In September of 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it would not prosecute former DOJ Civil Rights Division official Bradley Schlozman for alleged false statements made during his congressional testimony about personnel actions at DOJ. As many government lawyers will remember, a July 2, 2008, report of the DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility and Office of the Inspector General (hereinafter, the IG's report) found that Schlozman had violated the Civil Service Reform Act when he "considered political and ideological affiliations in hiring career attorneys and other personnel actions affecting career attorneys in the Civil Rights Division." Often after the transition to a new administration, government lawyers wonder if their new boss will be overtly political or if they will be transferred or fired. Most government lawyers inherently understand that while consideration of partisanship is appropriate when hiring for political positions, it is entirely inappropriate for career positions. The experiences of lawyers in the Civil Rights Division should serve as a powerful lesson to governmental agencies across the country about when it is permissible to consider political patronage for employment purposes.


Random packings of objects of a particular shape are ubiquitous in science and engineering. However, such jammed matter states have eluded any systematic theoretical treatment due to the strong positional and orientational correlations involved. In recent years progress on a fundamental description of jammed matter could be made by starting from a constant volume ensemble in the spirit of conventional statistical mechanics. Recent work has shown that this approach, first introduced by S. F. Edwards more than two decades ago, can be cast into a predictive framework to calculate the packing fractions of both spherical and non-spherical particles.


The effects of thermally grafting hydrolysed 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APS) onto kenaf-derived cellulose and the influence of incorporating them into poly(lactic acid) (PLA) were investigated. Composites containing 30 wt.% cellulose (C) and silane-grafted cellulose (SGC) were melt-blended into PLA before being hot pressed into 0.3-mm films. The silane grafting of cellulose was confirmed via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) with the presence of Si-O-Si, Si-O-cellulose, -Si-C-, and Si-O-C bonds, and –NH2 groups despite post ethanol washing. Using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), it was determined that the thermal stability of the cellulose improved by 8 °C after silane grafting. As for the composites, PLA/SGC improved the thermal stability by 12 °C as compared to PLA/C. From differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), adding C into PLA slightly reduced the glass transition temperature, Tg, of the PLA from 59 °C to 57 °C, which remained unchanged with silane grafting. PLA displayed double melting peaks from its melt-recrystallization behaviour. While the final melting temperature at 150 °C was not affected, incorporating C and SGC influenced the intensity of the melting peaks. The significant reduction in crystallisation temperature from 113°C to 102 °C and 105 °C, and the increase in crystallinity by almost two fold, indicated that cellulose was an effective nucleating agent.


Abstract:  The Precast Concrete Industry (PCI) is one of the major contributors to the national economy and can be categorized as labor‐intensive industry. It is currently experiencing shortcomings in terms of delivery products at a competitive cost and time. This is mainly due to the inefficiencies associate with planning and scheduling of skilled operators within crew configurations. This article presents a new strategy for efficient allocation of crews of workers in the precast concrete industry using Genetic Algorithms‐based simulation modeling. The aim of this study is to develop a crew allocation system that can efficiently allocate possible crews of workers to precast concrete labor‐intensive repetitive processes. Genetic algorithms (GAs) have been developed to solve this type of problem. Process mapping methodologies were used to identify and document the processes involved in producing precast components. Then process simulation was used to model and simulate all these processes and GAs were tailored to be embedded with the simulation model for a better search of promising solutions. GA operators were designed to suit this type of allocation problem. "Class Interval" selection strategy was developed to give a greater opportunity for the promising chromosomes to be chosen for further investigation. Dynamic crossover and mutation operators were developed to add more randomness to the search mechanism. The results showed that adopting different combinations of crews of workers had a substantial impact on reducing the process throughput time, minimizing resources cost, and achieving the required operatives utilization.


The state and its role in technological innovation and social justice have become, once again, fashionable topics of political and economic debate. A number of innovation theorists argue that never more than today, it is necessary to rethink the state ' s entrepreneurial role in society and welfare. Their argument provides justification for the existence of the state, going beyond classical political theory and especially contractarian accounts of legitimacy and obligation. It emphasises the ability and willingness of the state to take risks and reduce uncertainty of economic agents for the sake of innovation that can make everyone better off. This paper insists that although the risk-taking argument of innovation theorists deserves further attention and analysis, it should not be abstracted from a holistic politico-theoretical approach to the state. Such an approach is necessary for a critical understanding of the complex set of predominantly political institutions which compose the state and which have been historically developed to guarantee social evolution. Any risk-taking for innovative enterprise and mission-oriented investment ought to be justified and legitimised on the grounds of principled democratic procedures. This implies that innovation itself is a value-laden political process, requiring participation in the decision-making and standards of fairness. abstract entrepreneurial state that engages in risk-taking activities and creates a new


Public administrators are deeply affected by the global crisis in public finances. As public sector revenues remain weak and demand increases for spending and debt reduction, as well as tax reform, the newest cadre of public administration students must learn how to face the challenge of substantial uncertainty in public finances, regardless of whether they serve at the national, regional, or local level. Simulations offer an effective and powerful tool within a safe classroom environment for teaching students about the process and challenges of public budgeting. This article examines two free web-based simulations that can be quickly incorporated into an introductory public administration course. It further addresses differences in using the simulations as role-thinking or role-playing exercises. Observations from students and the instructor provide insight into the advantages and disadvantages of isolated role-thinking versus collaborative role-playing. The procedures included can be adapted for any online budgeting simulation without requiring the instructor to create a great deal of content on their own.


Scheduling Activity (SA) is a highly complex optimization problem that is relevant nowdays, both in the private sector and in the public sector. In state of the art are reported several approaches for SA. However, the number of jobs that involve decomposition strategies in their solution is very limited. According to the literature, the decomposition of a problem favors the efficient use of computing resources, improving execution time and reaching competitive solutions compared to those reported in the literature. This paper proposes a new model-based decomposition method, which uses bandwidth minimization algorithms (BMA) in scattered matrices for the generation of angular structures in linear programming models. The study seeks to demonstrate that, depending on the BMA, there is a difference in the results obtained by the proposed method. The results obtained from the proposed experiment demonstrate that there are differences in the decomposition obtained by the method, using two particular heuristics that minimize the bandwidth in scattered matrices. The differences are regarding the reduction in the number of additional variables generated, when the bandwidth is lower. This fact suggests to look for better BMA, and to compare its effects under the proposed method, against other strategies of decomposition.


This thesis describes a novel imputation evaluation method and shows how this method can
be used to estimate the accuracy of the imputed values generated by any imputation
technique. This is achieved by using an iterative stochastic procedure to repeatedly measure
how accurately a set of randomly deleted values are "put back" by the imputation process.
The proposed approach builds on the ideas underpinning uncertainty estimation methods, but
differs from them in that it estimates the accuracy of the imputed values, rather than
estimating the uncertainty inherent within those values. In addition, a procedure for
comparing the accuracy of the imputed values in different data segments has been built into
the proposed method, but uncertainty estimation methods do not include such procedures.
This proposed method is implemented as a software application. This application is used to
estimate the accuracy of the imputed values generated by the expectation-maximisation (EM)
and nearest neighbour (NN) imputation algorithms. These algorithms are implemented
alongside the method, with particular attention being paid to the use of implementation
techniques which decrease algorithm execution times, so as to support the computationally
intensive nature of the method. A novel NN imputation algorithm is developed and the
experimental evaluation of this algorithm shows that it can be used to decrease the execution
time of the NN imputation process for both simulated and real datasets. The execution time of
the new NN algorithm was found to steadily decrease as the proportion of missing values in
the dataset was increased.
The method is experimentally evaluated and the results show that the proposed approach
produces reliable and valid estimates of imputation accuracy when it is used to compare the
accuracy of the imputed values generated by the EM and NN imputation algorithms. Finally,
a case study is presented which shows how the method has been applied in practice, including
a detailed description of the experiments that were performed in order to find the most
accurate methods of imputing the missing values in the case study dataset. A comprehensive
set of experimental results is given, the associated imputation accuracy statistics are analysed
and the feasibility of imputing the missing case study data is assessed.


Intense global competition, dynamic product variations, and rapid technological developments force manufacturing systems to adapt and respond quickly to various changes in the market. Such responsiveness could be achieved through new paradigms such as Reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMS). In this paper, the problem of configuration design for a scalable reconfigurable RMS that produces different products of a part family is addressed. In order to handle demand fluctuations of products throughout their lifecycles with minimum cost, RMS configurations must change as well. Two different approaches are developed for addressing the system configuration design in different periods. Both approaches make use of modular reconfigurable machine tools (RMTs), and adjust the production capacity of the system, with minimum cost, by adding/removing modules to/from specific RMTs. In the first approach, each production period is designed separately, while in the second approach, future information of products' demands in all production periods is available in the beginning of system configuration design. Two new mixed integer linear programming (MILP) and integer linear programming (ILP) formulations are presented in the first and the second approaches respectively. The results of these approaches are compared with respect to many different aspects, such as total system design costs, unused capacity, and total number of reconfigurations. Analyses of the results show the superiority of both approaches in terms of exploitation and reconfiguration cost.


In the process of lithography using ultra violet light sources for semiconductor devices, most of defects are made by sub-micrometer pollutants generated at photochemical reactions. We proposed and developed a novel vibration-insensitive on-axis interferometer with a sub-micrometer lateral resolution by using the interference between two beams: one scattered from defects and the other reflected from a reference area without defects. The proposed system was successfully demonstrated to detect a small Al defect of 0.5 μm diameter within the inspection time of less than 30 minutes over the area of the photo-mask which is 6 inch by 6 inch square.


Engineered affibody molecules can be used for high contrast in vivo molecular imaging. Extending a recombinantly produced HER2 binding affibody molecule with a hexa-histidine tag allows for convenient purification by immobilized metal-ion affinity chromatography and labeling with [(99m)Tc(CO)3](+) but increases radioactivity uptake in the liver. To investigate the impact of charge, lipophilicity, and position on biodistribution, 10 variants of a histidine-based tag was attached to a HER2 binding affibody molecule. The biochemical properties and the HER2 binding affinity appeared to be similar for all variants. In vivo, positive charge promoted liver uptake. For N-terminally placed tags, lipophilicity promoted liver uptake and decreased kidney uptake. Kidney uptake was higher for C-terminally placed tags compared to their N-terminal counterparts. The variant with the amino acid composition HEHEHE placed in the N-terminus gave the lowest nonspecific uptake.


A 45-year-old man with rheumatoid arthritis visited the emergency department complaining of fever and urinary retention, which began 15 days after receiving his first dose of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination. He was treated with methotrexate 15 mg/week, hydroxychloroquine 200 mg/day, and sulfasalazine 1,000 mg/day. Neurological examination revealed bilateral leg weakness (Medical Research Council grade 3) and hypoesthesia below T11 dermatome. Spinal cord magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed high signal intensity lesions extending from medulla to L2 level (Fig. 1A). Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) results were as follows: white blood cell 38/mm, red blood cell 4/mm, protein 123 mg/dL, and glucose CSF/serum 64/168 mg/dL. The CSF bacterial and virology, serum anti-myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibodies, anti-aquaporin receptor-4 antibodies, oligoclonal bands, and immunoglobulin G index were all negative. Acute transverse myelitis (ATM) was suspected, and intravenous methylprednisolone was administered for 5 days (1 g/ day) followed by 21 days tapering course of oral prednisolone starting at 60 mg daily. Neurologic symptoms gradually improved 4 days after steroid administration and MRI repeated after 14 days of admission showed interval improvement (Fig. 1B). After 6 months, the patient was able to walk without assistance with mild hypoesthesia of both feet. There have been many reports of extensive ATM after different vaccinations [1]. Although previous reports showed focal ATM after administration of the Spikevax mRNA-1273 vaccine [2], our patient showed longitudinal extensive ATM with brainstem involvement. Autoimmune reactions between severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein and tissue protein may result in central nervous system inflammation.


Recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) is defined as the loss of three or more consecutive pregnancies during the first trimester of embryonic intrauterine development. This kind of human infertility is frequent among the general population since it affects 1 to 5% of women. In half of the cases the etiology remains unelucidated. In the present study, we used interspecific recombinant congenic mouse strains (IRCS) in the aim to identify genes responsible for embryonic lethality. Applying a cartographic approach using a genotype/phenotype association, we identified a minimal QTL region, of about 6 Mb on chromosome 1, responsible for a high rate of embryonic death (∼30%). Genetic analysis suggests that the observed phenotype is linked to uterine dysfunction. Transcriptomic analysis of the uterine tissue revealed a preferential deregulation of genes of this region compared to the rest of the genome. Some genes from the QTL region are associated with VEGF signaling, mTOR signaling and ubiquitine/proteasome-protein degradation pathways. This work may contribute to elucidate the molecular basis of a multifactorial and complex human disorder as RSA.


1. We have examined the effects of (a) reducing the density of the inspired gas and of (b) increasing inspired oxygen concentration on the exercise performance of eight men with chronic obstructive bronchitis (COB). 2. Each subject performed two types of exercise test breathing three different gas mixtures: air, 35% oxygen in nitrogen and 21% oxygen in helium. The exercise capacity, ventilation and heart rate were recorded. Indices of pulmonary mechanics were measured to determine where and how any change in ventilatory capacity might have been achieved. 3. (a) Effort tolerance at a constant load (70% capacity breathing air) was greater when the inspired gas mixture was 35% oxygen in nitrogen than when air or 21% oxygen in helium was breathed. (b) Peak expiratory flow (PEF) was greater when the helium mixture was breathed, but the forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV 1 ) and maximum expiratory flow at 50% vital capacity (MEF50%) were the same as when breathing air. Effort tolerance was the same breathing the helium mixture and air in both the progressive and constant load tests. (c) PEF, FEV and MEF50% were greater immediately after than before exercise on all gas mixtures. 4. It is concluded that a reduction in the density of the inspired gas does not improve effort tolerance in patients with COB. Possible reasons for this lack of benefit are discussed.


PEVICHAROVA, G., 2015. Correlations between sensory traits of boiled potatoes. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 21: 877–881 Boiled potatoes from twelve cultivars grown at two altitudes were evaluated for appearance, aroma, colour, texture, friability, starch taste, sweetness, sourness and overall taste. Correlation analysis was applied to estimate the significance of the sensory traits for the whole human perception. It was found that the total sensory evaluation was in correlation at the highest degree with taste (average r = 0.800), followed by texture (average r = 0.679), colour (average r = 0.617) and appearance (average r = 0.614). Their assessment during the breeding process has to be taken into account in order to create high quality potato cultivars. The lack of significant correlations between identical sensory traits of potatoes grown under field and mountain conditions is a proof for impossibility to predict sensory profile of boiled potatoes by results from only one altitude.


The number of cycles in a low-frequency sinusoidal display is a crucial variable in determining the visibility of the display. In particular, the threshold contrast is essentially independent of spatial frequency for these displays. We have extended the above experiments, using more cycles and a variety of targets and observer tasks. The results confirm previous findings; they also show that the type of target or task has little influence. For low-frequency sinusoids that contain up to about 3 cycles, the threshold contrast is determined by the number of cycles. For high-number-of-cycles targets with spatial frequencies above 6-10 cycles per degree, visibility is predominantly dependent on the spatial frequency. The results suggest that the low-frequency decrease in reported MTF's is due to the decrease of the number of cycles used in determining them.


The author, in a series of previous articles, designed the "AB Dome" made of transparent thin film supported by a small additional air overpressure for the purpose of covering a city or other important large installations or sub-regions. In present article the author offers a variation in which a damaged nuclear station can be quickly covered by such a cheap inflatable dome. By containing the radioactive dust from the damaged nuclear station, the danger zone is reduced to about 2 km2 rather than large regions which requires the resettlement of huge masses of people and which stops indus-try in large areas. If there is a big city (as Tokyo) near the nuclear disaster or there is already a dangerous amount of radioactive dust near a city, the city may also be covered by a large inflatable transparent Dome. The building of a gi-gantic inflatable AB Dome over an empty flat surface is not difficult. The cover is spread on a flat surface and a venti-lator (fan system) pumps air under the film cover and lifts the new dome into place but inflation takes many hours. However, to cover a city, garden, forest or other obstacle course in contrast to an empty, mowed field, the thin film cannot be easily deployed over building or trees without risking damage to it by snagging and other complications. This article proposes a new method which solves this problem. The design is a double film blanket filled by light gas such as, methane, hydrogen, or helium - although of these, methane will be the most practical and least likely to leak. Sections of this AB Blanket are lighter than air and will rise in the atmosphere. They can be made on a flat area serving as an as-sembly area and delivered by dirigible or helicopter to station at altitude over the city. Here they connect to the already assembled AB Blanket subassemblies, cover the city in an AB Dome and protect it from bad weather, chemical, bio-logical and radioactive fallout or particulates. After assembly of the dome is completed, the light gas can be replaced by (heavier but cheaper) air. Two projects for Tokyo (Japan) and Moscow (Russia) are used in this paper for sample computation.


Presented at the "Environmental Justice in the Anthropocene Symposium" held on April 24-25, 2017 at the Lory Student Center, Colorado State University, Fort Collins Colorado. This symposium aims to bring together academics (faculty and graduate students), independent researchers, community and movement activists, and regulatory and policy practitioners from across disciplines, research areas, perspectives, and different countries. Our overarching goal is to build on several decades of EJ research and practice to address the seemingly intractable environmental and ecological problems of this unfolding era. How can we explore EJ amongst humans and between nature and humans, within and across generations, in an age when humans dominate the landscape? How can we better understand collective human dominance without obscuring continuing power differentials and inequities within and between human societies? What institutional and governance innovations can we adopt to address existing challenges and to promote just transitions and futures?


Current techniques for selecting reinforced concrete repair materials are often based on ad-hoc methods for specifying repair material properties. The inherent lack of understanding of material behaviour in this approach can lead to premature failure of repairs.This research has examined state of the art methods for repair material property specification and has developed a technique, specifically for application in a computer program, which recommends optimum repair material properties tailored to given repair situations. The technique developed achieves compatibility between the repair material and the substrate concrete through a sophisticated balancing of those repair material properties identified as important, specifically; elastic modulus, shrinkage, creep and tensile strength. Adopting the developed technique minimises the possibility of failure of the repair material.The developed repair material property selection technique is seamlessly integrated into an expert system for reinforced concrete bridge repair also developed as part of this research. A technique has been produced to quickly elicit the complex decision making process of reinforced concrete experts and represent their information in a computer program.The developed expert system diagnoses the causes of reinforced concrete defects. Importantly, the program utilises its in-built intelligence to determine if the severity and extent of the defects identified warrant genuine concern.In order to facilitate efficient inputting of data into the expert system by prospective users, an elemental graphical interface was developed, allowing users to quickly assemble onscreen three dimensional representations of the affected concrete elements. Thereafter, program users locate areas of defects onto the on-screen concrete elements and the inputted data can be interrogated by the expert system.Adopting the mainly graphical approach of data input, the expert system diagnoses reinforced concrete defects, proffers prognoses for concrete elements themselves (such as piers, columns, abutments), recommends testing regimes to confirm the expert system output, and recommends repair techniques.Should the recommendation of the expert system be to break out and replace defective concrete, the technique to recommend optimum repair material properties, developed in this research, will offer its recommendations.The developed expert system for reinforced concrete repair acts as an expert guide through all aspects of bridge inspection and repair. For the assessment of defects it draws together best practice recommendations from literature and experts. For the recommendation of repair material properties it implements the technique developed in the research.The completed research has been incorporated into a commercially available bridge management system (www.bridgemanagementexpert.com).


Abstract:  The family Phylloporinidae was introduced in the late 19th century to accommodate a small number of Palaeozoic bryozoan genera characterized by irregularly fenestrated colonies generated by anastomosis of unilaminate branches. Among the first named of these genera were Chasmatopora Eichwald, 1855 and Phylloporina Ulrich in Foerste, 1887. The two names have been variously in fashion, and there has been confusion about whether they are subjective synonyms or are distinct genera. This taxonomic confusion has been due in large part to whether the single species (Retepora angulata Hall, 1847) assigned to Phylloporina in Foerste (1887) or the species that Ulrich intended (Retepora trentonensis Nicholson, 1875) is the type species and also because of lack of sufficient information about Foerste's material to characterize it well. We here redescribe the pertinent species, erect the new species Chasmatopora foerstei for the species that Foerste incorrectly assigned to Phylloporina angulata (Hall), and suggest that Retepora trentonensis Nicholson be retained as type species of Phylloporina based on prevailing usage, until the issue is settled by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.


There are various parameters such as bonding width, bond and adhesive thickness, blank surface roughness, adherend thickness, bond length, the geometry of the joint, surface treatment, curing and working temperature, bonding pressure, curing conditions, type of loading, etc. that affect the forming of adhesive bonded blanks in a synergistic manner. The main aim of the present work is to investigate the influence of bonding width, adhesive thickness, and blank surface roughness on the tensile behavior of adhesive bonded blanks. Interstitial free steel grade sheet is used as a base material and the two part epoxy adhesive is used for bonding the base materials. It is found that the engineering stress attained in forming the bonded blank for the same amount of strain is greater if the surface roughness is greater. The extension of the bonded blank at the break point is less for higher surface roughness base materials. With an increase in the adhesive thickness, the engineering stress decreased for a particular strain and there was no effect due to adhesive thickness on the elongation at the break point of the bonded blank. The engineering stress required decreases with the bonding width and the extension at the breaking point of the bonded blank is greater in the case of the bonded blank with a higher bonding width. A sudden fall in engineering stress has occurred in the case of adhesive bonded blanks with higher (2.4 mm) and medium adhesive thickness (1.3 mm), base material surface roughness, and bonding width, while this is not observed in 0.5 mm bonding thickness. The different stages of the forming of adhesive bonded blanks are proposed. Initially, adhesive failure occurs and then base material failure occurs depending on its ductility. Both cohesive failure and interface (adhesive) failure is seen during the forming of adhesive bonded blanks in this work.


In trying to prepare the account of the Myrtaceae for PULLE's Flora of Suriname I soon found that a revision of the Myrtaceae of whole Guiana, especially of French Guiana, and preferably also of the Amazonian district, is necessary. The account would be of little value as long as our knowledge of the synonymy and the distribution of the species is so incomplete. The Myrtaceae of Guiana have been treated by BERG in Linnaea XXVII (1855—56) p. 1—512, XXIX (1858) p. 207—256 and XXX (1861) p. 647—713. Yet many species previously described from French Guiana, especially by AUBLET and by DE CANDOLLE, were not known to BERG. Moreover, BERG often based species on insufficient material, as has been pointed out by URBAN in his revision of the West Indian Myrtaceae in Engl. Bot. Jahrb. XIX (1895) p. 563. In this publication of URBAN the synonymy of several species common to the West Indies and Guiana is cleared up (Trinidad and Tobago are included in the West Indies). Another valuable contribution is SAGOT's too little noticed account of the Myrtaceae of French Guiana in Annales Sciences Naturelles 6.20 (1885) p. 181—198. But SAGOT apparently did not know BERG's last publication in Linnaea XXX, in which RICHARD's collection from French Guiana is treated. Thus SAGOT sometimes cites specimens of RICHARD without knowing that they must be duplicates of the types of one of BERG's new species and his account remains very incomplete.


Thin films have a great impact on the modern era of technology. Thin films are considered as backbone for advanced applications in the various fields such as optical devices, environmental applications, telecommunications devices, energy storage devices, and so on . The crucial issue for all applications of thin films depends on their morphology and the stability. The morphology of the thin films strongly hinges on deposition techniques. Thin films can be deposited by the physical and chemical routes. In this chapter, we discuss some advance techniques and principles of thin-film depositions. The vacuum thermal evaporation technique, electron beam evaporation, pulsed-layer deposition, direct current/radio frequency magnetron sputtering, and chemical route deposition systems will be discussed in detail.


The remarkable fauna of Australia evolved in isolation from other landmasses for millions of years, yet understanding the evolutionary history of endemic avian lineages on the continent is confounded by the ability of birds to disperse over geographical barriers even after vicariance events. The Plains-wanderer Pedionomus torquatus (Charadriiformes) is an enigmatic, predominantly sedentary, quail-like bird that occurs exclusively in sparse native grasslands of southeastern Australia. It is the only known species of its family (Pedionomidae), and its closest relatives are the South American seedsnipes (Thinocoridae). Here we describe a further representative of this lineage, Oligonomus milleri gen. et sp. nov., from the Late Oligocene of South Australia (26–24 Ma), which pre-dates the earliest record of P. torquatus by c. 22 Ma and attests to the presence of this lineage during Australia's period of isolation (50–15 Ma). Based on the morphology of the coracoid and the palynological record, we propose that O. milleri and P. torquatus were ecologically disparate taxa and that, similar to coeval marsupials, O. milleri inhabited well-wooded habitats, suggesting that the preference for grassland in the extant P. torquatus and thinocorids is likely to be convergent and not ancestral. The speciation event leading to the evolution of the extant Plains-wanderer was probably triggered by the spread of grasslands across Australia in the Late Miocene–Pliocene, which this record pre-dates. The presence of a pedionomid in the Late Oligocene of Australia strengthens the hypothesis of a Gondwanan divergence of the lineages giving rise to Thinocoridae and Pedionomidae.


When I began my master's program in astronomy, I immediately encountered a substantial—and quite literal—obstacle to my pursuit of the cosmos: a flight of stairs. I have a physical disability, and stairs are a particular source of difficulty. Unfortunately, they lie in front of every entrance to the building where I take classes, teach labs, and conduct research. The four observatories I have visited for my research were all equally inaccessible, mostly because their age and historic significance exempt them from Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. So, besides coping with the stress and workload of graduate school, I must also struggle with architecture. Thankfully, I am mobile enough to make do by climbing slowly or using a cane, but it takes a toll.

![Figure][1]

ILLUSTRATION: ROBERT NEUBECKER

> "The barriers don't end once I've reached the top."

The barriers don't end once I've reached the top of the stairs. I face hostility from other scientists, including the ire of professors who believe that my need for flexible deadlines or breaks during tests arises from laziness. This sentiment, rooted in a scientific culture that prioritizes a pathological devotion to work over mental and physical wellbeing, is best summed up by one of my professors, who commented on my disability: "It must be so nice to have an excuse not to do any work."

Regrettably, my experiences are not unique; they are emblematic of the barriers disabled scientists contend with throughout their careers. Although science is by no means intrinsically inaccessible—nothing about the data we gather or the analyses we do inherently excludes people with disabilities—the prevailing attitudes in science create these barriers. Most science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs insist that researchers sacrifice both their mental and physical health to succeed. Unnecessarily long hours, undue degrees of stress, and overwhelming pressure can cause even the healthiest person to develop anxiety and depression. For a person with a dis ability, coping with these pressures along with a permanent or chronic condition can be devastating.

The numbers tell the story: Only 9% to 10% of undergraduate STEM students in the United States have disabilities, compared with approximately 20% of Americans overall. Among those who obtain Ph.D.s, the number falls to just 1%. Of those who persist in STEM fields, many hide their disabilities out of concern for their careers, as several professors with disabilities shared with me after I spoke about inaccessibility at the Inclusive Astronomy conference this past June. One said she hid her disability because she expected it would affect her tenure evaluation. Another said she kept hers secret because she thought the progressive nature of her condition would make her unhireable.

Being visibly disabled, I do not have this option, and I worry about how it will affect my career. Any appearance of not being able to shoulder my graduate student duties will decrease my competitiveness when I apply for Ph.D. programs, postdoctoral fellowships, or faculty positions. If I seem to have a history of taking medical leaves because I need to prioritize my health, my value as a future faculty member or researcher may be diminished. And I fear the day when I may need a wheelchair, which would prevent me from accessing many of the necessary tools for my research.

Nonetheless, for now at least, I remain in astronomy, where my research drives me forward. First and foremost, though, the prospect of making astronomy more accessible helps me persevere. I hope to be a conspicuous example of a disabled astronomer so that future students with disabilities do not feel as isolated as I did. I have spoken about disability issues at several conferences and helped create the first American Astronomical Society (AAS) Working Group on Accessibility and Disability, and I recently began serving on the AAS Early Career Advisory Board. I already see positive changes as a result of this work. At the most recent AAS conference, we provided accessibility information about the convention center, and I met with journal publishers about creating accessible online publication formats. But a significant barrier still remains: the erroneous assumption that ableness is a prerequisite for scientific achievement.

 [1]: pending:yes


We describe a new algorithm for generating pattern collections for pattern database heuristics in optimal classical planning. The algorithm uses the counterexample-guided abstraction refinement (CEGAR) principle to guide the pattern selection process. Our experimental evaluation shows that a single run of the CEGAR algorithm can compute informative pattern collections in a fairly short time. Using multiple CEGAR algorithm runs, we can compute much larger pattern collections, still in shorter time than existing approaches, which leads to a planner that outperforms the state-of-the-art pattern selection methods by a significant margin.


Background and Objective: Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is an autosomal trait, which is caused by mutations in Low Density Lipoprotein Receptor (LDLR) gene. FH penetrance is about 100% and worldwide prevalence for heterozygous subjects is almost 1 in 500 and for homozygous 1 in 1,000,000. The patients are at risk of premature coronary heart disease (CHD) due to defective LDLR and hence cholesterol metabolism disorder. The aim of this study was identifying genotype of possible mutation in an Iranian FH patient. Materials and Methods: Promoter and all 18 exons including exon-intron boundaries of LDLR gene were scanned. Polymerase chain reaction - single strand conformation polymorphism (PCRSSCP) was used as mutation scanning method. DNA sequencing was used to identify any nucleotide change(s). Results: A new frameshift mutation (660-661InsCC) was found in proband. Conclusion: This mutation causes a truncated, non-functional protein, which results in hypercholesterolemia. The mutation can be screened in proband's relatives to find other FH patients.


Mega-dams create highly fragmented archipelagos, affecting biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in remnant forest isolates. This study assessed the long-term impact of dam-induced fragmentation on insular tropical tree communities, with the aim of generating robust recommendations to mitigate some of the detrimental biodiversity impacts associated with future dam development. We inventoried adult and sapling trees across 89 permanent plots, located on 36 islands and in three mainland continuous forest sites in the Balbina Dam, Brazilian Amazon. We examined differences in recruitment, structure, and composition of sapling and adult tree communities, in relation to plot-, patch- and landscape-scale attributes including area, isolation, and fire severity. Islands harboured significantly lower sapling (mean ± 95% CI 48.6 ± 3.8) and adult (5 ± 0.2) tree densities per 0.01 ha, than nearby mainland continuous forest (saplings, 65.7 ± 7.5; adults, 5.6 ± 0.3). Insular sapling and adult tree communities were more dissimilar than in mainland sites, and species compositions showed a directional shift away from mainland forests, induced by fire severity, island area, and isolation. Insular sapling recruitment declined with increasing fire severity; tree communities with higher community-weighted mean wood density showed the greatest recruitment declines. Our results suggest that insular tree communities are unstable, with rare species becoming extinction-prone due to reduced tree recruitment and density on islands, potentially leading to future losses in biodiversity and ecosystem functioning across Balbina's >3,500 reservoir islands. Policy implications. In Balbina, fire and reduced habitat area and connectivity were drivers of tree community decay after only 28 years of insularization, despite strict protection provided by the ~940,000 ha Uatuma Biological Reserve. Given that many dams are planned for lowland, moderately undulating Amazonia, we recommend that dam development strategy explicitly considers (a) dam location, aiming to minimize creation of small (<10 ha) and isolated islands, (b) maintaining reservoir water levels during droughts to reduce fire risk, and (c) including aggregate island area in environmental impact and offset calculations. Ideally, we recommend that alternatives to hydropower be sought in lowland tropical regions, due to the far-reaching biodiversity losses and ecosystem disruption caused by river impoundment.


The increasing diversity of our urban centers has created a growing stress on social service based entities such as schools, medical facilities, workforce agencies, police forces, and urban planners. Anthropology's collaboration with many of these service agencies has been significant but has rarely included police forces. Recent changes in the philosophy and mission of police agencies toward a more community based and collaborative framework provides an immense opportunity for anthropologists to address the tensions created by misinterpretations of cultural practices and norms between the police and communities they serve. This essay employs a case study framework of a completed project to demonstrate the collaborations possible between anthropology, city planners, grassroots community groups and police agencies. [applied anthropology, community policing, Mexican migrants in urban space, urban renewal, rural to urban migration].


Multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) are increasingly the preferred method of cancer care in many specialties, including urology. MDTs provide a means of improving communication between health care professionals and patients and provide co-ordinated and timely care. As MDTs have developed, so too has the role of the specialist cancer nurse, though the concept of the clinical nurse specialist (CNS), or their involvement in the MDT are not globally universal. There is increasing evidence that the presence of the CNS in the MDT improves patient satisfaction and team effectiveness. The MDT meeting is the focal point for decision-making about patients' care, but the roles of health care professionals in the MDT meeting are variable and poorly defined. In this paper, we examine the evidence for the role of the CNS in the urology MDT meeting, which includes communicating with colleagues and patients, co-ordinating care, as well as facilitating research and clinical governance. We discuss the challenges faced by CNSs and how their role in MDT meetings can be strengthened to enhance their effectiveness in the MDT in general.


Barrett's adenocarcinoma (BA) has seen a rapid increase in incidence throughout the Western world. The diagnosis of BA is often at an advanced stage and is generally associated with a poor prognosis and a mean survival of less than one year. Adenocarcinomas however do not arise de novo but follow an established sequence from Barrett's metaplasia (BM) through dysplasia to neoplasia. EVorts to intervene in the pathogenesis of oesophageal adenocarcinomas have so far been disappointing. Reduction of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease has led to minimal regression of BM and has yet to be shown to have any impact on cancer prevention. Surveillance programmes for patients with BM have had variable results and have raised important questions about their cost eVectiveness and of better risk stratification of patients with BM. The prevalence of BM in the general population is approximately 1–3%, with only 0.5–1% of patients with BM converting to neoplasia each year. 2 The reliable diagnoses of intestinal metaplasia and dysplasia have also been diYcult to validate in each patient, mostly related to sampling errors due to the variable anatomy of the lower oesophagus and their patchy distribution within a segment of BM. Our understanding of the molecular biology of BM has yielded many phenotypic and genetic changes within the epithelium that are associated with diVerent stages along the metaplasia-dysplasia-neoplasia sequence. It has been suggested that some of these changes, such as cytokeratin subsets, might aid in the diagnosis and management of patients with BM and is the focus of the paper by Couvelard et al in this issue of Gut (See page 761). Cytokeratins are highly conserved polypeptides that heterodimerise and form the building blocks for the intermediate filaments as part of the cell cytoskeleton. Intermediate filaments are anchored to desmosomes in the cell membrane and are of particular interest in epithelial systems in maintaining cell morphology, polarity, and intercellular adhesion. Cytokeratins are expressed in 20 distinct forms in epithelial cells but are absent from mesenchymal tissue where vimentin is used in the assembly of intermediate filaments. There are variable patterns of expression of cytokeratins in epithelial cells depending on the type, location, and differentiation of epithelium. Some cytokeratins have a broad range of expression in columnar epithelium, such as CK8 and CK19, while others such as CK7 and CK20 show highly restricted expression. CK20 is commonly used as a marker of intestinal diVerentiation. It is expressed on the surface and crypt epithelium of the normal colon and small intestine. In the stomach, expression is limited to the surface foveolar epithelium, with no gastric gland or pit staining. CK7 has been proposed as a marker of ductal diVerentiation. It is expressed in ductal breast carcinomas but not in the normal epithelium of the gastrointestinal tract. Cytokeratins are very stable proteins and are conserved in most epithelial cancers, even in the presence of gross phenotypic and genetic alterations. For this reason, detection of cytokeratin subsets such as CK7 and CK20 have become very useful in diagnosing the origins of occult or poorly diVerentiated cancers and are part of current clinical practice. DiVerential patterns of cytokeratin expression have been demonstrated in the oesophagus and proposed as useful clinical markers. A phenotypic map of cytokeratin expression validates our current histopathological categorisation of the gastro-oesophageal junction (fig 1). However, a unique pattern of CK7 and CK20 immunohistochemical


Reading involves multiple eye movements and necessitates the integration of visual information from successive fixations. Here, we quantify the efficiency of trans-saccadic integration during foveal and peripheral word recognition by comparing performance for a human and an ideal observer. In Experiment 1, subjects were asked to identify random trigram letters presented at 13 possible positions on an invisible horizontal line at 0° or 10° eccentricity in lower visual field (horizontal distance from fixation dot: -6 to +6 letter slots). Trigrams were presented at a fixed size for different durations (62,125,250,500 ms followed by a post mask) while subjects steadily fixated a central dot. In Experiment 2, subjects were asked to identify single 7-letter words presented for 500 ms (followed by a post mask) at 0° or 10° eccentricity with lateral/horizontal positions identical to Experiment 1. First, a fixation dot appeared with '#' characters displayed at the word position. Subjects then pressed a button, which triggered the simultaneous appearance of a saccade-target dot and of the word. After execution of the saccade, subjects had to report the word. Eye movements were monitored to control fixation in Experiment 1 and to measure durations and positions of the two fixations in Experiment 2. Results for Experiment 1 show an inverted U-shape effect of the letter slot position on letter recognition performance. These visual-span curves (Legge et al, 2000) allow us to predict limitations in letter recognition performance for any fixation position and duration. Efficiency is then calculated using (1) human recognition performance from Experiment 2 and (2) recognition performance from an ideal observer based on visual span curves and a 7-letter word lexicon. Results show variability between subjects and suggest supplementary parameters to include in the model Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


In the eastern Pacific Ocean, the genus Thesea has only been reported off Isla del Coco, Costa Rica, and La Jolla, California. Herein we describe a new species of Thesea from the threatened mesophotic zone of Hannibal Bank seamount and report the occurrence of the genus in Panama. The morphological characters of the species were analyzed and illustrated by optic and scanning electron microscopy. Thesea dalioi sp. nov. can be distinguished from the only other eastern Pacific species, Thesea variabilis (Studer, 1894), in the colony shape, branch thickness, prominent polyp mounds, bright red color of the colony and sclerites, and the size and composition of sclerites. This new species represents the second published report for the genus in the region and contributes to our understanding of the diversity and distribution of the octocorals from the mesophotic zone in the eastern Pacific Ocean.


This thesis introduces a novel sorting pairing method for the azimuth-elevation estimates obtained from the Estimation of Signal Parameters via Rotational Invariance Techniques (ESPRIT) based closed-form source localization algorithm. The ESPRIT algorithm estimates Direction of Arrival (DOA) angles from a given source using arbitrarily spaced three-dimensional arrays of vector sensors, whose locations need not be known. In estimating the DOAs there can be miss-pairings of DOA azimuth and elevation direction cosines in certain cases. In such cases, the incident angles calculated can be permuted which produces miss matching of angles or misses. The sorting pairing method presented exploits the order of eigenvalues and thereby the DOAs estimated from the ESPRIT algorithm. The sorting pairing method is compared to two other pairing methods: the traditional pairing method, a method that is simplistic in nature when dealing with misses; and the exhaustive pairing method, a method that exhaustively attempts to find the eigenvalue pairing that yields the least amount of error. Simulation results provides strong evidence that the sorting pairing method gives good results over a much larger range of signal-to-noise ratios than the traditional method, and has an accuracy that is nearly co-linear with the exhaustive method.


This paper presents a direct current-space-vector control of an active power filter (APF) based on a three-level neutral-point-clamped (NPC) voltage-source inverter. The proposed method indirectly generates the compensation current reference by using an equivalent conductance of the fundamental component using APF's dc-link voltage control. The proposed control can selectively choose harmonic current components by real-time fast Fourier transform to generate the compensation current. The compensation current is represented in a rotating coordinate system with chosen switching states from a switching table implemented in a field-programmable gate array. In addition, a three-phase four-wire APF based on a three-level neutral-point-clamped inverter is also presented. The proposed APF eliminates harmonics in all three phases as well as the neutral current. A three-phase three-wire NPC inverter system can be used as a three-phase four-wire system since the split dc capacitors provide a neutral connection. To regulate and balance the split dc-capacitor voltages, a new control method using a sign cubical hysteresis controller is proposed. The characteristics of the APF system with an LCL-ripple filter are investigated and compared with traditional current control strategies to evaluate the inherent advantages. The simulation and experimental results validated the feasibility of the proposed APF.


Packet/frame `rebuffering' in wireless video streaming typically considers only connectivity from the mobile terminal to its network access point (AP). However, in the presence of multiple APs with the possibility of handoffs, the overall wireless environment should be considered. We develop a model capturing joint rebuffering & handoff dynamics in wireless video streaming, and design a new channel-aware joint rebuffering & handoff control scheme, aiming to minimize the long-run average cost of video jitters and freezes. We first characterize the optimal control in the general case of multiple wireless APs/channels and multiple states per channel. Subsequently, we evaluate the system performance in key important cases, using experimental traces of wireless channel data. We explore the relationship between optimal rebuffering thresholds and overall channel dynamics, and evaluate the associated joint handoff control. The performance results demonstrate the importance of jointly managing rebuffering and handoff controls to achieve high-performance wireless video streaming.


Streaming text processing is important for transforming and analyzing the rapidly growing data in modern society. Unfortunately, text processing software written using the sequential byte-at-a-time processing model fails to take full advantage of the resources available on modern processors for many reasons, including significant branch misprediction penalties due to the input-dependent branching structures of text processing applications, cache miss penalties for table-based operations applied per byte of input, and logical complexity that makes it difficult to process more than a single-byte at a time. Common solutions to process text streams that have dependencies from start to end may involve state machine or recursive algorithms, which are generally considered hard to parallelize and hence ill-suited for multicore or manycore processors. However, the Parabix approach to text processing has recently been shown to offer a promising alternative, based on the concept of bitwise data parallelism: a transform representation of text that uses the full width of available processor registers at a density of one bit per input byte. This dissertation investigates the further development of the Parabix framework to incorporate multidimensional parallelization, combining Parabix methods with several different models of multithreading such as task parallelism, data parallelism and pipeline parallelism as well as with GPU-based SIMT processing. A form of data-pipeline parallelism is developed and shown to be beneficial for text-processing applications even with strong sequential state dependencies. Compilers for both pure pipeline parallelism and data-pipeline parallelism are developed and integrated into Parabix framework to provide automated multithreading support for any Parabix applications. Methods for task parallelism and data parallelism are also developed, but need to be customized by the programmer for specific applications. GPU support is added to Parabix framework by translating LLVM IR into PTX, which can be compiled into binary code and run on GPU devices. Programmers can simply choose to use NVPTX driver instead of CPU driver for code that is executed on GPU. Several applications based on Parabix are implemented and tested with different parallelization techniques to analyze the advantages and limits of multidimensional parallelization extensions of Parabix framework. In data-pipeline mode, we are able to achieve 215% speedup compared with the sequential version on a quad-core machine. The GPU implementation has its limitations but can give up to 310% speed-up.


Considerable public resources are devoted to the establishment and operation of business incubators (BIs), which are seen as catalysts for the promotion of entrepreneurship, innovation activities and regional development. Despite the vast amount of research that has focused on the outcomes or effectiveness of incubator initiatives and how to measure incubator performance, there is still little understanding of how to determine incubators that are more effective than others. Based on data from 410 graduate firms, this paper applies the multicriteria outranking technique PROMETHEE (Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation) and compares the longterm effectiveness of five technologyoriented BIs in Germany. This is the first time that outranking procedures are used in incubator evaluations. In particular, we investigate whether PROMETHEE is a wellsuited methodological approach for the evaluation and comparisons in the specific context of business incubation.


Isfahan in central Iran was selected as a capital city by both the Seljuk (AD 1040–1157) and the Safavid (AD 1501–1722) dynasties. During the Safavid period, and under Shah Abbas I (AD 1571–1629) in particular, the city was greatly expanded with important new quarters including Naqsh-e Jahan Square (AD 1590–1595). Running north to south, a new avenue or boulevard called the Charbagh (Ḵiyābān-e Čahārbāğ) was also constructed (AD 1595–1596) (Figure 1), serving as both a leisure or tourist attraction outside the city walls, and to connect some of the new capital's institutions.


This paper synthesizes and extends recent research on "The New Economics of the Brain Drain." In a unified framework, the paper shows that while recently identified adverse repercussions of the brain drain exacerbate the long-recognized negative impact of the brain drain, longer-term consequences turn the brain drain into the harbinger of powerful gains. These gains have been studied already in recent research, or merit attention in future research. JEL Classification: F22; I30; J24; J61; J64; O15


Introduction: Alveolar soft part sarcoma is a malignant soft tissue tumor whose metastasis to other organs like lung and brain as a primary presented symptom is not unusual. In the literature there are many reports of metastasis to different parts of brain, but cerebellar metastasis has not been reported yet. In this case study, we discuss a rare occurrence of simultaneous metastasis to brain and cerebellum as a primary presented symptom. Case Report: An 18-year-old woman who was referred due to nausea, vertigo, a severe headache, and blurred vision underwent craniotomy for the resection of brain tumor. Pathologic diagnosis was alveolar soft part sarcoma with metastasis to brain and cerebellum. Conclusion: However, metastasis of this type of sarcoma to cerebellum is considered rare and has not been reported yet.


bModelTest allows for a Bayesian approach to inferring a site model for phylogenetic analysis. It is based on trans dimensional MCMC proposals that allow switching between substitution models, whether gamma rate heterogeneity is used and whether a proportion of the sites is invariant. The model can be used with the set of reversible models on nucleotides, but we also introduce other sets of substitution models, and show how to use these sets of models. With the method, the site model can be inferred during the MCMC analysis and does not need to be pre-determined, as is now often the case in practice, by likelihood based methods.


Backgrounds:

Enormous number of possible conformations in the protein structure simulation have led molecular dynamics researchers to be frustrated until now. Some methods with defects ended their experiments into failure. This made them fail to determine the structure and function of folded protein in stable state with the lowest potential energy. This apparently exist in nature. The purpose of resolving a protein folding pathway that follows protein backbone residues torsional inertia was accomplished.
Results

A new method, torsion angle modeling, was adopted focused on the rotation of dihedral angles. The potential energy was calculated by rotating torsion angles of the peptide with 8 residues. It was found that when moving in the order of torsional inertia, 8 residues swivel in sequence. Six passes were repeated to find the lowest value.
Conclusion

The protein backbone torsion angle plays very important role in predicting protein structure. Actually it was thousand times faster or more than others to get the obvious pathway.


Multimedia data often have different levels of importance such that more important bits are less error-tolerant. A new rate control method for transporting such multimedia data over parallel wireless links with heterogeneous reliability is proposed. Rate-controlled parallel transmissions (RCPT) of different layers of a multimedia stream with different levels of importance over a wireless channel that support multiple links with heterogeneous reliability can improve the efficiency in resource allocation while satisfying the quality of service requirement of the multimedia connection. To exploit RCPT, we present and evaluate a novel dynamic resource allocation method that decomposes the available radio resources into multiple sets of links with different levels of reliability. We mathematically formulate a rate control problem for the flexible RCPT scheme and develop an efficient real-time resource allocation algorithm with a remarkably fast rate of convergence. Simulation results show that the proposed method improves the utility and reduces the power consumed for delivery of a multimedia stream at the required quality of service, in comparison with a previous scheme, where different layers of each multimedia class are scheduled with dependency, and two schemes that provide homogeneous high or low reliability over all parallel links.


Contemporary IA languages are considered to be purely nominative at the level of syntax. Ergativity is restricted to the morphological domain. However the scrutiny of certain syntactic constructions such as converbal clause chaining or coordinate conjunction reduction shows that they are not necessarily sensitive to the basic grammatical relations (Bickel & Yādava 2000), in other words, the notion of pivot is not fully operational in the IA languages. The aim of the present paper is to demonstrate that apart from the dominating syntactic A/S pivot early NIA shows: (a) instances of converbs not controlled by the A of the main clause and (b) the dropped element in coordinate or certain subordinate constructions is not always an A/S argument. The alleged syntactic lability will be observed diachronically in four dialectal groups, namely Rajasthani, Pahari, Western Hindi and Eastern Hindi.


Academic) The 2010-2011 Canterbury, New Zealand, Earthquake Sequence (CES) resulted in a liquefaction dataset of unprecedented size and quality, presenting a truly unique opportunity to assess and improve the efficacy of liquefaction-analytics in the field. Towards this end, the study presented herein develops and analyzes a database of 10,000 high-quality liquefaction case histories resulting from the CES. The objectives of these analyses are varied, but underlying each is the desire to more accurately assess liquefaction hazard for civil infrastructure (i.e., to predict both the occurrence and damage-potential of soil liquefaction). Major contributions from this work include, but are not limited to: (1) the Liquefaction Potential Index (LPI), the state-of-practice framework for assessing liquefaction hazard, is shown to produce erroneous predictions for a significant percentage of the assessed case histories; (2) the cause of poor predictions is rigorously investigated and specific shortcomings of the LPI framework are identified; (3) based on the limitations identified, and using insights from historical data, a revised liquefaction hazard framework is developed; and (4) the revised framework is shown to assess liquefaction hazard more efficiently relative to both LPI and a competing alternative framework newly proposed in the literature. Ultimately, significant room for improvement remains with respect to accurate assessment of liquefaction hazard. The findings presented in this dissertation thus form the basis for future development of a furtherimproved framework. Moreover, a methodology is proposed by which improvements can be measured in a standardized and objective manner. Moving Towards an Improved Liquefaction Hazard Framework: Lessons Resulting From the 2010-2011 Canterbury, New Zealand, Earthquake Sequence


This paper discusses the comparative study of bandwidth (BW) enhancement technique of Microstrip Patch Antenna (MSA) using various geometries. A simple Rectangular Microstrip Patch Antenna (RMSA) was designed and simulated using Zeland's Method of Moment (MoM) based EM simulation package IE3D and its various parameters such as return loss, VSWR and input impedance were obtained. Then shape of this RMSA was modified by cutting various slots in it at appropriate positions. Increase in operational BW of MSA was observed.


Steganographic techniques can be utilized to conceal data within digital images with small or invisible changes in the perceived appearance of the image. Generally, five main objectives are used to assess the performance of steganographic algorithms which include embedding capacity, imperceptibility, security, robustness and complexity. However, steganographic algorithms hardly take all of these factors into account. In this paper, a novel steganographic algorithm for digital images is proposed based on the pixel-value differencing (PVD) and modified least-significant bit (LSB) substitution (MDPVD-MLSB) techniques to address most of aforementioned objectives. Although there are many techniques for concealing data within pixels, the restricting factor is always the amount of bits adjusted in every pixel. Therefore, the main contributions of this paper aim to achieve a balance between the amount of embedded data, the level of acceptable distortion, as well as providing high level of security. The performance of this algorithm has been extensively evaluated in terms of embedding capacity, peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and structural similarity index measure (SSIM). Simulation results and comparisons with six relevant algorithms are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of this proposed algorithm.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.itc.46.1.15253


Civil society has exploded in Latin America as democratization has continued over the last 30 years. Civil society organizations (CSOs) are thought to improve governance and oversight and to increase social capital. Nonetheless, we have limited knowledge about what motivates CSOs' political strategies, which include participating in formal political institutions, attending demonstrations, and providing services. We build knowledge here by evaluating data from a unique survey of nine hundred CSOs across seven Brazilian cities. Our findings showcase several parallel processes: poorer CSOs continue to rely on the state and actively participate in political processes despite protesting at greater rates than wealthier CSOs; therefore, we contend that institutional and political process arguments better explain poorer CSOs' behavior. We also argue that relatively wealthy CSOs' disengagement reflects greater resource mobilization, more professionalization, and an increase in social capital. Our results show that multilayered explanations improve our understanding of CSO behavior and state-society relations in Brazil and Latin America.


The main aim of this session is to explore mechanisms to support a w hole of degree approach to curriculum design that will allow assurance of learning. In order to achieve this , three key elements of curriculum design ( degree level learning outcomes ; learning activities ; assessment tasks ) have been considered in a constructively aligned manner. This w hole of degree design is a change of mind set for many academics. Common practice has been to develop a set of subjects (units of study /modules ) that cover all the necessary areas and a degree is awarded once sufficient subjects are passed by the student. Whole of degree design removes the silo effect of developing subjects in isolation to work with teaching teams to develop an integrated and scaffolded app roach to the curriculum, where subjects relate and build on each other in a progressive way allowing students to see how each element of the course relates to the overall degree level learning outcomes.

Assessment drives learning and so ensuring that assessment is a main factor when using this whole of degree approach is essential. Assessment tasks must be authentic assessment tasks that are designed in a scaffolded manner. Assessments are often developed within individual subjects and not developed collectively across whole degrees. In this way they are retrofitted to meet degree level learning outcomes rather than being designed specifically. A whole of degree approach prompts the teaching team to work together to identify suitable tasks for degree level learning outcomes. Teams are asked to identify where/how the degree level learning outcomes would be demonstrated in the real world, they then use these authentic tasks as the basis for designing assessments that can be administered under the university system (considering workload, assessment policies, moderation, academic integrity, and so on). Once a set of assessment tasks are developed for each degree level learning outcome they are examined to see how they can be scaffolded so students have opportunities to develop skills and knowledge as they progress through their degree, making sure the tasks increase in complexity over time. Once this scaffolding is in place then these assessments get mapped to suitable subjects and adapted to meet the subject context.

 To complement this whole of course assessment design, guidance is provided for both academics and students in the form of whole of degree rubrics. These rubrics are developed by the teaching team; identifying criteria for each degree level learning outcome along with expected standards for different stages of the degree. These are then used to achieve calibration of what is expected of students in a social constructivist manner, augmented by exemplars to model these expectations. The whole of degree rubric is then used as the foundation for developing individual task rubrics incorporating degree level learning outcome criteria and any additional criteria specific to the task. With this whole of degree understanding students can then be marked not only on their progress for an individual piece of work but in relation to the whole degree standards.


The distinction between development assistance and climate finance is driven by an optic of compensation largely derived from the .polluter pays. principle. For practical as well as conceptual reasons, this principle provides a weak basis for climate finance. The distinction also cuts against the need to holistically consider developmental, adaptation, and mitigation policies and naturally focuses on government-to-government flows despite the manifest need to catalyse non-official sources of finance. Beyond the .polluter pays. principle, ample justifications, such as the conceptions of justice set forth by Sen, for an international architecture that addresses integrated climate and development challenges.


Abstract. During the CalNex study (15 May to 16 June 2010) a large suite of instruments was operated at the Los Angeles area ground supersite to characterize the sources and atmospheric processing of atmospheric pollution. The thermal-desorption proton-transfer-reaction mass-spectrometer (TD-PTR-MS) was deployed to an urban area for the first time and detected 691 organic ions in aerosol samples, the mean total concentration of which was estimated as 3.3 μg m −3 . Based on comparison to total organic aerosol (OA) measurements, we estimate that approximately 50% of the OA mass at this site was directly measured by the TD-PTR-MS. Based on correlations with aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) OA components, the ions were grouped to represent hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA), local OA (LOA), semi-volatile oxygenated OA (SV-OOA), and low volatility oxygenated OA (LV-OOA). Mass spectra and thermograms of the ion groups are mostly consistent with the assumed sources and/or photochemical origin of the OA components. The mass spectra of ions representing the primary components HOA and LOA included the highest m/z , consistent with their higher resistance to thermal decomposition, and they were volatilized at lower temperatures (~ 150 °C). Photochemical ageing weakens C-C bond strengths (also resulting in chemical fragmentation), and produces species of lower volatility (through the addition of functional groups). Accordingly the mass spectra of ions representing the oxidized OA components (SV-OOA, and LV-OOA) lack the highest masses and they are volatilized at higher temperatures (250–300 °C). Chemical parameters like mean carbon number ( n C ), mean carbon oxidation state ( OS C ), and the atomic ratios O / C and H / C of the ion groups are consistent with the expected sources and photochemical processing of the aerosol components. Our data suggest that chemical fragmentation gains importance over functionalization as photochemical age of OA increases. Surprisingly, the photochemical age of OA decreases during the daytime hours, demonstrating the importance of rapid production of new (photochemically young) SV-OOA during daytime. The PTR detects higher organic N concentrations than the AMS, the reasons for which are not well understood and cannot be explained by known artifacts related to PTR or the AMS. The median atomic N / C ratio (6.4%) of the ion group representing LV-OOA is a factor 2 higher than N / C of any other ion group. This suggests a multiphase chemical source involving ammonium ions is contributing to LV-OOA.


PURPOSE
Neuroblastoma is a genetically heterogeneous pediatric tumor with a remarkably variable clinical behavior ranging from widely disseminated disease to spontaneous regression. In this study, we aimed for comprehensive genetic subgroup discovery and assessment of independent prognostic markers based on genome-wide aberrations detected by comparative genomic hybridization (CGH).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Published CGH data from 231 primary untreated neuroblastomas were converted to a digitized format suitable for global data mining, subgroup discovery, and multivariate survival analyses.

RESULTS
In contrast to previous reports, which included only a few genetic parameters, we present here for the first time a strategy that allows unbiased evaluation of all genetic imbalances detected by CGH. The presented approach firmly established the existence of three different clinicogenetic subgroups and indicated that chromosome 17 status and tumor stage were the only independent significant predictors for patient outcome. Important new findings were: (1) a normal chromosome 17 status as a delineator of a subgroup of presumed favorable-stage tumors with highly increased risk; (2) the recognition of a survivor signature conferring 100% 5-year survival for stage 1, 2, and 4S tumors presenting with whole chromosome 17 gain; and (3) the identification of 3p deletion as a hallmark of older age at diagnosis.

CONCLUSION
We propose a new regression model for improved patient outcome prediction, incorporating tumor stage, chromosome 17, and amplification/deletion status. These findings may prove highly valuable with respect to more reliable risk assessment, evaluation of clinical results, and optimization of current treatment protocols.


Objective: The study objective was to review internal tobacco industry documents written between 1985 and 1995 regarding the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) population in the USA. These documents detail opportunities and barriers to promotion of tobacco products, as viewed by the tobacco industry and its market research firms. Data sources/methods: Researchers reviewed tobacco industry documents from the document depository in Minneapolis, Minnesota and the tobacco industry's website, The Tobacco Archive, in a systematic fashion. A combined technique was employed using title keywords, dates, and names to search the 4(b) index. Findings: A review of internal tobacco company documents reveal that during the late 1980s, the industry and its market research firms recognised the importance of the AAPI community as a potential business market. Documents describe the population growth in this community, the high prevalence of smoking in countries of origin, high purchasing power of AAPI immigrants, cultural predisposition to smoking, opportunities afforded by the high proportion of retail businesses under AAPI ownership, barriers to developing the AAPI market, comprehensive campaigns, and political and lobbying efforts. Comprehensive campaigns were designed to integrate promotion efforts in AAPI consumer, retail, and business communities. Conclusions: The documents show that the tobacco industry developed specific promotion strategies to target the AAPI population. Tobacco control initiatives in the AAPI group have been slower to develop than in other targeted ethnic groups, and may benefit by increased awareness of industry methods to promote tobacco use.


ABSTRACT Background: The appropriate approach for surgical removal of thoracic disc herniations is controversial. The posterior approach historically acquired a bad reputation due to high rates of neurologic deterioration subsequent to spinal cord manipulation. The anterior approach has consequently gained popularity but entails a larger magnitude of surgery if open and is technically demanding if approached thoracoscopically. Approaching the thoracic disc posteriorly following unilateral facetectomy and pediculectomy was suggested in 1978. This study presents a technique for posterior unilateral thoracic discectomy through a hemilaminectomy, unilateral facetectomy, and hemipediculectomy, facilitated by a novel curved dorsally shielded high-speed device. Introducing the device ventral to the dural sac allows removal of calcified and soft disc fragments without relying on forceful manual maneuvers and avoiding manipulation of the spinal cord. Methods: The maximal disc protrusion side is approached through a hemilaminectomy, unilateral facetectomy, and hemipediculectomy removing the superior half of the pedicle and exposing the disc transforaminally, allowing its removal using the device. Pedicle fixation and fusion concluded all procedures (TTIF). Between June 2014 and November 2018, 12 patients (6 men and 6 women) ages 23 to 74 years underwent posterior thoracic discectomy applying the above approach. The affected levels were D3 to D4 (1), D5 to D6 (1), D7 to D8 (1), D9 to D10 (1), D10 to D11 (3), D11 to D12 (4), and D12 to L1 (1). Results: All patients presented with neurologic deterioration and all but 2 with pyramidal signs. All procedures were uneventful, without dural tears. None of the patients deteriorated neurologically. Average back pain visual analog scale scores decreased by 1.2, from 6.6 to 5.4. Average leg pain visual analog scale scores decreased by 2.2, from 6.6 to 4.4. Improvement was noted in Oswestry Disability Index scores and 6 SF-36 metrics. Conclusions: The new curved device and approach allow for a faster, safer thoracic disc herniation removal. Clinical Relevance: The proposed technique allows a safer treatment for thoracic disc herniations, reducing complication rates and improving patient outcome.


One of the enduring objects used to represent the technological future is the robot. This legacy means that its promise has the ability to evolve in accordance with our societal and cultural dreams and aspirations. It can reflect the current state of technological development, our hopes for that technology and also our fears; fundamentally though, after almost a century of media depictions and corporate promises, the robot is yet to enter our homes and lives in any meaningful way.
This thesis begins by asking the question: how does an emerging technology (such as robotic) become a domestic product? In addressing this issue I draw from the theory of domestication and the method of speculative design to describe three possible technological journeys: how technology does not, does and could become a domestic product:
1. Technology does not make the transition from laboratory to domestic life.
Robots have made countless departures from the habitat of the research laboratory, apparently headed towards the domestic habitat, but the vast majority never arrive. This observation leads to the identification of a third habitat and the current destination for the majority of proposed domestic robots – robot-related imaginaries.
_6
In this theatre-like environment, robots exist as either promises or warnings of a potential technological future. The habitat includes technology fairs, laboratory open houses, news articles and the films and novels of science fiction. I conclude by suggesting reasons why these visions of the future so often fail to become domestic products.
2. Technology does make the transition from laboratory to domestic life.
Borrowing from the science of ecology and biological concepts of evolution and domestication, I make an analogy between the shift of habitats that occurs when an organism successfully goes through the process of artificial selection (natural to domestic) and the transition an emerging technology makes in order to become a suitable product for domestic use (laboratory to domestic).
3. How technology could make the transition from laboratory to domestic life.
This section makes up the core of the thesis as I describe speculative design and how it can be used to present more plausible depictions of near-future technological applications. By stepping out of the normative relationship that ties technological development to commercial markets, speculative design opens a space for alternative perspectives, critical reflection and an examination of contemporary and near-future technological application.
Throughout the thesis these theoretical investigations run parallel to the practice-based element, allowing for interplay between the two. This resulted in three projects that exemplify the speculative design approach applied to robots, inviting dialogue and contemplation on what a preferable robotic future might be.


The water pollution due to the contamination of heavy metals is drastically increasing. Lead (II) is one of the major heavy metal causing many diseases to human community. In this study, adsorptive removal of lead (II) from aqueous solution was performed using a non-conventional activated carbon (PSC) prepared from the seeds of Passiflora foetida plant using HCl as an activating agent. The prepared adsorbent has a surface area of 179 m2/g. The maximum amount of lead (II) removal was observed at a pH of 4.5. The adsorption of lead (II) increases with increasing the initial concentration from 20 to 60 mg/L and it decreases with increases in temperature. The adsorption of lead(II) by PSC follows pseudo-second order kinetics and Langmuir type of isotherm. The negative value of Gibbs free energy indicates the spontaneous nature of adsorption. The adsorption of lead (II) by PSC is favorable and spontaneous in nature. The desorption studies indicates that lead (II) can be desorbed using an eluent with low pH (2.0 to 3.0).


From the Publisher:
Advance praise for The GigaLaw Guide to Internet Law
"I read this book from cover to cover. The examples of case law are of enormous illustrative value. Some of them will raise your blood pressure (well, mine went up several notches, anyway). Well worth the time to read!"
—Vint Cerf, chairman, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
"Doug Isenberg pulls off the toughest hat trick in legal writing—he and his contributing authors map out the legal landscape of cyberspace in language accessible and friendly to lay readers, providing a comprehensive guide for lawyers who want to gain a quick grasp of cyberlaw, and they do all this with scholarly care for accuracy and precision."
—Mike Godwin, author of Cyber Rights: Defending Free Speech in the Digital Age
"A treasure trove of information that is a relief to find, a pleasure to read, and a snap to apply to dozens of your most pressing Internet legal questions."
—Carol Darr, director of the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet
"Doug Isenberg is the authority on all issues regarding Internet law. His insight is exceptional, his experience unsurpassed. This book is both a reference work and a bible, enlightening and showing the way—a quintessential, all-encompassing work for both the novice and the veteran."
—Marc Adler, chairman and CEO, Macquarium Intelligent Communications
Doug Isenberg is an attorney and the founder of GigaLaw.com, an award-winning website about Internet law. He writes regularly as a columnist for The Wall Street Journal Online and CNET News.com and has represented numeroushigh-tech and Internet clients.


An efficient and solvent-free conditions for the synthesis of 5-arylidine- 2,4-thiazolidinediones by the Knoevenagel condensation of aromatic aldehydes with 2,4-thiazolidinedione in the presence of cellulose sulphuric acid (CSA) as a catalyst carried out under the influence ofmicrowave irradiation. The major advantages of this method are short reaction time, high yields and green aspects by avoiding toxic catalyst and hazardous solvent. Moreover, the CSA was successfully reused for four cycles without significant loss of activity.


The MapReduce distributed programming framework has become popular, despite evidence that current implementations are inefficient, requiring far more hardware than a traditional relational databases to complete similar tasks. MapReduce jobs are amenable to many traditional database query optimizations (B+Trees for selections, column-store-style techniques for projections, etc), but existing systems do not apply them, substantially because free-form user code obscures the true data operation being performed. For example, a selection in SQL is easily detected, but a selection in a MapReduce program is embedded in Java code along with lots of other program logic. We could ask the programmer to provide explicit hints about the program's data semantics, but one of MapReduce's attractions is precisely that it does not ask the user for such information.

This paper covers Manimal, which automatically analyzes MapReduce programs and applies appropriate data-aware optimizations, thereby requiring no additional help at all from the programmer. We show that Manimal successfully detects optimization opportunities across a range of data operations, and that it yields speedups of up to 1,121% on previously-written MapReduce programs.


Texas Tech University School of Law has undertaken a statistical analysis of its recent alumni, comparing their performance in law school with their success on the Texas bar exam. The authors conclude that LSAT predicts bar exam success while undergraduate GPA does not. The study also replicates findings in previous literature that both 1L and final law school GPA predict bar exam success. Going beyond existing literature, this study also conducted more specific analysis of how student performance in specific courses can predict success on affiliated subcomponents of the bar exam; the Article identifies which courses have significant impact on bar exam performance and which do not. Additionally, the Article reports a completely new analysis of whether student participation in curricular student engagement activities (such as journal, clinic, and advocacy competitions) predicts bar exam success.


Using a Bayesian approach to clinical trial design is becoming more common. For example, at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, Bayesian techniques are routinely employed in the design and analysis of Phase I and II trials. It is important that the operating characteristics of these procedures be determined as part of the process when establishing a stopping rule for a clinical trial. This study determines the power function for some common fixed-sample procedures in hypothesis testing, namely the one and two-sample tests involving the binomial and normal distributions. Also considered is a Bayesian test for multi-response (response and toxicity) in a Phase II trial, where the power function is determined.


The F2 population developed from the crosses of L-31 x CIM-443 was used to produce Triple Test Cross hybrid population through the cross-combinations from L-31x F2 males, CIM-443x F2 males and F I (L-31x CIM-443) x F2 males. The Triple Test Cross analysis of F1 hybrid population indicated no epistasis or non-allelic interaction for major economic traits of cotton. However, significant epistasis of genotypes was detected for acid value, free fatty acids, and iodine value. Protein contents, wax contents and ash contents or cotton fibre but individually the most or the F2 genotypes computed the significant epistatic values only. For iodine value. Plant height depicted additive and non -additive components of variation. Nodes per plant, sympodia per plant and 10lh sympodial length indicated highly significant differences for additive and non-additive components of variation while non-additive component was positive and highly significant for monopodia per plant. Both the additive and dominant components were highly significant for days to flowering and days to boll opening with complete dominance but incase of first sympodial node, the additive component was significant and non-additive component was highly significant with over dominance type of gene action.

The additive and dominant gene effects were highly significant for seed cotton yield per plant and bolls per plant with partial or incomplete dominance. The boll weight showed partial dominance and the direction of dominance was positive and significant. The lint index indicated over dominance type of gene action. Additive gene effects were more for lint percentage and fibre length. Whereas, the dominant gene effects were of greater magnitude for fibre strength and tibre maturity. The lint percentage, fibre length and fibre fineness indicated incomplete or partial dominance while fibre strength and fibre maturity showed over dominance type of gene action. Additive type of gene effects were greater for cellulose contents with high level of incomplete dominance and the pectin contents also indicated incomplete dominance type of gene action but the dominant gene effects were more for cottonseed oil contents. The cottonseed oil and peroxide value showed over dominance type of gene action.

The correlation studies indicated that monopodia per plant, plant height, sympodia per plant, first pick percentage, fibre maturity, bolls per plant, boll weight, lint index, fibre length, cottonseed oil and cellulose contents of cotton tibre showed positive relationship with seed cotton yield. Whereas, the days to flowering and days to boll opening showed no association with seed cotton yield but fibre strength showed negative correlation with seed cotton yield per plant. Moreover, pectin contents, protein contents, wax contents and ash contents of cotton fibre were negatively associated with seed cotton yield per plant.

The path coefficient analysis revealed that monopodia per plant, sympodia per plant, plant height components, days to flowering, first sympodial node, and bolls per plant, boll weight, first pick percentage, fibre maturity, lint index and cottonseed oil showed direct effects on seed cotton yield. Among the fibre quality traits, fibre fineness only contributed to fibre strength, positively. The specific gravity, acid value, peroxide value and iodine value contributed directly to seed cotton yield per plant. Whereas, pectin contents of cotton fibre depicted positive direct effects with fibre length and fibre fineness.

The maximum positive heterosis of 72.10 percent and 54.63 percent for 10th sympodial length and monopodia per plant was shown by the F1 crosses, C-3 (F1 x F2) and C-12 (L-31 x F2) of the respective cross-combinations. While, among the earliness traits, the maximum positive heterosis of 28.37 percent and 28.95 percent for days to flowering and days to boll opening was depicted by the FI crosses i.e., C-9) (CIM-443 x F2) and C-9) (CIM-443 x F2) of the respective cross-combinations. Whereas, maximum positive heterosis of 34.56 percent for seed cotton yield was given by the F1 cross C-11 from L-31 x F2 cross-combination.

For fibre quality traits maximum positive heterosis of 15.02 percent for fibre strength was shown by the F1 cross (C-8) from CIM-443 x F2 cross-combination. Whereas, the maximum positive heterosis or 50.00 percent and 50.42 percent for acid value and for free fatty acids, respectively, was presented by the F1 crosses i.e C-4 (F1 x F2) and C-4+21 (F1 x F2) cross combinations. While, ash contents or cotton fibre depicted maximum positive heterosis i.e., 72.59 percent in F1 cross (C-I0) of CIM-443 x F2 cross-combination.

Among the morphological traits the nodes per plant showed higher values (95.1 percent) for broad sense heritability along with maximum estimated genetic advance (34.97 percent). The earliness traits i.e. first pick percentage, days to boll opening and days to flowering indicated high values 95.2 percent, 95. I percent ,and 94.3 percent) for broad sense heritability except first sympodial node having 37.1 percent value of broad sense heritability but with maximum estimated genetic advance (85.35 percent of mean). Maximum broad sense heritability values up to 97 percent for seed cotton yield, md its components along with the maximum estimated genetic advance for seed cotton yield i.e., 22.42 percent of mean.

The fibre quality traits revealed high values for broad sense heritability i.e., up to 94.4 percent but fibre fineness showed maximum genetic advance of 9.47 percent. The seed oil contents and its analytical properties also depicted high values up to 99.99 percent for broad sense heritability while cotton fibre chemical constituents depicted maximum broad sense heritability value of 99. 3 percent for wax contents along with 17.76 percent, genetic advance.

The combining ability studies indicated the female parents i.e., L-31 and CIM-443 were found to be the good general combiners for plant height, nodes per plant, l0th sympodial length, sympodia per plant, days to flowering, days to boll opening, seed cotton yield, first pick percentage, lint percentage, fibre length, fibre fineness, seed oil contents, iodine value, protein contents, pectin contents, ash contents and cellulose contents. The third female parent F1 was found to be the good general combiner for specific gravity, free fatty acids, acid value, protein contents and wax contents of cotton fibre.

The crosses of L-3I x F2-15, CIM-443 x F2-I6 and CIM-443 x F2-17 gave positive and significant SCA effects for plant height, nodes per plant and for sympodia per plant were found to be the good specific combiners for improving these traits in the present population through hybridization. Whereas, the crosses i.e., L-31 x F2-1, L-31 x F2-9, L-31 x F2-10, L-31 x F2- 13, L-3I x F2-15, L-3lx F2-18, F1 x F2-6, F. x F2-I6 and F1 x F2-19 showed positive and significant SCA effects for first pick percentage were found to be the good specific combiners for the same. While, crosses of L-31 x F2-1, L-31 x F2-2, L-3I x F2-I1, L-31 x F2-20 CIM-443 x F2-3, CIM-443 x F2-13, CIM-443 x F2-I7 F. x F2-7 and F1 x F2--16 depicted positive and significant SCA effects for seed cotton yield, bolls per plant, boll weight and seeds per boll were found to be good specific combiners for improving the above said traits.

The crosses of L-3I x F2-12, CIM-443 x F2-13 and L-31 x F2-19 indicating significant and positive SCA effects for fibre length, lint percentage and for fibre maturity were found to be good specific combiners for improving these traits. The crosses of L-31 x F2-15, CIM-443 x F2.3, CIM-443 x F2-5, and F1x F2-16 showing significant and positive SCA effects for seed oil contents, free fatty acids, acid value and iodine value were found to be the good specific combiners for the improvement of these traits in the present population. Whereas, the crosses of L-31 x F2-2, CIM-443 x F2-5, CIM-443 x F2-15 and FIx F2 13 with positive and significant SCA effects for fibre chemical constituents were found to be the good specific combiners for improving the above said traits in this population. The F1 populations derived from TTC crosses showed significantly higher percentage of oil contents of 22.60 percent than the female parents (20.40 to 21.30) and F2 males (17.30 to 21.50).Moreover, the 'TTC F1 hybrids depicted higher values for various analytical properties of cottonseed oil than the respective female and male parents. Similarly TTC F1 hybrids indicated better values for various cotton fibre chemical constituents than the respective female and male parents used in the present cross-combinations


We look at the relatively unexplored problem of plan recognition applied to motion in 2-D environments where all moving objects are modelled as circles. Golog is a well-known high level logical language for solving planning problems and specifying agent controllers. Few studies have applied Golog to plan recognition. We use some of the features of this language, but its standard interpreter is adapted to solving plan recognition problems.

This thesis makes several other contributions. First, plan recognition procedures are formulated as finite automata and expressed as Golog programs. Second, we elaborate a logical formalism for reasoning about depth and motion from an observer's viewpoint. We not only expand on this situation calculus based formalism, but also apply it to tackle plan recognition problems in the traffic domain. The proposed approach is implemented and thoroughly tested on recognizing simple behaviours such as left turns, right turns, and overtaking.