In chemistry, novices and experts use mental models to simulate and reason about sub-microscopic processes. Animations are thus important tools for learning in chemistry to convey reaction dynamics and molecular motion. While there are many animations available and studies showing the benefit of learning from animations, there are also limitations to their design and effectiveness. Moreover, there are few experimental studies into learning chemistry from animations, especially organic reaction mechanisms. We conducted a mixed-methods study into how students learn and develop mental models of a reaction mechanism from animations. The study (N = 45) used a pre-/post-test experimental design and counterbalanced static and animated computerized learning activities (15 min each), plus short think-aloud interviews for some participants (n = 20). We developed the tests and learning activities in a pilot study; these contained versions of an epoxide opening reaction mechanism either as static (using the electron-pushing formalism) or animated representations. Participants' test accuracy, response times, and self-reported confidence were analyzed quantitatively (α = 0.05) and we found that, while participants showed a learning effect, there were no significant differences between the static and animated learning conditions. Participants' spatial abilities were correlated to their test accuracy and influenced their learning gains for both conditions. Qualitative framework analysis of think-aloud interviews revealed changes in participants' reasoning about the test questions, moving toward using rule- and case-based reasoning over model-based reasoning. This analysis also revealed that dynamic and transitional features were incorporated into participants' working mental models of the reaction mechanism after learning from animations. The divergence of participants' mental models for reasoning and visualization could suggest a gap in their mental model consolidation.


This is probably about typical of the sort of thing you find at BAC Opera,
a summer festival at the Battersea Arts Centre on Lavender Hill which might
be as you'll get to an operatic Woodstock. It's a work in progress based on
two weeks' development, and it pushes an interesting idea as far as it can
go on a shoestring budget. The funding seems to come from the ENO Studio
and Wimbledon School of Art.

The starting point is an eight minute long film of Mallarme's Carmen, made
in France in 1910 with Regina Badet as Carmen. Badet is credited as "of
l'Opera Comique", so I assume she's an opera singer, though the plot
details added to the opera are missing. She certainly does the standard
gestures with passion. The film consists of seven or eight scenes, each
introduced by a title. This is by way of being the comic strip Carmen.

The camera is fixed to give full-length middle distance views of the
actors, and the composition and gestures other than Badet's look like those
of the stage. There is some not bad small-scale crowd work (nothing like
that in Maurice Elvey's Lloyd George, made ten years later), and a dreadful
ensemble hands-in-the-air when Jose kills the officer. The overall result
is tidier than Griffiths at his worst, but lacks any kind of grandeur.

The performance began, after a scratchy recording of Au bainlieue de
Seville, with a showing of the film without music, projected on both sides
of a screen positioned diagonally across the auditoriusm. This mainly shows
how badly the film needs the music, and highlights the irony of a Carmen in
particular without a song.

A second run through was intercut with video of the singers preparing the
performance and accompanied by the three of them live, moving around the
auditorium. The process, repeated for each scene, was that the performers
froze and replayed a big gesture in the film, pulled out its rhythm,
discussed its emotional loading in terms of the codes of deviance Carmen
embodies, and one singer began to work on existing music that might
accompany it by singing along with a record. Once sweeping, graceful
gesture got Summertime, and there were a couple of Ella Fitzgerald numbers.
The performers in the auditorium sang a version of the prepared music over
this, and at times reacted to their own discussion or each other's
performance in the video.

Finally, the chosen gestures were shown together in order, accompanied by a
live performance of more composed vocal music developed from the previous
sections. This final section was quite powerful, and definitely operatic in
a compressed sort of way -- Badet's physical force is unmistakable, and the
music formed an emotional narrative of defiance that you could regard as
Carmen's voice recovered.

But I'm not sure whether I thought it was worth sitting through the rather
repetitive forty minutes before that, even though it did demonstrate the
multiple layers of meaning in the voice. I think I'd rather see the movie
extended with graphics or photos to provide a context for the vocal
performance.


Salinity is the most important abiotic stresses adversely affect the quality and quantity of crops, in which 20% of the world's irrigated agricultural lands are affected by salinity. Wheat is an oldest and the first crop used for bread making for human nutrition. To investigate the response of wheat root to NaCl stress, a susceptible, Arta, and resistance, Bam, wheat varieties were grown under both non-stress and stress conditions. Stress plants were exposed to 250 mM of NaCl based on a completely randomized design with four replications. Proteins were extracted from root and proteomic analysis was performed by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Proteome profile of root in susceptible variety lead to the identification of 21 differentially changed protein spots compare with 49 spots of tolerant variety. The regulatory changed proteins belongs to stress-responsive proteins and others related processes including metabolism and energy; scavenging of reactive oxygen species and detoxifying; protein translation, processing and degradation; cell wall-related proteins; Amino acid metabolism and hormone-related proteins; signal transduction network; cytoskeleton; transcriptionrelated proteins. *CorrespondingAuthor: Mahmoud Toorchi  firstname.lastname@example.com Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences (JBES) ISSN: 2220-6663 (Print) 2222-3045 (Online) Vol. 8, No. 4, p. 209-220, 2016 http://www.innspub.net J. Bio. Env. Sci. 2016 210 | Akbari and Toorch


The importance of the resilience of the built environment in the overall disaster resilience agenda cannot be overemphasized. Achieving societal resilience requires the joint effort of both the public and the private sector but investments in resilience is much more skewed to the side of the public sector to date. Assessment of HFA priorities for actions performance by UNISDR revealed that Priority 4 is the least performing. Priority 4 is about reducing underlying risk factors; this has to do with the protection of facilities, integrating strategies for climate adaptation, ensuring recovery schemes and social safety nets among others. Recent records revealed that SMEs are not sufficiently prepared for disaster events despite their significant place in the economy. Economic loss which is reportedly on the increase is usually caused by property damage, job loss, service and business disruption among others. SMEs are obviously contributing hugely to the volume of economic loss as a result of poor resilience to disasters. This paper describes a study that intends to investigate issues relating to private investment in disaster resilience and thereafter develop a framework that encourages investment in disaster resilience of the built environment of SMEs through the analysis of disaster resilience levels, risks associated with these levels and economic impact calculations. The relationship between built environment resilience levels, economic loss as well as social loss will be established in the detailed version of the framework. This study focuses on investment at the property/company level i.e. the built environment of SMEs. The built environment is being given a prominence as its ability to absorb the impact of disaster guarantees a faster return of business operations and a reasonable reduction in loss. A conceptual framework anchored on the principle of self-evaluation and self-improvement is hereby presented.


This work analyses the presence of public shareholding in limited companies in European countries. Firms owned by public bodies (State or local authorities) can be found in many economic sectors. This type of governance stretches its influence beyond its traditional domains, including business areas in which competition is a common feature. In recent years these companies have changed in some cases their usual governance, including private shareholders alongside public entities: companies whose ownership is shared among public and private entities are often called mixed enterprises. The analysis not only focuses on public central ownership; it also presents and analyses the evidence of a strong local public shareholding in European enterprises. A very demanding and time consuming part of the work has been building a unique database, which has then been studied in its different facets. This database includes more than 5,600 EU companies with public shareholders; more than 40% of them are participated by local authorities. The data analyzed were collected from the official accounts of the same companies. The main results of the analysis can be summarized as follows. First, the descriptive statistics have shown that public ownership, both at central and local level, is widespread in Europe. Such ownership has however different degrees of importance across industries. Second, the analysis of the companies' financial figures has pointed out some clear differences between Western European Countries and Eastern European Countries. Despite undeniable progress, in many sectors Eastern European Countries firms still suffer from their starting point, inadequacy of the infrastructure and different degree of technological development. In the same way, we document and test the disparities between different sectors within the same Country and between the same sectors across Countries. For example, at European level the sector with the highest profitability appears to be finance (followed by communications), while the countries with the highest profitability appear to be Luxembourg followed by Estonia and Slovakia. A further analysis has compared the value added produced by companies where a public shareholder is present and the total values added of European regions. This has confirmed the remarkable relevance of the companies with public shareholdings on the economy of the countries considered, which amounts to an average value of 4.7% of the value added, which in some regions reaches 15%. This result remains true at the local level: enterprises with local public shareholders have a leading role in the GDP at the regional level. The Italian case, sometimes indicate as one where the public presence is pathologically high, does not stick out as something too different from what we observe in countries such as France, Germany or the Netherlands. Significant differences were found on the tests on averages and medians. through classifying the companies in the sample by shareholder type, by sector, by geographical area and by governmental from in the local area of reference. Finally, some regression tests were made to show that performance indicators were correlated with some enterprise characteristics - size, activity sector, shareholder type (central or local), and share percentage (total public v. partial public). For the latter we tested whether the institutional structure of the countries to which enterprises belong (federal Countries v. non-federal Countries) and public shareholder type could influence the performance of government-owned enterprises.


Recently we were asked to serve on the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security (CSSS) along with 14 other members drawn equally from both major political parties. The Commission's charge was to provide recommendations to modernize the Social Security system, restore its fiscal soundness, and develop a workable system of Personal Retirement Accounts. This paper explains how the Commission arrived at some of its recommendations and the role that economics played in contributing to these recommendations. We describe the key institutional constraints confronting efforts to reform Social Security and how these constraints influenced Commission decisions. We also illustrate how economics research influenced the Commission's analysis of how to structure personal accounts, ways to enhance traditional Social Security program finances, and means of measuring the extent of financial progress achieved through reform.


We present a learning-based scheme for robustly and accurately estimating clothing fitness as well as the human shape on clothed 3D human scans. Our approach maps the clothed human geometry to a geometry image that we call clothed-GI. To align clothed-GI under different clothing, we extend the parametric human model and employ skeleton detection and warping for reliable alignment. For each pixel on the clothed-GI, we extract a feature vector including color/texture, position, normal, etc. and train a modified conditional GAN network for per-pixel fitness prediction using a comprehensive 3D clothing. Our technique significantly improves the accuracy of human shape prediction, especially under loose and fitted clothing. We further demonstrate using our results for human/clothing segmentation and virtual clothes fitting at a high visual realism.


In this work, we introduce the application of gas diffusion electrodes (GDE) for benchmarking the electrocatalytic performance of high surface area fuel cell catalysts. It is demonstrated that GDEs offer several inherent advantages over the state-of-the-art technique, i.e. thin film rotating disk electrode (TF-RDE) measurements for fast fuel cell catalyst evaluation. The most critical advantage is reactant mass transport. While in RDE measurements the reactant mass transport is severely limited by the gas solubility of the reactant in the electrolyte, GDEs enable reactant transport rates similar to technical fuel cell devices. Hence, in contrast to TF-RDE measurements, performance data obtained from GDE measurements can be directly compared to membrane electrode assembly (MEA) tests. Therefore, the application of GDEs for the testing of fuel cell catalysts closes the gap between catalyst research in academia and real applications.


This article explores how male officers in the Norwegian Armed Forces (NAF) understand the relevance of the global Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) norms in their conceptualizations of security work. The study is based on in-depth interviews with 13 Norwegian male officers, draws on a discourse theoretical framework, and feeds into scholarly discussions on security, gender, and diversity. The findings indicate that the WPS norms are seen primarily as tools for improving military overseas operations, and further, that gender equality is seen as a 'natural' part of Norwegian identity, including the professional identities of military personnel in the NAF. WPS norms are therefore perceived as less relevant at home than abroad. We argue that this is because the attitudes toward gender issues that the officers regard as 'natural' interact with other gender roles and cultures in overseas operations, and therefore pertain to distant 'others' more than to the 'self '.


This paper describes how children express their ideas for randomness in a two-dimensional continuous space, through tools for directing and redirecting the simulated movement of bouncing and not bouncing balls. The paper reports a part of the findings of a study in which children aged between 5.5 and 8 years old engaged with a gamelike environment. The findings reported in the paper are part of a broader study that adopted a strategy of iterative design, in which the computer-game was developed alongside the gathering of evidence for children's use of the tool. In response to a range of tasks, children manipulated the sample space in ways that generated corresponding outcomes in the game. The episodes of the case study presented in the paper indicate that in the medium of expression provided by the game and the evident connection between sample space and global outcomes, children constructed novel meanings of randomness.


In this paper we propose a splitting scheme which hybridizes generalized conditional gradient with a proximal step which we call CGALP algorithm, for minimizing the sum of three proper convex and lower-semicontinuous functions in real Hilbert spaces. The minimization is subject to an affine constraint, that allows in particular to deal with composite problems (sum of more than three functions) in a separate way by the usual product space technique. While classical conditional gradient methods require Lipschitz-continuity of the gradient of the differentiable part of the objective, CGALP needs only differentiability (on an appropriate subset), hence circumventing the intricate question of Lipschitz continuity of gradients. For the two remaining functions in the objective, we do not require any additional regularity assumption. The second function, possibly nonsmooth, is assumed simple, i.e., the associated proximal mapping is easily computable. For the third function, again nonsmooth, we just assume that its domain is also bounded and that a linearly perturbed minimization oracle is accessible. In particular, this last function can be chosen to be the indicator of a nonempty bounded closed convex set, in order to deal with additional constraints. Finally, the affine constraint is addressed by the augmented Lagrangian approach. Our analysis is carried out for a wide choice of algorithm parameters satisfying so called "open loop" rules. As main results, under mild conditions, we show asymptotic feasibility with respect to the affine constraint, boundedness of the dual multipliers, and convergence of the Lagrangian values to the saddle-point optimal value. We also provide (subsequential) rates of convergence for both the feasibility gap and the Lagrangian values.


This essay was prepared for a forthcoming book on the impact of law on the U.S. economy. It focuses on the impact the corporate governance regulation has had on the global competitive position of U.S. capital markets.During the first half of the last decade, evidence accumulated that the U.S. capital markets were becoming less competitive relative to their major competitors. The evidence reviewed herein confirms that it was not corporate governance as such that was the problem, but rather corporate governance regulation. In particular, attention focused on such issues as the massive growth in corporate and securities litigation risk and the increasing complexity and cost of the U.S. regulatory scheme.Tentative efforts towards deregulation largely fell by the wayside in the wake of the financial crisis of 2007-2008. Instead, massive new regulations came into being, especially in the Dodd Frank Act. The competitive position of U.S. capital markets, however, continues to decline.This essay argues that litigation and regulatory reform remain essential if U.S. capital markets are to retain their leadership position. Unfortunately, the article concludes that federal corporate governance regulation follows a ratchet effect, in which the regulatory scheme becomes more complex with each financial crisis. If so, significant reform may be difficult to achieve.


Scattered outcrops of faulted, silicified and kaolinitised (saprolitised) sediments comprising conglomerate and cross-bedded sandstone, form prominent mesas and inliers near Banke, south of Vaalputs, the national radioactive waste disposal site in Namaqualand. Although their geomorphologic expression is similar, these sediments are lithologically and texturally distinct from the equally silicified soils, diatreme infills and hillside screes of the palaeo-weathering profile type commonly occurring between the farm Banke and the Vaalputs site. Sedimentary and structural features identified in this study show that the Dasdap sediments may represent an alluvial fan sequence with a source area in the west, and deposited on a continental margin marked by relatively steep topographic gradients. The Dasdap beds could not be dated conclusively, but there is evidence their deposition was likely coeval with the emplacement of melilititic and kimberlitic diatremes in the Late Cretaceous. The robust fluvial system inferred by the Dasdap sediments is compatible with the humid climate responsible for the siliceous saprolites widely associated to the erosional African surface across southern Africa. Subsequent to these events, widespread faulting and jointing of the sediments provide striking evidence for tectonic reactivation of the continental margin of southwestern Africa in the Cenozoic. On the basis of these distinguishing features, the Dasdap sediments may deserve the formation status.


This report describes the design, and summarizes the results of, a forecasting "tournament" undertaken by the CIA-funded Political Instability Task Force in 2009–2010. The purpose of the tournament was to evaluate systematically the relative merits of several statistical techniques for forecasting various forms of political change in countries worldwide. Among other things, the tournament confirmed our belief that domain expertise and familiarity with relevant data help lead to more accurate forecasts. When knowledge of theory and data were held constant, the forecasts produced by most of the techniques we tried did not diverge by much. Unsurprisingly, this tournament also confirmed that forecasting rare forms of political instability as far as two years in advance is hard to do well. The forecasting tools the participants produced were generally quite good at discriminating high-risk cases from low-risk ones, but none was very precise.


The reduction of low-frequency noise transmission through thin-walled structures is a topic of research for many years now. Due to large wavelengths and the mass law, passive solutions usually gain low performance in the frequency range below 500 Hz. Active systems promised to fill the gap and to achieve significant reductions of transmitted sound. Nevertheless, experiments showed the outstanding performance of such specialized systems, but also demonstrated the computational and hardware effort of such solutions. The upcoming additive manufacturing technology enabled new multi-material designs of complex structures. Based on this technology, acoustic metamaterials emerged in the laboratories and in literature. Arrays of miniaturized locally resonant structures are able to change the noise transmission of thin walled structures beyond the limits of the given mass law in certain frequency bands.
 For future aircraft contra-rotating open rotor (CROR) engines are a promising technology to reduce their CO2 footprint. Since the contribution of CROR engines to the cabin noise is higher than for jet engines, new strategies for the reduction of noise transmissions for frequency bands below 200 Hz are necessary. For the tonal noise of the CROR engines, acoustic metamaterials seem to be an appropriate solution. In this paper a 110 × 110 × 1 mm3 thin-walled sample plate is presented. It is covered with a 5 × 5 array of multi-material resonant structures, which are printed as mass on a beam. The rubber-like beam material combines a low Young's modulus with a high material damping, leading to a low eigenfrequency of the resonators. The design of the resonators using simulations and experimental data is shown. To explore the potential of the design, an acoustic test box is manufactured. Starting with all resonators unblocked the emitted sound intensity of the plate is measured. Sequential blocking of selected resonators proves the concept. Additional laser scanning vibrometer measurements give insights into the vibration behavior of single resonators.


The Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI) in the Philippines with support from Johnson & Johnson and in partnership with Freedom from Hunger and the Microcredit Summit Campaign designed the "Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies" (HMHB or Kalinga kay Inay as it is known locally) initiative to improve awareness of maternal health services knowledge of practices for healthy pregnancy and safe deliveries and use of prenatal care and safe birth services. This report describes the HMHB initiative as well as the outcomes achieved during its short 15-month span. Given the cross-sectoral nature of the initiative the results and implications of this report should interest both financial services providers and health sector professionals.


The possibility of improving digestibility of nonstarch polysaccharides present in broiler diets by the use of different carbohydrase enzymes appears as an opportunity to enhance feed utilization by the birds. In this study, the effect of a beta-mannanase product on nutrient digestibility in corn-soybean meal diets was investigated. One-day-old chicks received a nutritionally complete corn-soybean meal for 19 days. At that time birds were randomly allocated to four treatments, each of which had six replicates of five birds housed in battery brooders with wire floors. Aliquots of the basal diet were supplemented with four levels of CTCZYME (CTC Bio Inc., Seoul Korea): 0%, 0.025%, 0.05% (recommended level) and 0.10%. Chromic oxide was used as an indigestible marker. Feed was analyzed for gross energy, chromium and amino acid content. After eight days of acclimation to the test diets, birds were sacrificed and ileal contents collected. Analysis of the ileal contents indicated that digestibility of Lys, Met, Thr, Trp, Arg, Leu, Ile, Cys and Val were significantly (p<0.0001) improved in a linear manner for each increment of enzyme. Ileal apparent metabolizable energy increased with each increment of CTCZYME level. These results show that the enzyme improves feed digestibility by making amino acids more available for the bird and increases energy utilization from the feed. These results suggest that lower levels of protein and energy could be used with the same results but further studies are required to estimate potential levels.


Hyperband [1] has become a popular method to tune the hyperparameters (HPs) of expensive machine learning models, whose performance depends on the amount of resources allocated for training. While Hyperband is conceptually simple, combining random search to a successive halving technique to reallocate resources to the most promising HPs, it often outperforms standard Bayesian optimization when solutions with moderate precision are sufficient. In this paper, we propose a model-based extension of Hyperband, replacing the uniform random sampling of HP candidates by an adaptive non-uniform sampling procedure. We show that our extension not only improves the precision resolution of Hyperband but also supports transfer learning, both, within a Hyperband run and across previous HP tuning tasks. We apply the method to the problem of tuning the learning rate when solving linear regression problems and to the optimization of the HPs of XGBoost binary classifiers across different datasets, showing that we favorably compare with recently proposed extensions of Hyperband.


There has been a considerable amount of work focusing on job satisfaction and sex, generally finding that women are more satisfied than men despite having objectively worse job conditions. But there is little evidence on whether job satisfaction differs by race or ethnicity. We use data from the 2010 National Survey of College Graduates to examine the relation between job satisfaction and race and ethnicity among Asian, black, Hispanic/Latino, and white workers. Overall job satisfaction does not differ by sex among college graduates. Relative to white workers of the same sex, Asian and black workers are far less satisfied. The lower satisfaction of Asian and black workers relative to white workers is not explained by immigrant status, job match, or other individual or job characteristics.


Background The aim of the present study was to establish the normal-range orbital parameters and to explore the relationships between ocular protrusion and various orbital morphological factors. Material/Methods A retrospective, non-comparative case series was conducted from January 2014 to December 2015. We recruited 56 subjects (112 orbits), including 27 males (21 to 87 years of age) and 29 females (22 to 88 years of age) in this study. Nine length measurements, 2 angle measurements, and 2 volume measurements of various aspects of the orbit were obtained using Mimics v18.0 software. The data were collected manually using a 3D measurement technique. Statistical analyses using t tests and Pearson's correlation analyses were performed to evaluate the differences and relationships between the parameters, respectively. Results Ocular protrusion in both sexes was closely related to the following values: orbital soft tissue volume (OSTV) (males: r=0.61, p<0.001; females: r=0.39, p=0.003), orbital soft tissue volume/bony orbital volume (OSTV/BOV) (males: r=0.90, p<0.001; females: r=0.87, p<0.001), orbital width (males: r=0.40, p=0.003; females: r=0.53, p<0.001), orbital height (males: r=0.29, p=0.038; females: r=0.45, p<0.001), and globe diameter (males: r=0.52, p<0.001; females: r=0.48, p<0.001). No differences were found between the right and left orbits. Conclusions The study provides insight into the potential factors that influence ocular protrusion, which include the OSTV/BOV ratio, the shape of the orbital aperture, and the ocular axial length. The results of orbital surgery can be made more predictable by accounting for these 3 factors. The database and regression formula might provide support for surgical planning in the future.


This essay explores the Erasmian humanism and ecosociable sensibility of As You Like It. Both Shakespeare and Erasmus cultivated recreation and play, practiced an irenic and ecumenical approach to wisdom, respected women's virtuous capacity, and acknowledged their kinship with other creatures. Like The Praise of Folly and Erasmus's writings on friendship and peace, As You Like It builds a multidimensional portrait of virtue as lively, gracious, embodied, performative, hospitable, and always open to irony — aware of the costs and conditions of virtue in the world. In his irenic writings, Erasmus lays out an account of human nature that highlights human beings' vulnerability, sociability, and creaturely state. How does a naturally gentle species become bellicose? Echoing the teachings of Pythagoras, Erasmus finds the origins of war in the killing of animals, first in self-defense and then in the hunt. In As You Like It, Shakespeare traces the emergence of human and animal aggression from acts of self-preservation and care, and he stages a softened Augustinianism in a created world that is "very good" (Gen. 1:31). His Erasmian sensibility is also Orphic and Pythagorean. This essay supplements Renaissance humanism with Rabbinic and post-Rabbinic readings of Genesis in order to construe the virtue of magnanimity as a hospitable stance toward different wisdom traditions.


The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the relationship between level of competition and competitive sport anxiety in youth recreational soccer players. Multidimensional Anxiety Theory served as the conceptual framework for this study. Participants consisted of 76 youth athletes ranging from ages 10-15 who participated in two specific levels of youth soccer: recreational league (beginner) and classic league (advanced). All participants completed the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 approximately one hour before competing in a game. ANOVA analyses were conducted for each of the competitive anxiety subscales (cognitive and somatic anxiety) and levels of competition. In addition, a univariate analysis was performed on the cognitive anxiety scores, with gender, age group, and soccer level as the fixed factors. Results revealed a significant difference in cognitive A-state anxiety for the classic league participants over the recreational league participants. Univariate analysis results confirmed no significant effect from the interaction between level of competition and gender or level of competition and age for both anxiety subscales.


Abstract:Reports of the demise of the Arab state have been exaggerated, despite claims that the postcolonial, state-based paradigm is collapsing under the pressure of "people power," the resurgence of premodern loyalties, and the rise of nonstate actors. Even Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Islamic State preserve the nation-state concept in their politics. A new, postrevolutionary Middle East equilibrium is forming, with multinational states decomposing into more homogeneous subunits (similar to the 1990s' former Soviet bloc), while monarchies and mostly single-ethnic states survived. The trend of antiglobalist populist nationalism in the West threatens to cause a technology-enabled domino effect in Western countries similar to that which swept the Arab world. Russia and China seem most capable of exploiting both the end of the "Arab Spring of Nations" and the turbulence in the West, and will use this refractory period of US influence to promote their interests and agendas in the region.


In this paper we describe our experiments performed for TRECVID 2008. We participated in the High Level Feature extraction and the Search task. For the High Level Feature extraction task we mainly installed our detection environment. In the Search task we applied our new PRFUBE ranking model together with an estimation method which estimates a vital parameter of the model, the probability of a concept occurring in relevant shots. The PRFUBE model has similarities to the well known Probabilistic Text Information Retrieval methodology and follows the Probability Ranking Principle.


Punctuation is critical in understanding natural language text. Currently, most automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems do not generate punctuation, which affects the performance of downstream tasks, such as intent detection and slot filling. This gives rise to the need for punctuation restoration. Recent work in punctuation restoration heavily utilizes pre-trained language models without considering data imbalance when predicting punctuation classes. In this work, we address this problem by proposing a token-level supervised contrastive learning method that aims at maximizing the distance of representation of different punctuation marks in the embedding space. The result shows that training with token-level supervised contrastive learning obtains up to 3.2% absolute F1 improvement on the test set.


Polymer composites materials are those that don't seem to be degradable by naturally. These material can remain in earth for thousands of years. This leads to the accumulation of pollution to the environment. To address this problem, compound composites are packed with fibre, fillers and resins that are considered as natural sources arebio degradable. Among the assorted natural fibers, fibre fiber are targeted for its before and when pretreatment conditions to getting excellent fiber. In antecedent several researchers have founds varied fibers has been pretreated and that they get its properties and its applications. In this research, fiber is analyzed before and during pre-treating. The assorted pretreatment that appropriate for fiber are dispensed. Fiber is employed as reinforcement, Rice husk is employed as a filler materials and synthetic resin is employed as a matrix to fabricate composites by compression moulding ways and therefore the sensible board are fabricated. The fabricated sensible board are subjected to analyses by mechanical properties. The effects of pretreatment of fiber before and when pretreatment are determined and noted to study the investigation results. The obtained results are compared and therefore the best pretreatment are hand-picked on the idea of the properties of the fiber.


Abstract The present study examined whether performance characteristics discriminated between selected and deselected players in talent development programmes. This examination was carried out in talented soccer players, aged 16–18 years using objective measurement instruments. Four domains of multidimensional performance characteristics (physiological, technical, tactical and psychological) were assessed by using a test battery consisting of soccer-specific field tests and questionnaires. Multivariate analyses of covariance revealed that the physiological characteristics peak and repeated shuttle sprint, the technical characteristics of peak and repeated shuttle dribble and the tactical characteristic of 'positioning and deciding', significantly differed between the selected (n=76) and deselected players (n=37), with selected players performing better (P<0.05). Discriminant function analysis showed that the combination of the technical characteristic 'peak dribbling', the tactical characteristic 'positioning and deciding' and the physiological characteristic of 'peak sprinting' classified 69% of talented players correctly. In conclusion, the decisions made by the investigated clubs to either select or deselect players in their talent development programme, whom were aged 16–18 years, were mostly discriminated by aspects of the players' technical, tactical and physiological skill performances. Sports research can play an essential role in investigating the club's perception of important performance characteristics in talented players.


FEA-based simulation has become an integral part of engineering practice. Sophisticated FEA software such as ANSYS are used in industry for the design and analysis of complex engineering systems. However, the use of such software in the undergraduate mechanical engineering curriculum has been limited so that students are not prepared adequately to make appropriate use of these powerful tools. Also, the potential for these tools to enhance the learning experience is not realized. A major barrier to greater simulation use in the curriculum is that there is little time available in the classroom to teach the mechanics of using the graphical user interfaces of the packages. To overcome this barrier, we have developed web-based exercises to introduce students to ANSYS. Students learn the basics of performing simulations using ANSYS through hands-on use at there own pace outside the classroom. Important concepts and principles are clarified and reinforced through follow-on, in-class exercises in a computer classroom, thus bringing in more experiential learning into the classroom. Each simulation exercise is designed as a case study that is related to complementary material covered in lectures. This strategy gives students a strong background in the intelligent and proper use of simulation while also reinforcing their understanding of underlying theory through experiential learning.


The moral ideal of the rule of law is a basic principle of constitutional legitimacy, embodied in U.S. law in the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses. Many scholars, however, have worried that the rule of law requirement that the laws be general — ordinarily interpreted as command of "formal equality" — forbids states from pursuing genuine ("substantive") equality, particularly between groups divided by lines of social hierarchy. They have similar worries about the Equal Protection clause. In this paper, I aim to put those worries to rest. First, I show that the formal equality interpretation of the rule of law (and of equal protection) is logically incoherent. Then, drawing on a novel account of how to determine the expressive meaning of a law, I show that not only are the rule of law and equal protection compatible with egalitarian justice, but that they positively demand at least a basic level of egalitarian justice, in the form of the command to eliminate social hierarchies embedded in the law. From this, I conclude that the legal ideal of the rule of law contributes to, rather than threatens, critical projects aimed at the elimination of social hierarchy. Political radicals, associated in the law with, inter alia, Marxism, feminism, critical legal studies, critical race studies, and other intellectual movements, have long been skeptical of the legal ideals traditionally associated with liberalism. This paper suggests that they should learn to love the rule of law.


Research confirms law students and lawyers in the US, Australia and more recently in the UK are prone to symptoms related to stress and anxiety disproportionately to other professions. In response, the legal profession and legal academy in Australia and the UK have created Wellness Networks to encourage and facilitate research and disseminate ideas and strategies that might help law students and lawyers to thrive. This project builds on that research through a series of surveys of law teachers in the UK and Australia on the presumption that law teachers are in a strong position to influence their students not only about legal matters, but on developing attitudes and practices that will help them to survive and thrive as lawyers. The comparative analysis reveals several differences, but also many similarities with law teachers in both countries reporting negative effects from neoliberal pressures on legal education programs that impact their wellbeing, performance as teachers and ability to adequately respond to student concerns.


Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are a family of proteins that constitute signaling pathways involved in processes that control gene expression, cell division, cell survival, apoptosis, metabolism, differentiation and motility. The MAPK pathways can be divided into conventional and atypical MAPK pathways. The first group converts a signal into a cellular response through a relay of three consecutive phosphorylation events exerted by MAPK kinase kinases, MAPK kinase, and MAPK. Atypical MAPK pathways are not organized into this three-tiered cascade. MAPK that belongs to both conventional and atypical MAPK pathways can phosphorylate both non-protein kinase substrates and other protein kinases. The latter are referred to as MAPK-activated protein kinases. This review focuses on one such MAPK-activated protein kinase, MAPK-activated protein kinase 5 (MK5) or p38-regulated/activated protein kinase (PRAK). This protein is highly conserved throughout the animal kingdom and seems to be the target of both conventional and atypical MAPK pathways. Recent findings on the regulation of the activity and subcellular localization, bona fide interaction partners and physiological roles of MK5/PRAK are discussed.


Morphine injected s.c. in the tail is a potent analgesic in the tail-flick assay when the radiant heat source is focused directly over the injection site (ED50, 4.5 micrograms), but not if the radiant heat source is moved 1 cm proximally or distally to the injection site. Naloxone given systemically reverses this peripheral analgesia. Antisense oligodeoxynucleotides directed against exons 1 and 4 of MOR-1, a cloned mu opioid receptor, administered intrathecally (i.t.) block the local analgesic effect of morphine in the tail, indicating that the local response is mediated through mu receptors located on the terminals of sensory neurons from the dorsal root ganglia. Combinations of morphine given locally in the tail and spinally (i.t.) are synergistic. Spinal morphine also synergizes with systemic morphine in analgesia assays. Supraspinal morphine enhances systemic morphine analgesia, but less dramatically. We also examined tolerance on these analgesic systems by using a daily morphine injection paradigm which shifts the dose-response curve for systemic morphine approximately 2-fold after 5 days. In this paradigm, morphine's analgesic potency after either supraspinal or spinal administration alone does not change. However, the dose-response curve for local morphine in the tail is shifted by over 19-fold. The analgesic activity of the combination of supraspinal and systemic morphine is lowered approximately 2-fold and the combination of i.t. and systemic morphine by 12-fold. These studies confirm the presence of a peripheral mechanism for morphine analgesia mediated by mu receptors located on sensory neurons from the dorsal root ganglia, which is extremely sensitive to chronic morphine dosing.


Thin film solar cells are promising to realize cheap solar energy. Compared to conventional wafer cells, they can reduce the use of semiconductor material by 90%. The efficiency of thin film solar cells, however, is limited due to insufficient light absorption. Sufficient light absorption at the bandgap of semiconductor requires a light path more than 10x the thickness of the semiconductor. Advanced designs for light trapping are necessary for solar cells to absorb sufficient light within a limited volume of semiconductor. The goal is to convert the incident light into a trapped mode in the semiconductor layer. In this dissertation, a critical review of currently used methods for light trapping in solar cells is presented. The disadvantage of each design is pointed out including insufficient enhancement, undesired optical loss and undesired loss in carrier transport. The focus of the dissertation is light trapping by plasmonic and photonic structures in thin film Si solar cells. The performance of light trapping by plasmonic structures is dependent on the efficiency of photon radiation from plasmonic structures. The theory of antenna radiation is used to study the radiation by plasmonic structures. In order to achieve efficient photon radiation at a plasmonic resonance, a proper distribution of surface charges is necessary. The planar fishnet structure is proposed as a substitution for plasmonic particles. Large particles are required in order to resonate at the bandgap of semiconductor material. Hence, the resulting overall thickness of solar cells with large particles is large. Instead, the resonance of fishnet structure can be tuned without affecting the overall cell thickness. Numerical simulation shows that the enhancement of light absorption in the active layer is over 10x compared to the same cell without fishnet. Photons radiated from the resonating fishnet structure travel in multiple directions within the semiconductor layer. There is enhanced field localization due to interference. The short circuit current was enhanced by 13.29%. Photonic structures such as nanodomes and gratings are studied. Compared to existing designs, photonic structures studied in this dissertation exhibited further improvements in light absorption and carrier transport. The nanodome geometry was combined with conductive charge collectors in order to perform simultaneous enhancement in optics and carrier transport. Despite the increased volume of semiconductor material, the collection length for carriers is less than the diffusion length for minority carriers. The nanodome geometry can be used in the back end and the front end of solar cells. A blazed grating structure made of transparent conductive oxide serves as the back passivation layer while enhancing light absorption. The surface area of the absorber is increased by only 15%, indicating a limited increase in surface recombination. The resulting short circuit current is enhanced by over 20%. The designs presented in the dissertation have demonstrated enhancement in Si thin film solar cells. The enhancement is achieved without hurting carrier transport in solar cells. As a result, the enhancement in light absorption can efficiently convert to the enhancement in cell efficiency. The fabrication of the proposed designs in this dissertation involves expensive process such as electron beam lithography. Future work is focused on optical designs that are feasible for cheap fabrication process. The designs studied in this dissertation can serve as prototype designs for


It is general to evaluate the strength of a structure by the strain and the stress obtained by using the finite element method. The strong shape can be derived for an overload when these evaluations are used. However, it is not an enough evaluation if it thinks from the viewpoint used in a mid/long term. In this paper, we propose the damage estimation algorithm which estimates the damage of the structure by using the structural analysis and the linear cumulative damage law. Finally, this proposal method is developed to the optimization problem, and we construct the optimization method of practical use which can design strong shapes corresponding to cumulative fatigue while estimating damage. The effectiveness of this proposed method is shown by applying to the shape optimization problem of the plunger tip in the die-cast process.


Growth in computer-mediated communication (CMC) technologies such as instant messaging (IM) and video conferencing (VC) has led to a need to explore the utilisation and influence of these tools on the quality of project communication, which must still be established. This article reports the results of a survey conducted among 210 project practitioners using CMC in various industries to determine how, why and what each medium is used for, and how these media influence factors that promote quality communication. Some results showed that the use of both instant messaging and video conferencing in projects is moderate and both improve the quality of communication in virtual teams, however in different ways. Keywords : Project communication, computer-mediated communication, instant messaging, video conferencing, virtual teams


Abstract This article examines the implications of the Ecuadorian Indian movement for democratic politics. During the 1990s, the movement successfully fostered indigenous and popular participation in public life, influenced government policies, and became a contender in power struggles. But in the institutional domain, the participatory breakthrough had mixed effects. While the movement fulfilled functions of interest representation and control of state power, its involvement in a coup attempt demonstrated that its political socialization had not nurtured a sense of commitment to democracy. The evidence is discussed by reference to the proposition that civil society actors may or may not contribute to democracy. The article argues that the study of the democratic spinoffs of civil activism requires a context-specific approach that considers the particularistic orientations of civil associations and pays attention to their definition of means and ends, the institutional responses evoked by their initiatives, and the unintended consequences of their actions.


A novel imprinted CoFe2O4/MWCNTs photocatalyst was prepared through the combination of a hydrothermal method and suspension polymerization based on 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT) as the molecular template, pyrrole as the imprinted functional monomer and conductive polymerizable monomer, and CoFe2O4/MWCNTs as the matrix material. The results indicated that the surface imprinted layer was successfully coated on the surface of CoFe2O4/MWCNTs and polypyrrole (PPy) was formed and existed in the surface imprinted layer, the magnetic saturation value of the novel imprinted CoFe2O4/MWCNTs photocatalyst was 19 emu g−1. Moreover, compared with other photocatalysts, the novel imprinted CoFe2O4/MWCNTs photocatalyst not only had a high photocatalytic efficiency (57.09%), but also possessed a strong ability for selective recognition and photodegradation of MBT (the coefficients of selectivity of the novel imprinted CoFe2O4/MWCNTs photocatalyst relative to CoFe2O4/MWCNTs and the non-imprinted CoFe2O4/MWCNTs photocatalyst was 3.37 and 3.28, respectively). In addition, in the process of the photodegradation reaction, h+ and ˙OH were the main oxidative species, ˙O2− played a very small role.


If the set of households which are income poor does not fully overlap with the set of the consumption poor, it could well be that income and consumption expenditure convey different information regarding an unobserved variable on the basis of which families allocate their resources intertemporally. This paper presents a methodology for predicting the unobserved permanent incomes of households using multiple welfare indicators typically available in cross-section data.


Cannabis is the most frequently used drug worldwide and is a wide spread problem among the young adults. The use of cannabis in some countries such as Pakistan is a traditional habit for the elation of mood and the users are not aware of the link between cannabis use and manic symptoms. The present study aims to investigate the presence of manic symptoms in non-clinical population particularly adolescents and young adults, who use cannabis in a social context and did not report psychiatric illness/ or have no previous psychiatric history. For this purpose a cross sectional design study sample which comprised of non-clinical 100 participants from a general population ,which include 50 individuals using Cannabis for social purpose and with no psychiatric diagnosis, and an equal number of non-cannabis users without cannabis use history and no psychiatric diagnosis were considered for this study. Our results indicated a positive correlation (p<.01) between cannabis use and the presence of manic symptoms and subsequently demonstrate association between cannabis use and manic symptoms. Furthermore our results indicated a significant difference (p<.01) between cannabis users and non-cannabis users on the basis of manic symptoms and impulsiveness. To conclude our findings highlighted the prevalence of manic symptoms in individuals who ingest cannabis in the social context but did not report other psychiatric disorders.


The average pattern of experienced life satisfaction over the life cycle for the 17 European countries included in this study resembles a wave like M-shape that is positively tilted. The M-shape arises because many of the countries share the following characteristics: a local maximum in life satisfaction around age 30, a local minimum at age 50, and declining life satisfaction after age 75. It is also commonly the case that male life satisfaction improves relative to female life satisfaction as people age, and more educated people report higher levels of life satisfaction throughout the life cycle. Although these characteristics are shared by many of the countries, there is no uniform life cycle pattern in life satisfaction across all countries. The analysis includes cohort controls, is nonparametric, and uses a single dataset (Eurobarometer) and the same methodology for all countries.


QUESTIONS UNDER STUDY
This paper explores parents' and patients' satisfaction with care in Swiss paediatric oncology settings and examines difficulties experienced while undergoing treatment for cancer.

METHODS
Semistructured interviews were conducted with 19 parents, and with 17 children who were diagnosed with cancer and receiving treatment. During these interviews questions pertaining to communication and decision-making at time of diagnosis and throughout the illness course were asked. In this paper, we examined these interviews using thematic coding to identify themes with regard to satisfaction with care.

RESULTS
Generally, participants reported being very content with the care they received. Aspects that contributed to satisfaction were the friendliness and responsive nature of healthcare staff; helpful communication; and professionals going beyond their duties to care for the family. In spite of mainly being pleased with the care they received, participants underlined several issues that made their experiences at times difficult. These included frequent change of physician or receiving care from another unit, which for them represented lack of continuity of care; language problems; and challenges with reproductive health issues of the child. Additionally, patients suggested several ways to improve hospital stays and thereby patient satisfaction.

CONCLUSION
Participants reported being very satisfied with care delivered by paediatric oncology units. Nevertheless, they also identified problems that are worth addressing in order to efficiently tend to the needs of patients and families undergoing this difficult experience. Future research is needed to explore how care for children with cancer and their families can be further improved.


Customer experiences - not in the least for customers with chronic diseases - depend on a series of exchanges over a considerable amount of time with a variety of service providers and thus a service delivery network (SDN). The impact of SDNs on the customer experience, however, is unclear. This research provides insight into (1) the service delivery system characteristics in SDNs, and (2) their impact on the relationship between customer journey duration and value for time as an important customer experience indicator. The service delivery system characteristics were explored by process travel sheets of patients undergoing cancer treatment in a hospital (n=412). These data were linked to time measurement data (n=262) and survey data (n=312) to explain customer journey duration and value for time, thereby showing the importance of the number of service events and the type of service providers. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.


In make-to-order (MTO) system, deciding which order to accept and which to reject from an incoming orders is one of the most challenging tasks for the decision maker (DM) of manufacturer. When the new order arrives, order acceptance (OA) decision is affected by two kinds of satisfaction level. One is the satisfaction level expected by the DM. This level indicates the acceptance threshold of DM. Next is the satisfaction level that will be generated by the order. In this paper, we propose a method that reflects OA decision as interplay between the DM's acceptance threshold and satisfaction level generated by the order. We investigate this less researched topic in a job shop environment with uncertain scenario. In the proposed method, the DM's acceptance threshold is shown to be the function of workload in the production system and their aggressiveness. While, we consider four criteria to access the satisfaction level generated by the order. They are reputation in terms of delivery reliability, profit both at present and in the future and the utilization of available capacity. We present a numerical analysis by considering various parameters under two different cases of due dates to demonstrate the working mechanism and effectiveness of proposed method.


Two shallow groundwater reuse options in alfalfa irrigation are examined. Alfalfa water use from the water table is investigated using a drainage component model. It is shown that alfalfa water use from the water table may occur during periods of deficit irrigation and when irrigation is cut off for harvest. However, it is not conclusive that inducing alfalfa water use from the water table is a worthwhile management option. An equilibrium mass balance model is used to determine the shallow groundwater's potential as irrigation water. With an average drainage water electrical conductivity (EC//d) of 1. 40 dS/m, an 84% fraction of the drainage water, if used for irrigation, could contribute to alfalfa consumptive use without yield reduction. This latter management alternative shows potential for efficient water use.


ABSTRACT Frontline managers (FMs) are able to establish a positive rapport with their staff through the use of effective communication. Managerial communication (MC) is one mechanism that can assist FMs with cultivating an environment of mutual respect and high productivity , thus, achieving organizational goals and objectives. In this study, the related literature is reviewed. The emergent theme throughout the research conducted is that, managerial communication (MC) is one of the most important tools that FMs can utilize to influence goodwill among employees. MC assists in crafting healthier relations between FMs and their employees and the entire organization ultimately benefits from this relationship. We make a series of recommendations for FMs, who seek to establish and retain good relations with their staff. INTRODUCTION Employees make significant contributions to the overall success of an organization, and their contributions are valuable in both public and private entities. Research shows that organizational performance markedly improves when communication is permitted to flow uninterrupted and employees are empowered, provided incentives, and given the necessary resources to perform at an optimal level. Managers at the technical core of an organization are obligated to develop good working relations with their staff by providing them with a comfortable work environment and swiftly resolving issues that could possible hinder performance. In addition, FMs play a pivotal role in mspiring their subordinates to maximize efficiency and enhance productivity. The spirit of teamwork among employees correlates with the inspirational leadership role of management. FMs should lead and motivate their staff to perform at a level that inspires them to achieve the goals and objectives set forth by the organization. A general definition of leadership is the ability to motivate subordinates to do their jobs willingly, without coercion or harm to themselves or to others. The practice of effective communication is a leadership attribute that facilitates FMs in becoming the prospective leaders of their organizations. In this paper, we view communication from a transmission perspective - meaning, communication can be seen as a linear relationship between a source and a receiver. Bell and Martin (2008, p. 130) define managerial communication as "the downward, horizontal, or upward exchange of information and transmission of meaning through informal or formal channels that enables managers to achieve their goals." The performance of visionary organizations is linked to their FMs' efficient and effective use of communication, which inculcates confidence in employees. It is imperative that FMs in organizations, both large and small, understand the significance of establishing meaningful relationships with their employees. Moreover, beneficial relationships can be established through achieving organizational goals, providing performance feedback, and engaging in formal and informal communication networks. Non-supervisory employees are the face of modern organizations; therefore, involving them in the decision making process is one form of empowerment that is both motivating and inclusive. Offering incentives and adhering to a fair reward system positively contribute to an increase in employee morale and to the organization's bottom line. Our research is focused on the role of communication as an energetic process used to motivate and engage employees in the workplace environment. We explore frontline leadership through the communication process. FMs (persons of influential status operating at the technical core of organizational subsystems) seek this type of knowledge. FMs, both in the public and private sectors, will find this essay beneficial if their goal is to establish for a culture conducive to achieving both long-term as well as short-term objectives. The importance of the FM's role has to be valued by top management in order for organizations to create and maintain a competitive advantage in this global business landscape. …


Abstract Early Cretaceous glauconite from the Xiala section, southwestern Tibet, China, was investigated by petrographic microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). The investigations revealed that the glauconite in both sandstones and limestone is highly evolved. The glauconite in sandstone is autochthonous, but in limestone it may be derived from the underlying glauconitic sandstone. Based on analyses of the depositional environments and comparisons of glauconite-bearing strata in Zanda with sequences in adjacent areas, we conclude that the glauconitization at Zanda was probably associated with rising sea levels during the Late Albian, which represent the final separation of the Indian continent from the Australian-Antarctic continent. After the separation of the Indian continent from the Australian- Antarctic continent, cooling of the Indian continent resulted in subsidence and northward subduction of the Indian plate. A gradually rising sea level in Zanda, located along the northern margin of the Indian continent, was the cause of the low sedimentation rate. Continued transgression resulted in the occurrence of the highly evolved glauconite in this area.


Early Alzheimer's disease (AD) and depression share many symptoms, thus it is very difficult to initially distinguish one from the other. Therefore, characterizing the shared and different biological changes between the two disorders will be helpful in making an early diagnosis and planning treatment. In the present study, 8-week-old APPswe/PS1dE9 transgenic mice received chronic mild stress (CMS) for 8 weeks followed by a series of behavioral, biochemical and pathological analyses. APPswe/PS1dE9 mice demonstrated despair- and anxiety-like behaviors, and reduced sociability, accompanied by high levels of soluble beta-amyloid, glial activation, neuroinflammation and brain derived neurotrophic factor signaling disturbance in the hippocampus. Notably, APPswe/PS1dE9 mice exposure to CMS further aggravated anxiety-like behaviors rather than hopelessness and sociability deficits, accompanied with more severe neuroinflammation, and low serum corticosterone increased to the normal level. These results may help to understand the pathogenic mechanism of psychiatric symptoms associated with early AD.


The Kepler mission has discovered more than 2500 exoplanet candidates in the first two years of spacecraft data, with approximately 40% of those in candidate multi-planet systems. The high rate of multiplicity combined with the low rate of identified false positives indicates that the multiplanet systems contain very few false positive signals due to other systems not gravitationally bound to the target star. False positives in the multi-planet systems are identified and removed, leaving behind a residual population of candidate multi-planet transiting systems expected to have a false positive rate less than 1%. We present a sample of 340 planetary systems that contain 851 planets that are validated to substantially better than the 99% confidence level; the vast majority of these have not been previously verified as planets. We expect ∼two unidentified false positives making our sample of planet very reliable. We present fundamental planetary properties of our sample based on a comprehensive analysis of Kepler light curves, ground-based spectroscopy, and high-resolution imaging. Since we do not require spectroscopy or high-resolution imaging for validation, some of our derived parameters for a planetary system may be systematically incorrect due to dilution from light due to additional stars in the photometric aperture. Nonetheless, our result nearly doubles the number verified exoplanets.


All ecosystems have a history of past human impacts, some obvious, others subtle, Emily Russell contends in this fascinating exploration of historical ecology. To understand the lingering consequences of human history on current ecosystems and landscapes, and conversely to understand the role that changing environments have played in human history, the author urges an interdisciplinary approach. Different disciplines working together can develop information that none alone can provide. History matters for all manner of ecological and environmental studies, both theoretical and applied, says Russell, and integration of these disciplines can assist us in dealing responsibly with our role in the biosphere.


Context. Mobile devices recently have attained huge popularity in people's life. During recent years, there have been many attempts for proposing several approaches to delegate and execute the computing intensive part of the mobile applications on more powerful remote servers due to shortage of resources on mobile devices. However, there are still research challenges in this area regarding the models as well as principles that govern circumstances of executing a part of mobile application remotely on a server along with effects of execution on the smartphone resources. Objectives. The aim behind conducting this research is to propose a model for executing the service component of an Android application on the remote server. This study exploits the enhancement of Android operating system functionality to execute services components on a remote powerful machine. It reports the model as well as the enhancements to achieve this purpose. Additionally, an experiment is conducted to realize what factors rule to execute a computation locally on mobile device or offload it to be executed on a remote machine. Methods. Two research methodologies have been used in preforming this research; Case study and controlled experiment. In the case study we investigates feasibility of functionality enhancement in Android operating system to run service components of Android applications on a remote server. We propose a new model for this purpose and motivate it by several different resources such as journal and conference papers and the Android developer site. A prototype of the model is implemented in order to put into use in the next part of our study. Second, a controlled experiment is conducted on the outcome prototype of the case study to explore the principles that governs executing the service component of Android application on a remote powerful machines and the affection of this execution on the mobile resources. Results. A Model for executing the service component of Android application on a powerful remote server is proposed. Also, a prototype implemented according to the Model. The effects of executing Android service components in a remote machine on energy consumption as well as performance of a smartphone are investigated. Moreover, we examined when would be beneficial to offload an intensive computation in order to be executed on the remote server. Conclusions. We conclude that it's applicable to enhance the Android OS to execute service component of an Android application on a remote server. Also, We conclude that there is a strong coloration between amount of payload and computation of data that require to be executed on a remote server. Basically, offloading the computation is beneficial when there is a large amount of computation with small amount of communication and payload. Furthermore we conclude that the execution time for the intensive computations drastically increase when it's executed on the server but for less computation data the performance is better when the execution is on the smartphone. Besides that, we express that the energy consumption on the smartphone growth gradually when the payload passes over a particular size.


Combining the need for broadening the scope of IT value research and increasing urgency to deal with environmental challenges, this paper explores the concept of Green IT value. The paper presents the results of a small-scale examination of practitioner literature on the topic and finds that there are several dimensions of value related to Green IT that span across multiple levels of analysis, from the organization to society. Given inherent characteristics of environmental issues, traditional models for assessing the value of Green IT are insufficient. Therefore, this paper proposes that two theoretical perspectives, the natural resource-based view of the firm and environmental embeddedness, provide complementary insights which may help to explain organizations' justification and choice of Green IT and how they realize value from these investments. A series of theoretical propositions is set out to guide further research in this important and emerging area.


Background. Legend has it that endurance athletes who develop plantar foot pain during long-distance running frequently experience an eventual relief of pain due to a transient neuropraxia brought on by continued activity. Objective. To evaluate the nature of this legend, we assessed long-distance runners for the presence of sensory deficits before and after completion of an ultramarathon, expecting to find an induced neuropraxia  and abnormal sensory results. Methods . Twenty-five adult participants of an ultramarathon were evaluated prior to their 50/100 km run and again upon completion of the race. Neurosensory testing was performed using a 10 g monofilament at 4 locations on each foot and a 128 Hz tuning fork at one location on each foot. The same techniques were used prior to, and at conclusion of the race. Results. We detected no neuropraxia or sensory deficits in any participant, despite reports by the same subjects that they had experienced the phenomenon during the race. While runners commonly report losing sensation in their feet during long runs, we were unable to demonstrate any sensory deficit with simple field-based testing. Conclusion. We believe that there is room for additional research to be performed using more sensitive means of neurosensory evaluation.


This paper argues that the two models of collective responsibility David Miller presents in National Responsibility and Global Justice do not apply to nations. I first consider the 'like-minded group' model, paying attention to three scenarios in which Miller employs it. I argue that the feasibility of the model decreases as we expand outwards from the smallest group to the largest, since it increasingly fails to capture all members of the group adequately, and the locus of any like-mindedness becomes too abstract and vague to have the causal force the model requires. I thereafter focus on the 'cooperative practice' model, examining various ways in which the analogy Miller draws between an employee-led business and a nation breaks down. In concluding I address the concern that my arguments have worrying consequences and suggest that, on the contrary, the rejection of the idea of national responsibility is a positive move.


The politics of financial markets culminates in the assessment of the creditworthiness of sovereign states—with striking societal implications. This paper examines the structural power exerted through the practice of sovereign ratings in the discursive construction of the solvency of states. I argue that sovereign ratings, understood as an intersubjective practice of power, shape shared understandings, norms and beliefs about the constitutive parts of a state's creditworthiness. Indirectly prescribing the rules of the game, the practice incorporates the potential to shape the economic policy agenda and to ascribe to states which role to play in the economy. Driven by the problematization of public finances and debt, sovereign rating events could stylize restrictive fiscal policies as an inevitable therapy to overcome the crisis, construct public budget consolidation as an unquestioned overarching aim, and decouple the consequences of the financial crisis from its actual origins—allowing for a redefinition of the financial crisis into a crisis of sovereign debt.


This article critically evaluated the role of Christian Ethics in response to globalisation. It showed that ethical critiques of globalisation inevitably fall short when Christianity's historical contributions to processes of globalisation are neglected or de-emphasised. A Christian Ethics that attempts completely to wash its hands of and disavow globalisation is therefore indicated to be perched on a false premise. In this regard, the author specifically discussed the divergent stances of Max Stackhouse and Rebecca Todd Peters and opted for the former as the more helpful when considered from an interdisciplinary approach. In the final analysis, the author argued that the problem of globalisation might fruitfully be addressed with an ethics that is not averse to bring the various insights of missiology, church history and practical theology to the table, focusing particularly on rituals of reconciliation and forgiveness.


Summary There is a large diversity of genetically defined resistance genes in bread wheat against the powdery mildew pathogen Blumeria graminis (B. g.) f. sp. tritici. Many confer race‐specific resistance to this pathogen, but until now only the mildew avirulence gene AvrPm3 a2/f2 that is recognized by Pm3a/f was known molecularly. We performed map‐based cloning and genome‐wide association studies to isolate a candidate for the mildew avirulence gene AvrPm2. We then used transient expression assays in Nicotiana benthamiana to demonstrate specific and strong recognition of AvrPm2 by Pm2. The virulent AvrPm2 allele arose from a conserved 12 kb deletion, while there is no protein sequence diversity in the gene pool of avirulent B. g. tritici isolates. We found one polymorphic AvrPm2 allele in B. g. triticale and one orthologue in B. g. secalis and both are recognized by Pm2. AvrPm2 belongs to a small gene family encoding structurally conserved RNase‐like effectors, including Avr a13 from B. g. hordei, the cognate Avr of the barley resistance gene Mla13. These results demonstrate the conservation of functional avirulence genes in two cereal powdery mildews specialized on different hosts, thus providing a possible explanation for successful introgression of resistance genes from rye or other grass relatives to wheat.


Knowledge of cross-transmission and hybridization between parasites of humans and reservoir hosts is critical for understanding the evolution of the parasite and for implementing control programmes. There is now a consensus that populations of pig and human Ascaris (roundworms) show significant genetic subdivision. However, it is unclear whether this has resulted from a single or multiple host shift(s). Furthermore, previous molecular data have not been sufficient to determine whether sympatric populations of human and pig Ascaris can exchange genes. To disentangle patterns of host colonization and hybridization, we used 23 microsatellite loci to conduct Bayesian clustering analyses of individual worms collected from pigs and humans. We observed strong differentiation between populations which was primarily driven by geography, with secondary differentiation resulting from host affiliation within locations. This pattern is consistent with multiple host colonization events. However, there is low support for the short internal branches of the dendrograms. In part, the relationships among clusters may result from current hybridization among sympatric human and pig roundworms. Indeed, congruence in three Bayesian methods indicated that 4 and 7% of roundworms sampled from Guatemala and China, respectively, were hybrids. These results indicate that there is contemporary cross-transmission between populations of human and pig Ascaris.


Objectives/Goals When Fullerene-based Nanoparticles (FNPs) undergo photoexcitation from the sun they produce toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS). The objective of this study was to investigate the environmental impact of this toxicity. Methods/Materials FNPs were placed into the ten different environments and vials were made for each time step. The first time step (t-1) was the starting point, i.e., (t-1 = 0 day). After two weeks, time step two (t-2=14 days) was tested and one month after that, time step three (t-3= 30 days) was tested. Using high performance liquid chromatography, the degradation of an organic compound was tracked. Also, stock solutions of E.coli were prepared and tested with nanoparticles to determine if the particles were toxic to the bacteria. Viruses were then tested in 3 scenarios: First, viruses with no nanoparticles were exposed to UV-A to see if the virus was inactivated. Second, viruses were mixed with nanoparticles but were not exposed to UV-A light. Third, nanoparticles were added to viruses and were exposed to UV-A light. Results t-2 and t-3 data revealed that samples which contained humic acid seemed to have a greater inhibitory effect on all nanoparticles than samples without humic acid. It appeared that sample with FNPs + MgCl2 + humic acid had the greatest inhibitory effect on the generation of singlet oxygen compared to the other environments. In creek water samples, the generation of singlet oxygen by both single and multi walled carbon nanotubes was negligible. Fullerol still produced singlet oxygen in the creek water because it was dispersed in the sample better than the other nanoparticles. For viruses, the T7 phage was highly resistant to inactivation by UV-A, indicated by insignificant inactivation rate constant 0.000 min-1. Conclusions/Discussion It was observed that in the presence of salts, nanoparticle aggregation increased, and ultimately reduced ROS generation. Furthermore, it was noted that humic acid seemed to inhibit ROS production. In addition, because of its low concentration, it was evident that FNPs had limited inactivation on the virus. From this it was concluded that the toxicity of nanoparticles may not be too damaging if released in low concentrations into the environment. However, further research needs to be conducted on the ecological impact of the aggregation of these nanoparticles to fully assess how safe FNPs are.


Lymphedema is a chronic condition requiring multiple clinic visits over several weeks for costly treatment and education by a trained therapist, followed by lifelong in-home self-care. The self-care regimen can be physically and psy- chologically demanding and inadequate treatment can lead to progression of the lymphedema and serious complications. The patient described in this report was diligent with a home care program yet experienced difficulty controlling her lym- phedema independently, necessitating a return to skilled therapy for repeated treatments. This case study describes the impact that an advanced pneumatic device, the Flexitouch ® system, had on the costs of treatment and quality of life for a patient with lymphedema. Substantial long- and short-term cost reductions and quality-of-life gains may have been real- ized as the patient achieved successful maintenance of a home care program without any lymphedema-related complica- tions or infections requiring hospitalization, antibiotic therapy, or in-clinic lymphedema therapy.


The Cortlandt Complex in New York is a composite intrusion of six mafic plutons and contains pelitic xenoliths that experienced extensive interaction with Mg-rich basaltic melt. The complex is an excellent natural example of ultra-high temperature (UHT) metamorphic processes and country rock–magma interaction due to mappable units of hybrid igneous rocks and the presence of large, partially melted, pelitic 'emery' xenoliths. Previous attempts to understand the formation of the UHT xenoliths in the Cortlandt have provided the petrologic foundation for more rigorous thermodynamic modeling to determine the petrogenesis of these materials and to ultimately contribute to the understanding of UHT metamorphism in the Earth's crust. This work focuses on the development of hybrid monzonorites and emery at Salt Hill, located in the southeasternmost edge of the Cortlandt Complex. First, a thermobarometric study focuses on the P–T conditions of the country rock into which the Complex intruded. Pelitic schists from contact aureoles around a nearby pluton chemically and chronologically related to the complex, record high-P (~ 0.9 GPa, ~ 32 km depth) crustal conditions during pluton emplacement. This is interpreted to reflect loading due to the emplacement of Taconic allochthons during the waning stages of regional metamorphism before emplacement of the plutons. The second study uses thermodynamic heating calculations of pelitic schist to determine the production of norite and emery. Modeling results produce (i) an initial melt that produces a monzonorite composition when mixed with a mafic melt, (ii) a high-T melt that is texturally and compositionally homologous with quartzofeldspathic veins retained in the emery, and (iii) a residual mineral assemblage that, when oxidized, closely resembles the emery assemblage. Finally, focus is given to understanding the relationship between norite and emery and reflection on the mineralogy and structure of the lower crust–mantle boundary. Density calculations of the emery estimate values comparable to mantle densities, implying that rare exposure of UHT assemblages may be due to the fact the material stays at lower crustal (upper mantle?) depths. Therefore, the less-rare norite and other hybrid igneous rock occurrences may be the traces of deep, unexposed, UHT metamorphic assemblages.


A growing number of modern scientific problems in areas such as genomics, neurobiology, and spatial epidemiology involve the measurement and analysis of thousands of related features that may be stochastically dependent at arbitrarily strong levels. In this work, we consider the scenario where the features follow a multivariate Normal distribution. We demonstrate that dependence is manifested as random variation shared among features, and that standard methods may yield highly unstable inference due to dependence, even when the dependence is fully parameterized and utilized in the procedure. We propose a "cross-dimensional inference" framework that alleviates the problems due to dependence by modeling and removing the variation shared among features, while also properly regularizing estimation across features. We demonstrate the framework on both simultaneous point estimation and multiple hypothesis testing in scenarios derived from the scientific applications of interest.


Summary Background: Simultaneous or consequent development of multiple solid tumors might be faced in some patients, especially the young. These tumors might be related to certain hereditary cancer syndromes or certain genetic predispositions. Case Report: We present the case of a 19-year-old woman with metastatic breast cancer to the contralateral axillary lymph node, associated with simultaneous osteosarcoma of the left lower femur. As she did not fit into any of the familial cancer syndromes, genetic predisposition was suspected. We detected MLH1 and MSH2 promotor methylation (PM), microsatellite instability (MSI), and different mutational events in both tumors. BRCA1 gene mutations were detected in the breast tumor, with reduced mRNA expression of BRCA1&2. ERCC1, MLH1 and MSH2, especially in OS, and RRM1 was overexpressed in both tumors. Conclusions: Aberrations in MMR genes could explain simultaneous or consequent development of multiple solid tumors, especially in a young patient. We recommend detecting these defects, close follow-up for those patients, and genetic counseling for their family members. Further studies in a larger population are essential to support our results.


Abstract
 Coursetia caribaea is geographically and morphologically the most variable species in the genus Coursetia and in the tribe Robinieae (Leguminosae, Papilionoideae). Because of potentially undetected species, we assessed the phylogenetic relationships among the eight taxonomic varieties of C. caribaea. Sampling included nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer sequences from 489 Robinieae accessions representing all varieties of C. caribaea and 38 of the 40 species of Coursetia, in addition to chloroplast trnD-trnT sequences from 186 accessions. Separate and combined phylogenetic analyses resolved a clade of conspecific accessions of the Bolivian C. caribaea var. astragalina as sister to the central Andean Coursetia grandiflora clade. Also distantly related to Coursetia caribaea var. caribaea accessions were those of the coastal Oaxacan C. caribaea var. pacifica, which formed the sister clade to accessions of the central Andean C. caribaea var. ochroleuca. The estimated mean ages of the stem clades for these three lineages, 11, 7.7, and 7.7 Ma, respectively, contrasted to the estimated mean ages of the corresponding crown clades of 0, 0, and 1.5 Ma. The contrasting stem and crown ages suggest that these taxa, appropriately ranked as species, Coursetia astragalina, Coursetia diversifolia, and Coursetia ochroleuca, each have persisted over evolutionary time frames as distinct geographically localized populations in seasonally dry tropical forests and woodlands.


Abstract Asymptotic Modal Analysis (AMA) has been developed to predict the response of structures which vibrate with a large number of modes. A combined experimental and analytical approach was used to test this theory for a plate carrying concentrated masses. A thin aluminum plate both with and without point masses was excited acoustically with white noise using various center frequencies and bandwidths, and the response was measured at several points on the plate. The experimental results demonstrated that the response at all points on the plate was essentially the same. It was also shown that the response of a single concentrated mass was different from that of the plate to which it is attached. In addition, it was shown that when two point masses are used, the mass response is dependent on the relative separation between the masses and the plate modal wavelength. All experimental results were found to confirm the predictions of AMA theory.


We introduce a novel approach to demand side management: Instead of using flexibility that needs to be defined by a domain expert, we identify a small subset of processes of e. g. an industrial plant that would yield the largest benefit if they were time-shiftable. To find these processes we propose, implement and evaluate a framework that takes power usage time series of industrial processes as input and recommends which processes should be made flexible to optimize for several objectives as output. The technique combines and modifies a motif discovery algorithm with a scheduling algorithm based on mixed-integer programming. We show that even with small amounts of newly introduced flexibility, significant improvements can be achieved, and that the proposed algorithms are feasible for realistically sized instances. We thoroughly evaluate our approach based on real-world power demand data from a small electronics factory.


Studio Studies: Photographic 'artistry' in 1950s men's magazines
Laws on pornography in the 1950s ruled that material appealing to prurient interest in sex that did not have serious artistic value could be banned as obscene. In an attempt to circumvent these rules, certain men's magazines began to take their lead from the high art that seemed to elude the ban, dubbing themselves as guides for the amateur art photographer and adopting titles like 'Line and Form' and 'Studio Studies' to suggest artistic integrity rather than salacious titillation. The new publications 'explored the curves of the female form to demonstrate the artistry of lighting'. Their tawdry 'nude studies' were now captioned with technical data - f11 at 125th of a second - to substantiate their serious intent. As the loophole in the law stretched, censors were forced to ask 'Is this Art?'
Meanwhile, the enthusiastic amateur photographer now had access to equipment that would allow him to process films in the privacy of his own home. No longer having to worry what the local chemist (who normally developed the amateur's photographs) might think of their choice of subject, men could shut themselves away in a darkened cupboard under the stairs to print their own 'artistic interpretations of the female form'.
In his presentation, Graham Rawle will talk about his book, Diary of An Amateur Photographer and its protagonist – an aspiring glamour photographer caught in this seamy but colourful 'grey' area between 1950s art and pornography.


Obtaining information on vertical forest structure requires detailed data acquisition and analysis which is often performed at a plot level. With the growing availability of multi-modal satellite remote sensing (SRS) datasets, their usability towards forest structure estimation is increasing. We assessed the relationship of PlanetScope-, Sentinel-2-, and Landsat-7-derived vegetation indices (VIs), as well as ALOS-2 PALSAR-2- and Sentinel-1-derived backscatter intensities with a terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) and conventionally measured forest structure parameters acquired from 25 field plots in a tropical montane cloud forest in Kafa, Ethiopia. Results showed that canopy gap-related forest structure parameters had their highest correlation (|r| = 0.4 − 0.48) with optical sensor-derived VIs, while vegetation volume-related parameters were mainly correlated with red-edge- and short-wave infrared band-derived VIs (i.e., inverted red-edge chlorophyll index (IRECI), normalized difference moisture index), and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatters (|r| = −0.57 − 0.49). Using stepwise multi-linear regression with the Akaike information criterion as evaluation parameter, we found that the fusion of different SRS-derived variables can improve the estimation of field-measured structural parameters. The combination of Sentinel-2 VIs and SAR backscatters was dominant in most of the predictive models, while IRECI was found to be the most common predictor for field-measured variables. The statistically significant regression models were able to estimate cumulative plant area volume density with an R2 of 0.58 and with the lowest relative root mean square error (RRMSE) value (0.23). Mean gap and number of gaps were also significantly estimated, but with higher RRMSE (R2 = 0.52, RRMSE = 1.4, R2 = 0.68, and RRMSE = 0.58, respectively). The models showed poor performance in predicting tree density and number of tree species (R2 = 0.28, RRMSE = 0.41, and R2 = 0.21, RRMSE = 0.39, respectively). This exploratory study demonstrated that SRS variables are sensitive to retrieve structural differences of tropical forests and have the potential to be used to upscale biodiversity relevant field-based forest structure estimates.


We propose a microelectromechanical systems-based tunable asymmetric Fabry-Perot cavity for the high-precision weighing of macro samples. The device is based on an in-plane design and is structured in a silicon-on-insulator substrate. The cavity length of the optical resonator is tuned under the action of an external force. The force can be determined from the resulting spectral shift of the optical resonance. Measurements can be done under static conditions and are immune to electromagnetic interferences. Various designs have been simulated, fabricated and characterized. We report the experimental performances of four devices that have been tested under loads up to 98 mN (10 g). Sensitivities ranging from 0.51 to 67.69 nm/mN and absolute resolution ranging from 0.15 to 19.61 μN are reported. The maximum relative resolution of the sensor is below 100 ppm.


Smartphones facilitate communication, education, information, and entertainment through a diverse array of mobile applications. Excessive smartphone use has become a significant societal issue. The research community has explored both the positive and negative consequences of mobile phone use. The phrase "problematic smartphone use" refers to an excessive pattern of smartphone use that may have negative consequences. Smartphone addiction may present with symptoms that are unique from Internet addiction. Severe sadness, anxiety, and tension are all associated with problematic smartphone use. Numerous negative consequences are discussed, including mental health problems, diminished physical fitness, and poor academic achievement. According to the findings of the literature analysis, there is no inventory that evaluates smartphone addiction in the context of Russia. The goal of this study is to examine the psychometric characteristics of the smartphone addiction inventory (SPAI) in a Russian context. Several Russian Federation universities performed the study during the autumn semester of the 2020-2021 academic year. To enhance the inventory, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were utilized on 209 students. As a result, research on the validity and reliability of the Smartphone Addiction Inventory were done in the Russian setting. The research revealed a brief inventory of 14 items and three factors (functional impairment, anxiety, and compulsive behavior).


Abstract : The aerospace industry is experiencing exponential growth in the size and complexity of onboard software. It also is seeing a significant increase in errors and rework of that software. All of those factors contribute to greater cost; the current development process is reaching the limit of affordability of building safe aircraft. An international consortium of aerospace companies with government participation has initiated the System Architecture Virtual Integration (SAVI) program, whose goal is to achieve an affordable solution through a paradigm shift of "integrate then build." Key concepts of this paradigm shift are an architecture-centric model repository as single source for analytical system models, accessed through a model bus, used as a single source for analytical models, and multi-level, multi-fidelity analysis of multiple operational quality attributes of the system and embedded software system architecture. The result is discovery of system-level faults earlier in the life cycle-reducing risk, cost, and development time. The first phase of this program demonstrated the feasibility of this new development process through a proof of concept which is the topic of this report.