The increasingly dense coverage of Europe with broad-band seismic stations makes it possible to image its lithospheric structure in great detail, provided that structural information can be extracted effectively from the very large volumes of data. We develop an automated technique for the measurement of interstation phase velocities of (earthquake-excited) fundamental-mode surface waves in very broad period ranges. We then apply the technique to all available broad-band data from permanent and temporary networks across Europe. In a new implementation of the classical two-station method, Rayleigh and Love dispersion curves are determined by cross-correlation of seismograms from a pair of stations. An elaborate filtering and windowing scheme is employed to enhance the target signal and makes possible a significantly broader frequency band of the measurements, compared to previous implementations of the method. The selection of acceptable phase-velocity measurements for each event is performed in the frequency domain, based on a number of fine-tuned quality criteria including a smoothness requirement. Between 5 and 3000 single-event dispersion measurements are averaged per interstation path in order to obtain robust, broad-band dispersion curves with error estimates. In total, around 63,000 Rayleigh- and 27,500 Love-wave dispersion curves between 10 and 350 s have been determined, with standard deviations lower than 2 per cent and standard errors lower than 0.5 per cent. Comparisons of phase-velocity measurements using events at opposite backazimuths and the examination of the variance of the phase-velocity curves are parts of the quality control. With the automated procedure, large data sets can be consistently and repeatedly measured using varying selection parameters. Comparison of average interstation dispersion curves obtained with different degrees of smoothness shows that rough perturbations do not systematically bias the average dispersion measurement. They can, therefore, be treated as random but they do need to be removed in order to reduce random errors of the measurements. Using our large new data set, we construct phase-velocity maps for central and northern Europe. According to checkerboard tests, the lateral resolution in central Europe is ≤150 km. Comparison of regional surface-wave tomography with independent data on sediment thickness in North-German Basin and Polish Trough confirms the high-resolution potential of our phase-velocity measurements. At longer periods, the structure of the lithosphere and asthenosphere around the Trans-European Suture Zone (TESZ) is seen clearly. The region of the Tornquist-Teisseyre-Zone in the southeast is associated with a stronger lateral contrast in lithospheric thickness, across the TESZ compared to the region across the Sorgenfrei-Tornquist-Zone in the northwest.


No sports rule has generated as much legal scholarship as baseball's Infield Fly Rule. Interestingly, however, no one has explained or defended the rule on its own terms as part of the internal rules and institutional structure of baseball as a game. This Article takes on that issue, explaining both why baseball should have the Infield Fly Rule and why a similar rule is not necessary or appropriate in seemingly comparable, but actually quite different, baseball situations. The answer lies in the dramatic cost-benefit disparities present in the infield fly and absent in most other game situations. The infield fly is defined by four relevant features: (1) the significant disparity of costs and benefits inherent in that play that overwhelmingly favors one team and disfavors the other team; (2) the favored team has total control over the play and the other side is powerless to stop or counter the play; (3) the cost-benefit disparity arises because one team intentionally fails (or declines) to do what ordinary rules and strategies expect it to do; and (4) the extreme cost-benefit disparity incentivizes that negative behavior every time the play arises. When all four features are present on a play, a unique, situation-specific limiting rule becomes necessary; such a rule restricts one team's opportunities to create or take advantage of a dramatic cost-benefit imbalance, instead imposing a set outcome on the play that levels the playing field. The Infield Fly Rule is baseball's paradigmatic example of a limiting rule. By contrast, no other baseball situation shares all four defining features, particularly in having a cost-benefit disparity so strongly tilted toward one side. The cost-benefit balance in these other game situations is more even; thus, these other situations can and should be left to ordinary rules and strategies.


Abstract Responding to globalisation, a ubiquitous obsession with English has pervaded South Korea and led to the employment of tens of thousands of expatriate English teachers. However, native-speaking English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers may be subject to marginalisation and acculturation difficulties as they navigate overseas employment contexts. Moreover, scholars question the legitimacy of their careers and challenge the bias for their native-speaker expertise. Against this contentious backdrop, this study explores how the experiences and beliefs of native-speaking EFL teachers both promote and hinder their professional identity constructions. Adopting a qualitative, interpretivist approach, interviews are mobilised to document the participants' lived realities. Resultant to a thematic analysis, an original typology of five conceptualisations of professional identity is presented, contributing to contemporary identity discourse by revealing that expatriate teachers find their sojourns characterised by much ambivalence, and whilst limited positive professional identity is attainable, there are salient barriers to its development.


High-frequency activity often precedes seizure onset. We found that electrographic seizures, induced in vitro using the low-Ca(2+) model, start with high-frequency (>150 Hz) activity that then decreases in frequency while increasing in amplitude. Multichannel and unit recordings showed that the mechanism of this transition was the progressive formation of larger neuronal aggregates. Thus the apparent high-frequency activity, at seizure onset, can reflect the simultaneous recording of several slower firing aggregates. Aggregate formation rate can be accelerated by reducing osmolarity. Because synaptic transmission is blocked when extracellular Ca(2+) is reduced, nonsynaptic mechanisms (gap junctions, field effects) must be sufficient for aggregate formation and recruitment.


The international success of Downton Abbey has led to a revived interest in period dramas, with older programs like The Forsyte Saga being rediscovered by a new generation of fans whose tastes also include grittier fare like Ripper Street. Though often criticized as a form of escapist, conservative nostalgia, these shows can also provide a lens to examine the class and gender politics of both the past and present. In Upstairs and Downstairs: British Costume Drama Television from The Forsyte Saga to Downton Abbey, James Leggott and Julie Anne Taddeo provide a collection of essays that analyze key developments in the history of period dramas from the late 1960s to the present day. Contributors explore such issues as how the genre fulfills and disrupts notions of "quality television," the process of adaptation, the relationship between UK and U.S. television, and the connection between the period drama and wider developments in TV and popular culture. Additional essays examine how fans shape the content and reception of these dramas and how the genre has articulated or generated debates about gender, sexuality, and class. In addition to Downton Abbey and Upstairs, Downstairs, other programs discussed in this collection include Call the Midwife, Danger UXB, Mr. Selfridge, Parade's End, Piece of Cake, and Poldark. Tracing the lineage of costume drama from landmark productions of the late 1960s and 1970s to some of the most talked-about productions of recent years, Upstairs and Downstairs will be of value to students, teachers, and researchers in the areas of film, television, Victorian studies, literature, gender studies, and British history and culture.


Methods enabling the retrieval of oceanic parameter from the space borne instrumentation Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric ChartographY (SCIAMACHY) using Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) are presented. SCIAMACHY onboard ENVISAT measures back scattered solar radiation at a spectral resolution (0.2 to 1.5 nm). The DOAS method was used for the first time to fit modelled Vibrational Raman Scattering (VRS) in liquid water and in situ measured phytoplankton absorption reference spectra to optical depths measured by SCIAMACHY. Spectral structures of VRS and phytoplankton absorption were clearly found in these optical depths. Both fitting approaches lead to consistent results. DOAS fits correlate with estimates of chlorophyll concentrations: low fit factors for VRS retrievals correspond to large chlorophyll concentrations and vice versa; large fit factors for phytoplankton absorption correspond with high chlorophyll concentrations and vice versa. From these results a simple retrieval technique taking advantage of both measurements is shown. First maps of global chlorophyll concentrations were compared to the corresponding MODIS measurements with very promising results. In addition, results from this study will be used to improve atmospheric trace gas DOAS-retrievals from visible wavelengths by including these oceanographic signatures.


We praise the article by Mokhtari-Zaer et al. (2015) published in the Avicenna Journal of Phytomedicine on the effects of saffron on smooth muscle activity (Mokhtari-Zaer et al., 2015). It was a well-designed and interesting study on the therapeutic properties of Crocus sativus which is a precious plant cultivated in our country. We do believe that along with all other medicinal effects, saffron or its active constituents, primarily crocin and crocetin, could also have some clinical implications in the gynecology field. Historically and particularly in traditional Persian medicine, saffron has been regarded as an abortifacient agent (Hosseinzadeh and Nassiri-Asl, 2013; Schmidt et al., 2007). Farmer women exposed to saffron had increased rates of miscarriage (Ajam et al., 2014). This could be due to the fact that saffron stimulates uterine contractions. However, in Table 1 of the article by Mokhtari-Zaer et al. (2015), a relaxant effect of saffron on uterine contraction was mentioned (Mokhtari-Zaer et al., 2015). Concerning various components of saffron including crocin, picrocrocin, crocetin, and safranal, each could have different actions on muscular tissue. As an antispasmodic, saffron is used for stomach pain by helping digestion and improving appetite. It also reduces tension and alleviates symptoms of premenstrual syndrome and renal colic (Agha-Hosseini et al., 2008; Moshiri et al., 2006; Kashani et al., 2018). In one study, the impact of saffron on cervical ripening in term pregnant women was evaluated for the first time in the form of a clinical trial (Sadi et al., 2016). They concluded that saffron could induce cervical priming which is a perquisite for vaginal delivery by improving the bishop score.  Cervical ripening caused by prostaglandins such as misoprostol or prostaglandin E1 is associated with simultaneous increase in uterine muscle contractility which is apparently in contrast with the effects of saffron as a relaxing agent (Vahdat et al., 2015). In a study by Sadraei et al, the effects of Crocus sativus extracts on uterus contractions were assessed in vitro. Following removal of the uteri of rats, spontaneous rhythmic contractions were induced using potassium chloride (KCL). According to their results, Crocus sativus increased these contractions and showed spasmodic action on muscle fibers (Sadraei et al., 2003). Likewise, in other studies, saffron had stimulatory effects on uterus as a result of myogenic and neurogenic actions resulting in prolonged bleeding, premature birth and abortion (Tafazoli et al., 2004; Modaghegh et al., 2008). This stimulatory effect of saffron on uterine musculature, however, is sometimes desirable in obstetrics to enhance the process of labor and also in gynecology for facilitating the surgical procedures on the uterus (Sadi et al., 2016; Vahdat et al., 2015). Thus, the exact mechanism of action of saffron derivatives on uterus and cervix has not been fully elucidated yet. In all the studies mentioned, the effects of the plant extract were assessed without purifying or differentiating its different elements which could have different or even opposing actions. With the availability of saffron tablets in Iran which mainly consists of crocin, with the brand name of Krocina, we believe that it would be much easier to assess the impact of this particular component of saffron on uterine or cervical tissue to clarify the exact mechanisms underlying abortion or induction of labor. In the end, we congratulate Mokhtari-Zaer et al on their article and we appreciate the Avicenna Journal of Phytomedicine editorial board for their judicious concern on this topic. We hope to read well-controlled randomized clinical trials regarding the beneficiary effects of saffron in future


It is with considerable pleasure that we present the inaugural issue of the 'Journal of Gambling Business and Economics.' There is a long-standing gap in the market for a journal that provides an outlet for academics and practitioners who have an interest in the economic and business aspects of the rapidly growing international gambling market. This journal is designed to fill this gap. The aim of the journal is to be relevant to a wide range of parties, from academics to policy-makers to those involved in the business and commercial side of betting and gaming. The journal will publish articles on a wide variety of issues of relevance to the broad subject area, and of topics of current debate, and authors will be allowed considerable freedom, subject to the maintenance of professional standards, in how they treat their areas of enquiry. While technical and specialist theoretical papers are encouraged, papers which contribute to public discussion and which are applicable to the practical concerns of decision-makers are especially welcome. Papers which provide an accessible survey of a field of relevant debate are also actively encouraged. This is an international journal, a perspective which is well reflected in the authorship of the papers included in this first issue. Welcome to the 'Journal of Gambling Business and Economics'! The Journal of Gambling Business and Economics (2007) 1, 1


Authenticated encryption schemes establish both privacy and authenticity. This paper specifies a family of the dedicated authenticated encryption schemes, Artemia. It is an online nonce-based authenticated encryption scheme which supports the associated data. Artemia uses the permutation based mode, JHAE, that is provably secure in the ideal permutation model. The scheme does not require the inverse of the permutation in the decryption function, which causes the resource efficiency. Artemia permutations have an efficient and a simple structure and are provably secure against the differential and linear cryptanalysis. In the permutations, MDS recursive layers are used that can be easily implemented in both software and hardware.


On the afternoon of 2 September 1914 Charles Masterman, Liberal cabinet minister and newly installed head of the War Propaganda Bureau, convened a secret meeting at Wellington House, formerly headquarters of the National Health Insurance Company. Some of Britain's most high-profile authors had been invited, and no fewer than twenty-five attended in person, each keen to contribute to the Allied propaganda offensive. At the conference table that afternoon were, among others, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, John Masefield, Thomas Hardy, and H. G. Wells. Rudyard Kipling sent his apologies but promised to help the Bureau in any way he could. Attendees at that first meeting, along with others recruited subsequently, would soon start to make determined writerly interventions on behalf of Britain's war effort. Ford Madox Ford started writing When Blood Is Their Argument for Wellington House in September 1914. A second propaganda book, Between St. Dennis and St. George , followed in January 1915. Conan Doyle brought Sherlock Holmes out of retirement to fight the Germans in "The Last Bow." Both Kipling and Conan Doyle toured the front lines and wrote of their experiences in propagandistic form, Kipling as France at War (1915), Conan Doyle as A Visit to Three Fronts (1916). Writers associated with Wellington House would ultimately produce some of the most influential and widely read British books of the war: John Masefield's Gallipoli , Arnold Bennett's Over There: War Scenes on the Western Front , Ian Hay's First Hundred Thousand (1916), and John Buchan's Hannay thrillers.


Background: In India, there is an urgent need to evaluate cost-effective methods providing basic awareness on mental illness. Family psychoeducation (FP) for caregivers of patients with severe mental illnesses (SMIs) is one such important intervention. Due to high treatment gap, concepts of "scaling up" and "task sharing" have been advocated; evidence is available through the use of "community lay workers." However, there is no evidence for the delivery of FP by lay persons in a hospital setting. Objectives: The study had the following objectives, namely (i) to compare the effectiveness of delivery of "FP package" (FPP) to caregivers of persons with schizophrenia using different professionals versus hospital-based health workers (HHWs) and (ii) to see whether FPP brought any change in the level of knowledge, burden, needs, and effect for the caregivers. Methodology: The study was conducted at the Disability Assessment Rehabilitation and Triage Services, Mental Health Institute, Government Medical College Hospital 32, Chandigarh, using the "Service Evaluation Framework." Twenty-two caregivers of patients with SMI, attending the Family Intervention Services, were divided into three groups and provided FPP (NIMHANS Manual) by pair of psychiatrists, psychiatric social workers (PSWs), and trained HHW, respectively. The three groups were assessed using Assessment Questionnaire (AQ) and then compared across and pre–post intervention as per identified objectives. Results: All the three groups were comparable across relevant socioclinical variables. At baseline, all three groups were comparable on the AQ; post-FPP delivery, they remained comparable. In addition, FPP, as an intervention, did not improve the level of knowledge, burden, needs, and effect for the caregivers in any of the three groups. Conclusions: HHWs, after receiving appropriate and adequate supervision, are able to deliver FPP using "The Manual" as effectively as other mental health professionals (psychiatrists, PSWs). However, this is not able to bring about effective change in the level of knowledge. Nevertheless, this adds to the evidence base of use of "lay workers," "task-sharing strategy," and "scaling-up approach" from low- and middle-income countries such as India.


Toys are deeply rooted to the natural learning process of children, as they investigate for themselves learning cause effect relationships and the relevance of boundary conditions, and to the development of their personality and social skills, as they observe and interact with other children and adults when playing. Learning through play, promoted by pioneers as Montessori, Piaget and Steiner, is among the most powerful teaching-learning strategies and currently forms part of high-quality curricula worldwide, mainly from early childhood to high school. Our experience shows that it can be also successfully applied to higher Education and that living through the complete engineering design process of real toys, following the CDIO scheme, is an excellent strategy for making engineering students face real industrial challenges while they design, dream, play and learn.
A decade ago we started to set the foundations towards the European Area of Higher Education, which should promote active learning in contexts more linked to professional practice. To this end, several courses in our Industrial Engineering Degree began to incorporate project-based learning activities, although initially with a more limited scope than that of the integral CDIO approach, as fundamental part of the teaching-learning process. In our course on "Design and manufacturing with polymers" we opted for including capstone collaborative projects linked to designing real plastic products and the related massproduction tools. We decide to propose students to design toys and the related injection molds, which constitute great examples of complex engineering systems, using state-of-theart industrial methodologies and resources. The topic of "toy design" has proven to be motivating for students and teachers and has helped us to re-invent the course in every edition. Our course has served as application example of the benefits of student-centered teaching-learning strategies at ETSII-UPM along the implementation of the "Bologna process", which has culminated with the beginning of the Master's Degree in Industrial Engineering, a programme that devotes more than a 20% of activities to project-based learning following the CDIO standards, in which the detailed course continues as part of the Mechanical Engineering major. Here we present a summary of the course evolution during the last decade and analyze its main teaching-learning results.
To our knowledge, this "complete toy design experience" constitutes one of the first integral applications of the CDIO methodology to the field of Industrial Engineering in our country and stands out for ten years of continuous improvements. Around 500 students have taken part in these projects from our "Design and manufacturing with polymers" course at ETSII-UPM and more than 200 real toys, together with the related injection molding mass-production tools, have been designed during the last ten years. The most outstanding designs have been manufactured and tested every year for letting students live the whole CDIO cycle


Abstract:The recent publication of the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) was accompanied by heated debate. I argue that part of the reason for these recent controversies is that the process of DSM revision involves making certain value judgments, yet requires a better means for explicitly and expertly addressing these issues. It is important to do so because a) there are certain value-laden questions that science cannot answer but nevertheless need to be addressed in psychiatric classification, and b) the effects of psychiatric classification stretch far and wide. I suggest a means by which the value judgments involved in psychiatric classification can be more systematically and comprehensively examined—by including an independent ethics review panel in the revision process. An ethics review panel could include bioethicists, sociologists, and philosophers of psychiatry who would be in a better position to address these issues.


This study was conducted to evaluation the role of the organic acids in the phosphorus fractions in silty clay loam texture. The laboratoryexperiment was conducted by adding the organic acids (Humic acid ,Citric acid ,Oxalic acid , Malic acid ,Acetic acid and Lactic acid )to the fertilized soil with conc. super phosphate fertilizer with 100 kg h-1 level with concentrations (0,15,30,45 and60)mg L-1,except Humic acid (500,1000,1500 and 2000) mg L-1.The soil was incubated at 30 C for 14,28,42,56 and 70 days period and the keep of field capacity about of incubation period during the daily weight.Amount of available ,mineral ,organic and total phosphorus after each incubated period were measured. The results showed that theaddition of organic acids of Humic acid ,Citric acid ,Oxalic acid and Malic acid were caused to increaseamount of available ,mineral ,organic and constant of total phosphorus in fertilized soil with conc. super phosphate fertilizer and increased its amount with increasing of organic acid concentration and better of Humic acid 2000mg L-1 significanton all the treatments .The results of the study that theaddition of organic acids were caused to increase amount of available and mineral phosphorus with increasing of incubation period and constant amount of total phosphorus and decreasing of organic phosphorus amount and available for only soil and only fertilizer treatment during increasing of incubation period .The organic acids can be arranged according to its ability toincrease the availabilityof the phosphorus as follow :


Although there has been much theoretical work on using various information status distinctions to explain the form of references in written text, there have been few studies that attempt to automatically learn these distinctions for generating references in the context of computer-regenerated text. In this article, we present a model for generating references to people in news summaries that incorporates insights from both theory and a corpus analysis of human written summaries. In particular, our model captures how two properties of a person referred to in the summary—familiarity to the reader and global salience in the news story—affect the content and form of the initial reference to that person in a summary. We demonstrate that these two distinctions can be learned from a typical input for multi-document summarization and that they can be used to make regeneration decisions that improve the quality of extractive summaries.


Large repositories of medical data, such as Electronic Medical Record (EMR) data, are recognized as promising sources for knowledge discovery. Effective analysis of such repositories often necessitate a thorough understanding of dependencies in the data. For example, if the patient age is ignored, then one might wrongly conclude a causal relationship between cataract and hypertension. Such confounding variables are often identified by causal graphs, where variables are connected by causal relationships. Current approaches to automatically building such graphs are based on text analysis over medical literature; yet, the result is typically a large graph of low precision. There are statistical methods for constructing causal graphs from observational data, but they are less suitable for dealing with a large number of covariates, which is the case in EMR data. Consequently, confounding variables are often identified by medical domain experts via a manual, expensive, and time-consuming process.
We present a novel approach for automatically constructing causal graphs between medical conditions. The first part is a novel graph-based method to better capture causal relationships implied by medical literature, especially in the presence of multiple causal factors. Yet even after using these advanced text-analysis methods, the text data still contains many weak or uncertain causal connections. Therefore, we construct a second graph for these terms based on an EMR repository of over 1.5M patients. We combine the two graphs, leaving only edges that have both medical-text-based and observational evidence. We examine several strategies to carry out our approach, and compare the precision of the resulting graphs using medical experts. Our results show a significant improvement in the precision of any of our methods compared to the state of the art.


This paper presents a computationally efficient method for polyphonic pitch estimation. The method employs the Fast Resonator Time-Frequency Image (RTFI) as the basic time-frequency analysis tool. The approach is composed of two main stages. First, a preliminary pitch estimation is obtained by means of a simple peak-picking procedure in the pitch energy spectrum. Such spectrum is calculated from the original RTFI energy spectrum according to harmonic grouping principles. Then the incorrect estimations are removed according to spectral irregularity and knowledge of the harmonic structures of the music notes played on commonly used music instruments. The new approach is compared with a variety of other frame-based polyphonic pitch estimation methods, and results demonstrate the high performance and computational efficiency of the approach.


Introduction: COVISHIELD and COVAXIN have been introduced post rapid approval as COVID vaccines in India, which has the second most COVID cases across countries. These vaccines are being administered in a two-dose schedule from 16 Jan 2021. This study deals with the clinical profile of individuals who developed COVID infection post-COVID vaccination. This is the first study of similar nature in India. Methodology: The study population comprised of individuals who were detected to be COVID positive 04 weeks post-vaccination and were compared with individuals detected positive within the first 04 weeks of vaccination. Data was collected in a digital questionnaire format and analyzed with SPSS v-23 software. Clinical features were profiled in detail. Chi-square analysis was done to find out the association of various demographic features with the severity of the disease. Results: In the study population, fever was the commonest symptom (75.1%) followed by anosmia (72.1%), and shortness of breath (16.3%). There was a lower incidence of fever, cough, dyspnea, and requirement of hospitalization in the study population as compared to the control group and previous epidemiological data. The time required for complete recovery and disease severity was favorable in our study population. There was a significant correlation in the rate of hospitalization among the study group and the comparative group (p=0.0001) and between the number of dosages of COVID vaccine with the lowest SpO2 recorded (p=0.001). Conclusion: This study will boost the ongoing initiative of having a maximal vaccinated population countrywide and emphasize the need for two doses of vaccination.


The management of a supply chain is both an offensive and defensive weapon that organisations can use to increase their competitive edge and capture a larger share of the market. In management science and supply chain management, multi-criteria decision making techniques have been used to solve a range of real-world problems. The problem is that many, if not most, companies in South Africa either do not have the required skills to use these decision-making techniques to improve or re-configure their supply chain, or they do not have a complete data set with which to model it effectively. In order to manage supply chains effectively, organisations at the very least need feedback on the performance of their entire supply chain. In this article, generic supply chain performance measures were used and a theoretical or empirical model was developed for the performance measurement of a national egg producer's supply chain. It focused on a managerial program for the identification and management of their supply chain with recommendations for applying a measurement model. The overall performance of the supply chain as well as the five different performance attributes was presented to management in a dashboard format. This article could be used as a basis for future studies of supply chain performance measurement and the model could be used as a foundation for developing an improved version, not only for the egg industry, but for other industries as well.


In this project the student obtains and analyzes an annual report from a publicly traded corporation. Activities include: identifying corporate operations, gaining familiarity with the financial data presentation, recognizing trends, calculating ratios, and performing industry and primary competitor comparisons. This project takes approximately 8 to 20 hours to complete (average 10 hours).


Improvement of applied modern mechanized technologies for growing and harvesting of corn, introduction of hybrids with a low and strong stem, suitable for thicker sowing, irrigation, etc. Lead to an increase in average grain yield per hectare.

The best precursors for corn are bean cultures, peas, alfalfa etc. Keeping this crop rotation turns out to be appropriate for successful weed control. Permanent cultivation of corn is also perceived, but it should not last for more than three consecutive years on the same area. In addition, corn is also eligible for cultivation in the case of reduced soil cultivation, incl. And through direct sowing. Obviously, with these extensive opportunities for crop rotation, account should be taken of the period of natural soil compaction and of the type of soil. Production and protection is carried out by two technologies: harvesting of cobs and harvesting of grain.

The main advantages of the first technology are the following: harvesting can be done at higher grain humidity (about 30%) when the stems are still green and can be ensiled; No additional energy costs are required to dry the grain; Timely release of sowing areas for subsequent crops.

When grain maize is harvested, the development of the maturity phase and the decrease of grain moisture should be observed, as the maturity increases considerably in the harvest losses. With the prolongation of the maize harvest, the biological losses are particularly high mainly due to fallen cobs, which reach up to 25%.

With the maturity phase of corn growing, the productivity of combine harvesters' increases, but taking into account the increase in losses, the optimal harvesting time for corn should be done on an economic basis.


A comparative altmetric study of highly cited publications on 'digital library' from India and China pertaining to the period 1989 to 2017 reveals that computer science discipline has more readership of digital library publications in China whereas social science disciplines has more readership in India. Indian articles on digital library received higher altmetric scores as compared to articles of Chinese origin, whereas the Chinese articles on digital libraries received more citations as compared to the Indian articles on the subject. The study also reveals that there is a low correlation between citations and altmetric scores.


The integration of emerging markets such as China into the global economy has had a profound effect on the inflation process in advanced economies. This article examines the relationship between the integration of emerging Asia into the global economy and the inflation process in New Zealand, highlighting both the downward and upward pressures on inflation emanating from the region. Monetary policymakers appear to have benefited from the protracted deflationary impulse from lower import prices, which may have made the achievement of domestic inflation objectives easier to achieve than might otherwise have been the case. However, this positive supply shock has more recently been matched by the headwinds of higher commodity prices.


This article shows a way to store the data of many S-101 charts into a single Postgres database. The data model of the database with all tables is shown and explained. The concatenation of the indices from the different database tables is explained. This concatenation allows for a faster search of points/curves with certain properties. This fulfills one of the basic requirements for the purpose of navigating an autonomous vessel – that several charts can be interpreted simultaneously by a machine. Mechanisms for up-dating the database with new charts not yet present in the database are shown. Also the mechanisms for updating the charts already present in the database are explained. System limitations are briefly presented to show that in practical use there are in fact none. Memory requirements for such a type of chart storage in the database is compared with memory requirements for ISO8211 files normally used for storage of S-101 charts. With small examples it is finally shown how the stored chart information can be searched specifically.


Background: Kaffir lime ( Citrus hystrix D.C ) has been used for a long time in agricultural and alternative medicine. Kaffir lime leaf (KLL) had been proved effective against certain fungi that could infect human body. Objective: To study the antifungal effect of KLL extracts on Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans . Methods: This is a laboratory-controlled prospective study conducted in Universiti Sains Malaysia. KLL was extracted with 70% ethanol and aqueous via Soxhlet extraction method. The concentrated extract then freeze dried to obtain powdered form which was diluted to establish five different concentrations of 50 g/ml, 25 g/ml, 12.5 g/ml, 6.25 g/ml and 3.125 g/ml. Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA) lawned with tested fungal isolates were inoculated with the extracts using well-diffusion method. Zone of inhibition was measured followed by minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Results: There were presences of zone of inhibition for both aqueous and alcohol KLL extracts on Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans growth. KLL aqueous extract have bigger mean of inhibition as compare to alcohol extract against Aspergillus niger . In contrast, KLL alcohol extract have bigger mean of inhibition as compare to aqueous extract against Candida albicans . The MIC of KLL aqueous extract against Candida albicans was 12.02 g/ml, alcohol extract against Candida albicans was 10.23 g/ml, KLL aqueous extract against Aspergillus niger was 47.86 g/ml and alcohol extract against Aspergillus niger was 48.97 g/ml. Conclusion: KLL has significant antifungal effect towards pathogenic fungi causing otomycosis, particularly Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans . Key words: Otomycosis, Kaffir lime, Citrus hystrix, Aspergillus niger , Candida albicans .


In this paper, we propose a novel Bayesian group regularization method based on the spike and slab Lasso priors for jointly estimating multiple graphical models. The proposed method can be used to estimate the common sparsity structure underlying the graphical models while capturing potential heterogeneity of the precision matrices corresponding to those models. Our theoretical results show that the proposed method enjoys the optimal rate of convergence in $\ell_\infty$ norm for estimation consistency and has a strong structure recovery guarantee even when the signal strengths over different graphs are heterogeneous. Through simulation studies and an application to the capital bike-sharing network data, we demonstrate the competitive performance of our method compared to existing alternatives.


Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT), also known as Hereditary Sensory Motor Neuropathy (HSMN) is the most common inherited peripheral neuropathy and it can follow autosomal dominant, X-linked, autosomal recessive and even a sporadic inheritance pattern. Very few studies have evaluated psychiatric problems in this disease, but there is a 30% lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorder in patients with CMT. Depression and phobic disorder are commonly occurring psychiatric comorbidities. After obtaining informed consent, we report the case of a patient with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease presenting with a manic episode and the treatment thereof with sodium valproate.


The implementation of learning technologies across organisations is rarely uniform despite apparent equity in access to training and support. The research aims to explore the origins of differential adoption in the context of the introduction of a learning management system. Three exploratory studies are described, conducted as parts of a longitudinal insider action research project. The first draws on one of the authors' reflective journal that transcends the introduction, launch, and implementation of a pan-university Learning Management System. The second analyses focus group data, firstly, from technology staff supporting the adoption process and, secondly, from teaching staff who adopted the new system. The third reviews training feedback questionnaires filled out by teaching staff who attended training sessions. By triangulating data from three approaches, we provide insights into the antecedent attitudes and capacities which shape the adoption of learning technologies by academic teaching staff. The implications for supporting learning technology adoption is outlined.


In 2005, Relational Investors, a registered investment advisor, launched a proxy contest to gain two seats on the board of directors of Sovereign Bancorp. Relational accused Sovereign of operational mismanagement and poor corporate governance, representing a breach in fiduciary responsibility by the company's board of directors. Relational claimed that a board reconstitution was in the best interest of investors. Subsequently, Sovereign entered into a controversial three-way deal with Banco Santander Central Hispano of Spain, which thwarted Relational's efforts by diluting its ownership position and by giving Santander board seats and veto power over the removal of Sovereign's CEO. The case discusses the tactics used by Relational Investors to attempt to derail the Santander deal and the tactics used by Sovereign Bancorp to defend it.


Although it is generally believed that wrongful convictions based on false confessions are relatively rare - the 1989 Central Park jogger 'wilding' case being the most notorious example - recent exonerations of the innocent through DNA testing are increasing at a rate that few in the criminal justice system might have speculated. Because of the growing realization of the false confession phenomenon, psychologists, sociologists, and legal/law-enforcement scholars and practitioners have begun to examine the factors embedded in American criminal investigations and interrogations that may lead innocent people to implicate themselves in crimes they did not commit. "Police Interrogations and False Confessions" brings together a group of renowned scholars and practitioners in the fields of social psychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, criminology, clinical-forensic psychology, and law to examine three salient dimensions of false confessions: interrogation tactics and the problem of false confessions; review of Supreme Court decisions regarding Miranda warnings and custodial interrogations; and new research on juvenile confessions and deception in interrogative interviews. Chapters include well-recognized programs of research on the topics of interrogative interviewing, false confessions, the detection of deception in forensic interviews, individual differences, and clinical-forensic evaluations. The book concludes with policy recommendations to attenuate the institutional and social psychological persistence (and pervasiveness) of the various inducements and impediments that have informed law enforcement's interrogation techniques and the types of false confessions they encourage.


Strong deformation of a sheet of solid material often leads to a crumpled state having sharp points of high curvature. A scaling property governing the crumpled state has been numerically demonstrated by an examination of the ridges joining pairs of sharp points in a range of simple geometries of variable size. As the linear size X increases sufficiently, the deformation energy grows as X1/3 and consists of similar amounts of bending and stretching energy. The deformation energy becomes concentrated in a fraction of the sheet that decreases as X1/3. Despite this concentration, the local strain in the ridge decreases as X2/3. Nearly all the deformation energy in thin, crumpled elastic sheets was found to be concentrated in ridges that obey these scaling laws.


Abstract The December 26, 2004, disastrous tsunami event in the Indian Ocean may have come as a shock and even a surprise to the communities outside geosciences. However, tsunami events are a natural part of the geosystems in regions of submarine earthquakes, and they will continue to hit the region even in the future. Here we present evidence of former tsunami events both on Sri Lanka and on the Maldives. Submarine "sandstorms" driven by tsunami waves brought littoral deposits down into caves 21 to 38 m below sea level. Radiocarbon dates allow the comparison with related tsunami signals in fens and lagoons, and historical documentation. The terrible December 26 event has raised a general awareness of tsunami events. It has also generated the installation of necessary warning systems. We are in urgent need, however, of a long-term tsunami chronology for a realistic tsunami hazards assessment.


This article describes the earliest French oceanographic expeditions dedicated to investigating the deep sea. Though these expeditions, conducted from 1880 to 1883, were quite successful in terms of both science and what today we call "outreach," they are often overlooked in histories of oceanography or mentioned only in passing. They produced a substantial literature of over 100 scientific publications. Participants' descriptions of 176 new species are still considered valid today. Among the remarkable scientific discoveries were culturable and pressure-tolerant bacteria in deep-sea sediment samples, which led to the origin of deep-sea microbiology, and iconic deep-sea fish such as the gulper eel. Specimens, instruments, and equipment from these expeditions were on display for the general public at an exhibition at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris in early 1884. Between 1885 and 1891, expedition scientists authored three mass-market books on deep-sea life and the expeditions. Following a summary of the expeditions and their results, some speculation is provided as to why such an auspicious nineteenth century beginning of oceanography in France did not lead to a sustained interest in oceanography. A supplementary file contains a bibliography of expedition publications and a list of the species described from expedition collections.


Abstract:  Ecosystem fragmentation and destruction can lead to restrictive administration policies on traditional harvesting by indigenous peoples from remaining ecosystem tracts. In New Zealand, concerns about endangered species and governmental policies that focus on species and ecosystem preservation have resulted in severely curtailed traditional harvesting rights. Although provision has been made for limited gathering of traditional plants from government‐administered conservation lands, it is unclear how much harvesting is undertaken on these lands and elsewhere and what this harvest might consist of. We interviewed seven expert Maori elders from the Waikato, New Zealand, to identify plant species they currently harvested and from where. We compared these data with the data we collected on permits issued for plant collecting on conservation lands in the same region. We sought to gain information on indigenous plant harvesting to determine the extent of permitted harvesting from conservation lands in the Waikato and to identify issues that might affect plant harvesting and management. Elders identified 58 species they harvest regularly or consider culturally important; over 50% of these species are harvested for medicinal use. Permit data from 1996 to 2006 indicated no apparent relationship between species of reported cultural significance and the number of permits issued for each of these species. Currently, few plant species are harvested from conservation lands, although some unofficial harvesting occurs. Elders instead reported that medicinal plants are frequently collected from urban and other public areas. They reported that plant species used for dyeing, carving, and weaving are difficult to access. Elders also discussed concerns such as spraying of roadsides, which resulted in the death of medicinal species, and use of commercial hybrids in urban planning. Local government may have an increasingly important role in supporting native traditions through urban planning, which takes account of cultural harvesting needs while potentially reducing future harvesting pressure on conservation lands. We suggest that active participation by the Māori community in the development and management of urban harvesting resources will result in positive outcomes.


Higher education is in a state of transformation, with the economic recession leading to an even greater emphasis on graduate outcomes. Existing UK-wide research suggests that graduate opportunities are influenced by pre-entry characteristics; institution attended and subject studied, as well as the individual's store of social capital. The research for this study uses data from a cohort of graduates in North Wales to explore the issues in further detail. The mixed methods design compares secondary data on access, student experience and destinations with original survey and interview data. A critique of the current emphasis on graduate outcomes six months after graduation leads to a focus on longer-term trajectories. The results from graduates from four different types of degree awarding institutions and three specific subjects – chosen for contrast and convenience – reveal both similarities and differences compared with existing studies. Whilst the findings support existing research on pre-entry factors, they also indicate that regional assets e.g. Welsh language skills, access to transport and local networks, influence the patterns of subsequent trajectories. The more biographical and extended longitudinal approach contributes to the literature on graduates by providing an analytical typology of their post-graduation trajectories. It also contributes to Bourdieu-inspired theoretical discussion of inequalities in higher education and beyond. The study has implications for policy and practice in universities, careers services and the Higher Educational Statistics Agency (HESA).


A 26-year-old man complained of shortness of breath for 3 days before the hospital admission. The patient had a history of coughing up blood and had consumed alcohol and drugs. Decreased vesicular auscultation and dull percussion in the left lateral pulmo. Laboratory result showed increased neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio C-reactive protein, D-dimer, procalcitonin, ferritin, and decreased albumin level. Pleural fluid analysis indicated the presence of exudate, SARS-CoV-2 PCR positive, and increased ADA level to 43 U/L. Based on the examination results, we suspected that the etiology of the massive pleural effusion was tuberculous pleurisy, particularly due to increased ADA levels. The patient was diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia with massive pleural effusion and tuberculous pleurisy. Massive pleural effusion in SARS-CoV-2 infection is rare. Thus, laboratory modalities for massive pleural effusion diagnosis are needed to determine the etiology and effective treatment for the patient. ADA analysis could be considered as an initial examination in patients with pleural effusion during the wait for pleural fluid culture results.


Katherine Swynford was first the mistress, and later the wife, of John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster. Her charismatic lover was one of the most powerful princes of the fourteenth century and Katherine was renowned for her beauty and regarded as enigmatic, intriguing and even dangerous by some of her contemporaries. In her impressive new book, Alison Weir has triumphantly rescued Katherine from the footnotes of history, highlighting her key dynastic position within the English monarchy. She was the mother of the Beaufort, then the ancestress of the Yorkist kings, the Tudors, the Stuarts and every other sovereign since - a prodigious legacy that has shaped the history of Britain.


The theory of production applied to the construction industry has been typically based on management theories, and the application of the economic theory of production is less common. The economic theory of production focuses on features of the demand for factors of production (inputs) and output of commodities to develop input and output functions. The issues involved on the input side are concerned with the technical constraint of production processes that determine the cost base, and on the output side with the structure of markets where prices and revenues are determined. This paper focuses on the input side. The purpose of the paper is to discuss properties of construction production technology in the context of the economic theory of production and the production function. The paper then discusses the role of technical progress and shifts in the production function due to the adoption of new techniques which affect the production process or change input/output relationships.


Sensor networks are being used in several emerging applications not even imagined some years ago due to advances in sensing, computing, and communication techniques. However, these advances also pose various challenges that must be faced. One important challenge is related to the autonomous capability needed to setup and adapt the networks, which decentralizes the control of the network, saving communication and energy resources. Middleware technology helps in addressing this kind of problem, but there is still a need for additional solutions, particularly considering dynamic changes in users' requirements and operation conditions. This paper presents an agent-based framework acting as an integral part of a middleware to support autonomous setup and adaptation of sensor networks. It adds interoperability among heterogeneous nodes in the network, by means of autonomous behavior and reasoning. These features also address the needs for system setup and adaptations in the network, reducing the communication overhead and decentralizing the decision making mechanism. Additionally, preliminary results are also presented.


Unlicensed spectrum indeed initiates high-data rate wireless services with the combination of the great success of Wi-Fi technology. Interestingly, the local high data rate services are deployed and invested by non-traditional local actors, e.g., facility owners who have local fixed line infrastructure. Motivated by the great success of the Wi-Fi eco-system, there are growing interests from various regulatory initiatives on short-range indoor shared spectrum access to continuously foster new business innovations and local investment by new players. Despite of flexible spectrum access and almost no regulatory management overhead, it is still not so clear that the traditional unlicensed approach can work for future high-capacity services where require extremely denser deployment than today. In this paper, we aim to discuss the validity of the traditional unlicensed approach for the new local operators in an economic aspect. We evaluate the required deployment cost of conventional Wi-Fi system and compare it with a hypothetical cellular-like system with marginal regulatory coordination. We found that the traditional node-level etiquettes in unlicensed band work as system design constraints, leading to too conservative full distributed systems. Although the current unlicensed band approach is the lowest cost solution for relatively low-capacity services, it may not be work at future high-capacity provisioning. Thus, regulations need to be designed to allow more coordinated systems such as cellular-like technologies with certain inter-network regulation.


At a basic level, the two most pervasive obstacles to university research (that is, foundational scientific or "pure" research) are lack of funding and lack of access. The lack of funding problem is fairly self-explanatory. The lack of access problem is a bit more complex and has been largely blamed on the increase in patenting of scientific building blocks and research tools. Some literature suggests that patenting and university research can peacefully co-exist; however, a greater bulk of the research and scholarship seems to maintain that this type of patenting is at odds with the culture of academia, is impractical and generally adverse to the university's best interests, and most importantly is a significant blockade to innovation. I disagree. Perhaps the access problem does not lie in the patenting itself, but rather in how universities are obtaining and using, or not, their intellectual property rights. Although the Bayh-Dole Act is now over 25 years old, university patenting remains in its nascent stages. Universities are still trying to figure out whether to enter the patent game and, if so, how to do it. While some universities have established, smoothly-functioning technology transfer offices that are currently utilizing and exploiting their intellectual property assets, many other universities have yet to develop a coherent strategy to obtain and utilize their potential intellectual property and may not have even consulted or employed a qualified patent attorney. If universities instead actively and intelligently pursue and exploit their intellectual property rights, I argue that the problems of both lack of funding and lack of access could be curtailed. Interestingly, this overly-cautious entry into the intellectual property arena is not unique to universities, having been experienced by big business decades ago. Some of the accompanying concerns are specific to academic and foundational research. However, as to the primary hesitancy, many sectors of big business were similarly unwilling or uninterested in jumping full force into patenting for many of the same reasons that universities express: lack of money, lack of knowledge, lack of infrastructure, and concern about upsetting the research & development culture. One popular text, directed toward business executives, Rembrandts in the Attic, provides a primer for developing an intellectual property strategy to maximize profits and promote innovation by providing the requisite knowledge and proposing an infrastructure for implementing such a strategy. I argue that universities can similarly overcome the barriers of lack of knowledge and lack of infrastructure by taking a cue from big business by developing an intellectual property strategy. Then, with this strategy in place, the university can also address the culture barrier as well as the overriding obstacles to research of lack of funding and lack of access. In this Article, I provide the beginnings of a primer aimed specifically at universities to provide administrators, technology transfer offices, and researchers with the information necessary to understand the how and why of obtaining patents and suggestions for maximizing their usefulness. I adopt and apply much of the knowledge imparted by the Rembrandts text, taking the unique concerns of university patenting into account. I further propose a structure to facilitate the implementation of these strategies to maximize the exploitation of the university's patents. Specifically, an entity should be established to function as a database provider and, more importantly, an analyst of university patents and business trends, addressing the aforementioned barriers and lessening the obstacles of funding and access. In conclusion, I argue that if universities were to adopt a mindset more akin to big business when considering their intellectual property resources, greater innovation would result.


Unreinforced masonry is one of the most popular construction materials in the world. It is also unfortunately, the most vulnerable against earthquakes. Damage to unreinforced masonry buildings has caused huge number of human casualties historically and during recent earthquakes in developing countries. Therefore, retrofitting of low earthquake-resistant masonry structures is the key issue for earthquake disaster mitigation in developing countries to reduce the casualties significantly. When we propose the retrofitting in developing countries, retrofitting method should respond to the structural demand on strength and/or deformability as well as to availability of material with low cost including manufacturing and delivery, practicability of construction method and durability in each region. Considering these issues of developing appropriate seismic retrofitting techniques for masonry buildings to reduce the possible number of casualties due to future earthquakes in developing countries, a technically feasible and economically affordable PP-band (polypropylene bands) retrofitting technique has been developed and many different aspects have been studied by Meguro Laboratory, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo. PP-band is commonly used for packing. In order to understand the dynamic response of masonry houses with and without PP-band mesh retrofitting, crack patterns, failure behavior, and overall effectiveness of the retrofitting technique, shaking table tests were carried out. In this experimental program, 1⁄4 scale single box shape room structure with wooden roof models were used. Addition to that, effect of surface plaster on PP-band retrofitted house model also studied. From the experimental results, it was found that a scaled dwelling model with PP-band mesh retrofitting was able to withstand larger and more repeatable shaking than that without PP band retrofitting, which all verified to reconfirm high earthquake resistant performance. When surface finishing applied above house model, due to improve bond connection between PP-band and brick wall, surface plaster kept well with wall.


1. Several recent studies of the relation between blood pressure and ageing have been re-examined, and it is concluded that none satisfactorily investigates the possibility of separate influences of age and attained pressure in determining the rate of change of pressure with time. 2. If the rate of increase of pressure is proportional to the attained pressure, pressure is an exponential function of age. An attempt has been made to determine the relation of blood pressure with age by fitting curves to individuals9 measurements made over periods of 15 1/2 and 17 1/2 years in two epidemiological surveys in South Wales. 3. Three models were used: (1) a linear regression, (2) an exponential function, and (3) a model based on the hypothesis that an individual9s pressure fluctuates about a constant mean until a variable age at which it increases at a constant rate. Neither model (2) nor model (3) was significantly better than model (1), but this may have been largely due to the small number of measurements (four) for each subject. 4. A positive slope to the linear regression of pressure on time was obtained for most adults. In middle-aged subjects the distributions of these regression coefficients appear unimodal. The rate of increase was higher in those with initially raised values but increased with age independently of the blood pressure level. In these populations some factor related to ageing appears to play a role in causing this increase in pressure in addition to any possible direct influence of the attained pressure.


Earthly Visions: Theology and the Challenges of Art. By TJ. Gorringe. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011. Pp. 254. $45 What has the gallery to do with God? In his new book, Earthly Visions: Theology and the Challenges of Art, T J. Gorringe offers one answer to this Tertullianesque question. Asking "How does art contribute to faith?" he answers that "great art can function as a kind of parable - to be precise, as a secular parable" (14). Lest the subtitle mislead, "art" here is Western art, specifically painting from the fourteenth century to the present. The standard history of this period is that art gradually became more secular, and this establishes the book's challenge: how can art precisely in its secularity speak to faith? Gorringe finds the common point of contact between theology and art in that both are "interrogative," challenging how we see the divine and the world (17). Like Jesus' parables, both theology and art try to make us "see things differently," on the one hand revealing "the shalom of which aesthetic delight is a key component" and at the same time presenting a vision of an alternative future (21-22). They speak both to the goodness of creation and the need for redemption. These two broad theological categories provide the rough framework for the rest of the book, divided into two sections. Redemption is explored in "Image" and creation in "Nature." Each section is sub-divided into three, which matches up nicely with the six traditional categories of painting in Western art: historical, genre, portraiture, landscape, still life, and abstract. Within each of these, various theological themes are sounded, including the nature of revelation, eschatology, liberation theology, theological anthropology, a theology of creation, and the apophatic tradition. The categories of painting, then, are what guide the conversation, and theological musings are sketched from these. Within each chapter numerous artists are drawn on to explore the various potential theological angles each genre may hold. The coverage is wide, ranging from Botticelli, Brueghel the Elder, Rembrandt, Le Nain, Chardin, and Constable to Millet, Cezanne, van Gogh, Mondrian, Bacon and Rothko, with many more tossed in along the way. This makes the book more like a sampler box of chocolates; it gives a taste of many possibilities while leaving the reader wanting more. This is not to say the book is superficial. The various discussions of genres and individual painters provide ample historical context, sensitivity to contemporary critical issues, and, for a theology book, refreshing sections of formal analysis. The book is beautifully and amply illustrated, making the arguments enjoyable to follow and more convincing. …


A new approach is proposed that makes clear the basic assumptions in the beam propagation method (BPM) and that leads to an improved formulation free of difficulties with power conservation wide-angle propagation. The new approach allows one to understand the limitations of the wide-angle BPM. Theoretically, arbitrary accuracy could be achieved for weakly guiding systems, even for angles θ ~ 40° from the z axis, provided that a small enough sampling step is used, together with a BPM solver of sufficient order in nonparaxiality. On the contrary, inevitable errors occur with strongly guiding systems because the local-mode expansion of the physical field rapidly involves evanescent local modes, both forward and backward propagating, that cannot be handled in the BPM propagation algorithms. In this case the new formulation is more accurate than the classical BPM for moderate angles only.


Using parish registers (1897–1900), linked to the first Russian Imperial census of 1897, this study investigates infant mortality among the Lutheran population in Tartu at the end of the nineteenth century. The results reveal considerable variation in infant mortality according to parents' demographic, cultural and socio-economic characteristics, and sanitary conditions. Even after controlling for the influence of socio-economic status, infants born to Baltic-German families had higher survival rates than those born to Estonian families. This lends support to the view of the Baltic-Germans as the forerunners of demographic modernization in Estonia. Paternal socio-economic characteristics appeared stronger predictors of infant deaths than mother's level of education and employment. Lower infant mortality was characteristic of infants whose fathers were employed in professional and sales occupations. Being born out-of-wedlock, into large families and belonging to households that acquired drinking water from the river exerted a strong negative effect on infant survival.

KEYWORDS: infant mortality, Lutherans, parish registers, 1897 census, linked-record study, urban population, Estonia


Swarms consist of many agents that interact according to a simple set of rules, giving rise to emergent global behaviours. In this paper, we consider swarms of mobile robots or drones. Swarms can be tolerant of faults that may occur for many reasons, such as resource exhaustion, component failure, or disruption from an external event. The loss of agents reduces the size of a swarm, and may create an irregular structure in the swarm topology. A swarm's structure can also be irregular due to initial conditions, or the existence of an obstacle. These changes in the structure or size of a swarm do not stop it from functioning, but may adversely affect its efficiency or effectiveness. In this paper, we describe a self-healing mechanism to counter the effect of agent loss or structural irregularity. This method is based on the reduction of concave regions at swarm perimeter regions. Importantly, this method requires no expensive communication infrastructure, relying only on agent proximity information. We illustrate the application of our method to the problem of surrounding an oil slick, and show that void reduction is necessary for full and close containment, before concluding with a brief discussion of its potential uses in other domains.


In this paper, a new family of resampling-based penalization procedures for model selection is defined in a general framework. It generalizes several methods, including Efron's bootstrap penalization and the leave-one-out penalization recently proposed by Arlot (2008), to any exchangeable weighted bootstrap resampling scheme. In the heteroscedastic regression framework, assuming the models to have a particular structure, these resampling penalties are proved to satisfy a non-asymptotic oracle inequality with leading constant close to 1. In particular, they are asympotically optimal. Resampling penalties are used for defining an estimator adapting simultaneously to the smoothness of the regression function and to the heteroscedasticity of the noise. This is remarkable because resampling penalties are general-purpose devices, which have not been built specifically to handle heteroscedastic data. Hence, resampling penalties naturally adapt to heteroscedasticity. A simulation study shows that resampling penalties improve on V-fold cross-validation in terms of final prediction error, in particular when the signal-to-noise ratio is not large.


Discoveries from multibeam sonar mapping and seismic-reflection surveys of Yellowstone Lake provide new insight into the recent geologic forces that have shaped a large lake at the active front of the Yellowstone hot spot, a region strongly affected by young ( 100-1,000s km 3 ) silicic volcanism, active tectonism, and accompanying uplift. Specifically, our mapping has identified the extent of postcaldera-collapse volcanism and active hydrothermal processes occurring above a large magma chamber beneath the lake floor. Multiple advances and recessions of thick glacial ice have overlapped volcanic and hydrothermal activity leaving a lake basin that has been shaped predominantly by fire and ice. Yellowstone Lake has an irregular bottom covered with dozens of features directly related to hydrothermal, tectonic, volcanic, and sedimentary processes. Detailed bathymetric, seismic-reflection, and magnetic evidence reveals that rhyolitic lava flows underlie much of Yellowstone Lake and exert fundamental control on lake morphology and localization of hydrothermal activity in the northern, West Thumb, and central basins. Many previously unknown features have been identified and include more than 660 hydrothermal vents, several very large (>500-m diameter) hydrothermal-explosion craters, many small hydrothermal-vent craters (∼1- to 200-m diameter), domed lacustrine sediments related to hydrothermal activity, elongate fissures cutting postglacial sediments, siliceous hydrothermal-spire structures, sublacustrine landslide deposits, submerged former shorelines, large glacial melting features, incipient faulting along the trace of the Eagle Bay fault zone, and a recently active graben. Sampling and observations with a submersible remotely operated vehicle confirm and ,extend our understanding of the identified features. Faults, fissures, hydrothermally inflated domal structures, hydrothermal-explosion craters, and sublacustrine landslides constitute potentially significant geologic hazards. Toxic elements derived from hydrothermal processes also may significantly affect the Yellowstone ecosystem.


Nigeria is the second largest producer of maize on the African continent with more than 5 million hectares of land under maize production and an annual area and yield growth rate of 4.1 % and 2.7% respectively (Beyene et al., 2016). However, maize yields in sub-Saharan African countries, including Nigeria, remain low compared with global averages. Yields may be further impacted by shifts in temperature and rainfall under climate change in the coming several decades, given that most maize in Nigeria is rainfed. We used a system dynamics model combined with stakeholder input to simulate maize production in Kaduna state, Nigeria, under a range of scenarios including 1) adoption of hybrid early maturing maize varieties; 2) optimal fertilizer use; and 3) shifts in climate regimes. System dynamics modeling is a technique which allows researchers to investigate the future state of a complex system with both social and ecological components. Our goal with this model was not to replicate the accuracy of yield prediction generated by data-intensive agronomic models, but to build a tool for supporting policy decisions in the region while incorporating socio-ecological dynamics and stakeholder insights. Overall, the model suggests that agricultural policies with respect to maize production should focus on developing and disseminating knowledge and accessibility of early maturing /drought tolerant maize varieties alongside efforts to promote more efficient integrated fertilizer management strategies (such as mixed organic and conventional fertilizers) which increase the agronomic use efficiency of EM hybrid maize varieties. However, even under these optimal efforts to improve maize production in the face of climate change, maize productivity is expected to first rise, and then decline by mid-century under expected precipitation and temperature shifts, demonstrating an inverted U-shaped curve. In the context of a growing population, and therefore a growing demand for food, in Kaduna and in Nigeria more broadly, the results of this study imply the need for a diversification of the agricultural sector towards staple crops that will be less climate-sensitive than maize. This is consistent with other recent agronomic modeling work in sub-Saharan Africa which has found that climate change could severely impact staple food crop production, even under scenarios of technological advancement and fertilizer use (Ittersum et al. 2016; Sulser et al. 2014).


Phase-matched electric-field-induced second-harmonic generation is demonstrated in single-mode germania-doped silica fibers. A periodic second-order nonlinearity is induced by a simple interdigitated electrode structure, which can be rotated to permit phase matching between all propagating modes. The most efficient mode interaction between HE11ω and HE112ω is achieved at 1.064 μm by using a Q-switched Nd+3:YAG laser. In principle, phase matching at any propagating wavelength is possible. This technique could be applied to planar as well as cylindrical waveguides and can be used with many non-χ(2) materials. The asymmetry in the applied electric field enhances the optical-field overlaps between modes of dissimilar orders, and this is also demonstrated. A conversion efficiency of 4.0 × 10−4% has been obtained in unoptimized devices. Device optimization is also discussed.


In most porphryr, systems the obscuring effects of hydrothermal processes and subsequent alteration, along with limited exposure of source rocks, preclude a detailed understanding of how and where metals and volatiles were derived. However, in this study we examine melt inclusions which have escaped alteration and that sampled all of the phases coexisting in the magma, in late- and postmineral rhyolitic units from the Rio Blanco Cu-Mo deposit, Chile. These inclusions demonstrate the existence of a volatile-rich melt, the exsolution from it of an aqueous volatile-rich phase, initially as melt + vapor bubble emulsions, and the disruption of these emulsions into melt and primary magmatic fluids. Trapping of these emulsions may explain the occurrence of melt inclusions containing widely, varying proportions of melt and aqueous fluid found at Rio Blanco. We demonstrate the sequestering of metals into the exsolved volatile phases and the derivation from these of possible ore-forming hydrothermal fluids, with particular reference to the implications for metal transport. Melt inclusions show differences between adjacent comagmatic intrusions that may be directly related to the extent of mineralization of the respective bodies. In one of the Rio Blanco postmineral rhyolite bodies melt inclusions show exsolution of the volatile-rich phase but only minor evidence of trapping of a metal-rich vapor. In contrast, inclusions from an adjacent late mineral rhyolite body show similar volatile phase exsolution but also provide evidence of ponding of metal-rich hydrothermal fluids during the final stages of cooling.


For policymakers exploring appellate mechanism options for the international investment law regime, the competing interests of efficiency and finality will receive due consideration. But two additional — and possibly overlooked — risks also merit close analysis.First, gains in the consistency of treaty interpretation by a standing, permanent appellate body would not guarantee corresponding gains in the accuracy of treaty interpretation. As illustrated by two lines of case law applying denial of benefits provisions under a number of investment treaties, consistent treaty interpretation does not ensure accurate treaty interpretation. Second, a shift from an ad hoc to a more institutionalized international investment dispute settlement regime would significantly impact the balance of power between States and adjudicators. In general terms, standing, permanent tribunals are associated with greater levels of independence than ad hoc tribunals. The experience of the WTO Appellate Body illustrates how standing, permanent tribunals can develop as institutions through bold acts of independence. Greater levels of tribunal independence give rise to a greater need for control mechanisms to address the risk of tribunals exceeding their mandate. That risk is heightened in the context of the international investment arbitration, where, even under the current ad hoc regime, the level of tribunal independence is significant. Legitimate policy arguments — based on goals of achieving greater consistency, coherence, and predictability — can be made in favor of the development of one or more appellate mechanisms within the international investment law regime. But policymakers exploring appellate mechanism options should give careful consideration to all competing policy interests, which are not limited to the goals of efficiency and finality. The two additional risks analyzed in this article — the gap between consistent and accurate treaty interpretation, and the balance of power consequences of greater institutionalization — should be part of the policy discussion. That policy discussion also should include consideration of control mechanism options to address such risks.


Recent work on causal learning has investigated the possible role of generic priors in guiding human judgments of ca usal strength. One proposal has been that people have a preference for causes that are sparse and strong —i.e., few in number and individually strong (Lu et al., 2008) . Sparse-and-strong priors predict that competition can be observed between candidate causes of the same polarity (i.e., g enerative or else preventive) even if they occur independently . For instance, the strength of a moderately strong cause should be underestimated when a strong cause is also present, relative to when a weaker cause is present. In previous work (Powell et al., 2013) we found such competition effects for ca usal set - ups involving multiple generative causes . Here we investigate whether analogous competition is found for strength judgments about multiple preventive causes. An experim ent revealed that a cue competition effect is indeed observed for preventive causes; moreover, the effect appears to be more persistent (as the number of observations increases) than the corresponding effect observed for generative causes . These findings , which are consistent with predictions of a Bayesian learning model with sparse -and-strong priors, provide further evidence that a preference for parsimony guides inferences about causal strength .


Compounds that increase the activity of the energy sensor AMP-activated kinase (AMPK) have the potential to regulate blood glucose levels. Rosemary extract (RE) has been reported to activate AMPK and reduce blood glucose levels in vivo. In the present study, we measured the levels of the polyphenol carnosic acid (CA) in RE and examined the effects and the mechanism of action of CA on glucose transport system in muscle cells. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to measure the levels of CA in RE. Parental and GLUT4myc or GLUT1myc overexpressing L6 rat myotubes were used. Glucose uptake was assessed using [3H]-2-deoxy-D-glucose. Total and phosphorylated levels of Akt and AMPK were measured by immunoblotting. Plasma membrane GLUT4myc and GLUT1myc levels were examined using a GLUT translocation assay. At concentrations found in rosemary extract, CA stimulated glucose uptake in L6 myotubes. At 2.0 μM CA a response (226±9.62% of control, p<0.001), similar to maximum insulin (201±7.86%, p<0.001) and metformin (213±10.74%, p<0.001) was seen. Insulin sensitivity was increase by CA. Akt phosphorylation was not affected by CA while AMPK phosphorylation was increased and the CA-stimulated glucose uptake was significantly reduced by the AMPK inhibitor compound C. Plasma membrane GLUT4 or GLUT1 glucose transporter levels were not affected by CA. Our study is the first to show increased muscle cell glucose uptake and AMPK activation by low CA concentrations, found in rosemary extract, indicating that CA may be responsible for the anti-hyperglycemic properties of rosemary extract seen in vivo.


Introduction Care coordination is a high-priority area for improvement across healthcare systems, but no consensus definition of care coordination exists. Methods This article reviews published definitions of the term "care coordination," identifies common themes among them, and presents a broad working definition of care coordination. Results The review identified 57 unique definitions of care coordination, ranging widely in the scope of participants, settings, and care processes included. Five major themes emerged from the definitions: care coordination involves numerous participants, is necessitated by interdependence among participants and activities, requires knowledge of others' roles and resources, relies on information exchange, and aims to facilitate appropriate healthcare delivery. Only one definition identified included all five themes, and no one theme was found in a clear majority of definitions. The synthesized themes were incorporated into a broad working definition of care coordination, which has resulted in numerous uses (e.g. guide for systematic review of interventions, development of a measures repository, reference for this journal's recast focus on the subject). Discussion Some ambiguity remains about the definition of care coordination, but the breadth of definitions in use underscores its widespread recognition as important for high-quality care. Even as understanding of care coordination continues to evolve, broad and flexible definitions can help guide the iterative process of developing conceptual models, testing them empirically, refining models, generating evidence about what works best, and ultimately improving the quality of care.


America and China are the two most powerful players in global affairs, and no relationship is more consequential. How they choose to cooperate and compete affects billions of lives. But U.S.-China relations are complex and often delicate, featuring a multitude of critical issues that America and China must navigate together. Missteps could spell catastrophe. In Debating China, Nina Hachigian pairs American and Chinese experts in collegial "letter exchanges" that illuminate this multi-dimensional and complex relationship. These fascinating conversations-written by highly respected scholars and former government officials from the U.S. and China-provide an invaluable dual perspective on such crucial issues as trade and investment, human rights, climate change, military dynamics, regional security in Asia, and the media, including the Internet. The engaging dialogue between American and Chinese experts gives readers an inside view of how both sides see the key challenges. Readers bear witness to the writers' hopes and frustrations as they explore the politics, values, history, and strategic frameworks that inform their positions. This unique volume is perfect for anyone who wants a deeper understanding of U.S.-China relations today.


Legitimacy in the time of COVID-19 can be understood as the ability of leaders to win compliance with new public health orders because people share a widespread belief that everyone is complying. This perspective, building on the logic of game theory, which can help explain strategic interactions among large numbers of people in a society or polity, yields a powerful insight: that governments in developing countries, as the first line of defense against a life-threatening disease, have received a windfall of legitimacy. On the one hand, this legitimacy windfall can be wasted, or worse, used to intensify divisive politics, grab power, and install government at the commanding heights of the economy and society, even after the pandemic recedes. On the other hand, for reform leaders and international development partners that are motivated to improve governance for economic development, the crisis presents opportunities to build trust in public institutions. In this task, international organizations have a comparative advantage precisely because they are not part of domestic political games. But this dynamic may require changing how donors typically approach corruption in developing countries (in the context of financial assistance to countries with institutional weaknesses that predate the crisis); it may also necessitate change in how reform leaders in countries use the advantage of external partners to exert pressure for reform. The availability and strategic communication of credible, nonideological, and nonpartisan knowledge could enable societies to change a vicious cycle of high levels of corruption/low levels of trust to a virtuous one of high levels of trust and low levels of corruption.


We have studied the threshold, slope efficiency, and emission kinetics in the NdSc3(BO3)4 random laser as a function of powder particle size. The experimental results are compared with the predictions of diffusion theory. It is shown that under a certain set of assumptions, the diffusion model can qualitatively explain major features in random laser behavior, such as the minimum of the threshold pumping energy at intermediate particle sizes. However, we could not describe with this model functional relationships between various system parameters measured in the experiment.


In 2004, the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty indicated that approximately 3.5 million people experienced homelessness. The literature indicates that families, specifically female-headed ones, are the fastest growing segment of the homeless population. The development of transitional housing has shown promise by seeking to move these homeless families towards independent living. A qualitative study based in grounded theory was utilized to explore the experiences of 10 female homeless participants at two regional transitional living facilities. Consistent themes that emerged included dissolution of relationships and a lack of personal supports as being the primary pathways that lead to homelessness. Concrete goals of women in transition focused on establishing housing and steady vocation. In an attempt to identify potential constructive programming congruent with the needs of homeless mothers, results overwhelmingly indicated that this population would benefit from problem-solving training, as well as additional networking opportunities. Application of the recovery model to the phenomenon of homelessness is also presented. WOMEN IN TRANSITION v


We develop a Bayesian framework for tackling the supervised clustering problem, the generic problem encountered in tasks such as reference matching, coreference resolution, identity uncertainty and record linkage. Our clustering model is based on the Dirichlet process prior, which enables us to define distributions over the countably infinite sets that naturally arise in this problem. We add supervision to our model by positing the existence of a set of unobserved random variables (we call these "reference types") that are generic across all clusters. Inference in our framework, which requires integrating over infinitely many parameters, is solved using Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques. We present algorithms for both conjugate and non-conjugate priors. We present a simple---but general---parameterization of our model based on a Gaussian assumption. We evaluate this model on one artificial task and three real-world tasks, comparing it against both unsupervised and state-of-the-art supervised algorithms. Our results show that our model is able to outperform other models across a variety of tasks and performance metrics.


Arguably, there is a tradition in Wittgenstein scholarship that sees his philosophy, and itself, as continuing modern philosophy in ways that are different from mainstream analytical philosophy and perhaps morally and intellectually superior to it. I have a sense of belonging, with some difficulty, to this tradition. Here, I try to make a contribution to the selfunderstanding and hence, transformation, of this tradition by doing the following. I first provide a list of topics that are, as it often appears to me, typically not dealt with adequately in the tradition I claim. The list has five topics: There is a mystification of three distinctions, i.e. of the everyday / philosophical; of the sense / nonsense and of the empirical / conceptual distinctions. My fourth misgiving is with the question who is addressed in philosophy and my fifth one is with how the question of critical standards is discussed and (dis)solved. I then discuss the fifth topic only in the light of some examples, one from debate about the Iraq war and the death penalty, one from discussion of pain and animal ethics, and one from the midsections of Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations, part 1 and from the response of Finn- Swedish poet Tua Forsstrom to it. I suggest a distinction between a volitional and an existential source for the kind of criticism that I am interested in here. In the end I draw some lessons from the foregoing with respect to how we place Wittgenstein in the history of Western philosophy; with respect to what we understand the aims of philosophy to be and with respect to how we understand its worth.


This paper argues that one can calculate the probability of an asset's price displacement in a specific direction assuming the asset complies with the physical principle of least action. It first suggests that the price displacement of a financial asset is essentially dampened harmonic motion and then applies physical principles such as the Lagrangian and stationary action to analyze this motion. From this analysis, the paper constructs a method to predict the probability of an asset's price displacement in both magnitude and direction. Initial tests show that the method produces accurate probability predictions.


A new digital divide is emerging both within and between nations that is due to inequalities in broadband Internet access. Our research examines the broadband digital divide by analyzing the impact of administrative culture and policy initiatives in the form of strategic planning, execution, regulation and investment on broadband diffusion in 139 countries. Our multiple regression analysis shows that factors that determine broadband diffusion in technologically developed countries do not necessarily have the same impact in less developed countries. For example, competition in the telecommunications sector has a positive impact in nations where access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) is expanding, but does not make a significant difference where ICT access is widely available. We also show that when controlling for measures of economic, political, social and educational development, there is greater broadband diffusion in countries that have an administrative culture of sound governance and make a higher shared financial investment in information and communication technologies. These results hold in nations where access to ICTs is expanding, even though the presence of a national telecommunications regulatory authority has a negative impact on broadband diffusion in the same group of countries. Our results suggest that the path to widespread availability and use of broadband requires different strategies depending on a nation's level of technological development. Furthermore, assessing overall government performance in terms of governance and policy initiatives on this journey is more important than factors such as the presence or absence of a national regulatory authority.


Long-term monitoring of the evolution of the artificial night sky brightness is a key tool for developing science-informed public policies and assessing the efficacy of light pollution mitigation measures. Detecting the underlying artificial brightness trend is a challenging task, since the typical night sky brightness signal shows a large variability with characteristic time scales ranging from seconds to years. In order to effectively isolate the weak signature of the effect of interest, determining the potential long term drifts of the radiance sensing systems is crucial. If these drifts can be adequately characterized, the raw measurements could be easily corrected for them and transformed to a consistent scale. In this short note we report on the progressive darkening of the signal recorded by SQM detectors belonging to several monitoring networks, permanently installed outdoors for periods ranging from several months to several years. The sensitivity drifts were estimated by means of parallel measurements made at the beginning and at the end of the evaluation periods using reference detectors of the same kind that were little or no exposed to weathering in the intervening time. Our preliminary results suggest that SQM detectors installed outdoors steadily increase their readings at an average rate of +0.034 magSQM/arcsec2 per MWh/m2 of exposure to solar horizontal global irradiation, that for our locations translates into approximately +0.05 to +0.06 magSQM/arcsec2 per year.


Background. The research methodology module was reviewed as part of the overall revision of the undergraduate physiotherapy curriculum of Stellenbosch University. This created an ideal platform from which to assess how to align the principles of evidence-based practice (EBP) with research methodology. Fostering the principles of EBP provides students with research skills and attributes to be able to seek, evaluate and integrate new knowledge and to apply critical thinking in order to effectively facilitate professional growth and support lifelong learning. Objective. To describe the process of changing the undergraduate research methodology module from a primary research to a secondary research approach.  Methods. We consulted international experts and searched the literature for ideas and concepts of how to incorporate the principles of EBP. The overall objective of the new research module was formulated to provide students with lifelong skills in obtaining, evaluating, synthesising and forming clinical recommendations, as well as applying research evidence to the clinical setting.  Results. Structuring the research methodology module using an EBP teaching framework prepares students to formulate a research question, effectively search for and critically appraise the evidence and formulate clinical recommendations. The barriers and strategies of implementing the new undergraduate research methodology module, as well as lessons learnt, are presented.  Conclusion. Utilising a secondary research approach in the form of a systematic review or meta-analysis in our undergraduate research methodology module provides the opportunity for students, as novice researchers, to be trained in the principles of EBP.