This thesis includes one qualitative literature review and five empirical studies examining aspects of a) the relationship between bone mass and physical activity in
children aged 8-11 years using pedometry and accelerometry, and b) the variability and reliability of the RT3 accelerometer as a means of assessing physical activity
patterns in children. Previous research has shown a positive relationship between physical activity and bone mineral density in children. However, study design appears
to be confounded by the accuracy of measures of physical activity limiting conclusions that can be drawn. Prior to our investigation research investigating the relationship between bone mass and habitual physical activity measured by objective means in children is scarce, and no study had evaluated the technical performance of the R T3 accelerometer; a small lightweight triaxial accelerometer.
To examine the relationship between bone mass, physical activity and calcium intake methodology included; the objective assessment of habitual physical activity
initially by pedometry and finally by accelerometry; dietary analysis of calcium intake; and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry measured bone area, mineral content
and density of the whole body and proximal femur. To examine the variability and reliability of the RT3 accelerometer methodology included; the assessment of intraand inter-monitor variability by vibration assessment at increasing Hz levels; intermonitor reliability and variability by inducing a variety of human motions in a
laboratory based environment; and epoch selection was assessed comparing the 60 to one second time sampling modes using children in a field setting.
The main findings were: a) steps per day, assessed by pedometry, explained a significant proportion of the variance in bone mass at the hip in children; b) the RT3
triaxial accelerometer was reliable across trials, although the anterioposterior vector recorded counts consistently higher than the mediolateral and vertical vectors; c) interunit variability of the RT3 was evident, particularly as activity intensity increased; d) use of the 60 second epoch setting may lead to inaccuracies when assessing activity of a vigorous intensity and above; and e) vigorous physical activity, assessed by the RT3 accelerometer, and calcium intake have an interactive effect on bone mass in children, whereby bone mineral content is only high when both vigorous activity and calcium intake are high.
In conclusion, this thesis has highlighted quality control procedures that need to be in place when using the RT3 accelerometer and presented evidence for a synergistic action of vigorous physical activity and calcium intake on bone mass in children.


To draw causal conclusions about the efficacy of a psychological intervention, researchers must compare the treatment condition with a control group that accounts for improvements caused by factors other than the treatment. Using an active control helps to control for the possibility that improvement by the experimental group resulted from a placebo effect. Although active control groups are superior to "no-contact" controls, only when the active control group has the same expectation of improvement as the experimental group can we attribute differential improvements to the potency of the treatment. Despite the need to match expectations between treatment and control groups, almost no psychological interventions do so. This failure to control for expectations is not a minor omission—it is a fundamental design flaw that potentially undermines any causal inference. We illustrate these principles with a detailed example from the video-game-training literature showing how the use of an active control group does not eliminate expectation differences. The problem permeates other interventions as well, including those targeting mental health, cognition, and educational achievement. Fortunately, measuring expectations and adopting alternative experimental designs makes it possible to control for placebo effects, thereby increasing confidence in the causal efficacy of psychological interventions.


Techniques for finding metastable or almost invariant sets have been investigated, e.g., for deterministic dynamical systems in set-oriented numerics, for stochastic processes in molecular dynamics, and for random walks on complex networks. Most prominent algorithms are based on spectral apporaches and identify metastable sets via the doimant eigenvalues of the transfer operator associated with the dynamical system under consideration. These algorithms require the dominant eigenvalues to be real-valued. However, for many types of dynamics, e.g. for non-reversible Markov chains, this condition is not met. In this paper we utilize the hitting time apporach to metastable sets and demonstrate how the wellknown statements about optimal metastable decompositions of reversible chains can be reformulated for non-reversible chains if one switches from a spectral approach to an exit time approach. The performance of the resulting algorithm is illustrated by numerical experiments on random walks on complex networks.


The nonnegative inverse eigenvalue problem is the problem of determining necessary and sufficient conditions for a multiset of complex numbers to be the spectrum of a nonnegative real matrix of size equal to the cardinality of the multiset itself. The problem is longstanding and proved to be very difficult so that several variations have been defined by considering particular classes of multisets and nonnegative real matrices. In this paper, a novel variation of the problem is proposed. This variation is motivated by a practical application in the positive realization problem, that is the problem of characterizing existence and minimality of a positive state--space representation of a given transfer function.


Systematic collections of anophelines were conducted from November 1994 to August 1995 from 18:00 to 20:00 hr using Shannon traps and human-bait along the lake margin which forms the Itaipu Hydroelectric reservoir, State of Paraná, Brazil. Species prevalence was studied at 15 min intervals. Anopheles albitarsis sensu latu and An. galvaoi, were the most frequently collected mosquitoes. All Anopheles species populations peaked between 18:45 and 19:30 hr. The observations illustrate the existence of a haematophagic activity cycle during the early evening hours: exogenous stimulus (the beginning of sunset)-->Shannon trap (light attraction)-->human bait (haematophagy)-->rest and digestion-->exogenous stimulus-->Shannon trap or surrounding vegetation. The greater abundance of An. albitarsis collected in human-bait and Shannon trap suggests it may be a potential malaria vector in the region.


Multiple myeloma (MM) is an age-dependent hematological malignancy. Evaluation of immune interactions that drive MM relies on in vitro experiments that do not reflect the complex cellular stroma involved in MM pathogenesis. Here we used Vk*MYC transgenic mice, which spontaneously develop MM, and demonstrated that the immune system plays a critical role in the control of MM progression and the response to treatment. We monitored Vk*MYC mice that had been crossed with Cd226 mutant mice over a period of 3 years and found that CD226 limits spontaneous MM development. The CD226-dependent anti-myeloma immune response against transplanted Vk*MYC MM cells was mediated both by NK and CD8+ T cells through perforin and IFN-γ pathways. Moreover, CD226 expression was required for optimal antimyeloma efficacy of cyclophosphamide (CTX) and bortezomib (Btz), which are both standardly used to manage MM in patients. Activation of costimulatory receptor CD137 with mAb (4-1BB) exerted strong antimyeloma activity, while inhibition of coinhibitory receptors PD-1 and CTLA-4 had no effect. Taken together, the results of this study provide in vivo evidence that CD226 is important for MM immunosurveillance and indicate that specific immune components should be targeted for optimal MM treatment efficacy. As progressive immunosuppression associates with MM development, strategies aimed to increase immune functions may have important therapeutic implications in MM.


Historically, AI research has understandably focused on those aspects of cognition that distinguish humans from other animals – in particular, our capacity for complex problem solving. However, with a few notable exceptions, narratives in popular media generally focus on those aspects of human experience that we share with other social animals: attachment, mating and child rearing, violence, group affiliation, and inter-group and inter-individual conflict. Moreover, the stories we tell often focus on the ways in which these processes break down. In this paper, I will argue that current agent architectures don't offer particularly good models of these phenomena, and discuss specific phenomena that I think it would be illuminating to understand at a computational level.


This research explores relatively successful reforms of the local property tax system in the four largest city councils in Sierra Leone. Deriving lessons from differing outcomes across the four councils, it highlights three key messages about the determinants of successful reform. First, relatively modest and targeted support from the international community and the central government has been critical. However, the success of such initiatives must be grounded in a focus on longer-term, hands-on, local-level partnerships. Second, success is critically dependent on high-level reform leadership to overcome resistance, particularly from large property owners. In turn, the emergence of such political leadership appears to have been shaped by the relationship between political and economic elites, the relationship between local and central political parties, and the extent of local-level political competition. Finally, alongside the general importance of political leadership, reform strategies that are comparatively contractual can contribute to a virtuous cycle of improved governance, and help to build sustainable political support for continued reform.


Despite the acceleration of antiretroviral therapy (ART) scale-up in sub-Saharan Africa, little is known about the social and economic effects of ART on individuals and households. In January 2008, we conducted semistructured interviews with 24 adult ART clients attending urban and rural HIV clinics operated by Joint Clinical Research Center in Uganda. Using content analysis we explored changes in physical health, work activity and asset management from before HIV to after ART. Twenty-one (88%) participants were working prior to HIV (mostly microenterprises and subsistence farming), of whom 18 had to stop work at least temporarily after onset of HIV. After ART, 20 (83% of the sample) were engaged in some type of work, but for many it was not at the same level as before HIV. Also, most that previously had salaried employment were unable to return to the formal labor market. Two thirds of the sample reported having to sell off at least some of their land, capital, or household property after HIV, and few were able to buy it back after ART. A majority (67%) reported that economic support from family was instrumental after the onset of HIV, and for 38% this support continued to be necessary after ART. These findings highlight that while ART helps people to regain a capacity to work, other economic supports are needed to enable individuals and households to reestablish their livelihoods, especially in resource-constrained settings.


INTRODUCTION AND AIM
Liver transplantation (LT) provides durable survival for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, there is continuing debate concerning the impact of wait time and acceptable tumor burden on outcomes after LT. We sought to review outcomes of LT for HCC at a single, large U.S. center, examining the influence of wait time on post-LT outcomes.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
We reviewed LT for HCC at Mayo Clinic in Florida from 1/1/2003 until 6/30/2014. Follow up was updated through 8/1/ 2015.

RESULTS
From 2003-2014, 978 patients were referred for management of HCC. 376 patients were transplanted for presumed HCC within Milan criteria, and the results of these 376 cases were analyzed. The median diagnosis to LT time was 183 days (8 - 4,337), and median transplant list wait time was 62 days (0 - 1815). There was no statistical difference in recurrence-free or overall survival for those with wait time of less than or greater than 180 days from diagnosis of HCC to LT. The most important predictor of long term survival after LT was HCC recurrence (HR: 18.61, p < 0.001). Recurrences of HCC as well as survival were predicted by factors related to tumor biology, including histopathological grade, vascular invasion, and pre-LT serum alpha-fetoprotein levels. Disease recurrence occurred in 13%. The overall 5-year patient survival was 65.8%, while the probability of 5-year recurrence-free survival was 62.2%.

CONCLUSIONS
In this large, single-center experience with long-term data, factors of tumor biology, but not a longer wait time, were associated with recurrence-free and overall survival.


Agricultural application of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), as nutrient source for plants and as soil conditioner, is the most costeffective option of MSW management because of its advantages over traditional means such as landfilling or incineration. However, agricultural application of MSW can lead to a potential environmental threat due to the presence of pathogens and toxic pollutants. Composting is an attractive alternative of MSW recycling. Application of MSW compost (MSWC) in agricultural soils can directly alter soil physicochemical properties as well as promote plant growth. The soil microbial biomass, considered as the living part of soil organic matter, is very closely related to the soil organic matter content in many arable agricultural soils. Numerous studies, with different MSWC amendment doses on different soil types and under different water regimes revealed no detrimental effect on soil microbial biomass. In this review, we show the state of art about the effects of MSWC amendment on soil microbial biomass.


Incorporating fields of sociology, criminology, and public policy, this book provides a more complete understanding of the issues surrounding drugs. The primary purpose of this work is to teach students about the dynamics of drugs (both legal and illegal) in American society, while providing a look at historical law creation and current law enforcement. Unique coverage includes topics such as the history of drugs in the U.S., the integral role of race in the creation of drug laws, the elaboration of the global trade in drugs, the U.S. drug control policies and the impact of the U.S. drug war on international relations. Features include: Incorporates observations from sociology, criminology, and public policy- Includes more on U.S. drug control policies, the impact of U.S. laws on international relations and other nations approaches to drugs- Emphasizes the U.S. drug war domestically and globally.


The unmined, pyrite-rich Red Mountain (Dry Creek) deposit displays a remarkable environmental footprint of natural acid generation, high metal and exceedingly high rare earth element (REE) concentrations in surface waters. The volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit exhibits well-constrained examples of acid-generating, metal-leaching, metal-precipitation and self-mitigation (via co-precipitation, dilution and neutralization) processes that occur in an undisturbed natural setting, a rare occurrence in North America. Oxidative dissolution of pyrite and associated secondary reactions under near-surface oxidizing conditions are the primary causes for the acid generation and metal leaching. The deposit is hosted in Devonian to Mississippian felsic metavolcanic rocks of the Mystic Creek Member of the Totatlanika Schist. Water samples with the lowest pH (many below 3.5), highest specific conductance (commonly >2500 μS/cm) and highest major- and trace-element concentrations are from springs and streams within the quartz–sericite–pyrite alteration zone. Aluminum, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Y, Zn and, particularly, the REEs are found in high concentrations, ranging across four orders of magnitude. Waters collected upstream from the alteration zone have near-neutral pH, lower specific conductance (370 to 830 μS/cm), lower metal concentrations and measurable alkalinities. Water samples collected downstream of the alteration zone have pH and metal concentrations intermediate between these two extremes. Stream sediments are anomalous in Zn, Pb, S, Fe, Cu, As, Co, Sb and Cd relative to local and regional background abundances. Red Mountain Creek and its tributaries do not, and probably never have, supported significant aquatic life.


We report the stochastic interactions between dye sensitized anatase nanoparticles, suspended in a colloid, and a Pt ultramicroelectrode (UME) that result in step-wise behavior in the current vs. time response. The stochastic currents are observed in the dark and under illumination. In the dark, the currents are anodic, consistent with the oxidation of the dye N719 at the Pt surface. The electrochemical behavior of the dye was investigated in MeOH and MeCN with a quasireversible cyclic voltammogram (CV) observed at 1 V s-1. The anodic currents observed in the dark due to nanoparticles (NPs) at the Pt surface are consistent with the CVs in MeOH and MeCN. Under illumination cathodic steps are observed and assigned to the reduction of the oxidized form of the dye generated after electrons are injected into the TiO2 NPs. The colloidal behavior is a strong function of the history of the colloid with illumination time increasing the size of the agglomerates and with larger agglomerates being less photoelectrochemically active. Agglomerates of ca. 100 nm in diameter are proposed to be photoactive entities with a higher probability of detection that contribute to the staircase photocurrent response.


In some practical situations (e.g., in econometrics), it is important to check whether a given linear subspace of a space Rm with component-wise order is a lattice – and if it is not, whether it is at least a directed ordered space. Because of the practical importance, it is desirable to have feasible algorithms for solving these problems – which in Computer Science is usually interpreted as algorithms whose computation time does not exceed a polynomial of the length of the input. No such algorithms were previously known. In this paper, we present feasible algorithms for solving both problems.


The academic literature on the prize system describes prizes as a radical alternative to intellectual property. The debate over which system is preferable has existed for centuries, and usually boils down to a single question: can the government determine the appropriate reward for innovations without relying on intellectual property rights to reveal their value to consumers? If yes, scholars assume prizes are superior because they avoid deadweight loss and provide equal or better incentives for innovation. This reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of intellectual property rights. It equates intellectual property with uniform monopoly pricing and monopoly profits, while depicting the prize system as the only effective strategy to achieve efficient consumer pricing and government control over rewards. In reality, intellectual property merely provides a right to exclude others from the market. Governments can and often do institute policies alongside intellectual property that closely resemble prize systems in their structure and objectives. They use subsidies (and sometimes price controls) to push consumer prices closer to marginal cost and adjust the incentives for innovation. Given these other policy levers available within an intellectual property regime, the existing prize literature has exaggerated and misconceived the differences between the two systems. Under many circumstances, the prize system has no advantage over intellectual property in avoiding deadweight loss. Moreover, intellectual property will frequently offer superior incentives to prizes, irrespective of whether used to measure an invention's value to consumers, because it provides an ongoing check against expropriation, thereby permitting renegotiation of rewards over time to reflect changing estimations of an invention's social value. Contrary to the longstanding framework used to compare the two systems, intellectual property may be superior to prizes even when the government can determine the appropriate reward for innovations.


This article investigates the integration of machine learning in the political claim annotation workflow with the goal to partially automate the annotation and analysis of large text corpora. It introduces the MARDY annotation environment and presents results from an experiment in which the annotation quality of annotators with and without machine learning based annotation support is compared. The design and setting aim to measure and evaluate: a) annotation speed; b) annotation quality; and c) applicability to the use case of discourse network generation. While the results indicate only slight increases in terms of annotation speed, the authors find a moderate boost in annotation quality. Additionally, with the help of manual annotation of the actors and filtering out of the false positives, the machine learning based annotation suggestions allow the authors to fully recover the core network of the discourse as extracted from the articles annotated during the experiment. This is due to the redundancy which is naturally present in the annotated texts. Thus, assuming a research focus not on the complete network but the network core, an AI-based annotation can provide reliable information about discourse networks with much less human intervention than compared to the traditional manual approach.


This paper develops some of the ideas that were expressed at the meeting of the Translators' Section of the Soviet Writers' Union (28 December 1934) where Osip Brik's talk on new Russian translations from Heinrich Heine was presented and discussed. Brik argued for equirhythmical translations of Heine's dolniks and maintained that equimetrical translations are impossible due to the differences between the Russian and the German systems of verse. His opponents, on the contrary, argued for equimetrical translations and maintained that equirhythmical translations are impossible due to the differences between the accentual systems of the Russian and the German languages. Boris Jarcho, who presided the meeting, developed a theory, according to which every versification system is characterised by primary and secondary features. The primary features represent a determinist norm and should be reproduced in translation to the full extent, while the secondary features represent a statistical norm: they may be reproduced in a proportion that the language and the poetic tradition can afford and that is at the same time similar to the proportion found in the original text. The authors of the present paper discuss three Russian poetic translations of Heine's celebrated "Ein Fichtenbaum steht einsam..." from the point of view of their equimetricity/equirhythmicity, and compare their metrical and rhythmical structures with various rhythmic types of the Russian dolnik.


Editorial by Richards and Coulter

Shared decision making, in which patients and health professionals join in both the process of decision making and ownership of the decision made, is attracting considerable interest as a means by which patients' preferences can be incorporated into clinical decisions.1 When there are several treatment options which may have different effects on the patient's quality of life, there is a strong case for offering patients choice. Their active involvement in decision making may increase the effectiveness of the treatment.

Trials are currently under way to test this hypothesis formally, but there are good grounds for optimism. Patients with hypertension benefit if they are allowed to adopt an active rather than a passive role in treatment, 2 3 patients with breast cancer suffer less depression and anxiety if they are treated by doctors who adopt a participative consultation style,4 and patients who are more actively involved in discussions about the management of their diabetes achieve better blood sugar control.5 Patients whose doctors are ignorant of their values and preferences may receive treatment that is inappropriate to their needs.6–8

Patients cannot express informed preferences unless they are given sufficient and appropriate information, including detailed explanations about their condition and the likely outcomes with and without treatment. Yet many report considerable difficulties in obtaining relevant information.9 There are various reasons for this. Health professionals frequently underestimate patients' desire for and ability to cope with information. Consultation times are limited—there is often insufficient time to explain fully the condition and the treatment choices. Health professionals may themselves lack knowledge of treatment options and their effects. A solution to this problem is to ensure that patients have access to written or audiovisual material, to inform themselves and to use in discussion with health …


We tested the hypothesis that Crohn's disease (CD)-related genetic polymorphisms involved in host innate immunity are associated with shifts in human ileum–associated microbial composition in a cross-sectional analysis of human ileal samples. Sanger sequencing of the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene and 454 sequencing of 16S rRNA gene hypervariable regions (V1–V3 and V3–V5), were conducted on macroscopically disease-unaffected ileal biopsies collected from 52 ileal CD, 58 ulcerative colitis and 60 control patients without inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) undergoing initial surgical resection. These subjects also were genotyped for the three major NOD2 risk alleles (Leu1007fs, R708W, G908R) and the ATG16L1 risk allele (T300A). The samples were linked to clinical metadata, including body mass index, smoking status and Clostridia difficile infection. The sequences were classified into seven phyla/subphyla categories using the Naïve Bayesian Classifier of the Ribosome Database Project. Centered log ratio transformation of six predominant categories was included as the dependent variable in the permutation based MANCOVA for the overall composition with stepwise variable selection. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays were conducted to measure the relative frequencies of the Clostridium coccoides – Eubacterium rectales group and the Faecalibacterium prausnitzii spp. Empiric logit transformations of the relative frequencies of these two microbial groups were included in permutation-based ANCOVA. Regardless of sequencing method, IBD phenotype, Clostridia difficile and NOD2 genotype were selected as associated (FDR ≤0.05) with shifts in overall microbial composition. IBD phenotype and NOD2 genotype were also selected as associated with shifts in the relative frequency of the C. coccoides – E. rectales group. IBD phenotype, smoking and IBD medications were selected as associated with shifts in the relative frequency of F. prausnitzii spp. These results indicate that the effects of genetic and environmental factors on IBD are mediated at least in part by the enteric microbiota.


First and foremost a social and legal reformer, Bentham undertook philosophical reflection on language—its nature, use and abuse—in an effort to understand and improve the world. His intellectual energy was trained primarily on law and political ordering, but he looked to every mode of inquiry ("science") available for analytic and normative tools with which to "rear the fabric of felicity." The most important of his theoretical innovations, in his view, was his theory of meaning, the heart of which was his analysis of language in terms of "real" and "fictitious" entities. This theory mapped the relations between the domain of thought and physical reality and devised a method of analysis—definition by "paraphrasis"—that enabled systematic ordering of thought. Late in his life, Bentham set out the metaphysical and epistemological foundations of his life's work, articulating and grounding the philosophical principles that had governed his thinking from the beginning of his career. Reflecting on language and its relation to thought and reality, he produced sophisticated theories of meaning and of the technology of thought—the techniques and principles by which the active mind populates and orders the domain of thought. With this technology, Bentham sought to discipline potentially wayward language and thereby to deprive arbitrary power of one of its favorite weapons.


Objective: Prostatic diseases are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. The need is to detect the disease early in its natural history and manage it aggressively. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is not very sensitive, thus other indices are being employed. Argyrophillic nucleolar organizer region (AgNOR) count is the proliferative index marker used in our study. Our main objective was to evaluate the role of AgNOR in prostatic lesions and to find a correlation between serum PSA and AgNOR counts. Patients and Methods: We evaluated 60 patients of prostate diseases over a year. The patients were classified as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), prostatitis, or prostatic adenocarcinoma (Ca). Patients with suspicious areas or foci of prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) on histology were subjected to a slide review. All slides were H&E and AgNOR stained. Results: The difference between the mean AgNOR counts of BPH and prostatitis was significant, as between BPH and PIN (p < 0.001). The difference between low- and high-grade PIN was also significant.Ca prostate showed a significant increase in AgNOR counts from benign diseases; and also between localized and metastatic carcinoma (p < 0.001). On finding a correlation between serum PSA values and AgNOR counts, they were significant for benign and carcinoma cases (p < 0.001), though not for PIN. Conclusions: Our study depicts the usefulness of AgNOR counts in the diagnosis of various prostatic diseases including the pre malignant PIN. The relation between serum PSA and AgNOR was highly significant for BPH and Ca prostate. Hence, AgNOR is an efficient adjunct to our diagnostic armamentarium leading to improved prognostication and management.


Record linkage is the process of matching records from several databases that refer to the same entities. When applied on a single database, this process is known as deduplication. Increasingly, matched data are becoming important in many application areas, because they can contain information that is not available otherwise, or that is too costly to acquire. Removing duplicate records in a single database is a crucial step in the data cleaning process, because duplicates can severely influence the outcomes of any subsequent data processing or data mining. With the increasing size of today's databases, the complexity of the matching process becomes one of the major challenges for record linkage and deduplication. In recent years, various indexing techniques have been developed for record linkage and deduplication. They are aimed at reducing the number of record pairs to be compared in the matching process by removing obvious nonmatching pairs, while at the same time maintaining high matching quality. This paper presents a survey of 12 variations of 6 indexing techniques. Their complexity is analyzed, and their performance and scalability is evaluated within an experimental framework using both synthetic and real data sets. No such detailed survey has so far been published.


People who commit a crime and are brought before a court to be sentenced expect to face a prison term or at least probation, and perhaps a fine. They may expect to experience a degree of social opprobrium, the so-called "stigma of conviction." They surely understand that having a criminal record is not career-enhancing. But they also probably think that at some point they will be able to pay their debt to society and return to its good graces. They are reinforced in their belief in the possibility of redemption by periodic reminders from our elected leaders: President George W. Bush called America "the land of second chance," and President Obama famously called to congratulate the Philadelphia Eagles for letting Michael Vick walk directly from prison back into the team's starting lineup. But the reality for people of ordinary abilities is very different. For them, the so-called "collateral" consequences of conviction are numerous, severe, and very hard to mitigate. Moreover, because conviction-based dis-qualifications are generally imposed by statute or regulation rather than by a judge in open court, criminal defendants usually have no idea what is in store for them. While conventionally labeled as "civil," collateral consequences are increasingly understood and experienced as criminal punishment, and never-ending punishment at that. In Padilla v. Kentucky, the Supreme Court suggested that these disproportionate, rigid, and largely secret penalties have constitutional limits. At one level, Padilla is about a lawyer's duty to warn a client considering a guilty plea about the likelihood of deportation. At another, Padilla sends a shot across the bow of a justice system whose effects are increasingly felt in contexts over which courts have no control. Padilla gives new force to an argument that criminal offenders are entitled to a chance at forgiveness.


The medium energy ion scattering (MEIS) facility at the IIAA Huddersfield has been used
for the analysis of a monolayer of Au-silica core-shell nanoparticles deposited on Si substrate.
Both spherical and rod shape particles were investigated and the spectra produced by 100 keV He+
ions scattered through angles of 90o and 125o were compared with the results of RBS-MAST [1]
simulations performed on artificial 3D model cells containing the nanoparticles. The thickness of
the silica shell, the diameter of the Au spheres, and the diameter and length of the Au nano-rods
were determined from best fits of the measured set of MEIS spectra.
In addition, the effect of ion irradiation on the silica shell and gold core was monitored by
MEIS measurements in conjunction with RBS-MAST simulations. Ion bombardment was
performed under largely different conditions, i.e., by 30 keV Ar+, 150 keV Fe+, or 2.8 MeV N+
ions in the dose range of 2×1015 - 2×1016 cm-2. Significant changes in the particle geometry can be
observed due to ion beam-induced sputtering and recoil effects, the significance of which was
estimated from full-cascade SRIM simulations.
Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), Field emission scanning electron microscopy
(FESEM), and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) techniques have been applied as complementary
characterization tools to monitor the amount of gold and surface morphology on the un-irradiated
and irradiated sample areas. We show that MEIS can yield spatial information on the geometrical
changes of particulate systems at the nanometre scale.


This study examines structures and challenges in the Finnish well-being sector from the innovation activity perspective. Firstly, it compares the quality and productivity based on international statistics and research reports, and R&D&I activities in the well-being sector. It investigates also shortly co-operation and interplay between public and private actors,a nd the role of ICT for improving sectors productivity. In the end, the study explores well-being and quality of labour markets, and innovation activities in Finland.


Introduction: Over the last 20 years, nearly 40,000 general aviation (GA) aircraft were involved in accidents, roughly 20% of which were fatal. To address this safety concern, scientists have often relied on accident data. Because of the rare nature of accidents, commercial aviation incident and near miss data may prove to be useful sources of safety information. In one such study, the National Transportation Safety Board interviewed GA pilots that were flying near a weather-related accident in pursuit of a different perspective than that of the accident pilot. Interviewing GA pilots about their own weather-related event may provide similar benefits. Method: To understand factors leading GA pilots to encounter adverse weather conditions, pilots involved in an adverse weather encounter were interviewed using a one-hour structured interview. The interview was developed using surveys utilized by National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In total, 27 pilots who experienced an adverse weather encounter were interviewed, of which 25 were included in the final analysis. Results: Previous studies conducted by the FAA and others found many GA accidents involving flight into adverse weather were categorized as a willful disregard for the rules and regulations of safety; violations as defined by the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System. Contrary to what the accident record seems to suggest, flight into adverse weather may also be influenced by the lack of appreciation/understanding of the hazards associated with adverse weather. Perhaps some encounters with adverse weather were motivated by outside influences or exacerbated by some manner of mechanical failure that may have led to the willful acceptance of unnecessary hazards. Conclusions: These data suggest that current beliefs surrounding flight into adverse weather by GA pilots may be incomplete. The data presented here suggest that additional effort should be placed in training, both ab initio and recurrent. Emphasis should be placed on ensuring a full understanding of the adverse impact of weather, including the recognition of instrument meteorological conditions, icing, convective events, etc. Likewise, with the proliferation of commercial weather products and on-board weather equipment, it may be time to move toward some form of standard weather package that all pilots would review before flying.


OBJECTIVES: Infants who develop encephalopathy after perinatal asphyxia have an increased risk of death and adverse neurologic outcome. Conflicting results exist concerning outcome in healthy infants with metabolic acidosis at birth. The aim of the current study was to evaluate whether metabolic acidosis at birth in term infants who appear healthy is associated with long-term developmental abnormalities. METHODS: From a population-based cohort (14 687 deliveries), 78 infants were prospectively identified as having metabolic acidosis (umbilical artery pH < 7.05 and base deficit in the extracellular fluid >12.0 mmol/L). Two matched controls per case were selected. The child health and school health care records were scrutinized for developmental abnormalities. RESULTS: Outcome measures at 6.5 years of age for 227 of 234 children (97%) were obtained. No differences were found concerning neurologic or behavioral problems in need of referral action or neurodevelopmental diagnosis in comparison of control children with acidotic children who had appeared healthy at birth, ie, had not required special neonatal care or had no signs of encephalopathy. CONCLUSIONS: Infants born with cord metabolic acidosis and who appear well do not have an increased risk for neurologic or behavioral problems in need of referral actions or special teaching approaches at the age of 6.5 years.


This paper present a new air traffic complexity metric based on non-linear dynamical systems. The goal of this metric is to identify any trajectory organisation in the traffic pattern in order to quantify the associated control difficulty. Many others works have proposed metrics in the past, but they usually identify one feature of the complexity and were not able to address any pattern organization. A full vector field can be summarized by the equation of a dynamical system which describe and control the evolution of a given state vector ( ~ X = [x, y, z] ). The key idea of our work is to find a dynamical system which modelizes a vector field as close as posible to the observations given by the aircraft positions (and speeds). Two approaches are then presented. The first one is based on a linear dynamical system and produce an aggregate complexity metric. The second one, which is the main part of this paper, uses a non-linear dynamical system modeling which fits the observations without error. Such a modeling enable to identify high (low) complexity areas on a map and addresses trajectory segments instead of vector field which is more relevant for the air traffic management application (the air controller sees speed vectors on his screen but works on trajectory segments in his mind in order to produce resulution scenario (past and future)). A collocation techniques has been used to speed up the computation of the associated complexity metric in order to address large areas with many aircraft. Such a metric is very adapted to compare different traffic situations for any scale (sector or country).


ABSTRACT Veterans with mental health problems are a high-risk group for substance misuse difficulties and are over-represented in forensic settings. Yet, there are few substance misuse services available for this population. Evidence suggests that case management can provide effective interventions for veterans with substance misuse problems. However, there is little research to show its effectiveness in the UK. The present study reported on the implementation and preliminary outcomes of the Veterans Forensic Substance Misuses Service (VFSMS), piloted within a prison setting, to demonstrate the feasibility of the service. The VFSMS operated in four stages: Assessing needs, developing case management plans, providing bespoke support and developing discharge plans. Case studies were used to demonstrate this process, with measures of alcohol use and recovery showing outcomes for each case. Findings from three case studies suggested that case management was a feasible approach, with a range of interventions being used, including substance misuse and mental health services, plus housing and employment services. Outcome measures suggested that alcohol and substance misuse recovery improved following the VFSMS intervention. While the scope of the findings is limited, they suggested that case management is a feasible substance misuse intervention, with preliminary findings showing improvements in substance misuse outcomes.


Citrus is the most important fruit crop in Brazil and Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) is considered one of the most important pathogens of citrus. Most citrus species and varieties are susceptible to CTV infection. However, Poncirus trifoliata, a close relative of citrus, is resistant to the virus. In order to better understand the responses of citrus plants to the infection of CTV, we constructed expressed sequence tag (EST) libraries with tissues collected from Poncirus trifoliata plants, inoculated or not with Citrus tristeza virus at 90 days after inoculation, grafted on Rangpur lime rootstocks. We generated 17,867 sequence tags from Poncirus trifoliata inoculated (8,926 reads) and not (8,941 reads) with a severe CTV isolate. A total of 2,782 TCs (Tentative Consensi sequences) were obtained using both cDNA libraries in a single clusterization procedure. By the in silico hybridization approach, 289 TCs were identified as differentially expressed in the two libraries. A total of 121 TCs were found to be overexpressed in plants infected with CTV and were grouped in 12 primary functional categories. The majority of them were associated with metabolism and defense response. Some others were related to lignin, ethylene biosynthesis and PR proteins. In general, the differentially expressed transcripts seem to be somehow involved in secondary plant response to CTV infection.


One of the fundamental puzzles language learners must solve is the mapping of a string of words onto a particular (correct) syntactic structure. In this article, I examine the problem of how learners should resolve the ambiguity presented by a string that could have either a raising or a control structure. I provide both logical and empirical arguments against the view that children should be biased to assume that such a string has a control structure. Instead, I propose two families of cues, based on a psycholinguistic experiment with adults, which can be used in a probabilistic manner to parse an ambiguous string and to categorize raising and control verbs.


Background Early life adversities may play a role in the associations observed between neighbourhood contextual factors and health behaviours. Methods We examined whether self-reported adverse experiences in childhood (parental divorce, long-term financial difficulties, serious conflicts, serious/chronic illness or alcohol problem in the family, and frequent fear of a family member) explain the association between adulthood neighbourhood disadvantage and co-occurrence of behavioural risk factors (smoking, moderate/heavy alcohol use, physical inactivity). Study population consisted of 31 271 public sector employees from Finland. The cross-sectional associations were analysed using two-level cumulative logistic regression models. Results Childhood adverse experiences were associated with the sum of risk factors (cumulative OR 1.32 (95% CI 1.25 to 1.40) among those reporting 3–6 vs 0 adversities). Adverse experiences did not attenuate the association between neighbourhood disadvantage and risk factors; this cumulative OR was 1.52 (95% CI 1.43 to 1.62) in the highest versus lowest quartile of neighbourhood disadvantage when not including adversities, and 1.50 (95% CI 1.40 to 1.60) when adjusted for childhood adversities. In adversity-stratified analyses those reporting 3–6 adversities had 1.60-fold (95% CI 1.42 to 1.80) likelihood of risk factors if living in the neighbourhood of the highest disadvantage, while in those with fewer adversities this likelihood was 1.09–1.34-fold (95% CI 0.98 to 1.53) (p interaction 0.07). Conclusions Childhood adverse experiences and adulthood neighbourhood disadvantage were associated with behavioural risk factors. Childhood experiences did not explain associations between neighbourhood disadvantage and the risk factors. However, those with more adverse experiences may be susceptible for the socioeconomic conditions of neighbourhoods.


The practice of offering payment to individuals in exchange for their participation in clinical research is widespread and longstanding. Nevertheless, such payment remains the source of substantial debate, in particular about whether or the extent to which offers of payment coerce and/or unduly induce individuals to participate. Yet, the various laws, regulations, and ethical guidelines that govern the conduct of human subjects research offer relatively little in the way of specific guidance regarding what makes a payment offer ethically acceptable-or not. Moreover, there is a lack of definitional agreement regarding what the terms coercion and undue inducement mean in the human subjects research context. It is, therefore, unsurprising that investigators and Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) experience confusion about how to evaluate offers of payment, and lean toward conservative approaches. These trends are exemplified by our pilot data regarding the ways in which some IRB members and investigators (mis)understand the concepts of coercion and undue inducement, as well as the ways in which certain research institutions oversee offers of payment at a local level. This article systematically examines the legal and ethical dimensions of offering payment to research participants. It argues that many concerns about offers of payment to research participants can be attributed to the misguided view that such offers ought to be treated differently than offers of payment in other contexts, a form of "research exceptionalism." We show that rejection of research exceptionalism with respect to payment helps settle open debates about both how best to define coercion and undue influence, and how to understand the relation between these concepts and offers of payment. We argue for adoption of our preferred definitions, ideally by regulatory authorities, and against the conventional conservatism toward payment of research participants. Instead, we draw attention to the rarely asked, even radical, question: are research participants paid enough? We conclude by arguing that we ought to change the default to favor, rather than encourage suspicion of, offers of payment to research participants.


Mucosal sites are continuously exposed to pathogenic microorganisms and are therefore equipped to control respiratory infections. Type 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3) are key players in antimicrobial defense in intestinal mucosa, through interleukin 17 and interleukin 22 (IL-22) production. The present study aimed at analyzing the distribution and function of ILC3 in the respiratory tract. We first observed that lung mucosa harbors a discrete population of ILC3 expressing CD127, CD90, CCR6, and the transcriptional factor RORγt. In addition, lung ILC3 were identified as a major source of IL-22 in response to interleukin 23 stimulation. During Streptococcus pneumoniae infection, ILC3 rapidly accumulated in the lung tissue to produce IL-22. In response to S. pneumoniae, dendritic cells and MyD88, an important adaptor of innate immunity, play critical functions in IL-22 production by ILC3. Finally, administration of the Toll-like receptor 5 agonist flagellin during S. pneumoniae challenge exacerbated IL-22 production by ILC3, a process that protects against lethal infection. In conclusion, boosting lung ILC3 might represent an interesting strategy to fight respiratory bacterial infections.


Catastrophic collapse of steep volcano flanks threatens lives at stratovolcanoes around the world. Although destabilizing shallow intrusion of magma into the edifice accompanies some collapses (e.g., Mount St. Helens), others have occurred without eruption of juvenile magmatic materials (e.g., Bandai). These latter collapses can be difficult to anticipate. Historic collapses without magmatic eruption are associated with shallow hydrothermal groundwater systems at the time of collapse. Through the use of numerical models of heat and groundwater flow, I evaluate the efficacy of hydrothermally driven collapse. Heating from remote magma intrusion at depth can generate temporarily elevated pore-fluid pressures that propagate upward into an edifice. Effective-stress deformation modeling shows that these pressures are capable of destabilizing the core of an edifice, resulting in massive, deep-seated collapse. Far-field pressurization only occurs with specific rock hydraulic properties; however, data from numerous hydrothermal systems illustrate that this process can transpire in realistic settings.


Dimensionality reduction is considered as an important step for ensuring competitive performance in unsupervised learning such as anomaly detection. Non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) is a widely used method to accomplish this goal. But NMF do not have the provision to include the neighborhood structure information and, as a result, may fail to provide satisfactory performance in presence of nonlinear manifold structure. To address this shortcoming, we propose to consider the neighborhood structural similarity information within the NMF framework and do so by modeling the data through a minimum spanning tree. We label the resulting method as the neighborhood structure-assisted NMF. We further develop both offline and online algorithms for implementing the proposed method. Empirical comparisons using twenty benchmark data sets as well as an industrial data set extracted from a hydropower plant demonstrate the superiority of the neighborhood structure-assisted NMF. Looking closer into the formulation and properties of the proposed NMF method and comparing it with several NMF variants reveal that inclusion of the MSTbased neighborhood structure plays a key role in attaining the enhanced performance in anomaly detection.


Recognition rates of speech recognition systems are known to degrade substantially when there is a mismatch between training and deployment environments. One approach to tackling this problem is to transform the acoustic models based on the channel distortion and noise characteristics of the new environment. Currently, most model adaptation strategies assume that the noise characteristics are stationary. We present results for using multiple noise distributions for the Whisper large vocabulary speech recognition system. The vector Taylor series method for adaptation of the distributions is used, and either a weighted average of the noise states or the locally best noise states is used. Our results indicate that for certain types of noise, significant gains in recognition accuracy can be achieved.


A federal judge recently held that Apple violated antitrust law by conspiring with leading publishers to raise e-book prices. While the Justice Department characterized the case as routine, many commenters argued it should not have been brought. In their view, the real villain was Amazon, whose power and aggressive behavior threatened to create a monopoly, reduce consumer choice, and diminish the vitality of book publishing. In the face of such a powerful customer, the publishers should have been allowed to collude. This article addresses that issue, in the e-books case and in general. In the e-books case, collusion was almost certainly unwarranted. Amazon appeared to be engaged in loss leading, not predatory pricing, and fears of an eventual Amazon monopoly were largely unfounded. Amazon's buyer power, moreover, was not monopsony power, which is frequently harmful, but countervailing power, which can lead to lower consumer prices. There was no evidence it had caused a reduction in the variety of new books.In some circumstances, however, collusion to control a powerful customer would be justified. This article identifies the most important situations and develops a defense to the per se rule to protect them. While the defense would rarely be satisfied, when it is, it would provide a remedy for anticompetitive buyer power that would otherwise persist.


Abstract The authors analyse 149 newly compiled monthly time series on financial market stress conditions in the euro area. With the aid of a factor model they find different sources of financial stress that are important for selecting and preparing the appropriate policy response. The existence of a "Periphery Banking Crisis" factor, a "Stress" factor and a "Yield Curve" factor seems to explain the bulk of volatility in recent euro area financial sector data. Moreover, by a real-time forecasting exercise, the authors show that including additional factors—that reflect financial sector conditions—improves forecasts of economic activity at short horizons.


People around the world are meeting in places that consist of little more than a touch of some hardware, a dash of electricity, and a pinch of code. As the Internet becomes increasingly incorporated into our lives the subject of online identity becomes increasingly relevant. How are we to conceive of ourselves as selves on the Internet? Is there anything unique or special about the way in which we relate to ourselves in cyberspace? Sherry Turkle answers this question affirmatively, arguing that the Internet is suggestive of a decentered theory of self which ought to make us reconsider our very notion of our identities. In chapter one, Turkle's position is examined, and I argue that while her encompassing view on online identity presents some incredible insights, in the end it falls short because her argument draws a false conclusion. In chapter two, Christine Korsgaard's theory of practical identity is taken up as a means of addressing the weakness in Turkle's theory and, at the same time, salvages the insights revealed in the first chapter. With a theory of unified online identity established, in chapter three it is applied to both show its applicability to case studies and scenarios one may face as they traverse cyberspace, and to explain how it is we can understand our relation to our online selves in a deep sense.


Wavelet analysis of vibration signals measured by sensors placed on dynamically excited linear structures has proved to be an effective tool for detection and localization of structural damage. Recently, it has been shown that the relative wavelet entropy (RWE) computed from signal energy-preserving wavelet coefficients of vibration signals from "healthy" (reference) and from "damage" structural states is a potent tool for structural damage assessment applications. Herein, the influence of the frequency domain (FD) properties of the adopted analysis wavelet basis on the efficiency and robustness of the RWE for structural damage localization is assessed. To this aim, simulated benchmark free vibration signals from different locations of a simply supported beam "damaged" at various different positions are discrete wavelet transformed by three different analyzing wavelet bases: Daubechies wavelets (non-compactly supported in the FD), Meyer wavelets (compactly supported in the FD with overlapping frequency bands among wavelet scales), and harmonic wavelets (compactly supported in the FD with non-overlapping frequency bands among wavelet scales) are utilized. A wavelet scale dependent RWE-related index plotted against the frequency axis along the length of the beam is utilized to compare the effectiveness of the wavelet bases considered for damage position inference. The reported numerical data demonstrate that compactness in the FD and frequency selectivity among wavelet scales offered by Meyer and harmonic wavelet bases enhances the damage localization potential of the RWE compared to the commonly considered in the literature Daubechies wavelet bases. Furthermore, it is shown that non-constant Q analysis readily achieved with harmonic wavelets is advantageous over the standard discrete wavelet transform constant Q analysis, Q being the ratio of central frequency over bandwidth at each wavelet scale, to discriminate RWE contributions at high frequencies. It is concluded that judicial construction of wavelet analysis bases or, equivalently, of discrete wavelet analysis filter banks, in the FD is an important aspect for effective damage localization of linear vibrating structures based on the concept of the RWE.


Transmedia is a powerful mode of mediated storytelling. Resembling the mythic imaginaries of Jewish mysticism and Christian Gnosticism, transmedia encourages fans to perform their desire for wholeness and ultimate reality. The Hunger Games franchise does religious work of shaping desire for wholeness through fan culture by promising fans they can overcome fragmentation and experience reintegration. Cultural analyses of transmedia franchises have yet to look at the mythic pattern of fragmentation, negotiation, and reunification of self through transmedia and fan-based activities. What makes The Hunger Games distinctive is how it functions as a transmediated world and also exposes the necessity of negotiation with media to recognize the difference between artifice and reality. I conclude that The Hunger Games eschews both the singular reality of modernity and the fluid realities of postmodernity, instead advocating for a persistently critical perspective of all kinds of constructed worlds and all realities.


Growth hormone (GH) is a homeorhetic hormone that coordinates diverse physiological processes to partition nutrients toward lean tissue accretion and milk production, and to inhibit utilization of nutrients by adipose tissue, especially during periods of energy deficiency. Due to age-related declines in GH, GH is negatively correlated with overall growth rate and lipid accretion but positively associated with protein accretion. Circulating GH influences peripheral tissues directly or indirectly and is primarily mediated via an insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I. Similar to GH, age and nutrition influence IGF-I secretion. In general, IGF-I is positively associated with growth rate and accretion of protein. Since purified pinniped or cetacean GH and IGF-I are not available, heterologous assay techniques must be employed to quantify concentrations of these hormones. Critical to the reliability of heterologous assays are the proper execution of validations to demonstrate the accuracy and precision of the assay for each new species of interest. In this study, we developed and validated heterologous radioimmunoassays for seven marine mammal species using porcine and human antisera for GH and IGF-I quantification, respectively. Sensitivity, recovery of mass, assay precision, parallelism, and dilution linearity were determined for each assay and species. Both assays exhibited excellent parallelism and linearity. Appropriate concentrations of hormone were quantified throughout the range of the standard curve. Importantly, using these assays, we have demonstrated that serum concentrations of GH and IGF-I change with age and nutrient intake in these species. Validation of these assays allows evaluation of metabolic hormones that may provide unique perspectives on physiological regulation of differential growth and nutrient allocation for diverse marine mammal species.


Poly- and perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) are used in paper and board food contact materials (FCMs) and they have been found to be highly persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic. The purpose of the Nordic workshop and of this report is to:* create an overview of the use of PFAS in FCMs of paper and board and of the toxicity and migration into food of the various substances* provide an overview of whether appropriate risk assessments for fluorinated substances exist as a basis for specific regulations or recommendations* provide an overview of whether analytical methods suitable for analysing and regulating the substances are available* discuss the possibility and structure of national regulations or Nordic recommendations for PFAS in FCMs of paper and board. Risk management to reduce the total content of organically bound fluorine in paper and board FCMs is supported.


GRB observations with Swift produced the initially surprising result that many bursts have large, late-time X-ray flares. The flares were sometimes intense, had rapid rise and decay phases, and occurred late relative to the prompt phase. Many GRBs have had several flares, which were sometimes overlapping. The origin of the flares can be investigated by comparing the spectra during the flares to those of the afterglow and the initial prompt emission. In this work we have analyzed all significant X-ray flares from the first 110 GRBs observed by Swift. Significant X-ray flares (>3 σ ) were found in 33 of these GRBs, with 77 flares detected. A variety of spectral models have been fit to each flare. We find that the spectral fits sometimes favor a Band function model, which is more akin to the prompt emission than to that of the afterglow. While some flares are approximately as energetic as the prompt GRB emission, we find that the average fluence of the flares is approximately 10 times below the average prompt GRB fluence. We also find that the peak energy of the observed flares is typically in the soft X-ray band, as one might expect due to the X-ray selection of the sample. These results, when combined with those presented in the companion paper on temporal properties of flares, support the hypothesis that many X-ray flares are from late-time activity of the internal engine that spawned the initial GRB, not from an afterglow-related effect.


A tensional stress regime has governed the tectonic evolution of most of the African continent. The long history of crustal extension is documented by the widespread occurrence of continued intraplate rifting and volcanism since Triassic times and by the large-scale plate movements following the break-up of Pangaea. A remarkable result of the present investigation is the recognition that the extension displays a continent-wide and plate-wide radial pattern, centred in equatorial Africa near 10°E/0°N, the African Centre A. The radial pattern is evident from the diverging block movements, documented by the intra-continental rifting in Africa, by the break-up of Pangaea and the subsequent, diverging drift of North America and the Gondwana fragments away from Africa, entailing a radial growth of the African plate. All these phenomena are manifestations of what may be referred to as the 'African lithospheric divergence'. The African plate is surrounded, to 85%, by active oceanic ridges. Ridge-push forces exerted on the African plate have to be balanced by some other forces in order to explain the tensional stress regime which, even at present, dominates large parts of the African continent . Shear traction exerted by the convecting asthenosphere on the base of the African lithosphere offers an explanation for the observed phenomena. It is proposed that relatively warm and less dense mantle material rises from the deep mantle below the African plate. In the upper mantle and at the base of the African lithosphere, the ascending material diverges and flows radially away from the centre of ascent. Upper mantle flow below the sea-floor spreading axes is unidirectional and horizontal and is directed away from the African centre A. It is proposed that the ascending flow beneath Africa forms part of a very large, bicellular circulation system in the Earth's mantle. The origin of geotectonic cycles is probably interrelated with the onset, build-up, main phase and decay of such large-scale convection systems.


Background. Although memory deficits are consistently reported in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, the mechanisms underlying these impairments are poorly understood. Clarifying the nature and degree of overlap in memory deficits between the two illnesses could help to distinguish brain systems disrupted in these illnesses, and indicate cognitive remediation strategies to improve patient outcomes. Method. We examined performance on a non-verbal memory task in clinically stable out-patients with bipolar disorder (n=40), schizophrenia (n=40), and healthy comparison subjects (n=40). This task includes conditions in which distinct mnemonic strategies – namely, using context to organize familiar stimuli or using holistic representation of novel stimuli – facilitate performance. Result. When compared to a reference condition, bipolar patients had deficits consistent with organizational dysfunction and poor detection of novel information. Although patients with schizophrenia performed worse than the other groups, they were only differentially impaired when organizational demands were significant. Task performance was not correlated with severity of clinical symptomatology. Conclusions. This pattern of distinct memory impairments implies disturbances in partially overlapping neural systems in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Evidence of impairment in detection of novel stimuli that is unique to bipolar disorder suggests that, while the absolute level of cognitive dysfunction is less severe in bipolar disorder as compared to schizophrenia, subtle disruptions in memory are present. These findings can be used to plan targeted cognitive remediation programs by helping patients to capitalize on intact functions and to learn new strategies that they do not employ without training.


Biological membranes protect cells and organelles from the surrounding environment, but serve also as organising platforms for physiological processes such as cell signalling. The hydrophobic core of membranes is composed of lipids and proteins influencing each other. Local membrane composition and properties define its molecular organisation and, in this way, regulate the function of all associated molecules. Therefore, studying interactions of components, biophysical properties and overall membrane dynamics provides essential information on its function in the context of cell activities. Such knowledge can contribute to biomedical fields such as pharmacology, immunology, neurobiology and many others. The goal of the Research Topic entitled 'Molecular organisation of membranes: where biology meets biophysics' was to provide a comprehensive platform for publishing articles, reviews and opinions focused on membrane organisation and the forces behind its heterogeneous and dynamic structure. We collected 11 works which cover topics as diverse as general membrane organisation models, membrane trafficking and signalling regulation, biogenesis of caveolae, protein-lipid interactions and the importance of membrane-associated tetraspanins networks. The prevalent theme was the existence of membrane nanodomains. To this point, new emerging technologies are presented which own the power to bring a novel insight on how membrane nanodomains are formed and maintained and what is their function. We believe that the collection of works in this Research Topic brings forward some important questions which will stimulate further research in this difficult but exciting field.


PURPOSE
Tethered cord syndrome (TCS) is an occult spinal dysraphism that includes low lying conus, tight filum terminale, lipomeningomyelocele, split cord malformations, dermal sinus tracts, and dermoids. This congenital disorder has been associated with musculoskeletal, neurological, and gastrointestinal abnormalities. This study presents a retrospective review of the prospectively collected data of TCS patients and their concurrent diagnoses or associated anomalies.

METHODS
The National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database from 2003 to 2012 was used for data collection. Hospital- and year-adjusted weights allowed for accurate assessment of the incidence of TCS, as well as cardiac and gastrointestinal (GI) and genitourinary (GU) anomalies. K-means clustering analysis was run to discover patterns of concurrent cardiac, GI, GU, and other system anomalies in TCS patients.

RESULTS
A total of 13,470 discharges with a diagnosis of TCS were identified in the NIS database, and at least one additional anomaly was identified in 40.7% of TCS patients. The most common secondary anomalies by system were: spine (24.48%), cardiac (6.27%), and urinary (5.37%). For patients with multiple anomalies, the most common combinations were GI and cardiac (4.55%), urinary and GI (4.26%), and urinary and cardiac (4.19%). The most common spinal association was spina bifida (13.65%). The most common neurological or musculoskeletal anomaly was any VACTERL association (13.45%). The top relation in GI and GU anomalies was cervix and female genitalia anomalies (69.1%). The most common specific anomalies were spina bifida, large intestine atresia, Rubenstein-Taybi syndrome, and atrial and ventral septal defects.

CONCLUSION
This study provides a nationwide prospective on congenital anomalies and concurrent conditions present in tethered cord syndrome patients in the United States and demonstrates that 40.7% of TCS patients have at least one associated anomaly. The most common congenital anomalies studied were spina bifida, urogenital with or without cardiac septal defects, and cystourethral anomaly or cystic kidney disease with or without large intestinal atresia.


Modern legal theory rests on a premise that in revealing a legal concept we are revealing reality. This traditional (Kantian) approach is reflected most acutely in legal positivism. The position of the legal positivist is that of law as constitutive of facts. The fact is our description of relations in the world. We should see immediately that in understanding the fact we should understand how this fact is presented to us. To comprehend the meaning of a fact we must understand the relation of language and reality. The question concerning the legal fact is the question of origin. It comes in response to the question "Why?" For there to be a legal fact there must already be an issue. It is understanding what is an issue and how we express this issue that is the mark of an "expert." An example of the positivist approach to legal reasoning is Ann Gardner [1987]. Gardner is confronted by Hart's positivism that we verify legal norms through legal language. That is to say, that the descriptions found in legal text are what verify our apperceptions of the legal real. She concludes that hard cases cannot be resolved in expert systems. If we accept Hart's premise then Gardner's conclusions are correct. This paper is to reject the positivist premise. This paper sets out legal language as an artifact of the legal institution. If language is an artifact, we must recognize that language is a product of the social world and not a means of representing the social world. From this, it is apparent that we must go beyond the language of the discourse not only to uncover the basis of legal norms but most especially to uncover a basis for building expert systems. This requires that we move from an epistemological basis for knowledge to an ontology of law. The thesis rests on two premises: first that we cannot represent knowledge in computerized legal databases useful for legal reasoning without a practical rationality, and secondly that modern legal jurisprudence, inter alia legal positivism and legal realism, has been unable to explain contradictions within the doctrinal discourse thus it is unable to provide a practical structure of rationality. We conclude that legal positivism cannot be the basis for expert systems in law. The paper is divided into two sections. The first section sets out a philosophical basis for legal understanding. This thinking will draw heavily on Wittgenstein, Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty. It is to put into perspective the conditions necessary for understanding to exist. We examine the social construction of reality. This will lead to a critique of the current mode of representational thinking iii and the reasoning within institutional practice. In the second section, we will consider the actual computational application of legal knowledge in connection with a "deep structured" approach to legal reasoning. Legal action brings to attention the transparency of human involvement with the world. It is then that we become aware of what we do. Our involvement is an issue. This "shock of recognition" is when meaning is revealed. This enables the Kantian concepts of intentionality and freedom which presuppose our involvement in the world. We will conclude that knowledge representation and expert systems require a sound practical foundation. Positivism proves an inadequate foundation in its attempts to capture the reality of the legal situation. We argue that if an expert system in law is to be of practical value, it must be based on a practical rationality. A theory of actions provides such a coherent basis upon which to develop models of reasoning within computer based systems. iv Table of


American Visionaries is a landmark publication highlighting masterworks in the Whitney Museum's extensive and unparalleled collection of 20th-and 21st- century American art. Organized by artist, the book features over 280 artists and over 390 works in all media. Although each artist has at least one illustration, many are represented by images of several works in different media. Unlike other museum handbooks, this book underscores one of the Whitney's unique characteristics - its philosophy of collecting in-depth, across media boundaries- and distinguishes it from other museum collection books. In addition, each artist has a text of 200-500 words that discusses the artist, career, work, and provides a context for understanding each artist's work within a larger art historical framework. These texts are written by the Whitney's curatorial staff as well as outside writers, experts in the field of 20th century American art. An introductory essay by Maxwell L. Anderson, Director of the Whitney and identifies important moments in the story of 20th century American art as they relate to the Museum. This book is written for a general audience and serves as both a primer and required reading for anyone interested in American art.


In the researcher' s experience as the Training Manager for Abrar Group
International (AGI) in 1995 - 1997. it was observed that AGI and its subsidiaries
experienced a low turn-up trend for training programs. This posed many questions
and assumptions. According to several authors such as Rubenson, Knowles and
Cross, one of the reasons for this is employees' attitude towards training.
However, there are many other possible factors affecting employee turn- up.
The general objective of this study is to determine which organizational
factors are associated with employees' attitude towards training at Abrar Group
International. Specifically, this study is aimed to (l) identify the sociodemography
of employees, (2) determine the attitude towards training among the
employees, (3) determine the organization factors (the environment, job characteristics, supervisory support and the training barriers) with regard to their
attitude on training, (4) determine the relationship of employee attitude towards
training and selected independent variables (the organization factors), and finally
(5) determine the predictor variable among the independent variables with regard
to the respondents' attitude towards training.
To start of the research, a preliminary questionnaire was prepared to
validate and improve the survey instrument. This was fol lowed by a questionnaire
survey research method using the validated and improved instrument. The
instrument was administered on 160 employees from 16 subsidiaries of Abrar
Group International (AGl) including the head office. A total of 144 valid
responses were used for the study.


The reaction mechanism of ceftazidime (CFD) with trypsin (TRP) was investigated using fluorescence spectroscopy and synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy at different temperatures (298, K 303 K and 310 K). The results showed that electrostatic force played a major role on the conjugation reaction between TRP and CFD, and the type of quenching was static quenching. The binding constants obtained using the above methods were of the same order of magnitude and very similar. Static electric forces played a key role in the interaction between CFD and TRP, and the number of binding sites in the interaction was close to 1. The donor-to-acceptor distance r<7 nm indicated that the static fluorescence quenching of TRP by CFD was also a non-radiation energy transfer process. The results of two methods were consistent that showed the synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy could be used to study the reaction mechanism between drug and protein, and was a useful supplement to the conventional fluorescence quenching method.


Accurate localization is a fundamental requirement for a variety of applications, ranging from industrial robot operations to location-powered applications on mobile devices. A key technical challenge in achieving this goal is providing a clean and reliable estimation of location from a variety of low-cost, uncalibrated sesnors. Many current techniques rely on Particle Filter (PF) based algorithms. They have proven successful at effectively fusing various sensors inputs to create meaningful location predictions. In this paper we build upon this large corpous of work. Like prior work, our technique fuses Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) measurements from Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons with map information. A key contribution of our work is a new sensor model for BLE beacons that does not require the mapping from RSSI to distance. We further contribute a novel method of utilizing map information during the initialization of the system and during the resampling phase when new particles are generated. Using our proposed sensor model and map prior information the performance of the overall localization is improved by 1.20 m on comparing the 75th percentile of the cumulative distribution with traditional localization techniques.


This paper deals with the strategies adopted by the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HK-H) mountain communities in response to adverse natural and human induced circumstances. The quality of life and growth options in mountains (including hills) are deeply rooted in mountain specificities (e.g., fragility, marginality, diversity). Hence, the disregard of these mountain specificities while using mountain resources reduces communities' options and makes them more vulnerable to environmental and economic distresses. The paper first introduces the concept of vulnerability and the traditional low-intensity system of resource use. It then deals with the decline of such traditional systems due to the intensification of resource use caused by the integration of the relatively isolated mountain areas into mainstream economies. The paper concludes with a call for introduction of macro level policies to: (i) Minimize the vulnerability potential of globalization and global environmental change and (ii) Enhance local capacities to withstand and adapt to the changes promoted by these global processes. This discussion covers larger part of the present paper.

Himalayan Journal of Sciences 3(5) 2005 p.33-42


Abstract Background and Purpose: Chronic diseases and associated co-morbidities are highly prevalent among elderly and are associated with an increase in health services utilization which in turn raises health care expenditures throughout industrialized societies. However, health care utilization in elderly is still inadequately understood, particularly regarding the differences among European jurisdictions. In our article, we use dataset of Wave 5 of SHARE survey to study the utilization of health care in older Europeans in 15 European countries. Design/Methodology/Approach: We investigate relationships between factors such as age, gender, income, education and health variables and the utilization of various types of health services. We apply regression modeling to study the determinants of health utilization (different socioeconomic and health variables) of older people. Results: We show some significant differences between determinants of health utilization in terms of probability and frequency of usage. We also explore patterns between welfare regimes, taking Eastern European jurisdictions as a reference category. Finally, we show that in a simple causal model the provision of formal and/or informal homecare serves as a complement to utilization of health care services. Conclusion: Results of our article are important for the management of health care facilities in terms of health care usage by older people, and can be of value to health care providers and policy makers in the field.


Robotics is a multidisciplinary and highly innovative field. Recently, multiple and often minimally connected sub-communities of child-robot interaction have started to emerge, variously focusing on the design issues, engineering, and applications of robotic platforms and toolkits. Despite increasing public interest in robots, including robots for children, child-robot interaction research remains highly fragmented and lacks regular cross-disciplinary venues for discussion and dissemination. This workshop will bring together researchers with diverse scientific backgrounds. It will serve as a venue in which to reflect on the current circumstances in which child-robot research is conducted, articulate emerging and "near future" challenges, and discuss actions and tools with which to meet those challenges and consolidate the field.


Entrepreneurial culture is an expression of positive social attitudes towards commerce at a business level. It can be described as one in which a positive social attitude towards personal enterprise is prevalent, enabling and supporting entrepreneurial activity. It is important to inculcate an agri-entrepreneurial work culture in order to strengthen entrepreneurial capability among the farmers which can lead to sustainable growth in the agribusiness sector and in food production as development of entrepreneurial culture. The general objective of the study is to determine the underlying characteristic of successful agri-entrepreneurs among Farmers Organizaton Authority (FOA) members.
Seven hundred and ninety-six (796) farmers who are the members of Farmer Organization and Authority (FOA) were interviewed using a structured questionnaire in order to get the information on their social characteristics and attitudes towards the four states in Northern Region (Perlis, Kedah, Perak dan Pulau Pinang), three states in Eastern Region; (Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang), two states in Southern Region (Johor and Melaka) and two states in Central Region; ( Selangor and Negeri Sembilan). The samples of the study were selected using a purposive sampling technique.
Descriptive analysis, factor analysis and logistic regression were carried out to determine the underlying characteristics of successful agri-entrepreneurs work culture among FO members. The results showed that the majority of the respondents agreed that work culture influenced entrepreneurial behavior in order to be successful as the agri-entrepreneurs. Based on factor analysis, six factors were identified for agri-entrepreneurs to success. These factors are innovative, responsibility and accountability, profit oriented, visionary, work systematic and self confidence.
Logistic analysis revealed six factors that have likelihood in influencing the entrepreneurial work culture. These factors were innovative, visionary, work systematic, high formal education, high education in agriculture and high experience in agriculture. All the findings of the study suggest that efforts should be intensified to encourage agri-entrepreneurs with training to focus not only on modern technologies but also on fundamental changes in attitude towards farming as an agribusiness.


Research Purpose: Electronic books (e-books) have been predicted to have strong impact in higher education. But the adoption rate of e-books adoption in higher education has been slower than anticipated. A study of the perceptions of the perceptions towards e-books among students and instructors in higher education as well as the factors driving those perceptions might provide insights into the slow adoption rate.
Research Questions: 1. What are the perceptions of College (CEGEP) and university students and instructors towards e-books? 2. How do respondents' perceptions towards e-books differ demographically? 3. How do students and instructors' perceptions differ among different types of reading materials (general news, professional information, scholarly information)? 4. Which characteristics drive students' and instructor's perceptions towards e-books? 5. Are participants aware of the terms and conditions of ownership of e-books?
Literature review: The Technology Acceptance Model, which explains users' decisions to adopt new technology, underlies this study. Technically, e-books refers to the hardware on which people read digital materials, the software that presents the material on-screen, and the content that users actually read. Development of e-books was first proposed in 1945, with the first successful commercial e-book hardware appearing in 2007. Previous studies of users' perceptions of e-books have been mixed; some suggest users like them while others have found resistance. Perceptions vary among different demographic groups such as male and female groups, students and instructors groups, and younger and elderly groups. Specific factors that generate favorable impressions of e-books include their low cost, convenience (store many books on a single, portable, lightweight device) and special features, like searching and annotating functions. Specific factors that hinder interest include compatibility issues (books bought for one device cannot be used on others), technical glitches, and quality of reading (which is lower in online situations).
Methodology: Online survey distributed to 869 participants distributed to students and faculty at one college and one university in Canada providing descriptive and inferential data. Statistical analyses such as t-test, one-way ANOVA and correlation are implied.
Results: Participants generally have positive attitudes towards e-books, but males, and those with higher levels of education and previous experience with e-books tend to have more positive attitudes. But participants' still see printed materials as more credible than e-books and online scholarly and professional publication. In addition, participants who were less likely to take notes when reading and who had fewer concerns about plagiarism had higher perceptions of e-books. Participants also lack awareness of the terms and conditions of ownership of e-textbooks.
Implications: This study provides instructors, librarians, and book publishers more detailed knowledge about the factors that could influence adoption of e-books in higher education. It also demonstrates that the Technology Acceptance Model is a useful framework for exploring the adoption of this technology.


Research on organic electronics (or plastic electronics) is driven by the need to create systems that are lightweight, unbreakable, and mechanically flexible. With the remarkable improvement in the performance of organic semiconductor materials during the past few decades, organic electronics appeal to innovative, practical, and broad-impact applications requiring large-area coverage, mechanical flexibility, low-temperature processing, and low cost. Thus, organic electronics appeal to a broad range of electronic devices and products including transistors, diodes, sensors, solar cells, lighting, displays, and electronic identification and tracking devices A number of commercial opportunities have been identified for organic thin film transistors (OTFTs), ranging from flexible displays, electronic paper, radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, smart cards, to low-cost disposable electronic products, and more are continually being invented as the technology matures. The potential applications for ?plastic electronics? are huge but several technological hurdles must be overcome. In many of these applications, transistor serves as a fundamental building block to implement the necessary electronic functionality. Hence, research in organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) or organic field effect transistors (OFETs) is eminently pertinent to the development and realization of organic electronics. This book presents a comprehensive investigation of the production and application of a variety of polymer based transistor devices and circuits. It begins with a detailed overview of Organic Thin Film Transistors (OTFTs) and discusses the various possible fabrication methods reported so far. This is followed by two major sections on the choice, optimization and implementation of the gate dielectric material to be used. Details of the effects of processing on the efficiency of the contacts are then provided. The book concludes with a chapter on the integration of such devices to produce a variety of OTFT based circuits and systems. The key objective is to examine strategies to exploit existing materials and techniques to advance OTFT technology in device performance, device manufacture, and device integration. Finally, the collective knowledge from these investigations facilitates the integration of OTFTs into organic circuits, which is expected to contribute to the development of new generation of all-organic displays for communication devices and other pertinent applications. Overall, a major outcome of this work is that it provides an economical means for organic transistor and circuit integration, by enabling the use of a well-established PECVD infrastructure, while not compromising the performance of electronics. The techniques established here are not limited to use in OTFTs only; the organic semiconductor and SiNx combination can be used in other device structures (e.g., sensors, diodes, photovoltaics). Furthermore, the approach and strategy used for interface optimization can be extended to the development of other materials systems. © 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA. All rights reserved.


A dc hybrid power source based on the combination of ultracapacitor and lead-acid battery is considered in this paper. The various control systems for such hybrid power source reported in the technical literature thus far are rather complex. A low complexity control system for such hybrid power source is proposed in this paper. The key feature of the proposed control system is its capability to maintain operation of the hybrid power source within all important operational limits. The proposed control system allows one to allocate the high-frequency current demands to the ultracapacitor and specify the current limits for both the battery and the ultracapacitor. It also maintains operation of the battery within its state of charge limits and the ultracapacitor voltage at a predefined value while charging the ultracapacitor from the battery rather than from the common dc bus. Presented experimental results verify the satisfactory operation of the power source utilizing the proposed control system.


While reviewing relevant recent research, it becomes apparent that cognitive approaches have been rejected and excluded from Critical Discourse Analysis by many scholars out of often unjustified reasons. This article argues, in contrast, that studies in CDA would gain significantly through integrating insights from socio-cognitive theories into their framework. Examples from my own research into the comprehension and comprehensibility of news broadcasts, Internet discussion boards as well as into discourse and discrimination illustrate this position. However, I also argue that there are salient limits to cognitive theories which have to be taken into account, specifically when proposing social change via rational/cognitive insights. Examples from recent political debates on immigration and from the election campaign in the US in 2004 serve to emphasize these arguments.