Three dimensional (3-D) vision techniques in the fi eld of Computer Vision aims mainly at
reconstructing a scene to fi nd its three dimensional geometrical information. Active methods of sensing in
a generic sense have better sensing abilities than passive methods since they release some form of energy
into the environment for sensing. Structured Light technique in 3-D computer vision is one such active
method which throws a light pattern on to the scene whose image is then captured by an intensity camera.
The structured light technique is by far the most rugged of all 3-D reconstruction methods in the current
scenario. The technique is so rugged that even passive methods such as stereo vision makes use of the
pattern projection advantage thus resulting in many hybrid approaches. The paper presents an extremely low
cost structured light method for scene reconstruction using off-the-shelf hardware. The objects considered
are deliberately made texture-less and no contrast between the object and background is ensured so as to
demonstrate the abilities of the structured light technique. The reconstructed information of the object is
utilized for identifying its identity. The need comes in the form that such identifi cation processes cannot
otherwise be done using 2-D visual features. The concept is validated for a set of three different cylindrical
objects which basically vary in their slope of the top surfaces. The paper intends to demonstrate the ease of
developing a complicated approach for 3-D vision using simple low-cost hardware and fi nally appreciates the
wide range of application possible


In response to the growing academic and political movement that opposes the direct incorporation of treaties into domestic federal law, numerous scholars have proposed that states take on an increased role in the domestic interpretation and implementation of international human rights treaties. The focus of this scholarship to date has been to locate doctrinal gaps where state legislatures and courts may act without intruding in areas of traditionally federal jurisdiction. Thus far, however, little effort has been directed towards modeling an affirmative obligation for state participation in treaty implementation, despite the fact that state action is arguably required, both pragmatically and doctrinally, if the United States is to comply with its commitments under international human rights law. In this Article, I argue that reframing treaty implementation through a dynamic federalist model could be productive and even necessary, if the United States is going to meet its existing international obligations. As an example, I discuss the ongoing litigation over the United States' failure to honor its obligations under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR). Federal actors have relied on federalism concerns to avoid forcing states to remedy violations of Convention rights, thus leaving the question of whether the United States will reach compliance entirely in the hands of the states, which have generally been slow to take up the call. Drawing on a model proposed by Justice Breyer, I contend that adopting a dynamic federalist model to implement and enforce the VCCR could help to move this impasse, and perhaps more importantly, could help realize the benefits of federalism within the context of human rights treaty implementation.


The authors present a QM/MM ab initio mol. dynamics study of the peptide hydrolysis reaction catalyzed by HIV-1 protease. The QM/MM calcns. are based on previous extensive classical MD simulations on the protein in complex with a model substrate. Gradient-cor. BLYP d. functional theory (DFT) describes the reactive part of the active site, and the AMBER force field describes the rest of the protein, the solvent, and the counterions. An unbiased enhanced sampling of the QM/MM free-energy surface is performed to identify a plausible reaction coordinate for the second step of the reaction. The enzymic reaction is characterized by two reaction free-energy barriers of .apprx.18 and .apprx.21 kcal mol-1 sepd. by a metastable gem-diol intermediate. In both steps, a proton transfer that involves the substrate and the two catalytic Asp mols. is obsd. The orientation and the flexibility of the reactants, governed by the surrounding protein frame, are the key factors in detg. the activation barrier. The calcd. value for the barrier of the second step is slightly larger than the value expected from exptl. data (.apprx.16 kcal mol-1). An extensive comparison with calcns. on gas-phase model systems at the Hartree-Fock, DFT-BP, DFT-BLYP, DFT-B3LYP, MP2, CCD, and QM/MM DFT-BLYP levels of theory suggests that the DFT-BLYP functional has the tendency to underestimate the energy of the gem-diol intermediate by .apprx.5-7 kcal mol-1. [on SciFinder (R)]


This thesis explores the issues around stress in the UK Health Service, with a particular focus on stress in the Hospice Service and the benefits of a group coaching intervention for this staff group. Section A provides an introduction to the thesis, explaining the rationale behind the choice of research and how the different sections link together. Section B reports on the research aspects of this thesis which exists of three phases. Phase 1 is a cross-sectional study to assess the levels of stress and the main work-stressors as experienced by members of staff working within two hospices in the UK. Phase 2 is a qualitative study using two focus groups, one at each hospice, to obtain a deeper understanding of the findings of phase 1. Phase 3 is an evaluation of a brief group coaching intervention for stress management, which has been informed by the findings of phase 1 and 2. The theoretical framework of the coaching intervention was Cognitive Behavioural Coaching (CBC). Section C of the thesis presents a case study of a one-to-one stress-coaching intervention. This study also uses CBC as its theoretical framework and uses the same coaching format as was used in the group coaching session described in section B. Using the same model for both the group and one-to-one coaching intervention provides an opportunity to explore the versatility and usefulness of CBC within the context of stress coaching. The critical literature review presented in section D of the thesis examines the effectiveness of traditional stress management programmes used within the nursing profession, which provides a base-line for the development of an effective coaching intervention. The findings of this thesis add to the current understanding of stress in the UK hospice service and provide the foundations of a new approach to staff support and stress management within the Health Service using a CBC coaching model.


The thesis examines the political development in Southern Rhodesia 1960-1962 when two processes, the 1961 Constitutional process and the 1962 General Election, had far-reaching consequences for the coming twenty years. It builds on a hypothesis that the Constitutional process led to a radicalisation of all groups, the white minority, the African majority and the colonial power. The main research question is why the ruling party, United Federal Party (UFP) after winning the referendum on a new Constitution with a wide margin could lose the ensuing election one year later to the party, Rhodesian Front (RF) opposing the constitution. The examination is based on material from debates in the Legal Assembly and House of Commons (UK), minutes of meetings, newspaper articles, election material etc. The hypothesis that the Constitutional process led to a radicalization of the main actors was partly confirmed. The process led to a focus on racial issues in the ensuing election. Among the white minority UFP attempted to develop a policy of continued white domination while making constitutional concessions to Africans in order to attract the African middle class. When UFP pressed on with multiracial structural reforms the electorate switched to the racist RF which was considered bearer of the dominant settler ideology. Among the African majority the well educated African middleclass who led the Nationalist movement, changed from multiracial reformists in late 1950"s to majority rule advocates. After rejecting the 1961 Constitution they anew changed from constitutional reformists to supporter of an armed struggle. Britain's role was ambivalent trying to please all actors, the Southern Rhodesian whites and Africans but also the international opinion. However, it seems to have been its own neo colonial interests that finally determined their position and its fault in the move towards Unilateral Declaration of Independence and the civil war was huge. On the main research question the analysis points to two reasons. Firstly, the decision by the Nationalists to boycott the election and the heavy-handed actions they took to achieve this goal created a white back-lash against the ruling party and the loss of the second vote advantage. Secondly, when the ruling party decided to make the repeal of the Land Apportionment Act a key election issue they lost not only indifferent voters but also a major part of its normal electorate. They threatened the Settler State"s way of life for the white minority.


Human settlement of the Japanese archipelago is of significant interest for understanding how human populations migrated from the East Asian continent to isolated islands and shifted lifestyles from hunter-gathering to farming. The hunter-gathering Jomon period follows the Palaeolithic period but precedes the agricultural Yayoi period. Three hypotheses have been proposed to model the population history in the Japanese archipelago. Two of these are in contrast with each other, hypothesising that lineages leading to modern Japanese are traced back to a single ancestor of indigenous Jomon (the transformation hypothesis) or migrant Yayoi (the replacement hypothesis) people. The third model postulates a hybridisation lineage or an admixture of the two ancestral populations. Recent advances in high-throughput technology have enabled the application of genome-scale data to directly test the three models. Several lines of population genetics studies strongly support the hybridisation hypothesis to explain the origin of modern Japanese.

Key Concepts

Prehistory in the Japanese archipelago is characterised by the Jomon and Yayoi cultures.
A major cultural transition from the Jomon period to the Yayoi period is a shift in lifestyles from hunter-gathering to farming.
Three demographic models have been proposed to explain the origin of modern Japanese: transformation, replacement and hybridisation.
A dual structure hypothesis is based on the hybridisation model and assumes that modern Japanese is admixed between the indigenous Jomon and migrated Yayoi people, and the degree of admixture varies among local populations in the Japanese archipelago.
Population genetics analyses have been performed to make inferences about the evolutionary history of modern Japanese.
Genomic data, as well as genetic data from a single locus or small number of loci, support the hybridisation hypothesis to explain the origin of modern Japanese.
Statistical modelling based on genomic data shows a complex history characterised with the population stratification of the Jomon people in the Japanese archipelago.

Keywords:

modern Japanese;
Jomon;
Yayoi;
hunter-gathering;
farming;
admixture;
population genetics;
genome-wide SNPs


In the software architecture education session, we discussed four main issues: how to make a software architecture course sufficiently realistic, how to teach non-technical competencies of software architects, the place of such a course in a university curriculum, and how to grow software architects beyond the university. The session resulted in a first sketch of software architecture knowledge areas, and the extent to which these are deemed required for certain classes of software professionals.


ABSTRACT: Mature and diverse floodplain forests are among the world's most diminished ecosystems and conservationists need a rapid method to identify the best remaining examples of these systems. Because large rivers and their dynamics bind the floodplain together, the method must go beyond simple inventory of remnant patches to evaluate flood processes and identify constraints in the surrounding watersheds. We develop such a method for a three million hectare watershed in New England using a combination of data types to evaluate key attributes of floodplain systems. Riparian and floodplain communities were modeled using a GIS analysis of river valley topography and riverine processes, and floodplain forest occurrences were identified in a classification and regression (CART) analysis. Current flooding was verified using overlays of remotely sensed imagery of spring and fall water levels. We evaluated the intactness of the floodplain occurrences using ratios of upstream dam storage to annual runoff, the length of the connected stream network, and the naturalness of surrounding land cover. Field-assigned ranks of forest quality were correlated with the occurrence size, percent verified flooding, and percent natural cover. Predicted quality ranks reinforced the importance of these factors. Results indicate that the twenty top-ranking streams collectively contain 75 high quality areas suitable for floodplain forest restoration and conservation. Independent verification of these areas strongly corroborated our results.


The problems of relating the results of experiments in the laboratory to events in nature are twofold: to equate the response to a single variable (hydrocarbons) with the natural variability in the biological material in a multivariate environment, and to consider whether the response established experimentally has any relevance to the animal's chances of survival and reproduction (i.e. its fitness) in the natural population. Recent studies of the effects of petroleum hydrocarbons on marine invertebrates are reviewed, with an emphasis on the physiological and cytochemical responses by bivalve molluscs. The dose-response relations that emerge suggest the intensity of the 'signal' that must be detected in nature if the chronic, sublethal effects of petroleum pollution are to be measured. The natural variability in these physiological and cytochemical processes are then reviewed and the main causes of variability in natural populations, both endogenous and exogenous, discussed. These results indicate the extent of the `noise' above which the signal from possible pollution effects must be detected. The results from recent field studies on the common mussel, Mytilus edulis, are discussed. The results are as complex as expected, but it proves possible to reduce the variance in the measured responses so that pollution effects, including those due to hydrocarbons, can be detected. The ecological consequences of the observed effects of petroleum hydrocarbons are then discussed in terms of reproductive effort and reproductive value. Considerable variation between populations exists here also and this can be used to help in the interpretation of the extent of the impact of the environment on the ecology of the population. The result is to place the findings of the laboratory experiments in an ecological context of natural variability and of the physiological costs of adaptation.


Risk regulations are generally based on a stylized view of the behavior of the individals affected by the regulation. These behavioral assumptions establish the basis for regulation and also influence the character of the regulation that will be pursued. The mix of behavioral assumptions that provides the basis for policy is often inconsistent. In some cases policymakers assume that irrationality prevails if that assumption will promote government intervention. If, however, individual perception of the risk and response to it is required to make a policy effective, risk regulators do not recognize individuals cognitive limitations. These stylized views of risktaking behavior are often sharply contradicted by empirical evidence on individual behavior. Errors in judgment and decisions do exist, but all too often these errors provide the impetus for a government policy. The net effect is that these policies often reinforce market failures rather than eliminate them.


OBJECTIVE Risks of diabetes and cardiovascular disease are elevated worldwide in Indian Asians. However, risks of other diabetes-related complications, i.e., foot ulceration and amputation, also with a vascular basis, are substantially lower in Asians than in white Europeans in the U.K., possibly due to less neuropathy. We therefore compared signs, symptoms, and objective quantitative measures of diabetic neuropathy and their risk factors in Indian Asians and Europeans. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS This was a cross-sectional study of a population-based sample of age- and sex-matched adults with type 2 diabetes of European (95 male and 85 female) and Asian (96 male and 84 female) descent in the U.K. Patients were assessed for neuropathic symptoms, signs, nerve conduction, autonomic function, and quantitative sensory testing. Peripheral vascular function and other potential risk factors for neuropathy were measured. RESULTS Mean nerve conduction velocity Z scores were better in Asians (mean ± SD 0.07 ± 0.62) than in Europeans (−0.11 ± 0.60; P = 0.007) and were explained by the shorter height, fewer pack-years smoked, and higher transcutaneous oxygen levels (TCpO2) in Indian Asians (P value for ethnic comparison attenuated to 0.2). Small fiber neuropathy was less prevalent in Indian Asians compared with Europeans (odds ratio 0.58 [95% CI 0.37–0.93]; P = 0.02) and was primarily accounted for by better TCpO2 (0.70 [0.40–1.21]; P = 0.2). CONCLUSIONS Asians with diabetes have substantially less large and small fiber neuropathy than Europeans, despite comparable traditional risk factors. Independent from smoking, the lower risk of neuropathy in Asians is due to better skin microvascularization and may help explain the substantially reduced Asian foot ulcer risk.


The as-grown magnetic domain patterns of epitaxial single-crystalline Co/FeMn bilayers and Co/Cu/FeMn trilayers were investigated by magnetic circular dichroism domain imaging using a photoelectron emission microscope. Small domains were observed when Co was deposited directly on top of antiferromagnetic FeMn films. On inserting a Cu spacer layer between the ferromagnetic Co layer and the antiferromagnetic FeMn layer, the as-grown domain size increases continuously with increasing Cu layer thickness, which is attributed to the decrease of the interlayer exchange coupling between the Co and FeMn layers. Domain images of the Co layer acquired after applying different external magnetic fields confirm the relation between as-grown domain size and interface coupling to the antiferromagnetic FeMn layer across the non-magnetic Cu spacer layer. It is found that a field of 44 Oe is sufficient to annihilate most small domains in the area where Co and FeMn are coupled through the Cu wedge, while it has no effect on the domain configuration of a Co/FeMn bilayer. By analysing the dependence of the average domain size of the Co layer on the Cu thickness in terms of interface coupling between the Co and FeMn layers across the Cu layer, the apparent estimated coupling energy was found to be different for different Co thickness. This is ascribed to kinetic barriers hindering the formation of larger domains from smaller ones.


Mahalanobis distance is a classical tool in multivariate analysis. We suggest here an extension of this concept to the case of functional data. More precisely, the proposed definition concerns those statistical problems where the sample data are real functions defined on a compact interval of the real line. The obvious difficulty for such a functional extension is the non-invertibility of the covariance operator in infinite-dimensional cases. Unlike other recent proposals, our definition is suggested and motivated in terms of the Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Space (RKHS) associated with the stochastic process that generates the data. The proposed distance is a true metric; it depends on a unique real smoothing parameter which is fully motivated in RKHS terms. Moreover, it shares some properties of its finite dimensional counterpart: it is invariant under isometries, it can be consistently estimated from the data and its sampling distribution is known under Gaussian models. An empirical study for two statistical applications, outliers detection and binary classification, is included. The obtained results are quite competitive when compared to other recent proposals of the literature.


Background: The metal Nāga (Lead) is being used by Indians since ancient times. Its external and internal uses have been described in Caraka, Suśruta and other Ayurvedic Saṃhitā. According to most of the Rasa texts, Nāga Bhasma and its formulations are used in many diseases such as Prameha, Jvara, Gulma, Śukrameha etc. Objectives: In the present study, Nāga Bhasma was prepared by the traditional Puṭa method (TPM) and by the electric muffle furnace Puṭa method (EMFPM) and standardized using Metallographic studies. Doing so helps in the study of the microstructure of Nāga Bhasma and also helps in the identification of the metal particles along with the nature of compound formed during the Māraṇa (Bhasmīkaraṇa) process. Setting and Design: Different samples from initial raw material to final product of Nāga Bhasma were collected during the pharmaceutical process (1st, 30th and 60th Puṭa) from both methods i.e. TPM and EMFPM. Samples from both methods were studied using metallographic examination. Materials and Methods: The processing of the Nāga Bhasma (ṣaṣṭipuṭa) was done according to Ānanda Kanda[9] Samples from the raw material i.e. Aśodhita Nāga (raw Lead) and that processed after 1st, 30th and 60th Puṭa from both methods i.e. traditional Puṭa method (using heat from burning of cow dung cakes) and electric muffle furnace Puṭa method were taken. They were mounted on self hardening acrylic base. After careful polishing to obtain scratch free surface of product, they were used for metallurgical study. Conclusion: This study shows that traditional Puṭa method may be better than electric muffle furnace Puṭa method because of more homogeneous distribution of Lead sulphide in the Nāga Bhasma which is prepared by traditional method.


The hydraulic conductivity in structured soils is known to increase drastically when approaching saturation. Tension infiltration allows in situ infiltration of water at predetermined matric potentials, thus allowing exploration of the hydraulic properties near saturation. In this study, the near saturated (ψ≥-0.15 m) hydraulic conductivity was estimated both in the top- and sub-soil of three Norwegian soils. A priory analysis of estimation errors due to measurement uncertainties was conducted. In order to facilitate the comparison between soils and depths, scaling analysis was applied. It was found that the increase in hydraulic conductivity with increasing matric potentials (increasing water content) was steeper in the sub-soil than in the top-soil. The estimated field saturated hydraulic conductivity was compared with laboratory measurements of the saturated hydraulic conductivity. The geometric means of the laboratory measurements was in the same order of magnitude as the field estimates. The variability of the field estimates of the hydraulic conductivity from one of the soils was also assessed. The variability of the field estimates was generally smaller than the laboratory measurements of the saturated hydraulic conductivity.


This paper addresses the problem of object discovery from unlabeled driving videos captured in a realistic automotive setting. Identifying recurring object categories in such raw video streams is a very challenging problem. Not only do object candidates first have to be localized in the input images, but many interesting object categories occur relatively infrequently. Object discovery will therefore have to deal with the difficulties of operating in the long tail of the object distribution. We demonstrate the feasibility of performing fully automatic object discovery in such a setting by mining object tracks using a generic object tracker. In order to facilitate further research in objet discovery, we release a collection of more than 360,000 automatically mined object tracks from 10 + hours of video data (560,000 frames). We use this dataset to evaluate the suitability of different feature representations and clustering strategies for object discovery.


This paper explores the typo-morphologic characteristics of late 19th century hybrid neighbourhoods in urban regions of The Netherlands and possibilities of a feasible climate neutral energy system in the future. The Zeeheldenkwartier neighbourhood in The Hague is used as a case study. Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are involved to ensure access to affordable and clean energy (SDG 7) and make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable (SDG 11). With the 2019 Dutch-Climate-Agreement The Netherlands decided on a neighbourhood approach to the transition from natural gas to a climate neutral energy supply in buildings. Implicit homogeneity in most buildings of neighbourhoods is presupposed, in contrast to older neighbourhoods that were laid out before World War I. These are nowadays heterogenic, attractive, mixed and often protected neighbourhoods because of the quality of the architecture. Establishing a generic energy plan here is a challenge. The foremost important conclusion is the recognition of the architectural and urban quality and features of these kinds of neighbourhoods and to develop specific legislation and rules about insulation, service and energy systems. Another conclusion about the strategy is that one should not rely on a single generic solution but rather apply multiple forms of heat supply over a longer period of time. There is lack of heat and construction capacity. Box-in-box-renovation is best done when people are moving and the house is uninhabited. The tenants of a neighbourhood should oganise, not building owners, and implement legislation and framework for rental apartments. Insulation should be done to mandatory Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) label B or C, adding sound and energy production of heat pumps and district heating.


John Alexander Williams's West Virginia: A History is widely considered one of the finest books ever written about our state. In his clear, eminently readable style, Williams organizes the tangled strands of West Virginia's past around a few dramatic events-the battle of Point Pleasant, John Brown's insurrection in Harper's Ferry, the Paint Creek labor movement, the Hawk's Nest and Buffalo Creek disasters, and more. Williams uses these pivotal events as introductions to the larger issues of statehood, Civil War, unionism, and industrialization. Along the way, Williams conveys a true feel for the lives of common West Virginians, the personalities of the state's memorable characters, and the powerful influence of the land itself on its own history.


A component of the IκB kinase complex mediates feedback inhibition of the kinase NIK. The noncanonical nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) pathway is a specific arm of NF-κB signaling that regulates important aspects of immune function. Activation of this pathway centers on the modulation of a pivotal signaling component: NF-κB–inducing kinase (NIK). Under normal conditions, NIK undergoes constitutive degradation, which keeps its abundance below the threshold required for its function, and signal-induced activation of the noncanonical NF-κB pathway is coupled with the stabilization and accumulation of NIK. A study now shows that signal-induced accumulation of NIK is subject to feedback control, which involves its phosphorylation by a downstream kinase, inhibitor of κB (IκB) kinase α (IKKα), and degradation. Thus, controlling the fate of NIK is emerging as a central mechanism in noncanonical NF-κB signaling.


A study was undertaken to find methods for enhancing rates of hydrocarbon biodegradation in gasoline-contaminated soil by ex-situ bioremediation. Garden soil was treated with gasoline-spilled soil from a gasoline station and different combinations of amendments were prepared using mixed bacterial consortium, poultry litter, coir pith and rhamnolipid biosurfactant produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Bacterial growth, hydrocarbon degradation and growth parameters of Phaseolus aureus RoxB (including seed germination, chlorophyll content, shoot and root length) were measured for a period of 90 days. Approximately 78% of the hydrocarbons were effectively degraded within 60 days in soil samples amended with all additives. Maximum germination rate, shoot length, root length and chlorophyll content in Phaseolus aureus were each recorded after 60 days. Further incubation to 90 days did not cause significant improvements. Statistical analysis using Analysis of Variance and Duncan's Multiple Range test revealed that the level of amendments, incubation time and combination of amendments significantly influenced bacterial growth, hydrocarbon degradation, seed germination and chlorophyll content (1% probability level). All tested additives, including rhamnolipid biosurfactant, had significant positive effects on the bioremediation of gasoline-contaminated soils.


The rise of globalisation has led to increasing levels of worldwide connectivity in which there is a greater flow of goods, services, people and ideas between nations (see Lauder et al. 2006 and Simmons, 2010). However, in education much of this flow is one-way, typically moving from west to east. Evidence for this can be found in the establishment of international branch campuses of western universities, particularly in the Middle East and south Asia. Similarly, in the field of teacher education, there is a recent phenomenon of cross cultural activities in which western Higher Education Institutions are invited to lead continuous professional development (CPD) activities for in-service teachers with the aim of promoting innovation in teaching practices. Such programmes are often based around the exportation of notions of pedagogic practices influenced by "western templates" (Sheil, 2006:20). In the UK for example, educational policy decisions are determined by 'what works', and with notions of good, best and excellent practice (see Coffield and Edward, 2009) used to support the blanket use of evidence based teaching (EBT). These same principles and practices are then applied wholesale in cross cultural teacher development programmes. This trend implies that pedagogic practice is context free and can be transported not only from one institution to another but also across whole continents. The shaping of professional practice is, however, dependent upon a socio-cultural dimension (Beckett and Hagar, 2003) and characterised by an "inquiry of doubt, of tentative suggestion, of experimentation" (Dewey, 1910 p112), therefore the notion of a single approach that is effective in all settings is fundamentally flawed.
This proposal responds to questions about how collaborations and partnerships shape and create a connected world, and how partnerships can construct joint endeavours in which innovation flourishes. It draws upon our experiences of responding to the challenges and opportunities of cross cultural teacher development, using case study methodology to argue that if we impose a framework on people, with no regard for traditions, culture or context, the potential for real change and innovation is limited. We build on existing research contributions and debates from the context of English language teaching (see for example Bax, 2003 & Holliday, 1994) regarding the need for context specific pedagogies.
We seek discussion and debate from policy makers and fellow practitioners which links policy to practice, arguing that for cross cultural teacher development to be meaningful and innovative, greater consideration of the socio-cultural and professional setting of teachers is needed. The success of any curriculum innovation is dependent on the staff who implement it, as it is they who have the ability to adopt, change or reject it (Carless, 2001). As such the development of teachers should be seen as a joint endeavour in which teacher educators, practitioners and policy makers are encouraged to find local solutions to local issues.


The emergence of the internet has radically changed the way in which we learn, teach and train. This paper proposes an integrated and extensible architecture for agent-based distance learning. The architecture provides component-based extensibility, allowing emerging technologies to be plugged-in, so that they can produce synergy. It provides HTTP and IIOP connections for maintaining and delivering courseware to students. Via an HTTP connection, our Persona system provides a personalised service to each set of courseware, allowing it to customise its content and/or presentation context-sensitively. This service facilitates the effective delivery of courseware. Via an IIOP connection, our SoftDock system provides a foundation facility allowing users to work collaboratively in teams. Our current educational domain is software modelling. Participants learn the basic concepts and principles of software modelling and then leverage their newly acquired modelling skills. We believe our work provides a blueprint for showing how emerging technologies can be applied to practical distance learning applications.


The aim of the present study was to determine the relevance of serum nitric oxide levels and the efficacy of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) treatment on premature ejaculation. Sixty married men (aged 20–50) with lifelong premature ejaculation and forty healthy men (aged 24–48) as control group were included in this study. The patients were evaluated by intravaginal ejaculation latency time (IELT) for premature ejaculation (PE). IELT<1 min is accepted PE. Patients with diabetes mellitus, chronic disorders or erectile dysfunction and heavy smokers were excluded. All patients were evaluated with history, physical examination, International Index of Erectile Dysfunction‐5 (IIEF‐5) score and IELT by stopwatch method. Nitric oxide levels were measured by Griess reaction, and all samples were frozen at −80 °C. Patients were randomly categorised 4 group to receive fluoxetine 20 mg day−1 (Group 1), paroxetine 20 mg day−1 (Group 2), sertraline 50 mg day−1 (Group 3) and healthy control (Group 4) for 4 weeks. Baseline and post‐treatment findings were compared between the four groups. At the end of 4 weeks, in fluoxetine, paroxetine, sertraline groups mean IELT values showed a statistically significant improvement from the baseline values (P < 0.001, P < 0.001, P = 0.03; respectively). Baseline and 1st month follow‐up mean IIEF scores were 24.5 and 23.05, 24.70 and 23.60 (P < 0.05) in group 1 and group 3 respectively; also 23.09 and 23.32 (P > 0.05) in group 2. Baseline serum NO levels were 31.8, 30.44, 30.8 and 42.84 in fluoxetine, paroxetine, sertraline and healthy control groups respectively. NO levels were statistically lower in patients with PE. After treatment of fluoxetine, paroxetine and sertraline, NO levels were increased baseline (35.8, 36.4, 38.08) (P < 0.05). Our findings indicated that PE is associated with decreased serum NO levels. After the SSRI treatment increased, NO may retard ejaculation presumably by central peripheral mechanism. Further studies are needed to confirm this suggestion and the role of NO in pathophysiology and treatment for premature ejaculation.


The major purpose of the Water Futures & Solutions (WFaS) initiative is to develop a set of adaptable resilient and robust solutions and a framework to facilitate access to and guidance through them by decision makers facing a variety of water-related challenges to sustainable evelopment, and a set of optional pathways to achieve plausible sustainable development goals by 2050.

The WFaS Initiative addresses the multidimensional aspects of the water system and is guided by stakeholders representing these various aspects. The Initiative views freshwater systems as being strongly interweaved with human activities (Economy, Society) and Nature as a whole. Dynamics and health of freshwater systems is critical to human well- being. The Initiative will go beyond scenario production and model comparisons and will focus on exploring solutions and necessary innovations to address the growing water challenges. Solutions can be combinations of technological innovations, regulatory approaches, manageent or institutional changes that improve the balance of water supply and demand, improve water quality, or reduce water-related risks for society. Solutions will often be embedded in and cut across all sectors of social and economic activities. In order to represent the aspirations and interdependencies as described above, the conceptual framework has been developed, to communicate project results to the target audiences.

This document describes this conceptual framework that will be used:

-to support development of qualitative water scenarios -to identify and select critical dimensions of the water scenarios -to guide integration of scenarios with quantitative models -to guide integration of information from various data sources into the scenarios -to support development and assessment of solutions -to support collaboration between project and stakeholder groups -to facilitate presentation of results to target audiences

The WFaS conceptual framework is developed using the 'concept maps' technique (Caqas and Carff, 2005; Novak and Caqas, 2006b). Concept maps method was develop to represent knowledge in an organized way. It allows practitioners to represent concepts and specific relationships between concepts. It is flexible enough to adapt to different knowledge domains to support better understanding and communication between individuals and groups from different backgrounds.


Extracted from text ... Du Toit, C W (ed) 2000. - Evolution and creativity: A new dialogue between faith and knowledge
Pretoria: Research Institute for Theology and Religion, Unisa. 329 pages. Price: Unknown
Prof K N?rnberger (University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg)
This book consists of papers read at the 1999 seminar of the SA Science and Religion Forum on the theme of evolution and creativity. With three articles each, N H Gregersen and J W van Huyssteen dominate the scene. Single contributions come from C W du Toit (overview), F X Williamson, J Liebenberg and P J Barrett.
The ..


The emphasis on nutrition is important in all stages of HIV infection and should focus on recommending a healthy eating pattern and a balanced diet. The intention is to maintain body weight by eating a wide variety of healthy foods. Nonetheless, many individuals infected with HIV suffer from malnutrition. The causes of such malnutrition are varied and range from socio-economic factors to depression and reduced food intake as a result of oral or oesophageal thrush.


Background Inflammation-based prognostic scores, including Glasgow prognostic score (GPS), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), prognostic nutritional index (PNI), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) and advance lung cancer inflammation index (ALI) are reported to be associated with survival in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, at present, there are no studies that compared these scoring systems for resectable NSCLC. Methods Three hundred forty-one NSCLC patients who underwent surgery at our institution were included. The optimal cut-off values of SII and ALI were calculated by the Cutoff Finder. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) was calculated to compare the predictive ability of each of the scoring systems. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify the clinicopathological variables associated with overall survival. Results The optimal cut-off value of SII and ALI were 471.2 × 109/L and 37.66, respectively. All scores were significantly related to the 5-year cancer-specific survival. The ALI consistently had a higher AUC value in comparison with other inflammation-based prognostic scores. A multivariate analysis showed that GPS and ALI were independently associated with overall cancer-specific survival. Conclusion To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate that GPS and ALI appear to be superior to other inflammation-based prognostic scores in patients undergoing potentially curative resection for NSCLC.


Ruminants select nutritious diets from a diverse array of plant species that vary in kinds and concentrations of nutrients and toxins, and meet their nutritional requirements that vary with age, physiological state. and environmental conditions. Thus, ruminants possess a degree of nutritional wisdom in the sense that they generally select foods that meet nutritional needs and avoid foods that cause toxicosis. There is little reason to believe that nutritional wisdom occurs because animals can directly taste or smell either nutrients or toxins in foods. Instead, there is increasing evidence that neurally mediated interactions between the senses (i.e., taste and smell) and the viscera enable ruminants to sense the consequences of food ingestion, and these interactions operate in subtle but profound ways to affect food selection and intake, as well as the hedonic value of food. The sensation of being satisfied to the full (i.e., satiety) occurs when animals ingest adequate kinds and amounts of nutritious foods, and animals acquire preferences (mild to strong) for foods that cause satiety. Unpleasant feelings of physical discomfort (i.e., malaise) are caused by excesses of nutrients and toxins and by nutrient deficits, and animals acquire aversions (mild to strong) to foods that cause malaise. What constitutes excesses and deficits depends on each animal's morphology, physiology, and nutritional requirements. This does not mean that ruminants must maximize (optimize) intake of any particular nutrient or mix of nutrients within each meal or even on a daily basis, given that they can withstand departures from the normal average intake of nutrients (i.e., energy-rich substances, nitrogen, various minerals, and vitamins). Rather, hemostatic regulation needs only some increasing tendency, as a result of a gradually worsening deficit of some nutrient or of an excess of toxins or nutrients, to generate behavior to correct the disorder. Extreme states should cause herbivores to increase diet breadth and to acquire preferences for foods that rectify maladies. From an evolutionary standpoint, mechanisms that enable animals to experience feedback, sensations such as satiety and malaise, should be highly correlated with nutritional well being, toxicosis, and nutritional deficiencies, which are directly related with survival and reproduction.


Multi-scale architectures have shown effectiveness in a variety of tasks thanks to appealing cross-scale complementarity. However, existing architectures treat different scale features equally without considering the scale-specific characteristics, \textit{i.e.}, the within-scale characteristics are ignored in the architecture design. In this paper, we reveal this missing piece for multi-scale architecture design and accordingly propose a novel Multi-Scale Adaptive Network (MSANet) for single image denoising. Specifically, MSANet simultaneously embraces the within-scale characteristics and the cross-scale complementarity thanks to three novel neural blocks, \textit{i.e.}, adaptive feature block (AFeB), adaptive multi-scale block (AMB), and adaptive fusion block (AFuB). In brief, AFeB is designed to adaptively preserve image details and filter noises, which is highly expected for the features with mixed details and noises. AMB could enlarge the receptive field and aggregate the multi-scale information, which meets the need of contextually informative features. AFuB devotes to adaptively sampling and transferring the features from one scale to another scale, which fuses the multi-scale features with varying characteristics from coarse to fine. Extensive experiments on both three real and six synthetic noisy image datasets show the superiority of MSANet compared with 12 methods. The code could be accessed from https://github.com/XLearning-SCU/2022-NeurIPS-MSANet.


What is the Bible's stance on such controversial issues as homosexuality and polygamy? What does it have to say about sexual behaviors that some would deem perverted or criminal? Is sex always wrong if it is not used to create life? Ellens answers these and other questions in a book that argues that our understanding of what the Bible has to say about sex is frequently misguided. He corrects our impressions with a look at the Scriptures themselves, considers what they might have meant to people in the past, and reflects on how we understand, or misunderstand, them today. Focusing on early interpretations and contemporary misconceptions, Ellens guides readers through what the Bible actually says, showing how these messages have been interpreted in different contexts, and suggesting new ways of reading and translating them for use in our own lives. Readers hoping to reach a better understanding of the Bible's views on sexual practices and sexuality in general will find their questions answered here. What does the story of Adam and Eve reveal about sex and sexuality? What does the Old Testament say about sex and how might we interpret that in our own lives today? How does the New Testament say we should behave in our sexuality and our lives? What lessons can we learn from a closer examination of the Bible and its teachings on human love, marriage, and sexuality? These are among the many questions Ellens answers in an effort to help us all come to a better understanding of the gift of sexuality and its attendant behaviors in our lives. In non-judgmental prose, he elucidates the Bible and our understanding of its teaching on these and related issues.


Sr concentrations in Phanerozoic biological calcite suggest a close link between fluctuations in the Sr/Ca ratio of seawater, aragonite versus calcite sedimentation, and the Mg/Ca ratio of seawater, the entire chain being driven by the rate of production and hydrothermal alteration of the oceanic crust. Model simulations suggest that variations in hydrothermal and continental weathering fluxes cannot be the sole reason for the observed Phanerozoic seawater Sr/ Ca trend. Changing Sr burial in marine carbonates is likely the most important mechanism that can explain the experimental data. During episodes of high seawater Mg/Ca ratios, aragonite was preferentially deposited, resulting in low seawater Sr/Ca ratios. At low Mg/ Ca ratios, calcite was the dominant carbonate sediment, and the Sr/ Ca ratio of seawater was high. The evidence for changing chemistry of seawater also has implications for the application of the Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca paleothermometers, in particular for pre-Quaternary samples, and for the assessment of diagenetic alteration of fossil skeletal carbonates by using Sr/Ca ratios.


The paper presents a comparative analysis of three distinct approaches based on deep learning for COVID-19 detection in chest CTs. The first approach is a volumetric one, involving 3D convolutions, while the other two approaches perform at first slice-wise classification and then aggregate the results at the volume level. The experiments are carried on the COV19-CT-DB dataset, with the aim of addressing the challenge raised by the MIA-COV19D Competition within ICCV 2021. Our best results on the validation subset reach a macro-F1 score of 0.92, which improves considerably the baseline score of 0.70 set by the organizers.


Objectives: The objective of this research was to study the relationship between autistic-like and schizotypal traits. Method: One hundred and eighty four students from Rey city, aged 16-19 were selected by cluster random sampling. They completed the Autism Quotient-Persian version (AQ) and the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ). The data was analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Results: Analysis found a correlation between the overall AQ and SPQ scores and also between their subscales. SEM results indicated that there is a strong structural relationship between schizotypal traits and autistic-like traits (r=0.91, p<0.05) and that negative schizotypy (r=0.91) and the "communication" subscale from the AQ (r=0.61) played a central role in this relationship in comparison to other subscales. Thus autistic-like traits and schizotypal traits overlapped on interpersonal and communication dimensions. Disorganized schizotypy was also positively correlated with the "communication" subscale from the AQ. Conclusion: Autistic-like traits showed a strong structural correlation with schizotypal traits. It was also positively correlated with positive schizotypy, negative schizotypy and disorganized schizotypy. Given the considerable similarities in the symptoms of these two spectra, especially in the interpersonal domain, it is recommended that more specific and accurate criteria be considered for diagnostic distinction between the two disorders.


The year 2011 was a highly eventful and successful one for Laos' economy, politics, and foreign relations. Nonetheless, some significant challenges remained, including continued poverty, the negative impact of foreign investments, and the rise of transnational crime. In order to analyse these events, inter alia, this chapter contains three sections. The first section examines the state of the economy and the country's road map towards development. In the process, the section also outlines the major events concerning trade, investment, and aid. The second section examines developments concerning the evolution of politics in Laos together with the associated challenges of weak state capacity — particularly in the security sectors. Therefore, the section also includes an analysis of the country's desire to consolidate the rule of law, challenges to the rule of law, and various aspects of human security. The final section studies the foreign affairs of Laos — both bilateral and multilateral. While Laos has a long way to go in terms of its political institutions, the level of development, and the provision of human security, it is important to acknowledge that is has already made significant progress in rising above the ashes of its tumultuous past. In the process, the Lao Government has secured political stability (where there is no credible challenge to its continued governance) and it has firmly integrated itself as an active and responsible member of international society.


SUMMARY 1. Restoration of riparian forests has been promoted as a means of mitigating urban impacts on stream ecosystems. However, conventional urban stormwater drainage may diminish the beneficial effect of riparian forests. 2. The relative effects of riparian deforestation and catchment urbanisation on stream ecosystems have rarely been discriminated because urban land use and riparian degradation usually covary. However, land use at three scales (channel canopy cover along a 100-m site, riparian forest cover within 200 m of the channel for 1 km upstream, and catchment imperviousness) covaried only weakly along the lowland Yarra River, Victoria, Australia. 3. We tested the extent to which each land use measure explained macroinvertebrate assemblage composition on woody debris and in the sediments of pools or runs in the mainstem Yarra River in autumn and spring 1998. 4. Assemblage composition in both habitats and in both seasons was most strongly correlated with proportion of catchment covered by impervious surfaces. Sites with higher imperviousness had fewer sensitive taxa (those having a strong positive influence on indicators of biological integrity) and more taxa typical of degraded urban streams. Sensitive taxa rarely occurred in sites with >4% total imperviousness. However, within sites of similar imperviousness, those with more riparian forest cover had more dipteran taxa. Channel canopy cover did not explain assemblage composition strongly. 5. Riparian forest cover may influence richness of some macroinvertebrate taxa, but catchment urbanisation probably has a stronger effect on sensitive taxa. In catchments with even a small amount of conventionally drained urban land, riparian revegetation is unlikely to have an effect on indicators of stream biological integrity. Reducing the impacts of catchment urbanisation through dispersed, low-impact drainage schemes is likely to be more effective.


This paper takes a close look at the reasons, procedures, and results of cluster identification methods. Despite being a popular research topic in strategy, economics, and sociology, geographic clusters are often studied with little consideration given to the underlying economic activities, the unique cluster boundaries, or the appropriate benchmark of economic concentration. Our goal is to increase awareness of the complexities behind cluster identification, and to provide concrete insights and methodologies applicable to various empirical settings. The organic cluster identification methodology we propose is especially useful when researchers work in global settings, where data available at different geographic units complicates comparisons across countries.


A large portion of the research in machine learning has involved a paradigm of comparing many examples and analyzing them in terms of similarities and differences, assuming that the resulting generalizations will have applicability to new examples. While such research has been very successful, it is by no means obvious why similarity-based generalizations should be useful, since they may simply reflect coincidences. Proponents of explanation-based learning, a new, knowledge-intensive method of examining single examples to derive generalizations based on underlying causal models, could contend that their methods are more fundamentally grounded, and that there is no need to look for similarities across examples. In this paper, we present the issues, and then show why similarity-based methods are important. We present four reasons why robust machine learning must involve the integration of similarity-based and explanation-based methods. We argue that: 1) it may not always be practical or even possible to determine a causal explanation; 2) similarity usually implies causality; 3) similarity-based generalizations can be refined over time; 4) similarity-based and explanation-based methods complement each other in important ways.


Context. Real time rendering has many challenges to overcome, one of them being character realism. One way to move towards realism is to use wrinkle maps. Although already used in several games, there might be room for improvement, common practice suggests using two wrinkle maps, however, if this number can be reduced both texture usage and workload might be reduced as well.Objectives. To determine whether or not it is possible to reduce the number of wrinkle maps from two to one without having any significant impact on the perceived realism of a character.Methods. After a base character model was created, a setup in Maya were made so that dynamic wrinkles could be displayed on the character using both one and two wrinkle maps. The face were animated and rendered, displaying emotions using both techniques. A two-alternative forced choice experiment was then conducted where the participants selected which implementation displaying the same facial expression and having the same lighting condition they perceived as most realistic.Results. Results showed that some facial expressions had more of an impact of the perceived realism than others, favoring two wrinkle maps in every case where there was a significant difference. The expressions with the most impact were the ones that required different kinds of wrinkles at the same area of the face, such as the forehead, where one variant of wrinkles run at a more vertical manner and the other variant runs horizontally along the forehead.Conclusions. Using one wrinkle map can not fully replicate the effect of using two when it comes to realism. The difference on the implementations are dependant on the expression being displayed.


Using geo-referenced data on development projects by the World Bank and China, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the effect of aid on conflict using fixed effects and instrumental variables strategies. The results show that aid projects seem to reduce rather than fuel conflict, on average. Our analysis suggests that this is driven by projects in the transport and financial sectors, and through less lethal violence by governments against civilians. There are no clear differences based on ethnic fractionalization and government affiliation of a region, but some indications of spill-overs to other regions. We also find no increased likelihood of demonstrations, strikes or riots, but a higher likelihood of non-lethal government repression in areas where China is active.


Relatively brief periods of severe paleoenvironmental change during the Jurassic and Cretaceous were associated with the widespread accumulation of organic-rich marine deposits, termed oceanic anoxic events (OAEs). These intervals involved abrupt global warming of ∼5–10 °C, higher rates of continental weathering, elevated extinction rates, and large-scale perturbations to the global carbon cycle. The major OAEs also overlapped temporally the emplacement of large igneous provinces. However, despite being known as OAEs, the extent of seawater anoxia at those times is undefined and the causative processes remain unclear. Here we show how changes in seawater molybdenum isotope ratios (a proxy for seawater anoxia) during the Toarcian (Early Jurassic) OAE define the onset and expansion of oxygen deficient conditions. Our data also place constraints on the areal extent of marine anoxia during the event and demonstrate that anoxia expanded and contracted periodically, broadly in line with precession-driven changes in δ13 Corg. Despite their intermittent occurrence over geological history, OAEs have an important contemporary relevance because the magnitude and high rates of environmental change then were broadly similar to those occurring at the present day.


While agricultural producers on commercially operated irrigation schemes will aim to achieve the recommended high crop yields, those on a smallholder irrigation scheme usually produce moderate to low crop yields. The water demand by these two irrigator types also differs and is reflected in the variations in crop yields.
Because smallholder irrigators produce lower crop yields and use less water, they should use a system suited to this lower water demand. Many irrigation schemes have the opportunity for participants to assess their farming objectives and models. The irrigators can then use the assessment results to determine their water demands, reduce their infrastructure capacity and reduce their capital, operation and maintenance costs.
On many smallholder schemes, the system has been designed for commercial crop yields and water use. If smallholders never achieve commercial levels of production, they have over capitalised and subjected themselves to additional operational strain.
In this study, six irrigation schemes based in the Eastern Cape were evaluated according to three levels of irrigation supply: a commercial irrigator, a smallholder irrigator and the commercial under-utilised irrigator. The irrigation infrastructure for each of the six schemes was designed, and the associated costs determined, for each level of supply. The study investigates the impact of different designs on the amount of water and land used, and resultant costs of the infrastructure. The results show that a smallholder irrigator using a scheme sized for commercial operation can have significantly higher (between 5% and 29%) annual operation and maintenance costs. The study clearly shows that the farmer type should be considered when designing each irrigation scheme.


Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is a particularly interesting member of the family of two-dimensional (2D) materials due to its semiconducting and tunable electronic properties. Currently, the most reliable method for obtaining high-quality industrial scale amounts of 2D materials is chemical vapor deposition (CVD), which results in polycrystalline samples. As grain boundaries (GBs) are intrinsic defect lines within CVD-grown 2D materials, their atomic structure is of paramount importance. Here, through atomic-scale analysis of micrometer-long GBs, we show that covalently bound boundaries in 2D MoS2 tend to be decorated by nanopores. Such boundaries occur when differently oriented MoS2 grains merge during growth, whereas the overlap of grains leads to boundaries with bilayer areas. Our results suggest that the nanopore formation is related to stress release in areas with a high concentration of dislocation cores at the grain boundaries, and that the interlayer interaction leads to intrinsic rippling at the overlap regions. This provides insights for the controlled fabrication of large-scale MoS2 samples with desired structural properties for applications.


Previous studies have convincingly argued that firms' ability to efficiently utilize their resources is linked to the effectiveness of their routines and resources for pricing. The ability to appropriate value and achieve a more efficient resource utilization relative to competitors through routines and resources for pricing has been named pricing capability. If an effective pricing capability could enable a firm to achieve a more efficient resource utilization and gain a competitive advantage, the questions if, and if so how, managers are able to design pricing capabilities are highly relevant. However, previous studies have presented conflicting arguments regarding managers' ability to design pricing capabilities and stated that pricing capabilities are protected by isolating mechanisms. I argue that both the antecedents of pricing capability development and managers' ability to design pricing capabilities are unclear. The purpose of this thesis is to identify the antecedents of pricing capability development. The findings from this longitudinal case study of pricing capability development in five business units within "Technologica", a multinational manufacturing firm acting on mature markets within business-to-business relations, provide empirical evidence of how managers are able to design pricing capabilities through their discretionary decision making. I propose that managerial governance choices, originating from individual managers' perception concerning which pricing governance structure they perceive to be the most efficient and profitable, are key antecedents of pricing capability development. Also, I suggest that managers, through pricing governance arrangements, are able to tackle behavioral aspects among sales representatives that create obstacles for effective value appropriation. This study shows that one such behavioral aspect is sales representatives' tendency to sometimes favor hedonic intrinsic motives over extrinsic incentives in customer meetings and, thus, prioritize a friendly, pleasant customer relation at the expense of profit maximization. I suggest that a better understanding for managers' ability to develop organizational capabilities could be gained by shedding more light on the link between managers' choices regarding capability governance structures and the designability of different types of organizational capabilities. Finally, I propose that different types of organizational capabilities differ in terms of manageability and imitability, and vary in their relevance for different firms depending on industry conditions. (Less)


SUMMARY 1. We performed spatial genetic analyses, incorporating landscape genetic methods using microsatellite data and phylogeographic analyses using mtDNA data, to identify the principal factors that determine population heterogeneity of the tropical freshwater fish, Mogurnda mogurnda, in the Daly River, northern Australia. We tested the individual and interactive effects of several environmental variables on spatial genetic patterns, including metrics relating to connectivity (i.e. stream distance, maximum stream gradient and elevation), habitat size (i.e. mean annual discharge) and a categorical variable relating to population history, as determined by mtDNA phylogeographic analyses. The Daly River is geomorphologically and hydrologically complex, and M. mogurnda has life history traits that limit its dispersal potential at river basin scales. Thus, we predicted that variables relating to connectivity would be the most important landscape factors driving population structure of the species. 2. Tree-based phylogeographic analyses indicated four divergent mtDNA lineages within M. mogurnda in the Daly River, although three of the lineages were sympatric in various combinations and did not correspond with microsatellite groups identified by assignment tests. The allopatric mtDNA lineage detected in the uppermost part of the catchment was also identified as being highly differentiated by the microsatellite data, strongly suggesting that it may be a cryptic species. This site was therefore excluded from subsequent landscape genetic analyses. 3. Analyses of Molecular Variance indicated that M. mogurnda has a hierarchical population structure in the Daly River, thus supporting theoretical expectations that hierarchically arranged river habitats in dendritic systems impose hierarchal population structures on lotic species. 4. All landscape genetic analyses rejected stream distance, and supported stream gradient, as the major determinant of spatial genetic variation in M. mogurnda in the Daly River. Support for elevation as a determinant of spatial genetic patterns differed among the landscape genetic methods. Several of the landscape genetic methods also indicate that population history, including secondary contact between divergent and formerly allopatric genetic lineages, has a strong influence on spatial genetic patterns within M. mogurnda in the Daly River.


Purpose: This paper predicted the direct relationship between the four indicators of "Financial Inclusion" and "GDP per-capita" of the country. Previous studies presented in this scenario are qualitative in nature.
Research methodology: In this paper, "step-wise multiple linear regression" is used to establish the cause-and-effect relationship between the four indicators of "financial inclusion"; "Deposit accounts per 1000 population"; "Number of credit accounts per 1,000 people"; "Bank branches per 100,000 of adult population", and "ATMs per 100,000 of adult population" and "GDP per capita".
Results: Regression model showed only "Credit accounts per 1,000 people" have a significant relationship with the "GDP per capita". In this article, secondary data were obtained from the RBI website and the reports of international financial institutes.
Limitations: Data on "ATMs" and "Bank branches per 100,000 of the adult population" is not present before 2004, decreasing the depth of analysis.
Contribution: There is a cause-and-effect relationship between the country's "GDP per capita" and the "F.I." "Credit accounts per 1,000 people" only have a significant relationship with GDP per capita, so the change in the number of credit account will show a change in GDP per capita for Indian economy.
Keywords: Financial inclusion (F.I), GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita, Deposit accounts, Credit accounts, ATMs (Automated Teller Machines), Bank branches


Abstract. Chemical transport models (CTMs) driven with high-resolution meteorological fields can better resolve small-scale processes, such as frontal lifting or deep convection, and thus improve the simulation and emission estimates of tropospheric trace gases. In this work, we explore the use of the GEOS-Chem four-dimensional variational (4D-Var) data assimilation system with the nested high-resolution version of the model (0.5° × 0.67°) to quantify North American CO emissions during the period of June 2004–May 2005. With optimized lateral boundary conditions, regional inversion analyses can reduce the sensitivity of the CO source estimates to errors in long-range transport and in the distributions of the hydroxyl radical (OH), the main sink for CO. To further limit the potential impact of discrepancies in chemical aging of air in the free troposphere, associated with errors in OH, we use surface-level multispectral MOPITT (Measurement of Pollution in The Troposphere) CO retrievals, which have greater sensitivity to CO near the surface and reduced sensitivity in the free troposphere, compared to previous versions of the retrievals. We estimate that the annual total anthropogenic CO emission from the contiguous US 48 states was 97 Tg CO, a 14 % increase from the 85 Tg CO in the a priori. This increase is mainly due to enhanced emissions around the Great Lakes region and along the west coast, relative to the a priori. Sensitivity analyses using different OH fields and lateral boundary conditions suggest a possible error, associated with local North American OH distribution, in these emission estimates of 20 % during summer 2004, when the CO lifetime is short. This 20 % OH-related error is 50 % smaller than the OH-related error previously estimated for North American CO emissions using a global inversion analysis. We believe that reducing this OH-related error further will require integrating additional observations to provide a strong constraint on the CO distribution across the domain. Despite these limitations, our results show the potential advantages of combining high-resolution regional inversion analyses with global analyses to better quantify regional CO source estimates.


This paper describes a system to support humanities scholars in their interpretation of literary work. It presents a user interface and Web architecture that integrates text mining, a graphical user interface and visualization, while attempting to remain easy to use by non specialists. Users can interactively read and rate documents found in a digital libraries collection, prepare training sets, review results of classification algorithms and explore possible indicators and explanations. Initial evaluation steps suggest that there is a rationale for "provocational" text mining in literary interpretation


Community, participation and empowerment - the human face of structural adjustment of tools for democratic transformation?, Marjorie Mayo and Gary Craig counter-development - possibilities and constraints, Benno Galjart participatory development - toward liberation and co-optation?, Muhammad Anisur Rahman disability - emancipation, community participation and disabled people, Colin Barnes and Geof Mercer empowerment and ageing - toward honoured places for crones and sages, Jenny Onyx and Pam Benton the voluntary sector challenge to fortress Europe, Pauline Conroy the university and empowerment - the European union, university adult education and community economic development with "excluded groups", Peadar Shanahan and John Ward self-organization and older people in Eastern Germany, Prue Chamberlayne Community work and the state - the changing context of UK practice, Marilyn Taylor community action in the United States, S.M. Miller, et al community development organizational capacity and US urban policy - lessons from the Chicago experience 1983-1993, Wim Wiewel and Doug Gills activism, service provision and the states' intellectuals - community work in Australia, Helen Meekosha and Martin Mowbray community organizing in the Philippines - the experience of development NGOs, Karen Constantino-David social reconstruction and community development in the transition to democracy in South Africa, Vivienne Taylor participation, empowerment and sexual health in Africa, Gill Gordon the Nicaraguan community movement - in defence of life, Hazel Plunkett Brazilian community development - changes and challenges, Frances O'Connor.


Abstract. Reliable real-time forecasts of the discharge can provide valuable information for the management of a river basin system. For the management of ecological releases even discharge forecasts with moderate accuracy can be beneficial. Sequential data assimilation using the Ensemble Kalman Filter provides a tool that is both efficient and robust for a real-time modelling framework. One key parameter in a hydrological system is the soil moisture, which recently can be characterized by satellite based measurements. A forecasting framework for the prediction of discharges is developed and applied to three different sub-basins of the Zambezi River Basin. The model is solely based on remote sensing data providing soil moisture and rainfall estimates. The soil moisture product used is based on the back-scattering intensity of a radar signal measured by a radar scatterometer. These soil moisture data correlate well with the measured discharge of the corresponding watershed if the data are shifted by a time lag which is dependent on the size and the dominant runoff process in the catchment. This time lag is the basis for the applicability of the soil moisture data for hydrological forecasts. The conceptual model developed is based on two storage compartments. The processes modeled include evaporation losses, infiltration and percolation. The application of this model in a real-time modelling framework yields good results in watersheds where soil storage is an important factor. The lead time of the forecast is dependent on the size and the retention capacity of the watershed. For the largest watershed a forecast over 40 days can be provided. However, the quality of the forecast increases significantly with decreasing prediction time. In a watershed with little soil storage and a quick response to rainfall events, the performance is relatively poor and the lead time is as short as 10 days only.


It is well-known that the sustainable development of tourism derives from ecological environment. Southwest is the one of the most enriched area of China's tourism resources. Tourism economy has become the growth point of economic development in southwest area. Achievement of harmonious development between tourism and ecological environment is an important topic of promoting economic growth of southwest area that need to be deep thought. Research holds that tourism and has a complementary with ecological environment. Proper tourist activity can promote the development of ecological environment. However, too many activities are bound to affect the sustainable development of environment[1]. This paper aims to evaluate the tourism ecological environmental carrying capacity in southwest area and found that tourism carrying capacity shows in different are of southwest shows complete different situation, which worries people a lot. Therefore, we must solve the existing problem to achieve sustainable development of regional tourism economy.


Large unilamellar vesicles composed of lipids with different hydration properties were prepared by the extrusion technique. Vesicles were composed of dioleoylphosphatidylcholine in combination with either 0.5 mol % monooleoylphosphatidylcholine or different molar ratios of dilauroylphosphatidylethanolamine. Fusion was revealed via a fluorescence assay for contents mixing and leakage, a fluorescent lipid probe assay for membrane mixing, and quasi-elastic light scattering to detect vesicle size growth. As the percentage of poorly hydrating phosphatidylethanolamine increased, the concentration of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) required to induce fusion decreased. From differential scanning calorimetry studies of membrane-phase behavior and X-ray diffraction monitoring of phase structure in PEG, it was concluded that PEG did not induce a hexagonal-phase transition or lamellar-phase separation. Electron density profiles derived from X-ray diffraction studies of multi- and unilamellar vesicles indicated that the water layer between vesicles had a thickness of approximately 5 A at PEG concentrations at which vesicles were first induced to fuse. At this distance of separation, the choline headgroups from apposing bilayers are in near-molecular contact. Since pure phosphatidylcholine vesicles did not fuse at this interbilayer spacing, a reduction in the interbilayer water layer to a critical width of approximately 2 water molecules may contribute to but is not sufficient to produce PEG-mediated fusion of phospholipid membranes. Comparison of these results with other results from this laboratory also indicates that, while close contact between bilayers promotes fusion, near-molecular contact is apparently not absolutely necessary to bring about fusion. A tentative model is presented to account for these results.


This article contemplates whether and how court-connected parent education programs can assist separating parents to access dispute resolution processes that best suit their families' needs, in a manner that involves appropriately curtailed levels of state interference with parental autonomy. The author argues that such programs can play an important role in providing key information to separating parents. Specifically, providing mandatory information to all separating parents who seek access to the family law regime about children's reactions to parental separation and conflict, and about the desirability of keeping such factors in mind as they consider the various dispute resolution options open to them, is a warranted level of state intervention. However, given current understandings of the appropriate limits on state interference with parental autonomy regarding child-rearing practices, programs aimed specifically at changing parental skills and behaviours should be mandated only on a case-by case basis, where a judge considers such changes necessary.


This paper examines regional heterogeneity both from statistical and cartographic perspectives, using factor analysis of non-demographic data, models of fertility determinants and district-wise mapping to test out the presence of regional clustering. Regional analysis reveals that economic, social and health indicators display spatial patterns as strong as fertility rates. All recent models of fertility incorporate a significant geographical component (using dummy regional variables or autocorrelation measurements). The map of fertility decline spreading along culturally and spatially contiguous regions also suggests that diffusion mechanisms may play an independent role in the spread of new reproductive behaviour (small family norm). Though diffusion per se, no real explanation for the fast decline of fertility in Southern or Coastal India (what would then be the cause of diffusion in the first place?), it would definitely be important to understand how these mechanisms are facilitated by social and cultural homogeneity or by regional policies. [Working Paper No. 290]


According to recent U.S. Census data, 46.2 million Americans live in poverty (Census, 2010). Research indicates that economic hardship has an adverse effect on the well-being of parents and children. The Family Stress Model posits that economic hardship within the family leads to certain economic pressures. These economic pressures lead to an increase in parental emotional distress, which can cause a strain on the marital relationship. This, in turn, leads to low nurturing and uninvolved parenting which disrupts developmental outcomes for children and adolescents (Conger, Conger, & Elder Jr., 1997). The present investigation utilized data from the Family Transitions project in order to examine the effects of the Family Stress Model on five specific childhood mental health disorders which include: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Depressive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and ObsessiveCompulsive Disorder. Results indicate that the pathways of the Family Stress Model as experienced when children were in early childhood predicted child mental health disorders when these same children were in late childhood. These findings are important as they contribute to our understanding of the effects that living in economically difficult times have on later childhood development.


In the recent decision of Trinity Episcopal School Corp. v. Romney, a court, for the first time, was confronted with a proposal to apply a "tipping" standard solely on the basis of income, rather than racial grounds. The case involved a group of middle-income residents seeking to enjoin the State and City of New York, as well as the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from increasing an area's low-income population through the building of various housing projects. "Tipping" has been defined as "that point at which a set of conditions has been created that will lead to the rapid flight of an existing majority class under circumstances of instability which result in the deterioration of the neighborhood environment." The court in Trinity refused plaintiffs' request to expand the tipping doctrine to include economic classifications because of the absence of legal precedent for such an argument and the inherent difficulty in expressing the tipping concept in economic terms. Although one court has recognized and accepted the concept of racial tipping, no court has extended this concept into the area of economics. Because all forms of tipping are relatively new concepts, parties using this argument must generally be wary of other problems; i.e., questions of standing and the evidentiary validity of sociological data and research statistics. These parties, recognizing the legal weaknesses of a tipping theory, have also added equal protection arguments where possible to encourage the courts to accept their position. Therefore, to be persuasive, an economic tipping argument should be fashioned after an argument for racial tipping.


Today's enterprises need to conduct thorough functional testing of their mission-critical applications to verify that all business processes work as expected. By implementing automated functional testing, your company can dramatically increase both the speed and accuracy of your testing processes, providing a higher return on investment (ROI) from software projects while dramatically cutting risk. This paper presents a brief overview of the advantages and challenges of automating functional testing to help structure your thinking about how best to approach test automation. It also summarizes the key features and benefits of the HP automated functional testing software—HP QuickTest Professional software and HP Service Test software—some of the industry's most popular and powerful automated software testing solutions. The paper concludes with a brief overview of HP Business Process Testing software and presents a checklist of the five keys to successful automated testing .


This study is concerned with the development and application of electrochemical
techniques combined with confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) as a probe of
the kinetics of electrochemical and surface reactions at different interfaces. A CLSM set
up has been designed which combines electrochemical and microscopic techniques to
extend the applications of CLSM in a new research fields. This methodology has been
applied to various electrochemical systems in this thesis. The electrochemical activity of
ultramicroelectrodes (UMEs) has been quantified using CLSM. A special optically
transparent electrode, comprising a thin film of carbon nanotube network has been
developed for these studies. The methodology comprises of tracking the dynamic,
reversible concentration profiles of electroactive and photoactive tris(2,2'-
bipyridine)ruthenium(II) species in aqueous solutions during cyclic voltammetry
experiments. A decrease of the solution intensity is recorded at and around the UME
surface during the oxidation of luminescent Ru(bpy)3
2+ to non-luminescent Ru(bpy)3
3+,
followed by an increase of the intensity signal in the reverse scan direction as the
oxidized Ru(bpy)3
3+ is consumed at the electrode surface. A three dimensional map of
the concentration gradients of Ru(bpy)3
2+ is constructed by collecting sections of the
object across the normal to the electrode plane at the steady state current regime. The
first use of CLSM coupled with scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) has been
introduced as a means of time dependent visualisation and measurement of proton
dispersion at dental enamel surfaces and the effectiveness of inhibitors on substrates.
This new technique provides an analytical method with high spatial and temporal
resolution permitting sub-second analysis of treatment effects on enamel substrates. In
this case the UME tip of SECM is used to generate protons galvanostatically in a
controlled manner and the resulting proton fields were quantified by CLSM using a pH
sensitive fluorophore. Given the advantage of SECM to deliver high controllable, and
local acid challenges in a defined way, and the high temporal and spatial resolution in
the millisecond and micrometer range, respectively, in CLSM allows the surface
kinetics of dissolution and the effect of barriers on the enamel surfaces to be evaluated.
Finite element model has been used to describe the dissolution process, which allows
the kinetics to be evaluated quantitatively, simply by measuring the size of pH profiles
over time. Fluoride and zinc were used as treatments for enamel surfaces to investigate
the effect of inhibitors on proton distribution, since they are generally considered to
impede the dissolution process. Proton lateral diffusion at modified surfaces was also
investigated using CLSM and SECM to validate the use of these techniques. A disc
UME was brought close to the membrane and the oxidation of water was induced.
Proton lateral diffusion was observed as a change in pH along the membrane. Different
electrostatic interactions were investigated by functionalising the surface with different
phospholipid head group and polypeptide multilayer films, since they are thought to
have an effect on facilitate or retreat the process. Anionic lipids head groups share
protons as acid-anion dimmers and thus trap and conduct protons along the head group
domain of bilayers that contain such anionic lipids. The results also indicate the rate and
mobility of proton diffusion along membrane are largely determined by the local
structure of the bilayer interface.


RED, the Roadside Emergency Device, is a foldable LED display for use on top of vehicles which are stranded alongside the roadway to communicate to passing motorists. RED will have six preprogrammed distress messages. This innovative product provides drivers with the peace of mind they desire. With RED, they know that if they are stranded on the side of a roadway, they will have a way to communicate with passing motorists for help.


We read with interest the reviews by Ghouri et al. and Martinez et al. Ghouri et al. analyzed the association of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and concluded that although a diagnosis of NAFLD should prompt diabetes screening, it is insufficient for considering patients to be at high risk for CVD. Martinez et al. evaluated noninvasive methods for assessing liver fibrosis and recommended that those tests with the highest diagnostic accuracy be validated against liver biopsy to facilitate their implementation in clinical practice. We meta-analyzed prospective data regarding the natural history of NAFLD and studies assessing the diagnostic accuracy of noninvasive methods for liver disease severity against liver biopsy in NAFLD, and we reached the following conclusions:


In the last years of Chief Justice Rehnquist's tenure, the Supreme Court held that due process bars criminal prosecution of same-sex intimacy and that it is cruel and unusual to execute mentally retarded persons or juveniles. Each of the later decisions not only overruled precedents set earlier in Rehnquist's tenure, but also consulted international law as an aid to construing the U.S. Constitution. Analyzing that phenomenon, the article first discusses the underlying cases, then traces the role that international law played in Atkins, Lawrence, and Simmons. It next examines backlash to consultation, and demonstrates that critics tended to overlook the Court's longstanding tradition of consulting external norms. The article gives the interpretive practice qualified approval. Thus it calls upon Justices both to articulate when it is appropriate to look to external sources and to set forth a framework for consultation. At a minimum, foreign jurisprudence ought to shed the light of experience on issues like those in the case before the Court; it must arise out of a legal culture that shares with the United States a commitment to fundamental rights; and the way in which the jurisprudence influenced the Court must be set forth in a reasoned explanation. Whether the Court would pursue such a path remained uncertain, however, as the era of the new Chief Justice began.


With an inventory of several hundreds secondary metabolites identified, Cannabis sativa L. (hemp) is one of the phytochemically best characterized plant species. The biomedical relevance of hemp undoubtedly underlies the wealth of data on its constituents and their biological activities, and cannabinoids, a class of unique meroterpenoids derived from the alkylation of an olivetollike alkyl resorcinol with a monoterpene unit, are the most typical constituents of Cannabis. In addition to the well-known psychotropic properties of Δ(9)-THC, cannabinoids have been reported to show potential in various fields of medicine, with the capacity to address unmet needs like the relief of chemotherapy-derived nausea and anorexia, and symptomatic mitigation of multiple sclerosis. Many of the potential therapeutic uses of cannabinoids are related to the interaction with (at least) two cannabinoid G-protein coupled receptors (CB1 and CB2). However, a number of activities, like the antibacterial or the antitumor properties are non totally dependent or fully independent from the interaction with these proteins. These pharmacological activities are particularly interesting since, in principle, they could be easily dissociated by the unwanted psychotropic effects. This review aims at giving readers a survey of the more recent advances in both phytochemistry of C. sativa, the medicinal chemistry of cannabinoids, and their distribution in plants, highlighting the impact that research in these hot fields could have for modern medicinal chemistry and pharmacology.


Language model (LM) pre-training is useful in many language processing tasks. But can pre-trained LMs be further leveraged for more general machine learning problems? We propose an approach for using LMs to scaffold learning and generalization in general sequential decision-making problems. In this approach, goals and observations are represented as a sequence of embeddings, and a policy network initialized with a pre-trained LM predicts the next action. We demonstrate that this framework enables effective combinatorial generalization across different environments and supervisory modalities. We begin by assuming access to a set of expert demonstrations, and show that initializing policies with LMs and fine-tuning them via behavior cloning improves task completion rates by 43.6% in the VirtualHome environment. Next, we integrate an active data gathering procedure in which agents iteratively interact with the environment, relabel past"failed"experiences with new goals, and update their policies in a self-supervised loop. Active data gathering further improves combinatorial generalization, outperforming the best baseline by 25.1%. Finally, we explain these results by investigating three possible factors underlying the effectiveness of the LM-based policy. We find that sequential input representations (vs. fixed-dimensional feature vectors) and LM-based weight initialization are both important for generalization. Surprisingly, however, the format of the policy inputs encoding (e.g. as a natural language string vs. an arbitrary sequential encoding) has little influence. Together, these results suggest that language modeling induces representations that are useful for modeling not just language, but also goals and plans; these representations can aid learning and generalization even outside of language processing.


Description

Presenting the collaborative work of 13 international specialists of contemporary Chinese culture and society, this book explores the spaces of creation, production, and diffusion of "youth cultures" in China among generations born since the 1980s.

Defining the concept of "youth culture" as practices and activities that catalyze self-expression and creativity, this book investigates the emergence of new physical spaces, including large avenues, parks, shopping malls, and recreation areas. Building on this, it also examines the influence of non-physical places, especially digital cultures, such as online social networks, shopping platforms, Cosplay, cyberliterature, and digital calligraphy and argues that these may in fact play a more significant role in Chinese civil society today.

As an exploration of how youth can be creative even in a coercive environment, China's Youth Cultures and Collective Spaces will be valuable to students and scholars of Chinese society, as well those working on the links between space, youth, and culture.


Health reform has been a constant feature of most health systems for a number of decades and has often focused on structural change. The lexicon of health reform and health management has also become intertwined with managers reporting that reform has become a constant and that rather than influencing that change they are in fact influenced by it and by its impact on their role, professional development and career.
There is a challenge for health service managers to return to a leadership role in enabling health reform. In doing so will this challenge us to think differently about management?
This article addresses the significant body of research into health reform and health management through the lens of language used in reporting the context and the significant impact that it has had on the management role. It describes what directions that role might take, the qualities required in selecting capable managers and questions the current status quo in the education, training and development of this significant sector of the health system workforce.
It concludes by proposing a way forward that acknowledges that contemporary health reform is shifting the paradigm of healthcare delivery in a way that requires the dominant view of health management to be challenged. This might be achieved by the use of a critical lens on the language of management, a focus on a grounded approach about what managers need to do and an acceptance of variability in that role in adaptive complex contexts.
Abbreviations: DNOP – Distributed Networks of Practice; MDG – Millennium Development Goals; PHC – Primary Healthcare; PHN – Primary Health Network; SDG – Sustainable Development Goals; SEDOH – Social Economic Determinants of Health; SHAPE – Society for Health Administration Programs in Education.


The social and economic dynamics that have been troubling the world for several years are associated with the new challenges that organizations have to face in order to be sustainable, namely, concerning management practices, working conditions, innovation management, and quality of life in the workplace. It is particularly difficult for the human service industry to create and sustain healthy workplaces that mobilize workers for high-productivity and provide high-quality services to people. A deeper understanding of the new realities and the critical processes that affect workers' efficiency and effectiveness will help towards designing better interventions and improving human services management. For over a quarter of a century, and with the aim of providing an arena for the analysis and discussion of the consequences of a rapidly changing working life in Europe, the European Network of Organizational Psychologists (ENOP) has held a series of conferences that focus on critical issues in the fields of work and organizational psychology, health care, human services, and occupational health. The XI European Conference on Organizational Psychology and Human Service Work was held in Lisbon in October 2009, and was focused on the "new challenges and interventions in psychosocial work environment". This volume includes ten peer-reviewed contributions from authors of seven European countries. These contributions are organized in two sections. The first section includes studies that focus on the work environment and employee wellbeing in human services. The second section presents studies that focus on healthy workplace factors and interventions in human services.


Case-Based Reasoning is a fairly new Artificial Intelligence technique which makes use of past experience as the basis for solving new problems. Typically, a case-based reasoning system stores actual past problems and solutions in memory as cases. Due to its ability to reason from actual experience and to save solved problems and thus learn automatically, case-based reasoning has been found to be applicable to domains for which techniques such as rule-based reasoning have traditionally not been well-suited, such as experience-rich, unstructured domains. This applicability has led to it becoming a viable new artificial intelligence topic from both a research and application perspective. This dissertation concentrates on researching and implementing indexing techniques for casebased reasoning. Case representation is researched as a requirement for implementation of indexing techniques, and pre-transportation decision making for hazardous waste handling is used as the domain for applying and testing the techniques. The field ofcase-based reasoning was covered in general. Case representation and indexing were researched in detail. A single case representation scheme was designed and implemented. Five indexing techniques were designed, implemented and tested. Their effectiveness is assessed in relation to each other, to other reasoners and implications for their use as the basis for a case-based reasoning intelligent decision support system for pre-transportation decision making for hazardous waste handling are briefly assessed.