The present thesis is concerned with the concept of an enolate directed carbometallation reaction.
The first chapter provides a review of the area of heteroatom directed carbometallation of isolated alkynes and allenes as a powerful method for the formation of double bonds and attempts to rationalise the regio and stereochemistry of such additions.
The second chapter begins with the results of a small study on the copper(I) mediated carbometallation reactions of homoallenols. The research into the aforementioned enolate directed carbometallation reaction is then presented and discussed, and especially the efforts made towards efficient formation of a novel "bis-carbanionic" intermediate, possessing both an enolate and a vinyl organometallic reagent. Following on from a preliminary result within the group research was carried out into the carbometallation reactions of enolates derived from carboxylic acids, amides, esters. Whilst amide enolates proved to be problematic, carboxylic acid dianions were found to be suitable substrates for carbometallation and dialkylation of the "bis-carbanion" was successful. After considerable experimentation involving a variety of organometallic reagents and protocols for enolate anion generation, ester enolates were found to be most successful, giving rise to high yields of products and allowing selective reactions of both the vinyl organometallic reagent and the enolate. Finally, very encouraging preliminary results were obtained with an adventurous strategy involving the enolate intermediate obtained from a conjugate addition to an enone. Experiments to probe the reactivity of these novel intermediates, with the aim of selective reaction of only one of the carbanions, are discussed throughout. These results are then summarised and logical conclusions as well as perspectives for future research are drawn.
The thesis concludes with a detailed description of the experimental procedures used and characterisation of the compounds prepared.


It is well known that traditional line-commutated converter (LCC) based high voltage direct current (HVDC) system is not able to control its reactive power and terminal AC voltages. This paper investigates the reactive power and AC voltage control at the inverter side of the LCC HVDC system with controllable capacitors. The system's ability of operating under negative extinction angle is utilized to achieve a wide range of reactive power control and, in particular, the ability of exporting reactive power. In connection with the inverter AC terminal voltage or reactive power control, among different control possibilities at the rectifier side, active power control is desirable since large variations of active power transfer is very unfavorable. Detailed theoretical analysis is carried out first to show the reactive power controllability, and the capacitor voltage level is selected based on the desired control range. In addition, a new extinction angle measurement approach is proposed for negative extinction angle measurements. The effectiveness of the reactive power/voltage control capability for the proposed system is validated through simulation results using Real-Time Digital Simulator (RTDS). To verify the effectiveness of the reactive power and voltage control, CCC HVDC and LCC HVDC with SVC are also set up in RTDS, and simulation comparisons are made. Furthermore, contribution to AC voltage control in power system using the proposed method is demonstrated through simulation results of the modified two-area four-machine AC power system.


A methanolic extract of Harpagophytum procumbens as well as harpagoside and harpagide were tested as direct inhibitors of cyclooxygenase-2 enzyme (COX-2). The H. procumbens extract demonstrated direct inhibition (68%) of COX-2 enzyme. The concentration of harpagoside and harpagide equivalent to that found in the extract (3 and 1% respectively) contributed 1.5 and 13% to this inhibition. Results indicated direct COX-2 enzyme inhibition by the H. procumbens extract due to possible synergistic activity of active components in the extract, which include harpagide and harpagoside.


Poorest hit hardest by consumption taxes, new research shows Summary The poorest twenty per cent of households in Britain spend an average of £1,286 per year on 'sin taxes', including betting taxes, vehicle excise duty, air passenger duty, 'green taxes' and duty on tobacco, alcohol and motor fuels. In addition, they also spend £1,165 on VAT. The £1,286 spent on sin taxes represents 11.4 per cent of the disposable income of Britain's poorest fifth of households. For every eight pounds spent by the poorest fifth of households, one pound is taken from them in sin taxes. Despite significantly lower rates of alcohol consumption and car ownership, the poorest income group spends twice as much on sin taxes and VAT than the wealthiest income group as a proportion of their income. Tax is the single biggest source of expenditure for those who live in poverty and indirect taxes are a major cause of Britain's cost of living crisis. The average smoker from the poorest fifth of households spends between 18 and 22 per cent of their disposable income on cigarettes. The tax on these cigarettes consumes 15 to 17 per cent of their income. Motoring taxes absorb eight per cent of the income of a typical driver from the bottom fifth of households. Alcohol taxes consume 2 to 4 per cent of the income of moderate drinkers in the bottom fifth of households. People in the bottom fifth of the income stream who drink moderately, smoke and drive a car spend 37 per cent of their disposable household income on sin taxes and VAT. The comparable figure for people in the top fifth of the income stream is 15 per cent. Halving 'sin taxes' on fuel, tobacco and alcohol, scrapping green energy subsidies and returning the rate of VAT to 15 per cent would reduce tax evasion, reduce black market activity, improve labour market flexibility and stimulate the economy. Above all, it would put money back in the pockets of those who are in greatest need of it.


The FSIGT has been extensively applied to the minimal model of glucose kinetics to obtain noninvasive measures of SI. The protocol has been modified by the addition of a bolus tolbutamide or insulin injection 20 min after glucose. Although the modified protocol has improved the S, estimate, the method still requires a relatively large number of samples (n = 30). To reduce the total number of samples, we choose a sample schedule that minimizes the variance of the parameter estimates and the error in reconstructing the plasma insulin profile. With data from 10 subjects (BMI 30 ± 7 kg/m2; SI 0.9–10.2 × 10−4 min−1 · μU−1 · ml−1), a schedule consisting of 12 samples (0, 2, 4, 8,19, 22, 30, 40, 50, 70, 90, and 180 min) was obtained. Estimates of SI obtained from the reduced sampling schedule were then compared with those obtained with the full sampling schedule. In all 10 individuals, the SI estimates were almost identical. A second, much larger data base consisting of 118 modified FSIGTs performed in 87 subjects (67 men, 20 women; BMI from 19.6 to 40 kg/m2 for men and 26.7 to 52.5 for women; SI, from 0.35 to 14.1 × 10−4 min−1 · μU−1 · ml−1) was then used to independently assess the efficacy of the reduced sampling protocol. For this data base, the correlation between SI, which was calculated from the full versus the reduced sampling schedule, was 0.95. The mean relative deviation was –1.5% (not significantly different from zero), and the SD of the relative deviation was 20.2%. Relative deviation was defined as the percentage of difference between SI calculated from the full sample protocol and SI calculated from the reduced sample protocol. Thus, the reduced sampling schedule provides an unbiased estimate of a population's SI, and an individual estimate is generally within 20% of that obtained with the full sampling schedule. A similar analysis of SG showed that this parameter was equally well determined from the reduced compared with the full sample schedule.


Intranuclear inclusion bodies (IBs) are the histopathologic markers of multiple protein folding diseases. IB formation has been extensively studied using fluorescent fusion products of pathogenic polyglutamine (polyQ) expressing proteins. These studies have been informative in determining the cellular targets of expanded polyQ protein as well as the methods by which cells rid themselves of IBs. The experimental thrust has been to intervene in the process of polyQ aggregation in an attempt to alleviate cytotoxicity. However new data argues against the notion that polyQ aggregation and cytotoxicity are inextricably linked processes. We reasoned that changing the protein context of a disease causing polyQ protein could accelerate its precipitation as an IB, potentially reducing its cytotoxicity. Our experimental strategy simply exploited the fact that conjoined proteins influence each others folding and aggregation properties. We fused a full-length pathogenic ataxin-1 construct to fluorescent tags (GFP and DsRed1-E5) that exist at different oligomeric states. The spectral properties of the DsRed1-E5-ataxin-1 transfectants had the additional advantage of allowing us to correlate fluorochrome maturation with cytotoxicity. Each fusion protein expressed a distinct cytotoxicity and IB morphology. Flow cytometric analyses of transfectants expressing the greatest fluorescent signals revealed that the DsRed1-E5-ataxin-1 fusion was more toxic than GFP fused ataxin-1 (31.8±4.5% cell death versus 12.85±3%), although co-transfection with the GFP fusion inhibited maturation of the DsRed1-E5 fluorochrome and diminished the toxicity of the DsRed1-E5-ataxin-1 fusion. These data show that polyQ driven aggregation can be influenced by fusion partners to generate species with different toxic properties and provide new opportunities to study IB aggregation, maturation and lethality.


Urban planning and infrastructure projects of varied sizes are increasingly utilizing model-based applications at planning phase. Although the use of virtual models has its advantages, there are multiple challenges that diminish their potential in project use. These challenges are related to either non-human or human topics. The non-human topics cover issues like deficient processes, practices and tools. The human-related topics include for example lack of communication and interaction between relevant stakeholders. The interaction is a key element in current design practice due to the high number of disciplines involved in design formation and decision-making. During the past years, many key stakeholders have experienced difficulties in changing the current way of working with model-based practices. Virtual reality (VR) has been found to offer promise for design visualisation to convey messages with reduced communication difficulties between stakeholders. This paper draws findings from observations in one meeting at an on-going large infrastructure construction project in Finland. In this case study, virtual reality has been used in project management meetings to facilitate communication and to support decision-making. We consider how the use of virtual reality actually influenced on group dynamics and make concluding remarks underpinning the use in a traditional meeting room environment. We have used activity theory as a framework to begin method development for observing and analysing the effects of virtual reality on interaction and related work practices. The empirical findings point out, that new visualization instruments have effects on the 'division of labour'. Following five traditional meeting interaction characteristics showed changes at group dynamics. When virtual reality was used as a presentation tool, the interaction between participants became more balanced. Activation of all participants, most probably, leads to enhanced mutual understanding, and furthermore to better results in the whole project.


Industrial and aerospace demands on future technologies have created an urgent need for new material properties that are beyond those of materials known today and that can only be fabricated by designing the respective microstructure at the nanoscale. Taking advantage of the correlation between the molecular structure of preceramic precursors and the microstructure of the derived ceramic materials, the single-source-precursor route offers possibilities to fabricate novel ceramic materials that are inaccessible by conventional synthesis.[1] The motivation of this Ph.D. work is to further develop the concepts for fabrication of novel ceramic nanocomposites with a tailor-made microstructure and versatile properties by molecular design of their precursors.
With this motivation, a series of dense monolithic SiMC(N) ceramic nanocomposites (M = Hf, Ta, HfTa) were fabricated using single-source-precursor synthesis plus spark plasma sintering. The chemical synthesis, polymer-to-ceramic transformation as well as high-temperature microstructural evolution was characterized using FT-IR, MAS solid NMR, TG/MS, XRD, Elemental analysis, SEM, TEM and Raman spectroscopy. Moreover, electrical conductivity, microwave absorption capability, electromagnetic interference shielding performance and laser ablation resistance of the as-prepared dense monoliths were investigated as well.
In the synthesis part, a series of M-containing single-source precursors were synthesized upon reactions between a commercially available allylhydridopolycarbosilane (SMP10) and metal compounds, including Hf(NMe2)4, Hf(NEt2)4 and Ta(NMe2)5. The polymer-to-ceramic transformation was characterized using FT-IR, 13C and 29Si MAS solid NMR as well as in situ TG/MS. The precursors synthesized using Hf(NMe2)4 and Ta(NMe2)5 lead to higher ceramic yield (≈ 80 wt.%) than that of Hf(NEt2)4 (≈ 71 wt.%), while the ceramic yield of the latter can be improved to ≈ 78 wt.% by introduction of BH3·SMe2.
Several thermal stable SiMC(N) ceramic nanocomposites (powders) were prepared upon high-temperature annealing of the amorphous SiMC(N) ceramics, including SiHfC(N), boron-doped SiHfC(N), SiTaC(N), SiHf7Ta3C(N) and SiHf2Ta2C(N). XRD, Raman and TEM results reveal that the ceramic nanocomposites mainly comprise β-SiC and MCxN1-x as well as free carbon (M = Hf, Ta, HfyTa1-y). Rietveld refinement of XRD patterns and the TEM images confirm that the grain size of both β-SiC and MCxN1-x are less than 100 nm even after annealing at 1900 oC for 5 h. The grain growth of β-SiC can be effectively suppressed by introducing M elements into the single-source precursors. Hf0.7Ta0.3CxN1-x and Hf0.2Ta0.8CxN1-x solid solutions with an expected Hf/Ta atomic ratio can be controlled precisely by adjusting the mole ratio of metal compounds during synthesis of the single-source precursors. It is worth emphasizing that a unique MCxN1-x-carbon core shell microstructure is observed within all the SiMC(N) ceramic nanocomposites, and the Hf-rich phase (e.g., HfCxN1-x and Hf0.7Ta0.3CxN1-x) seems to facilitate the formation of the carbon shell more easily. The carbon shell on the MCxN1-x core is able to hinder the coarsening of MCxN1-x grains during high-temperature processing. Thus, dense monolithic SiMC(N) ceramic nanocomposites are fabricated successfully upon spark plasma sintering of the amorphous SiMC(N) ceramics at 2200 oC. The achieved maximum diameter is 35 mm, which is rarely reported in the literature.
Laser ablation behavior of the SiHfC(N) ceramics was investigated on dense monolithic SiHfC(N) ceramic nanocomposites and Cf-reinforced SiHfC(N) ceramic matrix composites. With addition of the HfCxN1-x phase, the rim of the ablation pit is covered by Hf-containing materials (e.g., HfO2), which are able to suppress the growth of the ablation pit. The dielectric properties and microwave absorption performance of the SiHfC(N) ceramics were investigated in the X-band (8.2 ~ 12.4 GHz) at room temperature. The minimum reflection loss and the maximum effective absorption bandwidth amount to -47 dB and 3.6 GHz, respectively. Free carbon, including graphitic carbon homogeneously dispersed in the SiC-matrix and less ordered carbon deposited as a shell on HfCxN1-x nanoparticles, accounts for the unique dielectric behavior of the SiHfC(N) ceramics. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding performance of the dense monolithic SiHfC(N) ceramic nanocomposites were investigated in the X-band (8.2 ~ 12.4 GHz) at temperatures up to 600 oC. At room temperature, the SiC/C-35mm and SiC/15HfCxN1-x/C-35mm exhibit an average total shielding effectiveness (SET) of ≈ 21 dB and ≈ 42 dB, respectively, and at 600 oC, ≈ 22.6 dB and ≈ 40.2 dB, respectively. That means that with addition of a small amount of conductive HfCxN1-x, the SET is highly improved at both room and high temperatures.
In summary, the synthesis, ceramization, densification as well as microstructural evolution of SiMC(N) ceramic nanocomposites are deeply investigated in this work. With the addition of an M-containing phase, the as-prepared SiMC(N) ceramic nanocomposites exhibit enhanced electrical conductivity, microwave absorption capability, electromagnetic interference shielding performance and laser ablation resistance. Moreover, the correlations regarding to molecular design, microstructure and properties of the SiMC(N) ceramic nanocomposites are carefully discussed.


Objectives : The present study was carried out to evaluate the utility and reliability of footprint dimensions in age, sex and stature determination in the North Indian population. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out using a sample of 400 people (146 female and 254 male) aged 10-65 years in Uttar Pradesh, North Western state of India. Footprints of both feet were taken bilaterally, and thus a total of 800 prints were obtained. A cluster of 7 measurements were taken carefully with the help of a scientific scale ruler. Five measurements were length dimensions from the most anterior part of the toe (T1–T5) to the mid rear heel point and two were breadth dimensions from both left and right footprints: breadth at ball (BBAL), breadth at heel (BHEL) and 2 indexes: heel-ball Index (HBI) and footprint index (FPI). All data were analyzed statistically using Student's t-test, regression coefficient and Pearson's correlation for the estimation of sex on the basis of footprint dimensions. Results: The T1 in left footprints was greater than right footprints in males, while T1 and BBAL were both found to be greater in left footprints than right footprints in females. All the seven foot dimensions were higher in males than females. Conclusion: There were statistically significant differences observed in all footprint dimensions between the male and female footprints except LFPI, LHBI, and RHBI.


OBJECTIVE Testicular differentiation can occur in the absence of the Y chromosome giving XX sex‐reversed males. Although Y chromosomal sequences can be detected in the majority of male subjects with a 46,XX karyotype, several studies have shown that approximately 10% of patients lack Y material including the SRY gene. The aim of this study was to see if the classification of XX sex‐reversed individuals into three groups, Y‐DNA‐positive phenotypically normal XX males, Y‐DNA‐negative XX males with genital ambiguities and Y‐DNA‐negative true hermaphrodites can be applied to our cases.


We propose an integrated 3D display and imaging system using a head-mounted device and a special dual-purpose passive screen that can simultaneously facilitate 3D display and imaging. The screen is mainly composed of two optical layers, the first layer is a projection surface, which are the finely patterned retro-reflective microspheres that provide high optical gain when illuminated with head-mounted projectors. The second layer is an imaging surface made up of an array of curved mirrors, which form the perspective views of the scene captured by a head-mounted camera. The display and imaging operation are separated by performing polarization multiplexing. The demonstrated prototype system consists of a head-worn unit having a pair of 15 lumen pico-projectors and a 24MP camera, and an in-house designed and fabricated 30cm × 24cm screen. The screen provides bright display using 25% filled retro-reflective microspheres and 20 different perspective views of the user/scene using 5 × 4 array of convex mirrors. The real-time implementation is demonstrated by displaying stereo-3D content providing high brightness (up to 240 cd/m2) and low crosstalk (<4%), while 3D image capture is demonstrated by performing the computational reconstruction of the discrete free-viewpoint stereo pair displayed on a desktop or virtual reality display. Furthermore, the capture quality is determined by measuring the imaging MTF of the captured views and the capture light efficiency is calculated by considering the loss in transmitted light at each interface. Further developments in microfabrication and computational optics can present the proposed system as a unique mobile platform for immersive human-computer interaction of the future.


In the Earth's magnetosphere, the magnetotail plasma sheet ions are much hotter than in the shocked solar wind. On the dawn sector, the cold‐component ions are more abundant and hotter by 30–40% when compared to the dusk sector. Recent statistical studies of the flank magnetopause and magnetosheath have shown that the level of temperature asymmetry of the magnetosheath is unable to account for this, so additional physical mechanisms must be at play, either at the magnetopause or plasma sheet that contributes to this asymmetry. In this study, we perform a statistical analysis on the ion‐scale wave properties in the three main plasma regimes common to flank magnetopause boundary crossings when the boundary is unstable to Kelvin‐Helmholtz instability (KHI): hot and tenuous magnetospheric, cold and dense magnetosheath, and mixed (Hasegawa et al., 2004). These statistics of ion‐scale wave properties are compared to observations of fast magnetosonic wave modes that have recently been linked to Kelvin‐Helmholtz (KH) vortex centered ion heating (Moore et al., 2016). The statistical analysis shows that during KH events there is enhanced nonadiabatic heating calculated during ion scale wave intervals when compared to non‐KH events. This suggests that during KH events there is more free energy for ion‐scale wave generation, which in turn can heat ions more effectively when compared to cases when KH waves are absent. This may contribute to the dawn favored temperature asymmetry of the plasma sheet; recent studies suggest KH waves favor the dawn flank during Parker‐Spiral interplanetary magnetic field.


Background . Increased crime is a problem in South Africa and complications arise when the accused is intellectually disabled. The accountability and fitness to stand trial of such individuals is an important facet that needs to be managed by the judicial and health systems. Objective . To analyse the accountability and triability of intellectually disabled people awaiting trial referred to the Free State Psychiatric Complex (FSPC) from 1993 to 2003 according to Sections 77 and 78 of the Criminal Procedures Act (Act 51 of 1977). Method . A retrospective study was conducted. The study population consisted of 80 intellectually disabled people awaiting trial in the Free State, referred to the FSPC. The reason for referral was the possibility that they were not triable or accountable. A data form was compiled to transfer the relevant information from the patients' clinical files. Results . The study found that the majority of subjects were male (96.3%), unmarried (76.3%) and unemployed (63.8%). The median age was 27 years. A relatively high percentage (49%) had received some schooling and 16% had attended a special school. Most (32%) were referred from the Bloemfontein area and 68% were referred from the remainder of the Free State and other areas. The majority were referred according to Sections 77 and 78. The highest number of the offences were of a sexual nature (78%). Of the subjects, 62 (62.5%) were diagnosed as having mild mental retardation, while 16% were diagnosed as having moderate mental retardation. A total of 71 (71.25%) were found to be untriable and unaccountable. Conclusion . Triability and accountability are not only reflected by IQ score, but also involve the accused's understanding of his/her environment, his/her speech and language proficiency, level of education, reasoning ability and the manner in which the crime was committed. It is important to note that having an IQ of 70 or less does not automatically mean that the accused is unfit to stand trial or is not accountable. It is possible for an intellectually disabled person to be triable, accountable or diminished accountable.


CONTEXT
Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV), the most common congenital heart defect, has been thought to cause frequent and severe aortic complications; however, long-term, population-based data are lacking.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the incidence of aortic complications in patients with BAV in a community cohort and in the general population.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
In this retrospective cohort study, we conducted comprehensive assessment of aortic complications of patients with BAV living in a population-based setting in Olmsted County, Minnesota. We analyzed long-term follow-up of a cohort of all Olmsted County residents diagnosed with definite BAV by echocardiography from 1980 to 1999 and searched for aortic complications of patients whose bicuspid valves had gone undiagnosed. The last year of follow-up was 2008-2009.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
Thoracic aortic dissection, ascending aortic aneurysm, and aortic surgery.

RESULTS
The cohort included 416 consecutive patients with definite BAV diagnosed by echocardiography, mean (SD) follow-up of 16 (7) years (6530 patient-years). Aortic dissection occurred in 2 of 416 patients; incidence of 3.1 (95% CI, 0.5-9.5) cases per 10,000 patient-years, age-adjusted relative-risk 8.4 (95% CI, 2.1-33.5; P = .003) compared with the county's general population. Aortic dissection incidences for patients 50 years or older at baseline and bearers of aortic aneurysms at baseline were 17.4 (95% CI, 2.9-53.6) and 44.9 (95% CI, 7.5-138.5) cases per 10,000 patient-years, respectively. Comprehensive search for aortic dissections in undiagnosed bicuspid valves revealed 2 additional patients, allowing estimation of aortic dissection incidence in bicuspid valve patients irrespective of diagnosis status (1.5; 95% CI, 0.4-3.8 cases per 10,000 patient-years), which was similar to the diagnosed cohort. Of 384 patients without baseline aneurysms, 49 developed aneurysms at follow-up, incidence of 84.9 (95% CI, 63.3-110.9) cases per 10,000 patient-years and an age-adjusted relative risk 86.2 (95% CI, 65.1-114; P <.001 compared with the general population). The 25-year rate of aortic surgery was 25% (95% CI, 17.2%-32.8%).

CONCLUSIONS
In the population of patients with BAV, the incidence of aortic dissection over a mean of 16 years of follow-up was low but significantly higher than in the general population.


Probiotic food products of meat can provide extensive benefits, to increase the shelf life and nutritional value also improve the taste. The use of lactic acid bacteria culture (LAB) derived from the isolation of the meat and the addition of probiotic cultures (Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria) in fermented sausage processing is expected to produce a probiotic sausage products with nutritional value, and better shelf life and improve health. This study aimed to isolate and identify lactic acid bacteria (LAB) of meat as a starter culture fermented sausages. The parameters observed were gram test, catalase, motility, gas production, type of fermentation, growth at various temperatures and pH. The results were obtained 28 isolates, 17 isolates were able to produce acid and 8 of them are lactic acid bacteria (LAB) with the characteristics of gram-positive, catalase negative, not motile, produces gas, are hetero and homo fermentative, optimum growth temperature of 300C and a few of them are able to grow on pH 3.5. Lactic acid bacteria that able to be combined with probiotics as sausage starter culture to the probiotic food products of meat.


Gender gaps in labour force participation in developing countries persist despite income growth or structural change. We assess this persistence across economic geographies within countries, focusing on youth employment in off-farm wage jobs. We combine household survey data from 12 low- and middle-income countries in Asia, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa with geospatial data on population density, and estimate simultaneous probit models of different activity choices across the rural-urban gradient. The gender gap increases with connectivity from rural to peri-urban areas, and disappears in high-density urban areas. In non-rural areas, child dependency does not constrain young women, and secondary education improves their access to off-farm employment. The gender gap persists for married young women independent of connectivity improvements, indicating social norm constraints. Marital status and child dependency are associated positively with male participation, and negatively with female participation; other factors such as education are show a positive association for both sexes. These results indicate entry points for policy.


The progression of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), resulting from a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, may be influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Several viruses hijack the host genome machinery for their own advantage and survival, and similar phenomena might occur upon SARS-CoV-2 infection. Severe cases of COVID-19 may be driven by metabolic and epigenetic driven mechanisms, including DNA methylation and histone/chromatin alterations. These epigenetic phenomena may respond to enhanced viral replication and mediate persistent long-term infection and clinical phenotypes associated with severe COVID-19 cases and fatalities. Understanding the epigenetic events involved, and their clinical significance, may provide novel insights valuable for the therapeutic control and management of the COVID-19 pandemic. This review highlights different epigenetic marks potentially associated with COVID-19 development, clinical manifestation, and progression.


Anatomy remains a cornerstone of medical education despite challenges that have seen a significant reduction in contact hours over recent decades; however, the rise of the YouTube Generation, or GenC, offers new possibilities for anatomy education. GenC, which consists of 80% Millennials, actively engage with social media and integrate it into their education experience. Most are willing to merge their online presence with their degree programs by engaging with course materials and sharing their knowledge freely using these platforms. This integration of social media into undergraduate learning, and the attitudes and mindset of GenC has changed traditional learning approaches and the student / teacher relationship. To gauge this, second year undergraduate medical and radiation therapy students (n = 73) were surveyed regarding their use of online social media in relation to anatomy learning. The vast majority of students had employed web‐based platforms to source information with 78% using YouTube as their primary source of anatomy‐related video clips. These findings suggest that the academic anatomy community should consider integrating social media into blended learning approaches in anatomy programs. This will ensure continued connection with the YouTube generation of students while also allowing for academic and ethical oversight regarding the use of online video clips whose provenance may not otherwise be known.


A new simple and efficient methodology is presented for the active control of vortical wall bounded flows. The method is based on sensing of the wall pressure and the calculation of the wall vorticity flux. This information is used to determine explicitly the amount of unsteady, spatially varying mass transpiration, used as an actuating mechanism, necessary to achieve a desired wall vorticity flux. The present scheme is based on the physical mechanism of vorticity generation at solid boundaries. It has the advantage of implementing quantities that can be measured and manipulated at the wall, in computations as well as in experiments. It is shown to reproduce efficiently phenomena previously attained using off-wall information. An active control methodology is outlined and the practical implementation of the present scheme is discussed.


Background:JAK2 V617F mutation (mut) in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is rare. We describe the clinicopathologic findings of a single-institution series of 11 de novo AML cases with JAK2 V617. Methods: We identified cases of de novo AML with JAK2 V617F over a 10-year period. We reviewed diagnostic peripheral blood and bone marrow (BM) morphologic, cytogenetic, and molecular studies, including next-generation sequencing. The control group consisted of 12 patients with JAK2 wild-type (wt) AML matched for age, sex, and diagnosis. Results: We identified 11 patients (0.5%) with JAK2 V617F, with a median age at diagnosis of 72.5 years (range, 36-90 years). Ten neoplasms were classified as AML with myelodysplasia-related changes and 1 as AML with t(8;21)(q22;q22). All JAK2mut AML cases showed at least bilineage dysplasia, 7 of 11 showed fibrosis, 8 of 11 had an abnormal karyotype, and 5 had deletions or monosomy of chromosomes 5 and 7. Using the European LeukemiaNet (ELN) classification, 9 patients (82%) with JAK2mut AML were intermediate-2 and adverse risk. Cases of JAK2mut AML did not have mutations in other activating signaling pathways (P=.013); 7 (64%) showed additional mutations in at least one gene involving DNA methylation and/or epigenetic modification. Patients with JAK2mut AML had a significantly higher median BM granulocyte percentage (12% vs 3.5%; P=.006) and a higher frequency of ELN intermediate-2 and adverse risk cytogenetics (P=.04) compared with those with JAK2wt AML. JAK2mut AML showed higher circulating blasts, but this difference was not significant (17% vs 5.5%; P=not significant). No difference was seen in the median overall survival rate of patients with JAK2mut AML versus those with JAK2wt AML (14 vs 13.5 months, respectively). Conclusions: De novo JAK2mut AML is rare and frequently found in patients with dysplasia, BM fibrosis, and abnormal karyotype with intermediate- or high-risk features; gene mutations in DNA methylation and epigenetic-modifying pathways; and absence of gene mutations in activating signaling pathways.


The aim of this research was to design and evaluate various Gallium Arsenide circuit elements such as logic gates, adders and multipliers suitable for high speed VLSI circuits. The issues addressed are the logic gate design and optimisation, evaluation of various buffering schemes and the impact of the algorithm on adder and multiplier performance for digital signal processing applications. This has led to the development of a design approach to produce high speed and low power dissipation Gallium Arsenide VLSI circuits. This is achieved by :
Evaluating the well established Direct Coupled Logic (DCFL) gates and proposing an alternative gate, namely the Source Follower DCFL (SDCFL), to improve the noise margin and speed.
Suggesting various buffering schemes to maintain high speed in areas where the fanout loading is high (eg. clock drivers).
Comparing various adder types in terms of delay-power and delay-area products to arrive at a suitable architecture for Gallium Arsenide implementation and to determine the influence of the algorithm and layout approach on circuit performance. To investigate this further, a multiplier was also designed to assess the performance at higher levels
of integration.
Applying a new layout approach, called the 'ring notation*, to the adder and multiplier circuits in order to improve their delay-area product.
Finally, the critical factors influencing the performance of the circuits are reviewed and a number of suggestions are given to maintain reliable operation at high speed.


The characterization of triaxially braided composite is complicate due to the nonuniformity of deformation within the unit cell as well as the possibility of the freeedge effect related to the large size of the unit cell. Extensive experimental investigation has been conducted to develop more accurate test approaches in characterizing the actual mechanical properties of the material we are studying. In this work, a meso-scale finite element model is utilized to simulate two complex specimens: notched tensile specimen and tube tensile specimen, which are designed to avoid the free-edge effect and free-edge effect induced premature edge damage. The full field strain data is predicted numerically and compared with experimental data obtained by Digit Image Correlation. The numerically predicted tensile strength values are compared with experimentally measured results. The discrepancy between numerically predicted and experimentally measured data, the capability of different test approaches are analyzed and discussed. The presented numerical model could serve as assistance to the evaluation of different test methods, and is especially useful in identifying potential local damage events.


The United States government leaks like a sieve. Presidents denounce the constant flow of classified information to the media from unauthorized, anonymous sources. National security professionals decry the consequences. And yet the laws against leaking are almost never enforced. Throughout U.S. history, roughly a dozen criminal cases have been brought against suspected leakers. There is a dramatic disconnect between the way our laws and our leaders condemn leaking in the abstract and the way they condone it in practice.This Article challenges the standard account of that disconnect, which emphasizes the difficulties of apprehending and prosecuting offenders, and advances an alternative theory of leaking. The executive branch's "leakiness" is often taken to be a sign of organizational failure. The Article argues it is better understood as an adaptive response to external liabilities (such as the mistrust generated by presidential secret keeping and media manipulation) and internal pathologies (such as overclassification and bureaucratic fragmentation) of the modern administrative state. The leak laws are so rarely enforced not only because it is hard to punish violators, but also because key institutional actors share overlapping interests in maintaining a permissive culture of classified information disclosures. Permissiveness does not entail anarchy, however, as a nuanced system of informal social controls has come to supplement, and all but supplant, the formal disciplinary scheme. In detailing these claims, the Article maps the rich sociology of governmental leak regulation and explores a range of implications for executive power, national security, democracy, and the rule of law.


The object of this study is to assess the extent to which the
Turkic people of Kazakhstan and Sinkiang have been aligned politically
and socially with the socialist societies of their respective countries. It is not intended to consider this question in the light of
success or failure. There are several reasons for not doing so. It
would be realistic to consider the question in this light only if a
definite goel was to be achieved within a specified period of time.
This was not the case in either Kazakhstan or Sinkiang. There was and
is no definable period of time within which Communism is to be
I
I
achieved. Equally important, Communism remains a hazy expression for a
state of existence that yet has to be defined in a manner that is universally
accepted.
In this study the various political, cultural, religious and educational
aspects of the Turkic people will be considered. The intention
is to discover to what extent these traditions have been replaced
by the social institutions of the socialist societies. This in turn
should allow some insight into the advances made by both the Russian
and Chinese Communists in their attempts to transform their respective
Turkic people. At the same time the study deals with specific difficulties
that the Governments had to overcome in the course of the
transformation process. These include getting the Turkic people to
participate in the various socialist institutions. From this there
arise new questions and problems. The Islamic society of the Turkic
people had not prepared the latter to participate in a modern, industrial
society. They lacked the required educational background to be
usefully employable in the bureaucracy on any but a superficial level.
As a result non-Turkic cadres had to be used in many leading positions.
This raised the question of great Russian and Han-Chinese chauvinism.
Another problem was that of attacking the traditional Turkic way of life without alienating the Turkic people. The direct attack on
Islam was complex. In general both Governments demonstrated a lack of
understanding for the Islamic way of life. As a consequence they
launched an attack on an Islamic orthodoxy that did not exist. Also,
the Soviet policy of an outright attack forced the Soviet Government to
define a new way of life for the Kazakh and other Muslim people. In
China the need for this was avoided because of the less antagonistic
attitude towards Islam.
To a great extent this study compares the policies of the Soviet
and Chinese Governments. This in itself raises some questions. The
Russian revolution preceded the Chinese by nearly 32 years. This gave
the Chinese a considerable advantage. They did not have to make the
same mistakes that ha~ been made by the Soviet Union, particularly the
collectivisation drive in Kazakhstan. But the Chinese not only benefitted
from the Soviet mistakes. They'were able also to make use of
the advanced experience of the Soviet Union in advancing their economic
development programme. In addition the more industrially advanced
Soviet Union could and did assist the Chinese in their industrialisation.
From the discussion of the connection between the two countries
their logically follows an assessment of the inter-state relationship.
The intention is to discover to what extent the Turkic people influenced
the Sino-Soviet relationship. But the economic question hardly
can be excluded from the discussion. This in turn leads to the analysis
of some of the historical)-political, ideological and economic
causes of the Sino-Soviet rift.


The article considers historical aspects of occurring the notion "import substitution" as well as positive and negative consequences of this policy impact on the national economy, as a whole. Besides, it analyzes the latest tendencies related to pursuing the policy of import substitution in agriculture of the Russian Federation. Herewith, it considers the interrelation between pursuing the policy of import substitution in agriculture and food safety of regions. The authors consider the essence of the notion "regional food safety", as well as risks and criteria related to ensuring food safety on the level of the region. When defining the basic goals of the import substitution policy to ensure food safety, the authors analyze the areas of improving the doctrine of food safety and other statutory documents used within the import substitution policy to ensure food safety of the country


The research for this paper began with the purpose to educate and prepare its readers in order to guide and assist school counsellors in the development, implementation and evaluation of their own school based mentorship program. By presenting the numerous social, emotional and academic benefits of a school based mentoring program, this paper argues for the inclusion of mentorship programs in middle and secondary schools in which senior students become mentors for younger students. These mentorship programs would be established to assist and support the development of the whole child. By summarizing and highlight the most effective practices and outlining the necessary partnerships and roles of the school community including parents, school counsellors, administrators and senior management this paper provides an overview of research and foundational elements of a successful school based mentorship program. In its conclusion, the paper outlines and suggests first steps for building a successful school based program.


We analyzed the volatile fragrance components of flowers of four species of Prosthechea and three species of Encyclia, from the lower and middle altitudes of Soconusco region in the southeast of Mexico. The flowers of P. cochleata, reported to be an autogamic species, produced no volatiles. P. baculus, P. chacaoensis and P. radiata, all of which have highly fragrant flowers, shared various volatile components, most notably, p-methyl anisole, e-ocimene, oxophorone, a-farnesene and benzyl benzoate. E. adenocarpa has lightly fragrant flowers, with hexadecene and e-nerolidol the major components, whereas the physically similar E. parviflora produced mainly 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoic acid, methyl ester and only one other compound. E. cordigera is a highly fragrant species and produced relatively large amounts of cis-geraniol. Various volatile fragrance components were shared by these two, recently separated genera, especially benzaldehyde, cis-ocimene and e-ocimene. Similarities were greater between the Prosthecheas (excluding P. cochleata) than the Encyclias.


Fuzzy logic is based on the theory of fuzzy sets, where an object's membership of a set is gradual rather than just member or not a member. Fuzzy logic uses the whole interval of real numbers between zero (False) and one (True) to develop a logic as a basis for rules of inference. Particularly the fuzzified version of the modus ponens rule of inference enables computers to make decisions using fuzzy reasoning rather than exact. We study decision making problem under uncertainty. we analyze Max-Min method and Minimization of regret method originally developed by Savage and further developed by Yager. We generalize The MMR method by creating the parameterized family of minimum regret methods by using the ordered weighted averaging OWA operators.


These guidelines provide general principles and basic considerations for those involved in providing microfinance services to fisheries and aquaculture and for those who intend to include fishing and fish farming communities as part of the client base of their operation. The guidelines further elaborate on lending models, methodologies and policies that have applicability to fisheries and address concerns that are particular to the sector, while adhering to best practices in the microfinance field. The publication also contains a summary of the proceedings and recommendations of the Report of the Regional Workshop on Microfinance Programmes in Support of Responsible Aquaculture and Marine Capture Fisheries in Asia. The workshop was held in Chiang Mai, Thailand from 16 to 20 December 2002. An overview of recent experiences with microfinance programmes in fisheries and aquaculture in Asia is given and conclusions are drawn regarding future directions and initiatives in this field. The workshop was attended by 31 participants from eight South and Southeast Asian countries: Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam. It brought together experts representing fisheries government institutions, financial institutions, academic and research institutions, NGOs, cooperatives, women's unions, fishermen's associations and technical staff of foreign-assisted projects in aquaculture in the region. The publication concludes with two examples of successful FAO-executed projects that incorporated microfinance programmes in fishing community development in the Philippines and in small-scale aquaculture development in Viet Nam, with a special focus on gender and poverty alleviation. The case studies provide practical examples of how microcredit can contribute to the empowerment of women in fishing and fish farming communities, help alleviate poverty and contribute to the socio-economic wellbeing and food security of fishers and fish farmers. Distribution: Directors of Fisheries Fisheries Research and Training Institutes – English speaking Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) FAO Fisheries Field Projects FAO Representatives FAO Regional Fishery Officers Bilateral and multilateral development agencies and financial institutions


The localization of some kinds of modeled generalized cylinders from a single brightness perspective image is addressed. It is shown how the zero-curvature points of their contours can be used to solve the inverse perspective problem. Three key theorems about the perspective projection of space curves and of the limbs of a straight homogeneous generalized cylinder whose scaling function has at least one zero-curvature point are discussed. In view of the localization of homogeneous generalized cylinders, an algorithm previously developed by the authors which estimates the pose of a line-triplet is adapted. A new theoretical result about the inverse perspective projection of cones of revolution useful for the localization of objects of revolution is presented. The corresponding algorithms have been implemented, and results of experiments demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed localization methods. >


U.S. and EU privacy law diverge greatly. At the foundational level, they differ in their underlying philosophy: In the United States, privacy law focuses on redressing consumer harm and balancing privacy with efficient commercial transactions. In the European Union, privacy is hailed as a fundamental right that can trump other interests. Even at the threshold level -- determining what information is covered by the regulation -- the United States and European Union differ significantly. The existence of personal information -- commonly referred to as "personally identifiable information" (PII) -- triggers the application of privacy law. The U.S. and the European Union define this essential term of privacy law quite differently. The U.S. approach involves multiple and inconsistent definitions of PII that are often particularly narrow. The EU approach defines PII to encompass all information identifiable to a person, a definition that can be quite broad and vague. This divergence is so basic that it threatens the stability of existing policy mechanisms for permitting international data flows.In this Essay, we propose a way to bridge these differences regarding PII. We contend that a tiered approach to the concept of PII (which we call "PII 2.0") represents a superior way of defining PII compared to the current approaches in the United States and European Union. We also argue that PII 2.0 is consistent with the different underlying philosophies of the U.S. and EU privacy law regimes. Under PII 2.0, all of the Fair Information Practices (FIPs) should apply when data refers to an identified person or when there is a significant risk of the data being identified. Only some of the FIPs should apply when data is merely identifiable, and no FIPs should apply when there is a minimal risk that the data is identifiable. We demonstrate how PII 2.0 furthers the goals of both U.S. and EU privacy law and how PII 2.0 is consistent with their different underlying philosophies. PII 2.0 thus advances the process of bridging the current gap between U.S. and EU privacy law.


Advanced information technology infrastructure is increasingly being employed in the Earth sciences to provide researchers with efficient access to massive central databases and to integrate diversely formatted information from a variety of sources. These geoinformatics initiatives enable manipulation, modeling and visualization of data in a consistent way, and are helping to develop integrated Earth models at various scales, and from the near surface to the deep interior. This book uses a series of case studies to demonstrate computer and database use across the geosciences. Chapters are thematically grouped into sections that cover data collection and management; modeling and community computational codes; visualization and data representation; knowledge management and data integration; and web services and scientific workflows. Geoinformatics is a fascinating and accessible introduction to this emerging field for readers across the solid Earth sciences and an invaluable reference for researchers interested in initiating new cyberinfrastructure projects of their own.


With this comprehensive guide you will learn how to apply Bayesian machine learning techniques systematically to solve various problems in speech and language processing. A range of statistical models is detailed, from hidden Markov models to Gaussian mixture models, n-gram models and latent topic models, along with applications including automatic speech recognition, speaker verification, and information retrieval. Approximate Bayesian inferences based on MAP, Evidence, Asymptotic, VB, and MCMC approximations are provided as well as full derivations of calculations, useful notations, formulas, and rules. The authors address the difficulties of straightforward applications and provide detailed examples and case studies to demonstrate how you can successfully use practical Bayesian inference methods to improve the performance of information systems. This is an invaluable resource for students, researchers, and industry practitioners working in machine learning, signal processing, and speech and language processing.


The objective of this paper is to analyse farm strategies and investment behaviour in a sample of selected Italian farm-households facing different scenarios, with a particular focus on the effects of the 2003 CAP reform. Models were built for individual households using multi-criteria dynamic programming, including investment choice. A total of 24 farms were selected for modelling, all located in Emilia Romagna (Italy). The simulations show a strong effect of both policy and markets scenarios on household investment, though the latter seems more relevant than the former. However, decoupling itself shows minor effects in the majority of cases. The models offer useful insights about the mechanisms of adaptation and their implications for the effects of policies. The main drawbacks are in the heavy data collection and computational requirements, and in the related difficulties to achieve a satisfactory degree of representativeness.


Abstract This paper provides both an introduction to and summary for the Atlas of Contourite Systems that has been compiled as part of the International Geological Correlation Project - IGCP 432. Following the seminal works of George Wust on the physical oceanography of bottom currents, and Charley Hollister on contourite sediments, a series of significant advances have been made over the past few decades. While accepting that ideas and terms must remain flexible as our knowledge base continues to increase, we present a consensus view on terminology and definitions of bottom currents, contourites and drifts. Both thermohaline and wind-driven circulation, influenced by Coriolis Force and molded by topography, contribute to the oceanic system of bottom currents. These semi-permanent currents show significant variability in time and space, marked by periodic benthic storm events in areas of high surface kinetic energy. Six different drift types are recognized in the ocean basins and margins at depths greater than about 300 m: (i) contourite sheet drifts; (ii) elongate mounded drifts; (iii) channel related drifts; (iv) confined drifts; (v) infill drifts; and (vi) modified drift-turbidite systems. In addition to this overall geometry, their chief seismic characteristics include: a uniform reflector pattern that reflects long-term stability, drift-wide erosional discontinuities caused by periodic changes in bottom current regime, and stacked broadly lenticular seismic depositional units showing oblique to downcurrent migration. At a smaller scale, a variety of seismic facies can be recognized that are here related to bottom current intensity. A model for seismic facies cyclicity (alternating transparent/reflector zones) is further elaborated, and linked to bottom current/climate change. Both erosional features and depositional bedforms are diagnostic of bottom current systems and velocities. Many different contourite facies are now known to exist, encompassing all compositional types. We propose here a Cl-5 notation for the standard contourite facies sequence, which can be interpreted in terms of fluctuation in bottom current velocity and/or sediment supply. Several proxies can be utilized to decode contourite successions in terms of current fluctuation. Gravel lag and shale chip contourites, as well as erosional discontinuities are indicative of still greater velocities. There are a small but growing number of land-based examples of fossil contourites, based on careful analysis using the recommended three-stage approach to interpretation. Debate still surrounds the recognition and interpretation of bottom current reworked turbidites.


Many row-crop fields today have declined in soil fertility due to poor management practices and overuse of pesticides. Under these conditions, plant nutrient uptake can be sub-optimal. There are several soil amendments that can be used to improve soil quality and plant growth. This study focused on the addition of biochar to the soil and the use of structured water to enhance plant growth. Biochar is produced by pyrolysis of organic feedstocks. Previous studies which focused on biochar have shown an increase in plant yield, nutrient availability in the soil, and soil water holding capacity. Structured water is the liquid crystalline state of water which has unique characteristics due to the ordering of the hydrogen bonds in the water molecules. There have been numerous claims in the natural and organic health literature about the benefits of structured water in human and animal health, but little has been reported in the scientific literature concerning plant growth response. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of biochar and structured water on the growth and nutrient content of radishes (Raphahus sativa L.). Data showed that the water type used had the most significant response. Biochar and tap water had a significant and positive interaction. Tap water and biochar used together resulted in higher yield, leaf area, plant fresh weight, and nutrient contents as the rate of biochar increased. Radish growth showed a negative response to structured water in almost every circumstance. * Julia Allen is a senior honors student with a major in Environmental, Soil, and Water Science and minors in Crop Science and Wildlife Habitat Management. † David E. Longer is the faculty mentor and a professor in the Department of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences. § Edward E. Gbur is a faculty mentor and professor in Agriculture Statistics Lab. ‡ Lichen Hao is a graduate student studying Statistics, and working toward an M.S. in Statistics. Undergraduate Research Articles


This research is to explore a more general column categorization method using the test attributes in alignment with the common mobile phase components. As we know, the primary driving force for solute retention on a reversed-phase surface is hydrophobic interaction, thus hydrophobicity of the column will directly affect the analyte retention. This research describes a method to determine the column hydrophobicity by the ratio of adsorbed acetonitrile and methanol to water on the column surface using excess adsorption isotherm estimation. An excess adsorption isotherm for a binary mobile phase system represents a competitive interaction of both solvent components with the adsorption sites. In the presence of two distinct types of adsorption sites on the surface, an overall isotherm may be represented as a superposition of two isotherms on the different types of surfaces. Assuming complete independence of surface energy on each type of adsorption site, it is possible to mathematically describe this superposition as a sum of two independent isotherms, where coefficient of each individual term represents a relative amount of surface that is responsible for a particular interaction.


In this paper we propose a novel recurrent neural network architecture for video-based person re-identification. Given the video sequence of a person, features are extracted from each frame using a convolutional neural network that incorporates a recurrent final layer, which allows information to flow between time-steps. The features from all timesteps are then combined using temporal pooling to give an overall appearance feature for the complete sequence. The convolutional network, recurrent layer, and temporal pooling layer, are jointly trained to act as a feature extractor for video-based re-identification using a Siamese network architecture. Our approach makes use of colour and optical flow information in order to capture appearance and motion information which is useful for video re-identification. Experiments are conduced on the iLIDS-VID and PRID-2011 datasets to show that this approach outperforms existing methods of video-based re-identification.


Engage, empower, and educate with Gamified websites Overview Build your own Gamified website Use game mechanics to motivate the users Understand and implement game design process In Detail Gamification involves the process of leveraging the features of real games into real life. A gamified website has the potential to increase user engagement, ROI, and learning. This book will help you build gamified websites with PHP and jQuery by making you understand the gamification design process to implement game mechanics in practical applications. Gamified websites are very popular amongst Internet users. The gamification of a web content draws users into action to empower them and help them develop new skills. Games engage user attention into the task and each task accomplished will mean the development and enhancement of new skills. This book will help you to apply the essence of games into real word applications such as business and education. Build Gamified Websites with PHP and jQuery aims at empowering and educating the users with an educational gamified website. The book walks through the process of developing a gamified website. Through the course of the book, you will learn gamification development process. The book emphasizes on the application of game mechanics to motivate the user. You will then use the Fogg behaviour model to influence the user behaviour. By the end of the book, you will see yourself building more engaging yet simple websites based on rational principles. What you will learn from this book Use the Fogg behaviour model to influence user behavior Build progression and engagement loops Design game elements Learn to use jQuery Setup PHP and MySQL Learn to gamify the eLearning process Approach This book is a standard tutorial, which walks you through the gamification development process, to help you incorporate game elements in an eLearning environment. Who this book is written for This book is for jQuery and PHP developers who wish to gamify their educational websites.


This chapter focuses on the two main opportunities that people have to vote in most societies: elections and referendums. Elections are held to fill seats in parliaments or to choose a president, whereas referendums allow citizens to decide directly on some issue of policy. Elections are the cornerstone of representative democracy, and referendums are sometimes regarded as the equivalent of 'direct democracy'. In practice, referendums are used only as an option in systems of representative democracy. The chapter first provides an overview of elections and electoral systems, focusing on electoral regulations and the main categories of electoral systems, namely single-member plurality, alternative vote, two-round system, and proportional representation. It then examines the rules under which elections are held, as well as the consequences of this variation. It also considers the use of the referendum and its potential impact on politics.


The authors explain what is meant by a distributed database system and discuss its characteristics. They survey the state of distributed database technology, focusing on how well products meet the goals of transparent management of distributed and replicated data, reliability through distributed transactions, better performance, and easier, more economical system expansion. They then consider unsolved problems with regard to network scaling, distribution design, distributed query processing, distributed transaction processing, integration with distributed operating systems, and distributed multidatabase systems.<<ETX>>


Thefiheryjbr brown tigerprmuns, Penaeus esculentus, in Shark Bay, Western Australia, experienced reduced recruitment in the early 1980s. 11 is considered thal this decline resultedfrom recruitment ove$shing. The measures subsequently implemented to reduce firhing effort on the tiger prawns were constrained by the objective of maintaining the hawest of western king prawns, P. latisulcatus. which was the dominant species in the catch. A series of spatial closures was applied to drjiv-ent regions within the fihery in an attempt to reduce effort on brown tiger prawns, yet maintain catches of western king prawns. The closures were intended to take advantage of the spatial structure of the fishery and the migration that occurs between fishing grounds. Until now, a subjective approach has been used, in consultation with the fishing industry, in determining the appropriate closures. A comparhnental delay-difference model has been developed to represent rhe spatial structure of the brown tiger prawn fishery and to describe the distribution of the prawns through consecutive months of the fishing season. In the absence of explicit inJonnation on the rates of migration between fishing grounds, the model represents the migration rates as parameters, and estimates these, together with catchability and recruitment parameters, from the observedmonthly catch rates within thefishing grounds. Using this model, a more accurate time series of annual recruitment indices has been calculated for the Shark Bay tiger prawn stock.


Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or drones, are increasingly expected to operate in spaces populated by humans while avoiding injury to people or damaging property. However, incidents and accidents can, and increasingly do, happen. Traditional investigations of aircraft incidents require on-board flight data recorders (FDRs); however, these physical FDRs only work if the drone can be recovered. A further complication is that physical FDRs are too heavy to mount on light drones, hence not suitable for forensic digital investigations of drone flights. In this paper, we propose a self-adaptive software architecture, LiveBox, to make drones both forensic-ready and regulation compliant. We studied the feasibility of using distributed technologies for implementing the LiveBox reference architecture. In particular, we found that updates and queries of drone flight data and constraints can be treated as transactions using decentralised ledger technology (DLT), rather than a generic time-series database, to satisfy forensic tamper-proof requirements. However, DLTs such as Ethereum, have limits on throughput (i.e. transactions-per-second), making it harder to achieve regulation-compliance at runtime. To overcome this limitation, we present a self-adaptive reporting algorithm to dynamically reduce the precision of flight data without sacrificing the accuracy of runtime verification. Using a real-life scenario of drone delivery, we show that our proposed algorithm achieves a 46% reduction in bandwidth without losing accuracy in satisfying both tamper-proof and regulation-compliant requirements.


With today's developing technology and industrialization, each day there is an increase in the number of women participating in business life, and the number of women who start their own business gradually rises in Turkey. As such, women both contribute to social economy and become role-models to other women with their achievements. Among the reasons why women prefer entrepreneurship are the difficulties they face in the work environment, glass ceiling issues, low wage, the desire to work part-time after giving birth, and the desire to contribute to family economics. Investigating the reasons that lead women to entrepreneurship has recently gained greater importance. In this study, the personal characteristics of women entrepreneurs, and the influence these create on women's preferring entrepreneurship will be investigated, through the lens of the Trait Model. Studies that use the Trait Model examine who the entrepreneur is, why he/she becomes one, and what makes an entrepreneur successful. In this study, six personality characteristics are used to define the entrepreneurial profile of women. These are need for achievement, locus of control, risk taking propensity, tolerance for ambiguity, innovativeness and self-confidence. Most studies in the literature cite these characteristics as important in preferring entrepreneurship. In the empirical part of the study, the characteristics of Turkish women entrepreneurs who are members of Kagider, and the effects of these characteristics on women preferring entrepreneurship are investigated.


Among the co-operative mechanisms established under the Kyoto Protocol, the Clean Development Mechanism is the only one, which has the potential to assist developing countries in achieving sustainable development by promoting environmentally friendly investment from industrialized country governments and businesses. Although, apart from nuclear energy and deforestation avoidance, all other projects are eligible under CDM, so far, the CDM projects have largely been confined to industrial sector and agricultural sector, in general has been left out. To assess the issues and opportunities presented by potential international markets for greenhouse gases offsets through the CDM and facilitate implementation of CDM in India, a National Startegy Study on CDM is already underway in the country. However, here again, the agriculture sector, in general, and livestock sector, in particular has not been included in the ambit of NSS, although in India total emissions of methane from livestock are highest. The present study is a pioneering attempt to examine the prospects of CDM projects in the Indian dairy sector. This report discusses the issues of baseline additionality and sustainable development in the context of CDM projects in the dairy sector in India, estimates the cost of various methane mitigation strategies in the sector and highlights the key constraints for the potential CDM projects in this sector. JEL Classification: Q54, Q18, O13


We present an optimization-based control strategy for generating whole-body trajectories for humanoid robots in order to minimize damage due to falling. In this work, the falling problem is formulated using optimal control where we seek to minimize the impulse on impact with the ground, subject to the full-body dynamics and constraints of the robot in joint space. We extend previous work in this domain by numerically approximating the resulting optimal control, generating open-loop trajectories by solving an equivalent nonlinear programming problem. Compared to previous results in falling optimization, the proposed framework is extendable to more complex dynamic models and generate trajectories that are guaranteed to be physically feasible. These results are implemented in simulation using models of dynamically balancing humanoid robots in several experimental scenarios.


A fragmentary tablet from Vindolanda (Tab. Vindol . II, 213 ) contains an occurrence of the verb interpretari ('interpret', 'explain', 'mediate') in an apparently commercial context, relating to the grain supply for the Roman fort. This usage is paralleled in a text on a wooden stilus tablet from Frisia in the Netherlands. 'Interpreters' and their activities make rather infrequent appearances in the Latin epigraphic and documentary records. In the Danubian provinces, interpreters ( interpretes ) are attested as army officers and officials in the office of the provincial governor. 'Interpreters', in both Latin and Greek inscriptions and papyri, often, however, play more ambiguous roles, not always connected with language-mediation, but also, or instead, with mediation in commercial transactions.


Ocean acidification and warming are co-occurring stressors, yet their effects on early life stages of large pelagic fishes are not well known. Here, we determined the effects of elevated CO2 and temperature at levels projected for the end of the century on activity levels, boldness, and metabolic traits (i.e., oxygen uptake rates) in larval kingfish (Seriola lalandi), a large pelagic fish with a circumglobal distribution. We also examined correlations between these behavioral and physiological traits measured under different treatments. Kingfish were reared from the egg stage to 25 days post-hatch in a full factorial design of ambient and elevated CO2 (~500 µatm and ~1000 µatm) and temperature (21 °C and 25 °C). Activity levels were higher in fish from the elevated temperature treatment compared with fish reared under ambient temperature. However, elevated CO2 did not affect activity, and boldness was not affected by either elevated CO2 or temperature. Both elevated CO2 and temperature resulted in increased resting oxygen uptake rates compared to fish reared under ambient conditions, but neither affected maximum oxygen uptake rates nor aerobic scope. Resting oxygen uptake rates and boldness were negatively correlated under ambient temperature, but positively correlated under elevated temperature. Maximum oxygen uptake rates and boldness were also negatively correlated under ambient temperature. These findings suggest that elevated temperature has a greater impact on behavioral and physiological traits of larval kingfish than elevated CO2. However, elevated CO2 exposure did increase resting oxygen uptake rates and interact with temperature in complex ways. Our results provide novel behavioral and physiological data on the responses of the larval stage of a large pelagic fish to ocean acidification and warming conditions, demonstrate correlations between these traits, and suggest that these correlations could influence the direction and pace of adaptation to global climate change.


New halide glasses with considerably lower phonon energy than well-known fluorozirconate glasses have been studied for their application as infrared fibre optic materials. These glasses have extended infrared absorption wavelength situated at the edge of far infrared. For infrared fibre optic application, it is necessary to fabricate fibres with minimum attenuation of photonic energy. The origin of this attenuation in optical fibres is dissolved impurities in glass preforms, gas bubbles, inclusions, and above all crystals. The former three could be minimized by careful material preparation, handling, melting and casting procedures; however, the nucleation and growth of crystals cannot be suppressed completely. The understanding of the devitrification of glass and melt crystallisation is important from the point of view of controlling the total number of scattering centres in the glass preforms and drawn fibres. This work deals with the results obtained on the thermal properties and crystallisation kinetics of low phonon-energy glasses by the means of DSC. The characteristic temperatures such as the glass-transition (T), have been systematically evaluated from isochronal experiments. The glass-forming and stability parameters have been defined and evaluated from these characteristic temperatures. The kinetics of devitrification of glass has been studied by combining both isothermal and isochronal heating rate techniques. The thermal stability of glasses studied is interpreted in terms of the derived values of kinetic barrier for devitrification. The results obtained are compared with a standard fluorozirconate ZrF4 - 52mol%, BaF2-19mol%, NaF-20mol%, LaF-4.5mol%, AlF3-4.5mol% (ZBLN) glass, a fluoride glass currently developed for fibre optic applications. Work was partially supported by RACE: R-2038 and CICYT: DAT 92-0501


Once a byword for the economic power of national government – with competition strictly regulated – European commercial aviation has now virtually become a market without state-imposed anticompetitive restrictions. Although intended to enhance competition, this situation has in fact driven airlines to form massive global alliance cartels that offer ever-shrinking benefits to the consumer. This book is an extraordinarily thorough, blow-by-blow analysis of how this happened – or was allowed to happen. In this book, one of the world's most eminent aviation law authorities explores the subject with a lucid insight fully informed by historical breadth and a keen appreciation of current pressures. Commercial aviation emerges as the crucible par excellence of the convergence of prevailing global ideology, economics, and international law. The book emphasizes the regulatory constructs that currently affect the European air transport market: pricing and tariffs, polling of revenue, market access (licensing, capacity limits, traffic lights, and slot allocation), ground handling, cargo services, state aid, and the power of the EU to act on the commercial aviation world stage for Member States. Each of these areas of analysis begins with an overview of the general regulatory environment for that area followed by a detailed chronological delineation of relevant packages, proposals, resolutions, and regulations. Because of the enormous role played by international air transport with respect to gross national product, employment, and energy consumption, European Aviation Law is of great importance not only to European lawyers but to officials, policymakers, practitioners, and academics in a number of relevant fields worldwide.


The Greek aperitif Ouzo is not only famous for its specific anise-flavoured taste, but also for its ability to turn from a transparent miscible liquid to a milky-white coloured emulsion when water is added. Recently, it has been shown that this so-called Ouzo effect, i.e. the spontaneous emulsification of oil microdroplets, can also be triggered by the preferential evaporation of ethanol in an evaporating sessile Ouzo drop, leading to an amazingly rich drying process with multiple phase transitions (Tan et al., Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA, vol. 113 (31), 2016, pp. 8642–8647). Due to the enhanced evaporation near the contact line, the nucleation of oil droplets starts at the rim which results in an oil ring encircling the drop. Furthermore, the oil droplets are advected through the Ouzo drop by a fast solutal Marangoni flow. In this article, we investigate the evaporation of mixture droplets in more detail, by successively increasing the mixture complexity from pure water over a binary water–ethanol mixture to the ternary Ouzo mixture (water, ethanol and anise oil). In particular, axisymmetric and full three-dimensional finite element method simulations have been performed on these droplets to discuss thermal effects and the complicated flow in the droplet driven by an interplay of preferential evaporation, evaporative cooling and solutal and thermal Marangoni flow. By using image analysis techniques and micro-particle-image-velocimetry measurements, we are able to compare the numerically predicted volume evolutions and velocity fields with experimental data. The Ouzo droplet is furthermore investigated by confocal microscopy. It is shown that the oil ring predominantly emerges due to coalescence.


The Engineer Your Life (EYL) project is a national initiative to encourage college-bound young women to consider pursuing a degree and a career in engineering. The project aims to communicate to young women the societal value and rewards of being an engineer, rather than the traditional emphasis on the process of becoming an engineer. Target audiences include academically prepared high school girls, career counselors, and professional engineers. Evaluation data were collected in Year 1 and Year 2 of the EYL initiative to assess its impact. We found that young women were especially interested in engineering when they had a fuller understanding of the skills that are required to be a successful engineer—skills that are not traditionally associated with the field, such as writing and people skills, imagination and creativity. We also found evidence that the EYL initiative has had a significant and positive impact on members of its target population who have used EYL resources.


Green roofs are a building design element intended to increase evaporative cooling in cities during the summer, which helps alleviate the daytime impacts of heat on human health and energy consumption, and supports mitigation and adaptation to the local effects of climate change. Time varying energy balances were measured on a 0.15 m deep, ∼ 60 m2 modular green roof with Sedum spurium in London, Ontario for the summer of 2014. A lysimetry approach was used to measure latent heat QE. Net radiation Q∗ and ground heat flux QG were also measured, with sensible heat flux QH derived as a residual. An empirical model of evaporative flux ratio QE/Q∗−QG by volumetric water content VWC was fit based on experimental data (typical values ranged from 0.2-0.4 and decreased linearly to 0.05 during atypical low VWC below 0.22). Research presented here can inform future optimization of green roof atmospheric cooling performance. Furthermore, this study indicates that green roof atmospheric cooling performance in typical North American mid latitude climates is lower than typical urban greenery such lawns and parks, which has policy implications for sustainable building design and urban planning.


Oil spills can lead to irreversible environmental degradation and pose hazards to human health. We are the first to study the causal effects of onshore oil spills on neonatal and infant mortality rates. We use spatial data from the Nigerian Oil Spill Monitor and the Demographic and Health Surveys, and rely on the comparison of siblings conceived before and after nearby oil spills. We find that nearby oil spills double the neonatal mortality rate. These effects are fairly uniform across locations and socio-economic backgrounds. We also provide some evidence for negative health effects of nearby oil spills on surviving children.


Recent trials have shown that reduced rates of insecticide combined with salt have given effective control of mirids — with reduced negative affects on beneficials.

Green and brown mirids have become important mid to late season sucking pests in cotton — particularly Ingard cotton —causing considerable damage (see The Australian Cottongrower July–August 2001, p.6). This is mainly due to the marked reduction in the use of non-selective Helicoverpa insecticides which previously also coincidentally controlled mirids.

Further reduction in the use of broad-spectrum insecticides is expected with two-gene cotton (Bollgard II), increasing the chance that mirids will be more of a problem.

Over this past cotton season, two or three insecticide sprays were required to manage mirids in some valleys, including the South Burnett. Most of the registered mirid chemicals are non-selective and are highly disruptive to a wide range of beneficial species. Use of these disruptive chemicals will minimise the potential value of IPM approaches.

Low rates of existing chemicals have been used to reduce their disruptive effect, but they do not always control the pests.


Collaborative partnerships—featuring intergovernmental and/or public–private sector cooperation—have been identified as a leading organisational expression of the 'new urban governance'. The paper examines the Vancouver Agreement—an urban development compact between the governments of Canada, British Columbia, and the City of Vancouver. Signed in March 2000 for a five-year term, and renewed in April 2005, the Vancouver Agreement has been widely acclaimed as an example of successful collaborative working, addressed to the revitalisation of the city's Downtown Eastside. The origins of the agreement are explained in the context of an urban crisis in the Downtown Eastside, where established policies were seen to be failing. High-level political support for a new governance approach led to the adoption of an urban development partnership, and the paper sets out its structure and strategic programmes of action. Benchmarked against conditions for effective intergovernmental working posited in the public administration literature, the paper then analyses five procedural attributes of the partnership: resource sharing, leadership, community involvement, mutual learning, and horizontal accountability. Concluding observations are offered on the long-term prospects for the Vancouver Agreement.


Sustainable communities cannot be achieved without genuine community participation, especially in housing decision-making processes. User-controlled housing is increasingly perceived as a credible means for community involvement in housing processes. User-controlled housing needs a regulatory mechanism that is qualitative, socio-culturally responsive, adaptive and proscriptive. In the case of social housing in Cairo, the research questions the potential of the traditional housing principle of 'no-harm', which simply means that 'residents' initiated action which is considered harmful to others should be prevented if those affected ask for its discontinuation', act as this regulatory mechanism for residents' actions. A qualitative/quantitative research method was applied to undertake the investigations in case studies representing three distinctive patterns of urban poor communities in Cairo: public housing, transformed public housing and informal housing. Both the current application of the 'no-harm' principle in these three urban housing contexts and the attitudes of their residents towards its application were investigated. The principle has proved to be significantly relevant nowadays in a way that opens the door for (re)integrating the principle in the legislative system for social housing processes in Egypt.


This research is focusing on the implementation, testing, and analysis of quadrupedal, bio-inspired robot locomotion. Our tool of research is a light-weight, quadruped robot of the size of a house cat, both in simulation and hardware. We are currently following the idea of testing bio-inspired blue-prints such as leg-segmentation, directional leg compliance (bio-mechanical), and central pattern generators (bioinspired neuro-control) for their feasibility, and advantages against more traditional, engineered solutions. Clearly, our first goal would be to reach a same level of performance as animals, e.g. in terms of speed, cost of transport, or versatility. Much research has been done on bio-mechanical and neuro-physiological research on legged vertebrates. Hence, data is available for animal locomotion such as gait patterns, speed, cost of transport, duty factor, joint angles, torque patterns, body angles, and ground reaction force (GRF) data. While this data allows one to study a subset of locomotion characteristics, it often lacks an intuitive way to compare animals of different species, or as for us, quadruped robots. We started applying the collision angle analysis (Lee, Bertram, et al. 2011) for trot gait, based on qualitative and quantitative results from goats and dogs (taken from (ibid.)), and experimental recordings of our robot's center of mass (COM) and GRF.


This thesis entitled "MATERNAL HEALTH CARE PRACTICE AMONG INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF NEPAL: Case Study of The Raute Community" tends to highlight on the use of traditional knowledge by the Raute people during the three stages of maternal period. The Rautes are regarded as one of the endangered Nomadic indigenous group. For the study, a locality named Satokhani and Pamka of Surkhet distric in Bheri Zone of Nepal, in which the Raute group had recently been migrated from Dadeldhura district.
Maternal health care encompasses the health of a woman during three stages of maternity. This study recount experiences around pregnancy, childbirth and after childbirth of the Raute mother and tends to draw attention towards some of the complications and problems faced by the Raute mothers. This study shows that complications like, miscalculation of due date, problem in delivering baby, even the death of baby and different types of illness after the delivery have been facing by the Raute women.
The study has been conducted in order to identify the reason behind the Raute women not getting modern health facility. Two different reasons can be draw in this study. The first and for most reason of devoid of modern maternal health is the rejection of Raute people to utilize any kind of things which will connect them with outer world. The next reason can be the inability of Government of Nepal to deliver such services that ILO convention and Un Declaration has addressed.


A novel non-planar ring cavity is presented. It is shown that by using a fractional image rotation, i.e. a rotation whose angle cannot be expressed as 2π/n, where n is a small integer, the number of modes that can oscillate in the cavity is greatly reduced. This Fractional Image Rotation Enhancement (FIRE) cavity can thus be used to increase the beam quality in cases of low transversal mode discrimination, such as lasers with large pump and beam size and high-pulse-energy optical parametric oscillators (OPOs), especially when compactness and efficiency are key parameters. The experimental results obtained with a FIRE OPO for mid-IR (3–5 μm) generation based on a ZnGeP2 crystal pumped by a Ho3+:LiLuF4 MOPA system at 2.05 μm are compared to those realized with the same crystal and pump arrangement using a standard Rotated Image Singly-Resonant Twisted RectAngle (RISTRA) cavity. An increase of the beam quality from M2 of 2.08–2.29 to M2 of 1.88–1.99 is reached at 20 mJ pulse energy when the FIRE cavity is used.


A MODAL SPLIT MODEL IS PUT FORWARD THAT CONTAINS A DESCRIPTION OF THE TRANSPORT SYSTEM AVAILABLE FOR LONG DISTANCE TRIPS BETWEEN A SET OF REGIONS. EACH JOURNEY IS TREATED AS BEING OF THREE PARTS: 1. ACCESS: THE DEPARTURE FROM A SPECIFIC ORIGIN AREA IN ONE REGION TO AN ACCESS POINT TO A MAIN HAUL MODE BETWEEN THE REGIONS: 2. MAIN HAUL: THE TRIP BETWEEN THE TWO REGIONS ON A SPECIFIC MODE: 3. EGRESS: THE LAST LEG OF THE JOURNEY, FROM THE TERMINAL IN THE CITY REGION OF THE DESTINATION TO THE DESTINATION ITSELF. A SIMPLIFIED NETWORK MODEL HAS BEEN CONSTRUCTED ON THIS BASIS AND CONTAINS A GEOGRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF THE TRANSPORT ALTERNATIVES. EVERY LINK IN THIS NETWORK IS A DIFFERENT ALTERNATIVE METHOD OF TRAVEL BETWEEN THE POINTS IT LINKS, AND THE TRAVEL TIME, WAITING TIME, AND TRAVEL COST ALONG THAT LINK SUMMARISES THE MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SET OF TRAVEL CHOICES THAT IT REPRESENTS. THE TRAVELLERS OF A GIVEN INCOME BRACKET ARE ASSUMED TO HAVE A SPECIFIED VALUATION OF TRAVEL TIME, AND THE GENERALISED (TIME AND MONEY) COST OF A TRIP ALONG EVERY GIVEN LINK WILL DIFFER FOR EACH INCOME BRACKET. THE TRAVEL DEMAND FOR EACH CLASS OF TRAVELLER IS DISTRIBUTED OVER THE DIFFERENT ALTERNATIVES ON THE BASIS OF THE GENERALISED COST, AND ALL THE CLASSES OF TRAVELLERS SUMMED TO GIVE THE MODAL SPLITS BETWEEN THE MAIN HAUL MODES. THIS MODEL IS SUITABLE FOR ASSESSING THE EFFECT OF INTROCUCING NEW MODES OF TRANSPORT BETWEEN THE REGIONS, AND CAN ALSO BE USED TO ASSESS THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT TERMINAL SITINGS. (A)


Learning mathematics requires fluency with symbols that convey numerical magnitude. Algebra and higher-level mathematics involve literal symbols, such as "x", that often represent numerical magnitude. Compared to other symbols, such as Arabic numerals, literal symbols may require more complex processing because they have strong pre-existing associations in literacy. The present study tested this notion using same-different tasks that produce less efficient judgments for different magnitudes that are closer together compared to farther apart (i.e., same-different distance effects). Twenty-four adolescents completed three same-different tasks using Arabic numerals, literal symbols, and artificial symbols. All three symbolic formats produced same-different distance effects, showing literal and artificial symbol processing of numerical magnitude. Importantly, judgments took longer for literal symbols than artificial symbols on average, suggesting a cost specific to literal symbol processing. Taken together, results suggest that literal symbol processing differs from processing of other symbols that represent numerical magnitude.


extract] My contention in this paper has been that control over all trusts by the courts is indispensable. For that reason, there must be the means of bringing cases of suspected maladministration (and illegality) to the attention of the courts. Otherwise, review of discretions cannot occur where it is needed. Although settlors may choose trusts in forms that are loose, in the last resort the need for control must take precedence over the wish for secrecy. The existing law does not always provide the necessary means for controlling trustees, and changes in the law are desirable.


Objective: The high prevalence of injury in netball can be associated with intrinsic or extrinsic factors. Female athletes have an increased risk of injury as they enter into maturity due to increased joint laxity and a reduction in neuromuscular control, resulting in altered landing biomechanics and greater knee joint injury risk. This study sought to investigate whether complex training (CT) could improve neuromuscular strength and landing kinematics, thereby reducing injury risk to the knee.

Methods: A within subject, repeated measures design was utilised. Ten youth netball academy players (age, 15.3 ± 0.9, years; height, 169.0 ± 7.0, cm; body mass, 62.2 ± 6.9, kg) participated and attended one familiarisation and two testing sessions (pre- and post-intervention). Participants' were assessed on: countermovement jump (CMJ), landing error score system (LESS), and single leg countermovement jump (SLCMJ) of both limbs. All participants engaged in a 6 week, one day per week, strength training and plyometric intervention for the lower limbs utilising CT.

Results: Significant improvements were evidenced for CMJ height (p = 0.001, d = 1.2 "moderate" effect), CMJ peak power output (PPO) (p = 0.001, d = 0.7 "small" effect), LESS (p = 0.002, d = 1.7 "large" effect), and SLCMJ left height (p = 0.01, d = 1.2 "moderate" effect) following the intervention.

Conclusion: Performing one CT session a week over 6 weeks enhanced kinematics and performance of jumping activities both bilaterally and unilaterally, it also brought about reductions in asymmetries in young female athletes.


Cardebat and Paroissien (2015) have provided a new methodology to express the scores of different wine expert on the same rating scale. Their method consists in matching the quantiles of the distributions of each experts's scores in an exhaustive dataset. However, they use the raw empirical distribution functions, which is arguably downward biased. This leads to a frequent upward bias in the converted scores. This paper exhibits the existence of this bias, provides the sign of the latter, and suggests a simple interpolation to mitigate it. (JEL Classifications: Q13, L15, C14).


Today's society is collecting a massive and exponentially growing amount of data that can potentially revolutionize scientific and engineering fields, and promote business innovations. With the advent of cloud computing, in order to analyze data in a cost-effective and practical way, users can outsource their computing tasks to the cloud, which offers access to vast computing resources on an on-demand and pay-per-use basis. However, since users' data contains sensitive information that needs to be kept secret for ethical, security, or legal reasons, many users are reluctant to adopt cloud computing. To this end, researchers have proposed techniques that enable users to offload computations to the cloud while protecting their data privacy. In this paper, we review the recent advances in the secure outsourcing of large-scale computations for a big data analysis. We first introduce two most fundamental and common computational problems, i.e., linear algebra and optimization, and then provide an extensive review of the data privacy preserving techniques. After that, we explain how researchers have exploited the data privacy preserving techniques to construct secure outsourcing algorithms for large-scale computations.


The current paper aims to present the archaeological and anthropological results of the investigation conducted on a medieval burial which presents several features that recall the Longobard culture. After the archaeological evaluations on the architectural morphology of the tomb and on the grave goods, we proceeded with the anthropological investigations on human and animal bone remains. These analyses allowed us to formulate a hypothesis related to this particular funeral ritual from ancient Longobard tradition. The tomb number 2 of St. Michael church in Mornago represents a rare evidence of inhumation with bird in Northern Italy.


The intrinsic evolution of a high-order soliton described by the nonlinear Schrödinger equation is initiated by a self-four-wave mixing effect (or modulational instability) and recurs neatly every soliton period. We show that when there is noise such as amplified spontaneous emission, however, a high-order soliton evolves randomly and independently and is distorted because the evolution is initiated by noise. Thus the time and the frequency coherence of a soliton pulse train are both greatly degraded.