Multimodal IR, spanning text corpus, knowledge graph and images, called outside knowledge visual question answering (OKVQA), is of much recent interest. However, the popular data set has serious limitations. A surprisingly large fraction of queries do not assess the ability to integrate cross-modal information. Instead, some are independent of the image, some depend on speculation, some require OCR or are otherwise answerable from the image alone. To add to the above limitations, frequency-based guessing is very effective because of (unintended) widespread answer overlaps between the train and test folds. Overall, it is hard to determine when state-of-the-art systems exploit these weaknesses rather than really infer the answers, because they are opaque and their 'reasoning' process is uninterpretable. An equally important limitation is that the dataset is designed for the quantitative assessment only of the end-to-end answer retrieval task, with no provision for assessing the correct(semantic) interpretation of the input query. In response, we identify a key structural idiom in OKVQA ,viz., S3 (select, substitute and search), and build a new data set and challenge around it. Specifically, the questioner identifies an entity in the image and asks a question involving that entity which can be answered only by consulting a knowledge graph or corpus passage mentioning the entity. Our challenge consists of (i)OKVQA_S3, a subset of OKVQA annotated based on the structural idiom and (ii)S3VQA, a new dataset built from scratch. We also present a neural but structurally transparent OKVQA system, S3, that explicitly addresses our challenge dataset, and outperforms recent competitive baselines. We make our code and data available at https://s3vqa.github.io/.


Metagenomics has taken off as one of the major cutting-edge fields of research. The field has broad implications for human health and disease, animal production and environmental health. Metagenomics has opened up a wealth of data, tools, technologies and applications that allow us to access the majority of organisms that we still cannot access in pure culture (an estimated 99% of microbial life). Numerous research groups are developing tools, approaches and applications to deal with this new field, as larger data sets from environments including the human body, the oceans and soils are being generated. See for example the human microbiome initiative (HMP) which has become a world-wide effort and the Global Ocean Sampling (GOS) surveys. The number of publications as measured through PubMed that are focused on metagenomics continues to increase. The field of metagenomics continues to evolve with large common datasets available to the scientific community. A concerted effort is needed to collate all this information in a centralized place. By having all the information in an Encyclopedia form, we have an opportunity to gather seminal contributions from the leaders in the field, and at the same time provide this information to a significant number of junior and senior scientists. It is anticipated that the Encyclopedia will also be used by many other groups including, clinicians, undergraduate and graduate level students, as well as ethical and legal groups associated with or interested in the issues surrounding metagenome science.


The author combines a syntax-theoretical treatment of telicity marking and an empirical study of the second language acquisition of English telicity marking by native speakers of Bulgarian, a Slavic language. It is argued that Vendler's lexical classes of verbs (states, activities, accomplishments and achievements) can be represented in four phrase structure templates, where lexical properties of the verb and of the object compositionally determine telicity. A parameterized distinction between English and Slavic aspect is proposed. The book addresses two major acquisition issues: (1) what is the nature of the initial hypothesis Bulgarian learners of English entertain regarding telicity marking (i.e., is there native language transfer)? (2) are adult learners capable of resetting the telicity marking parameter? Both L1 transfer and parameter resetting are experimentally supported. In addition, the study investigates the L2 acquisition of a cluster of complex predicate constructions, purportedly related to the telicity parameter in the grammatical competence and in child language acquisition of English.


In California's continuing efforts to improve the quality of public schools, teacher retention is a potentially important strategy. Using a new longitudinal database on public school teachers, the authors examine teacher retention patterns in the state. They investigate the effects on retention of two policies intended to improve retention (teacher induction programs and teacher compensation), as well as the unintended consequences of class-size reduction programs. They also consider the relationship between teacher retention and the shortage of fully credentialed teachers, with a particular focus on high-poverty districts, where the shortage is most severe. (Public Policy Institute of California, February 2006.)


AbstractIn a distributed, single-address-space system, an important requirement is the independence of the operations possible on a given page from the present location of this page in the physical memory. The network traffic generated by execution of every page opera-tion should be independent of the network size. Furthermore, the number of messages required to determine the position of the page in memory should be low and independent of the page operations performed in the past. Finally, when normal working condition is restored after a node or network failure, the system should be able to determine the position of each page in the distributed memory. We present a design framework for a memory management system complying with these requirements. The state of the system is defined in terms of both the location of the virtual pages in memory and the page contents. The definition of state consistency is used as a foundation for the notion of mapping of page names into node names.


Published in 1994, Louise Erdrich's The Bingo Palace traces the journey of Lipsha Morrissey, who is called to return to his childhood home, a fictional Ojibwe reservation, after years of living off-reservation with his father. Upon his return, Lipsha becomes enamored with a young woman, Shawnee Ray, and entangled in conflict with Lyman, Lipsha's uncle, half-brother, and the father of Shawnee Ray's child, who plans to build a glamorous "Bingo Palace" on reservation land to bring wealth to the Ojibwe people. As Lipsha struggles to reconcile his conflict with Lyman, he faces questions of identity, family, and an ethical dilemma: would the economic benefits of a "Bingo Palace" outweigh the cultural costs?


The intracellular messenger mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) is activated in vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC) by various growth factors as well as by agonists that have no proliferative effect. We explored the hypotheses that SMC proliferation is associated with a specific pattern of MAPK activation by evaluating the kinetics of MAPK activation and tyrosine phosphorylation and the intracellular location of MAPK in SMC following addition of agonists of varying mitogenic potential. A peak in MAPK activation and tyrosine phosphorylation occurred 3-10 min after the addition of agonists to SMC derived from human saphenous vein (early phase), followed by a plateau of activity, which was variable in duration (late phase). A correlation was not found between mitogenicity and the degree to which MAPK became activated or tyrosine phosphorylated in the early phase. However, the duration of MAPK activation and tyrosine phosphorylation correlated strongly with the ability of agonists to stimulate SMC proliferation. Nuclear translocation of MAPK was associated with SMC proliferation, although the degree to which each agonist induced nuclear translocation did not parallel its mitogenic potential. The relative dependency of all three events on protein kinase C differed for each agonist and was greater in the late versus the early phase. Thus, in human SMC, nuclear translocation of MAPK and prolonged activation and tyrosine phosphorylation of MAPK are associated with growth factor-induced mitogenesis.


This paper arose from a question: why are there so many connections between cookies and the Internet? We describe some of these connections. Cookies appear in contexts that have to do with giving and sharing. We explore the larger social context of cookies as food, as a gift for children, and as a symbol of sharing, and also the relationship between women and giving. There turns out to be a connection between the Internet gift economy, the U.S. tradition of giving cookies as a present, and the future of the Internet. We describe this connection and its implication for Internet strategies.


When resolving mixture data sets using self-modeling mixture analysis techniques, there are generally a range of possible solutions. There are cases, however, in which a unique solution is possible. For example, variables may be present (e.g., m/z values in mass spectrometry) that are characteristic for each of the components (pure variables), in which case the pure variables are proportional to the actual concentrations of the components. Similarly, the presence of pure spectra in a data set leads to a unique solution. This paper will show that these solutions can be obtained by applying angle constraints in combination with non-negativity to the solution vectors (resolved spectra and resolved concentrations). As will be shown, the technique goes beyond resolving data sets with pure variables and pure spectra by enabling the analyst to selectively enhance contrast in either the spectral or concentration domain. Examples will be given of Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) microscopy of a polymer laminate, secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) images of a two-component mixture, and energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) of alloys.


A kinetic study of the reversible deprotonation of benzofuran-3(2H)-one (3H-O) and benzothiophene-3(2H)-one (3H-S) by amines and hydroxide ion in water at 25 degrees C is reported. The respective conjugate bases, 3--O and 3--S, represent benzofuran and benzothiophene derivatives, respectively, and thus are aromatic. The main question addressed in this paper is whether this aromaticity has the effect of enhancing or lowering intrinsic barriers to proton transfer. These intrinsic barriers were either determined from Brønsted plots for the reactions with amines or calculated on the basis of the Marcus equation for the reaction with OH-; they were found to be lower for the more highly aromatic benzothiophene derivative, indicating that aromaticity lowers the intrinsic barrier. It is shown that the reduction in the intrinsic barrier is not an artifact of other factors such as inductive, steric, resonance, polarizability, and pi-donor effects, although these factors affect the intrinsic barriers in a major way. Our results imply that aromatic stabilization of the transition state is ahead of proton transfer; this contrasts with simple resonance effects, which typically lag behind proton transfer at the transition state, thereby increasing intrinsic barriers.


Approximate Message Passing (AMP) has been shown to be a superior method for inference problems, such as the recovery of signals from sets of noisy, lower-dimensionality measurements, both in terms of reconstruction accuracy and in computational efficiency. However, AMP suffers from serious convergence issues in contexts that do not exactly match its assumptions. We propose a new approach to stabilizing AMP in these contexts by applying AMP updates to individual coefficients rather than in parallel. Our results show that this change to the AMP iteration can provide expected, but hitherto unobtainable, performance for problems on which the standard AMP iteration diverges. Additionally, we find that the computational costs of this swept coefficient update scheme is not unduly burdensome, allowing it to be applied efficiently to signals of large dimensionality.


The philosophy of Francis Bacon has an important and often overlooked place in the development of American political thought. John Dewey cites Bacon as the forefather of his own highly influential philosophical school, American pragmatism. I argue that, though Dewey is in many ways correct to look to Bacon as his predecessor, he overlooks or collapses certain crucial tensions in Bacon's philosophical project. This causes Dewey to misinterpret the political implications of the philosophic project to which he himself is an heir. By exploring the tensions that Bacon maintains, and Dewey collapses, between human knowledge and human power, science and democracy, and progress in the sciences and progress within states, I hope to shed light on the true implications of Bacon's philosophical project for American political thought.


We develop a collective household model with spousal matching in which there exists marital gains to assortative matching and marriage quality for each couple is revealed ex post. Changes in alimony laws are shown to affect existing couples and couples-to-be differently. For existing couples, legislative changes that favor (wo)men benefit them especially if the marriage match quality is low, while, for couples not yet formed, they generate offsetting intra-household transfers and lower intra-marital allocations for the spouses who are the intended beneficiary. We then estimate the effect of granting alimony rights to cohabiting couples in Canada using a triple-difference framework since each province extended these rights in different years and requiring different cohabitation length. We find that obtaining the right to petition for alimony led women to lower their labor force participation. These results, however, do not hold – and, in some cases, are reversed – for newly formed cohabiting couples.


Abstract It seems fair to say that human rights law takes the human as given. Human beings are particular kinds of entities with particular kinds of psychologies and propensities, and it is the job of human rights law and human rights enforcement to govern that kind of entity, be it through sanctions, education, incentives, or other mechanisms. More specifically, human rights law takes human brains as given. If humans were different kinds of beings, both the mechanisms of getting compliance and possibly the very rules themselves would be different. The purpose of this essay is to very tentatively start to tie together thinking in neuroscience, bioethics, and human rights law to ask whether human rights law should take the nature of human beings, and more specifically, human brains, as given. I sketch the alternative possibility and examine it from a normative and (to a lesser extent) scientific perspective: instead of merely crafting laws and setting up structures that get human beings such as they are to respect human rights, that the human rights approach should also consider embracing attempts to remake human beings (and more specifically human brains) into the kinds of things that are more respectful of human rights law. This is currently science fiction, but there is some scientific evidence that moral enhancement may one day be possible. I call the alternative "moral enhancement to respect human rights law." To put the aim of the essay in its mildest form it is to answer the following question: if it becomes possible to use enhancement to increase respect for human rights and fidelity to human rights law (whatever you think is constitutive of those categories), and in particular in a way that reduces serious human rights violations, is it worth "looking into?" Or, by contrast, are the immediate objections to such an endeavor so powerful or hard to refute that going in this direction should be forbidden.


The probabilistic fracture mechanics analysis code, PROFMAC-II, was developed and benchmarked for postulated pressurized thermal shock (PTS) events of pressurized water reactor pressure vessel integrity issues by participating the PTS benchmarking activities organized and managed jointly by U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) and Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). Three different sets of benchmarking problems were assigned to participants for the studies in sequence. The initial and second sets were preparatory to the third set. Results from the sequential benchmarking activities were that for axial flaw analyses probabilities of crack initiation were identical to those for vessel failure and the scatter of probabilities among four participating codes was small, while for circumferential flaw analyses probabilities varied widely. It was eventually verified that the same probabilities were achievable by unifying procedures for simulating material properties. Performance of the PROFMAC-II code was excellent in terms of consistency and adequacy among the four codes and the eight organizations which took part in the studies. Several issues relevant to analysis techniques and input variables were pointed out for further improvement of the codes.


Today spectating and streaming virtual reality (VR) activities typically involves spectators viewing a 2D stream of the VR user's view. Streaming 2D videos of the game play is popular and well-supported by platforms such as Twitch. However, the generic streaming of full 3D representations is less explored. Thus, while the VR player's experience may be fully immersive, spectators are limited to 2D videos. This asymmetry lessens the overall experience for spectators, who themselves may be eager to spectate in VR. DreamStream puts viewers in the virtual environment of the VR application, allowing them to look "over the shoulder" of the VR player. Spectators can view streamed VR content immersively in 3D, independently explore the VR scene beyond what the VR player sees and ultimately cohabit the virtual environment alongside the VR player. For the VR player, DreamStream provides a spatial awareness of all their spectators. DreamStream retrofits and works with existing VR applications. We discuss the design and implementation of DreamStream, and carry out three qualitative informal evaluations. These evaluations shed light on the strengths and weakness of using DreamStream for the purpose of interactive spectating. Our participants found that DreamStream's VR viewer interface offered increased immersion, and made it easier to communicate and interact with the VR player.


The aim of research is to determine the effect of cognitive restructuring training on reducing nonorganic sexual problems of couples in Isfahan. And increasing its dimensions (sexual satisfaction, sexual motivation, sexual confidence, sexual pleasure, and sexual health). In this research experimental methods with preparing pretest and posttest with case and control group were used. The samples of this research were 120 couples that were selected randomly from the research community and were classified in two groups of test and control. The research instrument was Hooper sexual problems and Cognitive Restructuring learning. In this study case group was trained for 10 sessions, each session 2 hours, and at the end of this term, again the questionnaire was completed by both groups. And by using analysis of data covariance, were analyzed. Research results showed that educating cognitive restructuring on reducing the total score of couples' sexual problems and all its dimensions. (P < 05/0). By reducing sexual problems, marital and sexual satisfaction will be increased and it will have a positive effect on couples' life . Because the cause of many psychological distress and marital conflicts is resulting from lack of sexual satisfaction and years of ignoring the sexual instinct in humans has had irreversible effects on social and marital relationships and has collapsed many families, finding some solutions for resolving sexual problems seems necessary. This study showed that cognitive restructuring can be taught alongside other methods of therapy for marital problems and disputes arising from sexual problems. [Mahshid Sasanpour. The influence of cognitive restructuring training on reducing Non organic sexual problems of couple. Life Science Journal 2012; 9(1):797-802 ]. (ISSN: 1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com. 115


Grammaticalization is a phenomenon (Bisang 1996) in which certain independent lexical verbs, become grammatical forms. This process happens in many languages from different families: Tibeto-Burman languages (DeLancey 1991, cf. also Hyslop this volume), languages in mainland Southeast Asia (Bisang 1996; Lord 1993; Thepkanjana 1986), and other language families around the world. DeLancey (2004) proposed that the process of grammaticalization involved diachronic changes of certain lexical morphemes becoming grammatical ones through three stages: serialization, auxiliarization and morphologization. Our particular interest in this chapter will be the process of grammaticalization through verb serialization in Ede (a Chamic language of Vietnam), from a shift of an independent lexical verb to a verb in a sequence, and further to a grammaticalized auxiliary. Verb serialization in Ede provides a demonstration of DeLancey's (2004) hypothesis regarding the process of grammaticalization occurring even though the stage of "morphologization" may not occur in Ede as it is an isolating language.


Presenting a sustained and concrete challenge to the current political consensus, this reference identifies the radical alternative of adopting socialism as the key issue facing civilization and the crucial condition of making substantial progress. Demonstrating that capitalist control of the state was so comprehensive that partial reforms were impossible, this reference attempts to explain how society has managed to evade socialism, exploring how its claims have failed to persuade many intellectuals and the potential benefactors of an alternative order. Reviewing the influence of economic elites and the dominant class, this study also probes the state's claims to legitimacy, defines the purpose and role of governments, and analyzes the concepts of reform and repression. Depicting how the state reemerged from behind the mystifications of the political system and its behavior to become the central theme of political studies, this radical and philosophical investigation combines a political appeal with thorough, detailed scholarship. A discussion of servants of the state and the concept of imperfect competition are also included.


Protein microarray technology has made enormous progress in recent years. It has been successfully applied for the identification, quantification and functional analysis of proteins in basic and applied proteome research. Protein microarrays have the potential to replace singleplex analysis systems. A variety of different analytical platforms have been developed that are likely to evolve into key technologies for the characterisation of complex samples. However, in contrast to well-established DNA microarrays, the robustness and automation needs to be demonstrated before protein microarray technology will reliably be integrated into high-throughput and routine applications. In this review we will summarise the current stage of protein microarray technology. Recent applications used for the simultaneous determination of a variety of parameters from a minute amount of sample will be described and future challenges of this cutting-edge technology will be discussed.


The 3D-HST and CANDELS programs have provided WFC3 and ACS spectroscopy and photometry over ≈ 900 arcmin2 in five fields: AEGIS, COSMOS, GOODS-North, GOODS-South, and the UKIDSS UDS field. All these fields have a wealth of publicly available imaging datasets in addition to the HST data, which makes it possible to construct the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of objects over a wide wavelength range. In this paper we describe a photometric analysis of the CANDELS and 3D-HST HST imaging and the ancillary imaging data at wavelengths 0.3μm – 8μm. Objects were selected in the WFC3 near-IR bands, and their SEDs were determined by carefully taking the effects of the point spread function in each observation into account. A total of 147 distinct imaging datasets were used in the analysis. The photometry is made available in the form of six catalogs: one for each field, as well as a master catalog containing all objects in the entire survey. We also provide derived data products: photometric redshifts, determined with the EAZY code, and stellar population parameters determined with the FAST code. We make all the imaging data that were used in the analysis available, including our reductions of the WFC3 imaging in all five fields. 3D-HST is a spectroscopic survey with the WFC3 and ACS grisms, and the photometric catalogs presented here constitute a necessary first step in the analysis of these grism data. All the data presented in this paper are available through the 3D-HST website.16 Subject headings: galaxies: evolution — galaxies: general — methods: data analysis — techniques: photometric — catalogs


Background Poor health status has been associated with morbidity and mortality in patients with COPD. To date, the impact of changes in health status on these outcomes remains unknown. Aims To explore the relationship of clinically relevant changes in health status with exacerbation, hospitalisation or death in patients with COPD. Methods Characteristics and health status (St George's Respiratory Questionnaire, SGRQ) were assessed over a period of 3 years in 2138 patients with COPD enrolled in the Evaluation of COPD Longitudinally to Identify Predictive Surrogate Endpoints (ECLIPSE) study: a longitudinal, prospective, observational study. Associations between change in health status (=4 units in SGRQ score) during year 1 and time to first exacerbation, hospitalisation and death during 2-year follow-up were assessed using Kaplan–Meier plots and log-rank test. Results 1832 (85.7%) patients (age 63.4±7.0 years, 65.4% male, FEV1 48.7±15.6% predicted) underwent assessment at baseline and 1 year. Compared with those who deteriorated, patients with improved or stable health status in year 1 have a lower likelihood of exacerbation (HR 0.78 (95% CI 0.67 to 0.89), p<0.001 and 0.84 (0.73 to 0.97), p=0.016, respectively), hospitalisation (0.72 (0.58 to 0.90), p=0.004 and 0.77 (0.62 to 0.96), p=0.023, respectively) or dying (0.61 (0.39 to 0.95), p=0.027 and 0.58 (0.37 to 0.92), p=0.019, respectively) during 2-year follow-up. This effect persisted after stratification for age and the number of exacerbations and hospitalisations during the first year of the study. Conclusions Patients with stable or improved health status during year 1 of ECLIPSE had a lower likelihood of exacerbation, hospitalisation or dying during 2-year follow-up. Interventions that stabilise and improve health status may also improve outcomes in patients with COPD. Trial registration number NCT00292552, registered at ClinicalTrials.gov.


Various factors affect a firm's choice of sources of product innovation. Understanding these factors is important for firms to be able to choose sources of innovation based upon their specific conditions. Earlier research has identified many of these factors, mainly by focusing on the internal factors of firms in developed countries. However, there is still a lack of empirical studies of external factors, especially in terms of the relationship between different factors and the choice of sources of innovation in developing countries. This paper examines the determinants of the choice of innovation source for Chinese firms. Based on a combination of participatory studies, interviews and a survey of more than 400 firms in China, it finds that the innovative ideas of other firms are still the most frequently used source of innovation for Chinese enterprises. The links between a firm's choice and its market environment, industry technological opportunities, firm size and R&D intensity are also identified.


This dissertation examines sexual reputation in the county of
Somerset between 1733 and 1850. Its purpose is to explore plebeian
sexual culture by tracing changes in the way plebeian men and women
defined and defended their sexual reputations in an era of social,
economic and cultural transition. In this period Somerset evolved
from a prosperous and rapidly growing county with an economy based on
agriculture and manufactures to a more static and primarily agrarian
county; its major city, Bath, went from being a thriving resort to a
retirement town. At the same time, the breakdown of the Puritan
sexual consensus left a hiatus before the triumph of Victorianism
during which a multiplicity of sexual cultures thrived.
The defamation causes heard in the ecclesiastical courts of the
diocese of Bath and Wells constitute the basic source for the study of
plebeian sexual reputation. By the eighteenth century, these causes
were concerned solely with sexual insults and the courts' clients
were predominantly and increasingly married women drawn from the
ranks of artisans and small tradespeople in the county's market towns
and the city of Bath. The survival of this jurisdiction reflects a
continuing need on the part of plebeian litigants for a cheap and
public mode of settling disputes over honour. Though plebeian men continued
to use the church courts to restore their good names long after
upper class men had ceased to do so, their eventual abandonment of the
courts has necessitated the use of common law sources to construct
a picture of male reputation.
As the industrial and agricultural revolutions proceeded, and the
personnel of the church courts adopted a sexual ideology emphasising
privacy, decorum and the double standard, traditional plebeian sexual
mores were challenged. Definitions of male and female reputation
diverged and the egalitarianism of the early eighteenth century weakened.
By the mid-nineteenth century, the dominant sexual culture had
triumphed: the distinctive plebeian sexual culture had been absorbed
by the more homogeneous sexual culture of the Victorian era; litigants
had ceased to use the church courts; and, in 1854, the defamation
jurisdiction was abolished.


Success and happiness are not accidents that happen to some people and not to others. They are created by specific ways of thinking and acting in the world. Paul McKenna has made a study of highly successful and effective people, and distilled core strategies and techniques that will help the reader to begin to think in the same way as a super-achiever. Learn how to master your emotions and run your own brain, how to have supreme self-confidence and become the person you really want to be. Paul McKenna's simple seven-day plan really will change your life for ever. Brilliantly effective self-improvement, in the bestselling tradition of Unlimited Power and The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.


We propose a static random access memory based complementary metal-oxide semiconductor LSI chip that accelerates ground-state searches of an Ising model. Escaping local minima is a key feature in creating such a chip. We describe a method for escaping the local minima by asynchronously distributing random pulses. The random pulses are input from outside the chip and propagated through two asynchronous paths. In an experiment using a prototype of our chip, our method achieved the same solution accuracy as the conventional method. The solution accuracy is further improved by dividing the random pulse distribution paths and increasing the number of pseudo random number generators.


Abstract In the helical-axis heliotron configuration, bumpiness of the Fourier components in Boozer coordinates is introduced to control the neoclassical transport. The bumpiness helps not only to align the mod-Bmin contours with the magnetic flux surfaces but also to control the balance of bootstrap currents due to helical and toroidal ripples. Effects of bumpiness control on the plasma performance (noninductive currents, fast-ion behavior, and global energy confinement) have been investigated in Heliotron J by selecting three configurations with different bumpiness ([curly epsilon]b = B04/B00 = 0.01, 0.06, and 0.15 at ρ = 2/3) but almost the same edge rotational transform and plasma volume. The dependence of noninductive toroidal currents is qualitatively consistent with the neoclassical prediction for the bootstrap current. The high-bumpiness configuration seems to be preferable for the confinement of fast ions. However, the longer global energy confinement time is not observed in the highest-bumpiness configuration ([curly epsilon]b = 0.15). When the dependence of the effective ripple modulation amplitude in International Stellarator Scaling 04 scaling is examined, the experimental results show that the normalized global energy confinement time seems long in the configuration with the minimum effective ripple modulation amplitude, where [curly epsilon]b is 0.06.


Set alongside "The Analects" and "Mencius", these two texts make up the 'four books' of Chinese Confucian tradition. Their depiction of the 'Way of Great Learning' focuses on the moral tenets of Confucian thinking, establishing a universal framework that links individuals with the cosmos. By drawing together key ethical and philophical, and metaphysical issues, the essays deal with the individual's development of moral character. They have long occupied a central position in the educational and political infrastructure of China, Korea and Japan, and their influence and popularity continues to grow, in the East and in the West.


Our law currently treats records of our reading habits under two contradictory rules: rules mandating confidentiality and rules permitting disclosure. Recently, the rise of the social Internet has created more of these records and more pressures on when and how they should be shared. Companies like Facebook, in collaboration with many newspapers, have ushered in the era of "social reading," in which what we read may be "frictionlessly shared" with our friends and acquaintances. Disclosure and sharing are on the rise.This Article sounds a cautionary note about social reading and frictionless sharing. Social reading might have some appeal, but the ways in which we set up the defaults for sharing matter a great deal. Our reader records implicate our intellectual privacy — the protection of reading from surveillance and interference so that we can read freely, widely, and without inhibition. I argue that the choices we make about how to share have real consequences and that frictionless sharing is neither frictionless nor is it really "sharing," at least as we typically understand the term. The sharing of our reading habits is special. Such sharing should be conscious and only occur after meaningful notice.The stakes in this debate are immense. We are quite literally rewiring the public and private spheres for a new century. Choices we make now — about the boundaries between our individual and social selves, between consumers and companies, and between citizens and the state — will have unforeseeable ramifications for the societies our children and grandchildren inherit. Even the setting of defaults we can opt out of will shape behavior and establish baselines of "normal" for our societies. We should make choices that preserve our intellectual privacy, not destroy it. This Article suggests practical ways to do just that.


With recourse to archival, printed primary, and secondary sources, this paper reconstructs global real interest rates on an annual basis going back to the 14th century, covering 78% of advanced economy GDP over time. I show that across successive monetary and fiscal regimes, and a variety of asset classes, real interest rates have not been 'stable', and that since the major monetary upheavals of the late middle ages, a trend decline between 0.6–1.6 basis points per annum has prevailed. A gradual increase in real negative-yielding rates in advanced economies over the same horizon is identified, despite important temporary reversals such as the 17th Century Crisis. Against their long-term context, currently depressedbsovereign real rates are in fact converging 'back to historical trend' — a trend that makes narratives about a 'secular stagnation' environment entirely misleading, and suggests that — irrespective of particular monetary and fiscal responses — real rates could soon enter permanently negative territory. I also posit that the return data here reflects a substantial share of 'non-human wealth' over time: the resulting R-G series derived from this data show a downward trend over the same timeframe: suggestions about the 'virtual stability' of capital returns, and the policy implications advanced by Piketty (2014) are in consequence equally unsubstantiated by the historical record.


Abstract. Multi-frequency radars offer enhanced detection of clouds and precipitation compared to single-frequency systems, and are able to make more accurate retrievals when several frequencies are available simultaneously. An evaluation of a spaceborne three-frequency Ku-/Ka-/W-band radar system is presented in this study, based on modeling radar reflectivities from the results of a global cloud-resolving model with a 875 m grid spacing. To produce the reflectivities, a scattering model has been developed for each of the hydrometeor types produced by the model, as well as for melting snow. The effects of attenuation and multiple scattering on the radar signal are modeled using a radiative transfer model, while nonuniform beam filling is reproduced with spatial averaging. The combined effects of these are then quantified both globally and in six localized case studies. Two different orbital scenarios using the same radar are compared. Overall, based on the results, it is expected that the proposed radar would detect a high-quality signal in most clouds and precipitation. The main exceptions are the thinnest clouds that are below the detection threshold of the W-band channel, and at the opposite end of the scale, heavy convective rainfall where a combination of attenuation, multiple scattering and nonuniform beam filling commonly cause significant deterioration of the signal; thus, while the latter can be generally detected, the quality of the retrievals is likely to be degraded.


Since the Lucas-Kanade algorithm was proposed in 1981 image alignment has become one of the most widely used techniques in computer vision. Applications range from optical flow, tracking, and layered motion, to mosaic construction, medical image registration, and face coding. Numer-ous algorithms have been proposed and a variety of extensions have been made to the original formulation. We present an overview of image alignment, describing most of the algorithms in a consistent framework. We concentrate on the inverse compositional algorithm, an efficient algorithm that we recently proposed. We examine which of the extensions to the Lucas-Kanade algorithm can be used with the inverse compositional algorithm without any significant loss of efficiency, and which cannot. In this paper, the fourth and final part in the series, we cover the addition of priors on the parameters. We first consider the addition of priors on the warp parameters. We show that priors can be added with minimal extra cost to all of the algorithms in Parts 1-3. Next we consider the addition of priors on both the warp and appearance parameters. Image alignment with appearance variation was covered in Part 3. For each algorithm in Part 3, we describe whether priors can be placed on the appearance parameters or not, and if so what the cost is.


Everyone knows the story of the Flood, the men God chose to survive, the animals that went in two-by-two. But what about the others that sailed on the Ark, the women and the children? This adventure story asks what it was really like when the heavens opened and the world drowned - and what might have happened in the days that followed. With a frighteningly zealous and single-minded Noah; Japheth and his young wife, Zillah concerned for the welfare of the animals; the stowaway boy and baby found by Noah's daughter, Timna; and the animals themselves, continuing to act as animals do, whatever their surroundings, this is an extremely compelling and at times very frightening story, beautifully written as ever by Geraldine McCaughrean.


In this investigation a group of lecturers in engineering education in Cuba that took part in an introduction course about the use of Learning Management Systems (LMS) gave their opinions about the future use of LMS. The answers show that the lecturers, even though they had little experience in handling a LMS, believed that they could benefit from the use of a LMS in the future and that they are prepared to use the programs as soon as they get proper training and the access to computers and internet is sufficient. It is pointed out that the possibility to improve efficiency, quality and availability of education by the use of a LMS depends on the system being fully implemented. In view of these findings the authors recommend that universities in developing countries take immediate steps to give lecturers training in the handling of LMS and encourage them to prepare for an extensive use of LMS as soon as the access to computers is sufficient.


Enterococci are significant agents of hospital-acquired infection (HAI) in the UK, including endocarditis, urinary tract infections and infections of surgical sites and indwelling foreign devices. These bacteria account for over 20% of HAI cases in the UK, which in total cost the National Health Service an estimated £1 billion per annum. Two significant clinical features of these bacteria are: (1) their ability to adhere to host tissues such as heart valves and the urinary tract and to prosthetics such as catheters and to then establish biofilms (thick layers of bacterial cells that are difficult to treat with antibiotics); and (2) their ability to produce proteases that weaken heart valves and other tissues. One mechanism by which these bacteria activate production of these virulence features is through the Fsr signal transduction pathway, in which the first step is activation of the FsrC membrane sensory protein by a pheromone called gelatinase biosynthesis-activating pheromone (GBAP). Investigations of this important interaction and its potential inhibition have formerly been hampered by the technical challenges associated with obtaining and working with purified FsrC because it is a hydrophobic membrane protein. However, the facilities at the Circular Dichroism beamline (B23) at Diamond Light Source allowed us to successfully investigate FsrC-GBAP and FsrC-inhibitor binding using relatively small amounts of purified intact protein, and to define stabilising conditions under which quantitative ligand binding data for FsrC and presumably other membrane proteins more generally can be obtained using synchrotron radiation circular dichroism (SRCD) spectroscopy.


Abstract The fracture energy, toughness and failure modes of air plasma oxidized polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) bonding are evaluated in this paper. Each PDMS–PDMS bonded specimen was subjected to T-peel testing at a constant-displacement rate. The load–extension curve from each test was analyzed by the principle of energy balance in linearly elastic fracture mechanics, to calculate the fracture energy (critical strain energy), which is the maximal strain energy a bonded specimen can withstand without losing its assembly integrity, and toughness (surface energy), which is the bonding energy at the interface. A distribution of calculated values against the air plasma treatment parameters shows the predominant range of 0.1 to 0.4 N/mm for fracture energy and 0.1 to 0.2 N/mm for toughness. Together with an analysis of three failure modes (cohesive, adhesive, and mixed), the results suggest 0.1 N/mm as the threshold of the fracture energy for weak bonding, below which a specimen will be likely to fail through debonding. A set of treatment parameters are recommended for using air plasma to achieve strong bonding.


The concrete along with steel, are the
responsibility structural material required to respond to
mechanical stresses; specifically, the tensile stresses are borne by
the steel, and it is this material that involvement of durability can
lose their resilience. Corrosion of steel is one of the main causes of
this affectation in the steel, and this is caused by the entry of
chloride ions in the called phenomenon diffusion.
This phenomenon is governed by the diffusion equations of
the Fick's first and second law [1]; for these, there are several
models that describe the behavior of chloride diffusion in
conventional concrete, but nevertheless, not in the recycled
concrete.
In this paper, are used as basis, the models of Janzhuang
Xiao et al. [2] and Long-Yuang Li et al. [3] to model and simulate
the phenomenon of chloride diffusion in concrete with recycled
aggregates; for which it has been used a five-phase model for the
aggregate: old and new Interfacial Transition Zones (ITZ), new
and old mortar, and original aggregate. Furthermore, in this
model were considered as variables the Thickness of the
Interfacial Transition Zone (TITZ), the rate of old mortar
adhered, the volume fraction of the aggregates and the continuity
of the ITZ. The model considered, was composed by a


Abstract Background Epidemiologic knowledge regarding noncardiovascular and all‐cause mortality in apparently healthy cats (AH) and cats with preclinical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (pHCM) is limited, hindering development of evidence‐based healthcare guidelines. Objectives To characterize/compare incidence rates, risk, and survival associated with noncardiovascular and all‐cause mortality in AH and pHCM cats. Animals A total of 1730 client‐owned cats (722 AH, 1008 pHCM) from 21 countries. Methods Retrospective, multicenter, longitudinal, cohort study. Long‐term health data were extracted by medical record review and owner/referring veterinarian interviews. Results Noncardiovascular death occurred in 534 (30.9%) of 1730 cats observed up to 15.2 years. Proportion of noncardiovascular death did not differ significantly between cats that at study enrollment were AH or had pHCM (P = .48). Cancer, chronic kidney disease, and conditions characterized by chronic weight‐loss‐vomiting‐diarrhea‐anorexia were the most frequently recorded noncardiovascular causes of death. Incidence rates/risk of noncardiac death increased with age in AH and pHCM. All‐cause death proportions were greater in pHCM than AH (65% versus 40%, respectively; P < .001) because of higher cardiovascular mortality in pHCM cats. Comparing AH with pHCM, median survival (study entry to noncardiovascular death) did not differ (AH, 9.8 years; pHCM, 8.6 years; P = .10), but all‐cause survival was significantly shorter in pHCM (P = .0001). Conclusions and Clinical Importance All‐cause mortality was significantly greater in pHCM cats due to disease burden contributed by increased cardiovascular death superimposed upon noncardiovascular death.


There has been recent interest in improving performance of simple models for multiple reasons such as interpretability, robust learning from small data, deployment in memory constrained settings as well as environmental considerations. In this paper, we propose a novel method SRatio that can utilize information from high performing complex models (viz. deep neural networks, boosted trees, random forests) to reweight a training dataset for a potentially low performing simple model such as a decision tree or a shallow network enhancing its performance. Our method also leverages the per sample hardness estimate of the simple model which is not the case with the prior works which primarily consider the complex model's confidences/predictions and is thus conceptually novel. Moreover, we generalize and formalize the concept of attaching probes to intermediate layers of a neural network, which was one of the main ideas in previous work (Dhurandhar et al., 2018b), to other commonly used classifiers and incorporate this into our method. The benefit of these contributions is witnessed in the experiments where on 6 UCI datasets and CIFAR-10 we outperform competitors in a majority (16 out of 27) of the cases and tie for best performance in the remaining cases. In fact, in a couple of cases, we even approach the complex model's performance. We also conduct further experiments to validate assertions and intuitively understand why our method works. Theoretically, we motivate our approach by showing that the weighted loss minimized by simple models using our weighting upper bounds the loss of the complex model.


In this research a passive haptic interface is explored as a surgical aid for dental implant surgery. The placement of a dental implant is critical since positioning mistakes can lead to permanent damage in the nerves controlling the lips, long lasting numbness, and failure of the implant and the crown on it. Haptic feedback to the surgeon in real time can decrease dependence on the surgeon's skill and experience for accurate implant positioning and increase the overall safety of the procedure. The developed device is a lightweight mechanism with weight compensation. Rotary magnetorheological (MR) brakes were custom designed for this application using the serpentine flux path concept. The resulting MR-brakes are 33% smaller in diameter than the only commercially available such brakes, yet produce 2.7 times more torque at 10.9 Nm. Another contribution of this research was a ferro-fluidic sealing technique which decreased the off-state torque. The control system implemented the passive force manipulability ellipsoid algorithm for force rendering of rigid wall-following tasks. Usability experiments were conducted to drill holes with haptic feedback. The maximum average positioning error was 2.88 mm along the x axis. The errors along the y and z axes were 1.9 mm and 1.16 mm, respectively. The results are on the same order of magnitude as other dental robotic systems. The innovative new MR-brake actuators, inherent safety of the system, and simplicity of control make this passive haptic interface a viable option for further exploration.


Fresh fruits and vegetables are considered as food because they have vitamins, mineral salts, water, calcium, iron, sulphur and potash (1). Citrus are the most important tropical and subtropical fruits in the world named scientifically as "Citrusspp.", family "Rotaceae" and subfamily "Auranitideae". They are rich in vitamins A, B, C, fiber, carbohydrate, calcium, potassium, niacin and folic acid. They also reduce blood cholesterol, prevent viral infections and reduce the risk of colon and stomach cancers (2). The vitamin C is in citrus increases iron absorption (3,4). They usually compose 8590 percent of water (5). They grow virtually in 50 countries around the world which are known for their good taste and quality. Their genus is about 60 species. Species such as orange, lemon, grapefruit and sour orange are important from an economic standpoint (6). Fruits are useful for human health in order to prevent and treat diseases. A-R-T-I-C-L-EI-N-F-O A-B-S-T-R-A-C-T Article Notes: Received: Sep. 26, 2016 Received in revised form: Jan. 16, 2017 Accepted: Feb. 24, 2017 Available Online: Feb 28, 2017 Background & Aims of the Study: Today, the environment pollution with heavy metals has increased. It is important to study various types of pollutions specially those regarding fruits. The effect of pollutions on food safety for human consumption is a global concern. This study was conducted for health assessment of heavy metals pollution (cadmium, lead, and arsenic) in citrus marketed in Tehran, Iran in 2015. Materials & Methods: After collecting and preparing 2 samples from each citrus species (tangerine, grapefruit, sweet lime, sour orange, orange) with acid digestion method, the citrus pulp and peel were surveyed. Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICPOES) was used to determine the concentrations of heavy metals with three replications. Moreover, SPSS version 19 was employed to perform statistical analysis. Results: The results showed that the concentration average of Cadmium, Lead and Arsenic in citrus samples of the pulp parts were 19.73, 42.95 and 2.30 mg/kg and in peel parts were 20.09, 42.71 and 2.12 mg/kg, respectively. The average concentrations of heavy metals were higher than WHO maximum permissible limits. Conclusions: Based on these results, consumption of citrus species has no adverse effect on the consumers' health (except Sweet lime, Orange, Tangerine and Grapefruit in lead is risky for adults and Sweet lime and Orange that Health Index in Lead and Arsenic and Sour Orange, Tangerine and Grapefruit that Health Index in Lead is more than 1 and is risky for children). Thus, individuals living in Tehran should be cautious about using these citrus fruits and researchers should try to obtain national standards in the field of entering these metals to food in environmental conditions that are in Iran.


Development of alternative carbonaceous sources for energy production is essential to alleviate the dependence on depleting fossil fuels which led to increasing atmospheric CO2 and thus global warming. While biomass utilization for energy and chemical production has been extensively studied in the literature, such studies on municipal solid wastes is difficult to interpret due to the heterogeneous nature of the waste. Understanding of the influence of individual components is necessary for comprehensive development of waste-to-energy pathway. One such waste that is complicated and has often been ignored in the literature is composite polymer absorbent material waste which can also be considered as a potential feedstock for thermochemical pathway of energy production. Composite polymer absorbent materials are ubiquitously used these days in the form of sanitary napkins, diapers, water blockers, fire blockers and surgical pads due to their high water-absorptive nature. Pyrolysis and CO2 gasification is ideal for such materials due to its versatile feedstock intake and uniform product output in the form of syngas with adjustable composition. CO2 gasification also provides the added benefit of CO2 utilization which provides carbon offset to this process. In the present study, a mixture of cellulose, absorbent material (sodium polyacrylate), polypropylene and polystyrene in a fixed proportion, to model approximate composition of a diaper, was examined for its pyrolysis and CO2 gasification capability for viable syngas production. The influence of individual components into the syngas yield from the composite waste gasification was also investigated. A fixed-bed, semi-batch reactor facility along with gas chromatography was employed to analyse the syngas yield and compositional evolution. Pyrolysis was done under nitrogen atmosphere and gasification was done under CO2 atmosphere. CO2 gasification provided net CO2 consumption which means a net reduction in carbon emissions per joule of energy produced. The sample was tested under four isothermal conditions of 973, 1073, and 1173 K to understand the impact of operational conditions on the syngas yield. Influence of individual component of the composite absorbent waste on the syngas yield and composition was also analyzed by comparing these syngas characteristics with that of the yield from gasification of its individual components separately at 1173 K. These investigations provided us with novel results on the behavior and capabilities of these composite polymer absorbent wastes and which opens up a new avenue towards efficient utilization of solid waste resources for sustainable energy production in the form of syngas which can also be used for various chemicals production such as methanol, gasoline and other petrochemical products.


Abstract. The structural framework provided by corals is crucial for reef
ecosystem function and services, but high seawater temperatures can be
detrimental to the calcification capacity of reef-building organisms. The Red
Sea is very warm, but total alkalinity (TA) is naturally high and
beneficial for reef accretion. To date, we know little about how such
detrimental and beneficial abiotic factors affect each other and the balance
between calcification and erosion on Red Sea coral reefs, i.e., overall
reef growth, in this unique ocean basin. To provide estimates of present-day
reef growth dynamics in the central Red Sea, we measured two metrics of reef
growth, i.e., in situ net-accretion/-erosion rates (Gnet)
determined by deployment of limestone blocks and ecosystem-scale carbonate
budgets (Gbudget), along a cross-shelf gradient (25 km,
encompassing nearshore, midshore, and offshore reefs). Along this gradient, we assessed
multiple abiotic (i.e., temperature, salinity, diurnal pH fluctuation,
inorganic nutrients, and TA) and biotic (i.e., calcifier and epilithic
bioeroder communities) variables. Both reef growth metrics revealed similar
patterns from nearshore to offshore: net-erosive, neutral, and net-accretion
states. The average cross-shelf Gbudget was 0.66 kg
CaCO3 m−2 yr−1, with the highest budget of 2.44 kg
CaCO3 m−2 yr−1 measured in the offshore reef. These
data are comparable to the contemporary Gbudgets from the western
Atlantic and Indian oceans, but lie well below "optimal reef production"
(5–10 kg CaCO3 m−2 yr−1) and below maxima recently
recorded in remote high coral cover reef sites. However, the erosive forces
observed in the Red Sea nearshore reef contributed less than observed
elsewhere. A higher TA accompanied reef growth across the shelf gradient,
whereas stronger diurnal pH fluctuations were associated with negative
carbonate budgets. Noteworthy for this oligotrophic region was the positive effect of
phosphate, which is a central micronutrient for reef building corals. While
parrotfish contributed substantially to bioerosion, our dataset also
highlights coralline algae as important local reef builders. Altogether, our
study establishes a baseline for reef growth in the central Red Sea that
should be useful in assessing trajectories of reef growth capacity under
current and future ocean scenarios.


Modern conflict-driven clause-learning (CDCL) Boolean satisfiability (SAT) solvers routinely solve formulas from industrial domains with millions of variables and clauses, despite the Boolean satisfiability problem being NP-complete and widely regarded as intractable in general. At the same time, very small crafted or randomly generated formulas are often infeasible for CDCL solvers. A commonly proposed explanation is that these solvers somehow exploit the underlying structure inherent in industrial instances. A better understanding of the structure of Boolean formulas not only enables improvements to modern SAT solvers, but also lends insight as to why solvers perform well or poorly on certain types of instances. Even further, examining solvers through the lens of these underlying structures can help to distinguish the behavior of different solving heuristics, both in theory and practice. The first issue we address relates to the representation of SAT formulas. A given Boolean satisfiability problem can be represented in arbitrarily many ways, and the type of encoding can have significant effects on SAT solver performance. Further, in some cases, a direct encoding to SAT may not be the best choice. We introduce a new system that integrates SAT solving with computer algebra systems (CAS) to address representation issues for several graph-theoretic problems. We use this system to improve the bounds on several finitely-verified conjectures related to graph-theoretic problems. We demonstrate how our approach is more appropriate for these problems than other off-the-shelf SAT-based tools. For more typical SAT formulas, a better understanding of their underlying structural properties, and how they relate to SAT solving, can deepen our understanding of SAT. We perform a largescale evaluation of many of the popular structural measures of formulas, such as community structure, treewidth, and backdoors. We investigate how these parameters correlate with CDCL solving time, and whether they can effectively be used to distinguish formulas from different domains. We demonstrate how these measures can be used as a means to understand the behavior of solvers during search. A common theme is that the solver exhibits locality during search through the lens of these underlying structures, and that the choice of solving heuristic can greatly influence this locality. We posit that this local behavior of modern SAT solvers is crucial to their performance. The remaining contributions dive deeper into two new measures of SAT formulas. We first consider a simple measure, denoted "mergeability," which characterizes the proportion of input clauses pairs that can resolve and merge. We develop a formula generator that takes as input a seed formula, and creates a sequence of increasingly more mergeable formulas, while maintaining many of the properties of the original formula. Experiments over randomly-generated industrial-like instances suggest that mergeability strongly negatively correlates with CDCL solving time, i.e., as


This document explores the issues in the registration of
internationalized domain names (IDNs). The basic IDN definition allows
a very large number of possible characters in domain names, and this
richness may lead to serious user confusion about similar-looking
names. To avoid this confusion, the IDN registration process must
impose rules that disallow some otherwise-valid name combinations.
This document suggests a set of mechanisms that registries might use
to define and implement such rules for a broad range of languages,
including adaptation of methods developed for Chinese, Japanese, and
Korean domain names. This memo provides information for the Internet
community.


The effects of electrically induced dynamic muscle contractions on muscle endurance, strength, morphology and enzymatic adaptation were studied in seven male physical education students. The training program consisted of electrically induced one-leg extensions on a modified Krogh cycle with a 30-Watt (W) load for 60 min, 3 times a week for 4 weeks. Muscle fiber type composition was unchanged, but diffusional capacity was increased after electromyostimulation training. The endurance capacity in the trained leg increased by 82% (p < 0.01), but there were no significant changes in citrate synthase, phosphofructokinase activities, and carbonic anhydrase III and myoglobin contents, suggesting that neural adaptation and learning were more important factors for the increased endurance capacity than enzymatic adaptation. Prolyl 4-hydroxylase activity, a marker of collagen biosynthesis, increased 3-fold (p < 0.01) as a result of the training. This could be due to muscle damage caused by electrically induced muscle contractions. In conclusion, electrically induced dynamic muscle contractions can increase muscle endurance without clear concominant changes in muscle morphologic and enzymatic adaptation. Increased prolyl 4-hydroxylase activity could suggest muscle damage caused by electrically induced muscle contractions.


OBJECTIVES
Increasing evidences support the importance of epigenetic control in schizophrenia pathogenesis. One of the enzymes involved in DNA methylation process through homocysteine metabolism is methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR). The most extensively studied variant in the MTHFR gene is the C677T polymorphism, resulting in reduced enzyme activity and elevated homocysteine level.

METHODS
In sample of 192 schizophrenics and 213 healthy controls an increasing risk of schizophrenia associated with MTHFR 677 CT+TT genotype was found (OR=1.6, p=0.021). Association was also evaluated by considering the C677T polymorphism as an interaction with COMT Val158Met and ADRA2A C-1291G polymorphisms previously associated with schizophrenia risk using a logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS
Previous studies of MTHFR*COMT (C677T*Val158Met) interaction in relation to schizophrenia resulted in inconsistent results. In our sample this interaction did not significantly differ between schizophrenics and control subjects. On the other hand analysis of MTHFR*ADRA2A (C677T*C-1291G) interaction revealed significant association between ADRA2A CC+CG genotype in the MTHFR TC+TT carriers (p=0.008).

CONCLUSIONS
Our results support role of noradrenergic functions as well as previously proposed role of epigenetic control in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Further relevant studies including larger sample size and more markers are needed to prove our results.


Ultrasound of the diaphragm in critically ill patients has become a diagnostic technique of emerging interest among clinicians and scientists. The advantages include that it is widely available, non-invasive and examination can be performed after relatively short training and at low costs. It is used to estimate muscle mass by measurement of muscle thickness and diagnose weakness by the assessment of diaphragm movement during unassisted breathing. Thickening of the muscle during inspiration has been used to quantify force generation. The enthusiasm that surrounds this topic is shared by many clinicians and we agree that ultrasound is a valuable tool to screen for diaphragm dysfunction in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. However, in our opinion much more studies are required to validate ultrasound as a tool to quantify breathing effort. More sophisticated ultrasound techniques, such as speckle tracking imaging are promising techniques to evaluate respiratory muscle function in patients, including the critically ill.


We determined the effect of phosphite application as a high-volume spray to the understorey, and injection of overstorey species, on disease front extension and rate of extension of Phytophthora cinnamomi in Banksia woodland. Burning of the trial site by the owner gave an unplanned effect of fire on phosphite treatment. The five phosphite treatments were no phosphite (treatment 1), all trees injected with 50 g/L phosphite and the understorey sprayed with 2 g/L phosphite once or twice (treatments 2 and 3, respectively); or all trees injected with 50 g/L phosphite and the understorey sprayed with 5 g/L phosphite once or twice (treatments 4 and 5, respectively). The first phosphite spray occurred in summer (mid-February) 1993, the second spray was 6 weeks later, in April 1993. Overstorey trees of Banksia attenuata, B. ilicifolia and B. menziesii were injected with 50 g/L phosphite the next day after the first spray treatments. The first assessment of the disease front position occurred 0.5 year after the first spray, assessment 2 occurred 4.3 years after the first spray and 3.2 years after the fire and assessment 3, 5.3 years after the first spray and 4.1 years after the fire. Phosphite treatment significantly reduced disease front extension by an average of 0.9 ± 0.1 m, 4.0 ± 0.2 m and 4.1 ± 0.2 m, for assessments 1, 2 and 3, respectively. There were no consistent significant differences in disease front extension between phosphite treatments 2–5. Rates of extension 1 and 2 (calculated between assessments 2 and 1, and 3 and 1, respectively) were reduced by a half to a third by phosphite treatment. There were no consistent significant differences in rate of disease front extension between phosphite treatments 2–5. Residual action of phosphite would not be expected to last in understorey vegetation destroyed by fire, but probably persisted after the fire in the woody roots of injected overstorey trees. This study indicates that injection of overstorey should accompany spray of foliage to ensure long lasting protection by phosphite.


Podiform chromitites occurring in the ultramafic bodies of Calzadilla de los Barros, in the Ossa-Morena zone of the Iberian Massif (SW Iberian Peninsula), were deformed and metamorphosed together with their host rocks, leading to the development of variably complex patterns of zoning in chromite grains. These patterns consist of cores with variable composition surrounded by thin rims of porous chromite. Two types of zoned chromite are observed in chromitites: (1) crystals with zoned cores characterised by progressive Mg# [=Mg/(Mg + Fe 2+ )] decrease from inner to outer core, surrounded by Fe 2 O 3 -poor, porous rims, and (2) crystals showing the opposite chemical trend in cores (progressive Mg# increase from inner to outer core) and Fe 2 O 3 -rich porous rims. Mg-rich chlorite is the only silicate mineral forming the matrix of all chromitites and filling most pores in chromite rims. Accessory chromites in dunites show complete transformation to ferrian chromite and Cr-rich magnetite. However, some of them exhibit complex chemical and textural zoning with three concentric zones (from inner to outer core and to inner rim) characterised by progressive Mg# increase and Cr# [=Cr/(Cr + Al)] decrease, surrounded by an outer rim with almost the same composition as the inner core. Some chromite grains from massive chromitites (defined here as higher than 85 vol.% chromite) still preserve inner core compositions unaffected by metamorphic transformation. These inner cores show high-Al composition (Cr# = 0.48–0.52) with Mg# ranging from 0.65 to 0.70. These compositions resemble those reported for Al-rich, podiform chromitites in ophiolites elsewhere and indicate that chromitites from Calzadilla de los Barros derived from a MORB melt type in a MORB or supra-subduction zone setting. The chemical and textural variations in zoned chromite from chromitites and dunites can be interpreted in terms of a multistage process characterised by two episodes of retrograde metamorphism separated by a high-temperature heating event. This interpretation suggests a correlation with the tectono-metamorphic evolution of the Neoproterozoic basement of the Ossa-Morena zone.


This study analyzed test scores of economically disadvantaged students who attended two elementary schools implementing different types of Title I models from 1999-2001. Test scores from the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS), the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) and the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT-9) were analyzed. One school implemented the targeted assistance model (less than 50% poverty), which focused resources on students were identified as failing or at risk of failing. The other a schoolwide model (95% poverty), which used resources to help all students in a school regardless of whether they ware failing, at risk of failing, or economically disadvantaged. The quantitative approach was used with a causal comparative design. A cohort of continuously enrolled students was identified for the TAAS (n=169 and 189) and the ITBS/SAT-9 (n=49 and 87). Descriptive statistics such as the frequency, mean, and standard deviation, were used to measure differences on the Texas Learning Index (TLI) for the TAAS, and Normal Curve Equivalent (NCE) on the ITBS/SAT-9. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to partially adjust for preexisting differences among the groups and because randomization was not possible. The independent variable was type of Title I model, targeted assistance or schoolwide. The dependent variable was the achievement measure, and the covariate was the initial achievement scores in third grade (pretest). The ANCOVA reports and descriptive statistics showed that economically disadvantaged students performed better in reading and math on TAAS and ITBS/SAT-9 at the targeted assistance school in 1999 and 2001, with mixed results in 2000. The academic performance of economically disadvantaged students at the targeted model was consistent all three school years. They scored slightly lower than the non-economically disadvantaged students, but higher than their peers at the schoolwide model. The students' third grade pretest score was the most significant predictor of future performance.


The 1998 Kyoto protocol signalled a new earnestness of international intent toward addressing the perceived risk of climate change. Kyoto demands that developed nations turn their economies so as to hit differentiated, sub-1990 level carbon emission targets within the next decade or so. But when thinking of the Kyoto protocol imagine trying to turn a battleship on a dime with a third of the crew on-board. Improbable, but doable...but for what benefit...and at what cost? The magnitude depends on what you choose to believe about the answer to these questions: Are we on the cusp of a catastrophe? Will developing countries ever participate? What will we do with any revenues that are raised in a trading system? Should nations be forced to reduce some fixed percentage of emissions at home? Can carbon sinks reduce costs? Will people adopt new energy-efficient technologies without a price hike in energy? The answers to these questions from economic analysis say that the catastrophes have to be exceedingly likely for Kyoto to make sense.


INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Imaging advances have led to an increase in the incidental detection of small renal masses (SRM) (i.e. ⩽4 cm) and, perforce, of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Notably, 20% of SRM are benign, and some indolent malignant tumors can be safely managed with active surveillance; yet, pre-excision biopsy is practiced by a minority of urologists. Renal mass biopsy (RMB) could alter the management of SRM by reducing the number of benign masses excised. Historically, RMB required patient sedation, CT-guidance, and was a radiologist-performed, hospital-based procedure. Advances in ultrasound (US) technology now enable the urologist to perform office-based, US-guided RMB. This video presentation details our office-based, US-guided RMB technique in an 80-year-old male with a renal mass and provides further details on our experience with this approach in over 50 patients. METHODS: A few hours prior to the scheduled biopsy, the patient applies anesthetic cream (lidocaine 2.5% / prilocaine 2.5%) to the skin overlying the previously outlined biopsy entry point. The patient positions himself/herself in the prone position. Once the target lesion and renal anatomy are identified on US, 1% lidocaine is injected into the skin and along the entire biopsy needle track up to a few mm off the surface of the tumor. A standard 18G biopsy gun is used to insert a biopsy needle under direct US-guided vision using a facilitated US targeting system; 4-6 cores are obtained. After the procedure, the patient's vital signs are monitored; one hour after the biopsy, a Doppler US is performed in the office to assess for complications. The patient is evaluated for pain (scale 0-10) before and after the biopsy, and a follow-up appointment is made in order to discuss the biopsy results. RESULTS: Our prospectively maintained RMB database (N=52) revealed a diagnostic rate of 73% and a concordance with final pathology in 100% (16/16) for primary histology, 93% (14/15) for histologic subtype, and 90% (9/10) for low (I-II) vs. high (III-IV) Fuhrman grade. RMB revealed benign pathology in 21% (11/52) of patients. No patient with a benign lesion underwent surgery. Of note, 39% (20/52) of our patients have opted for active surveillance. There were no complications. Patients reported a median pain score of 1/10 (range 0-5) and 0/10 (range 0-5.5) immediately after RMB and at one hour after RMB, respectively. Fewer than 10% (4/52) of patients required narcotics for pain. CONCLUSIONS: Office-based RMB can safely be performed by a urologist skilled in renal ultrasonography. RMB guides patient management and markedly reduces the rate of surgery for benign renal masses. Source of Funding: none


The first crush pillars on the Bushveld Platinum mines were introduced at Union Section in 1978. Before the introduction of crush pillars, serious problems were experienced when stoping advanced to a point 30 m to 40 m on both sides of the centre gully. At least three to four stopes were collapsing per month. The introduction of the pillars stopped the stope collapses in the mining area where they were introduced. The residual strengths in these pillars were never measured, however the successful elimination of the "back-break" problem suggests that the original pillars had a residual strength of at least 8 MPa. Apart from back analyses, very little work has been done to determine the residual strength of crush pillars and only very recently have any measurements been made. The lack of knowledge in this field has resulted in pillars being designed based on experience. Concerns regarding stope collapses, similar to the Coalbrook disaster, have led to larger pillars being cut in more recent times. If such pillars were cut in brittle quartzites they would always fail violently but the ductile nature of the Merensky Reef generally allows large pillars to fail without bursting. Occasionally, however, one would burst in a working area. Increased incidence of bursting has been reported on some mines at deeper levels but most of these bursts occur in the back areas. Nevertheless, the incidence of bursting increases the risk of falls of ground in already dangerous areas, and the larger pillars decrease the extraction ratio. This paper describes the evaluation of stress measurements conducted in two boreholes over a crush pillar with dimensions 2.5 m x 4.0 m, and a height of 1.2 m. Boussinesq equations for vertical and shear stress were used to analyse the original measurements and provide a stress profile across the pillar as well as the residual strength of the pillar. The results showed an unexpectedly high peak stress of 280 MPa at the centre of the pillar and a residual strength of 48 MPa. The reason for the high residual strength is suspected to be the result of the stiff environment under which the pillar failed and the small height of the siding on the up-dip edge of the pillar. More measurements should be conducted on several mines to establish a range of residual strengths for narrow crush pillars.


Software engineering is done by individuals within teams and in organisations, with all that those words imply. It is crucial to make this fact, and its implications, concrete to students who aspire to be or work with software engineers. Although frequent collaborations are encouraged throughout degree programmes, final-year group projects remain the favoured mechanism for achieving this goal. This paper describes and reflects on our experience of introducing group projects to balance theory, technology and practice into five different degree programmes. A novel facet of our approach has been to locate these projects in the context of a course on software project management in parallel with the preparation of capstone, individual projects. Hence, the final-year group projects are viewed as essential complements to the individual projects and together they encapsulate the theories and systematic practices of software projects we know as software engineering. We argue that this approach injects realism into what might have been seen by students as abstract primarily by providing students with experience of working as part of a team and so enabling them to engage with large and significant projects.


We have studied the dynamics of Chua's canonical circuit, when the v-i characteristic of the nonlinear resistor of the circuit is a smooth cubic function. Unlike the monotone bifurcation behavior of the members of Chua's circuit family with a piecewise linear resistor, reverse period doublings, as a parameter of the circuit is varied in a monotone way, have been observed in the circuit we have studied. Dynamics of the circuit is very sensitive to initial conditions, as chaotic attractors coexist with period-1 limit cycles.


This paper validates three-dimensional (3D) simulation results of electron beam melting (EBM) processes by comparing experimental and numerical data. The physical setup is presented which is discretized by a 3D thermal lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). An experimental process window is used for the validation depending on the line energy injected into the metal powder bed and the scan velocity of the electron beam. In the process window, the EBM products are classified into the categories, porous, good and swelling, depending on the quality of the surface. The same parameter sets are used to generate a numerical process window. A comparison of numerical and experimental process windows shows a good agreement. This validates the EBM model and justifies simulations for future improvements of the EBM processes. In particular, numerical simulations can be used to explain future process window scenarios and find the best parameter set for a good surface quality and dense products.


OBJECTIVE
To examine family health team (FHT) members' perspectives and experiences of interprofessional collaboration and perceived benefits.

DESIGN
Qualitative case study using semistructured interviews.

SETTING
Fourteen FHTs in urban and rural Ontario.

PARTICIPANTS
Purposeful sample of the members of 14 FHTs, including family physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, dietitians, social workers, pharmacists, and managers.

METHODS
A multiple case-study approach involving 14 FHTs was employed. Thirty-two semistructured interviews were conducted and data were analyzed by employing an inductive thematic approach. A member-checking technique was also undertaken to enhance the validity of the findings.

MAIN FINDINGS
Five main themes are reported: rethinking traditional roles and scopes of practice, management and leadership, time and space, interprofessional initiatives, and early perceptions of collaborative care.

CONCLUSION
This study shows the importance of issues such as roles and scopes of practice, leadership, and space to effective team-based primary care, and provides a framework for understanding different types of interprofessional interventions used to support interprofessional collaboration.


Objective: This study aimed to evaluate efficacy of insulin, sulfonylurea, and sulfonylureas-metformin combination in reducing the HbA1c level and preventing renal function decline in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) patients in Indonesia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Dr. Sitanala Hospital involving 105 patients who were taking: insulin (30), sulfonylureas (30) and sulfonylureas-metformin combination (45). The subjects were classified into age-, sex- and BMI-matched groups. We measured their HbA1c level and serum creatinine to calculate eGFR level. Results: There were no differences among the three groups in term of age, sex, BMI, occupation and exercise habit. However, diet and family history of DM were different between the three groups. The average of HbA1c levels in the sulfonylureas-metformin group was 7.46±1.81 and showed a significant difference compared to the insulin group (8.27±1.74) with p=0.042. No significant difference existed in eGFR in the three groups (p=0.476). Subjects with obesity or BMI >30 kg/m2 had 3.268 times probability (p= 0.001) of having HbA1c >7 relative to underweight (BMI 7%, compared to those without diabetic family history (p = 0.002). Conclusion: We found in this study site that sulfonylureas-metformin combination was more efficient in decreasing HbA1c level in type 2 DM patients compared to insulin or sulfonylureas monotherapy. Family history of DM and overweight had considerable effect on uncontrolled HbA1c. Meanwhile, there was no significant difference among the three groups in preventing the decline of eGFR. Key words: Diabetes Mellitus, HbA1c, Insulin, Sulfonylureas, Metformin.


Free prior informed consent is a critical concept in enacting the rights of Indigenous People according to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This paper outlines a case for the inclusion of free prior informed consent in World Heritage nomination processes and examines issues that are problematic when enacting free prior informed consent. Case research was used to analyse current issues in the potential nomination of certain areas of Cape York Peninsula, Australia. The authors' reflexive engagement within this case offers insights into the praxis of developing a World Heritage nomination consent process. The outcomes of this research were: preconditions need to be addressed to avoid self-exclusion by indigenous representative organisations; the nature of consent needs to account for issues of representation and Indigenous ways of decision making; the power of veto needs to have formal recognition in the nomination process; and prioritising self-determination within free prior informed consent ensures the intent of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The paper contributes to the human rights agenda of Indigenous People and conservation management processes by helping address the issues that will be raised during a World Heritage nomination process.


This article argues we can better interpret key aspects of Plato9s Phaedo , including Socrates9 cryptic final words, if we read the dialogue against the background of Greek manumission. I first discuss modes of manumission in ancient Greece, showing that the frequent participation of healing gods (Apollo, Asklepios, and Sarapis) reveals a conception of manumission as "healing." I next examine Plato9s use of manumission and slavery as metaphors, arguing that Plato uses the language of slavery in two main ways: like real slavery, metaphorical slavery could be good, if it reflected a natural hierarchy, or bad, if it entailed an inversion thereof. Accordingly, metaphorical manumission from good and bad "slavery" are shown to be bad and good, respectively. Finally, I reread Plato9s Phaedo , showing that Socrates, a willing "slave" of the gods, seeks the "manumission"/healing of his soul. It is in exchange for his complete "manumission," attainable only through the death of his body, that Socrates offers a cock to the healing/manumission god Asklepios.


This book is intended for graduate and undergraduate students majoring in counseling, social work, counseling psychology, and human services who are taking courses in group work. (According to a recent e-survey of 102 faculty members teaching this course, the split between undergraduate and graduate courses is 46% undergraduate, 51% graduate, and 1% Ph.D.) It is designed as a primary textbook and is comprehensive in scope. It is also a practical manual for practitioners involved in leading groups. Others who may find this book useful are rehabilitation counselors, teachers, pastoral counselors, correctional counselors, and marriage and family therapists. Courses that most often adopt the book include: Group Counseling, Group Process, Group Procedures, Group Techniques, Practicum in Group Counseling, Groups: Process and Practice.


Purpose: Although the implementation process involves employees from different hierarchical levels, previous research on the implementation topic focused mostly on a top management perspective, omitting the perspective of lower hierarchical levels. We believe that employees from different hierarchical levels perceive differently the way the implementation process is carried out because of many intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Considering the primary role of lower hierarchical levels during the implementation process, we decided to include lower levels of management and operatives in our research. Methodology: We investigate the way employees from different hierarchical levels perceive the implementation process. The implementation process in our research was evaluated using four implementation factors: 1) People, 2) Resources allocation, 3) Communication, 4) Operational planning & control. We sent the questionnaire to all large Croatian enterprises (396) and gathered 208 questionnaires from 78 enterprises. Findings: The research findings confirm that the evaluation of key implementation factors differs significantly between hierarchical levels in two of the four identified factors: 1) Communication and 2) Operational planning & control. Frontline managers and operatives mostly consider the instructions for implementing the strategy too vague and unclear, their suggestions not taken into account, the communication generally too slow, what creates confusion and reduces the efficiency in coordinating operational tasks and introducing potential changes. Implications for theory and practice: Although we proved the statistically different perception about two out of four implementation factors, we contributed in a way to point out that this stream of research, with multiple factors and multiple respondents from different hierarchical levels, should be taken into consideration in future research about strategy implementation. Top managers should include feedback from lower hierarchical levels in order to grasp the pitfalls of strategy implementation. This study highlights the operational problems that might occur such as vague or slow communication, budget discrepancy, inadequate definition of timeline for activities and its dynamics, and ways to measure performance during strategy implementation. We believe that the research results are beneficial for academics and consultants when creating teaching and training programs for future managers about strategy implementation. Originality and value: Based on the analysis of the literature review and the research findings, we develop a new implementation model with questionnaire to analyze the way employee from different hierarchical levels perceive the implementation process.


Abstract While augmented reality (AR) interfaces have been researched extensively over the last decades, studies on their application in vehicles have only recently advanced. In this article, we systematically review 12 years of AR research in the context of automated driving (AD), from 2009 to 2020. Due to the multitude of possibilities for studies with regard to AR technology, at present, the pool of findings is heterogeneous and non-transparent. From a review of the literature we identified N=156 papers with the goal to analyze the status quo of existing AR studies in AD, and to classify the related literature into application areas. We provide insights into the utilization of AR technology used at different levels of vehicle automation, and for different users (drivers, passengers, pedestrians) and tasks. Results show that most studies focused on safety aspects, driving assistance, and designing non-driving-related tasks. AR navigation, trust in automated vehicles (AVs), and interaction experiences also marked a significant portion of the published papers; however, a wide range of different parameters was investigated by researchers. Among other things, we find that there is a growing trend toward simulating AR content within virtual driving simulators. We conclude with a discussion of open challenges, and give recommendations for future research in automated driving at the AR side of the reality-virtuality continuum.


Courts, like the US Supreme Court, make important decisions about rights by voting and often the decision is determined by a bare majority. But the principle of majority-decision (MD) for courts has not been much reflected on. What justifies judges' reliance on MD? In democratic contexts, MD is usually defended either as (i) a way of reaching the objectively best decision or (ii) as a way of respecting the principle of political equality. Howerver, it is difficult to see how either of these arguments works for the judicial case. The only other argument is one of convenience, but that seems an odd basis for majoritarian authority on a court, given the momentousness of their decsiions and given that the role of courts is to check popular majorities. The paper reflects on these and other matters and concludes that, at the very least, defenders of judicial authority should be more tentative in their denunciatiions of democratic majoritarianism.


Background: Mental disorders of the elderly constitute a public health problem due to their high prevalence, shortage of specialized services offered in Brazil, difficulties of access by the population and deficiency in the training of professionals of the Family Health Strategy for the identification, receptiveness and psychosocial assistance to the elderly.
Objectives: To analyze the training of professionals of the Family Health Strategy on psychosocial care for the elderly in the context of the Psychosocial Care Network – RAPS (Rede de Atencao Psicossocial), and to discuss how professional training influences the care provided to the elderly.
Methodology: Descriptive, qualitative study carried out with 31 professionals, 13 physicians and 18 nurses, who work at the Family Health Strategy of the city of Picos, Piaui, Brazil. The data were collected in January 2016, through a semi-structured interview guide, processed by the IRAMUTEQ software and analyzed by means of the Descending Hierarchical Classification.
Results: The results were presented in three segments, namely: 1. The practice of professionals from the Family Health Strategy in psychosocial care in the family context; 2. Training of specialized professionals, in the attention to the elderly, in the Family Health Strategy; 3. The Psychosocial Attention Network in the care of elderly users of alcohol and other drugs;
Conclusion: Health professionals have difficulties in dealing with the elderly with mental disorders in basic care. In order to facilitate access to specialized health services and to develop actions for social reintegration, prevention and harm reduction, it is necessary to implement a policy of ongoing training and education for health professionals to improve care for the elderly.
Keywords: Aging; Mental Health; Mental disorders; Family Health Strategy.


Researchers have long debated the origin of insect wings. One theory proposes that the proximal portion of the ancestral crustacean leg became incorporated into the body1–3, which moved the leg's epipod (multi-functional lobe, e.g. gill) dorsally, up onto the back to form insect wings4. Another theory proposes that the dorsal insect body wall co-opted crustacean epipod genes to form wings5. Alternatively, wings may be derived from both leg and body wall (dual origin)6. To determine whether wings can be traced to ancestral, pre-insect structures, or arose by co-option, comparisons are necessary between insects and arthropods more representative of the ancestral state, where the hypothesized proximal leg region is not fused to the body wall. To do so, we examined the function of five leg gap genes in the crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis and compared this to previous functional data from insects. Here we show, using CRISPR-Cas9 mutagenesis, that leg segment deletion phenotypes of all five leg gap genes in Parhyale align to those of insects only by including the hypothesized fused ancestral proximal leg region. We also argue that possession of eight leg segments is the ancestral state for crustaceans. Thus, Parhyale incorporated one leg segment into the body, which now bears the tergal plate, while insects incorporated two leg segments into the body, the most proximal one bearing the wing. We propose a model wherein much of the body wall of insects, including the entire wing, is derived from these two ancestral proximal leg segments, giving the appearance of a "dual origin" 6–10. This model explains many observations in favor of either the body wall, epipod, or dual origin of insect wings.


The production of essential oil has remained unchanged for decades. In the face of increased competition from low cost suppliers the requirement to reduce the cost of production is facing many producers. The application of a counter-current system to the steam distillation of essential oils the transition from traditional production methods to more efficient methods was evaluated. Modelling a system using existing mathematical models found in the literature provided a basis for the comparison between the old and the new.

The question of the conversion of operating principles was met with the findings that the system is immature in inception. Further research is required to address the technical issues of introducing and removing plant material from a distillation column without interrupting the flow of steam. Initial bench tests have confirmed the benefits of moving to a non-batch system, this research is in its infancy with many further tests required to cement the findings of this thesis. Substantial portions of this thesis have been redacted or limited details provided, as large sections of the research are of a confidential nature.


This study presents an evaluation of the economic performance of some adaptation activities promoted by IUCN in Burkina Faso and Ghana. The overall objective of the evaluation is to contribute to participatory learning about economic benefits of climate change adaptation initiatives. Specifically, it aims at identifying and analyzing the content, scope and relevance of adaptation activities and evaluating the costs and benefits generated by such activities.


We have introduced the weight of a group which has a presentation with number of relations is at most the number of generators. We have shown that the number of facets of any contracted pseudotriangulation of a connected closed 3-manifold $M$ is at least the weight of the fundamental group of $M$. This lower bound is sharp for the 3-manifolds $\mathbb{RP}^3$, $L(3,1)$, $L(5,2)$, $S^1\times S^1 \times S^1$, $S^2 \times S^1$, twisted product of $S^2$ and $S^1$ and $S^3/Q_8$, where $Q_8$ is the quaternion group. Moreover, there is a unique such facet minimal pseudotriangulation in each of these seven cases. We have also constructed contracted pseudotriangulations of $L(kq-1,q)$ with $4(q+k-1)$ facets for $q \geq 3$, $k \geq 2$ and $L(kq+1,q)$ with $4(q+k)$ facets for $q\geq 4$, $k\geq 1$. By a recent result of Swartz, our pseudotriangulations of $L(kq+1, q)$ are facet minimal when $kq+1$ are even. In 1979, Gagliardi found presentations of the fundamental group of a manifold $M$ in terms of a contracted pseudotriangulation of $M$. Our construction is the converse of this, namely, given a presentation of the fundamental group of a 3-manifold $M$, we construct a contracted pseudotriangulation of $M$. So, our construction of a contracted pseudotriangulation of a 3-manifold $M$ is based on a presentation of the fundamental group of $M$ and it is computer-free.