This paper reports on a case study to establish dollar values for loss of biodiversity in the New Zealand coastal marine environment. The study uses the European Shore Crab (Carcinas maenas) as the example alien invasive species and the Pauatahanui Inlet, Wellington, New Zealand, as the ecosystem representative of the coastal marine environment. Choice modelling is the stated preference tool used to elicit marginal dollar values for these various attributes of the inlet. Reallocation of existing government expenditure is used as the payment mechanism. Results indicate a wide range of dollar values for the marginal losses to the environment, with no clear trend on a distance-decay relationship. The probability distributions of the dollar values of the environmental attributes tended to have a concentration around the median with very wide tails, especially on the high side. This indicates that most people generally agreed on a dollar value, but a very few individuals expressed extremely high values. The study concludes that the dollar values for loss of biodiversity and other environmental attributes do provide useful information to decision makers, but considerable caution needs to be exercised when applying these values in benefit cost studies. Marginal rate of substitution estimates between environmental attributes will be useful for estimating money values for attributes identified given future work estimates a statistically significant money value for one.


The present report covers the period from October 2004 to September 2006. It is the last report of
the pilot phase 2000–2006 of the network for permafrost monitoring in Switzerland (PERMOS). At
this point, PERMOS includes (a) 11 drill sites (including 22 boreholes and geophysical monitoring at
4 of the sites), (b) 11 surface temperature sites (including measurements in loose debris at 9 sites, in
bedrock at 5 sites, and at the bottom of the snow cover (BTS) at 3 sites), and (c) aerial photographs
taken by Swisstopo.
Winter 2004/2005 was characterized by an early and thin snow cover in the higher alpine regions
and an early snow melt in spring. A long phase of above average air temperatures followed, which
lasted until July and made summer 2005 the second warmest on record. Winter 2005/2006 started
late, had a long lasting thick snow cover, and was followed by a warm summer with the hottest July
ever measured.
Active layer thicknesses in summer 2004 were similar to those before 2003 at most sites. Hence,
thermal changes in the subsurface from the 2003 heat wave were not sustained, although the ice
content at the permafrost table may have been permanently modified. The active layer deepened
again in several boreholes in summer 2005, reaching values similar to 2003, and remained more
or less stable in summer 2006. At ca. 10 m depth, ground temperatures at the drill sites displayed
a warming until the beginning of 2005, which results from the preceding heat period in summer
2003. Then, mainly as a result of the snow conditions in winter, a cooling period followed. Since
2005, temperature observations are complemented by electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) measurements
at 4 drill sites to monitor physical properties of the ground (e.g., ice content or unfrozen
water content). The ERT monitoring strategy is outlined and discussed in this report.
Ground surface temperatures (GST) were low in both years of the reporting period, especially during
winter. In 2005, GST temporarily dropped to new minima and reached about mean values of the
past decade at the end of the reporting period. Rock surface temperatures (RST) were integrated
into PERMOS in summer 2004 and are presented and discussed in detail in this report. Temperature
values in steep rock clearly display the cold conditions in winter 2004/2005 as well as the warm
summer 2006.
The chapter on special aspects of permafrost monitoring is dedicated to the observed acceleration of
rock glaciers in the past two decades. The destabilization of several landforms shows that permafrost
creep conditions in the Alps are changing.
In general, both, surface temperatures and ground temperatures in the uppermost meters decreased
to pre-2003 conditions at all sites during the reporting period, which is mainly a result of the snow
conditions.


The mud surface temperature (MST) of an intertidal mudflat in Marennes-Oleron Bay (France) and the biomass-specific photosynthetic capacity (PBmax) of benthic microalgae were modelled to investigate their spatio-temporal dynamics. Simulations were performed over 2 different periods during and after the microphytobenthos spring bloom (April and June, respectively) and under 2 different tidal conditions (spring and neap tides). The deterministic MST model is based on thermodynamic processes. Comparison at different periods between measured data series and simulations clearly establishes the reliability of the model, thus allowing extrapolations over time and space. The spatio-temporal dynamics of MST is primarily controlled by the immersion-emersion alternation combined with the solar cycle, with a strong influence of the phase difference in their respective oscillations: the highest MSTs are achieved in summer in the highest parts of the mudflat, when spring low tide occurs at midday. Three relevant time scales characterize the MST dynamics: long-term (seasonal cycle), medium-term (lunar cycle) and short-term (solar and tidal cycles). Within that framework, the response of PBmax to changes in MST depends upon Topt, the optimum temperature for photosynthesis (Topt = 25°C all year round). In April, when the MST values are below Topt, PBmax varies exponentially with MST at short time scales. Conversely, in June, when the range of MST partially exceeds Topt, PBmax is inhibited on most of the mudflat surface area (up to 75%). This thermo-inhibition is highest in summer, when low tide occurs at midday.


Background: Voice is a means of communicating verbal messages, which serves as a powerful carrier of personality and emotional, educational, and social status. Dysphonia (impaired voice production) is a very common ailment, affecting nearly one-third of the population at some point in their life. Hoarseness of voice can be correlated to Swarabheda in Ayurveda. The management provided by contemporary medicine for this condition is either conservative or surgical in nature, which is cost worthy. Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of Ayurvedic management of Swarabheda.Materials and Methods: A 35-year-old woman approached to Ayurvedic hospital with complaints of hoarseness of voice and difficulty and pain while deglutition and talking since 1 year. She was diagnosed with Vataj swarabheda and was treated with Panchakarma treatment including Marsha Nasya with Anutaila and Gandusha along with Shamana Chikitsa. The treatment was continued for consecutive 1 month. Results: Hoarseness of voice was assessed after 15 days with the help of Buffalo III Voice Profile and satisfactory outcome was found especially in the quality and loudness of voice, mental strength, and confidence of patient. Conclusion: The collaborative approach of the aforementioned therapy gives symptomatic relief in Swarabheda.


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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Idiopathic intracranial hypertension is a complex neurologic disorder resulting from increased intracranial pressure. Our aim was to determine whether a correlation exists between the CSF pressure-volume relationship, specifically the craniospinal elastance and pressure-volume index, in patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension and whether opening pressure affects this relationship. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Lumbar punctures performed for suspected idiopathic intracranial hypertension from 2006 to 2017 were identified. Opening and closing pressures, CSF volume removed, and clinical diagnosis of idiopathic intracranial hypertension were obtained from the medical records. The craniospinal elastance (pressure change per milliliter of CSF removed) and pressure-volume index were calculated, and the Pearson correlation coefficients between both the craniospinal elastance and pressure-volume index and opening pressure were determined. Linear regression models of craniospinal elastance and the pressure-volume index and interaction terms with opening pressure were assessed for covariate influence on this association. RESULTS: One hundred sixteen patients were included in the final analysis. The mean craniospinal elastance according to opening pressure group was 0.52 ± 0.18 for <20 cm H2O, 0.57 ± 0.20 for 20–29 cm H2O, 0.91 ± 0.28 for 30–39 cm H2O, and 1.20 ± 0.25 for ≥40 cm H2O. There was a positive linear association between opening pressure and craniospinal elastance with a 0.28 cm H2O/mL increase in craniospinal elastance (standard error = 0.03, P < .001) for every 10 cm H2O increase in opening pressure. Of the covariables analyzed, only age older than 50 years and total volume of CSF removed affected this association. CONCLUSIONS: As opening pressure increases, the craniospinal elastance increases in a linear fashion while the pressure-volume index decreases. Further studies are needed to determine whether these changes relate to the underlying pathophysiology of idiopathic intracranial hypertension or simply represent established CSF volume pressure dynamics.


Vibration induced sound in the car of a light high speed train is of great interest since the light structure makes it more resonant. Low weight is important and and the aim is to decrease the weight of future trains significantly, compared to the X2000. Classical sound attenuation techniques are good for higher frequencies but active techniques are more suitable when lowering the low frequency induced noise in the car. This work therefore addresses a problem that is likely to occur in future trains, due to the decreased weight. The sleepers are a dominant excitation source for this case, and this implies a periodic excitation of 85 Hz when the train is running at 200 km/h. The sleeper frequency excitation will be an even larger problem when the car has a lower weight as well. This paper describes an active vibration isolation, or damping, where the goal is to reduce the sound inside the car due to the sleeper frequency excitation not the vibrations levels. Four actuators have been used and both an AVC as well as an ASAC control strategy has been tested and the results are presented. Tests have been performed on a full scale train in a lab as well as on track at approximately 200 km/h.


Effects of characteristics of incident waves and of the thickenss of structure on wave reflection by and transmission through a porous structure were studied. Use of an idealized porous structure which is a lattice composed of circular cylinders was made. The relative thickness of structure B/L was found to have appreciable effects on reflected and transmitted wave energies. The reflection coefficient Kr reaches to a maximum of it for B/L of about 0.2 to 0.25, then decreases as B/L increases, and remains approximately uniform for B/L larger than about 0.6. The transmission coefficient Kt, however, decreases nearly exponentially as B/L increases. Measurement of wave height within structure revealed a Dattern of standing waves having a loop at the front face and a node at the rear face of it. That relates to the trend of Kr. Analytical approaches to predict the transmitted wave height, and wave heights before and within porous structures are found to be useful.


The damage-inducible UmuD' and UmuC proteins are required for most SOS mutagenesis in Escherichia coli. Our recent assay to reconstitute this process in vitro, using a native UmuD'(2)C complex, revealed that the highly purified preparation contained DNA polymerase activity. Here we eliminate the possibility that this activity is caused by a contaminating DNA polymerase and show that it is intrinsic to UmuD'(2)C. E. coli dinB has recently been shown to have DNA polymerase activity (pol IV). We suggest that UmuD'(2)C, the fifth DNA polymerase discovered in E. coli, be designated as E. coli pol V. In the presence of RecA, beta sliding clamp, gamma clamp loading complex, and E. coli single-stranded binding protein (SSB), pol V's polymerase activity is highly "error prone" at both damaged and undamaged DNA template sites, catalyzing efficient bypass of abasic lesions that would otherwise severely inhibit replication by pol III holoenzyme complex (HE). Pol V bypasses a site-directed abasic lesion with an efficiency about 100- to 150-fold higher than pol III HE. In accordance with the "A-rule," dAMP is preferentially incorporated opposite the lesion. A pol V mutant, UmuD'(2)C104 (D101N), has no measurable lesion bypass activity. A kinetic analysis shows that addition of increasing amounts of pol III to a fixed level of pol V inhibits lesion bypass, demonstrating that both enzymes compete for free 3'-OH template-primer ends. We show, however, that despite competition for primer-3'-ends, pol V and pol III HE can nevertheless interact synergistically to stimulate synthesis downstream from a template lesion.


There are two dose-dependent barriers to the transmission of western equine encephalomyelitis virus in infected female Culex tarsalis. In the first, virus multiplies in the mesenteron, but does not invade other tissues regardless of the length of extrinsic incubation. We call this the "mesenteronal escape" barrier. In some mosquitoes virus escapes from the infected mesenteron but a second barrier prevents infection of the salivary glands and perhaps neural tissues. We designate this the "salivary gland infection" barrier. The effectiveness of the second barrier decreases with time but still is evident after 21 days of extrinsic incubation. The distribution of virus in the tissues of nontransmitting females with either of these barriers is described.


John Milton's presentation of his epic, Paradise Lost, represents an attempt to extend to the seventeenth-century reader an explanation of a world in need of understanding. In religion, politics and science there was perceived, justifiably, an uncertainty due to transition and innovation. An epic, by definition, purports to relate the decisive, paradigmatic event of human history. Utilising the Bible as his primary source, and with the addition of other forms of discourse as diverse as classical allusion and contemporary science, Milton attempts to render the chaotic calm, the inexplicable explicable, through a belief system proffered in the form of myth. Thus, Paradise Lost can be read as both emerging from a sense of anxiety in the seventeenth century, and as an attempt to alleviate that anxiety. The extraordinary complexity and density of Paradise Lost would seem to require a careful, close reading of the text. Thus, it is necessary to thoughtfully select representational passages from Milton's epic in order to observe how this seventeenthcentury anxiety is being addressed. A consideration of these passages will reveal patterns and strategies delineating how certain devices and aspects of the text can be read metaphorically. In turn, these metaphors can be seen as being in service of the myth which Milton is presenting to assuage the anxiety of the contemporary reader. The two aspects of the text to be discussed in this thesis are space and time. The metaphorical strategies that John Milton applies toward his creation of myth are evident in any number of the disparate aspects which constitute Paradise Lost. Space and time, while crucial, are representative elements of an overall, comprehensive scheme on the part of the poet. Space, and the dermition of this term, undergoes a significant metamorphosis in the text. Paradise Lost is a text which contains cosmic themes, and the historical evolution of the understanding of space as "a distance between two separate points" to space as "the firmaament beyond the Earth's atmosphere" is demonstrated in this text. Milton is eager to derme knowledge and the limits placed on the acquisition of knowledge in order to provide his reader with a means of understanding reality. Both dermitions of space, described above, provide the poet with opportunities for his pedagogy. Time, along with being a concept naturally complementary to space, is of utility for understanding the structure of Milton's myth. How the poet addresses the anxiety inherent in an awareness of human mortality, combined with discussing the importance of linear time in relation with human history, is instructive. The prelapsarian world was one of circular time, with with the possibility of change being viewed optimistically. The postlapsarian world initiates linear time. This concept of human history as linear, and the consequences that this linear time has with respect to man's mortality, are incorporated in Milton's retelling of the Christian myth. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/11375/12303 Identifier: opendissertations/7200 8251 3135258 Appears in Collections: Open Access Dissertations and Theses


Ambient noise is a key factor in determining the performance of underwater acoustic systems. Ambient noise is that sound received by an omni-directional sensor which is not from the sensor itself or the manner in which it is mounted. Noise from the sensor or its mounting is termed self-noise. Ambient noise is made up of contributions from many sources, both natural and anthropogenic. These sounds combine to give the continuum of noise against which all acoustic receivers have to detect the signals they are looking for. Ambient noise is deceptively easy to measure, just deploy a hydrophone, make a recording, transform into the frequency domain, and you then have the level and spectral characteristics of ambient noise. Unfortunately this is rarely adequate to fully characterise ambient noise and further difficulties may be introduced by the way the hydrophone is deployed. Ambient noise is made up of a number of contributions, each of which can vary in a random and/or cyclic manner. The cyclic variation may have a period corresponding to the tidal, diurnal, weekly, lunar, monthly or annual cycles. For any one application it is important to match the measurement time to the relevant cyclic variations. It is also important to consider how the raw acoustic data can be processed to reduce the information to manageable levels while still retaining the important factors. Noise radiated from a discrete source is called radiated noise and is measured in a similar manner to ambient noise. Measurements are usually made close to the noise source so that the radiated noise is sufficiently stronger than the ambient noise to ensure that it is the radiated noise being measured. Radiated noise can be highly directional so it is important to make a series of measurements around the source. If the characteristics of the individual contributions to ambient noise, including radiated noise from individual sources, are understood then it is possible to model the ambient noise field. For many applications this can considerably reduce the need for detailed, and expensive, field measurements. Making the ambient noise measurements can be hampered by poor measurement procedure. Care must be exercised to minimise the self-noise of the measurement equipment and the platform from which it is deployed. It is also important to consider the depth of the measurement sensor and any directional characteristics of both the sensor and the noise field. This paper will review how ambient noise can be measured, the length of time for which the measurements need to be made, and the equipment that should be used to collect the data. It will also consider how the data should be processed to obtain meaningful, but manageable, information.


The research was conducted in order to determine the effects of an adaptive training basketball on the transformation of specific motoric and functional abilities of adolescents with mental retardation. The sample consisted of 60 adolescents with mental retardation, pupils of School for elementary and secondary education "14 October" in Nis, Serbia, aged 13 to 17 years, of both sexes. The experimental group was composed of 30 adolescents with mental retardation, 12 girls and 18 boys selected for training adaptive basketball in physical education classes, four times a week for 30 minutes for a period of eight weeks. The control group was also made up of 30 adolescents with mental retardation, 10 girls and 20 boys who attended the classes of regular physical education program, four times a week for 30 minutes for a period of eight weeks. In the research was used measurement instruments to assess the anthropometric characteristics (three), specific motoric (four) and functional (four) abilities. Basketball test battery included a four ability levels of increasing difficulty, from the first to the fourth, each one characterized by the analysis of the four main areas related to the technical and fundamental aspects of the game: ball handling, reception, passing and shooting. Each area is divided into five specific components, in which the participants receive individual score: 1 point for correct efficiency, 0.5 points for misinterpretation and 0 points for a complete failure. For each level, the examinee can reach a maximum of 20 points. Moving to the next level is determined by winning at least 15 points. In addition to the basic statistical parameters, the results were analyzed by analysis of variance and covariance and canonical discriminant analysis. Results of the research indicate that the experimental group participants achieve better results in the studied area, and that there were significant effects of adaptive training of basketball in the final test.


In statutory interpretation, many scholars try to reconcile judicial power with democracy by cabining judicial discretion and rendering judges more faithful agents of Congress. Although debate pervades the field, the dominant approach is to rely on formalism to narrow judicial leeway and promote legislative supremacy. In constitutional theory, by contrast, many scholars respond to a very similar problem with a very different strategy. Here too, the concern is that judges will exercise power in a manner that substitutes judicial preferences for political will, and here too, there is as much disagreement as agreement. But instead of casting judicial discretion as the source of the problem, there is a growing trend in constitutional scholarship toward embracing judicial discretion as part of the solution. Many constitutional theorists urge judges to employ discretionary tools in a manner that limits their intrusions into the political process and minimizes the disruption associated with judicial review. These constitutional scholars tend to reject formalism in favor of a form of minimalism that is in many respects the antithesis of formalism. Professor Molot suggests that both sets of scholars have gone too far in their positions on formalism. Statutory scholars often overlook the importance of judicial flexibility as an antidote to the excesses of formalism. Constitutional scholars often overlook the importance of formal constraints and fidelity to law. Using administrative law as a counterexample, Professor Molot sketches out a more balanced approach to formalism that he argues is superior to the one-sided approaches that have increasingly characterized statutory and constitutional scholarship today.


In 1917 D.H. Lawrence's whole outlook on the social and cultural environment of his country was embodied in his attitude towards the literary marketplace. The suppression of The Rainbow in 1915 and his opposition to the war contributed to his feeling of detachment from what he called 'the bourgeois world, the world which controls press, publication and all'. Presenting new archival evidence, this article examines the publishing history of the poetry volume Look! We Have Come Through, issued by Chatto & Windus in 1917. Closer examination of the motives of the individual editors involved in the production of the volume reveals why Lawrence was required to make changes to his text but also why the firm were eager to publish a volume that was to have little commercial impact. Issued at a critical moment in Lawrence's relationship with the marketplace, and in the history of literary modernism, the episode shows how, in spite of general hostility to his work, there were forces in the mainstream publishing market that were keen to embrace modern literary forms and take risks with the work of authors whose subject-matter was challenging and potentially dangerous.


Feedback is essential in all companies, in society and in educational environments. We learn, improve and develop from it in our examinations, group work, work environment and relationships. Feedback however must be supported with good communications and be consistent. In the classroom environment this means providing feedback in a positive and supportive manner, and being consistent to all. Most if not all managers and leaders, including lecturers have not undertaken any form of training in feedback methods and therefore it is not translated effectively, causing stress or misguidance to students and colleagues. This paper highlights the importance of good feedback, how it can be provided effectively and why it is rarely communicated. Students are consistently asking for feedback and highlight it in quality reports and surveys as a major weakness in the delivery of modules and course work. Some of the issues raised are associated with poor preparation, habits and styles of delivery. With the increasing requirement from Validation and Accreditation authorities to verify if learners are receiving appropriate feedback, this is one area where staff and managers can enhance the quality of the learning environment. Feedback is not only a two way process between lecturers and students but is also a critical activity between management and staff in developing a healthy working environment. Relevant feedback to first year students in particular via verbal or electronic means sets the standard for subsequent years. It is also essential that the quality work undertaken by lecturers to students is acknowledged and supported by management.


Visual navigation tasks in real-world environments often require both self-motion and place recognition feedback. While deep reinforcement learning has shown success in solving these perception and decision-making problems in an end-to-end manner, these algorithms require large amounts of experience to learn navigation policies from high-dimensional data, which is generally impractical for real robots due to sample complexity. In this paper, we address these problems with two main contributions. We first leverage place recognition and deep learning techniques combined with goal destination feedback to generate compact, bimodal image representations that can then be used to effectively learn control policies from a small amount of experience. Second, we present an interactive framework, CityLearn, that enables for the first time training and deployment of navigation algorithms across city-sized, realistic environments with extreme visual appearance changes. CityLearn features more than 10 benchmark datasets, often used in visual place recognition and autonomous driving research, including over 100 recorded traversals across 60 cities around the world. We evaluate our approach on two CityLearn environments, training our navigation policy on a single traversal per dataset. Results show our method can be over 2 orders of magnitude faster than when using raw images, and can also generalize across extreme visual changes including day to night and summer to winter transitions.


This paper examines the representations of violence in Guatemalan and El Salvadoran literature against the backdrop of persistently high levels of violence and crime following the civil wars in both countries. It adopts an interdisciplinary approach settled within cultural studies and uses two examples — De fronteras (2007) by Claudia Hernandez and Dias amarillos (2009) by Javier Payeras — to analyze the narrative strategies applied in the process of re-counting violence. The results of the literary analysis enable the author to draw conclusions concerning the way in which both societies deal with urban post-war violence. The texts refer to the ubiquity of violence and the hopelessness of the situation, as well as to the responsibility of the mass media for reproducing violence and a general turning away from the public domain towards the private life.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
To compare optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) capillary perfusion density (CPD) measurements of normal eyes and eyes with macular ischemia (MI).

PATIENTS AND METHODS
AVATAR is an institutional review board-approved, prospective, observational imaging study using the Avanti RTVue XR HD. OCTA reports were reviewed for the presence of MI. Qualitative MI grading was performed, and CPD metrics in the superficial and deep fovea and parafovea were analyzed. A normal eye cohort was identified for comparative assessment.

RESULTS
The MI and normal cohorts included 55 and 58 eyes, respectively. Compared to normal eyes, eyes with MI had significantly lower CPD values in all regions. There was a statistically significant correlation between qualitative MI grade and VA in the superficial (P = .003) and deep plexuses (P = .029). Only deep parafoveal CPD values demonstrated correlation with VA (P = .043).

CONCLUSIONS
Eyes with MI determined by masked qualitative OCTA grading demonstrated significantly reduced CPD values compared to normal eyes. Categorical assessment of MI severity correlated with VA. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2020;51:S30-S36.].


In the vast majority of migratory bird species studied so far, spring migration has been found to proceed faster than autumn migration. In spring, selection pressures for rapid migration are purportedly higher, and migratory conditions such as food supply, daylength, and/or wind support may be better than in autumn. In swans, however, spring migration appears to be slower than autumn migration. Based on a comparison of tundra swan Cygnus columbianus tracking data with long-term temperature data from wheather stations, it has previously been suggested that this was due to a capital breeding strategy (gathering resources for breeding during spring migration) and/or to ice cover constraining spring but not autumn migration. Here we directly test the hypothesis that Bewick's swans Cygnus columbianus bewickii follow the ice front in spring, but not in autumn, by comparing three years of GPS tracking data from individual swans with concurrent ice cover data at five important migratory stop-over sites. In general, ice constrained the swans in the middle part of spring migration, but not in the first (no ice cover was present in the first part) nor in the last part. In autumn, the swans migrated far ahead of ice formation, possibly in order to prevent being trapped by an early onset of winter. We conclude that spring migration in swans is slower than autumn migration because spring migration speed is constrained by ice cover. This restriction to spring migration speed may be more common in northerly migrating birds that rely on freshwater resources.


Three-dimensional multiphase fluid flows demand advanced and innovative measurement systems in order to fully resolve the flow physics. Dense bubbly multiphase flows cannot be readily imaged by traditional, non-invasive flow measurement techniques due to the bubbles occluding optical access to the interior regions of the volume of interest. We present a novel technique for imaging these flows, which allows for determination of the 3D bubble distribution and bubble sizes despite the imaging challenges. By using synthetic aperture (SA) refocusing we are able to reparameterize images captured by an array of cameras to reconstruct a 3D volumetric map of the bubble field for every time instance. The SA refocusing technique has the unique ability, over conventional imaging methods, to see-through partial occlusions in the scene due to the configuration of the camera array and reconstruction algorithms, making it an ideal tool for resolving multiphase flows. Relatively dense bubbly flows can be resolved with good accuracy. We present fundamentals of the synthetic aperture methodology, a feature detection algorithm for extracting bubble size and location, and results from application of the technique to a bubble-entraining plunging jet.Copyright © 2011 by ASME


From the foreward by Gary Orfield: As we face the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, college opportunity has been negatively impacted by drastic cuts and the rising cost of education. In California specifically, higher education opportunity seems to be nearly out of reach for low-income students, academically unprepared students, and students of color. Historically, higher education has been considered a mechanism of upward mobility. Considered part of the "American Dream," parents encourage their children to strive for this goal, even if parents themselves never attended college.Academically underprepared students, or this lacking the basic skills of math ad/or English to be at college-level, represent over half of entering freshmen at the CSU. What these startling numbers really represent is a growing number of underprepared students graduating California high schools, often with excellent grades, yet being denied admission of the state's public institutions. Despite California's commitment to universal access to all who can benefit and tuition-free education, what we are seeing is an inability to uphold this social contract at the cost of student's futures.The negative impact of budget cuts has been felt beyond the students and their families. Recent pay cuts, furloughs, and other declines in financial support have also impacted faculty and staff at the CSU campuses. Increasingly, faculty and staff have feelings of unfairness, as they struggle to provide services and quality education to students, yet experience enormous cut after cut. Morale continues to plummet as faculty and staff are expected to perform the duties of educating the stat's youth, ye the value of education seems practically non-existent within the state's budget priorities. Also available at: http://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu


Deep reinforcement learning (RL) methods have significant potential for dialogue policy optimisation. However, they suffer from a poor performance in the early stages of learning. This is especially problematic for on-line learning with real users. Two approaches are introduced to tackle this problem. Firstly, to speed up the learning process, two sample-efficient neural networks algorithms: trust region actor-critic with experience replay (TRACER) and episodic natural actor-critic with experience replay (eNACER) are presented. For TRACER, the trust region helps to control the learning step size and avoid catastrophic model changes. For eNACER, the natural gradient identifies the steepest ascent direction in policy space to speed up the convergence. Both models employ off-policy learning with experience replay to improve sample-efficiency. Secondly, to mitigate the cold start issue, a corpus of demonstration data is utilised to pre-train the models prior to on-line reinforcement learning. Combining these two approaches, we demonstrate a practical approach to learn deep RL-based dialogue policies and demonstrate their effectiveness in a task-oriented information seeking domain.


This report reviews the findings of the field studies undertaken by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL), now the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), on the degradation of metallic and non-metallic strips and anchors used for reinforcing soils. Different methods of assessing the degree of corrosion of metallic reinforcements are discussed and the measured rates of corrosion are compared to the current requirements of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) for both reinforced soils and corrugated steel buried structures (CSBS). Data are also provided on the loss in strength of non-metallic reinforcements. Opportunities for future work in the light of this review are also discussed. It is concluded that, at this stage, there are no grounds for changing the present requirements covering the durability of buried metallic components. However many more data than are currently available are required to establish the degree of non-uniformity of corrosion, and the relation between loss in tensile strength and loss of thickness, and how both of these vary with time and with the type of soil. The data for the non-metallic reinforcements suggest that current practice provides an adequate margin of safety against their rupture over the design life of a structure. (A)


This article is the second part of the survey presenting a systematic crystallographic analysis of hybrid twins in minerals. Here we deal with silicate minerals and in particular the hybrid twins of allanite, augite, axinite, beryl, chloritoid, clinoenstatite, clinozoisite, cordierite, cummingtonite-grunerite, diopside-hedenbergite, enstatite-ferrosilite, epidote, forsterite-fayalite, johannsenite, natrolite, piemontite, pigeonite, protoenstatite, pumpellyite, pyroxmangite, quartz, titanite, spodumene, staurolite, topaz, tourmaline, tremolite-actinolite-ferroactinolite, tridymite. The comparison with the twin analysis of non-silicate minerals shows that the number of hybrid twins for non-silicates is higher than that of the silicates. This well agrees with the fact that the twin formation is favoured by the high symmetries of the close-packing topologies, typical of many non-silicates, especially oxides and simple sulphides, whereas the silicate structures are more complex and characterized by different degrees of polymerization of Si-O tetrahedra.


We look at the theory of ionization of atoms and molecules in the presence of a strong laser field. The history of ionization of atoms is reviewed and the methods used to calculate the ionization rates are examined in detail. In particular the quasi-classical methods used to solve for atomic rates are examined in detail. Early work on the ionization of molecules is also examined. A new method of calculating ionization rates is developed which allows for clear, analytic descriptions of atoms and molecules in intense light fields. The results and implications of this new theory are also examined in both atoms and molecules. The results are compared against known analytic results in the case of atoms and against numerical computation for molecules. Finally, applications of the study of atoms and molecules in intense fields are examined. We show how processes such as high harmonic generation and laser induced electron diffraction occur in strong fields and give an overview of the current state of the art and likely goals for the future. The process of laser induced electron diffraction is given close examination and ways of optimizing the diffraction patterns are discussed. The use of two-color orthogonal fields is shown to greatly increase contrast and efficiency when the carrier phases are tuned correctly.


Human herpesvirus 7 (HHV-7) infection in histologically normal human tissues was investigated by immunohistochemical detection of the 85-kDa tegument phosphoprotein (pp85) encoded by the U14 gene. So far, two cell types were recognized as sites of HHV-7 infection in vivo: CD4+ T lymphocytes, believed to be the site of latent infection, and epithelial cells of salivary glands, the site of productive infection and viral shedding. Unexpectedly, cells expressing the HHV-7 structural antigen were detectable in lungs, skin, and mammary glands. Morphologically and phenotypically, they were distinct from lymphocytes. Liver, kidney, and tonsils were positive, although the number of HHV-7-positive cells was low. Large intestine, spleen, and brain were negative. Different from the current notion of the state of HHV-7 in humans, the results show that a variety of tissues harbor cells at a late stage of infection and suggest that HHV-7 causes a persistent rather than a true latent infection.


PoGOLite is a balloon-borne experiment, which will study polarized soft γ-ray emissionfrom astrophysical targets in the 25-80 keV energy range by applying well-typephoswich detector technology. Polarized γ-rays are expected from a wide variety of sources including rotation-powered pulsars, accreting black holes and neutron stars,and jet-dominated active galaxies. Polarization measurements provide a powerfulprobe of the γ-ray emission mechanism and the distribution of magnetic and radiation fields around the source. The polarization is determined using Compton scattering and photoelectric absorption in an array of 217 plastic scintillators. The sensitive detector is surrounded by a segmented Bismuth Germanium Oxide (BGO) anticoincidence shield. The function of this shield is to reduce backgrounds from charged cosmic rays, primary and atmospheric γ-rays, and atmospheric and instrumenta lneutrons. The anticoincidence shield consists of 427 BGO crystals with three different geometries. The characteristics of the BGO crystals of the bottom anticoincidence shield have been studied with particular focus on the light yield.The maiden flight of PoGOLite will be with a reduced detector volume "pathfinder" instrument. The flight, lasting about 24 hours, is foreseen from Esrange, Sweden in August 2010. The performance of the pathfinder has been studied using computer simulations. The effect of atmospheric attenuation, both on the signal of theastronomical target and on the background, are studied. These allow an observationstrategy to be developed for the forthcoming flight. A polarization analysis method is described and applied to an observation example. The method sets anupper limit on the accuracy with which the polarimeter will be able to detect polarization the angle and degree. The PoGOLite polarimeter has a relatively small field of view (2.4◦×2.4◦) which must be kept aligned to objects of interest on the sky. A star tracker forms part of the attitude control system. The star trackersystem comprises a CCD camera, a lens, and a baffle system. Preliminary studiesof the star identification performance are presented and are found to be compatible with the environment around the Crab, which is the main observational target for the first flight.


Microbial forensics is an important part of a strengthened capability to respond to biocrime and bioterrorism incidents to aid in the complex task of distinguishing between natural outbreaks and deliberate acts. The goal of a microbial forensic investigation is to identify and criminally prosecute those responsible for a biological attack, and it involves a detailed analysis of the weapon--that is, the pathogen. The recent development of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies has greatly increased the resolution that can be achieved in microbial forensic analyses. It is now possible to identify, quickly and in an unbiased manner, previously undetectable genome differences between closely related isolates. This development is particularly relevant for the most deadly bacterial diseases that are caused by bacterial lineages with extremely low levels of genetic diversity. Whole-genome analysis of pathogens is envisaged to be increasingly essential for this purpose. In a microbial forensic context, whole-genome sequence analysis is the ultimate method for strain comparisons as it is informative during identification, characterization, and attribution--all 3 major stages of the investigation--and at all levels of microbial strain identity resolution (ie, it resolves the full spectrum from family to isolate). Given these capabilities, one bottleneck in microbial forensics investigations is the availability of high-quality reference databases of bacterial whole-genome sequences. To be of high quality, databases need to be curated and accurate in terms of sequences, metadata, and genetic diversity coverage. The development of whole-genome sequence databases will be instrumental in successfully tracing pathogens in the future.


The purpose of our study is to highlight the knowledge of the small child's introduction to the new world of preschool. Five teachers and one child care provider has been interviewed about their experiences regarding the infants introduction seen as a phenomenon. Our thesis approach is inspired by phenomenology but with focus on two central concepts, lifeworld and essence. Our research questions focus on the following aspects: educator´s experiences of the introduction to preschool, what do the educators believe is significant for the introduction and how do the educators reflect on their role of profession? The surveys data is collected with the method of qualitative interviews followed with an analysis based on the phenomenological approach. From our analysis we have been able to determine the essence which is presented as three categories; relation between educator and child, the meaningful context and the educators own role of profession. In our findings we could see that children are being introduced to preschool accompanied by other children, they are being introduced as a group. The educators works with two different models concerning the introduction to preschool. One model where the parent´s role during the introduction is to be active and to participate in the daily activities along with their children. As opposed to the other model where the parent´s task during the introduction is to keep a secluded role. Five educators out of six are satisfied with their way of working regarding the introduction, however some of the educators express a frustration regarding insufficient guidelines concerning introduction of the little child into the world of preschool from the Swedish authority Skolverket. One conception that is recurring in different contexts is safety and the children's capability to attachment. All educator´s believe that the relation between educator and child is of great importance for both children and parents when it comes to the introduction to preschool. Children and parents need to feel confident in this new meaningful context that they are being introduced in. The educators express the importance of a confidence-inspiring educator.


Abstract We propose a new divergence on the manifold of probability distributions, building on the entropic regularization of optimal transportation problems. As Cuturi (2013) showed, regularizing the optimal transport problem with an entropic term is known to bring several computational benefits. However, because of that regularization, the resulting approximation of the optimal transport cost does not define a proper distance or divergence between probability distributions. We recently tried to introduce a family of divergences connecting the Wasserstein distance and the Kullback-Leibler divergence from an information geometry point of view (see Amari, Karakida, & Oizumi, 2018). However, that proposal was not able to retain key intuitive aspects of the Wasserstein geometry, such as translation invariance, which plays a key role when used in the more general problem of computing optimal transport barycenters. The divergence we propose in this work is able to retain such properties and admits an intuitive interpretation.


The curve relating the smallest perceptible intensity of a blue test stimulus with the intensity of an orange conditioning field against which it is viewed shows a characteristic division into low- and high-intensity components, indicating the operation of two mechanisms of cone vision at the fovea. The justification for calling these 'blue' and 'green' mechanisms is taken from an earlier investigation (Stiles 1939). While most subjects show this division clearly, for some the low-intensity component is masked by the intrusion of rod vision. The correctness of this view is established by measurements made while the eye is recovering from an intense light adaptation. The individual variations of the sensitivities of the 'green' and 'blue' mechanisms in twenty subjects are assessed. Further evidence is obtained of an anomalously low threshold for the 'blue' mechanisms at very high conditioning fields of orange light.


Background Pneumonia in young children is still the most frequent cause of death in developing countries. We aimed to identify predictors for recovery and treatment failure in children hospitalized with severe pneumonia. Methods We enrolled 610 Nepalese children, aged 2 – 35 months from February 2006 to June 2008. Study participants were provided with standard treatment for pneumonia and followed up until discharge. Three multiple regression models representing clinical variables, clinical and radiological combined and all variables, including C-reactive protein (CRP) and viral etiology were used to assess the associations. Results The median age of study participants was 6 months with 493 (82%) infants and 367 (61%) males. The median time (IQR) till recovery was 49 (31, 87) hours and treatment failure was experienced by 209 (35%) of the children. Younger age, hypoxia on admission and radiographic pneumonia were independent predictors for both prolonged recovery and risk of treatment failure. While wasting and presence of any danger sign also predicted slower recovery, Parainfluenza type 1 isolated from the nasopharynx was associated with earlier resolution of illness. Gender, being breastfed, stunting, high fever, elevated CRP, presence of other viruses and supplementation with oral zinc did not show any significant association with these outcomes. Conclusion Age, hypoxia and consolidation on chest radiograph were significant predictors for time till recovery and treatment failure in children with severe pneumonia. While chest radiograph is not always needed, detection and treatment of hypoxia is a crucial step to guide the management of hospitalized children with pneumonia.


Otitis media is endemic in many remote Indigenous Australian communities. Children in remote communities develop otitis media in the first weeks of life and are at high-risk of progression to chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM). Current therapeutic and preventive interventions are of limited benefit. This thesis presents a culture-independent analysis of the bacteriology associated with acute otitis media in Indigenous children from the Northern Territory. The objective of the study was to use culture-independent methods to better understand the bacteriology underlying acute otitis media in this population. Principle findings from the study are as follows: 1. Nasopharyngeal total or pathogenic bacterial loads are unsuitable as prognostic indicators of clinical antibiotic treatment outcomes in Indigenous children with acute otitis media. 2. Alloiococcus otitidis is present in ear discharge from Indigenous children with acute otitis media, potentially as a secondary middle ear pathogen. Further studies to test for A. otitidis in CSOM are warranted. 3. T-RFLP can provide broad characterisation of bacterial communities in upper respiratory specimens; however, it is limited by methodological biases which result in underestimation of bacterial richness. 4. Despite the methodological limitations, T-RFLP analysis demonstrated significant differences between nasopharyngeal and ear discharge bacterial communities in Indigenous children with acute otitis media with perforation, suggesting divergence of the middle ear microbiome following secondary infection by canal flora. 5. 16S rRNA gene microarray (PhyloChipTM) analysis of ear discharge from Indigenous children with acute otitis media with perforation indicates a high-level of bacterial richness which is hypothesised to contribute to progression to CSOM. Prospective longitudinal studies are now required to better understand the canal flora before perforation, the microbiology of acute otitis media immediately following perforation, and microbiomic changes associated with prolonged perforation. Such studies will aid understanding of the pathogenesis of acute otitis media with perforation and progression to CSOM, and potentially reveal new therapeutic targets or prevention strategies.


Novel types of predistortion MMICs for the linearisation of short and standard length travelling wave tubes were developed. We measured single setting optimum performance over a wider a bandwidth than any previously reported. The two designed chip sets operated correctly at the specified 10.7 to 12.7GHz and 18.5 to 20.2GHz bands, however, there is no limitation to the wider bandwidth operation of the circuits. By utilising a transmission line simulating network of series inductors and shunt Schottky-diodes we designed these MMICs on a commercially available 0.25um PHEMT process. The chip set includes separate AM/AM and AMIPM circuits for accurate and separate linearisation adjustment of the TWT.


Early detection remains the most promising approach to improve long-term survival of patients with ovarian cancer. In a five-center case-control study, serum proteomic expressions were analyzed on 153 patients with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer, 42 with other ovarian cancers, 166 with benign pelvic masses, and 142 healthy women. Data from patients with early stage ovarian cancer and healthy women at two centers were analyzed independently and the results cross-validated to discover potential biomarkers. The results were validated using the samples from two of the remaining centers. After protein identification, biomarkers for which an immunoassay was available were tested on samples from the fifth center, which included 41 healthy women, 41 patients with ovarian cancer, and 20 each with breast, colon, and prostate cancers. Three biomarkers were identified as follows: (a) apolipoprotein A1 (down-regulated in cancer); (b) a truncated form of transthyretin (down-regulated); and (c) a cleavage fragment of inter-α-trypsin inhibitor heavy chain H4 (up-regulated). In independent validation to detect early stage invasive epithelial ovarian cancer from healthy controls, the sensitivity of a multivariate model combining the three biomarkers and CA125 [74% (95% CI, 52–90%)] was higher than that of CA125 alone [65% (95% CI, 43–84%)] at a matched specificity of 97% (95% CI, 89–100%). When compared at a fixed sensitivity of 83% (95% CI, 61–95%), the specificity of the model [94% (95% CI, 85–98%)] was significantly better than that of CA125 alone [52% (95% CI, 39–65%)]. These biomarkers demonstrated the potential to improve the detection of early stage ovarian cancer.


Obstetrics has evolved from an apprentice system to a more structured course format. Advances have been constructed with the use of simulated cases, problem-based learning and e-learning resources; however, this has led to a separation of the learning environment from the clinical art of real medicine. Pregnancy is an instinctive process, yet each pregnancy for each individual is unique and complex. I have written this book with both clinicians, medical and post-grad students in mind, with cases varying in complexity, to reinforce common or vital subject areas. This book therefore differs from those of clinical medicine and surgery in that the cases selected are core obstetrics cases, a real case scenario for which management were based on clinical grounds and evidence-based medicine. In view of the possibility of progress and advances in medical sciences, readers are encouraged to complement the information contained here with other reliable sources. I hope this book will stimulate and challenge as well as build confidence for those working or learning in obstetrics.


Garlock, Lori A. The Effect of Various Acidic Solutions on the Concentration of Genistein in Tempeh MS Food Science and Nutrition December 2000 58 pages Research Advisor: Dr. A. M. Q. Vande Linde, PhD., Department of Chemistry The ACS Style Guide A Manual for Authors and Editors Tempeh is a fermented soyfood that contains a higher level of genistein in comparison to nonfermented soyfoods, such as tofu and soymilk. Control tempehs prepared in this research contained concentrations of genistein seven times greater (49.70 mg/g dry sample) than that of unprocessed soy grits (7.08 mg/g dry sample). The isoflavone genistein is of interest because of its potential anticarcinogenic effect. The main objective of this project was to investigate the effects that various acid solutions had on the concentration of genistein in tempeh. Lactic acid, citric acid, and acetic acid (0.1% solutions) were used in the soaking and/or cooking periods. The concentration of genistein in tempeh samples was measured by HPLC. Genistein concentrations in the tempehs made by methods involving acidic soaking and/or cooking solutions ranged from 24.83 ± 7.69 to 46.33 ± 7.47 mg/g dry sample. Control tempehs, prepared from soy grits soaked in water forl hour and cooked in water, had genistein concentrations of 49.70 ± 3.64 mg/g dry sample. Based on the data collected in this project, the use of an acidic solution in the soaking period and/or the cooking period did not enhance the genistein concentration in tempeh. Continuing research in our laboratory is being conducted to explore the use of a Bglucosidase enzyme that when added to the soaking solution has the potential to hydrolyze the glucose molecule attached to genistin, thus forming genistein.


Virtual teams are rapidly becoming more prevalent in both the business world and academia. Success in virtual teams requires the use of various technical tools including email, chat, discussion groups, sending attachments, and videoconferencing. In this paper, undergraduate student usage, comfort levels, and gender differentiation toward technologies related to virtual teams were investigated. Students in virtual teams between two Massachusetts state university campuses were surveyed at the beginning of the semester and again at the end of the semester. Results showed student comfort level and usage of these technologies for schoolwork was low, overall - with the exception of email. However, by the end of the semester project using virtual teams and its supporting technologies, student's comfort level improved significantly. Likewise, significant gender differences at the beginning of the semester in comfort with videoconferencing, PowerPoint presentations, and oral presentations were not present at the end of the semester, again after virtual team project. Both results support the need for providing structured learning experiences that require usage of supportive technologies - especially for business school students. Background The importance and effective use of virtual teams has been identified as one of the "five imperatives" emerging from information technology that will force organizations to "change ... structures, process and in human behavior" (Herman, 2001). Over the past few years, it has become commonplace for large companies to create teams that are geographically dispersed and supported by the Internet and a variety of support software and hardware such as NetMeeting, QuickTime, Notes, smart boards, and videoconferencing. As such, undergraduate and graduate programs in Management must begin to incorporate means for providing their students with both a theoretical understanding of virtual teams and practical strategies for utilizing them effectively -both in a learning environment while they are in school and as preparation for their future jobs. To date, research on virtual teams provides some understanding of their challenges and how to use them effectively. Virtual team leaders find it difficult to keep communication flowing among the group members. "The problem ... (with virtual teams is)... usually some breakdown of communication. This is true in any group of people coming together; it's just exacerbated in a virtual environment" (Chase, 1999). The lack of regular visual and nonverbal cues also inhibits the normal development of trust among team members. "Swift" trust may exist at the beginning but is usually fragile and often collapses rapidly and unexpectedly (Jarvenpaa & Leidner, 1999). Setting clear expectations and being particularly concrete in defining tasks are two ways to foster trust in the ambiguity of cyberspace (Platt, 1999). Additionally, leaders are advised to keep the virtual groups small in spite of the electronic ease in expanding group size (Katzenbach & Smith, 2001). This paper will focus on student usage, comfort level, and gender differences with technologies related to using virtual teams in a classroom setting. Studying the use of Virtual Learning Environments (VLE's) in an academic setting, Frank (2002) found that both genders favored the time independence but they differed in the use of praise and how they learned in groups. Gefen and Straub's (1997) exploratory study indicate that women and men differ in their perceptions but not use of e-mail. According to Tucker (1995), the virtual classroom through computer-mediated distance learning (CMDL) provides a more level playing field for the genders. "Dimensions such as physical appearance, gender, showmanship, shyness and competition for limited discussion time are minimized or eliminated in the virtual classroom". Dresser (2002), however, references an analysis of on-line discourse by Sullivan and Hawisher (1997) which suggests that women on line make fewer and shorter contributions, and that both men and women respond more frequently to men's postings, thus reinforcing women's off-line status. …


Background: Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that causes impaired motor functions. Virtual reality technology may be recommended to optimize motor learning in a safe environment. The objective of this paper was to evaluate the effects of a novel immersive virtual reality technology used for serious games (Oculus Rift 2 plus leap motion controller—OR2-LMC) for upper limb outcomes (muscle strength, coordination, speed of movements, fine and gross dexterity). Another objective was to obtain qualitative data for participants' experiences related to the intervention. Methods: A mixed methods intervention (embedded) study was used, with a qualitative design after a technology intervention (quantitative design). The intervention and qualitative design followed international guidelines and were integrated into the method and reporting subheadings. Results: Significant improvements were observed in strength (p = 0.028), fine (p = 0.026 to 0.028) and gross coordination dexterity, and speed movements (p = 0.039) in the affected side, with excellent compliance (100%) and a high level of satisfaction (3.66 ± 0.18 points out of the maximum of 4). No adverse side effects were observed. Qualitative findings described patients' perspectives regarding OR2-LMC treatment, facilitators and barriers for adherence, OR2-LMC applications, and treatment improvements. Conclusions: The intervention showed positive results for the upper limbs, with elements of discordance, expansion, and confirmation between qualitative and quantitative results.


Geochemical analysis, micropalaeontological analysis and radiometric dating techniques were performed on four gravity cores, G-1, G-2, A-3 and A-6, recovered during the BIO Hesperides expeditions GEBRA-93 and FRUELA-96 from the Bransfield Strait (Antarctica). Moreover, in order to improve the sedimentation rate control we tentatively relate abundance variations in the sea-ice taxa group (SITG) to air temperature estimations based on Deuterium contents in Vostok ice-core. The results of diatom analyses were related to the sequence of neoglacial events that have occurred over the last three millennia. For these periods, a restricted communication between the Weddell, Bransfield and Bellingshausen seas has been proposed. The abundance patterns of diatom valves, resting spores (RS) of the diatom Chaetoceros and opal content agree with the high productivity values previously reported for the area. The significant reduction Chaetoceros RS towards the present is interpreted as a reduction in surface productivity. Trend differences between Chaetoceros RS and TOC contents are explained in terms of organic matter preservation. Diatom communities from the Bransfield Strait did not play an important role in the global CO 2 cycle during cold periods. Bio- and geochemical changes have overprinted high frequency cyclicity at about 200-300 yr, which might be related to the 200-yr solar cycle.


Migration is an important component of population change in North West province of South Africa. Unfortunately, reliable data on migration is difficult to collect. The aim of this study is to provide estimates of net internal migration for North West province using indirect estimation procedure based on survival ratios. This method has been under-utilised in demographic research in the country. The results indicate that during the intercensal period 1996-2001 North West province experienced net out-migration. There are migration differentials by region, municipalities and gender. Bojanala and Southern regions experienced net in-migration whereas Central and Bophirima regions experienced net out-migration. The above migration patterns resemble the nature of social and economic development in the province. One policy implication of the study is that efforts should continue being made to make the sending municipalities more attractive so as to reduce the inflow of people to the crowded and more affluent municipalities.


Silver nanoparticles (SNPs) were synthesized by reduction of silver ions to elementary silver in the system of β-cyclodextrin clathrates. SNPs were characterized by optical spectroscopy, microscopy (AFM, TEM), and X-ray diffractometry. Toxicity of the SNPs was tested in viruses, bacteria, yeast, cultured human cell lines, mollusks, and mammals. The particles displayed high antimicrobial activity and low toxicity in eukaryotic cells. The invertebrates were found to be more sensitive to SNPs, than mammals. Silver from SNPs was transported (apparently as Ag(I)) into the cells of prokaryotes and eukaryotes, bound to Cu(I) transport proteins. Silver was unevenly distributed between cell organelles; it was inserted to active centers of cuproenzymes and impaired their activity. The prospects to use these SNPs as antimicrobial agents, which enhance the action of antibiotics, as inhibitors of copper transport to growing tumors, and as a tool for studying copper metabolism are discussed.


Context A growing body of work refects the ways in which gender-creative and transgender students are ill-served by current social climates in the vast majority of public schools. Few studies have explored this topic from an educator's perspective. Purpose This study was designed to develop a conception of the barriers and supports that exist for educators working to create learning environments that affirm transgender and gender-creative students. Participants Twenty-six Canadian educators who all had direct experience working with gender-creative and transgender students in school settings with an average of 10 years' experience in schools and mean age of 43. Research Design: This project is a Social Action Research (SAR) project designed to identify what are common challenges and why these challenges are present. Data Collection and Analysis Each educator was interviewed for 60–120 minutes using a flexible interview guide and audio recordings were transcribed for analysis. Data analysis was conducted via an ongoing and exploratory design. We also performed a cross-case analysis to compare experiences and perceptions across teachers in elementary and secondary schools as well as alternative and traditional schools. Findings We identified barriers and supports experienced by our participants. Barriers included: (1) the pervasiveness of transphobia; (2) high frequency of school transfers; (3) the propensity for gay and lesbian educators to take on an "expert" role; (4) ethnocentrism; (5) relying on a "pedagogy of exposure" and using certain students as "sacrificial lambs"; (6) the overlapping challenges of working with youth who also have behavioral and learning difficulties; and (7) the balancing act required to navigate complex issues with little training and support. Supports identified were: (1) alternative schools as sites of refuge and spaces where transgender and gender-creative students are reportedly thriving; (2) empowered transgender and gender-creative students; (3) vigilant and protective adults; and (4) best practices. Recommendations In order to address systemic barriers we advocate for an application of principles and best practices aligned with critical, queer, and anti-oppressive pedagogies. We recommend that schools: (1) develop a more student-centered, flexible curriculum; (2) promote interdisciplinary and project-based learning; (3) model and promote creativity; (4) establish restorative justice programs; (5) reduce or entirely remove sex-segregated activities and spaces; (6) integrate discussions of gender diversity as a social justice issue throughout the curriculum.


Phylogeography is a young, vigorous and integrative field of study that uses genetic data to understand the history of populations. This field has recently expanded into many areas of biology and also into several historical disciplines of Earth sciences. In this review, I present a numerical synthesis of the phylogeography literature based on an examination of over 3000 articles published during the first 20 years of the field (i.e. from 1987 to 2006). Information from several topics needed to evaluate the progress, tendencies and deficiencies of the field is summarized for 10 major groups of organisms and at a global scale. The topics include the geography of phylogeographic surveys, comparative nature of studies, temporal scales and major environments investigated, and genetic markers used. I also identify disparities in research productivity between the developing and the developed world, and propose ways to reduce some of the challenges faced by phylogeographers from less affluent countries. Phylogeography has experienced explosive growth in recent years fuelled by developments in DNA technology, theory and statistical analysis. I argue that the intellectual maturation of the field will eventually depend not only on these recent developments, but also on syntheses of comparative information across different regions of the globe. For this to become a reality, many empirical phylogeographic surveys in regions of the Southern Hemisphere (and in developing countries of the Northern Hemisphere) are needed. I expect the information and views presented here will assist in promoting international collaborative work in phylogeography and in guiding research efforts at both regional and global levels.


We evaluate to what extent the structure of proteins can be deduced from incomplete knowledge of disulfide bridges, surface assignments, secondary structure assignments, and additional distance constraints. A cost function taking such constraints into account was used to obtain protein structures using a simple minimization algorithm. For small proteins, the approximate structure could be obtained using one additional distance constraint for each amino acid in the protein. We also studied the effect of using predicted secondary structure and surface assignments. The constraints used in this approach typically may be obtained from low‐resolution experimental data. When using a cost function based on distances, half of the resulting structures will be mirrored, because the resulting structure and its mirror image will have the same cost. The secondary structure assignments were therefore divided into chirality constraints and distance constraints. Here we report that the problem of mirrored structures, in some cases, can be solved by using a chirality term in the cost function.


In investing energy in developing reasoning machines of the future, one must abstract away from the specific solutions to specific problems and ask what are the fundamental research questions that should be addressed. This paper aims to revisit some fundamental perspectives and promote new approaches to reasoning machines and their associated form and function. Core aspects are discussed, namely the one-mind-many-bodies metaphor as introduced in the Agent Chameleon work. Within this metaphor the agent's embodiment form may take many guises with the artificial mind or agent potentially exhibiting a nomadic existence opportunistically migrating between a myriad of instantiated embodiments. We animate these concepts with reference to two case studies, illustrating how a machine can have fundamentally different capabilities than a human which allows us to exploit, rather than be constrained, by these important differences.


The northern Great Plains (NGP) of the United States has been a hotspot of West Nile virus (WNV) incidence since 2002. Mosquito ecology and the transmission of vector-borne disease are influenced by multiple environmental factors, and climatic variability is an important driver of inter-annual variation in WNV transmission risk. This study applied multiple environmental predictors including land surface temperature (LST), the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and actual evapotranspiration (ETa) derived from Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) products to establish prediction models for WNV risk in the NGP. These environmental metrics are sensitive to seasonal and inter-annual fluctuations in temperature and precipitation, and are hypothesized to influence mosquito population dynamics and WNV transmission. Non-linear generalized additive models (GAMs) were used to evaluate the influences of deviations of cumulative LST, NDVI, and ETa on inter-annual variations of WNV incidence from 2004–2010. The models were sensitive to the timing of spring green up (measured with NDVI), temperature variability in early spring and summer (measured with LST), and moisture availability from late spring through early summer (measured with ETa), highlighting seasonal changes in the influences of climatic fluctuations on WNV transmission. Predictions based on these variables indicated a low WNV risk across the NGP in 2011, which is concordant with the low case reports in this year. Environmental monitoring using remote-sensed data can contribute to surveillance of WNV risk and prediction of future WNV outbreaks in space and time.


The world belongs to the strong, my friend. The ritual of our existence is based on the strong getting stronger by devouring the weak. We must face up to this. No more than right that it should be this way. We must learn to accept it as a law of the natural world. The rabbits accept their role in the ritual and recognise the wolf as the strong. In defence, the rabbit becomes sly and frightened and elusive and he digs holes and hides when the wolf is about and he endures, he goes on. He knows his place. He most certainly doesn't challenge the wolf to combat. Now would that be wise? Would it?


The spatial distribution of shallow landslides in steep forested mountains is strongly controlled by aboveground and belowground biomass, including the distribution of root cohesion. While remote sensing of aboveground canopy properties is relatively advanced, estimating the spatial distribution of root cohesion at the forest landscape scale remains challenging. We utilize canopy height information estimated using lidar (light detecting and ranging) technology as a tool to produce a spatially distributed root cohesion model for landslide hazard prediction. We characterize spatial patterns of total belowground biomass based on the empirically derived allometric relationship developed from soil pit measurements in the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, North Carolina. The vertical distribution of roots and tensile strength were sampled at soil pits allowing us to directly relate canopy height to root cohesion and use this model within a distributed ecohydrological modeling framework, providing transient estimates of runoff, subsurface flow, soil moisture, and pore pressures. We tested our model in mountainous southern Appalachian catchments that experienced a number of landslides during the 2004 hurricane season. Slope stability estimates under the assumption of spatially uniform root cohesion significantly underpredicted both the total number of landslides and the number of "false positives," unfailed areas of the landscape that were predicted to fail. When we incorporate spatially distributed root cohesion, the accuracy of the slope stability forecast improves dramatically. With the growing availability of lidar data that can be used to infer belowground information, these methods may provide a wider utility for improving landslide hazard prediction and forecasting.


Context. The occurrence of active galactic nuclei (AGN) is critical to our understanding of galaxy evolution and formation. Radio observations provide a crucial, dust-independent tool to study the role of AGN. However, conventional radio surveys of deep fields ordinarily have arc-second scale resolutions often insufficient to reliably separate radio emission in distant galaxies originating from star-formation and AGN-related activity. Very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) can offer a solution by identifying only the most compact radio emitting regions in galaxies at cosmological distances where the high brightness temperatures (in excess of 105 K) can only be reliably attributed to AGN activity. Aims. We present the first in a series of papers exploring the faint compact radio population using a new wide-field VLBI survey of the GOODS-N field. This will expand upon previous surveys, permitting the characterisation of the faint, compact radio source population in the GOODS-N field. The unparalleled sensitivity of the European VLBI Network (EVN) will probe a luminosity range rarely seen in deep wide-field VLBI observations, thus providing insights into the role of AGN to radio luminosities of the order 1022 W Hz−1 across cosmic time. Methods. The newest VLBI techniques are used to completely cover an entire 7.′5 radius area to milliarcsecond resolutions, while bright radio sources (S > 0.1 mJy) are targeted up to 25′ from the pointing centre. Multi-source self-calibration, and a primary beam model for the EVN array are used to correct for residual phase errors and primary beam attenuation respectively. Results. This paper presents the largest catalogue of VLBI detected sources in GOODS-N comprising of 31 compact radio sources across a redshift range of 0.11–3.44, almost three times more than previous VLBI surveys in this field. We provide a machine-readable catalogue and introduce the radio properties of the detected sources using complementary data from the e-MERLIN Galaxy Evolution survey (eMERGE).


The principal objective of this investigation was to identify adequate species for the harvest of Perilla frutescens leaves, which provide profound antioxidant activities, and harbor abundant caffeic acid and rosmarinic acid. Namchun, Donggeul-2, Bora, Sae-bora and Neul-bora variants of the plant were assessed herein. In this study, we evaluated the antioxidant effects of these plants, and utilized an HPLC system to verify their caffeic acid and rosmarinic acid contents. Dried Perilla frutescens leaves were boiled at a temperature of for three hours, and were lyopholized in a freezedryer. The extracts were then processed in order to confirm their antioxidant activities via 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical-scavenging activity assay, ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay, total flavonoid content and total polyphenol content assays. According to the observed antioxidant results of the five tested species of Perilla frutescens leaves, Bora and Donggeul-2 were shown to have more potent antioxidant activities than the other tested variants. The scavenge 50% of DPPH radical ( of DPPH) values were 241 DM/mL in Donggeul-2 and 261 DM/mL in Bora. Based on the results of the FRAP assay, the Bora variant showed a value of 796 mM DM, and Donggeul-2 exhibited a value of 748 mM DM, of which the total polyphenol contents were measured as 69.4 g GAE/kg DM and 61.8 g GAE/kg DM, respectively. Moreover, the Bora variant had the highest level of caffeic acid, and Donggeul-2 showed the highest rosmarinic acid content among the tested samples (0.87 mg/100 g wet base and 121 mg/100 g wet base, respectively). According to the results of this experiment, we selected two species, Bora and Donggeul-2, which were both verified to contain adequate and favorable antioxidant activities.


Native potatoes are an important element of food security both as a direct food source and as a cash crop for peasant producers in the Andes of Peru. Production is basically for self-consumption and the shift to commercialization is a challenge. As a response, the Papa Andina Initiative (COGEPAN) was initiated to promote market innovation and pro-vide relative advantage to producers to respond to emerging markets. Research is limited on the integration, information and communication in relation to social relations. Old and new nonreciprocal relations and roles among stakeholders, consequences of customary practices, undermine the ability of female peasant producers. Any process requires an un-derstanding of culture, traditions and the gendered practices of agricultural production. As the research was premised on a feminist perspective, a sequential explanatory and mixed design was utilized for obtaining background and contextual data in a way that coupled collecting sex-disaggregated data with iterative planning activities readjusting the research to sharpen its focus on women. The situation of Andean peasant women within modern-day agricultural innovation systems is influenced by traditions and cus-tomary laws embedded in the specific lifeworlds of peasant communities. In COGEPAN, gender relations and roles are changing from the macro to the individual levels. Each change opens up new opportunities to shape innovation and benefit women. The partici-patory nature of market chains unfolds spaces for women to reveal leadership abilities. Gender relations and innovation have shifted in their own areas of interest or spheres. However, other gender issues are still embedded in peasant farming systems and the na-tive market chain. Results allow the researcher to recommend further policy analysis. The full range of women's and men's activities, resources, and benefits has to be reflected in the assessment of the innovation system and continuing activities. Gendered socio-economic factors affecting the adoption of proposed technological or institutional innova-tions need to be considered. Structural obstacles have to be addressed by implementing policies that facilitate peasant women's advancement. The design and implementation of policy and legislation have to acknowledge that communities are not homogeneous and mechanisms have to be context-specific to achieve equitable representation of women and men.


In the Internet music scene, where recommendation technology is key for navigating huge collections, large market players enjoy a considerable advantage. Accessing a wider pool of user feedback leads to an increasingly more accurate analysis of user tastes, effectively creating a "rich get richer" effect. This work aims at significantly lowering the entry barrier for creating music recommenders, through a paradigm coupling a public data source and a new collaborative filtering (CF) model. We claim that Internet radio stations form a readily available resource of abundant fresh human signals on music through their playlists, which are essentially cohesive sets of related tracks. In a way, our models rely on the knowledge of a diverse group of experts in lieu of the commonly used wisdom of crowds. Over several weeks, we aggregated publicly available playlists of thousands of Internet radio stations, resulting in a dataset encompassing millions of plays, and hundreds of thousands of tracks and artists. This provides the large scale ground data necessary to mitigate the cold start problem of new items at both mature and emerging services. Furthermore, we developed a new probabilistic CF model, tailored to the Internet radio resource. The success of the model was empirically validated on the collected dataset. Moreover, we tested the model at a cross-source transfer learning manner -- the same model trained on the Internet radio data was used to predict behavior of Yahoo! Music users. This demonstrates the ability to tap the Internet radio signals in other music recommendation setups. Based on encouraging empirical results, our hope is that the proposed paradigm will make quality music recommendation accessible to all interested parties in the community.


This paper is one of a series of ESID studies that explore the extent to which the performance of schools can be explained as an outcome of the interactions between, on the one hand, the prevailing political dynamics and, on the other, the characteristics of the prevailing institutional arrangements. The focus of this paper is on the national performance tools in South Africa. When one looks at the arrangements that have been put in place for managing public sector performance since 1994 – across the public service as a whole and specifically within the education sector – they are enormously impressive. But in general these efforts did not translate into strong performance. This paper explores the hypothesis that the answer to this puzzle can be found in the disconnect between, on the one hand, the technocratic orientation of the performance management systems which were introduced and, on the other, a political environment characterised by strong contestation over policy amongst competing stakeholders in the education sector. It is proposed that policies for managing performance in basic education could best be explained as the outcome of a strategic interaction among three sets of actors – technocratically-oriented public officials in the bureaucracy, teacher labour unions (especially SADTU, as the dominant union), and the ANC in its dual role as the top level of the public sector hierarchy and as the primus inter pares within the 'ruling alliance'. In practice, the political strength of organised labour resulted in national policies which, beneath their surface, fell well short of the aspiration of robust performance management.


All great storytellers have in common the freedom with which they move up and down the rungs of their experiences as on a ladder. A ladder extending downward to the interior of the earth and disap-pearing into the clouds is the image for a collective experience to which even the deepest shock of every individual experience, death, constitutes no impediment or barrier.


[Abstract]Water quality in Australia's northern grains farming areas often exceeds water quality trigger values for suspended sediments, nutrients and some herbicides (CBWC, 1999). While there are many land uses in these areas that contribute to the resultant water quality, of particular concern for the grains farming industry is the widespread detection in rivers of chemicals used by their industry, namely atrazine and metolachlor. A comparison of Hodgson Creek catchment (South East Queensland, Australia) herbicide data with national water quality guidelines shows that trigger values are frequently exceeded.

That water quality trigger values are exceeded is expected for a highly modified catchment such as Hodgson Creek, and the Australian New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council (ANZECC) (2000) guidelines make provision that in such catchments, locally derived targets should be set. Natural resource managers therefore require skills in linking planned management with their ability to set or meet targets.

The opportunity suggested itself for using catchment modelling to set realistic targets for water quality based on the adoption of best management farming practices. This study investigated the suitability of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to fulfil this modelling role in an Australian context of land use management. To test the suitability of SWAT to fulfil this role, the study aimed to determine the feasibility of using the model to explicitly depict farm management practices at a paddock scale to estimate resultant catchment water quality outcomes.

SWAT operates as two distinct sub-models. A hydrologic response unit (HRU) (the paddock scale model) generates runoff and constituents, and the output of many HRU are summed and routed through a stream network. The method for calibration of SWAT proposed in the user manual (Neitsch et al., 2001) is to calibrate against streamflow before calibrating sediment and then herbicides. The logic of testing in a process dependent order is sensible, however the method proposed by Neitsch et al. (2001) assumes that the HRU processes are reliable and calibration only need consider catchment scale processes. A review of the literature suggested that there had been limited testing of HRU process in studies where SWAT had been applied.

Data available for model testing came from both paddock and catchment studies. The effects of cultivation management practices on runoff and erosion have been well characterised for the study area by Freebairn and Wockner (1996). Atrazine dissipation in soil and loss in runoff was available from a study of a commercial farm in the Hodgson Creek catchment (Rattray et al, 2007). An ambient and event based water quality monitoring for suspended sediments and herbicides provided data for the Hodgson Creek catchment for the period 1999 to 2004 (Rattray, unpublished data).

The model required minimal calibration to achieve good predictions of crop yields and surface cover for winter crops. However, testing of summer cropping component revealed structural problems in SWAT associated with the end of a calendar year. Testing also revealed that perennial pastures and trees are modelled with unrealistic fluctuations in biomass and leaf area index.

The model was able to represent hydrology well across a range of scales (1-50,000 ha). Catchment scale runoff data was well matched for a range of tillage treatments. The model was found to be able to attain a good prediction of monthly runoff at the catchment scale. This is consistent with the finding of most other SWAT studies.

The model was able to represent average annual erosion reasonably well using the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) when tested at the HRU scale (1 ha) against a range of tillage management data. When tested at the catchment scale the model was found to be able to match average annual sediment loads for the catchment however annual variability in sediment loads was poorly matched.

Testing of the herbicide model for SWAT found that model compared poorly with paddock scale trial data. The reason for poor model performance can be attributed to an inadequate representation of processes and model output was unrealistic compared to our understanding of herbicide transport processes. When the model was tested at a catchment scale it was found to compare very poorly with catchment scale observations. This can be explained in part by the deficiencies of the HRU herbicide model, but is also due in part to difficulties in parameterisation of spatial and temporal inputs at the catchment scale.

While SWAT provides a model with detailed physical processes, the capacity to apply the model is let down by an ability to practically determine the spatial and temporal extent of the farming practices (i.e. where and when are tillage and herbicides applied in the catchment). The challenge to applying SWAT is that farming practices in Australia vary markedly from year to year. SWAT requires the user to input crop practices in as a fixed rotation while Australia's highly variable climate with unreliable seasonal weather patterns results in opportunistic farming practices. Hence this is a major limitation in the models ability to predict catchment outcomes, particularly for herbicides where off site losses are highly dependant on application timing. In attempting to validate herbicide losses at the whole of catchment scale it became apparent that uncertainty in the temporal variation of farm operations within the catchment poses a major limitation to accurately reproducing observations at the catchment outlet.

It is concluded that that there is limited usefulness of SWAT for investigating the impacts of land management on catchment scale herbicide transport for Australian conditions.


It has been said that youth and their parents are losing their connection to nature as evidenced by attendance in protected nature areas (PNA's) such as state and national parks (Outdoor Foundation, 2010, 2014; Monz, Cole, Leung & Marion, 2010). Managers have increased their efforts to encourage greater attendance through advertisements and specialized programs. A challenge to park managers is to manage the park in a manner that protects the natural resource while also managing the visitor experience (Francis, 2016; Lofthouse & Simmons, 2016). A primary benefit of a PNA to a visitor exists through Ecosystem Services, which is an outcome of the quality of the park experience (MEA, 2005). The quality of the visitor experience is determined to be beneficial to ones quality of life or sense of well-being (Diversitas, 2016). Using a survey design, we queired park visitors at one of the most popular state parks in the state of Minnesota called Tettegouche State Park. Visitors (n=222) were administered a questionnaire during two weeks in August, 2013, which is peak season. We asked respondents about the purpose and quality of their visit. Additionally, visitors' perceptions of ecosystem services related to the park were asked (e.g. "I believe that Tettegouche State Park is particularly important because it is a place of scenic beauty"). The ecosystem services items were based on the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES, 2013, 2016). Analysis used descriptive statistics and a factor analysis to determine groupings of perceived ecosystem services and management actions. Results indicated a positive park experience with respondents indicating that they intended to revisit the park. Factor analyses revealed visits for "A place of scenic beauty", "A place for hiking", and  "A place for the use and enjoyment by people". Management views were to "Provide more information about plants and animals along the trails" and "Educate more about sustainability of park resources". These results indicate a challenge to park managers to manage the park for a more deliberately improved visitor experience beyond resources protection and  more toward education provided about sustainability of the resource. This can be a dilema for PNA managers because maintaining the balance between an enhanced visitor experience through additional signage can conflict with sustainability of the natural resources. This can also be a conflict because increased use can directly conflict with sustainability of the PNA (Francis, 2016; Lofthouse & Simmons, 2016). Keywords: Ecosystem Services, Protected Nature Areas, Park Management, Sustainability, Nature-based  Tourism


The desire for instantaneous communication at any time and place has been a long standing dream for people of different races and cultures. The post-war progress of telecommunications technology has made such dreams a reality. Nowadays, most households in the developed world are fitted with telephone sets capable of communicating with anyone, across the globe. Over the last decade or so the demand for these communication services has seen a sharp rise. One factor that is beginning to constain these desires is the available natural resources. Limited bandwidth and high public demand have resulted in a change from primitive analog based systems to new sophisticated digital systems. The ability to transmit information at varying bit rates (hence varying capacity) has been a major step forward in conquering the problems of channel capacity. In the case of signals such as speech, high bandwidth reductions typically result in quality degradations. Such side effects can be resolved with the use of powerful Digital Signal Processing chips, allowing complex modelling of the speech signals. In any low bit rate digital speech encoding system a mathematical modelling of the signal is required. The complexity of the model is reflected in the algorithms output quality, delay, robustness to errors and computational load. The earliest versions of digital encoding techniques, such as Pulse Code Modulation, are very simple and effective. However, they operate at high bit rates of 64 kb/s, thus occupying large channel capacities. Lately, the need for efficient speech encoding has resulted in complex time domain coding schemes known as Analysis-by-Synthesis algorithms. Such complex schemes are very successful in meeting the quality objectives at low bit rates of around 6 kb/s and above. In this thesis we look at several Analysis-by-Synthesis schemes and examine their problems in meeting certain criteria such as Quality, Complexity, Robustness and Delay. The algorithms examined are all time domain techniques with their main applications in Mobile environments and PSTN services. The quality issue is assessed by looking at three major Analysis-by-Synthesis techniques, (MPE-LPC, RPE-LPC and CELP, introduced in the early eighties), which utilise different glottal excitation modelling techniques. The question of robustness in mobile applications is tackled by discussion of appropriate Forward Error Correcting codes and frame substitution/reconstruction strategies. A current requirement of PSTN services is for low delay algorithms to avoid echo effects and additional delay impairments caused via use of satellite links. Since low bit rate digital schemes incorporate linear prediction techniques resulting in long buffering and thus longer delays, backward prediction modelling is examined for achieving low delay, toll quality coding at bit rates of 8 kb/s and above.