Many success stories of spaceborne InSAR have been reported all over the world in various earth sciences applications. However, only a limited number of articles were reported for applications in tropical regions. Therefore the objectives of this research are: i) To generate DEM from repeat pass spaceborne InSAR by using SAR data from European Earth's Resource Satellite (ERS-1 and ERS-2), Canadian Earth Resource Satellite (Radarsat) which are both in C-band systems and L-band Japanese Earth Resource Satellite (JERS-1) with emphasise on coherence optimisation; ii) To increase the coherence level through slope enhancement technique; and iii) To assess the potential, suitability and limitations of InSAR DEM generated from the above data and conducting accuracy assessment of the InSAR DEM in Malaysian condition.
Two test sites (Site A-Selangor and Site B-pahang) were selected for their variability in vegetations cover and landforms. Three pairs of ERS tandem data (pair 1, pair 2 and pair 3), one pair of JERS-1 data (pair 5) and one pair of standard mode Radarsat S7 data (pair 7) were acquired for site A-Selangor. On the other hand, one pair ERS tandem data (pair 4) and one pair JERS-1 data (pair 6) were acquired for site B-Pahang. Despite of having many pairs of data, the generation of DEM for site A-Selangor was not very successful. The ERS tandem data has revealed a very low coherence level ( 0.5). The clearly visible interferogram pattern could be seen in higher coherence areas. However, the atmospheric artifacts can be observed clearly on the interferogram through 'fuzzy' fringe pattern especially along the coastline. The Radarsat and JERS-1 data have shown a poorer coherence and interferogram quality, eventhough slightly better results for JERS-1 comparatively, presumably due to the long temporal separation of 24 days and 44 days between the two successive data acquisitions. ERS tandem data over site B-Pahang has shown a promising result with 65% of the ERS scene especially in urban and areas with low vegetations was successfully generated. A long dry month and non-windy condition was assumed to be the contributing success factor. The forested areas especially in high relief areas remain ingenerated. The use of Radarsat and JERS-1 data did not improve the DEM generation. The temporal separation between the data pair was long enough to observe changes within the canopy and hence the data pairs were totally uncorrelated.
DGPS field observations were conducted to improve the accuracy of InSAR derived DEM and for the accuracy assessment. The third order polynomial warping with thirteen GCP (X, Y) and fourteen GCP (Z) were used for the transformation of DEM from relative to absolute height with the RMSE of 2.4 m, 0.52 m and 1.78 m in X, Y and Z respectively. Quantitative accuracy assessments by using RMSE and R2 regression correlation analysis were performed on the InSAR DEM against DGPS points, spot height check points, contour generated DEM, SRTM Mean Sea level DEM and SRTM WGS84 DEM. A Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 12.619, 15.662, 15.421, 15.016 and 15.694 were reported for the analysis accordingly. The corresponding R2 results of 0.8598, 0.913, 0.914, 0.8948 and 0.8938, obtained from similar evaluation pairs proved they are highly correlated. The results were satisfactory and agreeable to the results from most researches. The qualitative assessment was performed and presented graphically to further emphasis on the quality of the results.
ERS tandem data is capable to provide a medium scale DEM at 1: 100 000 or smaller with accuracy within 20-25 m and contour interval of 40 m. This is absolutely complementing the present techniques of producing DEM especially in areas that is constraint by the persistent cloud cover through out the year. This complementary approach is considered as the best approach to expedite the generation of DEM for the whole country. Spaceborne ERS tandem data eventhough with one day temporal separation is still insufficient to ensure a highly correlated image pairs for 100% success in generating DEM. The DEM quality will be tremendously improved with single pass InSAR where the data was acquired by the two sensors simultaneously which is currently available only in airborne and shuttle environment. Therefore, single pass data acquisition should ideally be the preference for this part of the world such that have been proven by airborne Airsar Topsar Pacrim I and II missions in 1996 and 2000 and SRTM.


Vertical distributions of Fe(III) hydroxide solubilities (≪0.025 µm) and dissolved Fe (≪0.2 µm) concentrations at 0–250 m depth were studied inside (HP) and outside (LP) a high‐production (phytoplankton spring bloom) patch area in the northwestern North Pacific Ocean during May 1999. In the surface mixed layer, the Fe(III) solubility values at HP were much higher (2–4 nM) than those (0.3–0.9 nM) at LP and strongly correlated with chlorophyll a and nutrient concentrations. The high Fe(III) solubility observed in the surface mixed layer was probably due to a higher concentration or stronger affinity of natural organic Fe(III) chelators. In the surface waters, the dissolved Fe concentrations were generally lower than the Fe(III) solubility values, resulting from the active biological removal of dissolved Fe and excess concentration of Fe‐binding organic ligands. The Fe(III) solubility minima (0.2–0.4 nM) were present in a narrow depth range (40–125 m) below the surface mixed layer at all stations. The subsequent Fe(III) solubility levels appeared to increase up to 0.6–0.8 nM with depth at 100–250 m, in association with the increase in nutrient concentrations. The strong linear correlations between Fe(III) solubility values and nutrient concentrations in middepth waters suggest that the formation of organic Fe(III) chelators may be related to microbial decomposition of sinking biogenic organic matter. In middepth waters, the dissolved Fe concentrations were generally higher than the Fe(III) solubility values, which suggests that the small colloidal iron phases may be present in the dissolved Fe (≪0.2 µm) fraction.


This article uses models of irreversible investment under uncertainty to examine the investment and abandonment behavior of poor rural households. It considers the decision of Ugandan coffee-farming households to invest in or abandon coffee trees.The observed levels of investment and abandonment are found to be consistent with models of investment that allow for irreversibility, uncertainty, fixed costs, and liquidity constraints. The findings highlight the importance of addressing volatility, irreversibility, fixed costs, and liquidity constraints in order to increase households' responsiveness to changes in the fundamentals and to enable households to recover from shocks to their capital stock.


A 9 year record of Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer – Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) soil moisture retrievals are assimilated into the Catchment land surface model at four locations in the US. The assimilation is evaluated using the unbiased mean square error (ubMSE) relative to watershed-scale in situ observations, with the ubMSE separated into contributions from the subseasonal (SM short ), mean seasonal (SM seas ), and inter-annual (SM long ) soil moisture dynamics. For near-surface soil moisture, the average ubMSE for Catchment without assimilation was (1.8 × 10 −3 m 3 m −3 ) 2 , of which 19 % was in SM long , 26 % in SM seas , and 55 % in SM short . The AMSR-E assimilation significantly reduced the total ubMSE at every site, with an average reduction of 33 %. Of this ubMSE reduction, 37 % occurred in SM long , 24 % in SM seas , and 38 % in SM short . For root-zone soil moisture, in situ observations were available at one site only, and the near-surface and root-zone results were very similar at this site. These results suggest that, in addition to the well-reported improvements in SM short , assimilating a sufficiently long soil moisture data record can also improve the model representation of important long-term events, such as droughts. The improved agreement between the modeled and in situ SM seas is harder to interpret, given that mean seasonal cycle errors are systematic, and systematic errors are not typically targeted by (bias-blind) data assimilation. Finally, the use of 1-year subsets of the AMSR-E and Catchment soil moisture for estimating the observation-bias correction (rescaling) parameters is investigated. It is concluded that when only 1 year of data are available, the associated uncertainty in the rescaling parameters should not greatly reduce the average benefit gained from data assimilation, although locally and in extreme years there is a risk of increased errors.


Festivals are premised on social interaction. The word 'festival' derives from the Latin 'festum', meaning feast (Isar 1976), and collective, participatory celebration is central to its meaning. To date, while some researchers have investigated the nature of social inter-relationships evident in festival settings, the literature on the social dimensions of festival activity is under-developed. While Deery and Jago (2010) suggest that social impact literature in particular has come of age, it can be argued that in general, the literature on social connections in festival settings is quite disparate and uneven in terms of disciplinary underpinnings, theoretical references, research questions and methodological approaches. Acknowledgement of these difficulties has prompted some researchers to search for alternative theoretical frameworks to underpin a comprehensive enquiry into social connections in festival settings. Social capital is starting to emerge as a theory which shows real potential. Drawing on the findings of two exploratory studies, one in Ireland and one in England, this paper considers the diverse sets of social relationships at the heart of festival activity, whilst taking account of the role that place plays in these interactions.


From the standpoint of an energetically and economically efficient waste elimination, the design and operation of optimized incineration power plants with the cogeneration of electricity and heat has become today an important issue. Decision models developed to minimize the total costs associated with such systems only partially respond to the problems associated with the choice of the synthesis (configuration, technology), the design, and the operation of the waste treatment unit. In fact, the time factor which greatly affects certain key parameters such as the amount of wastes, the electrical and heating demands placed on the system, and the economic parameters (to name just three) render the problem of synthesis, design and operation very complex. The methodology and tools require first defining a unified objective function which represents the total cost of the system, integrated over its economic lifetime. Based on a flexible (in time) superconfiguration which includes all potential technical alternatives, the system is then mathematically optimized, accounting for a set of given constraints. This paper presents an application of these methodology and tools to a future waste incineration plant. The main results have been used in the decision making process for the conception of the plant which is currently under construction.


They have inspired poets and challenged translators through the centuries. The odes of Horace are the cornerstone of lyric poetry in the Western world. Their subtlety of tone and brilliance of technique have often proved elusive, especially when - as has usually been the case - a single translator ventures to maneuver through Horace's infinite variety. Now, for the first time, leading poets from America, England, and Ireland have collaborated to bring all 103 odes into English in a series of new translations that dazzle as poems while also illuminating the imagination of one of literary history's towering figures. The thirty-five contemporary poets assembled in this outstanding volume include nine winners of the Pulitzer prize for poetry as well as four former Poet Laureates. Their translations, while faithful to the Latin, elegantly dramatize how the poets, each in his or her own way, have engaged Horace in a spirited encounter across time. Each of the odes now has a distinct voice, and Horace's poetic achievement has at last been revealed in all its mercurial majesty. In his introduction, J. D. McClatchy, the volume's editor and one of the translators, reflects on the meaning of Horace through the ages and relates how a poet who began as a cynical satirist went on to write the odes. For the connoisseur, the original texts appear on facing pages allowing Horace's ingenuity to be fully appreciated. For the general reader, these new translations - all of them commissioned for this book - will be an exhilarating tour of the best poets writing today and of the work of Horace, long obscured and now freshly minted. The contributors are Robert Bly, Eavan Boland, Robert Creeley, Dick Davis, Mark Doty, Alice Fulton, Debora Greger, Linda Gregerson, Rachel Hadas, Donald Hall, Robert Hass, Anthony Hecht, Daryl Hine, John Hollander, Richard Howard, John Kinsella, Carolyn Kizer, James Lasdun, J. D. McClatchy, Heather McHugh, W. S. Mervin, Paul Muldoon, Carl Phillips, Robert Pinsky, Marie Ponsot, Charles Simic, Mark Strand, Charles Tomlinson, Ellen Bryantr Voigt, David Wagoner, Rosanna Warren, Richard Wilbur, C. K. Williams, Charles Wright, and Stephen Yenser.


BACKGROUND
Reperfusion therapy for myocardial infarction, understood to reduce mortality by preserving left ventricular function, was initially expected to provide increasing benefits over time. Surprisingly, large controlled thrombolysis trials demonstrated maximum benefit at 4 to 6 weeks with no subsequent increased treatment advantage. Such studies, however, compared groups by assigned treatment, not physiological effectiveness.

METHODS AND RESULTS
We calculated 2-year survival differences among 2431 myocardial infarction patients according to early infarct artery patency and outcome left ventricular ejection fraction using Kaplan-Meier curves. Hazard ratios for significant survival determinants were derived from Cox regression models. Two-year vital status (minimum, 688 days) was determined in 2375 patients (97.7%). A substantial mortality advantage for early complete reperfusion (Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction [TIMI] grade 3) and for preserved ejection fraction occurred beyond 30 days. The unadjusted hazard ratio for the TIMI 3 group compared with lesser grades at 30 days was 0.57 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.35 to 0.94) and 30 days to > or = 688 days was 0.39 (95% CI, 0.22 to 0.69). Consequently, early TIMI 3 flow was associated with approximately a 3 patient per 100 mortality reduction the first month with an additional 5 lives per 100 from 30 days to 2 years. For ejection fraction >40% compared with < or = 40%, the unadjusted hazard ratio was 0.25 (95% CI, 0.16 to 0.37) at 30 days and 0.22 (95% CI, 0.15 to 0.33) after 30 days through 2 years (lives saved, approximately 9 and 11 per 100, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS
Successful reperfusion and myocardial salvage produce significant mortality benefits that are amplified beyond the initial 30 days.


This is the moving story of the unforgettable Rosa Burger, a young woman from South Africa cast in the mold of a revolutionary tradition. Rosa tries to uphold her heritage handed on by martyred parents while still carving out a sense of self. Although it is wholly of today, "Burger's Daughter" can be compared to those 19th century Russian classics that make a certain time and place come alive, and yet stand as universal celebrations of the human spirit. Nadine Gordimer, winner of the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature, was born and lives in South Africa.


When people refer to the good life, they usually have in mind a specific middle-class lifestyle that flourished between the 1940s and early 1970s. This lifestyle has steadily eroded since that period as the socioeconomic circumstances that sustained it disappeared; most of the welfare systems that protected the middle class have worn thin, and middle-class work has become tenuous and uncertain as a result of downsizing and permatemping. We live in a world marked, in Loïc Wacquant's terms, by "Social Insecurity" (Punishing the Poor 3), a generalised sense of anxiety brought about by the acceleration of creative destruction within late capitalism. Nevertheless, the good life persists as an ideal with ambiguous effects. At times, it helps citizens challenge the neoliberal assaults on what remains of the welfare state. At other times, this ideal props up neoliberal ideology itself, keeping workers chasing after the ever-receding mirage of middle-class security.


Purpose: The objective of this paper is to investigate how environmental improvements can be achieved through operational practices of Lean Manufacturing. Design/methodology/approach: A literature review was conducted to analyze the relationship between operational practices of Lean and reduction of environmental impact in organizational contexts. Verified theoretically, this relationship was observed in a company of the electronics industry, through an exploratory research which contemplated a mixed approach. The adopted research method consisted of a single case study, by providing greater depth and detail of the study. Utilized a research protocol, validated test pilot. The instruments for data collection were semi-structured interviews, direct observation and document analysis. The information was examined qualitatively considering the technique for content analysis. Findings: As a result of the study, it was found that there is evidence for the existence of relationship between the practices of Lean, for example, Kaizen, PDCA (plan, do, check, act), Ishikawa Diagram, Poka-Yoke, Standardized Work and Value Stream Mapping, with the reduction of environmental impacts of an organization. This reduction was observed after application of these practices that resulted in the reduction of energy consumption, water and waste generation. These results were accounted for financially, contributing to a reduction of annual costs by about US$ 20,900. Originality/value: The study presents in detail, the application of operational practices of Lean Manufacturing, with an effective view to reducing the environmental impact and cost reduction. The literature review, a detailed description of the application process and financial results are important information that contributes to the scientific studies that address traditional operating practices and the search for better environmental performance.


Monoculture agriculture has developed as a result of the Western agricultural growth model, which emphasizes reduced on-farm labor and maximum yield. As a result soil health, which is reliant on a diversity of soil-dwelling organisms, is compromised, pest problems are intensified, and biodiversity is lost when vast land areas are devoted to simplified vegetation schemes. There has been a tremendous rise in interest in alternative cropping schemes. The traditional practice of intercropping has received renewed interest as the emphasis on agricultural growth shifts from a purely development-based model to one of conservation and enhanced biodiversity. Although intercropping has shown promising results in controlling specialist herbivorous insects, how intercropping works is not known. Theories that explain the underlying mechanism of intercropping success include chemical repellency and physical masking. We tested these two theories by creating a simulated intercropping system in mesocosm cages in a laboratory environment. We tested twenty intercrops that varied in their vegetation type, size, and phylogenetic distance for their ability to repel an insect pest that recently invaded into North America, the swede midge (Contarinia nasturtii), from its host plant, Brassica oleracea. We found that different non-host plant treatments significantly influenced larval abundance, which indicates that C. nasturtii responded to some aspect of the varying plant combinations. We found that phylogenetic distance did not influence larval densities. Additionally, non-host plant height and leaf area of nonhost plants did not influence larval densities. We found that vegetation type significantly affected larval densities. Brassica oleracea planted in combination with groundcover non-host plants had the fewest number of larvae, followed by B. oleracea planted in combination with vegetables. The highest number of larvae was found on B. oleracea plants planted in combination with herb non-host plants. Our research did not support a chemical repellency or visual masking theory of intercrop success.


The Federal Arbitration Act requires enforcement of arbitration agreements, unless generally applicable grounds for revocation of the agreement, including unconscionability, exist. For the most part, claims of unconscionability have been only rarely successful. In the recent past, however, many courts have held arbitration agreements unconscionable. This paper suggests that courts are using an arbitration-specific version of the unconscionability doctrine to circumvent the requirements of the Federal Arbitration Act and permit judicial resolution of claims. Evidence suggests that judges are using unconscionability more frequently and more expansively than in the past. Judges currently find arbitration agreements unconscionable at twice the rate of nonarbitration agreements. Twenty years ago, prior to the Supreme Court's most expansive readings of the Federal Arbitration Act, judges found arbitration and nonarbitration agreements unconscionable at approximately the same rate. Judges are also holding unconscionable specific features of arbitration agreements, such as forum selection clauses, confidentiality requirements, and punitive damages limitations, which are routinely enforced in nonarbitration agreements. To avoid preemption under the Federal Arbitration Act, judges must avoid selective use of the unconscionability doctrine and hold features of arbitration agreements unconscionable only where they would reach the same result in a nonarbitration agreement. In finding an arbitration agreement unconscionable, judges must also demonstrate how the agreement exemplifies general features and characteristics of unconscionable contracts, such as unequal bargaining power, oppression, and unfairness.


Over recent years, the floriculture trade, in particular cut flowers and potted ornamentals, has been on the rise, driven by the growing interest of society in its environmental and well-being benefits. Consequently, it is in the best interest of floriculturists, extension specialists and scientists to tap upcoming trends and opportunities for new ornamental plants. Wild plants could represent potential candidates to be used as ornamentals. The term "wild" when applied to plant species refers to those that grow spontaneously in self-maintaining populations in natural or semi-natural ecosystems and can exist independently of direct human action. Although often overlooked with respect to their commercial development, wild plant species can have a considerable role in floriculture. Wild plants are also successfully used in sustainable landscaping and xeriscaping for their beauty, functionality in maintaining environmental stability in terms of resource preservation, low water consumption, reduced demand for pesticides and other chemical inputs, suitability in preserving valuable wildlife habitats as well as reduced maintenance and labor costs. With respect to the contribution of wild plants to improved flower trade, aspects to be considered include: i) conservation and sustainable use of wild species; ii) identification of wild species useful as sources of new ornamentals; iii) germplasm conservation; and iv) the role of research institutions and nurseries in the innovation process. This review gives an overview of all these aspects in relation to the Mediterranean basin, which is considered to be one of the planet's biodiversity 'hotspots', because of its high level of endemism.


Countering the view that law is an incoherent mixture of conflicting political ideologies, this book forges a paradigm for understanding the common law as being unified and systematic. It applies Hegel's legal and moral philosophy to fashion a synthesis of the common law of property, contract, tort and crime. The book suggests a coherence that synthesizes several interrelated dichotomies: good-centred and right-based legal paradigms, instrumental and non-instrumental conceptions of law, externalist and internalist interpretations of the common law system, and communitarian and individualistic attempts to found the legal enterprise. The book's unifying notion of common law corresponds to Hegel's notion of "Geist", suggesting a designation of the mutual dependence of the community and the atomistic self for their confirmation as ends.


An Experimental Study of the Effect of Aspect Ratio, Wall A.ngle and Wall Offset on the Resultant Force on the Two-Dimensional Jet in Bistable Fluid Amplifiers by James J. McCoy, Jr. An experimental study was conducted to determine the effect of aspect ratio, wall angle and wall offset on the force that results due to the pressure differential across the jet, on a two-dimensional jet in a bistable fluid amplifier. A dimensional analysis was made of the variables involved and a model was constructed to give the variable geometry needed. Data was obtained for aspect ratios of four, six, eight, and ten; offsets of two, four and six nozzle widths; and wall angles of ten, twenty, and thirty degrees. Graphs were made of the pressure gradient near attachment to show the effect of these variables on the resultant force on the jet. Ways of maximizing the force on the jet are suggested from the results obtained.


In advanced driving maneuvers, such as a slalom maneuver, it is assumed that drivers use all the available cues to optimize their driving performance. For example, in curve driving, drivers use lateral acceleration to adjust car velocity. The same result can be found in driving simulation. However, for comparable curves, drivers drove faster in fixed-base simulators than when actually driving a car. This difference in driving behavior decreases with the use of inertial motion feedback in simulators. The literature suggests that the beneficial effect of inertial cues in driving behavior increases with the difficulty of the maneuver. Therefore, for an extreme maneuver such as a fast slalom, a change in driving behavior is expected when a fixed-base condition is compared to a condition with inertial motion. It is hypothesized that driving behavior in a simulator changes when motion cues are present in extreme maneuvers. To test the hypothesis, a comparison between No-Motion and Motion car driving simulation was done, by measuring driving behavior in a fast slalom. A within-subjects design was used, with 20 subjects driving the fast slalom in both conditions. The average speed during the Motion condition was significantly lower than the average speed during the No-Motion condition. The same was found for the peak lateral acceleration generated by the car model. A power spectral density analysis performed on the steering wheel angle signal showed different control input behavior between the two experimental conditions. In addition, the results from a paired comparison showed that subjects preferred driving with motion feedback. From the lower driving speed and different control input on the steering wheel, we concluded that motion feedback led to a significant change in driving behavior.


Presented in this work is the research performed as part of a Masters assignment at the
Optical Sciences group at the University of Twente. In this research, a new technique for
harvesting energy from sunlight, called solar rectification, is investigated. Using graphene
patterned in specific geometric shapes, it is hoped that sunlight can be converted into AC
electricity by use of antennas, and then converted into usable DC electricity using so-called
geometric diodes made from graphene. The hope is that graphene can be patterned in such a
way that it serves both purposes simultaneously. Simulations have been done to investigate
the ideal shape of geometric diodes. Graphene from different sources was characterized
and several devices were fabricated. Research was done to see if these graphene devices
could be used as geometric diodes, in a first step toward realizing solar rectification using
geometrically patterned graphene. A successful fabrication process was established, and it
was found that devices could be fabricated that showed nonlinear behavior. It could not be
concluded that these devices worked as diodes, but the knowledge and experience gained
during this project are expected to help future research into this topic.


Production systems have continuously evolved since early attempts to standardise parts, processes and work modes to enhance mass production. This was further refined by the Japanese automotive industry, which has been the global benchmark for decades. Lately, such systems have been developed as company specific production systems to create common identities and production principles, to form global production networks and performance systems. The purpose of this article is to investigate the introduction of new systems, or the introduction of new combined systems, casting light on what happens inside the organisation, making these systems work over time. The article illustrates how true change occurred in a multinational company over the period from 2000 to the present. The key point for this study is not the system as a formalised structure for improving overall company efficiency, based on measures regards to flexibility, cost, quality and time. Our concerns relate to mechanisms and agents behind the system itself, and evolution over time. We focus on the two mechanisms, mentor-sponsor and insider-outsiders, understanding how these mechanisms are related and eventually support each other. The article argues that popular managerial and performance tools and systems are less important than how mechanisms for initiating and maintaining focus on performance are managed as a symbiosis between local and central change agents.


We propose the recursive autonomy identification (RAI) algorithm for constraint-based (CB) Bayesian network structure learning. The RAI algorithm learns the structure by sequential application of conditional independence (CI) tests, edge direction and structure decomposition into autonomous sub-structures. The sequence of operations is performed recursively for each autonomous sub-structure while simultaneously increasing the order of the CI test. While other CB algorithms d-separate structures and then direct the resulted undirected graph, the RAI algorithm combines the two processes from the outset and along the procedure. By this means and due to structure decomposition, learning a structure using RAI requires a smaller number of CI tests of high orders. This reduces the complexity and run-time of the algorithm and increases the accuracy by diminishing the curse-of-dimensionality. When the RAI algorithm learned structures from databases representing synthetic problems, known networks and natural problems, it demonstrated superiority with respect to computational complexity, run-time, structural correctness and classification accuracy over the PC, Three Phase Dependency Analysis, Optimal Reinsertion, greedy search, Greedy Equivalence Search, Sparse Candidate, and Max-Min Hill-Climbing algorithms.


Click DNA ligation promises an alternative to the current enzymatic approaches for DNA assembly, with the ultimate goal of using efficient chemical reactions for the total chemical synthesis and assembly of genes and genomes. Such an approach would enable the incorporation of various chemically modified bases throughout long stretches of DNA, a feat not possible with current polymerase-based methods. An unequivocal requirement for this approach is the biocompatibility of the resulting triazole-linked DNA. The correct function of this unnatural DNA linker in human cells is demonstrated here by using a click-linked gene encoding the fluorescent protein mCherry. Reverse transcription of mRNA isolated from these cells and subsequent sequencing of the mCherry cDNA shows error-free transcription. Nucleotide excision repair (NER) is shown to not play a role in the observed biocompatibility by using a NER-deficient human cell line. This is the first example of a non-natural DNA linker being functional in a eukaryotic cell.


The Tunisian revolution not only liberated the country of its tenacious autocratic ruler, it also impacted, in a profound way, the imagination of prevailing political subjectivities. After Ben Ali fled the country, unsettled post-colonial tensions over the delineation of these changing subjectivities re-emerged, coloring outside the lines of the nation. The present paper analyzes this contentious process of becoming through an iconological analysis of the entangled dynamics of re-imagination that the national flag underwent during the Tunisian revolution, starting from the liberation phase in December 2010, through the constitutional phase and the promulgation of the new constitution in 2014, until the inauguration of the National Flag Square in March 2017. The present iconological analysis is not only paradoxically witness to the very limitation of the power of icons to engender dignified relationalities within a given nation, but is also witness to the slow closure of the revolutionary space and the gradual blockage of revolutionary processes of subject formation. This blockage was productive for the precarious restoration of national unity and state prestige necessary for the completion of the new constitution, but less for the demands for liberty, social justice and dignity so central to the revolution.


Since 2011, Hogeschool Rotterdam (Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences) operates a FabLab specialized in sensing, data processing and digital fabrication. The lab acted primarily as an educational infrastructure for electives and course modules within minors, and it was a making infrastructure for students from a broad range of disciplines. The lab also served as a breeding ground for pedagogic approaches in maker education. Its impact went beyond the lab-related courses and had a rather substantial impact on introducing maker education into educational practice within the University. The lab equally was a starting point for primary and secondary schools to learn about and begin to develop their own maker education approaches. Many experiences were mainly shared between the people working at and for the lab. This paper brings together the scarcely and scatteredly documented experience of the seven years working on and learning about maker education through the lab. It aims to contribute to the discussion about what maker education and "fab learning" might develop into in the years to come. Key learnings from seven years of FabLab at Hogeschool Rotterdam are primarily reflected in the design and redesign of the courses related to the lab and elsewhere in the University. Current challenges include rejuvenating the lab approach, transferring its success to new labs being established and to more general educational practices, and addressing issues of sustainability, transition and ethics.


Evaluation metrics for image captioning face two challenges. Firstly, commonly used metrics such as CIDEr, METEOR, ROUGE and BLEU often do not correlate well with human judgments. Secondly, each metric has well known blind spots to pathological caption constructions, and rule-based metrics lack provisions to repair such blind spots once identified. For example, the newly proposed SPICE correlates well with human judgments, but fails to capture the syntactic structure of a sentence. To address these two challenges, we propose a novel learning based discriminative evaluation metric that is directly trained to distinguish between human and machine-generated captions. In addition, we further propose a data augmentation scheme to explicitly incorporate pathological transformations as negative examples during training. The proposed metric is evaluated with three kinds of robustness tests and its correlation with human judgments. Extensive experiments show that the proposed data augmentation scheme not only makes our metric more robust toward several pathological transformations, but also improves its correlation with human judgments. Our metric outperforms other metrics on both caption level human correlation in Flickr 8k and system level human correlation in COCO. The proposed approach could be served as a learning based evaluation metric that is complementary to existing rule-based metrics.


The purpose of this paper is to present, and to explain the construction of, a set of price indexes relating to international trade in manufactured goods. These include: 1. Indexes of export prices for the U.S., Germany, and Japan, based on their weights, and indexes of competitors' prices for each of those countries based on the sane set of weights; 2. Indexes of domestic prices for the U. S., Germany, and Japan based on export weights; 3. Indexes for developed country exports of manufactures based on weights of developed country exports of manufactures to developing countries and of total developed country exports of manufactures, and indexes for exports of the U.S., Germany, and Japan on the sane sets of weights. The indexes for developed country exports make use of a method for estimating missing prices that takes account not only of contemporaneous price changes in the same country within the sane community groups, but also of price changes for the particular commodity in other countries. Comparisons are made between movements of domestic and export prices and between price indexes based on weights of early and late base years. In addition, an attempt is made to correct the price indexes for changes in the quality of some manufactured goods not usually taken account of in measures of export or import prices.


OBJECTIVE
To analyze the characteristics and treatment of the multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) in patients in the Wenchuan earthquake on 12th May, 2008, in order to provide theoretical reference for future care for such patients.

METHODS
Characteristics of MODS in these patients were analyzed, differences between survivors and non-survivors were compared, and therapeutic measures, and the time of the treatment for MODS in patients with earthquake related injury or illness who were admitted to West China Hospital from 12th May to 20th June, 2008, were retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTS
A total of 42 MODS patients were admitted to intensive care unit (ICU). Both the acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) score and predicted death risk were lowering during the course of therapy. Fractures of bones of extremities were predominant in the earthquake related diseases, with an incidence of 45.2%. The actual mortality of MODS (33.3%) was lower than the predicted death risk (41.5%). The age, the time of receiving the first treatment in ICU after the earthquake, the Glasgow score, the oxygen index, blood creatinine level, platelet count, and vasoactive agent pumping velocity were significantly different between survivors and non-survivors (all P<0.05). The overall mortality was 9.8%, the morbidity of cardiac dysfunction, the incidence of acute renal failure (ARF) and sepsis were significantly different between non-survivors and survivors (all P<0.05). The use of mechanical ventilation, continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), and vasoactive agent reached peak level on the 14-29 days after the earthquake.

CONCLUSION
Fracture of bones of extremities are predominant injury in the earthquake related diseases, and the cause of death is closely associated with multiple trauma and ARF, systemic infection of large wound surfaces. The central nervous system, respiratory system, circulatory system, renal function, circulatory system should be monitored during the treatment. Adequate preparedness is essential in order to cope with the peak period of occurrence of serious complications after a disaster.


This exploratory case study explores student engagement in an online, middle school context at a New Zealand distance education school. Considering the three dimensions of student engagement—emotional engagement, behavioural engagement and cognitive engagement—an exploration was undertaken in to what types of activities engage students and whether certain aspects of learning activities engage students in different ways. Qualitative data analysis techniques were employed to analyse data collected through a questionnaire, interviews and asynchronous discussion forum comments from both students and teachers within the online classes. Statistical data from the learning management system (LMS) was also analysed to support the qualitative data collected. The study found that engaging students online is complex, with a variety of different activities required to engage students. Carrying out tasks outside of the LMS was considered to be particularly engaging as it enabled personalisation of learning. The students in the study tended to engage behaviourally with all activities. Cognitive engagement was seen to increase where students were able to be creative in their learning experiences. Emotional engagement could be elicited through the design and facilitation of the activities as well as through the ongoing development of a learning community in which the students feel safe to contribute. This case study looks at how this group of students engaged in online activities and provides suggestions as to what teachers can do to engage students online. It makes suggestions as to what schools and teachers could consider in terms of how to engage students online.


Abstract At least since 1980, there has been a practically continuous, but somewhat fragmented discussion on the relevance of management research. This discussion has addressed practically all fields of management; here, besides general management, operations management, project management and construction management are examined in more detail. Although many different proposals have been made to rectify the situation, no definitive resolution has been found. In this paper, it is argued that prior analyses have not reached the root causes of the irrelevance problem. By an analysis of the recent history of management research, the following novel findings are reached. First, the root cause of the irrelevance is argued to lie in the 1959 reports on American business education, written by Pierson and Gordon & Howell. Second, while the proposed direction in the 1959 reports was deficient in several ways, the rejection of production as an integral part of organizations and management has been perhaps the most damaging feature of those reports. Third, current research on management suffers from a variety of immediate causes for irrelevance, insufficiently recognized by the scholarly community. It is suggested that reaching the root causes for irrelevance will facilitate finding suitable cures.


Countries engaged actively in globalization have experienced phenomenal changes in economic, social, cultural, political, and technological progress. Some countries have benefited significantly from greater integration, while others have held globalization accountable for their economic failure and instability. Globalization introduces new political and social challenges. Benefiting from globalization requires complementary institutions and social development to deal with the changes and risks introduced by greater openness. This article examines whether globalization benefits economic development and how the developing countries could gain from globalization through their social capital and institutional building. Copyright © 2008 American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Inc..


The effect of organic wastes on soil exchangeable potassium percent (EPP), Nitrate (N03 ) concentration and maize yield was evaluated in an ultisol during the 1999, 2000 and 2001 cropping seasons. The experiment was a split plot in randomized complete block design (RCBD). The wastes comprising poultry droppings (PD), cow dung (CD), swine waste (SW) and sewage sludge (SS) were applied concurrently (at the rates of 0, 12 and 24 kg/Plot), equivalent to 0, 10 and 20 t ha -1 ) for two years and the residual effect tested in the third year. Results of the study show that soil EPP values ranged between 2.4 and 4.3% (first season), 1.8-3% (second season) and 1.2 – 2.7% (third season) in waste amended plots. Similarly wastes significantly (P < 0.05) increased soil NO3 concentration with percentage increase of 8 to 30% (first season) 25 to 39% (second season) and 43% to 143% (third season) relative to the control. Grain yield significantly (p<0.05) increased in waste amended plots relative to the control. Results of the study also showed that grain yield correlated positively with EPP and NO3 concentration in the first and second seasons, indicating that both elements contributed to the final grain yield. However, non-significant correlation was observed between grain yield and the studied parameters (EPP and NO3 ) in the third season, indicating that the amendments contributed less to grain yield in the residual trial. The results of the study showed that the amendments increased soil EPP and NO3 concentration to non-toxic level and are therefore, safe for agricultural use at the rates studied.


This paper explores how feminism can be used in sport psychology research and the particular dilemmas that can present themselves when a feminist perspective is used within the framework of sport psychology. Both authors describe their personal entrees into various schools of feminism, the ways they incorporate feminist theory into their work, and the struggles they have encountered in using feminist approaches in a field that is not always open to feminist epistemology. This paper includes a description of several types of feminist thought. Both authors use feminist theory in research that concerns women at either end of the life span, specifically girls and older women, and the ways that members of these groups think about and relate to their bodies. While feminism has been an important, useful, and enlightening perspective and tool for both authors, it has also proven problematic within the context of sport psychology research. The dilemmas encountered are described as epistemological and methodologica...


This contribution reviews a number of contested issues in the historiography of the late medieval English parish. In contrast to views expressed by Clive Burgess in a recent article in this journal, it is argued that the reliability of churchwardens' accounts cannot be judged in a general manner, but depends on the specific questions historians want answered. While offering reliable insights into ordinary financial transactions made by churchwardens on behalf of their parishes, they are utterly inadequate for a histoire totale of local religious life. Closer examination of the function, context and compilation of the records suggests that quantitative analysis is not only possible, but an essential prerequisite for informed discussion of parish regimes. The complexity of local communities and the desirability of comparative perspectives call for a plurality of approaches. Finally, the pivotal role of churchwardens within the varying (religious, political and administrative) configurations of the 'whole body of the parish' is reasserted.


Notwithstanding hundreds of court decisions, tying arrangements remain enigmatic. Conclusions that go to either extreme, per se legality or per se illegality, invariably make simplifying assumptions that frequently do not obtain. For example, by ignoring double marginalization or tying product price cuts it becomes very easy to prove that a wide range of ties are anticompetitive. At the other extreme, by ignoring foreclosure possibilities one can readily conclude that ties are invariably benign. Ties have historically been thought to produce two kinds of competitive harm: "leverage," or extraction; and foreclosure, or exclusion. The two theories are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, the premise of the foreclosure theory is that exclusion of rivals is harmful because it enables a firm to keep prices up or to prevent them from falling in response to the entry of new competitors. Ultimately, anticompetitive foreclosing ties must harm consumers. Is there any reason for thinking that ties that do not exclude anyone should be condemned under the antitrust laws? The issue can arise in several different contexts. The most common is the "unwanted" tied product. The purchaser does not want the tied product at all and is objecting about being forced to take and pay for it. This is basically the facts of the Ninth Circuit's Brantley case, in which cable television consumers complain that the defendant cable television provider offers programming only in large packages of channels. The complaint was dismissed because the plaintiffs could not identify any independent program providers who were excluded by the arrangement. Another subset of cases involves customers complaining about the way the seller allocates the price between the tying and tied goods, typically in order to facilitate price discrimination. To be sure, customers may be injured when they want to purchase a smaller package than a seller wishes to sell. The customer might wish to buy a single residential lot rather than a rancher's 1000 acre spread. Neither exclusion of a rival nor a restraint of trade producing lower market output is in prospect. Indeed, in a case such as Brantley the per channel cost of delivering a large number of channels is almost certainly lower than the per channel cost of delivering a few. The fixed cost component of a cable television system is a significant portion of its costs and the incremental costs of adding channels are very low. The Brantley plaintiffs simply want the seller to offer a smaller product. That is fundamentally not an antitrust problem.


Iterative learning control (ILC) is a technique used to improve the tracking performance of systems carrying out repetitive tasks, which are affected by deterministic disturbances. The achievable performance is greatly degraded, however, when non-repeating, stochastic disturbances are present. This paper aims to compare a number of different ILC algorithms, proposed to be more robust to the presence of these disturbances, first by a statistical analysis and then by simulation results and their application to a linear motor. New expressions for the expected value and variance of the controlled error are developed for each algorithm. The different algorithms are then tested in simulation and finally applied to the linear motor system to test their performance in practice. A filtered ILC algorithm is proposed when the noise and desired output spectra are separated. Otherwise an algorithm with a decreasing gain gives good robustness to noise and achievable precision but at a slower convergence rate.


The duty to read doctrine is a well-recognized building block of U.S. contract law. Under this doctrine, contracting parties are held responsible for the written terms of their contract, whether or not they actually read them. The application of the duty to read is especially interesting in the context of consumer contracts, which consumers generally do not read.

Under U.S. law, courts routinely impose this doctrine on consumers. However, the application of this doctrine to consumer contracts is unilateral. While consumers are expected and presumed to read their contracts, suppliers are generally not required to offer readable contracts. This asymmetry creates a serious public policy challenge. Put simply, consumers might be expected to read contracts that are, in fact, rather unreadable. This, in turn, undermines market efficiency and raises fairness concerns.

Many scholars have suggested that consumer contracts are indeed written in a way that dissuades consumers from reading them. This Article aims to empirically test whether this concern is justified. The Article focuses on the readability of an important and prevalent type of consumer agreement: the sign-in-wrap contract. Such contracts, which have already been the focal point of many legal battles, are routinely accepted by consumers when signing up for popular websites such as Facebook, Amazon, Uber, and Airbnb.

The Article applies well-established linguistic readability tests to the 500 most popular websites in the U.S. that use sign-in-wrap agreements. The results of this Article indicate, inter alia, that the average readability level of these agreements is comparable to the usual score of articles in academic journals, which typically do not target the general public. These disturbing empirical findings hence have significant implications on the design of consumer contract law.


Using panel data for the period 1993 to 2005 from 16 regions of the Philippines, this study investigates whether the resource allocation efficiency of Philippine rural banks resulting from the quantity and quality of banking intermediation activities affects regional economic growth. To explore this relationship, four measures of resource allocation efficiency were alternatively tested employing pooled generalized least squares (EGLS) estimation. The findings suggest that Philippine rural banks need to make allocative adjustments in the areas of branch presence, operational efficiency and credit participation. These results lend support to government efforts to strengthen the rural banking sector and to increase the volume of investments in the regions. Important policy implications of these findings include the need to enhance confidence in the Philippine rural banking system, to encourage savings in regional rural banks, and to ensure efficient transfer of resources from savers to investors.


The "Global War on Terror" came to dominate US foreign policy in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. The effort served as a guiding light for how the United States interacted with friends, allies, and adversaries and deeply influenced US priorities around the globe, in general, and in the wider Middle East, in particular. While it will likely never be announced as concluded, the Global War on Terror is effectively over, due to four separate but related reasons: the killing of Osama bin Laden, the perceived failure of counterinsurgency as an effective policy instrument, the significant costs of the effort, and the Arab Awakening. This does not mean, however, that the United States will no longer pursue counterterrorists. Drones and special forces have emerged as the key tools in US counterterrorism, and the United States is likely to continue pursuing terrorist cells and high-value targets aggressively across the globe for decades to come using these means. However, this practice should be viewed as one of many defense efforts that the United States carries out on a regular basis in order to guard the full range of US interests. Elements of the emerging US counterterrorism effort remain problematic, but the end of the Global War on Terror nevertheless presents Washington with a window of opportunity to reorder its relations with the nations and peoples of the Middle East and North Africa and frees up resources for the United States to tackle other emerging strategic priorities, such as the shift of global power to the Pacific, the revival of the US economy, and security challenges such as energy security and cyber defense.


Rapid and pervasive digitization of innovation processes and outcomes has upended extant theories on innovation management by calling into question fundamental assumptions about the definitional boundaries for innovation, agency for innovation, and the relationship between innovation processes and outcomes. There is a critical need for novel theorizing on digital innovation management that does not rely on such assumptions and draws on the rich and rapidly emerging research on digital technologies. We offer suggestions for such theorizing in the form of four new theorizing logics, or elements, that are likely to be valuable in constructing more accurate explanations of innovation processes and outcomes in an increasingly digital world. These logics can open new avenues for researchers to contribute to this important area. Our suggestions in this paper, coupled with the six research notes included in the special issue on digital innovation management, seek to offer a broader foundation for reinventing innovation management research in a digital world.


In the past decade, many display hardware manufacturers have initiated research into the construction of stereo display devices. Currently, the use of such displays is limited to the computer-aided design; research, military and medical applications. However, it is anticipated that as display hardware becomes cheaper, gaming companies and desktop application software developers will realise the potential of using stereo to provide more realistic user experiences. To provide realistic stereo user experience it is necessary to utilise good quality stereo images in addition to suitable hardware. The growth of the Internet has resulted in an increase in the availability of stereo images. However, most have been captured using uncontrolled procedures and have questionable quality. The quality of stereo images is important since the viewing of poor quality stereo images can result in adverse viewing effects. A formal definition of stereo quality has not been achieved in current day research. This means that the factors which cause a stereo image to be perceived as poor quality have not been defined nor is a system available to detect its occurrence. This thesis attempts to address this problem by postulating a definition of stereo image quality based on detecting level of excess disparity levels, intensity differences and the occurrence of frame cancellation. An implementation system able to detect these identified factors is discussed and formulated. The developed system is utilised to test 14 stereo images of varying quality levels. The results of these tests are reported and are used to evaluated and refine the system. Using this image analysis, benchmarks for natural intensity difference in images, changes due to JPEG compression and comparisons with generated and ground truth disparity maps are formulated. Additionally, an


Introduction It is not known whether systemic inflammation reflects lower airway inflammation in non-CF bronchiectasis. If confirmed, blood biomarkers may provide useful information on pulmonary disease burden in both stable and exacerbated states. Serum C reactive protein (CRP) is readily measurable in many clinical settings, including at point-of-care, and procalcitonin (PCT) has a potential role with documented utility in other respiratory diseases. This study explored the relationship between airway and systemic inflammatory biomarkers in adult patients with non-CF bronchiectasis. Method Serum CRP (for systemic inflammation) and PCT, and sputum interleukin (IL)-6 (for airway inflammation) were measured in 31 well-phenotyped stable patients from The London Bronchiectasis Cohort. Six exacerbation samples were obtained from patients who had been previously sampled at baseline, with the exacerbation sample obtained at exacerbation onset, prior to initiation of additional antibiotic therapy. Sputum IL-6 was measured using ELISA, serum PCT using TRACE, and CRP using immunoturbidimetry techniques. Data were analysed using SPSS V.14.0. Results Of the 31 patients, 23 (74.2%) patients were female, with a mean (SD) age of 54.7 (14.9) years, FEV1 2.09 (0.90) l (75.71% predicted), and FVC 3.12 (1.01) l. The predominant aetiologies were primary immunodeficiency (mostly CVID, n=13, 42%), post-infectious (10, 32%) and idiopathic (4, 13%). The median (IQR) baseline sputum IL-6 was 101 (30–701) pg/ml, baseline serum PCT was 0.030 (0.021–0.040) μg/ml and CRP 3.0 (1.0–6.0) mg/l. The degree of systemic inflammation in stable bronchiectasis reflected that occurring in the airways as evidenced by a significant correlation between sputum IL-6 and serum CRP in the 31 stable samples (r=0.43, p=0.027). There was also a correlation between the two systemic markers (PCT and CRP: r=0.42, p=0.029), but the relationship between serum PCT and sputum IL-6 concentration was not statistically significant (r=0.28, p=0.127). In the six patients with paired samples, serum PCT increased significantly from baseline to exacerbation (0.031 vs 0.147 μg/ml p=0.043). Changes in sputum IL-6 and blood serum CRP did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion We report a direct relationship between airway and systemic inflammation in stable patients with non-CF bronchiectasis. This suggests that systemic biomarkers may be useful for monitoring local disease activity in this neglected condition.


Abstract Even after ten years of democratic government, South Africa remains an unusually unequal society. Inequalities in the distribution of incomes both reflect and reproduce inequalities of opportunity. Yet curiously little research has been conducted on what South Africans think about inequality, and their views on distributive justice. The limited extant research suggests that most South Africans believe that their country is too unequal, that there is strong support for government action to reduce inequalities, and that class consciousness and racial identities are both widespread. This paper uses existing and new data to show that distributive justice perceptions and attitudes in South Africa are mutable: perceptions and attitudes change according to the precise question posed, have changed over time, and change in the face of counter-arguments. South Africans, like people in many other parts of the world, see some poor people as more deserving than others, with perceived desert reflecting recognised needs (e.g. the elderly), responsibilities (e.g. bread-winners) and behaviour (with respondents being hostile to support for chronic drinkers, for example). Some, but not most, South Africans also become less supportive of the government supporting the poor if taxes are to be increased. Overall, South Africans seem to recognise a wide range of deserving poor, and even richer elites are inclined toward generosity, but support for redistribution is far from unconditional.


We have investigated the potential of 2D electrical imaging for the characterization of seawater intrusion using field data from a site in Almeria, SE Spain. Numerical simulations have been run for several scenarios, with a hydrogeological model reflecting the local site conditions. The simulations showed that only the lower salt concentrations of the seawater-freshwater transition zone could be recovered, due to the loss of resolution with depth. We quantified this capability in terms of the cumulative sensitivity associated with the measurement setup and showed that the mismatch between the targeted and imaged parameter values occurs from a certain sensitivity threshold. Similarly, heterogeneity may only be determined accurately if located in an adequately sensitive area. At the field site, we identified seawater intrusion at the scale of a few kilometres down to a hundred metres. Borehole logs show a remarkable correlation with the image obtained from surface data but indicate that the electrically derived mass fraction of pure seawater could not be recovered due to the discrepancy between the in-situ and laboratory-derived petrophysical relationships. Surface-to-hole inversion results suggest that the laterally varying resolution pattern associated with such a setup dominates the image characteristics compared to the laterally more homogeneous resolution pattern of surface only inversion results and hence, surface-to-hole images are not easily interpretable in terms of larger-scale features. Our results indicate that electrical imaging can be used to constrain seawater intrusion models if image appraisal tools are appropriately used to quantify
the spatial variation of sensitivity and resolution. The most crucial limitation is probably the apparent non-stationarity of the petrophysical relationship during the imaging process.


A vector radiative transfer model was used in conjunction with the line‐by‐line radiative transfer model and the database of high‐resolution transmission (HITRAN) molecular absorption to simulate the degree of linear polarization of skylight in cloud‐free conditions. Differences between simulated and measured polarization data in high‐spectral resolution are found to be within 1% after aerosol scattering and gas absorptions are carefully considered. Limiting experiments are conducted at wavelengths around 0.760–0.765 μm O2‐A absorption band for the same columnar aerosol optical thickness but different aerosol profiles. Results showed that the degree of linear polarization of skylight at surface varies strongly and is sensitive to the vertical change of tropospheric aerosol mass (or extinction) as the wavelengths approach to the edge of O2‐A absorption band. However, such sensitivity is minimal at all wavelengths when the aerosol composition or single scattering properties are vertically homogeneous. This study suggests that the polarization data can be used together with radiance data to constrain the simulation of vertical distribution of aerosol composition in chemistry transport models.


For the mid- to upper-level two-semester student, this text provides the most thorough coverage at a manageable length. Concepts of Human Anatomy and Physiology is the most up-to-date textbook available that combines cutting-edge information with accurate, detailed, and reader-friendly scientific information. It expertly entwines the concepts of form and function, providing students with an excellent grasp of how the body works as the result of its many inter-related parts.


This action research project was conducted with the parents of children enrolled in a private, urban Montessori Primary (3-6) class. The study implemented the use of the Transparent Classroom, an online record keeping program. The purpose of the study was to determine if implementing this program would impact parent appreciation and understanding of the Montessori Method and the daily activities of the classroom. The Transparent Classroom uses instant, real-time presentation updates, photos, and long-term recordkeeping software. The study compared the response times between when the information was sent and accessed by traditional email, text messaging and logging in autonomously. Parent interactions were also measured and recorded. Questionnaire responses provided feedback on the effectiveness of the Transparent Classroom before and after the study. The results show the positive impact of the use of the Transparent Classroom as a useful communication tool. Increased communication of the children's daily activities through Transparent Classroom online record keeping system helped to improve their level of appreciation and increased the parents' feelings of connectedness with their children's daily activities and the Montessori Method. The positive impact of a deeper appreciation of what children do in their classrooms each day could benefit the students, the parents, the teacher, the school, and ultimately, the community.


Saliency estimation has become a valuable tool in image processing. Yet, existing approaches exhibit considerable variation in methodology, and it is often difficult to attribute improvements in result quality to specific algorithm properties. In this paper we reconsider some of the design choices of previous methods and propose a conceptually clear and intuitive algorithm for contrast-based saliency estimation. Our algorithm consists of four basic steps. First, our method decomposes a given image into compact, perceptually homogeneous elements that abstract unnecessary detail. Based on this abstraction we compute two measures of contrast that rate the uniqueness and the spatial distribution of these elements. From the element contrast we then derive a saliency measure that produces a pixel-accurate saliency map which uniformly covers the objects of interest and consistently separates fore- and background. We show that the complete contrast and saliency estimation can be formulated in a unified way using high-dimensional Gaussian filters. This contributes to the conceptual simplicity of our method and lends itself to a highly efficient implementation with linear complexity. In a detailed experimental evaluation we analyze the contribution of each individual feature and show that our method outperforms all state-of-the-art approaches.


This paper compares the performance of three detection methods, entitled C1, C2, and C3, that are implemented in the early aberration reporting system (EARS) and other syndromic surveillance systems versus the CUSUM applied to model‐based prediction errors. The cumulative sum (CUSUM) performed significantly better than the EARS' methods across all of the scenarios we evaluated. These scenarios consisted of various combinations of large and small background disease incidence rates, seasonal cycles from large to small (as well as no cycle), daily effects, and various types and levels of random daily variation. This leads us to recommend replacing the C1, C2, and C3 methods in existing syndromic surveillance systems with an appropriately implemented CUSUM method. Published in 2008 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Objective: Mahkota dewa fruits ( Phaleria marcocarpha (Scheff.) Boerl) have been found to contain benzophenone and xanthone derivatives which have a protective effect against ultraviolet light. This study was aimed to evaluate the sunscreen activities of mahkoside A, mangiferin and 6, 4-dihydroxy- 4-methoxybenzophenone-2-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (6, 4-DHMP) isolated from Mahkota dewa fruits in-vitro and in-vivo . Methods: In-vitro sunscreen activity was evaluated using spectrophotometric method by measuring percentage transmission of erythema, percentage transmission of pigmentation and sun protection factor (SPF). The sunscreen activity assays in-vivo was conducted by observing the effect of erythema in rats after exposed to an exotera lamp for 24 h. Results: In-vitro assays showed that mahkoside A, mangiferin and 6, 4-dihydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone-2-O-β-Dglucopyranoside at a concentration of 100 ppm had SPF value of 3.44, 2.82 and 3.08 respectively. In-vivo test results showed that mangiferin at concentrations of 12.5%, 25%, and 50% decreased the amount of erythema and erythema diameter significantly different than negative control (p Conclusion: Mahkoside A, mangiferin and 6, 4-DHMP possessed sunscreen activity in-vitro and in-vivo . Key words: Mahkoside A, Mangiferin, 6, 4-dihydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone- 2-O-β-d-glucopyranoside, Phaleria marcocarpha , SPF, Erythema.


Thin polymer films are important in many areas of biomaterials research, biomedical devices, and biological sensors. The accurate in situ measurement of multiple physicochemical properties of thin polymer films is critical in understanding biocompatibility, polymer function, and performance. In this work we demonstrate a facile spectroscopic methodology for accurately measuring the micro-polarity and hydrogen-bond donor/acceptor ability for a series of relatively hydrophilic thermoresponsive copolymers. The micro-polarity of the N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) and N-tert-butylacrylamide (NtBA) co-polymers was evaluated by means of the ET(30), α, β, and π* empirical solvatochromic polarity parameters. The data shows that increasing the NtBA fraction in the dry copolymer film reduces polarity and hydrogen-bonding ability. Within the Kamlet–Taft polarity framework, the NIPAM/NtBA copolymer films are strong hydrogen-bond acceptors, strongly dipolar/polarizable, and rather moderate hydrogen-bond donors. This characterization provides a more comprehensive physicochemical description of polymers, which aids the interpretation of film performance. Comparison of the measured ET(30) values with literature data for other water-soluble polymers show that dry NIPAM/NtBA copolymers are slightly more polar than poly(ethylene oxide), less polar than polyvinyl-alcohol, and approximately the same polarity as poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone). These findings indicate that this spectroscopic method is a facile, rapid, and nondestructive methodology for measuring polymer properties in situ, suitable for most biomaterials research laboratories.


This thesis is concerned with investigating the use of Gaussian Process (GP) models for the identification of nonlinear dynamic systems. The Gaussian Process model is a non-parametric approach to system identification where the model of the underlying system is to be identified through the application of Bayesian analysis to empirical data. The GP modelling approach has been proposed as an alternative to more conventional methods of system identification due to a number of attractive features. In particular, the Bayesian probabilistic framework employed by the GP model has been shown to have potential in tackling the problems found in the optimisation of complex nonlinear models such as those based on multiple model or neural network structures. Furthermore, due to this probabilistic framework, the predictions made by the GP model are probability distributions composed of mean and variance components. This is in contrast to more conventional methods where a predictive point estimate is typically the output of the model. This additional variance component of the model output has been shown to be of potential use in model-predictive or adaptive control implementations. A further property that is of potential interest to those working on system identification problems is that the GP model has been shown to be particularly effective in identifying models from sparse datasets. Therefore, the GP model has been proposed for the identification of models in off-equilibrium regions of operating space, where more established methods might struggle due to a lack of data.

The majority of the existing research into modelling with GPs has concentrated on detailing the mathematical methodology and theoretical possibilities of the approach. Furthermore, much of this research has focused on the application of the method toward statistics and machine learning problems. This thesis investigates the use of the GP model for identifying nonlinear dynamic systems from an engineering perspective. In particular, it is the implementation aspects of the GP model that are the main focus of this work. Due to its non-parametric nature, the GP model may also be considered a 'black-box' method as the identification process relies almost exclusively on empirical data, and not on prior knowledge of the system. As a result, the methods used to collect and process this data are of great importance, and the experimental design and data pre-processing aspects of the system identification procedure are investigated in detail. Therefore, in the research presented here the inclusion of prior system knowledge into the overall modelling procedure is shown to be an invaluable asset in improving the overall performance of the GP model.

In previous research, the computational implementation of the GP modelling approach has been shown to become problematic for applications where the size of training dataset is large (i.e. one thousand or more points). This is due to the requirement in the GP modelling approach for repeated inversion of a covariance matrix whose size is dictated by the number of points included in the training dataset. Therefore, in order to maintain the computational viability of the approach, a number of different strategies have been proposed to lessen the computational burden. Many of these methods seek to make the covariance matrix sparse through the selection of a subset of existing training data. However, instead of operating on an existing training dataset, in this thesis an alternative approach is proposed where the training dataset is specifically designed to be as small as possible whilst still containing as much information. In order to achieve this goal of improving the 'efficiency' of the training dataset, the basis of the experimental design involves adopting a more deterministic approach to exciting the system, rather than the more common random excitation approach used for the identification of black-box models. This strategy is made possible through the active use of prior knowledge of the system.

The implementation of the GP modelling approach has been demonstrated on a range of simulated and real-world examples. The simulated examples investigated include both static and dynamic systems. The GP model is then applied to two laboratory-scale nonlinear systems: a Coupled Tanks system where the volume of liquid in the second tank must be predicted, and a Heat Transfer system where the temperature of the airflow along a tube must be predicted. Further extensions to the GP model are also investigated including the propagation of uncertainty from one prediction to the next, the application of sparse matrix methods, and also the use of derivative observations. A feature of the application of GP modelling approach to nonlinear system identification problems is the reliance on the squared exponential covariance function. In this thesis the benefits and limitations of this particular covariance function are made clear, and the use of alternative covariance functions and 'mixed-model' implementations is also discussed.


Background : Almost four-fifth of the Jewish people in Israel fast on Yom Kippur. The Jewish law exempts patients from fasting if the fast endangers the patient's health. There no previous study has focused on Yom Kippur fasting in the cancer patients treated with chemotherapy. The aim of the present study, therefore, was to assess attitudes towards fasting on Yom Kippur in these patients, and tolerance of the 25-hour fast in those who observed it. Methods : The sample comprised 31cancer patients receiving chemotherapy in the Day Care Unit of Shaare Zedek Medical Center, all of whom were individually interviewed regarding fasting on Yom Kippur. Patients were asked whether they were fasting on Yom Kippur, whether sought an oncologist's or Rabbis advice was sought before undertaking fasting, and what that advice was. The following data were collected for all participants: age, gender, the stage of the cancer (metastatic vs nonmetastatic), religious status and social status. The data were transcribed into an electronic database within Microsoft Excel®. On the day of interview, all participants were examined by oncology day care nursing staff. The examination included vital signs, symptom and well being questionnaire and routine blood test examination. Results : Chemotherapy-treated patients tended to ask their doctor or Rabbi whether they should fast on Yom Kippur. In the majority of cases they were advised not to fast or a form of partial fasting was recommended.  Regardless of advice by doctors and Rabbis to the contrary, 6 patients chose to observe the fast strictly, despite chemotherapy; 12 to drink Shiurim (Minimum Quantities) and only 11 decided not to fast. In general, the 25-hour fast was well tolerated. All 6 patients who observed it strictly completed it successfully. Five of these reported normal activity during the fast and one felt weaker than normal. Ten of the 12 drinking Shiurim completed the 25 hours of the fast; 9 of these reported normal activity during the fast and 3 felt weaker than normal. Conclusions : Most patients who traditionally fasted in Yom Kippur asked their doctor and/or Rabbi's advice regarding fasting. Despite recommendations to the contrary, most patients continued to fast, and in general, tolerated it well.


Dehydration occurs when the amount of water leaving the body is greater than the amount of water being taken in. The body is very dynamic and always changing. This is especially true with water in the body. We lose water routinely as we breathe and humidified air leaves the body, sweat to cool the body, urinate or have a bowel movement. Our LiveLife Pharmacies see dehydration on a daily basis, especially in our Coastal pharmacies where our customers often spend their days out in the beautiful sunshine. We know how important it is for you to be aware of how to identify dehydration and can help you to prevent and treat this potentially dangerous condition.


Global climate change has led to warmer winters in NW Europe, shortening the distance between suitable overwintering areas and the breeding areas of many bird species. Here we show that winter recovery distances have decreased over the past seven decades, for birds ringed during the breeding season in the Netherlands between 1932 and 2004. Of the 24 species included in the analysis, we found in 12 a significant decrease of the distance to the wintering site. Species from dry, open areas shortened their distance the most, species from wet, open areas the least, while woodland species fall in between the other two habitats. The decline in migration distance is likely due to climate change, as migration distances are negatively correlated with the Dutch temperatures in the winter of recovery. With a shorter migration distance, species should be better able to predict the onset of spring at their breeding sites and this could explain the stronger advancement of arrival date found in several short distance species relative to long‐distance migrants.


After a half century of overtly inward-oriented policies, Brazil finally moved to open its trade regime in the early 1990s. Being one the last countries to make this move in a region that notoriously lagged behind East Asia, Brazil was quick to implement a comprehensive trade liberalization program, which had strong unilateral and regional components. In roughly five years, tariffs were slashed, nontariff barriers were removed, and Mercosur became a reality. Later on, even the possibility of a free trade zone for the hemisphere was entertained. Yet this initial momentum lost steam in the mid-1990s, undermined by inhospitable macroeconomic and international environments. When, at the turn of the century, the right macroeconomic policies were finally put in place and Brazil began to enjoy the benefits of a commodity boom, a new government took over that clearly had a skeptical view of trade. Despite initial concern, however, the political transition did not bring a significant policy reversal. But trade policy reform never regained its momentum, despite its unfinished agenda. This paper examines this agenda and argues that if Brazil really wants to fully enjoy the growth and welfare benefits of trade, it needs to further lower and rationalize its structure of protection; adopt a more aggressive, World Trade Organization–plus, policy to open markets abroad; design a regional integration strategy that makes sense to its smaller partners; and bring trade facilitation, particularly transport costs, to the core of its trade agenda. Mauricio Mesquita Moreira Brazil's Trade Policy: Old and New Issues 3


Among popular Web 2.0 applications are the social networking, photo-sharing websites like Flickr, Panoramio, Picasa Web, and Geograph. The phenomenon of user-generated content and the increased presence of geographic information in such applications have motivated researchers to consider them as a source of geographic information. In this paper we question whether such web applications can serve as reliable sources of spatial content. We differentiate between spatially explicit and implicit applications, in accordance to their declared aims, and evaluate if they have an impact on the spatial distribution of geotagged photos for Great Britain. We also compare the spatial distribution of the photos submitted with population data, and the patterns of contribution to these sources over a period of 18 months. Finally, at a larger scale, we examine the spatial distribution of photos and their spatial density for 15 test areas and look into issues such as data currency and user behaviour. Our findings show that only web applications that urge users to interact directly with spatial entities can serve as reliable, universal sources of spatial content.


Backward masking is a popular method of preventing awareness of facial expressions, but concerns have been expressed as to the effectiveness of masking in previous research, which may have resulted in unjustified claims of unconscious processing. We examined the minimum presentation time for discrimination of fearful, angry, happy and neutral faces in a backward masking task using both objective sensitivity measures, based on signal detection analysis, and subjective awareness ratings. Results from two experiments showed for all expressions the mean sensitivity and the sensitivity scores of most individual participants were above chance at presentation times of 20 ms. Awareness ratings for happy, fearful and angry also exceeded baseline ratings from 20 ms onwards. Overall sensitivity in both experiments was greatest for happy expressions, which is an agreement with previous reports. The results support the possibility of incomplete masking in earlier studies that used masking to prevent awareness of facial expressions.


OBJECTIVES: To assess desensitization in parents' repeated exposure to violence and sex in movies. METHODS: A national US sample of 1000 parents living with at least 1 target child in 1 of 3 age groups (6 to 17 years old) viewed a random sequence of 3 pairs of short scenes with either violent or sexual content from popular movies that were unrestricted to youth audiences (rated PG-13 or unrated) or restricted to those under age 17 years without adult supervision (rated R). Parents indicated the minimum age they would consider appropriate to view each film. Predictors included order of presentation, parent and child characteristics, and parent movie viewing history. RESULTS: As exposure to successive clips progressed, parents supported younger ages of appropriate exposure, starting at age 16.9 years (95% confidence interval [CI], 16.8 to 17.0) for violence and age 17.2 years (95% CI, 17.0 to 17.4) for sex, and declining to age 13.9 years (95% CI, 13.7 to 14.1) for violence and 14.0 years (95% CI, 13.7 to 14.3) for sex. Parents also reported increasing willingness to allow their target child to view the movies as exposures progressed. Desensitization was observed across parent and child characteristics, violence toward both human and non-human victims, and movie rating. Those who frequently watched movies were more readily desensitized to violence. CONCLUSIONS: Parents become desensitized to both violence and sex in movies, which may contribute to the increasing acceptance of both types of content by both parents and the raters employed by the film industry.


Abstract Factors influencing the extent and intensity of fertilizer adoption on maize production in Ethiopia were analyzed. A Weighted Endogenous Sampling Maximum Likelihood estimator was used in the specification of a Probit and Tobit fertilizer adoption models. The results have important implications for the formulation of policies and programs targeted to promotion of fertilizer use in small-scale maize production. Those include improved road infrastructure, consideration of weather related crop failure insurance programs, development of drought tolerant cultivars and targeting particular farmer groups.


The world is currently experiencing a massive change in the balance of power as influence and industry shift from the West to the East. The international system as we have known it since 1945 is being transformed with the rise of new powers, the impact of globalisation and changing values. Much has been made of China's rise to rival the United Sates in global economic influence with India in tow, and Brazil becoming the other possible major global power by the middle of the 21st century. Some studies, notably those of Goldman Sachs (BRICs and beyond) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (The world in 2050), point to the potential importance of Russia, Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey.


Test adequacy criteria provide the engineer with guidance on how to populate test suites. While adequacy criteria have long been a focus of research, existing testing methods do not address many of the fundamental characteristics of distributed systems, such as distribution topology, communication failure, and timing. Furthermore, they do not provide the engineer with a means to evaluate the relative effectiveness of different criteria, nor the relative effectiveness of adequate test suites satisfying a given criterion. This paper makes three contributions to the development and use of test adequacy criteria for distributed systems: (1) a testing method based on discrete-event simulations; (2) a fault-based analysis technique for evaluating test suites and adequacy criteria; and (3) a series of case studies that validate the method and technique. The testing method uses a discrete-event simulation as an operational specification of a system, in which the behavioral effects of distribution are explicitly represented. Adequacy criteria and test cases are then defined in terms of this simulation-based specification. The fault-based analysis involves mutation of the simulation-based specification to provide a foil against which test suites and the criteria that formed them can be evaluated. Three distributed systems were used to validate the method and technique, including DNS, the domain name system.


Gram-positive bacteria are enclosed by a single membrane and therefore have apparently not evolved or acquired secretion systems similar to the type I, III, and IV systems found in the gram-negative bacteria. Although type III and IV systems are not found in gram-positive bacterial pathogens, these pathogens still translocate effectors into eukaryotic cells. This chapter examines the structure-function aspects of the cholesterol-dependent cytolysins (CDCs) and how the CDC mechanism has been adapted for use by Streptococcus pyogenes to form its injectosome. The most recognizable feature of the CDC primary structure is the conserved undecapeptide that is located near the carboxy terminus of the CDCs. The CDCs are highly soluble proteins once released from the secretion system of the bacterial cell; and they undergo a remarkable transition that results in their conversion from soluble molecules into a supramolecular pore-forming membrane complex. The S. pyogenes injectosome is composed of two known components, SLO and the Sec-dependent secretion pathway; in combination, they are necessary for the translocation of the NAD+ glycohydrolase (SPN) from S. pyogenes into the cytoplasm of human keratinocytes. SPN is a 52-kDa protein that contains a typical signal peptide for a Sec-dependent protein and is found in the supernatant of cultured organisms. No SPN-related enzymes have been identified in other gram-positive bacteria, and SPN is not structurally related to any known protein. The injectosome of S. pyogenes is a paradigm that will impact several areas of biology because of the many interesting questions posed by this system.


In this monograph the author probes the fundamental nature of the concept of agency and its importance to human language and cognition. Whereas previous studies focused on grammatical manifestations this original work addresses such issues as the strong relationship between agency and responsibility, a philosophical interpretation of the concept of agency and a variety of epistemic attitudes towards agency that strongly influence our view of the world. Different cultures and languages process and express agency differently. To illustrate the co-relation between the linguistic expressions of agency and cultural stereotypes that lurk behind individual natural languages, the author analyses Japanese and English parallel corpora. It is shown that English tends to highlight agency in expressing actions and events, whereas Japanese largely obfuscates agency through impersonalising potential agents. Through the case studies on these languages this book sheds light on the close connection between language, thought and culture and contributes to the resurging interest in linguistic relativity.


The Clausius‐Clapeyron (CC) relation expresses the exponential increase in the moisture‐holding capacity of air of approximately 7%/°C. Earlier studies show that extreme hourly precipitation increases with daily mean temperature, consistent with the CC relation. Recent studies at specific locations found that for temperatures higher than around 12 °C, hourly precipitation extremes scale at rates higher than the CC scaling, a phenomenon that is often referred to as "super‐CC scaling." These scalings are typically estimated by collecting rainfall data in temperature bins, followed by a linear fit or a visual inspection of the precipitation quantiles in each bin. In this study, a piecewise linear quantile regression model is presented for a more flexible, and robust estimation of the scaling parameters, and their associated uncertainties. Moreover, we use associated information criteria to prove statistically whether or not a pronounced super‐CC scaling exists. The techniques were tested on stochastically simulated data and, when applied to hourly station data across Western Europe and Scandinavia, revealed large uncertainties in the scaling rates. Finally, goodness‐of‐fit measures indicated that the dew point temperature is a better scaling predictor than temperature.


We investigate the inflationary dynamics of two kinetically-coupled massless U(1) gauge fields with time-varying kinetic-term coefficients. Ensuring that the system does not have strongly coupled regimes shrinks the parameter space. Also, we further restrict ourselves to systems that can be quantized using the standard creation, annihilation operator algebra. This second constraint limits us to scenarios where the system can be diagonalized into the sum of two decoupled, massless, vector fields with a varying kinetic-term coefficient. Such a system might be interesting for magnetogenesis because of how the strong coupling problem generalizes. We explore this idea by assuming that one of the gauge fields is the Standard Model U(1) field and that the other dark gauge field has no particles charged under its gauge group. We consider whether it would be possible to transfer a magnetic field from the dark sector, generated perhaps before the coupling was turned on, to the visible sector. We also investigate whether the simple existence of the mixing provides more opportunities to generate magnetic fields. We find that neither possibility works efficiently, consistent with the well-known difficulties in inflationary magnetogenesis.