During the last Turkish war of the Habsburg Monarchy (1788–91), several hundred Ottoman soldiers were taken prisoner by the Habsburg army and accommodated in Hungarian fortresses. Numerous rules and orders were issued by Joseph II regarding the treatment of these prisoners. These rules represent interesting mixes of the new ideas of the Enlightenment and old habits. According to these regulations, the captured Turks were given the status of prisoner of war and were provided with regular supplies. The study also examines the circumstances of the capture, the lives, and often the deaths of the Turkish prisoners in Hungary, as well as the exchanges of prisoners, which began only slowly but eventually resulted in their release. The fate of the Austrian prisoners in Turkish captivity is also briefly discussed. The paper was completed exclusively on the basis of primary sources.


Distinguishing antonyms from synonyms is a key challenge for many NLP applications focused on the lexical-semantic relation extraction. Existing solutions relying on large-scale corpora yield low performance because of huge contextual overlap of antonym and synonym pairs. We propose a novel approach entirely based on pre-trained embeddings. We hypothesize that the pre-trained embeddings comprehend a blend of lexical-semantic information and we may distill the task-specific information using Distiller, a model proposed in this paper. Later, a classifier is trained based on features constructed from the distilled sub-spaces along with some word level features to distinguish antonyms from synonyms. Experimental results show that the proposed model outperforms existing research on antonym synonym distinction in both speed and performance.


The first edition of this widely used work has been reprinted many times over two decades. With a unique combination of alphabetical and descriptive lists, it provides in one convenient, accessible volume all the rhetorical terms--mostly Greek and Latin--that students of Western literature and rhetoric are likely to come across in their reading or to find useful in their writing. Now the Second Edition offers new features that will make it still more useful:--A completely revised alphabetical listing that defines nearly 1,000 terms used by scholars of formal rhetoric from classical Greece to the present day.--A revised system of cross-references between terms.--Many new examples and new, extended entries for central terms.--A revised Terms-by-Type listing to identify unknown terms.--A new typographical design for easier access.


A study on countermeasures against coordinated cyber-attacks (CCA) towards power grid systems has been carried out. A coordinated cyber-attack is a cyber-based attack where multiple attackers use multiple attack-mechanisms towards multiple targets in a coordinated fashion. The coordination is based on that the different attack-mechanisms help each other in attacking the target. A CCA is made up of different stages where each stage consists of a number of attack-mechanisms and together have a certain purpose. The different stages are used to systematically advance towards its goal, which is to compromise the operation of internal systems or to steal confidential data. For example, the first stage may be used to locate entry points at the target system, and a second stage may be used to locate vulnerable hosts by sniffing ongoing network activity to further itself towards its attack goal. Power grids that are used to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity over large geographical areas are connected to the Internet. Within these environments, commercial IT systems have been adopted to control their electrical equipment, which poses cybersecurity risks to the power grid. Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) are designed provide internal network protection in case of intruders. However, state-of-the-art IDSs has been found to have certain limitations in protecting against multi-stage and slow attacks. The inadequacy of state-of-the-art IDSs for protecting against CCAs motivates the need to identify alternate countermeasures that can mitigate CCAs, when the target is a power grid system. The method of choice to address this problem in this study is a systematic literature study where 48 countermeasures were identified and assessed to which extent they are suitable to mitigate CCAs. Results suggest to follow three approaches, namely to preemptively identify technical vulnerabilities in the local system, to distribute intrusion detection hosts across a larger network for better situational awareness, and to implement new types of IDS technologies. Countermeasures with references to specific publications are also provided. The study contributes to how security operators of power grids can fulfil the requirement on cybersecurity as demanded by the NIS directive of the European Union regarding protection against CCAs.


BACKGROUND: Pressure ulcers are one of many complications to which hospitalized patients are susceptible. Such ulcers may lead to partial or total destruction of cutaneous, subcutaneous, and muscular tissues, as well as of bones and articulations. METHODS: An observational, longitudinal, and prospective study was carried out at Hospital Metropolitano de Urgencia e Emergencia em Ananindeua, PA, Brazil. Relevant data related to gender, age (younger or older than 60 years old), impairment degree, and region of pressure ulcer impairment were collected from Intensive Care Therapy 1 (UTI 1), Surgical Clinic 1, and the Neuro Clinic. RESULTS: Among 474 studied patients, 17 developed pressure ulcers, with greater incidence among male patients (88.2%), at stage II (41.2%) and in the sacral region (40%). Patients aged more than 60 years had an incidence rate of 58.8% for pressure ulcers. CONCLUSIONS: Data obtained in this study are in accordance with the results presented in the literature. It is important to highlight the need for creating risk scales and preventive measures for decreasing the incidence of pressure ulcers in hospitals.


The population genetic structure of Calanoides natalis (ex Calanoides carinatus; Copepoda, Calanoida), an ecologically important component of African upwelling systems, was studied in order to (i) search for potential cryptic species, (ii) describe spatial patterns in the distribution of genetic variance and (iii) identify potential barriers to gene flow. Samples were obtained in the eastern Atlantic Ocean from the Iberian Peninsula to Namibia. Analysis of mitochondrial (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I; COI) and nuclear (citrate synthase; CS) marker genes revealed a genetically cohesive population of C. natalis with a prevalent shift in allele frequencies. The discovery of a deep split solely present in the mitochondrial dataset does not point to cryptic speciation, but rather suggests the occurrence of nuclear mitochondrial pseudogenes or incomplete reproductive isolation upon secondary contact. Genetic differentiation between the northern and southern hemisphere was significant, which may point to a potential, but permeable barrier close to the equator. No vertical genetic structuring was detected in the northern Benguela implying that horizontal differentiation was more pronounced than vertical structuring. Retention mechanisms and the oxygen minimum zone did not have a strong impact on genetic differentiation of C. natalis in the Benguela region.


The present study explores the experience of second generation Canadian youth in terms of acculturation and possible negative psychological impacts. Stressors that are associated with second generation Canadian youth have been identified as acculturation, biculturalism, cultural conflict within relationships, being a visible minority, and discrimination. This study utilizes a narrative literature review methodology to explore the challenges faced by second generation Canadian youth. Through this literature review I was able to describe, examine, and evaluate research looking at stressors unique to second generation Canadian youth in order to provide a better understanding for counsellors. Findings from this literature review indicated that second generation Canadian youth, compared to other Canadian youth, are experiencing additional stressors that negatively impact mental health and overall well-being. Themes that emerged from this review include: the important role of family, peers and factors associated with the host society's policies and attitude toward second generations. Marginalisation, discrimination, and lack of social support by the host society will create negative acculturation experience for second generation youth. However, acculturation pattern among second generation Canadian youth vary across ethnic groups and in order to avoid generalization more research is required to re-evaluate the story of second generation integration and closely examine day to day lived experiences of these generations in Canada.


Thanks to the Internet, the consumers have access to a world of information and can easily compare the goods and services of one supplier to the other, and so be a part of the value creating process. Price is still key, but since producers are already pushing their costs to the limit, what Chris Anderson calls the "race to the bottom" they have to compete in other manners, meaning they have to dive deeper than lowest of prices. However these free goods and services must have a value even though they do not have a price tag attached. The respondents found two types of value, social/collective value and individual/emotional value and this also induces that value is relative. People are making choices to consume a good or service he or she has to prioritize these resources among the available time, money and even space, thus this prioritization is made even when the good is free. The price-quality relationship is prevailing, but not in the fields where distribution and replication is free.


Land-use analysis of anthrosols has been performed by a new, two-part method. A rapid qualitative field test assists in locating past settlements and determining their areal and temporal extent, even where artifacts are missing. The field-test results are verified and samples are analyzed further by quantitative soil phosphate fractionation. Laboratory fractionation reveals much more than the simple phosphate test used at present. Like the chemical field test, it uses minute soil samples and may be invaluable where disturbance of the landscape is forbidden. Phosphate fractions reflect the details of man-induced changes in the soil and the timing of their appearance.


We analyze a large-scale molecular dynamics simulation of work hardening in a model system of a ductile solid.With tensile loading, we observe emission of thousands of dislocations from two sharp cracks. The dislocations interact in a complex way, revealing three fundamental mechanisms of work-hardening in this ductile material. These are (1) dislocation cutting processes, jog formation and generation of trails of point defects; (2) activation of secondary slip systems by Frank-Read and cross-slip mechanisms; and (3) formation of sessile dislocations such as Lomer-Cottrell locks.We report the discovery of a new class of point defects referred to as trail of partial point defects, which could play an important role in situations when partial dislocations dominate plasticity. Another important result of the present work is the rediscovery of the Fleischer-mechanism of cross-slip of partial dislocations that was theoretically proposed more than 50 years ago, and is now, for the first time, confirmed by atomistic simulation. On the typical time scale of molecular dynamics simulations, the dislocations self-organize into a complex sessile defect topology. Our analysis illustrates numerous mechanisms formerly only conjectured in textbooks and observed indirectly in experiments. It is the first time that such a rich set of fundamental phenomena have been revealed in a single computer simulation, and its dynamical evolution has been studied. The present study exemplifies the simulation and analysis of the complex nonlinear dynamics of a many-particle system during failure using ultra-large scale computing.


Avian females with food limitation or are unable to meet nutritional requirements could result in negatively influenced egg size, nest initiation date, nesting season duration, and clutch size. Northern bobwhites Colinus virginianus serve as an adequate model species for supplemental feeding studies because of prolific nesting and re-nesting behavior. We monitored females on treatment and control units to determine if food supplementation influenced: 1) nest initiation, nesting duration, and nesting attempts, 2) nesting success, and 3) egg volume and clutch size. We radio-marked 196 female bobwhites during the breeding season of 2011 and 2012. Hens with access to supplemental feed produced 0.86 and 1.60 nest per hen while hens on control sites produced 0.15 and 0.81 nest per hen during the 2011 and 2012 nesting season, respectively. Average nest initiation varied slightly between treatment and control; though, average nesting season length was 16 and 31 days longer on treatment units. This benefit indicates females with access to food supplementation were in better physical condition compared to females on control units. However, nest success (β = -0.03, SE = 0.40), clutch size (t=-0.37, p = 0.70), and average intra-clutch egg volumes (β =-0.06, SE = 0.20) (t=0.50, p= 0.61) were unaffected by food supplementation. Total net productivity estimates showed more chicks per hen were produced on treatment sites [ = 2.34, SE = 0.04 (2011); = 5.75, SE = 0.12 (2012)] than control units [ = 0.61, SE = 0.001 (2011); = 3.47, SE = 0.13 (2012)]. Our results suggest that bobwhites with access to supplemental feed broadcast into roadside vegetation throughout the breeding season can potentially increase nesting attempts which may result in increased production and offset population fluctuations due to drought conditions.


Andrew Coan offers a fresh and forthright response to the long disagreement over constitutional interpretation. Instead of entering the debate between originalism and nonoriginalism, he proposes to settle it, through an amendment proclaiming nonoriginalism as the law of the land. Under the Coan Amendment, the entire Constitution would be construed "to accommodate the practical exigencies of human affairs and the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society." This Amendment, he writes, would "eliminat[e] a huge quantity of basically unproductive debate about the legal and moral necessity of originalism," thereby "redirect[ing]" that effort "to far more pressing matters of constitutional substance."
Coan offers his suggestion as a "thought experiment," not a "serious proposal." This is a good thing, because the substantive effect of his proposal would be unambiguously bad. But even as a thought experiment, it's unclear how much the Amendment shows. The legal debate over the status of originalism can indeed be settled by new law. But the moral status of originalism -- and, indeed, of our law more generally -- is not so easily settled.


Inefficiencies in the bureaucratic organization of the state are often viewed as important factors in retarding economic development. Why certain societies choose or end up with such inefficient organizations has received very little attention, however. In this paper, we present a simple theory of the emergence and persistence of inefficient states based on patronage politics. The society consists of rich and poor individuals. The rich are initially in power, but expect to transition to democracy, which will choose redistributive policies. Taxation requires the employment of bureaucrats. We show that, under certain circumstances, by choosing an inefficient state structure, the rich may be able to use patronage and capture democratic politics. This enables them to reduce the amount of redistribution and public good provision in democracy. Moreover, the inefficient state creates its own constituency and tends to persist over time. Intuitively, an inefficient state structure creates more rents for bureaucrats than would an efficient state structure. When the poor come to power in democracy, they will reform the structure of the state to make it more efficient so that higher taxes can be collected at lower cost and with lower rents for bureaucrats. Anticipating this, when the society starts out with an inefficient organization of the state, bureaucrats support the rich, who set lower taxes but also provide rents to bureaucrats. We show that in order to generate enough political support, the coalition of the rich and the bureaucrats may not only choose an inefficient organization of the state, but they may expand the size of bureaucracy "excessively" so as to gain additional votes. The model shows that an equilibrium with an inefficient state is more likely to arise when there is greater inequality between the rich and the poor, when bureaucratic rents take intermediate values and when individuals are sufficiently forward-looking.


The radio frequency (RF) spectrum is a scarce natural resource, currently regulated by government agencies. With the explosive emergence of wireless applications, the demands for the RF spectrum are constantly increasing. On the other hand, it has been reported that localised temporal and geographic spectrum utilisation efficiency is extremely low. Cognitive radio is an innovative technology designed to improve spectrum utilisation by exploiting those spectrum opportunities. This ability is dependent upon spectrum sensing, which is one of most critical components in a cognitive radio system. A significant challenge is to sense the whole RF spectrum at a particular physical location in a short observation time. Otherwise, performance degrades with longer observation times since the lagging response to spectrum holes implies low spectrum utilisation efficiency. Hence, developing an efficient wideband spectrum sensing technique is prime important. In this thesis, a multirate asynchronous sub-Nyquist sampling (MASS) system that employs multiple low-rate analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) is developed that implements wideband spectrum sensing. The key features of the MASS system are, 1) low implementation complexity, 2) energy-efficiency for sharing spectrum sensing data, and 3) robustness against the lack of time synchronisation. The conditions under which recovery of the full spectrum is unique are presented using compressive sensing (CS) analysis. The MASS system is applied to both centralised and distributed cognitive radio networks. When the spectra of the cognitive radio nodes have a common spectral support, using one low-rate ADC in each cognitive radio node can successfully recover the full spectrum. This is obtained by applying a hybrid matching pursuit (HMP) algorithm a synthesis of distributed compressive sensing simultaneous orthogonal matching pursuit (DCS-SOMP) and compressive sampling matching pursuit (CoSaMP). Moreover, a multirate spectrum detection (MSD) system is introduced to detect the primary users from a small number of measurements without ever reconstructing the full spectrum. To achieve a better detection performance, a data fusion strategy is developed for combining sensing data from all cognitive radio nodes. Theoretical bounds on detection performance are derived for distributed cognitive radio nodes suffering from additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN), Rayleigh fading, and log-normal fading channels. In conclusion, MASS and MSD both have a low implementation complexity, high energy efficiency, good data compression capability, and are applicable to distributed cognitive radio networks. Declaration of originality I hereby declare that the work recorded in this thesis and the thesis itself was composed and originated entirely by myself in the School of Engineering at The University of Edinburgh as a candidate for the Doctorate of Philosophy. Hongjian Sun January, 2011


The heyyati-movement is a folk-religious movement in Iran circling around the practice of chest beating and ritual mourning of the martyred household of the Prophet. During the last decade, since the presidential period of Mohammad Khatami, the structure of this movement has changed. The heyyati-groups were mobilised in the campaign that led to the victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the presidential elections of 2005 and since then what may be described as a new type of heyyati-culture has flourished in certain layers of Iranian society and it has frequently been a matter of controversy. Today, the movement can be described as a charismatic alternative to the religious authority of the clerical establishment. Based on interviews and ethnographic observations this paper describes and analyses one heyyati-community in Qom.


In order to address 'heavy' and 'unequal' care work and to raise the profile of care as a cross-cutting development issue, Oxfam and its partners implemented a baseline Household Care Survey (HCS) in five countries in which the WE-Care project was active. In November/December 2015, a revised version of the HCS was carried out in these same communities. As a follow-up survey, the 2015 HCS monitored change and impact from the project's interventions and gathered evidence on 'what works' to address care work in specific contexts. The aim is to generate evidence that helps local organizations address problematic aspects of care work, contributing to women's ability to participate, lead and benefit from development initiatives. This evidence is then used to develop project interventions that recognize, reduce and redistribute existing unpaid care work within the household, the immediate community (civil society), the market (private sector) and the state authority (central and local governments). ISBN: 978-0-85598-834-0


Lifting can greatly reduce the cost of inference on first-order probabilistic graphical models, but constructing the lifted network can itself be quite costly. In online applications (e.g., video segmentation) repeatedly constructing the lifted network for each new inference can be extremely wasteful, because the evidence typically changes little from one inference to the next. The same is true in many other problems that require repeated inference, like utility maximization, MAP inference, interactive inference, parameter and structure learning, etc. In this paper, we propose an efficient algorithm for updating the structure of an existing lifted network with incremental changes to the evidence. This allows us to construct the lifted network once for the initial inference problem, and amortize the cost over the subsequent problems. Experiments on video segmentation and viral marketing problems show that the algorithm greatly reduces the cost of inference without affecting the quality of the solutions.


The pedagogical approach for both didactic and laboratory teaching of anatomy has changed in the last 25 years and continues to evolve; however, assessment of student anatomical knowledge has not changed despite the awareness of Bloom's taxonomy. For economic reasons most schools rely on multiple choice questions (MCQ) that test knowledge mastered while competences such as critical thinking and skill development are not typically assessed. In contrast, open‐ended question (OEQ) examinations demand knowledge construction and a higher order of thinking, but more time is required from the faculty to score the constructed responses. This study compares performances on MCQ and OEQ examinations administered to a small group of incoming first year medical students in a preparatory (enrichment) anatomy course that covered the thorax and abdomen. In the thorax module, the OEQ examination score was lower than the MCQ examination score; however, in the abdomen module, the OEQ examination score improved compared to the thorax OEQ score. Many students attributed their improved performance to a change from simple memorization (superficial learning) for cued responses to conceptual understanding (deeper learning) for constructed responses. The results support the view that assessment with OEQs, which requires in depth knowledge, would result in student better performance in the examination. Anat Sci Educ 11: 254–261. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.


OBJECT
The authors have developed a novel technique for percutaneous fusion in which standard microendoscopic discectomy is modified. Based on data obtained in their cadaveric studies they considered that this minimally invasive interbody fusion could be safely implemented clinically. The authors describe their initial experience with a microendoscopic transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (METLIF) technique, with regard to safety in the placement of percutaneous instrumentation, perioperative morbidity, and early postoperative results.

METHODS
The METLIF procedure was performed unilaterally in 20 patients with single-level lumbar spondylolisthesis or pure mechanical back pain with endoscopic assistance, hemilaminectomy, unilateral facetectomy, and microdiscectomy. Two interbody grafts were placed via the lateral exposure of the disc space. Bilateral percutaneous pedicle screws were then inserted. Compared with patients who had undergone single-level posterior LIF at the same institutions, intraoperative blood loss, hospital length of stay (LOS), and postoperative narcotic agent use were significantly lower in the METLIF group. The mean LOS for the percutaneous fusion group was 3.4 days (5.1 days in those who underwent PLIF; p < 0.02). There have been no procedure-related complications in this series to date.

CONCLUSIONS
The METLIF technique provided an option for percutaneous interbody fusion similar to that in open surgery while minimizing destruction to adjacent tissues. This technique was safe and exhibited a trend toward decreased intraoperative blood loss, postoperative pain, total narcotic use, and the risk of transfusion.


The Delaware Basin, part of the larger Permian Basin, contains important hydrocarbon plays. Permian strata contain 71% of in-place oil and 53% of in-place gas, with the remainder hosted in the Lower Palaeozoic. Excessive pore fluid pressures (up to 〜 8000 psi above hydrostatic) are found within Early Permian and Pennsylvanian strata, which account for 30-35% of the hydrocarbon producing zones. This study has utilised an array of basin analysis techniques to analyse the pressure history of the Delaware basin. To fully appreciate the geopressure history in the Delaware Basin, a rigorous quantitative approach has been applied using advanced thermochronology techniques. This has enabled for the first time an accurate burial history curve to be established for the basin. The results show that maximum burial occurred in the basin at 55 Ma as a consequence of an additional 6890 ft of Mesozoic and Cenozoic sediment. The basin then underwent two major tectonic uplift events during the Cenozoic. The Laramide orogeny (55-50 Ma) uplifted and eroded off 3890 ft of sediment, then during the Eocene and Oligocene the basin subsided and accumulated a further 600 ft of sediment. The Basin and Range event (25-10 Ma) then uplifted and tilted the basin further, eroding off 3600 ft of sediment from the centre of the basin. The new burial history curve has been integrated with wireline logs and basin modelling software to evaluate the mechanism of overpressure generation and its maintenance through geological time. This study has shown that the main mechanism for overpressure generation in the Delaware Basin was disequilibrium compaction. Analysis of the sonic log using the Equivalent Depth Method and the Eaton Ratio Method, combined with velocity I density cross-plots, indicate that compaction is driven by vertical loading, and undercompaction seen in the basin is a consequence of the sediments' inability to dewater. Basin modelling shows that it was the rapid deposition of the Permian sediments that enabled disequilibrium compaction to generate overpressure. These techniques have also shown that a secondary cause of overpressure due to unloading mechanisms (e.g. gas generation or expansion with uplift, lateral transfer and hydrocarbon buoyancy) may be occurring within localised horizons below the Wolfcampian Series. Overpressure has been maintained within the basin for more than 250 Myr. Basin modelling and wireline logs have shown that numerous intercalated tight limestones (Mississippian to Late Permian) acted as pressure seals to maintain overpressure. In addition, low permeability mudstones (l0 (^-6) mD) have contributed to the inability of the Delaware Basin to reach pressure equilibrium.


Summary
1.
Malaria is a serious health problem in Porto Rico mainly in the coastal region where it is common to find from one-quarter to one-third of the population with parasites in the blood.
2.
Fever incidence is highest in the fall months of the year when temperature, humidity and rainfall are usually high.
3.
Fever incidence, spleen and parasite rates are all necessary for a careful study of the malaria problem. Spleen rates are of the greatest value for rapid determination of malaria incidence—blood examinations probably of greatest general applicability where only one method is to be used.
4.
Anopheles albimanus is the important vector.
5.
Sugar cane is the principal crop in malaria-infected regions and methods of cultivation influence breeding of mosquitoes.
6.
Reclamation of some swamp areas by pumps and for agricultural purposes will be necessary before mosquito control will be possible in many areas. There is an increasing interest in this work.
7.
Subsoil drainage is the most hopeful solution of the problem in seepage lands and wet lands not too low. There is a more extensive use of this method of drainage each year.
8.
Efficient treatment of the sick is an important part of any campaign.
9.
In many regions antilarval work by the use of Paris green alone can be done efficiently and at low cost, but in most areas permanent efficient drainage is first advisable until larvicidal work work can be carried on at a low annual cost.
10.
Malaria incidence has not dropped immediately following campaigns but after a year it has been brought to a low figure in some cases, while in others longer periods are necessary because extensive drainage work is necessary.


Over 30 years ago the United States Supreme Court upheld an Oregon statute that allowed sentencing courts, with a number of important procedural safeguards, to impose on indigent criminal defendants the obligation to repay the cost of their court appointed attorneys. The practice of ordering recoupment or contribution (application fees or co-pays) of public defender attorney fees is widespread, although collection rates are unsurprisingly low. Developments since the Court's decision in Fuller v. Oregon show that not only is recoupment not cost-effective, but it too easily becomes an aspect of punishment, rather than legitimate cost-recovery. In a number of jurisdictions, defendants are ordered to repay the cost of their attorney regardless of their ability to pay and without any notice or opportunity to be heard. Many are ordered to pay as a condition of probation or parole, which means they pay under threat of incarceration. In these jurisdictions, recoupment violates the Sixth Amendment, as well as the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses. Constitutional problems are exacerbated by the potential for ethical violations: public defenders may have conflicts of interest when they are required to both submit bills to the court and object to those bills on behalf of their clients. And too often defendants are not warned at the outset that they may be responsible for attorney fees or how those fees will be calculated. In any other context, a client is entitled under the ethical rules to a clear statement of the basis for the fee at the time the lawyer is engaged. In addition, the thirty years since Fuller have verified that recoupment is bad policy because it imposes punishing debt without real fiscal benefit. It is time to abandon practices that penalize defendants for being poor and exercising their right to counsel.


In nowadays society, organizations are struggling with the practical implementation of 'distributed innovation', or the fact that organizations need to reach outside their boundaries to tap into distributed sources of knowledge to enhance their innovation processes. Within this PhD, we will look at a specific approach, promoted and supported by the European Commission, that tries to facilitate and manage distributed innovation processes through a Public-Private-People partnership with a central role for the end-user: Living Labs. Following Almirall & Wareham (2011) and Leminen et al. (2014), we define Living Labs as an organized approach (as opposed to an ad hoc approach) to innovation consisting of real-life experimentation and active user involvement by means of different methods involving multiple stakeholders, as is implied in the Public-Private-People character of Living Labs.
However, there are two main problems associated with these Living Labs. First problem, in terms of Living Lab practice and activity, is that there seem to be too many initiatives, without enough noticeable results or impact. This is linked to the second problem, dealing with Living Labs theory. To this date, there have been a lot of Living Lab publications, but there is no consistency in terms of connection to larger research paradigms and frameworks, and there is a lack of papers with a significant academic impact as well as research clearly illustrating their value.
Therefore, from a theoretical perspective, we have investigated both the Open and User Innovation paradigms and demonstrated that Living Labs are an embodiment of both, although there are only few references to these literature streams in the current Living Labs literature. From a practice perspective, we have illustrated that Living Labs are rooted within various European predecessors such as cooperative design, social experiments and 'digital cities', but that out of the 345 affiliated members to the European Network of Living Labs, at least 40% is currently inactive.
In order to further evolve Living Labs as a concept and to allow a better conceptualization, we developed a three layered model, consisting of a macro level (the Living Lab constellation), the meso level (consisting of a Living Lab innovation project) and the micro level (consisting of the different methodological research steps). Moreover, within a multiple case study analysis of 4 Living Lab constellation, 21 Living Lab innovation projects and 107 methodological research steps, we have been able to demonstrate that the concepts gathered from the Open Innovation literature could be used to analyze the macro level, whereas the concepts from the User Innovation literature could be used on the micro level. Through co-creation, both levels merge on the meso level, resulting in useful contributions to the innovation in development. Therefore, we concluded that Living Labs are able to govern innovation networks and to structure user participation in concrete innovation projects.


ABSTRACT Non-hadrosaurid iguanodontians were the most diverse and abundant group of large-bodied herbivorous dinosaurs during the Early Cretaceous, and were a particularly important component of Laurasian ecosystems. Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in our knowledge of the diversity of this group, with multiple new taxa being described from northeast China. The most complete of these Chinese non-hadrosaurid iguanodontians is Jinzhousaurus yangi, from the middle part of the Yixian Formation (Lower Cretaceous: lower Aptian) of Liaoning Province. Here, we provide the first description of the relatively complete and partially articulated postcranial skeleton of the holotype of Jinzhousaurus, and provide detailed comparisons to closely related taxa. We document additional autapomorphies of Jinzhousaurus that provide strong support for the validity of this taxon.


This paper adds to the literature on competitive balance in college sports by comparing men's and women's NCAA basketball. Using data from the Division I National Championships, we find evidence consistent with the idea that women's college basketball is less competitively balanced than men's college basketball. We argue that this difference may be explained by a theory of player ability borrowed from evolutionary biology first promulgated by paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould and subsequently utilized in Berri (2004). An implication of this idea is that competitive balance in women's NCCA basketball will naturally improve over time. This is good news for those who are concerned with the long term success of the sport to the extent that competitive balance in women's college basketball impacts fan demand. Nevertheless, we discuss why there may be reason to believe that women's college basketball may not reach the same level of balance as men's college basketball.


A nationwide study, from which the data in this article were taken, suggests that most physical dysfunction and psychosocial Level II fieldwork placements for occupational therapy students represent a financial benefit to the sponsoring institution. This article provides the occupational therapy educator or fieldwork site supervisor with a method for estimating the amount of financial benefit one may anticipate from the assignment of a student to a physical dysfunction or psychosocial Level II fieldwork placement. Time-consuming data collection and interpretation are not necessary to perform this analysis. A formula to predict the fiscal outcome is described. Step-by-step instructions guide the user in applying the formula to a given physical dysfunction or psychosocial Level II fieldwork situation.


Introduction: Children residing in orphanages are a disadvantaged section of the population. Inadequate care can impair the quality of life of orphan children. Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the oral health-related quality of life and dental caries status among institutionalized orphan children. Materials and Methods: Children without parents, aged 6–14 years, were selected from government-run orphanages. Children who were willing to participate were included. Data on oral health-related quality of life were collected by personal interviews by a single investigator. Following, intraoral examination of each child was carried out in an adequate natural light using a sterilized mouth mirror and probe. Dental caries was assessed according to the World Health Organization criteria. The data obtained were subjected to statistical analysis. Results: The Decayed, Missed and Filled teeth (DMFT) score of males was 0.41 ± 0.86 and females was 0.97 ± 1.44, and the difference was statistically significant. The mean of oral symptoms, functional limitation, emotional well-being, and social well-being was 26.49 ± 4.48, 37.75 ± 3.63, 33.31 ± 4.18, and 47.92 ± 3.37, respectively. Conclusions: The prevalence of dental caries was low among these orphan children. The quality of life of these children was not affected by their dental caries status.


The European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) set out earlier this year to analyse the career paths of young scientists in molecular biology, and conducted an anonymous survey among past and present EMBO fellowship holders. As these grants are given mostly to European postdoctoral researchers, it gives a representative impression of the whereabouts of young European scientists after their PhDs. The questionnaire posed questions on their current income, current position, country of work and the stations on their career path.

One hundred and ninety-three completed questionnaires were analysed. The overwhelming majority of the respondents are European citizens (Figure (Figure1).1). The remaining 16% come from Israel, the USA and Asian countries. The answers indicate that the job opportunities in academia in Europe are better than most young scientists would expect. However, it also becomes clear that senior scientists in particular find better payment and job opportunities in the USA.

Fig. 1. Fellows by nationality.

When collating information about their career paths and options, EMBO was particularly interested in the actual position and income of its fellows. Figure Figure22 illustrates that, as expected, four-fifths of those polled have a postdoctoral position up to 5 years after completion of their PhD thesis. Only 13% have a higher or permanent position in academia. Six to ten years after their PhD, only roughly a third still hold a postdoctoral position, while more than half of them have found a permanent academic position. This trend continues for those who received their PhD more than 10 years ago, although this statistic may not be significant due to the low total number in this group (n = 10).

Fig. 2. Positions after PhD thesis (TECH, technician; RA, research assistant; PD, postdoc; GL, group leader; PERM, permanent position in research; LEC, lecturer, READ, reader; APROF, assistant Professor; PROF, Professor; DIR, Director of Institute or ...

For the postdoctoral fellows in the years immediately after their PhD, there is no difference in income between Europe and the USA (Figure (Figure3).3). Among those polled, European postdoctoral fellows earn Euro 2660 per month mean income (a maximum of Euro 6400 for a position at the University of Darmstadt, Germany and a minimum of Euro 1100 at INSERM in France). Postdoctoral fellows in the USA receive a mean income of US$ 2580 per month (maximum of US$ 3333 at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and minimum of US$ 1700 at the University of San Diego). But 5 years after the completion of a PhD, things look quite different. Figure Figure33 shows that respondents who found a higher academic position in the USA clearly earn more than their European counterparts.

Fig. 3. Academic earnings: Europe versus USA.

There are numerous complaints about an increasing number of scientists leaving academic research. 'Presently I am still working in academia but will stop in 2 months,' said one respondent, explaining: 'the main reasons for leaving are the appalling prospects for gaining a permanent position and the overall low salary.' EMBO therefore polled how many biological scientists had indeed given up an academic career and moved into the private sector. Only 2.8% left academia for a position in industry within the first 5 years after their doctorate. The number increases slightly to a mere 4.5% among those who did their PhD thesis more than 5 years ago. This trend might reflect the better job situation that came with more investments in biological research in Europe in recent years but could also be explained by the fact that the position of research scientist in industry often requires postdoctoral experience. However, the survey does not yield the number of biologists who decided to leave academia directly after receiving their PhD as it polled only scientists who had at least one postdoctoral fellowship.

Another often-heard complaint is the brain drain of scientists from Europe to the USA. In contrast, the EMBO reports survey found that the overwhelming majority of former fellows found a position in their country of origin within 10 years after their PhD thesis (Figure (Figure4).4). This confirms the results of a similar survey among those who received a fellowship in 1985 (Gannon et al., 1997). While nearly two-third of the polled scientists who received their PhD less than 6 years ago still work abroad, a mere quarter of those who received their PhD more than 5 years ago are still working outside Europe. Obviously, the trend for a postdoctoral position abroad does not prevent most European scientists from seeking and eventually obtaining a position in their country of birth. Among the older EMBO fellows, more than 10 years after their PhD, 88% had returned to Europe. However, these data may not be significant as their total number is only 16. When looking at European scientists who returned to or stayed in Europe, the numbers are even higher (Figure (Figure4).4). Up to 5 years after their PhD /opt/omnimark/om50/omnimark -sb /opt/omnimark/om50/xom/ingentaheader.xom *sgmthesis 78% (n = 97) are in Europe. From those that did their PhD more than 5 years ago, 90% have found a position in Europe. This supports the assumption that many young scientists decide to do one or more postdocts abroad to gain additional experience, but plan to return after these Wanderjahre.

Fig. 4. Mean earnings by position: Europe versus USA (RA, research assistant; PD, postdoc; GL, group leader; PERM, permanent position in research; APROF, assistant Professor; PROF, Professor; DIR, Director of Institute or Head of Department; IND, scientist ...

The prospects for young European molecular biologists may be better than most of them think. For those who decide to pursue an academic career after their PhD thesis, there seem to be enough job opportunities in Europe, which enabled most of the polled scientists to return to their country of birth. Nevertheless, one of the most frequently heard complaints among respondents was the meagre pay and bad job opportunities for postdoctoral fellows. Indeed, while the pay for postdoctoral fellows in the USA is comparable, senior scientists there earn more than their European colleagues. This, and better opportunities for obtaining research grants, may still be a compelling reason for younger scientists to leave Europe.

The prospects of European scientists starting a career in Europe seem to be better than they think. But the continuing economic success, good funding and better job opportunities for senior scientists in the USA are still very attractive. No doubt, the European system of doing research has to change and adapt if the EU wishes to compete with the USA. But most scientists feel that these necessary changes will probably come too late because of the inertia of the European research establishment. 'The system is very well entrenched,' commented one, 'and it is my belief that it will not be changed without changes in mentality—especially concerning respect for the human being behind that young scientist.'


In 2014 the total area of rice fields in North Sumatra was 464 827 ha, which has a land area of irrigated rice 291 062 ha, while the non-irrigated rice land area of 173 765 ha. Non irrigated wetland is classified into three agro-climatic type include 1). Rainfed areas, 2). Tidal wetland and 3). Lowland swamp wetland or non-tidal swamp. Potential development of swamp wetlands for paddy is still open, because the productivityis still low. Causes of low productivity such a ssoil fertility are relatively low, it still uses the old local varieties in 5-6 months, varieties that have been hereditary, and land managementis still relatively conventional. Through Integrated Crop Resource Management approach (PTT), swamp wetlands have the potential to be developed and are expected tobecomea contributor rice production significantly. The aim of this researchis to provide the technology package for lowland swamprice cultivation in North Labuhan Batu regency, North Sumatra Province. The research was conducted in the village of Sidua-Two, Sub District of South Kualuh, North Labuhan Batu district, from April to September 2014. Research using randomized block design (RBD) with 7 treatment swamp rice varieties that Inpara1, Inpara2, Inpara3, Inpara4, Inpara5, Margasari and varieties that farmers commonly planted Mekongga. Treatments were replicated three times, cooperator farmers used as replication with plot area of 20m x 25m with a total area of 1ha. The results showed that the varieties Inpara1, Inpara2, and Inpara 3 provide the highest productivity compared to other varieties. Additionally varieties Mekongga still gave good productivity in lowland swamp. The main obstaclein alowland swamp land development is water logging, and unpredictable drought, depending on the circumstances of hydrotophography, rain fall and water level of local rivers. Results of soil analysis showed the content of micro-nutrients such as Al, Fe, Mn, Band Sare also included as higher category. The high content of elements Al and Fe cause soil reactions that are highly acidic soil and the soil pH is very low. Recommendations on package of rice cultivation in shallow lowland swamp land need to be implemented in order to increase the productivity of lowland swamp land.


In the past several years, microblogging services like Twitter and Facebook have become a popular method of communication, allowing users to disseminate and gather information to and from hundreds or thousands (or even millions) of people, often in real-time. As much of the content on microblogging services is publicly accessible, we have recently seen many secondary services being built atop them, including services that perform signicant content analysis, such as real-time search engines and trend analysis services. With the eventual goal of building more accurate and less expensive models of microblog streams, this paper investigates the degree to which language variance is related to the metadata of microblog content. We hypothesize that if a strong relationship exists between metadata features and language then we will be able to use this metadata as a trivial classier to match individual messages with specialized, more accurate language models. To investigate the validity of this hypothesis, we analyze a corpus of over 72M Twitter messages, building language models conditioned on a variety of available message metadata.


In 1991 the Australian government instigated a process of reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous people. This process aimed at laying the foundations of a postcolonial nation through the establishment of the truth about the past, the acknowledgment of the injustices inflicted on the natives, and the development of appropriate forms of justice. Hidden facts about dispossession and genocide were divulged thanks to various inquiries carried out throughout the country. Such hideous facts plunged settler Australians into angst and guilt and prompted many contemporary white novelists to tackle the hitherto taboo issue of colonialism and its legacies in their works. At first glance, this literary endeavour to deal with the darkest chapter in the Australian history appears as a genuine determination to confront the trauma of the colonial past. Nevertheless, a closer look at some contemporary Australian novels reveals an altogether different intention. My dissertation seeks to explore the fictional representations of colonialism and Aboriginal suffering in one of these novels, namely, Alex Miller's Journey to the Stone Country (2002), in order to emphasise how, through the use of subtle representational and discursive strategies, the author contrives to lessen the impact of the colonial violence. Annabelle Beck, a descendant of British settlers, and Bo Rennie, a former Aboriginal ringer, set out on a journey from Burranbah in Central Queensland to the sacred ground of the Jangga people. As the journey unfolds, a disturbing past of injustice and loss emerges. The two main protagonists are brought to discover their common history as members of neighbouring families. The exploration of their past culminates in the revelation of a massacre in which Bo's ancestors were savagely killed by Annabelle's grandfather and his friends. Admittedly, the author tackles the controversial issues of inter-racial relationships, dispossession, and the legacies of colonial violence, yet his approach is far from being postcolonial. The first part of the dissertation will, indeed, attempt to examine how he makes use of the representational strategies to portray the Aboriginal characters as uneducated, untrustworthy, and racist. Furthermore, this part will emphasise that Miller tends to dismantle colonial myths only to construct neo-colonial ones, particularly, the equal importance of European and Aboriginal heritages. This assumption of egalitarianism is, in fact, not as fair as it seems at first sight given the long history of injustices to which Aborigines were subjected. The second part of the dissertation is dedicated to the analysis of the author's response to the colonial trauma. A close reading of the novel in the lights of trauma theories reveals that the author resists the full understanding and acknowledgement of the truth about the past. He, indeed, undermines his avowed intention of exposing the atrocities inflicted on Aboriginal people through a series of discursive strategies. The dissertation will mainly draw on Dominick LaCapra's writings about trauma to suggest that Miller is caught within the process of what LaCapra refers to as "acting out", that is to say the tendency to repress the traumatic past to avoid any critical confrontation. Therefore, though he apparently engages in the venture of exploring the colonial past, Miller advocates the law of silence, a law which is hardly compatible with the requirements of a true reconciliation.


New ideas in ecology have implications for managing forest ecosystems. The discipline of silviculture is at a crossroads. Silviculturists are under increasing pressure to develop practices that sustain the full function and dynamics of forested ecosystems and maintain ecosystem diversity and resilience while still providing needed wood products. "A Critique of Silviculture" offers a penetrating look at the current state of the field and provides suggestions for its future development.The book includes an overview of the historical developments of silvicultural techniques and describes how these developments are best understood in their contemporary philosophical, social, and ecological contexts. It also explains how the traditional strengths of silviculture are becoming limitations as society demands a varied set of benefits from forests and as we learn more about the importance of diversity on ecosystem functions and processes.The authors go on to explain how other fields, specifically ecology and complexity science, have developed in attempts to understand the diversity of nature and the variability and heterogeneity of ecosystems. The authors suggest that ideas and approaches from these fields could offer a road map to a new philosophical and practical approach that endorses managing forests as complex adaptive systems."A Critique of Silviculture" bridges a gap between silviculture and ecology that has long hindered the adoption of new ideas. It breaks the mold of disciplinary thinking by directly linking new ideas and findings in ecology and complexity science to the field of silviculture. This is a critically important book that is essential reading for anyone involved with forest ecology, forestry, silviculture, or the management of forested ecosystems.


Three children, aged 9 days, 3 weeks, and 9 1/2 months, were treated for Fournier's syndrome. The portals of entry for a miscellaneous group of pathogens included a circumcision in the first, a circumcision and a diaper rash in the second, and a hot water burn in the third. The development of the condition after a circumcision is noteworthy because it is an extremely common surgical procedure. Medical and minor surgical treatment of the gangrenous areas during the period of rapid healing was successful. This approach contrasts with those researchers who recommend grafts. All three children survived, although one died three years later of complications from the original burn, and in another, one testicle could not be palpated after healing.


Peninsular Malaysia is one of the mega diverse countries of the world. The
Malaysian people have used these plants for medicinal purpose long before the
development of modern medicine to treat various diseases. As part of intensive
studies on medicinal plants particularly in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), this
research has been conducted to study the chemistry and biological activities of
several selected plants as well as compounds isolated from the cell suspension
culture of Morinda elliptica and the rhizome parts of Hedychium thyrsiforme. Based
on literature search there have not been any reports on this particular research
subjects. Eight antbraquinones including nordamnacanthal (A-I), alizarin-I-methyl
ether (A-2), antbragallol- l,2-dimethyI ether (A-3), purpurin-I-methyl ether (A-4),
rubiadin (A-5), soranjidiol (A-6), lucidin-<o-methyl ether (A-7) and morindone (A-8)
were isolated from the cell suspension culture of Morinda elliptica. Five f1avonoids
including 3,7.4' -trimethoxy-5-hydroxyflavone (F - 1), 3,4' -dimethoxy-5, 7 -dihydroxyflavone
(F-2), 5,7.4' -trimethoxy-3-hydroxyflavone (F-3), 3,5,7,4' -tetramethoxyflavone
(F-4) and 7,4'-dimethoxy-3,5-dihydroxyflavone (F-5) were also isolated
from the rhizome parts of Hedychium thyrsiforme. The structures of all the isolated
compounds were established based on spectral data including ultraviolet-visible,
infrared, mass and nuclear magnetic resonance spectra.
The study on biological activities of the isolated compounds was conducted
using some in vitro bioassay procedures. In antitumor promoting assay, it is
interesting to note that nordamnacanthal and 5,7,4'-trimethoxy-3-hydroxyflavone in
concentration of 0.4 J.lglml showed strong inhibition activity towards Epstein-Barr
virus activation in Raji cells. Nordamnacanthal and 5,7,4'-trimethoxy-3-
hydroxyflavone as well as morindon, 3,4'-dimethoxy-5,7-dihydroxy-flavone and
7,4'-dimethoxy-3,5-dihydroxyflavone also showed strong antioxidant activity.


To investigate the late and persistent effects of cadmium (Cd) at low doses on the liver and its potential mechanisms, male Wistar rats were given i.p. injection of Cd as CdCl2 at 20 nmol kg−1 body weight every other day for 4 weeks. At weeks 20, 44 and 52, the livers from Cd‐treated and age‐matched control rats were examined pathologically and biochemically. Chronic exposure of rats to Cd at low doses induced mild pathological changes and persistent oxidative damage as well as cell proliferation. Hepatic proteins were analyzed with two‐dimensional electrophoresis (2‐DE) and mass spectrometry. More than 1000 protein spots were detected by 2‐DE. Ten proteins were distinguishable between Cd‐treated and age‐matched control groups at week 52 week after Cd treatment. Two of them were significantly down‐regulated: prohibitin (PHB) and d‐dopachrome tautomerase (DDT). By western blotting the down‐regulated expression of PHB and DDT in the livers of Cd‐treated rats was confirmed in both early (week 20) and late (week 52) time points. To further examine the down‐regulation of antioxidant status in the Cd‐treated livers, other common antioxidants, including superoxide dismutase and glutathione and one metal detoxification specific protein metallothionein, were also detected and found to be decreased, particularly at the late stage. These results suggest that mild histopathological changes, persistent oxidative damage and cell proliferation remained at the late stages (weeks 44–52) after rats were exposed to low‐dose Cd. These persistent changes may be associated with the persistent down‐regulation of cellular antioxidant systems. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Background: The COVID-19 pandemic caused >1 million infections during January-March 2020. There is an urgent need for reliable antibody detection approaches to support diagnosis, vaccine development, safe release of individuals from quarantine, and population lock-down exit strategies. We set out to evaluate the performance of ELISA and lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) devices. Methods: We tested plasma for COVID (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; SARS-CoV-2) IgM and IgG antibodies by ELISA and using nine different LFIA devices. We used a panel of plasma samples from individuals who have had confirmed COVID infection based on a PCR result (n=40), and pre-pandemic negative control samples banked in the UK prior to December-2019 (n=142). Results: ELISA detected IgM or IgG in 34/40 individuals with a confirmed history of COVID infection (sensitivity 85%, 95%CI 70-94%), vs. 0/50 pre-pandemic controls (specificity 100% [95%CI 93-100%]). IgG levels were detected in 31/31 COVID-positive individuals tested ≥10 days after symptom onset (sensitivity 100%, 95%CI 89-100%). IgG titres rose during the 3 weeks post symptom onset and began to fall by 8 weeks, but remained above the detection threshold. Point estimates for the sensitivity of LFIA devices ranged from 55-70% versus RT-PCR and 65-85% versus ELISA, with specificity 95-100% and 93-100% respectively. Within the limits of the study size, the performance of most LFIA devices was similar. Conclusions: Currently available commercial LFIA devices do not perform sufficiently well for individual patient applications. However, ELISA can be calibrated to be specific for detecting and quantifying SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG and is highly sensitive for IgG from 10 days following first symptoms.


We outline a theory for the calculation of the laser beam quality factor of an aberrated laser beam. We provide closed form equations which show that the beam quality factor of an aberrated Gaussian beam depends on all primary aberrations except tilt, defocus and x-astigmatism. The model is verified experimentally by implementing aberrations as digital holograms in the laboratory. We extend this concept to defining the mean focal length of an aberrated lens, and show how this definition may be of use in controlling thermal aberrations in laser resonators. Finally, we look at aberration correction and control using a combination of spatial light modulators and adaptive mirrors.


Within the Platberg area and the wider Drakensberg region, the shrinking natural resources and the threat posed to biodiversity are of concern to conservation management and require an understanding of long-term ecological processes. The vegetation of Platberg was investigated as part of an ecological survey to establish Afromontane floristic links to the Drakensberg as well as for the management of natural resources. From a TWINSPAN classification, refined by the Braun-Blanquet method, four main plant communities were identified, which were subdivided into fynbos, wetland, a woody/ shrub community and grassland. A classification and description of the fynbos are presented in this article. The analysis showed the fynbos divided into two communities comprising four sub-communities and seven variants. The fynbos community had an average of 28.34 species per releve, ranging from 14 to 54 species per sample plot. Twenty-four endemic or near-endemic Drakensberg Alpine Centre (DAC) species and 22 exotic (alien-invasive) species were recorded. Numerous floristic links with the DAC, Cape flora fynbos and grassland bioregions to the north and west were also found. The description of the fynbos plant communities can serve as a basis for the formulation of management plans for the area.


The evolution of our solar system remains one of the most fascinating questions since ancient astronomers first realized that the "stars" which do not twinkle are planets. In the modern era, the future evolution of the Earth has become a topic that may arise even in lay conversations. For example, the effects of changes in the earth's climate and the ozone layer are debated in policy and economic discussions as well as in scientific forums. One method for assessing our understanding of the Earth's atmosphere is to examine the atmospheres of the other terrestrial planets. The atmospheres of Venus and Mars share some common features with that of the Earth, but there are important differences. These differences are important because they force us to examine the often implicit assumptions that lie within the tunable parameters that exist in all models. Consequently, studies of the atmospheric chemistry on Venus and Mars can provide a test of the degree to which our understanding of the fundamental physical and chemical principles that govern the Earth's atmosphere is correct. The chemistry of the Martian atmosphere has been "solved" to the extent that modern photochemical models [e.g., Nair et al. 1994] can reproduce the primary observable characteristics to within a factor of 2 - 3 using the results from laboratory studies of photochemical reaction rates. The chemistry of the Venus atmosphere, however, remains an "unsolved" problem in that the differences between the most recent generation of models [Yung and DeMore 1982] and some of the existing observations are greater than a factor of 10. The first part of this dissertation (Chapters 1, 2, and 3) combines several lines of research that focused on how the discrepancy between models and observations of the Venus atmosphere can be reduced. (The appendices for Chapter 2 are in Chapter 5.) The results provide a better understanding of the current photochemical processes in the Venus atmosphere and can serve as a baseline for future studies of its evolution. The intervening chapter reports observations of Europa and Callisto in the 8-l3μm wavelength region. Those observations provide constraints on the composition and/ or physical state of the surficial material on the two satellites. Part I (Observations and Photochemical Modeling of the Venus Middle Atmosphere) The primary photochemical cycle of the Venus middle atmosphere (within and above the upper cloud layer) is the photolysis of C02 to form CO and oxygen atoms on the dayside followed by the reformation of C02 from CO and oxygen, primarily via catalytic reactions. Previous photochemical models-using ClOx, SOx, NOx, and HOx radicals to catalyze the reformation of C02-could qualitatively explain the stability of Venus' C02 atmosphere. Despite the powerful catalytic reactions introduced, however, none of the previous models could quantitatively explain either the low column abundance of molecular oxygen or the intense nightside air glow in the 02(a1Δ) band. The most comprehensive of the previous models, that by Yung and DeMore [1982], predicted a column abundance of molecular oxygen that was a factor of ~30 larger than the upper limit obtained the following year [Trauger and Lunine 1983], and it predicted a nightside airglow that was about three-quarters of the observed intensity. These discrepancies suggested that significant gaps remained in our understanding of the dominant chemical processes in the Venus middle atmosphere. In the fifteen years since these studies, new observations have provided further insight into the current state of the Venus atmosphere, and our understanding of chlorine and sulfur chemistry has improved as a result of laboratory and field studies related to the terrestrial stratosphere. One idea that had been proposed is that the abundance of 02 in the Venus atmosphere might vary by as much as a factor of 10 over time scales of years. This proposal was based on observations of S02 and SO at the top of the Venus clouds which showed a monotonic decrease in the abundances of both species from 1980 to 1995 with S02 declining by a factor of 10 and SO by a factor of 5. An alternate proposal was that rapid reactions on aerosol particles, such as HOCl + HCl +aerosol-+ H20 + Cl2 + aerosol which converts Cl from a relatively nonreactive form, HCl, to a potentially highly reactive form, Cl2, could greatly enhance the effectiveness of the chlorine catalytic reactions that oxidize CO to C02. This project has attempted to reconcile the differences between observations and photochemical models with regard to the oxygen budget of the Venus middle atmosphere. To examine the potential temporal variability of the 02 abundance, we attempted to detect molecular oxygen on the dayside of Venus using the Ultra-High Resolution Facility at the Anglo-Australian Telescope on 23 January 1995. We observed the 763.6325 and 763.2165 nm 02 lines at a spectral resolving power, λ⁄⁄λ, of 600000 with a square, 1.5 arc-second field of view. These observations reveal no evidence for 02 above the Venus cloud tops within our detection limit which is equivalent to a uniform vertical mixing ratio of 3 ppm. Our upper limit on the abundance of 02 in the Venus middle atmosphere is comparable to that obtained by Traub and Carlton [1974] and is a factor of ten larger (less stringent) than that obtained by Trauger and Lunine [1983] (2σ = 0.3 ppm). Within the obvious limitations imposed by the relative sensitivities of the non-detections, we find no evidence for an increase in the abundance of 02 in association with the observed decreases in S02 and SO abundances. The parallel branch to new observations was development of a new photochemical model for the Venus middle atmosphere that incorporates the most recent chemical kinetic rates and photoabsorption cross sections. Our one-dimensional, steady-state photochemical model can reproduce (within measurement uncertainty and temporal⁄spatial variability) the retrieved SO profile [Na et al. 1994], the retrieved S02 abundance and scale height at the cloud top [Na et al. 1994], the retrieved CO profile [Clancy and Muhleman 1991], and the observed "global average" 02 (a1Δ) airglow [Crisp et al. 1996] using only gas-phase chemistry if we adjust key reaction rates within their assessed one standard deviation uncertainties. Our predicted column abundance for 02 is a factor of 10 smaller than than from previous models. Our results suggest SClx and ClSOx compounds may be important in the chemistry of the upper cloud layer, and we find that Reaction G10 is not an important source of Cl2 above the cloud top. The current observational upper limit can be reconciled with the predictions from our photochemical model if one examines the absorption produced by our predicted 02 distribution instead of the column abundance. Our model predicts that most of the 02 in the Venus atmosphere will be located between 85 and 95 km altitude, several scale heights above the cloud top (~70-75 km altitude) and, thus, above the region in which multiple scattering is important. Radiative transfer model calculations indicate that the absorption due to our predicted 02 distribution is equivalent to that produced for a uniform vertical distribution of 02 with mixing ratio of 0.3 ppm, the two standard deviation upper limit from the observations. If the equilibrium constant for ClCO is adjusted by two standard deviations and the temperatures at 85 - 95 km altitude are decreased by ~15-20 K (two standard deviations), the predicted 02 absorption will lie below the observed one standard deviation upper limit. Part II (Thermal Infrared Spectroscopy of Europa and Callisto) The trailing hemispheres of Europa and Callisto were observed and a 9- 13 μm spectrum of Europa with better spectral resolution and better signal-to-noise than was previously possible has been derived. The ratio spectrum of the two satellites has a signal-to-noise ratio of approximately 30 and spectral resolving power of approximately 50. The ratio spectrum was combined with the average Voyager 1 spectrum of Callisto from Spencer [1987a] to obtain a 9- 13 μm spectrum of Europa with signal-to-noise that is a factor of 10 better than that in the average Voyager spectrum of Europa in Spencer [1987a]. No emissivity features due to water ice are apparent at the 3% level in our Europa spectrum. The disk-integrated, effective color temperature ratio for the two satellites is consistent with previous ground-based, broadband, thermal infrared photometry. One possible explanation for the absence of features in the thermal infrared spectra of Europa (at the 3% level) and Callisto (at the 1% level) is if the surfaces of both satellites have significant abundances of small particles (≲50 micrometer in size). This explanation is consistent with most of the published observations by Galileo.


The growing potential for widespread integration of distributed energy resources (DER) presents the electric power sector with significant changes to technical operations, business models, and industry structure. Management of such changes to ensure the development and maintenance of well-adapted, reliable power systems requires updated regulations that keep pace with the evolution of technologies and end-user needs. Regulators are faced with the challenge of ensuring that a level playing field exists for electricity service business models that align with a range of policy goals including the assurance of reliability and quality of electricity supply, affordability of electricity services, encouragement of innovation and economic growth, and the development of clean energy technologies for decarbonization. As the distribution system transitions from a passive network of consumers to a more actively managed system of network users with diverse consumption and production behaviors, price signals will play a crucial role in shaping the interactions between the physical components of the distribution system and network users. Distribution network use of system (DNUoS) charges, are the method by which distribution utilities cover network operation and maintenance costs and recover their infrastructure investments, and they signal to network users how their utilization of the distribution network impacts system costs and each user?s share of those costs. This paper proposes a new framework for the design of DNUoS charges, calling for an overhaul of how distribution network cost allocation has been carried out thus far. The authors present a method for: 1) utilizing a reference network model (RNM) to identify the key drivers of distribution system costs and 2) allocating those costs to network users according to network utilization profiles that capture each user's contribution to total system costs. The resulting DNUoS charges are highly differentiated for network users according to the impact that network use behaviors have on system costs. This is a substantial departure from the convention of allocating distribution system costs across multiple users assumed to have similar network utilization behaviors and identical impacts on network cost drivers. Thus, regulators may choose to adjust the allocation of network costs to cost drivers in order to achieve varying regulatory objectives such as increased socialization and equity. ∗MIT Energy Initiative, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Institute of Research in Technology, Comillas Pontifical University; Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Email address: firstname.lastname@example.com †MIT Energy Initiative, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Engineering Systems Division, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Email address: email@example.com


Background and Purpose: Cancer is associated with significant changes in the lifestyle of patients. Spiritual well-being has been shown to be an inherent element of health, quality of life, increased survival rate, and enhanced adaptability of cancer patients with the disease. This study aimed to evaluate the spiritual health of cancer patients and their nurses. Methods: This descriptive, correlational, cross-sectional study was conducted on 60 hospitalized cancer patients and 60 nurses in the hospitals affiliated to Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Iran during March-October 2014. Participants were selected via accident sampling, and data were collected using the Spiritual Well-being Scale (SWBS). Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 16 using descriptive statistics, Chi-square and T-test. Results: In cancer patients, mean scores of religious, existential and spiritual well-being were 52±2.32, 46±1.23 and 99±3.73, respectively. In the studied nurses, these scores were 29±4.43, 40±1.17 and 70±4.02, respectively. A significant difference was observed between the scores of spiritual well-being between cancer patients and nurses (P=0.001). Conclusion: According to the results of this study, spiritual well-being largely contributes to the mental health of cancer patients. Therefore, higher spiritual well-being of nurses could enhance the spiritual health of cancer patients as well.


We present Atlas.txt, a novel data-to-text natural language generation system which enables access to geo-referenced information like online census data. We first discuss initial findings from an accessibility study on geo-referenced data and outline needs requirements for visually-impaired users of such data. We then present work towards realising our data-to-text system and indicate how it aims to address this issue.


markdownabstractPulmonary hypertension (PH) is a disease of the pulmonary vasculature with high morbidity and mortality in the affected individuals. We carried out research in two different populations: the Rotterdam Study, which is a population-based cohort study, and the Giessen PH registry, a patient population. In the present thesis we aimed to elucidate the prevalence of PH and its associated factors in the general population. We also studied improvement of prognostic and diagnostic evaluation in our patient population by means of biomarkers and exercise testing, and we analyzed the effects of combination therapy and personalized treatment approaches.
The participants of the Rotterdam Study had a mean age of 76.4 years. The prevalence of PH, measured by echocardiography, in this elderly Rotterdam population was 2.6%. We identified associated factors for PH in this population. Among the common diseases, COPD and left heart disease were associated with the highest prevalences of PH (chapter 2.1). Among parameters of left heart function and morphology, measures of diastolic function and left atrial diameter showed the strongest associations with pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP), measured by echocardiography (chapter 2.2).
The Giessen PH registry comprises the largest single center registry and is linked to a biobank. Wepresented baseline and survival data in chapter 3.1. Patients in our registry had similar baseline characteristics to those in other national registries in terms of age, six-minute walking test, New York Heart Association functional class, female-to-male-ratio, and hemodynamic parameters. Several prognostic markers were evaluated across all etiologic groups.
A definite diagnosis of PH requires invasive hemodynamic evaluation by means of right heart catheterization. This invasive evaluation carries risks and costs and is in some cases done for exclusion of the disease only. We aimed to find a diagnostic marker for PH to rule out or diagnose PH without invasive tests. In chapter 3.2, we found that the biomarkers soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 and placental growth factor when analyzed together provide a relatively high diagnostic accuracy. This possibly enables us to obtain diagnostic information earlier in the long process from symptoms via screening to a definite diagnosis (chapter 3.2).
Previous work has shown pathophysiological links between PH and altered glucose metabolism (AGM). AGM and PH were linked to pathophysiological changes such as right heart congestion. Also, changes in signaling pathways, such as the bone morphogenic protein pathway, may play a role. We described the association of AGM with prognosis in patients with PH in chapter 3.3. Patients with PH who had an AGM as defined by an HbA1c above the median had a 3.9 times increased mortality as compared to those with an HbA1c below the median.
The concept of right ventricular contractile (RV) reserve is discussed in chapter 4.1. The increase in PASP upon physiological exercise is introduced as a possible measure of RV contractile reserve. An increase in PASP below the median was associated with an increased risk of mortality in a prospective cohort of patients with PH.
In chapter 4.2 we compared the acute vasoreactivity of patients with PH in response to inhaled nitric oxide and oral sildenafil. Both agents were shown to be of similar prognostic value. Nitric oxide is known to guide therapeutic decisions. We were able to show that sildenafil may also have the potential to personalize therapy.
Combination therapy of oral sildenafil with inhaled iloprost was evaluated in chapter 4.3. Sequential addition of a second drug on top of the first can improve functional class, pulmonary hemodynamics, and exercise capacity irrespective of the order in which these are given. Iloprost as a first therapy with later add-on of sildenafil shows the best long term survival in our retrospective uncontrolled study.
The main findings of this thesis are reviewed and discussed in detail in chapter 5, as well as relevant methodological issues.


Migration is already a significant global phenomenon, and it is likely to become more so. According to a recent World Bank report, there are two hundred million international migrants. The study reports that "migration pressures" will continue "for the foreseeable future." It will take "decades" to close income gaps between developed and developing countries; in 2015, the ratio between the average income of the high-income countries and that of the low-income countries stood at 70:1. A "well-documented demographic divergence" will add further pressure: "Population aging will produce large labor-market imbalances and fiscal pressures in high-income countries as the tax base narrows and the cost of caring for the old surges." This increase in demand will complement an increase in supply. "If current fertility and national employment rates remain as they are in the developing world," the Bank reports, by 2050 "nearly 900 million [will be] in search of work." Climate change and disasters will have a more modest impact on the international level, although "increased drought and desertification, rising sea levels, repeated crop failures, and more intense and frequent storms are likely to increase internal migration." And these numbers—measuring persons outside their home country for more than a year—do not include hundreds of millions of persons who cross international borders for shorter periods of time: tourists, students, temporary workers, business persons, asylum-seekers.


Smart televisions are becoming more common in households and with the added capability to both connect to the internet and launch applications they have the possibility to help create a more engaging interactive experience. An interactive experience that extends beyond the classic remote control and into the personal second screen of every viewer. Second screens are frequently used while watching television making them ideal for creating audience participation and extending the television experience.By looking at upcoming technologies related to interactive television and their interaction with second screens as well as design guidelines related to second screens, interactive television and social television we create a platform for prototyping web-based interactive television.The platform uses a system based on the technologies found in upcoming televisions and consists of a client and server. The server acts as a television that can be detected by the clients using Universal Plug and Play and then open web pages sent by the client. The client presents a user with a list of second screen content which can include applications, web sites and interactive content shared between television and second screen.


OBJECTIVEAggressive dural arteriovenous fistulas (dAVFs) with cortical venous drainage (CVD) are known for their relatively high risk of recurrent neurological events or hemorrhage. However, recent natural history literature has indicated that nonaggressive dAVFs with CVD have a significantly lower prospective risk of hemorrhage. These nonaggressive dAVFs are typically diagnosed because of symptomatic headache, pulsatile tinnitus, or ocular symptoms, as in low-risk dAVFs. Therefore, the viability of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) as a treatment for this lesion subclass should be investigated.METHODSThe authors evaluated their institutional experience with SRS for dAVFs with CVD for the period from 1991 to 2016, assessing angiographic outcomes and posttreatment hemorrhage rates. They subsequently pooled their results with those published in the literature and stratified the results based on the mode of clinical presentation.RESULTSIn an institutional cohort of 42 dAVFs with CVD treated using SRS, there were no complications or hemorrhages after treatment in 19 patients with nonaggressive dAVFs, but there was 1 radiation-induced complication and 1 hemorrhage among the 23 patients with aggressive dAVFs. In pooling these cases with 155 additional cases from the literature, the authors found that the hemorrhage rate after SRS was significantly lower among the patients with nonaggressive dAVFs (0% vs 6.8%, p = 0.003). Similarly, the number of radiation-related complications was 0/124 in nonaggressive dAVF cases versus 6/73 in aggressive dAVF cases (p = 0.001). The annual rate of hemorrhage after SRS for aggressive fistulas was 3.0% over 164.5 patient-years, whereas none of the nonaggressive fistulas bled after radiosurgery over 279.4 patient-years of follow-up despite the presence of CVD.CONCLUSIONSCortical venous drainage is thought to be a significant risk factor in all dAVFs. In the institutional experience described here, SRS proved to be a low-risk strategy associated with a very low risk of subsequent hemorrhage or radiation-related complications in nonaggressive dAVFs with CVD.


A hub location problem consists of locating p hubs in a network in order to collect and consolidate flow between node pairs. This thesis deals with the uncapacitated single allocation p-hub center problem (USApHCP) as a special type of hub location problem with min max objective function. Using the so-called radius formulation of the problem, the dimension of the polyhedron of USApHCP is derived. The formulation constraints are investigated to find out which of these define facets. Then, three new classes of facet-defining inequalities are derived. Finally, efficient procedures to separate facets in a branch-and-cut algorithm are proposed. The polyhedral analysis of USApHCP is based on a tight relation to the uncapacitated facility location problem (UFL). Hence, many results stated in this thesis also hold for UFL.


In the near future, Middle Eastern democracy will be shaped by conflicts over the status of religion in the public sphere as well as by conflicts driven by the relationship between religion and the state. While political liberal viewpoints contend that in modern political and social life comprehensive doctrines do not accord well with the demands of pluralism, it does seem that, in their day-to-day practices, some Muslims in Turkey do manage to adequately reconcile their comprehensive doctrines with pluralism's many demands. Based on fieldwork undertaken in nine cities across Turkey, this thesis is a study of individuals' modes of religious reasoning. This work analyzes the ways in which Muslim citizens' religious reasoning styles enable them to either reject or to adjust to the demands of modern social and political life. It identifies four modes of religious reasoning: (i) the communitarian; (ii) the utilitarian; (iii) principled; (iv) the deconstructive. Pluralism goes hand in hand with an acknowledgement that there are multiple worlds, realities and truths; the data presented here demonstrate that pluralism is, in fact, a potentiality possessed by every individual. Pluralism emerges or retreats as part of a process of interactions with other individuals, within a context. This thesis demonstrates that this flux, this dynamism, is strongly associated with individuals' changes between different modes of religious reasoning.


We recently reported a study in which undergraduate students and research
mathematicians were asked to read and validate purported proofs (Inglis & Alcock, 2012). In our
eye-movement data, we found no evidence of the initial skimming strategy hypothesized by
Weber (2008). Weber and Mejia-Ramos (2013) argued that this was due to a flawed analysis of
eye-movement data and that a more fine-grained analysis led to the opposite conclusion. Here we
demonstrate that this is not the case, and show that their analysis is based on an invalid
assumption.
Weber and Mejia-Ramos (2013) suggested that our analysis was flawed because, after
calculating what proportion of reading time a mathematician took to reach the last line of a proof
(which they called an Initial Reading [IR] ratio), we took means across different tasks.
Considering means, they argued, obscures reading strategy variation. Clearly, this is true in
principle, and at the end of this response, we discuss what exactly is obscured in our data. First,
however, we respond to Weber and Mejia-Ramos's more specific criticisms.


Significance CENP-A, the histone H3 variant that forms a unique centromeric chromatin, is essential for faithful chromosome segregation during mitosis. Inability to connect the centromere to the mitotic spindle causes aneuploidy, a hallmark of many cancers. In addition to chromosome missegregation, chromosome fusions at (peri)centromeres are prevalent in cancers, but how such rearrangements arise remains unclear. Here, we identified a role for CENP-A in maintaining the integrity of centromere-associated repetitive sequences by ensuring their effective replication in human cells. In the absence of CENP-A, generation of DNA–RNA hybrids due to transcription–replication conflicts causes delayed DNA replication, centromere breakage, recombination, and chromosome translocations at centromeres. Centromeres thus possess a special mechanism to facilitate their replication and suppress chromosome translocations. Chromosome segregation relies on centromeres, yet their repetitive DNA is often prone to aberrant rearrangements under pathological conditions. Factors that maintain centromere integrity to prevent centromere-associated chromosome translocations are unknown. Here, we demonstrate the importance of the centromere-specific histone H3 variant CENP-A in safeguarding DNA replication of alpha-satellite repeats to prevent structural aneuploidy. Rapid removal of CENP-A in S phase, but not other cell-cycle stages, caused accumulation of R loops with increased centromeric transcripts, and interfered with replication fork progression. Replication without CENP-A causes recombination at alpha-satellites in an R loop-dependent manner, unfinished replication, and anaphase bridges. In turn, chromosome breakage and translocations arise specifically at centromeric regions. Our findings provide insights into how specialized centromeric chromatin maintains the integrity of transcribed noncoding repetitive DNA during S phase.


Introgression lines (IL) from crosses between elite cultivars and wild species are important resources for mapping quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for yield. In order to evaluate the relationship between morphological characters and yields in rice, 25 ILs (KMR3 × Oryza rufipogon) at BC4F6 generation were grown during Rabi 2014. Transgressive segregations were observed for most traits. The results suggested that genetic variation for these traits were largely controlled by additive genes. Statistical analysis on important agronomic traits showed that maximum standard deviation belonged to the total grain number per plant followed by number of grains per panicle and grain yield per plant. Grain yield per plant was positively correlated and was significant to tiller number, number of panicle per plant, number of grains per panicle and grain weight per panicle. This study revealed that selection based on total number of grains per panicle, grain weight per panicle and panicle per plant will be highly effective for yield improvement in rice breeding programs. Overall, there was high genetic variation which promised high rate of arising elite transgressive individuals and moderate heritability for most traits in the populations tested. It is feasible and efficient to use wild rice abundant genetic diversity to develop rice cultivars for high yield.


This research is aimed to gain understanding of negative relation between forgiveness and aggression on high school student. The higher level of forgiveness resulting lower level of aggresiveness. The numbers of subject on this research is approximately 124 subjects. High school student both men and women are the criteria of the subjects. The scale which is used on this research is using forgiveness scale adapted from Nashori forginess scalematch with Nashory's aspects and aggresiveness aspect is modified based on Buss Perry Scale is course with Buss Perry. Corelation analysis is using Pearson methode with value at r= 0. 409 and p=0.000 (p < 0.001).That value indicate negative relationship between forgiveness and aggresiveness on high school student.


Parasitic taxa span an antagonistic continuum, with some parasites inflicting no fitness costs to some that kill the host after feeding. Host‐associated differentiation is postulated as a major process facilitating speciation in many parasitic taxa. Here, I examined the importance of host‐associated differentiation in a parasitoid wasp that develops on yucca moths in the genus Prodoxus. Prodoxus are specialists on Yucca, and moth speciation is closely tied to differences in microhabitat use within a plant and among host plant species. Parasitoids in the genus Eusandalum have been reared from Prodoxus species distributed across Yucca. Estimates of host‐use patterns obtained through rearings of adult wasps were combined with surveys of mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase I sequence data and amplified fragment length polymorphism markers to determine if populations of Eusandalum were genetically structured based on host use. Eusandalum populations were genetically structured based on geographical distance rather than moth host species, microhabitats within plants, or Yucca species. The results are contrary to the patterns observed in the host genus Prodoxus. Although parasitoids exhibit parasite‐like characteristics, these results suggest that Eusandalum may be best viewed as a predator. Female wasps are able to utilize any moth species present at a given locality, and there is little likelihood that host specialization may facilitate population subdivision and speciation.


This study examines the complexities of Emergency Department (ED) practice with specific reference to the care and experience of people who self-harm. Self-harm is a major source of suffering for individuals and their families and requires a targeted cohesive and appropriate response from health care agencies.

Bounded in time and place an embedded case study design (Stake 1995) is used to explore this phenomenon in a real- life context (Yin 2003). Known issues associated with the case have formed the conceptual structure from which multiple sources of data have been utilised to gather evidence. Case analysis incorporates data from patient interviews, patient case notes, staff focus groups and interviews, policy documents and media coverage. A process of directed content analysis involving inductive and deductive category application is undertaken. Data are triangulated in an effort to elicit divergent and convergent issues, culminating in the development of two overarching themes.

The first theme entitled 'structural discourse' provides an understanding of the context in which ED practice and the care of people who self-harm occurs. The second theme, named 'encountering ED', structures individual narratives, personal meanings and the relational aspects within the case.

The effects and implications of competing discourses and their relevance for ED practice are discussed. The significant impact of overcrowding on patients and staff and the particular issues for people who self-harm are explored. Finally ED practice is examined as a moral performance where the concepts of dignity, regard, generosity and imagination are deemed to have a particular place in emergency practice, and a role to play in reframing the language and questions about emergency department practice.


Imitation Learning (IL) has been successfully applied to complex sequential decision-making problems where standard Reinforcement Learning (RL) algorithms fail. A number of recent methods extend IL to few-shot learning scenarios, where a meta-trained policy learns to quickly master new tasks using limited demonstrations. However, although Inverse Reinforcement Learning (IRL) often outperforms Behavioral Cloning (BC) in terms of imitation quality, most of these approaches build on BC due to its simple optimization objective. In this work, we propose SMILe, a scalable framework for Meta Inverse Reinforcement Learning (Meta-IRL) based on maximum entropy IRL, which can learn high-quality policies from few demonstrations. We examine the efficacy of our method on a variety of high-dimensional simulated continuous control tasks and observe that SMILe significantly outperforms Meta-BC. Furthermore, we observe that SMILe performs comparably or outperforms Meta-DAgger, while being applicable in the state-only setting and not requiring online experts. To our knowledge, our approach is the first efficient method for Meta-IRL that scales to the function approximator setting. For datasets and reproducing results please refer to https://github.com/KamyarGh/rl_swiss/blob/master/reproducing/smile_paper.md .