We investigate models of self-consistent chemical enrichment of the intergalactic medium (IGM) from z = 6.0 → 1.5, based on hydrodynamic simulations of structure formation that explicitly incorporate outflows from star-forming galaxies. Our main result is that outflow parametrizations derived from observations of local starburst galaxies, in particular momentum-driven wind scenarios, provide the best agreement with observations of C iv absorption at z ∼ 2-5. Such models sufficiently enrich the high-z IGM to produce a global mass density of Civ absorbers that is relatively invariant from z = 5.5 → 1.5, in agreement with observations. This occurs despite continual IGM enrichment causing an increase in volume-averaged metallicity by ∼ x 5-10 over this redshift range, because energy input accompanying the enriching outflows causes a drop in the global ionization fraction of C iv. Comparisons to observed C IV column density and linewidth distributions and C IV-based pixel optical depth ratios provide significant constraints on wind models. Our best-fitting outflow models show mean IGM temperatures only slightly above our no-outflow case, metal filling factors of just a few per cent with volume-weighted metallicities around 10 -3 at z ∼ 3, significant amounts of collisionally ionized C iv absorption and a metallicity-density relationship that rises rapidly at low overdensities and flattens at higher ones. In general, we find that outflow speeds must be high enough to enrich the low-density IGM at early times but low enough not to overheat it, and concurrently must significantly suppress early star formation while still producing enough early metals. It is therefore non-trivial that locally calibrated momentum-driven wind scenarios naturally yield the desired strength and evolution of outflows, and suggest that such models represent a significant step towards understanding the impact of galactic outflows on galaxies and the IGM across cosmic time.


An integrated membrane system combining reverse osmosis (RO) and electrodeionization (EDI) is used for simultaneous sugar concentration and salts removal from a synthetic dilute sugar solution as a model of sugar-containing wastewater. The RO system uses a thin film composite RO membrane (Saehan CSM, RE1812-60). Meanwhile, the EDI stack has two diluted compartments, one concentrated compartment, one anode compartment, and one cathode compartment. Commercially available cation exchange membrane (MC-3470) and anion exchange membrane (MA-3475) are used as ionic selective barriers of the EDI stack. Both diluate and concentrate compartments are filled with mixed ion exchange resins (purolite strong acid cation exchange, C-100E and strong base type I anion resins, A-400). Two different operation modes, i.e. RO-EDI and EDI-RO, were assessed. The experimental results show that the observed sugar rejection of RO membrane is more than 99.9% and there is no sugar loss in the EDI stack. This indicates that the hybrid process allows almost total sugar recovery. In addition, significant reduction of salts content from the concentrated sugar solution is obtained. From permeate flux and permeate purity points of view, however, the EDI-RO configuration seems superior to the RO-EDI configuration. It should be emphasized that scale formation on the membrane surface of the concentrate compartment side has to be controlled.


In order to satisfy the Principle of Least Privilege in large enterprises which employ Role Based Access Control
systems a large number of roles must be defined. Role
management can become a demanding and complex task
in such situations. This paper introduces the concepts of
Partial Access Control Permissions (Partial Permissions)
and Partial Access Control Rights (Partial Rights) which
enable the number of roles to be reduced and role
management burdens to be eased.
Partial permissions are linked permissions which are
applied simultaneously to two or more roles. The rights
defined in a partial permission only become active when
an access request triggers a sufficient number of linked
partial permissions. Partial permissions enable
permissions to be given to any combination of roles. For
example, if a hospital patient is attended by clinicians
with a "treating team" role and the hospital has a "doctor"
role, a partial permission applied to the two roles is only
triggered during an access request from a doctor who is
on the treating team.
Similarly, a Full Right is triggered when a complete set of
Partial Rights are activated. Partial rights provide a
means for incorporating consent and authorisation into the
access control system, as well as facilitating the
application of general access control rules to groups of
associated roles.


Qatar is emerging as one of the most dynamic and innovative economies in the Middle East over the last decades. The rapid expansion in the industrial sector, as the key economic driver, in addition to, the strong growth in construction sector, driven by large government investments, alongside the rapidly increasing population and rising living standards put continuously increasing pressures on domestic energy consumption leading to the escalating demand for electricity. To meet these challenges, Qatar has started thinking for long term plans for reducing it dependency on fossil fuels and implementing energy conservation measures as part of its 2030 National Vision. Therefore, Qatar start investing large amounts of money in supporting research and development in the renewable energy sector, in particular, the photovoltaic (PV) technologies for electricity production due to the high level of insolation resulted from its geographical location in the subtropical ridge. Plans are underway to generate 2% of the national electricity production from solar photovoltaic systems by 2020, and 20% by 2030. Solar PV is one of the four main direct solar-energy technologies, in addition to, the concentrating solar power (CSP), solar thermal and solar fuels. Solar PV has various applications and the majority of the installed PV systems are grid connected either through small-scale rooftop (up to ten kWs) or ground-mounted systems installed on residential or commercial properties (ten kW to one MW), or through utility-scale PV farms (one MW or more). Solar PV systems are being installed everywhere around the globe and in developed countries the fastest growing sector is the distributed, grid-connected, rooftop systems. The motivation for individuals to install their own PV system can vary; early solar adopters chose to own solar PV system because of environmental concerns, or a desire to reduce their reliance on the electric power grid. In recent years due to the rapid decline in PV system installed price, the market for solar photovoltaic systems is growing rapidly into a mature industry welcoming an entirely new class of consumers motivated by the prospect of saving money on their electricity bills and making a responsible investment in their home. The projective of this work is creating a Profitability Analysis Tool (PAT) for PV systems in the context of distributed, grid-connected buildings. An economic evaluation model will be designed to evaluate the electrical energy production from PV systems taking into account all the operational incomes as well as all the expenses for the implementation, operation and maintenance of the PV system during its entire lifetime based on discounted cash flow analysis. The proposed profitability analysis tool will help the investors (home owners) to evaluate their solar PV investment through a wide range of economic inductors such as, Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Simple Payback Time (SPT), Benefit to Cost Ratio (BCR) and Profitability Index (PI). The proposed profitability analysis tool gives the investors the ability to investigate different financing methods (combination between equity and debt) in addition to evaluating the advantages of applying different proposed governmental incentives (subsidies and tax incentives). Furthermore, since the variations in discount rate, tariff rate, installation and maintenance cost per kW and solar insolation will have a great impact in the profitability analysis, a sensitivity analysis using Monte Carlo simulation will be included in the proposed profitability analysis tool to highlight the impact of these variations. Furthermore, this Monte Carlo based sensitivity analysis will act as a guide for governmental policy designers to navigate their way to increase distributed solar PV adaptation in Qatar.


Interpretation of 3D seismic data involves the analysis and integration of many forms and derivatives of the original reflectivity data. This can lead to the generation of an overwhelming amount of data that can be difficult to use effectively when relying on conventional interpretation techniques. Our natural cognitive processes have evolved so that we can absorb and understand large amounts of complex data extremely quickly and effectively. However, these cognitive processes are heavily influenced by context and color perception. Seismic interpretation can benefit greatly through better exploiting the positive aspects of visual cognition and through techniques designed to minimize the pitfalls inherent in the cognitive process. The interpretation of data also requires the ability to combine data analysis with knowledge and expertise that is held by the interpreter. It is this combination of visual perception techniques to see the information, combined with interpreter guidance to understand what is seen, that makes interpretation of seismic data effective. Geological Expression workflows that are data driven and interpreter guided enable us to see and effectively interpret the geology that is present in the seismic data. In effect this gives us a Cognitive Interpretation of the data.


The advantage of passive catalytic modules for hydrogen mitigation during core-melt accidents, as compared with active devices like forced-flow recombiners or ignitors, is given by the high reliability of operation and the elimination of potentially violent combustion events. An important step in the qualification of a passive catalytic module system is the determination of the total required capacity and its distribution at various locations in the containment. Experiments and analytic modeling work were performed to qualify the installation of a system of catalytic modules for a large dry pressurized water reactor (PWR) containment. The operational capacity of a prototype catalytic module was determined experimentally, and a corresponding model correlation was developed and integrated into the GOTHIC containment code. This modified code was validated against experimental data. As an application, predictions of the effects, resulting from backfitting a large, dry PWR containment with 50 catalytic modules, were done using the modified code. The catalytic modules keep the hydrogen concentrations below a level of 10% where violent deflagrations could be expected. Local higher concentrations near the release location are inert due to associated low oxygen and high steam concentrations. A proper distribution of the modules in the containment guarantees full mixing ofmore » the atmosphere due to natural convective currents.« less


Researchers are increasingly recognizing anime and manga as worthy of scholarly examination. However, relatively little research examines how fans synthesize the cultural content of anime. This paper provides an analysis of representations of race/ethnicity and gender in two televised anime, and contrasts the understandings of scholars to fans. As anime can weave together images from Japanese culture, other cultures, as well as fantasy, anime presents many faces to fans. Fans do not necessarily see all of these faces at once, and they interpret the cultural content of anime differently. As a result, anime has the potential to generate different types of cultural influence.


The luminosity gap between the two brightest members of galaxy groups and clusters is thought to offer a strong test for the models of galaxy formation and evolution. This study focuses on the statistics of the luminosity gap in galaxy groups in particular fossil groups, e.g., large luminosity gaps, in an analogy with the same in a cosmological simulation. We use spectroscopic legacy data of the seventh data release (DR7) of SDSS, to extract a volume-limited sample of galaxy groups utilizing a modified friends-of-friends (MFOF) algorithm. Attention is paid to galaxy groups in which the brightest group galaxy (BGG) is more luminous than Mr = -22. An initial sample of 620 groups in which 109 optical fossil groups were identified, where the luminosity gap exceeds 2 mag. We compare the statistics of the luminosity gap in galaxy groups at low-mass range from the SDSS with the same in the Millennium simulations where galaxies are modeled semianalytically. We show that the BGGs residing in galaxy groups with large luminosity gaps, i.e., fossil groups, are brighter, on average, and live in lower-mass halos with respect to their counterparts in nonfossil systems. Although low-mass galaxy groups are thought to have recently formed, we show that in galaxy groups with 15 galaxies brighter than Mr ≤ -19.5, evolutionary process are most likely to be responsible for the large luminosity gap. We also examine a new probe of finding fossil groups, Δm14≥2.5, and find that the fossil groups selected according to the new probe are more abundant than those selected using the conventional probe, Δm12≥2, in a low halo mass regime, ≤ 1014 M⊙. In addition, we extend the recently introduced observational probe based on the luminosity gap, the butterfly diagram, to galaxy groups, and we study the probe as a function of halo mass. This probe can, in conjunction with the luminosity function, help to fine-tune the semianalytical models of galaxies employed in the cosmological simulations.


Phonophoresis is the use of ultrasound (US) to enhance the delivery of topically applied drugs. The purposes of this article are (1) to review the basic principles of transcutaneous drug delivery, (2) to summarize the functional anatomy of the skin pertinent to phonophoresis, (3) to outline the physiological principles of US as an enhancer of topically applied drugs, (4) to review the literature on the efficacy of phonophoresis, (5) to discuss the relevance of US as an enhancer of topical drugs in the practice of physical therapy, and (6) to outline areas of needed research. Seventy-five percent of the studies reviewed reported positive effects of US on local subcutaneous drug diffusion, but some systemic effects were reported. This research review indicates that to maximize the clinical effectiveness of phonophoresis: (1) the topical drug (both the drug and the carrying agent) should transmit US; (2) the skin should be pretreated with US, heating, moistening, or shaving; (3) the patient needs to be positioned to maximize circulation during treatment; (4) a dressing that seals the area and prevents the escape of moisture should be applied after treatment; (5) an intensity of 1.5 W/cm2 should be used to capture both the thermal and nonthermal effects of the US; and (6) low-intensity US (0.5 W/cm2) should be used when treating open wounds or acute injuries. Research is needed to clarify what parameters of US will most efficiently facilitate topical drug diffusion, how often and for what duration US should be used to maximize local absorption of drugs, and which topical drugs can most effectively be used for phonophoresis.


Aims: People with gambling as well as substance use problems who are exposed to public stigmatization may internalize and apply it to themselves through a mechanism known as self-stigma. This study implemented the Progressive Model for Self-Stigma which consists four sequential interrelated stages: awareness, agreement, application and harm on three groups of individuals with gambling, alcohol and other substance use problems. It explored whether the two guiding assumptions of this model (each stage is precondition for the following stage which are trickle-down in nature, and correlations between proximal stages should be larger than correlations between more distant stages) would differentiate people with gambling problems from those with alcohol and other substance use problems in terms of their patterns of self-stigma and in terms of the stages in the model. Method: 37 individuals with gambling problems, 60 with alcohol problems and 51 with drug problems who applied for treatment in rehabilitation centers in Israel in 2015–2016 were recruited. They completed the Self-stigma of Mental Illness Scale-Short Form which was adapted by changing the term "mental health" to gambling, alcohol or drugs, and the DSM-5-diagnostic criteria for gambling, alcohol or drug disorder. Results: The assumptions of the model were broadly confirmed: a repeated measures ANCOVA revealed that in all three groups there was a difference between first two stages (aware and agree) and the latter stages (apply and harm). In addition, the gambling group differed from the drug use and alcohol groups on the awareness stage: individuals with gambling problems were less likely to be aware of stigma than people with substance use or alcohol problems. Conclusion: The internalization of stigma among individuals with gambling problems tends to work in a similar way as for those with alcohol or drug problems. The differences between the gambling group and the alcohol and other substance groups at the aware stage may suggest that public stigma with regard to any given addictive disorder may be a function of the type of addiction (substance versus behavioral).


Extensive material originating from different sources is currently examined by the author for a review of Mediterranean and northeastern Atlantic Muricidae. As a result, three species are here described as new. Ocenebra brevirostra n. sp. is the species usually figured as O. torosa (Lamarck, 1816) in literature. It is reported from the Atlantic coast of Morocco, and recognized as distinct from O. erinaceus (Linnaeus, 1758). Ocinebrina leukos n. sp. is a species with a uniformly white or dirty-white, lanceolate, heavy shell with a high spire, broad axial ribs, and a small, paucispiral protoconch. It is reported from Lanzarote Island, in the Canary Archipelago, and is compared with O. edwardsi (Payraudeau, 1826) from which it differs in being larger and very stable in form, sculpture and colour, unlike the highly variable shell morphology of O. edwardsi. ?Muricopsis cevikeri n. sp. is included in a group of species whose shell has reduced or obsolete second abapical cord, and is doubtfully included in the genus Muricopsis Bucquoy & Dautzenberg, 1882. It is reported from West Turkey and Cyprus, in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.


Three lines of evidence suggest that phoneme awareness (as measured by phoneme deletion) is not a prerequisite for learning to read and spell. 1. A boy with a serious reading problem could provide letters to represent onsets and codas better than he could delete onsets and codas. 2. A contingent analysis of reading and spelling achievement and deletion of onsets or codas or deletion of one phoneme from a complex onset was undertaken in a sample of poor readers. Onset and coda deletion developed before the students' decoding skills reached a third-grade level, but deletion of a phoneme from an onset developed along with reading achievement. 3. When phoneme deletion was tested by a recognition method, good eighth-grade readers erroneously accepted items with the entire onset deleted as being correct responses, and had longer response times on these items. Onset and coda deletion develop after onsets and codas are represented alphabetically and before children read at about a third-grade level. However deletion of one phoneme from an onset cluster develops slowly as literacy develops and is a difficult task even for good readers.


. During the 21st century, human – environment interactions will increasingly expose both systems to risks, but also yield opportunities for improvement as we gain insight into these complex, coupled systems. Human – environment interactions operate over multiple spatial and temporal scales, requiring large data volumes of multi-resolution information for analysis. Climate change, land-use change, urban-ization, and wild fi res, for example, can affect regions differently depending on ecological and socioeconomic structures. The relative scarcity of data on both humans and natural systems at the relevant extent can be prohibitive when pursuing inquiries into these complex relationships. We explore the value of mul-titemporal, high-density, and high-resolution LiDAR, imaging spectroscopy, and digital camera data from the National Ecological Observatory Network ' s Airborne Observation Platform (NEON AOP) for Socio-Environmental Systems (SES) research. In addition to providing an overview of NEON AOP datasets and outlining speci fi c applications for addressing SES questions, we highlight current challenges and provide recommendations for the SES research community to improve and expand its use of this platform for SES research. The coordinated, nationwide AOP remote sensing data, collected annually over the next 30 yr, offer exciting opportunities for cross-site analyses and comparison, upscaling metrics derived from LiDAR and hyperspectral datasets across larger spatial extents, and addressing questions across diverse scales. Integrating AOP data with other SES datasets will allow researchers to investigate complex systems and provide urgently needed policy recommendations for socio-environmental challenges. We urge the SES research community to further explore questions and theories in social and economic disciplines that might leverage NEON AOP data.


Objectives: Gastrointestinal (GI) mucositis is a severe adverse effect of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Proinflammatory cytokines are thought to play an important role in the pathophysiology of GI mucositis. We aimed to determine the effect of the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-&agr;) inhibitor etanercept on the severity of mucositis in a previously established methotrexate (MTX)-induced GI mucositis rat model. Methods: Male Wistar rats received 60 mg/kg MTX on day 0 intravenously. Rats were treated daily with either etanercept (TNF-&agr; inhibitor) 5 mg/kg or NaCl 0.9% subcutaneously from day −3 till day 3. Control rats received NaCl 0.9% intravenously and etanercept subcutaneously. The severity of mucositis was determined by intake, bodyweight, plasma citrulline, and by a function test (absorption of an oral glucose bolus). On day 4 and day 10 rats were terminated. Villus length, crypt length, intestinal myeloperoxidase, and plasma etanercept levels were determined. Results: The administration of MTX induced mucositis in all rats. Etanercept did not cause a change in the degree of mucositis. Bodyweight, intake, and glucose levels were not altered by etanercept; villus length was comparable; and there was no difference in myeloperoxidase and citrulline level. Etanercept levels in plasma were significantly increased in the etanercept rats (P < 0.05). Conclusions: TNF-&agr; inhibitor etanercept did not alter the severity of mucositis in the rat, suggesting that targeting only the inflammatory pathway of TNF-&agr; is not effective for decreasing the severity of GI mucositis induced by high-dose MTX. Etanercept alone is not useful for the treatment of MTX-induced GI mucositis.


In the recent past the coffee production sector witnessed a rapid expansion of certification programs promoting voluntary sustainability standards, one of which is UTZ Certified. In this article we assess the impact that this program has on participating smallholder farmers by reviewing the results of an agent-based simulation for modeling rural producer organizations. We present the developed empirical simulation model by sharing the common protocol, which documents the structure the applied simulation tool and its parameterization for the group of coffee farmers, and reporting the results of model validation. The main strength of this assessment is that it considers certification-related costs of the farmers, which are ignored in the analyses available so far. The obtained simulation results constitute quantitative evidence of UTZ certification being able to create considerable positive impacts on the participating farmers. The results outline the importance of external financing and supportive measures complementing certification in groups.


SUMMARY 1. Elevated levels of fine sediment (suspended and deposited) are a common cause of ecological degradation in freshwater ecosystems. However, it is time-consuming and expensive to monitor these parameters to support national and international water resource legislation. 2. The Proportion of Sediment-sensitive Invertebrates (PSI) index is a biomonitoring tool that is designed to identify the degree of sedimentation in rivers and streams. Despite having a sound biological basis, until now, the PSI index has only been tested against observed fine sediment data in two catchments; other published applications of the PSI index have relied on inferred fine sediment values. 3. In this study, we report the results of a comprehensive analysis of the performance of the PSI index across a wide range of reference condition temperate stream and river ecosystems, including 835 sites with data on deposited sediment and 451 sites with data on suspended solids (>12 500 data points measured between 1978 and 2002). 4. The effect of taxonomic level and taxonomic resolution on the performance of the PSI index was also examined, as was the performance of the PSI index against other non-sediment-specific indices, including Average Score Per Taxon (ASPT), Lotic-invertebrate Index for Flow Evaluation (LIFE), Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (EPT) abundance, % EPT abundance, EPT richness and % EPT richness. 5. The results of this study show that the PSI index was more correlated with fine sediment metrics than the other biological indices tested: rs = 0.64, ( P< 0.01, n = 2502) for deposited sediment and rs = 0.50 ( P< 0.01, n = 1353) for suspended solids. 6. We highlight the optimal conditions for applying the PSI index, in its current form. Given the variability in the relationship between PSI and fine sediment metrics, we propose that the use of data from more objective, quantitative methods of measuring deposited fine sediment may help to enhance the performance of the model for future applications and advance understanding of fine sediment dynamics and the pressure–response relationship.


Critics charged last summer that a University of Texas (UT), Austin, report—which examined the human health and environmental implications of fracking—was tilted in favor of the gas industry. And they revealed that its principal manager—former U.S. Geological Survey chief Charles Groat—had an undisclosed financial stake in a gas exploration company. Now, a group commissioned by the university has released a scathing review of the fracking report. In a surprising turn of events, UT has accepted all of the findings and has already started to overhaul its conflict of interest and research management policies, removed the fracking report from its Web site, and is seeking new leaders for its Energy Institute.


In Chile, bamboo bushes of Chusquea quila genus (or popularly known as 'quila') have brought economic and ecological problems for decades in the south-central part of this country. On the other hand, this plant species was studied as a raw material for the production of nanofibrillated cellulose (CNF) and nanocrystalline cellulose (CNC), presenting an opportunity for sustainable and environmentally friendly management, positioning Chile as a Latin American country at the forefront of studies with nanotechnological approaches. The methodology applied to generate these nanostructures contemplated hydrolysis with sulfuric acid and oxalic acid, in addition to an intermediate stage of microfluidization to generate nanofibrillated cellulose. The products obtained showed morphological and topographic homogeneity in the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) images. The diameter values of the particles ranged from 10 to 20 nanometers for the CNCs. Through Fourier transformed spectrophotometry (FTIR) it was found that the processes of microfluidization and acid hydrolysis did not affect the molecular shape of the nanostructures and X-ray diffraction (XRD) was important to determine crystallinity index (IC), presenting values higher than 80%.


The prevalence of asthma and allergies has increased sharply in past decades due to air pollution and urban lifestyles and environments. Cairo is one of the world's most polluted cities and suffers from heavy traffic. Previous studies have shown an association between the urban environment and the risk of developing asthma and allergic rhinitis (AR) in children and this study is the first longitudinal study to examine this with comparison between Cairo and a rural area, Shben El-Kom. The study made a long-term examination of FEV1, FVC and PEFR and also examined other risk factors associated with asthma eczema and AR. Methods: Two groups of school children were selected. One from inner-city Cairo, the other from the low-polluted rural area, Shben El-Kom in the Nile Delta region. The children were studied 5 times, with testing taking place every 6 months over a 2-year period using the ISAAC questionnaire. Measurements of air pollution at these cities were obtained. In addition, periodic measurements of lung-function were also made on some children who did not have asthma or a smoker living in the house from both locations. Results: Multilevel generalized mixed logistic regression showed that living in Cairo increased the risk of current wheeze, wheeze ever, asthma ever, current AR, AR ever, hay fever ever, current rash, rash ever and eczema ever. Other risk factors that effected asthma included maternal eczema, paternal asthma, maternal asthma and passive smoking. Exposure to farm animals decreased the odds of having asthma. Generalized linear regression adjusted for confounders showed that living in Cairo was associated with decreased FVC, FEV1 and PEFR by 4.8% , (95% CL= 5%-7%) 6.2%, (95% CL = 6.3%-6%) and 6.8% (95% CL= 7%-6.6%) respectively. Significant differences were found in the changes occurring between the two locations in the last three visits, where Cairo showed statistically significant lower increases in FVC predicted%, FEV1predicted% and PEFR in both boys and girls. Conclusion: Children living in urban Cairo had a higher risk of allergic conditions, lower lung function and slower lung growth compared to those living in the rural area of Shben El-Kom. This was not fully explained by passive smoking, breastfeeding, parental allergy or exposure to animals.


When it comes to pupils in need of special support and pupils with disabilities, Sweden's compulsory school system is sometimes considered a one‐track system. This article analyses and critically discusses current policy and practices at various levels of Sweden's compulsory school system for these pupils. The analysis traces three themes at the national and municipal levels: (1) values and goals; (2) organisation and placement of pupils; and (3) importance of categories in obtaining support. A rather complex picture emerges from this analysis. Several conclusions are made: (1) state policies leave a lot of room for interpretation at the municipal and school levels, and this results in an extensive variation; (2) Swedish state policy is not as inclusive as is often stated; (3) celebration of difference seems to be hard to achieve; (4) learning goals can be a double‐edged sword with regard to inclusion; and (5) most pupils appear to enjoy participation in school, and in an international perspective, Swedish classrooms seem to be largely democratic.


This paper evaluates the influence of diverse U.S. agricultural interest groups on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Under NAFTA, licenses and quotas that restricted agricultural trade between Mexico and the United States were converted to tariffs in January 1994 and all tariffs are to be phased out over adjustment periods of up to 15 years. The agricultural provisions of the 1988 Canada-U.S. FTA, which left quantitative barriers intact for dairy, poultry and other sectors, remain in effect for bilateral Canadian- U.S. trade. NAFTA received support from export-oriented U.S. producers of most grains, oilseeds, livestock, and some horticultural products. Opposition was expressed by wheat producers, seeking leverage on Canadian export-pricing issues, and protected sugar, peanut, and winter fruit and vegetable producers. The opposition was not addressed in the side agreements negotiated by the Clinton administration but the agricultural commodity groups were able to bargain for accommodations in the subsequent legislative debate. Final concessions protect U.S. sugar from Mexican competition, provide some transition protection to winter fruits and vegetables, and ensnarl the United States in disputes about Canadian exports of wheat and peanut butter. With these concessions, NAFTA results in essentially no reform of entrenched domestic agricultural support programs in the United States (or Canada) during the lengthy tariff phase-out periods.


The capability of nascent ventures to configure resources and ensure viability is a central concern for entrepreneurship research. However, such capability remains largely unexplored (Corner & Wu, 2011; Newey & Zahra, 2009; Zahra, Sapienza, & Davidsson, 2006). We thus apply a dynamic capability perspective to nascent ventures and empirically explore the processes whereby emerging firms amass and configure resources in order to achieve viability. Our research setting is university spin off ventures attempting to commercialize biotechnology. Fundamental for these ventures was the amassing and configuring of human resources, world class scientists who could accomplish the science needed to transform promising compounds into marketable products. We thus propose the concept of dynamic human resource (HR) capabilities to describe capabilities these firms developed in order to achieve venture viability. This concept is consistent with other granular views of dynamic capabilities, such as dynamic marketing capabilities (Bruni & Verona, 2009) and answers the call to investigate how organizations actualize HR as an integral component of strategic capabilities and objectives (Mäkelä, Sumelius, Höglund, & Ahlvik, 2012). From three indepth, longitudinal case studies, we identify two micro-processes -gathering/hunting and potentiating -that show how firms amassed and configured HR for product development and venture viability.


We develop the real stabilization method within the framework of the relativistic mean-field (RMF) model. With the self-consistent nuclear potentials from the RMF model, the real stabilization method is used to study single-particle resonant states in spherical nuclei. As examples, the energies, widths, and wave functions of low-lying neutron resonant states in $^{120}\mathrm{Sn}$ are obtained. These results are compared with those from the scattering phase-shift method and the analytic continuation in the coupling constant approach and satisfactory agreements are found.


To improve customer privacy, commercial speech applications are reducing human transcription of customer data. This has a negative impact on language model training due to a smaller amount of in-domain transcripts. Prior work demonstrated that training on automated transcripts alone provides modest gains due to reinforcement of recognition errors. We consider a new condition, where a model trained on historical human transcripts, but not the transcripts themselves, are available to us. To overcome temporal drift in vocabulary and topics, we propose a novel extension of knowledge distillation, adjunct-emeritus distillation where two imperfect teachers jointly train a student model. We conduct experiments on an English voice assistant domain and simulate a one year gap in human transcription. Unlike fine-tuning, our approach is architecture agnostic and achieves a 14% relative reduction in perplexity over the baseline approach of freezing model development and improves over the baseline of knowledge distillation.


MANAGING TOXIC AND HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES OF CONCERN IN MANUFACTURING by Craig Jancerak This thesis examined data management from an object relational database perspective. The database used was a product from Cornell University called PREDATOR. The context of the evaluation is the life-cycle of a manufactured product. The manufacturing life-cycle was chosen to correspond to an environmental life-cycle being done at NJIT. However, the goal was to use a generic model that could be applied to many situations. The first phase developed the conceptual life-cycle model. At a high level, the model was not designed with a programming language in mind. Several questions needed to be answered and the a model answers the questions regardless of implementation. Once the conceptual model was completed, the implementation phase began. Knowledge and past experience affected implementation of the life-cycle model. A totally object oriented approach was the first step. Class diagrams were first developed. Then a JAVA application was built against the class diagram. Once the object oriented approach proved successful, the move to an object relational implementation began. As this morphing occurred, it became clear that, for this life-cycle model, the object relational approach is not appropriate. This is shown by demonstrating that the object model becomes a purely relational model. MANAGING TOXIC AND HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES OF CONCERN IN MANUFACTURING


It is well known that one of the greatest hurdles in automatically processing technical documentation is the large amount of specific terminology that characterizes these domains. Terminology poses two major challenges to the developers of NLP applications: how to identify domain specific terms in the documents and how to efficiently process them. In this paper we will present methodologies that we have used to extract and bootstrap a terminological database and its usage in an answer extraction system.


The article restates, from a new perspective, the closeness of the Can-tar de mio Cid to some historical facts of its time, taking into account a central political concept in the text, which somehow emerges in relation to the twelfth-century bourgeois revolts: the concept of senor natural, which appears five times in the poem. What suggests the appearance of the term, in some early twelfth-century documents, is that the concept of senor natural was developed within the framework of the bourgeois revolts (with which Catalan and Molho link the space of the Cantar, although it exactly represents a political position opposite to that of bourgeois and caballeros pardos ["brown knights"]), as a mechanism to defend the king's legitimacy and to disown the insurgents' ambitions. Throughout the Cantar, the function of the idea of senor natural aims at the substitution of a previous order, exclusively ruled by vassallage, by a new one in which such idea equals the one of naturaleza ("nature"), and fosters a greater social justice. Nature, now seen as the foundations of political organization, allows the Cid to recover his position in the court, and avoids his mere existence as an independent prince.


A spectrofluorimeter system has been developed which uses an on-line general purpose digital computer to both collect and correct fluorescence and luminescence spectra; no servosystems or complex analog circuitry are employed. Spectra are represented by a series of up to 500 individual data points, each of which is, in turn, the average of 16 samplings of the signal photomultiplier. The signal produced by a reference photomultiplier is also collected and used to make corrections appropriate to the type of spectra being collected. Wavelength drive is accomplished with a reversible stepping motor driven by commands from the computer; thus the wavelength position can be automatically and precisely controlled by the computer without recourse to cumbersome mechanical components. Corrections to collected spectra are made in real time on the basis of correction factors derived from fluorescence standards or a standard lamp. The complete system can collect a full spectrum (500 points) in 8 sec, average the results of any number of automatically repeated scans, and furnish the operator with both corrected and uncorrected spectra on either a wavelength or a wavenumber scale. In addition, the data can be retained on punched paper tape or presented graphically in a format acceptable for publication. Details of the system are presented with examples of its performance.


The purpose of this article is to examine the socio-demographic differences between entrepreneurs at National Arts festivals in South Africa. Language, and specifically Afrikaans, English and African languages, was used as the dependent variable. The Klein Karoo National Arts Festival (KKNK) in Oudtshoorn and the Grahamstown National Arts Festival (GNAF) are the two largest arts festivals in South Africa. The research was conducted by means of a questionnaire survey (N=500). The data from KKNK and GNAF were combined and factor analyses were applied to determine the role and attributes of entrepreneurs. Cross-tabulation analyses were used to illustrate the comparison of language with socio-demographical variables (marital status, qualification, province, family business, personal attributes, business premises and resourcefulness) and the role and attributes of entrepreneurs. In addition, the association of language with independent variables was examined by means of one-way ANOVA for the three language groups. Findings suggest that there are significant differences in festival entrepreneurs from different cultures (languages), especially in terms of socio-demographic variables such as marital status, education, province, business and personal attributes (resourcefulness). Keywords and phrases: Klein Karoo National Arts Festival, Grahamstown National Arts Festival, festival entrepreneur, factor analysis, cross-tabulation analysis, ANOVA, entrepreneurs, language


As the debate over dissection in the classroom continues, attention is being paid to the benefits of actual dissections, as well as to the advantages of dissection alternatives for the science education of students. Policy makers, curriculum developers, administrators, teachers and students across the country have begun to reevaluate the science curriculum and scrutinize the role of dissection in science teaching-particularly in the science classroom. Recently, a new wave of court cases and legislation has brought nonhuman animal dissection to the forefront of science education issues. Also, teachers, students, and parents are questioning the value of classroom dissection. Some dissection objections stem from animal rights concerns, students' moral values, and parental concern for the emotional well being of students. From a different perspective, many teachers fear the loss of academic freedom in the classroom and the possibility of a less effective educational environment resulting from this controversy. Although there has been increasing interest on the issue of animal dissection, little attention has been given to the issue in educational publications. There is still a dearth of research on dissection as a tool for learning, but animal dissection certainly deserves analysis on the part of science teachers and concerned educators. Data must bring both student and teacher opinion and the value of dissection as a learning technique into consideration. Findings from a student poll published in the North Carolina Science Teachers Association's (NCSTA) The Journal (Hounshell and Hill, 1996) indicate that over one third of the students polled do not enjoy dissection. Of those who enjoy it 53% said they enjoy it only 'a little' and 36.1% think you learn only 'a little.' As far as mandating dissection, 63%Io of students polled believe dissection should not be a required activity in science classes. Still, Hounshell and Hill recognize the limits of past studies by commenting that "incredibly, with all the dissection in elementary, middle school, and high school, we do not have research evidence either to support or refute dissection as a classroom strategy." A 1993 scientific study published by the Journal of Research in Science Teaching examined "The Effects of an Interactive Dissection Simulation on the Performance and Achievement of High School Biology Students" (Kinzie, Strauss, and Foss). The experimental findings suggested that IVD (Interactive Videodisk-- based) simulation was at least as effective as actual dissection in promoting student learning of frog anatomy and dissection procedures." However, the most effective strategy carried out in this study was IVD simulation used as a preparation for actual dissection. Participants in this trial performed subsequent dissections much more effectively, achieved more of the activity goals, and retained more knowledge than both the dissection-- only and IVD-only groups. Where They Stand Leading national organizations recognize the immediate need to address the "dissection issue," and many groups have published position statements concerning dissection in the science classroom. Often, groups such as the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) leave the issue of dissection to the teacher's discretion in his/her particular environment. NSTA's position [see figure 1] states that animal dissection "enables students to develop skills of observation and comparison, a sense of stewardship, and an appreciation for the unity, interrelationships, and complexity of life." Still, this NSTA position statement stresses that teacher supervision and effective, responsible instruction are essential. Teachers must provide a safe, knowledgeable and respectful environment for dissection labs. The NABT promotes a similar policy. When confronted with the dilemma of whether to dissect in the classroom, NABT states "biology teachers are in the best position to make this determination for their students" as long as dissections are "conducted within the long established guidelines of proper care and use of animals, as developed by the scientific and educational community. …


Event-related brain potentials were recorded from subjects as they attempted to identify words displayed tachistoscopically. Words that had also been presented a few minutes earlier in a different context were identified more often than were words that had not been presented before. This priming effect was observed for words initially seen in an imagery task requiring size estimations as well as for words initially seen in an orthographic task requiring letter counting. Unlike priming, recall and recognition were much better for words repeated from the imagery task than from the orthographic task. Brain potentials elicited during word identification also differed as a function of task. Based on these differences, a potential from 500 to 800 msec was interpreted as an index of recollection processes. Earlier potentials may have indexed processing related to priming. These effects thus provide measures of the hypothetical processes underlying memory performance and demonstrate that recollection and priming are associated with distinct neural events.


Volume 1: Thomas Henry Lister, Granby: A Novel (1826) Edited by Clare Bainbridge Part-love story, part-comedy of manners, part-social satire, part-mystery, part-roman a clef, Granby - which has been justly celebrated for its sparkling dialogue - combines elements of Fielding, Richardson, Mackenzie, Burney and Austen into a fresh and lively mix which is very much a product of its own day. Volume 2: Letitia Landon, Romance and Reality (1831) Edited by Cynthia Lawford Romance and Reality was one of the most hyped novels of its day, as its publishers were eager to cash in on public curiosity surrounding the first lengthy prose production by the popular 'L E L', author of five books of sentimental poems. A contemporary reviewer remarked that it 'must be read as a brilliant and sometimes profound commentary on the life of "this century of crowds"'. However, the 'century' can be fairly confined to the 1820s and 1830s, as their fast pursuits of pleasure would not be countenanced once the nation's governing queen became domesticated. Landon's commentary recovers that brilliant life in all its headiness and in the perceived dangers to the passions that its distracting enjoyments held out. Volume 3: Edward Bulwer Lytton, Godolphin (1833) Edited by Harriet Devine Jump In this relatively early work Bulwer Lytton, who went on to become one of the most successful and highly regarded novelists of his era, produced a rich mixture of the themes which were closest to his own heart. London society in the early 1830s, the politics of Reform, astrology, and the occult, all combine in a novel with an exciting and thought-provoking plot. Volume 4: Marguerite, Countess of Blessington, The Victims of Society (1837) Edited by Ann Hawkins and Jeraldine Kraver In The Victims of Society, Blessington's consideration of marriage in fashionable society examines the complex relationship between contemporary women and the society that dictates their behaviour. Blessington's novels were compelling for contemporary readers and will appeal to readers today for their wit and sophistication. Volume 5: Rosina Bulwer Lytton, Cheveley: A Man of Honour (1839) Edited by Marie Mulvey-Roberts In 1826, the tempestuous marriage of Edward and Rosina Bulwer Lytton ended in separation. It launched Rosina's career as a novelist with Cheveley (1839), a roman a clef in which she took revenge on her husband for his mistreatment and neglect that included adultery and domestic violence. The subtitle, 'A Man of Honour', was intended as an ironic reference to his dishonourable behaviour. The mockery and public exposure was for Edward what Caroline Lamb's Glenarvon had been for Byron. Rosina exposed the gap between public morality and private conduct and, in so doing, challenged the Victorian double standard that applied to the conduct of men and women. Through a revelation of her own marital misery, Rosina indirectly championed the cause of women, particularly that of the wronged wife. Volume 6: Catherine Gore, Cecil or the Adventures of a Coxcomb (1841) Edited by Andrea Hibbard and Edward Copeland Gore's Cecil, Or the Adventures of a Coxcomb, published anonymously and proffered as the memoirs of a dandy and companion to Lord Byron, is a brilliant satire of Regency society and a daring escape from the constraints of female propriety. In the words of William Makepeace Thackeray, Gore knew 'things which were to be as much out of the reach of female experience as shaving, duelling, or the bass viol.'


E-government has added to the transformation of the public sector worldwide. It has complemented the reforms in the public administration, as well as the necessity for public consultation in policy-making at the beginning of the 21st century. The present study offers both an analytical framework of and empirical evidence on the key aspects of online engagement initiatives in the countries of the European Union. It focuses on top-down opportunities of online civic participation through the ministerial websites of education in the EU27 by providing a classificatory typology meant to assess the development of e-government in connection with initiatives for public engagement, based on two dimensions: interactivity and public outreach. The findings of this research, conducted in May 2009, point towards a trend of increased access to information in education-related policymaking, with 93% of the cases scoring high on this aspect. However, only 32% of the websites analyzed proved successful on the public outreach dimension. A comparison between Western and Eastern Europe e-government web-based applications reveals slightly lower standards for the post-communist countries, with the potential of fast modernization.


Work on the incidence of suicide, and more generally crime and deviant behavior, has tended to neglect racially disaggregated empirical research (e.g., Peterson & Krivco, 1993; Sampson, 1987). As noted by Wilson and Aponte (1985), up to the 1980s, sociologists tended to shy away from race as a point of departure for research. With respect to the field of suicidology, race has been perhaps the most understudied basic demographic variable (for reviews, see Lester, 1992; Stack, 1982). For example, a recent book on suicide risk factors lacked a chapter on race (Maris, Berman, Maltsberger, & Yufit, 1992). A recurrent issue in theoretical work in deviant behavior is to what extent, if any, theories that were built on the experience of the White male majority will replicate for other groups (e.g., Peterson & Krivco, 1993; Smith & Paternoster, 1987). Often there is a dearth of systematic research on these issues due to considerations such as the unavailability of race-specific data. The present study explores the link between marriage and family ties and suicide beliefs or ideology among African Americans. While these ties have been used extensively to explain suicide and suicide beliefs among Whites (e.g., Stack, 1990; Stack & Wasserman, 1992; see review in Stack, 1992; Trovato & Vos, 1990), it is not clear if they are as applicable to African Americans. While marriage and family ties have often been alleged to be key aspects of the African American "survival strategy" against racism-a strategy that can offer protection against suicide (e.g., Davis, 1980a; Swanson & Breed, 1976)--there is little empirical work testing this assertion. The existing work on the influence of marriage and family ties on suicide among African Americans has been restricted largely to marital, but not family, ties. Further, it has been marked by conflicting results (e.g., Davis, 1980a; Davis & Short, 1979). In addition, it has tended not to control for a key covariate of marriage and family ties, religiosity (Stack, 1985). The present study contributes to the literature on marital factors and suicide by testing the extant theory with national data on African Americans, employing both measures of marital and family ties, and by including a control for religiosity levels. The present study employs data on suicide beliefs or ideology. It does not use actual mortality data on completed suicides. In this sense, the findings need to be taken with some caution before generalizing them to the correlates of completed suicide. However, research indicates that the same variables that predict completed suicide also tend to predict suicide beliefs or ideology (e.g., Stack & Wasserman, 1992). RACE, MARRIAGE, FAMILY, RELIGION, AND SUICIDE Considerable work in the 1960s and 1970s documented a rise in Black suicide (e.g., Davis 1980a; Peck & Litman, 1973; Seiden, 1972; Woodford, 1965). However, the ratio of the suicide rate of African Americans relative to White Americans has remained largely the same. The most systematic analysis of trends in suicide by race concluded that no significant change in racial differences has occurred since the 1950s, or is likely in the near future. Any reduction in the gap between racial groups that has occurred is more the result of a reduction in rates among Whites than an increase in rates among Blacks (McIntosh, 1989). While there was an increase in the suicide rates of young African Americans (e.g., Davis, 1980a), overall the ratio has stayed the same. A common explanation of relatively low rates of suicide among African Americans is overt racism. Racism produces both stress and a kind of "survival solidarity" among African Americans (Davis 1980a, p. 57; King 1974; Woodford, 1965). Sometimes part of this survival strategy involves lower occupational aspirations, a social factor that can protect persons from the anomie associated with failure in the occupational system (Swanson & Breed, 1976, p. …


"Phenomenology is the place where hermeneutics originates,
phenomenology is also the place it has left behind."(Ricoeur )1
In this thesis I shall examine possibilities for bringing into dialogue the practice of social
documentary photography and the conceptual resources of the post-Structural and critical
philosophical hermeneutics of text and action developed by Paul Ricoeur (1913-2005)
from the 1970's onwards. Ricoeur called this an 'amplifying' hermeneutics of language,
defined as 'the art of deciphering indirect meaning' (ibid).
Social documentary photography is an intentional activity concerned with the visual
interpretation, ethics and representation of life, the otherness of others, and through them
something about ourselves. The narratives form social histories of encounters with others.
They raise challenging questions of meaning and interpretation in understanding the
relations of their subjective agency to an objective reality. Traditionally the meaning of
such work is propositional. It consists in the truth conditions of bearing witness to the
direct experience of the world and the verifiability of what the photography says, or
appears to say about it. To understand the meaning of the photography is to know what
would make it true or false. This theory has proven useful and durable, although it has not
gone unchallenged. The power it has is remarkable and new documentary narratives
continue to be formed in this perspective, adapting to changing technologies, and
reverberate with us today.
A more subtle way of thinking about this is given by a pragmatic theory of meaning. This
is what I am proposing. The focus here is upon use and what documentary photography
does and says. A praxis that I refer to by the act of photographing: a discourse of
locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary utterances in whose thoughtful and informed
making are unified theories of visual texts within the theories of action and history. The
key is the capacity to produce visual narratives made with intention and purpose that in
their performative poetics and their semantic innovations attest to the realities of
1 Ricoeur, P. 1991: From Text to Action: Essays in Hermeneutics II. trans. Kathleen Blamey and
John B. Thompson. 2nd Edition 2007: with new Forward by Richard Kearney. Evanston.
NorthWestern University Press.
experience and sedimented historical conditions witnessed, and communicate those to
others within a dialectic of historical consciousness and understanding.
The narrative visualisations disclose a world, a context in which the drama of our own life
and the lives of others makes sense. In their interpretations of an empiric reality can be
found ethical concerns and extensions of meaning beyond the original reference that
survive the absence of the original subject matter and the original author of the
photography whose inferences our imaginations and later acquired knowledge can
meditate upon and re-interpret. Thus in the hermeneutic view, the documentary
photographic narrative is a form of text that comes to occupy an autonomy from, a) the
author's original intentions, b) the reference of the original photographic context, and
c) their reception, assimilation and understanding by unknown readers-viewers.
Ricoeur argues that hermeneutic interpretation discloses the reader as 'a second order
reference standing in front of the text', whose necessary presence solicits a series of
multiple and often conflicting readings and interpretations. Consequently Ricoeur's
critical, philosophical hermeneutics brings us from epistemology to a kind of 'truncated'
ontology that is only provisional, a place where interpretation is always something begun
but never completed. Interpretation according to Ricoeur engages us within a hermeneutic
circle of explanation and understanding whose dialectic is mediated in history and time.
For Ricoeur this implies that to be able to interpret meaning and make sense of the world
beyond us is to arrive in a conversation that has already begun. His hermeneutic wager is,
moreover, that our self-understandings will be enriched by the encounter. In short, the
more we understand others and what is meaningful for them the better we will be able to
understand ourselves and our sense of inner meaning. The central thesis of his
hermeneutics is that interpretation is an ongoing process that is never completed,
belonging to meaning in and through distance, that can make actively present to the
imagination what is objectively absent and whose discourse is undertood as the act of
"someone saying something about something to someone" (Ricoeur 1995: Intellectual
Autobiography).2


This paper describes a case study about the major issues and challenges in the development of the electronic banking (e-banking) industry of a relatively underdeveloped nation. This research shows that even in many less developed nations, the application of e-banking can help their local banks reduce operating costs and provide a better and fast service to their customers. The research objectives are to investigate the current trends and developments in e-banking and provide managerial insights for the banking industry in those underdeveloped nations. The collected data are examined through statistical analysis tools. Managerial implications are discussed with suggestions for future research.


Energy balance is considered a fundamental requirement of life forms from single cell organisms to higher mammals such as humans. Unfortunately, our species has also discovered the detrimental metabolic responses to excess dietary intake: obesity and the accompanying pathologies collectively known as the metabolic syndrome. Central to the metabolic syndrome is insulin resistance, defined as a relative failure of insulin to stimulate glucose transport in peripheral tissues such as skeletal muscle. It is generally accepted that prolonged insulin resistance often results in the onset of type 2 diabetes, which is one of the most common diseases in the world. Current treatment for type 2 diabetes generally begins with dimethylbiguanide, an insulin sensitizing drug also known as metformin. In the last 10 years, scientific discovery has identified mitochondrial function as a key player in a variety of metabolic diseases, including insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. As such, a variety of investigations have been performed in an attempt to indentify mechanisms by which altered mitochondrial function or physiology may contribute to the pathogenesis of these diseases. Recent evidence from our laboratory indicates that mitochondria derived oxidant (mROS) generation is a key player in the mitochondrial regulation of insulin sensitivity in vivo. Additionally, recent evidence has demonstrated that acute metformin treatment in vitro decreases liver mROS, and that chronic metformin treatment in vivo decreases skeletal muscle mROS concurrent with improvements in whole body glucose tolerance. Together, this evidence indicates that metformin may alter peripheral insulin sensitivity by decreasing the elevated mROS associated with insulin resistance in the obese population. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to investigate the effects of a single oral dose of metformin on whole body glucose tolerance and mROS in red and white gastrocnemius of Zucker fa/fa rats, a genetically obese animal model. A single oral dose of metformin resulted in improved whole body glucose tolerance compared to controls independent of alterations in serum insulin. Cellular redox state was significantly more oxidized in animals treated with glucose or metformin alone compared to controls or animals which received both treatments. Succinate and palmitoylcarnitine/malate induced mROS was not altered by glucose and/or metformin in red or white gastrocnemius. Mitochondrial respiration with pyruvate/malate or palmitoylcarnitine/malate was unchanged in response to glucose and/or metformin treatment in red or white gastrocnemius. Akt phosphorylation was significantly elevated in both red and white gastrocnemius in response to glucose or metformin alone, but no additive effect was observed when administered simultaneously, indicating that metformin may act as an insulin mimetic in vivo. AMPK phosphorylation was not elevated in response to metformin treatment in either tissue, which suggests that metformin may act through AMPK-independent mechanisms in skeletal muscle in vivo. The results of this study demonstrate that a single oral dose of metformin can improve whole body glucose tolerance independent of changes in mitochondrial respiration, mROS, or altered AMPK signaling in red and white gastrocnemius of Zucker fa/fa rats, but may be associated with altered cellular redox state.


The drive to reduce carbon emissions and energy utilisation, directly associated with dwellings and to achieve a zero carbon home, suggests that the assessment of energy ratings will have an increasingly prioritised role in the built environment. Created by the Building Research Establishment (BRE), the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) is the UK Government's recommended method of assessing the energy ratings of dwellings. This paper describes a new, simplified dynamic method (hence known as IDEAS – Inverse Dynamics based Energy Analysis and Simulation) of assessing the controllability of a building and its servicing systems. The IDEAS method produces results that are comparable to SAP. An Optimum Start algorithm is explored in this paper to allow heating systems of different responsiveness and size to be integrated into the IDEAS framework. Results suggest that this design approach could enhance the SAP Methodology by the addition of advanced systems controllability and dynamic values.


PISA 2015 data show that, on average across OECD countries, as many as three out of four students from the lowest quarter of socio-economic status reach, at best, only the baseline level of proficiency (Level 2) in reading, mathematics or science. While in Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong (China), Ireland, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Slovenia and Viet Nam, more than 30% of disadvantaged students scored at Level 3 or above in all PISA subjects in 2015, and can thus be considered "academically resilient". Students who perform at Level 3 begin to demonstrate the ability to construct the meaning of a text and form a detailed understanding from multiple independent pieces of information when reading. They can work with proportional relationships and engage in basic interpretation and reasoning when solving mathematics problems; and they can handle unfamiliar topics in science. Such skills are the foundations for success and further learning later in life. PISA data collected over a decade (in 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2015) show that several countries have been able to increase the share of academically resilient students among those in the bottom quarter of socio-economic status.


Patient engagement in their care process, vis-a-vis self-management programs is an important element of the patient's longitudinal care plan, where the patient is encouraged and expected to achieve self-efficacy in the self-management of the disease through a regime of educational and behavioral modification strategies. To ensure the effectiveness of self-management programs, it is important that the proposed self-management interventions are (a) personalized to the unique needs and constraints of the patient; (b) based on sound theoretical health models; (c) based on validated health and behavior assessment tools to determine the patient's physical and behavioral dispositions; and (d) readily accessible to the patient through a ubiquitous medium, such as smart phones or the web. In this paper, we present a novel personalized self-management framework that delivers personalized health educational interventions to empower, educate and engage patients/individuals through self-observation, barrier identification, goal setting and action planning to achieve behavioral self-efficacy and self-regulation so that individuals can self-manage their condition. Our personalized self-management framework is guided by Social Cognition Theory, whereby have ensured that self-management programs for chronic disease management not just focus on changing the patient's awareness of the disease, rather they focus on enhancing the ability of the patient to make the right choices to achieve effective disease management. We present a three-stage personalized self-management framework that comprises: Stage 1: A high-level characterization of an individual with respect to a specific health outcome using validated assessment tools; Stage 2: A behavioral categorization of the individual based on his/her levels of self-efficacy, motivation and self-regulation, etc.; Stage 3: Use the personalized profile of the individual to tailor generic educational and self-management to develop a personalized self-management program that comprises personalized strategies to counter the challenges and barriers faced by the individual to achieving positive self-efficacy and self-regulation which in turn will lead to positive health outcomes. Our personalized self-management framework features (a) a novel self-management oriented individual profiling mechanism that takes into account both the health and psychosocial characteristics of an individual to generate his/her holistic profile; (b) a semantic web based knowledge model that captures the theoretical foundations of the SCT in terms of a Self-Management Program Personalization (SPP) ontology; (c) a semantic web based personalization tool that uses a logic-based execution engine that reasons over the SPP ontology, based on an individual's profile, to generate personalized self-management interventions; and (d) a mobile messaging platform to deliver the personalized self-management interventions and to monitor the patient's compliance using smart phones. We take a semantic web approach in designing the personalization approach whereby we have developed the SPP ontology to (a) model the theoretical framework of SCT in terms of SCT concepts; (b) model health assessment tools; (c) model the personalization rules that integrate the health and SCT models with the educational messages to generate a personalized self-management program. We have demonstrated the novel integration of health models, educational content and behavior change strategies to design self-management programs for cardiac risk factors, where the program is delivered through a mobile app.


Abstract. A model of the sea surface bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) is presented for the visible and near-IR channels (over the spectral range 550 nm to 1.6 μm) of the dual-viewing Along-Track Scanning Radiometers (ATSRs). The intended application is as part of the Oxford-RAL Aerosols and Clouds (ORAC) retrieval scheme. The model accounts for contributions to the observed reflectance from whitecaps, sun-glint and underlight. Uncertainties in the parametrisations used in the BRDF model are propagated through into the forward model and retrieved state. The new BRDF model offers improved coverage over previous methods, as retrievals are possible into the sun-glint region, through the ATSR dual-viewing system. The new model has been applied in the ORAC aerosol retrieval algorithm to process Advanced ATSR (AATSR) data from September 2004 over the south-eastern Pacific. The assumed error budget is shown to be generally appropriate, meaning the retrieved states are consistent with the measurements and a priori assumptions. The resulting field of aerosol optical depth (AOD) is compared with colocated MODIS-Terra observations, AERONET observations at Tahiti, and cruises over the oceanic region. MODIS and AATSR show similar spatial distributions of AOD, although MODIS reports values which are larger and more variable. It is suggested that assumptions in the MODIS aerosol retrieval algorithm may lead to a positive bias in MODIS AOD of order 0.01 at 550 nm over ocean regions where the wind speed is high.


Birds of the Horn of Africa is the first field guide to the more than 1,000 species of resident, migrant, and vagrant birds found in northeast Africa. Covering Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, and the Socotra archipelago, this comprehensive, easy-to-use guide features more than 2,600 illustrations on 213 full-color plates, and a color distribution map for every species. Detailed species accounts on facing pages include descriptions of key identification features, similar species, geographical variation, habitat, status, and voice. This field-ready guide also includes a glossary, identification tips, and information about bird habitats. Birds of the Horn of Africa is an essential resource for birders, naturalists, and travelers in the region. * The first field guide to the birds of northeast Africa * Covers more than 1,000 species, including all resident, migrant, and vagrant birds * Features more than 2,600 illustrations on 213 color plates * Detailed species accounts on facing pages describe key identification features, habitat, status, voice, and more * Provides a color distribution map for every species


Clear cell renal cell carcinomas (RCC), the major histologic subtype of RCC accounting for more than 80% of cases, are typified by biallelic inactivation of the von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor gene. Although accumulation of hypoxia-inducible factor alpha (HIF-α) is the most well-studied effect of VHL inactivation, direct inhibition of HIFα or restoration of wild-type pVHL protein expression has not proved readily feasible, given the limitations associated with pharmacologic targeting of transcription factors (i.e., HIF-α) and gene replacement therapy of tumor suppressor genes (i.e., VHL). Here, we have established that phosphorylated c-Jun, a substrate of the c-Jun-NH(2)-kinase (JNK), is selectively activated in clear cell RCC patient specimens. Using multiple isogenic cell lines, we show that HIF-α-independent JNK hyperactivation is unique to the pVHL-deficient state. Importantly, pVHL-deficient RCCs are dependent upon JNK activity for in vitro and in vivo growth. A multistep signaling pathway that links pVHL loss to JNK activation involves the formation of a CARD9/BCL10/TRAF6 complex as a proximal signal to sequentially stimulate TAK1 (MAPKKK), MKK4 (MAPKK), and JNK (MAPK). JNK stimulates c-Jun phosphorylation, activation, and dimerization with c-Fos to form a transcriptionally competent AP1 complex that drives transcription of the Twist gene and induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Thus, JNK represents a novel molecular target that is selectively activated in and drives the growth of pVHL-deficient clear cell RCCs. These findings can serve as the preclinical foundation for directed efforts to characterize potent pharmacologic inhibitors of the JNK pathway for clinical translation.


We review previous literature on productivity spillovers of foreign direct investment (FDI) in China and conduct our own analysis using a firm-level data set from a World Bank survey. We find that the evidence of FDI spillovers on the productivity of Chinese domestic firms is mixed, with many positive results largely due to aggregation bias or failure to control for endogeneity of FDI. Attempting over 2500 specifications which take into account forward and backward linkages, we fail to find evidence of systematic positive productivity spillovers from FDI.spillovers from FDI. We do, however, find robust evidence that Chinese private firms tend to invest less in innovation in the presence of FDI. Combined with our previous findings that domestic private firms tend to be more involved in providing inputs and intermediary goods for foreign firms (Hale and Long, 2006), these results suggest a more passive role played by domestic firms in the global division of labor than envisioned by the Chinese government. ; Formerly titled: What determines technological spillovers of foreign direct investment: evidence from China


Preface Introduction Part I. Conceptual Framework: 1. Some problems in the theory of infectious disease transmission and control Klaus Dietz 2. The structure of epidemic models Denis Mollison 3. Coupling methods in epidemic theory Frank Ball 4. Collective epidemic processes: a general modelling approach to the final outcome of SIR epidemics Claude Lefevre and Philippe Picard 5. The threshold concept in deterministic and stochastic models Ingemar Nasell 6. How does transmission of infection depend on population size? Mart de Jong, Odo Diekmann and Hans Heesterbeek 7. The legacy of Kermack and McKendrick Odo Diekmann, Hans Metz and Hans Heesterbeek Part II. Spatial Models: 8. Incorporating spatial components into models of epidemic spread Andrew Cliff 9. Velocities of epidemic spread Hans Metz and Frank van den Bosch 10. Spatial epidemic models Richard Durrett 11. A perturbation approach to nonlinear deterministic epidemic waves Henry Daniels 12. Epidemic plant diseases: a stochastic model of leaf and stem lesion Lynne Billard, P. W. A. Dayananda and Zhen Zhao Part III. Nonlinear Time and Space-Time Dynamics: 13. Detecting nonlinearity and chaos in epidemic data Stephen Ellner, Ronald Gallant and James Theiler 14. Seasonality, demography and the dynamics of measles in developed countries Bryan Grenfell, Ben Bolker and Adam Kleczkowski Part IV. Heterogeneity in Human Diseases: 15. Grouping in population models Simon Levin 16. Core groups and R0s for subgroups in heterogeneous SIS and SI models John Jacquez, Carl Simon and James Koopman 17. Data driven network models for the spread of disease Martina Morris 18. The effect of antigenic diversity on endemic prevalence Sunetra Gupta, Katherine Trenholme, Martin Cox, Roy Anderson and Karen Day Part V. Data Analysis: Estimation and Prediction: 19. Statistical challenges of epidemic data Niels Becker 20. Primary components of epidemic models Andrew Cairns 21. Estimation and prediction in tropical disease control: the example of onchocerciasis Hans Remme, Soumbey Alley and Anton Plaisier 22. Some current trends in estimating vaccine efficacy Ira Longini, Elizabeth Halloran and Michael Haber 23. Operational modelling of HIV/AIDS to assist public health control Norman Bailey Appendix. Problem areas S. Ellner, O. Diekmann and N. Becker.


Copperwood is located in Gogebic County, Upper Peninsula, Michigan, within the Porcupine Mountains copper district. It was discovered in 1956 and, in 2008, Orvana Minerals Corp began exploration and development work with production projected in the near future. Stratiform copper mineralization is hosted by gray to black shales and siltstones of the basal Nonesuch Formation. Copper mineralization is overlain by laminated gray siltstones of the Nonesuch Formation and is underlain by red-bed sandstones, conglomerates, and minor siltstones of the Copper Harbor Formation; these rocks are part of a thick section of clastic sedimentary rocks that comprise the upper fill of the Mesoproterozoic (1.1–1.0 Ga) Midcontinent rift. The copper deposit is a tabular body that averages 2.5 m thick, lacks significant basal undulations, and dips 8° to 12° northward on the southwest limb of the Western syncline, an open fold with a shallow plunge to the northwest. Chalcocite is the only Cu-bearing mineral in the orebody and occurs as concentrations along stratigraphic laminations and as disseminated grains. Within the orebody, there is no mineral or metal zoning; Cu, Ag, and S are strongly enriched, Zn is very slightly enriched and Pb and Co lack enrichment. Gangue minerals in the orebody are quartz, clinochore, muscovite/illite, plagioclase, K-feldspar, calcite, and hematite, which are consistent with temperatures of less than 130°C. Only one significant fault, a shallow NW-dipping reverse fault with displacement of up to 7 m, has disturbed the section. The mineralized zone at Copperwood is stratigraphically equivalent to that at the White Pine mine, but Copperwood lacks the structural complexity and the hydrothermal overprint manifested by the native Cu mineralization at White Pine. Reported Canadian National Instrument 43-101-compliant measured, indicated, and inferred resources are 33 million metric tonnes (Mt) of 1.60% Cu and 4.1 ppm Ag for total contained Cu of about 1.165 billion lb and 4.32 Moz of Ag. The characteristics of Copperwood are consistent with those of reduced-facies, or Kupferschiefer-type, sedimentary rock-hosted stratiform copper deposits. The proposed genetic model is chalcocite replacement of pyrite in unlithified sediments during diagenesis as a result of emanating upward-focused, compaction-driven, Cu-bearing saline basinal waters with Cu leached from the underlying red-bed paleoquifer. The simplicity of the mineralizing event and the undeformed nature of the deposit distinguish Copperwood from most other examples of reduced-facies, or Kupferschiefer-type, sedimentary rock-hosted stratiform copper deposits throughout the world.


Research on dependable computing is undergoing a shift from traditional fault tolerance towards techniques that handle faults proactively. These techniques comprise two parts: (a) prediction of failures and (b) actions that are performed in case of an upcoming failure. This work provides the first reliability model that incorporates both correct and false predictions as well as both types of actions: failure prevention and recovery preparation. Closed form solutions to availability, reliability and hazard rate are provided.


BACKGROUND Microbial screening is a mandatory test for banked UC blood (UCB) to comply with the code of good manufacturing practice (GMP). Cord blood banks (CBBs) are not always closely located to a GMP-licensed microbiology laboratory, resulting in time delays for transport of specimens prior to microbiological testing. This study investigated the influence of >/=24 h delays in initiating automated microbial screening on the detection of bacteria in UCB, by analysis of specimens deliberately spiked with bacteria and the recovery of bacteria from cryopreserved spiked-UCB. MATERIALS AND METHODS UCB was processed according to standard CBB procedures and spiked with Staphylococcus epidermidis or Escherichia coli [2-2000 colony forming units (CFU)/mL]. Spiked-UCB (0.5 mL) was (1) held at room temperature (RT) and inoculated into pediatric BacT/Alert bottles (bioMerieux) at Days 1, 4 and 7 (delayed inoculation); and (2) inoculated directly (Day 0) into replicate BacT/Alert bottles and held at RT for 1, 4 or 7 days before loading onto the BacT/ALERT system (delayed loading). Spiked-UCB samples were cryopreserved. Bacterial counts were quantitated on horse blood agar plates. RESULTS Bacterial growth in UCB spiked with a single bacterium was capable of detection by the BacT/ALERT system. S. epidermidis grew in all conditions of delayed testing (ie. delayed inoculation and delayed loading). E. coli failed to grow under conditions of delayed inoculation but grew at all time points of delayed loading. S. epidermidis and E. coli were recovered from cryopreserved spiked-UCB. DISCUSSION Inoculation of culture bottles as soon as possible after sample preparation is preferable. Bacteria can maintain viability in BacT/ALERT bottles inoculated and held at RT for up to 7 days prior to automated culture testing. Bacteria can be successfully recovered from cryopreserved UCB.


In this work we ask whether it is possible to create a "universal" detector for telling apart real images from these generated by a CNN, regardless of architecture or dataset used. To test this, we collect a dataset consisting of fake images generated by 11 different CNN-based image generator models, chosen to span the space of commonly used architectures today (ProGAN, StyleGAN, BigGAN, CycleGAN, StarGAN, GauGAN, DeepFakes, cascaded refinement networks, implicit maximum likelihood estimation, second-order attention super-resolution, seeing-in-the-dark). We demonstrate that, with careful pre- and post-processing and data augmentation, a standard image classifier trained on only one specific CNN generator (ProGAN) is able to generalize surprisingly well to unseen architectures, datasets, and training methods (including the just released StyleGAN2). Our findings suggest the intriguing possibility that today's CNN-generated images share some common systematic flaws, preventing them from achieving realistic image synthesis.


We present and evaluate the capacity of a deep neural network to learn robust features from EEG to automatically detect seizures. This is a challenging problem because seizure manifestations on EEG are extremely variable both inter- and intra-patient. By simultaneously capturing spectral, temporal and spatial information our recurrent convolutional neural network learns a general spatially invariant representation of a seizure. The proposed approach exceeds significantly previous results obtained on cross-patient classifiers both in terms of sensitivity and false positive rate. Furthermore, our model proves to be robust to missing channel and variable electrode montage.


Abstract. Most of the current aerosol retrievals from passive sensors are restricted to cloud-free scenes, which strongly reduces our ability to monitor the aerosol properties at a global scale and to estimate their radiative forcing. The presence of aerosol above clouds (AAC) affects the polarized light reflected by the cloud layer, as shown by the spaceborne measurements provided by the POlarization and Directionality of Earth Reflectances (POLDER) instrument on the PARASOL satellite. In a previous work, a first retrieval method was developed for AAC scenes and evaluated for biomass-burning aerosols transported over stratocumulus clouds. The method was restricted to the use of observations acquired at forward scattering angles (90–120°) where polarized measurements are highly sensitive to fine-mode particle scattering. Non-spherical particles in the coarse mode, such as mineral dust particles, do not much polarize light and cannot be handled with this method. In this paper, we present new developments that allow retrieving also the properties of mineral dust particles above clouds. These particles do not much polarize light but strongly reduce the polarized cloud bow generated by the liquid cloud layer beneath and observed for scattering angles around 140°. The spectral attenuation can be used to qualitatively identify the nature of the particles (i.e. accumulation mode versus coarse mode, i.e. mineral dust particles versus biomass-burning aerosols), whereas the magnitude of the attenuation is related to the optical thickness of the aerosol layer. We also use the polarized measurements acquired in the cloud bow to improve the retrieval of both the biomass-burning aerosol properties and the cloud microphysical properties. We provide accurate polarized radiance calculations for AAC scenes and evaluate the contribution of the POLDER polarization measurements for the simultaneous retrieval of the aerosol and cloud properties. We investigate various scenes with mineral dust particles and biomass-burning aerosols above clouds. For clouds, our results confirm that the droplet size distribution is narrow in high-latitude ocean regions and that the droplet effective radii retrieved from both polarization measurements and from total radiance measurements are generally close for AAC scenes (departures smaller than 2 μm). We found that the magnitude of the primary cloud bow cannot be accurately estimated with a plane parallel transfer radiative code. The errors for the modeling of the polarized cloud bow are between 4 and 8% for homogenous cloudy scenes, as shown by a 3-D radiative transfer code. These effects only weakly impact the retrieval of the Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT) performed with a mineral dust particle model for which the microphysical properties are entirely known (relative error smaller than 6%). We show that the POLDER polarization measurements allow retrieving the AOT, the fine-mode particle size, the Angstrom exponent and the fraction of spherical particles. However, the complex refractive index and the coarse-mode particle size cannot be accurately retrieved with the present polarization measurements. Our complete and accurate algorithm cannot be applied to process large amounts of data, so a simpler algorithm was developed to retrieve the AOT and the Angstrom exponent above clouds in an operational way. Illustrations are provided for July–August 2008 near the African coast. Large mean AOTs above clouds at 0.865 μm (>0.3) are retrieved for oceanic regions near the coasts of South Africa that correspond to biomass-burning aerosols, whereas even larger mean AOTs above clouds for mineral dust particles (>0.6) are also retrieved near the coasts of Senegal. For these regions and time period, the direct AAC radiative forcing is likely to be significant. The final aim of this work is the global monitoring of the AAC properties and the estimation of the direct aerosol radiative forcing in cloudy scenes.


We have developed a method using local oxidation on silicon to create nanoscale silicon seeds for the lateral epitaxial overgrowth of germanium on silicon oxide. The germanium growth starts selectively from silicon seed lines, proceeds by wetting the SiO2 layer and coalesces without formation of grain boundary. Analysis by high resolution transmission electron microscopy have shown that Ge layers grown above silicon oxide are perfectly monocrystalline and are free of defect. The only detected defects are situated at the Ge∕Si interface. Geometrical phase analyses of the microscopy images have shown that the Ge layer is fully relaxed and homogeneous.


Considering the continuous development of ytterbium (Yb)-doped fibers for fiber lasers and amplifiers, thorough characterization of the features and quality of such fibers is necessary now more than ever. In particular, the evaluation of the very strong core attenuation that results from Yb absorption and the losses accompanying photodarkening (PD) processes in Yb-doped optical fibers is still of immense interest. Keeping that in mind, the potential of a method using pinhole fibers will be demonstrated here. Moreover, the investigation of fluorescence properties of Yb3+ is also important; it can be affected by phenomena such as reabsorption, inhomogeneous pump intensity distribution, amplified spontaneous emission, lasing, and, lastly, PD. As these phenomena occur while measuring the fluorescence properties of Yb3+ in optical fibers, they can distort the fluorescence spectra and fluorescence decay significantly. We suggest a twice-perpendicular measurement method and strict time management to avoid these interfering phenomena during the fluorescence measurements.


This paper presents some of the results from an international working group on voltage-dip immunity. The working group has made a number of recommendations to reduce the adverse impact of voltage dips. Specific recommendations to researchers and manufacturers of power-electronic equipment are: considering all voltage dip characteristics early in the design of equipment; characterize performance of equipment by means of voltage-dip immunity curves; and made equipment with different immunity available.


Chronology, magnetostratigraphy and biostratigraphic characteristics of the Ensenadense (Lower-Middle Pleistocene) in the city of Bue- nos Aires. At the paleontological collections of the principal museums of the Argentina, there are numerous remains of fos- sil mammals coming from the city of Buenos Aires; those exhumed of the Ensenada Formation, there come especially from the "toscas del Rio de La Plata". The stratigraphic profiles associated with the fossil records, as well as the magnetostratigraphic ones published from the decade of 1980, were the base for the knowledge of the superficial geology of the city and of their underground. However, these profiles are not strictly comparable since in some cases the authors used different altimetric points (zero reference). We have homologated in this contribution all the altimetric points to facilitate the intercomparison among the different profiles to the zero reference from the Riachuelo standarized level. The correlation among different pro- files allowed to determine that: 1) the Ensenada sediments (early-middle Pleistocene), biostratigraphically defined by the pre- sence of fossils such as Mesotherium cristatum, Arctotherium angustidens, Glyptodon munizi and Neosclerocalyptus pseudorntaus, are foun- ded at least from 8 m above the zero of the Riachuelo level until something a few meters below it, 2) the sector of the Ensenada Formation corresponding to the "toscas del Rio de La Plata" has probably a late Matuyama (subcron C1r1n) age.


Studies on happiness had flourished around the world. Different impacts of happiness in different aspects of life had been well documented. In the Philippines however, the study of happiness remained scarce especially in academic setting. In addition, most previous studies focused mainly on GPA as a measure of academic performance. Because happiness is vulnerable to life experiences (Veenhoven, 1997), linking happiness with GPA may not yield a comprehensive and more meaningful result. To fill this gap in the previous inquiries, this study aimed at the less taken angle. Thus, this inquiry focused on the link between happiness and examination outcome of college students. The study was conducted at the Central Luzon State University, Philippines. There were 282 college students participated in the study. Using correlation and test of difference analyses, several findings were noted. Results suggest that happiness had no significant relationship with students' examination performance. Instead, examination performance was associated with the examination's level of difficulty. Happiness on the other hand was correlated with age and gender. Younger students were happier than older ones and female students were happier than their male counterparts. Female students were also found to have longer time spent reviewing the lesson than male students but this difference did not indicate any significant variation in examination score between genders.


Extracted from text ... Number 46 - Part 2
J Henn and EvdM Smit
The influence of economic news events on share market activity in South Africa
Introduction
Owing to the inherent competitiveness of capitalism, share market participants will undoubtedly continue striving to outperform the market
by their understanding of the movement and potential movement in share prices. Given the fad that company profit and company share
prices are a direct result of the level of economic activity, one would expect that information on economic trends, policies and issues may
provide clues to share market behaviour. That this is a popularly held view is ..


Adversarial attacks to image classification systems present challenges to convolutional networks and opportunities for understanding them. This study suggests that adversarial perturbations on images lead to noise in the features constructed by these networks. Motivated by this observation, we develop new network architectures that increase adversarial robustness by performing feature denoising. Specifically, our networks contain blocks that denoise the features using non-local means or other filters; the entire networks are trained end-to-end. When combined with adversarial training, our feature denoising networks substantially improve the state-of-the-art in adversarial robustness in both white-box and black-box attack settings. On ImageNet, under 10-iteration PGD white-box attacks where prior art has 27.9% accuracy, our method achieves 55.7%; even under extreme 2000-iteration PGD white-box attacks, our method secures 42.6% accuracy. Our method was ranked first in Competition on Adversarial Attacks and Defenses (CAAD) 2018 --- it achieved 50.6% classification accuracy on a secret, ImageNet-like test dataset against 48 unknown attackers, surpassing the runner-up approach by ~10%. Code is available at https://github.com/facebookresearch/ImageNet-Adversarial-Training.


The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) is now entering its fourth year of in-orbit global environmental observation and is producing a wide range of scientific output. The ocean color products in particular require a level of accuracy from the reflective solar bands (RSBs) that is a magnitude higher than the specification. In this work, we present an updated and completed core calibration pipeline that achieves the best sensor data records (SDR) to date and helps the ocean color products to reach maturity. We review the core calibration methodology of the RSBs and describe each essential input, including the solar diffuser stability monitor, the solar diffuser (SD), and lunar calibrations. Their associated issues, along with the successful mitigation and improved results, are described and presented. In particular, we illuminate the inaccuracy suffered due to the evolving angular dependence in the degradation of the on-board SD that impacts the heart of the RSB calibration, but also show that lunar-based calibration instead provides the correct long-term baseline for the successful restoration of the core methodology. The new look-up tables, which combine the coefficients from the SD-based and lunar-based calibrations, produce the optimal result, with an estimated accuracy of ∼0.2%. This hybrid approach highlights significant progress in the VIIRS RSB calibration and marks a completion of the core calibration result upon which other physical impacts or scientific issues can then be more accurately examined. We demonstrate the significant improvement and its impact on the ocean color products by comparing the current official output to the newly generated result. Lastly, we point out that this hybrid calibration coefficients scheme is made possible by a VIIRS design and layout change over its predecessor, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, that allows both the SD and the moon to be viewed by the RSB at the same angle of incidence. Thus, this design element warrants serious consideration for other satellite sensors utilizing a similar calibration methodology.