The article investigates the problems, related to the implementation of the State's criminal jurisdiction, after a judgement for a criminal act committment has already been passed by foreign countries or International Court. In the investigation of the problem, the author of the article aims at answering the question of what is the significance of the court decision adopted outside Lithuania to the implementation of its own criminal jurisdiction based on the principles of Criminal Code? Dogmatic, comparative, logic, historical and critical methods have been used to analyze the norms of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and the new Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania excluding double responsibility. While examining Article 31, part 5 of the Constitution and Article 2, part 6 of the Criminal Code, more attention, however, is paid to Article 8, part 2 of the new Criminal Code, where it is provided that the fact of a judgment and its enforcement in a foreign country is a circumstance, preventing a person to respond to the Lithuanian Criminal Laws for the criminal acts committed outside the territory of Lithuania. According to the author, this position is not well-grounded, because unconditional recognition of the foreign judgements is not the best way to ensure justice. The analysis of both international agreements and criminal laws of a variety of foreign countries show that the position of the Lithuanian legislative body should change on the issue. Referring to the analysis carried out, a conclusion is made, that the application of the principle non bis in idem on the international and national levels should be different. Unconditional recognition of the principal on the international level would help a criminal to evade responsibility and deny the State's right to realize its own criminal jurisdiction. For the reason mentioned it is suggested to define in the Criminal Code, that a court decision carried out in a foreign country can not be an obstacle to prosecute and judge a person in Lithuania for the same criminal act, with the exception of the following cases: a person was extradicted from Lithuania for the criminal act, Lithuania has passed the criminal prosecution for the criminal act; Lithuania has applied to judge a person according to the laws of the state, where the decision had been passed; Lithuania has agreed to carry out a foreign decision. After sentencing a person in Lithuania for the criminal act, for which a foreign judgement had been passed, the court should include the punishment given in a foreign country to the sentence passed.


Background Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is spread widely across Asia, and the hospitalization burden is as yet not well understood. Here, we estimated serotype-specific and age-specific hospitalization rates of HFMD in Southern China. Methods We enrolled pediatric patients admitted to 3/3 county-level hospitals and 3/23 township level hospitals in Anhua county, Hunan (CN) with HFMD, and collected samples to identify enterovirus serotypes by RT-PCRs between October 2013 and September 2016. The information of other eligible but un-enrolled patients were retrospectively collected from the same six hospitals. Monthly number of hospitalizations for all causes was collected from each of 23 township level hospitals to extrapolate hospitalizations associated with HFMD among these. Results During the three years, an estimated 3,236 pediatric patients were hospitalized with lab-confirmed HFMD, and among these only one patient was severe. The mean hospitalization rates were 660 (95% CI: 638-684) per 100,000 person-years for lab-confirmed HFMD, with higher rates among CV-A16 and CV-A6 associated HFMD (213 vs 209 per 100,000 person-years), and lower among EV-A71, CV-A10 and other enteroviruses associated HFMD (134, 39 and 66 per 100,000 person-years, p<0.001). Children aged 12-23 months had the highest hospitalization rates (3,594/100,000 person-years), followed by those aged 24-35 months (1,828/100,000 person-years) and 6-11 months (1,572/100,000 person-years). Compared with other serotypes, CV-A6-associated hospitalizations were evident at younger ages. Conclusions Our study indicates a substantial hospitalization burden associated with non-severe HFMD in a rural county in southern China. Future mitigation policies should take into account the disease burden identified, and optimize interventions for HFMD.


Not just another resource on parenting. More than a book on autism. This important book is a must-have guide for any parent of a child with a disability as well as anyone who works with or cares for those families. "Special Children, Challenged Parents" shares the unique perspective of a father of a son with autism, with additional reflection from his perspective as a clinical psychologist who specializes in working with families of children with disabilities.This moving book illustrates the impact that a child's disability has on the entire family. It is a valuable aid to parents dealing with fear, guilt, shame, sibling rivalry, marital strain, and other challenges. Though the author's personal experience is with autism, this book will be a valuable resource for families of children with a wide range of disabilities. Readers learn about resources, such as support groups, for working through complex emotions and about techniques for communicating effectively with professionals."Special Children, Challenged Parents" addresses issues of bonding between parent and child and presents strategies for dealing with challenging behavior. Additional chapters are devoted to special issues for the family of a child with a disability, including the relationship between the parents, the effect on siblings, and the needs of fathers, who the author feels often require special support to express and deal with their emotions in the challenging role of parent to a child with special needs. This book provides a unique and touching look at parenting and disability.


Nonribosomal peptides (NRP) are highlighted in pharmacological studies as novel NRPs are often promising substances for new drug development. To effectively discover novel NRPs from microbial fermentations, a crucial step is to identify known NRPs in an early stage and exclude them from further investigation. This so-called dereplication step ensures the scarce resource is only spent on the novel NRPs in the following up experiments. Tandem mass spectrometry has been routinely used for NRP dereplication. However, few bioinformatics tools have been developed to computationally identify NRP compounds from mass spectra, while manual identification is currently the roadblock hindering the throughput of novel NRP discovery. In this thesis, we review the nature of nonribosomal peptides and investigate the challenges in computationally solving the identification problem. After that, iSNAP software is proposed as an automated and high throughput solution for tandem mass spectrometry based NRP identification. The algorithm has been evolved from the traditional database search approach for identifying sequential peptides, to one that is competent at handling complicated NRP structures. It is designed to be capable of identifying mixtures of NRP compounds from LC-MS/MS of complex extract, and also finding structural analogs which differ from an identified known NRP compound with one monomer. Combined with an in-house NRP structural database of 1107 compounds, iSNAP is tested to be an effective tool for mass spectrometry based NRP identification. The software is available as a web service at http://monod.uwaterloo.ca/isnap for the research community.


The availability of large amounts of time series data, paired with the performance of deep-learning algorithms on a broad class of problems, has recently led to significant interest in the use of sequence-to-sequence models for time series forecasting. We provide the first theoretical analysis of this time series forecasting framework. We include a comparison of sequence-to-sequence modeling to classical time series models, and as such our theory can serve as a quantitative guide for practitioners choosing between different modeling methodologies.


Capable faults and the ground motions they produce in the near-field are of great importance to the construction of major infrastructure facilities such as nuclear plants, yet few datasets exist to constrain these effects. Here we present a record of co-seismic displacement of the 30 October Central Italy earthquake measured in the near-field using low-cost GNSS, an example of co-seismic slip on a capable fault. Four low-cost GNSS units were installed across the causative Mt. Vettore fault as two footwall-hangingwall pairs with baselines of 1,286 m and 1,870 m with an along-strike separation of 6.2 km. The displacement records reveal near-synchronous co-seismic displacement along each baseline, values of finite co-seismic displacement, rise-time and rupture velocity. A rigorous comparison of these values has been conducted using independent datasets of displacement and acceleration derived from regional GPS, InSAR, a local strong motion station and mapping of surface ruptures which intersect the two baselines. This comparison and analysis, whilst not without discrepancy, validates low-cost GNSS for the first time as an appropriate method for the temporal measurement of near-field co-seismic displacement. The derived empirical values will benefit the process of fault rupture modelling and accurate ground motion prediction in the near-field of capable faults worldwide.


A new approach to automating the fault tree construction process is proposed. The methodology has features which make it applicable to binary state systems and also to process control systems. Previous attempts to model the failure generation in systems have worked well on only a small sub-class of system types and have failed to produce a generally applicable method. Thus in some previous approaches there are desirable features which are worth retaining in a new construction method. The new method is based on the flexibility of the decision table method but incorporates a way of detecting, classifying and analysing control loops, similar to that used with operators in the digraph approach. As well as using operators to deal with control loops a new operator is introduced that deals with two-state circuits. This will mean that when constructing the fault trees, the difficulty of handling repeated events will be eliminated and the size of the tree structures will be significantly reduced. The developed algorithm can produce a tree format appropriate for direct input to an analysis code. The method is demonstrated in this paper by its application to a simplified safety system from the railway industry. This system has been selected as it exhibits features that are typical of two-state circuitry but is also small enough to illustrate the new developments introduced.


We investigate flocculation in dilute suspensions of rigid, straight fibers in a decelerating flow field of a diffuser. We carry out numerical studies using a particle-level simulation technique that takes into account the fiber inertia and the non-creeping fiber-flow interactions. The fluid flow is governed by the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with the standard k-omega eddy-viscosity turbulence model. A one-way coupling between the fibers and the flow is considered with a stochastic model for the fiber dispersion due to turbulence. The fibers interact through short-range attractive forces that cause them to aggregate into flocs when fiber-fiber collisions occur. We show that ballistic deflection of fibers greatly increases the flocculation in the diffuser. The inlet fiber kinematics and the fiber inertia are the main parameters that affect fiber flocculation in the pre-diffuser region.


This study is a comparative analysis of the personality characteristics of a sample of World of Warcraft players (n = 147) and a large normative sample (n = 20,993). The 120-item International Personality Item Pool, based on the five factor model, is used. Independent t-tests were conducted and statistical significance was found for some factors; however, the effect sizes were small, indicating a limited practical difference between the two groups.


This paper is concerned with the relationship between theory and history in the development of media history as a subject area, and in particular the way that it has come to conceptualise power. Contesting Media History argues that the history of the communications has become increasingly isolated within its related disciplines, cut off from the rich theoretical insights developed elsewhere and provincialised into the 'story of the present'. The paper traces the roots of this intellectual isolation in the neologistic frameworks adopted to explain new media technologies, which have selectively appropriated media discourses and practices to underpin claims of the novelty of new media, and in the fact that much of media history is written from the standpoint of institutional actors. These two factors taken together, I argue, produce a history which is overly dependent on monolithic themes; teleological, insofar as an essential and eternal nature is imputed to successful forms and institutions; inadequately accounts for th e relationship between changes in media production and changes in media texts; and neglects to place communications history in the context of broader social change. As against this the paper traces the outlines of a history of the media 'from the ground up', using a study of alternate constructions of the public sphere in late Victorian journalism as an example of the way a more inclusive history could be developed.


Few principles are as universally accepted in legal scholarship today, but based on such scant support, as the fundamental nature and broad scope of the right to procreate. What is perceived as a vague but nonetheless justified legal and moral interest to procreate freely without regard to others is, upon closer examination, based on little more than misconstrued or inapposite case precedent and blurry statements in non-binding sources of international law. By relying on this authority, conflating procreation with conceptually distinguishable behaviors, presuming its intrinsic value, and ignoring competing rights and duties, lawyers have largely overlooked procreation and its legal and normative limits. Interpreting U.S. constitutional and international law sources, and finally employing Locke's model of natural rights, this Article redefines the right in law and practice as satiable and narrow, acknowledging the competing rights and duties that both qualify and justify the right. It posits that the procreative right, properly stated, includes at least the act of replacing oneself and at most procreation up to a point that optimizes the public good.


Imaging using the total focusing method (TFM) is a popular tool, which is becoming a standard, for nondestructive testing and evaluation. From full matrix capture data, it consists in focusing at each point of a defined reconstruction zone. It is generally more efficient than conventional phased array focusing, which only focuses at a few points. Despite its good image quality, TFM suffers from a lack of resolution and contrast, in particular in the case of close defects or in scattering materials. The TFM algorithm can be formalized as a linear operation on the data. The contribution of this paper is then to include a sparsity-inducing penalization to the TFM procedure. The reconstructed image is therefore supposed to contain only a few non zero values, corresponding to flaws or geometry. The final image is obtained by minimizing a penalized least-squares criterion within an iterative procedure. A first example uses data acquired from two close side drilled holes (SDH) in an aluminum block. The proposed algorithm shows good echo separation whereas the reference method suffers from overlapping, demonstrating resolution improvement. A second example comes from a stainless steel specimen, with high scattering noise level. The proposed method reduces the scattering noise and improves the contrast.


In 2009, Europe launched a Recast Directive on European Works Councils (EWCs) aiming to improve:(1) the effectiveness of EWCs and (2) increase the amount of EWCs. In 2016, this Recast Directive will be evaluated by the European Commission. This report feeds into this, building on data of EWC agreements from the EWC Database managed by the ETUI.The results show that the Recast was generally too little and too late to deliver on its declared objectives. The Recast did not stimulate the creation of more EWCs as it provided insufficient instruments to do so. The Recast did affect the content of EWC agreements on some domains, but generally came too late to have a significant effect. In many ways, the Recast reflected the most common practices rather than stimulating best practices.


This article outlines one of the Bank's key approaches to dealing with the uncertainty that surrounds decisions on monetary policy: the consideration of a wide range of information from a variety of sources. More specifically, it describes the information and analysis that the monetary policy decision-makers—the Governing Council of the Bank of Canada—receive in the two or three weeks leading up to a decision on the setting of the policy rate—the target overnight interest rate. The article also describes how the Governing Council reaches this decision.


IVe have analyzed the performance of a reservoir computing system based on a semiconductor laser with delayed optical output feedback on time series prediction and bit parity tests. Both laser and feedback section are fully integrated on an InP based photonic chip fabricated on the Jeppix platform. We have studied how the system parameters affect the performance and found that this reservoir computing chip reaches processing speeds of 0.9GSa/s with comparable performances as obtained by other non-integrated RC setups based on delayed feedback as well as RC setup on passive silicon photonic chips.


Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether making fruit boxes available in the workplace is a successful health promotion strategy. Design: A quasi-experimental study involving three conditions – free fruit, 50c per piece of fruit and $1 per piece of fruit – to investigate the effect of a contribution scheme on employees' fruit purchase/consumption behaviours and willingness to contribute when in the paid conditions. Setting: Perth, Western Australia. Methods: In total, 36 workplaces participated and were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions. The results were analysed using generalised linear modelling. A qualitative follow-up was conducted with workplace representatives 6 weeks after the completion of the trial to investigate how many workplaces implemented the provision of fruit boxes after the trial and the factors influencing the decision to implement fruit boxes. Results: A significant difference in average fruit purchasing/consumption per person was found with respect to condition (p < .001), with businesses in the free condition purchasing/consuming a significantly greater amount of fruit than businesses in the 50c contribution condition or $1 contribution condition. Following the trial, 13 workplaces continued providing their own fruit box, of which 7 were initially in the free condition. Qualitative findings revealed that management support, a receptive culture and sufficient resources were key to the implementation of fruit boxes. Conclusion: Having a fruit box may be a feasible health promotion strategy, and the financial burden of this strategy could be alleviated by asking employees to contribute to the cost of fruit.


The current research so far in aspect-oriented software development is focused on problem analysis, software design, and implementation techniques. Even though the importance of software testing is known, it has received little attention in the aspect-oriented paradigm. In this paper, we propose a data-flow-based unit testing approach for aspect oriented programs. Our approach tests two types of units for an aspect-oriented program, i.e., aspects that are modular units of crosscutting implementation of the program, and those classes whose behavior may be affected by one or more aspects. For each aspect or class, our approach performs three levels of testing, i.e., intra-module, inter-module, and intra-aspect or intra-class testing. For an individual module such as apiece of advice, a piece of introduction, and a method, we perform intra-module testing. For a public module along with other modules it calls in an aspect or class, we perform inter-module testing. For modules that can be accessed outside the aspect or class and can be invoked in any order by users of the aspect or class, we perform intra-aspect or intra-class testing. Our approach can handle unit testing problems that are unique to aspect-oriented programs. We use control flow graphs to compute def-use pairs of an aspect or class being tested and use such information to guide the selection of test for the aspect or class.


The multidelay block frequency-domain (MDF) adaptive filter is an excellent candidate for both acoustic and network echo cancellation. There is a need for a very good double-talk detector (DTD) to be combined efficiently with the MDF algorithm. Recently, a DTD based on a normalized cross-correlation vector was proposed and it was shown that this DTD performs much better than the Geigel algorithm and other DTDs based on the cross-correlation coefficient. In this paper, we show how to extend the definition of a normalized cross-correlation vector in the frequency domain for the general case where the block size of the Fourier transform is smaller than the length of the adaptive filter. The resulting DTD has an MDF structure, which makes it easy to implement, and a good fit with an echo canceler based on the MDF algorithm. We also analyze resource requirements (computational complexity and memory requirement) and compare the MDF algorithm with the normalized least mean square algorithm (NLMS) from this point of view.


The defendants in Philip Morris USA v. Williams and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes claimed a right to present defenses. The defendants also both claimed that the mechanisms in place in those cases — the consideration of nonparties in imposing punitive damages and the use of sampling to litigate a large class action — violated that right. The Supreme Court agreed, a death knell for the advocated use of both mechanisms to counteract tort law's under-litigation problem: the fact that not all injured persons sue, precluding tort law's ability to achieve effective deterrence. This Article argues that procedural due process theories do not support such a right. The process-based theory provides only a flexible level of participation and the defendants in both Philip Morris and Dukes had a meaningful opportunity to participate. The outcome-based theory also does not support such a right because the total damage obligations produced by the mechanisms are actually accurate. Even though no procedural due process right precludes the consideration of nonparties and sampling, the mechanisms are still problematic because of how they shift the burden of proof. The burden, however, is based in substantive law. And substantive law can be changed to help alleviate the harmful effects of tort law's under-litigation problem.


Distraction osteogenesis has been used for more than 50 years to address limb-length discrepancy and deformity. Intramedullary fixation has been used in conjunction with external fixation to decrease the time in the external fixator and prevent deformity and refracture. A new generation of motorized intramedullary nails is now available to treat limb-length discrepancy and deformity. These nails provide bone fragment stabilization and lengthening with reliable remote-controlled mechanisms, obviating the need for external fixation. Motorized intramedullary nails allow accurate, well-controlled distraction, and early clinical results have been positive.


Patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) often present with a constellation of symptoms that may interact, persist, and exacerbate if untreated [1-7]. Recently, clinicians have noted that auditory, vestibular, and visual symptoms were frequently reported by combat returnees during their clinical evaluation and treatment [8-12]. These sensory issues are likely to negatively affect the ability of individuals with TBI to process cognitive information and perform daily tasks such as communication and ambulation. While researchers are still investigating the effects of sensory and communication disorders on rehabilitation outcome, preliminary data have shown that dual sensory impairment may adversely influence functional outcome in patients with TBI [10]. Founded by Congress in 1992, the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) is the TBI operational component of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (www.dvbic.org) [13]. With its headquarters in the nation's capital region, DVBIC has been a bridging force between the U.S. Military Health System and Veterans Health Administration, as well as academic and private rehabilitation facilities, all of which share the common goal of providing the best care to servicemembers and Veterans with TBI. As a part of its mission, DVBIC has continued to support educational initiatives and research programs so that clinicians can learn and implement the highest quality of evidence-based practice. This special issue on sensory and communication disorders in TBI represents another endeavor to highlight the latest findings by clinicians and researchers who serve patients with TBI. It contains a wide spectrum of high-quality articles, encompassing innovative research findings, insightful clinical observations, focused reviews, and consensus expert opinions. The following topics are discussed: 1. Multisensory impairment reported by Veterans with and without TBI. 2. Sensorintegrative dysfunction underlying vestibular disorders after TBI. 3. Audiological issues and hearing loss among Veterans with mild TBI. 4. Central auditory processing by individuals exposed to high-intensity blasts. 5. Telehealth tinnitus management for persons with and without TBI. 6. Blast exposure and dual sensory impairment. 7. Implications of blast exposure for central auditory function. 8. Visual symptomatology and referral patterns for Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) Veterans with TBI. 9. Vergence in mild TBI. 10. Visual attention in OIF/OEF Veterans. 11. Relationship of screen-based symptoms for mild TBI and mental health problems. 12. Mild TBI and pain in OIF/OEF Veterans. 13. Preliminary framework for a familiar auditory sensory training task during coma recovery. 14. Preliminary studies on differential expression of auditory functional genes in the brain after repeated blast exposures. Throughout its preparation process, this special issue has generated enthusiastic responses from a wide range of subject matter experts who have worked diligently with the editorial staff and volunteers to bring this project to fruition. A key focus has been to increase health professionals' awareness of the diverse sensory and communication disorders that may result from a TBI so that a team-oriented, patient-centered rehabilitation plan can be formulated and implemented expediently, thereby enhancing the likelihood of an optimal outcome [14]. The issue also includes a synopsis prepared by expert speech-language pathologists who work in the military, Department of Veterans Affairs, and civilian systems that summarizes their experience and identifies recommendations for the management of cognitive-communication problems after combat-related mild TBI. As we receive more articles on the expressive communication deficits related to TBI, another special issue may be warranted. …


Many contemporary observers of Latin America seem to have short memories. International press coverage of the region is dominated by problems such as social discontent, crime and drug trafficking, and political corruption. With the rise of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, analysts warn of the dawn of a new age of populism and confrontation. All of these things are real or potential problems, to varying degrees. Yet it is important to keep in mind the immense progress that has been made over the past 35 years since the Freedom House survey Freedom, in the World began monitoring the region. A look at the numbers reminds us that Latin America has advanced impressively since the previous dark days of military dictatorships and corrupt autocracies. However, although the region's citizens and governments have largely defeated authoritarian governments, they must now confront the challenges posed by the ineffective state. There are two primary classifications used in the Freedom in the World survey. The first and broadest categorizes every country in the world as "Free," "Partly Free," or "Not Free." A second, more granular assessment involves assigning each nation two numerical scores. The first is for political rights, which include elections, political pluralism, and government functioning. The second evaluates civil liberties, which include freedom of expression, freedom of association, rule of law, and personal autonomy, including minority and women's rights. Each is scored on a 1 to 7 scale in which 1 is the best possible mark and 7 is the worst. The 18 core Latin American countries considered here include Brazil and all of the Spanish-speaking countries except for Cuba. Looking back at this group in 1972, the picture was bleak. Low country scores reflected the primacy of military dictatorships and authoritarian civilian regimes blotting the regional landscape. Just 7 states were Free, with 10 Partly Free and 1 (Panama) labeled Not Free. Even with relative refuges of liberty such as Costa Rica (1.1) and Venezuela (2.2), the average score was a mere 4.1 for political rights and 3.3 for civil liberties. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] By 1977 the picture was even worse, with the advent of General Augusto Pinochet's reign in Chile and the hardening of regimes in places such as Uruguay and Argentina leading to further declines. Free countries (Colombia, Costa Rica, and Venezuela) were actually outnumbered by Not Free countries (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay). As indicated in Chart 2, the spike in average scores also reflected the deterioration. That year marked the nadir of freedom in Latin America. Starting at the very end of the 1970s and continuing into the next decade, political parties and civil society groups in many countries combined forces to demand an immediate end to the pervasive human rights abuses and economic mismanagement that characterized military rule. By 1982, after several democratic transitions had occurred or were underway, seven countries were listed as Free and just one as Not Free. Moreover the average score increase between 1977 and 1982 was considerable. The trend accelerated during the first half of the 1980s so that in 1987, fully 11 countries were classified as Free. For the first time, the region's average score on political rights improved to below 3. Between 1987 and 1992 progress was mixed. Some countries improved, most dramatically Chile after the fall of Pinochet, but also E1 Salvador after that country's brutal internal conflict finally reached a negotiated conclusion. However, a degree of backsliding occurred in several states that previously had demonstrated progress. Notably, these countries--Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela--are all located in the Andes, which has been Latin America's most volatile subregion (see Chart 3). Peru lapsed all the way from Free to Not Free status following Alberto Fujimori's self-coup of April 1992. In Colombia, increasing violence and instability related to both drug trafficking and the conflict with Marxist FARC and National Liberation Army insurgents resulted in a regression to Partly Free status. …


Ribbon-fishes constitute one of the important commercial fisheries of India, the annual catches fluctuating
about 29,000 m. tons and forming 3 80% of the total marine fish landings (average for 1958-67). They
are caught almost all along the Indian coast and form an exclusive fishery of considerable magnitude at a
number of places, especially in the southern peninsular region. The States of Andhra Pradesh, Madras and
Kerala account for the greater percentage of annual catches. A limited fishery exists in Hooghly-Matlah
estuaries.
Though the catches are constituted by more than one species at several places, it is certain, that the
bulk of the catches are contributed to by Trichiurus lepturus which moves in great shoals and appears to
migrate from east to west around Cape during August to October when it is caught in large quantities. On
such occasions, the fishery is supported by spent fishes, about 50 to 75 cm, which could be caught to any extent
possible without being detrimental to future stocks as such fish would have spawned at least once. The
other three species, Lepturacanlhus savala, Eupleurogrammus muticus and E. intermedius, though comparatively
not very important, yet form the fishery singly or cojointly at some places.
The usual gear for these fishes are the shore seines and the boat seines. Catches could be substantially
improved in the southern region between Idinthakarai and Vizhingam if the information of appearance of
shoals between August and October is promptly passed on to the fishing centres in between and they arc
effectively fished at this time.


The paper examines the effects of fiscal deficits and government debt on interest rates in Nigeria, by applying the Vector Auto-regression approach. The results confirm a positive interest rates effect of fiscal deficits and debt. It is recommended that government revenue base should be increased, while unnecessary spending should be discouraged. Moreover, where deficit financing is inevitable, it should be put into productive activities in order to create more employment opportunities, raise national output, and increase the living standard of the people. This should check interest rates from rising


Christopher Hibbert's acclaimed biography of Queen Victoria is as impressive and authoritative as the great woman herself. In 1837 an eighteen-year-old girl, raised by a German mother, inherited the throne of the United Kingdom. She was to reign as queen - and later Empress of India - for almost sixty-four years, presiding over twenty prime ministers and a period of unprecedented social and political change. Her era became synonymous with moral rigidity and colonial expansion, and this absorbing biography of Queen Victoria, the unlikely figurehead of a vast and powerful empire, explores how the young monarch transformed herself into a formidable matriarch and the epitome of an age. Embracing her life and family, her politics and personality, her love for Prince Albert and her relationship with John Brown, Hibbert's touching biography is a persuasive portrait of a remarkable woman.


Optical Networks (PONs) technology is considered as a promising solution for the next-generation broadband access network. In this paper we present different dynamic bandwidth algorithms (DBA) and estimate the bandwidth between OLT and ONT in order to improve network efficiency and packet processing. We show that queuing delays under dynamic bandwidth allocation algorithm results in an unexpected behavior for certain traffic classes and with the our proposed algorithm (BA-DBA) alleviate this inappropriate behavior. We conduct detailed simulations experiments to study the performance and the throughput of the proposed algorithms. Through respective simulations, it is estimated that the average queue size, the packet delay and the throughput of the proposed BA-DBA algorithm is performed better than a common SR-DBA algorithm.


of a dissertation at the University of Miami. Dissertation supervised by Professor Shihab S. Asfour. No. of pages in text. (137) In the current era of Digital Information Technology Biometrics authentication is massively used to protect user's privacy by confirming the legitimacy of their identity. Biometric identifiers are the distinctive, measurable characteristics used to label and describe individuals. Technology to verify a persons identity based on his/her biometrics utilizes the information "someone who they are" instead of "something they know" (passwords) or "something they possess"(ID card). Biometric identifiers are usually categorized as physiological and behavioral characteristics. Physiological characteristics are related to the shape of the body. Examples include, but are not limited to face recognition, ear shape, fingerprint, DNA, palm print, hand geometry, iris recognition, and retina. Behavioral characteristics refer to the pattern of behavior of a person, including but not limited to typing rhythm, gait, and voice. Application of Biometrics authentication can be found in various domains, starting from forensics research, border security maintenance to securely access Bank ATMs and the web or mobile applications. Current growth trends in different biometrics applications present challenges to researchers. To address these challenges, we need new data storage and retrieval techniques to make the recognition process time efficient. We proposed a system for time efficient 3D ear biometrics from a large biometrics database. The proposed system has two components that are primarily responsible for: 1) automatic 3D ear segmentation and 2) hierarchical categorization of the 3D ear database using shape information and surface depth information, respectively. We use an active contour algorithm along with a tree structured graph to segment the ear region from the 3D profile images. The segmented 3D ear database is then categorized based on geometrical feature values, computed from the ear shape, into oval, round, rectangular and triangular categories. For the categorization based on the depth information, the feature space is partitioned using tree-based indexing techniques. We used indexing techniques with balanced split (KD tree) and unbalanced split (Pyramid tree) data structures to categorize the database separately, then compared their retrieval efficiency. Experiments are conducted to compare the average computation time per query when performing recognition through hierarchical categorization with the average computation time when recognition is based on sequential search. Experimental results conducted on the University of Notre Dame (UND) collection J2 dataset demonstrate that the proposed approach outperforms state-of-the-art 3D ear biometric systems in both accuracy and efficiency, explicitly the hierarchical clustering of the biometrics dataset result in 5 times faster search/ query compared with the state-of-the-art technique that uses sequential search. Biometrics identification using multiple modalities has attracted the attention of many researchers as it produces more robust and trustworthy results than single modality biometrics. We proposed a novel multimodal recognition system that trains a Deep Learning Network to automatically learn features after extracting multiple biometric modalities from a single data source, i.e., facial video clips. Utilizing different modalities, i.e., left ear, left profile face, frontal face, right profile face, and right ear, present in the facial video clips, we train supervised denosing autoencoders to automatically extract robust and non-redundant features. The automatically learned features are then used to train modality specific sparse classifiers to perform the multimodal recognition. The proposed system has three components that are responsible for: 1) Automatically detecting images of different modalities present in the facial video clips; 2) Training supervised denoising sparse autoencoders to capture the modaliti specific discriminative representation while maintaining robustness to the variations; and 3) Train modality specific Sparse classifier (SRC), then perform score level fusion of the recognition results of all five modalities, or all the available modalities from the query video to obtain the multimodal recognition result. Experiments conducted on the constrained facial video dataset (WVU) and the unconstrained facial video dataset (HONDA/UCSD), resulted in a 99.17% and 97.14% rank-1 recognition rates, respectively. The multimodal recognition accuracy demonstrates the superiority and robustness of the proposed approach irrespective of the illumination, non-planar movement, and pose variations present in the video clips. Biometric identification using Surveillance Video has attracted the attention of many researchers as it can be applicable not only for robust identification but also personalized activity monitoring. We present a novel multimodal recognition system that extracts Frontal Gait and Low Resolution face images from frontal walking surveillance video clips to perform efficient biometric recognition. The proposed study addresses two important issues in surveillance video that did not receive appropriate attention in the past. First, it consolidates the Model-Free and Model-Based Gait feature extraction approaches to perform robust gait recognition only using the frontal view. Second, it uses a low-resolution face recognition approach which can be trained and tested using low-resolution face information. This eliminates the need for obtaining high-resolution face images to create the gallery, which is required in the majority of low-resolution face recognition techniques. Previous studies on frontal gait recognition incorporate assumptions to approximate the average gait cycle. However, we quantify the gait cycle precisely for each subject using only the frontal gait information. The approaches available in the literature use the high resolution images obtained in a controlled environment to train the recognition system. However, in our proposed system we train the recognition algorithm using the low resolution face images captured in the unconstrained environment. The proposed system has two components, one is responsible for performing Frontal Gait recognition and one is responsible for Low Resolution face recognition. Later, score level fusion is performed to fuse the results of the Frontal Gait recognition and the Low Resolution Face recognition. Experiments conducted on the Face and Ocular Challenge Series (FOCS) dataset resulted in a 93.5% Rank-1 for Frontal Gait recognition and 82.92% Rank-1 for Low Resolution face recognition, respectively. The score level multimodal fusion resulted in 95.9% Rank-1 recognition, which demonstrates the superiority and robustness of the proposed approach.


Recent events in the global economy have caused many writers to argue that the mar- ket is driven by animal spirits, by irrational exuberance or speculation. At the same time, the economic downturn has apparently caused many voters in the United States, and other countries, to change their opinion about the the proper role of government. Unfortunately, there does not exist a general equilibrium model of the political economy, combining a formal model of the existence, and convergence to a price equilibrium, as well as an equilibrium model of political choice. One impediment to such a theory is the so-called chaos theorem which suggests that existence of a political equilibrium is non-generic. This paper surveys results in the theory of dynamical systems, emphasizing the role of structural stability and chaos. We consider models of celestial mechanics where the notion of chaos first developed, and then examine applications in models of climate change and economics. There is discussion of the past influences of climate on human society, and particularly how agriculture developed during the "holocene," the past ten thousand years of benign climate. The recent period of globalization is likened to the holocene, and the question is raised whether future climate change may bring economic and political chaos.


ABSTRACT Research on negotiating with criminalized actors generally assumes the criminal label as a given, neglecting the significance of criminalization itself. This article addresses this gap arguing that the processes of criminalization and decriminalization embody important incentive structures affecting peace negotiations. Specifically, for conflict transformation to effectively occur, criminalization needs to be orientated away from a criminalization of actors and on to specific acts to legitimize nonviolent political expression and negotiations. These arguments will be advanced through a comparative study of Northern Ireland and South Africa, adopting a conflict transformation framework, and drawing on original interviews and archival material.


Current independent filmmaking in Malaysia has the potential to be an alternative and viable space for creative and political expression, relative to mainstream national cinema (Malay cinema) and to the state. I focus on alternative imagery and sociocultural mappings of Kuala Lumpur in three 'indie' films. All three films contain documentary elements capturing social geographies of the city not represented in mainstream Malay cinema, or even if represented not subjected to a critical gaze by the filmmaker. The Big Durian centres on the perspectives of the city's urban middle class of all ethnicities; Bukak Api portrays the daily struggles of Malay transsexual sex workers in Chow Kit, a predominantly working-class Chinese neighbourhood and red light district; and 18? highlights the opinions of the nongovernmental organization community, bohemians, artists, anarchists and media activists mostly in the cosmopolitan suburb of Bangsar. These representations of the Malaysian urban landscape are pretexts for and politicize the national landscape through a discussion of ethnicity and race politics, sexuality, and the lack of space for freedom of creative expression and critical thinking.


ABSTRACT Anthropomorphism is the use of human characteristics to describe or explain nonhuman animals. In the present paper, we propose a model for a unified study of such anthropomorphizing. We bring together previously disparate accounts of why and how we anthropomorphize and suggest a means to analyze anthropomorphizing behavior itself. We introduce an analysis of bouts of dyadic play between humans and a heavily anthropomorphized animal, the domestic dog. Four distinct patterns of social interaction recur in successful dog–human play: directed responses by one player to the other, indications of intent, mutual behaviors, and contingent activity. These findings serve as a preliminary answer to the question, "What behaviors prompt anthropomorphisms?" An analysis of anthropomorphizing is potentially useful in establishing a scientific basis for this behavior, in explaining its endurance, in the design of "lifelike" robots, and in the analysis of human interaction. Finally, the relevance of this developing scientific area to contemporary debates about anthropomorphizing behavior is discussed.


As of 2013, the damage caused by corrosion on highway
bridges has been estimated to cost approximately 14 billion dollars annually,
and this cost has been increasing over the years. Corrosion is one of the
natural phenomena that has been slowly deteriorating infrastructure systems
across the United States. One of the most problematic types of corrosion is
crevice corrosion, which is defined as the formation of rust between
overlapping surfaces such as the case of a splice connection where flanges are
attached by splice plates. A significant number of steel bridges in Indiana
have developed crevice corrosion in splice connections. Therefore, this
research focuses on the crevice corrosion, or "pack rust", occurring in these
structural elements. The application of coatings alone has not been enough to
stop pack rust at these connections. In an attempt to look for approaches that
can effectively mitigate this problem and maintain the designed service life of
bridges, different strategies have been studied and tested. The first objective
of this study is to determine the strength reduction as a function of the time
of exposure to salt misting. To do this, specimens that simulate the bottom
flange splice connection have been exposed to a corrosive environment for different
periods of time and later tested under tension to assess the reduction in
strength. The second objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of the
mitigation strategies under different conditions. First, the mitigating
products were initially applied before exposure to salt misting. Second, the
mitigating products were applied as a repair, and in this case, the specimens
corroded for a given period of time and were then repaired to evaluate any
further deterioration. The assessment of the strategies' effectiveness is based
on the strength reduction and visual inspection of the specimens. The ultimate
outcome of this study is a series of general guidelines to slow down crevice
corrosion based on the results of the laboratory testing.


A Risk Management Tool for the Reverse Supply Chain Network Sheeva Banisalam The forward and reverse supply chains have unique characteristics that vary among different organizations. Most organizations manage and quantify risks in the forward supply chain by utilizing various available risk management tools. These risk management tools have been developed solely for the forward supply chain. This research presents the development and implementation of a risk management tool to be used to manage and quantify risks specifically in the reverse supply chain. Implementation of this tool at Company ABC demonstrates how the risk management tool is used in order to be beneficial to the organization. The tool is designed to be easily implemented at minimal cost and serves as a valuable tool for personnel faced with important and costly decisions regarding risk occurrence in the reverse supply chain network.


The decoupling of clients of abstractions from the implementations of those abstractions is a key benefit of objectoriented programming. However, many object-oriented languages provide instance variables in such a way that implementation-level representation decisions seep through interfaces, introducing coupling between clients and abstractions. As part of the Cecil language, we have developed a semantics for flexible instance variables based on the principle that a class should be decoupled from its clients, its subclasses, and its role extensions. We describe our design of instance variables and provide examples where their additional flexibility has been useful. However, implementing our semantics naively can impose significant performance penalties. To achieve reasonable performance, we have developed a number of optimizations that are effective at eliminating many of the costs of our flexible model. We discuss these optimizations and report on the results of experiments to assess the costs of our design under different optimization scenarios.


It is proposed that, for rural secondary schoolgirls, school is a site of contestation. Rural girls attempt to `use' school as a means of resisting traditional patriarchal definitions of a `woman's place'. In their efforts, the girls are thwarted by aspects of the school itself, the behaviour and attitudes of the boys in school, and also the `careers advice' which they receive. It is argued that the girls perceive school as being of greater importance to them than is the case for the boys, and that these gender differentiated perceptions are related to the `social' lives of the girls and boys, and also to their future employment prospects. Unlike the boys, the girls experience considerable restrictions concerning these two areas. This theory was grounded in an ethnographic study which was conducted in and around a village in a rural county in England. As well as developing the theory through ethnography, the thesis contains tests of certain hypotheses generated by the theory. These hypotheses relate to the gender differentiated perspectives of secondary school pupils with regard to the areas of school itself, life outside school, and expectations for the future. The quantitative methods used to test these hypotheses confirm that there is a tendency for girls to be more positively orientated to school than the boys; to feel less able to engage in preferred activities outside school time than the boys, and also to be more willing to move away from the area than the boys. For comparative purposes these hypotheses were tested in two other rural locations and the results indicate the need for further research of a quantitative kind into the context of girls' schooling in such locations. A critical review of literature is presented, as is a detailed discussion of the research process itself.


To exploit the parallelism of optics in data processing, a suitable number system and an efficient encoding/decoding scheme for handling the data are very essential. In the field of optical computing and parallel information processing, several number systems like binary, quaternary, octal, hexadecimal, etc. have been used for different arithmetic and algebraic operations. Here, we have proposed an all-optical conversion scheme from its binary to its other 2n radix based form with the help of terahertz optical asymmetric demultiplexer (TOAD) based tree-net architecture.


High speed microfluidic jets can be generated by a thermocavitation process: from the evaporation of the liquid inside a microfluidic channel, a rapidly expanding bubble is formed and generates a jet through a flow focusing effect. Here, we study the impact and traversing of such jets on a pendant liquid droplet. Upon impact, an expanding cavity is created, and, above a critical impact velocity, the jet traverses the entire droplet. We predict the critical traversing velocity (i) from a simple energy balance and (ii) by comparing the Young–Laplace and dynamic pressures in the cavity that is created during the impact. We contrast the model predictions against experiments, in which we vary the liquid properties of the pendant droplet and find good agreement. In addition, we assess how surfactants and viscoelastic effects influence the critical impact velocity. Our results increase the knowledge of the jet interaction with materials of well-known physical properties.


The dream in Plato. In this paper the author analyses a few passages of the Platonic Dialogues concerning dreams. This subject is not approached by Plato in a uniform manner but from various perspectives. In some dialogues (Apology, Phaedo, Crito) the idea of the dream appears as a message sent by gods in order to guide human choices or to announce fate. Prophetic dream often looks like personification and is widely documented by Homer and the Tragics: it belongs to a tradition that connects dreams to the underworld and to the sphere of divine. According to the Orphic-Pythagorean thought, during sleep the soul – momentarily free from the prison of the body – gets access to a superior knowledge and anticipates a condition that will be fully achieved only after death. On the contrary, in the Republic the dream appears as a manifestation of the worst part of the human soul, the one that defies the rational control and, in particular in the case of 'tyrannical man', shows in nocturnal visions its worst instincts. Elsewhere the condition of the dreamer (as opposed to the waking state) is used to illustrate the problem of knowledge and the relationship with reality, with a metaphor present also in Heraclitus' fragments: far from being a source of knowledge, the dream is the ultimate illusion, because we believe something happening that indeed does not exist. Sleeping and dreaming are associated with a number of situations of 'falsehood', such as illness and madness (Theaetetus). The dream is just appearance, image of sensible perception which is illusory: like the prisoners, deceived by the shadows of the den, we think we are awake and instead we are sleeping. In the Timaeus the mechanism of dreaming is described by a physiological point of view: the liver is like a mirror that reflects the orders of the rational intellect. The highest part of the soul communicates to the lowest through images, that is through the only language it can understand. The same process is used by God to ennoble the bottom of the soul with the gift of divination. In this case Plato regards the dream as a place between body and soul, the same theory that we find in texts of medicine and in Aristotle, but with completely different results. email@example.com


Summary A hands-on guide that will teach how to design and implement scalable, flexible, and open IoT solutions using web technologies. This book focuses on providing the right balance of theory, code samples, and practical examples to enable you to successfully connect all sorts of devices to the web and to expose their services and data over REST APIs. Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications. About the Technology Because the Internet of Things is still new, there is no universal application protocol. Fortunately, the IoT can take advantage of the web, where IoT protocols connect applications thanks to universal and open APIs. About the Book Building the Web of Things is a guide to using cutting-edge web technologies to build the IoT. This step-by-step book teaches you how to use web protocols to connect real-world devices to the web, including the Semantic and Social Webs. Along the way you'll gain vital concepts as you follow instructions for making Web of Things devices. By the end, you'll have the practical skills you need to implement your own web-connected products and services. What's Inside Introduction to IoT protocols and devices Connect electronic actuators and sensors (GPIO) to a Raspberry Pi Implement standard REST and Pub/Sub APIs with Node.js on embedded systems Learn about IoT protocols like MQTT and CoAP and integrate them to the Web of Things Use the Semantic Web (JSON-LD, RDFa, etc.) to discover and find Web Things Share Things via Social Networks to create the Social Web of Things Build a web-based smart home with HTTP and Web Socket Compose physical mashups with EVRYTHNG, Node-RED, and IFTTT About the Reader For both seasoned programmers and those with only basic programming skills. About the Authors Dominique Guinard and Vlad Trifa pioneered the Web of Things and cofounded EVRYTHNG, a large-scale IoT cloud powering billions of Web Things.


Genetic Clues to Meningioma Meningiomas are the most common primary brain tumors in adults. Located within the layer of tissue covering the brain, these tumors are usually slow-growing and benign but can cause serious neurological complications. About half of these tumors have mutations in the neurofibromin 2 gene (NF2). To identify other genes that contribute to meningioma pathogenesis, Clark et al. (p. 1077, published online 24 January) performed genome sequence analysis on 300 tumors. Meningiomas fell into two general classes: benign tumors located at the skull base—which tend to harbor mutations in the TRAF7, KLF4, AKT1, and SMO genes—and higher-grade tumors located in the cerebral and cerebellar hemispheres harbor mutations in NF2. The mutational profiles of meningiomas, a common type of brain tumor, correlate with their anatomical location and clinical status. We report genomic analysis of 300 meningiomas, the most common primary brain tumors, leading to the discovery of mutations in TRAF7, a proapoptotic E3 ubiquitin ligase, in nearly one-fourth of all meningiomas. Mutations in TRAF7 commonly occurred with a recurrent mutation (K409Q) in KLF4, a transcription factor known for its role in inducing pluripotency, or with AKT1E17K, a mutation known to activate the PI3K pathway. SMO mutations, which activate Hedgehog signaling, were identified in ~5% of non-NF2 mutant meningiomas. These non-NF2 meningiomas were clinically distinctive—nearly always benign, with chromosomal stability, and originating from the medial skull base. In contrast, meningiomas with mutant NF2 and/or chromosome 22 loss were more likely to be atypical, showing genomic instability, and localizing to the cerebral and cerebellar hemispheres. Collectively, these findings identify distinct meningioma subtypes, suggesting avenues for targeted therapeutics.


ABSTRACT It is known that use of chemicals can cause different problems to human health and environment. Therefore, studies to find alternative chemical free finishing processes in textile are now interesting topics. In the light of this, it was tried to minimize chemical uses for antibacterial finishing of cotton by using plant sources "cranberry fruit" and "cranberry fruit branch extract" in dyeing processes. The dyeing experiments were carried out at two different temperatures for different durations. Then, the samples were analyzed in terms of K/S, CIE L*a*b*C* and h° values, light fastness, washing fastness, and antibacterial efficiencies. Consequently, it was found that the two natural dye sources could color the cotton-knitted fabrics, and in general, the washing fastness of dyed samples with both natural dye sources was good, but light fastness values were limited and in dyeing processes by using cranberry fruit branch extract it was poor. Moreover, it was seen that among the tested plantal sources, good antibacterial efficiency against the tested bacteria were obtained with the use of cranberry fruit juice in dyeing processes at low temperature and for lower durations.


A common response to claims of bias, harassment, or discrimination is to say that these claims are made in bad faith. Claimants are supposedly not motivated by a credible or even sincere belief that unfair or unequal treatment has occurred, but simply seek to illicitly gain public sympathy or private reward. Characterizing discrimination claims as systemically made in bad faith enables them to be screened and dismissed prior to engaging with them on their merits. This retort preserves the dominant groups' self-image as unprejudiced and innocent without having to risk critical analysis of the claim's substance.


Preservice elementary teachers (PSTs) often enter their teacher preparation programs with procedural and underdeveloped understandings of area measurement and its applications. This is problematic given that area and the area model are used throughout K–Grade 12 to develop flexibility in students' mathematical understanding and to provide them with a visual interpretation of numerical ideas. This study describes an intervention aimed at bolstering PSTs' understanding of area and area units with respect to measurement and number and operations. Following the intervention, results indicate that PSTs had both an improved ability to solve area tiling tasks as well as increased flexibility in the strategies they implemented. The results indicate that PSTs, similar to elementary students, develop a conceptual understanding of area from the use of tangible tools and are able to leverage visualizations to make sense of multiplicative structure across different strategies.


Despite major advances in our capacity to measure marine larval connectivity (i.e. the pattern of transport of marine larvae from spawning to settlement sites) and the importance of these measurements for ecological and management questions, uncertainty in experimental estimates of marine larval connectivity has been given little attention. We review potential uncertainty sources in empirical larval connectivity studies and develop Bayesian statistical methods for estimating these uncertainties based on standard techniques in the mark-recapture and genetics literature. These methods are implemented in an existing R package for working with connectivity data, ConnMatTools, and applied to a number of published connectivity estimates. We find that the small sample size of collected settlers at destination sites is a dominant source of uncertainty in connectivity estimates in many published results. For example, widths of 95% CIs for relative connectivity, the value of which is necessarily between 0 and 1, exceeded 0.5 for many published connectivity results, complicating using individual results to conclude that marine populations are relatively closed or open. This "small sample size" uncertainty is significant even for studies with near-exhaustive sampling of spawners and settlers. Though largely ignored in the literature, the magnitude of this uncertainty is straightforward to assess. Better accountability of this and other uncertainties is needed in the future so that marine larval connectivity studies can fulfill their promises of providing important ecological insights and informing management questions (e.g. related to marine protected area network design, and stock structure of exploited organisms). In addition to using the statistical methods developed here, future studies should consistently evaluate and report a small number of critical factors , such as the exhaustivity of spawner and settler sampling, and the mating structure of target species in genetic studies.


NOTE: There is a 3-page Notation Eqivalency Chart preceding the Introduction.
NOTE: Text or symbols not renderable in plain ASCII are indicated by [...]. Introduction is included in .pdf document.

Chapter I

Introduction

One of the problems in fracture mechanics which apparently has not received extensive theoretical treatment is that concerning the effect of initial curvature upon the stress distribution in a thin sheet containing a crack. Considerable work has been carried out on initially flat sheets subjected to either extensional or bending stresses, and for small deformations the superposition of these separate effects [1] is permissible. On the other hand, if a thin sheet is initially curved, a bending load will generally produce both bending and extensional stresses, and similarly a stretching load will also induce both bending and extensional stresses. The subject of eventual concern therefore is that of the simultaneous stress fields produced in an initially curved sheet containing a crack.

Two geometries immediately come to mind: a spherical shell, and a cylindrical shell. In the latter case one of the principal radii of curvature is infinite and the other constant. It might appear therefore that this geometric simplicity leads to a rather straightforward analytical solution. However, the fact that the curvature varies between zero and a constant as one considers different angular positions - say around the point of a crack which is aligned parallel to the cylinder axis - more than obviates the initial geometric simplification. For this reason a spherical section of a large radius of curvature constant in all directions is chosen for consideration.

It is of some practical value to be able to correlate flat sheet behavior with that of initially curved specimens. In experimental work, for example, considerable time could be saved if a reliable prediction of curved sheet response behavior could be made from flat sheet tests. For this reason an exploratory study was undertaken to assess analytically how the two problems might be related. Although it is recognized that elastic analysis is not directly applicable to fracture prediction because of the plastic flow near the crack tip, considerable information can be obtained.

Chapter II lists the basic assumptions and equations of shallow spherical shells. Then the complementary problem of a cracked spherical shell is formulated in terms of Reissner's shallow shell equations in Chapter III where the problem is separated into two parts, symmetric and antisymmetric. In Chapters IV and V the solutions to the symmetric and antisymmetric parts respectively are expressed in integral form. They are then reduced to the solution of a pair of coupled singular integral equations, which are solved by successive approximations for small values of the characteristic shell parameter [...]. No effort was made to convert the pair of singular integral equations to a corresponding Fredholm type, however Appendix II shows that the two methods are equivalent.

The particular example of a clamped segment of a thin shallow spherical shell is considered in Chapter VI which serves to illustrate how the local solution may be combined in a particular case. Then in Chapter VII, Griffith's criterion is extended to the local region of an initially spherical curved sheet and an expression for its critical crack length is obtained.

Finally, Chapter VIII compares the experimental and theoretical results for the particular problem described in Chapter VI.


Asia is vulnerable to more frequent and severe disasters due to the rapid rise of natural hazards, extreme weather events, and the impacts of climate change. ASEAN's Declaration on Institutionalizing the Resilience of ASEAN and its Communities and Peoples to Disasters and Climate Change recognizes this, and its vision of resilience sets out to achieve 'a more resilient future by reducing existing disaster and climate-related risks, preventing the generation of new risks, and adapting to a changing climate through the implementation of economic, social, cultural, physical, and environmental measures which address exposure and vulnerability, and thus strengthen resilience.' The Strengthening Community Resilience through Peer-to-Peer Learning Project focused on communities and the actions that they are taking to enhance their resilience. The case studies presented here were gathered through four learning journeys that took place in the project's focus countries: Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Together, the studies comprise a set of community-led initiatives that, with ASEAN's continued support, can enable the region to achieve its inclusive vision of resilience.


Objective: The objective of this paper is to report on improved function and quality of life in a patient under chiropractic care who previously had unsuccessful surgery of the low back. Clinical Features: The patient was a 58 year old male who entered the clinic with a primary complaint of low back pain and left lateral leg pain. He suffered an acute injury to the low back upon performing job duties and elected to have surgery on the lumbar spine. Afterwards, the condition has worsened. Interventions and Outcomes: The patient was adjusted using specific osseous motion palpation/Gonstead manual adjustments. Improvements were noted in several areas. VAS improved from 2 to 8, although the Borg pain scale remained relatively constant. SF-36 testing showed a decrease in Physical PCS in the initial stages of treatment and a rise in the latter stages and there was an increase in the Mental MCS. Posture showed significant improvement as did ROM for lumbar flexion in the initial phases of care. Conclusion: This single case study demonstrates improved function and quality of life in a failed back surgery case. More research is needed in this vital area.


We developed a risk assessment of human salmonellosis associated with consumption of alfalfa sprouts in the United States to evaluate the public health impact of applying treatments to seeds (0–5‐log10 reduction in Salmonella) and testing spent irrigation water (SIW) during production. The risk model considered variability and uncertainty in Salmonella contamination in seeds, Salmonella growth and spread during sprout production, sprout consumption, and Salmonella dose response. Based on an estimated prevalence of 2.35% for 6.8 kg seed batches and without interventions, the model predicted 76,600 (95% confidence interval (CI) 15,400–248,000) cases/year. Risk reduction (by 5‐ to 7‐fold) predicted from a 1‐log10 seed treatment alone was comparable to SIW testing alone, and each additional 1‐log10 seed treatment was predicted to provide a greater risk reduction than SIW testing. A 3‐log10 or a 5‐log10 seed treatment reduced the predicted cases/year to 139 (95% CI 33–448) or 1.4 (95% CI <1–4.5), respectively. Combined with SIW testing, a 3‐log10 or 5‐log10 seed treatment reduced the cases/year to 45 (95% CI 10–146) or <1 (95% CI <1–1.5), respectively. If the SIW coverage was less complete (i.e., less representative), a smaller risk reduction was predicted, e.g., a combined 3‐log10 seed treatment and SIW testing with 20% coverage resulted in an estimated 92 (95% CI 22–298) cases/year. Analysis of alternative scenarios using different assumptions for key model inputs showed that the predicted relative risk reductions are robust. This risk assessment provides a comprehensive approach for evaluating the public health impact of various interventions in a sprout production system.


The Vienna Basin, a major petroleum province in Central Europe, hosts hydrocarbons in stacked carbonate and siliciclastic reservoirs. The study of 84 oil and 51 gas samples in the Austrian sector yields new insights into the petroleum system. The Upper Jurassic Mikulov and Falkenstein formations are the only significant source rocks, which generated oil between 0.7 and 1.0%Rr, and gas between 1.1 and 1.6%Rr. Microbial gas prevails in the southern part of the basin. Biodegradation affects oil down to a depth of 2000 m. Miocene reservoirs in the hanging wall of major faults and oils in transgressive sands are more prone to biodegradation than footwall flysch reservoirs and oils in turbiditic sands in structural-stratigraphic traps. Anaerobic biodegradation results in the formation of isotopically heavy CO2 and isotopically light (secondary) microbial methane. Hydrocarbons in deep carbonate reservoirs are affected by thermochemical sulphate reduction (TSR). While TSR-affected gas is rich in H2S and CO2, TSR-affected oil is characterized by increased dibenzothiophene/phenantrene (DBT/Ph) ratios. In clastic reservoirs, H2S is removed by pyrite precipitation, whereas DBT/Ph ratios remain high. Hence, high DBT/Ph ratios may be used as proxy for TSR. Stable sulphur isotopes signatures confirm Upper Triassic anhydrites as the main sulphur source for H2S.


Although many advances in the understanding and treatment of schizophrenia have been made many challenges still remain. Most notably is the lack of understanding pertaining to the negative symptoms dimension of schizophrenia and the treatment of such symptomology? Primary negative symptoms affect 20-40% of individuals with schizophrenia and are associated with the greatest impacts upon functional impairment and quality of life. A qualitative review of the prevailing challenges related to the nature, assessment and treatment of negative symptoms was conducted. The current literature in each of the aforementioned areas pertaining to primary negative symptoms was reviewed with a focus upon the key challenges and directions for future research. The results of the qualitative review indicate that the construct of negative symptoms requires further delineation and recent work in the area of the assessment of negative symptoms necessitates further development. In regards to the treatment of negative symptoms no definitive directions are espoused due to the extent of the dearth of knowledge in the area as highlighted in the discussion. The area of negative symptoms research requires multi-disciplinary collaborative research to address the major challenges to the understanding, assessment and treatment of negative symptoms in schizophrenia to improve the quality of life and functional outcomes of those with primary negative symptoms.


BACKGROUND
Delirium is associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized medically ill patients. Haloperidol has historically been the agent of choice for the treatment of delirium, but recent studies have explored the efficacy of second-generation antipsychotics such as quetiapine. The unique pharmacology of quetiapine may allow it to treat delirium and provide sedation without causing significant extrapyramidal side effects.

PURPOSE
To evaluate the efficacy of quetiapine for the treatment of delirium.

DATA SOURCES
A search was conducted in MEDLINE and Embase (January 1960-December 2012) using keywords "quetiapine," "second-generation antipsychotic," "atypical antipsychotic," "delirium," and "agitation."

STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION
The search was limited to English-language articles and trials with treatment of delirium as the primary end point. Eight trials met this inclusion criterion.

DATA SYNTHESIS
Two randomized controlled trials, 5 open-label studies, and 1 retrospective cohort study evaluating quetiapine for the treatment of delirium were reviewed. One randomized controlled trial showed no differences in total mean delirium scores, but found the rate of delirium improvement was significantly shorter with quetiapine. The second randomized controlled trial showed the time to first resolution of delirium was shorter with quetiapine compared to placebo. Results of the open-label and retrospective cohort trials have also shown significant resolution of delirium from baseline and equal efficacy with quetiapine compared to amisulpride and haloperidol.

CONCLUSIONS
Quetiapine appears to be an effective and safe agent for the treatment of delirium in both general medicine and intensive care unit patients. The trials summarized suggest that quetiapine resolves symptoms of delirium more quickly than placebo and has equal efficacy compared to haloperidol and the atypical antipsychotic amisulpride. Further study is needed.


The alliance between the United States and Australia (Australia New Zealand United States or ANZUS), while one of America's least problematic Asia-Pacific strategic relationships at present, could face a series of new challenges as structural change in this region continues apace. This article analyzes five such challenges facing ANZUS: the rise of China; changing American expectations of its allies and partners; the intensification of Australia-Japan security relations; the emergence of a divide between Australian public and elite opinion on ANZUS; and the rise of Indonesia. The article concludes by offering a series of policy-relevant recommendations designed to ameliorate the worst effects of these challenges. These include the generation of greater policy debate on ANZUS in Australia; the introduction of new public education programs highlighting the alliance's costs and risks; and the establishment of a new Australia-Indonesia-U.S. trilateral dialogue process at the second track or 1.5 track level.


Since NAUMANN (1917) introduced the term neuston, various criteria and descriptions have been used to identify the habitat and its populations. Dissimilar methods of collection protocols have contributed to these different interpretations. To more fully identify the restricted ecological niche occupied by this unique community, papers from the original and more recent freshwater and marine neuston studies are discussed along with the common sampling methods for neuston. Characteristics of the neuston habitat are also presented, with definitions for neuston, epineuston, and hyponeuston. Attachment to the surface layer by its floral or faunal populations is not considered a requirement, and the neuston community includes organisms that move directly on or below the water surface. The depth of the neuston (hyponeuston) community below the water's surface can be determined by noting statistically significant changes within the populations with increasing depth below the surface layer. This depth would be expected to change diurnally and seasonally, and also to differ between freshwater and marine habitats. The horizontal patchiness of the neuston should also be anticipated and resolved through an adequate sampling protocol.


The affective profiles model is based on the combination of individuals' experience of high/low positive affect and high/low negative affect: self-fulfilling, high affective, low affective, and self-destructive. We used the profiles as the backdrop for the investigation of individual differences in malevolent character traits (i.e., the Dark Triad: psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism). A total of 1,000 participants (age: M = 31.50 SD = 10.27, 667 males and 333 females), recruited through Amazons' Mechanical Turk (MTurk), responded to the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule and the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen. Individuals with a high affective profile reported higher degree of narcissism than those with any other profile, and together with individuals with a self-destructive profile, also higher degree of Machiavellianism and psychopathy than individuals with a low affective and self-fulfilling profile. Males scored higher in Machiavellianism and psychopathy. Together with earlier findings, our results show that while individuals in both the self-fulfilling and high affective profiles are extrovert and self-directed, only those in the high affective profile express an immature and malevolent character (i.e., high levels of all Dark Triad traits). Conversely, individuals in the self-fulfilling profile have earlier reported higher levels of cooperativeness and faith. More importantly, the unique association between high levels of positive emotions and narcissism and the unified association between negative emotions to both psychopathy and Machiavellianism imply a dyad rather than a triad of malevolent character traits.


We examine an entry-deterrence model with multiple incumbents who strategically increase their individual appropriation in order to prevent entry. We show that entry deterrence yields a welfare improvement, relative to contexts of unthreatened entry, if firms exploit a relatively scarce resource. When incumbents compete for an abundant commons, however, their exploitation becomes large, and welfare losses can arise. Hence, our paper suggests that policies that protect the commons from further entry are actually more necessary when the resource is abundant than when it is scarce.


Background/Context In spite of the widely acknowledged importance of creativity to society and the economy, scholars have had difficulty providing research-based recommendations for how to foster creativity in schools. The article extends three strands of research that have attempted to provide such recommendations: studies of whether creativity training enhances domain-general creativity; studies of whether arts education and arts integration enhance cognitive skills that transfer to other content areas; and studies of collaborative learning environments, designed to foster deeper conceptual understanding in the content areas. Purpose/Objective The focus of the article is to provide recommendations for how to design learning environments to foster greater creativity. I bring together arts education research, creativity research, and learning sciences research to provide recommendations for how to design learning environments to foster creative learning outcomes. Research Design This is primarily a review article. It provides meta-analyses of three strands of research—creativity training, arts education, and learning sciences. The conclusion of this review is that domain-general creativity training is less effective than domain-specific changes in how each subject is taught. Conclusions We are not likely to enhance student creativity by teaching for creativity in a distinct, domain general way. Instead, educating for creativity is most effective when schools change the way each subject is taught. Learning sciences research has provided strong evidence that the most creative learning, in all subjects, results from pedagogical strategies that are active, constructivist, collaborative, and improvisational. I provide research-based recommendations for how to design learning environments that result in creative learning outcomes.


Heard Island is possibly the remotest speck of land on the Earth. It was only in the 18505 that the human race finally reached this most
isolated of places. For the next 30 years gangs of hunters established themselves on the isolated beaches of Heard Island to slaughter the
wildlife for their oil and furs and ship the products to markets half-way around the globe. The material culture remains of these enterprises
survive on the beaches, comprising the remnants of the seal-hunters' camps and their processing sites. These sites provide evidence of 19thcentury
sealing technology and the diverse ethniciry and cultural composition of the sealing gangs. Remains of sealers' camps are found
on many of the beaches around Heard Island but are now extremely threatened by coastal erosion. Many of these sites i nelude tryworks
situated on raised stone platforms, a form of sealing architecture thought to be unique to Heard Island.


Despite the known health benefits of dairy products, their daily consumption continues to decline, particularly in pre-adolescents and adolescents. It is therefore of interest to develop effective strategies to increase dairy intake and education in this population.

 The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of the web-based component of a school-based dairy nutrition intervention called WhyDairy?. Through analysis of popular website content, traversal paths and timing of website access, we aimed to investigate how students used this website and to identify areas of improvement for future research.

 Grade 7 students (n=115) in 10 Southwestern Ontario schools received the WhyDairy? intervention, which included three classroom visits and a website that could be voluntarily accessed. Website use data was collected using Google Analytics. The intervention delivered to control schools did not have a website component and is therefore not described in this report.

 The website was voluntarily accessed by 33.6% of students participating in the intervention. Almost 70% of website visits occurred within two days following a classroom visit. Popular content included games and interactive pages. While there was moderate engagement with the website during the intervention period, there was poor engagement during the follow-up period.

 The utilization of the WhyDairy? website represents students' interest in independently furthering their knowledge and student engagement with a web-based component of a dairy nutrition intervention. Future work should investigate students' motivations for accessing the website and how to encourage prolonged website use.


We investigate the impact of the protocol stack on traffic burstiness at large time-scales in wireless multi-hop network traffic. Origins of traffic burstiness at large scales (like its LRD nature) have been mostly attributed to the heavy-tails in traffic sources. In wired networks, protocol dynamics have little impact on large time-scale dynamics. However, given the nature of wireless networks, the MAC and routing layers together can lead to route flapping or oscillations even in a static network. Hence, we explore whether these dynamics can lead to traffic burstiness and LRD. Using network simulations, we analyze traffic for two MANET routing protocols - OLSR and AODV. By varying the routing protocol parameters, we analyze their role in inducing or preventing route oscillations, and study their impact on traffic LRD. We find that, losses in OLSR control packets, due to congestion at the MAC, can lead to route oscillations and traffic burstiness at large timescales. By tuning the parameters, route oscillations and traffic LRD can be avoided. AODV dynamics show little evidence for traffic LRD, even though we cannot rule out this possibility. We also show that the route oscillations can have heavier body and tail than exponential distribution, and that the Markovian framework for route oscillations is inadequate to explain the observed traffic scaling. Lastly, we give a model that captures the MAC and OLSR routing protocol interactions and depending upon chosen protocol parameters and input load, correctly predicts the presence of traffic LRD. Thus, we use this model to design appropriate choice of protocol parameters to mitigate traffic burstiness at large-timescales.


BACKGROUND
Patients are increasingly presenting for outpatient breast biopsy while taking medically necessary antithrombotic therapy. Cessation of this medication prior to biopsy increases patients' risk of vascular complications.
.

OBJECTIVES
This article evaluates the safety of performing core needle biopsies of the breast in patients without suspending prescription antithrombotic therapy.
.

METHODS
In this retrospective chart review study, patients continued prescription antithrombotic therapy prior to and including the day of biopsy. Follow-up telephone assessment, relying on patient self-report, was completed on the same or next business day. The chart review included report of bleeding as a postprocedure complication.
.

FINDINGS
None of the 42 women who completed core needle biopsy of the breast while on antithrombotic therapy reported postdischarge bleeding, and 2 reported hematoma, supporting the safety of continuing antithrombotic therapy in patients who undergo core needle biopsy of the breast.


Work-related injuries such as back strain are common among health care workers. Work-related injury data are a primary data source with which managers can assess workplace safety, yet many work-related injuries go unreported. This study examined organizational, work-group, and individual factors, and nurses' inclination to report a work-related injury. Using a cross-sectional mailed survey, a probability sample of currently employed nurses (N = 1,163) indicated their inclination to report a workplace injury. Inclination to report injuries was higher in organizations with onsite health programs and when health and safety committees included non-management nurses and occupational health representatives. Reporting was reduced when nurses felt a lack of concern for staff welfare from supervisors and a climate of blame for worker injuries were present Nurses were also less inclined to report work-related injuries when working in jobs with non-standard work arrangements. Improvements in the reporting climate may influence the completeness and, thus, the value of injury data for identifying hazards in the workplace. These data could provide valuable information for targeting preventive initiatives.


In this paper we assess the evolution of labor-market performance in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) over the last decade. We provide a survey of the literature dealing with labor-market performance in the OECD, finding that, while this literature tends to conclude that institutions are a key part of the story, the survey's results appear far less robust and uniform than is commonly believed. We then assess the robustness of the claims made in the most recent (2005) OECD follow-up study within a very similar cross-country setup, and highlight the impact of unobserved heterogeneity and outliers on the policy estimates. We find that in recent OECD cross-country data, changes in labor-market performance are consistently (and inversely) linked to its lagged level. Structural changes are also important: changes in the share of construction employees are very significant, even in the presence of various kinds of policy change indicators. As far as the latter are concerned, some consistent role seems to emerge only for active labor-market policies and (to a lesser extent) unemployment.


The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) has introduced a Learning Management System (LMS) based on Moodle. This trend was a source of motivation for our teaching staff who have initiated a project called Exomatic for the enhancement of the basic course in geomatics attended by 200 students from the civil and environmental sections. The basic concept of Exomatic is a collection of on-line exercises with dynamic graphical figures and smart calculus tools linked together. This platform allows a fully automated correction and evaluation process of the exercises, is appreciated by the teachers thus can save precious time. Exomatic is mainly based on the interconnection of different resources gathered in a common web interface in order to simplify the tasks for the creation of exercise datasets and for the calculus provided by the students. This paper attempts to describe the technical structure of Exomatic and its performance, with a particular focus on the use of the dynamic mathematics software Geogebra. This tool is efficient for the graphical representation of geometrical features (e.g. resection, orientation). The paper will highlight the improvement of the users' interface in the e learning environment and underlines the importance of graphic tools for better comprehension, and the usefulness of online resources in present education. It will also present the different open source materials employed in the development of this shareable resource, which can be integrated in other geomatic courses (e.g. photogrammetry and remote sensing). Exomatic has demonstrated the effectiveness of online dynamics resources in teaching the basic geomatic course.


Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) producers are currently embracing new business opportunities arising from the expansion of the Application Service Provision (ASP) market. Many organisations are developing a renewed interest in outsourcing Information Technology infrastructure and the benefits that can be obtained. Nevertheless, companies must ensure they are fully aware of the processes and issues involved in selecting an ASP, as well as the possible consequences that may arise as a result of outsourcing to an ASP. ERP companies, such as SAP, are attempting to develop alternative models of application service provision in an effort to encourage organisations, irrespective of size, the opportunity to reap the benefits of Application Service Provision. A web-enabled ASP model has been extended into education delivery. The model has been successfully used in Australia to deliver ERP applications and curriculum to educational institutions offshore. Such delivery offers significant efficiency advantages to participating institutions in terms of monetary outlays, infrastructure support, staff training and curriculum development.


Bioinformatics research is characterized by voluminous and incremental datasets and complex data analytics methods. The machine learning methods used in bioinformatics are iterative and parallel. These methods can be scaled to handle big data using the distributed and parallel computing technologies.
Usually big data tools perform computation in batch-mode and are not optimized for iterative processing and high data dependency among operations. In the recent years, parallel, incremental, and multi-view machine learning algorithms have been proposed. Similarly, graph-based architectures and in-memory big data tools have been developed to minimize I/O cost and optimize iterative processing.
However, there lack standard big data architectures and tools for many important bioinformatics problems, such as fast construction of co-expression and regulatory networks and salient module identification, detection of complexes over growing protein-protein interaction data, fast analysis of massive DNA, RNA, and protein sequence data, and fast querying on incremental and heterogeneous disease networks. This paper addresses the issues and challenges posed by several big data problems in bioinformatics, and gives an overview of the state of the art and the future research opportunities.


The purpose of this study was to determine whether self-evaluation and cognitive distortions are predictors of anxiety in Hispanic/Latino youth. Hispanic/Latino elementaryand middle-school students (n = 84) from Grades 4 through 8 (42.9% female; average age = 11.80 years) attending a bilingual inner-city public charter school completed self-reports of anxiety, self-evaluation, and cognitive distortions in their school setting. The selected measure of cognitive distortions, Inventory of Cognitive Distortions (Yurica & DiTomasso, 2005), was revised and factor analyzed for the current child sample. Findings demonstrated that, while taking grade and gender into account, different domains of self-evaluation and cognitive distortions significantly predicted overall anxiety symptoms. Additionally, various subtypes of anxiety-related symptoms were found to be negatively correlated with certain domains of self-evaluation and positively related to nearly all types of cognitive distortions. These findings provide support for previously established connections between self-evaluation, cognitive distortions, and anxiety. Furthermore, these results demonstrate that such connections exist in Hispanic/Latino youth. Given the significant predictive relationships identified in the present study, targeting specific domains of self-evaluation and cognitive distortions within the treatment of anxiety may result in greater symptom reduction.