. Fault modes predicted by simulation based pre-cursors have been correlated with those from experimental data.


Spatially diverse trends in population growth, climate change, industrialization, urbanization and economic development are expected to change future food supply and demand. These changes may affect the suitability of land for food production, implying elevated risks especially for resource-constrained, food-importing countries. We present the evolution of biophysical redundancy for agricultural production at country level, from 1992 to 2012. Biophysical redundancy, defined as unused biotic and abiotic environmental resources, is represented by the potential food production of 'spare land', available water resources (i.e., not already used for human activities), as well as production increases through yield gap closure on cultivated areas and potential agricultural areas. In 2012, the biophysical redundancy of 75 (48) countries, mainly in North Africa, Western Europe, the Middle East and Asia, was insufficient to produce the caloric nutritional needs for at least 50% (25%) of their population during a year. Biophysical redundancy has decreased in the last two decades in 102 out of 155 countries, 11 of these went from high to limited redundancy, and nine of these from limited to very low redundancy. Although the variability of the drivers of change across different countries is high, improvements in yield and population growth have a clear impact on the decreases of redundancy towards the very low redundancy category. We took a more detailed look at countries classified as 'Low Income Economies (LIEs)' since they are particularly vulnerable to domestic or external food supply changes, due to their limited capacity to offset for food supply decreases with higher purchasing power on the international market. Currently, nine LIEs have limited or very low biophysical redundancy. Many of these showed a decrease in redundancy over the last two decades, which is not always linked with improvements in per capita food availability.


Practical data design tips from a data visualization expert of the modern ageData doesn?t decrease; it is ever-increasing and can be overwhelming to organize in a way that makes sense to its intended audience. Wouldn?t it be wonderful if we could actually visualize data in such a way that we could maximize its potential and tell a story in a clear, concise manner? Thanks to the creative genius of Nathan Yau, we can. With this full-color book, data visualization guru and author Nathan Yau uses step-by-step tutorials to show you how to visualize and tell stories with data. He explains how to gather, parse, and format data and then design high quality graphics that help you explore and present patterns, outliers, and relationships.Presents a unique approach to visualizing and telling stories with data, from a data visualization expert and the creator of flowingdata.com, Nathan YauOffers step-by-step tutorials and practical design tips for creating statistical graphics, geographical maps, and information design to find meaning in the numbersDetails tools that can be used to visualize data-native graphics for the Web, such as ActionScript, Flash libraries, PHP, and JavaScript and tools to design graphics for print, such as R and IllustratorContains numerous examples and descriptions of patterns and outliers and explains how to show themVisualize This demonstrates how to explain data visually so that you can present your information in a way that is easy to understand and appealing. From the Author: Telling Stories with Data Author Nathan Yau A common mistake in data design is to approach a project with a visual layout before looking at your data. This leads to graphics that lack context and provide little value. Visualize This teaches you a data-first approach. Explore what your data has to say first, and you can design graphics that mean something. Visualization and data design all come easier with practice, and you can advance your skills with every new dataset and project. To begin though, you need a proper foundation and know what tools are available to you (but not let them bog you down). I wrote Visualize This with that in mind. You'll be exposed to a variety of software and code and jump right into real-world datasets so that you can learn visualization by doing, and most importantly be able to apply what you learn to your own data. Three Data Visualization Steps: 1) Ask a Question (Click Graphic to See Larger Version) When you get a dataset, it sometimes is a challenge figuring out where to start, especially when it's a large dataset. Approach your data with a simple curiosity or a question that you want answered, and go from there. 2) Explore Your Data (Click Graphic to See Larger Version) A simple curiosity often leads to more questions, which are a good guide for what stories to dig into. What variables are related to each other? Can you see changes over time? Are there any features in the data that stand out? Find out all you can about your data, because the more you know what's behind the numbers, the better story you can tell. 3) Visualize Your Data (Click Graphic to See Larger Version) Once you know the important parts of your data, you can design graphics the best way you see fit. Use shapes, colors, and sizes that make sense and help tell your story clearly to readers. While the base of your charts and graphs will share many of the same properties bars, slices, dots, and lines the final design elements will and should vary by your unique dataset.


Modern facade glass elements need to meet high standards of solar performance, as well as thermal insulation, while maintaining transparency requirements. These requirements are key to provide comfort for the building users and minimize energy requirements for heating and/or cooling. In today's urban environment, likely additional requirements for reflectivity, glare and acoustic performance are in place. Advanced glass coatings have come a long way in meeting many of the requirements, and have developed to the extent that further development provides diminishing returns, either in their own performance, or in combination with other coatings. There are applications in the architectural space that have relied on other technologies to meet the requirements if the use of coatings was somehow restricted, e.g. warm bent glass, applications where edge deletion is not acceptable, or where coatings interfere with electromagnetic signal transmission. An example of such a technology are solar absorbing PVB interlayers for laminated safety glass. This paper illustrates how coating technologies and solar absorbing PVB interlayers can be combined to optimize facade glass performance.


Terasi Cap Ikan Terbang production UD. Makmur Jaya is one of typical food coming from Gresik. This Terasi is made by UD. Makmur Jaya which is located in countryside of , subdistrict Sidayu, Gresik regency. This Company has owned many customers , besides conducting marketing in East Java region, UD. Makmur Jaya also conducts marketing in Central Java like, Solo, Jogja, and Rembang. But because of now a lot of emerging company of same terasi, hence need existence of improvement of quality of terasi to increase and maintain existing customer.
Under color of the target which wish reaching from this research is to identify attribute from an product terasi of pursuant to consumer expectation and desire, and make an quality planning of product terasi pursuant to technical response[is which given high priority for company.
Method used in this research is Quality Function Deplopment representing a peripheral of management which is focused on the consumer iti?½s used as an appliance for the development identified at steps of early QFD and solvable before production process started. There are four steps in course of QFD that is product planning, scheme design, planning process, and process control. Here attribute of the desired of consumer is feeling, color, price, substance, tidiness and texture.
From the processing yielded by attribute or desire of consumer which require to be developed for example hygienic tidiness (0,450), terasi feel prawn (0,446), feeling more delicate (0,740), aroma typically prawn (0,418), dark color (carmine / blackish) (0,307), substance from pure prawn (0,361), do not close the possibility of defended other attribute or is improved. Beside that priority of technical response which is made account of which must immediately in fulfilling for example multiply composition of elementary prawn upon which (271,7485), eliminating fish upon which mixture (258,0364), lessening composition of flour upon which mixture (179,8251), prawn dried by before processed to become terasi (86,6748), producing tidiness by self (80,8458), eliminating colorant of made in (67,7582), lessening salt (66,4409), and use paper arranged in layers with plastic as tidiness (54,2736).


Electronic health records collect an enormous amount of data about patients. However, the information about the patient's illness is stored in progress notes that are in an un- structured format. It is difficult for humans to annotate symptoms listed in the free text. Recently, researchers have explored the advancements of deep learning can be applied to pro- cess biomedical data. The information in the text can be extracted with the help of natural language processing. The research presented in this thesis aims at automating the process of symptom extraction. The proposed methods use pre-trained word embeddings such as BioWord2Vec, BERT, and BioBERT to generate vectors of the words based on semantics and syntactic structure of sentences. BioWord2Vec embeddings are fed into a BiLSTM neural network with a CRF layer to capture the dependencies between the co-related terms in the sentence. The pre-trained BERT and BioBERT embeddings are fed into the BERT model with a CRF layer to analyze the output tags of neighboring tokens. The research shows that with the help of the CRF layer in neural network models, longer phrases of symptoms can be extracted from the text. The proposed models are compared with the UMLS Metamap tool that uses various sources to categorize the terms in the text to different semantic types and Stanford CoreNLP, a dependency parser, that analyses syntactic relations in the sentence to extract information. The performance of the models is analyzed by using strict, relaxed, and n-gram evaluation schemes. The results show BioBERT with a CRF layer can extract the majority of the human-labeled symptoms. Furthermore, the model is used to extract symptoms from COVID-19 tweets. The model was able to extract symptoms listed by CDC as well as new symptoms.


This paper analyzes two-stage rank-order tournaments. A principal decides (i) how to spread prize money across the two periods, (ii) how to weigh performance in the two periods when awarding the second period prize, and (iii) whether to reveal performance after the first period. The information revelation policy depends exclusively on properties of the effort cost function. The principal always puts a positive weight on first-period performance in the second period. The size of the weight and the optimal prizes depend on properties of the observation error distribution; they should be chosen so as to strike a balance between the competitiveness of first- and second-period tournaments. In particular, the principal sets no first-period prize unless the observations in period one are considerably more precise than in period two.


ABSTRACT Title: Senses strategic importance to the customer experience in dressing room Authors: Anna Andersson & Alexandra Lundqvist Tutor: Dr. Bertil Hulten, Associate Professor Linneaus School of Business and Economics Linnaeus University Subject: Bachelor thesis 15 hp. Business Economics C, Marketing. Linnaeus University, spring 2011 Presentation of the question: Is it possible for companies to enhance customers experience in dressing rooms by strategically working with the senses? Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the senses relevance to the customer experience in the dressing room and create an understanding of the dressing room from a customer and business perspective. Finally we will provide suggestions for how companies can improve the experience in the dressing room. Method: We have applied an inductive approach in this study. This approach fits with the thesis work best because of the unexplored subject and by applying this we came closer to the phenomenon. The empirical data is based on observations, experiments and personal interviews. Conclusions: Our conclusion shows that companies can improve the experience for their customers by strategic use the senses. Customer's total experience of the dressing room will enhance and they also stay longer in the dressing room. Keywords: Dressing room, senses, experiences, service, servicescape and customer


The vague notion of "probabilistic patents" is formalized through a model whichcombines real option theory and a fuzzy methodology. The imprecise estimates the patent holder possesses about her future profits, the validity and scope of the patent, the litigation costs, the court's decision etc. under a regime of imperfect enforcement of property rights are specified modelling uncertainty with fuzzy sets. Such methodology is embedded within a real option approach, where the value of a patent includes the option value of litigation. We study how the value of a patent is affected by the timing and incidence of litigation. The main results are compared with the empirical findings of previous results.


Background Abiraterone is an expensive drug used in hospitals for metastatic prostate cancer and it is necessary to evaluate health outcomes from its use to establish whether it is cost-effective treatment. Purpose To analyse the effectiveness profile of abiraterone for metastatic prostate cancer in a tertiary hospital. Material and methods Retrospective observational study of three years, since abiraterone was first marketed to the present (November 2011–July 2014). All prostate cancer patients treated with abiraterone were included. Variables recorded: age, performance status (ECOG) and progression-free survival (PFS). Data were collected from patients medical records. The statistical analysis was ANOVA followed by t test. A confidence limit of p < 0.05 was set for the interpretation of results. Results 33 patients were included in the study. The median age was 72.7 (SD 9.1) years old. The PFS was 7.0 (5.2–8.8) vs. 2.9 (0.7–5.1) months for patients with ECOG 0–1 and ECOG2 respectively (p = 0.01). 5 patients were treated in first line, 3.8 months of PFS (9.1 months for ECOG0–1 patients and 1.0 months for ECOG2 patients). 28 patients in second line, 4.2 months of PFS (5.0 months for ECOG0–1 patients and 2.6 months for ECOG2 patients). Conclusion Our results indicate that ECOG 2 patients derive little clinical benefit from abiraterone. References and/or acknowledgements To the oncology service. No conflict of interest.


Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a sarcoma more frequent in children, which arises from the disruption of regulatory mechanisms that lead to the myogenic phenotype. RMS cells have low levels of muscle differentiation markers. Ezh2 is a histone methyltransferase part of the PRC2 complex and at the early stage of myogenesis it silences muscle specific genes (even MyoD target genes) consenting the proper timing of muscle specific gene expression. During skeletal differentiation in myoblasts, Ezh2 displaces from myogenic regulatory regions and MyoD dependent transcription is co-activated by the complex Cdk9/CycT2. The cyclin dependent kinase 9 and its cyclin partner, the Cyc T2, are MyoD interacting proteins that together form a complex whose main activity is phosphorylating the carboxyl terminal domain of RNApolII on muscle specific promoters allowing stabilization of the nascent transcripts. Surprisingly, its kinase activity is abrogated in RMS. Our results show that Ezh2 depletion in a human rhabdomyosarcoma cell line causes a partial reactivation of the myogenic program, more in particular a reactivation of MyoD target genes such as myosin heavy chain (MyH) and myogenin (Myog) and, in addition these data correlate with an increase in the elongating RnapolII at Myog and Myh promoters. Further analyses demonstrated the restoration of Cdk9 occupancy at Myog and Myh promoters in RD-Ezh2-KD cells providing evidence for an inhibitory effect of EZh2 on Cdk9/CycT2 kinase activity in RMS.


The present investigation describes a protocol for partial purification and basic characterization of one of the key enzymes of myo-inositol biosynthesis, D/LmyoInositol-1-phosphate phosphatase (MIPP), from a marine macro alga (Enteromorpha intestinalis) growing under varying salinity conditions of Chilika lagoon (Odisha, India). Cytosolic and chloroplastidial forms of MIPP were partially purified to about 55and 16folds respectively following lowspeed centrifugation, high-speed centrifugation, 0-80% ammonium sulfate precipitation, successive chromatography through CM-cellulose, Sephadex G-200 and UltrogelAcA 34 columns. The apparent molecular weights of the native cytosolic and plastidial forms of MIPP were determined to be 146 and 148 kDa respectively. Cytosolic and plastidial MIPP were remarkably active within the temperature range of 20-40°C and function within a narrow pH range (7.0-7.5). Using nonlinear regression kinetics, the Km value for D-MIP of the cytosolic MIPP and its plastidial iso-form were 0.07277 mM and 0.07332 mM respectively. Different monovalent as well as divalent cations exhibited variable effects on enzyme activity of either preparation. The activity of MIPP was remarkably found to increase proportionately with the salinity of Chilika lagoon.


The traditional knowledge of indigenous people is often neglected despite its significance in combating climate change. This study uncovers the potential of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) from the perspective of indigenous communities in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, and explores how TEK helps them to observe and respond to local climate change. Data were collected through interviews and field work observations and analysed using thematic analysis based on the TEK framework. The results indicated that these communities have observed a significant increase in temperature, with uncertain weather and seasons. Consequently, drought and wildfires have had a substantial impact on their livelihoods. However, they have responded to this by managing their customary land and resources to ensure food and resource security, which provides a respectable example of the sustainable management of terrestrial and inland ecosystems. The social networks and institutions of indigenous communities enable collective action which strengthens the reciprocal relationships that they rely on when calamity strikes. Accordingly, the communities maintain their TEK through cultural festivals and oral traditions passed from one generation to another. TEK is a practical tool that helps indigenous communities adapt to climate risks and promotes socio-ecological resilience, which upholds social empowerment and sustainable resource management.


A survey to identify economic insects of poplar trees was carried out during 2012 in Erbil province in northern of Iraq. Various sampling techniques were used to collect different stages of insects from all tree parts (root, stem, branches and leaves). The survey revealed the presence of 21 insect species belonging to 4 order and 12 families, including two species reported on poplar for the first time in Iraq; Chaitophorus albus M., Pemphigus bursarius L., and presence 6 species of insect predators. The intensity of infestation varied from regions to anther depending on tree age, agricultural practices and variation in food preferences for poplar trees by insects. The results of field study showed a highest percent by poplar lace bug, Monosteira unicostata M.R. on the plant parts of poplar trees, namely, black poplar, Populus nigra, euphratic poplar, Populus euphratica and hybrid poplar, Populus euramericana, with a mean reached (90, 95, 70, 90, 60, 80%), respectively, followed small borer stem, Melanphila picta Pall. (30%), and Capnodis miliaris K. (20%). While there was a lowest infestation for big borer stem, Capnodis miliaris K., and poplar leaf bite, Japanagromyza sp., with infestation (10 and 20%) on the euphratic poplar, followed Melanphila picta Pall. (20%) and Japanagromyza sp.(10%), on Hybrid poplar, respectively. Field study results showed there are different percentage of infestation according to the kind of insect, species of tree and the part of plant that has been infested. In both regions, the poplar lace bug were high infested on poplar trees with a mean (88, 83 and 75%) respectively, followed by, euphratic leaf gall, Egeirotrioza ceardi B. (75%), poplar gall aphid; Pemphigus bursarius L. (75%), P. lichtensteini T. (85%) and poplar leaf aphid, Chaitophorus albus M. (78%) 0n the poplar trees in this study, respectively, while a least infection showed of big borer stem, Capnodis miliaris K. and poplar leaf bite, Japanagromyza sp., with a mean reached (10 and 13%) on the euphratic poplar, in both region, respectively. On the other hands, results also showed presence numerous insects in the two regions studied, like, poplar leaf worm, Pseudoteleia squamodorella A., poplar leaf bond, Gypsonoma hapalosarca M., poplar aegeri moth, Parathrene tabaniformis, poplar twig bug, Apodiphus amygdale, scale poplar insect, Diaspidiotus caucasicus B., poplar leaf beetles, Chrysomela populi, poplar root beetle, Anomala dubia S., poplar root beetle, Adoretus irakanus O., small borer stem, Melanphila picta Pall., poplar leaf bond, Nycteola asiatica K., poplar leaf worm, Apatele aceris L., black poplar leaf larva, Cerura vinula L., poplar leaf crinkle psyllid, Camarotoscena speciosa F.. The results showed a number of predators that attack insects and it is the highest density of predators where a total average 40.0, 53.3 and 33.7 insect on the studied species, while the average of population density for predators where followed, normal ant, Solenopsis inyicta (67.5) insect, lady bird, Coccinella septenpunctata L. (55) insect, syrfis flies, Syrphus corolla F. (48.3), predators bug, Orius laevigatus F. (45), mantis hours, Mantis religiosa L. (27.5) insect and aphid lion, Chrysopa spp. (21.6) insect. Generally, in this field survey, the percentage of the _____________Mun. Ent. Zool. Vol. 9, No. 1, January 2014__________ 151 infestation were highly on black, euphratic and hybrid poplar trees in Koysinjaq region with a total average (45, 43, 43%) compared with insect infestations in Taq-Taq regions (42, 53, 37%), respectively.


We systematically investigate the criterion of omnidirectional reflection in one-dimensional photonic heterostructures and show that the photonic heterostructures can extend not only the frequency range of omnidirectional reflection but also the range of materials; that is, the refractive-index contrast between the composites can be much lower than those required in single periodic structures. This idea is of immense practical importance and can be extended to other structures whose underlying physics are the same as those of a photonic heterostructure, such as a staggered structure and some types of quasi-period structure.


This study concerned the effect of ethanol on cardiac activity and brain respiration in chick embryos. Ethanol dosages tested ranged from 1.0 mg to 4.0 mg/g weight. Each experiment lasted at least 150 minutes. Cardiac activity in terms of total waveform energies was integrated and printed out for plotting and analysis. The embryonic heart rates were simultaneously determined from physical graph tracings. The embryonic brain respiration was measured using a differential microrespirometer. The effect of ethanol on cardiac activity was one of slight (10 to 13), but statistically significant (p<.05) rate depression. The brain slices exhibited a marked, immediate, and irreversible decrease (39 to 89%) in oxygen consumption at both ethanol dosages. The data indicated that chick embryonic brain tissues were more susceptible to alcohol effects than cardiac tissue. Therefore, the mental abnormalities seen in the offspring of alcoholic mothers may be more cerebral in nature than cardiovascular.


When the International Migration Review was established half a century ago, international migration was a peripheral area of research, and migration issues were far less prominent on policy agendas than they are today. This essay introduces the 50th Anniversary Issue of the International Migration Review and begins by identifying seven main areas of change in migration research and migration trends during the journal's lifetime. Subsequently, we examine changes in the geographical distribution of authorship of IMR articles. We also explore the IMR's current positioning in the scientific landscape by analyzing citation relationships with other journals. The ten articles that make up the body of the special issue seek to advance the research frontier on international migration, covering diverse areas of the IMR's thematic scope. We account for how the papers were selected and present each one. In the final section of the article, we look ahead and suggest new frontiers in international migration research. Among the research themes that we foresee as increasingly important are connections between migration and inequality, and the growth of migration flows that are driven by humanitarian crises, but not accommodated by the international refugee regime.


The effects of brief psychological intervention on rates of medical utilization were investigated in a family practice clinic. Patients referred to the psychology service served as experimental subjects. These subjects underwent psychological assessment and treatment from supervised clinical psychology externs in joint working arrangements with family practice residents. Control subjects were other family practice patients, matching the experimental group in age, sex, and race. The number of medical visits to the family practice clinic, specialty clinics, and the emergency room were the dependent measures. The study period was two years. Results indicated that the experimental subjects were more likely than control subjects to decrease medical utilization of the family practice clinic. The findings are consistent with earlier work showing an association between brief psychosocial intervention and decreases in the frequency of clinic visits. However, this study suggests that preinternship-level clinical psychology trainees can be equally as effective in providing this intervention as mental health professionals who have completed their training.


This paper aims to improve our understanding of migration–development links by comparing the Mexico–US and Morocco–EU cases. Despite significant differences, Mexico and Morocco share a common geopolitical location on the global South–North migration frontier and a common position as prime reserves of low-cost, low-skilled migrant labour for the US and the EU. The analysis highlights the large extent to which Mexican and Moroccan migration is determined by business cycles and political-economic and labour-market transformations in the US and the EU. Mexican and Moroccan migration patterns and trends show striking similarities. Persistent economic gaps and migrant networks partly explain why, despite recruitment freezes in Mexico (1964) and Morocco (1973) and increasing border controls, migration has endured through family and irregular migration and a diversification of migration origins and destinations. Simultaneously, economic liberalisation and labour-market transformations in origin and destination countries have increased supply and demand for casual and informal labour in the service sector, agriculture and construction. In spite of surging remittances and the considerable contributions of Mexican and Moroccan migrants to improved living standards in origin areas, migration cannot overcome structural development obstacles and deeply ingrained political and economic inequalities in Morocco and Mexico. In fact, migration may deepen such inequalities and deflect the attention away from states' failure to create favourable conditions for equitable development.


INTRODUCTION: Paediatric high grade glioma (pHGG) and diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) are invasive tumours associated with poor survival, and new treatments that target brain tumour invasion are needed. Oncolytic virotherapy, which uses viruses to selectively infect and destroy cancer cells, while stimulating an anti-tumour immune response, offers a novel approach. Here, we evaluate the effect of oncolytic herpes simplex virus (HSV) 1716 on the migratory behaviour of a panel of pHGG and DIPG cell lines. METHOD: Migratory characteristics were examined using 2D (scratch assay, live cell imaging) and 3D (spheroid invasion in collagen) assays. Cell viability was examined by FACS and WST-1 assays. Levels of acetylated tubulin and glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3) were evaluated by Western blot. RESULTS: HSV (multiplicity of infection 10) resulted in blockade of both migration (24h) and invasion (72h) in all cell lines. No significant cytotoxicity was demonstrated at these time points. pHGG cells demonstrated reduced velocity, loss of polarity and altered morphology in the presence of HSV 1716. HSV 1716 treatment of pHGG cells increased expression of acetylated tubulin (associated with stable rather than dynamic microtubules) and substantially reduced expression of GSK3 (a key regulator of cell migration and microtubule Dynamics). CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that HSV 1716 can block migration and invasion of pHGG and DIPG cells in vitro, potentially through microtubule stabilisation and inhibition of GSK3. We propose that oncolytic HSV may have therapeutic benefits for pHGG and DIPG, not only as a cytotoxic and immunogenic treatment, but as an anti-invasive agent, improving outcome for this devastating disease.


Rising income inequality has recently come centre-stage as a core societal concern for rich countries. The diagnosis of the forces driving inequality upwards and their relative importance remains hotly contested, notably with respect to the roles of globalization versus technology and of market forces versus institutions and policy choices. This survey provides a critical review and synthesis of recent research. The focus is on income inequality across the entire distribution, rather than only on what has been happening at the very top. We pay particular attention to including what has been learned from the analysis of micro-data, to ensuring that the coverage is not unduly US-centric, and to analyses of the interrelations between the different drivers of inequality. We conclude by highlighting key gaps in knowledge and clarifying what stands in the way of a consensus emerging about the contribution of the various forces affecting how income inequality has evolved in recent decades.


The research was mainly performed to check whether or not the blast burden influence vibration magnitude. This is associated with the necessity to reconsider blasting design in order to reduce vibration to the acceptable levels. Blast vibration monitoring of three scenarios of burden were managed in limestone quarry. The vibration monitoring results are found in good agreement with what had been found by other researchers in terms of duration, amplitude, and frequency. Vibration waveforms typically last for 50 to 100 milliseconds. The peak amplitudes decrease according to additional distance. Frequencies decrease with increasing distance. The weight scaling law between the PPV and scaled distance revealed three relationships for three different scenarios of burden, which obviously indicate that blast burden influences vibration magnitude. The highest vibration magnitudes are produced by the biggest blast burden. Otherwise the lowest levels of vibration magnitude are produced by the smallest blast burden. Parallel with the main idea, which were mainly performed to check the influence of the blast burden to vibration magnitude, investigation was extended to measure fragmentation of the blasted rocks. Fragmentation measurement was achieved using the analysis of scaled photograph taken form a muckpile. Using software known as Split Engineering, the blasted rocks resulted from three scenarios of blast burden were simply calculated and presented in size distribution curve. The average fragment size increases exponentially with increasing blast burden.


The revolutionary insensitive, green, and healthier training technology with reduced adverse contamination (RIGHTTRAC) program is a 5-year technology demonstration program (TDP) aimed at showing that green and insensitive munitions have better properties than current munitions, and that it is feasible to implement safer weapon solutions that would ease the environmental pressure on ranges and training areas and decrease the health hazards for the users. The goals of this TDP are to reach a near-zero dud rate and to eliminate the potential for research development explosive (RDX) contamination as well as the use of toxic and carcinogenic compounds. This will be done by performing significant improvements to the fuzing system, the main explosive charge and the gun propellant. The vehicle used for this demonstration is a 105-mm army artillery munition (high-explosive M1), currently filled with Composition B (a 60:40 RDX:TNT mix) and using a single-base gun propellant (M1 formulation). The aim of this communication is to provide an overview of the project and to describe the steps taken to evaluate the environmental properties of the chosen propellant and explosive formulations. At its completion, it is believed that this project will have provided the required data to assess the long-term effects of the munitions on the environment right at an early stage of the weapon development cycle, and that this can be cost effective in the long run. This will help sustain military training while preserving our resources, as well as shaping the future of weapon system development.


Library planning and management must change significantly if services are to survive and thrive in the future. Current issues and pressures present complex challenges for managers, including the difficulties of coping with the economic and electronic imperatives, and judging the pace of change. We need a strategic management framework to transform our visionary dreams into concrete actions. This means thinking strategically, involving stakeholders, and planning with partners to develop services tailored to customer priorities. At a practical level one of the hardest tasks is to manage time and priorities, to strike the right balance between maintaining existing service to an acceptable standard and working on improvements for the future. The world of business offers models, tool and techniques which can usefully be adopted and adapted by library managers. Strategic planning and total quality management require a long-term commitment to getting things right, but it is also important to find ways of showing quick visible results to impress paymasters and motivate staff. The focus of staff training will shift from specifying and testing job-related skills and competencies to developing capabilities and managing talent. Organizational structures will follow some general trends, but must be designed to suit individual institutions at their particular stage of development. Structures need to be fit for their purpose and fluid to enable progress. Communication is the key to success in the change process and must be managed actively. Effective library managers will be leaders with vision, people who are flexible and listen to the views of others, but who are also decisive and prepared to take responsibility for change.


ABSTRACT The induction of resistance to Botrytis cinerea in carrot roots by UV radiation, a possible means for controlling storage diseases, was compared with systemic resistance induced by inoculation with the pathogen. UV radiation did not have any systemic effect, and disease resistance was induced only in tissues directly exposed to the radiation. Although UV radiation induced a local accumulation of 6-methoxymellein (6-MM), inoculation with B. cinerea caused 6-MM to accumulate systemically, away from the inoculation site. Because of amounts near or higher than the ED(50) (50% effective dose) for inhibiting B. cinerea found in both UV-treated and preinoculated roots at the time of challenge, 6-MM could be involved in both types of resistance. Freshly harvested carrots had a number of constitutive chitinases and beta-1,3-glucanases, which were not affected by UV radiation or inoculation. When challenged with B. cinerea, the induction of a 24-kDa chitinase was enhanced in UV-treated and preinoculated roots. Again, UV radiation had only a local effect in priming this chitinase response. Although UV- and pathogen-induced resistance in carrot may involve the same defenses, the responses are probably mediated differently, because UV radiation has an essentially local effect.


The design of the positron source target for the International Linear Collider (ILC) envisions a Ti6Al4V wheel rotating in a large magnetic field (5-10 Tesla) being impacted by a photon beam to produce positrons. One of the many challenges for this system is determining how large a motor will be needed to spin the shaft. The wheel spinning in the magnetic field induces an eddy current in the wheel, which retards the spinning motion of the wheel. Earlier calculations by Mayhall [1] have shown that those eddy forces could be quite large, and resulted in the preliminary design being moved from a solid disk to a rim and spoke design, as shown in Figure 1. A series of experiments with a spinning metal disk were run at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) to provide experimental validation of the Maxwell 3D simulations. This report will give a brief outline of the experimental setup and results. In addition, earlier work by Smythe [2] will be used to compare with the experimental results.


: Many databases contain ambiguous and unstructured data which makes the information it contains difficult to use for further analysis. In order for these databases to be a reliable point of reference, the data needs to be cleaned. Entity resolution focuses on disambiguating records that refer to the same entity. In this paper we propose a generic optimization method for disambiguating large databases. This method is used on a table with scientific references from the Patstat database. The table holds ambiguous information on citations to scientific references. The research method described is used to create clusters of records that refer to the same bibliographic entity. The method starts by pre-cleaning the records and extracting bibliographic labels. Next, we construct rules based on these labels and make use of the tf-idf algorithm to compute string similarities. We create clusters by means of a rule-based scoring system. Finally, we perform precision-recall analysis using a golden set of clusters and optimize our parameters with simulated annealing. Here we show that it is possible to optimize the performance of a disambiguation method using a global optimization algorithm.


Providing bicyclists favorable and comfortable riding environments is an important objective for transportation professionals. This study investigated the factors that contribute to bicyclists' perception of comfort on physically separated bicycle paths and quantified their impacts. A survey was conducted on 29 physically separated bicycle paths in the metropolitan area of Nanjing, China. A factor analysis and an ordered probit model were used to analyze the data. The results showed that the mean perception of comfort was significantly different between age groups, but not significantly different between gender groups and between users of electric bicycles and conventional bicycles. The model performance indicated that the ordered probit model with factor analysis addressed the correlation between independent variables and outperformed the ordered probit model without factor analysis. The model estimates showed that bicyclists' perception of comfort on physically separated bicycle paths was significantly influenced by physical environmental factors, including the width of the bicycle pathway, the width of the shoulder, the presence of grade, the presence of a bus stop, the surrounding land use, and the flow rate of electric and conventional bicycles. The findings yielded insights into bicyclists' psychological perception of comfort on physically separated bicycle paths. This research can help inform the design and planning of these facilities.