A survey of 763 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 145 with osteoarthritis in six clinics in New Zealand showed no association between aspirin intake and a score designed to detect analgesic nephropathy. Analgesic nephropathy was diagnosed clinically in three patients taking APC (aspirin, phenacetin, and caffeine or codeine or both) and in one who took aspirin and phenylbutazone and was suspected in one who took aspirin and paracetamol. Isolated aspirin was not implicated. The study showed that most people can take large quantities of salicylates without renal injury. The findings are, however, consistent with the view that there is a risk from APC compounds taken in large quantity, but the numbers at risk in this study were small. Aspirin may have an additive effect with other analgesics in causing renal damage. An increased frequency of urinary tract symptoms in those taking analgesics requires further investigation.


The potential of low doses of the chloro-triazine herbicide terbuthylazine to induce DNA damage and impair activity of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) was evaluated in kidney and parenchymal and non-parenchymal liver cells of adult male rats. In a 28-day study, terbuthylazine was applied daily by oral gavage at doses: 0.004, 0.4 and 2.29 mg/kg bw/day. Tail Intensity (T Int) and Tail Length (TL) were used as descriptors of DNA damage. In the kidney, Tail Int was significantly different in all treated groups, while TL was different in 0.4 and 2.29 mg/kg bw/day groups, compared to controls. Significant differences in TL were recorded in parenchymal and non-parenchymal liver cells of all treated groups. Tail Int was significantly different from controls in non-parenchymal liver cells at all applied doses and in parenchymal cells at terbuthylazine doses of 0.004 and 2.29 mg/kg bw/day. A significant increase in GPx activity was observed only in the kidney at doses 0.4 and 2.29 mg/kg bw/day compared to the controls indicating its possible role in the protection of kidney from free radicals. It appears that repeated exposure to low doses of terbuthylazine could cause DNA instability in kidney cells and in parenchymal and non-parenchymal liver cells in rats.


Fibular Grafting and Impaction Bone Grafting (FAIBG) is a type of minimally invasive hip preserving procedure with stable clinical curative effects and a standard operation procedure. However, FAIBG requires a difficult technique and a series of complex procedures. Therefore, the discovery of a new methodology for surgical guidance that could lead to accurate, safe, easily performed surgeries will play a crucial role in the promotion and application of FAIBG. From September 2013 to July 2014, one surgeon performed FAIBG on 10 patients (4 males and 6 females) with an average age of 40 years (range, 35-50 years) using patient-specific surgical guides. All patients underwent preoperative X-ray examinations and CT and MRI scans. Before surgery, we performed preoperative planning with patientspecific surgical guides by Computer Aided Design (CAD), and the length of the bone tunnel; bone mass, percentage by volume, and percentage by surface area were measured. After surgery, ten fibular allografts and screws were placed in 10 patients diagnosed with ARCO II FHN. All implants were successfully placed using patient-specific surgical guides. After the application of the patient-specific surgical guide, the operating times were 53-75 min (average: 68.6 min), the blood loss volumes were 90-150 ml (average 120 ml), the operative incision sizes were 5-7 cm (average 6.4 cm), and the mean hospital stay was 13.2 d. All cases were followed up for 12 to 30 months (average: 20.4 months). In conclusions, patient-specific surgical guidance may enable more intuitive and precise preoperative planning for hip-preserving procedures.


The nickel-dependent enzyme urease is a virulence factor for a large number of human pathogens, as well as a negative element for the efficiency of soil nitrogen fertilization for crop production. The use of urease inhibitors to contrast these effects requires the knowledge, at the molecular level, of their mode of action. Among these, silver is an efficient antimicrobial agent and an established inhibitor of this enzyme. The 1.91 A resolution structure of Sporosarcina pasteurii urease inhibited by silver reveals the presence of two Ag(I) ions bound to the largely conserved triad αCys322/αHis323/αMet367: the first two residues are located on the mobile flap that is essential in modulating the size of the active site cavity and the position of key residues for enzyme catalysis, while αMet367 is on a loop facing the flap at the entrance of the active site cavity. The two Ag(I) ions are bridged by the thiolate Sγ atom of αCys322, and are coordinated, respectively, to the Nδ1 atom of the αHis323 imidazole ring and to the Sδ of αMet367. The binding of the Ag(I) ions at the edge of the active site channel supposedly blocks the movement of the flap, inhibiting the catalytic activity of urease. The structure of the silver-inhibited urease allows us to understand and rationalise all previously acquired kinetic and calorimetric data on this phenomenon, but also provides the details of how silver can exert its antimicrobial action with respect to ureolytic bacteria, a step forward against antibiotic-resistant pathogens.


Objective: To examine trends in the numbers of new applications for ethics clearance of health research and associated research ethics committee secretariat activity. Methods: Data were obtained from research ethics committee secretariat databases with ethics approval. Results: General research applications increased from 440 in 2002 to 685 in 2011, all handled by one full-time staff member. This load is expected to increase by 250 per year for 2012, 2013 and 2014 before reaching a plateau. This new applications load per year is based on registered clinical postgraduates at the University of the Witwatersrand in a 4-year specialisation who must comply with the new Health Professions Council of South Africa requirement for completion of Master's level research in order to register as a clinical specialist. Sponsored clinical trials have remained and should remain at approximately 100 per year but require three staff members to attend to this workload. Conclusion: The increased workload is a serious challenge and has to be tackled first by increasing the administrative staff number.


Let G be a graph with no isolated vertex. In this paper, we study a parameter that is a relaxation of arguably the most important domination parameter, namely the total domination number, γt(G). A set S of vertices in G is a disjunctive total dominating set of G if every vertex is adjacent to a vertex of S or has at least two vertices in S at distance 2 from it. The disjunctive total domination number, γdt(G), is the minimum cardinality of such a set. We observe that γdt(G) ≤γt(G). Let G be a connected graph on n vertices with minimum degree δ. It is known [J. Graph Theory 35 (2000), 21 13;45] that if δ≥2 and n ≥11, then γt(G) ≤4n/7. Further [J. Graph Theory 46 (2004), 207 13;210] if δ≥3, then γt(G) ≤n/2. We prove that if δ≥2 and n ≥8, then γdt(G) ≤n/2 and we characterize the extremal graphs.


Recent advances in neural word embedding provide significant benefit to various information retrieval tasks. However as shown by recent studies, adapting the embedding models for the needs of IR tasks can bring considerable further improvements. The embedding models in general define the term relatedness by exploiting the terms' co-occurrences in short-window contexts. An alternative (and well-studied) approach in IR for related terms to a query is using local information i.e. a set of top-retrieved documents. In view of these two methods of term relatedness, in this work, we report our study on incorporating the local information of the query in the word embeddings. One main challenge in this direction is that the dense vectors of word embeddings and their estimation of term-to-term relatedness remain difficult to interpret and hard to analyze. As an alternative, explicit word representations propose vectors whose dimensions are easily interpretable, and recent methods show competitive performance to the dense vectors. We introduce a neural-based explicit representation, rooted in the conceptual ideas of the word2vec Skip-Gram model. The method provides interpretable explicit vectors while keeping the effectiveness of the Skip-Gram model. The evaluation of various explicit representations on word association collections shows that the newly proposed method out- performs the state-of-the-art explicit representations when tasked with ranking highly similar terms. Based on the introduced ex- plicit representation, we discuss our approaches on integrating local documents in globally-trained embedding models and discuss the preliminary results.


Differences in the residential, employment, and household characteristics of African Americans and European Americans are well documented, but racial differences in the journey to work are still not well known. Compared to the past, there are now more studies about the commuting behavior of African Americans, but the specific impact of the exodus of jobs to suburban locations on African American men and women who live in inner cities is still understudied. One study of Buffalo, NY examined racial differences in commuting, but it focused only on women (Johnston-Anumonwo 1995). In a follow-up study, men were included in the analysis (Johnston-Anumonwo, 1997), but both sets of inquiries concentrated on employment characteristics and ignored household characteristics which are likely to feature significantly for female workers. The purpose of the present study is to examine the question of racial differences in locational access to jobs in Rochester, NY and draw parallels with the previous findings for Buffalo, NY. While presenting new data for Rochester, the study retains the critical inquiry on whether suburban employment imposes longer commute times on African Americans than on European Americans, but extends the inquiry to see if presence of children in the home affects workers' commute lengths. The results for Rochester strongly complement those for Buffalo and are consistent with the spatial mismatch hypothesis, which posited that African Americans suffer from distant suburban employment. Following a review of the background literature of the journey to work for African Americans, a brief description of the study areas and data is provided, and then the findings are presented. The study's findings highlight the fact that African American men, and especially women, endure relatively long commutes to get to work in spite of transportation, locational and socioeconomic hindrances. THE JOURNEY TO WORK FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS Inquiries about racial disparities in employment accessibility are central to the spatial mismatch hypothesis (Kain, 1968). When it was first proposed in the 1960s, the hypothesis emphasized that employment opportunities are expanding in suburban locations, but because of continuing segregation of Blacks in inner cities, there exists a spatial mismatch, such that Black inner city residents face difficulties in reaching the growing job opportunities in suburbs (see Holzer, 1991 for a review). There has been little change in the residential segregation of Blacks between 1960s and now (Darden, 1990; Denton, 1994; Massey and Hajnal, 1995). This is true for the two Upstate New York counties selected for this study: Monroe County and Erie County (with Rochester and Buffalo as their respective central cities). Monroe County was 4.1 percent black in 1960 and 10.1 percent black in 1980, but 97.5 percent of the county's Black population in 1960 lived in the Rochester central city and in 1980, 87.7 percent did. A similar and even sharper pattern of disproportionate representation of Blacks in the central city prevails in Erie County. Erie County was 7 percent black in 1960 and 10.1 percent black in 1980 with 94.7 percent and 92.4 percent of the Black population respectively living in the central city in both time periods (U.S. Dept. of Commerce, 1963; 1983a; 1883b). Early research on the effect of the exodus of jobs to suburban locations on the workplace accessibility of inner city African Americans rarely included female workers even though African American women have historically had high levels of labor force participation. Studies on the journey to work of female workers highlight two key trends. First, Black women have longer travel times than White women. Second, unlike White women who typically have shorter commutes than White men, the journey-to-work time of Black women are generally as long as those of Black men. For example, McLafferty and Preston (1991) report that in 1980, African American women in metropolitan New York spend 10 minutes longer on the average for their home-to-work trip than European American women. …


Bus trackers aid in travel planning with real-time bus arrival and location information. However, their sight-centered design means they're inherently challenging for the blind. A clear understanding of their help-seeking situations in interacting with bus trackers is necessary to design appropriate help features as a solution. We present a qualitative method to study help-seeking situations of blind users in interacting with bus-trackers, and illustrate its application on the use of CTA bus tracker. Think-aloud observation of seven participants generated verbal reports of performing bus-tracking activities. Qualitative analysis explained what, where, and how help-seeking situations arose in learning the interface, in site interaction, determining estimated time of arrival, requesting ETA alerts, and finding bus location. We elaborate results pertinent to key help-seeking situations, the underlying help needs, and design implications for appropriate help features. The paper contributes a feasible qualitative method to study help-seeking situations, as well as valuable insights into the thoughts, actions and perceptions of blind users in real time bus tracking. This represents the first step towards developing the tool to transform the 45 million blind citizens into empowered transit riders. Implications for transit agencies, real time systems designers, and research in travel management, human-computer interaction and cognitive science are discussed.


In recent years, the transport simulation of large road networks has become far more rapid and detailed, and many exciting developments in this field have emerged. Within this volume, the authors describe the simulation of automobile, pedestrian, and rail traffic coupled to new applications, such as the embedding of traffic simulation into driving simulators, to give a more realistic environment of driver behavior surrounding the subject vehicle. New approaches to traffic simulation are described, including the hybrid mesoscopic-microscopic model and floor-field agent-based simulation. Written by an invited panel of experts, this book addresses students, engineers, and scholars, as well as anyone who needs a state-of-the-art overview of transport simulation today.


Dengue fever is endemic in tropical and subtropical areas. It is a non-contagious disease. It is a mosquito-borne viral disease which is spread by the female Ades mosquito. The mosquito breeds in the stagnant water. The symptoms of dengue include a headache, high fever, rashes, severe joint pain and muscle pain. Dengue fever lasts about 3-10days. There is no vaccination for dengue fever. Only preventive measures can be taken to avoid the disease. An online survey was conducted. The participants were asked to take the survey, and the responses were collected. The results are statistically analysed. From the survey, the results are obtained.66% of them said that dengue is transmissible.33% of them are unaware of the common symptoms of dengue. 79% of them say that there are no specific vaccinations for dengue. 71% of the participants say that mosquito breeds in stagnant water. In conclusion, although the awareness regarding dengue and mosquito control measures was quite high, more emphases should be laid on putting this knowledge into practice.


To examine food intake trends in the US population, cross-sectional nationally representative food intake data were obtained from the 1987 and 1992 National Health Interview Survey Cancer Control Supplements. In each of these years, approximately 10,000 respondents completed methodologically consistent food frequency questionnaires containing the same 57 food items. Between 1987 and 1992, the proportion of Americans consuming high-fat foods, including fried fish, fried chicken, bacon, eggs, whole milk, and butter, decreased. The proportion of Americans drinking alcoholic beverages also decreased: fewer drank wine and hard liquor in 1992. The proportion of fruit and vegetable consumers remained stable over time. These results are similar to those obtained from more detailed national surveys. National guidelines urge Americans to avoid intake of high-fat foods, increase consumption of fruits and vegetables, and practice moderation when drinking alcoholic beverages to prevent cancer and other chronic diseases. The direction of Americans' apparent changes in food usage between 1987 and 1992, evaluated using limited data from food frequency questionnaires, suggests greater behavioral changes in the direction of guidelines recommending avoidance of foods that may increase the risk of cancer than in the direction of guidelines recommending increased consumption of foods that may confer protection.


Loss of pigment, either partial (hypopigmentation) or complete (depigmentation), can have a profound psychological impact, perhaps seemingly out of proportion for something that is almost exclusively benign.1 Remarkably, hypopigmentation has been referenced in many ancient religious texts, often in the context of being a curse or contagious disease, firmly securing this cutaneous malady at the very deepest level of culture.2 A compelling illustration of this occurs in the Old Testament when Miriam speaks against Moses and is punished thusly: "… suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow."3 It is difficult to imagine a more wicked association for a skin disease than such an execration. Although the vast majority of hypopigmentation encountered in the modern world is neither contagious nor dangerous, fear, anxiety and uncertainty continue to surround this problem for patient and physician alike.

An exhaustive list of causes of hypopigmentation and depigmentation would contain many rare and obscure entities, but in this review the focus will be limited to three of the most common causes of acquired loss of pigment in children.4 By closely examining pityriasis alba, pityriasis (tinea) versicolor, and vitiligo, some of the fear, anxiety and uncertainty may be dispelled and, even if they cannot be cured, simple understanding may provide some relief.

Pityriasis alba is a common, benign form of localised, often slightly scaly areas of hypopigmenation, usually on the head, neck, and upper extremities of children.5 While the pathogenesis is unclear, many studies seem to support the idea that it is a form of low-grade eczematous dermatitis.6

Pityriasis versicolor is sometimes called tinea versicolor, but "pityriasis" derives from the Greek for "grain husk" or "bran" and descriptively refers to the flaky, bran-like scale of this extremely common superficial fungal infection.7 Figure 1 is a photograph of bran …


Project risks management is a non trivial task based on manager experience and knowledge collected in past executed projects. The larger the project manager experience and the available enterprise risk knowledge, the better the enterprise ability in risk management will be.

For this reason the scientific community has focused its attention on the identification of methods, tools, and techniques for formalizing experience and know-how and making it available for other projects.

In this sense, the authors have already presented a Risk Knowledge Package [1] for managing risk knowledge during software process execution.

The work here proposed represents the continuation of such studies. In particular, an empirical investigation in industrial field has been carried out. Such investigation, based on legacy projects of EDS Italia Software SpA, aims at validating the effectiveness and the precision of the proposed approach.

The results obtained encourage and stimulate further investigations in different software contexts.


Woody biomass is a renewable energy feedstock with the potential to reduce current use of nonrenewable fossil fuels. We estimated the physical availability of woody biomass for cocombustion at coal-fired electricity plants in the 20-state US northern region. First, we estimated the total amount of woody biomass needed to replace total annual coal-based electricity consumption at the state level to provide a representation of the potential energy footprints associated with using woody biomass for electric energy. If all woody biomass available were used for electric generation it could replace no more than 19% of coal-based electric generation or 11% of total electric energy generation. Second, we examined annual woody biomass increment at the state level in a series of concentric circles around existing coal-fired electricity plants to examine some of the opportunities and limitations associated with using woody biomass for cofiring at those plants to coincide with state-level renewable portfolio standards. On average, an individual coal-fired power electricity plant could theoretically replace 10% of annual coal use if it obtained 30% of the net annual woody biomass increment within a 34-km radius of the plant. In reality, the irregular spatial distribution of coal-fired power plants means potential biomass supply zones overlap and would greatly diminish opportunities for cofiring with biomass, numerous other regulatory, economic, and social considerations notwithstanding. Given that woody biomass use for electricity will be limited to selected locations, use of woody biomass for energy should be complementary with other forest conservation goals.


The U.S. Congress regulated the railroad industry in 1887, and over the course of the 20th century also granted the industry significant antitrust immunities. Antitrust immunities are laws that expressly exempt an industry from prosecution under antitrust laws, such as the Sherman Act. Presumably, the rationale for railroad antitrust immunities was that because railroads were stringently regulated, the regulators alone would uphold antitrust principles and make antitrust litigation unnecessary. However, culminating in the passage of the Staggers Rail Act of 1980, the railroad industry was largely deregulated, yet retained many antitrust immunities. This has raised concerns among shippers and consumers that railroad companies, which often face neither regulation nor antitrust liability, can freely commit anticompetitive abuses. Given these concerns and currently proposed legislation to abolish railroad antitrust immunities, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate the efficacy of legal outcomes in a counterfactual situation where antitrust immunities are abolished. To reach this end, I will first clarify railroad regulation and deregulation, antitrust laws as they apply to all other industries, and the poorly understood railroad antitrust immunities.


Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic phenomenon resulting in differential gene expression based on parental origin. Recently, transketolase-like 1 (TKTL1) has been identified as an X-linked imprinted gene. TKTL1 functions in the nonoxidative branch of the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), which maintains glutathione in a reduced state through the generation of NADPH. Previous studies on transaldolase, the other critical enzyme in the nonoxidative branch of the PPP, suggest that TKTL1 may affect the cell's ability to reduce glutathione. This study provides evidence that TKTL1 overexpression inhibits glutathione reduction. Intriguingly, aberrant glutathione levels are associated with autism. Additionally, studies involving Turner syndrome females found that differences in social behavior could distinguish females expressing the maternal X chromosome from those expressing the paternal X chromosome. This led researchers to hypothesize the influence of an X-linked imprinted gene in autism. Accordingly, this study compared TKTL1 expression levels in autistic patients versus their unaffected siblings. The results suggest that further studies are required.


The design of nanofiber scaffolds has been a key objective in tissue engineering as they structurally mimic the natural extracellular matrix (ECM) found in tissues. The continuous cross talk between cells and the surrounding matrix ligands plays a crucial role during development and wound healing which leads to tissue regeneration and repair. In an attempt to provide a nanofiber scaffold with a ligand that can promote cell adhesion and ECM production, we propose the use of our peptide-amphiphile nanofibers as a potential scaffold for tissue engineering. A fibronectin-mimetic peptide sequence containing both the cell-binding GRGDSP domain and the synergistic PHSRN domain has been recently developed in our group. It has been shown to be a specific ligand for the α5β1 integrin, and has been synthesized to a C16 single-tailed peptide-amphiphile, PR_g (with a peptide headgroup of GGGSSPHSRN(SG)5RGDSP). The PR_g peptide-amphiphiles self-assemble into nanofibers in an aqueous environment and form hydrogels. In this study, the PR_g hydrogels were characterized with cryo-scanning electron microscopy (cryo-SEM) and rheology measurements, and their surfaces were evaluated in terms of sustaining long term human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) adhesion and proliferation, cytoskeleton formation, and secretion of extracellular fibronectin. PR_g gels were compared to polyethylene glycol (PEG) gels, PEG gels functionalized with fibronectin as well as commercially available peptide hydrogels (PuraMatrix). Our results show that the PR_g hydrogels outperform the other gels evaluated in this study and therefore hold promise as scaffolds for tissue engineering.


In order to understand the functionality and design aspects of power converters, circuit simulation software PSpice has become an industry standard. In a Power Electronics course the students are required to understand the operating principles of a variety of static power converters using different control techniques to achieve the desired input-output characteristics.This paper presents PSpice-based design projects that can be used as pre-Lab exercises in a Laboratory course accompanying a lecture course in Power Electronics. The students can be made to implement their design in the laboratory with actual hardware components. The transition from design to simulation and finally to experimental verification will aid to strengthen their understanding of the operation, control, and design aspects of power converters. The design projects are geared towards bringing out the importance of power quality and cost issues that are relevant to state of the art circuit design.The design examples in the paper will start with a set of design guidelines and input-output requirements of a given power converter system. The design will involve selection of the proper control algorithm, switching frequency, and input-output filter values to meet the design goals. The following are the basic converter systems that will be covered in the various design projects: single phase and three phase rectifier, single phase and three phase inverters, buck and boost converter.


This dissertation is about the application of an amorphous magnetic material (AMM) to a sleeve-free interior permanent-magnet (PM) rotor of high-speed synchronous motors. Currently, surface-mounted PM rotors are commonly used in the high-speed motors. In order to protect the high-speed rotors from centrifugal forces, high-strength non-ferromagnetic sleeves are required. This results in a reduced torque density, lowered flux-weakening ability, and highen losses of the motor caused by pulse-width-modulation (PWM) voltage. Hence, a sleeve-free rotor structure is beneficial.
AMM has been used for transformers and inductors for decades. It is well-known due to its low core losses. However, because of its high hardness and brittleness, slotting becomes a key obstacle to its application in electrical machines. Hence, this material has not been widely applied in the electrical machines yet. An important property, the high mechanical strength of the AMM has been ignored eagerly. In this work, an interior PM rotor made from AMM for high-speed operation is studied. The high mechanical strength and the low core losses of the AMM are fully taken use of. Because of the difficulty in slotting of the AMM, this material is not used for the stator and a conventional silicon steel will be used.
In order to fulfill the proposed high-speed rotor, the properties of the AMM in terms of electromagnetics and mechanics are experimentally studied. The influences of the mechanical stress and temperature on the electromagnetic properties of the AMM cores are well studied. Based on the measured data, a prototype is designed and optimized in terms of electromagnetics, mechanics and thermal behaviors. To ensure the success of the prototype, the slotting methods are also investigated and wire electrical discharge machining method is selected for manufacturing of the AMM rotor core. In order to show the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed high-speed AMM rotor, a surface-mounted PM rotor covered by a carbon-fiber sleeve is designed as a comparison. Since the influences of the PWM inverter on the losses of the high-speed motors are significant and this problem has not been thoroughly investigated before, the dissertation goes into a further research on it to fill the gap in this field.
Finally, two prototypes are built and tested. The design results are verified through experiments. It is verified that by applying the AMM to the proposed rotor, the performance of the high-speed PM motor is significantly improved, such as better flux weaking ability, higher torque and power densities and higher efficiency. Based on the tested data of the prototypes, it is confirmed that the AMM has high potential in the application of high-speed high-power-density PM motors.


The issue of adaptation has long been a salient one among film critics for quite practical reasons, as Dudley Andrew has observed: The making of a film out of an earlier text is virtually as old as the machinery of cinema itself. Well over half of all commercial films have come from literary originals, though by no means all of these originals are revered or respected. (10) While a diverse range of literary genres has spawned film adaptations, the novel has been by far the most popular written source throughout the history of the cinema. Morris Beja estimates that in the typical year, about 30 percent of American movies are based on novels. And among the films that have won either the Academy Award or the New York Film Critics Award for "Best Picture" since 1935, the largest proportion have been film adaptations of novels (Beja 78). In light of the important role novels have played in service to filmmaking, then, it is not surprising that, when faced with the prospect of evaluating a film based on a novel, critics often ground their judgments in assessments of the effectiveness of the adaptation. Yet, it is not uncommon to find contradictory evaluations of the same film, with one critic judging the adaptation successful while another deems it a failure. Some might argue that such disagreement simply illustrates the utter subjectivity of criticism; however, I contend that these differences in judgment stem from the critics' adoption of differing paradigms for evaluating the film adaptation. In this essay, I examine four prominent paradigms concerning film adaptation that are at work in contemporary academic criticism, and I explore the limits and possibilities of discourse that each paradigm permits, using the film adaptation of Anne Tyler's novel The Accidental Tourist to illustrate. It is not my purpose to conclude that one particular paradigm is necessarily best, for such a judgment would ignore a complexity of factors that mitigate in the individual case, including the linguistic qualities of the specific novel and the socio-historical circumstances of the film's creation. Rather, this essay is an attempt to re-configure the critical discourse about film adaptation, by pointing to the assumptions behind the critic's adoption of a particular paradigm and the constraints upon critical commentary that result from that decision. Four Critical Paradigms of Film Adaptation . The first and perhaps oldest paradigm applied by critics in their evaluations of film adaptations might be called the "translation" paradigm. A critic adopting this perspective judges the film's effectiveness primarily in terms of its "fidelity" to the novel, particularly with regard to narrative elements, such as character, setting, and theme. Dudley Andrew refers to this as the film remaining faithful to the "letter" of the text (12). Michael Klein and Gillian Parker have argued that this criterion is a viable basis for evaluation, even though, as countless theorists have noted, omissions from the novel are inevitable in the film adaptation: There has to be a good deal of selection and condensation when a novel... is transposed into a film of roughly two hours: scenes have to be cut, minor characters simplified or eliminated, subplots dispensed with. But this need not exclude fidelity to the main thrust of the narrative, to the author's central concerns, to the natures of the major characters, to the ambiance of the novel, and, what is perhaps most important, to the genre of the source. (9) The criterion of fidelity is often articulated explicitly in critics' evaluations of film adaptations. For example, Constance Spiedel judged the film Terms of Endearment, directed by James L. Brooks, a poor adaptation because the film significantly changes one of the novel's primary characters: James L. Brooks has proved once again that a successful film does not need to be a faithful adaptation, but Terms of Endearment raises the question, why bother to adapt? …


Simple analytic expressions are derived that describe the propagation of a Gaussian high-power laser pulse subject to ionization defocusing in a gas. The analysis is based on the paraxial-ray equation and the Coulomb-barrier model for optical field ionization. Good agreement with recent experimental data is obtained without an adjustable parameter. Experimental observations relevant to high-power pulse propagation follow naturally from the theory.


Doppler optical coherence tomography (DOCT) is a technique for simultaneous cross-sectional imaging of tissue structure and blood flow. We derive the fundamental uncertainty limits on frequency estimation precision in DOCT using the Cramer-Rao lower bound in the case of additive (e.g., thermal, shot) noise. Experimental results from a mirror and a scattering phantom are used to verify the theoretical limits. Our results demonstrate that the stochastic nature of frequency noise influences the precision of flow imaging, and that the noise model must be selected judiciously in order to estimate the frequency precision.


BACKGROUND
Radiation shielding is mandatory during cardiac catheterization, but there is a need to improve efficacy and ease of use.

METHODS
The aim of the study was to assess the shielding effect and user feedback for a novel flexible multiconfiguration x-ray shield (FMX). The 0.5-mm Pb equivalent FMX can be selectively configured to accommodate for variations in patient morphology, access site, and type of procedure with maintained visualization, vascular access, and shielding. To evaluate efficacy, relative operator dose (operator dose indexed for given dose) was measured during 103 consecutive procedures randomized in a 1:1 proportion to the current routine setup or FMX+routine. User feedback was collected on function, relevance, and likelihood of adoption into clinical practice.

RESULTS
Median relative operator dose was 3.63 μSv/µGy·m2×10-3 (IQR, 2.62-6.37) with routine setup and 0.57 μSv/µGy·m2×10-3 (IQR, 0.27-1.06) with FMX+routine, which amounts to an 84.4% reduction (P<0.001). For 500 procedures/year, this corresponds to an estimated yearly dose reduction from 3.6 to 0.7 mSv. User feedback regarding size, functionality, ease of use, likely to use, critical issues, shielding, draping, procedure time, vascular access, patient discomfort, and risk was 99% positive. No critical issues were identified. There was no significant difference in patient radiation exposure.

CONCLUSIONS
The FMX reduces radiation exposure considerably. The FMX represents an effective and attractive solution for radiation protection that can easily be implemented in existing workflow. FMX has potential for general use with maintained visualization, vascular access, and shielding in routine cardiac catheterization.


Recent financial crises and contagion call into question the wisdom of capital account liberalization. There is consensus that something is terribly wrong in the way international financial markets work for developing countries and that fixing is urgent. But what is wrong? Most views in developed countries identify the problems with too much capital flows, attracted by moral hazard. However, our analysis shows that the role of this distortion is being grossly exaggerated and that, in contrast, the main distortions in international financial markets are associated with capital flows being too little, restricted by sovereign risk, and too volatile because of market failures.


The paper summarises an investigation of the volcanology of the Venetia kimberlite cluster and the country rock structures in the immediate vicinity of the pipes. Our study shows that the pre-existing country rock structure and the stress field prevailing during emplacement control the position and morphology of the pipes. The pipes were formed along pre-existing zones of weakness, and the pipe shapes are elongated in the direction of fractures and faults. The highest degree of vertical and lateral pipe shape irregularity is found in the vicinity of country rock structural weaknesses. The understanding of this relationship between pipe geometry and country rock structure can significantly affect mineral resource models. The most important volcanological feature of the cluster is the presence of bedded fragmental rocks filling the main pipes K1 and K2. These rocks are readily interpreted as volcaniclastic in origin, yet are petrographically identified as typical Southern African tuffisitic kimberlite breccias ("TKB"). These observations contradict the hypothesis that "TKB's" are intrusive rocks, which are expected to be massive and unstructured in nature. The presence of accretionary (armoured) lapilli, soft sediment deformation, and signs of reworking within the volcaniclastic deposits suggest a high moisture content of the volcaniclastic material during and after emplacement of the pipe. Monolithic talus fans as well as contact breccias represent significant facies types within the Venetia kimberlite cluster. The contact breccias show signs of downward movement along the pipe walls, suggesting a considerable volume deficit at depth. These volcanological observations need to be accounted for in a comprehensive emplacement model for the Venetia kimberlite pipes. The observed structures, internal textures and facies suggest that the Venetia pipes were emplaced in several violent volcanic phases, separated by periods of relative inactivity.


Teaching a statistics course for undergraduate computer science students can be extremely challenging: As statistics teachers we are usually faced with problems ranging from a complete disinterest in the subject to lack of basic knowledge in mathematics and anxiety for failing the exam, since statistics has the reputation of having high failure rates. In our case, we additionally struggle with difficulties in the timing of the lectures as well as often occurring absence of the students due to spare-time jobs or a long traveling time to the university. This paper reveals how these issues can be addressed by the introduction of a blended learning module in statistics. In the following, we describe an e-learning development process used to implement time- and location-independent learning in statistics. The study focuses on a six-step-approach for developing the blended learning module. In addition, the teaching framework for the blended module is presented, including suggestions for increasing the interest in learning the course. Furthermore, the first experimental in-class-usage has been completed and the outcome is discussed.


In both the McCarthy and post-9/11 periods the U.S. has turned to administrative measures to label those perceived to be the greatest risks to internal security. The 1950s saw the blacklisting of suspected Communists and the even more extensive disqualification of government employees under the era's loyalty and security programs. Today, the most widespread efforts to identify terrorists and suspected terrorists involve the growing phenomenon of terrorist watch lists: compilations of names of known or suspected terrorists that are then checked against particular individuals at specified occasions, triggering certain consequences. This Article examines how the 21st century use of watch lists might or might not resemble the labeling of the McCarthy period, and how the experience of that era might inform an evaluation of present-day designation of the dangerous. After first describing the two labeling mechanisms, it compares them along several axes, finding that watch listing has both repeated some 1950s failings and moved on to develop some new ones of its own. In particular, because they are compiled and used in an opaque and completely one-sided process, watch lists run a substantial risk of incorrectly including many people who pose no threat. Drawing on the experience of the 1950s, the Article assesses three ways to address this problem of false positives in the designation of the dangerous: narrowing the substantive standard for selection; adding procedural protections, particularly some form of adversarial process; and restricting the uses of the resulting list. The Article recommends that watch lists be used only to trigger surveillance, investigation, or other relatively minor impositions. In other words, the watch should be put back in watch lists. With that limitation, watch lists can serve a valuable function of separating the more threatening from the less threatening, thereby increasing the efficiency of terrorist screening and investigation.


Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an emerging arbovirus transmitted to humans by mosquitoes such as Aedes albopictus. To be transmitted, CHIKV must replicate in the mosquito midgut, then disseminate in the hemocele and infect the salivary glands before being released in saliva. We have developed a standardized protocol to visualize viral particles in the mosquito salivary glands using transmission electron microscopy. Here we provide direct evidence for CHIKV replication and storage in Ae. albopictus salivary glands.


Summary
Large, severe disturbances drive many forest ecosystems over the long term, but pose management uncertainties when human experience with them is limited. Recent continent-scale outbreaks of bark beetles across the temperate Northern Hemisphere have raised major concerns as to whether coniferous forests will regenerate back towards pre-outbreak condition and meet possible reforestation objectives. To date, however, analyses of post-outbreak regeneration across broad spatial and temporal scales have been rare, and entirely lacking for many regions.
Following a series of large, severe ( 99% overstorey mortality) outbreaks of spruce bark beetles Ips typographus in Central Europe, we capitalized on an extensive forest inventory data set (n = 615 plots across 7000 ha) to evaluate regeneration dynamics in Norway spruce Picea abies forests across the Bohemian Forest Ecosystem (spanning Germany and the Czech Republic). We asked whether neighbourhood effects (conspecific advance regeneration of spruce) would support prompt regeneration back to spruce forest, or whether the rapid, severe canopy mortality would overwhelm this influence and promote pioneer and broadleaf species. We tracked 15 years of post-outbreak regeneration dynamics (occupancy, density, height, composition) of all tree species and evaluated initial variations in successional pathway and structure.
Median tree regeneration density increased from 400 trees ha−1 at the time of outbreak to 2000 trees ha−1 within a decade, and occupancy increased from 58% to 76%. The increases were driven by spruce, which primarily recruited from advance regeneration, gradually occupying greater height classes. Only one broadleaf/pioneer species increased in relative proportion, for a brief (<3-year) period before declining again. Nevertheless, both pure spruce and spruce–broadleaf stands were common and, coupled with wide variations in density and height, contributed to diverse early-successional structure.
Synthesis and applications. Contrary to common expectations, spruce beetle outbreaks in Central Europe effectively promoted their host in the long term. Outbreak-affected forests are naturally self-replacing even after severe canopy mortality, when positive neighbourhood effects of conspecific advance regeneration lead to rapid replacement of the dominant species. Thus, natural regeneration may be considered among the most effective ways to meet possible reforestation objectives in forests destroyed by beetles.


Background: Bacterial Vaginosis (BV) in pregnant women is associated with low birth weight infants, premature rupture of membranes, chorioamnionitis, pelvic inflammation disease, and post abortal sepsis. These complications are serious health problems, therefore diagnosis and treatment of BV in pregnant women is very important. Amsel criteria has usually been used to diagnose BV in clinical setting. However, this test is subjective and depends on the experience of examiners. Spiegel criteria is one of Gram staining methods that is simple and feasible to diagnose BV, but it hasn't been used routinely. Besides, the internal reliability of Spiegel criteria was unclear.
Objectives: To evaluate internal reliability of vaginal smear examination using Spiegel criteria to diagnose BV in pregnant women.
Methods: This was a diagnostic test study. Vaginal smear samples from 83 pregnant women were stained with Gram stain, then identified two times and randomly by an investigator using Spiegel criteria. Kappa test was used to measure internal reliability between first and second examination, three weeks after the first examination.
Results: This study yielded kappa value 0.82 for diagnosis BV; 0.60 for Lactobacillus scoring; 0.55 for Gardnerella scoring; and 0.46 for mixed flora scoring.
Conclusion: Lactobacillus scoring had good internal reliability, while Gardnerella and mixed flora scoring had poor internal reliability. However, when these scorings were simplified with Spiegel criteria, internal reliability to diagnose BV became very good. It showed that Spiegel criteria had very good internal reliability to diagnose BV in pregnant women, thus it could be suggested for routine examination.

Key words: internal reliability, Spiegel criteria, bacterial vaginosis.


Measurements of very small phase changes in optical measurement techniques are usually performed with interferometric methods that are based on evaluation of interference patterns, which correspond to a phase change of the investigated wave field. If values of the phase change are small, it is difficult to determine accurately the phase values, and one needs very expensive measurement systems. We present a simple method for evaluation of small phase variations that uses the interference of polychromatic light. The phase change affects the color of the interference pattern, and the color of the interference pattern corresponds to a specific phase change that can be evaluated using colorimetric analysis. We describe and analyze our colorimetric phase evaluation method. The proposed method offers accurate results, and it may be suitable for practical utilization in the optical industry.


Frequency-specific patterns of neural activity are traditionally interpreted as sustained rhythmic oscillations, and related to cognitive mechanisms such as attention, high level visual processing or motor control. While alpha waves (8-12 Hz) are known to closely resemble short sinusoids, and thus are revealed by Fourier analysis or wavelet transforms, there is an evolving debate that electromagnetic neural signals are composed of more complex waveforms that cannot be analyzed by linear filters and traditional signal representations. In this paper, we propose to learn dedicated representations of such recordings using a multivariate convolutional sparse coding (CSC) algorithm. Applied to electroencephalography (EEG) or magnetoencephalography (MEG) data, this method is able to learn not only prototypical temporal waveforms, but also associated spatial patterns so their origin can be localized in the brain. Our algorithm is based on alternated minimization and a greedy coordinate descent solver that leads to state-of-the-art running time on long time series. To demonstrate the implications of this method, we apply it to MEG data and show that it is able to recover biological artifacts. More remarkably, our approach also reveals the presence of non-sinusoidal mu-shaped patterns, along with their topographic maps related to the somatosensory cortex.


Adrenal phaeochromocytoma rarely causes ectopic ACTH syndrome. We describe a 44-yr-old hypertensive woman who was Cushingoid and markedly pigmented. Laboratory studies indicated severe hypokalaemia, abnormal liver function tests, and random serum cortisols greater than 1660 nmol/L. Urinary catecholamines were markedly increased. An abdominal computed tomography scan showed a 4-cm left adrenal mass and an hypertrophied right adrenal. ACTH levels were elevated at 200 pmol/L, but ACTH precursors, which cross-react in the ACTH assay, were more highly elevated at 1625 pmol/L. The tumor cells cultured in vitro also secreted ACTH precursors, whereas ACTH levels were undetectable. Because the patient was highly pigmented, we measured circulating concentrations of alpha-MSH, which were undetectable and certainly insufficient to stimulate melanogenesis, suggesting that tumorderived ACTH precursors or ACTH were responsible for the pigmentation. A laparoscopic adrenalectomy resulted in remission of the Cushing's syndrome and dramatic reduction in the pigmentation. Before operation, treatment of the patient with metyrapone and replacement dexamethasone decreased cortisol from more than 1660 to less than 20 nmol/L. Surprisingly, this resulted in a decrease in ACTH precursors to 100 pmol/L and ACTH to 9.0 pmol/L. In vitro treatment of the tumor cells with dexamethasone for 24 or 40 h increased ACTH precursor secretion. In summary, this phaeochromocytoma causing Cushing's syndrome secreted primarily ACTH precursors, which seemed to cause the marked pigmentation. In vivo and in vitro evidence suggests that glucocorticoids induced ACTH precursor secretion.


The Egoist (1879), George Meredith's best known novel, works witty variations on the traditional courtship plot. Exploiting the conventions of dramatic comedy, this novel of manners relies on sexual innuendo to satirize the patriarchal, aristocratic and imperialist assumptions prevalent in Victorian England. When the delightfully obnoxious egoist Sir Willoughby Patterne determines to secure a bride worthy of his name, a complicated game of pursuit and flight ensues involving a colorful cast of characters.


During the hot working of austenitic stainless steels the shape of the flow curve is strongly influenced by the strain rate. Low strain rate deformation results in flow curves typical of dynamic recrystallization (DRX) but as the strain rate increases the shape changes to a 'flat-top' curve. This has traditionally been thought to indicate no DRX is taking place and that dynamic recovery (DRV) is the only operating softening mechanism. Examining the work-hardening behaviour and corresponding deformation microstructures showed this is not the case for austenitic stainless steel, as clear evidence of dynamic recrystallization process can be seen. The post-deformation recrystallization kinetics can be modelled using a standard Avrami equation with an Avrami exponent, n, of 1.15. With an increasing value of the Zener-Hollomon parameter it was found that the kinetics of recrystallization become less strain rate sensitive until at the highest values (highest strain rates/lowest temperatures) the recrystallization kinetics become strain rate insensitive.


In this work, slip flow of helium gas has been studied in a three dimensional rectangular microchannel heat sink with 11 microchannel and 10 rectangular fins. Helium gas flow is considered ideal and incompressible. The finite volume method with using coupled algorithm is employed to carry out the computation. To validate the present work, comparison with numerical and experimental studies is done and it is seen that the computed results have good agreement. To investigate the effect of fins and walls material on heat sink performance, all simulations are carried out and compared with each other for three materials consisting of aluminum, silicon and copper. The results show that along the microchannel, local Knudsen number decreases. Also thermal resistance increases continuously with increasing Knudsen number from 0.006 to 0.048. The results indicate that for various inlet Knudsen numbers, copper heat sink has the lowest thermal resistance. Furthermore, copper heat sink has the highest average Nusselt number for Knudsen number higher than 0.024 but for Knudsen number lower than 0.024, silicon heat sink has higher average Nusselt number than copper heat sink.


Introduction. Inhalant use among various populations in Mexico occurs within the context of its legality, inadequate health regulation and supervision of its production and sales, high availability and low cost, combined with the pleasurable effects of inhaling, which vary according to the context and users. Objective. This paper describes the social practices involved in the co-construction of inhalant use contexts of two groups of Mexican middle school students and their reported effects. Method. Photo elicitation methodology was used, with two videotapes produced by students on school sociality practices where inhalants we are used and then analyzed in discussion groups. Results. The theoretical categorization of the data was performed using Atlas.ti software. It was found that although the students inhaled toluene, only one of the students experienced dizziness and headaches, while another classmate felt sleepy. The other video was different; students got high, experiencing euphoria, emotional disinhibition and hallucinations. Dizziness, pain and drowsiness seem largely determined by toluene and alcohol use, whereas the different effects appear to be caused by the sociality of the contexts of inhalant use, students' subjectivity and their length of consumption. Discussion and conclusion. It is argued that students enjoy inhalant use because getting high reinforces their sociality. The article concludes that inhalant use should be discouraged by incorporating the agency and subjectivity of youth, without neglecting the macro-social factors involved in the production, marketing and regulation of inhalants.


Wastewater reuse is an attractive option for supplementing available water supplies. Benefits of reuse include pollution abatement due to the reduction of effluent discharge to surface water bodies, the decrease in the use of freshwaters from sensitive ecosystems, replenishment of soil nutrients in agriculture, enhancement of groundwater recharge and delay in the future expansion of water supply infrastructure. This paper presents ongoing research in developing and testing of a decision support system (DSS) for assessing the feasibility of implementing wastewater reuse projects in South Africa. The DSS employs multi-criteria qualitative assessment across technical, environmental, social, institution and water resources. The database of the DSS contains 33 wastewater treatment unit processes with known information on performance, costs and qualitative criteria obtained from literature. The knowledge base on the other hand, consists of a set of rules for combining the treatment units to form treatment trains and contains information on maximum allowable values for different water quality parameters for five end users. The weighted average method was used to aggregate scores obtained from the assessment of the different criteria to generate an indicative value that could form the basis for decision making. Testing of the DSS was applied to the Parow wastewater treatment plant in Cape Town. Results of the analysis shows that only the water resources evaluation score (1.0) is considered excellent for reuse implementation while the institutional evaluation score is weak (0.35) in guaranteeing success. Social evaluation and treatment train technical/environmental have qualitative evaluation scores of 0.76. The desirable score for all the criteria is 1.0 in order to facilitate the successful implementation of any reuse project. The quality of treated effluent from the proposed treatment trains meets the quality requirement in most of the pollutant determined except total phosphorus (2.88). The value is acceptable if the use of the effluent is limited to irrigation. If decision makers give adequate attention to the criteria highlighted in this model, success of a reuse project in South Africa can be better enhanced.


The rapid industrialization in eastern China has made great contributions to the growth of the country's economy while also degrading the environmental quality. Yet the government is reluctant to release the environmental information to the public, resulting in a barrier for concerned citizens to participate. This study focuses on the water quality of Yue-Guan Canal in Yueqing, Zhejiang, where private rural enterprises have mushroomed since the 1980s. The objective of this study is to 1) test the water quality of the canal based on pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), copper (Cu), ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) and hexavalent chromium (Cr VI); 2) determine the relation between water quality and land use and land cover (LULC), and model the water quality of the whole canal based on LULC; and 3) make the information available to the public via an online geographic information system (GIS) platform. I chose six sampling sites along this 27 km canal, and collected samples on 3 workdays and 3 non-workdays in December 2012 and January 2013. I found an excess of NH3-N made the water samples of all sites fail to meet the national standards for Class V water. I created regression models for pH, TDS and Cu in relation to LULC, but all resulted in low R values, which may suggest point sources contribute more pollutants than non-point sources. I published the map and the data as a web application for the public.


Through online tools, virtual assistants and other technology, governments increasingly rely on artificial intelligence to help the public understand and apply the law. The Internal Revenue Service, for example, encourages taxpayers to seek answers regarding various tax credits and deductions through its online "Interactive Tax Assistant." The U.S. Army directs individuals with questions about enlistment to its virtual guide, "Sgt. Star." And the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services suggests that potential green card holders and citizens speak with its interactive chatbot, "Emma." Through such automated legal guidance, the government seeks to provide advice to the public at a fraction of the cost of employing human beings to perform these same tasks.

This Article offers one of the first critiques of these new systems of artificial intelligence. It shows that automated legal guidance currently relies upon the concept of "simplexity," whereby complex law is presented as though it is simple, without actually engaging in simplification of the underlying law. While this approach offers potential gains in terms of efficiency and ease of use, it also causes the government to present the law as simpler than it is, leading to less precise advice, and potentially inaccurate legal positions. Using the Interactive Tax Assistant as a case study, the Article shows that the use of simplexity in automated legal guidance is more powerful and pervasive than in static publications because it is personalized, non-qualified and instantaneous. Further, it argues that understanding the costs as well as the benefits of current forms of automated legal guidance is essential to evaluating even more sophisticated, but also more opaque, automated systems that governments are likely to adopt in the future.

With these considerations in mind, the Article offers three recommendations to policymakers. First, it argues that governments should prevent automated legal guidance from widening the gap between access to legal advice enjoyed by high-income and by low-income individuals. Second, it argues that governments should introduce more robust oversight and review processes for automated legal guidance. Finally, it argues that the government should allow individuals to avoid certain penalties and sanctions when they have taken actions or claimed legal positions in reliance upon automated legal guidance. Unless these steps are taken, we believe that the costs of these automated legal guidance systems may soon come to outweigh their benefits.


In centralized markets, producers submit detailed cost data to the day-ahead market, and the market operator decides how much should be produced in each plant. This differs from decentralized markets that rely on self-commitment and where producers send less detailed cost information to the operator of the day-ahead market. Ideally centralized electricity markets would be more effective, as they consider more detailed information, such as start-up costs and no-load costs. On the other hand, the bidding format is rather simplified and does not allow producers to express all details in their costs. Moreover, due to uplift payments, producers have incentives to exaggerate their costs. As of today, US has centralized wholesale electricity markets, while most of Europe has decentralized wholesale electricity markets. The main problem with centralized markets in US is that they do not provide intra-day prices which can be used to continuously up-date the dispatch when the forecast for renewable output changes. Intra-day markets are more flexible and better adapted to deal with renewable power in decentralized markets. Iterative intra-day trading in a decentralized market can also be used to sort out coordination problems related to non-convexities in the production. The downside of this is that increased possibilities to coordinate increase the risk of getting collusive outcomes. Decentralized day-ahead markets in Europe can mainly be improved by considering network constraints in more detail.


The study of the spectra of thirty-six aliphatic ketones in the seven to ten micron region has led to the recognition of bands which permit the facile differentiation of ketones of the three following types-CH3COCH2R, CH3CH2COCH2R, and RCH2CH2COCH2CH2R. The differentiation is based upon the fact that the spectra of methyl ketones show bands at 7.38 and 8 60 microns, while those of ethyl ketones have a characteristic band at 9 03 microns The 9 03 micron band in the spectra of ethyl ketones is in addition to bands at 8.60 and 8 82 microns, which are present also in the spectra of ketones of the type RCH2CH2COCH2CH2R (R≠H).


Philosophy can be considered one of the "key" subjects, unlocking as is does much of the theoretical conversations that take place in other fields. It can also be a daunting proposition for librarians trying to develop a collection that is broad enough to capture the subject, yet deep enough to take users beyond a rudimentary level. Wayne Bivens-Tatum, the philosophy and religion librarian at Princeton University, offers a guided tour through the possibilities and must-have's of a basic collection with advice for public librarians and advanced graduate subject specialists. With an expert voice and comforting reassurance, Bivens-Tatum examines the resources and explains not just what to collect but what makes each title useful. Readers who enjoy his clear insight can read more of his ruminations on libraries, reference, and the humanities on his Academic Librarian blog available at academiclibrarian .net. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.--Editor Philosophy as an area of study is both circumscribed and limitless. As studied in American colleges and universities, philosophy is a very focused field. However, every subject has a philosophical aspect, and some use the term philosophy to mean an entire worldview. In this review, I am limiting myself to philosophy as it is studied in the majority of philosophy departments at Anglo-American universities, that is, the Western philosophical tradition beginning with the ancient Greeks and developing as a more or less coherent body of thought revolving around a family of common questions. Philosophers, like most scholars in the humanities, rarely seek research help from librarians. There are several reasons for this. First, rather than gather immense amounts of data or read large numbers of books and articles for their research, philosophers tend to analyze a few sources and arguments in great depth. Except for historians of philosophy, philosophers rarely need to do exhaustive searches for information or esoteric archival work because most of what they study is contained in a few books and journals with which they are already familiar. Students of philosophy are usually trained in philosophical analysis and are guided by their professors to both methods and sources of analysis. Another possible reason that philosophers and philosophy students need less research help is because, for a relatively compact discipline, philosophy has a remarkably robust bibliographic and reference apparatus, and sources are easy to find. The major index to the field is quite good and has competition. There are three major encyclopedias vying for attention, as well as a host of excellent reference tools developed by Oxford, Cambridge, and Blackwell presses among others. In this column, I will address some maj or tools in philosophy reference, focusing on English-language resources. A librarian with access to all these resources should be able to address almost any research need in philosophy, as well as be able to identify philosophy titles necessary for purchase to build a comprehensive collection. I am including all the sources I consider necessary for a basic, solid philosophy reference collection, but I will note throughout what are essential for different levels of philosophy support. PHILOSOPHY LITERATURE Philosopher's Index (http://philindex.org) The Philosopher's Index bills itself as the "world's most current and comprehensive bibliography of scholarly research in philosophy," and that is undoubtedly true. It has been the standard index for philosophy literature for decades. It indexes over 680 journals and claims to have over 450,000 records. Though it began in 1970, retrospective indexing goes back to 1940. It is published by the Philosophy Information Center and is available by subscription online through Ebsco, OCLC, Ovid, and proQuest. If your library supports a philosophy department, this is a necessary index. Philosophy Research Index (www. …


Not much is not known about the totality of information behaviours of information providers from among the plethora of library and information science literature. This research aims to describe, categorise and devise a representation of information workers experiences as they engage in information behaviours in a health information provider organisation in Scotland. The organisation is a typical example of an information services provider where decision makers constantly strive to improve the quality of their information outputs by attempting to understand the information behaviours of their employees and respond to changes in the external information environment. A model of information behaviour becomes a useful tool for understanding what goes on within the information provider organisation. With pragmatism as its philosophical tether, the qualitatively-driven sequential mixed methods study uses critical incident interviewing within Heideggerian phenomenology and then a questionnaire survey to capture value-adding information behaviours, feeling states as outcomes of information behaviour, and perceptions of internal impact of information behaviour. The research subjects are invited to participate in a respondent validation workshop where a model of provider information behaviour is co-created. The findings reveal 3 core information behaviour types (information acquisition behaviour, information production behaviour and information dissemination behaviour) and 2 associated information behaviour types (multitasking and collaborative information behaviours) in a non-linear relationship. Several positive and negative feelings are identified together with information workers perceptions of how their information behaviours impact on the internal information environment of their organisation. The core and associated information behaviours are further categorised and their subtypes are validated on returning to the research participants. Recommendations for practice and further research include introducing Web 2.0 technologies in the provider organisation to enhance information dissemination, reviewing the value of some information activities in the provider organisation, investigating the mechanism of the information behaviour trigger, and further research on the role of feelings and individual characteristics before and after information interactions. The findings provide insights of information interactions of an information provider that make a significant contribution to LIS knowledge.


The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of climate change and international trade on crop biodiversity in West Africa countries. For several years the problem of food security arising in these countries. Climate change (temperature, rainfall), international trade through trade policies that stimulate trade flow, lead to high conversion of land allocated to the production of food for the benefit of agricultural raw materials. This study focuses on the West Africa countries. We use data from FAO, WDI, UNCTAD, CRU data and GPPC database to estimate the impact of climate change and international trade on crop biodiversity through an econometric regression using dynamic panel data. The results find evidence that climate change and trade influence negatively crop diversity. Also find evidence that irrigation and fertilizers use are best way for conservation of crop diversity.


In contrast to the abundance of evidence on employee reactions to manager unfairness, we know very little about factors that predict whether managers will act fairly or not. This article explores the effect of procedural unfairness that emanates from higher level managers on procedural fairness enactment at lower levels in the organization. We argue that lower level managers can enact both more and less fair procedures in response to higher level unfairness and that this depends on the extent to which lower level managers define the self in terms of their relation with their higher level manager (i.e., relational-interdependent self-construal). We study both the moderating role of self-construal and how it is embedded in the physical environment of the organization. We pay particular attention to how spatial distance between higher and lower management affects self-construal at lower levels and—because of this relationship—the enactment of fair procedures within the organization. We conduct four studies (in two of which we study spatial distance as an antecedent for self-construal) and show that relatively high levels of relational-interdependent self-construal lead to assimilation in terms of procedural fairness enactment, whereas relatively low levels lead to contrast.


BCR-ABL1-negative myeloproliferative disorders and chronic myeloid leukaemia are haematologic malignancies characterised by single and mutually exclusive genetic alterations. Nevertheless, several patients co-expressing the JAK2V617F mutation and the BCR-ABL1 transcript have been described in the literature. We report the case of a 61-year-old male who presented with an essential thrombocythaemia phenotype and had a subsequent diagnosis of chronic phase chronic myeloid leukaemia. Colony-forming assays demonstrated the coexistence of 2 different haematopoietic clones: one was positive for the JAK2V617F mutation and the other co-expressed both JAK2V617F and the BCR-ABL1 fusion gene. No colonies displayed the BCR-ABL1 transcript alone. These findings indicate that the JAK2V617F mutation was the founding genetic alteration of the disease, followed by the acquisition of the BCR-ABL1 chimeric oncogene. Our data support the hypothesis that a heterozygous JAK2V617F clone may have favoured the bi-clonal nature of this myeloproliferative disorder, generating clones harbouring a second transforming genetic event.


Fisheries catches in the Togolese Exclusive Economic Zone were reconstructed including small scale marine and lagoon fisheries, commercial large scale fisheries, illegal foreign fisheries and discards by both the domestic and foreign sectors. In the last two decades, total domestic catches showed a decrease, in contrast to the positive trend observed in the data supplied to FAO. Moreover, with a total of 2.3 million tonnes compared to 560,000 tonnes between 1950 and 2010, domestic catches were 4.1 times the catch supplied to FAO. This study also shows higher foreign fisheries removals than what is officially reported, with the foreign legal and illegal catch representing almost a quarter of the total reconstructed catch. These catches are masked by the reflagging practices of Togo and the lack of fisheries monitoring and enforcement, which illustrates a general laisser faire in the Togolese fisheries policy, and threatens poverty alleviation strategies and food security within local communities trapped between the over-exploitation of fisheries and the anticipated effects of climate change.


An accurate, simple, new, precise, rugged and stability indicating method was developed for simultaneous estimation of linagliptin and metformin HCl in tablets. The developed method was rapid and economic. The Chromatographic separation was achieved isocratically on a C- 18 column by utilizing di-ammonium hydrogen phosphate buffer: ACN: MeOH (60:20:20 v/v/v) at the flow rate of 1 ml/min with UV detection at 272 nm. The retention times of linagliptin and metformin are 3.180 min and 6.120 min respectively. The method is linear within range 1.25 μg/ml to 10 μg/ml for linagliptin and 250 μg/ml to 2000 μg/ml for Metformin. The correlation coefficient was found to be R2=0.999 and 1.0 for linagliptin and metformin respectively. Both standard and test solutions proved to be stable for up to 48 h. Forced degradation study showed that the method is stability indicating. The developed method can be used for routine analysis of linagliptin and metformin fixed dose combination.


With around 60–80% of electricity used for air conditioning, and around 99% of potable water production being supplied by desalination plants, sustaining life in Qatar, as well as GCC and hot arid countries around the world, is uniquely energy intensive. As District Cooling Plants (DCPs) have a potential to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions, Qatar and GCC are continuously shifting paradigm towards adoption of DC plants to satisfy the rapidly growing demand in all sectors. However, DC plants usually rely on wet cooling towers for disposing the excess heat to the ambient. Thus the heat disposal is accompanied by considerable loss of fresh water, a common problem in hot arid countries with highest demand for air cooling and also relies on costly and energy intensive desalination processes for securing fresh water supply. In addition to this, evaporative cooling devices and wet cooling towers can spread humidifier fever, a serious health risk with similar symptoms as mild influenza, and Legionella, which can be deadly. Hence huge evaporation loss in densely populated urban centers in Qatar and GCC is an imperative environmental issue which necessitates effective and practical solutions. This study presents an invention, which involves an innovative process called the "SELF-SUSTAINABLE DISTRICT COOLING AND DESALINATION (SSDD)". The patented solution is directed to construct a totally new concept for maximization of water and energy use efficiency in district cooling plants in hot arid countries while preserving the environment. The system couples district cooling plants with polishing of treated sewage effluents (TSE) using hybrid reverse osmosis and thermal desalination technologies with the district cooling plant. The desalination process is equipped with a zero liquid discharge (ZLD) system to achieve full recovery of the TSE resource and eliminate the common environmental problem related to brine disposal. The invention closes the water and energy circuits in DC plants, which considerably enhances the overall water and energy efficiencies. The techno-economic analysis of the SSDD technology has revealed a breakthrough in the technology in terms of reducing energy consumption by 20–30% and water consumption by more than 50%. Considering, for instance, a planned capacity of 1.6 million refrigeration ton DCPs to be added in Qatar by 2022, the SSDD can save up to 200,000 m3/day evaporation losses and 650 MW of electrical power together with elimination of water distribution power needed for pumping potable water from desalination plants to the DCPs. The total energy saving corresponds with 3.5 Million ton reduction of CO2 emissions and more than 1.5 Billion QAR/year excluding the environmental benefits. Considering the ambitious development plans of other GCC states, the SSDD technology may play a significant role in achieving sustainable development goals not only in the region but also worldwide. Thus it holds a great promise for energy and water securities as well as combating global climate change. The new RO/ZLD concept can be used for applications other than DC, e.g. waste water treatment and reuse, aquifer recharge, football stadia, irrigation for the Qatar National Food Security Program (QNFSP). Moreover, this process can be applied around GCC, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) as well as other hot parts of the world.


This book is an English textbook designed for English for Academic Reading Course. The intention of this book is to help the students to improve their reading comprehension on Academic Texts. Yet, it would be the English teacher's guidance to teach Reading to the non-English major students. The book contains six units which lead the students to the stage of comprehending the academic texts. The discussions cover the basic knowledge of words, sentences, and paragraphs, the reading strategies, types of text, articles, and journals.


Mobile devices are a ubiquitous technology, and many researchers are trying to implement three-dimensional (3D) displays on mobile devices for a variety of applications. We investigate a method to store compressed and encrypted elemental images (EIs) used for 3D integral imaging displays in multiple quick-response (QR) codes. This approach allows user friendly access, readout, and 3D display with mobile devices. We first compress the EIs and then use double-random-phase encryption to encrypt the compressed image and store this information in multiple QR codes. The QR codes are then scanned using a commercial Smartphone to reveal the encrypted information, which can be decrypted and decompressed. We also introduce an alternative scheme by applying photon counting to each color channel of the EIs prior to the aforementioned compression and encryption scheme to generate sparsity and nonlinearity for improved compression and security. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate both 3D computational reconstruction and optical 3D integral imaging display with a Smartphone using EIs from the QR codes. This work utilizing compressed QR encoded EIs for secure integral imaging displays using mobile devices may enable secure 3D displays with mobile devices.


Scholarly discussion of the Fourth Amendment focuses narrowly on judicial enforcement and the exclusionary rule. This Article takes a different approach: recognizing that prosecutors have a co-equal responsibility to enforce the Fourth Amendment. More specifically, prosecutors have a constitutional and ethical duty not to use evidence that they conclude was unconstitutionally obtained even if that evidence is admissible — the duty of administrative suppression. Instead of analyzing whether evidence would likely be deemed admissible by a court, prosecutors should instead analyze whether the evidence in their cases was gathered unconstitutionally and act accordingly.Scholars have ignored that as the Supreme Court has constricted the scope of the exclusionary rule over the past 40 years it has narrowed only the scope of the judicial remedy and not the Fourth Amendment right. Drawing on the theory of constitutional underenforcement most prominently developed by Larry Sager, this Article argues that when the Court constricted the judicial remedy it left prosecutors and the rest of the executive branch solely responsible for enforcing the full breadth of the constitutional norm. The full breadth of the Fourth Amendment norm continues to prohibit the executive branch from using unconstitutionally-obtained evidence even though judicial suppression is not always appropriate. The prosecutor's duty of administrative suppression also prevents Fourth Amendment rights from being marginalized in an administrative system of criminal justice in which most cases end in guilty pleas before suppression motions are filed.Prosecutors' ethical responsibilities provide an additional basis for prosecutors' duty of administrative suppression. Refusing to countenance constitutional violations by the police will protect citizens' constitutional rights and promote crime control. That administrative suppression would promote crime control relies on the procedural justice notion that citizens' perception of their government officials' legitimacy plays the most significant role in their willingness to comply with the law and cooperate with law enforcement. For prosecutors to refuse to use the fruits of a constitutional violation and instead condemn the violation through administrative suppression will promote government legitimacy. Ultimately, prosecutors — not just courts and police — are constitutional actors with Fourth Amendment obligations.


Therapies targeting the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathway in melanoma have produced significant clinical responses; however, duration of response is limited by acquisition of drug resistance. Rational drug combinationsmay improve outcomes in this setting.We assessed the therapeutic combination of an antibody–drug conjugate (ADC) targeting the endothelin B receptor (EDNRB) with small-molecule inhibitors of the MAP kinase signaling pathway in melanoma. Cell lines and tumor models containing either mutant BRAF or NRAS, or wild-type for both, were exposed to small-molecule inhibitors of BRAF and MEK. Expression of EDNRB was analyzed and the therapeutic impact of combining the anti-EDNRB ADC with the BRAF and MEK inhibitors was assessed. Increased expression of EDNRB in response to inhibition of BRAF and/orMEKwas observed and augmented the antitumor activity of theADC. Enhanced target expression and ADC antitumor activity were realized irrespective of the response of the tumor model to the BRAF or MEK inhibitors alone and could be achieved inmelanomawithmutant NRAS, BRAF, or neithermutation. Cells that acquired resistance to BRAF inhibition through long-term culture retained drug-induced elevated levels of EDNRB expression. Expression of EDNRB was not enhanced in normal human melanocytes by inhibition of BRAF and the combination of the ADC with MAPK inhibitors was well-tolerated in mice. The anti-EDNRB ADC combines well with BRAF andMEK inhibitors and could have therapeutic use in the majority of human melanoma cases. Mol Cancer Ther; 13(6); 1599–610. 2014 AACR.


The momentum toward true "globalization" of SEG which had built throughout the 1990s accelerated at the turn of the century. Two changes of great significance were enacted in the first two years: a new category of global membership was approved in 2000 and, a year later, the International Affairs Committee was completely restructured and subsequently renamed the Global Affairs Committee. The GAC, in this new incarnation, immediately became SEG's largest and most active committee.


Since the after-fee returns of funds-of-funds are, on average, lower than hedge fund returns, it is easy to conclude that funds-of-funds do not add value compared to hedge funds. However, funds-of-funds should not be evaluated relative to hedge fund returns in publicly reported databases. Instead, the correct fund-of-funds benchmark is the set of direct hedge fund investments an investor could achieve on her own without recourse to funds-of-funds. We use asset allocation concepts to estimate characteristics of the fund-of-funds benchmark distribution. Since the benchmark characteristics are reasonable, we conclude that funds-of-funds, on average, deserve their fees-on-fees.


Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate whether Semmes-Weinstein monofilaments could be used to reliably assess the sensitivities of different abdominal wall regions. Methods: Semmes-Weinstein monofilaments were used to evaluate skin sensitivity to abdominal pressure in 20 volunteers. The abdominal skin was divided into nine regions. The assessment of skin sensitivity to pressure was carried out three times in each area, with 1 week intervals between measurements. Results: No significant differences in the pressure threshold were observed when the three measurements in each region were analyzed separately. However, with the Semmes-Weinstein monofilament technique, a statistically significant difference was observed between the values of pressure obtained in each abdominal region. Conclusions: SemmesWeinstein monofilaments are a reliable tool in evaluating abdominal skin sensitivity to pressure. A statistically significant difference was observed between the different areas of the abdominal region with this technique. With the method reported in this study, it was possible to establish a protocol to reduce subjectivity and measure the skin sensitivity to pressure.


The first oxygen isotope analysis of biogenic opal from lake sediments, from the Alleröd/Younger Dryas transition in a core from Linsley Pond, Connecticut, gives an average estimate of a 6°C drop in temperature during the Younger Dryas. This shift represents temperatures during the bloom season, and may be less than the winter temperature drop. The sharp transition itself, with a duration of about 200 years, suggests that the temperature decrease may have been as large as 12°C. Previous estimates of the Alleröd/Younger Dryas temperature shifts are controversial, and range from 3–20°C, suggesting that further interdisciplinary research on the same samples is warranted.


This article presents the results of a study into the current diversification strategies of large South African contractors and the reasons for choosing southern Africa as a diversification strategy. It investigated the major risks involved in doing business in southern Africa, which of the southern African countries are more favourable to diversify into and the impact of diversification on performance. It also attempted to identify the major competitors in southern Africa and the source of their competitive advantage.
The study consists of a literature review and utilised the data from the annual reports for the period 2007 to 2011 of nine selected large South African contractors, as well as relevant publicised news articles. All the data used in this study is already in the public domain.
The research found that the countries of southern Africa present significant opportunities for South African construction companies. Southern Africa forms a definite part of the diversification strategies of large South African contractors; they are, however, mostly moderately diversified, and the 'big' players are highly diversified both operationally and geographically. The extent of diversification has an impact on performance, as undiversified is clearly associated with underperformance, and moderately diversified within a specialised field with outperformance. The research was inconclusive on the identities of the major competitors in southern Africa and the source of their competitive advantage. It was, however, found through the literature study that Chinese contractors are the major competitive force in southern Africa and in the rest of Africa, and their governmental support systems on policy and financial backing are the source of their competitive advantage.


Evidence of Marcus Garvey's Support for Jazz and BluesIn articles published in Afro-Americans in New York Life and History historian John Runcie has evaluated the position of the Garvey movement toward the popular culture of the 1920s "Jazz Age" through questions and issues dear to the hearts of Euro-centric middle class intellectuals, while ignoring evidence from other areas.(2)For example, Runcie explores the question of the Garveyite approach to music by focusing upon the subjective comments of musical taste and preference made by Marcus Garvey and his top lieutenants while he skims over the public service Garvey provided to his working class followers in the form of jazz and blues at his local Liberty Halls. Runcie shows that while striking an "intellectual" posture, Garvey and his top aids shared with intellectuals of that "Harlem Renaissance" period negative stance toward the "jazz boom." Runcie explores the viewpoint of historian Leroy Ostransky, who described the "20s as a time when classical music, any "serious" music, was worthy of praise; while jazz "was not generally considered by leaders of the Harlem Renaissance as worthy of inclusion in their list of serious achievements."(3)There was, however, a great deal of playing to the ministerial lobby that ranted against "that devil music" jazz and blues. If one looks beyond the "official" pronouncements of black public figures and evaluates the black position from the point of view of the best read black theatre and music critics, such as James A. Jackson of Billboard and Romeo L. Dougherty of Garvey's Negro World and the Amsterdam News, then one finds the questions being asked are much more concrete than whether it is proper to like blues. These spokespeople of the day to day black music world raised questions of who runs the dance halls, and how can black people secure artistic control of their own artistic productions. Joining them in these kinds of questions were heady musicians, such as "the father of the blues" W.C. Handy, who in newspaper articles and his Autobiog raphy was an able intellectual champion of his favorite music.(4)John Runcie accepts the standard definitions of "Harlem Renaissance" intellectual discourse, and this leads him to overlook his own good evidence for approaching the thinkers in the Garvey movement in a different light. As Runcie showed in his article "Marcus Garvey and the Harlem Renaissance," Garvey and most of his top lieutenants were of a distinctly lower educational bracket than the typical black intellectual of the "Harlem Renaissance." Compared with the typical academician of the "Renaissance," there was clearly a greater social closeness between Garvey and his top aids and the black working-class.(5) These differences should have been sufficient for an able historian like John Runcie to steer him from trying to evaluate the Garveyite stance on the jazz boom in terms of the crusty black intellectual establishment of that time. In addition, it was unfair to mix the two because the Garveyites were consciously committed to finding a separate black nationalist approach to culture. From Garvey's African plumed hat to his African Legions and the punch bowl filled with "African Punch," the Garveyites tried to stand apart from white culture. Of course, in those days they were not sure just what was the "African" way. Amy Jacques Garvey recollected that their "African Punch" consisted of "a little of whatever was around."(6)None-the-less, the Garveyites tried to rise above their Westernized indoctrination. Granted, the music at official meetings of the Universal Negro Improvement Association was military marches, serious hymns about liberation and much European symphonic music. But when it came time to party it was a different story. As Runcie points out in passing, the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in New York had a band playing virtually every single night from 1920 into 1923. And while by 1930 the New York Liberty Hall offerings had been reduced to the regular "Saturday Night Dance," we must assume that the bands playing all those years were not playing the waltz - especially at many UNIA affairs with rilles like "Ethiopian Barn Dance" for which the music was advertised to be "American and West Indian Blues. …


While a small flood of literature has ably demonstrated that the Sino-American rapprochement of the early 1970's was rooted in part in the evolution of U.S. attitudes and perceptions during the preceding decade, it has provided only a sketchy overview and has not adequately linked these critical developments to events which historians have hitherto taken to be a cause of deadlock between Washington and Beijing, namely the Vietnam War and the Cultural Revolution. Drawing on a wide array of recently declassified American archival sources, this study, the first full-length account of Lyndon Johnson's China record, traces the shifts in context at home and abroad that prompted tentative bridge building to the People's Republic. In assessing Johnson's role in the policymaking process, it also builds on recent works that offer a new perspective on his foreign policy leadership by looking "beyond Vietnam." Johnson's cautious reading of domestic sentiment and suspicions of Beijing's role in Vietnam certainly discouraged the administration from initiating any grand departures from the inherited line of containment and isolation, much to the dismay of several mid-level China hands pressing for new approaches. Yet Vietnam ironically created pressures for an accommodation of sorts between the two adversaries and encouraged American decision-makers who might not otherwise have been inclined to reassess long-standing strategy toward the mainland. Johnson's fear of Chinese intervention in the conflict and his attempts to mobilize public support for Vietnam by burnishing his peace credentials yielded symbolic and substantive alterations in China policy: a relaxation of the travel ban, the promotion of expanded contacts, and a shift toward conciliatory rhetoric. The outbreak of the Cultural Revolution in 1966 led to the deferment of further bridge building efforts. Johnson and his senior aides expressed persistent uncertainty over the direction of the mainland's turmoil and were increasingly distracted by Vietnam. Over the long term, however, China's internal upheaval set in motion a reappraisal of the country's political dynamic and threat potential. By late 1967, most China watchers concluded that revolutionary fervor had peaked on the mainland and that the regime's moderate elements, possibly inclined toward reconciliation with the outside world, had outmaneuvered hard-line Maoists. As official attitudes thawed, the attention of policymakers focused on what orientation a post-Mao regime might assume and whether or not the U.S. could facilitate this transition by further policy reform. In short, this period witnessed the establishment of many of the perceptual preconditions for the Sino-American rapprochement that unfolded during the Nixon years.


Names in Focus delves deep into the vast field of Finnish onomastics, covering place names, personal names, animal names, commercial names and names in literature. It provides the history and current trends in this area of research, and also supplements international terminology with the Finnish point of view on the subject. Brimming with examples and clear explanations, the book can be enjoyed by the most studious of researchers as well as the casual reader who has a genuine interest in the study of names.


In this paper, we consider a large scale sensor network comprising multiple, say K, base stations and a large number of wireless sensors. Such an infrastructure is expected to be more energy efficient and scale well with the size of the sensor nodes. To support a large number of queries, we examine the problem of allocating queries across the base stations to minimize the total data communication cost among the sensors. In particular, we examine similarity-aware techniques that exploit the similarities among queries when allocating queries, so that queries that require data from a common set of sensor nodes are allocated to the same base stations. We first approximate the problem of allocating queries to K base stations as a max-K-cut problem, and adapts an existing solution to our context. However, the scheme only works in a static context, where all queries are known in advance. In order to operate in a dynamic environment with frequent query arrivals and termination, we further propose a novel similarity-aware strategy that allocates queries to base stations one at a time. We also propose several heuristics to order a batch of queries for incremental allocation. We conducted experiments to evaluate our proposed schemes, and our results show that our similarity-aware query allocation schemes can effectively exploit the sharing among queries to greatly reduce the communication cost.