Motion Planning for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles with Resource Constraints. (August 2012) Kaarthik Sundar, B.E., College of Engineering Guindy, Anna University Co–Chairs of Advisory Committee: Shankar P. Bhattacharyya Sivakumar Rathinam Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are currently used in several surveillance applications to monitor a set of targets and collect relevant data. One of the main constraints that characterize a small UAV is the maximum amount of fuel the vehicle can carry. In the thesis, we consider a single UAV routing problem where there are multiple depots and the vehicle is allowed to refuel at any depot. The objective of the problem is to find a path for the UAV such that each target is visited at least once by the vehicle, the fuel constraint is never violated along the path for the UAV, and the total length of the path is a minimum. Mixed integer, linear programming formulations are proposed to solve the problem optimally. As solving these formulations to optimality may take a large amount of time, fast and efficient construction and improvement heuristics are developed to find good sub-optimal solutions to the problem. Simulation results are also presented to corroborate the performance of all the algorithms. In addition to the above contributions, this thesis develops an approximation algorithm for a multiple UAV routing problem with fuel constraints. Dr Dr . .


In citrus production, the producer coordinates his sales transactions with agents of distribution channels employing different structures of governance. In sales to packing houses, middlemen, retailers and the institutional market, the producer utilizes transactions carried out in the spot market. In contrast, where the deals are with the juice-processing industry, contractual arrangements are predominant. There are also producers who act as distribution channels, integrating sales of the in natura fruit to the end consumer (hierarchy). This work aims to analyze the transactions performed by citrus producers, according to the attributes proposed by Williamson (1985 and 1991) in the field of Transaction Cost Economics (frequency, uncertainty and specificity of assets) in order to verify if the forms of coordination employed link up with the producer's deals aligned to those attributes. We conclude that such an alignment exists and there is no inability on the part of citrus producers or members of the orange distribution channels to measure the dimensions of their transactions as well as to identify the most efficient solution in terms of governance, i.e. that which minimizes transaction costs.


In this paper, we investigate the beam misalignment impacts of a dynamic device-to-device (D2D) communication model, where both transmitters and receivers adopt beamforming (BF) by using uniform linear array (ULA). A time continuous dynamic model is adopted for this network. We use tools of stochastic geometry and the Miyazawa rate conversation law to analyse the stability condition of such a network. An analytical expression of the critical arrival rate is given under a uniform or truncated Gaussian alignment error assumption. In contrast to our previous result, where the beam alignment is perfect, our analytical and numerical results show that, if the beam alignment is not perfect, the critical arrival rate can no longer increase without limit as a function of the number of antenna elements. Closed-form expressions of the upper bounds for critical arrival rates are given for both the uniform and the truncated Gaussian misalignment models.


Palace and hovel, one of the earliest (1875) works of Boleslaw Prus, is preserved as a whole in manuscript and offers interesting material for editorial-philological research. The pages contain many deletions, amendments, additions made in the author's hand. This enables us to observe how work on the text proceeded and which parts of the text had an entirely different form than the one commonly known from the published version of the novel.


Introduction: Cervical cancer is the most common malignancy diagnosed during pregnancy. In developing countries where organized screening programmes are lacking, antenatal clinics may provide an opportunity for screening. Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyse the prevalence and management of abnormal cervical cytology in pregnancy. Methodology: This was a prospective study conducted at the Meenakshi Medical College and RI, Kancheepuram, India, from July 2013 to June 2014. Convenience sampling technique was used. After adequate counselling, 300 antenatal mothers between 12 and 34 weeks of gestation were screened with conventional Pap smear. Colposcopy directed biopsy was taken where and when necessary. Results: Among the 300 pregnant women, 90 (30%) were primigravidae and 210 (70%) were multigravidae. 80% were between 21 and 30 years of age. 290 (96.6%) women have never had a pap smear in the past. Conventional Pap smear was taken at 21 weeks of gestation in 20% of cases. ASCUS , LSIL and HSIL were reported in one case each. In those with LSIL and HSIL , Colposcopy directed biopsy was reported as CIN 1 and CIN 2 respectively. These two cases were kept under observation during the antenatal period. The CIN II lesion persisted on postpartum follow up and was treated with LLETZ. Conclusion: In countries like India Pap smear screening during pregnancy is worthwhile and the antenatal clinics provide ample opportunities for the screening.


Natural nanostructured carbon materials from large Eurasian deposits were studied by Raman spectroscopy, complemented with high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). It is shown that natural carbonaceous materials of relatively high metamorphic grade can be divided into shungite-like and anthraxolite-like materials on the basis of the main Raman spectral parameters. Among them, the tortuosity factor characterizes the degree of curvature of the graphene layers in natural nanostructured carbon and is in good agreement with the results of HRTEM.


Aadhaar – India's national biometric digital identity programme through its unique 12-digit number for every Indian resident – has been intricately linked to daily aspects of living in recent years. The programme aims to enable digital linkage to governmental and non-governmental services and through that achieve digital financial inclusion of groups like unbanked informal workers into the mainstream economy. This paper focuses on the Aadhaar experiences of two groups of informal workers in an Indian urban setting – cab-drivers and domestic workers. These informal workers access digital platforms like online recruitment portals and gig-economy apps which are aimed at employment of urban 'blue collar' workers, using Aadhaar as an identity for verification through its complex technological ecosystem.

Based on this evidence base, the paper provides two contributions. First, it presents a novel theoretical lens of social justice by operationalising 'abnormal justice' in a way that is synergistic with elements of surveillance and datafication inherent to digital identification. This results in a framework of data justice, enabling analysis along cultural, economic and political dimensions. Second, using this framework the paper deconstructs empirical evidence collected using semi-structured interviews and field observations. Ultimately it argues that while Aadhaar identity and the data-flow it enables has become critical in enabling digital participation of informal workers, digital identity is intimately related to inequality experienced by urban marginalised groups in three ways: current use of digital identities reifies extant cultural inequalities experienced by marginalised workers; unprotected datafication creates new economic inequalities that exploit new-found digital participation enabled by digital identities; and unfair barriers continue to exist for the marginalised under digital identity to voice 'informed consent' or to access redressal of security issues.


The complex structures of multinational corporate groups and their many subsidiaries facilitate the concealment of internal financial transactions and the profitability and taxation of operations in different jurisdictions. Current provisions for corporate governance by independent directors and auditors in ultimate holding companies fail to provide relevant information for most major stakeholders. Lawyers and accountants need to develop new structures for corporate governance and corporate social responsibility at every level, especially in respect of national taxation, to meet the proper interests of shareholders, employees, local communities and national governments, and to assist in the transition from centrally controlled and often abusive, to more participatory and responsible capitalism. Auditors have a key role in this and should be required to report on issues of variability in financial statements and to carry out special audits on matters of major concern.


Although endurance exercise and supplemental estrogen have both been shown to improve serum lipid cardiac risk profiles in postmenopausal women, data regarding a possible synergistic influence are scarce and inconsistent. The purpose of this study was to determine whether such a synergistic influence could be demonstrated. Serum concentrations of total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), HDL2-C, HDL3-C, LDL-C, and triglycerides (TG) were obtained from postmenopausal women (N = 45) in each of 4 groups: currently exercising and taking estrogen replacement, exercising and not taking estrogen, sedentary and taking estrogen, and sedentary and not taking estrogen. HDL-C was on average 21% higher (p < .05) and the HDL-C:LDL-C ratio on average 45% higher (p < .05) in the exercise-plus-estrogen group than in any of the other 3 groups. It was concluded that the combination of endurance exercise and estrogen replacement might be associated with better lipid coronary risk profiles in postmenopausal women than ...


Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALNs) make the process of collaboration more transparent, because a transcript of conference messages can be used to assess individual roles and contributions and the collaborative process itself. This study considers three aspects of ALNs: the design; the quality of the resulting knowledge construction process; and cohesion, role and power network structures. The design is evaluated according to the Social Interdependence Theory of CooperativeLearning. The quality of the knowledge construction process is evaluated through Content Analysis; and the network structures are analyzed using Social Network Analysis of the response relations among participants during online discussions. In this research we analyze data from two three-monthlong ALN academic university courses: a formal, structured, closed forum and an informal, nonstructured, open forum. We found that in the structured ALN, the knowledge construction processreached a very high phase of critical thinking and developed cohesive cliques. The students took on bridging and triggering roles, while the tutor had relatively little power. In the non-structured ALN, the knowledge construction process reached a low phase of cognitive activity; few cliques were constructed; most of the students took on the passive role of teacher-followers; and the tutor was at the center of activity. These differences are statistically significant. We conclude that a well-designed ALN develops significant, distinct cohesion, and role and power structures lead the knowledge construction process to high phases of critical thinking.


The objective of this paper is to evaluate differences and similarities of construction programs across various countries in order to encourage international cooperation of construction training and study abroad programs. The information illustrated in this paper was collected through a survey that was administered to construction programs from 11 different countries. The survey was divided into the following four categories: Program Structure, Curriculum, Industry Involvement and General Program. The study identified challenges and opportunities for students in construction programs to study abroad, with specific reference to financial funding at institutions, funding support from industry, lack of understanding around international articulation platforms, wide variation across internship requirements, and the importance of industry recognized certifications. The study demonstrated that 64% of the surveyed programs receive industry support and that all the surveyed programs are engaged and familiar with articulation agreements. In addition, besides programs in Australia and Portugal, internships are a requirement in all other countries surveyed. Also, among all surveyed countries, only Malaysia and South Africa require students to obtain industry certificates during the course of the program.


This research study examined the effectiveness of initial English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher education in a Sub-Saharan African context (Niger). It draws on theoretical perspectives from Stenhouse (1967; 1975), Schon (1987; 1991), Vygotsky (1978) and Freire (2000), who defined effective teaching as a process of sharing experience, posing problems, reflecting-in-action and creating meaningful interaction with and for learners. The study therefore situates effective teacher learning as a process of creating and reconstructing knowledge, taking into account student teachers' prior knowledge and experience rather than transmitting predefined knowledge to them. With these theoretical perspectives in mind, the research was carried out through a qualitative case study framework. An EFL programme was selected, and classroom observation, semi-structured interviews and documents review were undertaken based on a theoretical sampling process for data gathering. Consequently, three modules were observed over a full semester, and twenty-two participants (eighteen students, one part-time educator, one full-time educator and two other educators wearing the hats of administrators) offered interview data.
Using thematic analysis strategies, the study has revealed the predominance of traditional approaches of English language teacher education (ELTE) within the EFL programme. The latter offers linguistic and cultural knowledge as the key element for becoming an EFL teacher; it does not provide much in terms of professional pedagogical knowledge and skills. This situation is exacerbated by the predominant modes of course delivery and assessment through which memorisation and rote learning are emphasised. Other findings include students' attitude towards speaking English and reading as a form of resistance to practices established through educational borrowing, which characterises the review process in that context. The examination of certain institutional and contextual factors has also revealed the extent to which large classes, programme policy, shortage of academic staff and academic resources negatively affect teaching, learning and educators' professional development. These factors can be regarded as colonial legacies and the consequence of underdevelopment characterised by the lack of solid funding schemes for higher education institutions.
Overall findings suggest that the effectiveness of initial EFL teacher preparation within the studied programme is impeded by both pedagogical and institutional factors. Theoretically, findings confirm assumptions relating to the influence of English as an international language and globalisation on educational practices in diverse context. Methodologically, they raise issues pertaining to the need for customisation of research based on beliefs, norms and values of local contexts. To cater for these factors, possible improvements could be secured through a restructure of the ELTE curricula and establishment of an inquiry-based teaching and participatory review framework.


Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) research has been primarily focused towards large-scale systems and industry, while other areas that require attention are often over-looked by researchers. For this reason, this research looked at automatic speech recognition at the consumer level. Many individual consumers will purchase and use automatic software recognition for a different purpose than that of the military or commercial industries, such as telecommunications. Consumers who purchase the software for personal use will mainly use ASR for dictation of correspondences and documents. Two ASR dictation software packages were used to conduct the study. The research examined the relationships between (1) speech recognition software training and word accuracy, (2) errorcorrection time by the user and word accuracy, and (3) correspondence type and word accuracy. The correspondences evaluated were those that resemble Personal, Business, and Technical Correspondences. Word accuracy was assessed after initial system training, five minutes of error-correction time, and ten minutes of error-correction time. Results indicated that word recognition accuracy achieved does affect user satisfaction. It was also found that with increased error-correction time, word accuracy results improved. Additionally, the results found that Personal Correspondence achieved the highest mean word accuracy rate for both systems and that Dragon Systems achieved the highest mean word accuracy recognition for the Correspondences explored in this research. Results were discussed in terms of subjective and objective measures, advantages and disadvantages of speech input, and design recommendations were provided.


'Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention?' 'To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.' 'The dog did nothing in the night-time.' 'That was the curious incident, ' remarked Sherlock Holmes. The quotation from A. Conan Doyle with which this book begins, is a delightfully appropriate summation of the authors' point of view garnered from their fifteen years of experiments on the psychology of reasoning. Dr. Wason and Dr. Johnson-Laird are intrigued by the extent to which most individuals can be considered naturally rational thinkers. They present here the surprising results of their comprehensive investigations of how humans draw explicit conclusions from evidence. Given a set of assertions, the authors write, to what extent can the individual appreciate all that follows from them by virtue of logic alone, and remain unseduced by plausible, but fallacious conclusions? We are not concerned with whether these assertions are true or false, nor with whether the individual holds them among his beliefs, nor with whether they are sane or silly. At the core of the Psychology of Reasoning is a vigorous discussion that incorporates various illustrations--some of them humorous, all of them fascinating--of the use of reason under a wide variety of different conditions. Particular emphasis is placed on the difficulties involved in dealing with negatively marked information that must be combined and used with other information for reaching conclusions. Thorough treatment is given as well to the search for plausible contexts that will render anomalous or ambiguous statements sensible. The authors have strived to isolate the components ofinference, the basic steps of any kind of deductive activity, in order to determine the psychological processes involved in them. What has been the outcome of this research? Dr. Wason and Dr. Johnson-Laird conclude, our research has suggested that the individual's logical competence may be either enhanced or limited by performance variables. And, of these, content has turned out to be vitally important for revealing, or obscuring structure. At best, we can all think like logicians; at worst, logicians all think like us.


Abstract The statute book is a large, complex system; a vast corpus of texts dating back to the thirteenth century, now evolving at a rate of around 100,000 words a month1. The volume and pace of change combine with the constraints of current generation of digital tools to present a real barrier to researchers, limiting the type of research that is currently possible. The statute book is simply too big, and changes too rapidly, for any one person to easily comprehend. This situation is transformed if you view legislation as data, and then apply big data technologies and new data analysis techniques to that data. The aim of the Big Data for Law research project2 is to do just that; applying the latest analytical techniques to legislation, making it possible to research, interrogate and understand the statute book as a whole system. An important part of the initiative is to make available the raw data for conducting this type of research, alongside new tools and methods for working with the content. In this article, John Sheridan, Head of Legislation Services at The National Archives, sets out some of the ideas that underpin the project and describes the new service that researchers can use from Spring 2015.


This paper contributes to the vast literature on the predictive power of term structure about future inflation, by focusing on an emerging market case. The following important result emerged in our paper: Monetary policy change is an important determinant of the relationship between term structure and inflation to the extent that even the existence of the relationship critically depends on the nature of monetary policy regime. In our case, the change in monetary policy is associated with the beginning of the implementation of an inflation targeting (IT) regime. While, before IT regime, the information in term structure does not provide any predictive power for future inflation, this phenomenon seems to be completely reversed after IT. Since the implementation of IT, term structure of interest rates has seemed to gain considerable forecasting power for future inflation.


Today's agriculture is largely dependent on phosphorus (P) fertilisers mined from rock. Phosphate rock is a non-renewable resource and reserves that do exist, are under the control of a handful of countries, including China, US and Morocco. Given the fact that agriculture is based on non-renewable P, its consumption would ultimately lead to a depletion of P resources. Hence, P recovery and recycling are of considerable importance to sustain a profitable agricultural industry and to ensure the long-term, equitable use and management of P resources. If a sound recycling strategy could be developed, municipal wastewater could be a source from which Australia could approximately recover 22,000 tons of P annually. Recently, a novel biological strategy based around polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) was developed to concentrate P in municipal wastewater. The cost-effective and environmentally friendly approach to concentrate P in municipal wastewater has enabled the wastewater industry to contribute towards recycling of P. In this communication, we outline this novel biological process and discuss its potential benefits to Australia and to the wastewater industry.


This Article examines the framework for resolving Title VII retaliation disputes through the lens of gender pay disparity and proposes that the current framework is inadequate. The Article begins by illustrating the issue and the impact of retaliatory conduct in the workplace through the stories of two female workers. It also explains the Title VII retaliation standard and explores the process for filing and pursuing an antiretaliation claim under this framework. Ultimately, the current framework is inadequate for two reasons. First, it does little to discourage retaliatory conduct by employers or co-workers because what amounts to "retaliation" under the law is under-inclusive and difficult to prove. Second, the employment relationship is among the most important in American society, but instead of seeking to salvage it, the current litigation-driven anti-retaliation framework destroys it. Consequently, the Article proposes an alternative dispute resolution method for solving retaliation disputes and provides examples from the transformative mediation and ombudsman models.


Scaling problems have a rich and diverse history, and thereby have found numerous applications in several fields of science and engineering. For instance, the matrix scaling problem has had applications ranging from theoretical computer science to telephone forecasting, economics, statistics, optimization, among many other fields. Recently, a generalization of matrix scaling known as operator scaling has found applications in non-commutative algebra, invariant theory, combinatorics and algebraic complexity; and a further generalization (tensor scaling) has found more applications in quantum information theory, geometric complexity theory and invariant theory. In this survey, we will describe in detail the scaling problems mentioned above, showing how alternating minimization algorithms naturally arise in this setting, and we shall present a general framework to rigorously analyze such algorithms. These simple problems and algorithms are not just applicable to diverse mathematical and CS areas, but also serve to bring out deep connections between them. As this framework makes extensive use of concepts from invariant theory, we also provide a very gentle introduction to basic concepts of invariant theory and how they are used to analyze alternating minimization algorithms for the scaling problems. This survey is intended for a general computer science audience, and the only background required is basic knowledge of calculus and linear algebra, thereby making it accessible to graduate students and even to advanced undergraduates.


Cavity optomechanics1 is a new research field that has seen spectacular advances in recent years. Optomechanics combines advances in nano- and electromechanical systems with radiation pressure enabled control. The radiation pressure backaction enables to readout mechanical motion of micro- and nanoscale mechanical oscillators with an imprecision at the standard quantum limit, enables to amplify2 mechanical motion - enabling coherent mechanical oscillators. Likewise the cooling3,4 of mechanical oscillators has enabled to access the quantum regime of optomechanical systems. Likewise mechanical degrees of freedom provide new ways to control the propagation of light via the phenomenon of optomechanically induced transparency5, which can e.g. enable switching, slowing or advancing of electromagnetic pulses6. Cavity optomechanical systems also have reached the quantum regime of mechanical oscillators, which has been long anticipated. As one example of the possible range of optomechanical phenomena, we review an optomechanical microresonator in which optical and mechanical degrees of freedom exchange energy at a rate exceeding the relevant decoherence rates in the system, enabling quantum control of a mechanical oscillator with light. Such quantum coherent coupling provided a quantum coherent link7 between engineered microscale oscillators and the light field.


Closely related taxa provide significant case studies for understanding evolution of new species but may simultaneously challenge species identification and definition. In the Baltic Sea, two dominant and perennial brown algae share a very recent ancestry. Fucus vesiculosus invaded this recently formed postglacial sea 8000 years ago and shortly thereafter Fucus radicans diverged from this lineage as an endemic species. In the Baltic Sea both species reproduce sexually but also recruit fully fertile new individuals by asexual fragmentation. Earlier studies have shown local differences in morphology and genetics between the two taxa in the northern and western Bothnian Sea, and around the island of Saaremaa in Estonia, but geographic patterns seem in conflict with a single origin of F. radicans. To investigate the relationship between northern and Estonian distributions, we analysed the genetic variation using 9 microsatellite loci in populations from eastern Bothnian Sea, Archipelago Sea and the Gulf of Finland. These populations are located in between earlier studied populations. However, instead of bridging the disparate genetic gap between N-W Bothnian Sea and Estonia, as expected from a simple isolation-by-distance model, the new populations substantially increased overall genetic diversity and showed to be strongly divergent from the two earlier analysed regions, showing signs of additional distinct populations. Contrasting earlier findings of increased asexual recruitment in low salinity in the Bothnian Sea, we found high levels of sexual reproduction in some of the Gulf of Finland populations that inhabit extremely low salinity. The new data generated in this study supports the earlier conclusion of two reproductively isolated but very closely related species. However, the new results also add considerable genetic and morphological complexity within species. This makes species separation at geographic scales more demanding and suggests a need for more comprehensive approaches to further disentangle the intriguing relationship and history of the Baltic Sea fucoids.


The economics profession has become a favourite punching bag in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Economists are widely reviled and their influence derided by the general public. Yet their services have never been in greater demand. To unravel the paradox, we need to understand both the strengths and weaknesses of economics. Dani Rodrik argues that the multiplicity of theoretical frameworks - what economists call 'models' that exist side by side is economics' great strength. Economists are trained to hold diverse, possibly contradictory models of the world in their minds. This is what allows them, when they do their job right, to comprehend the world, make useful suggestions for improving it, and to advance their stock of knowledge over time. In short, it is what makes economics a 'science' a different kind of science from physics or some other natural sciences, but a science nonetheless. But syncretism is not a comfortable state of mind, and economists often jettison it for misplaced confidence and arrogance, especially when they confront questions of public policy. Economists are prone to fads and fashions, and behave too often as if their discipline is about the search for the model that works always and everywhere, rather than a portfolio of models. Their training lets them down when it comes to navigating among diverse models and figuring out which one applies where. Ideology and political preferences frequently substitute for analysis in choosing among models. So the book offers both a defence and critique of economics. Economists' way of thinking about social phenomena has great advantages. But the flexible, contextual nature of economics is also its Achilles' heel in the hands of clumsy practitioners.


This article continues the discussion of empowerment in the field of rehabilitation, by describing a concept that is often taken for granted but never fully elaborated in helping persons gain empowerment: courage. The writer argues that understanding what courage is, and how it is a measure of motivation, can assist rehabilitation counselors to establish conditions in the counseling process that can be rightly termed "encouragement." Encouragement in the counseling process, then, may facilitate "empowerment." Introduction A major recent emphasis in disability rights and rehabilitation counseling is that of empowerment. The way that empowerment is generally viewed in this arena is that the experience of disability leads to the experience of viewing life differently, and to the creation of a new perspective that is less concerned with body image and ability, and focuses rather on living interdependently with the full use of one's assets (Hahn, 1989). The position of this paper is that the element of courage is involved in the creation of this new perspective, and that rehabilitation and independent living counselors can facilitate this process through the use of encouragement. For example, the word "encouragement" is used several times by both Emener (1991) and Vash (1991) in their articles on empowerment. Rehabilitation counseling involves several components including evaluation (assessment), guidance (teaching new ways of living) and confrontation (removing blocks to and challenging the client to use resources). However, practitioners also frequently encourage clients particularly when they want them to try things which are new, or threatening, or for which the person has low confidence. Courage is a philosophical construct that belongs to the field of ontology and has been discussed in depth in the existential psychology literature (May, 1967, 1969, 1975). Thus, the author believes that the study of existence (existentialism) can elucidate courage as construct, and that conceptual bridges can be built to specific strategies in counseling that can "encourage" the creation of new life perspectives in persons with disabilities. Indeed, this paper will purport to demonstrate that courage is the stuff of everyday life and is a measure of how we live that life. As Rollo May (1967) puts it in The Art of Counseling: To live the life of self-expression requires courage. To love greatly, to admit one's hate without having it destroy one's equilibrium, to express anger, to rise to heights of joy and to know deep sorrow, to go on far adventures in spite of loneliness, to catch lofty ideas and carry them into action in short, to live out the infinite number of instinctual urges that rise in glorious challenge within one - this requires courage. Courage has been defined in the philosophical and psychological literature (Heyd, 1982; May, 1972; & Walton, 1986) as generally occurring in the presence of the following conditions: (a) a careful presence of mind and deliberate action; (b) the presence of difficult, dangerous, and painful circumstances; and (c) a morally worthy intention. Tillich (1952) adds another dimension that underlies courage, which is that the person is engaged in an act that has existential meaning for him or her. Without that existential meaning, daily efforts become nothing but the drudgery of the slave. Disability is sometimes accompanied by giving in, or, as Wright (1983) calls it, succumbing. Depression is the most frequent concomitant of this, but certainly other characteristics are also associated. External locus of control, failure identity, low self-esteem, and substance abuse often are the result of a person' s succumbing to a disability experience (Beck & Lustig, 1990). In the area of substance abuse and alcoholism. several theories seem to imply that abuse and addiction result from a breakdown in courage as it is defined above. The degree of difficulty of a person' s life (social strain), as exemplified by barriers to educational and employment opportunities, as well as escapism through addiction to give meaning to our existence, is reviewed by Simon (1986) in an article on alienation and alcohol abuse. …


As part of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's commitment to supporting efforts to revitalize the economy of Springfield, Massachusetts, this paper explores the causes of and potential remedies for the city's low resident employment rates. When compared to the state as a whole and to other midsize New England cities, the share of employed city residents is low, particularly for residents of downtown Springfield and its nearby neighborhoods. By analyzing the availability of jobs across Springfield's various neighborhoods and in nearby towns and cities, this paper's goal is to learn why so few Springfield residents are employed, and thus to identify policy priorities to increase employment. This study finds that solving Springfield's low resident employment rates will require a combination of new job creation, improved informational and physical access to jobs, and strengthening the citizenry's job skills.


The verification of a dam-break flood-routing model was conducted by using the 1960-1961 laboratory data from the U S Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station. A series of measured stage, velocity, and discharge hydrographs at selected stations upstream and downstream of a breached dam were compared to computed results under various test conditions, such as instantaneous full or partial breaches, with or without an initial flow, and on hydraulically smooth or rough surfaces. Extended application of the Rankine-Hugoniot shock equations to the case of a nearly dry bed has made the model generally applicable to both dry and wet channels. The large reduction in the computational inaccuracies and oscillations at a severe contraction and expansion was achieved by first introducing the actual storage width in the equation of continuity and the imaginary conveyance width in the equation of motion and then solving them with the help of internal boundary conditions.


The life and artworks of Salvador Dalí (1904-1989) are closely interconnected and thoroughly documented. Returning to the hybrid portraits painted by the young artist in the 1920s gives us, on the one hand, the chance to recall a phase in his maturing process which, with few exceptions, is often undervalued by art historians and curators, especially those who are not Spanish. On the other, it can allow us to reaffirm Federico García Lorca's crucial role in their conception and iconic execution between 1925 and 1927. After the influence of the painter Rafael Barradas from Uruguay, Dalí chose the authoritative model of Picasso, the undisputed master. Encouraged by Luis Buñuel, who had moved to Paris, Dalí visited Picasso in 1926. After that meeting he started to paint multiple heads and self-portraits which include García Lorca's silhouette. As to avant-garde arts and their porous boundaries, the friendship uniting García Lorca, Buñuel and Dalí was fructuous from the time when they lived at the Residencia de Estudiantes in Madrid. In this institution, open to the most original innovations of European culture, certain aesthetic motives emerged which each developed in his own inimitable way: the subject as a mask, the self being the other, the body reduced into pieces of anatomy, putrefied remains, aberrant mix of organic and inorganic stuff.


As contemporary ICTs (information and communication technologies) become increasingly powerful and affordable, deploying them to improve the lives of the underprivileged is alluring. While the literature has mostly focused on investigating the efacacy and outcomes of ICT deployments in diverse domains, this article situates such deployments as a socially, spatially, and temporally speciac outcome within shifting conceptions of development, from capitalist economic expansion to poverty eradication and inclusive growth. By so doing, the article explains why ICT deployments possess the characteristics that they do. The article highlights not only the novelty of ICTs, but also why deployments seek new forms of innovation (frugal innovation) and partnerships (which bring together historically antagonistic players such as multinational enterprises and nongovernmental organizations) in a quest to include hitherto-excluded populations (at the bottom of the pyramid).


In this paper, a wireless channel is viewed as a heterogeneous network in the time domain, and an adaptive video transmission scheme for H.264 scalable video over wireless channels modeled as a finite-state Markov chain processes is presented. In order to investigate the robustness of adaptive video transmission for H.264 scalable video over wireless channels, statistical channel models can be employed to characterize the error and loss behavior of the video transmission. Among various statistical channel models, a finite-state Markov model has been considered as suitable for both wireless links as Rayleigh fading channels and wireless local area networks as a combination of bit errors and packet losses. The H.264 scalable video coding enables the rate adaptive source coding and the feedback of channel parameters facilitates the adaptive channel coding based on the dynamics of the channel behavior. As a result, we are able to develop a true adaptive joint source and channel based on instantaneous channel estimation feedback. Preliminary experimental results demonstrate that the estimation of the finite-state Markov channel can be quite accurate and the adaptive video transmission based on channel estimation is able to perform significantly better than the simple channel model in which only average bit error rate is used for joint source and channel coding design.


The postulate of this paper is that current smartphones' power saving modes can be improved towards saving more power and/or gain more user satisfaction only if they start following "preventive" and/or user customized power saving plans. We develop a number of preventive power saving modes that save the battery power without the need of using the power of the same battery for detecting abusage. It will be supporting the user with a preventive plan that could give him/her an idea about what to run or don't run. Another issue of current power saving modes is the "One Size Fits All" philosophy which does not take into consideration the factors that could distinguish different smartphone users, for example, the nature of the workspace of the user (Indoor/Outdoor), the age, the gender and/or the user's applications categories of interests. The paper develops a strategy to match a smartphone power saving mode with its perfect smartphone user by classifying smartphones users into classes depending on a set of different factors and having the user to identify himself/herself to the smartphone before the first use.


We have shown that the spectral ranges of Yb3+ emission and Nd3+ emission can overlap around 1 µm in phosphate apatite crystals with large lattive parameters. The Yb:Ba5(PO4)3F and Nd:Ba5(PC4)3 Cl laser of good optical quality have been grown and spectroscopically characterized. The wavelength of the 4F3/2→4I11/2 Nd3+ laser emission in Ba5(PO4)3Cl was shown to be shorter than that of 2F5/2→2F7/2 emission in YbBa5(PO4)3F. This implies the possibility of the overlap of Nd and Yb emission lines in mixed apatite crystals. The cw 1053.8 nm laser emission with the slope efficiency equal to 25% has been demonstrated in Nd:Ba5(PO4)3Cl.


Carbon-cuprous oxide composite nanoparticles were chemically deposited on surface of thin glass tubes of spent energy saving lamps for solar heat collection. Carbon was obtained from fly ash of heavy oil incomplete combustion in electric power stations. Impurities in the carbon were removed by leaching with mineral acids. The mineral free-carbon was then wet ground to have a submicron size. After filtration, it was reacted with concentrated sulfuric/fuming nitric acid mixture on cold for 3-4 days. Potassium chlorate was then added drop wise on hot conditions to a carbon slurry followed by filtration. Nanocarbon sample was mixed with 5% by weight PVA to help adhesion to the glass surface. Carbon so deposited was doped with copper nitrate solution. After dryness, the carbon/copper nitrate film was dipped in hydrazine hydrate to form cuprous oxide carbon composite, It was then roasted at 380-400 °C A heat collector testing assembly was constructed of 5 glass coils connected in series with a total surface area of 1250 cm. Heat collection was estimated by water flowing in the glass coils that are coated with the carbon/copper film,. Parameters affecting the solar collection efficiency such as time of exposure and mass flow rate of the water were studied. Results revealed that the prepared glass coil has proven successful energy collector for solar heat. Key wordsSolar collector, nanocarbon, copper, nanoparticles, energy science,


Titanium diboride (TiB2) is a ceramic material that has attracted considerable interest due to its distinctive set of properties, such as high melting point and hardness, good thermal and electrical conductivity, as well as excellent corrosion resistance. In some applications, thin coatings of TiB2 may be desired, and one way to obtain such coatings is through the growth of thin films. One common growth technique is magnetron sputtering. However, when films are grown by magnetron-sputtering from a single TiB2 target, differences in preferred ejection angles and gasphase scattering yield B-rich TiBx films with x typically ranging from 2.5 to 3.5. In this research, we seek to investigate a potential solution to this problem by co-sputtering TiBx films from Ti and TiB2 targets. By varying the Ti target power from 0 to 100 W while keeping the TiB2 power constant at 250W, the Ti concentration could be independently controlled from x ≈ 1.4 to 2.8. Xray diffraction shows B-rich films have (100) and (101) TiB2 crystalline structure, and Ti-rich films are amorphous. Atomic force microscopy analysis shows smooth TiBx films (rms roughness between 0.96 nm and 2.0 nm) with lateral surface feature size between 23 nm and 45 nm.


Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles is the story of a woman born to rule a nation -- and the glorious pageant of love and tragedy that followed in her wake. Mary's beauty inspired poetry -- yet her birthright engendered hideous treachery and terrible, bloody murder. This novel is Margaret George's magnificent recreation of the life of one of history's greatest legends. A woman accused of murdering her husband to marry her lover. A woman who became Queen six days after her birth in 1542 -- only to be beheaded forty years later on the orders of her cousin, Elizabeth I ...


In this study, natural convection of non-Newtonian power-law fluids around an array of elliptic cylinders has been investigated numerically. The governing equations have been solved using an in-house computational fluid dynamics code based on the well-known finite volume method. It is assumed that the flow and temperature fields are laminar, steady, and two-dimensional. Furthermore, due to the low-temperature difference between the tube walls and the surrounding fluid, the changes in the physical properties of the fluids are neglected. The numerical results are validated against the available experimental and numerical results. The results show that by increasing the non-Newtonian fluid power-law index, the ratio of average Nusselt number of the ith cylinder to the average Nusselt number of a single cylinder under identical thermal conditions decreases. Moreover, it is found that the increase in the ratio of the distance between elliptic centers and the elliptic vertical diameter increases the ratio of the average Nusselt number of ith cylinder to the average Nusselt number for a single cylinder. Finally, a mathematical expression is given for the array averaged Nusselt number.


This study was conducted to assess the predictors of safe sex practices among a group of college students. Subjects were 261 students attending the evening division of a large urban university campus, 68% of whom were female and 947. of whom reported being heterosexual. The average age of respondents was 26 years. Subjects responded to questions concerning their knowledge about sources of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission, history of sexual behavior, attitudes toward homosexuality, intravenous drug use, casual sex, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) hysteria, and heterosexual invulnerability to infection. The majority of students knew how HIV was transmitted, but 40.4% responded incorrectly or were unsure about ways in which one cannot be infected. Nine percent of the heterosexual population practiced safer sex although 27% had sexual contact with a high risk group member. A stepwise discriminant analysis using variables hypothesized in the research literature to be associated with practicing safer sex was used to predict group membership. Five predictor variables successfully classified 75% of the grouped cases. The safer sex group was younger, felt less vulnerable to AIDS, was more positive about sexual activity, felt more assured of the actual routes of transmission, and were more critical of intravenous drug users. (Author /NB) ************4;.A:.A**********1:****.A****;.:.AAA****************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * *********************************,c************************************* Safer Sex Predictors


A well-preserved new specimen of Granorotalia sublobata from the type population shows the presence of spines in the microspheric generation, the same as for Ornatorotalia spinosa. The spines are irregularly distributed along the periphery of the test. The discovery of this taxonomic character points to a systematic redefinition, in which the two genera are assigned to a new family Ornatorotaliidae, in the superfamily Rotaliacea. Aside from the microspheric spinosity, Ornatorotaliids are characterized among rotaliaceans by a complex enveloping canal system, vertical funnels in both ventral and dorsal sides of the tests, umbilical flap or toothplate, and the absence of folia.


Current body image literature is indicative of contradictory findings for women and men of varying ethnicities (e.g., research suggests that Black women possess higher body esteem, yet other evidence refutes this finding). The term fat talk is used to identify a conversational style that appears to give voice to the discrepancy between the ideal body and the body possessed by most Americans. The current study used an online survey of age- and weight-representative U.S. adult men (n = 1,982) and women (n = 2,001) to assess whether participants in various racial/ethnic groups differed significantly on 1) exposure to and 2) pressure to engage in each of 3 body talk scenarios: negative (i.e., "fat talk"), self-accepting, and positive. Results of one-way ANOVAs indicated that Black and Hispanic women reported higher exposure to self-accepting and positive body talk than did White women, while White women reported more pressure to engage in fat talk than Black women did. This is consistent with ethnic differences found in the body image literature suggesting worse body image for White women while espousing pride and personal individualization of beauty and style among Black and Hispanic women (i.e., "got it goin' on"). Further exploration of varying forms of body talk holds promise for the development of culturally sensitive prevention and treatment efforts for body image, obesity, and disordered eating.


Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) was conceived in 1996 as a signaling protocol for inviting users to multimedia conferences. With this development, the next big Internet revolution silently started. That was the revolution which would end up converting the Internet into a total communication system which would allow people to talk to each other, see each other, work collaboratively or send messages in real time. Internet telephony and, in general, Internet multimedia, is the new revolution today and SIP is the key protocol which allows this revolution to grow.
The book explains, in tutorial fashion, the underlying technologies that enable real-time IP multimedia communication services in the Internet (voice, video, presence, instant messaging, online picture sharing, white-boarding, etc). Focus is on session initiation protocol (SIP) but also covers session description protocol (SDP), Real-time transport protocol (RTP), and message session relay protocol (MSRP). In addition, it will also touch on other application-related protocols and refer to the latest research work in IETF and 3GPP about these topics. (3GPP stands for "third-generation partnership project" which is a collaboration agreement between ETSI (Europe), ARIB/TTC (Japan), CCSA (China), ATIS (North America) and TTA (South Korea).) The book includes discussion of leading edge theory (which is key to really understanding the technology) accompanied by Java examples that illustrate the theoretical concepts.

Throughout the book, in addition to the code snippets, the reader is guided to build a simple but functional IP soft-phone therefore demonstrating the theory with practical examples.

This book covers IP multimedia from both a theoretical and practical point of view focusing on letting the reader understand the concepts and put them into practice using Java. It includes lots of drawings, protocol diagrams, UML sequence diagrams and code snippets that allow the reader to rapidly understand the concepts.

KEY FEATURES

* Focus on HOW multimedia communications over the Internet works to allow readers to really understand and implement the technology
* Explains how SIP works, including many programming examples so the reader can understand abstract concepts like SIP dialogs, SIP transactions, etc.
* It is not focused on just VoIP. It looks At a wide array of enhanced communication services related to SIP enabling the reader put this technology into practice.
* Includes nearly 100 references to the latest standards and working group activities in the IETF, bringing the reader completely up to date.
* Provides a step-by-step tutorial on how to build a basic, though functional, IP soft-phone allowing the reader to put concepts into practice.
* For advanced readers, the book also explains how to build a SIP proxy and a SIP registrar to enhance one's expertise and marketability in this fast moving area.


The purpose of this research is to re-conceptualize the theory of Islamic banking according to the Al-Quran and Hadith. This research needs to be carried out considering that the operational activities of Islamic banks, especially in Indonesia, have been heavily criticized by academic researchers because there have been several deviations from Islamic banking activities that are not in accordance with the provisions of Islamic law. The method used in this research is the method of documentation and reviewing secondary data in the form of theories regarding Islamic banking. The analysis technique used is descriptive. Where the development of Islamic banking literature will be explained in a complete and structured manner so that it will produce an in-depth explanation. The results showed that the theory of Islamic banking is shaped like a building where the foundation of Islamic banking is faith-based on the Al-Quran and Hadith and carries out the characteristics of the Prophet Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam. After the foundation is in place, it can run the rules of Islamic banking based on sharia which consists of prohibition of all usury practices, prohibition of financing maysir and gharar businesses, financing of real assets, sharing of profits and risk of loss. If sharia has been implemented in sharia banking, a pure sharia bank will be realized so that it will get the blessing of Allah Ta'ala.


This study investigated the neural dynamics associated with short-term exposure to different virtual classroom designs with different window placement and room dimension. Participants engaged in five brief cognitive tasks in each design condition including the Stroop Test, the Digit Span Test, the Benton Test, a Visual Memory Test, and an Arithmetic Test. Performance on the cognitive tests and Electroencephalogram (EEG) data were analyzed by contrasting various classroom design conditions. The cognitive-test-performance results showed no significant differences related to the architectural design features studied. We computed frequency band-power and connectivity EEG features to identify neural patterns associated to environmental conditions. A leave-one-out machine-learning classification scheme was implemented to assess the robustness of the EEG features, with the classification accuracy evaluation of the trained model repeatedly performed against an unseen participant's data. The classification results located consistent differences in the EEG features across participants in the different classroom design conditions, with a predictive power (test-set accuracy: 51.5%-61.3%) that was significantly higher compared to a baseline classification learning outcome using scrambled data. These findings were most robust during the Visual Memory Test, and were not found during the Stroop Test and the Arithmetic Test. The most discriminative EEG features were observed in bilateral occipital, parietal, and frontal regions in the theta (4-8 Hz) and alpha (8-12 Hz) frequency bands. Connectivity analysis reinforced these findings by showing that there were changes in the transfer of information from centro-parietal to frontal electrodes in the different classroom conditions. While the implications of these findings for student learning are yet to be determined, this study provides rigorous evidence that brain activity features during cognitive tasks are affected by the design elements of window placement and room dimensions. The ongoing development of this EEG-based approach has the potential to strengthen evidence-based design through the use of solid neurophysiological evidence.


Background Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) induces androgenic alopecia by shortening the hair follicle growth phase, resulting in hair loss. We previously demonstrated how changes in the microRNA (miRNA) expression profile influenced DHT-mediated cell death, cell cycle arrest, cell viability, the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and senescence. Protective effects against DHT have not, however, been elucidated at the genome level. Objective We showed that epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a major component of green tea, protects DHT-induced cell death by regulating the cellular miRNA expression profile. Methods We used a miRNA microarray to identify miRNA expression levels in human dermal papilla cells (DPCs). We investigated whether the miRNA expression influenced the protective effects of EGCG against DHT-induced cell death, growth arrest, intracellular ROS levels, and senescence. Results EGCG protected against the effects of DHT by altering the miRNA expression profile in human DPCs. In addition, EGCG attenuated DHT-mediated cell death and growth arrest and decreased intracellular ROS levels and senescence. A bioinformatics analysis elucidated the relationship between the altered miRNA expression and EGCG-mediated protective effects against DHT. Conclusion Overall, our results suggest that EGCG ameliorates the negative effects of DHT by altering the miRNA expression profile in human DPCs.


The essence of fractal image denoising is to predict the fractal code of a noiseless image from its noisy observation. From the predicted fractal code, one can generate an estimate of the original image. We show how well fractal-wavelet denoising predicts parent wavelet subetres of the noiseless image. The performance of various fractal-wavelet denoising schemes (e.g., fixed partitioning, quadtree partitioning) is compared to that of some standard wavelet thresholding methods. We also examine the use of cycle spinning in fractal-based image denoising for the purpose enhancing the denoised estimates. Our experimental results show that these fractal-based image denoising methods are quite competitive with standard wavelet thresholding methods for image denoising. Finally, we compare the performance of the pixel- and wavelet-based fractal denoising schemes


Japan's population is shrinking. On current trends it will decline by an average of half a million people per year for the next forty years. The country is also getting older and the ratio of dependants to active workers is expected to approach 1:1 by around 2030. These two interdependent processes will deliver great changes to Japan in the coming decades.In the twenty-first century, a historic turnaround in global demographic trends will occur. Europe and East Asia are especially vulnerable to demographic shrinkage. Germany is already shrinking, as is Russia. South Korea will begin to shrink soon and, importantly, so will China from around 2035. Overall, this is good news, but it brings with it worldwide changes to ways of living and working.Japan's rural areas have been shrinking for decades. Entire villages have vanished, even been "sold." Thousands of municipalities have been judged "non-viable" and merged. Thousands more private and public enterprises have collapsed leaving colossal debts, while hundreds of thousands of older people live miserable lives in neighbourless communities. Rural shrinkage has been the unseen corollary of Japan's extraordinarily dynamic 20th-century urban expansion; indeed, Japan's postwar economic miracle has been achieved at the expense of rural retreat.Potentially disastrous is the negative-sum game that national depopulation triggers, as one community's gain becomes another's loss. Japan's Shrinking Regions in the 21st Century reveals how communities are responding positively to these emerging circumstances, delivering a message of hope and vitality to shrinking regions worldwide. Setting Japan alongside Europe, and with an epilogue describing the Tohoku earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown of 11 March 2011, the book offers policy makers and practitioners up to date advice for community revival born of extensive collaborative fieldwork across the whole Japanese archipelago.Japan's Shrinking Regions in the 21st Century brings together the work of 18 international scholars to present the first comprehensive study of regional shrinkage under Japan's national depopulation. Interspersed throughout with numerous illustrations, the book reveals a richly textured examination of shrinkage at the local level, from which emerges the overall story of Japan's depopulation and its place within the trajectory of world development.This will be an important source for all social science collections, as well as for researchers, policy makers, students, and practitioners with interests in regional development, demography, East Asia, and post-industrial change.


Open dumping of waste generated and uncollected is the most common option in waste management schemes from rural areas. Lack of sanitation services or rudimentary waste management systems favored this practice. This paper proposes a method to estimate the amounts of household waste uncontrolled disposed at local administrative unit level (commune) for 2003 and 2010. Based on estimating the amounts of waste generated and uncollected are introduced new indicators in the quantitative analysis taking into account the household waste composition, individual composting of biodegradable waste or recyclable waste from households for a more proper assessment of waste disposed. Usually household waste is disposed in various sites according to local geographical context such as open dumps on local roadsides, forest areas or on riverbanks. The indicators were calculated for each commune from the county that did not have access to sanitation services. Processed data were mapped, thematic maps outlining regional disparities existing between communes from county. Comparative analysis of the years 2003 (pre-accession period) and 2010 (post-accession) highlights the changes and difficulties to provide waste management facilities in rural territory.


Nicaraguan Spanish is characterized by the reduction of coda /s/ to glottal frication, elision, and glottal constriction, but the latter variant has never been explored in depth. The present study fills this void by analyzing the word-final, intervocalic /s/ environment in sociolinguistic interviews, reading tasks, and image identification tasks conducted with 36 Nicaraguans with the goal of detailing the social patterning of glottal constriction. I find that glottal constriction patterns like sibilance, a hyperarticulated variant, and a statistical analysis reveals two distinct hyperarticulation strategies in formal tasks based on age and education. Given their differing responses to formality, I propose that more educated and younger speakers with more exposure to prescriptive norms apply sibilance, a global hyperarticulation strategy, to signal their education and power on an international scale, while less educated and older speakers utilize glottal constriction to construct an identity associated with regional articulateness.


The squirrel glider (Petaurus norfolcensis) is an arboreal marsupial potentially impacted throughout its geographic range by the loss of hollow-bearing trees. We investigated the use of den trees and the availability of hollow-bearing trees near Mackay in the tropical north of the squirrel glider range where information was deficient. Mean den tree size (41.1 ± 2.9 cm (s.e.), diameter at breast height (dbh)) was significantly larger than that of available trees (27.5 ± 0.9 cm). Dead trees (stags) comprised 52% of 27 dens but comprised only 12% of available trees. This likely reflects the greater frequency of hollows in dead trees compared with other trees. Surveys found that 59% of 720 available trees contained hollows. A much lower percentage of trees in the 10–30-cm dbh size class were hollow-bearing (22%) compared with trees >30 cm (77%), and we view these smaller trees as those providing future den trees. Their density varied from 17 to 95 ha–1 among sites, which suggests that most sites have an adequate supply of future hollows. We installed 56 nest boxes to determine use by squirrel gliders. Only 20% were used after 3 years, but use was not influenced by the availability of tree hollows. Tree hollow availability appears adequate for the squirrel glider in these tropical woodlands but further studies are needed to understand the dynamic processes that govern this resource.


This paper aims to discuss the extent to which polycentrism as a strategic vision impacts on the provision of three selected Social Services of General Interest (SSGI). A multivariate cross-section OLS regression model is used to estimate the relative impact of polycentrism on the provision of SSGI. This study uses Eurostat and ESPON data. The findings indicate that polycentrism on a national level appears to have no impact on low, medium or high centrality services. The GDP/capita has the strongest impact on the SSGI provision on low and medium centrality services. The findings indicate the presence of spatial patterns in the SSGI provision. The findings raise the question to what extent polycentrism and the Cohesion Policy will achieve the policy ambitions.


International law is clear on most issues associated with the conduct of marine scientific research (MSR) and hydrographic surveying but what is not clear is whether or not another State might conduct hydrographic surveys in an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) without the prior authorization of the coastal State. This paper reviews what is involved with MSR, hydrographic surveys and military surveys before reaching the conclusion that trends in recent decades with technology, the utility of hydrographic data and State practice require that hydrographic surveys in the EEZ should be under the jurisdiction of the coastal State. Paradoxically the arguments for military surveys in the EEZ being outside the jurisdiction of the coastal State appear stronger than those applying to hydrographic surveying. The paper offers some guidelines related to the conduct of MSR and hydrographic surveying in the EEZ but is not able to do so with regard to military surveys. This latter aspect requires further consideration outside the scope of this paper.


The EU's is a curiously atypical legal system which construes the on-going shift from citizenship to personhood in global constitutional law in quite an atypical way. The advent of the person boasts, globally, a powerful ability to remedy the harsh edges of the arbitrary exclusionary legal fiction of citizenship by embracing those who do not qualify to benefit from it. In the EU, however, the turn of constitutionalism to personhood plays quite the opposite role: it disables the protections of EU citizenship. This curious turn, which this paper aims to document and discuss, has two consequences. Firstly, it annihilates citizenship as a meaningful legal status in the EU, since its declared benefits and protections can always be overridden by personal circumstances of the holder: precisely what citizenship, at its inception, was supposed to make impossible. Secondly, it deprives of protections of citizenship precisely those who need it the most, since they become invisible in the eyes of the powers that be. As a result citizenship in Europe is turning into a 'citizenship of personal circumstances' – a figure of inescapable individualism imposed on those in need, who are thereby detached from other citizenry and branded out as not good enough in the eyes of the Union – leaving little space to the grand ideals of the past.


A drive towards leaner engineering has seen the use of physical prototypes become a limiting factor in the development of new products. Consequently, alternative prototyping methods are of interest. With their ability to reduce cost, accelerate time to market, and optimize products to higher levels of performance and reliability, virtual methods offer an attractive alternative. Methods for virtual prototyping with respect to visual design and engineering (i.e CAD and CAE) are particularly well developed. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said in the realm of acoustics. Although numerical methods, such as finite and boundary element analysis, are able to predict, with some accuracy, the passive properties of simple assembly components, they currently lack the ability to accurately model more complex vibro-acoustic components, for example vibration sources and their associated vibratory mechanisms. Consequently, the adoption of any virtual acoustic prototyping (VAP) methodology will require some element of experimental work. As such, this Thesis concerns the development and implementation of experimental methods for the independent characterisation of assembly components, with particular emphasis on in-situ approaches. The methods discussed in this work will focus on the determination of active and passive sub-structure properties that may be recombined virtually within a dynamic sub-structuring framework so as to construct a VAP. A well constructed VAP will allow for an engineer to `listen' to a product without it having to physically exist. With the growing importance of product sound quality, this offers a considerable advantage, particularly in the early stages of product development. Work begins by developing an in-situ method for the independent characterisation of resilient coupling elements. The approach holds a number of advantages over current methods as it may be applied to arbitrary structures and over a wide frequency range. In order to provide a flexible and workable method that may be used in a practical scenario three experimental extensions are provided. These extensions concern; the finite difference approximation for rotational degrees of freedom, the round trip identity for remote measurement positions, and generalised transmissibility for the use of operationally determinable quantities. Experimental studies show that the proposed method, and its extensions, are capable of determining the independent passive properties of coupling elements from a range of different assembly types with good accuracy. The in-situ characterisation approach goes on to form the basis of a novel in-situ decoupling procedure which is shown to accurately determine the independent free interface frequency response functions (FRFs) of resiliently coupled source and receiver sub-structures. The decoupling procedure provides a convenient alternative to the free suspension of a sub-structure whilst providing a number of potential benefits, for example, characterisation whilst under representative mounting conditions. The approach is validated experimentally and used to decouple both single and multi-contact resonant assemblies with great success. The in-situ blocked force approach is re-introduced to the reader as a method for independently characterising the active component of a source sub-structure. Methods for assessing uncertainties involved are also discussed. The blocked force method is subsequently extended so as to allow for an estimate of uncertainties to be made. The concept of error propagation is investigated and an experimental study presented. This study is aimed at providing an example of the in-situ blocked forces application, whilst validating the proposed measure of uncertainty. The Thesis concludes with an experimental case study utilizing the methods proposed throughout. This case study concerns the construction of a VAP whereby an electric pump is resiliently coupled to a cavity backed plate. It is shown that, together, the proposed methods allow for the construction of a VAP capable of predicting, with reasonable accuracy, the operational pressure and velocity response of an assembly.


Abstract:  In recent centuries bird species have been deteriorating in status and becoming extinct at a rate that may be 2–3 orders of magnitude higher than in prehuman times. We examined extinction rates of bird species designated critically endangered in 1994 and the rate at which species have moved through the IUCN (World Conservation Union) Red List categories of extinction risk globally for the period 1988–2004 and regionally in Australia from 1750 to 2000. For Australia we drew on historical accounts of the extent and condition of species habitats, spread of invasive species, and changes in sighting frequencies. These data sets permitted comparison of observed rates of movement through the IUCN Red List categories with novel predictions based on the IUCN Red List criterion E, which relates to explicit extinction probabilities determined, for example, by population viability analysis. The comparison also tested whether species listed on the basis of other criteria face a similar probability of moving to a higher threat category as those listed under criterion E. For the rate at which species moved from vulnerable to endangered, there was a good match between observations and predictions, both worldwide and in Australia. Nevertheless, species have become extinct at a rate that, although historically high, is 2 (Australia) to 10 (globally) times lower than predicted. Although the extinction probability associated with the critically endangered category may be too high, the shortfall in realized extinctions can also be attributed to the beneficial impact of conservation intervention. These efforts may have reduced the number of global extinctions from 19 to 3 and substantially slowed the extinction trajectory of 33 additional critically endangered species. Our results suggest that current conservation action benefits species on the brink of extinction, but is less targeted at or has less effect on moderately threatened species.


Productivity growth has always been an important aspect of Malaysia's
economic policy. This is evident in every stage of Malaysia's economic
development plans. Sustainable economic growth need to continuously focus
on improvements in productivity. Productivity-driven growth has gained
momentum in many countries since the 1970's. The Seventh Malaysia Plan
(1 995-2000), had placed the importance of productivity with a shift in policy,
where productivity-driven strategy was the primary synergy to growth in the
future. The productivity-driven strategy is further emphasised in the Eighth
Malaysia Plan (2001-2005) and in the Third Outline Perspective Plan (OPP3)
(2001-2010). As a result, Malaysia was able to recover from the financial crisis
faced in 1997 and experience sustainable economic growth. In view of
Malaysia's current full employment situation, total investment is expected to
decline. Malaysia's future growth henceforth will depend more on productivitydriven
growth strategies.
Enhancing productivity growth is essential to achieve high economic growth
substantial improvement in income distribution, relative price stability and
poverty eradication. Due to limited resources and capacity in capital
accumulation accompanied by stiff competition in attracting foreign
investments, it has become more pertinent to move the economic
development strategy from input-driven to productivity-driven growth by
enhancing the contribution of Total Factor Productivity (TFP).
As Malaysia moves forward to achieve her goals as set in Vision 2020, she is
expected increasing her bottlenecks and limitations especially in terms of skill
and organisational/technological capabilities. Shortage of labour will also
increase the cost of production which would lead to the erosion of
competitiveness. Furthermore, she will increase competitiveness due to
globalisation and liberalisation. Nonetheless, that there has been relatively low
TFP growth both in the manufacturing sector as well as the economy as a
whole.
The main objective of this dissertation is to demonstrate the usefulness of
recent developments in stochastic frontier analyses in measuring the TFP,
efficiency and technological progress in Malaysian manufacturing industries
(1985-2001), and the specific objectives are: (i) To provide alternative
estimations of technical and cost/allocative efficiency, technological progress
and TFP of Malaysian manufacturing sector by using four alternative
approaches: Production Function (Cobb Douglas Production Frontier (CDP),
Translog Production Frontier (TP)) and Dual Cost Function (Cobb Douglas
iii
Cost Frontier (CDC) and Translog Cost Frontier (TC)); (ii) To review and
identify the underlying impact, assumptions, approach, nature and
applications of the above models for Malaysia; (iii) To review the results of
alternative estimates of efficiency, technological progress and TFP; (iv) To
discuss the relationships between technological progress, efficiency and TFP
in Malaysian manufacturing industries; (v) To utilise the results of the models
in planning for higher TFP growth; and (vi) To provide some policy
implications.
According to economists, there are three sources contributing to economic
growth of a nation: inflation rate, employment growth and productivity growth.
In exploring the later, this study uses 4 alternative models, and the selected
final model is the translog cost frontier model. This provides estimations of
technical and cost 1 allocative efficiency, technological progress and TFP of
twenty selected Malaysian manufacturing sub-sectors using stochastic frontier
panel data of time-variant. This study has been able to provide a detailed
trend analysis of TFP growth, technological progress, allocativelcost efficiency
and the effects of scale economies at 3 and 5-digits sub-sector level of the
Malaysian manufacturing sector. The importance of measuring the two
components of TFP growth i.e., technicallcost efficiency change and
technological progress is that they may provide insights into the causes of low
productivity. In this study, the methodologies of stochastic frontier production
and cost are employed using microlfirm level data. Microlfirm level data have
the advantage of overcoming some of the measurement problems and
aggregation bias associated with aggregated industry data. Furthermore, the
stochastic frontier production and cost methods will enable us to separate the
contributions of technological progress and changes in technicallcost
efficiency to TFP growth. The latter can also provide important policy
guidelines on the possible factors underlying the productivity issue.
This study has provided TFP growth estimates which show considerable
effects by changes in technicallallocative efficiency technological progress
and scale of components. The overall manufacturing sector for the period
1986-2001 registers TFP growth of 0.69%. The sub-sectors which register
high TFP growth are textiles, wood products, other chemicals products, nonferrous
metal, electrical machinery, beverages and other manufacturing. Subsectors
with low TFP growth are machinery except electrical, rubber products,
transport equipment and fabricated metal. The allocativelcost efficiency is the
main contributor to TFP growth as compared to technological progress. The
overall manufacturing sector for the period 1985-2001 registers an efficiency
contribution of 66.0%, scale components 33.0% and technological progress
1 .O% to the TFP. These determinants will give a positive significant effect on
productivity growth.


This is the B-version of "Piers Plowman", probably the only version authorized by Langland. This catalogue of the 18 extant manuscripts, now located in Cambridge, London, Oxford, Tokyo and California, offers both individual manuscript descriptions and a record of the annotations. The detailed codicological descriptions include information on provenance and ownership; a full list of the contents; and a description of the physical make-up and presentation of each manuscript. The substantial first full account of the various textual annotations in each manuscript (whether produced by original scribes or later readers) provides the best record available of how "Piers Plowman" was understood by its earliest audience.


In this study, we observed and interviewed six teachers from two Singapore primary school classrooms. The schools were reportedly achieving high levels of computer integration as reflected in a nationwide questionnaire survey. Out of the 18 lessons that we observed, 14 lessons have incorporated some elements of constructivist teaching. However, closer examination revealed that the underlying orientation of the lessons was inclined towards information acquisition and regurgitation. Five out of the six teachers we interviewed were reportedly inclined towards constructivist notion of teaching. The teachers accounted for the inconsistency between their espoused beliefs and the teacher-centric teaching practice as due to contextual constraints. The teachers expressed that the need to complete the syllabi according to stipulated schedules so as to get the students ready for examination was the main barriers that prevented them from engaging in more constructivist teaching. This case study therefore highlights that although it is necessary for teachers to hold pedagogical beliefs that are compatible with the constructivist notion of teaching and learning, this is an insufficient condition to shift traditional teaching practice. Changes in assessment systems and substantial professional development are further conditions that have to be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]


This report reviews the implementation of the measures the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB or Bank) has taken in the three strategic pillars of the anticorruption agenda: (i) strengthen the prevention of fraud and corruption in Bank operations; (ii) support transparency and anticorruption efforts in the Region; and (iii) ensure high ethical standards for Bank staff. The Bank has taken several actions in the first and third pillars. To help prevent corruption, the IDB has eliminated the overlap of policy and investigations by creating an Anticorruption Policy Committee and giving more independence to the Office of Institutional Integrity, and by establishing a new sanctions structure with greater clarity and stronger accountability. In addition, the 2011 cross-debarment agreement with other multilateral development banks has enhanced the impact of sanctions the IDB may impose. To help ensure internal integrity, the Bank has revised its Code of Ethics and whistleblower policy, improved the enforcement capacity of the Ethics Office, streamlined accountability relationship, and taken various other actions to bring the system up to good international practice. The second pillar, however -even recognizing that most Bank interventions to improve public management and strengthen institutions can have a positive impact on governance and anticorruption- has received limited recognition and support, partly as the result of crowding out by other development priorities and of limited country demand. In preventing corruption in Bank projects and in fostering staff integrity, the new structure is a major improvement over the one built piecemeal in previous years. This report advances various suggestions, of which the most important is for an external review of the Bank staff rules, particularly to sharpen managers? authority and accountability for ensuring a respectful workplace environment. In these two pillars, however, the priority is to consolidate the sound organizational and institutional changes that have been made. For the second pillar, enhancing governance and anticorruption efforts in member countries will require more assertive Bank support from the top, the assignment of greater priority and resources to programs to foster transparency and accountability, and closer intersectoral coordination.


In farm animal breeding, behavioural traits are rarely included in selection programmes despite their potential to improve animal production and welfare. Breeding goals have been broadened beyond production traits in most farm animal species to include health and functional traits, and opportunities exist to increase the inclusion of behaviour in breeding indices. On a technical level, breeding for behaviour presents a number of particular challenges compared to physical traits. It is much more difficult and time-consuming to directly measure behaviour in a consistent and reliable manner in order to evaluate the large numbers of animals necessary for a breeding programme. For this reason, the development and validation of proxy measures of key behavioural traits is often required. Despite these difficulties, behavioural traits have been introduced by certain breeders. For example, ease of handling is now included in some beef cattle breeding programmes. While breeding for behaviour is potentially beneficial, ethical concerns have been raised. Since animals are adapted to the environment rather than the other way around, there may be a loss of 'naturalness' and/or animal integrity. Some examples, such as breeding for good maternal behaviour, could enhance welfare, production and naturalness, although dilemmas emerge where improved welfare could result from breeding away from natural behaviour. Selection against certain behaviours may carry a risk of creating animals which are generally unreactive ('zombies'), although such broad effects could be measured and controlled. Finally, breeding against behavioural measures of welfare could inadvertently result in resilient animals ('stoics') that do not show behavioural signs of low welfare yet may still be suffering. To prevent this, other measures of the underlying problem should be used, although cases where this is not possible remain troubling.


Most medium and large commercial buildings in the U.S. are subject to complex electricity tariffs that combine both Time-of-Use (TOU) energy and demand charges. This study analyses the performances of different economic Model Predictive Control (MPC) formulations, from the standpoints of monthly bill reduction, load shifting, and peak demand reduction. Simulations are performed on many simplified commercial building models, with multiple TOU demand charges, and under various summer conditions. Results show that compared to energy-only MPC, the traditional method for dealing with demand charges significantly reduces peak demand and owner bill, however, highlight a lack of load shifting capability. A proposed incremental approach is presented, which better balances the bill components in the objective function. In the case study presented, this method can improve monthly bill savings and increase load shifting during demand response events, while keeping a similarly low peak demand, compared to traditional MPC methods taking into account demand charges.


This research develops a comprehensive model for evaluating the efficiency and productivity of the sector of head trauma injury (HTI) care in England and Wales, in order to reduce the costs associated with trauma care. After assessing the advantages and disadvantages of various efficiency measurement approaches, the data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology is chosen for this research, including both the DEA-based Malmquist index model and the bootstrapping DEA model.
Since the variables selected for these models include some missing data, the approach known as multiple imputation by chained equations (MICE) is proposed to deal with such missing data situations, in order to ensure the accuracy of the inferential and predictive results that our analyses generate. In addition, an experimental study is provided to simulate this approach, in order to investigate its validity as a methodology for replacing such missing values within DEA applications. This experimental study is based on a real data set of 66 hospitals provided by the Trauma Audit and Research Network (TARN), within Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust. The results of this experimental study show that MICE works well and gives an acceptable estimate of true efficiency.
Furthermore, this research introduces a framework that combines DEA with structural equation modelling (SEM) in order to investigate the effects of uncontrollable variables on efficiencies. While the use of DEA provides valuable results, our SEM analysis reveals additional findings that were not identified in previous studies. For example, unlike previous second stage analysis studies in DEA that focused on only the direct effects of environmental factors on the efficiency scores, this study uses SEM to investigate further any indirect effects and the total effects of these uncontrollable factors on the efficiencies. This additional information is shown to be more useful and more informative than the results generated by the previous studies.
The methodologies proposed and developed in this thesis are then applied to the full set of available TARN data in order to measure the efficiency and productivity of HTI care, demonstrating real possibilities for reducing the costs of head trauma care.


We review our recent exploratory investigations on mode division multiplexing using hollow-core photonic bandgap fibers (HC-PBGFs). Compared with traditional multimode fibers, HC-PBGFs have several attractive features such as ultra-low nonlinearities, low-loss transmission window around 2 μm etc. After having discussed the potential and challenges of using HC-PBGFs as transmission fibers for mode multiplexing applications, we will report a number of recent proof-of-concept results obtained in our group using direct detection receivers. The first one is the transmission of two 10.7 Gbit/s non-return to zero (NRZ) data signals over a 30 m 7-cell HC-PBGF using the offset mode launching method. In another experiment, a short piece of 19-cell HC-PBGF was used to transmit two 20 Gbit/s NRZ channels using a spatial light modulator for precise mode excitation. Bit-error-ratio (BER) performances below the forward-error-correction (FEC) threshold limit (3.3×10-3) are confirmed for both data channels when they propagate simultaneously.


The largest eigenvalue of the adjacency matrix of a network (referred to as the spectral radius) is an important metric in its own right. Further, for several models of epidemic spread on networks (e.g., the `flu-like' SIS model), it has been shown that an epidemic dies out quickly if the spectral radius of the graph is below a certain threshold that depends on the model parameters. This motivates a strategy to control epidemic spread by reducing the spectral radius of the underlying network.
In this paper, we develop a suite of provable approximation algorithms for reducing the spectral radius by removing the minimum cost set of edges (modeling quarantining) or nodes (modeling vaccinations), with different time and quality tradeoffs. Our main algorithm, \textsc{GreedyWalk}, is based on the idea of hitting closed walks of a given length, and gives an $O(\log^2{n})$-approximation, where $n$ denotes the number of nodes; it also performs much better in practice compared to all prior heuristics proposed for this problem. We further present a novel sparsification method to improve its running time.
In addition, we give a new primal-dual based algorithm with an even better approximation guarantee ($O(\log n)$), albeit with slower running time. We also give lower bounds on the worst-case performance of some of the popular heuristics. Finally we demonstrate the applicability of our algorithms and the properties of our solutions via extensive experiments on multiple synthetic and real networks.


In Switzerland, several boreholes are monitored within the framework of the Permafrost Monitoring Switzerland (PERMOS). Three of these boreholes, at Murtel, at Schilthorn, and at Stockhorn, are at least 60 m deep. In addition, a number of shorter boreholes (c. 6 m deep) were drilled in other projects and have been continuously observed over several years. Results on long- and short-term behavior of these boreholes are presented and compared to standard meteorological components, such as air temperatures and snow cover, measured directly at these borehole sites or nearby. First analyses show the importance of the snow cover duration and thickness; more important on a local scale are different surface and subsurface characteristics influencing heat transfer by conduction and heat capacity. The concept of different offsets between atmosphere and lithosphere is discussed, and data reflecting these offsets are presented for typical alpine conditions.


OBJECT
In this paper, the authors' aim was to use CT perfusion imaging to evaluate the early changes in tumor microcirculation following radiosurgery in rat C6 brain gliomas.

METHODS
C6 glioma cells were inoculated into the right caudate nucleus of 25 Wistar rats using a stereotactic procedure. Tumor-bearing rats were randomly divided into 2 groups (tumor group and treatment group). Rats in the treatment group received maximal doses of 20 Gy delivered by the X-knife unit 16 days postimplantation. Computed tomography perfusion imaging was performed in all rats 3 weeks after tumor implantation prior to death and histopathological analysis.

RESULTS
Hypocellular regions and tumor edema were increased in the treatment group compared with the tumor group. Parameters of CT perfusion imaging including cerebral blood volume (CBV) and mean transit time (MTT) of the tumors as well as the permeability surface area (PSA) product in the tumor-brain districts were decreased in the treatment group compared with the tumor group (p < 0.05). Although microvascular density (MVD) in the periphery of the tumors in the treatment group was higher than that in the normal contralateral brain (p < 0.05), MVD of the tumors in the treatment group was less than that in the tumor group (p < 0.01). There was a positive correlation between cerebral blood flow (CBF) and MVD as well as CBV and MVD in the center and periphery of tumors in both groups (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
A decrease in the perfusion volume of rat C6 brain gliomas was observed during the acute stage following X-knife treatment, and CBF and CBV were positively correlated with MVD of rat C6 brain gliomas. Thus, CT perfusion imaging can be used to evaluate the early changes in tumor microcirculation following radiosurgery.


Serious games are popular computer games that frequently simulate real-world events or processes designed for the purpose of solving a problem. Although they are often entertaining, their main purpose is to train or educate users. Not surprisingly, users exhibit different game play behaviors because of their diverse background and game experience. To improve the educational effectiveness of these games, it is important to understand and learn from the interaction between the users and the game engine. This paper presents a study attempting to apply machine learning techniques to the game log to discover: a) strategies that are common to players interacting with serious games and b) variances in the demographics of the player base for these strategies. This is an empirical study with end-user data while playing Missing, a serious game developed to help mitigate biases that people may exhibit when analyzing plausible hypothesis for observed events. We found a set of common strategies and interesting variances in player demographics associated with these strategies.


Dual-wavelength noiselike pulses are generated in a fiber ring laser. A first series of pulses is induced at a wavelength of 1550 nm by the interplay of an erbium-doped fiber and nonlinear polarization rotation. From the Raman gain of these pump pulses emerges a second series of Stokes pulses at 1650 nm. With adequate control of the polarization states in the cavity, the noiselike Stokes pulses extend over 84 nm in the Ultralong-wavelengths band (U-band), while the pump pulses span over 46 nm.