The Costas loop is the key technique of synchronous demodulation in the next generation of satellite optical communication systems. To better understand the Costas loop, the relationship between phase deviation of the Costas loop and bit error rate (BER) performance of a binary-phase-shift keying (BPSK) space uplink optical communication system is achieved. Furthermore, the BER performance versus frequency deviation, zenith angle, data rate, and divergence angle are analyzed. Simulation results indicate that BER performances are not sensitive for parameters when the phase deviation of the Costas loop is designed with restriction of $\pi/16$. These results are helpful for enhancing BER performance and the design of space optical communication systems.


This paper analyzes the macroeconomic impact of oil shocks in four of the largest oil-consuming Asian economies, using a structural vector autoregressive model. We identify three different types of oil shocks via sign restrictions: an oil supply shock, an oil demand shock driven by global economic activity and an oil-specific demand shock. The main results suggest that economic activity and prices respond very differently to oil price shocks depending on their type. In addition, a country's oil-importing and -exporting status in the world oil market affects the transmission of shocks. Finally, subsample analysis shows a possible structural break in Japan and South Korea for all three types of oil shocks.


In 2016, the Older People's Mental Health Service (OPMHS) within Bedfordshire and Luton (provided by East London Foundation National Health Service Trust) faced considerable challenges in providing an accessible service for assessment of suspected dementia. Those referred to the Memory Assessment Service (MAS) encountered waiting times exceeding national recommendations. A quality improvement (QI) project was initiated by OPMHS Psychologists within all four multidisciplinary MAS clinics in Bedfordshire and Luton. The project aimed to reduce the time from the date of referral for within-team neuropsychological assessment to finalisation of the report to 6 weeks (42 days) by April 2017. In parallel to the initiative, the wider impact of the QI project was investigated. Through the combination of change ideas tested and implemented, all four MAS clinics were successful in meeting the primary project aim. The combined mean time between referral received by psychology and report finalised reduced by 28.76 days from 65.1 to 36.34 days, and with reduced variation across the clinics. These changes were sustained throughout the duration of the project and beyond, and successful change ideas were incorporated into routine practice with control methods developed. Exploring the wider impact, a focus group with six psychology staff members involved in the project was also completed. Thematic analysis identified three themes from the focus group: staff impact, service impact and service user impact. Further subthemes were identified regarding both desirable and undesirable impact across the system. The approaches used may be useful for other services embarking on reduced wait time initiatives for access to care. Additionally, understanding ongoing areas of impact on staff, the wider service and service users can help reduce or mitigate undesirable or unintended consequences and work towards sustainability of such changes.


e-Governance and Web based online commercial multilingual applications has given utmost importance to the task of translation and transliteration. The Named Entities and Technical Terms occur in the source language of translation are called out of vocabulary words as they are not available in the multilingual corpus or dictionary used to support translation process. These Named Entities and Technical Terms need to be transliterated from source language to target language without losing their phonetic properties. The fundamental problem in India is that there is no set of rules available to write the spellings in English for Indian languages according to the linguistics. People are writing different spellings for the same name at different places. This fact certainly affects the Top-1 accuracy of the transliteration and in turn the translation process. Major issue noticed by us is the transliteration of named entities consisting three syllables or three phonetic units in Hindi and Marathi languages where people use mixed approach to write the spelling either by orthographical approach or by phonological approach. In this paper authors have provided their opinion through experimentation about appropriateness of either approach.


Despite the priority higher education institutions have given to multicultural initiatives, little attention has been given to examining the multicultural experiences and other life events that influence those charged with developing and facilitating these initiatives. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how multicultural educators known for their expertise in this area acquired the capacity to effectively serve in this role and to explore the kinds of experiences that facilitated these educators' visions of social justice. Participants were 20 university educators representing 14 different race/ethnicity groups, balanced by gender, and varied in sexual orientation. Using in-depth interviews with these individuals we developed a model that describes the major themes that emerged from their interviews and illustrated these themes with excerpts from their stories.


Category-level object recognition is a fundamental capability for the potential use of robots in the assistance of humans in useful tasks. There have been numerous vision-based object recognition systems yielding fast and accurate results in constrained environments. However, by depending on visual cues, these techniques are susceptible to object variations in size, lighting, rotation, and pose, all of which cannot be avoided in real video data. Thus, the task of object recognition still remains very challenging.
My thesis work builds upon the fact that robots can observe humans interacting with the objects in their environment. We refer to the set of objects, which can be involved in the interaction as `interactionable' objects. The interaction of humans with the `interactionable' objects provides numerous nonvisual cues to the identity of objects.
In this thesis, I will introduce a flexible object recognition approach called Multiple-Cue Object Recognition (MCOR) that can use multiple cues of any predefined type, whether they are cues intrinsic to the object or provided by observation of a human. In pursuit of this goal, the thesis will provide several contributions: A representation for the multiple cues including an object definition that allows for the flexible addition of these cues; Weights that reflect the various strength of association between a particular cue and a particular object using a probabilistic relational model, as well as object displacement values for localizing the information in an image; Tools for defining visual features, segmentation, tracking, and the values for the non-visual cues; Lastly, an object recognition algorithm for the incremental discrimination of potential object categories.
We evaluate these contributions through a number of methods including simulation to demonstrate the learning of weights and recognition based on an analytical model, an analytical model that demonstrates the robustness of the MCOR framework, and recognition results on real video data using a number of datasets including video taken from a humanoid robot (Sony QRIO), video captured from a meeting setting, scripted scenarios from outside universities, and unscripted TV cooking data.
Using the datasets, we demonstrate the basic features of the MCOR algorithm including its ability to use multiple cues of different types. We demonstrate the applicability of MCOR to an outside dataset. We show that MCOR has better recognition results over vision-only recognition systems, and show that performance only improves with the addition of more cue types.


Economists have argued that outsourcing is another form of international trade. However, based on a representative national survey of Americans conducted in 2007 and 2009, the distribution of preferences on these two issues appears to be quite different. This article examines the origins of attitudes toward outsourcing, focusing on the extent to which it reflects (1) the economic vulnerabilities of individuals; (2) the information they receive about outsourcing, including their subjective understanding of what constitutes outsourcing; and (3) noneconomic attitudes toward foreign people and foreign countries. The findings emphasize the importance of variations in understandings of the term, as well as the highly symbolic nature of attitudes toward this issue. Individuals who believe the US should distance itself from international affairs more generally, who are nationalistic, or who feel that members of other ethnic and racial groups within the US are less praiseworthy than their own group tend to have particularly hostile reactions to outsourcing. The informational cues people receive are also important influences on their understanding of and attitudes toward outsourcing. Experimental results further emphasize the symbolic nature of attitudes toward outsourcing. Taken together, the results strongly suggest that attitudes are shaped less by the economic consequences of outsourcing than by a sense of "us" versus "them."


Genetic manipulations of Mycobacterium tuberculosis are complicated by its slow growth, inefficient DNA uptake, and relatively high levels of illegitimate recombination. Most methods for construction of gene replacement mutants are lengthy and complicated, and the lack of generalized transducing phages that infect M. tuberculosis prevents simple construction of isogenic mutant strains. Characterization and genomic analysis of mycobacteriophages has provided numerous molecular and genetic tools for the mycobacteria. Recently, genes encoding homologues of the Escherichia coli Rac prophage RecET proteins were revealed in the genome of mycobacteriophage Chec9c. RecE and RecT are functional analogues of the phage λ Red recombination proteins, Exo (exonuclease) and Beta (recombinase), respectively. These recombination enzymes act coordinately to promote high levels of recombination in vivo in E. coli and related bacteria using short regions of homology, facilitating the development of a powerful genetic technique called 'recombineering.' Biochemical characterization of Che9c gp60 and gp61 demonstrated that they possess exonuclease and DNA binding activities, respectively, similar to RecET and λ Exo/Beta. Expression of gp60/gp61 in M. smegmatis and M. tuberculosis substantially increases homologous recombination such that 90% of recovered colonies are the desired gene replacement mutants. Further development of this system demonstrated that Che9c gp61 facilitates introduction of selectable and non-selectable point mutations on mycobacterial genomes at high frequencies using short (<50 nt) ssDNA substrates. The mycobacterial recombineering system provides a simple and efficient method for mutagenesis with minimal DNA manipulation. While it is clear that similar phage-encoded recombinase homologues are rare, they can be readily identified by genomic studies and by in vivo characterization. Several putative recombination systems have been identified in mycobacteriophages Halo, BPs, and Giles, and recombineering of drug-resistance point mutations provides an easy assay for recombinase activity. Analysis of recombinases from various phages – including λ Beta and E. coli RecT – indicates that these proteins function best in their native bacteria. The mycobacteriophage-encoded proteins exhibited varying levels of activity, suggesting that analysis of multiple proteins is required to achieve optimal recombination frequencies. The apparent species-specific nature of these recombinases suggests the recombineering technology could likely be extended to any bacterial system through characterization of host-specific bacteriophages.


Crowdsensing is a system which collects sensing data through recruiting a large number of participants to perform the sensing tasks. It consists of two parts: 1) the platform side and 2) the user side. The incentive mechanism is necessary to recruit a sufficient number of participants for the utility of the platform, and to guarantee the utility of the participants for the users. Current mechanisms for crowdsensing are based on traditional economics with two basic hypotheses. The first is that the preference of people is constant, which implies that their preference for an item does not change under different circumstances; the second is that the utility of people is equal to the payment they obtain. However, decoy effect from behavioral economics shows that people's preferences change as the alternative set changes. And resulting from fairness preference theory, people's utility depends not only on the actual income they receive but also on the fairness of the income of all people. Thus, current incentive mechanisms will lead to users' wrong selection making. To solve these problems, we design the framework for publishing tasks based on decoy effect (FPDE) mechanism on the platform side. And we design the payoff allocation based on fairness preference (PAFP) mechanism for the user side. We compare our mechanisms with a new and advanced mechanism called incentive mechanism for crowdsensing-centric (IMCC) model. The simulations show that FPDE can increase the utility of the platform by approximately 20.8%, and the utility of the users will increases by 14.8% under PAFP.


This case study focuses on Material Flow but pays particularly attention to Municipal Waste Management. The aim of strategy is to develop a sustainable society by making a circular Material Flow. This study follows Material flow order from Input, Production, Consumption to Disposal to obtain a better understanding on Material Flow and its significance to economics. In this study, around 30 countries are selected to be done a comparison to recognize the different conditions of Municipal Waste Management in different countries.


This paper is devoted to the systematic study of electron lifetimes from narrowband wave‐particle interactions within the plasmasphere. It relies on a new formulation of the bounce‐averaged quasi‐linear pitch angle diffusion coefficients parameterized by a single frequency, ω, and wave normal angle, θ. We first show that the diffusion coefficients scale with ω/Ωce, where Ωce is the equatorial electron gyrofrequency, and that maximal pitch angle diffusion occurs along the line α0 = π/2–θ, where α0 is the equatorial pitch angle. Lifetimes are computed for L shell values in the range [1.5, 3.5] and energies, E, in the range [0.1, 6] MeV as a function of frequency and wave normal angle. The maximal pitch angle associated with a given lifetime is also given, revealing the frequencies that are able to scatter nearly equatorial pitch angle particles. The lifetimes are relatively independent of frequency and wave normal angle after taking into consideration the scaling law, with a weak dependence on wave normal angle up to 60–70°, increasing to infinity as the wave normal angle approaches the resonance cone. We identify regions in the (L, E) plane in which a single wave type (hiss, VLF transmitters, or lightning‐generated waves) is dominant relative to the others. We find that VLF waves dominate the lifetime for 0.2–0.4 MeV at L ~ 2 and for 0.5–0.8 MeV at L ~ 1.5, while hiss dominates the lifetime for 2–3 MeV at L = 3–3.5. The influence of lightning‐generated waves is always mixed with the other two and cannot be easily differentiated. Limitations of the method for addressing effects due to restricted latitude or pitch angle domains are also discussed. Finally, for each (L, E) we search for the minimum lifetime and find that the optimal frequency that produces this lifetime increases as L diminishes. Restricting the search to very oblique waves, which could be emitted during the Demonstration and Science Experiments satellite mission, we find that the optimal frequency is always close to 0.16Ωce.


Abstract The Calonectria morganii cultures studied were isolated from several hosts in the USA. Isolates were mated in all combinations, and one successful mating was selected to establish whether recombination occurred. RAPD and mating type data of parental isolates and progeny confirmed C. morganii to have a heterothallic mating system. Furthermore, to infer the phylogenetic relationships of C. morganii with morphologically similar Calonectria spp., DNA sequences of the ribosomal 5.8S RNA gene and the flanking internal transcribed (ITS) spacers, as well as part of the high mobility group (HMG) box (forming part of the MAT2 mating type gene) and the β-tu-bulin gene, were analyzed. Maximum parsimony yielded concordant trees for all three data sets. These data supported the morphological and biological species concepts proposed for C. morganii and other Calonectria species with, similar, small-spored Cylindrocladium anamorphs.


The present study investigated the interpersonal and intra-psychic patterns of defense mechanisms in women of Pakistan. Qualitative study was based on focus group discussion. Data gathered through this interactive group session was recorded and transcribed. Grounded theory was used to assign codes and develop categories of the data and then to drive the important themes. The major themes emerged from the data were enhancing positive attitude, triggered resistance, inculcated religious and moral values, society as a guiding factor, interlink between different defense mechanisms and working mechanism of defense mechanisms. The study has wider implications for adapting the classical psychoanalytic theories while taking the indigenous perspective.


We demonstrate narrow transmission resonances at near-infrared wavelengths utilizing coupled asymmetric split-ring resonators (SRRs). By breaking the symmetry of the coupled SRR system, one can excite dark (subradiant) resonant modes that are not readily accessible to symmetric SRR structures. We also show that the quality factor of metamaterial resonant elements can be controlled by tailoring the degree of asymmetry. Changing the distance between asymmetric resonators changes the coupling strength and results in resonant frequency tuning due to resonance hybridization.


In order to understand how the brain codes natural categories, e.g., trees and fish, recordings were made in the anterior part of the macaque inferior temporal (IT) cortex while the animal was performing a tree/nontree categorization task. Most single cells responded to exemplars of more than one category while other neurons responded only to a restricted set of exemplars of a given category. Since it is still not known which type of cells contribute and what is the nature of the code used for categorization in IT, we have performed an analysis on single-cell data. A Kohonen self-organizing map (SOM), which uses an unsupervised (competitive) learning algorithm, was used to study the single cell responses to tree and nontree images. Results from the Kohonen SOM indicated that the collected neuronal data consisting of spike counts was sufficient to account for a good level of categorization success (approximately 83) when categorizing a group of 200 trees and nontrees. Contrary to intuition, the results of the investigation suggest that the population of category-specific neurons (neurons that respond only to trees or only to nontrees) was unimportant to the categorization. Instead, a large majority of the neurons that were most important to the categorization was found to belong to a class of more broadly tuned cells, namely, cells that responded to both categories but that favored one category over the other by seven or more images. A simple algebraic operation (without the Kohonen SOM) between the above-mentioned noncategory-specific neurons confirmed the contribution of these neurons to categorization. Thus, the modeling results suggest (1) that broadly tuned neurons are critical for categorization, and (2) that only one additional layer of processing is required to extract the categories from a population of IT neurons.


Early developments in corpus linguistics were driven by the needs of those interested in the description of a language, whether as grammarians or lexicographers, not the needs of language teachers. This has hindered the development of corpus applications in language education, but work by Granger and others changed the situation and it is now accepted that learner data can be a valuable resource for those concerned with language education. Drawing on Biber's (2006) account of lexical bundles, this chapter provides a practical example how the written production of postgraduate students in a single disciplinary area can be used to build an account of contrasts between apprentice and expert writing, and how this account can be used in the development of a course specification for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) writing.


Between 1915 and 1925, Harvard University conducted the first national public fund-raising campaign in higher education in the United States. At the same time, Harvard Law School attempted the first such effort in legal education. The law school organized its effort independently, in conjunction with its centennial in 1917. The university campaign succeeded magnificently by all accounts; the law school failed miserably. Though perfectly positioned for this new venture, Harvard Law School raised scarcely a quarter of its goal from merely 2 percent of its alumni. This essay presents the first account of this campaign and argues that its failure was rooted in longstanding cultural and professional objections that many of the school's alumni shared: law students and law schools neither need nor deserve benefactions, and such gifts worsen the overcrowding of the bar. Due to these objections, lethargy, apathy, and pessimism suffused the campaign. These factors weakened the leadership of the alumni association, the dean, and the president, leading to inept management, wasted time, and an unlikely strategy that was pursued ineffectively. All this doomed the campaign, particularly given the tragic interruptions of the dean's suicide and World War I, along with competition from the well-run campaigns for the University and for disaster relief due to the war.


Should regulators encourage the migration of trade from over-the-counter (OTC) to centralized markets? To address this question, we consider a model of equilibrium and socially optimal market participation of heterogeneous banks in an OTC market, in a centralized market, or in both markets at the same time. We find that banks have the strongest private incentives to participate in the OTC market if they have the lowest risk-sharing needs and highest ability to take large positions. These banks endogenously assume the role of OTC market dealers. Other banks, with relatively higher risk-sharing needs and lower ability to take large positions, lie at the margin: they are indifferent between the centralized market and the OTC market, where they endogenously assume the role of customers. We show that more customer bank participation in the centralized market can be welfare improving only if banks are mostly heterogeneous in their ability to take large positions in the OTC market, and if participation costs induce banks to trade exclusively in one market. Empirical evidence suggests that these conditions for a welfare improvement are met.


The importance of personal factors such as personality traits, learning strategies, self-esteem, and self-efficacy in the complicated task of language learning has been established for years. However, the introduction of computers, networks and their wide communication affordances, seem to impact many aspects of learning and teaching and particularly language learning and teaching. The storage place, manner, and magnitude of learning materials for example, have shifted from the human mind to portable digital storage places that consequently require different types of aggregation, retrieval, and usage of information. Noting the rapid communication of today through networking, ICT competency plays important roles with all its related applications and software that turn the talented user into an enhanced player in the wired world. It was the underlying premise of this research study to identify how freshman Iranian language students view their technology competencies and command to impact their socialization and web-assisted language learning process in the connected world of today. It was found that most of the Kazerun Islamic Azad university students of English (34 freshman) show positive attitudes toward the adoption of online learning materials and web-based socialization applications such as facebook's group tool and online forums as their preferred tool for discussion and interaction in the language learning course. At the end of semester the higher digital self-efficacy students scored higher in their conversation test compared to the lower digital self-efficacy students. Users with high computer self-efficacy not only benefit from their capability to use computer in their language learning activities, they would also benefit from group


In financial markets traders often protect their position from a significant decline by using a trailing stop. Assume the trader is long the market owns the security. A trailing stop is an order to sell the security at the market, if the price of the security drops to the stop price. The stop price is always less than the market price when the stop is entered. As the price fluctuates, the stop is raised to remain a fixed distance from the maximum price at which the security trades. In this paper we consider two models for the price process: a discrete time random walk and continuous time Brownian motion, both with positive drift. For these price processes we compute the distribution, mean, and variance of the gain to the trader as well as the duration of the trade when a trailing stop strategy is used. Also discussed is the question of optimizing the distance from the current price to the stop.


Mindanao Chabacano owes many of its features (including over 10% of its basic and more of its non-basic lexicon) to the influence of Philippine languages, and some of its typological features, such as the basic VSO constituent order, typify Philippine languages but atypical of Ibero-Asian creoles as a whole. Its sizeable component of basic Philippine-derived vocabulary and its incorporation of structural features which cannot be traced back simply to Spanish, allow us to classify it as a mixed creole. In this paper I examine the extent to which various structural features of Mindanao Creole Spanish and other mixed and sometimes less mixed creoles (including Saramaccan, Angolar, Korlai Portuguese, and also the recently extinct Berbice Dutch, most with a sizeable Iberoromance lexical component) parallel one another as to the derivation of sets of features from sources other than their chief lexifier language. I also examine the degree to which structural transfers in these creoles coexist with typically 'creole' features and with etymologically mixed lexica, and compare some aspects of mixing in mixed or intertwined languages and mixed creoles.


The article provides a critical review of the Human Rights Committee's views in Sayadi v. Belgium, a case dealing with United Nations Security Council (UNSC) terrorist blacklists. The case raised many complex issues of international law, most notably the question whether UNSC resolutions can prevail over human rights treaties by virtue of Art. 103 of the UN Charter. This issue – one of truly fundamental importance – has cropped up in several important recent cases which either addressed it or avoided it, including Kadi before the courts of the European Union, Al-Jedda before the UK House of Lords, and Behrami before the European Court of Human Rights. Regrettably, the Committee's decision did not do justice to the complexity and the gravity of the matters raised before it, as it failed to tackle the norm conflict issue head on and ignored the Charter's supremacy clause altogether. Such an approach advances neither the cause of human rights, nor the coherence of international law as a legal system.


The question of whether two parabolic elements $A$, $B$ of SL$_{2}({\Bbb C})$ are a free basis for the group they generate is considered. Some known results are generalized, using the parameter $\tau = \text{tr}(AB) -2$. If $\tau = a/b \in {\Bbb Q}$, $| \tau | < 4$, and $|a| \leq 16$, then the group is not free. If the subgroup generated by $b$ in ${\Bbb Z}/a{\Bbb Z}$ has a set of representatives, each of which divides one of $b \pm 1$, then the subgroup of SL$_{2}({\Bbb C})$ will not be free.


In this paper we view the possibilities to lance a multiple (iterative) birthday attack on NTRU. Recently Wagner's algorithm for the generalized birthday problem (Wagner, 2002) allowed to speed-up several combinatorial attacks. However, in the case of NTRU we can not hope to to apply Wagner's algorithm directly, as the search space does not behave nicely. In this paper we show that we can nevertheless draw profit from a multiple birthday approach. Our approach allows us to attack ees251ep6 parameter set on a computer with only 252 Bits of memory and about 29 times faster as with Odlyzko's combinatorial attack - this is an improvement factor about 243 in space complexity. We thus contradict the common believe, that in comparison to computational requirements, the "storage requirement is by far the larger obstacle" (Howgrave-Graham, 2007) to attack NTRU by combinatorial attacks. Further, our attack is about 27 times faster than the space-reduced variant from (Howgrave-Graham, 2007) employing the same amount of memory.


In most tropical countries, the rent capture from timber is low and have allowed the
resource rents to flow as windfall profits to timber concessionaires. No policy for the sale
of government forest could be soundly based unless the government knows the real value
of the timber it is selling. Tendering system is the best way where government can
increase revenue on forest sale. Forest possession through tender system is not new in
state of Pahang as it has been practiced since the early 70's for land conversion into
agricultural development. During the 80's forest individual or logging companies can
obtain concessions through application. Beginning 1995, the state government announced
that all applications for stateland forest should go through tender system. A study was
undertaken to analyze tender price of stateland forest allocated through tendering system
in Pahang. The objectives of the study were to study the trend and pattern of tender prices
in stateland forest area, to compare the tender prices offered by bidders with reserved
price, to examine the relationship between tender price and factors affecting it, and to
estimate rent capture in Pahang. A total of 123 tender transactions of the stateland forest
in Pahang from 1996 to 1999 were collected based on tender documents. A logging
survey was also conducted on 10 loggers to obtain information relating to bidding
behaviour. The results indicate that the average tender prices offered by concessionaires
vary by district, forest type and status of tender. The average tender price offered for the
period 1996 to 1999, was RM4,468 per ha. The highest tendered price occurred in the
district of Bentong, averaging RM12,537 per ha. The lowest tendered price was found in
Temerloh, averaging RM2,938 per ha. The average tender price for virgin forest was
estimated at RM5,693 per ha compared to that of logged-over forest, estimated at
RM4,090 per ha. It was also found that tender price was higher in open bidding
(RM5,156 per ha) compared to closed tender (RM3,365 per ha) and sawmill scheme
tender system (RM3,021 per ha). Regression results showed that timber volume of the
tendered area and the numbers of bidders were two main factors affecting the bid price.
The study also revealed that the rent capture by the state was estimated at 53.4 percentage
of potential stumpage. Based on this study, it is recommended that the state government
should revise the current tendering system in order to maximize resource rent and
efficient timber harvest in the long run. The government should proceed on 'volume
basis' instead of 'area basis' for maximum revenue. Future study of tendering system was
also highlighted.


Fatty acid synthase (FAS) promotes energy storage through de novo lipogenesis and participates in signaling by the nuclear receptor PPARα in noncardiac tissues. To determine if de novo lipogenesis is relevant to cardiac physiology, we generated and characterized FAS knockout in the myocardium (FASKard) mice. FASKard mice develop normally, manifest normal resting heart function, and have normal cardiac PPARα signaling as well as fatty acid oxidation. However, they decompensate with stress. Most die within 1 h of transverse aortic constriction, probably due to arrhythmia. Voltage clamp measurements of FASKard cardiomyocytes show hyperactivation of L-type calcium channel current that could not be reversed with palmitate supplementation. Of the classic regulators of this current, Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) but not protein kinase A signaling is activated in FASKard hearts, and knockdown of FAS in cultured cells activates CaMKII. In addition to being intolerant of the stress of acute pressure, FASKard hearts were also intolerant of the stress of aging, reflected as persistent CaMKII hyperactivation, progression to dilatation, and premature death by ∼1 year of age. CaMKII signaling appears to be pathogenic in FASKard hearts because inhibition of its signaling in vivo rescues mice from early mortality after transverse aortic constriction. FAS was also increased in two mechanistically distinct mouse models of heart failure and in the hearts of humans with end stage cardiomyopathy. These data implicate a novel relationship between FAS and calcium signaling in the heart and suggest that FAS induction in stressed myocardium represents a compensatory response to protect cardiomyocytes from pathological calcium flux.


Modeling a vanadium redox flow battery (VRB) is intrinsically a multiphysics task based on electrochemistry and fluid mechanics. The electrochemical model predicts the stack voltage and determines the internal losses and the vanadium concentrations within the battery whereas the mechanical model determines the power required to flow the electrolyte: this power represents also a system loss. This paper propose a new control strategy that enhance the overall performance of the battery by taking advantage of the knowledge of the VRB operating principles provided by the multiphysics model. The battery is either controlled by a reference current or a reference power; both cases are examined in detail and a method to determine the optimal operating point is proposed. The optimal control strategies are then compared to other strategies through a series of charge and discharge cycles. The energy efficiency is increased by 10%.


This thesis examines the management of diversity through federation and the role of the federal arbiter. It does this by focusing on the plurinational federation of Canada and its federal arbiter, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC). Its aim is to advance federal theory and policy (both for Canada and beyond) by looking at the important role the SCC has played in the management of conflict over the very nature of the federation.
Through a comprehensive review of the SCC's federal jurisprudence since 1980, the thesis demonstrates that the Court tends to impose particular understandings of the federation through its decisions. I argue such an approach by a federal arbiter is detrimental to the legitimacy of the federation and its ability to manage diversity. However, in a number of decisions, the Court recognizes federation as the process and outcome of negotiation between the subscribers of legitimate perspectives on the nature of the order. I argue this approach, which seeks to facilitate negotiation, can generate legitimacy for the federation and the way it manages conflict. These two lines of analysis support the point that federal arbiters are particularly important in managing conflict in diverse federations.
The thesis consists of two broad sections. The first looks at the main approaches to managing diversity via federation and the associated roles for the federal arbiter, both in the Canadian context and more broadly. The second section looks at the SCC's work as the federal arbiter to determine the extent to which it adheres to the facilitative approach. The thesis concludes by reflecting on the potential issues with this approach to managing diversity via federation and role for the federal arbiter, including its applicability beyond Canada.


In this paper, the problem of automatic dance performance evaluation from human Motion Capture (MoCap) data is addressed. A novel framework is presented, using data captured by Kinect-based human skeleton tracking, where the evaluation of user's performance is achieved against a gold-standard performance of a teacher. The framework addresses several technical challenges, including global and local temporal synchronization, spatial alignment and comparison of two "dance motion signals." Towards the solution of these technical challenges, a set of appropriate quaternionic vector-signal processing methodologies is proposed, where the 4D (spatiotemporal) human motion data are represented as sequences of pure quaternions. Such a quaternionic representation offers several advantages, including the facts that joint angles and rotations are inherently encoded in the phase of quaternions and the three coordinates variables ( X,Y,Z) are treated jointly, with their intra-correlations being taken into account. Based on the theory of quaternions, a number of advantageous algorithms are formulated. Initially, global temporal synchronization of dance MoCap data is achieved by the use of quaternionic cross-correlations, which are invariant to rigid spatial transformations between the users. Secondly, a quaternions-based algorithm is proposed for the fast spatial alignment of dance MoCap data. Thirdly, the MoCap data can be temporally synchronized in a local fashion, using Dynamic Time Warping techniques adapted to the specific problem. Finally, a set of quaternionic correlation-based measures (scores) are proposed for evaluating and ranking the performance of a dancer. These quaternions-based scores are invariant to rigid transformations, as proved and demonstrated. A total score metric, through a weighted combination of three different metrics is proposed, where the weights are optimized using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). The presented experimental results using the Huawei/3DLife/EMC2 dataset are promising and verify the effectiveness of the proposed methods.


Sun, Xiaogang, Naoki Naito (eds.) (2007) 'Mobility, Flexibility and Potential of Nomadic Pastoralism in Eurasia and Africa.' Kyoto, Japan: Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies (ASAFAS), Special Paper No. 10. The aim of an international workshop entitled, "Mobility, Flexibility and Potential of Nomadic Pastoralists in Eurasia and Africa" was to examine how pastoralists in a variety of regions have responded to modernization. The volume produced from this workshop includes twelve papers, with six entries on pastoral groups in East Africa, four contributions from Asia and two commentaries as well as a preface. A folio of colour images taken by some of the authors is included. This volume grapples with the question of whether nomadism is an anachronism--particularly amidst rapid socio-economic transformations and climate change--or whether nomads deserve a place at the table of modernity. Thus, the authors all take up different aspects of the questions: "How are pastoral systems functioning? How do development interventions affect pastoral groups? Will nomads be able to successfully adapt in the future?" With these questions in mind, the volume's authors concern themselves with factors currently exerting powerful influences on pastoral societies including: population growth, the encroachment of agriculture and wildlife reserves on grazing land, infiltration of the monetary economy, increasing inequality between rich and poor, rural to urban labour migration; and the insecurity caused by conflicts. While this list is not specific or unique to pastoralists, the volume raises interesting comparative possibilities about nomads' characteristic adaptations to these challenges. Maria Fernandez-Gimenez and her co-authors explore the effects of climate, economy and land policy on contemporary mobility patterns in Mongolia. Surveys conducted between 1995 and 2006 indicated that mobility is still a key strategy for many Mongolian herders and that several metrics of mobility have actually increased since 1999. Still, this contribution can perhaps be cited for an overemphasis on mobility as determined by environmental factors (e.g., winter storms) even as economic (e.g., access to markets) and political (e.g., government sedentarization programs) factors impinge strongly upon mobility among pastoralists. This is, in part, a function of the difficulties associated with determining how many households have moved permanently to administrative centers, leaving herding, and how many continue to maintain herds by supporting two households. The authors also note that mobility is linked to socio-economic status with concomitant differentiation among herders resulting in large-scale, specialist 'yield-oriented' pastoral operations which produce for the market, take advantage of economies of scale, sometimes specialize by species and generally move longer distance in contrast to smaller-scale household 'subsistence-oriented' producers (Sneath 1999). Yet even as climate and environmental conditions remain important drivers of herders' land use and mobility, global forces increasingly influence these patterns today. For instance, herd composition in Mongolia has changed in response to demand for cashmere, while the global market demand for minerals has influenced land use and resource access as a result of increased and unregulated mining. In fact, cashmere has become a key factor in the globalization and regionalization of pastoral economies across Eurasia. Despite these changes, the authors assert the five key strategies--mobility, diversity, flexibility, reciprocity and grazing reserves--traditionally used to manage grazing in Mongolia have remained resilient. Unfortunately, comparative questions about whether or not these strategies are applicable to the other contemporary pastoral systems are insufficiently developed in the volume as a whole. An obvious strength of this and several other articles in the volume is the inclusion of chronological data on the same pastoral populations. …


Depressive disorders are the most frequent psychiatric disturbances associated with epilepsy in adolescents and include a broad and heterogeneous spectrum of conditions that share hallmark features and symptoms such as sadness, irritability, decreased motivation or interests, fatigue, withdrawal, hopelessness, anhedonia, changes in appetite and weight, and sleep disturbances that are persistent and pervasive most days for at least 2 weeks. Using generic self-report depression surveys and current diagnostic codes, clinical and surveillance studies have revealed prevalence rates of 20–25% for depression in youth with epilepsy, with adolescents showing particular vulnerability. Furthermore, 20% of youth with epilepsy endorse suicidal ideation, and youth endorsing suicidal ideation do not necessarily have clinical symptoms of depression. Considering that depression in youth with epilepsy is a common comorbidity, characterized by poorer psychosocial and healthy-related outcomes and increased risk of suicide, a brief, free measure of specific depressive symptoms in youth with epilepsy would be beneficial. Recently, the NDDI-E-.Y inventory has been developed from the adult NDDI-E, and validated in many countries. NDDI-E-Y showed reliable and construct validity, being a brief screening tool (12 items) that can be easily included in routine epilepsy care.For the management of depressive symptoms in adolescents, interventions can be distinguished in non-pharmacological and pharmacological. The first includes psychoeducation which should clarify to adolescents and parents the main features of epileptic disorder, side effects of antiepileptic drugs, treatment modalities, how to cope with learning and social difficulties, in order to improve quality of life. Concurrently, a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) including individual therapy, supportive and family therapy and school services, should be carried on. Psychopharmacology for depressive symptoms should be deserved to moderate to severe depressive symptomatology, only after deep assessment of prior and current antiepileptic and/or psychopharmacologic treatment. SSRIs including fluoxetin, sertraline, fluvoxamine and escitalopram should be first considered. Data coming from experimental studies in animals and humans seem to confirm no decrease of seizure threshold by SSRI adjunctive therapy.


Abstract:We are still failing to protect our mental health services and the people who deliver them. One central reason for current problems is the overwhelming focus of the service on Increased Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT), the NHS's largest mental health programme. The 'evidence base' for this programme's effectiveness has been established through the widespread use of performance data, drawn from a system that has itself become highly contested. IAPT is also a key component within the government's austerity programme and its plans for the introduction of the new 'fitness for work' welfare assessment process. And it is also an enabler of the opening up of the mental health sector to outside providers, partly because it paves the way towards a downgrading of jobs. It also fits perfectly with a preoccupation with financial targets and performance indicators that reflect efficiency within the service rather than clinical outcomes. To begin to address all this, there is a need for a public inquiry into the current regime of performance management and the IAPT model, and the development of a new network that can create a platform for national engagement on the key issues.


We are now in a position to answer the question of importance or relevance : the question, namely, whether it is true, as it is often claimed to be, that works of fine art which are ∼ AN, in particular tragedies and novels, should be AV; and, if so, why. Briefly, it seems to me that the claim is true for a variety of reasons which I shall now detail. I pointed out earlier that a literary work is not a tragedy or a work of fiction at all unless it is ∼ AN. (Subsecs. 2.1.1., 2.1.3.) But if it is AV, then it is of course ∼ AN, so that this condition is met. Moreover, it is met n i the most satisfactory way; for, although a work is also ∼ AN if it is ∼ AV, it is evident that the better way of being ∼ AN is to be AV.


This paper examines the intersection between creativity, problem solving, cognitive psychology and neuroscience in a discussion surrounding the genesis of new ideas and innovative science. Three creative activities are considered. These are (a) the interaction between visual-spatial and analytical or verbal reasoning, (b) attending to feeling in listening to the 'self', and (c) the interaction between conscious and nonconscious reasoning. Evidence for the importance of each of these activities to the creative process is drawn from (a) historical and introspective accounts of novel problem solving by noted scientists and mathematicians; (b) cognitive psychology and neuroscience; and (c) a recent empirical study of novel mathematics problem solving. An explanation of these activities is given in terms of cognitive neuroscience. A conceptual framework connecting each of these activities is presented and the implications for learning and teaching considered.


The level of violence in the National Hockey League (NHL) reached its highest point in 1987 and has reduced somewhat since then, although to levels much larger than before the first team expansions in 1967. Using publicly available information from several databases 1996-2007, the incentives for violence in North American ice hockey are analyzed. We examine the role of penalty minutes and more specifically, fighting, during the regular season in determining wages for professional hockey players and team-level success indicators. There are substantial returns paid not only to goal scoring skills but also to fighting ability, helping teams move higher in the playoffs and showing up as positive wage premia for otherwise observed low-skill wing players. These estimated per-fight premia, depending on fight success ($10,000 to $18,000), are even higher than those for an additional point made. By introducing a fight fine of twice the maximum potential gain ($36,000) and adding this amount to salaries paid for the team salary cap (fines would be 6.7% of the team salary cap or the average wage of 2 players), then all involved would have either little or no incentives to allow fighting to continue.


Since the discovery of the right-handed helical structure of DNA, 61 years have passed.
 The DNA molecule, which encodes genetic information, is also found twisted into coils.
 This extra twist of the helical structure, called supercoiling, plays important roles in
both DNA compaction and gene regulation. The DNA in eukaryotic cells is packaged into chromatin. Using single-molecule force spectroscopy, I resolved force/torque induced structural changes of DNA and chromatin fibers. I showed that the structural changes of chromatin fibers can be described by four conformations. I showed for the
 first time the folding and unfolding of a chromatin fiber under torsion. Th e anisotropic response of chromatin fibers to supercoiling reflects its leftŸ-handed chirality. These findings give a detailed structural insight of a supercoiled chromatin fiber, yielding a better understanding of the response of chromatin during transcription


A microorganism capable of synthesizing biosurf actant from cheap and renewable water-soluble substrate such as carbohydrate was isolated' from the environment in our laboratory. It was selected from other isolates by screening for its ability to reduce the tensiometric properties of the culture broth. The isolated organism (JIZAN-1) produced significant extracellular surfactant activity during growth in batch culture on modified mineral salts med~um (MMSM) containing 0.2% glucose as a carbon source and 0.02% yeast extract as a growth cofactor. This was demonstrated by lowering of the whole broth surface tension to less than 27.0 dynes/cm and the interfacial tension to less than 2.0 dynes/cm. The isolated organism (JIZAN-1) was identified based on morphological, cultural and biochemical tests as an Arthrobacter species. Optimum culture conditions such as the amount of glucose as the carbon Source, amount of NH 4No 3 or NH4Cl as the nitrogen Source, and the environmental conditions including initial medium pH and incubation temperature, for growth and yield of biosurfactant were determined through batch cultivation on MMSM. Arthrobacter JIZAN-1 was used for the development of a continuous process for biosurf actant production under carbon limitation. The goal of such a process was to produce the surfactant in a cost efficient process. Biosurf actant recovery procedure consisted of repeated extraction of the culture broth by chloroform at 35°C. The chloroform extract was run in various solvent systems on silica gel TLC plates to petermine the mobility of the components in the chloroform extract. The first purification step consisted of fractionating the crude chloroform extract by silica gel open column, then the surfactant #1 which was obtained from the first step was further purified through fractionation by c 1a silica (reverse phase) open column chromatography and the purified ' surface active compound was designated AL-Hazmi's surfactant. After the purity of AL-Hazmi's surfactant was confirmed by TLC, followed by detection with sugar and lipid specific reagents, the structure was examined by chemical and physical methods. When AL-Hazmi's surfactant was hydrolyzed under alkaline and acidic conditions, the fatty acids released were determined by GC and the water soluble portion contents of sugars and sugar derivatives were determined by HPLC. The structure was also examined by means of lH and 13c nuclear magentic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and by infrared spectrophotometry (IR). The surfactant is characterized as a complex glycolipid consisting of a number of homologs from C10 to C20 saturated and unsaturated fatty acids including a-branched-~-hydroxy fatty acids. The water soluble portion obtained after acid hydrolysis yielded raffinose, galacturonic acid and four unidentified peaks.


The NAVE is a low cost spatially immersive display system developed by the Georgia Tech Virtual Environments Group. The NAVE audio environment uses two independent speaker systems driven by a dedicated audio PC with two sound cards. The speakers are amplified by four Pioneer 200 watt receivers. The primary system utilizes 4 Bose Acoustimass speakers to create a three dimensional soundfield. A Sound Blaster LIVE! audio card is used for audio spatialization. The secondary system steers bass audio content across four zones embedded in the NAVE floor. Bass audio is moved within the zones using a Diamond Monster Sound MX200 PC sound card. Bass vibration effects are maximized by six Aura Bass Shaker Pro's along with seat mounted subwoofer speakers. The steerable bass audio system can be used to create audio-tactile effects for simulating the vibration of vehicles, thunder, explosions, shockwaves, and earthquakes. A custom real-time audio effects application programming interface (API) allows virtual environment designers to attach sounds to graphic entities. The spatial position of sounds are synchronized with the position of their associated graphical objects. The API is also capable of reproducing real world phenomena including reverberation and doppler effects.


Many data are naturally modeled by an unobserved hierarchical structure. In this paper we propose a flexible nonparametric prior over unknown data hierarchies. The approach uses nested stick-breaking processes to allow for trees of unbounded width and depth, where data can live at any node and are infinitely exchangeable. One can view our model as providing infinite mixtures where the components have a dependency structure corresponding to an evolutionary diffusion down a tree. By using a stick-breaking approach, we can apply Markov chain Monte Carlo methods based on slice sampling to perform Bayesian inference and simulate from the posterior distribution on trees. We apply our method to hierarchical clustering of images and topic modeling of text data.


The controversy over chip mills in North Carolina is part of a larger public discussion of forest policy throughout the southern Appalachians, Ozarks, and Ouachitas. Chip mills have become a symbol of forest resource exploitation in the southern Appalachians, and many studies and commissions have been established for analysis of the conflict. In this paper I describe the tensions that have arisen between new public views of appropriate property use and more traditional views of natural resource use. Based on the results of a social impact assessment conducted in the summer of 1999 as part of a broader study on the economic and ecological impacts of wood chip processing facilities in North Carolina, I first review the context of chip mills in the Southeast and North Carolina, focusing on the polarization of opinions that has developed since the early 1990s. I then present ten common perceptions of chip mills used in the arguments for and against them. These reflect the tendency to personify chip mills as agents. Following a discussion of the allocation of social costs to corporate entities rather than to forest landowners, I suggest that change in attitudes, policies, and regulations regarding chip mills will be influenced not only by increasing public interests in private property, but also by worldwide demand for wood products.


INTRODUCTION
Transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) is a noninvasive neurostimulation technique in which random current levels applied to scalp electrodes elicit temporary changes in cortical excitability (Terney et al., 2008). This experiment explores modulatory effects of high-frequency tRNS on neural plasticity during a temporal perceptual learning task. We measured sensitivity to onset asynchronies (SOAs) during a temporal order judgment task as a function of both practice and active stimulation.

METHODS
Twenty-four subjects were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: hf-tRNS (up to 1000 Hz) over hMT+; hf-tRNS over parietal cortex; sham stimulation; and behavior only. Subjects undergoing active hf-tRNS were stimulated for 20 consecutive minutes concurrent with the task. Subjects viewed two discs flickering black and white for 1000 ms at 7.5 Hz. These discs were presented with onset asynchronies ranging from -66 ms (left disc first) to +66 ms (right disc first). During the flicker cycle, each disc was temporarily displayed as a Gabor for 133 ms (sp. frequency: 1.25 cycle/deg). Subjects judged whether the right or left disc appeared as a Gabor first. Feedback was provided for five out of six blocks.

RESULTS
SOA values across blocks were compared to determine sensitivity to the timing of Gabor onsets. As the experiment progressed, subjects exposed to parietal hf-tRNS were significantly better at correctly judging temporal order of the embedded Gabor discs at small onset asynchronies (F(3,20)=14.37; p = 0) as compared to all other conditions.

CONCLUSIONS
Our results show the quick effect that parietal tRNS has in improving perceptual sensitivity during tasks that require attention to temporal patterns. These results shows promising insight into the relationship between cortical stimulation and neural plasticity, leading the way to neurostimulation as a possible therapy for patients suffering from neurological attention disorders. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


This article attempts to bring classes back into empirical analyses of access to civil and administrative justice, focusing on the linkage between the emergence of the new middle class and legal developments in China. We define six classes, the elite class, the old middle class, the new middle class, the self-employed getihu, the working class, and farmers, and then examine class differentials in choosing legal resolutions to civil and administrative disputes, both actual and hypothetical ones. Based on the analysis of data from a national representative survey in 2005, we show that the elite and the new middle classes are more likely than the other classes to prefer the law to other forms of resolutions if they were to encounter any disputes; but after controlling for the economic and cultural resources they can have access to, class differentials disappear to a large extent, but the urban-rural divide remains. Among those who are experiencing civil disputes, the elite and the new middle class are also more likely to take legal action. The ruling elites, in alliance with the new middle class, could be the major political agents in promoting the rule of law in China.


"The central object [of translation history] should be the human translator, since only humans have the kind of responsibility appropriate to social causation. […] [T]o understand why translation happened we have to look at the people involved" (Pym ix). However, translation is not the only factor altering translation history, as non-translation can expose elements otherwise overlooked. Translation—reproduction—sometimes takes the form of writing—production—, yet this might not be immediately obvious, or explicitly declared. Such is the case of E.M. Cioran, a Romanian writer who suddenly decided to abandon his past after self-exiling to France in his mid-twenties. Curiously, he abandoned it completely, refusing to ever write or even translate in Romanian. Cioran explained in an interview much later in his life that his Romanian self was no longer useful to him after a certain point because writing in Romanian meant writing for no audience. This study searches to reveal the true nature of this switch as illusionary, since his Romanian identity managed to stay hidden behind the use of French.


The face numbers of simplicial polytopes that approximate $C^1$-convex bodies in the Hausdorff metric is studied. Several structural results about the skeleta of such polytopes are studied and used to derive a lower bound theorem for this class of polytopes. This partially resolves a conjecture made by Kalai in 1994: if a sequence $\{P_n\}_{n=0}^{\infty}$ of simplicial polytopes converges to a $C^1$-convex body in the Hausdorff distance, then the entries of the $g$-vector of $P_n$ converge to infinity.


Important morphological features of some spore assemblages from Middle-Upper Devonian and Lower Carboniferous of Western Desert of Egypt are described. Comparing the present assemblages with those obtained from other countries, there are differences among Libyan, Algerian, Saudi Arabian and the Egyptian spore assemblages. This might be due to different environmental conditions prevailed in these locations. Close similarities are recorded between South Ireland assemblages and the present one.


The paper will deal with the problem of establishing a desirable power sharing in multi-feed electric power system for future more-electric aircraft (MEA) platforms. The MEA is one of the major trends in modern aerospace engineering aiming for reduction of the overall aircraft weight, operation cost and environmental impact. Electrical systems are employed to replace existing hydraulic, pneumatic and mechanical loads. Hence the onboard installed electrical power increases significantly and this results in challenges in the design of electrical power systems (EPS). One of the key paradigms for future MEA EPS architectures assumes high-voltage dc distribution with multiple sources, possibly of different physical nature, feeding the same bus(es). In our study we investigate control approaches to guarantee that the total electric load is shared between the sources in a desirable manner. A novel communication channel based secondary control method is proposed in this paper. Stability of the proposed method is investigated and it proves that the system stability margin is upgraded using the compensation method. The analytical results of the study will be supported by both time-domain simulations and experimental results.


Development of cost-effective, durable and sensitive on-line water quality monitoring sensors that can be installed across the water distribution network has attracted attentions to increase the frequency of monitoring and hence reduce the risk of accidental or deliberate contaminations. This paper presents micro-sensors fabricated and implemented in a serpentine channel for the measurement of pH and conductivity, two important water quality parameters. The sensors are fabricated using hydrogel coated gold electrodes. The performance of these sensors was tested in both still (static) and flowing (dynamic) water. The serpentine channel, numerically optimized, provides a constant flow and constant outlet pressure condition for dynamic experiments. The results show that for flow rates less than 30 mL/min the values obtained in the dynamic experiments are similar to those measured in the static condition. Tests conducted for evaluating the sensors lifetime show no change in the performance even after one month.


Terrorists are engaged in an online jihad, characterized by the use of the internet to fundraise, distribute messages and directives, recruit and proselytize. It is impossible to shut down the entire presence of terrorists on the internet; however, this article details a proposal which can have a marked impact on the presence of terrorists on the internet. Using existing statutes, it is possible to regionalize terrorist websites, limiting them to an extremely small number of countries from which they may receive internet services. Once the terrorist message is limited to a particular region, a modification of current laws can allow for a cyber embargo on jihadist websites and their supporters. These efforts coupled with diplomatic cooperation can further the effort to curb the impact of jihadist websites, while simultaneously increasing the ability of governments to monitor these websites and, when necessary, shut them down. In this article I outline my proposal using as an example the active and official website of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a designated terrorist organization. In Part 1 I provide a brief overview of the status of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and its brazen efforts to stay online despite government efforts. I outline a three step process by which the PIJ web presence and others like it can be eliminated. In Part 2, I detail the threat posed by the cyber jihad. I explain how terrorists use the internet to recruit, train for attacks and coordinate those attacks. I describe the clear advantages terrorist organizations enjoy by using websites and explain the current state of affairs. This sets the stage for a discussion of the current statutory framework which has to date only enjoyed moderate success. In Part 3, I move beyond the threat and detail the legal and policy implications of using existing statutes to eliminate the web presence of terrorist organizations. I also detail the limitations of the current statute and prepare the reader for a discussion of how, with slight modifications, the existing statutory and policy framework can markedly diminish the advantages terrorist organizations enjoy through their web presence. In Part 4, I detail the critical next step in countering the cyber jihad. I explain the advantages of creating a cyber embargo of companies who provide material support to terrorist organizations, but who for legal or policy reasons may be beyond the reach of the material support statute. The creation of a cyber-embargo rests upon a non-criminal material supporter designation which will prevent U.S. companies from conducting business with designated material supporters. In essence, this process involves the creation of virtual persona non grata. I also detail the diplomatic efforts necessary to globalize the reach of this counter terrorism strategy. Through cooperation with foreign governments, loopholes in the jihadist web presence can be closed and terrorist organizations can be forced to a limited number of potential host countries.I conclude the article by discussing the implications of following my approach, and the new counterterrorism opportunities such tactics present.


Acquisition of second language (L2) phonology is possibly the most challenging task for L2 learners. As a result, many tend to preserve a foreign accent in their speech even after they have attained a high level of proficiency in other aspects of L2 use. The difficulty in acquiring an L2 phonological system has been attributed to factors such as age of L2 perceptual learning, quality and quantity of L2 input and interference from the first language phonological system. This paper contributes to ongoing discussions on the acquisition of L2 phonology by examining the difficulties encountered by two groups of Iraqi EFL learners in the perception of English vowels and the accuracy of perceived difficulty by Iraqi EFL teachers and learners. The results on perceived difficulty were compared with performance in a speech perception task. The findings show that Iraqi EFL learners encounter varying degrees of difficulty in the perception of English vowels. The findings also show that there is an effect in the level of proficiency on the accuracy rate for some vowel categories but two vowel categories, /ɒ/ and /ae/, were persistently difficult for most subjects regardless of their proficiency level in English. Iraqi EFL teachers and learners reported that they encountered difficulty learning some English vowels; however, the vowels that were identified as difficult differed considerably from those identified in the perception task. Keywords: speech perception; English vowels; Iraqi EFL learners; L2 experience; perceived difficulty DOI: http://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2016-2201-01


In this book, two psychologists apply principles of cognitive psychology to understanding reading. Unlike most other books on the subject, this one presents a consistent theoretical point of view and applies it to the acquisition of reading and what the skilled reader does.The first part of The Psychology of Reading covers perceptual learning, the development of cognitive strategies, the development of language, the nature of writing systems, and an extensive review of the research on word recognition.In the second part of the book, the authors look closely at abilities that children bring to school before learning to read. They describe the acquisition of initial reading skills and transition to skilled reading, the nature of the reading process in adult readers, and the ways people learn from reading.The book's third part takes up questions people frequently ask about reading -- such as reading by deaf children, dyslexia, the influence of nonstandard dialects on learning to read, comparison of reading achievement across different nations and different languages, and the debatable virtues of "speed reading." The authors conclude that reading cannot be understood simply as associative learning -- that is, the learning of an arbitrary code connecting written symbols and their sounds. Reading involves higher-level mental processes such as the discovery of rules and order, and the extraction of structured, meaningful information.


SummaryPublic diplomacy's scholarship and practice are evolving and seeking to adapt to the expanding interests, expectations, connectivity and mobility of the publics that have come to define the field in an organic fashion. The characteristic distinction between international and domestic publics as the key to defining the practice of public diplomacy is increasingly challenged by public audiences that are no longer constrained by such traditional delineations. The attention on the involvement of domestic publics in public diplomacy, or its domestic dimension, has to be understood within this context. This article aims to cast further light on public diplomacy's domestic dimension, with Canada and Australia — two countries that have much in common — as the launch pads for discussion. The article's first section investigates the approach and development of public diplomacy's domestic dimension in both countries and draws out the similarities and differences. The second section identifies the opportunities, challenges and tendencies in its practice as well as the conceptual implications. The article finds that while differences in approach remain, Canada and Australia have more in common than not when it comes to involving domestic audiences in international policy, especially in recent years. Their practice of public diplomacy's domestic dimension appears to be resilient and adaptive in nature, although it has been subject to fluctuations resulting from changes in the political climate, leadership styles and governmental preferences, and resource availability. Additionally, reconceptualizing public diplomacy with a domestic dimension and constructivist underpinnings opens the window on norms that are taken for granted in diplomacy and offers the potential for a more inclusive view and practice — a better fit for its time.


The paper aims to critically consider the proposition maintaining that the contemporary state of affairs between Iran and the Arab world results from an endemic, deep-rooted enmity between these two peoples with roots in the annals of history. To elucidate its argument, the paper offers a brief review of the major ups and downs in the historical relationship between Iranians and Arabs to see whether animosity or good-neighbourliness has mainly prevailed. Then, seeking to pinpoint the causes of uneasiness in the Iranian-Arab relationship since the 1950s, the focus of the paper turns to the formation of pan-Arab ideology and its strong anti-Iranian elements. Major differences in outlooks, coupled with territorial and diplomatic disagreements, had Nasserite Egypt and especially Ba'athist Iraq embrace these elements and begin implementing them to their full and extreme extent at a time when a monarchical West-leaning regime was in power in Iran. The paper concludes that the uneasiness in Iran-Arab relations during the past five to six decades has been situational and a modern phenomenon, chiefly stemming from specific political circumstances with certain roots in nation-building activities in the concerned countries. Hence, historical and ethno-religious or civilizational roots of this strained relationship are either non-existent or insignificant.


CPRE researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have been working on school finance redesign since 1990. The issue that has driven this effort has been the goal of state standards-based education reform and, more recently, of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act to teach all students to high standards. This goal has shifted the orientation of the education system from inputs to outcomes--student achievement to rigorous performance standards--with an attendant accountability focus at the school site. In the broader school finance community, this focus has induced a shift from "equity" to "adequacy," for both litigation and policy. Though adequacy narrowly seeks to identify the level of dollars needed to produce a desired level of student achievement, its more general objective is to redesign the finance system to link resource levels and resource-use practices more directly to student learning. This policy brief describes how CPRE has approached this agenda over the past decade and a half, and reveals how our current finance research has begun to explicitly link the level and use of resources with strategies that districts and schools can deploy to literally double student performance over a 5to 10-year period. During the time period over which this finance research agenda has evolved, we believe it has succeeded in linking school finance equity and adequacy, both by aligning effective allocation and use of resources to the most powerful and comprehensive schoolbased strategies to boost student learning and by identifying strategies for how and how much to pay teachers. Disciplines Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Education Economics | Education Policy Comments View on the CPRE website. This policy brief is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/cpre_policybriefs/34


This handbook is a user-friendly resource for pre-service and new practicing teachers outlining theoretical models and empirical research findings concerning the nature and effects of emotions, motivation, and self-regulated learning for students and teachers alike. The authors provide accessible explanations, classroom-based examples and self-reflection exercises, as well as useful advice for new teachers about these psychosocial processes. They address how to measure these processes, what effects they have on personal and academic development, how they manifest in both students and teachers and how teachers can best manage and optimize these critical elements at the classroom level. It is expected that by collecting, distilling, and highlighting the real-world applicability of research on underexplored educational topics (e.g., students? emotions other than anxiety, promoting student autonomy, preventing burnout and attrition in teachers) that empirical findings can be used to improve personal and academic development in students, while also preparing new teachers for the psychological challenges of classroom instruction.


The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A Corpus. Vol. IV: The Cities of Acre and Tyre with Addenda and Corrigenda to Volumes I-III. By Denys Pringle. Illustrated by Peter E. Leach. (New York: Cambridge University Press. 2009. Pp. xviii, 321. $195.00. ISBN 978-0-521-85148-0.) The present volume concludes an enormous project to publish a corpus of all church buildings in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Reflecting work stretching from 1979 to the present, Denys Pringle has systematically surveyed, recorded, described, and analyzed the archaeological, historical, and architectural evidence for 489 churches together with extensive documentation; by contrast, Camille Enlart included fewer than fifty churches in Les monuments des croises dans le royaume de Jerusalem: architecture religieuse et civile (Paris, 1925-28). In volume IV, 121 churches are presented, including eighty-two from Acre and twenty-five from Tyre, the two most important port cities in the Latin Kingdom. The entries for each church provide the fullest possible information, with a number of churches covered here for the first time; up-to-date archaeological details also are featured. Some churches are referred to only in written sources, but all of the churches for which there are archaeological remains are given photo documentation with newly prepared drawings based on careful fieldwork. Major churches receive appropriately large entries (St. John's church and hospital in Acre cover pp. 82-1 14; the cathedral in Tyre covers pp. 182 -2 04). Among the great benefits of Pringle's presentations are his historical discussions based on exhaustive sources along with pre- and postcrusader history. Pringle's command of crusader ecclesiastical history is encyclopedic. For major entries, other material such as epigraphy and relics are discussed, and all entries give complete references for primary sources, maps, and secondary sources. Pringle covered seventy-one churches in Historic Acre as a Living City (Acre, 2003); here, he documents eighty-two, second only to Jerusalem (with eighty-seven) in the Kingdom. Pringle states that his survey is offered as a further contribution to the development of a more clearly defined picture of medieval Acre. Without a doubt, his contribution marks a gigantic step forward both in terms of his identifications and documentation on the individual churches and his presentation of a reconstruction of medieval Acre overlaid on a map of the modern city (pp. …


The glycine receptor is a pentameric, neurotransmitter-activated ion channel that transitions between closed/resting, open and desensitized states. Glycine, a full agonist, produces an open channel probability (Po) of ∼1.0 while partial agonists, such as taurine and γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) yield submaximal Po values. Despite extensive studies of pentameric Cys-loop receptors, there is little knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underpinning partial agonist action and how the receptor transitions from the closed to open and to desensitized conformations. Here we use electrophysiology and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, together with a large ensemble of single particle cryo-EM reconstructions, to show how agonists populate agonist-bound yet closed channel states, thus explaining their lesser efficacy, yet also populate agonist-bound open and desensitized states. Measurements within the neurotransmitter binding pocket, as a function of bound agonist, provide a metric to correlate the extent of agonist-induced conformational changes to open channel probability across the Cys-loop receptor family.


Abstract

 Understanding the main focus of social media for learning studies and how they are conducted is important to understand
where the research is headed. Hence, this study is aimed to explore and analyze state of the art articles that focus on both
social media and learning. Meta-analysis is employed as a methodology and 152 articles published between 2008 and
2017 are investigated through content analysis. The results are interpreted with descriptive statistics. As a result, it is found
that; (1) most of the studies incorporate Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube for learning, (2) the majority of studies are based on
students, (3) quantitative approach using surveys are frequent while case studies and experimental designs are the primary
means of research method, (4) higher education is in the focus of the studies, (5) Europe contributed to the literature the
most, and (6) the number of studies is increasing throughout the years.

 Editor: H. Kemal Ilter, Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University, Turkey

 Received: August 19, 2018, Accepted: October 18, 2018, Published: November 10, 2018
Copyright: © 2018 IMISC Kutlu et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author
and source are credited.


In addition to promulgating regulations, federal administrative agencies penalize entities that violate their rules. In 2010 alone, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration imposed a statutory maximum $16.4 million penalty on Toyota and the Securities and Exchange Commission recovered $535 million from Goldman Sachs, the largest civil penalty a financial services firm has ever paid. The academic literature proposes two major theories explaining why agencies might seek these monetary penalties. First, agencies might seek to deter misconduct by using civil penalties to raise the expected cost of regulatory violations above the cost of compliance. Alternatively, agencies might use civil penalties as one step in an escalating series of enforcement responses to recalcitrant behavior by a regulated entity. Both of these theories assume that agencies punish in order to induce compliance with agency regulations. In the language of the criminal law, agencies are assumed to be consequentialists. Agency descriptions of their penalty policies support this assumption. Agencies claim to focus on deterrence, not retribution, when setting penalties. This Article argues that consequentialist theories fail to explain the actual civil penalty policies in place at a range of federal administrative agencies. Instead, agency penalty policies are largely designed to achieve retributive ends. In short, agencies are more interested in desert than deterrence. The presence of widespread retribution in agency punishment raises serious concerns about legitimacy and competence. Administrative agency punishment lacks the transparency and structural protections that legitimize retribution in the criminal context. Additionally, agency subject matter expertise is unlikely to extend far enough to effectively implement retributive theories.


Not all international and regional courts survive the test of time. There is more literature on those that did as compared with those that failed. The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) created in 2001 is today at a juncture where the usefulness and longevity of the Court sometimes comes into question by legal theorists and legal practitioners given the apparent lentitude of political adhesion to its appellate jurisdiction by some regional states. There has been substantial debate in the region over the readiness of the region to embrace the Court's appellate jurisdiction, it centres on perceptions and debates around legitimacy, representativeness, bias, independence and indigenous jurisprudence. To understand and contextualise the apparent difficulties that this young court faces, this article puts these debates within the wider international relations contexts of regionalism and the growth and demise of regional and international courts. Within this context, four factors contribute to our understanding of the value and success, or lack thereof, of regional courts: the nature of their historical evolution; adverse public opinion on their legitimacy; the extent to which powerful states do not feel threatened by them and allow their development and the economic and political contexts within which they develop.


The Job Shop Scheduling Problem (JSSP) arises in the context of high-performance computing and belongs to the NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems. The purpose of JSSP is to find the order of execution of a set of jobs on a group of machines, subject to certain precedence and resource availability constraints. The objective in this problem is minimizing the makespan that is the time elapsed from the starting time of the first job until the completion time of the last job. In this paper, a novel hybrid algorithm named AntGenSA for solving JSSP is proposed. AntGenSA uses Ant Colony System (ACS), Simulated Annealing (SA), and Genetic Algorithm (GA). To assess the performance of this algorithm, it is executed in a parallel computer, using a set of instances proposed by Fisher-Thompson, Yamada-Nakano, Taillard, Lawrence, and Applegate-Cook. The evaluation of this algorithm was performed mainly by the quality of the solution but the execution time was measuring as well. The experimental results show that the performance of the parallel execution of AntGenSA is highly competitive with the state-of-the-art algorithms.


Twenty years have passed since Menzies & Hawkesworth extended the concept of metasomatism to mantle processes. The aim of this book is to gather together progress made on this topic since then. Most of the 14 papers reported in the volume rely on in situ major and trace element analyses of minerals and glasses in mantle xenoliths, and deal with different kinds of metasomatic agents at variable fluid/rock ratios in tectonic settings as different as intra-plate, mid-ocean ridge (ophiolites) and supra-subduction. The book contributes to the wide debate on the nature of the fluids migrating into the mantle wedge, as well as on the different residential times of the subduction signature. In addition papers on intra-plate settings deal with the problem of relating various metasomatic signatures to one single metasomatic event through an infiltration-reaction process.


In order to provide a local description of a regular function in a small neighbourhood of a point x, it is sufficient by Taylor's theorem to know the value of the function as well as all of its derivatives up to the required order at the point x itself. In other words, one could say that a regular function is locally modelled by the set of polynomials. The theory of regularity structures due to Hairer generalizes this observation and provides an abstract setup, which in the application to singular SPDE extends the set of polynomials by functionals constructed from, e.g., white noise. In this context, the notion of Taylor polynomials is lifted to the notion of so-called modelled distributions. The celebrated reconstruction theorem, which in turn was inspired by Gubinelli's sewing lemma, is of paramount importance for the theory. It enables one to reconstruct a modelled distribution as a true distribution on R which is locally approximated by this extended set of models or "monomials". In the original work of Hairer, the error is measured by means of Hölder norms. This was then generalized to the whole scale of Besov spaces by Hairer and Labbé. It is the aim of this work to adapt the analytic part of the theory of regularity structures to the scale of Triebel–Lizorkin spaces.


The first part of this thesis is concerned with the attachment of subphthalocyanines to quantum dots. The macromolecule was chosen as encapsulant due to its perfect curvature and interesting optical properties. CdSe quantum dots are well-known materials with size-dependent properties that makes them unique. Hence, some subphthalocyanines bearing functional groups with
affinity for the CdSe surface were synthesised by means of cross-coupling reactions. Small nanoparticle size (2.6 nm) quantum dots have been synthesised, capped with a layer of oleic acid molecules that confers them stability, and characterised by means of UV-Vis, emission and NMR
spectroscopies. The original ligands were replaced by ligand exchange processes monitored by 1HNMR
spectroscopy. The experiments consist of titrations of CdSe-OA solutions with known concentrations of the new ligand. In this work, titrations using 3-ethynylpyridine, benzyl alcohol and phenylacetic acid have been performed. Parallel results in our group, involving the herein synthesised subphthalocyanine bearing pyridyl – groups, towards the attachment to the nanoparticle's surface are also described. Subphthalocyanine bearing three carboxylic acids is demonstrated to be the most
promising candidate for this project. However, attempts to synthesise such a molecule by direct approach strategies were unsuccessful. Experiments with sodium periodate-subphthalocyanine conjugates gave promising and encouraging results, opening the possibility of accessing
subphthalocyanines with carboxylic acid groups by means of deprotecting silyl groups.
The second part of this thesis is based on the results obtained towards the first syntheses of hybrid structures whose structure lies between subphthalocyanines and subporphyrins, SubTriBenzoDiAzaPorphyrins (SubTBDAPs). The key intermediates are aminoisoindolene
precursors that provide the methine bridge, and substitution with the meso-phenyl ring. Boron trichloride has been used in a two-step, one-pot reaction in a preliminary strategy to give access to the hybrids. However, trialkoxyborates are the preferred boron source; they provide the apical substituent, as well as act as Lewis acid and template. The latter synthesis is versatile and gives modest yields and highly pure materials, but most importantly allows control over the apical and the
meso-substituents in one single step. The new hybrids exhibit interesting optical and rotational characteristics that have been fully investigated by means of UV-Vis, emission, NMR spectroscopies, variable temperature experiments and mass spectrometry. In this work the first crystal structures elucidated for a wide range of new hybrids are also presented.


The present research project aimed at
developing and testing different IPM components focusing on i)
habitat management particularly maize-legume intercropping and trap
crops, ii) botanical formulations with special emphasis on neem and
Jatropha curcas and iii) biological control using redistribution or
new association approach for sustainably controlling the maize cob
borer Mussidia nigrivenella Ragonot (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in
field and in storage systems. To this end, field and lab
experiments were conducted mainly in different locations in Benin.
Field experiments conducted in four different locations in Benin
using four by two pattern of maize-legumes or cassava planting
indicated that intercrops could reduce the number of eggs and
larvae of M. nigrivenella compared to the monocrop. Maize-
Canavalia ensiformis and maize-Tephrosia vogelii proved to be the
most effective combinations for reducing M. nigrivenella
populations in the different locations. The effect of two
leguminous cover crops, C. ensiformis and Sesbania rostrata and
cowpea planted as border rows on infestations of maize by the
pyralid M. nigrivenella and of other cob-boring lepidopteran pests
was studied in two field trials. Towards harvest of both the main
and minor season trials, M. nigrivenella densities were higher in
the maize alone than the legume treatments, though the effect
depended on the timing of planting of the cover crop in relation to
that of maize. However, pest loads expressed as cumulative number
of feeding-days varied with treatment during the minor season only,
and they were lower on maize with C. ensiformis planted 4 weeks
before maize and maize surrounded by S. rostrata than in the maize
alone treatment. There were no discernable trends for other borers
such as the noctuid Sesamia calamistis Hampson (Lepidoptera:
Noctuidae), the pyralid Eldana saccharina Walker (Lepidoptera: P!
yralidae), and the tortricid Thaumatotibia leuctotreta Meyrick
(Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Furthermore,M. nigrivenella pest loads
were considerably higher on C. ensiformis than maize. Thus, the
presence of alternative host plant species in the vicinity of maize
fields does not increase M. nigrivenella attack on maize. The
results of laboratory and field experiments using two
concentrations of aqueous extracts of Tephrosia vogelii and Hyptis
suaveolens, and of oils of Azadirachta indica and Jatropha curcas,
as well as the pesticide Furadan 5G showed that oil emulsions of A.
indica and J. curcas oils act not only as oviposition deterrent but
also as ovicides. Overall, treated plants had a strong deterrent
effect on ovipositing M. nigrivenella. In addition, egg hatch was
adversely affected by neem and Jatropha oils. By contrast, larval
survival was not affected by the treatment. In the field, Furadan,
neem and J. curcas oils significantly reduced the number of M.
nigrivenella larvae by 16-49.2%, while aqueous extracts of T.
vogelii and H. suaveolens were similar to the control consisting of
emulsified water. Although M. nigrivenella is mostly described as a
field pest, it can be found feeding on stored maize up to the 4th
month. Survey conducted in Benin in 2006 to assess M. nigrivenella
infestations in different maize storage systems in the Southern
(SGS) and Northern Guinea Savanna (SGS) showed that in SGS and NGS
the percentage of infested stores decreased from 86.7% to 26.7% and
from 51.4% to 14.3%, respectively, during the first 28 weeks of
storage. During the same time, mean numbers of M. nigrivenella per
cob decreased from 0.36 to 0.04 across both zones. All larval
stages, but mostly 3rd to 5th instars, were frequently found even
after more than 12 weeks, showing that M. nigrivenella could
reproduce in storage. Highest M. nigrivenella incidence of 16.8%
and 14.4% were found in the "Ava" and crib stores, respectively.
Infestations were highest in "Ava" and lowest in maize grain stored
in polyethylene bags or in mud silos. In a laborat! ory experiment,
presence of post-harvest beetles negatively affected the bionomics
of the cob borer indicating strong interspecific competition.
Surveys for natural conducted in Malaysia pointed out the presence
of three genera parasitizing Parkia speciosa pod borer: Bracon spp.
(Hymenoptera: Braconidae) accounted for 64%, Eurytoma sp.
(Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae) (32%) and Sphaeripalpus sp.
(Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) (4%). Overall, mortality caused by
parasitoids could reach <40% hence they were considered a key
mortality factor in the population dynamics of the Mussidia spp./or
pyralid species in Malaysia.


ABSTRACT
 The Chiweta Beds of Malawi have yielded a diverse late Permian fossil tetrapod fauna that correlates with that of the Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone of the South African Karoo Supergroup. Amongst the fossil therapsids from the Chiweta Beds is the well-preserved skull and lower jaw of a burnetiamorph, a group of biarmosuchians with numerous bosses and swellings on the skull. This specimen was reported in a preliminary paper in 2005 as the first burnetiamorph described outside of South Africa and Russia. Reanalysis of the morphology and phylogeny of this specimen places Lende chiweta, gen. et sp. nov., as the sister taxon to the clade formed by Proburnetia (Paraburnetia (Pachydectes, Bullacephalus, Burnetia, Niuksenitia)). The greatest diversity of this basal therapsid group is from South Africa, with six of nine described genera and a stratigraphic range that extends from the middle Permian Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone to the upper Permian Dicynodon Assemblage Zone. Bearing in mind the constraints that govern fossil preservation, current data suggest that what is now southern Africa may have been the area of origin for burnetiamorphs. Under this premise, what is now central Africa represented a corridor that allowed migration of representatives of the group between the southern and northern portions of Pangea during the late Permian.