Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis is a histological pattern on renal biopsy caused by diverse mechanisms. In its primary form, a circulatory factor is implicated in disease onset and recurrence. The natural history of primary FSGS is unpredictable, since some patients are unresponsive towards immunosuppressive measures. Immunologic changes, leading to a proinflammatory or profibrotic milieu, have been implicated in disease progression, namely, glomerular scarring, eventually leading to end-stage renal disease. Among these, interleukin-1ß, tumor-necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1) have emerged as important factors. Translating these findings into clinical practice dampened the enthusiasm, since both TNF-α and TGF-ß1 blockade failed to achieve significant control of the disease. More recently, a role of the complement system has been demonstrated which in fact may be another attractive target in clinical practice. Rituximab, blocking CD20-bearing cells, demonstrated conflicting data regarding efficacy in FSGS. Finally, the T-cell costimulating molecule B7-1 (CD80) is implicated in development of proteinuria in general. Blockade of this target demonstrated significant benefits in a small cohort of resistant patients. Taken together, this review focuses on immunology of FSGS, attributable to either the disease or progression, and discusses novel therapeutic approaches aiming at targeting immunologic factors.


The important questions we need to ask and to answer B in the perilous times in which we live B is whether the Fourth Amendment applies in the same fashion not just to run of the mill criminals, but also to terrorists and suspected terrorists, individuals who are committing or who have committed B or who may be poised to commit B acts aimed at the destruction of extremely large numbers of people? Professor Burkoff argues that we can protect ourselves from cataclysmic threats of this sort and still maintain a fair and objective application of Fourth Amendment doctrine that respects our constitutional history. The Fourth Amendment applies to every search and seizure (including arrests) made by American law enforcement authorities or their agents. But the Fourth Amendment does and must apply as well in a way that includes unblindered sensitivity to and awareness of the context in which the law enforcement activities in question arise. Indeed, it must apply in this way if we are to be able to respond appropriately and effectively to the threats that now imperil us.


The purpose of this panel it is to evoke a discussion that examines how cybercriminals translate methods for stealing data, identities, and money from individuals and organizations from the face-to-face world to an information technology (IT) enabled environment. Specifically, this panel will: 1) give members of the audience an opportunity to learn about contemporary theories of the psychology behind white collar crime (e.g, securities fraud, identity theft, phishing), 2) engage the audience in a discussion of how IT plays a role in enabling transfers of "criminal behavior" from traditional contexts to online contexts, and 3) to review challenges and opportunities for researchers seeking to investigate IT-enabled criminal behavior.


Research indicates that religious communities are important sites for the development of social resources, including social capital. Several studies suggest that religious involvement beyond worship services is a meaningful predictor of civic engagement that may foster bridging social capital, or ties that bridge social groups and cross lines of status and identity. This article explores the relationship between religious involvement and bridging social ties. Using nationally representative survey data and a subsample of individuals who are affiliated with one particular congregation, the article examines how religious service attendance and congregational participation (beyond services) are associated with frequency of interaction with someone from one of nine different social groups that vary along dimensions of social status and identity. Congregational participation beyond services positively predicts contact with several of the groups. In contrast, service attendance is either negatively related or not at all significantly related to interaction with someone from each of these nine different social groups.


We introduce a simple model of economy, where the time evolution is described by an equation capturing both exchange between individuals and random speculative trading, in such a way that the fundamental symmetry of the economy under an arbitrary change of monetary units is insured. We investigate a mean-eld limit of this equation and show that the distribution of wealth is of the Pareto (power-law) type. The Pareto behaviour of the tails of this distribution appears to be robust for nite range models, as shown using both a mapping to the random`directed polymer' problem, as well as numerical simulations. In this context, a transition between an economy dominated by a few individuals from a situation where the wealth is more evenly spread out, is found. An interesting outcome is that the distribution of wealth tends to be very broadly distributed when exchanges are limited, either in amplitude or topologically. Favoring exchanges (and, less surprisingly, increasing taxes) seems to be an eecient way to reduce inequalities.


This paper investigates the theoretical basis for criminalizing anticompetitive behavior that violates national antitrust laws. Though many scholars justify criminal antitrust sanctions solely on theories of utilitarian deterrence, I argue that retributivist justifications are relevant to whether or not individuals and corporations should be subject to conviction for these white collar crimes. The unique stigma of criminal sanctions may require the justification of the moral blameworthiness of the acts and actors. The paper also compares relative levels of corporate fines in jurisdictions where criminal prosecution is available and those where the sanctions are limited to civil remedies, reviews the policy positions of non-governmental organizations including the OECD and ICN, and finally, the raises the challenges of counseling and obtaining leniency in multi-jurisdictional investigations that have differing sanctions. The paper was presented at conference "Antitrust Marathon," a series of roundtable discussions among competition and consumer law experts on the enduring issues of comparative competition law. The series is co-sponsored by the Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies of Loyola University Chicago School of Law and the Competition Law Forum of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law. The Rome Antitrust Marathon is also co-sponsored by the University of Rome I (Sapienza) and the Italian Competition Authority. It will be published in the European Competition Journal.


Human language is ambiguous, with intended meanings recovered via pragmatic reasoning in context. Such reliance on context is essential for the efficiency of human communication. Programming languages, in stark contrast, are defined by unambiguous grammars. In this work, we aim to make programming languages more concise by allowing programmers to utilize a controlled level of ambiguity. Specifically, we allow single-character abbreviations for common keywords and identifiers. Our system first proposes a set of strings that can be abbreviated by the user. Using only 100 abbreviations, we observe that a large dataset of Python code can be compressed by 15%, a number that can be improved even further by specializing the abbreviations to a particular code base. We then use a contextualized sequence-to-sequence model to rank potential expansions of inputs that include abbreviations. In an offline reconstruction task our model achieves accuracies ranging from 93% to 99%, depending on the programming language and user settings. The model is small enough to run on a commodity CPU in real-time. We evaluate the usability of our system in a user study, integrating it in Microsoft VSCode, a popular code text editor. We observe that our system performs well and is complementary to traditional autocomplete features.


1. This paper reports a survey of values for individual plasma cobalamins in normal subjects, hospital controls, and patients with vitamin B 12 deficiency and diseases in which there are disturbances of B 12 metabolism. The values were obtained by thin-layer chromatography and bioautography followed by photometric scanning or visual assessment. 2. Normal plasma contains methylcobalamin (the predominant component), deoxyadenosylcobalamin and hydroxocobalamin. The latter two compounds are not separable in the solvent system routinely used. In some samples there were traces of cyanocobalamin. The ratio of methylcobalamin to deoxyadenosylcobalamin plus hydroxocobalamin, normally greater than 1·0, was reduced in B 12 deficiency. Many cases of untreated pernicious anaemia showed a high proportion (up to 40%) of cyanocobalamin. In folate deficiency there was no consistent change in individual cobalamins. Patients with leukaemias and liver disease showed a variety of changes, some attributable to alterations in plasma binding capacity and loss of deoxyadenosylcobalamin from the liver. 3. After oral or parenteral administration of cyanocobalamin, plasma cyanocobalamin increased and there was evidence of conversion to methylcobalamin. After parenteral administration of methylcobalamin, this compound increased in the plasma, but deoxyadenosylcobalamin plus hydroxocobalamin did not change. 4. Possible reasons for pathological changes in individual plasma cobalamins are discussed.


Recent years have seen a proliferation of statutes regulating and lawsuits challenging patent enforcement conduct. The Federal Circuit, however, has held that acts of patent enforcement are illegal only if there is clear and convincing evidence both that the patent holder's infringement allegations were objectively baseless and that the patent holder knew or should have known its allegations were baseless. This chapter summarizes recent efforts by state governments and the federal government to control patent enforcement behavior, questions the broad immunity the Federal Circuit has conferred on patent holders, and seeks to improve pending federal legislation governing patent enforcement. In the past three years, the Supreme Court has twice overturned Federal Circuit case law embracing objective/subjective tests similar to the court's immunity rule. A more flexible standard, focused on the patent holder's good faith or bad faith, would not only accommodate the Supreme Court's disdain for rigid rules in patent law, it would accord with a century of well-reasoned regional circuit and district court case law that the Federal Circuit has ignored. More importantly, a good-faith standard would allow courts to condemn the questionable tactics lately deployed by so-called bottom feeder patent trolls while still respecting patent holders' rights to make legitimate allegations of infringement. Although pending federal legislation to regulate patent assertions would rely heavily on the Federal Trade Commission for implementation, this chapter sketches a regulatory model that emphasizes the comparative advantages of both state governments and the federal government. The federal government's strengths include Congress's ability to provide a uniform legal standard governing patent assertions and to clarify questions of personal and subject matter jurisdiction that arise in cases challenging patent enforcement conduct. By contrast, state governments, as well as private parties, have a superior ability to identify unfair or deceptive patent assertions and to pursue lawsuits against patent holders who violate the law. A model of cooperative federalism, grounded in these functional considerations, would deter and punish overzealous patent enforcement with minimal uncertainty about what, exactly, the law prohibits.


Typically, in an internal combustion engine, thousands of cycles are performed in a minute. In this sequence of cycles many physical and chemical quantities change from cycle to cycle. For example, the combustion heat changes due to residual gases, imperfect combustion and other reasons. In this work, we present two finite-time thermodynamics models for both an Otto and a Diesel cycle, in which the cyclic variability is studied as occurring in the heat capacities of the working fluid. The fluctuations considered are of the uncorrelated type (uniform and gaussian) and one correlated case (logistic map distribution). We find that in the correlated fluctuations case, the power output and the efficiency of both cycles reach bigger fluctuations than in the uncorrelated cases. This result can provide insights over the performance of internal combustion engines. [Reza Masoudi Nejad. Power output and Efficiency of internal combustion engine based on the FTT theory. Life Science Journal. 2012;9(1):387-390] (ISSN:1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com. 56


Many populations of groupers (Teleostei: Serranidae) are overfished, partly because most species form spawning aggregations that are temporally and spatially predictable and therefore easily targeted by fisheries. However, most grouper fisheries operate year-round, thus there can also be high mortality during non-spawning periods. We investigated the impact of fishing around Anguilla, British West Indies, on a commercially important grouper, the red hind Epinephelus gutta- tus, during the non-breeding season. We combined information on the spatial intensity of the fishery with underwater surveys of groupers to test for associations between fishing intensity and fish size and density across 19 sites. Red hind density was unrelated to fishing intensity but red hinds were larger in areas that were targeted more intensively by fishers. While these results might be taken to suggest that fishing has no negative impacts on red hind demographics, we present evidence from fish markets that fishing intensity on this species during the non-spawning season is high. A variety of mechanisms may mask site-specific negative impacts on density and size of red hinds. In particu- lar, fishers can easily move among sites to track grouper abundance and body size, thereby making it difficult to detect impacts on red hinds during the non-spawning season.


Feasibility studies performed in the last years have shown that the low voltage distribution network can be used for data transmission. The main problem is the possible radiation of electromagnetic field representing a the disturbance which can affect radio transmission in the 1 to 30 MHz frequency band. In parallel to the search for new field measurement methods, attention is today directed to the assessment of the equipment based on conducted limits which requires an amendment of CISPR 22 used until now for equipment connected to a telecommunication network. The paper presents the problems related to the introduction of this amendment of CISPR 22 and discusses the possibility to use conducted measurements in order to estimate radiated fields


Background:

Informal feedback from previous conferences suggested that those attending alone can find this quite daunting and may consequently not gain full benefit from the conference. The RCN Research Society North West Forum Group therefore undertook a piece of work, with support of the Forum's National Steering Committee, to explore the views and needs of such "lone attenders".

Methods:

A multi-method approach was adopted ie a questionnaire survey of a convenience sample of 'lone attenders' to the 2007 conference and analysis of field notes, taken with participants' consent, at a related fringe event at this conference. Questionnaire data were analysed using descriptive statistics and fringe field notes thematically analysed.

Results

27 adequately completed questionnaires were returned and 18 delegates attended the fringe. Data from the two sources have been combined (as the questionnaire and fringe discussion 'topic guide' were designed to be complementary).

Particularly problematic areas for lone attenders were identified as being:
• Accommodation (cost, location, practical issues)
• The evening before the conference (eating alone, feeling welcomed, practical issues) • Conference dinner (perceptions and experiences of the dinner, practical issues) Particular issues for overseas delegates and student nurses/postgraduates were identified. Participants made several suggestions to enhance the experience for future 'lone attenders', relating to Pre-conference information
• Local information for delegates
• 'Signposting' for lone attenders
• Evening and pre-conference events Potential solutions would involve additional web-based, print-based and face-to-face information and support.

Conclusions:

This small-scale project has confirmed that some delegates find attending the conference on their own daunting. Data could be used to enhance the experience for future delegates at this conference, as well as by others planning conferences and comparable events for nurses.

Source of Funding: RCN Research Society National Steering Committee

Amount in Funding: 200


Existing legal scholarship does not offer an effective or comprehensive definition of sovereignty. Sovereignty, however, matters. Indeed, many have lived and died for it; the term likewise appears with remarkable frequency in both academic and popular discourse. But, sovereignty is not what it used to be. The evolution of globalization generally, and transformations in global commerce specifically, have sutured together the peoples of the world — conventional nation-states and Indigenous groups alike — permanently altering the sovereignty of each. These developments make it that much more imperative to incorporate a functional definition of sovereignty into legal scholarship. But, given the complexities of sovereignty, the tools of law alone are insufficient to generate such a definition. Here anthropology provides unique and powerful insight to supplement those shortcomings. An evidence-based model through the collaborative lenses of law and anthropology shows that sovereignty and culture have become fused in a mechanism driven by the regulation of cross-border capital. This model empowers the policy makers of conventional states and Indigenous groups to more explicitly, efficiently, and effectively integrate different forms of value — both economic and social.


Promotion constitutes the most effective instrument as an effort to influences and appeal members of society to make use of firm's services and products so that it will increase the number of clients or customers. In the frame of conducting its promotion, the firm (the bank) must understand as deep as possible about its own capability. Promotion could be conducted by means of media or increasing services to customers, namely by paying attention to customers' pleasure in connection with their saving account


New smartphones made by small companies enter the technology market everyday. These new devices introduce new challenges for mobile forensic investigators as these devices end up becoming pertinent evidence during an investigation. One such device is the PinePhone from Pine Microsystems (Pine64). These new devices are sometimes also shipped with OSes that are developed by open source communities and are otherwise never seen by investigators. Ubuntu Touch is one of these OSes and is currently being developed for deployment on the PinePhone. There is little research behind both the device and OS on what methodology an investigator should follow to reliably and accurately extract data. This results in potentially flawed methodologies being used before any testing can occur and contributes to the backlog of devices that need to be processed. Therefore, in this paper, the first forensic analysis of the PinePhone device with Ubuntu Touch OS is performed using Autopsy, an open source tool, to establish a framework that can be used to examine and analyze devices running the Ubuntu Touch OS. The findings include analysis of artifacts that could impact user privacy and data security, organization structure of file storage, app storage, OS, etc. Moreover, locations within the device that stores call logs, SMS messages, images, and videos are reported. Interesting findings include forensic artifacts, which could be useful to investigators in understanding user activity and attribution. This research will provide a roadmap to the digital forensic investigators to efficiently and effectively conduct their investigations where they have Ubuntu Touch OS and/or PinePhone as the evidence source.


Vorinostat, an oral histone deacetylase inhibitor with antitumor activity, is in clinical trials for hematologic and solid tumors that metastasize and compromise bone structure. Consequently, there is a requirement to establish the effects of vorinostat on tumor growth within bone. Breast (MDA-231) and prostate (PC3) cancer cells were injected into tibias of SCID/NCr mice and the effects of vorinostat on tumor growth and osteolytic disease were assessed by radiography, micro-computed tomography, and histologic and molecular analyses. Vorinostat-treated and control mice without tumors were also examined. Tumor growth in bone was reduced ∼33% by vorinostat with inhibited osteolysis in the first few weeks of the experiment. However, osteolysis became more severe in both the vehicle and vorinostat-treated groups. Vorinostat increased the expression of tumor-derived factors promoting bone resorption, including PTHrP, IL-8, and osteopontin. After 4 weeks of vorinostat therapy, the non–tumor-bearing contralateral femurs and limbs from vorinostat-treated tumor-free SCID mice showed significant bone loss (50% volume density of controls). Thus, our studies indicate that vorinostat effectively inhibits tumor growth in bone, but has a negative systemic effect reducing normal trabecular bone mass. Vorinostat treatment reduces tumor growth in bone and accompanying osteolytic disease as a result of decreased tumor burden in bone. However, vorinostat can promote osteopenia throughout the skeleton independent of tumor cell activity. Mol Cancer Ther; 9(12); 3210–20. ©2010 AACR.


In recent decades, the eyes of the world have been trained on China's remarkable feats of rapid economic development. Yet the enormous environmental toll associated with China's growth has also drawn global attention, as Chinese air and water quality plummet to historic lows. Epic levels of environmental degradation have fueled a growing domestic consensus that China must do better at reconciling these competing goals. This article reviews the contemporary challenges facing the second wave of environmental governance in China (with an addendum addressing important environmental law amendments enacted as it went to press). In the first wave of environmental governance, the government promulgated a series of environmental statutes that seem comprehensive — at least on paper. Nevertheless, it has become an article of faith among observers that they are superficially designed and too often unrealized for lack of meaningful implementation. Many environmental law and policy directives are crafted in aspirational form, and even those that do contain enforceable provisions are too often obstructed, for reasons both political and economic. When political patronage and economic interests take precedence over the faithful implementation of these laws, environmental protection suffers alongside other fundamental goals of good governance. For Chinese environmental law to succeed at its increasingly urgent objectives, it must become more than an elaborate paper tiger, moving from the present era of exhortation toward a more mature era of consistent implementation and enforcement. However change unfolds, China will have to wrestle with three basic challenges that continue to obstruct enforcement efforts: (1) effective pollution source management, (2) faithful local implementation of national environmental policies, and (3) reliable judicial access by the victims of environmental harm. This article considers these three distinct hurdles and their implications for the relationship between environmental governance and broader rule-of-law challenges in China. Part I reviews environmental enforcement lapses against polluters and the resulting groundswell of public frustration over health and safety. Part II explores the frequently broken link in the enforcement chain that occurs between central policymaking and local implementation. Part III reviews routine failures by the judicial system to provide redress for the victims of environmental harm and deterrence against future wrongdoing. Part IV considers environmental enforcement problems as a subcategory of more generalized failures of the rule of law in China. Part V concludes with a modest but concrete suggestion for advancing rule-of-law objectives through judicial reform that would materially benefit environmental governance. The proposal would facilitate greater judicial access and accountability, without imposing a fully Westernized model or triggering the massive political upheaval that most Chinese fear.


Introduction Lakes play an important role as a critical ecosystem component for many aquatic and terrestrial plant and animal species and are an invaluable freshwater resource for human populations. To improve the regional knowledge base of British Columbia's water resources, a comprehensive inventory and assessment of the distribution and morphometry of lakes and reservoirs has been developed using the most recently available provincial mapping and the large-scale spatial-analysis capabilities of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The abundance of lake bodies and their extensive distribution across the physiographically diverse and largely remote landmass of British Columbia have hindered previous attempts to carry out such an analysis (Northcote and Larkin 1956; Northcote 1964; Trainor and Church 1996). Furthermore, there exists a continuum of lakes and other surface-water features, including ponds (scale continuum), wetlands (maturity continuum) and rivers (flow dynamics continuum), that makes classification difficult. Although British Columbia has fewer lakes than the other western Canadian provinces (Northcote and Larkin 1963), it probably contains the greatest diversity of lake types because of the complex tectonic and glacial history of the Canadian cordillera. The largest water bodies and major physiographic elements of the province (based on Mathews 1986) are shown in Figure 1. [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] From a regional perspective, a provincial lake inventory would enhance our potential understanding of the physical, chemical and biological nature of the lakes of British Columbia. Such an inventory and classification of our physical landscape features will be necessary for the management and protection of provincial freshwater resources and aquatic ecosystems. The inventory may also be useful in characterising regional geomorphology and hydrology of the province and will serve as an example of how large digital databases and GIS capabilities may be utilised in cataloguing and interpreting landscapes in a spatial context. Previous Work Northcote and Larkin (1956) used lake surveys compiled by the British Columbia Game Commission (100 lakes) to investigate relations between the physical and chemical characteristics of the lakes and standing crops of organisms. Total dissolved content of lake water was concluded to be the most important factor in determining standing crops in lakes of British Columbia. Based primarily on productivity, nine limnologic regions were proposed for the province. Northcote (1964) provided additional information on these regions, briefly described several new regions and made the first attempt to enumerate the number of lakes in British Columbia for the purpose of sport-fish management. Using the limited government resource mapping available at that time, it was estimated that there were over 20,000 lakes in the province. Northcote and Larkin (1963) provide a review of early limnologic endeavours and limnologic research carried out in British Columbia. Based on eighty years of lake surveying, the Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management (2003), Aquatic Information Branch, has compiled and curates a provincial fisheries lake survey that contains basic morphometric data (including lake volume) for approximately 3,000 lakes. Using a subset of this inventory in conjunction with the Lake Classification Project Database (collected by the Canada Department of Fisberies and Oceans--1,000 lakes in total), Trainor and Church (1996) carried out a morphometric assessment and characterisation for three provincial subregions. Principal findings of the study included the identification of a clear planimetric relation between lake perimeter and area and a regionally variable hypsometric relation between lake volume and depth versus area. All relations exhibited substantial residual scatter. Variates of ecological interest, including lake littoral area and flushing time, were also investigated. …


The pharmacist's assistant plays an important role in assisting patients in the selection of the most appropriate medication for a runny nose caused by a viral infection. It is important to check the composition of the recommended products to ensure that patients do not 'double-up' on the same or similar medicines. Also, to help reduce the risk of antibiotic resistance, it is helpful to educate patients that not every runny nose is caused by a bacterial infection and therefore not every sniffle needs antibiotic treatment.


The purpose of this essay is to describe and interpret a cluster of three readerly 'entertainments' conducted in two Perth newspapers, the Western Mail and the West Australian, in the years 1929-1930, and to place them in contexts that enable us to understand them as calculated and connected interventions in a wider campaign of resistance to what was perceived as a decline in recreational reading in this period. The focus on Perth newspapers allows for more detailed analysis in a limited space than would be possible across a wider print spectrum; but it is not an arbitrary choice. Judging by the frequency of articles in newspapers like the West Australian, the Western Mail and the Daify News, the Perth context does seem to manifest a more pressing anxiety about a decline in the habit of reading, especially in the late 1920s and early 1930s, than is evident in the rest of the country, together with a correspondingly stronger and more explicit determination to diagnose and ameliorate the problem. This is not to say that the problem was seen, even in that context, as one that was particular to Western Australia, or even to Australia as a whole. Many of the newspaper articles on this theme cite observations and comments from elsewhere: for example, the Perth Daify News quotes from an address to the Royal Uterary Fund in London by the British Foreign Secretary, Sir John Simon, regretting that 'family reading ... has gone out of vogue, and the hustle of these days, with the easy processes of the cinema screen and the broadcast talk, offer to idle minds a dangerous distraction', and, more broadly, that 'reading and that delightful process of subsequent reflection which is of the essence of the pleasure which literature gives to the reader is on the decline' ('Habit'). Similar elegiac or pessimistic reflections on reading can be foundsome sourced elsewhere (usually Melbourne, Sydney or London), and some locally composed throughout the 1920s and early 1930s. The tone ranges from


The reward positivity (RewP) and the stimulus preceding negativity (SPN), two ERPs associated with reward delivery and reward anticipation, are modulated by motivational intensity. Motivational intensity is the effort organisms would make to exert behaviors, and it varies with the difficulty of exerting that behavior. If a task is perceived as impossible, which means that one does not have control over own outcomes, motivational intensity is low. In the current study, we tested the prediction that perceiving control over one's outcomes increases both the RewP to feedback and the SPN prior to feedback compared to perceiving no control. We also examined whether P300 and LPP amplitudes to reward and nonreward images were similarly modulated. Twenty-five female participants completed a gambling task in which correct choices were followed by pictures of attractive men and incorrect choices were followed by pictures of rocks. To manipulate perceived control, participants were told that, in one block of trials, they could learn a mouse-click rule in order to see only pictures of men (high perceived control condition), while in the other block, the pictures would appear randomly (low perceived control condition). However, in both conditions, feedback appeared randomly. Although the RewP was elicited in both blocks, the RewP and SPN were higher in the high perceived control condition (i.e., when participants thought that they could influence their outcomes). Perceived control did not modulate the P300 and LPP to pictures. The results suggest that approach motivation and its intensity modulate the processing of performance feedback.

publisher-specific, author manuscript: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions


Sex trafficking is a type of violence perpetrated on women that takes place in diverse settings and usually involves many different actors. It is an aspect of human trafficking that is becoming pandemic in society and possibly, the fastest growing human rights violation in the world today. It has generated a lot of concern worldwide and especially in Nigeria where it is very rampant. Sex trafficking in females resembles the ancient dehumanizing slave trade. In most cases, it involves involuntary servitude and is therefore commonly referred to as modern day slavery. Sex trafficking thrives and goes on with impunity because several countries do not have tough anti-trafficking legislation in place and even when there are legislation in place, such laws are often not enforced to check the menace of sex trafficking due mainly to very influential people involved in this disgraceful act. Unfortunately few trafficking cases are prosecuted, and only a few actually result in convictions. What is more, fear and shame keep many women and girls from seeking help. Nigeria is one country that is deeply affected by sex trafficking and so has taken the bull by the horn by enacting a national law on human trafficking due to the high prevalence of sex trafficking in the country. This work examined the menace of sex trafficking particularly as it affects Nigeria and examined major legal framework in place to curb sex trafficking whilst ascertaining their adequacy or otherwise, and how the menace has been curtailed so far and proffered a solution.


As global conditions cause an increasing need for people to move across borders, current gate-keeping mechanisms (e.g. the visa process) make such movements extremely difficult. While it's understandable that governments want to maintain security within their countries, it is possible for displaced people to contribute economically to development in the destination countries. Even though a completely borderless world of governments would be difficult to achieve, we argue that governments can combine policy with technology to remove barriers to potential growth from migrants, while maintaining security. In this paper, we sketch an interoperable digital government identity and automatic verification systems aimed at allowing governance structures while overcoming the limits of human processing in the visa application system in the face of ecological limits.


Ghana has an important Industrial Shrimp Fishery which is based at the Tema fishing port. In March, 1996, I joined two of the shrimp trawlers (MV Benhill 10 and MV Benhill 3) to sea on a normal commercial fishing trip. Data was collected from three fishing grounds, off the Ghanaian coast, on the catch, by-catch and discards in addition to observations of fishing practices and behaviour. Except for times of mechanical failure or the need for repairs, trawling tended to be for long periods and were continuous throughout day and night. The trawlers fished in shallow waters (depths of between 18 and 37 m) and close to shore (between 2.8 and 4.0 nautical miles). The fish and invertebrate catches were diverse both at night and during the day. Catches also included substantial quantities of litter and occasional catches of sea snakes, sharks and a sea turtle. There was an enormous but variable amount (both in weight and numbers) of by-catch in hauls. A large portion of the by-catch was discarded with most of them already dead. The discards consisted mostly of small individuals which were either juveniles of commercial species or species which were of no commercial value. The practice of catching and discarding portions of the catch back into the sea, with little chance of survival, is viewed as posing a great ecological problem for the marine environment off the Ghanaian coast. JOURNAL OF THE GHANA SCIENCE ASSOCIATION Volume 1 Number 1, July (1998) pp. 17-23


After a Funeral, Before a Test; and Other Stories David Stewart Robinson After a Funeral, Before a Test; and Other Stories is a collection of nine fictional short stories. Their focus is diverse in regard to multiple aspects of creative fiction: subject matter, theme, style, setting and characters. Despite the array of material, one common method was to provide narration that would invite readers to make their own interpretation rather than to present overt, didactic stories. This narrative strategy was accomplished by using fictional concepts of setting, the objective correlative, and literary minimalism. Other elements include surrealism, Hemingway's "iceberg effect," and psychologically complex narrators. Literary influences include F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Ernest Hemingway's "Big Two-Hearted River," Anton Chekhov's "Misery" and Raymond Carver's "Neighbors." Theoretical influences are drawn from Suzanne Ferguson's essay "Defining the Short Story: Impressionism and Form," Charles E. May's essay "Chekhov and the Modern Short Story," and Cynthia Hallett's book Minimalism and the Short Story.


From the 1820s the Essex seaside towns of Walton, and later Clacton and Frinton, were promoted as high-class residential and holiday resorts. After a slow start, hampered by poor communications and low demand, growth was stimulated by steam-ship companies which landed visitors on newly built piers in Walton and Clacton and by the railways that reached Walton in 1867, Clacton in 1882 and Frinton in 1888. The contemporary emphasis upon the health advantages of the seaside also led to the establishment of many convalescent homes. However, working-class excursionists newly attracted to Clacton, and to a lesser extent Walton, then irrevocably changed the social tone of the resorts. By the 1920s and 1930s Clacton was a commercialized holiday destination and the funfair-style facilities of its pier rivalled those of any other resort. Nearby Jaywick was established as a cheap and cheerful chalet development. While Walton remained popular with families, Frinton continued as a "select" resort, with building development and commerce strictly controlled. The town remains famous for its wide unspoilt greensward facing the sea and its resistance to any threats to its exclusive character.B R> Camping, caravanning and holiday camps replaced the traditional seaside holiday after 1945, but from the later 1960s the increase in overseas holidays led to a steep decline of the seaside resorts. The economy has, however, since diversified with large dormitory-style housing developments, light industry and new shopping centres, and the coast becoming increasingly popular for retirement homes. This volume presents an authoritative account of the growth and development of these towns on the so-called "Sunshine Coast".


Numerical solutions of viscous, swirling flows through circular pipes of constant radius and circular pipes with throats have been obtained. Solutions were computed for several values of vortex circulation, Reynolds number and throat/inlet area ratio, under the assumptions of steady flow, rotational symmetry and frictionless flow at the pipe wall. When the Reynolds number is sufficiently large, vortex breakdown occurs abruptly with increased circulation as a result of the existence of non-unique solutions. Solution paths for Reynolds numbers exceeding approximately 1000 are characterized by an ensemble of three inviscid flow types: columnar (for pipes of constant radius), soliton and wavetrain. Flows that are quasi-cylindrical and which do not exhibit vortex breakdown exist below a critical circulation, dependent on the Reynolds number and the throat/inlet area ratio. Wavetrain solutions are observed over a small range of circulation below the critical circulation, while above the critical value, wave solutions with large regions of reversed flow are found that are primarily solitary in nature. The quasi-cylindrical (QC) equations first fail near the critical value, in support of Hall's theory of vortex breakdown (1967). However, the QC equations are not found to be effective in predicting the spatial position of the breakdown structure.


Unsteady turbulent airflow in a parallel way with a plain and a hexagonal sheet was analyzed numerically and experimentally in order to determine the heat transfer intensity between surfaces of sheets and surrounding airflow. To obtain experimental results for validation of numerical simulations, a measurement facility, composed from aerodynamics tunnel and wire heater, was designed and constructed. The temperature on the sheets was chosen to observe the effects of different surface structures, airflow conditions and input heat power. Results provided by numerical simulations showed good conformity with experimental results. For investigated cases the hexagonal sheet achieved significantly higher heat transfer intensity and lower surface temperature than the plain sheet under the same conditions.


Recently we have observed a growing demand for secure technologies for e-commerce that do not put customers at risk of identity theft. We have also experienced the advent of Web 2.0 which has led to new business models and which has changed the way users interact with the Web. This thesis proposes a set of strategies and enhancements towards providing improved security and privacy in such new settings. We introduce a novel concept: Fair Rights Management (FRM). It can be classified as a usage control solution. FRM enables a flexible way of managing digital content. There was a need to provide additional security extensions to keep such a flexible model applicable. Thus, in our approach we take advantage of trust obtained from social networks. This is also the reason why we created an efficient zero-knowledge proof protocol that is lightweight enough to be deployed within existing web-applications. The proposed protocol is also successfully integrated with Semantic Web architecture and associated components. It enables practical Web and mobile applications which employ trust-based transactions as part of their workflow. This core contribution overcomes various disadvantages of prior art and enables a range of new applications and potentially new business models. We show that compared to existing Usage Control Models (UCON) (i) FRM is a step towards fair use in the digital world and we also argue that our approach is enforced by law; (ii) the participants of the proposed solution do not put their privacy at risk. Our research shows that existing infrastructure is sufficient to support ZKP-based solutions; and thus, it is feasible to offer the users enhanced privacy within existing deployed solutions.


CONTEXT
Experimental studies in animals show that adverse prenatal environments lead to lifelong alterations in the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which mediates the stress response through secretion of glucocorticoid hormones. The extent to which such prenatal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis adaptations occur in humans is unknown.

OBJECTIVE
The objective of the study was to determine whether smaller but otherwise healthy term babies are more likely to demonstrate increased glucocorticoid responses to psychological stress in childhood.

DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS
This was a cross-sectional study of 68 boys and 72 girls (aged 7-9 yr) who have been followed up since 12 wk gestation when their mothers took part in a study of healthy children born in Southampton, United Kingdom.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
Salivary cortisol responses to psychological stress were measured.

RESULTS
In boys, birth weight was inversely related to salivary cortisol responses to stress (r = -0.56, P < 0.001) but not morning cortisol levels, whereas in girls, morning peak cortisol was inversely related to birth weight (r = -0.36, P < 0.05). These associations were independent of gestational age and potential confounding factors including obesity, social class, and educational achievement.

CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests that processes occurring during fetal life, resulting in smaller newborns, have a lasting effect on adrenocortical responses to stress in boys and on basal adrenocortical activity in girls. Given the known associations between small alterations in adrenocortical activity and features of the metabolic syndrome such as raised blood pressure and glucose intolerance, these effects warrant further investigation of their potential impact on the future health of prepubertal children.


Smartwatches and activity trackers are becoming prevalent, providing information about health and fitness, and offering personalized progress monitoring. These wearable devices often offer multimodal feedback with embedded visual, audio, and vibrotactile displays. Vibrations are particularly useful when providing discreet feedback, without users having to look at a display or anyone else noticing, thus preserving the flow of the primary activity. Yet, current use of vibrations is limited to basic patterns, since representing more complex information with a single actuator is challenging. Moreover, it is unclear how much the user--s current physical activity may interfere with their understanding of the vibrations. We address both issues through the design and evaluation of ActiVibe, a set of vibrotactile icons designed to represent progress through the values 1 to 10. We demonstrate a recognition rate of over 96% in a laboratory setting using a commercial smartwatch. ActiVibe was also evaluated in situ with 22 participants for a 28-day period. We show that the recognition rate is 88.7% in the wild and give a list of factors that affect the recognition, as well as provide design guidelines for communicating progress via vibrations.


The great medieval Jewish jurist and thinker R. Moses b. Nahman (1194-1270) developed an exceptional legal-theology unprecedented in traditional rabbinic thought. In jurisprudential terms, he reduces the Jewish traditional perception of the Halakhah (i.e. the Talmudic law) and introduces the view of the divine law as a territorial law. My article suggests reading anew his sayings about the God-law-land matrix against the background of his contemporary European Christendom. Our analysis raises new perspectives on his attentiveness to the conceptual vocabulary of the Crusades' propaganda and the European legal reality.


This week's articles describe ways to potentially prevent metastasis and the development of autoimmune disease. AUTOIMMUNITY Costimulatory blockade curbs development of autoimmunity Autoimmune manifestations are driven by peripheral immune dysregulation in early life and are prevented by prophylactic targeting of the CD40/CD40L pathway. T. I. Mahmoud, J. Wang, J. L. Karnell, Q. Wang, S. Wang, B. Naiman, P. Gross, P. Z. Brohawn, C. Morehouse, J. Aoyama, C. Wasserfall, L. Carter, M. A. Atkinson, D. V. Serreze, H. Braley-Mullen, T. Mustelin, R. Kolbeck, R. Herbst, R. Ettinger, Autoimmune manifestations in aged mice arise from early-life immune dysregulation. Sci. Transl. Med. 8, 361ra137 (2016). [Abstract] CANCER Metastasis caught in a NET Treatment with DNase I–coated nanoparticles prevents metastasis by targeting neutrophil extracellular traps induced by cancer cells in a mouse model. J. Park, R. W. Wysocki, Z. Amoozgar, L. Maiorino, M. R. Fein, J. Jorns, A. F. Schott, Y. Kinugasa-Katayama, Y. Lee, N. H. Won, E. S. Nakasone, S. A. Hearn, V. Küttner, J. Qiu, A. S. Almeida, N. Perurena, K. Kessenbrock, M. S. Goldberg, M. Egeblad, Cancer cells induce metastasis-supporting neutrophil extracellular DNA traps. Sci. Transl. Med. 8, 361ra138 (2016). [Abstract]


There are growing concerns of nursing shortages in a large number of countries. In developed countries the ageing of the population is fuelling the demand for nurses while the supply is being affected by the wider occupational opportunities available to women. This paper describes the changes in the nursing workforce in Australia over the last decade and a half. It shows that in spite of ageing of the population and a substantial increase in the number of patient separations, the numbers of Nursing Workers employed per 100 000 population declined in the 1990s from around 1 400 to 1 300. At the same time numbers of Aged Carers employed has increased massively. The paper also provides data on the differences in nursing skill-mix employed, and thus the differences in human resource policies, across different States and Territories. Finally, the paper provides projections of the number of job openings for new entrants, resulting from growth and replacement needs, for the 2002-06 period. This information could be useful in assessing likely shortages, for planning education and training capacity and making budgetary decisions.


Administrator Perceptions of How Developmental Education Impacts Student Attrition by Jennifer Michelle Price MA, Bowie State University, 2007 BS, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1999 Doctoral Study Submitted in Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education Walden University June 2015 Abstract Nationally and locally, developmental education students attending community colleges are not persisting at a high rate. This growing attrition problem affects many aspects of a local community college including enrollment, completion rates, and tuition revenue. The purpose of this study was to analyze community college administrators' perceptions of developmental education and how developmental education affects student attrition. TheNationally and locally, developmental education students attending community colleges are not persisting at a high rate. This growing attrition problem affects many aspects of a local community college including enrollment, completion rates, and tuition revenue. The purpose of this study was to analyze community college administrators' perceptions of developmental education and how developmental education affects student attrition. The conceptual framework of this study, social constructivism, provided a foundation to better understand the role each administrator plays in this social group. A qualitative study through structured interviews was conducted, targeting 10 college administrators from 1 local community college, from each of the following college units: student affairs, academic affairs, and finance. Once data were collected through the interview process and transcribed, major themes and categories were developed by examining majority common responses to the interview questions. The findings found administrator perceptions of developmental education and how it impacts student attrition heavily focused on students' personal problems, need for improved student engagement, teaching methods, and curriculum delivery modalities that would promote student success. Success of these students is significant to the financial and enrollment sustainability of the local community college. This sustainability in terms of increased enrollment, tuition revenue, and completion rates contributes to social change within the local community college and the community by developing community members through education. Administrator Perceptions of How Developmental Education Impacts Student Attrition by Jennifer Michelle Price MA, Bowie State University, 2007 BS, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1999 Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of


In this article, the author examines how variability of socioeconomic backgrounds affects parental strategies and academic achievement among Korean American youths. The study compares experiences of high- and low-achieving Korean American high school students in New York City urban schools: 1) academically achieving students attending a competitive magnet high school; 2) high-school dropouts attending a community-based GED program (General Educational Development test for high school equivalency diploma). Although Korean Americans have been homogeneously touted for their entrepreneurial success and middle-class status, this study points to the socioeconomic variability within co-ethnic networks, and examines how the difference of social class backgrounds impacts educational strategies employed by the two groups of parents and their access to social capital. The two groups of Korean students, with different socioeconomic backgrounds, operate under different parental strategies of education, as well as gaining different sets of resources from their first-generation parents, co-ethnic networks, and schools. Using Korean Americans as a case study, the findings illustrate the significance of structural factors of social class, social capital, and school context when accounting for academic achievement among Asian Americans in urban schools.


In this study, a compliant version of the Cardan universal joint is introduced. The original design consists of two identical parts assembled at right angle with respect to each other. The single piece part can be produced from planar materials; thus, it has the advantage of easiness in manufacturing. Dimensions of the mechanism are devised in order to satisfy the Cardan joint theory and to avoid an undesired contact between the identical parts. As a design example, a mechanism is dimensioned. The resultant stresses at flexural hinges of this sample are determined via finite element analysis method and torque transmission capability of this mechanism is determined. Further, this sample is manufactured and operated under a considerable output loading. Therefore, robustness of the compliant Cardan joint is verified with this prototype. As well, it is verified that the results of experiments are consistent with the theoretical approaches.


This thesis addresses a gap in our knowledge about the shifting meanings and practices associated with dress as it moves into diasporic cultural surroundings. Specifically, it looks at West African diasporans living in Britain (WADIB) and their engagements with African print. It does so by gathering stories of WADIB clothing experiences, alongside images of how they acquire, make, wear and keep their clothes. Academic research until recently has focused on dress in Africa, but largely ignored the contemporary use of African prints among diasporan communities. By moving beyond the African setting into a diaspora setting, this research expands our understanding of how meaning in dress is shaped, re-shaped, and more generally, the interrelationship of people and clothes, thus, contributing towards scholarship on contemporary dress in changing cultural contexts. This research also adds the African dress perspective to studies of transnational lives from the standpoint of other diasporans. This study reveals African print as largely a special occasion dress within the British diaspora unlike how it is used on the African continent. The research provides new insights about how living in the diaspora has encouraged individuals to modify and expand the range of looks present within African dress, and how such changes have in turn altered meanings of African print for its wearers. This study expands our understanding of the role that African print plays in forming cultural and social meanings including situations in which gendered social identities are assessed, negotiated and materially expressed.
Another contribution of this study arises from its exploration of different qualitative methods of co-creating evidence. The study took a collaborative approach using community engagement to allow power sharing and participation as interdependent conditions of curatorial practice. It addressed identified challenges that curators and participants face in developing a framework in which the knowledge is generated from and through dynamic and ongoing social interactions between participants and the researcher. A specific innovation was using a call-in radio talk show as an addition to the existing range of qualitative research methods (notably interviews, participant observation and group workshops, sometimes known as focus groups) in order to enrich the possibilities for multi-methods qualitative research practice.


Convex signal reconstruction is the art of solving ill-posed inverse problems via convex optimization. It is applicable to a great number of problems from engineering, signal analysis, quantum mechanics and many more. The most prominent example is compressed sensing, where one aims at reconstructing sparse vectors from an under-determined set of linear measurements. In many cases, one can prove rigorous performance guarantees for these convex algorithms. The combination of practical importance and theoretical tractability has directed a significant amount of attention to this young field of applied mathematics.

However, rigorous proofs are usually only available for certain "generic cases"---for instance situations, where all measurements are represented by random Gaussian vectors.
The focus of this thesis is to overcome this drawback by devising mathematical proof techniques can be applied to more "structured" measurements. Here, structure can have various meanings. E.g. it could refer to the type of measurements that occur in a given concrete application. Or, more abstractly, structure in the sense that a measurement ensemble is small and exhibits rich geometric features.

The main focus of this thesis is phase retrieval: The problem of inferring phase information from amplitude measurements. This task is ubiquitous in, for instance, in crystallography, astronomy and diffraction imaging.
Throughout this project, a series of increasingly better convex reconstruction guarantees have been established.
On the one hand, we improved results for certain measurement models that mimic typical experimental setups in diffraction imaging. On the other hand, we identified spherical t-designs as a general purpose tool for the derandomization of data recovery schemes. Loosely speaking, a t-design is a finite configuration of vectors that is "evenly distributed" in the sense that it reproduces the first 2t moments of the uniform measure. Such configurations have been studied, for instance, in algebraic combinatorics, coding theory, and quantum information. We have shown that already spherical 4-designs allow for proving close-to-optimal convex reconstruction guarantees for phase retrieval.

The success of this program depends on explicit constructions of spherical t-designs. In this regard, we have studied the design properties of stabilizer states. These are configurations of vectors that feature prominently in quantum information theory. Mathematically, they can be related to objects in discrete symplectic vector spaces---a structure we use heavily. We have shown that these vectors form a spherical 3-design and are, in some sense, close to a spherical 4-design. Putting these efforts together, we establish tight bounds on phase retrieval from stabilizer measurements.

While working on the derandomization of phase retrieval, I obtained a number of results on other convex signal reconstruction problems. These include compressed sensing from anisotropic measurements, non-negative compressed sensing in the presence of noise and identifying improved convex regularizers for low rank matrix reconstruction. Going even further, the mathematical methods I used to tackle ill-posed inverse problems can be applied to a plethora of problems from quantum information theory.
In particular, the causal structure behind Bell inequalities, new ways to compare experiments to fault-tolerance thresholds in quantum error correction, a novel benchmark for quantum state tomography via Bayesian estimation, and the task of distinguishing quantum states.


Taking the Strain When heavily deformed through compressive or torsional loading, crystalline metals will generate an increasing density of defects or dislocations that effectively strengthens the metal against further deformation. However, at some stage, the fine-grained structure that forms saturates. Liu et al. (p. 337; see the Perspective by Ramtani), show that combining the application of a very-high-rate shear deformation with high strain gradients to the surface layer of a pure sample of nickel can overcome this saturation. Instead of a three-dimensional fine-grained structure, a top layer with a two-dimensional layered structure occupied the first 80 micrometers. In addition to being stronger, this layered nickel structure was also more thermally stable. Heavy shearing can produce a stronger, more thermally robust nickel microstructure. [Also see Perspective by Ramtani] Heavy plastic deformation may refine grains of metals and make them very strong. But the strain-induced refinement saturates at large strains, forming three-dimensional ultrafine-grained (3D UFG) structures with random orientations. Further refinement of this microstructure is limited because of the enhanced mobility of grain boundaries. Very-high-rate shear deformation with high strain gradients was applied in the top surface layer of bulk nickel, where a 2D nanometer-scale laminated structure was induced. The strongly textured nanolaminated structure (average lamellar thickness of 20 nanometers) with low-angle boundaries among the lamellae is ultrahard and ultrastable: It exhibits a hardness of 6.4 gigapascal—which is higher than any reported hardness of the UFG nickel—and a coarsening temperature of 40 kelvin above that in UFG nickel.


The INSPIRE initiative sets up a framework for the creation of an European Spatial Data Infrastructure (ESDI), which will enable the sharing of environmental spatial information among public sector organisations and better facilitate public access in general to spatial information across Europe. To do so, several common specifications have been developed in a wide range of areas including data, metadata, and network services. The most challenging aspect of INSPIRE will probably be harmonising the actual data models across Europe to the common INSPIRE ones, giving the amount of time allocated for this process. This task is not only challenging because of the amount of data that will be involved in the process, but also because of the very varied source data models and amount of data providers that will be involved at various stages and having to cooperate at European level under a unique framework. Therefore, the main question that arises, and that is on the mind of many data providers across Europe, is how is that really achieved and what does it involve? This thesis aims to clarify that aspect by focusing on data transformation and conformance testing. The research follows a stepped approach, first of all by putting into the INSPIRE context, concepts like interoperability and data harmonisation, extending to the importance of geographic information standards in this sense, as well as the ultimate goal of a spatial data infrastructure. A case study is considered, where at first, source data from the UK mapping agency, Ordnance Survey, that falls into the scope of one of the INSPIRE thematic themes, namely Administrative Units, is analysed and compared to the target data model proposed by INSPIRE, trying to identify similarities and differences that may pose problems. The process continues with identifying software tools that are capable to perform data transformation based on INSPIRE requirements, and eventually using one of them to transform the data. After the transformation, encountered bottlenecks are discussed, both from the source data side, but also from the target data model side. The last step is to formally test the produced datasets as required by the standards that INSPIRE rely upon, by means of an Abstract Test Suite (ATS) and Executable Test Suite (ETS). This is maybe one of the crucial aspects of INSPIRE data harmonisation process, as there is still some ambiguity between legally binding and not legally binding requirements, an aspect that will directly influence testing and its interpretation, hence the obligations of each data provider. The thesis will conclude with observations that are relevant not only for the Administrative Units theme, but also for the wider scope of INSPIRE data transformation and conformance testing. Main bottlenecks are discussed, but also recommendations are given that would definitely be relevant for further research, as well as for the INSPIRE community.


What can be measured is not necessarily important and what is important cannot always be measured. When prioritizing investments in knowledge management, common traps lie waiting. They are delaying rewards for quick wins, using too many metrics, implementing metrics that are hard to control, and focusing on metrics that tear people away from business goals. Picking Investments in Knowledge Management by Olivier Serrat


According to a sampling theorem, any band-limited and continuous signal can be uniquely reconstructed from certain of its values. We show that a reconstruction can be obtained from the set of F-transform components and moreover, the sampling theorem follows as a particular case. A special attention is paid to the case where sample values of a signal come with noise. We show that in the presence of noise, a more accurate reconstruction than that based on the sampling theorem can be obtained, if instead of noised sample values the Ftransform components of the signal with respect to a generalized fuzzy partition


High-density SNP arrays for genome-wide assessment of allelic variation have made high resolution genetic characterization of crop germplasm feasible. A medium density array for apple, the IRSC 8K SNP array, has been successfully developed and used for screens of bi-parental populations. However, the number of robust and well-distributed markers contained on this array was not sufficient to perform genome-wide association analyses in wider germplasm sets, or Pedigree-Based Analysis at high precision, because of rapid decay of linkage disequilibrium. We describe the development of an Illumina Infinium array targeting 20K SNPs. The SNPs were predicted from re-sequencing data derived from the genomes of 13 Malus × domestica apple cultivars and one accession belonging to a crab apple species (M. micromalus). A pipeline for SNP selection was devised that avoided the pitfalls associated with the inclusion of paralogous sequence variants, supported the construction of robust multi-allelic SNP haploblocks and selected up to 11 entries within narrow genomic regions of ±5 kb, termed focal points (FPs). Broad genome coverage was attained by placing FPs at 1 cM intervals on a consensus genetic map, complementing them with FPs to enrich the ends of each of the chromosomes, and by bridging physical intervals greater than 400 Kbps. The selection also included ∼3.7K validated SNPs from the IRSC 8K array. The array has already been used in other studies where ∼15.8K SNP markers were mapped with an average of ∼6.8K SNPs per full-sib family. The newly developed array with its high density of polymorphic validated SNPs is expected to be of great utility for Pedigree-Based Analysis and Genomic Selection. It will also be a valuable tool to help dissect the genetic mechanisms controlling important fruit quality traits, and to aid the identification of marker-trait associations suitable for the application of Marker Assisted Selection in apple breeding programs.


Six experiments examined how people strategically use thoughts of foregone misdeeds to regulate their moral behavior. We tested 2 hypotheses: 1st, that people will feel licensed to act in morally dubious ways when they can point to immoral alternatives to their prior behavior, and 2nd, that people made to feel insecure about their morality will exaggerate the extent to which such alternatives existed. Supporting the 1st hypothesis, when White participants could point to racist alternatives to their past actions, they felt they had obtained more evidence of their own virtue (Study 1), they expressed less racial sensitivity (Study 2), and they were more likely to express preferences about employment and allocating money that favored Whites at the expense of Blacks (Study 3). Supporting the 2nd hypothesis, White participants whose security in their identity as nonracists had been threatened remembered a prior task as having afforded more racist alternatives to their behavior than did those who were not threatened. This distortion of the past involved overestimating the number of Black individuals they had encountered on the prior task (Study 4) and exaggerating how stereotypically Black specific individuals had looked (Studies 5 and 6). We discuss implications for moral behavior, the motivated rewriting of one's moral history, and how the life unlived can liberate people to lead the life they want.


Every image of the past that is not recognized by the present as one of its own concerns threatens to disappear irretrievably. -Walter Benjamin.1 The "recognition" of an image from the past is manifested necessarily in a certain form of representation. The shape such representation takes and the way it is delivered may yield different readings and interpretations of that past. And the distinctiveness of every interpretation will depend on who does and from what position the reading is being done. Such stability of meaning is made easy by not addressing the "dangerous" components of Benjamin's statement: the possibilities of losing a past (erasing a history) by not making it an issue of our present and, likewise, not being able to retrieve certain segments of that past. The latter possibility refers to a lack of representation (an image) of those particular segments or the inability of representation to capture a whole reality. The debate briefly opened here through Benjamin's statement maps a series of questions that in reference to post-coloniality are being addressed by many theorists. Revisioning post-colonial spaces in our contemporary world-those of the politically ex-colonized (but economically and culturally interdependent) nations as much as those of the diasporas-opens up possibilities to re-configure the structures of thought and perception that gave way to present forms of inter- and intranational hegemony. And some of these discourses can be destabilized; that is, the hegemonic relations of power and what they represent may be reconsidered and reformulated at the site of representation. Hence, through representations particular histories may arise from an invisible past. Under this light, the films Cabeza de Vaca (Nicolas Echevarria Mexico, 1990) and Jerico (Luis Alberto Lamata, Venezuela, 1991) stand as post-colonial re-interpretations of the events that led to the Spanish conquest of the Americas as much as reexaminations of the systems of thought of the 16lh century emerging empire. But more interestingly, they attempt to retrieve histories (generating stories and images) that were mostly erased or only accounted for through the eyes of the colonizers-the histories of the native dwellers of the Americas. The few written manuscripts that are kept as a legacy of indigenous life were chiefly (albeit not only) produced by curious Spaniards interested in the customs of the native others.2 Cabeza de Vaca and Jerico are but contemporary recognitions of different forms the past may have taken if imagined through perspectives of the disempowered, thus continuing the tradition of texts that challenge official accounts of the past. In this way, past and present discourses of resistance converge in these films. They are all, inevitably, an issue of our present. But what are these resisting discourses about? Which intellectual traditions are being broken and which reinvigorated? What is exactly at stake in these films? As we will see in the analyses below, the films exemplify a competence to engage with "marginal" histories that, ultimately, point to a more profound ideological challenge-a challenge to the systems of thought that then and now revive a continuing exploitation, which takes place among certain regions of the world. Based on some of the premises of post-structuralism, a postcolonial perspective-the study of the legacies of coloniality in the latter stages of political independence or inter-dependencecharts different narratives, agendas, and historical periods to deconstruct current politics of hegemony. The post-colonial critic is currently contributing to a definition of a field whose purposes revolve not only around the analysis of colonial discourse but also on the perennial problem of explicating the contemporary from the analysis of inherited colonial epistemologies. The examination of coloniality would necessarily give way for the post-colonial critic to understand discourses of power which, in turn, would help in the formulation of alternative histories. …


Exact solutions can be obtained for electromagnetic wave propagation in a medium with a simple uniform refractive-index distribution. For more-complex distributions, approximate or numerical methods have to be utilized. We describe an elegant approximation scheme called the decomposition method for nonlinear differential equations, which was introduced by Adomian [Non-linear Stochastic Systems Theory and Applications to Physics (Kluwer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 1989)]. The method is described and applied to waveguide problems (planar waveguides with step and parabolic refractive-index profiles), and the results are compared with those obtained by JWKB and modified Airy function methods.


This paper presents a visualization of condensation droplet distribution affected by the electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) approach. A single-side double-layer-electrode design (grid wire, thin wire, and thick wire) and coplanar-electrode design (zigzag) are discussed. Side-by-side experiments with applied 40V DC electric potential are carried out to compare droplet distribution between charged and uncharged devices with the identical design. The uncharged devices show a random droplet distribution, whereas charged devices have a regulated distribution based on the designed patterns. As droplets on the electrode boundaries become larger, they are likely to slide away and stay in electrode-free regions. The droplets 'sit' inside the grid wires and distribute vertically along thin and thick wires. On the coplanar-electrode zigzag device, droplets cover the electrode gaps and are distributed vertically. The charged surfaces lead to a faster droplet growth rate, resulting in larger droplet size and more dispersed droplet distribution. This phenomenon accelerates droplets' shedding frequency and frees up more condensing areas for small droplets to nucleate and grow. The first shedding moment of the charged surfaces occurs earlier than the uncharged ones for all types of EWOD devices. The detected droplet shedding diameter ranges from 1.2 mm to 2 mm in this study. The work presented in this paper introduces a novel approach to actively influence droplet distribution on microfabricated condensing surfaces and indicates great potential for improving condensation heat transfer rate via EWOD.


Anthropogenic CO2 emissions are causing global ocean warming and ocean acidification. The early life stages of some marine fish are vulnerable to elevated ocean temperatures and CO2 concentrations, with lowered survival and growth rates most frequently documented. Underlying these effects, damage to different organs has been found as a response to elevated CO2 in larvae of several species of marine fish, yet the combined effects of acidification and warming on organ health are unknown. Yellowtail kingfish, Seriola lalandi, a circumglobal subtropical pelagic fish of high commercial and recreational value, were reared from fertilization under control (21 °C) and elevated (25 °C) temperature conditions fully crossed with control (500 µatm) and elevated (1,000 µatm) pCO2 conditions. Larvae were sampled at 11 days and 21 days post hatch for histological analysis of the eye, gills, gut, liver, pancreas, kidney and liver. Previous work found elevated temperature, but not elevated CO2, significantly reduced larval kingfish survival while increasing growth and developmental rate. The current histological analysis aimed to determine whether there were additional sublethal effects on organ condition and development and whether underlying organ damage could be responsible for the documented effects of temperature on survivorship. While damage to different organs was found in a number of larvae, these effects were not related to temperature and/or CO2 treatment. We conclude that kingfish larvae are generally vulnerable during organogenesis of the digestive system in their early development, but that this will not be exacerbated by near-future ocean warming and acidification.


The Ontario Kindergarten programmatic curriculum was examined to determine and articulate how it represents children's and families' funds of knowledge in relation to home literacy and literacy learning at school. The Kindergarten Program (2016) was the primary source within the document analysis methodology. Funds of knowledge underpins this study as the main theoretical framework. This study was driven by three questions: In what ways does programmatic curriculum, The Kindergarten Program (2016), connect (or not) literacy learning with children's home language and literacy experiences from home? How are families depicted within (if at all) the programmatic curriculum in relation to their children's literacy? What are some recommendations for programmatic curricula based on the analysis? The findings indicated that The Kindergarten Program had little emphasis on family involvement, home language, and deep understandings of children's home, culture, and community perspectives. However, the programmatic curriculum document highlighted children's sense of belonging, and the freedom to express their opinion and ideas. The study recommends that the programmatic curriculum needs to look closely at children's funds of knowledge to allow educators to include the child as a whole and value the experiences they bring to school from home. Funds of knowledge also give teachers the chance to communicate and create relationships with families that are built on a mutual trust. These relationships between teachers, children, and families contribute to the construction of a concrete bridge between school and home allowing children to value who they are and create a solid basis for being lifelong learners.


Processing and analyzing of massive clinical data are resource intensive and time consuming with traditional analytic tools. Electroencephalogram (EEG) is one of the major technologies in detecting and diagnosing various brain disorders, and produces huge volume big data to process. In this study, we propose a big data framework to diagnose sleep disorders by classifying the sleep stages from EEG signals. The framework is developed with open source SparkMlib Libraries. We also tested and evaluated the proposed framework by measuring the scalabilities of well-known classification algorithms on physionet sleep records.


Game designers and game writers do not have the same understandings, processes, or approaches, and this impedes good practice. This is not due to the two modes being so different or incompatible however, as has been claimed now and in earlier narratology and ludology debates. Instead, this article argues that incompatibilities are due more to the schemas of creation: the mental models we are taught and create with, that thwart more integrated practices. We learn to create and think about games in one way, and narrative in another. This siloing is due to a predictable differentiation rhetoric that occurs at the emergence of a new medium: games are not stories, games are not films, VR is not film, X is understood by not being Y. This arbitrariness of difference facilitates a schism in the creator's mind, where elements, roles and industries become irreconcilable. Indeed, whole swathes of wisdom are put to the side in an effort to be recognised as different. When narrative is used in games, then, developers rely on external design grammars, where models from other artforms are imported and shoehorned. There have been attempts to reduce such siloing, but integration cannot happen merely through recognising common elements or traits within a game object. Instead, this article argues that a common understanding can be found through the common factor of the audience or player. To illustrate this point, two successful audience/player-centered approaches from filmmaking and education are outlined, along with a tweaking of the successful MDA framework, providing structures for creatives to avoid the problem of design schema tension and create better projects.


The Japanese have traditionally projected themselves as a culturally and racially uniform society, while in reality, Japan is home to diverse minority populations. Japan's Minorities identifies and explores the six principal minority groups in Japan: the Ainu, the Burakumin, the Chinese, the Koreans, the Nikkeijin and the Okinawans. After years of marginalization, many of these 'hidden' minorities in Japan are now beginning to challenge this image by reasserting their cultural identities. Examining the ways in which the Japanese have manipulated historical events, such as Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the contributors reveal the presence of an underlying concept of 'Japaneseness' that excludes members of these minorities. The themes addresses include the role of this ideology of 'race' in the construction of the Japanese identity; historical memory and its suppression; contemporary labor migration to Japan and the three-hundred year existence of Chinese communities on Japan. Japan's Minorities provides a clear historical introduction to the formation of individual minorities, followed by an analysis of the contemporary situation based on original research. The result is a challenge to the nationalist myth of a homogeneous Japan.


The Mediterranean Red List assessment is a review of the regional conservation status of approximately 6,000 species (amphibians, mammals, reptiles, birds, fishes, butterflies, dragonflies, beetles, corals and plants) according to the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. It identifies those species that are threatened with extinction at the regional level to guide appropriate conservation actions for improving their status. This report summarises the results for Mediterranean dung beetles. All the dung beetles that are endemic or nearly endemic to the Mediterranean region – 200 species – are included. The geographical scope is the Mediterranean region according to the Mediterranean Basin Biodiversity Hotspot (Mittermeier et al., 2004), with the exception of the Macaronesian islands, which have not been included in this study. Of the 644 species of dung beetles inhabiting the Mediterranean region, 200 (32%) have at least 75% of their distribution range within the borders of the region. The other 444 species, which occur over a wider area, were excluded from this assessment. Of the 200 species analysed, 150 are considered endemic as they cannot be found anywhere else in the world.


Purpose: To report a case of endophthalmitis after XEN® 45 stent implantation for managing primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) intolerant to topical therapy.

Patient and Methods: A patient with POAG underwent bilateral, non-simultaneous XEN® stent implantation and developed an early-onset endophthalmitis secondary to Staphylococcus epidermidis in one eye.

Results: Four days after XEN® implantation in the second eye, the patient developed anterior chamber reaction in form of fibrin and hypopyon, which was handled initially with topical therapy, including fortified antibiotic eye drops. With worsening findings, on postoperative day 6, antibiotics were administered by means of intracameral lavage and subconjunctival injection. Subsequently, vitritis was diagnosed on postoperative day 9 and a pars plana vitrectomy with intravitreal administration of clindamycin and vancomycin was performed together with XEN® stent explantation, followed by an intensive topical treatment. Clinical improvement was achieved after 46 days. At the 12-month follow-up visit, the affected eye had a best-corrected visual acuity of 0.7 Snellen decimal value and the intraocular pressure (IOP) remained above target in both eyes and was again controlled with anti-glaucoma drops bilaterally.

Conclusions: The XEN® stent is an ab interno MIGS approach to subconjunctival outflow, and is not exempt from risk of severe complications including endophthalmitis.


Christopher Bryan examines Mark's Gospel from the standpoint of newer critical methodologies. he has two purposes: to establish what kind of text Mark was seen to have been, by others as well as by Mark himself, when it was written; and to determine if Mark was written to be read aloud. Bryan's conclusions not only show Mark's Gospel in its original settings, but also suggest ways in which contemporary encounters with Mark can be enriched.


. We initiate a fine-grained study of the round complexity of Oblivious RAM (ORAM). We prove that any one-round balls-in-bins ORAM that does not duplicate balls must have either Ω ( √ N ) bandwidth or Ω ( √ N ) client memory, where N is the number of memory slots being simulated. This shows that such schemes are strictly weaker than general (multi-round) ORAMs or those with server computation, and in particular implies that a one-round version of the original square-root ORAM of Goldreich and Ostrovksy (J. ACM 1996) is optimal. We prove this bound via new techniques that differ from those of Goldreich and Ostrovksy, and of Larsen and Nielsen (CRYPTO 2018), which achieved an Ω (log N ) bound for balls-in-bins and general multi-round ORAMs respectively. Finally we give a weaker extension of our bound that allows for limited duplication of balls, and also show that our bound extends to multiple-round ORAMs of a restricted form that include the best known constructions.


This study investigates on the process of geometrical construction in Zukhruf Art. The construction of geometric used as the structure to construct the zukhruf. The term in process of constructing geometrical structure, whilst developing the zukhruf, will be employed as a method for mensuration and compositioning the zukhruf design. This study is conducted with technical artwork using AutoCAD software to assure the accuracy of geometrical construction.
The following chapter are an attempt to explain the problem statement, that is comparison between manual process of zukhruf construction of Juzu' 20 Al-Qur'an Mushaf Malaysia and digital process of geometrical construction in Zukhruf Art which using the "Theory of Square Repeat Unit and the Root Two System of Proportion". This theory applied to generate the process of making geometric pattern. This study was conducted by using the primary and secondary sources of data method. Data collected from existing design (Juzu' 20) were analyzed by dividing the circumference into 45o and 22.5o equal parts, which will determine the subsequent grid-patterns and repeat unit, while the radius of circle taken as a unit measure. The method of construction employed in constructing each part of zukhruf will be examined and computerized using AutoCAD software.
The result indicates that the method of geometrical construction concluded as the main core of structural design form to construct the zukhruf. The geometric calculation contributes to the principle of balance, which was conceived as the basic law of creation. The development of zukhruf art derived based on the technique of geometric construction as the main of its structural basement.
Contribution of the study analyzed pretend to establish the module and guideline of the design process, characterized by geometric construction and the law of composition as applied in Islamic Art through the mechanism of computer software technology.


Malawi has a population of about 13 million people, 85% of whom live in rural areas. The gross national income per capita is US$620, with 42% of the people living on less than US$1 per day. The government per capita expenditure on health is US$5. Malawi has 266 doctors, of whom only nine are orthopaedic surgeons. To address the severe shortage of doctors, Malawi relies heavily on para- medical officers to provide the bulk of healthcare. Specialized orthopaedic clinical officers have been trained since 1985 and are deployed primarily in rural district hospitals to manage 80% to 90% of the orthopaedic work- load in Malawi. They are trained in conservative management of most common traumatic and nontraumatic musculoskeletal conditions. Since the program began, 117 orthopaedic clinical officers have been trained, of whom 82 are in clinical practice. In 2002, Malawi began a local orthopaedic postgraduate program with an intake of one to two candidates per year. However, orthopaedic clinical officers will continue to be needed for the foreseeable future. Orthopaedic clinical officer training is a cost-effective way of providing trained healthcare workers to meet the ortho- paedic needs of a country with very few doctors and even fewer orthopaedic surgeons.


The fabrication of ordered nanostructures plays an important role in the realization of the potential of nanotechnology and consequently, it has become an intense field of research in recent years. One promising method of fabrication is the self assembly process of colloidal particles into ordered structures. The process is highly efficient but suffers from the drawback that defective structures form under most experimental conditions. This is due to the lack of understanding of the underlying mechanism. In this thesis, the process is investigated in order to help in the understanding. This is achieved by monitoring the structural changes in-situ during the process. The method of monitoring makes use of a property of the nanostructure known as the photonic bandgap. The bandgap is strongly dependent on the quality of the structure and can be monitored easily by simple optical methods. One important result of the experiments is the identification of a transition structure during the self assembly process. The driving force for the transition structure is the microscopic interaction forces between the particles in suspension. This observation highlights the inadequacies of previous studies where the driving force for colloidal self assembly is solely attributed to capillary forces. By combining both the interaction and capillary forces, the mechanism of self assembly is elucidated. With the new understanding, the origin of defects can be identified. Finally, conditions for growth of high quality nanostructures by colloidal self assembly are also identified.


Fractional separation of industrially important heavy metals (cadmium, nickel, zinc) from binary and ternary metal mixtures by continuous mode polymer enhanced ultrafiltration was studied. Polyethyleneimine (PEI) was used as a complexation polymer. Effects of pH and ionic strength on process efficiency were investigated. To gain insight about the characteristics of binding between highly branched PEI and metal ions and effect of salt concentration on this binding were investigated by performing dynamic and static light scattering measurements. It was observed that with optimum pH and salt concentration, fractional separation of metals can be achieved.


Abstract The projected changes in planted area, yield per area, net exports/imports and prices for five major agricultural crops in South Africa were simulated using the projections of four Global Circulation Models (GCMs) under three socio-economic scenarios. The GCM projections show consistent strong warming over the subcontinent, but disagree with respect to future precipitation, from slight wetting (particularly on the eastern side) to overall slight drying. The future crop yields were simulated using the DSSAT crop model suite. The planted area, commodity prices and net exports were simulated using the IMPACT global food trade model. The results indicate slightly rising to stable yields per unit area up to 2050, despite climate change, largely due to the inbuilt assumption of ongoing agronomic and genetic improvements. Vulnerability to food insecurity increases in the future under all but the most optimistic development scenarios, and is exacerbated by climate change, especially through global-scale, market- related mechanisms. Policies to increase local agricultural production in South Africa, decrease climate sensitivity and access to international markets are highlighted.


Tracking how design has changed in previous book 'Design Transitions' has inevitably led the authors to explore how organisations are changing using design. Design is now the key driver of innovation and change within organisations across the globe. It is therefore important to learn how, when and why to use design to drive change in your organisation.

'Transformations' documents how design is being used to support change across different organisations, countries and sectors, sharing the stories of experts in their fields at varying stages of their transformative journeys. The authors present seven roles for change that are used to influence the development of products and services, the shape of the organisation itself and, most importantly, their ability to embrace change. These seven roles can transform organisations to be more innovative, human-centred and resilient: Cultural Catalyst; Framework Maker; Humaniser; Power Broker; Friendly Challenger; Technology Enabler and Community Builder.

Well-documented case studies offer readers insight into how design strategies can be successfully activated in different types of organisation. The seven roles offer both designers and non-designers a common language and framework to support design-driven transformation. 'Transformations', in the right hands, is a potent tool to understand, shape and implement design-driven change.


Flathead catfish (Pylodictus olivaris) populations were sampled in three northeastern Mississippi reservoirs (Aberdeen, Columbus, and Aliceville) along the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway to evaluate stock characteristics. Specifically, data were collected on relative abundance, growth, mortality, recruitment, and size structure. These samples were part of a statewide effort to document current population status in reservoirs and to develop management goals. Sampling was conducted in late summer (July–August) during 2011–2013 using low-frequency electrofishing. All fish 250 mm total length and greater were aged using pectoral spine sections. Relative abundance (fish km–1) was higher in Aliceville Lake (12.56 fish km–1) than in Aberdeen Lake (7.54 fish km–1) or Columbus Lake (7.37 fish km–1), but length-frequency distributions, growth and annual mortality rates, and recruitment variation of flathead catfish were similar among reservoirs. This is in contrast to downstream gradients of fish population metrics typically observed in river ecosystems, which could be due to habitat homogenization resulting from navigation-related anthropogenic activities.


This paper presents an efficient training approach for support vector machines that will improve their ability to learn from a large or imbalanced data set. Given an original training set, the proposed approach applies unsupervised learning to extract a smaller set of salient training exemplars, which are represented by weighted cluster centers and the target outputs. In subsequent supervised learning, the objective function is modified by introducing a weight for each new training sample and the corresponding penalty term. In this paper, we investigate two methods of defining the weight based on cluster vectors. The proposed SVM training is implemented and tested on two problems: (i) gender classification of facial images using the FERET data set; (ii) income prediction using the UCI Adult Census data set. Experiment results show that compared to standard SVM training, the proposed approach leads to much faster SVM training, produces a more compact classifier while maintaining generalization ability.


Abstract Peroxysome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1-alpha (PGC-1α; encoded by the gene PPARGC1A in humans) is a crucial component in training-induced muscle adaptation because it is a co-activator of transcriptional factors that control gene expression in coordinated response to exercise. It has been suggested that a Gly482Ser substitution in PPARGC1A has functional relevance in the context of human disorders and athletic performance. To test this hypothesis, we examined the genotype distribution of PPARGC1A Gly482Ser in a group of Polish athletes and confirmed the results obtained in a replication study of Russian athletes. We found that the 482Ser allele was under-represented in the cohort of Polish and Russian athletes examined compared with unfit controls (P < 0.0001). A statistically significant low frequency of the 482Ser allele was observed among the endurance,strength-endurance, and sprint-strength groups of Polish athletes (P = 0.019, P = 0.022, and P < 0.0001, respectively). The replication study revealed that the 482Ser allele was also less prevalent in Russian endurance and strength-endurance athletes (P = 0.029 and P < 0.0001, respectively). Our results suggest that the PPARGC1A Gly482Ser polymorphism is associated with elite endurance athletic status. These findings support the hypothesis that the PPARGC1A 482Ser allele may impair aerobic capacity: thus, the Gly482 allele may be considered a beneficial factor for endurance performance.