There has been a surprisingly large number of major floods in the last years around the world, which suggests that floods may have increased and will continue to increase in the next decades. However, the realism of such changes is still hotly discussed in the literature. This overview article examines whether floods have changed in the past and explores the driving processes of such changes in the atmosphere, the catchments and the river system based on examples from Europe. Methods are reviewed for assessing whether floods may increase in the future. Accounting for feedbacks within the human‐water system is important when assessing flood changes over lead times of decades or centuries. It is argued that an integrated flood risk management approach is needed for dealing with future flood risk with a focus on reducing the vulnerability of the societal system. WIREs Water 2015, 2:329–344. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1079


The seasonality of Sargassum ilicifolium was studied in the southern Red Sea by monitoring thallus density, thallus size and the initiation, growth, reproduction and survivorship of primary laterals. Thallus density showed slight but significant seasonal variation; it was highest at the end of the hot season and lowest at the end of the cold season. Mean thallus and lateral lengths peaked in the second half of the cold season. Initiation of new laterals was highest in the first half of the cold season. High lateral densities suppressed new lateral initiation. In the first month after initiation, laterals grew out to the same length as those formed earlier in the year. Thus, elongation rates of young laterals were highest during the period of maximum canopy height. In older laterals, growth rates decreased with length, due to increased tissue loss. Growth rates were independent of reproductive status. Reproduction occurred in the second half of the cold season and was independent of lateral size, but laterals had to be at least 1 to 2 mo old before reproducing. Highest loss rates of laterals occurred at the end of the growth season. Survivorship was independent of lateral size or reproductive status. Loss rates were lowest in the hot season. We conclude that there is no direct trade-off between reproduction and growth/survival of the laterals, and that the dynamics of S. ilicifolium are directly related to the seasonal extremes in environmental conditions. Morphogenetic responses at the level of individual laterals also contribute to the overall phenological pattern.


The importance of the early years for later life outcomes is increasingly being recognised. The former Labour Government (1997-2010) in England introduced a raft of policies aimed at raising the quality of early years provision and outcomes for the youngest children. As part of the changes a new graduate professional role and status, the Early Years Professional, was introduced evidencing a new era of involvement by policy makers in the professions. Government involvement in imposing and shaping the development makes the Early Years Professional vulnerable to political change; it was developed by government and could be removed. Indeed, political change in 2010 brought considerable uncertainty about whether the Coalition Government would continue to support the development, though they have now provided funding until 2015. Alongside this uncertainty, commissioned research evidence is emerging of the positive impact of the policy agenda of the former government. A situation that has not been formally recognised, rather it appears to have gone unnoticed by policy makers. Indeed, the current government have taken a range of actions to dismantle changes previously made and there is an emerging discourse reframing the early years as a period that supports the youngest children being 'prepared' for education. This paper aims to address the challenges of this change of emphasis by drawing upon doctoral research critiquing the concept, implementation and impact of Early Years Professional Status as a new professional model. The research design was underpinned by Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Theory of Human Development and rather than being a linear development it has been impacted upon at every stage of development by instability in wider systems, therefore providing evidence that supports his under theorised 'Chaotic System' and that childhood is not only a development phase but one shaped by political ideology


The Atokan Grant Sands are a tight gas sand play that would add new reserves to the Fort Worth Basin. The Fort Worth Basin is located in north-central Texas just west of Dallas, Texas. Within the basin, the study area consists of Denton, Wise, Tarrant, and Parker Counties in Texas. The basin is bounded to the north by the Red River Arch, to the west by the Bend Arch, to the south by the Llano uplift, to the east by the Ouachita structural front, and to the northeast by the Muenster Arch. The Grant Sands are approximately 1,500 ft stratigraphically above their source, the Barnett Shale, and were discovered and mapped from early Barnett vertical drilling. This play evolved from a vertical to a horizontal drilling program with Grant wells being drilled alongside Barnett wells. The purpose of this study is to improve the geologic understanding for enhanced exploration potential. There is disagreement in the previous studies as to the depositional setting and source areas of the Atoka section of the Fort Worth Basin. This study analyzes core data and regional subsurface mapping to determine an interpretation of the depositional setting of the Grant Sands. A reservoir characterization with a conceptual model for depositional setting will contribute to the current geologic understanding of the Grant Sand Formation to enhance exploration potential.


One of the challenges of full autonomy is to have robots capable of manipulating its current environment to achieve another environment configuration. This paper is a step towards this challenge, focusing on the visual understanding of the task. Our approach trains a deep neural network to represent images as measurable features that are useful to estimate the progress (or phase) of a task. The training uses numerous variations of images of identical tasks when taken under the same phase index. The goal is to make the network sensitive to differences in task progress but insensitive to the appearance of the images. To this end, our method builds upon Time-Contrastive Networks (TCNs) to train a network using only discrete snapshots taken at different stages of a task. A robot can then solve long-horizon tasks by using the trained network to identify the progress of the current task and by iteratively calling a motion planner until the task is solved. We quantify the granularity achieved by the network in two simulated environments. In the first, to detect the number of objects in a scene and in the second to measure the volume of particles in a cup. Our experiments leverage this granularity to make a mobile robot move a desired number of objects into a storage area and to control the amount of pouring in a cup.


Complex negotiating issues arise where a vendor, owing employee entitlements at the time of sale, sells a business. These complexities arise because of two tax aspects of the entitlements in the sale transaction. First, the Commissioner considers any employee entitlement assumed by the purchaser as part of the consideration for the CGT event relating to the sale of the business. Secondly, when a purchaser who has assumed them pays the employee entitlements the purchaser is likely to claim a tax deduction for the amounts paid. This article discusses a tax planning opportunity which may become available if the business sale is structured appropriately. The Commissioner's approach, of including the amount of the employee entitlements assumed by the purchaser in the capital proceeds of the sale, leads to the conclusion that both parties will be better off if the employee entitlements are paid out by the vendor before the sale occurs.


Apart from the knowledge and attitudes, there is one more part of science i.e. science process skills. Children should not learn mear the concepts, should learn how to learn by thinking critically and using information creatively. Once the mind administered in the process in turn it yields automatically the product. In this context ,it has been analyzed that instead of the environmental values have been inculcating through school curricula in the form of knowledge, it must be imparted through the compulsory activities as supplementary to the science subject by means of the process skills such as observing, classifying, communicating, measuring, estimating, reasoning, predicting, inferring, identifying, controlling variables, defining operationally, hypothesizing, experimenting, graphing, interpreting, modelling and investigation as per the level of the students. The samples of 50 students of IX standard from Alagappa Model Higher Secondary school, Karaikudi were adapted to the present study by random sampling technique. The single group design has been employed to conduct an experiment with the above science process skills. The performance scale, questionnaire for environmental values and reaction scales were used as the tool for the present study, through the data also been collected. The results from analyzed data showed that there was an excellent realization of the values of students on environmental issues rather that their realization of values acquired through advance organiser. The science process skill based activities evident that it would help us to inculcate the environmental values stronger, retain longer and ever.


Building on earlier initiatives, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center launched an Asthma Improvement Collaborative in 2008 to enhance the quality and coordination of asthma care for low-income, Medicaid-insured children in Hamilton County, Ohio. A multidisciplinary team made improvements across the continuum of care and strengthened linkages with managed care and community-based organizations to help patients and families overcome barriers to asthma control. A lengthening time between hospital encounters among those who received intensive care coordination services suggests a positive effect of this approach for participants. Hospital data showed promising improvement in a combined rate of readmissions or emergency department revisits for asthma at Cincinnati Children's, although an analysis of Medicaid data found the initiative had not yet achieved its objectives at the county level. Findings from this initiative should be of interest to others seeking to achieve ambitious goals for population health improvement.


The yield potential of maize is very high. According to Tollenaar (1983), maize yield potential is as high as 25 t ha-1 (absolute dry yield) which is the highest among all cereals. In order to fully utilise this high yield potential, proper nutrient replenishment is of chief importance among all agrotechnical factors.
The aim of research was to examine the effect of nitrogen fertiliser applied as basal and side dressing on maize yield.
The measurements were performed at the Latokep experiment site (47° 33' N, 21° 26' E, 111 m asl) of the Centre for Agricultural Sciences of the University of Debrecen on mid-heavy calcareous chernozem soil with deep humus layer in an established experiment in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The trial design was split-split-plot with two replications.
Based on the experiment results, it can be established that the nutrient uptake of maize is greatly dependent on the amount of water store in the soil. From the aspect of the development of the maize plant and water supply, the most determinant factor was the distribution of precipitation over the growing season and not the amount precipitation. This is shown by the fact there was only 276 mm precipitation – which was favourably distributed – in 2012 to increase the availability of nutrients and the main average was the highest in this year (14.394 t ha-1).
Spring basal dressing helped maize development in all three years even on chernozem soil which is well supplied with nutrients. Although the effect of side dressing did not result in any yield increase, it could still contribute to mitigating the stress effects caused by environmental factors. Altogether, nutrient supply adapted to the various development stages of maize can favourably affect the success of maize production.


User Modeling and Adaptation for Daily Routines is motivated by the need to bring attention to how people with special needs can benefit from adaptive methods and techniques in their everyday lives. Assistive technologies, adaptive systems and context-aware applications are three well-established research fields. There is, in fact, a vast amount of literature that covers HCI-related issues in each area separately. However, the contributions in the intersection of these areas have been less visible, despite the fact that such synergies may have a great impact on improving daily living. Presenting a comprehensive review of state-of-the-art practices on user modeling and adaptation for people with special needs, as well as some reflections on the challenges that need to be addressed in this direction, topics covered within this volume include the analysis, design, implementation and evaluation of adaptive systems to assist users with special needs to take decisions and fulfil daily routine activities. Particular emphasis is paid to major trends in user modeling, ubiquitous adaptive support, diagnostic and accessibility, recommender systems, social interaction, designing and building adaptive assistants for daily routines, field studies and automated evaluation. Nine leading contributors write on key current research in the domain of adaptive applications for people with special needs, integrating and summarizing findings from the best known international research groups in these areas. User Modeling and Adaptation for Daily Routines highlights how adaptation technologies can ease daily living for all, and support sustainable high-quality healthcare, demographic ageing and social/economic inclusion. highlights how adaptation technologies can ease daily living for all, and support sustainable high-quality healthcare, demographic ageing and social/economic inclusion.


This article fossicks through the fragments of historical understandings of the word stasis in ancient Greece – where stasis, in its extreme state, involved conflictual hostilities between kindred parties, often termed 'civil war' today. Through a series of readings of ancient Greek texts on topics ranging from pathology to literature and politics, stasis is revealed as a powerfully charged state of located dynamic exchange that operates through a precise temporal and spatial performance. This article teases out relevant aspects of the state of stasis – its high levels of spatial engagement, its inevitable resolution into energetic productivity, its precise restraint, its demand for full participation, and its role in the integration of change – all of which were acknowledged as part of the enactment and resolution of a stasis at that time. The intention of this article is to resurrect a more nuanced understanding of the state of stasis that can enrich current concepts of the dynamic in architectural and urban discourse. This understanding of stasis also poses new questions for the future design of spaces that can accommodate charged kindred engagement: lively spaces where contest becomes opportunity, and located spaces of kindred understanding that promise productive reconciliation as the common aim of all the parties involved.


With the growth of Customer to Customer (C2C) auction websites, understanding customer engagement is important for both practitioners and researchers. Therefore, this article focuses on C2C auction organizations' efforts on customer engagement. The article draws on three important antecedents to customer engagement in C2C auction commerce namely, investment in reputation and trust building efforts; ease of learning and experience; and features of online auction websites. A survey-based methodology was employed with a sample of 256. The results indicate that the antecedents positively affect customer engagement which in turn impact on behavioural intentions. The findings of the study are likely to enhance our understanding of the multiple-stage consumption process of C2C auctions where customer satisfaction is not a post consumption phenomenon and occurs in parallel with customer engagement. The findings provide valuable insights regarding factors managers should focus their attention on tailoring their approaches and content.


The depth of the financial sector has generally been found to promote economic growth by increasing economic efficiency, investment and growth. Financial sector deepening enable the financial intermediaries perform their functions of mobilizing, pooling and channeling domestic savings into productive capital more effectively thereby contributing to economic growth of a country. This study set to establish the impact of financial sector deepening on economic development in Kenya. The study adopted a Quantitative comparative design. The target population for this study was: 44 banking institutions (43 commercial banks and 1 mortgage finance company MFC), operating in Kenya as at 31 st December 2011. The study used secondary data collected from the Central Bank of Kenya and Deloite reports. Since the data used was secondary data, the study conducted a census of the Banking sector where all the 44 commercial banks were included. The use of secondary data was justified on the basis that some of these sources have information that was very pivotal to this study and has been vetted and accepted. This study established that the financial sector was stable during the study period as witnessed by the stable number of banking institutions following stringent regulations by the Central bank of Kenya which had reduced the frequency of commercial banks becoming bankruptcy. During the period of the study (2007-2011), financial sector deepening was high as the commercial banks strived to leverage their operations through adoption of new technologies including automation of bank process and adoption of Automated Teller Machines as opposed to offering their services only through physical brick and mortar branches. The economic growth started at a high of 7.1 then fluctuated to a low of 1.5 in 2008. This study therefore recommends that the Government of Kenya ensure efficiency in its regulation and supervision of all financial institutions in allowing more private banks and non-bank financial institutions to broaden their financial market to accelerate financial development and improve the financial structure that leads to increase economic growth of Kenya. The study further recommends that the Government through its relevant offices promote the development of Microfinance institutions as they play a key role in deepening financial services in Kenya and in the alleviation of poverty especially in the rural areas.


Objective This study examines differences in baseline balance scores in order to establish normative data in college athletes, and also determine the potential effect of gender, sport, and concussion history on baseline performance. Design Retrospective review Setting Pre-participation evaluations of athletes at an American university. Participants 961 varsity athletes, ages 17 to 21, both male and female from 2011 to 2015. Independent Variables Gender, sport, and history of prior concussions. Dependent Variable Baseline Balance Error Scoring System (BESS) scores. Main Results The baseline BESS score for all athletes averaged 16.13 (range 2 to 40). Baseline BESS scores were significantly different in males (15.78) compared to females (16.84), with a difference of 1.056 (95% CI 0.233 to 1.890, P=0.013). Baseline scores averaged 17.40 in athletes with history of concussion compared to 16.45 in athletes with no prior concussion (CI 0.866 to 2.780, P=0.301). When comparing scores by sport, there were no significant differences in baseline scores between females who played field hockey, softball, volleyball, basketball, lacrosse, or soccer. There were no significant differences in baseline scores between males who played baseball, football, basketball, lacrosse, or soccer. Conclusions When balance testing is used to assess an athlete after concussion injury, normative balance scores may be used in the absence of baseline scores. History of concussion and type of sport do not play a significant role in baseline balance assessment, however gender may alter the normative baseline data slightly Competing interests None.


Psychophysical methodology is used to evaluate the strength of the visual signals contained in facial expressions. Stimuli were black and white images of faces expressing a neutral, positive (happy) or negative affect (e.g. fear or anger). A range of signal strengths (0-100%) of expressions were created by morphing the neutral and expressive images. Stimuli were presented for 200ms in a temporal two-interval forced-choice paradigm. One interval contained the neutral face (0%) and the other the expressive face (varied from 0 – 100%). Observers indicated the interval that contained the image that was more expressive. This emotion detection task showed that observers were more sensitive to happy compared with fearful expressions. This indicates that the emotion signals conveyed by a happy face are more salient than those conveyed by a fearful face. Future research on emotion recognition should consider using psychophysical methodology to perceptually equate stimuli with different expressions. This will remove signal strength as a possible confound.


Governments in emerging markets often behave like a "tormented insurer," trying to use non-state-contingent debt instruments to avoid cuts in payments to private agents despite large fluctuations in public revenues. In the data, average public debt-GDP ratios decline as the variability of revenues increases, primary balances and current expenditures follow cyclical patterns sharply at odds with the countercyclical patterns of industrial countries, and the cyclical variability of public expenditures exceeds that of private expenditures by a wide margin. This paper proposes a model of a small open economy with incomplete markets that can rationalize this behavior. In the model a fiscal authority makes optimal expenditure and debt plans given shocks to output and revenues, and private agents make optimal consumption and asset accumulation plans. Quantitative analysis of the model calibrated to Mexico yields a negative relationship between average public debt and revenue variability similar to the one observed in the data. The model mimics Mexico's GDP correlations of government purchases and the primary balance. The ratio of public-to-private expenditures fluctuates widely and the implied welfare costs dwarf conventional estimates of negligible benefits of risk sharing and consumption smoothing.


Abstract Background There is an established relationship between depression and sexual functioning in women. However, there is limited research examining the relationship between perinatal depression and sexual functioning. Methods This study draws on the Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Wellbeing Study and reports on 211 women recruited in early pregnancy and followed to 12 months postpartum. Women were assessed for depression using the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV, repeated measurement of depressive symptoms using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and sexual functioning using the Female Sexual Functioning Inventory. Data were also collected on antidepressant use, mode of delivery, history of childhood trauma, breastfeeding and partner support. Results Women showed a decline in sexual functioning over pregnancy and the first 6 months postpartum, which recovered by 12 months. For women with depression, sexual functioning was lower throughout pregnancy and continued to be lower at 6 months postpartum than those without depression. Ongoing depressive symptoms at 12 months were also associated with lower sexual functioning. Sexual functioning was not predicted by mode of delivery, antidepressant use or childhood trauma. Breastfeeding predicted lower sexual functioning only at 6 months. Higher partner support predicted higher female sexual functioning. Conclusions Pregnancy and the postpartum are a time of reduced sexual functioning for women; however, women with depression are more likely to have lower levels of sexual functioning and this was not predicted by antidepressant use. In women with perinatal depression, consideration of the impact on sexual functioning should be an integral part of care.


We study the scattering of Dark Matter particles off various light nuclei within the framework of chiral effective field theory. We focus on scalar interactions and include one- and two-nucleon scattering processes whose form and strength are dictated by chiral symmetry. The nuclear wave functions are calculated from chiral effective field theory interactions as well and we investigate the convergence pattern of the chiral expansion in the nuclear potential and the Dark Matter-nucleus currents. This allows us to provide a systematic uncertainty estimate of our calculations. We provide results for ${}^2$H, ${}^3$H, and ${}^3$He nuclei which are theoretically interesting and the latter is a potential target for experiments. We show that two-nucleon currents can be systematically included but are generally smaller than predicted by power counting and suffer from significant theoretical uncertainties even in light nuclei. We demonstrate that accurate high-order wave functions are necessary in order to incorporate two-nucleon currents. We discuss scenarios in which one-nucleon contributions are suppressed such that higher-order currents become dominant.


This paper identifies and defines common relationships among video games and interactive media in an attempt to improve our understanding of and support conceptual data modeling in this domain. Existing models and standards such as Dublin Core, Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records, Resource Description and Access, CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model, and Cataloging Cultural Objects do offer a variety of relationships between resources; however, many video games are related in more complex ways that cannot be adequately represented by these models and standards, especially in ways that reflect how game players understand games and how cultural heritage institutions might curate them. After thorough review of existing standards, consultation with domain experts, and examination of sample game sets, we identified and defined 11 relationship types and 4 grouping entities prevalent in the video game domain, and offer suggestions on how these might be represented in a conceptual model.


Abstract The new mineral species carducciite, (AgSb)Pb6(As,Sb)8S20, has been discovered in the baryte-pyrite- (Pb-Ag-Zn) deposit of the Pollone mine, near Valdicastello Carducci, Apuan Alps, Tuscany, Italy. It occurs as black metallic prismatic crystals, up to 0.5 mm long, associated with pyrite and sterryite. Its Vickers hardness (VHN10) is 61 kg/mm2 (range: 52-66), corresponding to a Mohs hardness of ~2½-3. In reflected light, carducciite is dark grey in colour, moderately bireflectant; internal reflections are very weak and deep red in colour. Reflectance percentages for the four COM wavelengths [Rmin, Rmax (%) (λ)] are: 35.8, 40.8 (471.1 nm), 33.7, 39.0 (548.3 nm), 32.7, 37.6 (586.6 nm) and 30.4, 35.1 (652.3 nm). Electron microprobe analysis gives (wt.% - mean of six analyses): Ag 3.55(12), Tl 0.13(3), Pb 41.90(42), Sb 17.79(19), As 12.41(14), S 22.10(17), total 97.9(6). On the basis of ∑Me = 16 a.p.f.u., the chemical formula is Ag0.96Tl0.02Pb5.91As4.84Sb4.27S20.14. The main diffraction lines, corresponding to multiple hkl indices, are (relative visual intensity): 3.689 (s), 3.416 (s), 3.125 (s), 2.989 (s), 2.894 (s), 2.753 (vs), 2.250 (s). The crystal-structure study gives a monoclinic unit cell, space group P21/c, with a 8.4909(3), b 8.0227(3), c 25.3957(9) Å , β 100.382(2)°, V 1701.63(11) Å3, Z = 2. The crystal structure has been solved and refined to a final R1 = 0.063 on the basis of 4137 observed reflections. It can be described within the framework of the sartorite homologous series, as formed by chemically twinned layers of the dufrénoysite type. The simplified idealized structural formula, based on 20 sulfur atoms, can ideally be written as (AgSb)Pb6(As,Sb)∑=8S20. Carducciite is an (Ag,Sb)-rich homeotype of dufrénoysite, stabilized by the complete coupled substitution 2 Pb2+ = Ag+ + Sb3+ on a specific site of the crystal structure. Together with barikaite, it belongs to the rathite sub-group of P21/c homeotypes of dufrénoysite, of which the crystal chemistry is discussed. The distribution of Ag, coupled with As or Sb on specific sites, appears to be the main criterion for the distinction between the three species of this sub-group.


In this paper, we formally introduce a variant of the inventory routing problem (IRP) that we call the fixed-partition policy IRP (FPP-IRP). In contrast to the classical IRP in which delivery routes are arbitrary, the FPP-IRP partitions customers into mutually exclusive clusters that are fixed throughout the optimization horizon, and distribution is performed separately for each cluster. By restricting the flexibility inherent in the classical IRP, the FPP-IRP attains many potential advantages. First, partitioning reduces the operational complexity of the system and allows a simpler organization of the distribution service. Second, it improves the robustness of the system by isolating disruptions to affected clusters. Third, it can fit the needs and requirements of specific applications in which consistency in the distribution policy, such as familiarity between customers and drivers and route invariance, is required. We present two fixed-partition policies for the IRP together with mathematical formulations and valid inequalities. We also present a worst-case analysis on the performance of these policies. Extensive computational results are presented to show the behavior of these policies and glean insights into their potential benefits.


Abstract We offer further perspectives on the application of the photometric technique to the search for extrasolar planets. The principal obstacles to this approach include (1) the ambiguous interpretation of the photometric signature of a possible transit event arising from the potential for confusion with stellar activity and (2) the observational intensity of the search technique. We emphasize that the former issue can be addressed through multiband observations combined with consideration of the characteristic time scales of forms of stellar activity compared to the time scale of a transit event. In the case of the latter concern, the advent of modern, automated telescope technologies offers the realistic prospect of meeting the demanding observational requirements of this approach. We find that joint visual and near infrared observations are necessary to immediately distinguish between, for example, a planetary transit and a cool spot on the stellar surface. However, these observations by themselves do not appear sufficient to distinguish between a brown dwarf and a jovian-size planetary companion of a dwarf M star. In such cases, other complementary observations will be necessary. We developed a computer simulation to estimate the average number of transits per year that would be presented for a stellar sample characterized by realistic properties in terms of spectral type distribution, effective temperatures, masses, and radii. A simple thermal model is adopted to estimate star-planet separations. The simulation suggests that the frequency of transit events will be dominated by M dwarf systems. This is due to the large number of these objects combined with the relative proximity to these cool stars within which planetary formation can occur according to current models.


Objective To provide an overview of the selection criteria for and proper use of sunscreen products. The effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation on the skin are also discussed. Data Sources References were selected from published bibliographies of books and articles dealing with UV radiation and sunscreen agents, manufacturers' product information, and topical searches in MEDLINE computerized database (English language, through 1991). Study Selection Studies that investigated the short- and long-term effects of UV radiation (UVA and UVB) on human skin were reviewed. Equal weight was given to information published in authoritative textbooks by prominent photobiologists and dermatologists. Data relating to human skin were selected in preference to animal data, and data involving ingredients approved for use in the US were used in preference to those of products approved in foreign countries. Data Synthesis The literature describing the effects of both UVA and UVB on human skin is substantial. However, there is considerably less information on UVA in terms of how its effects impact the formulation and use of commercially produced sunscreen products. Information regarding the proper use of currently available sunscreen products and the appropriate patient counseling information for pharmacists is both considerable and consistent. Conclusions In recent years, the concerns about UV radiation have shifted from the short-term hazards of sunburn to the long-term hazards of skin cancer and premature aging of the skin. Available data suggest that a life-long approach to minimizing exposure to UV radiation including the use of sunscreens with a minimum sun protection factor of 15 will reduce overall morbidity and mortality. Authorities in the field are calling for the continuing development of commercial sunscreen products that provide a broad spectrum of protection against both UVA and UVB and their proper use by the public.


Is Japan on a path towards assuming a greater military role internationally, or has the recent military normalisation ground to a halt since the premiership of Junichiro Koizumi? In this book, Christopher W. Hughes assesses developments in defence expenditure, civil–military relations, domestic and international military–industrial complexes, Japan's procurement of regional and global power-projection capabilities, the expansion of US–Japan cooperation, and attitudes towards nuclear weapons, constitutional revision and the use of military force. In all of these areas, dynamic and long-term changes outweigh Japan's short-term political logjam over security policy. Hughes argues that many post-war constraints on Japan's military role are still eroding, and that Tokyo is moving towards a more assertive military role and strengthened US–Japan cooperation. Japan's remilitarisation will boost its international security role and the dominance of the US–Japan alliance in regional and global security affairs, but will need to be carefully managed if it is not to become a source of destabilising tensions.


Background: Synchronous gastric neoplasms are not infrequently detected, thus endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for multiple early gastric neoplasia is occasionally considered. However, there have been few investigations of the safety and feasibility of simultaneous ESD for multiple gastric lesions. This study aims to evaluate the safety and feasibility of simultaneous ESD for multiple gastric neoplasia. Methods : A total of 1,823 patients who underwent ESD for 1,929 gastric adenomas or early gastric cancers were retrospectively reviewed in this study. Two hundred gastric adenomas or early gastric cancers among 94 patients were treated by ESD simultaneously (multiple group) and 1,729 patients were treated with ESD for a single lesion (single group). Results: En bloc resection ( P = 0.060), complete resection ( P = 0.362) and curative resection ( P = 0.108) rates did not differ between the two groups. Rates of adverse events including bleeding ( P = 0.317), perforation ( P = 0.316) and aspiration pneumonia ( P = 0.563) were not higher in the multiple group. Long-term follow up showed more frequent local recurrence ( P < 0.001), synchronous neoplasia ( P = 0.041) and metachronous neoplasia ( P < 0.001) per patient in the multiple group; however, local recurrence per lesion did not differ between the two groups ( P = 0.103). Conclusions: Simultaneous ESD for multiple synchronous gastric neoplasms is safe and feasible compared to single ESD. However, thorough examination for local recurrence and synchronous and metachronous neoplasia is required.


As human-wildlife conflicts become more frequent, serious and widespread worldwide, they are notoriously challenging to resolve, and many efforts to address these conflicts struggle to make progress. These Guidelines provide an essential guide to understanding and resolving human-wildlife conflict. The Guidelines aim to provide foundations and principles for good practice, with clear, practical guidance on how best to tackle conflicts and enable coexistence with wildlife. They have been developed for use by conservation practitioners, community leaders, decision makers, researchers, government officers and others. Focusing on approaches and tools for analysis and decision making, they are not limited to any particular species or region of the world.


As China's international trade in goods led the world in 2013 and ranked number two if trade in services was included, its economic activeness provides a fertile ground for cross-border commercial mediation. A comparative analysis of the mainland's, Hong Kong's and Macao's dominant mediation rules in their respective legal context will suggest that intraregional cooperation could strengthen China's position as an attractive forum to foreign parties for international commercial mediation than maintaining the status quo. This article first describes the rules and laws applicable to international commercial mediation in mainland China and its two special administrative regions. It then explains the extent to which such rules and laws address pressing procedural problems differently or whether they generate largely similar results under different labels. It concludes by arguing that regional resemblances and disparities prompt modernisation and harmonisation in light of the unformulated policies of keeping the parties' freedom of action intact and maintaining the need for flexibility, and that the Conciliation Rules, the Model Law, recent deliberations of the UNCITRAL Working Group on Arbitration and Conciliation, and up-to-date mediation rules of global mediation service providers could provide helpful resources for improvements.


We investigate the problem of large-scale mobile crowd-tasking, where a large pool of citizen crowd-workers are used to perform a variety of location-specific urban logistics tasks. Current approaches to such mobile crowd-tasking are very decentralized: a crowd-tasking platform usually provides each worker a set of available tasks close to the worker's current location; each worker then independently chooses which tasks she wants to accept and perform. In contrast, we propose TRACCS, a more coordinated task assignment approach, where the crowd-tasking platform assigns a sequence of tasks to each worker, taking into account their expected location trajectory over a wider time horizon, as opposed to just instantaneous location. We formulate such task assignment as an optimization problem, that seeks to maximize the total payoff from all assigned tasks, subject to a maximum bound on the detour (from the expected path) that a worker will experience to complete her assigned tasks. We develop credible computationally-efficient heuristics to address this optimization problem (whose exact solution requires solving a complex integer linear program), and show, via simulations with realistic topologies and commuting patterns, that a specific heuristic (called Greedy-ILS) increases the fraction of assigned tasks by more than 20%, and reduces the average detour overhead by more than 60%, compared to the current decentralized approach.


As this is the final edition of the Journal for 2011 it is appropriate for me as Editor-in-Chief to extend my gratitude to all of the contributors and the reviewers for their efforts during this past year, acknowledging that those efforts may have borne fruit in this past year through publication but probably commenced even earlier. The Journal has gone from strength to strength and is increasingly providing evidence that is African, for Africa but also demonstrating to a broader international audience that as a continent our scientific efforts are meaningful.


Academic) Additive Manufacturing for Robust and Affordable Medical Devices Daniel A. Wolozny Additive manufacturing in the form of 3D printing is a revolutionary technology that has developed within the last two decades. Its ability to print an object with accurate features down to the micro scale have made its use in medical devices and research feasible. A range of life-saving technologies can now go from the laboratory and into field with the application of 3D-printing. This technology can be applied to medical diagnosis of patients in at-risk populations. Living biosensors are limited by being Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) from being employed for medical diagnosis. However, by containing them within a 3D-printed enclosure, these technologies can serve as a vehicle to translate life-saving diagnosis technologies from the laboratory and into the field where the lower cost would allow more people to benefit from inexpensive diagnosis. Also, the GMO biosensors would be contained with a press-fit, ensuring that the living biosensors are unable to escape into the environment without user input. In addition, 3D-printing can also be applied to reduce the cost of lab-based technologies. Cell patterning technology is a target of interest for applying more cost-effective technologies, as elucidation of the variables defining cell patterning and motility may help explain the mechanics of cancer and other diseases. Through the use of a 3D-printed stamp, bacterial cells can be patterning without the use of a clean room, thus lowering the entry-barrier for researchers to explore cell patterning. With the commercialization of 3D-printing, an opportunity has arisen to transition lifesaving technologies into more cost-effective versions of existing technologies. This would not only allow more research into existing fields, but also to ensure that potentially life-saving technologies reach the people that need them.


We relocate 16 years of seismicity in the Coso Geothermal Field (CGF) using differential travel times and simultaneously invert for seismic velocities to improve our knowledge of the subsurface geologic and hydrologic structure. We expand on our previous results by doubling the number of relocated events from April 1996 through May 2012 using a new field-wide 3-D velocity model. Relocated microseismicity sharpens in many portions of the active geothermal reservoir, likely defining large-scale fault zones and fluid pressure compartment boundaries. However, a significant fraction of seismicity remains diffuse and does not cluster into sharply defined structures, suggesting that permeability is maintained within the reservoir through distributed brittle failure. The seismic velocity structure reveals heterogeneous distributions of compressional (Vp) and shear (Vs) wave speed, with Vs generally higher in the Main Field and East Flank and Vp remaining relatively uniform across the CGF, but with significant local variations. The Vp/Vs ratio appears to outline the two main producing compartments of the reservoir at depths below mean ground level of approximately 1 to 2.5 km, with a ridge of relatively high Vp/Vs separating the Main Field from the East Flank. Detailed analyses of spatial and temporal variations in earthquake relocations and cumulative seismic moment release in the East Flank reveal three regions with persistently high rates of seismic activity. Two of these regions exhibit sharp, stationary boundaries at the margins of the East Flank that likely represent barriers to fluid flow and advective heat transport. However, seismicity and moment release in a third region at the northern end of the East Flank spread over time to form an elongated NE to SW structure, roughly parallel both to an elongated cluster of seismicity at the southern end of the East Flank and to regional fault traces mapped at the surface. Our results indicate that high-precision relocations of micro-seismicity and simultaneous velocity inversions in conjunction with mapping of seismic moment release can provide useful insights into subsurface structural features and hydrologic compartmentalization within the Coso Geothermal Field.


Through the lens of hospitality, we explored the meanings that members constructed about their experiences within a blended formal/informal college music ensemble. The focus in this ensemble was not on competition and musical excellence but on independent musicianship and praxis. The bandleader had his roots in tradition but his heart in socially relevant pedagogy and favored a less autocratic teaching and learning style. The makeup of the ensemble also included students from both formal and informal backgrounds. Conducting gesture was casual, bandstand formation was loose and free, outfits were expressive of the individual, and tone and balance were more a reflection and celebration of individuals and less of a whole or single sound. Much of the music was performed from standard notation but was chosen collectively, often related to popular contexts, and the overall emphasis was not on uniformity but on individuality and student creativity. Musical decisions often were made democratically, and opinions from within the ensemble were affirmed in the process. The ensemble consisted of a group of approximately 13 members whose experience ranged from beginner to over 30 years and who played everything from violin to iPad. Themes that emerged were inclusivity, autonomy, and affirmation.


Background Type II diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease that is not curable but it is very potential to be prevented and controlled through diet. The bad behavior of diet resultedin blood sugar levels remain high and facilitate the emergence of bernagai complications. Thepurpose of this study was to determine the relationship of diet behavior with blood sugarlevels in patients with diabetes mellitus type II Jogomerto In the village district of TanjungAnom. Methods This study research design correlation with retrospective approach, which washeld on 12 May 2015. The population was all patients with diabetes mellitus type IIJogomerto In the village district of Tanjung Anom number of 18 respondents by totalsampling. Variable independent research that dietary behavior, while the dependent variableof research that blood sugar levels. Data were analyzed with statistical test Spearman Rankby SPSS 20 For Windows with α = 0.05. Result Results of this study show quite as much as the behavior of 14 respondents(77.8%) and poor blood sugar levels as much as 13 respondents (72.2%). Statistical testresults obtained using Spearman rank ρ value = 0.018 ≤ α = 0.05 means Ha accepted thatthere is a relationship between dietary behavior with blood sugar levels of people withdiabetes mellitus type II in the village of the district of Tanjung Anom Jogomerto. With thevalue of r = 0.562 or level of relationship is. Conclusion The food we eat will affect blood sugar levels in the body, so theuncontrolled behavior of food consumption or poor diet behavior will result in high bloodsugar levels and facilitate the emergence of a variety of complications.Keyword : Behavior diet, blood sugar levels, diabetes mellitus type II


At the end of 2001, Argentina suffered one of its worst economic crises in memory. When presented with lower incomes, reduced employment, and other economic shocks, households have responded by adjusting their consumer behavior and adopting a number of coping strategies. In this paper, we use evidence from a household survey completed at the time of the Argentine crisis to examine whether the use of coping strategies is directly linked to the type of shock experienced by the household and whether household behavior varies by wealth or family type.


The public's beliefs about the economic impact of immigration on host nations' economies is significantly more negative than both the beliefs of economists, and what much of the empirical evidence would suggest. In an attempt to explain this disparity, and the wide range of beliefs about what should largely be a matter of fact, I develop a simple model of belief formation based on the concept of motivated reasoning: when coming to a conclusion people are influenced by the desire to come to a particular conclusion (a directional goal) and by the desire for their conclusion to be justified by evidence (an accuracy goal). This gives agents an incentive to manipulate their beliefs. The model yields several testable hypotheses: positive beliefs about the economic impact of immigrants should be negatively associated with a preference for living in an ethnically homogeneous society; the effect of education depends crucially on the aforementioned preference; finally, beliefs should reflect the probability of receiving supporting evidence. An empirical analysis using the European Social Survey 2002/2003 data finds support for all three hypotheses.


Given the complexity of the modern research environment, funders (usually government agencies) are encouraging the formation of formal research networks (FRNs). FRNs have a predictable structure which includes primary and (whether acknowledged or not) secondary stakeholders as participants. Policy and program managers need to understand the larger structure, not just the internal operations, of the networks. We propose the use of actor-network theory to understand the strategy and construction of FRNs, and in particular to understand the specific problems surrounding FRNs for social science sand humanities research.


Legumes interact with nodulating bacteria that convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia for plant use. This nitrogen fixation takes place within root nodules that form after infection of root hairs by compatible rhizobia. Using cDNA microarrays, we monitored gene expression in soybean (Glycine max) inoculated with the nodulating bacterium Bradyrhizobium japonicum 4, 8, and 16 days after inoculation, timepoints that coincide with nodule development and the onset of nitrogen fixation. This experiment identified several thousand genes that were differentially expressed in response to B. japonicum inoculation. Expression of 27 genes was analyzed by quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, and their expression patterns mimicked the microarray results, confirming integrity of analyses. The microarray results suggest that B. japonicum reduces plant defense responses during nodule development. In addition, the data revealed a high level of regulatory complexity (transcriptional, post-transcriptional, translational, post-translational) that is likely essential for development of the symbiosis and adjustment to an altered nutritional status.


Among proteases, metalloproteases are implicated in tissue remodeling, as shown in numerous diseases including allergy. ADAMs (A Disintegrin And Metalloprotease) metalloproteases are implicated in physiologic processes such as cytokine and growth factor shedding, cell migration, adhesion, or repulsion. Our aim was to measure ADAM-12 expression in airway epithelium and to define its role during the allergic response. To raise this question, we analyzed the ADAM-12 expression ex vivo after allergen exposure in patients with allergic rhinitis and in vitro in cultured primary human airway epithelial cells (AEC). Clones of BEAS-2B cells transfected with the full-length form of ADAM-12 were generated to study the consequences of ADAM-12 up-regulation on AEC function. After allergen challenge, a strong increase of ADAM-12 expression was observed in airway epithelium from patients with allergic rhinitis but not from control subjects. In contrast with the other HB-epidermal growth factor sheddases, ADAM-10 and -17, TNF-alpha in vitro increased the expression of ADAM-12 by AEC, an effect amplified by IL-4 and IL-13. Up-regulation of ADAM-12 in AEC increased the expression of alpha3 and alpha4 integrins and to the modulation of cell migration on fibronectin but not on collagen. Moreover, overexpression of ADAM-12 in BEAS-2B enhanced the secretion of CXCL1 and CXCL8 and their capacity to recruit neutrophils. CD47 was strongly decreased by ADAM-12 overexpression, a process associated with a reduced adhesion of neutrophils. These effects were mainly dependent on epidermal growth factor receptor activation. In summary, ADAM-12 is produced during allergic reaction by AEC and might increase neutrophil recruitment within airway mucosa.


In this paper, we study Reinforcement Learning from Demonstrations (RLfD) that improves the exploration efficiency of Reinforcement Learning (RL) by providing expert demonstrations. Most of existing RLfD methods require demonstrations to be perfect and sufficient, which yet is unrealistic to meet in practice. To work on imperfect demonstrations, we first define an imperfect expert setting for RLfD in a formal way, and then point out that previous methods suffer from two issues in terms of optimality and convergence, respectively. Upon the theoretical findings we have derived, we tackle these two issues by regarding the expert guidance as a soft constraint on regulating the policy exploration of the agent, which eventually leads to a constrained optimization problem. We further demonstrate that such problem is able to be addressed efficiently by performing a local linear search on its dual form. Considerable empirical evaluations on a comprehensive collection of benchmarks indicate our method attains consistent improvement over other RLfD counterparts.


Genetic programming is distinguished from other evolutionary algorithms in that it uses tree representations of variable size instead of linear strings of fixed length. The flexible representation scheme is very important because it allows the underlying structure of the data to be discovered automatically. One primary difficulty, however, is that the solutions may grow too big without any improvement of their generalization ability. In this article we investigate the fundamental relationship between the performance and complexity of the evolved structures. The essence of the parsimony problem is demonstrated empirically by analyzing error landscapes of programs evolved for neural network synthesis. We consider genetic programming as a statistical inference problem and apply the Bayesian model-comparison framework to introduce a class of fitness functions with error and complexity terms. An adaptive learning method is then presented that automatically balances the model-complexity factor to evolve parsimonious programs without losing the diversity of the population needed for achieving the desired training accuracy. The effectiveness of this approach is empirically shown on the induction of sigma-pi neural networks for solving a real-world medical diagnosis problem as well as benchmark tasks.


Soil erosion by wind is a widespread problem in the arid lands of Iran. This research estimated and assessed the severity of wind erosion in Segzi desertification hotspot located in the eastern part of Isfahan township, focusing on criteria used in the IRIRF (Iranian Research Institute of Forest and Rangelands) model. Bayesian belief networks (BBNs) were also used to convert the IRIFR model to a predictive cause-and-effect model. The severity of wind erosion was calculated using the nine indicators of the IRIFR model on 17 geomorphological faces. The results indicated that three geomorphological faces located in the southern and central parts of the region had high potential for wind erosion. According to the results of the IRIFR model, 24%, 16%, 15% and 45% of the study area were classified as low, moderate, high and very high severity of wind erosion, respectively. Using the IRIFR indicators and conditional probability tables of these indicators, a BBN model was developed and its accuracy was assessed by sensitivity analysis and scenario analysis. Sensitivity analysis for both models showed that wind speed and condition, spatial extent and type of aeolian deposits and erosion features of the soil surface were the most important indicators responsible for wind erosion in the study area. The determination coefficient between the outputs of the IRIFR and BBN models (R 2 > 0.80) indicated that the results of both models were significantly correlated (α = 5%). These results indicate that the application of the BBN model for wind erosion assessment can appropriately accommodate the uncertainty of the IRIFR model and help managers to make better decisions for upcoming land management projects.


My dissertation concerns peasant resistance to transnational gold mines in Cajamarca, Peru. This resistance is founded on people's experiences as expressed in songs, stories, jokes, dreams and direct political actions in the face of tremendous repression. Peasant experience itself is a powerful spiritual weapon in the lucha. Through immersion in the struggle, I wish to give a glimpse of the peasants' lives as they confront environmental catastrophe. My work seeks to represent this resistance movement from the inside, as much as is possible. It is heart wrenching to hear a woman sing a song about how she lost her son to the police mercenaries. These moments of communion reveal the spirit of the struggle and forge the bonds which energize the resistance movement. Threatened by the death of the Earth, there is now a resurgence in consciousness of the Pacha Mama ("Earth Mother" in Quechua) which I believe to be the latest manifestation of Andean messianism, the idea that the Inca and Andean gods will return to cast out the Spanish and redeem history.


The AMORES project brings together five schools from across Europe with the aim of identifying whether a love of literature can be encouraged through the creation of digital artefacts. School students make videos, card games, pictures and comics about the books they are reading, and share these with other children in the five schools through the use of social media and videoconferencing. The students' attitudes towards books and reading are surveyed at the beginning and end of the intervention, their online interactions are observed and their reflections are gathered through artefacts such as
videos and posts within the social media platform. The key pedagogical theories on which this project builds are that of constructionism, which contends that creating artefacts is itself a trigger for learning experiences, and also that creation is a social activity, and this social activity is also a basis for learning. The second theory is that of experiential learning, particularly encouraging metacognition through reflection and abstract conceptualisation as a result of the creation of objects. The third theory draws on the role of storytelling in motivating and empowering learners. The creation of artefacts has been demonstrated to be an effective means to encourage learning – and evidence shows that creating videos (the type of artefact identified by teachers as being the predominant one to focus on in the AMORES project) is particularly effective. Social media
is more problematic, in that it normally facilitates superficial "likes" and "shares" and requires more sophisticated tools and support to create genuine co-creation and reflection within a community. The practice at the schools indicates that they are experienced at creating videos, but less so at maintaining social creation at a distance. The social aspects of learning at a distance may therefore be the most difficult area to encourage within the project, as it is both more problematic to conduct, and is less practised within the schools.


Thesis (M.A.L.S.)--Georgetown University, 2009.; Includes bibliographical
 references. Children born to teens are at risk for a myriad of health and education challenges
 in addition to being at risk for bearing children at young ages themselves. Teen mothers are
 likely to have low school performance and struggle financially while teen fathers are at high
 risk for substance abuse and legal problems. When developing sex education programs to prevent
 teen pregnancy, it is important to consider the rights of parents and adolescents in addition
 to the values that underlie them. Therefore, this thesis analyzes policy pertaining to sex
 education in the United States and proposes a new set of ethical and effective policy
 guidelines to reduce teen pregnancy.; This thesis uses quantitative and qualitative research
 including extensive reading on both abstinence-only and comprehensive sex education programs
 and the findings of those who have evaluated them. Sources include books and journal articles
 by leading experts, legislative documents, and newspaper articles. It goes beyond efficacy
 evaluations, to analyze in a comparative manner, the ethical value of several programs that
 operate from an abstinence-only perspective or comprehensive approach.; The research indicated
 that programs funded by the current legislation are not effective in protecting students from
 the consequences of sexual activity. Several experts argue that the current programs actually
 have great potential to harm and manipulate students, which raises ethical issues. Therefore,
 new legislation should be established to ensure that more effective and ethical programs are
 implemented for America's youth.


Machine learning addresses the question of how to build computers that improve automatically through experience. It is one of today's most rapidly growing technical fields, lying at the intersection of computer science and statistics, and at the core of artificial intelligence and data science. Recent progress in machine learning has been driven both by the development of new learning algorithms and theory and by the ongoing explosion in the availability of online data and low-cost computation. The adoption of data-intensive machine-learning methods can be found throughout science, technology and commerce, leading to more evidence-based decision-making across many walks of life, including health care, manufacturing, education, financial modeling, policing, and marketing.


Smart functional materials are a viable future goal for advanced applications in aerospace, space and medical applications. In this work micro-vascular polymer composite systems have been developed using sacrificial fibres produced from catalyst loaded Poly(lactic acid). The sacrificial fibres have been produced via a published technique which treated PLA in a solvent catalyst mixture of 60% Trifluoroethanol, 40% H2O dispersed with 10 wt% tin (II) oxalate catalyst. A second process of polymer extrusion of PLA using graded fill contents of tin (II) oxalate has also been developed for the up scaled production of fibres as an alternative to solution treatment. Thermal analysis (TGA) was used to compare sacrificial fibre specimens. PLA fibres produced via the polymer extrusion method outperformed solution treated fibres displaying a lower degradation onset temperature (average 25°C lower), higher degradation rates (observed through a derivative curve comparison) and lower residual catalyst content (0.67% solvent treated fibre against 0.16% extruded fibre). The continuous extrusion process is solvent free and is suitable for high volume production. This work has been carried out to fully understand the fabrication issues with sacrificial components.


In the process of development of modern science and technology, education technology has also been developed according to its own characteristics. In the development course of the modern education technology, computer-based education plays an important role. In this paper, the influence of computer-based education on education is researched according to the change of its influential factors on schools, teachers and students aimed at the characteristics of computer-based education. In this paper, the principal component analysis method is employed to extract the main influential indexes, the layered index evaluation system is established, and it is concluded that computer-based education has a profound influence on education. The design of online education system is also researched, on the basis of summarizing the overall design function and process, the design thought is explained and the design and realization methods of database are given, so as to provide theoretical reference of the development and scale application of online education system.


An orthogonal drawing of a plane graph G is a planar drawing of G, denoted by D(G), such that each vertex of G is drawn as a point on the plane, and each edge of G is drawn as a sequence of horizontal and vertical line segments with no crossings. An orthogonal polygon P is called orthogonally convex if the intersection of any horizontal or vertical line L and P is either a single line segment or empty. An orthogonal drawing D(G) is called orthogonally convex if all of its internal faces are orthogonally convex polygons. An orthogonal polygon P is called a star-shaped polygon if there is a point p ∈ P such that the entire P is visible from p. An orthogonal drawing D(G) is called a star-shaped orthogonal drawing (SSOD) if all of its internal faces are star-shaped polygons. Every SSOD is an orthogonally convex drawing, but the reverse is not true. SSOD is visually more appealing than orthogonally convex drawings. Recently, Chang et al. gave a necessary and sufficient condition for a plane graph to have an orthogonally convex drawing. In this paper, we show that if G satisfies the same condition given by Chang et al., it not only has an orthogonally convex drawing, but also a SSOD, which can be constructed in linear time. An orthogonal drawing D(G) is called an L-shaped drawing if each face of D(G) is an L-shaped polygon. In this paper we also show that an L-shaped orthogonal drawing can be constructed in O(n) time. The same algorithmic technique is used for solving both problems. It is based on regular edge labeling and is quite different from the methods used in previous results. Submitted: February 2016 Reviewed: June 2016 Revised: August 2016 Reviewed: September 2016 Revised: December 2016 Accepted: December 2016 Final: December 2016 Published: January 2017 Article type: Regular paper Communicated by: S.-H. Hong Research supported in part by NSF Grant CCR-1319732. An extended abstract of this paper, with title "Star Shaped Orthogonal Drawing", was published in the proceedings of the 12th Annual Conference on Theory and Applications of Models of Computation (TAMC'2015), Lecture Notes in Computer Science 9076, pp. 137 149, May 2015. E-mail addresses: email@example.com (Xin He) email@example.com (Dayu He) 156 Xin He and Dayu He Starand L-Shaped Orthogonal Drawings


This paper will present the finding of study on trust in e-commerce acceptance by young Malay generation.The paper starts with the introduction to e-commerce and trust definition include barrier factor toward e-commerce acceptance.Next, the paper dwells on the finding of the previous study about barrier and informational content on commercial websites in creating trust among Internet user to accept e-commerce transaction. Afterward the paper presents a suggestion trust model framework to prove by the survey managed by the researchers.Furthermore the paper presents finding from survey.The finding found the
respondents accept positively all trust factors such as security, familiarity, privacy, and informational content, ease of use as most important factor in trust building.Lastly, we have proposed a verified trust framework model, which is taken care result from the survey.


The Rapid Acquisition of Multicast RTP Sessions (RAMS) solution is a
method based on RTP and the RTP Control Protocol (RTCP) that enables
an RTP receiver to rapidly acquire and start consuming the RTP
multicast data. Upon a request from the RTP receiver, an auxiliary
unicast RTP retransmission session is set up between a retransmission
server and the RTP receiver, over which the reference information
about the new multicast stream the RTP receiver is about to join is
transmitted at an accelerated rate. This often precedes, but may also
accompany, the multicast stream itself. When there is only one
multicast stream to be acquired, the RAMS solution works in a
straightforward manner. However, when there are two or more multicast
streams to be acquired from the same or different multicast RTP
sessions, care should be taken to configure each RAMS session
appropriately. This document provides example scenarios and discusses
how the RAMS solution could be used in such scenarios. This document
is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is published for
informational purposes.


In this work three experimental glass compositions have been applied and tested on ferritic stainless steel (FSS) substrates with and without yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) coating deposited by plasma spraying. Samples have been tested at 780 °C on static air up to 1000 hours to investigate the materials compatibility, stability and interactions at the interfaces. Microstructural changes and migration of elements have been characterized post-experiment in cross-section by means of scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis. Two of the tested compositions resulted well adherent on the metal substrate for the whole test duration and the interface evolved with the formation of a stable Cr, Mn-rich layer due to the steel oxidation. The application of YSZ allowed all the glass composition to bond to the substrate and effectively act as a diffusion barrier limiting the diffusion of the substrate elements.


A brilliant personal history from the award-winning author of 'The Corrections'. Jonathan Franzen, bestselling author of 'Freedom' and the highly acclaimed 'The Corrections', arrived late, and last, in a family of boys in Webster Groves, Missouri. 'The Discomfort Zone' is his intimate memoir of his growth from a 'small and fundamentally ridiculous person,' through an adolescence both excruciating and strangely happy, into an adult with embarrassing and unexpected passions. It's also a portrait of a middle-class family weathering the turbulence of the 1970s, and a vivid personal insight into the decades in which America took an angry turn away from its mid-century ideals. He tells of the effects of Kafka's fiction on Franzen's protracted quest to lose his virginity, the elaborate pranks that he and his friends orchestrated from the roof of his high school, his self-inflicted travails in selling his mother's house after her death, the web of connections between his all-consuming marriage, the problem of global warming, and the life lessons to be learned in watching birds. Sparkling, daring and arrestingly honest, 'The Discomfort Zone' is warmed by the same combination of comic scrutiny and unqualified affection that characterize Franzen's fiction. It narrates the formation of a unique mind and heart in the crucible of an everyday American family.


ONE IN EIGHT: DECIDING TO PRUSUE A COLLEGE-GOING POSSIBLE SELF IN A HIGH POVERTY HIGH SCHOOL By David B. Naff A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2017 Major Director: Kathleen Cauley, PhD., Associate Professor, Foundations of Education There is considerable research evidence suggesting that low-income, racial minority students value education and aspire for postsecondary educational attainment (Bloom, 2007; Destin & Oyserman, 2009; Wigfield & Eccles, 2002). However, their performance in school often does not align with those values and ambitions, as these students tend to underachieve in comparison with their higher-income, non-minority peers (Reardon, 2011), with particular gaps found in those attending schools of concentrated poverty (Rowan, 2011). This gap between educational ambition and attainment suggests that the experience of living and going to school in a high-poverty context could be related to the motivational processes driving these students to pursue college. Using a conceptual framework overlapping expectancy-value theory and possible selves, the present multiple case study of six Urban Public High School (UPHS) students aspiring to four-year college explored how they made decisions about pursuing their postsecondary ambitions. Participants' descriptions of their pursuit of college revealed themes related to who they did and did not want to become in the future, and outlined their expectancies, values, and perceptions of costs associated with becoming a firstgeneration college student. Socializers in and out of school influenced students' perceptions of possible selves and decision-making processes. Results revealed how avoidance possible selves motivated students' pursuit of college, how social incongruence among peers at UPHS made the pursuit more challenging, and how students with high expectancies and values for going to college still sometimes doubted whether they would ultimately go. Theoretical and practical implications, as well as limitations of the study, are discussed.


We are now seeing diminishing returns from classic single-core processor designs, yet the number of transistors available for a processor is still increasing. Processor architects are therefore experimenting with a variety of multicore processor designs. Heterogeneous multicore processors with Explicitly Managed Memory (EMM) hierarchies are one such experimental design which has the potential for high performance, but at the cost of great programmer effort. EMM processors have cores that are divorced from the normal memory hierarchy, thus the onus is on the programmer to manage locality and parallelism. This dissertation presents the Cellgen source-to-source compiler which moves some of this complexity back into the compiler. Cellgen offers a directive-based programming model with semantics similar to OpenMP for the Cell Broadband Engine, a general-purpose processor with EMM. The compiler implicitly handles locality and parallelism, schedules memory transfers for data parallel regions of code, and provides performance predictions which can be leveraged to make scheduling decisions. We compare this approach to using a software cache, to a different programming model which is task based with explicit data transfers, and to programming the Cell directly using the native SDK. We also present a case study which uses the Cellgen compiler in a comparison across multiple kinds of multicore architectures: heterogeneous, homogeneous and radically data-parallel graphics processors.


A signed variable step size least mean squares (SVSS-LMS) technique is used to boost the convergence rate of digital background calibration for pipelined analog-to-digital converters (ADC). The technique is used to compensate for most known errors, including nonlinear OpAmp gain imperfections, capacitor mismatch and comparator offset. A 12-bit ADC Simulink model is established to verify the technique. Convergence occurs after 5.8K cycle with 42% enhancement over fixed step size LMS. A 22.6% power reduction is achieved as a result of calculation reduction. The proposed technique exhibits improvements in peak DNL from 1 to 0.7 LSB and INL from 33.2 to 2.3 LSB. At a frequency of 100 Msample/s, both SFDR and SNDR reveal noticeable enhancements from 41.6 to 83.1 dB and from 39 to 68.6dB respectively.


Background: Airflow obstruction in asthma is associated with increased risk of morbidity and exacerbations. A number of reports have identified that small airways obstruction (SAO) may be present in asthma in the presence or absence of fixed airflow obstruction (FAO). We sought to evaluate the prevalence of SAO and its clinical expression in the presence or absence of FAO. Methods: 132 adult asthmatics (GINA 1(11), GINA 2-3 (30) GINA 4-5 (89)) were recruited from Glenfield Hospital. All patients underwent impulse oscillometry and spirometry with reversibility. Two markers of SAO were evaluated (R5-R20 and AX). Due to the lack of robust reference equations for predicted impulse oscillometric parameters of SAO, we defined 9abnormal9 as a value above the asthmatic mean. Results: We identified that 23.5 % and 15.2% of patients with asthma had SAO in the presence of a normal post bronchodilator FEV 1 /FVC >70% - when evaluating the markers AX and R5-R20 respectively. A similar percentage had SAO and FAO for both markers (24.2% for AX and 19.7% for R5-R20). The frequency of asthma exacerbations in the previous year was significantly elevated (3.13/yr (AX), 3.53/yr (R5-R20)) in patients with isolated SAO compared to patients without SAO and spirometric airflow obstruction (1.29/yr (AX), 1.64/yr (R5-R20)) [p=0.0014 ANOVA, p>0.05 intergroup comparison]. There were no differences in eosinophilic airway inflammation between the groups. Conclusion: We have identified that isolated small airways obstruction is associated with asthma exacerbations independently of eosinophilic airway inflammation. Further studies are required to evaluate whether treating isolated SAO may reduce the frequency of asthma exacerbations.


The present invention provides a mixing device (1) for mixing urea with a gas, said urea being preferably dissolved in a fluid preferably water and said gas being preferably air. The mixing device comprises preferably a urea inlet (10) and a gas inlet (12) for feeding respectively urea and the gas into a mixing chamber (20) of the mixing device (4), and an outlet (14) for outlet of the mix of urea and gas from the mixing chamber (20), these inlets (10,12) and outlet (14) may preferably have a stream wise extension and runs preferably into the mixing chamber (20) and the outlet (14) originates preferably from the mixing chamber (20). Preferably, at least the gas inlet (12) for feeding air into the mixing chamber is designed so that depositing of urea crystals on selected surfaces of the said inlet is substantially (typically in the sense that deposited crystals does not clog the inlet) or totally avoided.


In 2005, Jessica Lenahan (formerly Gonzales) initiated the first international legal action against the United States for violating the human rights of a domestic violence victim. Ms. Lenahan's petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Jessica Gonzales v. United States, alleged that the Castle Rock, Colorado police failed to protect her from the violent acts of her estranged husband, despite the guarantees contained in her restraining order against him, and that the U.S. judicial system (including the U.S. Supreme Court, which rejected her 14th Amendment procedural due process claim in June 2005) denied her a remedy for law enforcement's failure to respond appropriately to her. Through these actions, she contended, the U.S. government was responsible for violations of the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man - specifically the rights to life, security, family, due process, equality, truth, and freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. The U.S. government, represented by the State Department, has vigorously defended itself in the case, which is now at the final stage - the merits stage. A decision is expected in mid-2009. Jessica Gonzales v. United States marks the first time the Commission has been asked to consider the nature and extent of the U.S. Government's affirmative obligations to protect individuals from private acts of discriminatory violence. The case gives the Commission the opportunity to hold the United States to well-established international standards on state responsibility to exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate, and punish human rights violations and protect and compensate victims. The Gonzales case offers advocates the opportunity to contrast existing U.S. law and policy in the civil rights arena with international human rights principles. While the former provides only limited opportunities for private relief against governmental officers and has suffered a significant rollback in recent years, the latter holds federal, state, and local government actors to a higher and more expansive standard. Indeed, international human rights principles - in contrast to U.S. constitutional jurisprudence - make clear that the government has an affirmative obligation to protect individuals from private acts of violence, to investigate alleged violations and publicly report the results, and to provide an adequate and effective remedy when these duties are breached. The Gonzales case has also facilitated the mobilization of new coalitions among women's rights and domestic violence advocacy groups. By framing domestic violence as a human rights violation, the case challenges advocates and policymakers to re-think the current approach to domestic violence in the U.S., and asks whether fundamental rights are being respected, protected, and fulfilled. This holistic approach has the potential to spur development of new legal theories of governmental accountability for failure to protect domestic violence victims. The human rights framework pushes us to consider whether our country's current response to domestic violence, based largely upon a criminal justice model, is really a one-size-fits-all solution for protecting victims, especially those from communities that have troubled histories with law enforcement. This article tells the story of Jessica Gonzales's international quest for justice, her initiation of the first international legal action against the United States for violating the human rights of a domestic violence victim, and the impact of her journey on domestic violence and human rights advocacy in the United States and abroad. While her story could not have unfolded without Ms. Gonzales' very personal drive and commitment, it holds the potential to reshape domestic violence advocacy in the United States, and more broadly, the role of human rights standards in the domestic legal landscape.


Differences in regulated pharmaceutical prices within the European Economic Area create arbitrage opportunities that pharmacy retailers can use through parallel imports. For prescription drugs under patent, such provision decisions affect the sharing of profits among an innovating pharmaceutical company, retailers, and parallel traders. We develop a structural model of demand and supply in which retailers can choose the set of goods to sell to consumers, thus foreclosing the consumers' access to some less-profitable drugs, which allows retailers to bargain and obtain lower wholesale prices with the manufacturer and parallel trader. With detailed transaction data, we identify a demand model with unobserved choice sets using supply-side conditions for optimal assortment decisions of pharmacies. Estimating our model, we find that retailer incentives play a significant role in fostering parallel trade penetration. Our counterfactual simulations show that parallel imports of drugs allows retailers to gain profits at the expense of the manufacturer, whereas parallel traders also gain but earn more modest profits. Finally, a policy preventing pharmacies from foreclosing the manufacturer's product is demonstrated to partially shift profits from pharmacists to both the parallel trader and the manufacturer, and a reduction in the regulated retail price favors the manufacturer even more.


In this paper we demonstrate the potential of the infrared Fourier transform spectrometer IASI in analysing volcanic eruptions, using the September 2007 eruption at Jebel at Tair as an illustrative example. Detailed radiative transfer calculations are presented, simulating IASI-like transmittance spectra for a variety of volcanic plumes. We analyse the sensitivity of IASI to SO2 at different altitudes and demonstrate that IASI is in principle capable of sensing SO2 down to the surface. Using the brightness temperature difference of well chosen SO2 channels as a filter, we are able to track the plume of the Jebel at Tair eruption for 12 days, on a par with state of the art UV sounders. A method is presented for quickly estimating the altitude of a volcanic plume based on the relative intensities of the SO2 absorption lines. Despite recent advances, it is still very challenging to retrieve vertical profiles of SO2 from nadir viewing satellites. Currently the most accurate profiles in nadir are retrieved using backtracking of the plume with atmospheric transport models. Via full inverse retrievals using the optimal estimation method, we show the possibility of extracting medium coarse vertical profiles from IASI data. The retrieval allows us to present an evolution of the total mass of SO2 in the plume for the Jebel at Tair eruption. An analytical relation is derived between brightness temperature differences and concentrations, which fits the experimental data very well. The spectral range of IASI also allows retrieval of volcanic aerosols. In the initial plume of the Jebel at Tair eruption, volcanic aerosols were found in the form of ice particles, for which we derived particle sizes.


The purpose of this study was to develop and assess the profitability of four highbush blueberry farming systems in the south: organic field production, conventional field production, organic high tunnel production and conventional high tunnel production. Four baseline budget scenarios, one for each system, are developed for a 15 year production period. The results suggest that under expected production and price conditions for Northwest Arkansas, while all four production systems generated positive present value of net returns, the conventional field production produced the highest present value of net returns across the 15 years. The breakeven years of production were 7 and 8 for the conventional field system and organic field system, respectively. Because high tunnel production systems are not expected to increase yields over that of the field systems, the present value of net returns to these high tunnel systems were lower than those from their field production counterparts and these systems broke even much later, in year 12. Sensitivity analyses were conducted around the level of yields, input prices, output prices and pesticide application rates used in the baseline scenarios. Of the ranges of values examined for the sensitivity analyses, changes in yields seemed to have the greatest impact on the changes in present values of net returns. More study is needed to determine whether the range of values examined are representative of those faced by Arkansas producers. The baseline scenarios developed in this study will be used to inform the development of a new interactive sustainable blueberry production budgeting tool that will be released in 2015.


The new 50+ Foot Challenges: Assessment and Evidence-based management retains all the benefits of the popular first edition but adds more cases, more illustrations, new sections and invaluable appendices. The same illustrated case-history format as in the first edition presents readers with the clinical problems of each disorder. In each case, a problem-solving approach is encouraged through a question-and-answer format. This guides the reader to the appropriate diagnosis and treatment plan. Clinical tips for improving practice are included and each study concludes with a short list of key points and references to further reading.
All those involved in the care and management of patients with foot conditions will find this book an invaluable aide-memoire and guide to their daily practice.


The Cooperative Communication (CC) is a technology that allows multiple nodes to simultaneously transmit the same data. It can save power and extend transmission coverage. However, prior research work on topology control considers CC only in the aspect of energy saving, not that of coverage extension. This paper identify the challenges in the development of a centralized topology control scheme, named Cooperative Bridges, which reduces transmission power of nodes as well as increases network connectivity. Previous research on topology control with CC only focuses on maintaining the network connectivity, minimizing the transmission power of each node, whereas ignores the energy efficiency of paths in constructed topologies. This may cause inefficient routes and hurt the overall network performance in cooperative ad hoc networks. With the help of studied topology control problem for energy-efficient topology with cooperative communication. This paper proposed optimum relay nodes selection for CC network to reduce overall power consumption of network.


Companies start their lives as startups, privately funded, small, focused, and not profitable. As they mature, they often become publicly traded, profitable, much bigger, and involved in multiple projects. Christensen (1997) found that startup companies are more innovative than mature companies. Amabile (1988), Ekvall (1996), and others developed a list of organizational factors affecting the creativity of individuals in organizations. The purpose of this study is to explore the differences in the organizational climate and personal context for creativity between mature companies and startup companies, and the resulting differences in the level of experienced individual creativity between those companies. This exploratory, interview based case study used a sample of 20 participants who worked for both startup and mature companies, and explored the differences in the participants' experiences of creativity and the factors contributing to, or inhibiting creativity. This study found that individuals experienced higher degree of creativity in startup companies than in mature ones, that the organizational factors conducive to creativity were perceived as higher in the startup companies, while the organizational factors inhibiting creativity were perceived as higher in the mature companies, explaining the experienced higher degree of individual creativity in startup companies, and potentially explaining why startup companies are more innovative than mature ones. The study did not find significant differences in personal context factors between the two types of companies.


This article is to analyze the impact of Chinese enterprises on the local employment practices in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Based on surveys of over 100 Chinese and local companies and extensive interviews with managers and policy-makers in both countries made from July to December 2007, the study aims not only to depict the current employment practices of Chinese companies in Africa, but also to analyze the factors which affect the localization of employment. Two major patterns, bulldozer-type and locomotive-type, are identified and their implications for the local communities are discussed.


When do judges follow rules expected to produce unjust results, and when do they intentionally misapply such rules to avoid injustice? Judicial rule-breaking is commonly observed when national dignity and morality are at stake such as with abolitionist judges charged with applying federal fugitive slave laws, or when lives hang in the balance, such as in applications of criminal sentencing rules. Much less is understood about judicial rule-breaking in quotidian civil litigation, in spite of the sizeable impact on litigants and potential litigants, as well as the frequency with which judges face such decisions. This Article is the first to theoretically assess and empirically analyze judicial rule-breaking in the commonplace setting of applying two rules regarding sexual harassment. We find that the likelihood of rule-breaking increases when judges perceive that pleas to legislatively or judicially correct the rule that produces unfair results would go unanswered.


Premise of research. Pollination syndromes are suites of correlated characters that reflect selection by most frequent and effective pollinators. However, the floral phenotypes of some angiosperm species combine traits from different pollination syndromes. The aim of this study was to assess the correspondence between floral traits and floral visitors, considering the breeding systems of two co-occurring Drymonia species with mixed floral phenotypes. Methodology. We assessed floral morphology, nectar production patterns, frequency of floral visitation, breeding systems, and natural fruit set in Drymonia strigosa and Drymonia oinochrophylla species at Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, Mexico, during 2011–2014. We also conducted a field test of reproductive assurance in D. strigosa, the only species with a high potential for autonomous self-pollination. Pivotal results. In D. strigosa, morphology and nectar production patterns correspond to the ornithophilous syndrome; however, anthers have poricidal dehiscence, a trait associated with bee pollination. Hummingbirds were the most frequent floral visitors, and stingless bees were less frequent visitors acting mostly as nectar robbers. The species has a high autofertility potential, but autonomous self-pollination contributed little to fruit set during the study years. In D. oinochrophylla, most floral traits correspond to the melittophilous syndrome; however, high nectar production and large flower size resemble traits of chiropterophilous flowers. Primary pollinators were bees with less frequent visits by butterflies and moths; bats were not observed during the study period. Drymonia oinochrophylla is self-compatible, but it has little potential for autonomous self-pollination; therefore, seed production is highly dependent on pollinators. Conclusions. Our results suggest that mixed floral phenotypes in the two Drymonia species are not likely a consequence of visitation by multiple pollinator functional groups. Instead, incomplete correspondence of floral traits with classic pollination syndromes may represent undetected floral visitors in disturbed environments or plesiomorphies retained throughout the evolutionary history of the genus Drymonia.


In this article, we explore the nexus between information and communications technology (ICT), remittances and output per worker in Vietnam from 1980 to 2012. Within the augmented Solow framework, we deploy the autoregressive distributed lag bounds procedure and Granger causality tests to examine the short-run and long-run effects and the direction of causality, respectively. The results show that ICT has a momentous short-run (0.002 per cent) and long-run (0.006 per cent) effect on per worker output. However, in the long run, the elasticity coefficient of remittances is positive but not significant within the 1–10 per cent level of significance, and the short-run results show mixed effects. The causality result indicates bidirectional causation between remittances and output per worker, duly emphasizing their mutually reinforcing effect and a unidirectional causation from capital per worker and ICT to remittances, respectively.


We present an extended model for B clustering in crystalline or in preamorphized Si and with validity under conditions below and above the equilibrium solid solubility limit of B in Si. This model includes boron-interstitial clusters (BICs) with BnIm configurations—complexes with n B atoms and m Si interstitials—larger (n > 4), and eventually more stable, than those included in previous models. In crystalline Si, the formation and dissolution pathways into large BICs configurations require high B concentration and depend on the flux of Si interstitials. In the presence of high Si interstitial flux, large BICs with a relatively large number of interstitials (m ≥ n) are formed, dissolving under relatively low thermal budgets. On the contrary, for low Si interstitial flux large BICs with few interstitials (m ≪ n) can form, which are more stable than small BICs, and whose complete dissolution requires very intense thermal budgets. We have also investigated the kinetics of large BICs in preamorphized Si, both ...


Current experiments of processing glass with ultra-short laser pulses (< 1 ps) lead to scan angle depending processing results. This scan angle depending effect is examined by simulations of a common focusing lens for laser scanners. Due to dispersion, focusing lenses may cause pulse deformations and increase the pulse duration in the focal region. If the field angle of the incoming laser beam is variable, the pulse deformation may also vary as a function of the field angle. By ray tracing as well as wave optical simulations we investigate pulse deformations of optical systems for different scan angles.


The Cross Ambiguity Function (CAF) is often used for passive geolocation of an emitter based on the time difference of arrival (TDOA) and frequency difference of arrival (FDOA) of the received signals. CAF performance has been thoroughly investigated in regards to traditional single-input single-output (SISO) signals. Little is known about how the CAF will respond to signals from multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems which utilize multiple antennas. This thesis focuses on characterizing the CAF's magnitude distribution in order to determine the probability of correctly determining the correct TDOA/FDOA bin, and the resulting impact on geolocation. The received signals are studied in the presence of additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) as well as multi-channel propagation effects such as phase ambiguities and offsets due to multi-antenna transmission. Two and four transmit antennas using either a form of spatial multiplexing or space-time block coding are the focus of this work because they are mostly commonly found in currently deployed communication systems. The effects of these transmit schemes are studied with respect to TDOA/FDOA error and the resulting position error. The analysis is performed using a detection theory framework as opposed to estimation theory in order to emphasize the impact of MIMO transmission on determining the correct TDOA/FDOA bin. A simple method using the CAF magnitude as a decision statistic is also presented so that TDOA/FDOA errors can be detected and filtered in an attempt to improve positioning estimates.