Biomass is an alternative to fossil fuels that has a lower impact on the environment and is thus of great interest to replace fossil fuels for energy production. There are several technologies to convert the stored energy in biomass into useful energy and this thesis focuses on the process of gasification. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how the prediction accuracy of gas composition in a kinetic model for fluidized bed gasifier is affected when hydrodynamic parameters are introduced into the model. Two fluidized bed gasifier models has therefore been set up in order to evaluate the affects: one model which only considers the kinetics of a gasifier and a second model which includes both the kinetics and the hydrodynamic parameters for a bubbling fluidized bed. The kinetic model is represented by an already existing kinetic model that is originally derived for a downdraft gasifier which has quite similar biomass gasification processes as fluidized bed gasifiers. Gas residence time differs between the two gasifier types and the model has thus been calibrated by introducing a time correction factor in order to use it for fluidized bed gasifiers and get optimum results.Two sets of experimental data were used for comparison between the two models. The models were compared by comparing the results of the predicted gas composition yield and the amount of unreacted carbon after the reactor at various equivalence ratios (ER).The result shows that the model that only considers reaction kinetics yields best agreement with the experimental data that have been used. One reasons as to why the kinetic model gives a better prediction of gas composition is due to the fact that there are higher reactant concentrations available for chemical reactions in the kinetic, in comparison to the combined model. Less reactant concentrations in the combined model is a result of the bed in the combined model consisting of two phases, according to the two-phase theory of fluidization that have been adapted. Both phases contain gases but the bubble phase is considered solid free, chemical reactions occur therefore only in the emulsion phase since the kinetic model is based on gas-solid reactions. The model that only contains reaction kinetics considers only one phase and all concentrations are available for chemical reactions. Higher char conversion is thus achieved in the model that only contains reaction kinetics and higher gas concentrations are produced.


Learning Management Systems (LMS) have been the main vehicle for delivering and managing e-learning courses in educational, business, governmental and vocational learning settings. Since the mid-nineties there is a plethora of LMS in the market with a vast array of features. The increasing complexity of these platforms makes LMS evaluation a hard and demanding process that requires a lot of knowledge, time, and effort. Nearly 50% of respondents in recent surveys have indicated they seek to change their existing LMS primarily due to user experience issues. Yet the vast majority of the extant literature focuses only on LMS capabilities in relation to administration and management of teaching and learning processes. In this study the authors try to build a conceptual framework and evaluation model of LMS through the lens of User Experience (UX) research and practice, an epistemology that is quite important but currently neglected in the elearning domain. They conducted an online survey with 446 learning professionals, and from the results, developed a new UX-oriented evaluation model with four dimensions: pragmatic quality, authentic learning, motivation and engagement, and autonomy and relatedness. Their discussion on findings includes some ideas for future research.


Wildland fires occur with increasing frequency in southwestern riparian forests, yet little is known about the effects of fire on populations of native and exotic vegetation. From 2003 to 2006, we monitored recovering woody vegetation in wildfire sites in the bosque (riparian forest) along the Middle Rio Grande of central New Mexico, USA. To examine recovery potential, we estimated densities of native Rio Grande cottonwood (Populus deltoides ssp. wislizenii) and exotic saltcedar (Tamarix ramosissima) in burned plots and estimated mortality rates of resprouts. Exotic vegetation density was higher in most burned sampling plots than in paired unburned plots. Native shrub density was lower in most burned sampling plots than in unburned plots, although the effect sizes were small. Native tree density did not differ between burned and unburned plots, despite relatively high mortality of cottonwood resprouts. All observed cottonwood mortality occurred between 2003 and 2004, following the hottest and driest summer of the study. Cottonwood resprouts had the lowest apparent mortality rate at the site with the lowest depth to ground-water. Saltcedar resprout mortality was low at all wildfire sites, consistent with previous studies showing that this species is less sensitive to drought and better adapted to wildfire than cottonwood and other native species. Our observations suggest that, in the absence of ideal hydrologic and climatic conditions, fire can reduce cottonwood density in the bosque and promote the spread of saltcedar. Increasingly xeric conditions predicted under most climate change scenarios could result in greater recovery of exotic saltcedar over native vegetation.


George Hutchinson, The Harlem Renaissance in Black and WhiteGeorge Hutchinson's new history of the Harlem Renaissance, The Harlem Renaissance in Black and White, is a provocative and well-written effort to tell a different story of the era of the "New Negro." Hutchinson's study suggests that white intellectuals participated more broadly than is usually taught. Were it not for the ferment at Harvard, Columbia and the University of Chicago involving Josiah Royce, John Dewey, and William James, among others, black thinkers such as Alain Locke, Charles S. Johnson, and W.E.B. Du Bois, almost certainly would have conceived the Renaissance in terms other than those advanced by the new, constructivist pluralism of the academies. The then new anthropology of Franz Boas, anti-racist in its focus and remarkable for its rapid dominance in the first years of the twentieth century, influences not only white liberal thinking but black consciousness as well. Its structure and spirit inform the folklorist and novelist Zora Neale Hurston, who studied under Boas at Columbia. The fiery progressivism of Claude McKay was given new impetus by his alliance with Max Eastman, and led to the significant influence that McKay was later to have in an editorial capacity at Eastman's Liberator. A variegated affinity, a multicultural complementarily, was being formed. While white culturalists saw the completed project of American literary modernism as being inelusive of the efforts of African American writers to establish a genuine American intellectual presence, black writers envisioned their productions as being crucial to the achievement of a true democracy.Hutchinson traces this development of African American modernism not only among intellectuals and within the academies but focuses also upon the influential magazines of the period. While McKay crafted his progressive social agenda in the pages of the Liberator, DuBois's Crisis, Charles Johnson's Opportunity and Randolph's and Owen's Messenger were important black publications of the Renaissance seeking also to advance a pluralist message. Participating with them (and at times, robustly in disagreement) were Oswald Garrison Villard's Nation, and, though often tangentially, H. L. Mencken's American Mercury. In addition to the magazines, there were the new generation of New York publishing houses built by Jewish entreprenurial adventurers who had previously been denied access to Boston's temples of publishing power. Albert and Charles Boni, B. W. Huebsch, Alfred Knopf, and Horace Liveright (who for a time teamed with Albert Boni) were fueled largely by socialist thinking and the spirit of the newly emergent Soviet Union, and actively sought to print titles not only of European and American radical left thinkers, but of African American writers as well. Though the Renaissance would have happened without this activity, its absence might have configured a very different African American canon at this point in the century, and one with perhaps less variety than we now know.There is one disturbing feature of this otherwise fine history, however, and it is unfortunately not a small matter. In this chronicle, Hutchinson presents only one broad perspective on an enormously complex period while suppressing another. He committs the act of misprision with which he charges previous commentators such as Nathan Huggins and David Levering Lewis. While Hutchinson correctly seeks to decenter the critical discussion of the urge toward primitivism, his representations of the period become limitations themselves as he insists in his introduction that these and other critics have upheld the primitivism and exoticism of blacks by white writers as central to the history of the period. He does not generate a thorough reconstruction of earlier views because he ignores the opportunity to reintroduce this latter idea as part of a more comprehensive third view -- namely that the principal ambivalence of the Renaissance itself, residing manifestly in the black writer as a Du Boisian dual presence, was its EuroAmerican intellectual and institutional support, on the one hand, and on the other, the more encompassing ideology of race as advanced by white American artists of the time through modernism's aestheticized racism. …


At fertilization in sea urchin eggs, elevated cytosolic Ca2+ leads to the exocytosis of 15,000-18,000 1.3-microns-diam cortical secretory granules to form the fertilization envelope. Cortical granule exocytosis more than doubles the surface area of the egg. It is thought that much of the added membrane is retrieved by subsequent endocytosis. We have investigated how this is achieved by activating eggs in the presence of aqueous- and lipid-phase fluorescent dyes. We find rapid endocytosis of membrane into 1.5-microns-diam vesicles starting immediately after cortical granule exocytosis and persisting over the following 15 min. The magnitude of this membrane retrieval can compensate for the changes in the plasma membrane of the egg caused by exocytosis. This membrane retrieval is not stimulated by PMA treatment which activates the endocytosis of clathrin-coated vesicles. When eggs are treated with short wave-length ultraviolet light, cortical granule exocytosis still occurs, but granule cores fail to disperse. After egg activation, large vesicles containing semi-intact cortical granule protein cores are observed. These data together with experiments using sequential pulses of fluid-phase markers support the hypothesis that the bulk of membrane retrieval immediately after cortical granule exocytosis is achieved through direct retrieval into large endocytotic structures.


I would like to contribute some observations on the structural changes in the capital markets and their implications for monetary policy. My remarks deal with the situation in Germany but also touch on questions arising from European monetary integration. Before that, I would like to sum up briefly what I consider to be the essential trends in the financial markets and the monetary policy issues resulting from them. The numerous changes experienced by the financial markets in the past few years can be divided into three distinct trends. First, the industrialized countries have largely (and in most cases completely) liberalized their international capital transactions. In addition, and this applies particularly to Europe, borders have been opened for financial services, and restrictions on establishment have been reduced. As a consequence, international financial interdependence has increased dramatically. It is an indicator of this trend that the volume of international bonds outstanding, measured in terms of the GNP of the industrialized countries, has multiplied in the past two decades. The rapid expansion in foreign exchange market transactions points in the same direction. Not least, international net capital flows have also risen sharply. Current account deficits and surpluses of a size that would have appeared unimaginable not too long ago have now become sustainable for longer periods of time. The second major phenomenon among recent capital market tends is represented by the innovations in and the deregulation of financial activities. Even more than the liberalization of capital movements, the wave of deregulation has reflected a reorientation in terms of policy stance. Deregulation in the financial sector has been conceived as a counterpart of supply-side reforms in general economic policy. As a result of innovations and deregulation, financial market structures have changed in many respects. For example, the banks' customers have been offered interest-bearing cash deposits. In addition, issuing facilities have replaced bank loans (securitization and disinter-mediation). Furthermore, bonds with special terms of issue, such as variable interest rates, have become widespread. Above all we are experiencing a strong expansion of the markets for derivative financial instruments (such as futures, options, swaps, and synthetic bonds or shares). Technological advances in telecommunications and computers have played a part in this development. They have lowered information and transaction costs for financial products. The improved possibilities of hedging against interest and exchange rate risks; such as are offered by derivatives, have, in turn, giving fresh impetus to the globalization of asset holdings. The third new trend can be seen in the fact that the importance of institutional investors in national markets and international capital transactions has grown considerably. The report of the G-10 deputies on International Capital Movements and Foreign Exchange Markets, published in the spring of this year, sheds some light on this. According to the report, the total cross-border securities holdings of residents of the United States, Europe, and Japan in 1991 came to an estimated %2.5 trillion. As stated in the report, institutional investors (such as pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds, trust fUnds, and hedge funds) accounted for most of the rapid increase in these investments. It is typical of these operators that they are generally subject to less stringent regulatory standards and supervision than banks. In addition, some of them seem to have a relatively strong tendency to incur open or insufficiently covered foreign exchange positions and to change them rapidly afterwards. As a consequence of the far-reaching transformation process, the financial markets have doubtless become more efficient. Costs for borrowers have declined, earnings for investors have risen, and the markets have thus been given additional growth stimuli. …


Optimizing Carbon Nanotubes Shorter carbon nanotubes are easier to make, but, when assembled into fibers, the resulting fiber properties are much poorer than might be predicted by theory. Conversely, longer carbon nanotubes have much better properties but are harder to process. Behabtu et al. (p. 182) combined the best of both worlds through scalable wet spinning method, in which they dissolved longer carbon nanotubes and then spun them into fibers that showed excellent strength, stiffness, and thermal conductivity. Exceptional carbon nanotube fibers are produced by a wet spinning process using longer nanotubes as feedstock. Broader applications of carbon nanotubes to real-world problems have largely gone unfulfilled because of difficult material synthesis and laborious processing. We report high-performance multifunctional carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers that combine the specific strength, stiffness, and thermal conductivity of carbon fibers with the specific electrical conductivity of metals. These fibers consist of bulk-grown CNTs and are produced by high-throughput wet spinning, the same process used to produce high-performance industrial fibers. These scalable CNT fibers are positioned for high-value applications, such as aerospace electronics and field emission, and can evolve into engineered materials with broad long-term impact, from consumer electronics to long-range power transmission.


Non-configurationality is a linguistic property associated with free word order, discontinuous constituents, including NPs, and null anaphora of referential arguments. Quantitative metrics, based both on local networks (syntactic trees and word order within sentences) and on global networks (incorporating the relations within a whole treebank into a shared graph), can reveal correlations among these features. Using treebanks we focus on diachronic varieties of Ancient Greek and Latin, in which non-configurationality tapered off over time, leading to the largely configurational nature of the Romance languages and of Modern Greek. A property of global networks (density of their spectra around zero eigenvalues) measuring the regularity in word order is shown to be strengthened from classical to late varieties. Discontinuous NPs are traced by counting the words creating non-projectivity in dependency trees: these drop dramatically in late varieties. Finally, developments in the use of null referential direct objects are gauged by assessing the percentage of third-person personal pronouns among verb objects. All three features turn out to change over time due to the decay of non-configurationality. Evaluation of the strength of their pairwise correlation shows that null direct objects and discontinuous NPs are deeply intertwined.


This thesis discusses an action-research (AR) project which investigated the problem of information management for housing maintenance. The research commenced with
the intention of developing an expert system for housing maintenance management.
The first step in this process is to understand the environment and user requirements, and it was this quest for understanding which subsequently became the focus for the research. A systemic approach was adopted to re-examine the problem situation holistically, as opposed to the more traditional reductionist view. Checkland's softsystems
methodology (SSM) provided the framework for systematic enquiry. SSM offers an approach which can be used for accurate problem recognition and definition in messy, ill-structured and often complex human activity systems. The necessity for accurate and appropriate problem identification techniques when attempting to manage information was crucial in the shaping of this project.
Upon reflection, the project consisted of five clearly defined phases which emerged in response to events and opportunities faced by the researcher. These phases can be
categorised as either 'diagnostic' or 'therapeutic' and each consisted of a cyclical process of enquiry. This thesis comprises four parts which mirror this cyclical
learning process in each phase of the AR. Part 1, Problem Recognition, deals with the subject matter and introduces the conceptual framework used for Information System
(IS) analysis. Part 2, Action Planning, details the research approach and methodology; and the development of the research strategy, design and choice of data collection techniques. Part 3, Action Taking, presents the fieldwork and describes the AR data collection and analysis process. Part 4, Evaluation, provides a critical review of the research approach, details the research contribution and a methodological reevaluation.
The research contribution is considered in three areas, (a) specific substantive contribution to an understanding of housing management information systems, (b) theoretical contribution to an understanding of a soft-systems approach to participative IS analysis and evaluation, and, remembering the origins of the study (c) the utility and immediate benefits to housing maintenance practice. These combine in the creation of a participative methodology and integrated framework to identify information requirements for housing maintenance management. The re-evaluation
and research review identifies how AR and SSM could be developed by utilizing aspects of action learning.


Several authors claim that deaf children with hearing parents do not' develop theory of
mind (ToM) until adolescence, but this is largely based on false-belief studies. Peterson
& Siegal's (2000) review of false-belief studies is updated and the section also reviews
research using a wider range of methodologies with deaf children and adults. Deaf
children have difficulties in false-belief, perspective-taking and emotional
responses/reactions, but these skills may develop later. In contrast, deaf children do not
appear to have deficits in mental-state attribution or emotional recognition. More
research with deaf adults is needed.
Section II: Research Report
This study explores whether Deaf adults have impairments in ToM and empathy
compared to hearing adults, and if Deaf forensic patients have further impairments.
Tests were adapted and translated for the purpose of the study. The Deaf community
scored lower than the hearing community on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test and
produced fewer mental states. The Deaf forensic group was too small for reliable
statistical analysis. Deafpeople may continue to have ToM impairments into adulthood,
but the results could be due to methodological, linguistic and social factors.
Assessments must be developed specifically for use with Deaf populations rather than
relying on interpreted measures.
Section III: Critical Appraisal
This section gives a commentary, and personal reflections, on the project. The
challenges faced during the progression through the thesis and of researching within the
Deaf culture are explored. Methodological problems, clinical implications and areas for
further research are discussed and key learning points are identified.


This research based on the phenomenon of Kabupaten Blitar after Imam Muhadi, as officer in charge in Blitar, corruption. Then Hery Nugroho, as officer in charge after Imam Muhadi, voted by the Blitar society try to indicate that build good new image need good public relation staff
that cooperate with mass media. It's proven that Blitar good government and progress publishing in media. The important role of media to make a new image, especially to publish government's plan to build the regent and its success.
This research is very interesting to study how to make good relation between government of Kabupaten Blitar and mass media to make good institution image. To support this aim, need study in Kabupaten Blitar public relation. The research point is to know media relation management that conducted by public relation of Kabupaten Blitar,and the technique and the way of public relation to build relationship with media.
This research using qualitative method with collecting data observation technique, interview and searching document. Then analysing with inductiveinterpretativeconceptualize analysis. The analysis result are : 1) Media program are choosing good media and let the media follow the program, 2) Media collecting conduct with unformal way and pointing to personal approach to journalist, 3) Media controlling done with optimize Persada FM, using sponsorship facilities to media, 5) Media relations evaluation pointing to newspaper and electronic media joining in government programs, 6) Build image, from management process of media relations, build new good image is with image and corporate image. 1) Perencanaan media meliputi pemilihan media
dan kegiatan humas dengan melibatkan peran serta media, 2) Pengorganisasian media dilakukan secara non formal dan lebih menitikberatkan pada pendekatan personal pekerja media (wartawan), 3) Controlling media dilakukan dengan optimalisasi peran radio Persada FM, kliping dan pendekatan keorganisasian media dengan menjadi sponsorship dalam bentuk fasilitas kepada media, 5) Evaluasi media relations menitikberatkan pada membaca beberapa media baik cetak maupun elektronik yang terlibat dalam kegiatan pemerintahan. 6) Pencitraan, dari proses manajemen media relations humas PEMKAB Blitar yaitu terbentuknya wish image dan corporate image.
From this research, the researcher summarized that :1) Build media relations is accidental programs and government public relation concept is obey with government regulation, 2) Public relation participation in media relation is : press conference, press release and press tour, 3)
Kabupaten Blitar's good new image conducted with good opinion to make public believe to new government and pointing personal relations to journalist, and use press agency concept, mean all government programs always informed to media. The other way, Kabupaten Blitar government optimize Persada FM as government voice to clarify government information and regulation with
LEMPUNGDUMAS program (Media to collect public argument).


This book concerns the use of concepts from statistical physics in the description of financial systems. The authors illustrate the scaling concepts used in probability theory, critical phenomena, and fully developed turbulent fluids. These concepts are then applied to financial time series. The authors also present a stochastic model that displays several of the statistical properties observed in empirical data. Statistical physics concepts such as stochastic dynamics, short- and long-range correlations, self-similarity and scaling permit an understanding of the global behaviour of economic systems without first having to work out a detailed microscopic description of the system. Physicists will find the application of statistical physics concepts to economic systems interesting. Economists and workers in the financial world will find useful the presentation of empirical analysis methods and well-formulated theoretical tools that might help describe systems composed of a huge number of interacting subsystems.


This paper presents COMBINE, a directory-based consistency protocol for shared objects, designed for large-scale distributed systems with unreliable links. Directory-based consistency protocols support move requests, allowing to write the object locally, as well as lookup requests, providing a read-only copy of the object. They have been used in distributed shared memory implementations and are a key element of data-flow implementations of distributed software transactional memory in large-scale systems. The protocol runs on an overlay tree, whose leaves are the nodes of the system, and its main novelty is in combining requests that overtake each other as they pass through the same node. Combining requests on a simple tree structure allows the protocol to tolerate non-fifo links and handle concurrent requests. Combining also avoids race conditions and ensures that the cost of serving a request is proportional to the cost of the shortest path between the requesting node and the serving node, in the overlay tree. Using an overlay tree with a good stretch factor yields an efficient protocol.


Research has shown that health promotion programs (HPP) that incorporate education about physical activity (PA) are one mode of rehabilitation that can improve the health of individuals with disabilities. However, education-based PA curriculum is not included in the rehabilitation program for individuals with a brain injury, indicating a gap in services provided. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to create and deliver a physical activity centered education (PACE) program that supplemented the existing rehabilitation program for brain injury. PACE consists of an 8-week (16 session) program aimed to (1) increase self-efficacy for being physically active of PACE program participants, (2) increase PA stage of change in PACE program participants or the maintenance of adequate level of PA, and (3) improve the rehabilitation outcomes (i.e., abilities, participation, adjustment) of PACE program participants. Based on previous research, it is hypothesized that participation in PACE will result in (1A) increased self-efficacy for PA, (1B) greater self-efficacy for PA than the standard of care group, (2A) increased readiness to be physically active, (2B) greater readiness to change their PA behavior than the standard of care group, (3A) improved rehabilitation outcomes, and (3B) greater rehabilitation outcomes than the standard of care group. the PACE program resulted in: (1) an average increase of 19.36% in participants' PA self-efficacy (effect size [ES] = 0.37), (2) 15 of the 22 PACE participants (68.18%) reported readiness to engage in regular PA , and (3) an increase in rehabilitation outcomes (i.e., abilities, adjustment, and participation)In conclusion, the PACE program can improve PA self-efficacy, readiness for regular PA behavior, and improved short-term rehabilitation outcomes.


Issues of academic plagiarism in educational institutions are often played out in the public arena. Media reports that 'scandals' occur in universities where plagiarism has gone undetected, or unpunished can undermine public faith in the academic integrity of higher education. Antiplagiarism software has been successfully marketed to universities as a means through which to detect and deter plagiarism. One commercially available product, Turnitin, has been embraced and implemented in many educational settings around the globe. Although Turnitin has been heralded as an effective measure to combat plagiarism, little empirical research has been undertaken to examine user perceptions of its effectiveness. This paper details a site-specific case study which explores the perspectives of seven teachers across five faculties at South-Coast University¹ about the effectiveness and usability of Turnitin. The findings indicate that Turnitin assists in detecting passages where text matches other sources. However, the software does not indicate whether plagiarism has occurred or not. That remains the decision of the teacher. Additionally, such software should not be considered a panacea for plagiarism. Students still require explicit teaching of the concept of textual attribution, often with subject-specific examples to understand acknowledgement conventions within academia.


There are few countries where "initial conditions" are as unfavourable as those of Laos. It is a very poor, least developed country. It is land-locked, sharing its international borders with five neighbours. It has the world's highest per capita stock of unexploded ordinance, a legacy of the Indo China war. It has yet to recover from the loss of most of its entrepreneurial class and over half of its tertiary educated population in the aftermath of that war. It is heavily indebted, with substantial Soviet era obligations still outstanding. Its institutions are weak and property rights ill defined. Yet, its reform efforts over the past two decades have been largely successful, with accelerating growth and the beginnings of a relatively smooth transition from plan to market. This examination of the Lao reform programme and the subsequent outcomes suggests that, contrary to some of the prevailing pessimism, late-comers can engage with the international economy, providing their reforms are reasonably effective and credible. Neighbourhood effects have obviously been supportive in the Lao case, but their importance should not be overstated.


We report the observation of an exceptionally large room-temperature electrical conductivity in silver and aluminum layers deposited on a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) substrate. The surface resistance of the silver-coated samples also shows a sharp change near 313 K. The results are strongly suggestive of a superconductive interfacial layer, and have been interpreted in the framework of Bose-Einstein condensation of bipolarons as the suggested mechanism for high-temperature superconductivity in cuprates.


Time series forecasting is often fundamental to scientific and engineering problems and enables decision making. With ever increasing data set sizes, a trivial solution to scale up predictions is to assume independence between interacting time series. However, modeling statistical dependencies can improve accuracy and enable analysis of interaction effects. Deep learning methods are well suited for this problem, but multi-variate models often assume a simple parametric distribution and do not scale to high dimensions. In this work we model the multi-variate temporal dynamics of time series via an autoregressive deep learning model, where the data distribution is represented by a conditioned normalizing flow. This combination retains the power of autoregressive models, such as good performance in extrapolation into the future, with the flexibility of flows as a general purpose high-dimensional distribution model, while remaining computationally tractable. We show that it improves over the state-of-the-art for standard metrics on many real-world data sets with several thousand interacting time-series.


In archeometry studies, one of the hidden angles that can be the great help in the field of accurate understanding of ancient materials is the study of ancient texts and finding the equivalence of them with modern ones. Before an Iranian archaeologist wants to study a historical sample, it must be determined what information is available in ancient Persian texts about that sample .The first step in identifying and obtaining this information is to understand the vocabularies and words relevant to that science. But sometimes words from the Persian language are outdated and alternatives from another languages are nowadays designated for that word, which are well known and used in scientific societies and Their Persian form is unknown, so the obscurity of today's obsolete equivalents makes some of the information relevant to it still ambiguous in interpreting ancient texts and remains unknown. by finding the ancient name of the words and their equivalence with the well-known words of today, valuable information can be obtain in a wide range of studies. Khomāhan is one of these ancient and obsolete Persian words that has been defined only in the historical books of medicine and minerals, dictionaries and in Persian poems and these definitions only emphasizes that it is an iron ore. In these books two types of male and female are mentioned for it. It is said that female khomāhan is a reddishblack stone that, when sinking in water, red color will be appeared and It has been used as a red pigment like a vermillion, and the male khoamāhan is a black stone and when sinking it in water yellow color will be appeared, it has been used as a yellow pigment like an orpiment. In Persian poetry also is mentioned about magnetic or black khomāhan. Black khomāhan is also a kind of a very black colored stone and is considered to be the best kind of khomāhan. Thus, the word khomāhan is referred to three stone but it is not known precisely which word or equivalent is known today. In this regard, female khomāhan that has been used in ancient medicine in Iran is found from perfumery and experiments have been carried out in order to prove what is said in ancient texts about female khomāhan. This research shows that female khomāhan is the equivalent of the Latin word hematite. According to researches, * Corresponding author: firstname.lastname@example.com Technical Note D ow nl oa de d fr om jr ata br iz ia u. ir at 0 :2 9 + 04 30 o n F rid ay S ep te m be r 11 th 2 02 0 [ D O I: 10 .2 92 52 /jr a. 5. 2. 16 9 ] Salahshour, F et al. / Journal of Research on Archaeometry 2 (2019) 169‒183 this term in ancient Iran, in addition to hematite, was also referred to as other iron ore. In this study, it was found that the "male khomāhan" is equivalent to today's known mineral of the European word "goethite" and the word "magnetic and black khomāhan" refers to the word "Magnetite".


From the Erotic to the Demonic: On Critical Musicology. By Derck B. Scott, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. [258 p. ISBN 0-19-515195-X. $65 (hbk.); 0-19-515196-8. $35 (pbk.).] Music examples, illustrations, index. It does not seem all that long ago that Susan McClary said "when cultural-studies methods first appeared in musicology fifteen years ago, they triggered a storm of polemics that sometimes overshadowed the important issues being raised. As the canon wars recede, however, scholars are finding it possible to focus on the concerns that led them to cultural criticism in the first place: the study of music and its political meanings" (Western Music and Its Others: Difference, Representation, and Appropriation in Music, ed. Georgina Born and David Hesmondhalgh [Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000], back cover). In her forward to the volumes in the Roulledge series Critical and Cultural Musicology, Martha Feldman claimed that "Musicology has undergone a sea change in recent years." Indeed, Derek Scott's book can be seen as a continuation of a growing body of critical musicology dedicated to examining issues that have been marginalized by musicologists such as ideology, identity, gender, and racial representation in Western music. To this end, Scott asserts that musicology is no longer an autonomous field of academic inquiry, but has entered a phase of "postdisciplinarity" (p. 4), and a vibrant intellectual movement in the interdisciplinary field of the arts, sciences, and humanities. Scott embraces the notion that the rise of critical musicology was advanced by the collapse of the binary divide between classical and popular, which broadened the scope of musicological inquiry to topics such as gender, race, identity, sexuality, and narrative. In doing so, Scott is committed to social semiotics advanced by Richard Leppert, Susan McClary, and Lawrence Kramer and puts forth a series of exemplary essays articulated in a rich, engaging, and provocative interdisciplinary style. The book is divided into four parts, each with two chapters. Part 1 concerns gender, sexuality, and musical style rooted in social practices. The first chapter deals with erotic representation from Monteverdi to Mae West. Building on McClary's work on seventeenth-century narrative, Scott analyzes "Pur ti miro" from Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Popea (1642) as a representation of the mutual arousal thought necessary for sexual reproduction in the seventeenth century, to the stereotypes dominating American erotic songs of the 1920s and 1930s in what he refers to as the "predator," Mae West, the "innocent," Helen Kane, and the "prim and proper" Ann Suter (pp. 27-29). The second chapter examines eroticism in the Victorian era. Scott argues for disjunctions in representation rather than universals or constants that can be traced through "evolution" or "progress." The author contends that music can be negotiated, building on conventions rooted in style codes and social practices. Part 2 concerns the working of ideology in relation to popular music. Scott examines representation of the American Indian in popular styles of Western music from the eighteenth century to the present. He thus moves from sexuality to ethnicity in order to show how cultural difference is represented and how shifting perceptions of the Native American can be related to changes in attitude to the "civilized" and the natural world. Scott traces the appropriation of the Native American from Rameau's harpsichord piece Les sauvages (1725) to J. P. Richardson's pop song "Running Bear" (1960). Here we are confronted with a host of signifiers delineating the "enemy" as alien and whisky drinking or courageous and wise, reflecting shifting political and cultural changes. Scott claims that even films that attempt to depict Native Americans in a more positive image, such as Dances with Wolves (1990), are no less dehumanizing and have a tendency to imply that Native Americans are unable to cope with the grim practicalities of modern life. …


This paper considers the maturation of the American Catholic tradition of social and economic thought in the seminal period between 1920 and 1940, particularly as encapsulated in the work of John A. Ryan. While different social ethical models emerged in the American Church during this time, the dominant school of thought was the liberal tradition associated with Ryan. This tradition, which Ryan described as "true economic liberalism," forged American political liberalism and papal critiques of secular modernity into a new social ethical theory which became the capstone of prewar Catholic progressivism. True economic liberalism first manifested itself in critiques of the Supreme Court's description of "freedom" in Adkins v. Children's Hospital (1923). It took positive form during the 1920s in the widespread Catholic embrace of industrial democracy as a moral alternative to laissez-faire capitalism It was during the 1930s, however, when the Church confronted the economic crisis of the Great Depression, that true economic liberalism became a more totalizing system of social thought. It was also during the 1930s that this theory revealed the difficulties Catholic liberals have had in defining their relationship to a market economy and the state. On one hand, true economic liberalism provoked the creative maturation of Catholic thought and established the Church as a leading progressive critic of capitalism. At the same time, true economic liberalism circumscribed the possible depths of the Catholic moral critique. American Catholics liberals were so committed to constructing a social ethic that upheld "the priceless goods of liberty, opportunity, and democracy," that they accepted a reformed capitalism, guarded and chastened by religion, as the most desirable outcome for a modern economy. As John P. Carroll revealingly wrote, "The remedy, then, for the social evils. . . does not lie in the destruction of the present social system. The way to clean a house is not to dynamite it." By accommodating the Church's social ethic to the ideals of American democracy, liberal Catholics rejected radical reforms in favor of moderate legislative schemes which one writer described in Commonweal as "sniping at capitalism." It was for this reason that so many Catholics fawningly embraced the New Deal and, indeed, found in Franklin Roosevelt the supreme advocate for the principles set forth in Pius XI's 1931 Quadragesimo Anno.


The representation of written language semantics is a central problem of language technology and a crucial component of many natural language processing applications, from part-of-speech tagging to text summarization. These representations of linguistic units, such as words or sentences, allow computer applications that work with language to process and manipulate the meaning of text. In particular, a family of models has been successfully developed based on automatically learning semantics from large collections of text and embedding them into a vector space, where semantic or lexical similarity is a function of geometric distance. Co-occurrence information of words in context is the main source of data used to learn these representations. Such models have typically been applied to learning representations for word forms, which have been widely applied, and proven to be highly successful, as characterizations of semantics at the word level. However, a word-level approach to meaning representation implies that the different meanings, or senses, of any polysemic word share one single representation. This might be problematic when individual word senses are of interest and explicit access to their specific representations is required. For instance, in cases such as an application that needs to deal with word senses rather than word forms, or when a digital lexicon's sense inventory has to be mapped to a set of learned semantic representations. In this thesis, we present a number of models that try to tackle this problem by automatically learning representations for word senses instead of for words. In particular, we try to achieve this by using two separate sources of information: corpora and lexica for the Swedish language. Throughout the five publications compiled in this thesis, we demonstrate that it is possible to generate word sense representations from these sources of data individually and in conjunction, and we observe that combining them yields superior results in terms of accuracy and sense inventory coverage. Furthermore, in our evaluation of the different representational models proposed here, we showcase the applicability of word sense representations both to downstream natural language processing applications and to the development of existing linguistic resources.


Research on theory of mind (ToM) has been dominated by the traditional False Belief tasks; however, recent work has established a developmental sequence for children's mentalstate understanding. Wellman and Liu (2004) formulated a ToM scale that tests four additional aspects of ToM abilities in the visual realm: Diverse Desires, Diverse Beliefs, Knowledge Access, and Real-Apparent Emotions. Our study extended the scale to include five parallel tasks assessing ToM in the auditory realm. Sixty-six typically developing preschoolers (30 female) between the ages of 3and 5-years-old were tested using 10 ToM tasks (5 visual, 5 auditory). A 3(age) x 2(modality) x 2(gender) repeated measures ANOVA yielded significant effects for age and gender, where 4and 5-year-olds demonstrated greater mental-state understanding than 3year-olds and girls passed more tasks than boys. There was no effect of modality nor did any interactions emerge. Like the visual tasks in the theory-of-mind scale, the auditory tasks form a scalable set, with Diverse Desires and Diverse Beliefs occurring earlier in the scale than Knowledge Access, False Belief, and Real-Apparent Emotions. Our new scale provides researchers with five novel tasks to measure the progression of theory-of-mind development in the auditory realm and may be extended to assess preschoolers, such as children with visual impairments and children with autism spectrum disorder, who have shown delays in mental-state understanding when tested using predominantly visual tasks. INDEX WORDS: Theory of Mind, Auditory, Mental states, False belief, Cognition, Preschoolers PERCEPTION AND THEORY-OF-MIND DEVELOPMENT IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN: COMPARING VISUAL AND AUDITORY MODALITIES


In 2021, Hong Kong's electoral system underwent its most significant reform since the People's Republic of China (PRC) resumed the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong on July 1, 1997. By a decision adopted on March 11, 2021 to "improve the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and develop a democratic system suited to the actual situation of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" (HKSAR), the National People's Congress (NPC) decided to amend the methods of selecting the Chief Executive of the HKSAR and forming the Legislative Council of the HKSAR (LegCo). The existing Election Committee would be reformed and given a pivotal role in the elections of the Chief Executive and LegCo members. A new candidate qualification review committee would be established to qualify all candidates. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) was empowered to amend the first two annexes of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (Basic Law), which specify the methods for selecting the Chief Executive and forming the LegCo. The HKSAR would amend local election laws to implement the reforms and organize future elections in accordance with the law. The Chief Executive would submit timely reports to the Central People's Government. The NPC Decision was adopted with 2,895 votes in favor and one abstention.


After the Great Reforms of the 1860s – 1870s the Russian government embarked on the construction of a modern nation-state and was faced with the need to unify all parts of the empire administratively, culturally, legally, and socially. The new ethno-confessional policy in Russian historiography is often called Russification because the order established after the Great Reforms in the Great Russian provinces served as a model for the transformation of all parts of the empire. The Russification policy included many aspects, including Russifying [obrusenie] - the introduction of the Russian language as obligatory in the record keeping of public institutions, in court and administration, in education and everyday life. While the policy of Russifying has found ample reflection in the historiography, its results have been insufficiently studied. The purpose of this article is to fill this gap and to try to assess the process of Russifying ethnic minorities at the imperial level, drawing upon the first general census of the Russian Empire in 1897. The analysis has led to the conclusion that the policy of Russifying did not provide the expected results.


Contrary to the Germanic languages, the Romance languages have a whole range of verbs instead of one (or two) specific, polysemic copula verb which can be used to express all kinds of transition from one state or situation into another, i.e. serving as a dynamic counterpart of a corresponding static verb used to describe existing states of affairs related to animate or inanimate subjects in a predicative context. There also exist more synthetic ways of expressing change in the state of affairs through the so-called ingressive verbs. These verbs reflect the typical situation in Latin, where transition, i.e. change in the state of affairs, was normally represented by lexical and/or synthetic means of expression. Cf. excandesco and irascor 'to get angry', where the rise of a new situation is made explicit by the inchoative infix -sc-. Thus the nowadays current analytical expressions of transition by means of a dynamic copula or a factitive verb followed by a predicative complement of the subject or object, respectively,represent a typological shift from the ancient, synthetic ways of expressing situational change.


In this paper we investigate how heterogeneous agents choose among tournaments with different prizes. We show that if the number of agents is sufficiently small, multiple equilibria can arise. Depending on how the prize money is split over the tournaments, these may include, for example, a perfect-sorting equilibrium in which high-ability agents compete in the high-prize tournament, while low-ability agents compete for the low prize. However, there are also equilibria in which agents follow a mixed strategy and there can be reverse sorting, i.e. low-ability agents are in the tournament with the high prize, while high-ability agents are in the low-prize tournament. We show that total effort always decreases compared to a single tournament. However, splitting the tournament may increase the effort of low-ability agents.


Over the past 20 years, integration duties imposed on third-country nationals have spread and become more rigid in EU Member States. They increasingly restrict the conditions for obtain-ing residence permits as well as the benefit of social rights. These integration conditions take on singular forms and raise particular issues in relation to the Association Agreement concluded between the European Union and Turkey, in particular with regard to so-called 'stand-still clauses'. The present article begins from the A v. Udlaendinge-og Integrationsministeriet case and criticises the Court's silence about the elephant in the room on the issue of integration conditions towards third-country nationals: racial and/or ethnic discrimination. The case is about an integration condition imposed by the Danish Government as a prerequisite for a 'family reunion' residence permit for the spouse of a Turkish worker: the spouses must prove that they have a stronger link with Denmark than with Turkey. The solution adopted by the Court of Justice in striking down this integration condition is not surprising. However, its reasoning suggests more tolerance – or even laxity – about the way the concept of integration is used by the Member States. This situation is problematic insofar as these integration conditions, the very principle of which is questionable per se, conceal increasingly discriminatory and exclusionary measures which the Court is reluctant to denounce, as opposed to the Euro-pean Court of Human Rights.


Student retention is a critical component to the success of any university, whether instruction is provided in a traditional or online setting. Creating an effective student retention program can positively impact student success and, ultimately, the reputation and the image of the institution. The implementation of a student retention program can be especially challenging in the online environment for both the instructors and the institution. Unlike a traditional university setting where students and instructors interact face-to-face, online programs need to rely on alternative methods to engage students. When online instructors take the time to create a consistent proactive outreach program students feel connected to the instructor and strive harder to be successful in the classroom. Online outreach programs can include tasks as simple as consistently emailing students, enlisting the help of student advisors, and taking time to phone students. Each approach has the potential to keep engaged students participating and can reengage non-participating students by ensuring a high level of faculty and student interaction.


Twenty-three elderly patients were found to have a consistent pattern of leukoencephalopathy by computed tomography and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging. Eight patients presented with vague, nonspecific symptoms and had no neurologic deficits. The other 15 patients had neurologic deficits that presented in one of three ways: stroke, seven patients; slowly progressive dementia and gait disturbance, five patients; or slowly progressive dementia alone, three patients. Risk factors for arteriosclerosis (hypertension, diabetes) were present in 18 patients (78%). The necropsy of one patient revealed arteriosclerotic vasculopathy characteristic of subcortical arteriosclerotic encephalopathy (SAE) or Binswanger's disease. Subcortical arteriosclerotic encephalopathy may be a relatively common affliction of elderly patients, most of whom have risk factors for arteriosclerosis. The modes of presentation and associated clinical signs are variable, and more than one third may have no neurologic deficit. In some cases SAE overlaps with normal pressure hydrocephalus by clinical and neuroimaging criteria. Some patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus who do not respond to ventricular shunting may actually have SAE.


Using data from a national survey of American adults, we examine the relationships between economic, political, sociodemographic, and religious characteristics with perception of the potential for eco-catastrophe. We employ the treadmill of production theory to frame our understanding of views about ecological concerns, arguing that the treadmill discourse associated with economic development is hegemonic and fundamentally shapes public views of eco-catastrophe. In line with this approach, economic ideology is the strongest predictor of attitudes about eco-catastrophe, and its influence is conditioned by political identity. There is also significant patterning in these perceptions based on gender, race, education, and religion, but the influence of social characteristics is primarily indirect—mediated by economic ideology and political identity. These results provide useful information for addressing environmental problems in public discourse and bridging policy divides.


In 1977 when Appel, Haken and Koch used a computer to mathematically solve the century old four-color-problem philosopher Thomas Tymoczko thought that the epistemic justification in mathematics had been changed. Essentially, Tymoczko, and others, argue we can now have mathematical epistemic justification through a posteriori means. This has obvious implication in philosophy of mathematics and epistemology because this would be the first case where mathematics isn't justified through a priori means of investigation. However, I ultimately disagree with Tymoczko. I argue that computer-aided-proofs still warrant an a priori means of justification. In order to show this, I refer to advances in philosophy of mind, mainly, the extended mind thesis. ). I will argue that our mind has evolved to enter into symbiotic relationships with non-organic entities in order to offload certain internal capacities. I believe that this is what constitutes humans amazing gift of rationality and intelligence. Thus, when we use a computer-aided-proof to solve unsurveyable proofs, we are really extending our minds into these cognitive tools and extending our method of proof checking to be more efficient and quicker. Thus, the a priori is saved because the computer is just a part of the causal cognitive loop that constitutes our mind.


Theorists conceptualize gratitude as incorporating either an interpersonal perspective in which an
individual feels or gives thanks to another person as the source of a provided
benefit, or an impersonal perspective
in which one's feelings of gratitude are not necessarily directed to other
human beings as the beneficial source, but
rather feelings of gratitude are attributed to a nonhuman source (e.g., nature,
fate, luck, God, the cosmos). This latter perspective maintains that not only
do people feel gratitude for valued benefits provided by another person (i.e.,
interpersonal source), but people can also experience gratitude for valued
benefits that do not emerge or originate from others (i.e., impersonal source).
Theorists also posit that over time, people can take any particular benefit for
granted (i.e., habituate), failing to experience feelings of gratitude because
they presume that the availability of a benefit/source is stable and certain,
and unlikely to be lost. By comparison, evidence suggests that perceiving
uncertainty or the potential loss of a benefit/source inspires a greater sense
of gratitude. Reflecting on the pragmatic uncertainty of finite
benefits/resources that are frequently taken for granted should lead to
enhanced feelings of gratefulness.

Although the
majority of empirical work examining feelings and functions of gratitude is
structured around an interpersonal source perspective in which people receive
one-time benefits, investigations focused on gratitude for impersonal sources
of benefits remain scant and understudied. The present research follows from
McCullough's (2001) and Watkins' (2014) call to increase empirical research
examining gratitude in contexts in which the source
does not involve a human benefactor. The current work including a pilot
test and four studies (N = 1459) offers such an examination. The findings from
this initial set of studies demonstrated some evidence that those with
pro-environmental attitudes exhibited increased gratitude for water when
provided with specific information about water's value (vs an unrelated topic)
(Study 1). I also found that people with more pro-environmental attitudes value
water more when water is presented as a relatively more uncertain resource (Study
2). The effect of certainty on gratitude was replicated in Study 3, showing that
those in a low certainty condition were more grateful for water than those in a
high certainty condition. Moreover, gratitude for water predicted the intent to
perform water conservation behaviors and interest in water conservation
volunteering (Study 3). I also found some evidence that habituation mediated
the effect between the perceived certainty of a benefit and lower gratitude,
suggesting that people experience less gratitude for benefits they take for
granted, in part, because they think less about them (Study 4). However, this
affect only appeared consistently among more liberal, pro-environmental people.
The current research contributes to and expands gratitude theory and research
by providing some initial evidence that feelings of gratitude can serve broader
adaptive purposes than is currently theorized. Thus, gratitude not only helps
people identify and bond with social benefactors, but it also may serve as a
generalized psychological system that prompts people to recognize and
positively respond to most any form of benefit/source.


Library patrons often approach the reference desk with indirect, incomplete, or misleading questions, known as "ill-formed" questions. Transforming ill-formed questions into well-formed ones is a crucial part of the reference interview, and Google can be an active participant in that process. This paper discusses how Google can help librarians and patrons deal with incomplete citations, incorrect citations, incorrect spellings, tip-of-the-tongue questions, and forgotten searches.


Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) was used to determine the viscosity radii of equivalent spheres for proteins covalently grafted with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). The viscosity radius of such PEGylated proteins was found to depend on the molecular weight of the native protein and the total weight of grafted PEG but not on PEG molecular weight, or PEG-to-protein molar grafting ratio. Results suggest grafted PEG's form a dynamic layer over the surface of proteins. The geometry of this layer results in a surface area-to-volume ratio approximately equal to that of a randomly coiled PEG molecule of equivalent total molecular weight. Two simple methods are given to predict the viscosity radius of PEGylated proteins. Both methods accurately predicted (3% absolute error) the viscosity radii of various PEG-proteins produced using three native proteins, alpha-lactalbumin (14.2 kDa MW), beta-lactoglobulin dimer (37.4 kDa MW), and bovine serum albumin (66.7 kDa MW), three PEG reagents (2400, 5600, and 22500 MW), and molar grafting ratios of 0 to 8. Accurate viscosity radius prediction allows calculation of the distribution coefficient, K(av), for PEG-proteins in SEC. The suitability of a given SEC step for the analytical or preparative fractionation of different PEGylated protein mixtures may therefore be assessed mathematically. The methods and results offer insight to several factors related to the production, purification, and uses of PEGylated proteins.


Limited edition, digital, fine art print on paper, 56cm x 28cm (edition of 21)

In 2012 Glasgow Women's Library celebrated its 21st birthday. To mark two decades of life-changing work, GWL commissioned 21 internationally renowned artists and 21 published writers to create new works inspired by their unique museum, archive and library collections.

The artwork '165 Stars, found in Glasgow Women's Library', is the result of having combed GWL's lending library collecting hand drawn inscriptions left in the margins of the pages, specifically asterisks and stars found on the edges of the hundreds of donated volumes. These delicate and intimate marks describe what is thought of as being essential and act as points of connection between the absent, previous readers and us. This print brings together and permanently fixes the complete collection of stars found in Glasgow Women't Library.

The commissioned artworks were exhibited at the Centre for Contemporary Art, Glasgow (September 2012) and subsequently at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh (July - September 2013) and Creative Scotland, Edinburgh (March - April 2014).

Published in 2014 by Glasgow Women's Library and Freight Books, the commissioned prints, poems and creative writing have been brought together with the sources that inspired the work in a publication '21 Revolutions, Two Decades of Changing Minds at Glasgow Women's Library'. The publication includes essays by Fiona Bradley, Director of the Fruitmarket Gallery, writer and journalist Lesley McDowell, and co-founder of Glasgow Women's Library Adele Patrick.
ISBN 978-0-9522273-3-5


Every state throughout the United States of America incurs significant expenses each year. Unlike a for-profit business, states cannot attempt to cover these expenses by selling a product to generate revenues. Instead, revenues are acquired through four main sources: charges for services, operating grants and contributions, capital grants and contributions, and taxes. Even though every state relies heavily on the generation of revenues from taxes, certain states choose not to put in place one of the two most significant tax revenue sources: the personal income tax and the sales tax; one state—Alaska—has chosen to circumvent both. Understanding how large an impact the abovementioned tax sources had on a state's overall ability to generate revenues, and thus cover their expenses, it would be reasonable to assume the states that have chosen not to implement either the personal income tax or sales tax, or both, would be in a worse financial situation than the states that put both into practice. Through an analysis of the change in net assets as a percentage of total revenues, and the fund profit margin, for a total of twenty states— those that do not implement an income tax, a sales tax, or both, and those possessing the highest income tax rates and sales tax rates—it can be concluded that the aforementioned assumption is false. Not having a personal income tax or a sales tax has little effect on the results of a state's change in net assets as a percentage of total revenues and fund profit margin. The results of the analysis produced too great an assortment of positive and negative state financial positions to result in any real correlation. States with both an income tax and sales tax were just as likely to be in a negative financial situation as those states that did not possess an income tax or sales tax, and vice versa. It really boils down to how efficiently and effectively a governmental entity spends, having an approximate idea of how much revenue they will generate with or without an income tax or sales tax. Total expenditures on a per capita level may suffer a bit in states that do not have an income tax or sales tax, but there is no evidence to suggest that not having one or both of these taxes has an effect on a state's "profit margin" figures. The tables that follow provide evidence supporting the conclusion of the conducted analysis. Degree Type Open Access Senior Honors Thesis Department Accounting and Finance


This paper introduces a new measurement, robustness, to measure the quality of machine-discovered knowledge from real-world databases that change over time. A piece of knowledge is robust if it is unlikely to become inconsistent with new database states. Robustness is different from predictive accuracy in that by the latter, the system considers only the consistency of a rule with unseen data, while by the former, the consistency after deletions and updates of existing data is also considered. Combining robustness with other utility measurements, a system can make intelligent decisions in learning and maintenance of knowledge learned from changing databases. This paper defines robustness, then presents an estimation approach for the robustness of Horn-clause rules learned from a relational database. The estimation approach applies the Laplace law of succession, which can be efficiently computed. The estimation is based on database schemas and transaction logs. No domain-specific information is required. However, if it is available, the approach can exploit it.


The wavelet transform is increasingly popular for mathematical scale- space analysis in various aspects of signal processing. The squared power and full-wave rectification of the wavelet transform coefficients are the most frequently features used for further processing. However it is shown in this paper that, in general, these features are coupled with the local phase component that depends not only on the analyzed signal but also on the analyzing wavelet at the scale. This dependency causes two problems: 'spurious' spatial variations of features at each scale; and the difficulty of associating features meaningfully across scales. To overcome these problems, we present a decoupled local energy and local phase representation of a real-valued wavelet transform by applying the Hilbert transform at each scale. We show that although local energy is equivalent to the power of the wavelet transform coefficients in term of energy conservation, they differ in scale-space. The local energy representation not only provides a phase-independent local feature at each scale, but also facilitate the analysis of similarity in scale-space. Applications of this decoupled representation to signal segmentation and the analysis of fractal signals are presented. Examples are given through out, using both real infra-red line scan signals and simulated Fractional Brownian Motion data.


Iron is essential for all living organisms, from bacteria to man for a broad variety of biological functions, including oxygen transport and DNA synthesis. However, iron can also be toxic, due to its involvement in the formation of highly reactive oxygen species through Fenton chemistry. Iron has been suggested to be involved in the pathology of several neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease as well as prion diseases, such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob's disease and scrapie. The work presented in this thesis is linked to the intracellular iron metabolism, oxidative stress and inflammation.Studies of iron metabolism in scrapie infected neuroblastoma N2a cells indicate that the scrapie infection is lowering the levels of both total iron and the labile iron pool. We also detected variations in the activities of iron regulatory protein 1 and 2 in the scrapie infected cells as compared to control cells. In addition, we have used DNA microarrays to compare the expression levels of mRNAs corresponding to several genes important for the antioxidative defense such as glutathione peroxidase and glutathione transferases between scrapie infected N2a and control cells. Our results suggest that the scrapie infected cells show differences in the expression of important genes involved in the cellular defense against oxidative stress as compared to control cells.We have also studied alterations in the iron metabolism as a response to the bacterial toxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS). LPS treatment leads to a decrease of transferrin receptor protein (TfR) and to an increase of ferritin mRNA levels in N2a and BV-2 cells. The decrease of TfR expression is dependent on reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) species, whereas the increase of ferritin mRNA is independent of both ROS and NO formation.Finally, we have studied the effect of sulfide on iron regulation in RD4 cells. We detected a substantial sulfide-induced increase in the labile iron pool. We also measured markedly elevated levels of ferritin protein and a decrease in IRP2 protein, indicating that the released iron was made bioavailable.


KOC, F., H. SAMLI, A. OKUR, M. OZDUVEN, H. AKYUREK and N. SENKOYLU, 2010. Effects of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and/or mannanoligosaccharide on performance, blood parameters and intestinal microbiota of broiler chicks. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 16: 643-650 The experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and mannanoligosaccharide in single or in combination on growth performance, blood parameters and intestinal microbiota in 120, one-d-old, Ross 308 male broiler chicks raised from 1 to 21 days of age. There were 4 dietary treatments; (i) control, (ii) MOS (2 kg/ton feed), (iii) yeast (2 kg/ton feed) and (iv) yeast (2 kg/ton feed) + MOS (2 kg/ton feed). Weight gain and feed intake of the broilers were significantly influenced by the addition of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with/without MOS. The results suggest that supplementation of S. cerevisiae w/wo MOS to diets for growing broilers might enhance counts of LAB and yeast in the gut. In addition, the S. cerevisiae supplementation w/wo MOS to diets might have a negative effect on E. coli


At present, Lithuania is facing many fundamental transformations in the energy sector and in the whole economy. The rational and efficient use of all energy carriers in all stages of the energy sector is a permanent objective of the Lithuanian energy policy. Energy conservation can be understood as improved energy efficiency and as a new additional energy source. In particular, large energy saving potential exists in the demand side because consumers over decades were accustomed to cheap energy. However, changes require considerable investments in all sectors of economy and it is impossible to do it under circumstances of a general economic crisis without help from the international community and banking systems. The paper describes the current situation in the Lithuanian energy sector, and provides an analysis of the main problems in the energy conservation policy as well as tendencies of energy demand (by branches of the economy and by energy carriers) and energy intensity. The paper aims to analyse the essential implications of energy efficiency in transition from a centrally planned to a free market economy.


The plethora of mobile apps introduce critical challenges to digital forensics practitioners, due to the diversity and the large number (millions) of mobile apps available to download from Google play, Apple store, as well as hundreds of other online app stores. Law enforcement investigators often find themselves in a situation that on the seized mobile phone devices, there are many popular and less-popular apps with interface of different languages and functionalities. Investigators would not be able to have sufficient expert-knowledge about every single app, sometimes nor even a very basic understanding about what possible evidentiary data could be discoverable from these mobile devices being investigated. Existing literature in digital forensic field showed that most such investigations still rely on the investigator's manual analysis using mobile forensic toolkits like Cellebrite and Encase. The problem with such manual approaches is that there is no guarantee on the completeness of such evidence discovery. Our goal is to develop an automated mobile app analysis tool to analyze an app and discover what types of and where forensic evidentiary data that app generate and store locally on the mobile device or remotely on external 3rd-party server(s). With the app analysis tool, we will build a database of mobile apps, and for each app, we will create a list of app-generated evidence in terms of data types, locations (and/or sequence of locations) and data format/syntax. The outcome from this research will help digital forensic practitioners to reduce the complexity of their case investigations and provide a better completeness guarantee of evidence discovery, thereby deliver timely and more complete investigative results, and eventually reduce backlogs at crime labs. In this paper, we will present the main technical approaches for us to implement a dynamic Taint analysis tool for Android apps forensics. With the tool, we have analyzed 2,100 real-world Android apps. For each app, our tool produces the list of evidentiary data (e.g., GPS locations, device ID, contacts, browsing history, and some user inputs) that the app could have collected and stored on the devices' local storage in the forms of file or SQLite database. We have evaluated our tool using both benchmark apps and real-world apps. Our results demonstrated that the initial success of our tool in accurately discovering the evidentiary data.


Greenland's bed topography is a primary control on ice flow, grounding line migration, calving dynamics, and subglacial drainage. Moreover, fjord bathymetry regulates the penetration of warm Atlantic water (AW) that rapidly melts and undercuts Greenland's marine‐terminating glaciers. Here we present a new compilation of Greenland bed topography that assimilates seafloor bathymetry and ice thickness data through a mass conservation approach. A new 150 m horizontal resolution bed topography/bathymetric map of Greenland is constructed with seamless transitions at the ice/ocean interface, yielding major improvements over previous data sets, particularly in the marine‐terminating sectors of northwest and southeast Greenland. Our map reveals that the total sea level potential of the Greenland ice sheet is 7.42 ± 0.05 m, which is 7 cm greater than previous estimates. Furthermore, it explains recent calving front response of numerous outlet glaciers and reveals new pathways by which AW can access glaciers with marine‐based basins, thereby highlighting sectors of Greenland that are most vulnerable to future oceanic forcing.


This final volume in the Charles Babbage Institute Reprint series provides a rare German account of the calculating machine industry in the first quarter of the 20th century, when the use of office machines became common in American and European business, government and science. Ernst Martin wrote "Die Rechenmaschinen" to address the issues and questions that the public had raised about the many calculating devices that were appearing on the market in the early 1920s. His book represents a developmental history of calculating machines in catalogue form - invaluable for collectors of old machines. The introduction describes the seven major types of machines that had been produced by 1925. The corpus of the book consists of a running list of specific calculating machines, arranged by the date the device was first patented or produced.


Children and adolescents with chronic illnesses face extraordinary psychological stressors, which often occur alongside or because of burdensome medical treatment regimens. Illness-related pressure and worry plague family members as well. These children and families need psychological support to help them comply with doctors' orders and to cope with issues such as restricted physical activity, frequent absences from school, and social problems. This book is designed to advance scientific understanding of interventions that promote psychological adaptation and adherence to treatment for children and adolescents with chronic health conditions. Throughout the book, key research findings concerning illness management, reducing noncompliance, and improving psychological outcomes are brought to light. The author lays out research priorities and discusses clinical applications that integrate research into practice. Psychologists who provide clinical care in pediatric settings will learn about new interventions that can be tailored to the individual needs of children and families coping with asthma, diabetes, cancer, sickle-cell anemia, arthritis, and cystic fibrosis. Researchers will find guidance on the design, methodology, measurement, and ethics of testing interventions with children and families.


The focus of this thesis is to propose and implement a highly efficient numerical
method to study cell dynamics. Three key phases are covered: mathematical
modelling, linear stability analytical theory and numerical simulations
using the moving grid finite element method. This aim is to study cell
deformation and cell movement by considering both the mechanical and biochemical
properties of the cortical network of actin filaments and its concentration.
These deformations are assumed to be a result of the cortical actin
dynamics through its interaction with a protein known as myosin II in the cell
cytoskeleton.

The mathematical model that we consider is a continuum model that couples
the mechanics of the network of actin filaments with its bio-chemical dynamics.
Numerical treatment of the model is carried out using the moving grid
finite element method. By assuming slow deformations of the cell boundary,
we verify the numerical simulation results using linear stability theory close
to bifurcation points. Far from bifurcation points, we show that the model
is able to describe the deformation of cells as a function of the contractile
tonicity of the complex formed by the association of actin filaments with the
myosin II motor proteins. Our results show complex cell deformations and
cell movements such as cell expansion, contraction, translation and protrusions
in accordance with experimental observations.

The migratory behaviour of cells plays a crucial role in many biological
events such as immune response, wound healing, development of tissues, embryogenesis,
inflammation and the formation of tumours.


For decades, researchers have been trying to create intuitive virtual environments by blending reality and virtual reality, thus enabling general users to interact with the digital domain as easily as with the real world. The result is "augmented reality" (AR). AR seamlessly superimposes virtual objects on to a real environment in three dimensions (3D) and in real time. One of the most important parts that helps close the gap between virtuality and reality is the marker used in the AR system. While pictorial marker and bar-code marker are the two most commonly used marker types in the market, they have some disadvantages in visual and processing performance. In this paper, we present a novelty method that combines the bar-code with the original feature of a colour picture (e.g., photos, trading cards, advertisement's figure). Our method decorates on top of the original pictorial images additional features with a single stereogram image that optically conceals a multi-level (3D) bar-code. Thus, it has a larger capability of storing data compared to the general 1D barcode. This new type of marker has the potential of addressing the issues that the current types of marker are facing. It not only keeps the original information of the picture but also contains encoded numeric information. In our limited evaluation, this pictorial bar-code shows a relatively robust performance under various conditions and scaling; thus, it provides a promising AR approach to be used in many applications such as trading card games, educations, and advertisements.


A pioneering rapid and direct measurement of dissolved 222 Rn in the field has been used here to explore interaction between surface and groundwater in the source area of the Yellow River (SAYR). The results indicate average 222 Rn activity of 2,371 Bq/m 3 in surface water and 27,835 Bq/m 3 in groundwater. The high 222 Rn activity (up to 9,133 Bq/m 3 ) found in the southeast part of the SARY suggests possible influence of permafrost on the exchange between surface water and groundwater. The remarkable contrast among the different samples of a stream in the Shuangchagou basin, a typical basin in the SAYR, clearly indicates groundwater infiltration along the north tributary and occurrence of groundwater end-member in the south tributary. Considering no 222 Rn decay and atmospheric evasion, the daily average fraction of groundwater input to the surface water through the end-member in a location (S1) is estimated at 19%. Despite the up to 40% uncertainty, this is the first estimate of a reference value for groundwater input in this basin and which can be improved in the future with more samples and measurements. 222 Rn can be a rapid and easily measured tracer of surface water–groundwater interaction for future investigation in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.


In this paper, a novel improvement idea in image restoration by Non-Local means (NL-means) filter is proposed. Most of special image denoising techniques require a region size called neighborhood window for denoising, window-size selection is usually done by visual inspection based upon experience or hit and trial. It is shown in this paper that varying the window-size for each pixel according to window variance obtains better results. Also, an investigation on choosing the optimum filtering parameter for each window size is presented. Tests on standard images are carried out and presented. The results show that the performance is very close and in some cases even surpasses state-of-art denoising techniques.


AN INVESTIGATION OF POSITIVE ENGAGEMENT, CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE TRANSMISSIONS Ryan R. Dalling Department of Mechanical Engineering Master of Science A Positive Engagement, Continuously Variable Transmission (PECVT) allows for a continuously variable transmission ratio over a given range using positively engaged members, such as gear teeth, to transmit torque. This research is an investigation of PECVTs to establish a classification system and governing principles that must be satisfied for an embodiment to overcome the non-integer tooth problem. Results of an external patent search are given as examples of different concepts and PECVT embodiments that have been employed to negate the effects of the non-integer tooth problem. To classify all published and unpublished PECVT embodiments, a classification system is developed, based on how particular PECVT embodiments overcome the non-integer tooth problem. Two classes of PECVTs are defined: 1) the problem correction class and 2) the alternate device class. General principles that must be satisfied for a promising PECVT embodiment to exist in each class of PECVTs are also developed. These principles, along with the classification system, are the major contribution of this research. The principles describe what an embodiment in each of the PECVT classes must accomplish to negate the effects of the non-integer tooth problem. A product development phase integrated with TRIZ methodology is implemented to generate several concepts that satisfy the newly developed general principles and the product specifications that were also created. A screening and scoring process is used to eliminate less promising concepts and to find the most viable PECVT embodiment. An embodiment that only operates at preferred transmission ratios, where no meshing problems exist, proves to be the most promising concept based on the results of this methodology. The embodiment also utilizes cams and a differential device to provide the needed correction to the orientation of the driving members when misalignment occurs. This misalignment only occurs while transitioning between preferred operating ratios. A case study of the final embodiment developed by Vernier Moon Technologies and Brigham Young University is presented and analyzed to show how the final concepts ensure proper engagement without the effects of the non-integer tooth problem. The final embodiment is not the optimal solution but represents a conceptual design of an embodiment that satisfies the governing principles. The classification system and the governing principles that have been established are valid for all PECVT embodiments and will be valuable in future research. Future work yet to be conducted for this research, including an involutometry analysis, is discussed as well as other recommendations.


In Lawrence v. Texas, the United States Supreme Court held for the first time that morality, standing alone, is not a sufficient basis for prohibitory legislation. Instead, the state must explain how behavior is harmful before it can make it unlawful. The significant post-Lawrence question is whether this holding in Lawrence marks a paradigm shift in constitutional jurisprudence so that teaching of Lawrence may be extended from the bedroom into the commercial marketplace to remove mere moral disapproval as a constitutionally rational basis on which to regulate commercial conduct. Trademark law may at first blush appear to be an unlikely source of law to analyze Lawrence. Nevertheless, some symbols (signs) capable of identifying or distinguishing goods or services, may not serve as trademarks because they may offend some demographic of the citizenry as scandalous, immoral, or disparaging homologues for mere moral disapproval. Since scandalousness in the United States is often loaded with connotations of sexuality, this is of particular interest to the Queer community. Section 2(a) is particularly problematic for the Queer community as the denial of queer marks places the U.S. government's imprimatur of scandalous and immorality upon the mark (and by extension on the queer community). For non-commercial entities, these marks serve a dual purpose to identify the group for trademark purposes (for example source, origin, or sponsorship) while the mark itself conveys a message of pride to their membership, client base, or to the public at large. Under these circumstances, Lawrence may teach that such laws that stigmatize must receive some level of heightened scrutiny. This is important because our understand of marks has changed. This more recent use of marks as communicative symbols of social identity are inadequately explained using only the juridically accepted law and economics approach. Semiotics provides a better theoretical structure to understand these new uses of marks and to properly credit the role of the new authors in developing the mark's cultural significance. This Article evaluates section 2(a) of the Lanham Act in the meta-framework of queer marks. First, this Article establishes a theoretical framework to better understand modern trademark usage. The Article then places trademarks in the context of First Amendment jurisprudence, analyzes these marks under the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses as authoritatively construed in Lawrence v. Texas, and concludes that a fair reading of Lawrence places substantial limitations on the United States Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO's) authority to reject queer marks under section 2(a) of the Lanham Act. Thus, the teachings of Lawrence are moved out of the bedroom and into the market.


AIM
To evaluate changes of the lower facial portion on the frontal view before and after orthodontic treatment combined with anterior segmental osteotomy (ASO) in patients with bimaxillary protrusion.

METHODS
The sample consisted of 16 women in the experimental group who had received ASO and 24 women in the untreated control group. Twelve linear measurements, 5 angular measurements, and the lip perimeter and area were measured and analyzed using unpaired and paired t tests.

RESULTS
The upper lip height and lower lip to chin length were significantly greater after treatment. The upper and lower vermilion heights and all vermilion areas decreased significantly, while lip width did not change. Upper lip height was significantly greater in the posttreatment group than in the control group, but there was no difference in upper and total lip areas.

CONCLUSION
Treatment combined with ASO significantly improved the frontal soft tissue proportions. Anticipated frontal soft tissue changes of the lower face should be considered by clinicians for accurate diagnosis and treatment planning.


Abstract The first Japanese edition of the book appeared at the height of debates about the interpretation of the Asia-Pacific War, debates which were also linked to conflicts about how the past should be represented in school textbooks.2 Much of this controversy revolved around the issue of enforced military prostitution/ military sexual slavery.3 In 1991 Kim Hak-Sun (1924–1997) was one of the few women to come out in public in her own name to narrate her experiences in the enforced military prostitution system and demand an apology and compensation from the Japanese government. She was soon joined by survivors from Korea and other countries. Their campaign was supported by historians such as Yoshimi Yoshiaki, who revealed documents from military archives which supported claims of direct military involvement (Yoshimi 1992), the Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery and such groups as the Violence Against Women in War — Network Japan (VAWW-NET Japan). Subsequent years saw acrimonious debates on how the War should be remembered. By the time Beverley Yamamoto's English translation of Gender and Nationalism appeared in 2004, the survivors' campaign had culminated in the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery, held in Tokyo in December 2000, with the verdict of the judges in the Tribunal being handed down in December 2001 (on the tribunal, see Kim 2001: 611–620). In the meantime there had been further controversies about the Asian Women's Fund which operated between 1995 and 2002. This was a private fund set up to provide funds to the survivors, but without official Japanese government involvement.


As touch screens are everywhere in the consumer market Thales has launched in depth evaluations on their introduction in the cockpit. One of the challenges is to verify its compatibility with in flight use under turbulence conditions, including light, moderate and severe. In flight accelerometer collections were performed to provide us with a baseline for choosing between possible simulation solutions. Thales recognized early on the need for such a tool as it would enable us to define recommendations for our HMI designs. The objectives were first to validate specific complex touch/gestures using all the potential of touch interactions for novel cockpit Human Machine Interfaces and second to look into the various physical anchoring solutions capable of facilitating touch screens interactions in aeronautical turbulent environments. Given the 6 axis accelerometer profiles that were collected, a number of potential candidate simulation platforms were selected. They were reviewed in terms of performance and cost. Our final candidate is an Hexapod structure capable of reproducing those profiles with acceptable validity. This paper presents the works that enabled us to validate such an hexapod as a viable simulator for our tests and the development of an avionics platform for touch interactions under light to severe turbulences. Pilots were asked to evaluate 6 simulated profiles designed to mimic the "inflight" references. Tests were performed to validate the best profiles for each level of turbulence. The selected profiles were then used to evaluate our touch screen propositions in light, moderate and severe turbulent conditions. Preliminary results are presented.


The Jackson site (DiMe-17) is a Late Precontact site located in the Lauder Sand Hills of southwestern Manitoba. Primarily a bison kill and processing locale for Vickers focus people, this winter occupation has a calibrated radiocarbon date range between A.D. 1427 and A.D. 1683. Although a small Blackduck component was evident in the southwest corner of the site, the Vickers focus occupation was the dominant presence at this site and is the focus of this thesis. Archaeological investigations between 1994 and 1997 yielded a sample from 36 one square metres excavation units and 67 shovel tests pits. As par1 of an extensive investigation of Plains Woodland occupation of the region over the past 1200 years, excavation of the site served to provide additional information about Vickers focus occupation within the Makotchi-Ded DOlltipi locale. This study offers a lithic analysis that encompasses the debitage and tools with an emphasis on the spatial distribution of the lithic materials. This seeks to assess the validity of the proposed activity areas at the Jackson site. The lithic analysis verified the presence of habitation and kill areas. Lithics from the east-central part of the site indicated processing activities as opposed to a large midden area associated with faunal processing as initially proposed in earlier studies. Late Side-notched projectile point types dominate the assemblage from the site. Plains and Prairie Side-notched point styles are affiliated with the Mortlach phase, Central Plains Tradition, Mississippian Tradition, and Middle Missouri Tradition. The Vickers focus people may have interacted and exchanged lithic matel1als with these groups. The Vickers focus people utilized exotic (Knife River flint, Tongue River silicified sediment, obsidian) as well as local materials (chalcedony, chert) to manufacture their tools.


'Chemical endangerment' laws in the United States mark an increasingly growing trend to punish women with substance use disorder. These measures are counterproductive. They create barriers to substance use treatment and prenatal care, disproportionately affecting minority and low-income women. Contingency management programs and expansion of social services would be more effective in protecting children and women and improving the problem more generally.


Metamodel evolution is prevalent in Model-Driven Engineering, necessitating the co-evolution of dependent artifacts like models and transformations. Whereas model co-evolution has been extensively studied, the co-evolution of transformations and especially its substantial ingredient in terms of OCL expressions has received little attention up to now. Thus, the goal of this paper is a systematic analysis of potential impacts of metamodel evolution on OCL expressions in model transformations. For this, a complete and minimal set of atomic metamodel changes has been derived from Ecore, which is analyzed with respect to its effects on structural complexity and information capacity. This analysis builds the basis for investigating the impacts concerning syntactical conformance and scope of affected OCL expressions. Finally, we report on lessons learned gained from establishing the set of changes and examining the impacts thereof.


A visual representation of a large-sample test - the score test - is proposed. This is done for a nonlinear regression model with an additive error term. The visual representation of the score test results in a plot, referred to as the added parameter plot, and is an analog to the added variable plot in linear regression. The added parameter plot provides information whether an additional candidate parameter should be included in the model or not. If there is a strong linear relationship between the variables in the plot, then it suggests that the parameter should be included in the model. In addition, the plot visualizes the score test and shows the effect the observations have on the score test statistic. Hence, observations that influence the test can be detected.