Explore the world of Virtual Reality by building immersive and fun VR projects using Unity 3D About This Book * Learn the basic principles of virtual reality applications and get to know how they differ from games and desktop apps * Build various types of VR experiences, including diorama, first-person characters, riding on rails, 360 degree projections, and social VR * A project-based guide that teaches you to use Unity to develop VR applications, which can be experienced with devices such as the Oculus Rift or Google Cardboard Who This Book Is For If you're a non-programmer unfamiliar with 3D computer graphics, or experienced in both but new to virtual reality, and are interested in building your own VR games or applications then this book is for you. Any experience in Unity is an advantage. What You Will Learn * Create 3D scenes with Unity and Blender while learning about world space and scale * Build and run VR applications for consumer headsets including Oculus Rift and Google Cardboard * Build interactive environments with physics, gravity, animations, and lighting using the Unity engine * Experiment with various user interface (UI) techniques that you can use in your VR applications * Implement the first-person and third-person experiences that use only head motion gestures for input * Create animated walkthroughs, use 360-degree media, and build multi-user social VR experiences * Learn about the technology and psychology of VR including rendering, performance and VR motion sickness * Gain introductory and advanced experience in Unity programming with the C# language In Detail What is consumer "virtual reality"? Wearing a head-mounted display you view stereoscopic 3D scenes. You can look around by moving your head, and walk around using hand controls or motion sensors. You are engaged in a fully immersive experience. On the other hand, Unity is a powerful game development engine that provides a rich set of features such as visual lighting, materials, physics, audio, special effects, and animation for creating 2D and 3D games. Unity 5 has become the leading platform for building virtual reality games, applications and experiences for this new generation of consumer VR devices. Using a practical and project-based approach, this book will educate you about the specifics of virtual reality development in Unity. You will learn how to use Unity to develop VR applications which can be experienced with devices such as the Oculus Rift or Google Cardboard. We will then learn how to engage with virtual worlds from a third person and first person character point of view. Furthermore, you will explore the technical considerations especially important and possibly unique to VR. The projects in the book will demonstrate how to build a variety of VR experiences. You will be diving into the Unity 3D game engine via the interactive Unity Editor as well as C-Sharp programming. By the end of the book, you will be equipped to develop rich, interactive virtual reality experiences using Unity. So, let's get to it! Style and approach This book takes a practical, project-based approach to teach specifics of virtual reality development in Unity. Using a reader-friendly approach, this book will not only provide detailed step-by-step instructions but also discuss the broader context and applications covered within.


Gene libraries have been added to Artificial Immune Systems in analogy to biological immune systems, but to date no careful study of their effect has been made. This work investigates the contribution of gene libraries to Artificial Immune Systems by reproducing and extending an earlier system that used gene libraries. Performance on a job-shop scheduling problem is evaluated empirically with and without gene libraries, and with many different library configurations. We propose that gene libraries encourage diversity in a population of solutions and that the number of components in the gene library parameterises this effect. The number of gene libraries used is found to affect solution fitness and indeed using larger numbers of libraries (and therefore libraries of smaller components) enables higher fitness to be attained. We conclude that gene libraries are likely to be of use in applications where there is a need to maintain the diversity of solutions.


Oxford University Press presents a major new edition of the definitive philosophical reference work for readers at all levels. For ten years the original volume has served as a stimulating introduction for general readers and as an indispensable guide for students; its breadth and depth of coverage have ensured that it is also read with pleasure and interest by those working at a higher level in philosophy and related disciplines. A distinguished international assembly of 249 philosophers contributed almost 2,000 entries, and many of these have now been considerably revised and updated; to these are added over 300 brand-new pieces on a fascinating range of current topics. This new edition offers enlightening and enjoyable discussions of all aspects of philosophy, and of the lives and work of the great philosophers from antiquity to the present day.


Reasonableness is the touchstone of the Fourth Amendment; a search is per se unreasonable absent a warrant, but if the state has garnered consent from an individual, the subsequent search is deemed reasonable and not to have violated the Fourth Amendment. Because consent is a powerful exception, governments looking to establish valid search schemes are attempting to garner consent, specifically implied consent, by notifying individuals that specific actions will serve as consent to search. Such attempts are not rare. This Comment focuses on three examples: the Denver Police Department's use of signs notifying individuals in particular areas that their biometric data is being gathered, the City of Bristol's street signs notifying individuals that parking in public spots serves as consent to search their vehicles for parking enforcement purposes, and, most famously, implied consent laws claiming that the issuance of a driver's license serves as consent to a breathalyzer test. These examples all illustrate government attempts to use notice to effectuate implied consent to search. This Comment argues that this approach to garnering implied consent to search is largely dishonest, despite the ubiquity of such laws in American society. The vast majority of attempts to use this approach do not comport with any definition of consent, especially not implied consent. Further, the Fourth Amendment's consent exception requires a number of elements be met before consent can be satisfied. However, turning to the pervasively regulated industries exception for inspiration, this Comment proposes a four-element dispositive test to determine when notice can effectuate implied consent to search: tradition of search, consistency of search, revocability of consent, and most importantly, furthering of public safety. † This Comment received the Myron Penn Laughlin Award for Excellence in Legal Research and


This paper deals with wave motion in microstructured solids. A short introduction explains how the basic mathematical models for description of microstructure(s) of solids are derived. Based on the Mindlin-type micromorphic theory, the governing equations for wave motion in such solids are presented in one-dimensional setting. The focus of the paper is in explaining the importance of internal scales in microstructured solids. It is shown that the proper scaling permits to construct the mathematical models which involve hierarchies of wave operators. Depending on the scale parameter (the ratio of an internal scale over the wave length), the various operators govern the wave propagation. The main case analysed here consists of the second-order operators but the first-order operators which are characteristic to evolution equations, are also briefly explained.


Social media is increasingly being used by science communicators, journalists and government agencies to engage in discourse with a range of publics. Despite a growing body of literature on Twitter use, the communication of science via Twitter is comparatively under explored. This paper examines the prominence of scientific issues in political debate occurring on Twitter during the 2013 and 2016 Australian federal election campaigns. Hashtracking of the umbrella political hashtag auspol was used to capture tweets during the two campaign periods. The 2013 campaign was particularly relevant as a major issue for both parties was climate change mitigation, a controversial and partisan issue. Therefore, climate change discussion on Twitter during the 2013 election was used as a focal case study in this research. Subsamples of the 2013 data were used to identify public sentiment and major contributors to the online conversation, specifically seeking to see if scientific, governmental, media or 'public' sources were the more dominant instigators. We compare the prominence of issues on Twitter to mainstream media polls over the two campaign periods and argue that the potential of Twitter as an effective public engagement tool for science, and for politicised scientific issues in particular, is not being realised.


Abstract The reduction of the development gap of South and East European economy compared with the rest of the developed countries represent an important condition to achieve the goal of "healthy development" of European Union. High level of competitiveness in West European industries as well as new policy of sustainable development causes a rethinking of strategy of individual countries. Creative industries may contribute to the efficient utilization of local resources and individual characteristics. Using the culture like an "engine" of regional development, in South and Eastern Europe, countries can generate many positive and lasting effects on these economies. This article presents the role and evolution of creative goods and industries in South and Eastern European countries, and aims to prefigure their impact on sustainable development of these regions. The involvement of these goods in international trade may improve or rehabilitate the position of different economies at European level.


Fourier‐transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (MS) has demonstrated potential to revolutionize the fields of limnology and chemical oceanography by identifying the individual molecular components of organic matter in natural waters. The use of MS for this purpose is made possible by the electrospray technique which successfully ionizes polar, nonvolatile organic molecules. Another recently developed ion source, atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI), extends MS capabilities to less polar molecules. This article presents early results on the application of APPI MS to natural organic matter. We compare APPI MS and electrospray MS data for dissolved organic matter from Lake Drummond (Virginia, USA). Collectively, electrospray and APPI MS identify more than 6000 molecular species to which we assign unique molecular formulas. Fewer than 1000 molecular species are common to both electrospray and APPI mass spectra, indicating that the techniques are highly complementary in the types of molecules they ionize. Access to a broad range of molecules provided by combining APPI and electrospray has prompted a qualitative analysis. The goal is to assess the extent to which molecular MS data correspond with elemental (CHNOS) and structural characteristics determined by combustion elemental analyses and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Because the data obtained by these different methods are not directly comparable, we propose a novel data analysis procedure that facilitates their comparison. The bulk elemental composition calculated from electrospray MS data are in close agreement (± 15%) with values determined by combustion elemental analysis. APPI and electrospray MS detect protein contributions in agreement with 13C NMR (6 wt %) but underestimate carbohydrates relative to 13C NMR. Nevertheless, MS results agree with NMR on the relative proportions of noncarbohydrate compounds in the organic matter: lignins > lipids > peptides. Finally, we use a molecular mixing model to simulate a 13C NMR spectrum from the MS datasets. The correspondence of the simulated and measured 13C NMR signals (74%) suggests that, collectively, the molecular species identified by APPI and electrospray MS comprise a large portion of the organic matter in Lake Drummond. These results add credibility to electrospray and APPI MS in limnology and oceanography applications, but further characterization of ion source behavior is fundamental to the accurate interpretation of MS data.


The overall purpose of this study was to make an indepth evaluation of the home schools in katchi abadies of Karachi. The dimensions of the home schools covered in the study were their origin and development, objectives, teachers, students, courses of study, text books and learning material, buildings and classrooms, furniture and equipment, audio-visual aids extra currcular activities, school practices and policies, finance registers and records, parents and community, parent NGOs and problems and prospects.Survey was used as a research strategy. The data were collected from home school teachers, home school students, mothers of home school students, home school leaves community leaders and educators, and class II students of home schools and their counterparts in a government school. Research instruments used were custom made interview schedule, questionnaires, attitude scale, focused group interview, and achievement tests.A summative evaluation of the achievements of the home school children in urdu and mathematics showed that the home school children surpassed their government school counterparts in achievement of both the subjects. Although the home schools were found to be playing a vital role in the education of the disadvantaged children in the Katchi Abadies of Karachi as cost-effective NGO institutions, a lot remains to be done. The study made several recommendations including the creation of directorate of non-formal education, networking of home schools with the formal education system a programme of training for home school teachers, a tailor made curriculum for non-formal education and production of suitable instructions materials.


This article explains trade credit policy based on the agency theory. According to this theory, we have developed an agency model based on the adverse selection and moral hazard phenomena arising from the relation between sellers and buyers. This model has been estimated by using panel data methodology applied to UK companies. Our findings strongly support the model proposed. We find that smaller firms, those with a smaller proportion of fixed assets, and those that are less profitable extend more trade credit, whereas firms with a high proportion of variable costs and high percentage of bad debts extend less.


Abstract An analysis of the Peach Bottom Unit 2 Turbine Trip 2 (TT2) experiment has been performed using the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission coupled thermal-hydraulics and neutronics code TRAC-M/PARCS. The objective of the analysis was to assess the performance of TRAC-M/PARCS on a BWR transient with significance in two-phase flow and spatial variations of the neutron flux. TRAC-M/PARCS results are found to be in good agreement with measured plant data for both steady-state and transient phases of the benchmark. Additional analyses of four fictitious extreme scenarios are performed to provide a basis for code-to-code comparisons and comprehensive testing of the thermal-hydraulics/neutronics coupling. The obtained results of sensitivity studies on the effect of direct moderator heating on transient simulation indicate the importance of this modeling aspect.


Calcium bromide was used as a catalyst in the synthesis of β-enaminoketone/ester from 1,3-dicarbonyl compound and amines. The reaction was carried out in mortar and pestle at room temperature. The process is mild, efficient, eco-friendly and cost-effective with the use of very small amount of catalyst; avoiding use solvent, simple product separation, and high yield. We compare this grinding reaction condition with reaction in solvent and we got better results with the grinding reaction condition


The present paper explores diffident and dissident practices reflected by the political talk at the end of the 19th-century in Romania. Relying on Jacques Ranciere's theories on the 'aesthetic regime of politics,' the introduction sketches a historical frame and proposes a focus change: the relation between 'politics' and 'aesthetics' does not stand on a set of literary cases, but on political scripts as such. Thus, the hypotheses investigated by the next three parts can be formulated as follows: 1. though determined by an ideological direction (Conservative or Liberal), the political speech still preserves his tendency towards aesthetic autonomy. 2. oratorical merits (hinting at aesthetic autonomy) can turn into practices of political autonomy, diffidence and, then, dissidence. Methodologically, two types of aesthetic practices organize the chosen materials; both the diffident script and the theatre of dissidence help us to perceive how the philosophical and moral meaning of these practices could change into an ideology of dissidence. The formalization of diffident practices, their conversion to outspoken dissidence, also corresponds to the symmetrical symptom of unlimited authority; when oldtime politicians warned on 'Caesarism,' 'Vizierate,' 'Despotism,' 'Omnipotence' or 'Tyranny,' the Romanian society had already been training for a long experience of 'dictatorship.'


We present a new approach to the statistical study and modelling of number counts of faint point sources in astro- nomical images, i.e. counts of sources whose flux falls below the detection limit of a survey. The approach is based on the theory of α-stable distributions. We show that the non-Gaussian distribution of the intensity fluctuations produced by a generic point source population - whose number counts follow a simple power law - belongs to the α-stable family of distributions. Even if source counts do not follow a simple power law, we show that the α-stable model is still useful in many astrophysical scenarios. With the α-stable model it is possible to totally describe the non-Gaussian distribution with a few parameters which are closely related to the parameters describing the source counts, instead of an infinite number of moments. Using statisti- cal tools available in the signal processing literature, we show how to estimate these parameters in an easy and fast way. We demonstrate that the model proves valid when applied to realistic point source number counts at microwave frequencies. In the case of point extragalactic sources observed at CMB frecuencies, our technique is able to successfully fit the P(D) distribution of deflections and to precisely determine the main parameters which describe the number counts. In the case of the Planck mission, the relative errors on these parameters are small either at low and at high frequencies. We provide a way to deal with the presence of Gaussian noise in the data using the empirical characteristic function of the P(D). The formalism and methods here presented can be very useful also for experiments in other frequency ranges, e.g. X-ray or radio Astronomy.


Savor a rich and colorful array of doors and doorways around the world, from a sandstone portal in Morocco to a classically austere double-paneled entryway with sculpted lintel on Ile-de-France in Paris to a bamboo-lined aperture in China. Here are Dutch, double-, sliding, and rotating doors, cornices, pediments, door knockers, lintels, and sculpted panels. Charged with a certain mystery-at once enclosing and exposing an interior space-the door is a primal and essential architectural element. Drawing on their extensive travels and years of research conducting site analyses of the chromatic palettes of villages and cities worldwide, Jean-Philippe and Dominique Lenclos show how the diverse proportions, designs, materials, and colors of entryways reflect the geography, traditions, and culture of local habitats.


Most multicellular organisms are uniclonal. This is hypothesized to be because uniclonal organisms function better than chimeras (non–clonal organisms), owing to reduced levels of internal genetic conflict. We tested this idea using the social amoeba or slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum. When starving, the normally solitary amoebae aggregate to form a differentiated multicellular slug that migrates towards light and forms a fruiting body, facilitating the dispersal of spores. We added 107 amoebae to Petri plates containing 1, 2, 5 or 10 clones mixed together. We found an intrinsic cost to chimerism: chimeric slugs moved significantly less far than uniclonal slugs of the same size. However, in nature, joining with other clones to form a chimera should increase slug size, and larger slugs travel further. We incorporated this size effect into a second experiment by giving chimeras more cells than single clones (single clones had 106 cells, two–clone chimeras had 2 × 106 cells and so on). The uniclonal treatments then simulated a clone in a mixture that refuses to form chimeras. In this experiment, chimeras moved significantly further than the uniclonal slugs, in spite of the intrinsic cost. Thus, chimerism is costly, which may be why it evolves so seldom, but in D. discoideum the benefits of large size appear to compensate.


This paper investigates the relationship between capital account openness and inflation since the 1980s. It argues that widespread capital account liberalization during the last two decades appears to have contributed to the worldwide disinflation observed during the same period. The paper builds a theoretical model to motivate the presence of a negative link between financial integration and inflation. It tests the prediction of the theoretical model by employing static and dynamic panel data procedures. Financial integration appears to discipline monetary authorities, or to help them convince the private sector that they will be more disciplined in the future.


a survey of the impact of feral hog (Sus scrofa) on the natural resources of the Big Thicket National Preserve (BTNP), a unit of the National Park Service. We worked in 3 management units: Lance Rosier, Big Sandy, and Turkey Creek. Random stratifi ed sampling was conducted to assess impacts from hog damage on resources by vegetation type at a landscape scale. Landscape features such as topography, soil moisture, soil type, and dominant vegetative cover types were used to predict hog damage. The overall damage to vegetation from hog rooting or wallowing averaged 28% within the 3 units of the BTNP. In the Big Sandy unit, fl oodplains had the most damage (45%), whereas fl atlands were mostly impacted in the Turkey Creek unit (46%), and uplands in the Lance Rosier unit (32%). These levels of damage were more severe and widespread than previously believed and support the premise that hog damage in the BTNP parallels the increase in hog abundance over the past 20 years.


An essential guide to the creative process for sculpting the figure.
 The human figure in sculpture is a powerful form, capable of great expression and depth. Sculpting the figure in any medium is a rewarding practice, but one that can lead to some challenges.
 Tanya Russell, founder and principal of the Art Academy in London, details the whole creative process for sculpting the figure, from the fundamental conceptual and practical considerations through to the finished and presented work. She covers essential tools and equipment, methods for building armatures, and the processes for creating not only realistic, but also abstract and expressive figures, in a variety of styles and materials. Techniques are supported by practical exercises with step-by-step instructions and images.
 The book is filled with the inspiring works of contemporary sculptors, all of whom are tutors, students, or alumni of the Art Academy. Modelling and Sculpting the Figure is an essential companion for beginners and established artists alike.


The latest official figures show the unemployment rate fell slightly in January to 5.7 per cent. A surge in Australians landing part time work, more than made up a big slump in full-time work. Social researchers say the trend to part-time work is placing a heavy financial burden on families and is also seeing the nation undergo a significant social change.


A practical guide to selecting and applying the most appropriate model for analysis of cross section data using EViews."This book is a reflection of the vast experience and knowledge of the author. It is a useful reference for students and practitioners dealing with cross sectional data analysis ... The strength of the book lies in its wealth of material and well structured guidelines ..." Prof. Yohanes Eko Riyanto, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore"This is superb and brilliant. Prof. Agung has skilfully transformed his best experiences into new knowledge ... creating a new way of understanding data analysis." Dr. I Putu Gede Ary Suta, The Ary Suta Center, JakartaBasic theoretical concepts of statistics as well as sampling methods are often misinterpreted by students and less experienced researchers. This book addresses this issue by providing a hands-on practical guide to conducting data analysis using EViews combined with a variety of illustrative models (and their extensions). Models having numerically dependent variables based on a cross-section data set (such as univariate, multivariate and nonlinear models as well as non-parametric regressions) are concentrated on. It is shown that a wide variety of hypotheses can easily be tested using EViews.Cross Section and Experimental Data Analysis Using EViews:Provides step-by-step directions on how to apply EViews to cross section data analysis - from multivariate analysis and nonlinear models to non-parametric regressionPresents a method to test for all possible hypotheses based on each modelProposes a new method for data analysis based on a multifactorial design modelDemonstrates that statistical summaries in the form of tabulations are invaluable inputs for strategic decision makingContains 200 examples with special notes and comments based on the authors own empirical findings as well as over 400 illustrative outputs of regressions from EViewsTechniques are illustrated through practical examples from real situationsComes with supplementary material, including work-files containing selected equation and system specifications that have been applied in the bookThis user-friendly introduction to EViews is ideal for Advanced undergraduate and graduate students taking finance, econometrics, population, or public policy courses, as well as applied policy researchers.


The inspection window of observation devices that are used when working with high-intensity gamma and neutron radiation or under extreme conditions, including when the consequences of accidents at atomic power plants are being cleaned up, must provide the necessary level of protection of the operators and the greatest observation angle of the site. The relationships that have been developed for the thicknesses of special optical materials make it possible to achieve an attenuation factor of gamma radiation of up to 5000 when the dose rate is as much as 5×106??R/h. The use of optical components with raster-conical structures creates the possibility of expanding the angular fields and of varying the direction of the viewing axes without changing the dimensional and composition parameters.


Gendarussa vulgaris Nees., a common medicinal herb, was found to be severely infected by a rust disease. The
disease was characterised by well defined, concave or convex, purplish-gray, discoloured lesions surrounded by
a wide yellow halo on the adaxial surface and corresponding convex or concave lesions on the opposite abaxial
surface. Infected leaves abort prematurely. The causal agent was identified as Puccinia thwaitesii Berk. The
fungus produced both uredospores and teliospores on the same pustule and is a micro cyclic (hemijorm),
autoecious rust.


In rodents, cage cleaning increases cardiovascular and behavioural activity for several hours, which are commonly interpreted as stress responses. In mice, post-cleaning activity also includes aggression, which can cause serious injuries. This study was part of a long-term investigation into the effects of cage cleaning frequency on rat behaviour and welfare. Here we aimed to ascertain whether post-cleaning activity is stress- or aggression-related, thereby leading to recurrent acute reductions in welfare, or simply a result of non-aversive stimulation. Male Wistar (n = 160) and Sprague–Dawley (n = 160) rats, kept in four animal units, had their cages cleaned twice per week, once per week or once per fortnight, and were kept on one of two types of bedding. Behaviours were recorded in detail before and after cage cleaning for 20 weeks, as was the aversion-related Harderian gland secretion, chromodacryorrhoea ('red tears'). Cage cleaning caused decreased resting and increased feeding, walking, bedding manipulation and sheltering for at least 30 min after the disturbance. Skirmishing also increased markedly for 15 min after cleaning, but decreased thereafter to below baseline levels. Unlike in mice, all skirmishing was non-injurious and play-like. The frequency of cage cleaning did not affect the magnitude of this skirmishing peak, but rats that had their cages cleaned more frequently settled more quickly after cleaning. Surprisingly, chromodacryorrhoea decreased after cage cleaning; this could mean that rats find soiled cages stressful or alternatively, like many disturbances, cage cleaning might provoke frequent, curtailed bouts of grooming, thereby removing the secretion. Rats also manipulated aspen bedding more than paper bedding. Overall, we found no evidence that cage cleaning caused rats any acute decrease in welfare — a finding consistent with additional data we have obtained on the lack of preference by rats for soiled over clean cages, and a lack of long-term, behavioural and physiological responses to being cleaned frequently or infrequently.


Heightened world uncertainty in the past five years has posed new challenges for securities analysts and portfolio managers, particularly for equity managers using price-relative or discounted cash flow models. While they are justified in worrying about values of cash flow input to DCF models, portfolio managers must be attuned to risk factors that impact the overall discount rate and thereby market valuation multiples. A better understanding of the equity discount rate (including base and specific risk premiums) helps us explain the lackluster performance of the stock market in recent years as well as the pricing of several large-cap companies whose stock performance has been flat, despite rising profits and a wide variation in interest rates.


The very beginning of David Lynch's The Straight Story, the words that introduce the credits, "Walt Disney Presents - A David Lynch Film," provides what is perhaps the best resume of the ethical paradox that marks the end of century: the overlapping of the transgression with the norm. Walt Disney, the brand of the conservative family values, takes under its umbrella David Lynch, the author who epitomizes transgression, bringing to the light the obscene underworld of perverted sex and violence that lurks beneath the respectable surface of our lives. Today, more and more, the cultural-economic apparatus itself, in order to reproduce itself in the market competition conditions, has not only to tolerate, but directly to incite stronger and stronger shocking effects and products. Suffice it to recall recent trends in visual arts: gone are the days when we had simple statues or enframed paintings - what we get now are expositions of frames themselves without paintings, expositions of dead cows and their excrements, videos of the inside of the human body (gastroscopy and colonoscopy), inclusion of smell into the exposition, etc.etc. (This tendency often leads to the comic confusion, when a work of art is mistaken for an everyday object or vice versa. Recently, in Potsdamer Platz, the largest construction site in Berlin, the coordinated movement of dozens of gigantic cranes was staged as an art performance - doubtlessly perceived by a lot of uninformed bypassers as part of an intense construction activity... I myself made the opposite blunder during a trip to Berlin: I noticed at the sides and above all the main streets numerous large blue tube and pipes, as if the intricate cobweb of water, phone, electricity, etc., was no longer hidden beneath the earth, but displayed in public. My reaction to it was, of course, that this is probably another of the postmodern art performances whose aim is, this time, to render visible the intestines of the town, its hidden inner machinery, in a kind of equivalent to displaying on video the palpitation of our stomach or lungs - however, I was soon proved wrong, when friends pointed out to me that what I see is merely part of the standard maintenance and repair of the city's underground services network.) Here, again, as in the domain of sexuality, perversion is no longer subversive: the shocking excesses are part of the system itself, the system feeds on them in order to reproduce itself. Perhaps, this is one of the possible definitions of postmodern art as opposed to modernist art: in postmodernism, the transgressive excess loses its shocking value and is fully integrated into the established artistic market.


In traditional reliability life testing and accelerated life testing, usally only the failure mode and the lifetime upon failure or censoring, are recorded. The information obtained from such testing may be signicantly improved by aslo recording one or more measures of deterioration, such as wear depth, crack length, leakage rate, etc. Failure occurs when a measure of deterioration, or a combination of them, reach a critical value. This approach calls for refined reliability models and estimation techniqes.Established derministic models for some physical deterioration mechanisms are described. Alternative appraches for stochastic models are studied, such as cumulative stochastic processes, regression models with random cofficients, Wiener processes with random drift, and the Bernstein distribution and related models. Special attention is attached to models where a parameter set in the stochastic process is considered as a stochastic variable with one realization per specimen. Maximum likelihood estimatiors are studied and compared for the Wiener process model, and the Wiener process with random drift.


Statistical learning theory is at an inflection point enabled by recent advances in understanding and optimizing a wide range of metrics. Of particular interest are non-decomposable metrics such as the F-measure and the Jaccard measure which cannot be represented as a simple average over examples. Non-decomposability is the primary source of difficulty in theoretical analysis, and interestingly has led to two distinct settings and notions of consistency. In this manuscript we analyze both settings, from statistical and algorithmic points of view, to explore the connections and to highlight differences between them for a wide range of metrics. The analysis complements previous results on this topic, clarifies common confusions around both settings, and provides guidance to the theory and practice of binary classification with complex metrics.


The role of clusters and clustering in economic development is of current policy interest, in part because of analyses and studies that have associated these forms of collaboration with regional and local prosperity and development. Although some of the literature supports or starts from this association, there are also critiques of the clusters concept and its feasibility as a policy development and intervention strategy. Intrinsic to part of these concerns has been a view that clusters cannot be created without business involvement and input at the heart of the process. The paper addresses this issue via an examination of four cases of potential clusters development from the perspectives of the businesses involved. Although clear evidence for the existence of a cluster could only be established definitively in one of the four cases, there were extensive indications of clustering as a collaborative activity across all four cases. Based on this, a process of clusters formation and emergence was developed that applied to the cases. This process consists of several phases of clusters emergence and points to three stages of clusters development: potential, emerging, and established. A key implication is that processes of clusters formation may provide an opportunity for the formulation of 'bottom-up', contextually sensitive clusters development strategies for groups of businesses.


This paper studies, for the first time to our best knowledge, VoIP performance over V2V IEEE 802.11p links. VoIP performance is evaluated in terms of both throughput and jitter through on-the-road measurements, investigating also the effects of inter-vehicle distance and speed on VoIP performance. Results of our study show that VoIP performance is quite poor, especially due to an excessively large number of lost packets under all investigated scenarios. In-lab experiments performed to investigate possible causes of this poor performance reveal that throughput degradation is likely to be due to inefficiencies in implementation of the vehicular networking stack, rather than to poor communication quality.


The existence of populist regimes led by outsiders is not new in history. In this paper a simple framework is presented that shows how and why a populist outsider can be elected to office, and under what conditions he is more likely to be elected. The results show that countries with a higher income and wealth concentration are more likely to elect populist outsiders than countries where income and wealth are more equally distributed. It is also shown that elections with a runoff are less likely to bring these populist outsiders into office.


"Over the last two decades, several seed-related programs have been initiated in eastern Kenya to improve farmers' access to quality seeds of dryland cereals and legumes. They are provided during two occasions, regular and emergency times. But very often, the formal supply mechanisms limit their role in provision of seeds other than maize. In the absence of any formalized systems of seed provision for other dryland crops, such as sorghum and pigeon pea, farmers have preferred local markets for their seed needs, especially during distress periods. Here we have examined the role of various seed-intervention programs in eastern Kenya, along with the strengths and weaknesses of each program. We have also underscored the importance of local markets and their actors in meeting the needs for non-maize and bean seeds in these marginal environments. For this purpose, detailed, informal interviews were conducted during October–December 2005 with all the stakeholders, namely public and private institutions and vendors in eight major local markets in eastern Kenya. The results of the study call for synergies between existing formal (private, public, and other development initiative) systems and informal (local market) seed systems to enhance crop yields and the diversity of dryland cereals and legumes through effective seed-supply interventions." from Author's Abstract


The current license for the Pensacola Hydropower Project (orginally licensed in 1939) will expire in 1988. The relicensing process for the project currently is underway. During the consultation process, concerns have been raised regarding the continuing direct and indirect impacts of project operation on threatened and endangered species, fish, wildlife, water quality, and recreation. This paper discusses the concerns that have been raised, field investigations that have been implemented, and the alternative measures that have been proposed for mitigation and/or enhancement.


Cooperation requires that individuals are able to identify, and preferentially associate with, others who have compatible preferences and the shared background knowledge needed to solve interpersonal coordination problems. The present study in- vestigates the nature of such similarity withinsocial networks,asking: What dofriends have in common? And whatisthe relationship between similarity and altruism? The results show that similarity declines with frequency of contact; similarity in general is a significant predictor of altruism and emotional closeness; and, specifically, sharing a sense of humor, hobbies and interests, moral beliefs, and being from the same area are the best predictors. These results shed light on the structure of relationships within networks and provide a possible checklist for predicting attitudes toward strangers, and in-group identification.


The major brunt of inefficient planning is bore by residents within the area most proximal to their living, working, shopping or playing spaces. Against this background, the study analyses the livability correlates of block layout designs in Ogbomoso, Nigeria. Google Earth (2016) application was used to randomly capture 20 salient areas of the city using quadrant method. A questionnaire was also administered to 610 residents in a multi stage sampling procedure to elicit information on block layout performance and residents livability. Likert scaling was used to summarize ordinal data.  Chi-square was used to explain the variation in the quality of block design across residential areas. Regression analysis was also used to explain the relationship between the quality of block design and environmental liveability. A reliable interdependence was observed (R = .701) between residents liveability index (RLI) and block design index (BDI). The study thus recommended an active joint participation involving the government through town planners and the developers to foster efficient city design of blocks and to guarantee liveable communities.


The need for languages to be complete systems suggests that language evolution will be episodic rather than gradual, with periods of stability punctuated by periods of innovation. The example of nicaraguan sign language suggests that such developmental phases can be very rapid. Rapid evolution can create genetic bottlenecks. The differentiation between Homo sapiens and H. erectus was probably the result of a genetic bottleneck arising from the invention of language by part of the H. erectus population. This occurred in Africa, probably between 200 and 100 kyrs BP. The possession of fully complex language by every living human community suggests that it had already been developed by our H. Sapiens ancestors before they left Africa. The possession of complex language has allowed humans to participate in their own evolution in ways impossible for other animals.


Many neurons express multiple types of receptors and receive multiple signals. The cellular response results from integration of these signals. Khakh et al. found that activation of the purinergic receptor, P2X, was able to inhibit the opening of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). When activated by simultaneous application of ATP and acetylcholine (ACh), α3β4 nAChR and P2X receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes demonstrated nonadditive currents that were the same amplitude as currents evoked by ATP alone. Experiments with an open channel blocker for the nAChR indicated that simultaneous activation of the P2X receptor blocked opening of the nAChR. The ability of the P2X receptor to inhibit the nAChR was dependent on the density of the channels, suggesting that the two channels physically interact. The authors showed that, in myenteric neurons, application of ATP inhibits evoked cholinergic currents, indicating that the cross-inhibition is physiologically relevant. Khakh, B.S., Zhou, X., Sydes, J., Galligan, J.J., and Lester, H.A. (2000) State-dependent cross-inhibition between transmitter-gated cation channels. Nature 406: 405-410. [Online Journal]


The current study qualitatively examined blurbs in the discipline of physics which is perceived to be less infused with evaluative resources and more objective and impersonal in its textual argumentation. The study followed the appraisal framework proposed by Martin and White (2005) to see how interpersonal meaning is textually constructed in blurbs. Findings indicated that writers of the blurbs are more favorably disposed towards employing appreciation than other kinds of attitudinal resources. Two major waves of interpersonal meanings were observed in the hyper-Theme and hyper-New of blurbs. The latter appeared stronger because of the interpersonal contributory effect of the former. Findings showed that the ideational entity receiving initial thematic prominence in the beginning phase of the blurbs is the book rather than the author, leading to the major prominence given to the book, the dense accumulation of appreciation in comparison to other attitudinal resources, the grammatical passivity of blurbs' structures, and the realization of blurbs' discourse as a marked theme.


The critical writing of John Dennis (1657-1734) participates in the long-standing attempt to appropriate classical aesthetic and philosophical categories in an explicitly Christian framework. His critical project also aims, however, to unite poetry and religion for political ends. His account of poetry is exceptional, in part, because of the ways in which he attempts to base his arguments on a presumed sense of broad political appeal. In offering a poetic theory that purports to unite the aims of Christian religion, imaginative literature, and national politics, Dennis also thus provides a window on what he takes to be the shared assumptions among his English reading public in the early 1700s. In his two main critical works, The Advancement and Reformation of Modern Poetry (1701) and The Grounds of Criticism in Poetry (1704), Dennis argues that the key to English national success is to cultivate an affective poetic synthesis of religious belief that would reform the moral and civic virtue of the nation. Dennis's argument is surprising, however, in its attempt to rehabilitate the term "enthusiasm" by shifting its meaning from a widely used term of abuse toward a positive suggestion of poetic inspiration. (1) At the same time, his broader emphasis upon "passion" as a positive good would make him, through his Romantic readers, one of the most deeply abiding influences upon English culture. The argument here begins by considering the multiple historical contexts upon which Dennis's writings impinge, especially the horizon of expectations that he engages through the term "enthusiasm" and the mixed critical reception of his work. The argument then traces how his appropriation of classical aesthetics, most notably that of Longinus, is shaped by a reductive rationalism whose very effects Dennis aims to overcome. Ultimately, I contend that such a view of reason also determines Dennis's "anti-philosophical" defense of the Christianity. In this way, his quixotic attempt to rehabilitate "enthusiasm" also suggests the extent to which publicly available assumptions at the turn of the eighteenth century could subsume Christianity within an account of modern instrumental rationality. Dennis's poetic theory thus illuminates the changes in early modern English assumptions about human reason. Understanding the character of such shifts is particularly important for the study of Christianity and imaginative literature. Until there is wider acknowledgement that critical theories, no less than poetic analyses, depend upon presumed historical narratives for their intelligibility, the practice of literary criticism will scarcely move beyond a mere recognition that the deployment of some kind of critical approach is unavoidable. Among the competing master narratives that inform even the least ambitious of postmodern critical theories there is a shared and recurrent two-fold motif regarding Christian faith: the characterization of Christianity as a kind of popular Platonism, and the accompanying reduction of both (Christianity and Platonism) to a species of proto-Enlightenment rationalism in which the use of reason is necessarily a form of coercion. (2) Despite the discrediting of such historical assumptions, they often continue to inform literary analysis and theorizing. (3) The discourse of intersection between Christianity and literature cannot become truly postmodern without the articulation of alternative historical narratives that investigate the rhetorical strategies by which such caricatures came to be presumed. Dennis's writing offers insight into just such an alternative history. Although the term "enthusiasm" would come to identify, in some respects, the very opposition by which modern Enlightenment reason defined itself, there also appeared very early the accompanying idea that enthusiasm could be the result of such rationalism. (4) The initial pejorative sense of the term derives from the Socratic use of enthousiasmos, most notably in Plato's Ion, to describe the Homeric rhapsode's singular ability to perform poetic texts without really understanding them (from the root entheos, "possession by a god"). …


After-oxidation in Heavy Duty (HD) diesel combustion is of paramount importance for emissions out from the engine. During diffusion diesel combustion, lots of particulate matter (PM) is created. Most of the PM are combusted during the after-oxidation part of the combustion. Still some of the PM is not, especially during an engine transient at low lambda. To enhance the PM oxidation in the late engine cycle, swirl together with high injection pressure can be implemented to increase in-cylinder turbulence at different stages in the cycle. Historically swirl is known to reduce soot particulates. It has also been shown, that with today's high injection pressures, can be combined with swirl to reduce PM at an, for example, engine transient. The mechanism why the PM engine out is reduced also at high injection pressures is however not so well understood. In this work flow field data during combustion and after-oxidation together with soot and temperature measurements was combined to examine how flow field affects soot formation and oxidation. Swirl number was varied together with injection pressure and the engine tests were done in a HD optical engine. The load was set to 10 bar & 20 bar IMEP at low lambda without EGR, typically transient load points. A high speed colour camera captures picture of the combustion seen through a glass piston-bowl. The flow field was extracted with combustion image velocimetry (CIV) that traces the glowing soot particulates (or the light luminosity difference) by cross correlation between two pictures from the high speed colour camera. From the same pictures the KL factor and flame temperature were simultaneously calculated with the 2-colour method. Both CIV and the 2-colour method are line of sight optical methods that catches flow, soot and temperature from the light observed through the piston. It was found that in the after-oxidation part of the cycle, the flow in the piston bowl deviates strongly from solid body rotation (that can be assumed to be the case before injection). With increased injection pressure this deviation from solid body rotation increased at constant swirl number. When swirl number was increased, the deviation from solid body rotation increased even further. This seems to be an important factor during the after-oxidation part of the combustion by amplifying the turbulence. The flame temperature together with KL factor (a measure of soot density inside the cylinder) was also influenced when the flow field in the cylinder was changed. With increased injection pressure, from 500 bar to 1000 bar, the maximum KL was amplified during combustion with 50%, but the measured tail pipe soot was decreasing from 1.22 FSN to 0.49 FSN. This together with increased solid body deviation for the 1000 bar case, at the after-oxidation part of the combustion, leads to the conclusion: The flow field during the late part of the cycle has strong impact on tail pipe soot emissions. What was created during the diffusion combustion has less impact on the tail pipe soot compared to the flow field effects during after-oxidation.


Demography and adaptation are important factors determining the evolution of plant species. Many plant species are substructured into populations or demes connected by migration (metapopulations). The spatial distribution of populations and migration patterns depend on the means of dispersal. Since plants are sessile organisms, they also have to cope with both biotic and abiotic stresses. Therefore adaptations to local environmental conditions are essential to ensure survival and duration of the species.
Wild tomato species (Solanum section Lycopersicon) are native to western South America. They occur in diverse and often extreme habitats including rain forests, coastal regions, high altitude habitats in the Andean Mountains and also hyperarid deserts in the Atacama Desert. Therefore, wild tomatoes are a good model system to study plant evolution and genomic bases for plant adaptation. This study focuses on the wild tomato species Solanum chilense, which exhibits a metapopulation structure with populations distributed from southern Peru to northern Chile. In its native range, S. chilense is confronted with different abiotic stresses including drought, cold and salinity. I sequenced 30 unlinked nuclear genes from 23 populations using next generation sequencing. 16 genes are involved in the abiotic stress response and serve as candidates for selection and adaptation. The remaining 14 genes are used as references to study the genomic average and species past demography.
In the first part of this study, I investigated the demographic history of the wild tomato species Solanum chilense. Genetic data analyses revealed a north-south cline. This cline includes 1) a decrease of genetic variation from north to south, 2) an increase in the strength of population expansion along the cline, and 3) an increase in genetic differentiation from other wild tomato species towards the south of the range. Results further revealed that the populations form four groups: a central group and three peripheral groups. Altogether the results suggest that S. chilense originated in the northern part of its current distribution and migrated to the south, via two routes, along the coast and higher up in the Andes. During this north-south colonization, at least three bottlenecks occurred.
In the second part of this study, I investigated natural selection and local adaptation in S. chilense. Signatures of selection and local adaptation were detected in the abiotic stress-related genes, for example signatures of positive selection in high altitude populations were found possibly indicating adaptation to low temperatures. Interestingly, signatures of balancing selection were detected as well in high altitude populations reflecting probable adaptation to different types of abiotic stresses. The coastal populations showed a distinct pattern. Several genes involved in the salt stress response exhibited signatures of local adaptation. Performing a salt stress experiment, I revealed that low altitude populations cope better with such stress than populations from intermediate or high altitudes. The coastal populations also showed an accumulation of nonsynonymous and possibly deleterious genetic variation, which can be explained by extreme bottlenecks and potential occurrence of selfing in some populations. Signatures of selection and local adaptation in S. chilense were mainly detected in populations from the peripheral groups and not in the central region, in agreement with the hypothesis that local adaptation is associated with the colonization of new territories.
In summary, this study showed that demography plays an important role in the evolutionary history of S. chilense and that local adaptation for key abiotic stresses occurs more frequently in the marginal ranges of the species distribution.


We show that parametric models trained by a stochastic gradient method (SGM) with few iterations have vanishing generalization error. We prove our results by arguing that SGM is algorithmically stable in the sense of Bousquet and Elisseeff. Our analysis only employs elementary tools from convex and continuous optimization. We derive stability bounds for both convex and non-convex optimization under standard Lipschitz and smoothness assumptions.
Applying our results to the convex case, we provide new insights for why multiple epochs of stochastic gradient methods generalize well in practice. In the non-convex case, we give a new interpretation of common practices in neural networks, and formally show that popular techniques for training large deep models are indeed stability-promoting. Our findings conceptually underscore the importance of reducing training time beyond its obvious benefit.


Successful invasion of Mnemiopsis leidyi A. Agassiz, 1865 and Beroe ovata Mayer, 1912 into the Black Sea and their important role in this region pelagic ecosystem is stipulated mainly by the considerable eurythermy of these species. Many ecological-physiological characteristics of ctenophores—aliens are studied quite well. However, bioluminescence, one of the most important elements of the ctenophores ecology and the bioluminescence reaction temperature optimum for these individuals under different environment temperatures were not studied sufficiently. Therefore our researches in this scientific field are significant and conceptually novel for ctenophores ecology study. Experimental investigations were carried out in the period of 2008-2009 in the IBSS. Uni-sized (40 mm) ctenophores were collected in the Sevastopol coastal zone and divided in several groups, contained under different temperatures: from 10°C ± 1°C to 30°C ± 1°C. Ctenophore bioluminescence was investigated under chemical and mechanical stimulation. M. leidyi light emission maximal amplitude (1432.94 ± 71.64 × 108 quantum·s–1·cm–2) with duration of 3.54 ± 0.15 s is fixed under the temperature of 26°C ± 1°C. Temperature increase up to 30°C ± 1°C led to the 4 times decrease of the bioluminescence intensity. Under temperature decrease up to 10°C ± 1°C this parameter decreased 20 times (p B. ovata achieved maximal values under the temperature of 22°C ± 1°C (1150.12 ± 57.51 × 108 quantum·s–1·cm–2) with duration of 3.03 ± 0.15 s. The luminescence intensity decreased under the temperature increase to 30°C ± 1°C more than 20 times. Temperature decrease to the values of 10°C ± 1°C impacted decreasing the amplitude of bioluminescence up to the minimal –4.92 ± 0.22 × 108 quantum·s–1·cm–2. The data obtained testify that characteristics of the ctenophores bioluminescence can be conditioned not only by the modification the environment temperature but by the variability of their physiological condition.


IJpalen near the lock in IJmuiden are of great economic value to the Port of Amsterdam. These mooring dolphins have to endure a considerable amount of kinetic forces which can have an impact on the condition of the dolphins. These forces are created by either mooring or already moored ships. Any irregularities taking place at the IJpalen can have disastrous results unless timely addressed. The Port of Amsterdam has attached sensors to the poles and the plates, which measure changes in the dimensions regarding the dolphins. This report explores whether combining sensor data from the IJpalen and automatic identification system (AIS) data can produce beneficial insights into the dolphins' states. We have used the sensor dataset to build a hidden Markov model (HMM) which predicts whether a ship is moored. We evaluated these results using the AIS data, in which can be discovered when a ship was moored at the IJpalen, producing remarkable results. We analyzed the sensor values using descriptive statistics to discover the normal and problem values. This research has obtained the following findings. First, descriptive statistics indicate a normal value range for the sensor values. Whenever a value out of this range is observed, it could be a problem case. Finally, it is possible to detect whether a ship is moored in the sensor data. An HMM on the z-angle of the plate of the east dolphin produces the best prediction, i.e., the highest accuracy of 90.2% according to the evaluation method, of a moored ship at the IJpalen.


Designing a multi-hop wireless network is a challenge mainly because of high bit error rates and the inherent broadcast nature of the medium creating interference. To improve the capacity, protocols based on spatial reuse of frequencies with multiple orthogonal channels have been introduced. This is particularly useful in complete wireless environments such as wireless mesh networks and wireless sensor networks (WSN). Based on initial testbed experiments on WSN testbeds, we show that there is a gap between reality and simulation models due to overheads in implementing these protocols. In order to support QoS guarantees in critical paths for such networks, we present a generic channel allocation scheme based on k-distance coloring problem, for multiple channel networks. The scheme is designed keeping in mind the real time deployment issues in wireless networks. We report the results from experiments conducted using a IEEE 802.15.4 based testbed consisting of Xbow MicaZ nodes and results obtained using the OMNET4 simulation environment.


From Nov. 1988 through Oct. 1989, we examined the spatial and temporal distribution, growth, and temperature-induced mortality of young-of-the-year summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) from Great Bay and Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey. We collected P. dentatus undergoing metamorphosis (11-15 mm TL) with plankton nets from Nov. 1988 through May 1989, as they entered the study area from adjacent continental shelf waters. Temperature-induced mortality of early postmetamorphic individuals in the laboratory was largely limited to the one instance that ambient winter temperatures dropped below 2 C (58% mortality). Mortality of a control group held in heated water (approx. 15 C) was low (3%). More important, we observed recruitment of postmetamorphic larvae well after this low temperature period in Feb. In mid-June we collected by trawl, benthic young-of-the-year fish almost exclusively (98%) at the mouth of two mesohaline subtidal marsh creeks. After June, young-of-the-year fish became more widespread, and we collected P. dentatus in a variety of habitats throughout the study area. In Aug. and Sept. P. dentatus were apparently able to avoid the trawl, but we collected large numbers by block nets in polyhaline subtidal marsh creeks. Young-of-the-year P. dentatus ranged 200-326 mm TL by Sept. In early Oct. 1989, we collected only two individuals by any method, and presumably most fish had migrated offshore by this time. We estimated growth rate by linear regression of TL on collection date at 1.9 mm/d from May through Sept. (n = 579, r2 = 0.89). Examination of otoliths for annuli formation (n = 313, range = 126-418 mm TL) showed that the first annulus formed over a range of 275-326 mm TL. The growth rate of young-of-the-year P. dentatus in New Jersey was among the fastest for juvenile estuarine fishes. This fast growth rate and the size at first annulus formation indicate that the first mark on otoliths is indeed the first annulus, a conclusion contrary to some earlier interpretations. Thus, P. dentatus can survive New Jersey winter temperatures, grow very quickly, and attain a large size at the end of the first summer. These characteristics imply that southern New Jersey estuaries act as important nurseries for this species.


Deep convolutional networks for semantic image segmentation typically require large-scale labeled data, e.g., ImageNet and MS COCO, for network pre-training. To reduce annotation efforts, self-supervised semantic segmentation is recently proposed to pre-train a network without any human-provided labels. The key of this new form of learning is to design a proxy task (e.g., image colorization), from which a discriminative loss can be formulated on unlabeled data. Many proxy tasks, however, lack the critical supervision signals that could induce discriminative representation for the target image segmentation task. Thus self-supervision's performance is still far from that of supervised pre-training. In this study, we overcome this limitation by incorporating a "mix-and-match" (M&M) tuning stage in the self-supervision pipeline. The proposed approach is readily pluggable to many self-supervision methods and does not use more annotated samples than the original process. Yet, it is capable of boosting the performance of target image segmentation task to surpass fully-supervised pre-trained counterpart. The improvement is made possible by better harnessing the limited pixel-wise annotations in the target dataset. Specifically, we first introduce the "mix" stage, which sparsely samples and mixes patches from the target set to reflect rich and diverse local patch statistics of target images. A 'match' stage then forms a class-wise connected graph, which can be used to derive a strong triplet-based discriminative loss for finetuning the network. Our paradigm follows the standard practice in existing self-supervised studies and no extra data or label is required. With the proposed M&M approach, for the first time, a self-supervision method can achieve comparable or even better performance compared to its ImageNet pretrained counterpart on both PASCAL VOC2012 dataset and CityScapes dataset.


Examination of the significant heights of zero-crossing waves in the Elbe Estuary has yielded two noteworthy results: 1 In the deeper water of the estuary, the value of the quotient relating the significant and the mean wave heights is larger than on the bordering tidal flat. 2. The value of this function is dependent on the height of the waves; on the tidal flat this dependency is considerably more sensitive than in deeper water. With increasing wave height the value of significant wave height divided by mean height becomes smaller The propagation direction of waves moving onto the tidal flat is contingent upon the position of intertidal channels Such channels sharply reduce the possible propagation directions The waves nearly always move up-channel regardless of the wind direction It is possible to derive special wave period and wave height distributions representing the conditions m very shallow water.


The neural basis of temporal processing is unclear. We addressed this important issue by performing two experiments in which repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) was administered in different sessions to the left or right supramarginal gyrus (SMG) or vertex; in both tasks, two visual stimuli were presented serially and subjects were asked to judge if the second stimulus was longer than the first (standard) stimulus. rTMS was presented on 50% of trials. Consistent with a previous literature demonstrating the effect of auditory clicks on temporal judgment, rTMS was associated with a tendency to perceive the paired visual stimulus as longer in all conditions. Crucially, rTMS to the right SMG was associated with a significantly greater subjective prolongation of the associated visual stimulus in both experiments. These findings demonstrate that the right SMG is an important element of the neural system underlying temporal processing and, as discussed, have implications for neural and cognitive models of temporal perception and attention.


Featured by small amplitude and involuntariness, microsaccade shows similar profiles with normal saccade (macrosaccade) otherwise. For instance, despite the stochastic nature of microsaccade generation, its frequency and direction can be regulated by covert attention. Recent studies suggested that microsaccade generation might share the same circuit with macrosaccade. However, whether and how these two motor types are processed remains unclear. With this question, we built a continuous attractor network model to simulate both microsaccade and macrosaccade generation. In this network, neurons with various spatial preferences (from -90° to 90°) were organized in a one-dimensional axis, whose activity controlled the timing and target of saccades using a threshold mechanism. The recurrent connection pattern contained two components: a homogeneous pattern where connection weights decrease monotonically with the distance between neighboring neurons, which produced continuous attractor properties in the network; and a clustered connection pattern between neurons tuned to foveal regions, which built a point attractor so as to provide a tendency of keeping fixation. Additionally, a global inhibition mechanism was used to maintain stability and to generate competition between potential saccadic targets. In the simulation, each neuron received a small Poisson-noise input, and a peripheral visual input was present to a group of neurons to mimic the cueing effect in a covert attention task. We found that, while large visual input induced macrosaccades directly, microsaccades could be generated from noisy foveal activities. Interestingly, a small visual input would not lead to macrosaccades, but might bias the foveal activity indirectly due to the continuous attractor properties, and thus influence the frequency and direction of microsaccades. The simulation successfully replicated the signature of microsaccade distribution in covert attention experiments, indicating that this model could be used as a potential solution for explaining the attentional effect on microsaccade and unifying the microsaccade and macrosaccade generation. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


Digital immortality, like ordinary immortality, is a continuum from enduring fame at one end to endless experience and learning at the other, stopping just short of endless life . Preserving and transmitting your ideas is one-way immortality : allowing communication with the future. Endless experience and leaning is two-way immortality : allowing "you," or at least part of you, to communicate with the future in the sense that artifact continues to learn and evolve. Current technology can extend corporal life for a few decades. Both one-way and two-way immortality require part of a person to be converted to information ( Cyberized ), and stored in a more durable media. We believe that two-way immortality where one's experiences are digitally preserved, and which then take on a life of their own will be possible within the this century.


Executive functions (EFs) are cognitive functions needed for adaptive and targeted behavior. Music aptitude is the potential or capacity for musical achievement. A key element of music aptitude is audiation, defined as the process through which sound becomes music and meaning is attributed to that music. In this paper, we report on the association between audiation skills and executive skills. Not only is this important to consider the validity of the audiation tests, but also to better understand the concept of audiation and its link to cognitive skills. We conducted an empirical study, in which a sample of second grade school students from two elementary schools, one from Ghent, Belgium (N = 36) and the other from Santiago, Chile (N = 25), were administered both a musical aptitude and an attention and inhibitory control test. We hypothesized that a positive correlation exists between sustained attention, inhibitory control and music aptitude.


In the cross-silo federated learning setting, one kind of data partition according to features, which is so-called vertical federated learning (i.e. feature-wise federated learning) (Yang et al. 2019), is to apply to multiple datasets that share the same sample ID space but different feature spaces. Simultaneously, the image dataset can also be partitioned according to labels. To improve the model performance of the isolated parties based on feature-wise (i.e. label-wise) results, the most effective method is to federate the model results of the isolated parties together. However, it is a non-trivial task to allow the participating parties to share the model results without violating the data privacy of the parties. In this paper, within the framework of principal component analysis (PCA), we propose a Federated-PCA machine learning approach, in which the PCA method is used to reduce the dimensionality of sample data for all parties and extract the principal component feature information to improve the efficiency of subsequent training work. This process will not reveal the original data information of each party. The federal system can help each side build a common profit strategy. Under this federal mechanism, the identity and status of each party are the same. By comparing the federated results of the isolated parties and the result of the unseparated party through multiple sets of comparative experiments, we find that the experimental results of these two settings are close, and the proposed method can effectively improve the training model performance of most participating parties.


Nowadays, hepatic artery catheterizations are performed under live 2D X-ray fluoroscopy guidance, where the visualization of blood vessels requires the injection of contrast agent. The projection of a 3D static roadmap of the complex branches of the liver artery system onto 2D fluoroscopy images can aid catheter navigation and minimize the use of contrast agent. However, the presence of a significant hepatic motion due to patient's respiration necessitates a real-time motion correction in order to align the projected vessels. The objective of our work is to introduce dynamic roadmaps into clinical workflow for hepatic artery catheterizations and allow for continuous visualization of the vessels in 2D fluoroscopy images without additional contrast injection. To this end, we propose a method for real-time estimation of the apparent displacement of the hepatic arteries in 2D flouroscopy images. Our approach approximates respiratory motion of hepatic arteries from the catheter motion in 2D fluoroscopy images. The proposed method consists of two main steps. First, a filtering is applied to 2D fluoroscopy images in order to enhance the catheter and reduce the noise level. Then, a part of the catheter is tracked in the filtered images using template matching. A dynamic template update strategy makes our method robust to deformations. The accuracy and robustness of the algorithm are demonstrated by experimental studies on 22 simulated and 4 clinical sequences containing 330 and 571 image frames, respectively.


INTRODUCTION
In view of increasing demand for reforms in medical education in India, it is important to generate evidence through education research to increase the relevance and improve the quality of medical education. Education research is still at a nascent stage in India for a number of reasons. This study elicited health professions educators' views about the dearth of education research in Southeast Asia and what is needed to improve it.

METHODS
Qualitative content analysis of an interactive, online discussion on 'education research' between PSG-FAIMER Regional Institute fellows and faculty was carried out.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Forty-four health professionals exchanged approximately 492 email messages during the discussion. One main concern expressed within the group was that the medical curriculum was not in tune with the health care needs of the society and reforms in the curriculum should be based on research. Most fellows felt that their work in education research was not appreciated in their schools. Participants felt that education research was done for altruistic reasons and only by self-motivated faculty. Participants also said that regulatory bodies were not concerned about the quality of education and its related research. Measures that could improve education research also emerged during the discussions. Interactive online discussions elicited important issues about education research in India. Participants noted that there is no recognition or rewards to encourage faculty to conduct education research. They also said that there is need to educate faculty about changes elsewhere in medical education and to make them more aware of education research generally.


This project aims to transform the Gronmo area with large existing rubbish collection zones into a recreational park. At the same time, the current rubbish functions, material recycling, material composting and material sorting will be kept and be converted sustainable within the idea of the public park. The whole Gronmo area is around 42.5 hector. This transformation will reaffirm the qualities of river, forest, field site with the concept to infill new experiences into the area. There could be new activities, including recycling learning classroom, birds watching, hiking, campfire festival, bicycle group gathering, picnic, Christmas tree market etc. This transformation project includes new organisation system of material collection, 2nd hand flea market, new organisation system of material sorting, new organisation system of material composting, visitor centre and new system of contaminated water filtering. The task of the thesis is on the cross sections of architecture design, architectural infrastructure design and landscape design.


Phthalates are a group of compounds widely used in consumer products and they are ubiquitous in the environment due to their widespread commercial use. In this study, a new non-targeted screening method has been developed to identify phthalate metabolites in human urine samples as exposure markers of phthalates using mass spectrometry. The method firstly scanned precursor ions that contained the deprotonated benzoate ion, [C6H5COO]−, at m/z 121 using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), which is specifically a common fragmentation ion of all phthalate metabolites. The daughter ions of the precursor ions were subsequently scanned using high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) to elucidate their potential structures using accurate mass and fragmentation patterns. Agilent MassHunter software was used to calculate the potential formulas based on the accurate masses of unknown metabolites, and SciFinder was used to narrow down the targets. The fragmentation patterns of phthalate monoesters in mass spectrometry have been investigated for application in the identification of new metabolites in this study. The method has been validated with commercially available standards of phthalate metabolites and applied to identify phthalate metabolites in human urine samples. Nine known phthalate metabolites and an unknown phthalate metabolite have been identified in urine samples. The structure of the new metabolite was proposed as 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid, mono(9-cyclopropylnonyl) ester. This study has demonstrated that the non-targeted method developed could be a useful tool in exposure biomarker discovery.


In this contribution towards creating interactive environments for garment design and simulation, we present a powerful mechanically based cloth simulation system. It is based on an optimized way to compute elastic forces between vertices of an irregular triangle mesh, which combines the precision of elasticity modelisation with the speed of a simple spring-mass particle system. Efficient numerical integration error management keeps computation speed efficient by allowing high computation timesteps and also maintains very good stability, suitable for interactive applications. Constraints, such as collisions or "elastics", are integrated in a unified way that preserves robustness and computation speed. We illustrate the potentialities of our new system through examples showing its efficiency and interactivity.


The energy sector, especially with regard to natural gas trade, is one of the key areas of co-operation between the EU and Russia. However, the character of this co-operation has given rise to increasing doubts both in Brussels and among the EU member states. The questions have emerged whether this co-operation does not make the EU excessively dependent on Russian energy supplies, and whether Gazprom's presence in the EU will not allow Moscow to interfere in the proces of devising the EU energy policy. This report is intended to present the factual base and data necessary to provide accurate answers to the foregoing questions. The first part of the report presents the scope and character of Gazprom's economic presence in the EU member states. The second part shows the presence of the EU investors in Russia. The data presented has been provided by the International Energy Agency, European Commission, the Central Bank of Russia and the Russian Federal State Statistics Service. Some of the data is the result of calculations made by the Centre for Eastern Studies' experts who were basing on the data provided by energy companies, the specialist press and news agencies.


The paper is devoted to asymptotic analysis of the Dirichlet problem for a second order partial differential equation containing a small parameter multiplying the highest order derivatives. It corresponds to a small perturbation of a dynamical system having a stationary solution in the domain. We focus on the case where the trajectories of the system go into the domain and the stationary solution is a proper node.


Breast cancer is one of the global leading causes of death among women, and an early detection is of uttermost importance to reduce mortality rates. Screening mammograms, in which radiologists rely only on their eyesight, are one of the most used early detection methods. However, characteristics, such as the asymmetry between breasts, a feature that could be very difficult to visually quantize, is key to breast cancer detection. Due to the highly heterogeneous and deformable structure of the breast itself, incorporating asymmetry measurements into an automated detection system is still a challenge. In this study, we proposed the use of a bilateral registration algorithm as an effective way to automatically measure mirror asymmetry. Furthermore, this information was fed to a machine learning algorithm to improve the accuracy of the model. In this study, 449 subjects (197 with calcifications, 207 with masses, and 45 healthy subjects) from a public database were used to train and evaluate the proposed methodology. Using this procedure, we were able to independently identify subjects with calcifications (accuracy = 0.825, AUC = 0.882) and masses (accuracy = 0.698, AUC = 0.807) from healthy subjects.


The eastern Pacific benthic foraminifer Nonionella stella Cushman & Moyer, 1930 was recorded for the first time in the Skagerrak (North Sea) and its fjords. In this short note we evaluate its migration, considering both dispersal by propagules and ship ballast tanks. We suggest that the predominantly southward surface currents along the western European seaboard and Morocco would impede a wide-range dispersal of N. stella propagules and hypothesize transportation by ship ballast tanks as the possible vector of N. stella immigration into northern European seas.


In recent years, there has been growing interest in contra-rotating open rotors (CRORs) for use as the power plants on aircraft, since they are estimated to burn 20% to 30% less fuel than equivalent turbofan engines for short-haul flights. However, one of the main challenges for their introduction is their very high levels of noise emissions. There is therefore a need for schemes by which the noise from CRORs can be predicted and hence reduced. Nearly all of the research effort on the prediction and reduction of CROR noise has been so far focused on the tonal component, whereas broadband noise emissions remain poorly understood. Nevertheless, it is shown that broadband noise emissions from CRORs can be significant, hence the necessity of the present research. In this thesis, broadband noise emissions from uninstalled CRORs are investigated for the first time. It is assumed that the two most significant sources of broadband noise in uninstalled CRORs are the broadband rotor-wake/rotor interaction noise (BRWI) and the broadband rotor trailing edge noise (BRTE). Fast semi-analytical prediction schemes are developed for these sources of broadband noise, which exhibit good agreement with noise measurements from a scaled model CROR. The relative importance of the BRWI and BRTE noise sources is investigated for a realistic CROR configuration at assumed take-off, cruise and approach-type conditions. It is predicted that both broadband noise sources are significant at assumed take-off, whereas only the BRTE noise contributes to the total broadband noise emissions at assumed cruise and approach. A parameter study is conducted to investigate the effects on CROR broadband noise emissions of variations in rotor-rotor separation distance, rotor speed and blade number at constant engine power, torque split and solidity. The validity of two widely used approximations for fan broadband noise predictions is also studied: Amiet's approximate BRTE model and the use of isolated airfoil theory for turbulence-cascade interaction noise. Criteria for the validity of Amiet's approximate model are established by comparing it to the general BRTE noise model developed in this work. The two models are shown to differ in the low and high frequency limits, but excellent agreement is observed for realistic rotor configurations over most of the audible frequency range. In addition, sound power predictions from isolated airfoils and blade cascades in a turbulent flow are compared. Excellent agreement is observed between an isolated airfoil model and a cascade model for frequencies higher than a critical frequency. Below this critical frequency, agreement is poor for high solidity cascades but is reasonable for low solidity cascades, typical of CRORs, thus validating the use of isolated airfoil theory in the BRWI model.


For six decades Wilbur Zelinsky has been an original and authentic voice in American cultural geography. His curiosity is endless, his intellectual appetite voracious. He seeks human meaning in every facet of material life and every corner of the American scene. His scholarly productivity continues to be extraordinary--more than 200 books, atlases, chapters, articles, reviews, and reports, and still counting. The body of work includes ten articles in the Geographical Review over fifty years, on topics from log houses of Georgia (1953) to American religious landscapes (2001c). It is therefore especially fitting that the following articles in celebration of Wilbur appear in the Geographical Review. The articles exhibit a richness of contact with and reference to Wilbur's incredible body of work, and in the process they also reveal something of the person. First and foremost an explorer, Wilbur, like all explorers, is dedicated to bringing profound understanding to simple things. He is also an insatiable reader and not averse to employing hypothesis testing and quantitative analyses when and where appropriate. He is a wordsmith of uncanny ear, considerable wry humor, and incomparable devotion and attention to language. His remarkable web of cultural references and the clarity of his expression are simply astounding. He is in every way the consummate scholar, all the while having great fun and never assuming his is the last word. Early work experiences trained Wilbur well for observation and analysis. He was a map draftsman in various firms during World War II, even as he was moving about to find a place to earn a degree, which he did at the University of California, Berkeley in 1944. After receiving a master's degree at the University of Wisconsin in 1946, he worked as a terrain analyst for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in occupied Germany. He returned to Berkeley for his doctorate, which he completed in 1953, then worked as an industrial location analyst for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway from 1954 to 1959. His academic appointments include the University of Georgia (1948-1952), the University of Wisconsin as a researcher (1952-1954), Wayne State University as an adjunct professor (1954-1959), and Southern Illinois University (1959-1963). In 1963 he joined the Department of Geography at Pennsylvania State University, where he has remained ever since. He served as department head in 1970-1976 and assumed emeritus status in 1987, although he is still at work every day when he is not in the field, visiting friends, playing his violin, or attending the theater. Wilbur's conception of cultural geography is as catholic as his interests. Little of the vernacular, from mules and fences to houses and towns to place-names and cemetery names, has escaped his gaze. His first published article, "The Historical Geography of the Negro Population of Latin America" (1948), may have been the first publication on African Americans by a geographer. The "Hypothesis of the Mobility Transition," published in the Geographical Review in 1971, is a significant complement to the concept of demographic transition both operationally and intellectually. He was also the first geographer to write about the place of women in the profession (1973). And it would be inappropriate not to mention the remarkable 1974 presidential address Wilbur delivered to the Association of American Geographers (AAG), "The Demigod's Dilemma" (1975), which challenged scholars of all stripes and disciplines to be true to truth before theory. In so many ways and in so much of his work, he has always been prescient. In addition to the presidency of the AAG (1972-1973), Wilbur's honors include the AAG'S award for meritorious contributions to geography (1966), a Guggenheim Fellowship (1981-1982), and the 1993 Jackson Prize for the revised edition of The Cultural Geography of the United States (1992), as well as the Cullum Geographical Medal of the American Geographical Society (AGS) (2001). …


Regulating Alternative Finance – Results from a Global Regulator Survey is a report that details the key findings from a global regulatory survey that was jointly conducted by the World Bank and the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School. This study intends to understand the global regulatory landscape and regulators from 111 jurisdictions around the world participated in the survey.

Highlights from the report: Alternative finance is still typically unregulated – but bespoke regulation is catching on. Despite a boom in alternative finance regulation since 2015, the relevant activities are still not formally regulated in most jurisdictions – only 22 per cent of jurisdictions formally regulate P2P lending, as opposed to 39 per cent for ECF and 22 per cent in the case of ICOs. More often, they are subject to bespoke regulatory frameworks, particularly in the case of P2P lending (12 per cent of jurisdictions) and ECF (22 per cent of jurisdictions).

The potential of alternative finance speaks to a new set of regulatory objectives. Policymakers globally are keen to explore the promise of alternative finance. A clear majority are optimistic about its potential to improve MSMEs' and consumers' access to finance (79 per cent and 65 per cent respectively) and stimulate competition in financial services (68 per cent). Such expectations chime with regulators' emerging priorities, as many now have statutory objectives to support financial inclusion, economic policies or competition. While regulation is not the norm today, by mid-2021 most jurisdictions will be regulating ECF and more than a third intend to regulate P2P lending and ICOs; bespoke frameworks will likely become even more common.

Benchmarking drives global regulatory change. Regulatory benchmarking is used by more than 90 per cent of regulators when reviewing alternative finance regulation, and lessons learned from other jurisdictions have prompted changes in regulation more frequently than any other trigger (56 per cent to 66 per cent of regulators, across the three activities). The most benchmarked-against jurisdiction is the UK, followed by the USA and Singapore, but emerging markets such as Malaysia, the UAE and Mexico also rank among the top 10.

Alternative finance regulation is about making the sector safe at scale. Alternative finance regulation seeks to make the sector fit for the mass market, including both individual investors and MSMEs. Ensuring liquidity or minimizing the potential for capital losses do not appear to be prioritized over those goals. This may be an indication of how regulators interpret their consumer protection mandates in relation to alternative finance.

Alternative finance regulation isn't 'light touch'. There is little evidence yet of regulators purposefully creating light-touch regulatory frameworks for alternative finance. If anything, purpose-built regulatory frameworks tend to have more obligations in place than pre-existing ones – out of 20 potential obligations examined in the survey, the average bespoke frameworks for P2P lending or ECF featured nine, against five for pre-existing ones. For ICOs, the balance was five versus three. They tend to prioritize checks on investor exposure, rigorous due diligence on fundraisers, client money protection and appropriate online marketing standards.

As supervision stretches their resources, regulators are turning to innovation. Alternative finance supervisors see fraud, capital loss and money laundering as significant risks. Enforcement cases are also common, particularly in unregulated ECF and ICO sectors. Regulators are also looking to more innovative solutions to overcome these limitations in regulation and supervision. Among respondent regulators, 22 per cent have created regulatory sandboxes, 26 per cent have innovation offices and 14 per cent have active RegTech/SupTech programmes.

Alternative finance regulation needs better support and a stronger global evidence base. To design regulations for alternative finance, regulators have thus received support from a wide range of sources. Most common is for regulators to be supported by multilateral institutions such as various development banks (23 per cent), followed by their peers, for instance, through associations of financial regulators (17 per cent). Nevertheless, 77 per cent of regulators would like more support. Comparing how often sources of support are currently available and desired, there are sizeable gaps. The gap appears larger in the case of support from academics: 13 per cent have received this, but 61 per cent would like to.

Emerging-market regulators highlighting new regulatory objectives in regional clusters. Most regulators in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean now have statutory inclusion objectives, while regulators in Latin America are more likely than their peers elsewhere to have competition objectives. Regulators in lower income jurisdictions are twice as likely as those in high income jurisdictions to be tasked with supporting governments' economic policies (42 per cent vs 20 per cent), and those in Sub-Saharan Africa are about three times as likely (64 per cent). After a slow start, most regulatory changes in alternative finance are now taking place in lower-income jurisdictions and emerging markets.

Lower-income jurisdictions are between three and four times less likely than high income ones to already regulate alternative finance activities (13 per cent versus 36 per cent for P2P; 19 per cent versus 67 per cent for ECF; 10 per cent versus 42 per cent for ICOs). However, lower income jurisdictions are catching up in some areas: they are almost three times as likely as high income ones to review their regulatory frameworks for P2P lending (43 per cent vs 16 per cent). Most jurisdictions in Latin America and the Caribbean are planning changes to their ECF or ICO regulations, and most jurisdictions in Sub-Saharan Africa are reviewing their ECF or P2P regulatory frameworks.

Aligning multiple regulators might be challenging for regulators in lower-income jurisdictions. The regulators that we surveyed in lower income jurisdictions normally do not have explicit statutory mandates for regulating online alternative finance activities (35 per cent vs 64 per cent for regulators in high-income jurisdictions). Therefore, their views of the sectors' risk profiles and supervisory challenges are still evolving. They also reported a particular challenge in coordinating regulatory and supervisory work in 'multi-peak' jurisdictions with multiple regulators responsible for same activities.

Higher and lower income jurisdictions tap into different expert networks. There are significant differences in how regulators in higher and lower income markets access external support. Regulators in lower income markets are slightly less likely to benefit from advice and input from their peers than those in higher jurisdictions (19 per cent versus 26 per cent). The similar pattern can be seen in relation to support from academics (12 per cent v 23 per cent). Regulators from lower income markets are, however, more likely to obtain support from multilateral organizations (34 per cent versus 16 per cent).

Lower income jurisdictions need more appropriate regulatory innovation options. Lower income jurisdictions are generally less likely to have active regulatory innovation initiatives in place than high income ones. At the global level, the difference is substantial (14 per cent versus 53 per cent for innovation offices, 28 per cent versus 35 per cent for sandboxes and nine per cent v 28 per cent for RegTech/ SupTech programmes). At the regional level, however, the competing influences of legal institutions and policy trends have produced a more mixed picture. For example, regulatory innovation initiatives are rare in Latin America and the Caribbean, while, in Sub-Saharan Africa, a regulatory sandbox is in place or in development in nearly one in three jurisdictions (32 per cent). In some of the resource-constraint jurisdictions, regulatory innovation initiatives such as the establishment of an innovation offices could prove to be a cost-effective option.