Presence of the cowpea weevil, Callosobruchus maculatus F., and the saw-toothed grain beetle, Orvxaephilus surinamensis L., and their propagation in cowpea and wheat, resulted in raising the moisture content of infested grains. The increase in moisture content of infested grain was greater at higher relative humidity ( 60 % ) than at lower one ( 40 % ). The 80 % relative humidity was unfavourable to both tested insects. The moisture content of the noninfested grains remained in equilibrium with atmospheric moisture. Fungi grew and developed more readily and in greater numbers in infested grain than in non infested one. The storage fungi continued growing in infested grains even after the death of all insects. The majority of storage fungi isolated from the tested grains belong to the genera Aspergillus, Penicillium, Alternaria, and Fusarium. A. glaucus, A. fumigatus, and Penicillium rubrum dominated the isolated mould counts.


Background: Differences in prevalence of H. pylori among
 racial and ethnic groups have been described worldwide.
 The aim of the present study was to evaluate the seroprevalence of H. pylori infection and factors
 associated with the H. pylori infection among Tay children
 and adults living in Vietnam.
Materials and methods: In a cross-sectional study 1,094
 healthy individuals of all generations living together in the
 same home were selected from 278 households, based on
 cluster sampling of residential location between
 September and December 2013 in Langson province. H. pylori infection status was determined by serology test on
 samples obtained at each visit. A questionnaire was filled
 out at the start of the study. H. pylori serology data were
 analyzed using χ2 test and logistic regression models.
Results: An overall H. pylori seroprevalence was 46.8%. H. pylori seroprevalence was 51.4% in adults versus 41.4% in
 children ≤18 years old (p<0.05). Regular hand washing
 after defecation and breastfeeding over 12 months were
 protective factors for H. pylori infection [OR (95%CI): 0.73,
 (0.39-0.92); 0.71 (0.35-0.94); respectively]. H. pylori infected mothers, first siblings and grandparents were
 found as risk factors for H. pylori infection in children [OR
 (95%CI): 2.98 (1.13-3.14), 1.4 (1.0-3.12), 1.41 (1.11-4.64);
 respectively]. No other factors such as size of household
 or sibling, infected fathers, regular sharing bed, collective
 life initiation and antibiotic use were found to be
 significant risk factors for infection
Conclusion: The first community-based study in Tay
 population showed moderate and indifferent rates of H. pylori infection. Data from the present study are
 consistent with intra-familial H. pylori transmission and
 suggest that improvement of living conditions should be
 protective against infection.


Recognizing an object's category and pose lies at the heart of visual understanding. Recent works suggest that deep neural networks (DNNs) often fail to generalize to category-pose combinations not seen during training. However, it is unclear when and how such generalization may be possible. Does the number of combinations seen during training impact generalization? Is it better to learn category and pose in separate networks, or in a single shared network? Furthermore, what are the neural mechanisms that drive the network's generalization? In this paper, we answer these questions by analyzing state-of-the-art DNNs trained to recognize both object category and pose (position, scale, and 3D viewpoint) with quantitative control over the number of category-pose combinations seen during training. We also investigate the emergence of two types of specialized neurons that can explain generalization to unseen combinations---neurons selective to category and invariant to pose, and vice versa. We perform experiments on MNIST extended with position or scale, the iLab dataset with vehicles at different viewpoints, and a challenging new dataset for car model recognition and viewpoint estimation that we introduce in this paper, the Biased-Cars dataset. Our results demonstrate that as the number of combinations seen during training increases, networks generalize better to unseen category-pose combinations, facilitated by an increase in the selectivity and invariance of individual neurons. We find that learning category and pose in separate networks compared to a shared one leads to an increase in such selectivity and invariance, as separate networks are not forced to preserve information about both category and pose. This enables separate networks to significantly outperform shared ones at predicting unseen category-pose combinations.


Weaving introspection with political commentary, biography with history, "The Promised Land", first published in 1912, brings to life the transformation of an Eastern European Jewish immigrant into an American citizen. Mary Antin recounts "the process of uprooting, transportation, replanting, acclimatization, and development that took place in [her] own soul" and reveals the impact of a new culture and new standards of behavior on her family. A feeling of division-between Russia and America, Jews and Gentiles, Yiddish and English-ever-present in her narrative is balanced by insights, amusing and serious, into ways to overcome it. In telling the story of one person, "The Promised Land" illuminates the lives of hundreds of thousands. Mary Antin was born into a Jewish family in Polotsk in Russian-ruled Poland. Her family moved to the United States when she was still a child and she lived in Boston and then New York, where she attended the Teachers College of Columbia University and Barnard University. The publication of her autobiography, "The Promised Land", made her famous and she lectured widely about the meaning of assimilation and her own story. She died in 1949.


The effect of blue and red light on the adaptation to low CO2 conditions was studied in high-CO2 grown cultures of Chlorella pyrenoidosa (82T) and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (137(+)) by measuring O-2 exchange under various inorganic carbon (C-i) concentrations. At equal photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD), blue light was more favourable for adaptation in both species, compared to red light. The difference in photosynthetic oxygen evolution between cells adapted to low C-i under blue and red light was more pronounced when oxygen evolution was measured under low C-i compared to high C-i conditions. The effect of light quality on adaptation remained for several hours. The different effects caused by blue and red light was observed in C. pyrenoidosa over a wide range of PPFD with increasing differences at increasing PPFD. The maximal difference was obtained at a PPFD above 1 500 mu mol m(-2) s(-1). We found no difference in the extracellular carbonic anhydrase activity between blue- and red light adapted cells. The light quality effect recorded under C-i-limiting conditions in C. reinhardtii cells adapted to air, was only 37% less when instead of pure blue light red light containing 12.5% of blue light (similar PPFD as blue light) was used during adaptation to low carbon. This indicates that in addition to affecting photosynthesis, blue light affected a sensory system involved in algal adaptation to low C-i conditions. Since the affinity for C-i of C. pyrenoidosa and C. reinhardtii cells adapted to air under blue light was higher than that of cells adapted under red light, we suggest that induction of some component(s) of the C-i accumulating mechanism is regulated by the light quality.


We consider the problem of low-sampling rate high-resolution channel estimation and timing for digital ultra-wideband (UWB) receivers. We extend some of our recent results in sampling of certain classes of parametric non-bandlimited signals and develop a frequency domain method for channel estimation and synchronization in ultra-wideband systems, which uses sub-Nyquist uniform sampling and well-studied computational procedures. In particular, the proposed method can be used for identification of more realistic channel models, where different propagation paths undergo different frequency-selective fading. Moreover, we show that it is possible to obtain high-resolution estimates of all relevant channel parameters by sampling a received signal below the traditional Nyquist rate. Our approach leads to faster acquisition compared to current digital solutions, allows for slower A/D converters, and potentially reduces power consumption of digital UWB receivers significantly.


There are many methods available to decrease permeability in the subsurface but one that has been the subject of much research over the last decade is microbially-induced carbonate precipitation (MICP). In this process, microbial activity is induced that increases pore water alkalinity. When calcium or other divalent cations are supplied to the system, solid carbonate minerals can form which occupy pore space and can decrease permeability. Permeability reduction can also come from microbial biofilms forming in the pore space. The goal of the work presented in this dissertation is to understand how pore space is affected, both physically and chemically, by biofilms and the precipitates that they can form. Fundamental research presented here is intended to inform ongoing application-based research and development. Previously it has been a challenge to image MICP at high resolution without the use of destructive techniques. To overcome that obstacle, a fluorescently-tagged bacterium capable of urea hydrolysis-driven MICP was constructed. Biofilms were grown in twodimensional microscale porous media reactors and allowed to precipitate calcium carbonate under varied conditions. These reactors were imaged noninvasively using confocal microscopy so that both biofilm and carbonate minerals could be resolved at micrometer resolution. Image analysis was utilized to quantify how much pore space was occupied by the biofilm and minerals in order to estimate porosity reduction. Finally, pore-scale reactive transport modeling was utilized in order to estimate local concentrations within the reactors. The results show that the extent to which the porosity and permeability of the porous medium was decreased depended on when the calcium was added to the system. Also, periods of low flow were found to decrease porosity and permeability to a greater extent. This result adds to the evidence that a pulsed flow injection strategy may be most effective for permeability reduction via MICP in the subsurface. Additionally, reactive transport modeling predicts a heterogeneous mineral saturation environment at the pore-scale which highlights the challenge of predicting precipitation behavior in Darcy-scale reactive transport models.


The surficial geology of the tectonically stable Bahamian archipelago preserves one of the most complete records of middle to late Quaternary sea-level-highstand cycles in the world. However, with the exception of deposits from marine isotope substage (MIS) 5e, fossil corals for radiometric dating of this rich stratigraphic sequence are rare. This study utilizes the previously published, independent lithostratigraphic framework as a testing ground for amino acid racemization in whole-rock limestone samples. At least six limestone–soil couplets provide a relative age sequence of events that encompass as many interglacial–glacial cycles. D-Alloisoleucine/L-isoleucine data fall into six clusters, or "aminozones." On the basis of independent dating and the inferred correlation with global MIS, the ages of several aminozones are known, while the ages of others are calculated from calibrated amino acid geochronology. This study demonstrates the utility of the whole-rock aminostratigraphy method for dating and correlating widespread emergent marine deposits, constitutes the first regional geochronological framework for the Bahamas, and highlights major sea-level events over the past half million years.


The equilibrium geometry, harmonic frequency and dissociation energy of LaCl have been calculated on B3LYP,MP2,QCISD(T) levels with the energy-consistent relativistic effective core potentials approximation. The possible electronic state and reasonable dissociation limit for the ground state of the molecule are determined based on Atomic and Molecular Reaction Statics (AMRS). The Potential energy curve scans for the ground state Σ have been carried out with B3LYP and QCISD(T) methods. Analytical Murrell-Sorbie (M-S) potential energy function and its Dunham expansion form around equilibrium position have also been derived with a nonlinear least-square fit. The calculated spectroscopic constants are in very good agreement with experimental results of vibrotational spectra. The analytical function we got is of much realistic importance due to its use in the calculation of transitional fine structure and the study of reaction dynamic process.


Around the world, average life expectancy is increasing. Adults of all ages face important decisions that affect their life outcomes and overall well-being. This paper reviews recent developments in research on age differences in decision-making competence. The measurement of age differences in decision-making competence is grounded in normative theories of decision making, which posit how people should be making decisions, as well as descriptive research, which aims to examine how people actually make decisions. Studies on age differences in decision making have shown mixed patterns of results, perhaps because of having included a wide range of decision-making competence tasks. Each decision task may rely on a different combination of skills, with some showing age-related declines and others showing no change or improvements with age. Here, I discuss the potential skills that may contribute to making good decisions, including cognitive deliberation, experience, emotions, and motivation. Although fluid cognitive abilities that underlie cognitive deliberation are known to decline with age, the others show different developments with age. I also discuss potential interventions that aim to target cognitive deliberation, experience, emotions, and motivation, so as to promote better decisions and associated life outcomes across the life span.


years, the optimal design of pipeline systems has become increasingly important in the water industry. In this study, the two methods of genetic algorithm and mathematical optimization were employed for the optimal design of pipeline systems with the objective of avoiding the water hammer effect caused by valve closure. The problem of optimal design of a pipeline system is a constrained one which should be converted to an unconstrained optimization problem using an external penalty function approach in the mathematical programming method. The quality of the optimal solution greatly depends on the value of the penalty factor that is calculated by the iterative method during the optimization procedure such that the computational effort is simultaneously minimized. The results obtained were used to compare the GA and mathematical optimization methods employed to determine their efficiency and capabilities for the problem under consideration. It was found that the mathematical optimization method exhibited a slightly better performance compared to the GA method.


Sponges assume a great variety of forms, some are
cylindrical and cup-shaped, others are flattened, spherical,
and finger shaped, varying in size from small specks to
gigantic dimensions, the latter exemplified in the so-called
"Neptune's Cup," (Thalassema neptuni) a specimen of which
is in the Museum of the Society. Some of the sponges
display a great variety of rich colours, from bright scarlet
and mauve, to pale yellow and rose, but the beautiful and
delicate tints change when exposed to the air to a dull
brownish hue. Sponges are formed of a soft glairy substance
termed sarcode, which envelopes a skeleton composed of
silicious, calcareous, or horny material. The first exemplified
by the Euplectella, Hyalonema, Holienia, Rossella,c
c
the second by the genus Grantia, and the last by the common
sponge (Spongia communis) forming an elastic substance
extensively employed for domestic purposes.


Emotion has a substantial influence on the cognitive processes in humans, including perception, attention, learning, memory, reasoning, and problem solving. Emotion has a particularly strong influence on attention, especially modulating the selectivity of attention as well as motivating action and behavior. This attentional and executive control is intimately linked to learning processes, as intrinsically limited attentional capacities are better focused on relevant information. Emotion also facilitates encoding and helps retrieval of information efficiently. However, the effects of emotion on learning and memory are not always univalent, as studies have reported that emotion either enhances or impairs learning and long-term memory (LTM) retention, depending on a range of factors. Recent neuroimaging findings have indicated that the amygdala and prefrontal cortex cooperate with the medial temporal lobe in an integrated manner that affords (i) the amygdala modulating memory consolidation; (ii) the prefrontal cortex mediating memory encoding and formation; and (iii) the hippocampus for successful learning and LTM retention. We also review the nested hierarchies of circular emotional control and cognitive regulation (bottom-up and top-down influences) within the brain to achieve optimal integration of emotional and cognitive processing. This review highlights a basic evolutionary approach to emotion to understand the effects of emotion on learning and memory and the functional roles played by various brain regions and their mutual interactions in relation to emotional processing. We also summarize the current state of knowledge on the impact of emotion on memory and map implications for educational settings. In addition to elucidating the memory-enhancing effects of emotion, neuroimaging findings extend our understanding of emotional influences on learning and memory processes; this knowledge may be useful for the design of effective educational curricula to provide a conducive learning environment for both traditional "live" learning in classrooms and "virtual" learning through online-based educational technologies.


The removal of 4–Nitrophenol (4–NP) from aqueous media by adsorption is studied in a batch system using different porous materials: activated carbon, zirconia, alumina, sepiolite, natural zeolite and 13X zeolite. Depending on their adsorption capacities, the best adsorbent was chosen to be impregnated with different levels of nickel (Ni) in order to study the adsorption by π-complexation in batch and continuous systems. The samples of Ni(x)/support (x= 2, 4, 6%) were prepared by wet impregnation and were characterised using the same method as with all the materials, by N2 adsorption-desorption using the BET method, surface acidity and Z potential measurements by electrophoretic migration. The samples were measured in a UV-Vis electrophotometer at a wavelength of 318 nm, while the adsorption capacity of the material in the batch system was determined by calculating the difference in concentration once the adsorbent became saturated after an initial concentration of ~20 ppm, and in the continuous system this was done by integrating the area under the adsorption curve. The results suggest that adsorption capacity depends on the specific BET area, apparent acid strength and the IEP of each support, and that it varies with the addition of Ni.


This article reflects on the dynamics of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) states' political economy and its implications for Africa's continuous effort to search for new developmental paradigms. The core questions addressed in the article are: What are the BRICS states specifically proposing to the existing world order and the global south in the areas of paradigms of economic and social development and systems of governance? What do these countries have in common? Can this commonality be instrumentalised and converted in favour of African progress? What is the ideological foundation of their solidarity? Within the pragmatism and ideology related to this solidarity, are the BRICS states proposing new development schemes to replace the failed old, top-down, anarchical, market-based, linear, and one-size-fits-all model of social and economic development? Based on the dynamics of the BRICS grouping and the movements of its members, it is argued that the emerging markets and economies in the Global South, regardless of the ideological contradictions and internal structural political weaknesses among its members, implies that the business-as-usual approach in the practices of the institutions of international political economy and world politics is no longer the only pragmatic way of conducting business. To have a significant impact in Africa, BRICS's activities should be shaped and guided by the bottom-up perspectives. BRICS strongly calls for shifts of paradigms in the realm of the world power and for qualitative state intervention in the management of the invisible hand of Adam Smith.


Burning biogas in a combined heat and power (CHP) plant is a promising option to reduce the emissions and the operational cost of a WWTP. However, the biogas generated in anaerobic digestion
facilities in WWTPs contains average concentrations of H2S in the range from 0.1 to 0.5 vol.% which has to be removed to avoid corrosion, unnecessary production of by-products, and SO2 emissions. In a biotrickling filter (BTF), the H2S is absorbed and removed in a packed column where biomass is immobilized, being a liquid phase continuously recirculated from the bottom of the reactor.
Advances in mathematical modelling of biofilters have allowed improving the knowledge of the phenomena and interactions involved in the biological desulfurization of biogas (Almenglo et al. 2013).
The principal limitation for the long term operation of BTF in biogas sweetening is the accumulation of elemental sulphur due to oxygen mass transfer limitations. Apart from reducing the removal efficiency,
this accumulation increases pressure drops, thus it increases the operation cost to blow the air through the bed, and force frequent maintenance tasks to replace or wash the packing material.
In the present study, the dynamic model developed and validated by Rodriguez (2013) has been used to evaluate different control strategies and optimize the performance of a BTF located in the WWTP of Manresa (Barcelona). Particularly, the use of different kind of packing materials (organic and inorganic) has been evaluated to determine in different operation conditions which removal efficiency
(RE) and sulphur accumulation could be expected, i.e time period of operation before the forced shutdown.
Additionally, an optimal distribution of different particle sizes of materials has been proposed to reduce sulphur rate production, affecting minimally the abatement efficiencies currently obtained.


The health and physical activity (PA) needs of people living with disabilities are underserved and understudied. This article provides an overview of research on PA and health research in people with disabilities. Research gaps and inequities are highlighted, along with their impact on advancing the fundamental rights of people with disabilities to fully participate in PA. The importance of translational PA research to disability communities is described. We provide case studies from two lines of PA and disability research that have been moved along the translational spectrum and into practice. The article concludes with three calls to action to kinesiology research and practitioners: (a) to include people with disabilities in research; (b) to advocate for adequate resources and support in alignment with equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts; and (c) to work in meaningful partnership with people with disabilities to support translational research programs that have real-world impacts.


Background/aim Reference values are needed in order to interpret the Copenhagen Hip and Groin Outcome Score (HAGOS) in male soccer players with hip and groin pain. The aim of this study was to establish reference values for HAGOS in hip and groin injury-free male soccer players. Methods We included 444 groin injury-free soccer players from 40 clubs (divisions 1–4) in Eastern Denmark, mean age (SD) 23.6 (4.4), training soccer 3.4 (1) times per week. All players were hip and groin injury-free at the time of inclusion (beginning of season, 2011). Results Of the 444 hip and groin injury-free players, 301 reported no hip and/or groin pain in either the present or the previous season, and 143 reported that they had experienced hip and/or groin pain in the previous season. Players (n=143) with hip and groin pain in the previous season displayed lower scores than players without (n=301), for all HAGOS subscales (p<0.001). Age and playing level were not related to HAGOS. The 95% reference ranges for HAGOS subscales in hip and groin injury-free soccer players, with no pain in the previous or present season (n=301), are: pain: 80.1–100, symptoms: 64.3–100, activities of daily living: 80.3–100, sport and recreational activities: 71.9–100, participation in physical activity: 75–100 and quality of living: 75–100. Conclusions Lower HAGOS subscales are seen in soccer players who have experienced hip and/or groin pain in the previous season, compared with those who have not. Median HAGOS subscale scores in hip and groin injury-free soccer players are in proximity to the maximum score (100 points).


In the southern United States, the turn of the 20th century saw the high-grading of virgin pine stands that left millions of acres of forestland in desperate condition. Some of these southern pine stands now support thriving forests whose patterns and processes resemble those extant before they were cut a century ago, but others do not. The success of this recovery in the southern pinery was based upon three primary elements. First, the silvics of the species had something to do with the success of their restoration; some of the southern pines have inherent ecological attributes that lend themselves to restoration, and others do not. Second, the plasticity of high-graded stands under the artful hand of the silviculturists of the day was instrumental in the recovery, partly because of the trees, and partly because of the silviculturists. Finally, major advances in silvicultural science provided astounding successes, and sometimes profound malpractice, in enabling or inhibiting the recovery. A qualitative and quantitative silvicultural review of that history can help modern silviculturists achieve goals of integrated restoration for multi-resource benefits on public and private lands, both regionally and nationally. Key elements for contemporary silviculturists to consider are: 1) that restoration of process drives restoration of structure; 2) that successful restoration demands that a silviculturist balance the cognitive dissonance between economics and ecology; 3) that some tools that traditionally have been associated with intensive forestry for fiber production can help restoration prescriptions succeed at functionally meaningful ecological scale; 4) that a diversity of silvicultural practices among stands across a landscape is more robust than a uniformity of practice; and 5) that restoration will be easier in some forest types than in others regardless of the silviculturist's efforts.


Pantelleria is dominated by a caldera 6 km in diameter that formed 55,000 yr ago during eruption of a rheomorphic fall deposit that is zoned from pantellerite to trachyte. Trachytic lavas then built a shield that nearly filled the caldera. Magma subsequently reinflated the shallow reservoir and raised the northwest half of the trachyte shield 275 m, creating Montagna Grande by trapdoor uplift. The lid eventually failed, and pantellerite magma erupted as domes, flows, and pumice cones along the trapdoor faults and their hingeline. We have identified a second caldera ∼93,000 yr old, within which the younger caldera is nested; a still-older structure may encircle them both. Replenishment of magma reservoirs beneath calderas can promote dilatant reactivation of older subsidence structures, resulting in multicyclic collapses that reuse these structures and produce nested calderas.


The Legislative Reference Service, it was charged with responding to congressional requests for information. For more than 50 years, this department assisted Congress primarily by providing facts and publications and by transmitting research and analysis done largely by other government agencies, private organizations, and individual scholars. In 1970, Congress enacted a law transforming the Legislative Reference Service into the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and directing CRS to devote more of its efforts and increased resources to performing research and analysis that assists Congress in direct support of the legislative process.


The article attempts to define the relevant yardsticks that can be used to delineate the end of the transition process or, alternatively, a second stage in the post-socialist economic transformation into market capitalism. A first benchmark is EU accession, but it does not apply to non accession transitional economies. Moreover, a delay is going to appear between accession and the full benefit of common policies - a second transition period will open in May 2004. Convergence criteria are likely to postpone the end of transition for decades, if not for ever. Institution building varies significantly among transition countries, but the non accession countries are trapped for a long time in a no man's land between the former system and a market economy with its necessary institutions. Our privileged analysis is that transition ends when the economic phenomena that are specific to transition will vanish (and the associated concepts will disappear). These are assumed to be transformational recession, transitional unemployment, barterisation, the typical informal sector and managerial entrenchment. They are not going to fade away without a second stage of transition


Blockchain technology is expected to create a variety of new opportunities for businesses. Yet, little is known about how the technology actually enables to create value and how companies will be able to exploit true business value. However, without a clear understanding of the value creation potential from the technology, and corresponding adaption of business practices, the realization of value is doomed to failure. Hence, we contribute to this gap by exploring and explicating the specificities of value creation from blockchain in the ecosystem of a car. In the course of an exploratory case study analysis, over a time period of 2 years, we conducted three iterations of interviews and workshops with industry and blockchain experts from five diverse stakeholder groups. In brief, we provide early evidence that (1) blockchain enables value creation through: Distributed Product Innovation, Shared Operational Efficiency, and Controlled Customer Intimacy. Furthermore, we discuss our learnings for businesses in other domains aiming to leverage value from blockchain technology. We do so, by deriving guidelines for each blockchain value discipline. Furthermore, we give recommendations on how blockchain projects in ecosystems should approach multiple blockchain value potentials.


Alice Dixon (1851-1910) was born into a comfortable middle class life in London that she eagerly left behind to travel to Yucatan as the young bride of Maya archaeologist Augustus Le Plongeon. Working side by side as photographers and archaeologists, the Le Plongeons were the first to excavate and systematically photograph the Maya sites of Chichen Itza and Uxmal. After spending eleven years in the field, she devoted the rest of her life to lecturing and published books and articles on a wide range of topics, including her exploration of Maya civilization, political activism and social justice, and epic poetry. Alice's papers became public in 1999 and included photographs, unpublished manuscripts, correspondence, and a handwritten diary; over two thousand of her prints and negatives survive today in public and private collections. Combined with Lawrence Desmond's biography of this remarkable woman's life, her diary offers readers a rare glimpse of life in the Yucatan peninsula during the final quarter of the nineteenth century, and an insider's view of fieldwork just prior to the emergence of Mesoamerican archaeology as a professional discipline.


This paper describes an innovative platform, called the Pocket School that integrates mobile technologies into teaching and learning, and particularly the tracking and monitoring of students performance. Pocket School, exploits the use of personal digital assistance (PDA) to provide mobile and instant graphical display and analysis of students' learning profiles that include trend analysis and predictive modeling. It also furnishes reports and progress tracks for determining student achievement baselines, and improves the quality of teaching and learning, data-driven decision making and school accountability. Pocket School serves both the school administrators and teachers. We have also highlighted and proposed solutions on specific technical and design issues relating to hand held devices, such as information display on small screen, information security, and the overall system architecture.


Background : according to ISTAT (National Institute of Statistics-Italy), in 2011 20.7% of the foreign population in Italy is composed by children, either coming along with their families or alone, like in international adoptions. Immigrant children have some peculiarities related to their previous living conditions, although there are no significant differences between immigrant and native children' diseases. Methods : in 3.5 years we evaluated every adoptee that reached our university centre, by using GLNBI (Gruppo di Lavoro Nazionale del Bambino Immigrato) diagnostic – aiding protocol, in order to assess infectious diseases, nutritional deficiencies, immunization status, intestinal parasitosis or other pathologies; this protocol is actually applied only in research centres. Results : we evaluated 358 international adoptees from 4 different Zones of the world; average age at first visit was approximately 5 years. Health certifications concerning vaccination history records were considered "valid" in 59.2% (212/358), 49.5% (105/212) of which had a complete panel of immunization. QuantiFERON®_TB Gold In-Tube (QTF) test resulted negative in 94.0% cases (313/333) and positive in 6.0% (20/333). HIV, HCV and Syphilis tests resulted in 0.3% positive test for each serology (1/358). Cysticercosis' serology was positive in 8.9% (32/358) using immunoenzymatic assay (not confirmed by immunoblotting) and Toxocariasis in 13.1% (47/358). Parasitological investigation of faeces were found positive on 42.7% (153/358) children, throat swabs in 11.5% (41/358) children. There were 82.4% (295/358) abnormal blood count, 41.9% (150/358) low ferritin, 89.9% (322/358) endocrine abnormalities and 20.4% (73/358) various pathologies evaluated by specialists. Conclusions : pathologies affecting our study group are the same affecting other categories of immigrant children, because they often share similar living conditions as orphanage or crowded residencies, low and poor intake of appropriate nutrients for growing ages, leading to malnutrition, vitamin D deficiency, iron deficiency anaemia and intestinal parasitosis. Vaccination records are often not available or reliable. A similar protocol could therefore be helpfully used as an initial management of children coming from a different setting.


This essay reads Fletcher and Shakespeare's final collaboration, a dramatic adaptation of The Knight's Tale, as an anxious engagement with the Renaissance's understanding of Chaucer as a vernacular auctor, with that word's imbricated senses of authorship, authority, and paternity. From his earliest encomiasts to the late sixteenth century, Chaucer was figured as the father of English literature, a tradition culminating in Thomas Speght's extravagant folio edition of the Workes (1598). Unlike other early modern dramatic adaptations of Chaucerian texts, The Two Noble Kinsmen explicitly names and praises its canonical source. However, the play's relationship with its auctor is at once reverential and confrontational, as the text thematizes its struggle to create art from a venerable literary monument. Allegorizing the treatment of auctoritas throughout the play, Fletcher and Shakespeare find spaces for resistance to authority and imaginative invention within structures of containment at a time when dramatic writing was grappling with its own relationship to the literary.


As with most great things, it began in a bar. We were basking in the afterglow of the first "Virtual Futures" conference, in May 1994. As usual, conversation turned to Pynchon. He hadn't come to the conference. And yet in many ways "Virtual Futures" was about Gravity's Rainbow. With pints at hand to ease a post-conference lull that marked the end of this interregnum and the reinstitution of order in our academic lives, we decided a conference detailing the impact of Pynchon on contemporary digital culture was the next logical step. Thus from the ashes of "Virtual Futures" arose the grim phoenix of "Thomas Pynchon: Schizophrenia and Social Control."


How do teacher incentives affect student achievement? We contribute to this question by examining the effects of the recent introduction of teacher performance-related pay and tournaments in Portugal's public schools. Specifically, we draw on matched student-school panel data covering the population of secondary school national exams over seven years. We then conduct a difference-in-differences analysis based on two complementary control groups: public schools in two autonomous regions that were exposed to lighter versions of the reform than in the rest of the country; and private schools, which are also subject to the same national exams but whose teachers were not affected by the reform. Our results consistently indicate that the increased focus on individual teacher performance caused a significant decline in student achievement, particularly in terms of national exams. The triple-difference results also document a significant increase in grade inflation.


The Advent Killer is the electrifying debut thriller from British author, Alastair Gunn. Christmas is coming. One body at a time. Three weeks before Christmas: Sunday, one a.m. A woman is drowned in her bathtub. One week later: Sunday, one a.m. A woman is beaten savagely to death, every bone in her body broken. Another week brings another victim. As panic spreads across London, DCI Antonia Hawkins, leading her first murder investigation, must stop a cold, careful killer whose twisted motives can only be guessed at, before the next body is found. On Sunday. When the clock strikes one ...A terrifying British debut thriller, The Advent Killer introduces DCI Antonia Hawkins, with the second in the series coming from Penguin in 2014. Fans of Chris Carter and Richard Montanari should be paying attention. Praise for The Advent Killer: "A truly terrifying debut novel." (My Weekly).


AIM
In this paper, we aim to explore the benefits of triangulation and to expose the positive contribution of using 'triangulation for completeness' within a study of a complex concept, namely patient participation during healthcare interaction.

BACKGROUND
Complex concepts, such as patient participation, are often the focus of nursing research. Triangulation has been proposed as a technique for studying complexity but, although debates about triangulation are becoming more prevalent in the literature, there is little deliberation about the process through which triangulation for completeness, with its claims of forming more comprehensive and rigorous descriptions of concepts through use of multiple data sources, yields it purported benefits.

METHODS
A seminar series, held between 2001 and 2003, brought together researchers actively involved in the study of patient participation in healthcare consultations. The group came from diverse methodological traditions and had undertaken research with a range of informants and a range of methods.

DISCUSSION
The various studies used triangulation at different levels: within studies, across studies and across disciplines. Our examples support theoretical arguments that triangulation for completeness can lead to a more holistic understanding of a concept and can improve scientific rigour. Furthermore, we suggest that triangulation can improve research skills for individuals. Our examples suggest that the process through which understanding is enhanced is discursive and centres on discussions of convergent and unique findings; rigour is improved is through challenging findings, being encouraged to explain aspects of your research that may be taken for granted and improving transparency; and individual researcher's skills and abilities are improved is through a process of discussion and reflexivity.

CONCLUSIONS
Triangulation for completeness, on various levels, can improve the quality and utility of research about complex concepts through a range of discursive processes. Developing greater opportunity to collaborate at various levels of analysis could be an important development in nursing research.


We present a novel method for characterizing mammographic findings using spectral imaging without the use of contrast agent. Within a statistical framework, suspicious findings are analyzed to determine if they are likely to be benign cystic lesions or malignant tissue. To evaluate the method, we have designed a phantom where combinations of different tissue types are realized by decomposition into the material bases aluminum and polyethylene. The results indicate that the lesion size limit for reliable characterization is below 10 mm diameter, when quantum noise is the only considered source of uncertainty. Furthermore, preliminary results using clinical images are encouraging, but allow no conclusions with significance.


Inpainting, the technique of modifying an image in an undetectable form, is as ancient as art itself. The goals and applications of inpainting are numerous, from the restoration of damaged paintings and photographs to the removal/replacement of selected objects. In this paper, we introduce a novel algorithm for digital inpainting of still images that attempts to replicate the basic techniques used by professional restorators. After the user selects the regions to be restored, the algorithm automatically fills-in these regions with information surrounding them. The fill-in is done in such a way that isophote lines arriving at the regions' boundaries are completed inside. In contrast with previous approaches, the technique here introduced does not require the user to specify where the novel information comes from. This is automatically done (and in a fast way), thereby allowing to simultaneously fill-in numerous regions containing completely different structures and surrounding backgrounds. In addition, no limitations are imposed on the topology of the region to be inpainted. Applications of this technique include the restoration of old photographs and damaged film; removal of superimposed text like dates, subtitles, or publicity; and the removal of entire objects from the image like microphones or wires in special effects.


Unsafe water remains a significant public health threat in high and low income countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) promotes Water Safety Plans (WSPs) as the most effective means of consistently ensuring the safety of a drinking-water supply. Although health benefits of WSP implementation have been shown, there is a lack of information relating water supplier characteristics to expected costs. Costing practices were adapted from food quality management studies and applied to six water suppliers from the Western Pacific Region, as designated by WHO. The explanation building procedure was used to develop understanding of relationships between drinking-water supply agency (DWSA) characteristics and WSP implementation costs. The results indicate that costs associated with WSP implementation are expected to be low for developed DWSAs; however, for developing DWSAs, there is high variability in costs which indicates further research may not improve generalized WSP cost estimations. Furthermore, developing DWSAs experience large and highly variable capital and operational monitoring costs. The capital and operational monitoring improvements are necessary to achieving a safe water supply and may require ongoing financial and technical resources to execute.


Abstract Contradictory empirical and theoretical evidence on the relationship between innovation and competition has been reconciled in a model that yields an inverted U-shaped curve. I test whether the predictions of the model are supported by the data with an unbalanced panel of firms for 1990–2003 in a high productivity growth, high-tech industry, Finnish ICT manufacturing. In particular, I investigate how well alternative, yet rigorous measures of innovation and the technology gap, such as R&D intensity, R&D elasticity, technical change, technical efficiency and total factor productivity fare with respect to competition measured by the Lerner index. The results prove sensitive to the choice of variable. Overall, the model is not supported by the empirical evidence of the industry.


Purpose
This study aims to fill the gaps in mandated reports with social accounts to provide more inclusive accountability during a crisis using the illustrative example of Anglicare's Newmarch House during a deadly COVID-19 outbreak.

Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a close-reading method to analyse Anglicare's annual review, reports, board meeting minutes and Royal Commission into Aged Care submissions. Informed by Foucault's concept of biopolitics, the study collocates alternate "social accounts" in the form of investigative journalism, newspaper articles and media commentary on the events that transpired at Newmarch House to unveil a more nuanced and human-centric rendering of the ramifications of a public health/aged care crisis.

Findings
COVID-19 exacerbated pre-existing issues within the aged care sector, exemplified by Newmarch House. The privileging of financial concerns and lack of care, leadership and accountability contributed to residents' physical, emotional and psychological distress. The biopolitical policy pursued by powerful actors let die vulnerable individuals while simultaneously making live more productive citizens and "the economy".

Research limitations/implications
Organisations express their accountability by using financial information provided by accounting, even during circumstances with more prevailing humanistic concerns. A transformational shift in how we define, view and teach accounting is required to recognise accounting as a social and moral practice that should instead prioritise human dignity and care for the betterment of our world.

Originality/value
This paper contributes to the limited literature on aged care, extending particularly into the impact of COVID-19 while contributing to the literature concerned with crisis accountability. To the best of the author's knowledge, this paper is also the first to examine a form of biopolitics centred on making live something other than persons – the economy.


Since the birth of charge coupled devices (CCD) and the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) active pixel sensors, pixel pitch of digital image sensors has been continuously shrinking to meet the resolution and size requirements of the cameras. However, shrinking pixels reduces the maximum number of photons a sensor can hold, a phenomenon broadly known as the full-well capacity limit. The drop in full-well capacity causes drop in signal-to-noise ratio and dynamic range.The Quanta Image Sensor (QIS) is a class of solid-state image sensors proposed by Eric Fossum in 2005 as a potential solution for the limited full-well capacity problem. QIS is envisioned to be the next generation image sensor after CCD and CMOS since it enables sub-diffraction-limit pixels without the inherited problems of pixel shrinking. Equipped with a massive number of detectors that have single-photon sensitivity, the sensor counts the incoming photons and triggers a binary response "1" if the photon count exceeds a threshold, or "0" otherwise. To acquire an image, the sensor oversamples the space and time to generate a sequence of binary bit maps. Because of this binary sensing mechanism, the full-well capacity, signal-to-noise ratio and the dynamic range can all be improved using an appropriate image reconstruction algorithm. The contribution of this thesis is to address three image processing problems in QIS: 1) Image reconstruction, 2) Threshold design and 3) Color filter array design.Part 1 of the thesis focuses on reconstructing the latent grayscale
image from the QIS binary measurements. Image reconstruction is a
necessary step for QIS because the raw binary measurements are not
images. Previous methods in the literature use iterative algorithms
which are computationally expensive. By modeling the QIS binary
measurements as quantized Poisson random variables, a new non-iterative
image reconstruction method based on the Transform-Denoise framework is
proposed. Experimental results show that the new method produces better
quality images while requiring less computing time.Part 2 of the thesis considers the threshold design problem of a QIS. A
spatially-varying threshold can significantly improve the reconstruction
 quality and the dynamic range. However, no known method of how to
achieve this can be found in the literature. The theoretical analysis of
 this part shows that the optimal threshold should match with the
underlying pixel intensity. In addition, the analysis proves the
existence of a set of thresholds around the optimal threshold that give
asymptotically unbiased reconstructions. The asymptotic unbiasedness has
 a phase transition behavior. A new threshold update scheme based on
this idea is proposed. Experimentally, the new method can provide good
estimates of the thresholds with less computing budget compared to
existing methods.Part 3 of the thesis extends QIS capabilities to color imaging by
studying how a color filter array should be designed. Because of the
small pixel pitch of QIS, crosstalk between neighboring pixels is
inevitable and should be considered when designing the color filter
arrays. However, optimizing the light efficiency while suppressing
aliasing and crosstalk in a color filter array are conflicting tasks. A
new optimization framework is proposed to solve the problem. The new
framework unifies several mainstream design criteria while offering
generality and flexibility. Extensive experimental comparisons
demonstrate the effectiveness of the framework.


We study generalization properties of distributed algorithms in the setting of nonparametric regression over a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS). We first investigate distributed stochastic gradient methods (SGM), with mini-batches and multi-passes over the data. We show that optimal generalization error bounds (up to logarithmic factor) can be retained for distributed SGM provided that the partition level is not too large. We then extend our results to spectral algorithms (SA), including kernel ridge regression (KRR), kernel principal component regression, and gradient methods. Our results show that distributed SGM has a smaller theoretical computational complexity, compared with distributed KRR and classic SGM. Moreover, even for a general non-distributed SA, they provide optimal, capacity-dependent convergence rates, for the case that the regression function may not be in the RKHS.


Objective To explore the safety, feasibility and superiority of minimally invasive percutaneous nephrolithotomy(MPCNL) in treating complicated renal calculi. Methods 106 patients suffering from complicated renal calculi were treated with 121 MPCNL. Results 89 cases underwent MPCNL with single tract ,29 cases with two tracts and 3 cases with three tracts in 106 patients. Renal calculi were cleared completely in 90 patients with one-staged MPCNL, 11 patients with two-staged MPCNL but 5 patients had residual renal calculi and treated with extracorporal shock wave lithotripsy(ESWL) afterwards. 92. 6% calculi free-rate was achieved. Average operation time was 91 minutes,bleeding ranged from 100 to 900 ml and 5 patients accepted 200~400 ml blood. There were no severe complications in all patients. Conclusion MPCNL is a minmally invasive, safe and effective operation for comlicated renal calculi.

Key words:
Percutaneous nephrolithotomy; Renal calculi; Minimally invasive operation


This report summarizes previous phases of the Access to Destinations project and applies the techniques developed over the course of the project to conduct an evaluation of accessibility in the Twin Cities metropolitan region for 2010. It describes a methodology that can be used to implement future evaluations of accessibility, including a discussion of the development and use of software tools created for this evaluation. The goal of the 2010 accessibility evaluation is twofold: it seeks both to generate an accurate representation of accessibility in 2010, and to identify data sources, methods, and metrics that can be used in future evaluations. The current focus on establishing replicable data sources and methodology in some cases recommends or requires changes from those used in previous Access to Destinations research. In particular, it is important to standardize data sources and parameters to ensure comparability between multiple evaluations over time. This evaluation recommends data sources and methodology that provide a good representation of actual conditions, that are based on measurements rather than models that provide a reasonable expectation of continuity in the future and that are usable with a minimum of manual processing and technical expertise.


Advances in terahertz (THz) spectroscopy and solid‐state density functional theory (DFT) have enabled a better understanding of low‐frequency molecular phonon modes in the region that includes intermolecular interactions. Normal modes in this region, in particular, may have contributions under the harmonic approximation from both intermolecular and intramolecular nuclear motions. A newly developed mode analysis allows us to characterize molecular optical phonon modes in terms of intermolecular and intramolecular vibrational mixing for the C60 , anthracene, adenine, α‐glycine, and l‐alanine crystals. Through systematic investigation, two forms of the vibrational mixing have been identified. One is strong mixing within similar characteristic frequency regions, while the other is weak mixing of distinct characteristic frequency regions separated by a large gap. The former is predictable from classical mechanics and appears in molecular systems having structural flexibility. The latter is nonclassical and has been illustrated in amino acids. This finding provides new insights into the nature of molecular optical phonon modes and related physical and/or chemical processes such as energy transfer between internal and external modes with large energy separation. WIREs Comput Mol Sci 2016, 6:386–409. doi: 10.1002/wcms.1256


Summary. Control of brown spot of pear requires fungicide treatments of pear trees during the growing season. Scheduling fungicide sprays with the Brown spot of pear forecasting system (BSPcast) provides significant fungicide savings but does not increase the efficacy of disease control. Modifications in BSPcast were introduced in order to increase system performance. The changes consisted of: (1) the use of a daily infection risk (Rm≥0.2) instead of the 3-day cumulative risk (CR≥0.4) to guide the fungicide scheduling, and (2) the inclusion of the effect of relative humidity during interrupted wetness periods. Trials were performed during 2 years in an experimental pear orchard in Spain. The modifications introduced did not result in increased disease control efficacy, compared with the original BSPcast system. In one year, no reduction in the number of fungicide applications was obtained using the modified BSPcast system in comparison to the original system, but in the second year the number of treatments was reduced from 15 to 13. The original BSPcast model overestimated the daily infection risk in 6.5% of days with wetness periods with low relative humidity during the wetness interruption, and in these cases the modified version was more adequate.


The purpose of the study was to explore the role of spirituality in the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS, which was aimed at exploring the different spiritual beliefs held by that group of people and the importance of those beliefs in helping them to live with HIV/AIDS. A qualitative approach, using an exploratory research design was undertaken using twenty-five purposefully selected participants from the support group of people living with HIV/AIDS at Philani Clinic in King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban. Data were collected by utilizing focus-group interviews followed by one-on-one individual interviews. An audio tape recorder was used to record the interviews. Field notes and memos were also kept to strengthen the data and to ensure trustworthiness. The socio-demographic characteristics of participants were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 11.5) for Windows; the results are displayed in the form of tables, graphs, percentages and presented in the methodology section of chapter three. The qualitative data were transcribed and analyzed manually by assembling the transcript from each interview and utilized to form major themes, sub-themes, categories and sub-categories that emerged from the data. In this study spirituality was described as a four-dimensional cognitive (mental) relationship with the transcendent being/higher power/ultimate reality, a relationship of love, forgiveness and connectedness that is reinforced by one's belief system. The result of this relationship is the achievement of inner peace, which produced a general sense of wellness that is usually subjective. General wellness could be physical health, mental health, acceptance of things that one cannot change and quality of life. Common themes identified from the sample included spirituality, defined as a personal relationship with God or a higher power that facilitates love, forgivingness and connectedness; taking precaution, respecting the elders and believing in God for everything. HIV/AIDS was found not to be a curse from God, but an ordinary illness, even though other participants believed that it was God's plan to bring humanity back to Him, while others believed that it was a blessing. The study also found that HIV/AIDS could be prevented through the continuous use of condoms, faithfulness in marriage and abstinence, but some believed that its cure could only come from God after the accomplishment of the purpose for which He allowed the infection. However some study participants believed that the cure would be discovered through research. The benefit of the spiritual belief that helped participants to cope with the infection was the achievement of inner peace, which was achieved through restoration of relationships.


K. Danner Clouser was the first philosopher to teach ethics in a medical school. The question of the relationship of philosophy to the moral problems of medicine is one that has been on my mind almost daily for twenty-five years. From the very beginning of my career, I have been constantly alert to whatever connection I could find between the theories of philosophers and the everyday moral dilemmas of physicians and patients. Philosophy has indeed contributed significantly to medical ethics. Though the connection between the lofty theories of ethics and the moral dilemmas of health professionals and patients is complicated and problematic, the forced dialogue between the theories and the problems has been crucial in helping to systematize, to focus, and to pose the fruitful, organizing questions. Remember that twenty-five to thirty years ago, medical ethics was hardly even individuated as a field. It was a mixture of religion, whimsy, exhortation, legal precedents, various traditions, philosophies of life, miscellaneous moral rules, and epithets (uttered by either wise or witty physicians). I believe philosophy provided the push toward systematization, consistency, and clarity, as progress within medicine increasingly erupted into moral dilemmas. The maneuvers, ploys, and strategies of philosophy have been important for bringing system and organization to medical ethics. It asks probing and organizing questions; it understands how to discover and work with assumptions, implications, and foundations. Conceptual analysis, which is central to the "doing of philosophy," has been central also to the doing of medical ethics. In the late 1960s I often referred to what I was doing as "conceptual geography," to suggest that I was showing what and how these certain crucial concepts were related to each other. But do any of philosophy's contributions to bioethics imply that bioethics is philosophy? Of course not. At least not in any straightforward way. Other disciplines approach these moral problems from their own perspective--e.g., law, sociology, journalism, religion, and medicine itself. Bioethics essentially concerns a particular arena of human activity and the morality relating to it. Many disciplines have morally relevant insights into these activities, as well as organizing concepts. According to some, bioethics brought fame and fortune to philosophy, a public notice and acclaim it had never had: it brought burgeoning classes and massive opportunities for funding. It brought to philosophy a new air of excitement--a new challenge, a new database to explore and exploit. Bioethics brought purpose and immediacy to philosophy. Philosophers were needed--even wanted! They had to reach conclusions and make recommendations for action. exciting new world! On the other hand, however, many philosophers would claim that bioethics brought nothing but sophistry and degradation, a kind of prostitution of what was good and pure in philosophy. These latter believed either that bioethicists (so-called) were peddling sham knowledge (philosophy which was inadequate or inappropriate for the job to be done), or that bioethicists were doing something unworthy of the higher calling of philosophy--unworthy because bioethics was seen as a mechanic's job of merely applying the intellectual masterpieces of real philosophers to practical and mundane problems, and real philosophers, after all, do not traffic in the mundane. …


This is the second part of an article concerning the ethical and doctrinal changes to Japanese Buddhism that occurred as a result of its centuries long, syncretistic connection to the indigenous religion of Shintō. The first part of this article, entitled "Counting the Cost of Buddhist Syncretism", may be read here: http://www.jocbs.org/index.php/jocbs/article/view/186. While reading the first article is not required, its contents will nevertheless provide a helpful context for the events described in this article.


The main purpose of this contribution is to develop  realistic prediction digital soil maps in order to increase their visuality, and to evaluate and compare the performance of different modeling techniques: a) Kriging, b) Artificial Neural Network – Multilayer Perceptron (ANN-MLP) and c) Multiple Polynomial Regressions (MPR). The following  criteria were used to determine selection of the testing site for the modeling: (1) intensive metal ore mining and metallurgical processing; (2) geomorphological natural features; (3) regular geological setting, and (4) the remaining minefields.
The success of Digital Soil Mapping and the plausibility of prediction maps increases with the availability of spatial data, the availability of computing power for processing data, the development of data-mining tools, geographical information systems (GIS) and numerous applications beyond geostatistics. Advanced prediction modeling techniques, ANN-MLP and MPR include geospatial parameters sourced from Digital Elevation Models (DEM), land use and remote sensing, applied in combination with costly and time-consuming soil measurements, developed and finally incorporated into the models of spatial distribution in the form of 2D or 3D maps. Innovative approaches to modeling assist us in the reconstruction of different processes that impact the entire study area, simultaneously. This holistic approach represents a novelty in contamination mapping and develops prediction models to help in the reconstruction of main distribution pathways, to assess the real size of the affected area as well as improving the data interpretation.


The theoretical basis of the agricultural material drying techniques has been formed in the world for two and a half centuries. Nevertheless, despite the multitude of studies well presented in the literature, the industry still lacks universally recognized methods of design calculation for the majority of drying problems. Presumably, this is due to the fact that the dehydration of foodstuffs is one of the most energy-intensive and complicated work processes. In the process of thermal treatment during the drying, the physical state of the water in the treated item changes, the properties of the item itself are altered. Recently, the drying of foodstuffs by means of infrared (IR) radiation has been gaining ever wider acceptance. At the same time, the technologies for dehydrating foodstuffs and materials are now far ahead of the theory of drying. Not only the classical literature on the drying problems, but even special studies on the subject cannot provide any specific recommendations for the design of installations with the electro-magnetic principle of energy input. Whereas that is exactly the type of installations that are now actively making headway, while offering serious challenges in their modelling. For that reason, experimenting has until now been the only reliable way of their studying. Despite the available extensive scientific literature on the drying, including works on IR units, the practical issues of engineering IR driers have not been tackled. All the existing studies consider solely particular cases. This study discusses the process of drying the fixed bed of rapeseeds with the use of the electromagnetic infrared emitter. The energy intensity of the process and the optimum thickness of the product bed are determined. The aim of the paper is to examine the effect that the operating condition parameters (energy input intensity, temperature, grain bed thickness) have on the drying kinetics and the energy characteristics of the process. The methods of research are based o experimental studies were carried out with the use of monitoring and measuring equipment, upto-date methods and instruments, including solutions developed by the authors. The analytical treatment was performed with the use of the software packages: MathCAD, Excel. The sample testing and examination took place in the laboratory and the methods were in compliance with the applicable standards. A comprehensive experimental investigation of the effect that the operating parameters (specific load and power) have on the rape seed IR-drying kinetics had been accomplished


The thesis describes the development of a municipal aerodrome at Stanley Park, Blackpool, between 1928 and 1936, and explores the reasons for the aerodrome's failure to be a profitable enterprise for Blackpool Corporation. It argues that this issue caused a breakdown in the interventionist strategies, described by historians as 'municipal capitalism', that the Corporation had used successfully in the inter-war years in order to provide the resort with modern, but costly, amenities. Evidence provided suggests that the Corporation's overreaching ambition to demonstrate 'airmindedness' was only partly responsible for the aerodrome's failure and that successive governments' air policies gave neither useful guidance to local authorities, nor sufficient funds to support aerodrome initiatives.

The thesis also examines the role played by the local newspapers, the Blackpool Evening Gazette and Gazette and Herald, in influencing public opinion on the issue of the aerodrome and finds that, although the newspapers provided a forum for discussion for Blackpool residents and took on the mantle of moral guardians of readers' interests, there is little evidence to show that the newspapers stance on the issue influenced decisions taken by the Corporation. While historians have generally disregarded such newspapers because of their lack of interest and influence in local politics, the wider value to the local community of its locally-owned newspaper is demonstrated.

The thesis further investigates the aerodrome's contribution to modernising and changing the established image of Blackpool in this period, and finds that the siting of the aerodrome at Stanley Park, in an area of planned housing and a public park, far from supporting Blackpool's aim of encouraging the middle-classes to visit and make their homes in the town, did, in fact, add to its unpopularity and became one of the reasons for its failure.


Within the last few years, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has been active in the field of Value Engineering as applied to activities in state departments of transportation. There has been extensive effort in implementing a Value Engineering program involving training of personnel and actual Value Engineering studies on selected design projects within the Project Development Office of the Highway Division of the WSDOT. However, within the other offices of the WSDOT, there has been little or no Value Engineering applications on any specific items, projects or operations under their control. This research study has investigated the feasibility of applying Value Engineering to these other offices. It includes specific work items, projects and operations to be considered as possible areas where Value Engineering can be applied.


We have used the Grid ENabled Integrated Earth system modelling (GENIE) framework to undertake a systematic search for bi-stability of the thermohaline circulation (THC) with a 3-D dynamical atmosphere model (IGCM) coupled to a 3-D frictional geostrophic ocean model (GOLDSTEIN) and slab sea-ice. Three different ocean grids are used: (i) 36x36x8 longitude-sine (latitude), (ii) 72x72x16 longitude-sine(latitude), (iii) 64x32x8 longitude-latitude. In all cases, the IGCM is run at T21 resolution with 7 vertical levels and surface grid (iii). We contrast this with earlier work using an energy-moisture balance atmosphere model (EMBM) and ocean resolution (i). For each model version, we constructed an ensemble of runs in which we vary atmospheric freshwater transport from the Atlantic to Pacific. The resulting ensembles are run toward equilibrium and then restarts are used to search parameter space for regions of THC bi-stability. A total of 407,000 model years were simulated in 3 months by using UK Grid computing resources, including 6 nodes of the National Grid Service, and additional clusters in Norwich, Southampton and Bristol. We find bi-stability of the THC despite significant, quasi-periodic variability in its strength driven by variability in the dynamical atmosphere. The position and width of the hysteresis loop depends on the choice of surface grid (longitude-latitude or equal area), but is less sensitive to changes in ocean resolution. For the same ocean resolution, the region of bi-stability is broader with the IGCM than with the EMBM. Feedbacks involving both ocean and atmospheric dynamics are found to promote THC bi-stability. THC switch-off leads to increased export of salt at the Southern boundary of the Atlantic that tends to maintain the off state. THC switch-off can also generate net freshwater input to the Atlantic from the atmosphere that tends to maintain the off state. The ocean feedback is present in all resolutions, across most of the bi-stable region, whereas the atmosphere feedback is strongest in resolution (iii) and around the transition where the THC off state is disappearing. Here the ocean response reverses, promoting THC switch-on by reducing Atlantic salt export, but the atmosphere counteracts this by increasing net freshwater input. This appears to maintain some bistability even when the THC does switch on - weaker and stronger THC on states can be distinguished under the same boundary conditions and different initialisations of the model.


Various pre-treatment procedures like hot oven drying under and without vacuum, purging with an inert gas at elevated temperatures, lyophilisation and long-term drying in a desiccator were applied on a sample of a subbituminous coal. Variously dried samples with known residual moisture contents were interpreted according to the microporous textural parameters. Adsorption isotherms of CO2 at 30°C were determined using a volumetric sorption analyser. Adsorption data were evaluated according to Dubinin–Radushkevich and Medek's equation in order to determine micropores' volume and micropores' surface and modus of the micropores' radii. It was found that the drying method has an influence on the microporous textural properties. Samples which were not exposed to oxygen during drying (vacuum drying, inert gas purging) have better micropore characteristics; likely due to the lower contents of the residual moisture in the order of a few tenths wt.%. If a sample is exposed to an oxidizing atmosphere at a comparable temperature and drying time, the reduction of the textural parameters was observed. It may be explained by a higher residual moisture content of this sample (1.4 wt. %). The effect of the drying temperature has not been clearly proven despite the fact that mean Smi and Vmi parameters have an increasing tendency with a decreasing drying temperature. It was also found that 2 hours is an effective time for the vacuum drying process at 60°C; even despite the difference in residual moisture contents of these samples.


Background Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common malignancy in children. Chemotherapeutic drugs for ALL such as methotrexate (Mtx) and doxorubicin produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), a type of free radical. The ROS can reduce levels of antioxidants in the body, including superoxide dismutase (SOD). Decreased SOD levels can cause DNA, lipid, and protein damage, which in turn may lead to adverse effects and treatment failure. Objective To determine the effect of Mtx and doxorubicin cumulative doses on SOD levels in children with ALL. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study in children with ALL who underwent chemotherapy in Dr. Sardjito Hospital in October 2011 who had completed the induction phase. Risk factors for decreased SOD levels were analyzed by Cox regression and hazard ratio, with a significant level of P <0.05. Results  Of 40 patients enrolled, Mtx ≥ 3000 mg/m2 significantly decreased SOD levels (HR 9.959; 95%CI 2.819 to 35.183; P=0.001). However, doxorubicin ≥90 mg/m2 did not significantly decrease SOD levels (HR 0.59 95%CI 0.194 to 1.765; P=0.34). Conclusion Methotrexate is associated with decreased SOD levels in children with ALL. However, doxorubicin is not associated with decreased SOD levels in the same patient population.


A central assumption of the canonical cheap talk literature is that people misreport their private information if this is to their material benefit. Recent evidence from laboratory experiments with student subjects suggests, however, that while many people do report the payoff-maximizing outcome, some report their private information truthfully or at least do not lie maximally. We measure truth-telling outside the laboratory by calling a representative sample of the German population at home. In our setup, participants have a strong monetary incentive to misreport, misreporting cannot be detected, and reputational concerns are negligible. Yet, we find that aggregate reporting behavior closely follows the expected truthful distribution. Our results underline the importance of lying costs and raise questions regarding the influence of the decision-making environment and the elicitation mode on reporting behavior.


Although kNN search on a road network Gr, i.e., finding k nearest objects to a query user q on Gr, has been extensively studied, existing works neglected the fact that the q's social information can play an important role in this kNN query. Many real-world applications, such as location-based social networking services, require such a query. In this paper we study a new problem: kNN search on road networks by incorporating social influence (RSkNN). Specifically, the state-of-the-art Independent Cascade (IC) model in social network is applied to define social influence. One critical challenge of the problem is to speed up the computation of the social influence over large road and social networks. To address this challenge, we propose three efficient index-based search algorithms, i.e., road network-based (RN-based), social network-based (SN-based) and hybrid indexing algorithms. In the RN-based algorithm, we employ a filtering-and-verification framework for tackling the hard problem of computing social influence. In the SN-based algorithm, we embed social cuts into the index, so that we speed up the query. In the hybrid algorithm, we propose an index, summarizing the road and social networks, based on which we can obtain query answers efficiently. Finally, we use real road and social network data to empirically verify the efficiency and efficacy of our solutions. Keyword: Road Network, kNN Query, Social Influence.


This thesis discusses the creation, acquisition and processing of digital holograms.
Several techniques to improve the optical resolution have been investigated and
developed. The optical resolution of numerically reconstructed digital holograms
is restricted by both the sampling frequency and the overall sensor-size of the
digital camera chip used. This thesis explores the limitations on the optical resolution
of the holograms obtained. A typical sensor-size and sampling frequency
for digital holograms is 10 mm and 100 lp/mm, respectively, whereas holographic
plates used for optical holography can be more than a meter in size and have a
sampling frequency of 3000 lp/mm. In order to take full advantage of the benefits
digital holography offers, such as fast image acquisition and direct phase accessibility,
the problem of reduced resolution needs to be overcome. Three resolution
improvement methods have been developed in the scope of this PhD thesis. Prior
to implementing the resolution improvement methods, different holographic setups
have been analyzed, using the Space-bandwidth product (SBP) to calculate
the information distribution both in the recording and reconstruction process.
The first resolution improvement method is based on the synthetic aperture
method. In this manner an increased sensor area can be obtained resulting in
a larger numerical aperture (NA). A larger NA enables a more detailed reconstruction.
The problem encountered in doing this is that an increased optical resolution results in a smaller depth of field. This has been overcome in this thesis
by applying the extended depth of field method. As a result a high resolution
in focus reconstruction of all longitudinal object regions is obtained. Moreover,
the extended depth of field method allows a topological mapping of the object.
The second resolution improvement method is based on sampling the interference
pattern with sub-pixel accuracy. This was carried out on a CMOS-sensor
and implemented by moving the light sensitive pixel-area into the dead zone in a
4x4 grid to cover whole the pixel-area. As a result the sensor's sampling frequency
is doubled. The increased sampling frequency permits a reduction of the recording
distance which results in an increased optical resolution of the reconstructed
hologram.
The third and novel approach described in this thesis has been to increase
the optical resolution stored in a digital hologram by the combination of the synthetic
aperture and the sub-pixel sampling methodBy analogy with the Fresnel-.
The resolution improvement methods have been demonstrated both for lens-less
digital holography and digital holographic microscopy.


We introduce a parametrized version of the Wadge game for functions and show that each lower cone in the Weihrauch degrees is characterized by such a game. These parametrized Wadge games subsume the original Wadge game, the eraser and backtrack games as well as Semmes's tree games. In particular, we propose that the lower cones in the Weihrauch degrees are the answer to Andretta's question on which classes of functions admit game characterizations.
We then discuss some applications of such parametrized Wadge games. Using machinery from Weihrauch reducibility theory, we introduce games characterizing every (transfinite) level of the Baire hierarchy via an iteration of a pruning derivative on countably branching trees.


Does low volatility in financial markets mean that another financial crisis is more likely? And should we be worried when everything is OK? This column presents the first empirical results that find a strong validation of Minsky's hypothesis – obtained from 200 years of historical cross-sectional data – that low volatility increases the likelihood of a future financial crisis by increasing risk-taking.


Los Angeles, 1950 Red crosscurrents: the Commie Scare and a string of brutal mutilation killings. Gangland intrigue and Hollywood sleaze. Three cops caught in a hellish web of ambition, perversion, and deceit. Danny Upshaw is a Sheriff's deputy stuck with a bunch of snuffs nobody cares about; they're his chance to make his name as a cop...and to sate his darkest curiosities. Mal Considine is D.A.'s Bureau brass. He's climbing on the Red Scare bandwagon to advance his career and to gain custody of his adopted son, a child he saved from the horror of postwar Europe. Buzz Meeks-bagman, ex-Narco goon, and pimp for Howard Hughes-is fighting communism for the money. All three men have purchased tickets to a nightmare.


In this paper we present a web-based distributed fault simulation framework built with standard Java Applet/Servlet technology and the popular platform independent open source database MySQL. Fault simulation plays an important role in digital electronics design flow by creating and evaluating test patterns, identifying and locating the causes of the circuit failures. Because of the rapid increase of the circuit sizes, there is ever growing need for memory and computational power. Our solution allows to seamlessly aggregate many remote computers for one application. We propose a novel collaboration centric computing approach using a participant credit based priority concept. Issues of task partitioning, task allocation, load balancing and model security are also handled. Our primary goal during circuit partitioning has been the decrease of the needed simulation memory to allow working with larger circuits for which conventional simulation methods are not always usable. Our novel method of partitioning produces model slices with no interdependences, suitable for Internet based use. Larger scalability is achieved by using model partitioning along the test pattern set partitioning.


In apple (Malus ×domestica Borkh.), where sorbitol is a primary photosynthetic product that is translocated throughout the plant, accumulation of sorbitol in sink cells appears to require an active carrier-mediated membrane transport step. Recent progress in isolation and characterization of genes for sorbitol transporters in sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) and mannitol transporters in celery (Apium graveolens L.) suggested that similar transporters may be present in apple tissues. A defect in these transporters could also explain the occurrence of the fruit disorder water- core, characterized by the accumulation of fl uids and sorbitol in the apoplasmic free space. Our objectives therefore included isolation and characterization of genes for sorbitol transporters in apple tissues and comparisons of expres- sion of transporter genes, especially in various sink tissues including watercored and non-watercored fruit tissues. We have isolated and characterized two sorbitol transporter genes, MdSOT1 and MdSOT2. Sequence analyses indicated that these are members of the major facilitator transporter superfamily that gives rise to highly hydrophobic integral membrane proteins. Heterologous expression and measurement of sorbitol uptake in yeast indicated that these are specifi c and with high affi nities for sorbitol, with Kms for sorbitol of 1.0 and 7.8 mM for MdSOT1 and MdSOT2, respec- tively. Sorbitol transporter expression was evident in all sink tissues tested with the exception of watercore-affected fruit tissues. Sorbitol accumulation in apple sink tissues thus involves an apoplasmic active membrane transport step and watercore results from a defect in that process.


The LiMn2O4 nanosized particles were synthesized using sol-gel, solid state reaction followed by hydrothermalmethod and traditional solid statemethod. The obtained nanosized particleswere characterized byXRD and SEM. The samples were found to possess pure spinel phase with different particle size and shape. The electrochemical characterization of the nanosized particles was analyzed using charge-discharge cycling. The discharge capacity valueswere 120mAh g-1, 110mAh g-1 and 90mAh g-1 for nanorods, nanoparticles and micron sized particles respectively. Cathodemade with nanorods exhibits better cycling performance than the cathodes made with nanoparticle andmicro particles.


Free Radicals and Antioxidants in Brain Pathophysiology The Role of Free Radicals in the Brain in Health and Disease in Relation to Synaptic Plasticity John Smythies Neuromodulatory Effects of Nitric Oxide in Pain Perception Adalberto Merighi, Patrizia Aimar, Laura Lossi, Lucia Pasti, and Giorgio Carmignoto Ischemic and Metabolic Stress-Induced Apoptosis James David Adams, Jr., Lawrence R. Williams, Suman K. Mukherjee, Lori Klaidman, Glen Inouye, Vierka Cummins, and Maria Morales Nitrogen Radicals in Ischemic Damage of the Brain Tomris Ozben Neuroinflammatory Events and Enhanced Signal Transduction Processes Involved in Neurodegeneration Robert A. Floyd, C. A. Stewart, K. A. Robinson, G. Bing, and K. Hensley Free Radicals in Glutaate and Catecholamine-Mediated Neurotoxicity Oxidative Stress in Glutamate Neurotoxicity Derick S. Han, Enrique Cadenas, Michael S. Kobayashi, and Lester Packer Modulation of Glutamate Release and Toxicity by Nitric Oxide C. M. Carvalho, S. M. Sequeira, C. B. Duarte, and Anselio P. Carvalho Interplay Between Oxidative Stress and Calcium Homeostasis in Acute Neuronal Damage and Neurodegenerative Disease Julie K. Andersen and Veena Viswanath MAO Knockout Mice and Behavior Jean Chen Shih, K. Chen, and M. J. Ridd DNA Strand Breakage Induced by Nitric Oxide Together with Catecholamine: Implications for Neurodegenerative Diseases Hiroshi Ohshima, Yumiko Yoshie, and Isabelle Gilibert 6-Hydroxydopamine, Dopamine, and Ferritin: A Cycle of Reactions Sustaining Parkinson's Disease? G. N. L. Jameson and Wolfgang Linert Free Radicals and Antioxidants in Neurological Disorders ROS and Parkinson's Disease: A View to a Kill Serge Przedborski and Vernice R. Jackson-Lewis Nitric Oxide Overproduction and Oxidative Stress in Human Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease Emilia Mabel Gatto, Natalia Andrea Riobo, Maria Cecilia Carreras, and Juan Jose Poderoso Molecular and Cellular Aspects of Oxidative Damage in Alzheimer's Disease Mark A. Smith and George Perry Free Radical-Mediated Disruption of Cellular Ion Homeostasis, Mitochondrial Dysfunction, and Neuronal Degeneration in Sporadic and Inherited Alzheimer's Disease Mark P. Mattson Role of Transgenic Models for the Study of Oxidative Neurotoxicity in Alzheimer's Disease Miguel A. Pappolla, Y.-J. Chyan, George Perry, Mark A. Smith, Melissa Sos, and Felix Cruz-Sanchez Oxidative Protein Modification in Rosenthal Fibers: Implications for Alexander's Disease Pathogenesis Rudolph J. Castellani, George Perry, and Mark A. Smith Superoxide Dismutase and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Giuseppe Rotilio, Alberto Ferri, Roberta Gabbianelli, and Maria Teresa Carri Neurodegeneration and Antioxidant-Based Therapeutic Approaches Effects of Ginko Biloba Extract (Egb 761) on Alzheimer's Disease Yves Christen, Marie-Therese Droy-LeFaix, Catherine Pasquier, and Lester Packer Glutathione and Metallothionein in Oxidative Stress of Parkinson's Disease Manuchair Ebadi and Midori Hiramatsu Estrogens and Other Antioxidants in Neuroprotection: Implications for Alzheimer's Disease Christian Behl and Bernd Moosmann Therapeutic Potential of Radical Scavengers in Parkinson's Disease Silvia Mandel, Edna Grunblatt, and M. B. H. Youdim Vitamin E and Other Antioxidant Treatments for the Neurobehavioral Aspects of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Neurodegenerative Disorders Fadi Massoud, Mario Schittini, and Mary Sano Nitric Oxide and the NMDA Receptor in Ischemia and Reperfusion Injury: Is NO Protective or Injurious? Michael Graham Espey, Katrina M. Miranda, Carol A. Colton, Ryszard M. Pluta, Sandra J. Hewett, and David A. Wink Endogenous Protection of Retinal Photoreceptors Against Light-Induced Oxidative Stress Pier Lorenzo Marchiafava and Biancamaria Longoni


Underlying the debate over affirmative action and reparations for black Americans is a dispute about the extent to which American society is responsible for present effects of past racial discrimination. Although much has been written on the subject, the scholarship too often sheds more heat than light, and tends to be dominated by extreme positions incapable of taking opposing claims seriously. This Article weighs in on this debate in a novel and constructive manner. The Article defends a societal obligation to remedy past discrimination by accepting, rather than dismissing, principles of conservatives who oppose affirmative action and reparations. Taking conservatives seriously reveals two moral principles that support a societal obligation to remedy past discrimination. The first principle is that racial discrimination is unjust. The second principle is corrective justice: that one who wrongfully harms another is obligated to make amends. Applied to affirmative action, these principles support conservative claims that a state is obligated to make amends to white victims of racial preferences. These principles, however, also support America's responsibility for past societal discrimination against blacks. To the extent society participated in wrongful discrimination, society is obligated, as a matter of corrective justice, to make amends to its black victims. A potential moral conflict thus exists between society's obligation to refrain from "reverse" discrimination and its obligation to remedy past discrimination. That is, the moral case against affirmative action also supports a moral case in its favor.The Article responds to the most serious objections to a societal obligation to remedy past discrimination. These include that America as a whole is not responsible for discrimination practiced by only some states and private actors, that it is unfair to hold current society responsible for discrimination by past society, and that blacks today ought not be viewed as victims of past discrimination, given the passage of time and the extent to which black people's choices have perpetuated their own disadvantage. This Article concludes that these objections fail to defeat America's responsibility for the consequences of her discriminatory history. America as a nation was responsible for protecting slavery and discrimination, a responsibility that belongs to the nation as a nation and therefore continues over time despite changeover in the American citizenry. American society is also responsible for black people's choices that may perpetuate their disadvantage because those choices reflect a foreseeable reaction to conditions created by societal discrimination. The moral imperative to remedy past discrimination, moreover, outweighs the risk of imprecision in doing so. Ultimately, conservative opposition to remedial policies is based on principles that counsel in favor of such policies as much as and arguably more than they counsel against them.


Vision is a natural tool for human-computer interaction, since it provides visual feedback to the user and mimics some human behaviors. It requires however the fast and robust computation of motion primitives, which remains a difficult problem. In this work, we propose to apply some recent mathematical results about convex optimization to the TV-L1 optical flow problem. At the cost of a small smoothing of the Total Variation (TV), the convergence speed of the numerical scheme is improved, leading to earlier termination. Furthermore, we successfully implement our algorithm on GPU for realtime performance using the OpenCL framework. We demonstrate the potential of our optical flow by using it as primary sensor in a remotely controlled image browsing software.


Paper degradation by iron gall ink is a challenging issue for the conservation of ancient manuscripts. It is usually attributed to both FeII catalyzed oxidation and acid catalyzed hydrolysis of cellulose, yet the dominant degradation pathway remains an open question. In this work, electron spin resonance spectroscopy (ESR) was used to identify radicals involved in cellulose degradation. Papers impregnated with iron salts were put in contact with an aqueous solution of DMPO (spin-trap) and analyzed by ESR. No DMPO–OH˙ adducts were detected while the addition of formate, an intermediary target molecule, led on the contrary to the detection of a significant amount of DMPO–CO2˙− adducts. This reveals the predominant occurrence of reactive oxygen species (ROS) other than hydroxyl radicals (most likely superoxide or hydroperoxyl radicals). The production of DMPO–CO2˙− adducts was found to be oxygen dependent and to originate mainly from ferrous ions lixiviated from the impregnated papers. At high iron loads (above 1 mmol L−1), it was shown that quantification of these adducts should be done with great care because of a competing formation of hydroxylamine that jeopardizes the ESR signal. Complementary TPA hydroxylation measurements performed by HPLC on ink and iron sulfate impregnated papers revealed some production of hydroxyl radicals but at a concentration several orders of magnitude below that of the ROS detected with formation of DMPO–CO2˙− adducts. This HO˙ production was moreover not correlated with cellulose chain scissions, indicating that autooxidation by these radicals is not the main mechanism of cellulose depolymerisation in presence of iron gall ink.


Natural Language processing (NLP) has been revolutionized by statistical language models, which capture the high degree of regularity and repetition that exists in most human speech and writing. These models have revolutionized speech recognition and translation. We have found, surprisingly, that "natural software", viz., code written by people is also highly repetitive, and can be modeled effectively by language models borrowed from NLP. We present data supporting this claim, discuss some early applications showcasing the value of language models of code, and present a vision for future research in this area. About the Speaker Prem Devanbu received his B.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai, India, before you were born, and his PhD from Rutgers in 1994. After spending nearly 20 years at Bell Labs and its various offshoots, he escaped New Jersey to join the CS faculty at UC Davis in late 1997. He has published over 100 papers, and has won ACM SIGSOFT distinguished paper awards at ICSE 2004, ICSE 2009, and ASE 2011, and the conference best paper awards at MSR 2010 and ASE 2011. He has been program chair of ACM SIGSOFT FSE (in 2006) and ICSE (in 2010). He has served on the Editorial boards of both IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering and the ACM equivalent. He has worked in several different areas over a 25 year research career, including logic programming, knowledge representation, software tools, secure information storage in the cloud, and middleware. For the past years, he has been fascinated by the abundance of possibilities in the veritable ocean of data that is available from open-source software projects. He is funded by grants from the NSF, the AFOSR, Microsoft Research, and IBM. or Rearch nly


We consider some extensions of the classical discrete Boltzmann equation to the cases of multicomponent mixtures, polyatomic molecules (with a finite number of different internal energies), and chemical reactions, but also general discrete quantum kinetic Boltzmann-like equations; discrete versions of the Nordheim-Boltzmann (or Uehling-Uhlenbeck) equation for bosons and fermions and a kinetic equation for excitations in a Bose gas interacting with a Bose-Einstein condensate. In each case we have an H-theorem and so for the planar stationary half-space problem, we have convergence to an equilibrium distribution at infinity (or at least a manifold of equilibrium distributions). In particular, we consider the nonlinear half-space problem of condensation and evaporation for these discrete Boltzmann-like equations. We assume that the flow tends to a stationary point at infinity and that the outgoing flow is known at the wall, maybe also partly linearly depending on the incoming flow. We find that the systems we obtain are of similar structures as for the classical discrete Boltzmann equation (for single species), and that previously obtained results for the discrete Boltzmann equation can be applied after being generalized. Then the number of conditions on the assigned data at the wall needed for existence of a unique solution is found. The number of parameters to be specified in the boundary conditions depends on if we have subsonic or supersonic condensation or evaporation. All our results are valid for any finite number of velocities.


We put forth a multiple representation approach to deriving the behavioral model of a digital circuit automatically from its structure and the behavioral simulation models of its components. One representation supports tempera) reasoning for composition and simplification, another supports simulation, and a third helps to partition the translation problem. A working prototype, FUNSTRUX, is described. '