A recent article in this journal, Dolan et al. (2005) provided a methodology for estimating the intangible costs (or losses in quality of life) from violent crime. Here, we develop that methodology to provide estimates of the intangible costs arising from the anticipation of possible victimisation; that is, estimates of the costs of fear of crime. These costs are categorised according to whether they result in non-health losses or health losses. Non-health losses are associated with a) changes in behaviour and/or b) changes in how society is viewed. Possible methods for measuring and valuing these non-health losses are discussed. However, the paper focuses on measuring and providing a provisional monetary valuation for the health losses arising from anticipating crime.


This research was conducted in Kasang Limau Sundai village, Kuantan Hilir District, Kuantan Singingi Regency . Intake of respondents in this study conducted with (Simple purposive sampling). The methods taked of data used  descriptive analysis, Cartesian diagram analysis, and the Spearman correlation analysis multiatribut Fishbein model of attitude . the results showed as for selling of the rubber,  the farmer must be delivery using transportation services. Atibut pay cash , make loans, fast and good service, given the high prices and the provision of THR is an attribute that must be maintained employer. For a relationship to the importance of farmer characteristics, educational characteristics obtained significantly correlated with THR attributes, characteristics of production, real income and expenditure associated with attribute, while paying cash to the characteristics of the relationship with the level of confidence is obtained that a very real life characteristics associated with the attributes of bonded labor system, the characteristics of education attributes associated with sorting, production characteristics significantly correlated with sorting attributes, characteristics of the income and expenses associated with the attributes are very real suggestion of a friend, the characteristics of farming experience significantly correlated with sorting and dealing with the very real relationship intimacy, as well as the characteristics of the land area significantly correlated with attributes suggestions of friends. Perceptions or attitudes of farmers to traders belonging to the neutral category. Patron- client relationships that occur are the result of production marketing and consumtion relationship. Keywords: Farmer Characteristics, Perceptions/Attitude, Attributes, Patron-Client Relations, employer


OBJECTIVE
To compare the effects on walking of functional electrical stimulation (FES) and ankle foot orthoses for foot-drop of central neurological origin, assessed in terms of unassisted walking behaviours compared with assisted walking following a period of use (combined-orthotic effects).

DATA SOURCES
MEDLINE, AMED, CINAHL, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Scopus, REHABDATA, PEDro, NIHR Centre for Reviews and Dissemination and clinicaltrials.gov, plus reference list, journal, author and citation searches.

STUDY SELECTION
English language comparative randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

DATA SYNTHESIS
Seven RCTs were eligible for inclusion. Two of these reported different results from the same trial and another 2 reported results from different follow-up periods and were therefore combined, resulting in 5 synthesized trials with 815 stroke participants. Meta-analyses of data from the final assessment in each study and 3 overlapping time-points showed comparable improvements in walking speed over 10 m (p = 0.04-0.79), functional exercise capacity (p = 0.10-0.31), timed up-and-go (p = 0.812 and p = 0.539) and perceived mobility (p = 0.80) for both interventions.

CONCLUSION
Data suggest that, in contrast to assumptions that predict FES superiority, ankle foot orthoses have equally positive combined-orthotic effects as FES on key walking measures for foot-drop caused by stroke. However, further long-term, high-quality RCTs are required. These should focus on measuring the mechanisms-of-action; whether there is translation of improvements in impairment to function, plus detailed reporting of the devices used across diagnoses. Only then can robust clinical recommendations be made.


A mathematical model describing the oscillation characteristics of slug flow in a capillary tube is presented. The model considers the vapor bubble as the gas spring for the oscillating motions in a capillary tube including effects of capillary force, gas spring constant, dimensions, gravitational force, and initial pressure distribution of the working fluid. Numerical results indicate that the isentropic bulk modulus generates stronger oscillations than the isothermal bulk modulus. While it demonstrates that the capillary tube diameter, bubble size, and unit cell numbers determine the oscillation, the capillary force, gravitational force, and initial pressure distribution of the working fluid significantly affect the frequency and amplitude of oscillating motion in the capillary tube. An experimental study of a five-turn closed loop oscillating heat pipe has been conducted. The oscillating heat pipes charged with HPLC grade water, acetone and ethanol have been tested respectively. In a vertical orientation, the oscillating motion of the slug flow in the oscillating heat pipe has been observed.


100 billion dollars. That is the annual cost of gun violence in America according to the authors of this landmark study, a book destined to change the way Americans view the problem of gun-related violence. Until now researchers have assessed the burden imposed by gunshot injuries and deaths in terms of medical costs and lost productivity. Here, economists Philip Cook and Jens Ludwig widen the lens, developing a framework to calculate the full costs borne by Americans in a society where both gun violence and its ever-present threat mandate responses that touch every aspect of our lives. All of us, no matter where we reside or how we live, share the costs of gun violence. Whether waiting in line to pass through airport security or paying taxes for the protection of public officials; whether buying a transparent book bag for our children to meet their school's post-Columbine regulations or subsidizing an urban trauma center, the steps we take are many and the expenditures enormous. Cook and Ludwig reveal that investments in prevention, avoidance, and harm reduction, both public and private, constitute a far greater share of the gun-violence burden than previously recognized. They also employ extensive survey data to measure the subjective costs of living in a society where there is risk of being shot or losing a loved one or neighbor to gunfire. At the same time, they demonstrate that the problem of gun violence is not intractable. Their review of the available evidence suggests that there are both additional gun regulations and targeted law enforcement measures that will help. This urgently needed book documents for the first time how gun violence diminishes the quality of life for everyone in America. In doing so, it will move the debate over gun violence past symbolic politics to a direct engagement with the costs and benefits of policies that hold promise for reducing gun violence and may even pay for themselves. Available in OSO: http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/oso/public/content/law/9780195153842/toc.html


A thick, gel-like precipitate, which separated from a B20 blend, has been characterized using a variety of analytical techniques. The sediment formed in a blend of soy-based fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) and ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD), which had been stored under ASTM D4625 conditions without the presence of antioxidant. Analysis indicates that the majority of the sediment consists of a wide variety of polar oxygenated compounds. These vary considerably in molecular weight. The lower molecular weight species arise due to oxidative cleavage of the methyl esters. Also present are free fatty acids formed due to hydrolysis of FAME. The highest molecular weight compounds are oxidized FAME that have not undergone cleavage and oligomers of the oxidized FAME. Monoglycerides and steryl glucosides are not significant components in this sediment. The sediment does contain some diesel fuel, intact FAME, and impurities, which are inherent to the FAME. A proposed scenario for the formation of this type of sediment is as follows: As free radical formation, oxidation, and hydrolysis occur in unsaturated methyl esters, there are numerous polar organic compounds formed. These vary widely in molecular weight and include carboxylic acids, alcohols, aldehydes, and ketones, as well as compounds containing combinations of these functional groups. All of these reaction products undergo aggregation due to their polarity differences with the bulk matrix. Included in these aggregates are the trace components present as impurities in the FAME, such as water, glycerol, glycerides, plant sterols, and steryl glucosides. Eventually, a level of thermodynamic instability is reached and phase separation occurs. While the aggregates and sediment contain significant polar functionality, they still maintain a very high degree of alkyl and olefinic character. As a result, intact FAME and diesel fuel components have a certain degree of solubility in the aggregated mixture and make up part of the precipitated sediment.


Despite the upsurge in public interest in science-and-religion provoked by the so-called "new atheist" attacks on religion, there has been surprisingly little publically accessible informed discussion of the central issues at stake in contemporary work at the interface of science and religion. This book fills this gap by providing a snapshot of what is really at stake in contemporary interactions and debates between scientists and theologians. What the collection shows, above all, is the vibrant complexity of discussions in science-and-religion. Old models of conflict between the two disciplines no longer hold; but neither do the alternative comprehensive models of independence, dialogue or integration. What emerges instead is a complex set of relations between science and religion in the twenty-first century.


The modular multilevel converter (MMC) is attractive for medium- or high-power applications because of the advantages of its high modularity, availability, and high power quality. The voltage balancing of the floating capacitors in the cascaded submodules of the MMC is a key issue. In this paper, a voltage-balancing control method is proposed. This method uses the phase-shifted carrier-based pulsewidth modulation scheme to control high-frequency current components for capacitor voltage balancing in the MMC without measuring the arm currents. Simulations and experimental studies of the MMC were conducted, and the results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed capacitor voltage-balancing control method.


In this paper, GA-based methods for printer scheduling in ubiquitous computing environments, is proposed. In the ubiquitous computing environment, printers may be used by any users in the vicinity. Therefore, an efficient mechanism for scheduling users' printer requests to ensure users are effectively satisfied is presented. Users' requirements and printers' service quality is modeled with Distance, Time and Printing quality. In this paper, GAs, which match users' and printer's requirements are proposed. A full GA-based method, and two GA-heuristic hybrid methods are designed. The heuristic method is a local-optimization algorithm. Three cases have been experimented with: under light, medium and heavy loads. The results are also compared with a non-GA method. The experiments demonstrate that one of the GAs works effectively in all cases and the heuristic technique assists in speeding up the search process.


We developed a novel promoter system, designated SR alpha, which is composed of the simian virus 40 (SV40) early promoter and the R segment and part of the U5 sequence (R-U5') of the long terminal repeat of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1. The R-U5' sequence stimulated chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene expression only when placed immediately downstream of the SV40 early promoter in the sense orientation. The SR alpha expression system was 1 or 2 orders of magnitude more active than the SV40 early promoter in a wide variety of cell types, including fibroblasts and lymphoid cells, and was capable of promoting a high level of expression of various lymphokine cDNAs. These features of the SR alpha promoter were incorporated into the pcD-cDNA expression cloning vector originally developed by Okayama and Berg.


The ventral occipito-temporal (vOT) association cortex contributes significantly to recognize different types of visual patterns. It is widely accepted that a subset of this circuitry, including the visual word form area (VWFA), becomes trained to perform the task of rapidly identifying word forms. An important open question is the computational role of this circuitry: To what extent is part of a bottom-up hierarchical processing of information on visual word recognition and/or is involved in processing top-down signals from higher-level language regions. This doctoral dissertation thesis proposal is aimed at characterizing the vOT reading circuitry using behavioral, functional, structural and quantitative MRI indexes, and linking its computations to the other two important regions within the language network: the posterior parietal cortex (pPC) and the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Results revealed that two distinct word-responsive areas can be segregated in the vOT: one responsible for visual feature extraction that is connected to the intraparietal sulcus via the vertical occipital fasciculus and a second one responsible for semantic processing that is connected to the angular gyrus via the posterior arcuate fasciculus and to the IFG via the anterior arcuate fasciculus. Importantly, reading behavior was predicted by functional activation in regions identified along the vOT, pPC and IFG, as well as by structural properties of the white matter fiber tracts linking them. The present work constitutes a critical step in the creation of a highly detailed characterization of the early stages of reading at the individual-subject level and to establish a baseline model and parameter range that might serve to clarify functional and structural differences between typical, poor and atypical readers.


We studied the relation of light with coral colony morphology and coral distribution over a 5 to 50 m reef slope. We describe the characteristics of 6 species of the genus Madracis in relation to the light (photosynthetically active radiation (PAR): 400 to 700 nm) colonies receive at a small spatial scale (1 to 10 cm). Species differ in their response to light but we could distinguish 3 strategies: (1) Species strive for maximum light capture and colonies occur above a threshold light value. This limits the distribution of such species toward greater depths. These species are found in shallow ( 30 m) of the reef slope. Colony morphological variation is also unrelated to variation in the amount of light the colonies receive. (3) Species prefer low light habitats. Such species are found over the entire reef slope and they show a bimodal light preference. One part of the population (1st mode) prefers the maximum amount of light available at a particular depth. The other part of the population (2nd mode) prefers cryptic habitats with low light levels (5 to 60 µmol photons m -2 s -1 ). In these species, morphological variation in colony shape relates to light availability. Structural complexity of the reef surface within the same depth causes such vari- ation in local light availability. This variation ranges between the maximum value at a depth pre- dicted by physical laws and the minimal values encountered in cryptic habitats. The large variation in available light occurring over spatial scales as small as 10 cm distorts the direct relation between depth and light. Depth and light are only correlated as ecological factors for species that strive for maximum light capture (Strategy 1 or 2). A large depth distribution does not imply adaptation to a large light range when species have a strict preference for cryptic light environments. For such species (Strategy 3) depth is not a proxy for light. The different light strategies of species are related to morphological variation and species exploration of the reef habitat.


For soldiers on the Great War's Western Front the term home front suggested a degree of coziness, a place of retreat from the horrors of battle visualized by the poet Rupert Brooke in idyllic terms shortly before the war, a place where the "lilac is in bloom" and "is there honey still for tea?" Russia was not overendowed with coziness even before the war, but the early defeats, extensive conscription, deepening economic crisis, and growing political instability meant the elimination of any traces and the replacement of coziness with food shortages, strikes, disturbances, and, in 1917, full-blown revolution. Then the situation became even worse. Catastrophe piled on catastrophe. Food shortages became famine. Economic crisis became collapse and, in 1918–20, flight from hellish cities like starving Petrograd. Political struggles became civil war. Terrible antisemitic pogroms occurred. The multiple crises engendered cholera, typhus, and influenza which ravaged malnourished bodies. On top of the war dead some ten million died in the Civil War, mainly from illnesses. The 34 contributions to the RGWR Home Front Books 3 and 4 shine a piercing light on these events. From broad accounts of the demographic consequences to detailed studies of particular aspects, the chapters in these two books take us to the cutting edge of contemporary scholarship on these issues. Book 3 focuses on the descent into chaos, while Book 4 centers on its consequences and the first steps by the new authorities to establish a new form of order in Soviet Russia. National Disintegration is the third of four books in the volume Russia's Home Front in War and Revolution, 1914–22 . All four books constitute volume 3 of the broader centennial series on "Russia's Great War and Revolution, 1914–22."


GridRPC is a class of Grid middleware for scientific computing. Interoperability has been an important issue, because current GridRPC systems each employ its own protocol. Web services, where XML-based standards such as SOAP and WSDL are expected to see widespread use, could be the medium of interoperability; however it is not clear if 1) XML-based schemas have sufficient expressive power for GridRPC, and 2) whether performance could be made sufficient. Our experiments indicate that the use of such technologies are more promising. than previously reported. Although a naive implementation of SOAP-based GridRPC has severe performance overhead, application of a series of optimizations improves performance. However encoding of various features of GridRPC proved to be somewhat difficult due to WSDL limitations. The results show that GridRPC systems can be based on Web technologies, but there needs to be work to extend WSDL specifications, possibly impacting OGSA-based Grid services directions.


Emergence of antimicrobial resistance is a major public health problem worldwide, particularly in developing countries. The effectiveness of currently available antibiotics is decreasing as a result of increasing resistant strains among clinical isolates. The aim of this study was to determine the antimicrobial resistance pattern of bacterial isolate from different clinical specimens at Hawassa University Referral Hospital. A retrospective data (from January 2012 to December 2014) of patients registered at microbiology record book were reviewed. Age, sex, type of clinical specimen, type of bacterial isolate and antimicrobial resistance pattern were extracted using data extraction format. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16 software. A total of 143 bacterial isolates were collected from clinical specimens such as: urine (63; 44%), ear discharge (26; 18.2%), pus (25; 17.5%), stool (12; 8.4%), nasal swab (12; 8.4%), genital swab (3; 2.1%) and cerebrospinal fluid (2; 1.4%). The predominant bacterial isolates were E. coli (35; 24.5%) followed by S. aureus (31; 21.7%) and Klebsiella species (21; 14.7%). Greater than half percent of resistance were observed for ampicilin, cotrimoxazole, penicillin G, chloramphenicol, gentamicin, norfloxacin and oxacilin. Moreover, MDR was observed in 127 (88.8%) of the isolates. High prevalence of multi-drug resistant bacteria was observed in this study. Therefore, resistance surveillance studies should be conducted to develop local antibiogram data, for choosing the best antimicrobial therapy.

 Key words: Antibiotic resistance, bacteria isolate, clinical specimen, Ethiopia.


This chapter develops three points of elaboration and theoretical expansion upon Cohler's (1982) treatise on personal narrative and life course. First, we highlight Cohler's emphasis on an interpretive, idiographic approach to the study of lives and reveal the radicalism of this approach, particularly in its ability to interrogate the lived experience of social categorization. Second, we link Cohler's position directly to cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) and consider the link between inner and social speech through the idea of narrative engagement. Finally, following Cohler's life course perspective on human development, we suggest that adulthood is best conceived as a cultural discourse to which individuals orient their personal narratives through a dynamic process of narrative engagement rather than a clearly demarcated life stage. Emerging adulthood is linked to cultural and economic processes of globalization in the 21st century and challenges static notions of social roles traditionally associated with compulsory heterosexuality (e.g., marriage and parenthood). Narrative processes in emerging adulthood occur through both situated storytelling and the formation of a life story that provides coherence and social meaning, both of which have key implications for social stasis and change.


We are exploring the use of engineered T cells bearing chimeric receptors and strategies to augment their antitumor efficacy in adoptive transfer settings. The surface membrane glycoprotein mesothelin is a promising target for the immunotherapy of mesothelioma, ovarian, and pancreatic tumors due to the uniform overexpression of mesothelin and the benign phenotype of mesothelin null mice. We hypothesize that previous trials of adoptive immunotherapy for cancer that have used CTL have failed due to poor trafficking to sites of tumor, and insufficient effector functions to self antigens. Our preclinical data indicates that use of lentiviral engineered T cells with chimeric receptors that incorporate a 'tumor resistance genotype' should have improved function for cancer immunotherapy. We have tested mesothelin redirected T cells in humanized mouse models bearing tumor xenografts. The T cells are able to eradicate large, well established tumors at an E:T ratio of at least 1:70 in vivo. As a complementary strategy, we have engineered artificial antigen presenting cells (aAPC) to express ligands for either CD28 or ICOS. These aAPC appear to be useful to reprogram T cells, and increase the antitumor efficacy of mesothelin redirected T cells. Three routes of administration with redirected T cells have been tested in mice bearing xenografted flank tumors. The intraperitoneal route was found to be inferior to intravenous or direct intratumoral injection of the redirected T cells. Long term engraftment of the redirected T cells correlates with antitumor efficacy.


We use correlated electron–ion momentum measurements to investigate laser-induced non-sequential double ionization of Ar and Ne. Light intensities are chosen in a regime at and below the threshold where, within the rescattering model, electron impact ionization of the singly charged ion core is expected to become energetically forbidden. Yet we find Ar2+ ion momentum distributions and an electron–electron momentum correlation indicative of direct impact ionization. Within the quasistatic model this may be understood by assuming that the electric field of the light wave reduces the ionization potential of the singly charged ion core at the instant of scattering. The width of the projection of the ion momentum distribution onto an axis perpendicular to the light beam polarization vector is found to scale with the square root of the peak electric field strength in the light pulse. A scaling like this is not expected from the phase space available after electron impact ionization. It may indicate that the electric field at the instant of scattering is usually different from zero and determines the transverse momentum distribution. A comparison of our experimental results with several theoretical results is given.


Local glaciers and ice caps (GICs) comprise only ~5.4% of the total ice volume, but account for ~14–20% of the current ice loss in Greenland. The glacial history of GICs is not well constrained, however, and little is known about how they reacted to Holocene climate changes. Specifically, in North Greenland, there is limited knowledge about past GIC fluctuations and whether they survived the Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM, ~8 to 5 ka). In this study, we use proglacial lake records to constrain the ice‐marginal fluctuations of three local ice caps in North Greenland including Flade Isblink, the largest ice cap in Greenland. Additionally, we have radiocarbon dated reworked marine molluscs in Little Ice Age (LIA) moraines adjacent to the Flade Isblink, which reveal when the ice cap was smaller than present. We found that outlet glaciers from Flade Isblink retreated inland of their present extent from ~9.4 to 0.2 cal. ka BP. The proglacial lake records, however, demonstrate that the lakes continued to receive glacial meltwater throughout the entire Holocene. This implies that GICs in Finderup Land survived the HTM. Our results are consistent with other observations from North Greenland but differ from locations in southern Greenland where all records show that the local ice caps at low and intermediate elevations disappeared completely during the HTM. We explain the north–south gradient in glacier response as a result of sensitivity to increased temperature and precipitation. While the increased temperatures during the HTM led to a complete melting of GICs in southern Greenland, GICs remained in North Greenland probably because the melting was counterbalanced by increased precipitation due to a reduction in Arctic sea‐ice extent and/or increased poleward moisture transport.


Extrinsic mortality has a strong impact on the evolution of life-histories, prey morphology and behavioural adaptations, but for many animals the causes of mortality are poorly understood. Predation is an important driver of extrinsic mortality and mobile animals form groups in response to increased predation risk. Furthermore, in many species juveniles suffer higher mortality than older individuals, which may reflect a lower phenotypic quality, lower competitiveness, or a lack of antipredator or foraging skills. Here we assessed the causes of mortality for 371 radio tagged Siberian jays. This sedentary bird species lives in family groups that contain a breeding pair as well as related and unrelated non-breeders. Ninety-five percent of death were due to predation (n = 59 out of 62 individuals) and most individuals were killed by Accipiter hawks. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models showed that non-breeders had a lower survival than breeders, but only in territories in managed forest with little visual cover. Examining breeders, only sex influenced survival with males having a lower survival than females. For non-breeders, juveniles had lower survival than older non-breeders, and those on managed territories had lower survival than those on unmanaged territories. Additionally, a low feather quality reduced the survival probability of non-breeders only. Thus, living on managed territories and having a low feature quality affected only non-breeders, particularly juveniles. These findings add to previous research demonstrating that juvenile Siberian jays acquire critical antipredator skills from experienced group members. Thus, experience can buffer extrinsic mortality, highlighting that group living not only provides safety in numbers, but also provide social opportunities to learn critical life-skills.


p.R375W (Fibrinogen Aguadilla) is one out of seven identified mutations (Brescia, Aguadilla, Angers, Al du Pont, Pisa, Beograd, and Ankara) causing hepatic storage of the mutant fibrinogen γ. The Aguadilla mutation has been reported in children from the Caribbean, Europe, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and China. All reported children presented with a variable degree of histologically proven chronic liver disease and low plasma fibrinogen levels. In addition, one Japanese and one Turkish child had concomitant hypo-APOB-lipoproteinemia of unknown origin. We report here on an additional child from Turkey with hypofibrinogenemia due to the Aguadilla mutation, massive hepatic storage of the mutant protein, and severe hypo-APOB-lipoproteinemia. The liver biopsy of the patient was studied by light microscopy, electron microscopy (EM), and immunohistochemistry. The investigation included the DNA sequencing of the three fibrinogen and APOB–lipoprotein regulatory genes and the analysis of the encoded protein structures. Six additional Fibrinogen Storage Disease (FSD) patients with either the Aguadilla, Ankara, or Brescia mutations were investigated with the same methodology. A molecular analysis revealed the fibrinogen gamma p.R375W mutation (Aguadilla) but no changes in the APOB and MTTP genes. APOB and MTTP genes showed no abnormalities in the other study cases. Light microscopy and EM studies of liver tissue samples from the child led to the demonstration of the simultaneous accumulation of both fibrinogen and APOB in the same inclusions. Interestingly enough, APOB-containing lipid droplets were entrapped within the fibrinogen inclusions in the hepatocytic Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER). Similar histological, immunohistochemical, EM, and molecular genetics findings were found in the other six FSD cases associated with the Aguadilla, as well as with the Ankara and Brescia mutations. The simultaneous retention of fibrinogen and APOB-lipoproteins in FSD can be detected in routinely stained histological sections. The analysis of protein structures unraveled the pathomorphogenesis of this unexpected phenomenon. Fibrinogen gamma chain mutations provoke conformational changes in the region of the globular domain involved in the "end-to-end" interaction, thus impairing the D-dimer formation. Each monomeric fibrinogen gamma chain is left with an abnormal exposure of hydrophobic patches that become available for interactions with APOB and lipids, causing their intracellular retention and impairment of export as a secondary unavoidable phenomenon.


This paper provides a snapshot of the key findings of an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) review of flood risk prevention policies in the Paris metropolitan area. With an innovative flood risk assessment, the study shows that a major flooding of the Seine River, similar to the flood disaster of 1910, could affect up to 5 million residents in the greater Paris area and cause up to 30 billion (10 9 ) euros worth of damage. Economic growth, jobs and public finances could also be significantly affected at the national level. The OECD Review on Flood Risk Management of the Seine River – commissioned by the basin organisation Seine Grands Lacs with the French Ministry of Ecology and Ile-de-France regional council – recommends raising risk awareness among citizens and businesses, and improving the resilience of the metropolitan area to flood risks. Recent floods in Europe and New York City9s Hurricane Sandy disaster in 2012 illustrated the vulnerability of today9s ever-denser cities to flooding and the need to adapt critical infrastructure systems to be able to cope with extreme weather events. The OECD review suggests ways to minimise the risks and better prepare the Ile-de-France region. It notes that proposed projects to develop and expand the city9s transport and logistics networks offer an opportunity to put some of its suggestions into practice.


The increasing use of molecular methods for the identification and epidemiological study of fungal pathogens will require accessible and reliable public databases containing comprehensive sequence data. The molecular detection of pathogenic fungi directly in clinical specimens (e.g., blood, tissue, bronchoalveolar lavage [BAL] fluid, and other body fluids) is most often accomplished through PCR-based DNA amplification using Taq polymerase, although alternative methods such as RNA detection or isothermal amplification have also been used. Even with the resolution of such technical issues, there remain several drawbacks in using BAL fluid for the diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis. First, except for in limited studies, BAL is typically performed at a late stage of clinical disease, when the patient already has pneumonia or prolonged fever of unknown origin. Second, some attempts have been made to differentiate carriage, reactivation, and infection for Pneumocystis pneumonia by calculating the ratio of Pneumocystis DNA to human DNA. Among endemic mycoses, genetic probes for culture confirmation of the most commonly encountered dimorphic systemic fungal pathogens, Histoplasma capsulatum, Blastomyces dermatitidis, and Coccidioides immitis/Coccidioides posadasii, have been reported. Genotyping based on multilocus sequence typing (MLST) or microsatellite markers can help one gain insight into the genetic relatedness of fungal isolates. The current trend towards mass sequencing creates the possibility of getting more and more pieces of information on the genome of each microorganism.


singer identification, singing voice detection, music analysis, music classification, music retrieval, audio browsing, music database management The singer's information is essential in organizing, browsing and retrieving music collections. In this technical report, a system for automatic singer identification is developed which recognizes the singer of a song by analyzing the music signal. Meanwhile, songs which are similar in terms of singer's voice are clustered. The proposed scheme follows the framework of common speaker identification systems, but special efforts are made to distinguish the singing voice from instrumental sounds in a song. A statistical model is trained for each singer's voice with typical song(s) of the singer. Then, for a song to be identified, the starting point of singing voice is detected and a portion of the song is excerpted from that point. Audio features are extracted and matched with singers' voice models in the database. The song is assigned to the model having the best match. Promising results are obtained on a small set of samples, and accuracy rates of around 80% are achieved.


We present a numerical optical model for calculating threshold material gain in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers. It is based on a vectorial solution of Maxwell's equations and therefore gives exact results where other approaches fail, e.g., in the case of oxide-confined devices, which have high lateral index contrasts. Results are given concerning the influence of oxide window thickness and position on threshold gain and modal stability. We also propose an intuitive plane-wave model to enhance the physical understanding of these effects.


We present the XMM-Newton follow-up for confirmation of Planck cluster candidates. Twenty-five candidates have been observed to date using snapshot (∼10 ks) exposures, ten as part of a pilot programme to sample a low range of signal-to-noise ratios (4 < S/N < 6), and a further 15 in a programme to observe a sample of S/N > 5 candidates. The sensitivity and spatial resolution of XMM-Newton allows unambiguous discrimination between clusters and false candidates. The 4 false candidates have S/N ≤ 4.1. A total of 21 candidates are confirmed as extended X-ray sources. Seventeen are single clusters, the majority of which are found to have highly irregular and disturbed morphologies (about ∼70%). The remaining four sources are multiple systems, including the unexpected discovery of a supercluster at z = 0.45. For 20 sources we are able to derive a redshift estimate from the X-ray Fe K line (albeit of variable quality). The new clusters span the redshift range 0.09 <∼ z <∼ 0.54, with a median redshift of z ∼ 0.37. A first determination is made of their X-ray properties including the characteristic size, which is used to improve the estimate of the SZ Compton parameter, Y500. The follow-up validation programme has helped to optimise the Planck candidate selection process. It has also provided a preview of the X-ray properties of these newly-discovered clusters, allowing comparison with their SZ properties, and to the X-ray and SZ properties of known clusters observed in the Planck survey. Our results suggest that Planck may have started to reveal a non-negligible population of massive dynamically perturbed objects that is under-represented in X-ray surveys. However, despite their particular properties, these new clusters appear to follow the Y500–YX relation established for X-ray selected objects, where YX is the product of the gas mass and temperature.


'Global Commons' refers to resource domains or areas that lie outside of the political reach of any one State, including sea areas beyond national jurisdiction and Antarctica. The concept of 'global commons' is a living concept and can accommodate, over time, other commons at the international level, such as biodiversity and generic resources. The situation of global marine commons is not that optimistic in that fishery resources continue to deplete, marine biodiversity continues to reduce, and plastic wastes in the oceans continue to increase. In international law, there are legal regimes governing global marine commons. A most important global treaty is the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC), which came into effect in 1994. It governs the high seas, international seabed and its resources, marine environmental protection, and fisheries.

Global Commons and the Law of the Sea offers intellectual discussions on global marine commons. It contains six parts respectively addressing the principle of the common heritage of mankind (CHM), freedoms of high seas, deep sea mining and international seabed, area beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) governance, management of geoengineering and generic resources, and recent developments in the polar regions.


Farmer's fortifications in the central part of the province of Limburg (The Netherlands) In the southern provinces of the Netherlands and the neighbouring parts of Belgium traces have been discovered of an interesting group of 'farmers' entrenchments', small fortifications from the Early Modern Period. Between the sixteenth and eighteenth century, a period of frequent warfare. many villages and hamlets built simple fortifications as refuges for the population and their cattle. Some of these refuges were located close to the villages, other examples were  built in less accessible terrains such as stream valleys. In this article, an inventory of these small fortifications for one of the core regions, the central part of the Dutch province of Limburg, is presented. Two examples are studied in some more detail: the refuges of Boshoven and Laar (municipality of Weert). At Boshoven, part of the archive still exists. This object is remarkable, as the oldest cadastral map (c.1830) still shows how every inhabitant of the village owned a tiny plot within the refuge. At Laar, a small archaeological survey was executed. following a request from the village for input for a planned restoration project.


We present a systematic study of the shape of the dust attenuation curve in star-forming galaxies from the far-ultraviolet (far-UV) to the near-infrared (NIR; ∼0.15–2 μm), as a function of specific star formation rate (ψ S) and axial ratio (b/a), for galaxies with and without a significant bulge. Our sample comprises 23 000 (15 000) galaxies with a median redshift of 0.07, with photometric entries in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky SurveyLarge Area Survey and Galaxy Evolution Explorer-All-Sky Imaging Survey catalogues and emission-line measurements from the SDSS spectroscopic survey. We develop a new pairmatching technique to isolate the dust attenuation curves from the stellar continuum emission. The main results are: (i) the slope of the attenuation curve in the optical varies weakly with ψ S, strongly with b/a, and is significantly steeper than the Milky Way extinction law in bulgedominated galaxies; (ii) the NIR slope is constant and matches the slope of the Milky Way extinction law; (iii) the UV has a slope change consistent with a dust bump at 2175 A which is evident in all samples and varies strongly in strength with b/a in the bulge-dominated sample; (iv) there is a strong increase in emission-line-to-continuum dust attenuation (τ V,line/τ V,cont) with both decreasing ψ S and increasing b/a; and (v) radial gradients in dust attenuation increase strongly with increasing ψ S, and the presence of a bulge does not alter the strength of the gradients. These results are consistent with the picture in which young stars are surrounded by dense 'birth clouds' with low covering factor which disperse on time-scales of ∼10 7 yr and the diffuse interstellar dust is distributed in a centrally concentrated disc with a smaller scaleheight than the older stars that contribute the majority of the red and NIR light. Within this model, the path-length of diffuse dust, but not of birth-cloud dust, increases with increasing inclination and the apparent optical attenuation curve is steepened by the differential effect of larger dust opacity towards younger stars than towards older stars. Additionally, our findings suggest that: (i) galaxies with higher star formation rates per unit stellar mass have a higher fraction of diffuse dust, which is more centrally concentrated; (ii) the observed strength of the 2175-A dust feature is affected predominantly by global geometry; and (iii) only highly inclined discs are optically thick. We provide new empirically derived attenuation curves for correcting the light from star-forming galaxies for dust attenuation.


The project investigated if the synthetic auxin 3, 5, 6 - trichloro-2-pyridyloxyacetic acid (TPA) could be used to reduce fruit drop in mango, avocado or macadamia. Recent research has found that TPA can significantly reduce fruit drop and increase yields in a range of lychee varieties by inhibiting the development of the fruit abscission layer. Fruit drop is a problem in mango, avocado and macadamia reducing maximum potential yields. Application rates and timings for the trial work were adapted from the lychee research trials. Fruit at various stages of development were treated with a single foliar spray of TPA at 50 ppm and the level of fruit drop recorded. In avocado there was very little natural fruit drop in either the Hass or Sheppard variety in this season therefore the effect of TPA on fruit drop could not be determined, there were indications that the rate of TPA was too high with some phytotoxicity on the leaves. In mango fruit drop was greatly reduced with TPA applications however many of the fruit failed to develop properly, either dying or abscising before harvest in the young fruit or remaining until harvest but poorly formed and non-commercial in the older fruit. In macadamia fruit drop was also initially reduced with TPA applications but like mango not all the fruit developed properly especially in the younger fruit. Young fruit stopped growing and eventually abscised before harvest, in the older fruit, development was less effected and fruit was held until harvest, however most of this fruit was not of sufficient quality to warrant harvest. Some phytotoxic effects on young leaves were also observed. Lower rates and later application times of TPA to overcome some of the fruit development issues encountered in this research are suggested in future work.


We study the effects of habitat fragmentation (habitat area, isolation, distance from forest edge) and local habitat structure (size and phenology of host tree and density of herb cover) on winter moth densities in oak forests near Antwerp, N. Belgium, focussing on both effects simultaneously and comparing males and females. In this way, we can study how adult dispersal strategies - active male flight vs. flightless females - affect the distribution of individuals. The analyses show that both the degree of fragmentation and local habitat structure affect moth densities and that the effects differ between males and females. Failing to correct for sex-differences and for various aspects of local habitat structure would have lead to the conclusion that there were no effects of fragmentation on winter moth densities. Thus, structured populations in which dispersal rates vary between individuals need careful evaluation of the effects of fragmentation, separately for the different groups of individuals.


Improving infrastructure and basic services is a central task in the region's growth and development agenda. Despite the importance of private sector participation, governments will continue to play a defining role in planning, financing, executing, and overseeing key infrastructure projects and service delivery. This reality puts a premium on the efficient and transparent management of public investment, especially in light of the considerable technical, administrative, and political challenges and vulnerability to corruption and rent-seeking associated with large public works. The recent spate of corruption scandals surrounding public procurement and infrastructure projects in the region underscores the urgency of this agenda. The emergence of new digital technologies offers powerful tools for governments and citizens in the region to improve the transparency and efficiency of public investment. This paper examines the challenges of building transparent public investment management systems, both conceptually and in the specific case of Latin America and the Caribbean, and highlights how a suite of new technological tools can improve the implementation of infrastructure projects and public services. The discussion is informed by the experience of the Inter-American Development Bank in designing and implementing the MapaInversiones platform. The paper concludes with several concrete policy recommendations for the region.


A study on the potential of embryogenic callus formation in KKM 1,KKM 15, KKM
17, KKM 22, KKM 27, KKM 28, PBC 123, PBC 159, MHP 78,MHP 79, MHP 296,
AMAZ, GS 29, EET 339 and MJS 47 local cocoa clones which had been released by
MARDI was carried out. A sigmoid curve for callus growth, viability and total protein
content of stem, leaf, matured and immatured cotyledon derived callus were obtained.
Based on this curve, the subculture interval was determined and it shows that the
appropriate timing or period for subculture was between 20 to 24 days after the
incubation. Obviously in this interval, the growth of callus was enormous and the
total soluble protein was the highest. However, the viability was slowly decreased due
to browning of the callus. Therefore only the white and friable callus was selected for
subcultures.
Embryogenic callus was successfully induced for PBC 123 and MHP 296 cocoa
clones by using immature cotyledon derived callus. Negative results were obtained for all clones and explants tested using MS as the embryogenic induction medium but
positive results were obtained for PBC 123 and MHP 296 clones using DKW and
WPM basic media. The combinations of 2 mg/L 2,4-D and 0.25 mg/L Kin was the
most successful auxin and cytokinin combination for embryogenic callus induction..
The nodular embryogenic callus of PBC 123 and MHP 296 emerged after the second
subculture. Browning of callus occurred during incubation especially at the end of the
culture period and was obvious for both clones. Enhancement of the embryogenic
induction media by adding nitrogen rich compounds and amino acid such as casein
hydrolysate, malt extract and proline did not improve the initiation of embryogenic
callus. Instead, more friable callus were obtained from these enhanced media.
In direct somatic embryogenesis, 15 cocoa clones had been tested and four clones
showed positive results. These clones (MJS 47, GS 29, PBC 123 and PBC 159) were
able to produce embryogenic callus from staminodes explants using the protocol
previously developed by Li et al (1998). The nodular embryogenic callus of MJS 47,
PBC 123, PBC 159 and GS 29 emerged at the cut ends and were transferred onto a
secondary callus growth medium and continued to proliferate on this medium.
Maturation of the embryogenic callus was carried out in a medium described by Li et
al. (1998). The globular callus were pale brown in colour at the early maturation
period but turned dark brown after 3 weeks of incubation period. None of the globular
callus turned to heart shaped somatic embryo which is the second stage of somatic
embryogenesis. The maturation of the globular callus was not achieved and the embryogenic callus became brown and turned non viable at the end of the incubation
period. All embryogenic clones showed similar response to the maturation medium.
Total soluble polyphenol content of embryogenic callus of PBC 123 after 16 days of
incubation was 259.94 ± 15.53 μg/g fresh weight which was relatively lower than the
non embryogenic callus (451.19 ± 5.42 μg/g fresh weight). The increment or
accumulation of the TSP was almost similar in MHP 296 immatured cotyledon
derived callus especially towards the end of the incubation period. Furthermore, the
embryogenic callus which were induced from immature cotyledon of MHP 296 and
PBC 123 showed high polyphenol accumulation as compared to embryogenic callus
induced from staminode of GS 29, PBC 123, PBC 159 and MJS 47. The browning of
non embryogenic callus was greater than embryogenic callus. The specific peroxidase
activity was slowly increased as the callus became embryogenic. The POD activity
was 164.27 ± 9.42 unit/mg protein for GS 29 embryogenic callus while for non
embryogenic callus, the activity was around 63.31 ± 9.24 unit/mg protein at 16 days of
incubation. Even though a similar pattern of increment could be observed between the
embryogenic and non embryogenic callus, the POD activities was higher in
embryogenic callus as compared to non embryogenic callus


The study was conducted on the influence of organisational support for career development on organisational commitment in the Ghana Police Service. The topic was chosen because most studies conducted in Ghana's security sector have focused on job satisfaction, job stress, corruption, and image branding. Given the importance of the Police work to society and extensive skills and training associated with preparing them for effective policing, it has become extremely important to study issues about their career development and employee commitment. To validate this framework, a cross-sectional survey design was adopted. Using a multi-stage sampling technique, a sample of 271 junior and senior personnel from the headquarters of the Ghana police service in Accra were selected. Hypotheses formulated were tested through linear and hierarchical regression analytic procedures using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Findings suggested that organisational support for career development had a significant impact on affective and normative commitment. Again, personnel perceived low organizational support for career development. Personal characteristics such as age, gender, and level of education also had moderate effects on organisational commitment. It was concluded that the government should develop and maintain highly skilled personnel by providing them with more career development options and supports as this will greatly impact on their willingness to stay with their organisation and also reflect in their job performance.


A fundamental task in the design process of a complex system that requires 3D visual perception is the choice of suitable 3D range sensors. Identifying the utility of 3D range sensors in an industrial application solely based on an evaluation of their distance accuracy and the noise level may lead to an inappropriate selection. To assess the actual effect on the performance of the system as a whole requires a more involved analysis. In this paper, we examine the problem of selecting a set of 3D range sensors when designing autonomous systems for specific industrial applications in a holistic manner. As an instance of this problem we present a case study with an experimental evaluation of the utility of four 3D range sensors for object pose estimation in the process of automation of unloading containers.


Polymers is a class of molecules which can have many different structures due to a large number of degrees of freedom. Many biopolymers, e.g. DNA, but also synthetic macromolecules have special structural features due to their backbone stiffness. Since such structural properties are important for e.g. the biological function, a lot of effort has been put into the investigation of the configurational properties of semi-stiff molecules. A theoretical treatment of these systems is often accompanied by computer simulations. The main idea is to compare theoretically derived models with experimental results for real polymers. Using Monte Carlo simulations, I have investigated how this computational technique can build a bridge between theoretical models and experimentally observed phenomena. The effort was mainly directed to develop sampling techniques, for efficiently exploring the configurational space of semi-stiff chains in a wide range of structures. The work was concentrated on compact conformations, since they, as is well known from previous studies, are difficult to sample using conventional methods. In my studies I have shown that the simple and, at a first glance, time consuming method of bead-by-bead regrow as a way of changing the configuration of a semi-stiff chain gave very promising and encouraging results when combined with modern simulation techniques, like Entropic Sampling with the Wang-Landau algorithm. The resulting simulation package was also suitable for parallelization which resulted in a further speed-up of the calculations. In addition to the more elaborate sampling methods, I also investigated external conditions to induce compaction of a semi-stiff polymer. In the case of a polyampholyte the condensing agent could be a multivalent salt, creating effective attraction between the loops of the chain, while for neutral polymers, an external field and the geometry of the confining volume can induce a compaction.


High-precision isotopic analyses by MC-ICP-MS were used to investigate the mass-dependent fractionation of Mo and Fe isotopes during bacterial metal assimilation in experiments with Azotobacter vinelandii. A. vinelandii is a diazotroph with high demand for both Mo and Fe during nitrogen fixation. Our results demonstrate that the growth medium became progressively enriched in heavier isotopes of Mo during bacterial growth, indicating preferential assimilation of lighter isotopes. In contrast, for Fe, the medium become isotopically lighter as Fe was removed from solution. The experimental data can be interpreted in terms of Rayleigh fractionation, yielding fractionation factors of 0.9997 and 1.0011 for Mo and Fe, respectively. Hence, we infer Δ97/95Mocells-medium = –0.3‰ and Δ56/54Fecells-medium = 1.1‰. Fractionation of Mo isotopes could result from simple kinetic effects during assimilation, but may also be affected by complexation with high-affinity metal binding ligands. Kinetic effects cannot easily account for the sense of Fe isotope fractionation, and so equilibrium effects, possibly between different Fe complexes, are implied. Adsorption of Mo and Fe onto cell surfaces may also play a role and requires further examination. Isotope fractionation studies using MC-ICP-MS may provide new constraints on the processes by which microbes extract metals from their surroundings, ultimately yielding insights into the mechanisms of metal assimilation into the metallome.


From the Publisher:
As children acquire arithmetic skills, they often develop "bugs" - small, local misconceptions that cause systematic errors. Mind Bugs combines a novel cognitive simulation process with careful hypothesis testing to explore how mathematics students acquire procedural skills in instructional settings, focusing in particular on these procedural misconceptions and what they reveal about the learning process.
VanLehn develops a theory of learning that explains how students develop procedural misconceptions that cause systematic errors. He describes a computer program, "Sierra," that simulates learning processes and predicts exactly what types of procedural errors should occur. These predictions are tested with error data from several thousand subjects from schools all over the world. Moreover, each hypothesis of the theory is tested individually by determining how the predictions would change if it were removed from the theory.
Integrating ideas from research in machine learning, artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, and linguistics, Mind Bugs specifically addresses error patterns on subtraction tests, showing, for example, why some students have an imperfect understanding of the rules for borrowing. Alternative explanatory hypotheses are explored by incorporating them in Sierra in place of the primary hypotheses, and seeing if the program still explains all the subtraction bugs that it explained before.
Kurt VanLehn is Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University. Mind Bugs is included in the series Learning, Development, and Conceptual Change, edited by Lila Gleitman, Susan Carey, ElissaNewport, and Elizabeth Spelke. A Bradford Book


Value theory, or axiology, looks at what things are good or bad, how good or bad they are, and, most fundamentally, what it is for a thing to be good or bad. Questions about value and about what is valuable are important to moral philosophers, since most moral theories hold that we ought to promote the good (even if this is not the only thing we ought to do). This Handbook focuses on value theory as it pertains to ethics, broadly construed, and provides a comprehensive overview of contemporary debates pertaining not only to philosophy but also to other disciplines-most notably, political theory and economics. The Handbook's twenty-two newly commissioned chapters are divided into three parts. Part I: Foundations concerns fundamental and interrelated issues about the nature of value and distinctions between kinds of value. Part II: Structure concerns formal properties of value that bear on the possibilities of measuring and comparing value. Part III: Extensions, finally, considers specific topics, ranging from health to freedom, where questions of value figure prominently. Available in OSO: Contributors to this volume - Matthew D. Adler Gustaf Arrhenius Ralf M. Bader John Broome Krister Bykvist Erik Carlson Ruth Chang Garrett Cullity Daniel M. Hausman Chris Heathwood Iwao Hirose Nils Holtug Graham Oddie Jonas Olson Prasanta K. Pattanaik Wlodek Rabinowicz M. A. Roberts Toni Ronnow-Rasmussen David Schmidtz Christine Tappolet Valerie Tiberius Yongsheng Xu Michael J. Zimmerman


To assess the rate-limiting step in muscle glycogen synthesis in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), the concentration of glucose-6-phosphate (G6P) was measured by 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) during a hyperglycemichyperinsulinemic clamp. Six subjects with NIDDM and six age weight-matched controls were studied at similar steady-state plasma concentrations of insulin (450 pmol/liter) and glucose (11 mmol/liter). The concentration ofG6P in the gastrocnemius muscle was measured by 31p NMR. Whole-body oxidative and nonoxidative glucose metabolism was determined by the insulin-glucose clamp technique in conjunction with indirect calorimetry. Nonoxidative glucose metabolism, which under these conditions is a measure of muscle glycogen synthesis (1990. N. EngL J. Med. 322:223-228), was 31±7 ;tmol/(kg body wt-min) in the normal subjects and 13±3 ,mol/(kg body wt-min) in the NIDDM subjects (P < 0.05). The concentration of G6P was higher (0.24±0.02 mmol/kg muscle) in the normal subjects than in the NIDDM subjects (0.17±0.02, P < 0.01). Increasing insulin concentrations to insulin 8,500 pmol/liter in four NIDDM subjects restored the glucose uptake rate and G6P concentrations to normal levels. In conclusion, the lower concentration of G6P in the diabetic subjects despite a decreased rate of nonoxidative glucose metabolism is consistent with a defect in muscle glucose transport or phosphorylation reducing the rate of muscle glycogen synthesis. (J. Clin. Invest. 1992.89:1069-1075.)


Insect herbivory is common, but the conditions under which it reduces the fitness and population size of plants remain poorly understood. We quantified population- level impacts of floral herbivory by specialized insects on cobweb thistle ( Cirsium occi- dentale var. occidentale) in a California coastal dune ecosystem, and then compared these demographic effects to those published for Platte thistle ( Cirsium canescens) in similarly designed exclusion experiments in the continental sand dune ecosystem in the Great Plains. As a separate test of the strength of the seed-to-seedling linkage, we quantified seedling establishment rates in seed addition plots and compared these results to those obtained in herbivore exclusion experiments. This is the first test of direct vs. indirect methods of evaluating the potential impact of seed loss in plant dynamics. Floral herbivory on cobweb thistle in coastal dunes substantially reduced key components of plant fitness. Reduction of insect feeding within flower heads with insecticide increased mean per capita seed production by 144-316% and led to a 130-196% increase in cumulative seedling recruit- ment in the next generation, depending on dune habitat. Juvenile plant densities around insecticide-treated plants subsequently increased by .50%. Both seed and flower head addition experiments corroborated the seed limitation of recruitment and juvenile plant establishment for cobweb thistle; exclusion of postdispersal seed predators did not sub- stantially alter this relationship. While seed addition results were qualitatively similar to herbivore exclusion results, seed addition overestimated the seed-seedling transition. These results are broadly parallel to those found previously for Platte thistle in continental dunes, where reduction of insect feeding in Platte thistle flower heads increased mean per capita seed production by 37-240%, depending on year and microhabitat. This reduction in seed translated into a 33-580% increase in cumulative seedling recruitment and juvenile plant density. Thus in both systems, insect exclusions demonstrated that floral herbivory limited numbers of seeds and seedlings and population density of juvenile plants. This unique comparison of effects of insect herbivory on plant dynamics suggests that for related plants, the character and outcome of such interactions are likely to be functionally similar in structurally convergent ecosystems.


Exposure to ultraviolet radiation is a well-established risk factor for melanoma in light-skinned populations, but genetic factors also play a role. Studying melanomas that occur on skin with little chronic sun damage, Landi et al. discover an interaction between two genes that contributes to cancer risk. Individuals with allelic variants of the gene encoding the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R), which contributes to phenotypic traits such as fair skin, freckling, and red hair, have a much greater risk of developing melanomas with mutations in the BRAF oncogene. The mechanism underlying this association is unclear but appears to be independent of MC1R's effects on pigmentation. M. T. Landi, J. Bauer, R. M. Pfeiffer, D. E. Elder, B. Hulley, P. Minghetti, D. Calista, P. A. Kanetsky, D. Pinkel, B. C. Bastian, MC1R germline variants confer risk for BRAF-mutant melanoma. Science 313, 521-522 (2006). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Due to its specificity, the legal institute of preliminary agreement poses a number of questions. This pre-contractual agreement is not yet a contract. Therefore, the form and scope of legal protection will not be the same as that guaranteed to contracting parties. However, the European legal systems would claim that the relationships between the parties during pre-contractual negotiations have to be regulated and protected by the law. The first part of this article deals with the legal nature of pre-contractual liability: tort, contractual or sui generis. The question of determining the type of applicable civil liability for breach of a preliminary agreement still remains a matter under debate in the Lithuanian legal doctrine as well as in legal practice. Taking into account the specific interest that may be infringed and the fact that the aggrieved party cannot recover the expectations it had in profit of the sought contract, including the remedy of the right of performance, there is nosufficient reason to apply contractual legal regime for breach of the preliminary agreement either. Hence, the special nature of the pre-contractual phase merits special treatment. In the Lithuanian legal system, liability for breach of a preliminary agreement should therefore be qualified as a separate sui generis kind of liability. In fact, the biggest problem is the scope of damages recoverable under the preliminary agreement. As far as the tendencies of a legal doctrine and jurisprudence of Lithuania and other countries are concerned, the aggrieved party should be compensated not only the direct expenses incurred during the negotiations, but also the value of lost opportunity, which must be based on real, proven, unavoidable income or expenses. It is not possible to claim the profit which would have resulted had the main contract been concluded (the so-called expectation damages). Recent tendencies show that the Lithuanian courts are prone to make no distinction between the concept of the lost opportunity to conclude a transaction with a third party (as reliance damages) and lost profits as expectation damages. The reason for such an interpretation is the fact that the value of lost opportunity can be determined by applying the principle of price difference provided in Article 6.258(5) of the Lithuanian Civil Code, which is used for contractual liability. This principle should be applied in accordance with the Commentary on the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts and in the context of the nature of the preliminary agreement. Therefore, the aggrieved party may claim compensation for damages in the amount of difference between the price of the contract that has not been concluded with a third party and the price of the replacement contract. Such an interpretation reflects the compensatory function of the recovery of the value of the lost opportunity.


In this paper we propose a simple, market based mechanism to set prices in health care markets, namely a system where the patients are auctioned out to the hospitals. Our aim is to characterize principles as to how such an auction should be designed. In the case of elective treatment, health authorities thus organize a competition between hospitals. The hospital with the lowest price signs a contracts with authority (or the insurer) that commits him to treat a given number of patients within a predetermined period. However, this is not a simple mechanism that identi…es the hospital with the lowest treatment cost. Due to potentially rapid and unpredictable shifts in demand, treatment capacity may be hard to know in advance. There is always a risk that treatment must be canceled due to arrival of patients that require acute treatment. This calls for a market design that accounts for the risk of default. Our main result is that the expected cost for the government is reduced if the government chooses to "subsidize" default. This could be thought of as a system in which the government buys treatment in the spot market in the case of default, and let the hospital pay a default fee that is lower than the spot price. The reason why this reduces expected costs for the government is that the e¤ect on the bids is asymmetric: The second lowest bid is on average reduced more than the winning bid. Hence, the winner's profit tends to shrink. This is due to what we characterize an endogenous correlation. Since the cost of treatment increases in the default risk (as the hospital must pay a penalty if it defaults), high cost hospitals typically have larger default risks than low costs hospitals.


For a metering poppet valve which was developed at the University of Missouri (MU valve), the valve can be configured for performance at the cost of stability. It is desirable to achieve both performance and stability using electronic control. Presently, in the MU valve, the pilot poppet motion is damped by the flow of hydraulic fluid through a channel or orifice running through the poppet. In this research, it is proposed that the solenoid be used to provide damping (active damping) to the pilot poppet. The damping input signal to the solenoid is determined as a function of the pilot poppet velocity. In practice, the velocity is difficult to measure due to the MU valve's configuration and it is estimated according to the self-sensing actuator concept. Theoretical results demonstrated that a valve actuator could be designed with an emphasis on high speed performance while an electronic control system is used to damp unwanted oscillations. For flow control, several researchers have used feedback linearization to cancel part of a hydraulic system's nonlinearities in spool valves. In the case of the metering poppet valve, feedback linearization is an attractive approach since experimental studies have shown that poppet instabilities are caused by nonlinear mechanisms like flow forces. In this work, nonlinearities are cancelled in the input-output relationship of the metering poppet valve. The controller was shown to achieve robust tracking of a reference trajectory.


In Charles Areskine's Library, Karen Baston uses a detailed study of an eighteenth-century Scottish advocate's private book collection to explore key themes of the Scottish Enlightenment including secularisation, modernisation, internationalisation, and the development of legal literature in Scotland.


"Public-private partnerships offer potentially important opportunities for pro-poor agricultural research in developing countries. Yet in the international agricultural research community-and with regard to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) itself-we see few examples of successful public-private partnerships, and fewer examples where such collaborations have contributed to food security, poverty reduction and economic growth. This study assesses the opportunities for, and challenges to, creating and sustaining public-private partnerships between the international agricultural research centers of the CGIAR and leading multinational, research-based agribusiness companies. The study hypothesizes that the willingness and ability of public agencies and private firms to enter into partnerships are constrained by fundamentally different incentive structures; by insufficient minimization of the costs and risks of collaboration; by an inability to overcome mutually negative perceptions; by limited use of creative organizational mechanisms that reduce competition over key assets and resources; and by insufficient access to information on successful partnership models. The study methodology is based on interviews and discussions with key stakeholders and a wide review of the literature on public-private partnership. Tentative findings suggest that while incentives and perceptions do differ between sectors, sufficient common space exists or can be created through incentive structuring to facilitate greater partnership. However, both public- and private-sector partners inadequately account for and minimize the costs and risks of partnership. Similarly, partners discount the need for brokers and third-party actors to manage research collaborations and reduce competition between sectors. Finally, partners are operating without sufficient information on existing partnership experiences, lessons, and models, potentially contributing to a persistent or widening gap between sectors.


This paper examines the Department of Energy's (DOE) reliance on low discount rates to estimate the benefits of its energy efficiency standards and uses existing literature on implicit consumer discount rates to calculate a range of benefits for DOE's furnace fan rule. While DOE calculates large net benefits from its energy efficiency rule, using discount rates that better represent average consumer time preferences shows that this standard results in net costs. Furthermore, given the variation in consumer discount rates by income, this standard is effectively a transfer payment from low- and median-income households to high-income households.


The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) designated greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) as a candidate species to receive protection under the Endangered Species Act in 2010. Several states in the western United States have developed management plans to mitigate the listing factors identified by the USFWS. However, sage- grouse populations inhabit sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems that may transcend multiple state boundaries. If sage-grouse inter-seasonal movements encompass habitats in multiple states and if state-centric wildlife management strategies differ, species conservation may be further complicated. Additionally, if these populations are located in peripheral state boundary areas, they may also receive less management focus both because of their remoteness and state agency emphasis on interior populations. The Grouse Creek sage- grouse population that inhabits extreme northwestern Utah where the state borders eastern Nevada and southern Idaho exemplifies this situation. We monitored 50 radio-collared sage- grouse from 2005 to 2006 to document inter-seasonal movements relative to sex and age and state boundaries. Radio-collared sage-grouse migrated an average of 13.1 km from breeding (range = 0.2 to 69.3, SE = 14.4) to summer range, 22.6 km from summer (range = 0.2 to 46.1, SE = 12.6) to winter range, and 25.4 km from winter (range = 1.1 to 37.2, SE = 13.4) to return to spring range. Ten radio-marked birds (20%) used seasonal habitats in Idaho, Nevada, and Utah. Males were more likely to engage in long-distance movements than females during the breeding season. We confirmed that within a geographically defined state population, individuals may exhibit diverse inter-seasonal migration strategies. Our results support the need for increased coordination among states that share occupied sagebrush habitats to develop interstate sage-grouse conservation plans.


Similarities in public sector organizations allow the reuse of SW products using open-source (OS) like characteristics. This enables cost savings as organizations can reuse and tailor SW products developed by other organizations free of charge. However, without coordination SW products will evolve in an uncontrolled manner. This article argues the importance of application lifecycle management during the evolution of SW products in the public sector's open-source communities. The state-of-the-art and state-of-the-practice are well established in open-source development and SW product lifecycle management but they need to be applied for public sector. This article defines models for the lifecycle management of open-source like SW products in the public sector. The models have been developed in cooperation with OS specialists, lifecycle-management specialists and a number of public sector organizations. The results and experiences of this research are interesting to the public sector in other countries that are considering open source as a way to increase the cost efficiency of the information systems development. This article is also targeted at IT research organizations and software companies that operate with public sector organizations.


Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP(3)) receptors from cerebellum and recombinant type 1 IP(3) receptors expressed in Sf9 cells had indistinguishable affinities for IP(3) ( K (d)=6.40+/-0.48 nM) and adenophostin A ( K (d)=0.89+/-0.05 nM). In cytosol-like medium, each of the three mammalian IP(3) receptor subtypes when expressed in Sf9 cells bound adenophostin A with greater affinity than IP(3). It has been suggested that adenophostin A binds with high affinity only in the presence of ATP, but we found that adenophostin A similarly displaced [(3)H]IP(3) from type 1 IP(3) receptors whatever the ATP concentration. N-terminal fragments of the type 1 receptor were expressed with and without the S1 splice site; its removal had no effect on [(3)H]IP(3) binding to the 1-604 protein, but abolished binding to the 224-604 protein. The 1-604 fragment and full-length receptor bound adenophostin A with the same affinity, but the fragment had 3-fold greater affinity for IP(3), suggesting that C-terminal residues selectively inhibit IP(3) binding. The 224-604S1(+) fragment bound IP(3) and adenophostin A with increased affinity, but as with the 1-604 fragment it bound adenophostin A with only 2-fold greater affinity than IP(3). High-affinity binding of adenophostin A may be partially determined by its 2'-phosphate interacting more effectively than the 1-phosphate of IP(3) with residues within the IP(3)-binding core. This may account for the 2-fold greater affinity of adenophostin A relative to IP(3) for the minimal IP(3)-binding domain. In addition we suggest that C-terminal residues, which impede access of IP(3), may selectively interact with adenophostin A to allow it unhindered access to the IP(3)-binding domain.


Abemaciclib is an orally available cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor, which specifically inhibits the activities of the cyclin D-dependent kinases CDK4 and CDK6. During the cell-division cycle, abemaciclib arrests progression through the G1 phase and thereby promotes transient cell-cycle withdrawal into a quiescent state (G0) or into a permanent proliferation inhibition (senescence). As a result, DNA synthesis is supressed and cancer cell growth stopped. Abemaciclib has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in September 2017 for the following two indications: abemaciclib as monotherapy for patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced breast cancer (ABC) who have received prior endocrine therapy (ET), and abemaciclib in combination with fulvestrant in women with HR-positive, HER2-negative ABC who had disease progression following ET. Currently, abemaciclib is not approved in Europe. The safety and efficacy of abemaciclib in combination with fulvestrant in patients with hormone-receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced breast cancer (ABC), who have progressed while receiving endocrine therapy (ET), were assessed in the MONARCH 2 trial, a randomised, double-blind, global, placebo-controlled phase III study. 669 patients were randomly assigned in a 2:1 ratio to receive either abemaciclib plus fulvestrant (n=446) or placebo plus fulvestrant (n=223). The stratification of randomisation was based on the metastatic site (visceral, bone only, or other) and ET resistance (primary or secondary). At a median follow-up of 19.5 months, the primary endpoint progression-free survival (PFS) showed a statistically significant increase of 7.1 months (median) in the intention-to-treat (ITT) population of the abemaciclib arm. In addition, the improvement of the overall response rate (ORR) in the ITT population of the abemaciclib arm (+19.1%) was statistically significant. However, at the time of data cut-off (February 2017), overall survival (OS) results were not mature and quality of life (QoL) outcomes were not reported. The most frequent adverse events (AEs) of any grade were diarrhoea, neutropenia, nausea, fatigue, and abdominal pain. Grade ≥3 AEs were observed more commonly in the abemaciclib group (60.5%) than in the placebo group (22.8%). In conclusion, the treatment with abemaciclib offers a statistically significant improvement in PFS (+7.1 months) and ORR (+19.1%) with an inferior safety profile at high costs. Due to the immature OS data and the missing QoL results, there is a need for long-term data to avoid a systematic overestimation of the treatment effect of abemaciclib. In the future, the identification of a robust predictive biomarker to identify the most suitable patients will be crucial for the class of CDK4/6 inhibitors. Finally, direct comparisons of abemaciclib to palbociclib and ribociclib are essential to investigate which treatment option is most beneficial for HR-positive, HER2-negative ABC patients.


This study uses the portion of a new Total Expense Ratio construct that discloses the reality of adviser/distributor payments of hidden distribution fees to sales brokers "behind the mutual fund curtain." Distribution fees consist of dealer (broker) concessions, account servicing (12b-1 fees), types of revenue sharing payments, and soft-dollar trades. Distribution fees are one of four categories in the Total Expense Ratio, the others being (1) management fees, (2) "other" expenses, and (3) transaction costs. Adoption of the complete Total Expense Ratio with normative transparency of disclosure followed by prohibition of 12b-1 fees, revenue sharing payments, and soft-dollar trading requires strong action by fund independent directors, the fund industry, and most importantly, by Congress and the SEC. Only a few fund advisers are likely to join in this effort to change their very profitable status quo. However, as the article maintains, fund shareholders deserve to receive their "fiduciary protections" under the law and the TER may be useful in this regard.


The limited research that exists in the area of prior learning assessment (PLA) has tended to be descriptive and conceptual in nature. Where empirical studies have been done, they have focussed mainly on PLA as a means of credentialing rather than as a learning experience. Furthermore, there has been very little empirical research into the educational effectiveness of PLA from the student's point of view. This empirical study used a qualitative approach to investigate the perceptions of a focus group of 32 adult learners who were engaged in portfolio-based PLA in an open and distance education university. The study explored students' initial expectations of PLA, what they think they got out of the process, and the extent to which these perceived benefits of PLA would extend to other adult students. The study examined the question of whether PLA operates as a motivator or as a selection mechanism and concluded that there was evidence for both factors. Further results indicated that, in general, PLA learners were surprised to find they had been engaged in a learning process. The study concludes that PLA can be an effective educational opportunity for certain kinds of adult learners, but it should not be taken as a panacea.


Background and Aims: There has been scant information concerning antihypertrophic effects of vitamin D specifically on its cellular and molecular mechanisms. Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) is regarded as a key deacetylase enzyme in cardiomyocytes which applies potential cardioprotective effects by functional regulation of different proteins. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of 1, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D on the hypertrophic markers and cardiac level of SIRT1 mRNA in rats following the aortic banding. Material and Methods: In this study, male Wistar rats (170-220g) were used, which were divided into 4 groups: rats subjected to hypertrophy without treatment (H), rats pretreated with 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D3 (H+VD), rats received propyleneglycol as a vitamin solvent (H+P), and intact animals which were elected as the control group. Arterial blood pressure was directly measured by the carotid cannulation. Transcription level of target genes was measured by real time polymerase chain reaction technique. Results: In H+VD group, systolic blood pressure as well as heart weight-to-body weight ratio decreased significantly compared to the group H (P<0.01). Moreover, regarding hypertrophy marker genes in H+VD group, both atrial natriuretic peptide mRNA (H+VD:64.8±14% vs. H:127±26%; P<0.05) and brain natriuretic peptide mRNA (H+VD:25.6±6% vs. H:84.2±12%; P<0.01) levels decreased significantly. SIRT1 mRNA level was increased by 56.8±14% in group H and by 42.6±12% in group H+VD which were significant in comparison to the control group (P<0.01 and P<0.05, respectively). No significant difference was noted between H+VD and H groups. Conclusions: The results of the present study revealed that administration of 1, 25dihydroxyvitamin D decreases myocardial hypertrophy markers in rats following the abdominal aortic banding. The pressure overload-induced hypertrophy accompanies with SIRT1 mRNA upregulation, though antihypertrophic effects of vitamin didnot participate in SIRT1 transcription level.


A study of the Radiolaria in Coast Range cherts establishes that rhythmically bedded cherts associated with ophiolites below the base of the Great Valley Sequence are Late Jurassic (Tithonian) in age, and rhythmically bedded cherts in the Franciscan complex are of essentially the same age. The only younger pelagic sediments in the Franciscan are pelagic limestones (Laytonville and Calera types) and associated cherts of Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Turonian) age. In light of most plate tectonic models, the lack of pelagic sediments other than these seems enigmatic.

The relation between the cherts associated with the ophiolites and the overlying Great Valley Sequence indicates a sudden cessation of pelagic sedimentation in early Tithonian time and probably reflects the rise of the Nevadan orogen. It is postulated that flysch-type turbidite sediments accumulated so rapidly during the remainder of Mesozoic time that they filled in an incipient trench system and spread far out onto the abyssal plain, thus inhibiting pelagic sedimentation.


Intimacy & Distance: In 'Spirit Drawings'', an on going series of large scale drawings which I've shown both in this country and abroad, I moved away from the complex layering of earlier canvases, to a simpler more pared down approach. Based on notes and doodles, a small, intense area is selected and transcribed through simple enlargement, and then projected onto large sheets of semi transparent paper, or canvas.  I showed these works at: 1. Hackney Forge in 2005, and Seven Seven Contemporary Art in 2007 2. 2009 Seol, Korea, Museum of Art, Drawing the World. 3. 2009 Encounters with Scale (specially commissioned work) the Portman Gallery, Morpeth school East London. 4. 2011 Fraternize at Beaconsfield Gallery, Vauxhall) a group show, which included Franko B, Damien Hirst etc. 5 The Drawing Room, London – a bi-annual invited exhibition and auction, where I showed alongside artists such as Paula Rego and Tracy Emin, small-scale notes and doodles that inform my larger works. 6. 2010 'Golden Rain', curated by Michael Petry, I contributed a small scale drawing, with a painted paper work attached. Golden Rain has been bought by Palm Springs Art Musuem, and my work can be viewed in their archive. In 2009, I was invited by University of the Arts, London, to contribute a paper on 'The Processes of Painting' at Swedenborg Institute, London. In my symposium lecture, titled 'Magenta Pool', I spoke about coming back to painting after a long time spent writing; how I embraced the things I had missed (colour, scale, space, the visceral), how I found it exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. I cited several women artists – myself included, who all use strategies of intimacy, or 'being in' their work when they paint. I looked at the way image is imbedded in their process, and how this process is inextricably linked to the body. I asked: How does one keep that intimate relationship with the subject (the painting) while at the same time, standing away from it? What value does this approach bring to the painting, to the viewer when the painting is finished; when it's all over? . ICFAR University of the Arts – The Processes of Painting http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/2132/ Fraternise – The Salon, 2011 Catalogue: http://beaconsfield.ltd.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Frat-the-Cat-LoRes.pdf


The scale structure of adjectives, whether an adjective measures on an open or closed scale, has certain grammatical consequences and is traditionally captured by encoding scale structure into an adjective's lexical representation and projecting it into the grammar. However, adjectives can exhibit scalar variability, suggesting that scale structure is not projected from the lexicon, but instead is constructed by the adjective's structural environment. I review a recent analysis of adjectival scale structure, observing that an economy condition with a single pos morpheme requires polysemy for these variable-behavior adjectives, and propose that splitting the pos morpheme and severing scale structure from the adjective captures scalar variability within a unified lexical entry without economy.


Gold nanocages with localized surface plasmon resonance peaks in the near-infrared region exhibited a broad two-photon photoluminescence band extending from 450 to 650 nm when excited by a Ti:sapphire laser at 800 nm. The bright luminescence makes it possible to explore the use of Au nanocages as a new class of optical imaging agents for two-photon microscopy. In this work, we have demonstrated the use of two-photon microscopy as a convenient tool to directly examine the uptake of antibody-conjugated and PEGylated Au nanocages by U87MGwtEGFR cells. We have also correlated the results from two-photon microscopy with the data obtained by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Combined together, these results indicate that the antibody-conjugated Au nanocages were attached to the surface of the cells through antibody-antigen binding and then internalized into the cells via receptor-mediated endocytosis. The cellular uptake process was dependent on a number of parameters, including incubation time, incubation temperature, size of the Au nanocages, and the number of antibodies immobilized on each nanocage.


We introduce the notion of a plain basis for a co-clone in Post's lattice. Such a basis is a set of relations B such that every constraint C over a relation in the co-clone is logically equivalent to a conjunction of equalities and constraints over B and the same variables as C; this diers from the usual notion of a basis in that existential quantication of auxiliary variables is not allowed. We give such a basis for every co-clone and in particular for those in the innite part of the lattice; it turns out that most of these bases correspond to sets of propositional clauses, thus providing a strong link between classes of formulas dened for CSP and CNF representations. We then show that a so-called preferred representation of a relation over one of its bases can be computed ecien tly, as well as the minimal co-clone including a given relation, which solves some open structure identication problem as well as the open expressibility problem from database theory.


This paper analyses police and mass media interrelation in situations of emergency. The research is primarily based upon a close examination of the extensive policy documentation which has emerged since the attacks of September 11, 2001 with special reference to the United Kingdom. Following a preliminary explanation of the context of 'emergency', a heuristic framework for understanding the interrelations is presented and is elaborated according to two axes. One common modes of relationship is managerial, whereby the police seek to negotiate media coverage. The other mode of relationship is coercive, whereby the police sometimes invoke formal legal powers to force the media to take or refrain from action. Of the two modes, the former tends to predominate. Of the two modes, the former tends to predominate, since the relationship between police and mass media is mutually supportive and is ongoing over time. Despite the possibilities of direct publication through such new media, the police have not yet supplanted independent media outlets, though the new facilities do allow them to offer a version of facts without media intercession. The ready facility to do so carries the dangers of accusations of news manipulation. Emergencies require the mobilisation of a 'neighbourhood response' as well as expert interventions. The police remain the lead operative agency in most forms of emergency. In consequence, it is inevitable that their contacts with the media will grow rather than diminish. The research produces an analysis which offers analytical and practical insights into police and media relations.


Knowledge transfer between tasks can improve the performance of learned models, but requires an accurate estimate of inter-task relationships to identify the relevant knowledge to transfer. These inter-task relationships are typically estimated based on training data for each task, which is inefficient in lifelong learning settings where the goal is to learn each consecutive task rapidly from as little data as possible. To reduce this burden, we develop a lifelong learning method based on coupled dictionary learning that utilizes high-level task descriptions to model inter-task relationships. We show that using task descriptors improves the performance of the learned task policies, providing both theoretical justification for the benefit and empirical demonstration of the improvement across a variety of learning problems. Given only the descriptor for a new task, the lifelong learner is also able to accurately predict a model for the new task through zero-shot learning using the coupled dictionary, eliminating the need to gather training data before addressing the task.


COVID-19 created major disruptions for young people including health concerns, school closures, reduced social opportunities, and a wilting economy. We examine the effect of COVID-19 on high school completion in the United States. We find that high school completion rates increased considerably in 2020 compared to previous years. We investigate various mechanisms and find that worse employment conditions were the driving force. The lower opportunity costs of schooling because of the pandemic recession encouraged more young people to complete high school. The pandemic created extensive problems in education, but fortunately it did not reduce overall high school completion rates.


Virtualization is increasingly being used to address server management and administration issues like flexible resource allocation, service isolation and workload migration. In a virtualized environment, the virtual machine monitor (VMM) is the primary resource manager and is an attractive target for implementing system features like scheduling, caching, and monitoring. However, the lackof runtime information within the VMM about guest operating systems, sometimes called the semantic gap, is a significant obstacle to efficiently implementing some kinds of services.In this paper we explore techniques that can be used by a VMM to passively infer useful information about a guest operating system's unified buffer cache and virtual memory system. We have created a prototype implementation of these techniques inside the Xen VMM called Geiger and show that it can accurately infer when pages are inserted into and evicted from a system's buffer cache. We explore several nuances involved in passively implementing eviction detection that have not previously been addressed, such as the importance of tracking disk block liveness, the effect of file system journaling, and the importance of accounting for the unified caches found in modern operating systems.Using case studies we show that the information provided by Geiger enables a VMM to implement useful VMM-level services. We implement a novel working set size estimator which allows the VMM to make more informed memory allocation decisions. We also show that a VMM can be used to drastically improve the hit rate in remote storage caches by using eviction-based cache placement without modifying the application or operating system storage interface. Both case studies hint at a future where inference techniques enable a broad new class of VMM-level functionality.


In medical practice, the decision-making process regarding drug dose is critical to patients' health and recovery. For drugs with narrow therapeutic ranges, the medical doctor decides the quantity (dose amount) and frequency (dose interval) on the basis of a set of patients' parameters. Computer-aided tools for drug dose administration makes the prescription procedure faster, more accurate, more objective, and less expensive. We describe an advanced integrated Drug Administration Decision Support System (DADSS) to help clinicians/patients with the dose/frequency computing. Based on a support vector machine (SVM) algorithm, enhanced with the random sample consensus technique, this system is able to predict the drug concentration values and computes the ideal dose amount and dose interval for a new patient. With an extension to combine the SVM method and the explicit analytical model, the advanced integrated DADSS system is able to compute drug concentration-to-time curves for a patient under different conditions.