Transformations are a common occurrence in fairy tales and many other media. Although they are in many cases a core element to the story and aid in the story progression, the details about the physical laws is often neglected. The Frog Prince (or Iron Henry) is one such story where a frog turns into a prince with significant larger mass. At first this contradicts the laws of conservation of mass and energy, but at a closer look, such a transformation is theoretically possible.


The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN has been the tool to performing ground-breaking research in high energy physics. The CMS detector has been built over the last two decades by an international collaboration of scientists from all over the world. Two years after its operation, the two experiments ATLAS and CMS have announced in 2012 the discovery of the Higgs boson, a long awaited particle responsible to give elementary particles their respective masses. After the first 3 years of operation at moderate luminosity, the LHC is entering a new phase of high luminosity and energy regimes, which will put stringent requirements on the detectors. The CMS experiment has planned a rigorous plan of upgrade of its different components to cope with the harsh conditions imposed by the new regime. One of the subsystem of CMS detector that will require upgrade is the muon system. This latter detects muon particles, which are the signature of most of the interesting physics channels we are looking for at the LHC. The Qatar team, together with an international team of scientists, has proposed the Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) as the future detecting element of the upgrade of the muon system. We have conducted an extensive simulation program to assess the GEM detector and optimize it for the future upgrade. During this project, various simulations have been conducted to predict the efficiency and time resolution of the GEM. The simulations, which have been conducted using ANSYS, computational fluid dynamics software, focus on producing the electric field maps inside the detector. In addition, the resulting electron avalanche was simulated based on the solution of the Boltzmann equation. A signal was then generated to study the gain, resolution, and other parameters. During this work, several conditions were simulated in order to reach the optimum conditions under which the GEM would be most effective. These simulations had to be conducted using a supercomputing facility since their range surpasses the regular computing powers of personal computers. Using Raad, the cluster at Texas A&M University at Qatar, helped widen the scope of the simulations to approach a realistic situation that would occur within the CMS. Furthermore, as part of its next upgrade, a novel detector, the Fast Timing Micropattern (FTM) detector is being considered as a possible beneficial addition to the CMS. Initial investigations of the FTM detector have shown a considerable improvement in the time resolution that is proportional to the number of layers. In addition, the use of resistive WELL techniques solves the problem of spark occurrences and discharges that such detectors experience with high electric fields. It also differs from the GEM in the sense that the gain is extracted at every multiplication stage rather than at the very last level of the detector where the readout plane exists. The FTM detector could be cost-efficient in its assembly process. Simulations are being further extended in order to evaluate the FTM's performance and optimize its gain and other resulting parameters.


Ultrahigh-pressure abrasive-waterjets (AWJs) are being developed as net shape and near-net-shape machining tools for hard-to-machine materials. These tools offer significant advantages over existing techniques, including technical, economical, environmental, and safety concerns. Predicting the cutting results, however, is a difficult task and a major effort in this development process. This paper presents a model for predicting the depth of cut of abrasive-waterjets in different metals. This new model is based on an improved model of erosion by solid particle impact, which is also presented. The erosion model accounts for the physical and geometrical characteristics of the eroding particle and results in a velocity exponent of 2.5, which is in agreement with erosion data in the literature. The erosion model is used with a kinematic jet-solid penetration model to yield expressions for depths of cut according to different modes of erosion along the cutting kerf. This kinematic model was developed previously through visualization of the cutting process. The depth of cut consists of two parts: one due to a cutting wear mode at shallow angles of impact, and the other due to a deformation wear mode at large angles of impact. The predictions of the AWJ cutting model are checked against a large database of cutting results for a wide range of parameters and metal types. Materials are characterized by two properties: the dynamic flow stress, and the threshold particle velocity. The dynamic flow stress used in the erosion model was found to correlate with a typical modulus of elasticity for metals. The threshold particle velocity was determined by best fitting the model to the experimental results. Model predictions agree well with experimental results, with correlation coefficients of over 0.9 for many of the metals considered in this study.


Multiple lawyer situations are becoming more important in the practice of law and the law of lawyering, but have not been adequately studied in a comprehensive and systematic way. The simple dichotomy of sole practitioner and law firm are no longer adequate. In this essay, I examine the "multi-lawyered" problems arising out of these ubiquitous and complex situations. By multi-lawyered problems I mean problems arising from two or more lawyers, who have some relationship to each other and/or to the same client in a particular matter, and who each owe ethical and legal obligations to that client arising from that matter. I offer three different, but related, approaches to multi-lawyered problems. First, I present a taxonomy based on the variety of structural and legal relationships between the lawyers and between the lawyers and the client. Second, I examine how the presence of multiple lawyers affects the professional responsibilities of these lawyers, focusing on the core concerns of the law of lawyering: competence, confidentiality, and conflicts of interest. The presence of multiple lawyers can help ameliorate all of these core concerns, but can also exacerbate them. In particular, the addition of a second lawyer to a matter may increase the costs of monitoring competence, preventing unwanted disclosures, and preserving loyalty. Third, I apply an approach I previously developed based on the potential for collusive behavior in tripartite agency relationships (involving a principal, agent, and third party) to show how the presence of multiple lawyers complicates these problems. Specifically, the second lawyer may act with the first lawyer against the interests of the client or third parties, may act with the client against the interests of the first lawyer, or may act with third parties against the interests of the client or the first lawyer. I argue that thinking about where the greatest collusive risks lie may help resolve multi-lawyer problems. Finally, I discuss briefly how the Ethics 2000 revisions to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct deal with (and ignore) multi-lawyered problems.


Purpose: Consortia of investigators currently compile sufficiently large sample sizes to investigate the effects of low-risk susceptibility genetic variants. It is not clear how the results obtained by consortia comparewith those derived from meta-analyses of published studies.Methods: We performed meta-analyses of published data for 16 genetic polymorphisms investigated by the Breast Cancer Association Consortium, and comparedsample sizes, heterogeneity, and effect sizes. PubMed, Web of Science, and Human Genome Epidemiology Network databases were searched for breast cancer case-control association studies.Results: We found that meta-analyses of published data and consortium analyses were based on substantially different data. Published data by nonconsortium teams amounted on average to 26.9% of all available data (range 3.0 –50.0%). Both approaches showed statistically significant decreased breast cancer risks for CASP8 D302H. The meta-analyses of published data demonstrated statistically significant results for five other genes and the consortium analyses for two other genes, but the strength of this evidence, evaluated on the basis of the Venice criteria, was not strong.Conclusions: Because both approaches identified the same gene out of 16 candidates, the methods can be complimentary. The expense and complexity of consortium-based studies should be considered vis-à-vis the potential methodological limitations of synthesis of published studies.


The great Roman historian Livy describes a radical attempt at conflict resolution in his version of the story of the Horatii. The warring cities of Rome and Alba agree to settle their differences by pitting two sets of triplets against each other in a battle to the death. Two of the Roman champions, the Horatii, are killed, but the remaining brother wins the day for his city. In a further twist, he then goes on to kill his sister when he finds her grieving for one of the dead Alban brothers, to whom she was betrothed. Although guilty of a dreadful crime, by the will of the people the murderer is spared because of his services to the state. In the version of the story dramatized by the seventeenth-century French playwright Pierre Corneille, it is rather the Roman king who saves the surviving Horatius by deeming that his heroism places him above the law. This article considers whether the interests of the state can offset private crimes, as appears to be the case in the versions of the story told by both Livy and Corneille; and it concludes by referring to Livy's continuation of the story, which shows the resolution of the conflict to be short-lived.


The 'Water Study' project is significant in that it tests the concept of 'reconstruction' itself, through engagement in the processes leading to a professional production. As such, it attempts to explore how a 'meta-practical' approach might combine with professional/creative imperatives specific to making new work in the professional context. The project allowed the production process to evolve from what Collingwood and Hayden White have called the 'historical imagination', rather than from an overriding concern with historical reconstruction. Major research strategies: 1. to review existing evidence from an interpretive perspective, informed by theories of the 'historical imagination' and the 'living past'; 2. to test the usefulness, in practice, of the movement motif identified as 'the forward successional curve'. Through processes of definition, informed choreographic action, and reflective analysis, it became clear in the production processes themselves that the 'forward successional curve' can be developed to provide a rhythmic pattern and a coherent energy sequence throughout the piece: this is required because of the striking nature of Water Study, which lacks musical accompaniment and formal count patterns, meaning that another mechanism needs to provide aesthetic coherence to the work of the dancers, and to spectators' perception. The mixed-mode project enabled Main to test an explicitly 'co-authorial' intervention through interpretive exploration, evolving between contemporary aesthetics and the 'historical imagination'. The wider research significance is double: first, this strategy introduced the notion of co-author, working alongside rather than in deference to 'the choreographer', effecting a conceptual and artistic shift from 'reconstructor' to director; second, it lies in the fact that whereas 'first generation' exponents of Humphrey's work remain, it will shortly be the case that the perpetuation of the repertoires, movement styles and philosophies become the responsibility of artists lacking direct association with the choreographer, and consequently needing input from other researchers.


Abstract Balsaminaceae are a morphologically diverse family with ca. 1,000 representatives that are mainly distributed in the Old World tropics and subtropics. To understand the relationships of its members, we obtained chloroplast atpB-rbcL sequences from 86 species of Balsaminaceae and five outgroups. Phylogenetic reconstructions using parsimony and Bayesian approaches provide a well-resolved phylogeny in which the sister group relationship between Impatiens and Hydrocera is confirmed. The overall topology of Impatiens is strongly supported and is geographically structured. Impatiens likely originated in South China from which it colonized the adjacent regions and afterwards dispersed into North America, Africa, India, the Southeast Asian peninsula, and the Himalayan region.


Droughts in pre‐Columbian Mesoamerica caused significant societal disruptions during the Late Classic and Post‐Classic Periods. While the primary causes of these droughts are still debated, it has been speculated that they may be linked to extensive deforestation associated with high population densities during these intervals. Here we show that pre‐Columbian deforestation would have biased the climate in Mesoamerica towards a drier mean state, amplifying drought in the region. In climate model simulations using a pre‐Columbian land cover reconstruction, annual precipitation decreases by 5%–15% throughout southern Mexico and the Yucatán compared to simulations using either natural forest cover or forest regrowth associated with population declines after 1500 C.E. These changes are driven primarily by large reductions (10%–20%) in precipitation during the late summer wet season (August–September). When compared to precipitation changes estimated to have occurred during the Maya collapse, our results suggest that deforestation could account for up to sixty percent of the mean drying during this interval. Many regions previously deforested in the pre‐Columbian era are now under dense forest cover, indicating potential future climate impacts should tropical deforestation of these areas accelerate.


In the face of recession, falling demand and the consequent slowing of production, short-time working and temporary layoff schemes have been extended (or introduced) in many [European] Member States. These schemes, often with the aid of public funds, reduce working time, while protecting workers' incomes and company solvency; frequently, the time spent not working is used for training instead. This report examines the practice of reduced working time across Europe, and looks in detail at how it is implemented in 10 Member States, with a view to determining the contribution that such schemes can make in implementing the common principles of flexicurity, especially in light of the broad-based consensus they enjoy among the social partners.


This paper investigates the effectiveness of benefit sanctions in reducing unemployment duration. Data from the Swiss labor market allow making a distinction between the effect of a warning that a person is not complying with eligibility requirements and the effect of the actual enforcement of a benefit sanction. We find that both warning and enforcement have a positive effect on the exit rate out of unemployment. Moreover, the stricter the sanction policy the shorter is the duration of unemployment of the non-sanctioned. This can be taken as evidence of a strong ex-ante effect of a strict sanction policy.


Transport of NH3 from loops of Henle to medullary collecting ducts has been proposed to play an important role in renal ammonia excretion. To determine whether transepithelial ammonia concentration gradients capable of driving this transport are present in the inner medulla, micropuncture experiments were performed in control rats and in rats with chronic metabolic acidosis. In situ pH and total ammonia concentrations were measured to calculate NH3 concentrations ([NH3]) for base and tip collecting duct, loop of Henle, and vasa recta. In control and acidotic rats, [NH3] in the loop of Henle was significantly greater than [NH3] in the collecting ducts. [NH3] did not differ in loop of Henle and adjacent vasa recta in either group of rats, indicating that NH3 concentration gradients between loop and collecting duct represent NH3 gradients that are present between medullary interstitium and collecting duct. During acidosis, an increase in collecting duct ammonia secretion was associated with an increase in the NH3 concentration difference between loop of Henle and collecting duct but occurred in the absence of a fall in collecting duct pH. The NH3 concentration gradient favoring diffusion of NH3 into the collecting ducts increased during acidosis because [NH3] in the loop of Henle and medullary interstitium increased more than [NH3] in the collecting duct. These findings indicate that transport processes involved in medullary ammonia accumulation play an important role in regulating ammonia secretion into the inner medullary collecting duct in vivo and that a fall in inner medullary collecting duct pH is not necessarily required for ammonia secretion by this segment to increase during chronic metabolic acidosis.


Abstract A new gastrotrich species of the genus Tetranchyroderma, bearing three-pronged cuticular hooks, was discovered in the Pacific, from littoral sandy bottoms of a beach at Joyagdo Island off Wando, south coast of the Korean Peninsula. Tetranchyroderma pinnatum, sp. nov., is characterized by feathered triancres, two pairs of rod-like cephalic tentacles, absence of dorsal and dorsolateral adhesive tubes, a short testis, and a large tube-shaped copulatory organ. Scanning electron microscopy is used to describe the fine details of the species, and a comparison among known species with triancres is provided. We also provide a key to the species of the genus Tetranchyroderma recorded in the northwest Pacific.


BACKGROUND
Temporal changes in the prevalence of anxiety disorders/symptoms for patients with cancer at the end of life (EOL) remain unclear. This study was undertaken to describe changes in the prevalence of severe anxiety symptoms and to identify its correlates in the last year of life for patients with cancer.

METHODS
A convenience sample of 325 patients with cancer was followed until death. Severe anxiety symptoms were identified as anxiety subscale scores of 11 or greater on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Longitudinal changes in and correlates of severe anxiety symptoms were examined from demographics, disease-related characteristics, disease burden, perceived burden to others, and social support using multivariate logistic regression modeling with generalized estimating equations.

RESULTS
The prevalence of severe anxiety symptoms increased as death approached (18.6%, 21.9%, 26.7%, and 33.4% at 181-365, 91-180, 31-90, and 1-30 days before death, respectively). However, after controlling for covariates, this temporal increase was not significant. The prevalence of severe anxiety symptoms was not associated with fixed demographics and disease-related characteristics, except for diagnosis and metastatic status, but was significantly higher in patients with cancer with high physical symptom distress, severe depressive symptoms, high perceived burden to others, and strong perceived social support.

CONCLUSIONS
Severe anxiety symptoms were not associated with time proximity to death per se but were related to factors modifiable by high-quality EOL care. Clinicians may decrease the likelihood of severe anxiety symptoms at EOL by adequately managing physical and depressive symptoms and lightening perceived burden to others for patients strongly connected with their social network to improve their psychological well-being.


Unlike benchmarks that focus on performance or reliability evaluations, a benchmark for computer security must necessarily include sensitive code and data. Because these artifacts could damage systems or reveal personally identifiable information about the users affected by cyber attacks, publicly disseminating such a benchmark raises several scientific, ethical and legal challenges. We propose the Worldwide Intelligence Network Environment (WINE), a security-benchmarking approach based on rigorous experimental methods. WINE includes representative field data, collected worldwide from 240,000 sensors, for new empirical studies, and it will enable the validation of research on all the phases in the lifecycle of security threats. We tackle the key challenges for security benchmarking by designing a platform for repeatable experimentation on the WINE data sets and by collecting the metadata required for understanding the results. In this paper, we review the unique characteristics of the WINE data, we discuss why rigorous benchmarking will provide fresh insights on the security arms race and we propose a research agenda for this area.


In this review we synthesized and conducted a computational studies on Pyrazolo pyrimidine's derivatives that were carried out through density functional theory level utilizing HF/6−311+G**and B3LYP/6−311+G**. Charge transfer occured through molecule was shown by the calculation of HOMO and LUMO energies. The electric dipole moment values (l) of the molecule were counted calculations of DFT.  Some geometrical and structural parameters such as total energies (E), relative energies (DE), (bond length in A, angles in degree), energy gap, relative Gibbs free energy, dipole moment, and molecular electrostatic potentials (MEP) were studied.


We present Corona, a wearable device that allows constant high-voltage electrostatic charge to be continuously accumulated in the human body. We propose the usages of Corona for three basic functions; generating haptic sensations, generating electric power from body static charge and near-body electric field, and inducing physical force near the body. We describe detailed principle of operation, analysis of produced energy and force, discussion on safety issues, as well as demonstration of proof-of-concept applications for aforementioned basic functions. We conclude with discussion of our experiments using the prototype and applications, which also involves a study to gather user feedbacks. To the best of our knowledge, Corona is the first work to exploit continuous high-voltage static charge on the human body for Human-Computer Interaction purposes.


We describe the larval development of the sparid Pagellus natalensis based on 34 field specimens of 2-19 mm from the western Indian Ocean off South Africa. P. natalensis has unusual larval morphology for a sparid: in particular, extensive head spination including a serrate supraoccipital crest, serrate supraocular, pterotic, and supracleithral ridges, interopercular spines, strong preopercular spination, and pitted frontal bones. Development in the family Sparidae is briefly reviewed, and larval development of P. natalensis is central to this review. We suggest that larval morphology reveals much about sparid relationships, and pose several hypotheses for further testing. These include: Pagellus, Pagrus and Dentex as currently conceived are polyphyletic; Pagellus affinis, bellottii and natalensis and Pagrus pagrus are closely related, as is an unidentified larval sparid from the eastern north Atlantic; spiny larval morphology is derived within the Sparidae and indicates that the currently recognized subfamilies are polyphyletic; Spondyliosoma is monophyletic; Calamus and Spondyliosoma are sister taxa.


Efficient implementation of block ciphers is critical toward achieving both high security and high-speed processing. Numerous block ciphers have been proposed and implemented, using a wide and varied range of functional operations. Existing architectures such as microcontrollers do not provide this broad range of support. Therefore, we will present a hardware architecture that achieves efficient block cipher implementation while maintaining flexibility through reconfiguration. In an effort to achieve such a hardware architecture, a study of a wide range of block ciphers was undertaken to develop an understanding of the functional requirements of each algorithm. This study led to the development of COBRA, a reconfigurable architecture for the efficient implementation of block ciphers. A detailed discussion of the top-level architecture, interconnection scheme, and underlying elements of the architecture will be provided. System configuration and on-the-fly reconfiguration will be analyzed, and from this analysis, it will be demonstrated that the COBRA architecture satisfies the requirements for achieving efficient implementation of a wide range of block ciphers that meet the 622 Mbps ATM network encryption throughput requirement.


Length 5,5 mm., breadth at the shoulders 2,5 mm. — Head: the clypeus golden red; the face bright bronzy green with a golden hue; the vertex golden with fiery red tinges; the mandibles black; the antennae bronzy. Pronotum golden with fiery red tinges. Scutellum and elytra golden green, the latter narrowly black along the suture, the extreme lateral margin and at the apex. Under surface of the body black, somewhat bronzy, the femora of the intermediate and posterior legs bronzy green; the central portion of the prosternum golden. Head wide, shallowly and distantly punctured, widely excavated between the eyes, the excavation with a small but deep oval impression at the top of the face, continued across the vertex by a narrow longitudinal channel. Prothorax transverse, the sides which are slightly raised, very slightly divergent towards the base; the latter bisinuate, the median lobe in front of the scutellum broadly truncate and slightly emarginate; the disc with a large but shallow transverse impression on the basal half, in front of which the disc is finely and very distantly punctured; moreover there are a few deep punctures along the anterior margin; at the sides the punctures are large but shallow and somewhat confluent; in front of the basal margin there are several deeply impressed curved short lines. Scutellum triangular without distinct punctures, its apex very acute. Elytra a little wider at the base than the base of the thorax, rounded and prominent at the shoulders, very convex at about a fifth of their length, the sides nearly parallel as far as half their length, although slightly sinuated behind the shoulders, then regularly attenuated towards the apex; the apex of each rounded and very finely serrated. The elytra are slightly rugose and irregularly covered with elongate punctures placed in a longitudinal direction. The under surface of the abdomen shows some very fine longitudinal lines composed by series of short curved lines; the mesosternum some transverse curved lines, and the bright metallic central portion of the prosternum some large and deep punctures.


This paper develops a multitask model where employees make choices between their assigned standard tasks, for which the firm has a performance measure and provides incentives, and privately observed innovation opportunities that fall outside of the performance metrics, and require ex post bargaining. If innovations are highly firm specific, firms provide lower-powered incentives for standard tasks to encourage more innovation, yet in equilibrium employees undertake too few innovations. The opposite occurs if innovations are less firm specific. We also investigate the effectiveness of several possibilities to encourage innovation, such as tolerance for failure, stock-based compensation, and the allocation of intellectual property rights. (JEL D21, J33, M12, O31, O34)


The paper discusses power in Early Modern English courtroom. A few levels of linguistic analysis are examined for the occurrence of the exponents of power. As regards lexicon, it is the specific vocabulary which creates the social distance between the interrogators and the interrogated. My hypothesis is that the vocabulary items include not only what I call "overt" exponents of power, e.g. impolite expressions, but also "covert" ones, like an ironic use of politeness markers or forms of address. Moreover, power can be reflected in the syntax of the utterances, e.g. in the questions asked by the interrogators. Finally, many (socio-)pragmatic devices contribute to the demonstration of power. Thus, specific speech acts, e.g. covert orders can be disguised as overt requests, and the inferencing strategies used by the interrogators can reveal the presuppositions often contained in their utterances.


The mode characteristics of a three-dimensional (3D) microdisk with a vertical refractive index distribution of n(2)/3.4/n(2) are investigated by the S-matrix method and 3D finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) technique. For the microdisk with a thickness of 0.2 mu m. and a radius of 1 mu m, the mode wavelengths and quality factors for the HE7,1 mode obtained by 3D FDTD simulation and the S-matrix method are in good agreement as n(2) increases from 1.0 to 2.6. But the Q factor obtained by the 3D FDTD rapidly decreases from 1.12 X 10(4) to 379 as n2 increases from 2.65 to 2.8 owing to the vertical radiation losses, which cannot be predicted by the proposed S-matrix method. The comparisons also show that quality factors obtained from the analytical solution of two-dimensional microdisks under the effective index approximation are five to seven times smaller than those of the 3D FDTD as n(2) = 1 and R = 1 mu m. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.


ABSTRACT This paper investigates interdisciplinary research through an urban design project and explores the creation of broader architectural representations of place. It advances the case made by McCarthy and Wright for developing deeper associations between experience and technology. Drawing on artist Janet Cardiff's media representations of space, design students were challenged to represent richer descriptions of place that include factors such as temporal and spatial resistance, experiential laminations, and social linkages and their gaps. Findings support a view of design and transdisciplinarity as potentially compelling modalities for research in these complex contexts, discourage bringing technology to center stage and encourage propositions that recommend looking beyond the functional and attending to personal and social facets of our interaction with technology.


The effect of size of pupil of the eye upon the intensity distributions in retinal images of circular apertures observed in Maxwellian view is treated theoretically. Diffraction images of a small source of light are formed in the pupil and are governed by circular apertures whose angular diameters are of the order of minutes of arc. Quantitative data are presented to illustrate the manner in which sharpness of the retinal image of the aperture is increased by increasing the number of diffraction rings that are admitted to the eye. Amplitude and intensity distributions are included for a given diameter of aperture together with various sizes of pupil (including some annular pupils), and for various diameters of aperture together with one size of pupil. Equations are presented for calculating intensity distributions as modified by the Stiles-Crawford effect or by the effect of defocused eyes.


It is well known that the viscosity of a homogeneous electron liquid diverges in the limits of zero frequency and zero temperature. A nanojunction breaks translational invariance and necessarily cuts off this divergence. However, the estimate of the ensuing viscosity is far from trivial. Here, we propose an approach based on a Kramers-Kr\"onig dispersion relation, which connects the zero-frequency viscosity, $\eta(0)$, to the high-frequency shear modulus, $\mu_{\infty}$, of the electron liquid via $\eta(0) =\mu_{\infty} \tau$, with $\tau$ the junction-specific momentum relaxation time. By making use of a simple formula derived from time-dependent current-density functional theory we then estimate the many-body contributions to the resistance for an integrable junction potential and find that these viscous effects may be much larger than previously suggested for junctions of low conductance.


This thesis is an examination of the most important Scottish saints' cults and pilgrimage centres in the period c.1349-1560. Specifically, this project locates the role of this group within the wider devotional practices of the late medieval kingdom. Through analysis of liturgical calendars, ecclesiastical dedications, contemporary literature and naming and pilgrimage patterns, it identifies and explains the distinctive features of the veneration of national saints in late medieval Scotland in the two centuries from the first appearance of the Black Death in 1349 to the Reformation in 1560. The key theme of this thesis is the consideration of the manner in which external factors, such as general Western European social and religious developments, and distinctly local phenomena such as the intermittent warfare with England and the varied agendas of interest groups like shrine custodians, the national church and the crown, impacted upon the saintly landscape of the late medieval kingdom and the popular piety of its people. The medieval cult of the saints is a subject of considerable value for historians because it was a movement in a constant state of flux. It adapted to the socio-religious context of the societies in which it operated. Although never neglected as an area of study, the cult of the saints in Scotland has received further attention in recent years through the influence of the Survey of Dedications to Saints in Medieval Scotland project carried out at the University of Edinburgh from 2004-7. However, studies on the role and function of national and local saints, those believed by contemporaries to have had a Scottish provenance or a hagiographical connection to the medieval kingdom, have tended to focus on two specific periods. These were the so called 'age of the saints', the period between the fourth and eighth centuries in which the majority of these men and women were thought to have been active, or the twelfth and thirteenth centuries from when the main Latin hagiographical sources originate. The role and function of this group in the later middle ages has been either neglected or subject to the pervasive influence of a 1968 article by David McRoberts which argued that churchand crownsponsored patriotism was the main factor in shaping popular piety in this period. This thesis will question this premise and provide the first indepth study of the cults of St Andrew, Columba of Iona/Dunkeld, Kentigern of Glasgow and Ninian of Whithorn in a late medieval Scottish context, as well as the lesser known northern saint, Duthac of Tain.


First Baptist Church of Guilford in Columbia, MD is seeking a design for its fourth church due to its ever increasing membership. The needs of its members and surrounding community are however not limited to worship but also include the desire for commercial areas for business ventures, day care, and recreational facilities. These desires have the making of a "Super Church" which has become all too common in metropolitan areas.

The requirements of a growing church body requires the architect to have an understanding of the denomination, liturgy, and possess the design creativity to construct a structural envelope that is suitable for a religious building.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore alternative prototypical structural and architectural solutions in response to the building program created by the Architectural Committee and their design consultants.


The focus of this study is the search behavior of remote users of the University of California MELVYL Library System, an online public access catalog (OPAC). Transaction logs from randomly selected remote user search sessions are analyzed. Descriptive data on the number and type of searches, choice of search mode and database, number of retrievals, number and type of errors, and use of system HELP facilities are presented. The search data have been cross-tabulated with demographic data on the same group of remote users, collected through an online survey conducted by the authors. Effectiveness of system usage is discussed. A case is made for the desirability of additional heuristics in the catalog portion of the system. The MELVYL Library System of the University of California (UC) first became accessible outside the library setting in the mid-1980s. Remote usage has risen steadily since that time and typically accounts for more than one-third of the half-million queries entered in the system each week during peak usage periods.[1] In an effort to understand more fully this growing user population, the investigators undertook a two-part study. The findings of the first part of the study, an online survey of users who accessed the MELVYL system from outside the library setting, were reported previously.[2] The present report contains the results of the second phase of the study. In this phase, the investigators coded selected data from the transaction logs of the surveyed group, used microcomputer programs to compare those data by user status and other user characteristics, then visually reexamined the user command portions of many of the individual logs to gain further insight into user search behavior. THE MELVYL LIBRARY SYSTEM The MELVYL system provides access to nearly eight million monograph and periodical titles held principally by libraries of the University of California.[3] In addition, the system offers its users access to several periodical index databases and serves as a gateway to many other specialized databases and library catalogs. Users may access this rich array of resources directly from their homes, offices, or other sites, through dial-up or networked connections. The MELVYL system began as a prototype online catalog for the University of California, a nine-campus, doctorate-granting institution, which currently supports a main library on each campus, nearly one hundred branch and specialized libraries across the system, and an enrollment of more than 166,000 students. The system serves as a union catalog, to which the campus cataloging agencies contribute their records. Most of the campus libraries implemented local online catalogs during the 1980s; these serve as their primary catalogs and as a gateway to the UC union catalog residing within the MELVYL system. After a decade of development, the catalog portion of the MELVYL system has achieved the status of a second-generation OPAC. It generally reflects Charles Hildreth's hypothetical construct of features that constitute "a qualitative leap of progress over first-generation online catalogs."[4] For example, the system supports keyword access to a variety of fields, explicit Boolean search logic, limiting capabilities, optional and automatic truncation of search terms in some kinds of queries, extensive help facilities (including contextual help screens), and multiple display formats. Some examples of special processing introduced to improve retrieval are the "normalization" of search terms in several fields and the treatment of title words as "exact" titles under certain conditions.[5] Appendix A contains a summary description of system commands and indexes.[6] Hildreth states that researchers involved in information retrieval generally acknowledge that "today's conventional keyword-indexed, inverted file, Boolean logic search and retrieval systems like BRS, DIALOG.... LEXIS-NEXIS (and all second-generation OPACs) are powerful and efficient but are dumb, passive systems which require resourceful, active, intelligent human searchers to produce acceptable results. …


This book provides an accessible, yet sophisticated treatment of the essential principles of administrative law. Topics covered include a history of the American administrative state; theories of agency behavior; separation of powers and procedural due process, as they are implicated by the administrative process; the procedural framework of the Administrative Procedure Act; formal adjudicatory procedure; informal rulemaking procedure; and the availability, timing, and scope of judicial review. The book includes charts and diagrams that assist the reader in visualizing the major elements of the administrative process.


As a family of wireless local area network (WLAN) protocols between physical layer and higher-layer protocols, IEEE 802.11 has to accommodate the features and requirements of both ends. However, current practice has addressed the problems separately and is far from being satisfactory. On one end, due to varying channel conditions, WLANs have to provide multiple data channel rates to support various signal qualities. A low channel rate station not only suffers low throughput, but also significantly degrades the throughput of other stations. On the other end, TCP is not energy efficient running on 802.11. In a TCP session, a wireless network interface (WNI) has to stay awake to generate timely acknowledgments, and hence, the energy is wasted by channel listening during idle awake time. In this paper, considering the needs of both ends, we utilize the idle communication power of the WNI to improve the throughput and energy efficiency of stations in WLANs with multiple channel rates. We characterize the energy efficiency as energy per bit, instead of energy per second. Based on modeling and analysis, we propose a data forwarding mechanism and an energy-aware channel allocation mechanism. In such a system, a high channel rate station relays data frames between its neighboring stations with low channel rates and the Access Point, improving their throughput and energy efficiency. Different from traditional relaying approaches, our scheme compensates for the energy consumption for data forwarding. The forwarding station obtains additional channel access time from its beneficiaries, leading to the increase of its own throughput without compromising its energy efficiency. We implement a prototype of our proposed system and evaluate it through extensive experiments. Our results show significant performance improvements for both low and high channel rate stations.


The armed forces in virtually all countries are traditionally male-dominated organisations. Military rangers constitute an elite unit whose chief skills and capabilities centre on unconventional warfare and intelligence gathering in enemy territory, as well as conducting low-intensity warfare. The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the process of becoming a military ranger and what it means to be one in this context from a masculinity perspective. The study was carried out with informants from three military ranger units in Sweden: the Army's ranger battalion, parachuting rangers from an airborne battalion and intelligence battalion, and coastal rangers. In total, 28 informants participated in the study. All of them were men. A qualitative analysis resulted in a model where the core variable was labelled on becoming a ranger through reproducing masculinity as a form of emotional regime. This core variable is built up by three different strategies, each of which contains a number of actions: building social identity by means of coolness strategies, observing symbols and rituals to build a sense of pride and building cohesion to maintain group intimacy, and emotionally exclude the external environment.


Since the global financial crisis, the UK has been grappling with persistent poor productivity performance. While a number of factors have been at play, reduced investment due to austerity harmed growth in the early years, and more recently, policy uncertainty surrounding Brexit has held back investment. While Brexit has dominated UK politics and economic policy since the referendum on EU membership in 2016, the UK government has been developing an industrial strategy in recent years, and has also made a commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. These two elements of policy must be consistent and long-term to enable the UK to meet its commitments, while realising the growth opportunities associated with innovation in the low carbon transition. While institutions around industrial strategy have been strengthened, there is a risk that the volatile political climate could prevent its objectives from being achieved.


A male and female Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja), both reintroduced captive-bred subadults, were observed on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama for 89 and 205 days, respectively, between June 1999 and August 2000. The male captured 25 individuals from nine different mammalian species and the female captured 46 individuals from 8 different mammalian and one reptilian species during the period of observation. Fifty-two percent of captures by the male were of two-toed (Choloepus hoffmanni) and three-toed (Bradypus variegatus) sloths. Fifty-four percent of captures by the female were of sloths. On average, the male made a capture every 3.6 days with a daily average consumption of 888 g. The female made a capture on average every 4.4 days with a daily average consumption of 812 g. The eagles attacked solitary arboreal prey species from 1-50 m distance, sometimes with several calculated attempts from within 5 m. Social arboreal prey species were most often attacked by surprise from less than 30 m, and terrestrial prey species were attacked by surprise from less than 10 m. The female eagle was observed to capture solitary arboreal prey significantly more during sunny weather and the dry season. She was also observed to capture social arboreal prey significantly more during cloudy weather and the wet season. Capture success rates of observed predations for the male and female eagle were 38% and 49%, respectively. Accepted 14 March 2002.


The recently proposed by the first two authors Vibrating Barrier (ViBa) can be interpreted as a large-scale linear mass-damper unit buried in the ground and tuned/designed to protect surrounding structures without being directly in contact to them through a structure-soil-structure interaction mechanism. Previous research demonstrated that ViBa achieves significant structural response reduction at a cost of excessive required vibrating mass of the order of the mass of the structure sought to protect. To this end, this paper considers coupling ViBa with a grounded inerter device acting as a mass amplifier to reduce the required mass/weight of ViBa in suppressing seismically induced vibrations in structures amenable to modelling as single-degree-of freedom (SDOF) damped oscillators. The equations of motion and transfer function of a grounded inerter ViBa (IViBa) fused with a SDOF structure are derived. Two different optimal design approaches are discussed to tune the IViBa to minimize the displacement response of SDOF structure subject to harmonic and to broadband base excitations in the H∞ and H2 optimal control context. Pertinent numerical results are furnished associated with the properties of a small-scale ViBa prototype specimen to quantify the effect of the grounded inerter of different inertial property to the vibration control performance of optimally tuned IViBa. It is shown numerically using both H2 optimal performance results as well as response history analyses for an artificial quasi-stationary accelerogram that IViBa mass/weight can effectively be traded for grounded inerter inertial property to achieve the same level of structural vibration suppression to broadband seismic excitation.


Hydroxyl number is a term that reflects the number of hydroxyl groups in a molecule. Hydroxyl number determination is important in polymer analysis to determine the extent of reaction or number of hydroxyl groups available for further reaction. There exist many methods for chemical determination, and these vary with polymers, degree of solubility, ease of reaction, and catalyst. There also exist other methods including GC, GPC, and IR methods. Other methods for hydroxyl determination in oils and with the use of near-IR have been reported. The wet chemical methods for hydroxyl number determination in polymers are accurate and precise but can take hours to run. Although this time can be reduced by running several samples simultaneously, running just one sample would take about 3–4 h because of required reaction and titration times. The chemical method requires the use of pyridine, dimethylaminopyridine, and acetic anhydride, which are irritating, highly toxic, and corrosive chemicals. In order to reduce these problems with the chemical hydroxyl number determination, the feasibility of an analysis of the polymers by infrared (IR) spectroscopy was studied with the use of the Nicolet PLS Quant program.


It has been known for a long time that visual task greatly influences eye movement patterns. Perhaps the best demonstration of this is the celebrated study of Yarbus showing that different eye movement scanpaths emerge depending on the visual. Forward Yarbus process, the effect of visual task on eye movement pattern, has been investigated for various tasks. In this work, we have developed an inverse Yarbus process whereby we can infer the visual task by observing the measurements of a viewer's eye movements while executing the visual task. To do so, first we need to track the allocation of attention, for different tasks entail attending various locations in an image and therefore tracking attention will lead us to task inference. Eye position does not tell the whole story when it comes to tracking attention. While it is well known that there is a strong link between eye movements and attention, the attentional focus is nevertheless frequently well away from the current eye position. Eye tracking methods may be appropriate when the subject is carrying out a task that requires foveation. However, these methods are of little use (and even counter-productive) when the subject is engaged in tasks requiring peripheral vigilance. The model we have developed for attention tracking uses Hidden Markov Models (HMMs), where covert (and overt) attention is represented by the hidden states of task-dependent HMMs. Fixation locations, thus, correspond to the observations of an HMM and were used in training (by using Baum-Welch algorithm) task-dependent models whereby we could evaluate the likelihood of observing an eye trajectory given a task (forward algorithm). Having this likelihood term, we were able to use the Bayesian inference and recognize the ongoing task by viewing the eye movements of subjects while performing a number of simple visual tasks.


This paper investigates the relation between mobility and fieldwork in geography. It is based on research on transit migration in the Central Sahara. Mobility is treated as the spatial dimension of fieldwork, as the opening of new grounds newly perceived which changes the kind of empiric data produced in migration studies. The paper aims to reflect on the mobility of the observer under two aspects : mobility in the field and mobility as fieldwork. Mobility in the field, i. e. movement between different but related field-sites, helps to contextualise each research locality and each phenomenon observed from different angles. At the same time, mobility is in itself a 'field-site', a privileged moment of observation and discussion. As a consequence, researchers themselves need to become mobile in order to study migration from the inside and to grasp the fleeting and unstable social constructions that mobility produces.


The United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service (Forest Service) manages 154 national forests and 20 grasslands in 44 states and Puerto Rico. National Forest Land and Resource Management Plans (forest plans) form the basis for land and resource management of national forests in the United States. For more than a decade the Forest Service has been attempting to incorporate innovative, collaborative public involvement strategies into the process for revising forest plans. In 2012 and 2015 the Forest Service codified new regulations for developing, revising, and amending forest plans. Collaboration and public involvement are explicit goals of the new regulations. This paper briefly reviews the literature on collaborative planning on national forests and explores a successful collaborative planning process used by the Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests, located in Vermont and New York respectively, to develop their 2006 forest plans. This paper shows how the Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests developed parallel public and internal collaborative processes to build trust, relationships, and partnership, and discusses the implications for process design, capacity building, and facilitating agreements. By looking back at this successful case of collaborative forest planning, key lessons can provide ideas for developing collaborative processes for future planning efforts.


Recent years have seen a greatly increased understanding of how global environmental change will affect crop and animal productivity and these results pave the way for broader analyses of global environmental change impacts on food production. However, there is a need to think beyond productivity and production - food security is the ultimate concern, as it is of greater relevance to societal well-being and hence policy-making. To address this broader concept of food security, research and policy formulation needs to be set within the context of food systems, rather than just food supply. This will allow a more thorough understanding of the links between food security and the environment, and make clearer where technical and policy interventions in food systems might be help them adapt to global environmental change.


The famous New York case of Golden v. Ramapo helped create the movement towards smart growth thirty years ago. Ramapo, like most other towns in New York struggled with the familiar quandary of how to balance the pressures of absorbing growth while still controlling urban sprawl. Ramapo's solution, to greatly reduce development in its jurisdiction for eighteen years in order to research more efficient development methods, sparked much controversy with local land owners. The United States Court of Appeals, in one of New York's most significant contributions to smart growth, upheld Ramapo's plan and created a groundbreaking precedent still widely followed today.


We consider the problem of experimental design for learning causal graphs that have a tree structure. We propose an adaptive framework that determines the next intervention based on a Bayesian prior updated with the outcomes of previous experiments, focusing on the setting where observational data is cheap (assumed infinite) and interventional data is expensive. While information greedy approaches are popular in active learning, we show that in this setting they can be exponentially suboptimal (in the number of interventions required), and instead propose an algorithm that exploits graph structure in the form of a centrality measure. If infinite interventional data is available, we show that the algorithm requires a number of interventions less than or equal to a factor of 2 times the minimum achievable number. We show that the algorithm and the associated theory can be adapted to the setting where each performed intervention yields finitely many samples. Several extensions are also presented, to the case where a specified set of nodes cannot be intervened on, to the case where $K$ interventions are scheduled at once, and to the fully adaptive case where each experiment yields only one sample. In the case of finite interventional data, through simulated experiments we show that our algorithms outperform different adaptive baseline algorithms.


Aim — The main focus of the project was to identify whether there is any interaction between Ketotifen Fumarate (antihistamine) and domperidone (Antiemetic/dopaminergic antagonist) present or not at simulated gastric and intestinal solutions of different pH. Methods — Using Job's continuous-variation analysis the possible drug-drug interaction was determined at a fixed temperature (37oC) at the studied pH. From Job's continuous-variation analysis the views of drug-drug interaction at different concentration ratio at all pH (0.4, 1.2, 2.0, 2.8, 6.8, and 7.4) except 6.0 were noted. Results — Data obtained from spectroscopic analysis showed decrease in free-drug concentration of both of the drugs analyzed when they were within the same gastric simulated solution. Conclusion — Concurrent administration of Ketotifen Fumarate and domperidone would result in the formation of a stable complex and this is likely to reduce the the rapeutic activities of both drugs.


The genus Gymnetina Casey (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae: Gymnetini) is redescribed and revised. Three new species and one new subspecies are described: G. borealis Warner and Ratcliffe, G. grossepunctata Ratcliffe and Warner, G. howdeni Warner and Ratcliffe, and G. cretacea sundbergi Warner and Ratcliffe. Gymnetina salicis (Bates), new status, is removed from synonymy with G. cretacea (LeConte), and G. alboscripta (Janson) is transferred from Gymnetis MacLeay to Gymnetina becoming Gymnetina alboscripta (Janson), new combination. Redescriptions of previously known species, a key for identification, and illustrations of the six species are provided. A brief biogeographical analysis suggests that ancestral taxa dispersed northwards from Guatemala and Mexico to the southwestern United States.


After almost a decade of austerity, and well within the fourth year of the migration crisis, Greek society has been persistently threatened by 'Others', internal and external. This contribution focuses on how the entanglement of the two crises morphs the contemporary modalities of racism and xenophobia in the country. Our aim is to employ the binaries of exclusion/inclusion to explore how the crises are negotiated, interchangeably and simultaneously – yet following correlating argumentations – to justify or even motivate hostile tendencies towards the 'other'. In the dangerously delicate process of managing a crisis, the entanglement of finances and migration becomes further nuanced as the migrant is not only perceived to threaten a precarious economy but, mainly, a precarious identity. From a methodological perspective, we argue that the analysis on the effects of two related yet distinct crises by the authors results in a coinciding exploration of racism as a common effect. The benefit of this process is found in the constant exchange of insight and the duality of the analytical lens – either in the phase of collection or interpretation of data.


Objective:To determine the usual practice for setting tidal volume and other ventilatory parameters in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in the late 1990s and to determine the independent effects of these practices on intensive care unit mortality. Design:Subanalysis of a prospective observational study. Multivariable logistic regression was used to analyze the effects of ventilatory management on mortality. Setting:A total of 361 intensive care units in 20 countries in March 1998. Patients:A total of 467 mechanically ventilated patients with ARDS. Interventions:None. Measurements and Main Results:The mean tidal volume used in the first week of ARDS was 8.8 mL/kg measured body weight, and there was great variability in these tidal volumes (sd = 2.0). Tidal volumes were significantly lower in patients with (n = 265) than without (n = 202) a recorded plateau pressure (8.6 vs. 9.1 mL/kg, p = .01). The overall intensive care unit mortality rate was 60.2%. In addition to the strong influence of organ failures and higher levels of inspired oxygen, late-onset ARDS (onset after >48 hrs of mechanical ventilation; odds ratio, 2.09) was independently associated with mortality. In addition, lower levels of positive end-expiratory pressure were independently associated with higher mortality (odds ratio, 0.91; 1 cm of H2O increments). Neither inspiratory pressures nor tidal volumes were independently associated with mortality, and there was no evidence of increased mortality with the use of lower inspiratory pressures. Conclusions:This descriptive study demonstrated considerable interpatient variability in tidal volumes during the study period. In addition to traditional prognostic indicators, timing of ARDS onset and the use of low levels of positive end-expiratory pressure or no positive end-expiratory pressure during the first week may adversely influence outcome in ARDS patients.


"The most important book I have read in quite some time" (Daniel Kahneman); "A must-read" (Max Tegmark); "The book we've all been waiting for" (Sam Harris) LONGLISTED FOR THE 2019 FINANCIAL TIMES AND MCKINSEY BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR; A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019 Humans dream of super-intelligent machines. But what happens if we actually succeed? Creating superior intelligence would be the biggest event in human history. Unfortunately, according to the world's pre-eminent AI expert, it could also be the last. In this groundbreaking book on the biggest question facing humanity, Stuart Russell explains why he has come to consider his own discipline an existential threat to our species, and lays out how we can change course before it's too late. There is no one better placed to assess the promise and perils of the dominant technology of the future than Russell, who has spent decades at the forefront of AI research. Through brilliant analogies and crisp, lucid prose, he explains how AI actually works, how it has an enormous capacity to improve our lives - but why we must ensure that we never lose control of machines more powerful than we are. Here Russell shows how we can avert the worst threats by reshaping the foundations of AI to guarantee that machines pursue our objectives, not theirs. Profound, urgent and visionary, Human Compatible is the one book everyone needs to read to understand a future that is coming sooner than we think.


While Norway had the lowest road mortality rate in Europe in 2017, Greece had one of the worst road safety records of all EU-27 countries. The present study investigates road safety culture (RSC) as an explanation for this discrepancy by: (1) Comparing the road safety behaviours among professional and private drivers in Norway and Greece, (2) Examining factors influencing road safety behaviours, focusing especially on national road safety culture, and (3) Examining the influence of road safety behaviours and other factors (e.g., demographic and work-related variables) on accident involvement. This is done by comparing survey answers of private car (N = 796) and professional drivers (heavy goods vehicles and buses) in Norway and Greece (N = 416). Results from qualitative interviews (N = 61) are also presented. We study safety behaviours hypothesized to vary according to nationality (e.g., aggressive violations), and behaviours hypothesized to vary according to the professional versus private driver dimension (e.g., seat belt use). A central objective is to examine whether the former safety behaviours are more similar among private and professional drivers within countries than among professional and private drivers across national samples, indicating common national road safety cultures among private and professional drivers in the respective countries. The results indicate that aggressive violations are more similar among private and professional drivers within the national samples, than across the national samples, while seat belt use seems to vary according to the professional versus private dimension. The results also indicate a relationship between aggressive violations and accident involvement, although other variables were more strongly correlated. Moreover, drivers' safety behaviours were influenced by the behaviours that these groups ascribed to other drivers in their countries, indicating the existence of different national road safety cultures. The Greek RSC was characterized by more aggression and violations than the Norwegian RSC, which seemed to be characterized by a higher level of compliance and politeness. The different RSCs may perhaps shed light on the different accident records in the two countries.


Many rural communities have developed around highways or major county roads; as a result, the main street through small rural communities is often part of a high-speed rural highway. Highways and county roads are characterized by high speeds outside the city limits; they then transition into a reduced speed section through the rural community. Consequently, drivers passing through the community often enter at high speeds and maintain those speeds as they travel through the community. Traffic calming in small rural communities along major roadways is common in Europe, but the U.S. does not have experience with applying traffic-calming measures outside of major urban areas. The purpose of the project was to evaluate traffic-calming treatments on the major road through small Iowa communities using either single-measure low-cost or gateway treatments. The project was partially funded by the Iowa Highway Research Board (IHRB). The focus of the IHRB portion was to evaluate single-measure, low-cost, traffic-calming measures that are appropriate to major roads through small rural communities. Seven different low-cost traffic treatments were implemented and evaluated in five rural Iowa communities. The research evaluated the use of two gateway treatments in Union and Roland; five single-measure treatments (speed table, on-pavement "SLOW" markings, a driver speed feedback sign, tubular markers, and on-pavement entrance treatments) were evaluated in Gilbert, Slater, and Dexter.


We invent referential translation machines (RTMs), a computational model for identifying the translation acts between any two data sets with respect to a reference corpus selected in the same domain, which can be used for automatically grading student answers. RTMs make quality and semantic similarity judgments possible by using retrieved relevant training data as interpretants for reaching shared semantics. An MTPP (machine translation performance predictor) model derives features measuring the closeness of the test sentences to the training data, the difficulty of translating them, and the presence of acts of translation involved. We view question answering as translation from the question to the answer, from the
question to the reference answer, from the answer to the reference answer, or from the question and the answer to the reference answer. Each view is modeled by an RTM model, giving us a new perspective on the ternary relationship between the question, the answer, and the reference answer. We show that all RTM models contribute and a prediction model based on all four perspectives performs the best. Our prediction model is the $2$nd best system on some tasks according to the official
results of the Student Response Analysis (SRA 2013) challenge.


The article takes the term "technoscience" literally and investigates a conception of science that takes it not only as practice, but as production in the sense of a material labor process. It will explore in particular the material connection between science and ordinary production. It will furthermore examine how the historical development of science as a social enterprise was shaped by its technoscientific character. In this context, in an excursus, the prevailing notion will be questioned that social relations must be conceived of as pure interactions. Finally, the article will go into the relationship between the epistemic dimension of science and its technoscientific character.


This paper is about how to solve a class of puzzles, called self-referential quizzes (srq), with constraint programming. An srq is a sequence of multiple choice questions that are about the puzzle itself. srqs are an attractive pastime, when they provide the possibility of drawing non-trivial conclusions on the way to the solution. We introduce a typical srq, and represent it as a propositional satis ability problem. Its straightforward clausal representation is too big for e ective treatment using standard methods. Instead, we solve it with nite domain constraint programming. For this application of constraint programming, support of logic connectives such as conjunction and disjunction is crucial. With their small problem descriptions, srqs are ideal candidates for benchmarks covering the implementation of 0/1 variables in constraint programming languages.


We have constructed a logical model of Windows XP access control, in a declarative but executable (Datalog) format. We have built a scanner that reads access-control configuration information from the Windows registry, file system, and service control manager database, and feeds raw configuration data to the model. We found a surprising result: commercial software from major vendors routinely has user-to-administrator privilege-escalation vulnerabilities that result not from buffer overruns (or other bugs inside the software) but just from misconfigurations of permissions and registry entries. Our scanner and analyzer run efficiently, and quickly detect these configuration bugs. Furthermore, our new Windows model can be combined with previous models of Unix, firewalls, and CERT advisories to give a more accurate global picture of the vulnerabilities in a heterogenous enterprise network. Our tool could be used by software vendors (and system integrators) to improve their installation configurations and by sysadmins for day-to-day vulnerability analysis.


Understanding how genes function within an organism requires an evaluation of temporal as well as physical interactions. De Lichtenberg et al. have combined confidence-scored protein-protein interaction data with microarray data to provide a detailed view of cell cycle biology in yeast. The approach was used to make predictions about gene function. Almost all cell cycle complexes contained both subunits that showed a dynamic as well as those that had an unchanging pattern of expression. The dynamic subunits were the targets of cyclin-dependent phosphorylation, and it was their expression that was associated with the time at which the complex functioned. U. de Lichtenberg, L. J. Jensen, S. Brunak, P. Bork, Dynamic complex formation during the yeast cell cycle. Science 307, 724-727 (2005). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Trends in time series of snow water equivalent (SWE) are analyzed for different time periods and as a function of elevation. Since 1914, hydropower companies have measured snow at the expected snow maximum. Most of the measurements are located at high elevations, 700–1,700 meters above sea level (masl), providing a unique dataset in areas poorly covered by meteorological stations. For single stations, significant positive and negative trends are found using the Mann–Kendall trend test. The trends depend on region, observation period and elevation. In southern Norway negative trends are found for sites below 1,350 masl for the periods 1931–1960 and 1991–2009, and below 850 masl for the period 1961–1990. Above these elevations, positive trends are found. For the entire period, 1931–2009, positive trends are found for stations located above 850 masl. These findings can be explained by varying trends in precipitation and temperature in winter and spring. For central and northern Norway, the pattern in trends is similar, although less pronounced. High and low values of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index correlate differently with SWE. High NAO index is positively correlated with SWE at high elevations and negatively at low elevations. Low NAO index is positively correlated with SWE at all elevations.


I. IntroductionIn February 2012, Congress passed the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act, authorizing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to use voluntary incentive auctions to repurpose electromagnetic spectrum.1 These auctions give television broadcasters, to whom spectrum is currently allocated, the option to voluntarily sell their spectrum back to the government. The relinquished spectrum can then be relicensed for multiple uses and reauctioned to companies that supply mobile data plans. To participate, broadcasters must either (1) relocate from their current channel to a shared channel, (2) transfer to a new frequency, or (3) fully relinquish their spectrum.While the statutory scheme does not unilaterally revoke broadcasting licenses, its structure limits the FCC's ability to redistribute spectrum from its relatively low-value television use to a more high-value wireless broadband use. This Note argues that, from policy and economic perspectives, full relinquishment best accomplishes the goal of optimal spectrum reallocation. Congress likely assumed fully relinquishing broadcasters would be forced offthe air after losing access to the spectrum on which their programming was transmitted. This assumption, however, is faulty. Broadcasters choosing to fully relinquish can continue to transmit using other mediums, thereby providing consumers with the services previously offered over the airwaves.Accordingly, Congress or the FCC should create incentives to encourage broadcasters to choose the full-relinquishment option and protect viewers from potential programming losses. Motivating broadcasters to choose full relinquishment can be accomplished by extending incentives that are already being offered to broadcasters choosing the other two options: sharing or relocation. To incentivize full relinquishment, Congress or the FCC can extend must-carry privileges, pay for broadcasters to relocate to leased-access cable, or include a financial premium.Part II of this Note discusses the modern regulatory framework, focusing on the inadequate mechanisms for repurposing spectrum and introduces the voluntary incentive auction. Parts III and IV provide an overview of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act, and argue that full relinquishment is the optimal broadcaster choice to help curb the spectrum deficiencies. Part V outlines possible incentives to coax broadcasters to fully relinquish and transmit on other mediums. Part VI briefly concludes.II. Command and Control in the Modern EraA. Overview of Modern Command-and-Control RegulationsDespite its critics, FCC stewardship of the electromagnetic spectrum has not changed in a meaningful way since Congress first cleared the airwaves with the Radio Act of 1927.2 Pursuant to its authority to grant licenses according to "public interest, convenience, and necessity"3 the FCC has parceled out spectrum for use as a public resource since its creation in 1934.4 Because frequencies cannot be occupied by two transmissions at the same time without harmful interference, and there are a limited number of frequencies, the government treated spectrum as uniquely scarce.5 Accordingly, the government retained control over spectrum while vesting ownership in the public.In the current scheme, known as command and control because of the FCC's direct regulation, spectrum is allocated and licensed for a particular use for a term of up to eight years.6 Once allocated, the FCC grants a license to a specific individual, organization, or corporation to transmit over a specific frequency, at a specific location, at a specific time, subject to certain parameters of service.7 Licenses may be renewed subject to public interest considerations, but most licenses are renewed automatically.8 In this way, the FCC is able to tether frequencies to certain technologies indefinitely.Consistent with the Radio Act's categorical declaration that there would be no private property interest in spectrum,9 the rights and privileges of licensees are limited. …


Extended periods of hyperglycemia lead to the accumulation of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs), whose levels can be predictive of diabetes onset. We examine changes in the Raman spectra of porcine dermis samples incubated at various glucose levels. Analysis indicates there is a Raman signature useful for quantitation of skin-collagen AGEs.


Recent X-ray crystallographic studies on the human telomere sequence d[AGGG(TTAGGG)3] revealed a unimolecular, parallel quadruplex structure in the presence of potassium ions, while earlier NMR results in the presence of sodium ions indicated a unimolecular, antiparallel quadruplex. In an effort to identify and isolate the parallel form in solution, we have successfully ligated into circular products the single-stranded human telomere and several modified human telomere sequences in potassium-containing solutions. Using these sequences with one or two terminal phosphates, we have made chemically ligated products via creation of an additional loop. Circular products have been identified by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, enzymatic digestion with exonuclease VII and electrospray mass spectrometry in negative ion mode. Optimum pH for the ligation reaction of the human telomere sequence ranges from 4.5 to 6.0. Several buffers were also examined, with MES yielding the greatest ligation efficiency. Human telomere sequences with two phosphate groups, one each at the 3′ and 5′ ends, were more efficient at ligation, via pyrophosphate bond formation, than the corresponding sequences with only one phosphate group, at the 5′ end. Circular dichroism spectra showed that the ligation product was derived from an antiparallel, single-stranded guanine quadruplex rather than a parallel single-stranded guanine quadruplex structure.


It has been long argued that the GDP itself cannot serve as an indicator of well-being solely, which led to the construction and use of multidimensional well-being and sustainability indices. The Human Development Index (HDI) has been one of the first attempts to go beyond single measure of well-being comparisons and offer a multidimensional well-being measure by obtaining a composite index of education, income and health indices. Yet, many still argue that dimensions covered by the HDI do not reflect overall well-being of societies and new indicators should be added to the overall multidimensional well-being index. If new set of indicators are added to the existing indicator set, policy makers need to make a judgement call about the importance attached to new and existing indicators (i.e., explicit weights). However, different normalization procedures of these indicators lead to implicit weights that are different than that of explicit weights. This paper evaluates all possible weight allocation to dimensions and analyzes the weight allocation to the dimensions in the new official HDI with inclusion of the institutional quality dimension.


Purpose
This paper aims to assess to what extent the COVID-19 shock is expected to create a debt crisis in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) through two main questions: what are the main determinants of EMDEs external vulnerability? How vulnerable are EMDEs to the current COVID-19 shock compared to the global financial crisis (GFC)?

Design/methodology/approach
In addition to a descriptive analysis of the determinants of EMDEs external vulnerability, this paper designs two sub-indices of overindebtedness and financial fragility that capture EMDEs' distinct characteristics. The two sub-indices together illustrate the overall external vulnerability to the current shock.

Findings
EMDEs are more vulnerable compared to the GFC era. Current debt threats arise mainly from debt architecture and the domination of volatile debt forms – primarily foreign currency-denominated bonds. Excessive fear of debt-deflation spirals after the GFC prompted EMDEs to expand their growth trajectories through a pattern of cheap private lending, loose measures and unmonitored fiscal expansion.

Research limitations/implications
Conclusive post-crisis data are still unavailable.

Practical implications
EMDEs need to balance between temporary accommodative measures and a post-shock policy mix that prevent a deflation spiral without worsening indebtedness and financial fragility. Moreover, financial prudence in face of growing credit demand is crucial, particularly in light of the monetary expansion and injected liquidity.

Originality/value
The indices offer a framework for examining external vulnerability in EMDEs based on theoretical and historical revisions, IMF benchmarks and EMDEs specific debt characteristics. The indices components can be offered for empirical examination in separate future research once conclusive data become available.


Although several lines of evidence suggest that jets from young stars are driven magnetically from accretion disks, existing observations of field strengths in the bow shocks of these flows imply that magnetic fields play only a minor role in the dynamics at these locations. To investigate this apparent discrepancy we performed numerical simulations of expanding magnetized jets with stochastically variable input velocities with the AstroBEAR MHD code. Because the magnetic field B is proportional to the density n within compression and rarefaction regions, the magnetic signal speed drops in rarefactions and increases in the compressed areas of velocity-variable flows. In contrast, B ~ n0.5 for a steady state conical flow with a toroidal field, so the Alfvén speed in that case is constant along the entire jet. The simulations show that the combined effects of shocks, rarefactions, and divergent flow cause magnetic fields to scale with density as an intermediate power 1 > p > 0.5. Because p > 0.5, the Alfvén speed in rarefactions decreases on average as the jet propagates away from the star. Hence, a typical Alfvén velocity in the jet close to the star is significantly larger than it is in the rarefactions ahead of bow shocks at larger distances. We find that the observed values of weak fields at large distances are consistent with strong fields required to drive the observed mass loss close to the star. Typical velocity perturbations, which form shocks at large distances, will produce only magnetic waves close to the star. For a typical stellar jet the crossover point inside which velocity perturbations of 30-40 km s-1 no longer produce shocks is ~300 AU from the source.


The Nano-Tera.CH initiative is a broad engineering program in Switzerland for health and security of humans and the environment, currently funded by the Swiss government. The program rationale is rooted in advances in engineering nano-scale materials and their exploitation in a variety of systems, requiring extreme integration and coordinated control of diverse micro/nano-scale components. Embodiments of such systems can be found in lightweight, mobile and personalized products embedded in the environment and on/in the body. These products will enable us, for example, to detect in real time different health risks and conditions through integrated bio probing, to reveal security risks through smart buildings and environments, to save energy through ambient sensing, and to detect and monitor environmental hazards such as floods and avalanches from space and/or inaccessible positions on earth. The outstanding novelty and power of these systems stem from their connectedness and the integration of heterogeneous components.


The prevalence of spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAEs) was measured in a group of 100 neonates and in a group of 50 normal-hearing young adults. The prevalence of SOAEs in the adult group (0.62) is at the high end of the range of prevalences reported in other surveys of adult SOAEs based on measurements using similar microphones. The prevalence of SOAEs in neonates (0.64) is not significantly different from that in adults. The various tendencies that have been found to be significant in the pooled results of other surveys are also evident in our adult group: more SOAEs in right ears, a higher prevalence of SOAEs in females, and a dependence between ears for the occurrence of SOAEs. The above-mentioned tendencies are also significant in the infant data. The major differences between the infant and adult results are the predominant SOAE frequency range and the average levels of SOAEs. The majority of adult SOAEs are between 1.0 and 2.0 kHz, whereas the majority of neonatal SOAEs are between 2.5 and 5.0 kHz. The average SOAE level is -2.6 dB SPL for adults and 8.5 dB SPL for infants.


Extracytoplasmic function or ECF sigma factors are the most abundant class of alternative sigma factors in bacteria. Members of the rpoE subclass of ECF sigma factors are implicated in sensing stress in the cell envelope of Gram-negative bacteria and are required for virulence in many pathogens. The best-studied member of this family is rpoE from Escherichia coli, encoding the σE protein. σE has been well studied for its role in combating extracytoplasmic stress, and the members of its regulon have been largely defined. σE is required for viability of E. coli, yet none of the studies to date explain why σE is essential in seemingly unstressed cells. In this work we investigate the essential role of σE in E. coli by analyzing the phenotypes associated with loss of σE activity and isolating suppressors that allow cells to live in the absence of σE. We demonstrate that when σE is inhibited, cell envelope stress increases and envelope integrity is lost. Many cells lyse and some develop blebs containing cytoplasmic material along their sides. To better understand the connection between transcription by σE and cell envelope integrity, we identified two multicopy suppressors of the essentiality of σE, ptsN and yhbW. yhbW is a gene of unknown function, while ptsN is a member of the σE regulon. Overexpression of ptsN lowers the basal level of multiple envelope stress responses, but not that of a cytoplasmic stress response. Our results are consistent with a model in which overexpression of ptsN reduces stress in the cell envelope, thereby promoting survival in the absence of σE.


Background: HLA supertypes are groups of functionally related alleles that present structurally similar antigens to the immune system. Despite many reports of HLA allele associations with dengue, there have to date been no studies of HLA supertype associations with disease. Objectives: To analyse HLA class I supertypes in hospitalised Thai children with acute dengue illness. Methods: 762 patients and population-matched controls recruited predominantly in Bangkok were HLA-A and –B typed. HLA supertype frequencies were compared and tested for significant dengue disease associations using logistic regression analyses. Final multivariable models were built by conducting forward stepwise selection procedures. Results: In the final logistic regression model, the HLA-B44 supertype was protective against dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) in secondary infections (OR=0.46, 95%CI=0.30-0.72), while the HLA-A02 supertype (OR=1.92, 95%CI=1.30-2.83) and the HLA-A01/03 supertype (OR=3.01, 95%CI=1.01-8.92) were associated with susceptibility to secondary dengue fever. The B07 supertype was associated with susceptibility to secondary DHF in the univariate analysis (OR=1.60, 95%CI=1.05-2.46), whereas that was not retained in the final model. Conclusions : As the HLA-B44 supertype is predicted to target conserved epitopes in dengue, our results suggest that B44 supertype-restricted immune responses to highly conserved regions of the dengue proteome may protect against secondary DHF.


SUMMARY: The biochemical changes in the hemolymph of P. interpunctella larvae as a result of treatment with B. thuringiensis showed that the total carbohydrate and protein concentrations were not significantly changed. The electrophoretic patterns of the hemolymph protein showed 10 different bands of which six showed great variation in the control and the treated samples. The change in lipid concentration showed a double fold increase after treatment with B. thuringiensis. The total amino acids, on the other hand, showed no quantitative differences in the hemolymph of normal and treated larvae. Analysis of the hemolymph revealed the presence of 15 amino acids. Serine, proline, glycine, alanine, valine, leucine and lysine exhibited quantitative decrease, while aspartic acid, threonine, isoleucine, tyrosine, phenyl alanine and arginine showed an obvious increase after treatment of the larvae with B. thuringiensis. An increase of sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium and manganese ions, and a decrease in phosphorous, ferric, zinc and copper ions, were also detected after treatment.


Why are some ethnopolitical movements divided while others are relatively unified? A growing literature examines the consequences of internal divisions in ethnopolitical movements – and shows that it matters for a range of conflict outcomes – yet the mechanisms causing such divisions remain poorly understood. Our argument emphasizes competitive dynamics between states and self-determination movements and between rival factions within these movements as key determinants of fragmentation. Drawing from literatures on social movements, contentious politics, and civil war, we situate our argument vis-à-vis three alternative and complementary sets of explanations based on theories emphasizing transnational dimensions, political institutions, and structural factors within ethnopolitical groups. Using an original dataset, we test hypotheses explaining movement fragmentation over time and use a case study of Punjab in India to identify specific causal mechanisms and missing variables. Our findings show some support for three of these theories, suggesting that ethnopolitical movements divide as a result of complex and interactive processes. But our findings also underscore that central to explaining fragmentation dynamics are factors capturing competitive dynamics, including repression, accommodation of movement demands, the turn to violence, and the dynamic and changing nature of ethnopolitical demands.


There is little doubt that technology has had the most profound effect on altering the tasks that we humans do in our jobs. Economists have long speculated on how technical change affects both the absolute demand for labour as a whole and the relative demands for different types of labour. In recent years, the idea of skill-biased technical change has become the consensus view about the current impact of technology on labour demand, namely that technical change leads to an increase in the demand for skilled relative to unskilled labour painting a bleak future for the employment prospects of less-skilled workers. But, drawing on a recent paper by Autor, Levy and Murnane (2003) about the impact of technology on the demand for different types of skills, this paper argues that the demand in the least-skilled jobs may be growing. But, it is argued that employment of the less-skilled is increasingly dependent on physical proximity to the more-skilled and may also be vulnerable in the long-run to further technological developments.


This thesis is an attempt to provide a comprehensive overview of the British withdrawal from the Gulf in 1971, with special emphasis on the Trucial States before it became the United Arab Emirates in December 1971.The work commences with a review of the historical British connection with the Gulf from 1820 to the Kuwait operation of 1961. Then we look at various nationalist movements and the politicai upheaval around the Gulf, such as the Aden and Dhofar rebellions, and how that affected the British presence in the area. The British tried to curb such influence from reaching the Trucial States, especially those of Nasser and the Arab League, by introducing some economic development through the Trucial States Development Office. Furthermore, Britain gradually ceded various responsibilities such as legal and internal security to the rulers. At the same time the British companies working in the Emirates were encouraged to rely on their own resources without the protection of the British troops. The establishment of a federation between the nine emirates was Britain's prime aim but when that failed in July 1971, the federation of the seven was established (Ras al-Khaimah entered the federation in February 1972). Furthermore, Britain worked hard to bring Saudi Arabia and Iran together in order to help to fill the vacuum that would occur after the withdrawal of the British troops. The latter policy changed Britain's stance on the territorial disputes from support for the rulers of the Trucial States to pressuring them to compromise with Iran over the Islands of Abu Musa and the Tunbs and with Saudi Arabia over Buraimi. The thesis concludes that all of these factors prepared the Emirates to stand on their own and consequently enabled the British withdrawal in December 1971.


Ice super-saturated permafrost deposits, formed syn-genetically during the Late Pleistocene, are widely distributed in coastal lowland regions of Arctic NE Siberia. The ice content of the silty deposits (up to 160 weight-percent compared to dry mass) makes them very susceptible for large-area thawing and surface subsidence under warmer climate conditions. Hence, extensive thermokarst developed in this region during the Holocene. Generally, thermokarst is a significant factor in periglacial relief generation and landscape evolution. Additionally, the analysis of thermokarst-related transformation processes in periglacial landscapes is very important regarding the expected deep thawing of permafrost and the release of formerly frozen organic carbon in form of green house gases under a global warming scenario. To evaluate the Holocene thermokarst development and estimate possible future developments in the region, it is necessary to calculate and understand its actual extent. For this investigation, Landsat-ETM remote sensing data from the Lena-Anabar coastal lowland is used as an instrument for up-scaling local field data. Classes of different geomorphological units are discriminated with supervised classification algorithms based on various surface parameters like vegetation, relief, and soil moisture. These classes allow the characterization and quantification of periglacial landscape units with a focus on thermokarst features in the investigated area. The spatial distribution of identified thermokarst structures and their relationship to other geomorphological and hydrological features are analysed within a geographical information system using a digital elevation model and geomorphological parameters derived from the DEM. As result, quantitative and qualitative parameters for thermokarst structures in this Laptev Sea coastal region are derived.


The toughness of a polymer material can increase significantly if two networks are combined into one material. This toughening effect is a consequence of a transition from a brittle to a ductile failure response. Although this transition and the accompanying toughening effect have been demonstrated in hydrogels first, the concept has been proven effective in elastomers and in macroscopic composites as well. This suggests that the transition is not caused by a specific molecular architecture, but rather by a general physical principle related to the mechanical interplay between two interpenetrating networks. Here we employ theory and computer simulations, inspired by this general principle, to investigate how disorder controls the brittle-to-ductile transition both at the macroscopic and the microscopic level. A random spring network model featuring two different spring types, enables us to study the joined effect of initial disorder and network-induced stress heterogeneity on this transition. We reveal that a mechanical force balance gives a good description of the brittle-to-ductile transition. In addition, the inclusion of disorder in the spring model predicts four different failure regimes along the brittle-to-ductile response in agreement with experimental findings. Finally, we show that the network structure can result in stress concentration, diffuse damage and loss of percolation depending on the failure regime. This work thus provides a framework for the design and optimization of double network materials and underlines the importance of network structure in the toughness of polymer materials.


The earthquake of October 3, 1943, is an important event for characterization of hazard in central Italy, but none of the earlier studies provide an exhaustive description of its effects. The context in which the earthquake occurred was very complex and many relevant records were not available for consultation when the studies were made. This study set out to improve our understanding of the earthquake and its effects by giving special care to the interpretative problems deriving from the peculiar historical and seismological context of the 1943 earthquake, with reference to the possible interactions between earthquake damage and war damage, and between the effects of the 1943 earthquake and those of other local earthquakes occurred between 1936 and 1951. The historical data set collected by earlier studies was critically revised and more data were sought in repositories that had not been previously considered. The number of localities for which a macrosesmic intensity can be assessed increased from 131 to 170. All intensity values were reassessed; from these we calculate a new macroseismic magnitude Mw 5.5 of the October 3, 1943, earthquake.


MFPS conferences are dedicated to the areas of mathematics, logic, and computer science that are related to models of computation in general, and to semantics of programming languages in particular. This is a forum where researchers in mathematics and computer science can meet and exchange ideas. The participation of researchers in neighbouring areas is strongly encouraged. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following: bio-computation; concurrent qualitative and quantitative distributed systems; process calculi; probabilistic systems; constructive mathematics; domain theory and categorical models; formal languages; formal methods; game semantics; lambda calculus; programming-language theory; quantum computation; security; topological models; logic; type systems; type theory. We also welcome contributions that address applications of semantics to novel areas such as complex systems, markets, and networks, for example.