A main challenging problem for many machine learning and data mining applications is that the amount of data and features are very large, so that low-rank approximations of original data are often required for efficient computation. We propose new multi-level clustering based low-rank matrix approximations which are comparable and even more compact than Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). We utilize the cluster indicators of data clustering results to form the subspaces, hence our decomposition results are more interpretable. We further generalize our clustering based matrix decompositions to tensor decompositions that are useful in high-order data analysis. We also provide an upper bound for the approximation error of our tensor decomposition algorithm. In all experimental results, our methods significantly outperform traditional decomposition methods such as SVD and high-order SVD.


We critically examine historical and recent studies of flow and transport at the local scale within the capillary fringe (CF). The characterization of subsurface pathways traveled by water—and the impact of these pathways on the movement of chemicals and the viability of subsurface microbial populations—has been the subject of intensive investigation in the last 50 yr in the fields of soil science and hydrology. However, consideration of the complexity of local pathways within the CF has been largely ignored. Recent studies, as well as some historical ones, have reported observations of fluid flow and chemical transport within the CF, emphasizing the impact of physical heterogeneity and exchange of water and chemicals between the CF and the region below the water table. These observations lead to the conclusion that the CF may affect, at the local scale, the natural geochemical and microbial conditions present in the region of transition from unsaturated to saturated groundwater flow far more significantly than is usually assumed. Here, we examine underlying physical factors that control local flow and transport behaviors in and across the CF and illustrate these factors through examination of images collected in the laboratory. We also provide a brief survey of the literature on the CF. It is argued that existing definitions of the CF are inadequate to describe flow and transport behavior in the vicinity of the water table. We suggest replacing the concept of the CF with the concept of a partially saturated fringe, which involves multiphase transport in the immediate vicinity of (both above and below) the water table.


In the last decade a new domain has developed in plasma physics: plasma medicine. Despite the successes that have already been achieved in this exciting new field, the interaction of plasmas with "biological materials" is not yet fully understood. Further investigations in particular with respect to the properties of the applied plasmas sources are therefore essential in order to decode this complex interaction process. Currently, a great variety of different discharge types are used in plasma medical investigation which are generally are operated in noble gases like helium and argon or with dry air. In the present work, the main focuses is on the diagnostics of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) resulting from the plasma chemistry of an argon radio-frequency (RF) atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) and its interaction with the ambient atmosphere. To conduct this study, a commercially available plasma device, so-called kinpen is used due to its technical development maturity and its accessibility on the market. As a method of choice, diagnostic techniques are based on optical spectroscopy known to be a reliable tool to investigate plasmas. Consequently, three complementary optical laser diagnostics, namely quantum cascade laser absorption spectroscopy (QCLAS), laser induced fluorescence (LIF) and planar single shot LIF (PLIF), have been successfully applied to the plasma jet itself or its effluent. All of these diagnostics offer a high species selectivity and an excellent spatial and temporal resolution. They are used in this work for i) the characterization of the plasma chemical dynamics with respect to the generation of biological active RONS – in particular for the case of N2 and O2 admixtures. ii) the measurement of the NO density profile in the plasma effluent iii) the investigation of the flow characteristics of the neutral gas component (laminar vs. turbulent) and its influence on the plasma chemistry. Numerical analysis have been carried out in collaboration with PLASMANT (University of Antwerp) via kinetic simulations of the entire plasma chemistry. Expectingly, atomic oxygen (O) and nitric oxide (NO) turn out to be precursors of ozone (O3) and nitric dioxide (NO2). However, it was intriguing to unveil that atomic oxygen and nitrogen metastable (N2(A)) play together a key part --as intermediate species-- in the generation of more stable RONS, e.g. NO. The absolute density of NO space resolved was measured by LIF and absolutely calibrated molecular beam mass spectrometer. LIF was used to determine relative density of OH radical in the plasma plume. 2D-LIF was used to investigate the gas flow pattern with OH as a flow tracer. The results are discussed in details and show different operating mode of the jet, e.g. laminar or turbulent and that the plasma influences these regimes. The first detection and relative measurement by LIF of nitrogen metastable (N2(A)) produced by an argon APPJ is also shortly reported in this work. The outcome of this thesis will bring new insights in the field of argon APPJs chemistry and its interaction with the ambient atmosphere which can be valuable to support plasma modelling and to consider for the applications in plasma medicine.


Using asymptotic methods, we investigate whether discrete breathers are supported by a two-dimensional Fermi-Pasta-Ulam lattice. A scalar (one-component) two-dimensional Fermi-Pasta-Ulam lattice is shown to model the charge stored within an electrical transmission lattice. A third-order multiple-scale analysis in the semidiscrete limit fails, since at this order, the lattice equations reduce to the (2+1)dimensional cubic nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation which does not support stable soliton solutions for the breather envelope. We therefore extend the analysis to higher order and find a generalised (2 + 1)-dimensional NLS equation which incorporates higher order dispersive and nonlinear terms as perturbations. We find an ellipticity criterion for the wave numbers of the carrier wave. Numerical simulations suggest that both stationary and moving breathers are supported by the system. Calculations of the energy show the expected threshold behaviour whereby the energy of breathers does not go to zero with the amplitude; we find that the energy threshold is maximised by stationary breathers, and becomes arbitrarily small as the boundary of the domain of ellipticity is approached. PACS numbers: 05.45.-a, 05.45.Yv


The Graph Model for Conflict Resolution (GMCR) methodology is employed to ascertain strategic insights into a serious conflict over environmental concerns connected to the expanded exploitation of oil sands at the Jackpine Mine Expansion project located in Alberta, Canada. In fact, the expansion of extracting bitumen from large tracts of oil sands in Alberta and its associated potential negative environmental impacts have received increasing attention at the global level. Accordingly, environmentally responsible extended mining of bitumen at the Jackpine site is urgently needed. Hence, the GMCR methodology and its associated decision support system GMCR II are utilized to systematically investigate the conflict of the Jackpine Mine Expansion project. The results imply that the Federal Government of Canada is more concerned about the economic benefits generated by the oil sands projects rather than environmental impacts. It is suggested that more effort should be devoted to the environment conservation by the government.


Perspectives in Memory Research integrates current knowledge about memory from both the brain and cognitive sciences. The existing literature on memory is vast, attesting to the longstanding fascination with commitment to ongoing research at all levels and from widely varying points of view. This exciting collection presents new empirical data and theories concerning the formation, the retrieval, and the integration of memory processes and, to some extent, tries to identify how studying memory processes might help augment learning and training procedures.The chapters on the neurobiologic approach include one on brain function at the molecular level, by Ira Black; one on structure function considerations in the study of memory in cortical networks, by Gary Lynch; one on basic circuits for cortical organization, by Gordon Shepherd; and one on connectionist models of learning and memory, by Terrence Sejnowski.The psychological dimensions are probed by Marta Kutas, who reports on tracking memory capacity in the human brain; William Hirst, who discusses the improvement of memory; and Stephen Kosslyn, who considers imagery in learning.Michael Gazzaniga and William Hirst conclude with an essay on present and future memory research and its applications. Michael Gazzaniga is director of the Division of Cognitive Neuroscience at Cornell University Medical College, president of the Cognitive Neuroscience Institute, and an adjunct professor at the Dartmouth Medical School. A Bradford Book.


A focus on constructing regional advantage requires an unpacking of what makes territorial agglomerations important for innovation and growth by disclosing and revealing the contingencies, particularities and specificities of the various contexts and environments where knowledge creation, innovation and entrepreneurship take place. In order to achieve more effective regional innovation policy, the paper presents and discusses five dimensions along which such unpacking can take place. These dimensions refer to different perspectives that originate in different industrial knowledge bases, different territorial competence bases, the distributed knowledge base, the importance of creative knowledge environments and different institutional frameworks. (Less)


An important loss mechanism in organic electroluminescent devices is exciton quenching by polarons. Gradual electrochemical doping of various conjugated polymer films enabled the determination of the doping density dependence of photoluminescence quenching. Electrochemical doping was achieved by contacting the film with a solid electrochemical gate and an injecting contact. A sharp reduction in photoluminescence was observed for doping densities between 10 18 and 10 19 cm −3. The doping density dependence is quantitatively modeled by exciton diffusion in a homogeneous density of polarons followed by either Förster resonance energy transfer or charge transfer. Both mechanisms need to be considered to describe polaron-induced exciton quenching. Thus, to reduce exciton-polaron quenching in organic optoelectronic devices, both mechanisms must be prevented by reducing the exciton diffusion, the spectral overlap, the doping density, or a combination thereof.


BACKGROUND
Different surgical techniques have evolved since excision and autografting became the treatment of choice for deep burns in the 1970s. The treatment plan at the Burn Center, Linköping University Hospital, Sweden, has shifted from single-stage excision and immediate autografting to staged excisions and temporary cover with xenografts before autografting. The aim of this study was to find out if the change in policy resulted in extended duration of hospital stay/total body surface area burned (LOS/TBSA%).

METHODS
Retrospective clinical cohort including surgically-managed patients with burns of 15%-60% TBSA% within each treatment group. The first had early full excisions of deep dermal and full thickness burns and immediate autografts (1997-98), excision and immediate autograft group) and the second had staged excisions before final autografts using xenografts for temporary cover (2010-11, staged excision group).

RESULTS
The study included 57 patients with deep dermal and full-thickness burns, 28 of whom had excision and immediate autografting, and 29 of whom had staged excisions with xenografting before final autografting. Adjusted (LOS/TBSA%) was close to 1, and did not differ between groups. Mean operating time for the staged excision group was shorter and the excised area/operation was smaller. The total operating time/TBSA% did not differ between groups.

CONCLUSION
Staged excisions with temporary cover did not affect adjusted LOS/TBSA% or total operating time. Staged excisions may be thought to be more expensive because of the cost of covering the wound between stages, but this needs to be further investigated as do the factors that predict long term outcome.


Facilitating student transfer from two-year to four-year institutions has been a focus of research and policy in recent years. Much less attention has been given to the phenomenon of four-year to two-year (4–2) college transfer. About 16 percent of students who begin in a fouryear college transfer to a two-year college within six years. Using public higher education data from one small state and using distance to the closest two-year college as an instrumental variable, this paper examines the effects of 4–2 transfer on "struggling" students, those who earned less than a 3.0 grade point average in the first term. Results indicate that these 4–2 transfer students are more likely than similar non-transfer students to attain two-year college credentials (including associate degrees and longand short-term certificates); the gain is concentrated in women who tend to enroll in health-related programs. What is more, struggling students who transfer to two-year colleges are no less likely than struggling non-transfer students to earn a bachelor's degree. Early employment outcomes also indicate that the labor market does not penalize 4–2 transfer behavior. Falsification tests show strong first stage results and no correlation between distance and socioeconomic indicators, which supports the use of distance as an instrumental variable for 4–2 transfer status. The findings indicate that 4–2 transfer can improve college completion for students struggling in four-year institutions.


To compare the lesion distribution and the extent of the disease in ductal and lobular carcinomas of the breast, we studied 586 ductal and 133 lobular consecutive cancers. All cases were documented on large-format histology slides. The invasive component of ductal carcinomas was unifocal in 63.3% (371/586), multifocal in 35.5% (208/586), and diffuse in 1.2% (7/586) of the cases. The corresponding figures in the lobular group were 27.8% (37/133), 45.9% (61/586), and 26.3% (35/133), respectively. When the distribution of the in situ and invasive component in the same tumors was combined to give an aggregate pattern, the ductal carcinomas were unifocal in 41.6% (244/586), multifocal in 31.6% (185/586), and diffuse in 26.8% (157/586) of the cases. The corresponding figures in the lobular category were 15.0% (20/133), 54.2% (72/133), and 30.8% (41/133), respectively. Ductal cancers were extensive in 45.7% (268/586), lobular in 65.4% (87/133) of the cases. All these differences were statistically highly significant (P < 0.0001). While the histological tumor type itself (ductal versus lobular) did not influence the lymph node status, multifocal and diffuse distribution of the lesions were associated with significantly increased risk of lymph node metastases in both ductal and lobular cancers.


This paper explores dialogue between the diverse stakeholders affected by the introduction of the BioFuels Sales Obligation policy in New Zealand. The research will use 'rich pictures' within the framework of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) to evaluate the extent to which such abstract visualization might facilitate the communication of different viewpoints. It will examine whether the act of representation might encourage individuals, organizations and interest groups to reflect upon their beliefs and assumptions thereby contributing to a healthy discourse around the subject of New Zealand biofuels.


Accurate assessment of environmental controllability enables individuals to adaptively adjust their behavior — exploiting rewards when desirable outcomes are contingent upon their actions and minimizing costly deliberation when their actions are inconsequential. However, it remains unclear how estimation of environmental controllability changes from childhood to adulthood. Ninety participants (ages 8-25) completed a task that covertly alternated between controllable and uncontrollable conditions, requiring them to explore different actions to discover the current degree of environmental controllability. We found that while children were able to distinguish controllable and uncontrollable conditions, accuracy of controllability assessments improved with age. Computational modeling revealed that whereas younger participants' controllability assessments relied on evidence gleaned through random exploration, older participants more effectively recruited their task structure knowledge to make highly informative interventions. Age-related improvements in working memory mediated this qualitative shift toward increased use of an inferential strategy. Collectively, these findings reveal an age-related shift in the cognitive processes engaged to assess environmental controllability. Improved detection of environmental controllability may foster increasingly adaptive behavior over development by revealing when actions can be leveraged for one's benefit.


During early human pregnancy fetal trophoblasts rapidly invade the uterus. The extent and timing of this invasion is precisely regulated. A family of matrix degrading enzymes, called the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been implicated as major role players in this process. The aims of the research presented in this thesis were to (i) establish a model system using trophoblast continuous cell lines to examine the role of MMPs in trophoblast invasion; (ii) investigate the factors which regulate expression of MMPs during this invasive process; (iii) study the expression of MMPs in vivo and examine the role of MMPs in pre-eclampsia; and (iv) isolate and characterise an antibody fragment to MMP-9 using phage display technology.

A model system using trophoblast continuous cell lines was established. These cell lines were characterised extensively with regard to a number of properties including cytokeratin and vimentin expression, hCG, hPL, invasive ability, MMP and TIMP production. Using this system two members of the MMP family, MMP-2 and MMP-9 were identified as important mediators of trophoblast invasion in vitro.

The modulation of MMP expression in trophoblast cell lines by cytokines, ECM components, hormones and hypoxic conditions was investigated. Expression of the MMP-2 gene could not be modulated by any of the factors investigated in this study. MMP-9 expression was found to be regulated by certain cytokines and ECM components. In particular IL-l-P was found to upregulate MMP-9 expression at the mRNA and protein level, and to increase the invasive ability of the cells in vitro.

A pilot scale study of 9 pre-eclamptic and 10 normal placental biopsies demonstrated no correlation of MMP expression with disease state. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated the expression of MMP-2, MMP-7 and MMP-3 protein in both normal and pre-eclamptic placental sections.

Using a phage display library several clones producing soluble single chain antibody fragments to MMP-9 were isolated following four rounds of panning against MMP-9 protein, however the antibody fragments were found to have low binding affinities.


The aim of this study was to determine sensibility, specificity and level of association between two indicators of fat mass excess among women. Sixty-five women (aged 50-77 years) participated in the study. The mean values for the group were 70.3 ± 11 kg for body mass and 158.0 ± 5.5 cm for height. The body mass index (BMI) and the reciprocal of ponderal index (RPI) were registered. The percentage of body fat, estimated by the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (%BFDEXA), was used as the gold standard measure. Data analyses consisted of descriptive statistics, Pearson's linear correlation and the Kappa index. The mean scores for BMI, RPI and %BFDEXA were 28 ± 4.2 kg.m-2, 38 ± 1.9 cm.kg-1/3 and 38.1 ± 6.0%, respectively. High prevalence of fat mass excess was observed, regardless the method (%BFDEXA = 89.2%, > 28%, RPI = 83.1% and BMI = 73.8%). Pearson's linear correlation coefficients were both significant (p < 0.01) for %BFDEXA and RPI (r = -0.76) and %BFDEXA and BMI (r = 0.72). The Kappa index showed an association of 0.31 between the %BFDEXA and BMI, and of 0.48 between %BFDEXA and RPI. The anthropometric indicators showed high sensitivity and specificity values (79.3% and 71.4% for BMI; 90% and 71.4% for RPI, respectively). The ROC analysis showed areas under the curve of 0.80 for BMI and 0.83 for RIP, which did not differ significantly (p < 0.05). The cutoff points of 26.2 kg.m-2 for BMI and 39.3 cm.kg-1/3 for RPI presented the best relationship between sensitivity and specificity in determining fat mass excess. Therefore, it is concluded that both BMI and RPI do not differ in identifying fat mass excess, and they have high sensibility and specificity in assessing fat excess in women over 50 years of age.


A prevailing rhetoric in human-robot interaction is that automated systems will help humans do their jobs better. Robots will not replace humans, but rather work alongside and supplement human work. Even when most of a system will be automated, the concept of keeping a "human in the loop" assures that human judgment will always be able to trump automation. This rhetoric emphasizes fluid cooperation and shared control. In practice, the dynamics of shared control between human and robot are more complicated, especially with respect to issues of accountability.As control has become distributed across multiple actors, our social and legal conceptions of responsibility remain generally about an individual. If there's an accident, we intuitively — and our laws, in practice — want someone to take the blame. The result of this ambiguity is that humans may emerge as "moral crumple zones." Just as the crumple zone in a car is designed to absorb the force of impact in a crash, the human in a robotic system may become simply a component — accidentally or intentionally — that is intended to bear the brunt of the moral and legal penalties when the overall system fails.This paper employs the concept of "moral crumple zones" within human-machine systems as a lens through which to think about the limitations of current frameworks for accountability in human-machine or robot systems. The paper examines two historical cases of "moral crumple zones" in the fields of aviation and nuclear energy and articulates the dimensions of distributed control at stake while also mapping the degree to which this control of and responsibility for an action are proportionate. The argument suggests that an analysis of the dimensions of accountability in automated and robotic systems must contend with how and why accountability may be misapplied and how structural conditions enable this misunderstanding. How do non-human actors in a system effectively deflect accountability onto other human actors? And how might future models of robotic accountability require this deflection to be controlled? At stake is the potential ultimately to protect against new forms of consumer and worker harm.This paper presents the concept of the "moral crumple zone" as both a challenge to and an opportunity for the design and regulation of human-robot systems. By articulating mismatches between control and responsibility, we argue for an updated framework of accountability in human-robot systems, one that can contend with the complicated dimensions of cooperation between human and robot.


Automatic Differentiation Variational Inference (ADVI) is a useful tool for efficiently learning probabilistic models in machine learning. Generally approximate posteriors learned by ADVI are forced to be unimodal in order to facilitate use of the reparameterization trick. In this paper, we show how stratified sampling may be used to enable mixture distributions as the approximate posterior, and derive a new lower bound on the evidence analogous to the importance weighted autoencoder (IWAE). We show that this "SIWAE" is a tighter bound than both IWAE and the traditional ELBO, both of which are special instances of this bound. We verify empirically that the traditional ELBO objective disfavors the presence of multimodal posterior distributions and may therefore not be able to fully capture structure in the latent space. Our experiments show that using the SIWAE objective allows the encoder to learn more complex distributions which regularly contain multimodality, resulting in higher accuracy and better calibration in the presence of incomplete, limited, or corrupted data.


Ronald Takahata was born in Kealakekua, Kona, Hawai'i in 1925 to Moyo and Yoshio Takahata, immigrants from Japan. About five years later, Moyo Takahata passed away. Yoshio Takahata, originally from Kumamoto-ken, Japan, was a storekeeper. Over a number of years, he owned general merchandise stores in Kealakekua, Napo'opo'o, and Honaunau, Kona, Hawai'i. His family, like many others in Kona, tended coffee lands. Yoshio Takahata, a leader in the local Japanese community, served as liaison between residents and the Japanese consulate. He also greeted visiting Japanese navy ships. By 1941, his family included Haruko (second wife) and six children. In early 1942, Yoshio Takahata was removed from his home and incarcerated at Kilauea Military Camp. Later, he was moved to the Sand Island Detention Center and various facilities on the U.S. Mainland, including ones in New Mexico and Texas. The Takahata family, too, in 1943, was removed from Kona and incarcerated at Jerome War Relocation Center in Arkansas. Just before the Jerome War Relocation Center was closed in 1944, Yoshio Takahata rejoined his family. The Takahatas were then moved to Heart Mountain War Relocation Center in Wyoming. After a few months at Heart Mountain, Ronald Takahata gained release and went to Chicago, where he found employment and married a Jerome internee, Asako Kawamura. At war's end, Yoshio Takahata and family returned to the islands. He operated a store in Hilo for a while, but business declined. Unable to find other employment, he became a dishwasher. Returning to the islands with an infant in 1946, Ronald and Asako Takahata settled on O'ahu. Ronald Takahata worked for various painting contractors and Princess Ka'iulani Hotel; Asako Takahata retired as a University of Hawai'i secretary.


Abstract:  Land use in a watershed is commonly held to exert a strong influence on trunk channel form and process. Land use changes act over human time‐scales, which are short enough to measure effects on channels directly using historic aerial photographs. We show that high‐resolution topographic surveys for the channels of paired watersheds in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, are comparable, but have channel widths that have changed dramatically in the past five decades. The two watersheds, Little Lehigh Creek and Sacony Creek, are similar in most aspects except in their respective amount of urban land use. Aerial photographs of the urbanized Little Lehigh Creek show that a majority of the measured widths (67 of 85) were statistically wider in 1999 than in 1947. In contrast, the measured widths from the agricultural Sacony Creek are more evenly distributed among those that widened (18), narrowed (28), and those that were statistically unchanged (6) from 1946 to 1999. From 1946 to 1999 the only section of Sacony Creek that widened was that reach downstream of the only sizable urban area in the watershed. The current land use in Sacony Creek watershed resembles that of 1946, while the Little Lehigh Creek watershed has more than tripled its urban area. These data, in concert with other recent hydrologic data from the watersheds suggest that the increase in urban area‐generated peak discharges is the mechanism behind the widening that occurred in the Little Lehigh Creek. These wider channels can affect water quality, aquatic habitat, suspended sediment loads, and river esthetics.


Manufacturers that produce products using fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printing technologies have control of numerous build parameters. This includes the number of solid layers on the exterior of the product, the percentage of material filling the interior volume, and the many different types of infill patterns used to fill their interior. It is important that manufacturers understand how these choices affect the mechanical properties of the product, the amount of material needed, and how long it will take to print the part. This study tested the hypothesis that as the density of the part increases, the mechanical properties will improve at the expense of build time and the amount of material required. The mechanical strength and stiffness of printed test specimens in this study increased with increasing density. In addition, we found that adding more solid external layers to the specimens increased the strength-to-weight ratio. The ductility was much greater in the specimens with a rectilinear infill pattern possibly due to better pattern alignment of the object and better adhesion to the outer solid layers. This study supported our hypothesis and provides a guide for designers and engineers seeking to optimize tensile mechanical behavior, print time, and material usage for FFF applications through the selection of optimal infill parameters.


First published in 1989, The Undeserving Poor was a critically acclaimed and enormously influential account of America's enduring debate about poverty. Taking stock of the last quarter century, Michael B. Katz's new edition of this classic is virtually a new book. As the first did, it will force all concerned Americans to reconsider the foundations of our policies toward the poor, especially in the wake of the Great Recession that began in 2008. Katz highlights how throughout American history, the poor have been regarded as undeserving: people who do not deserve sympathy because they brought their poverty on themselves, either through laziness and immorality, or because they are culturally or mentally deficient. This long-dominant view sees poverty as a personal failure, serving to justify America's mean-spirited treatment of the poor. Katz reminds us, however, that there are other explanations of poverty besides personal failure. Poverty has been written about as a problem of place, of resources, of political economy, of power, and of market failure. Katz looks at each idea in turn, showing how they suggest more effective approaches to our struggle against poverty. The Second Edition includes important new material. It now sheds light on the revival of the idea of culture in poverty research; the rehabilitation of Daniel Patrick Moynihan; the resurgent role of biology in discussions of the causes of poverty, such as in The Bell Curve; and the human rights movement's intensified focus on alleviating world poverty. It emphasizes the successes of the War on Poverty and Great Society, especially at the grassroots level. It is also the first book to chart the rise and fall of the "underclass" as a concept driving public policy. A major revision of a landmark study, The Undeserving Poor helps readers to see poverty-and our efforts to combat it--in a new light.


[1] Halogen-driven ozone and hydrocarbon losses in springtime Arctic boundary layer are investigated using a regional chemical transport model. Surface observations of ozone at Alert and Barrow and aircraft observations of ozone and hydrocarbons during the Tropospheric Ozone Production about the Spring Equinox (TOPSE) experiment from February to May in 2000 are analyzed. We prescribe halogen radical distributions on the basis of GOME BrO observations. Tropospheric GOME BrO column shows an apparent anticorrelation with surface temperature over high-BrO regions. The enhancements of tropospheric BrO columns coincide with movements of cold polar air masses. While GOME BrO measurements reach the maximum in March, simulated near-surface ozone loss peaks in April because of the increasing daylight hours and hence the time for chemical processing. At its peak, the area of simulated near-surface ozone depletions (O3 50% of the northern high latitudes. Analysis of surface measurements at Alert and Barrow points to the importance of long-range transport of ozone-poor air from high-BrO regions. We find that specifying a BrO layer thickness of 300 m results in the best overall agreement between observed and simulated ozone. The apparent halogen-driven ozone loss up to 1 km was reproduced in the model because of vertical transport of ozone-poor air from low altitudes. When the empirical Cl/Br ratios derived from previous observations are used, the model can reproduce the observed halogen loss of light alkanes and acetylene. The Cl/Br ratios from a recent box model study using an accepted chemical mechanism are, however, much higher than the empirical results. We show that the hydrocarbon loss is not as sensitive to the prescribed thickness of the halogen layer as the ozone loss, therefore representing a more robust measure for evaluating satellite BrO column measurements.


This paper addresses the question of the infrastructure investment required for gas pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG) connections to meet growing gas demand in an enlarged EU over the next 20 years. Several issues are presented, bearing in mind the major objective of the security of supply for EU countries. o First, to set the scene, recent projections of gas demand in an enlarged EU are presented along with the corresponding need for additional imports. o Then a scenario is developed showing possible supply routes to meet the import gap, relying on increasingly remote routes. An impressive bill of $150 to 200 billion will have to be paid for extending and building the required infrastructure in pipeline links and LNG-receiving facilities. o The expected major development of LNG markets is subject to a particular discussion, as far as the progressive globalisation of this market and its inherent flexibility provide major advantages in terms of the security of supply, despite more costly infrastructure than pipeline links. o The impact of technological progress is expected to reduce both capital investment and unit transport costs, offering access to new supply opportunities. o Finally, the question of major obstacles to the realisation of the required huge investments in gas infrastructure over the next 20 years is addressed, opening hot debate on the subjects of future gas price, market liberalisation and financing issues.


Biosurfactants have a wide-range of applications due to their unique properties like specificity, not toxicity (from LAB) and relative ease of preparation. These properties hold promise of biosurfactants to increase breast milk benefit were isolated and described into Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus fermentum ,Lactococcuslactis, and Leuconostocmesenteroides.The degree of microbial destruction of disease, which promotes  the effective remediation of disease spreading.This paper presents a review of available research, methods and publications regarding Biosurfactant extraction from Lactic Acid bacteria isolated from human breast milk. 3 samples of human breast milk was provided, LAB were isolated and described, Biosurfactants recovery and surface activity were tested and extracted endo and extra cellular. In other side 26 samples from eye patients were ordered, diagnosed and their sensitivity to biosurfactant were studied. The results showed that 5 isolates of LAB from human breast milk were biosurfactant producer but L. plantarum was the more efficiency in surface activity. In other side, out of 26 eyes sample 18 were positive to pathogenic bacteria included E.coli (7), Klebseilla (5), Staphylococcus aureus(3)and S.epidermides (3).Extracellular Biosurfactanthad good effect against tested bacteria, but endocellular (extraction by normal method) had not any effect against any bacteria, whereas by solvents method were the more active against all tested bacteria. The results are promising enough to continue the quest for enhancement of inhibition growth of pathogenic bacteria with biosurfactant application (extracted extracellular by solvents) to look forward for biosurfactant as a solution of antibiotic resistance problem. In this study we concluded thatL. plantarum was the more effectiveness in biosurfactant surface activity and the extracellular biosurfactant by solvent method for extraction were better than endocellular and normal method of extraction.


Information is scant on the response of corn (Zea mays L.) following legumes seeded with small grains in reduced tillage systems in the upper Midwest. Our objective was to determine yield and N uptake response of ridge-tilled corn planted after soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.], wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) alone, wheat with alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), or wheat with hairy vetch ( Vicia villosa Roth), compared with continuous corn. Field studies were conducted from 1991 through 1994 at two southern Minnesota locations on a poorly drained Webster clay loam (fine-loamy, mixed, mesic Typic Endoaquoll) soil. At Freeborn, corn grown in rotation with soybean yielded highest (6.8 Mg ha -1 ) in 2 of 3 yr, while continuous corn usually yielded less than corn grown after other crops. Corn grown after other crops accumulated 23 to 36 kg ha -1 more N than continuous corn in 2 of 3 yr at all fertilizer-N rates up to 135 kg N ha -1 . At Waseca, corn grain yields and N uptake were generally similar among rotations, except that yields were 1.5 to 1.9 Mg ha -1 lower and total N uptake was 16 to 18 kg ha -1 less following wheat alone in 2 of 3 yr, compared with other rotations at fertilizer-N rates up to 135 kg N ha -1 . Regression analysis indicated that significant, positive, non-N-related rotation effects were present at Freeborn, but not at Waseca, where there was a negative effect of wheat alone on subsequent corn yield. The potential fertilizer-N savings due to including annual alfalfa or hairy vetch could not be calculated because the N rates used in this study were insufficient to determine the economically optimum N rate. However, neither the alfalfa nor hairy vetch provided a consistent source of available N for the subsequent corn crop in this study.


The gate bias polarity dependence of stress-induced leakage current (SILC) of PMOS capacitors with a p/sup +/ polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) and polycrystalline Silicon-Germanium (poly-Si/sub 0.7/Ge/sub 0.3/) gate on 5.6-nm thick gate oxides has been investigated. It is shown that the SILC characteristics are highly asymmetric with gate bias polarity. This asymmetric behavior is explained by the occurrence of a different injection mechanism for negative bias, compared to positive bias where Fowler-Nordheim (FN) tunneling is the main conduction mechanism. For gate injection, a larger oxide field is required to obtain the same tunneling current, which leads to reduced SILC at low fields. Moreover, at negative gate bias, the higher valence band position of poly-SiGe compared to poly-Si reduces the barrier height for tunneling to traps and hence leads to increased SILC. At positive gate bias, reduced SILC is observed for poly-SiGe gates compared to poly-Si gates. This is most likely due to a lower concentration of Boron in the dielectric in the case of poly-SiGe compared to poly-Si. This makes Boron-doped poly-SiGe a very interesting gate material for nonvolatile memory devices.


Coastal regions are highly populated areas where more than two third of the world's population lives. However, due to growing freshwater needs in these coastal areas, there has been indiscriminate and unplanned groundwater withdrawal. Due to over-exploitation of groundwater in these areas seawater has intruded into the freshwater aquifers. This phenomenon of seawater intrusion has become a widespread environmental problem of coastal aquifers.


Blue-on receptive fields recorded in primate retina and lateral geniculate nucleus are customarily described as showing overlapping blue-on and yellow-off receptive field components. However, the retinal pathways feeding the blue-on and yellow-off subfields arise from spatially discrete receptor populations, and recent studies have given contradictory accounts of receptive field structure of blue-on cells. Here we analyzed responses of blue-on cells to drifting gratings, in single-cell extracellular recordings from the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus in marmosets. We show that most blue-on cells exhibit selectivity for the drift direction of achromatic gratings. The standard concentric difference-of-Gaussians (DOG) model thus cannot account for responses of these cells. We apply a simple, anatomically plausible, extension of the DOG model. The model incorporates temporally offset elliptical two-dimensional Gaussian subfields. The model can predict color-contingent direction and spatial tuning. Because direction tuning in blue-on cells depends on stimulus chromaticity, spatial frequency, and temporal frequency, this property is of little value as a general mechanism for image movement detection. It is possible that anatomical wiring for color selectivity has constrained the capacity of blue-on cells to contribute to spatial and motion vision.


In shipbuilding production, several types of cranes are simultaneously used to effectively handle a building block which is more than hundred tons. For this, one or more operators operate each crane, and the cooperation among the operators is very important. In the previous studies, the maximum tension of wire ropes of the cranes and motion of the block were analyzed computationally during lifting operation based on fixed scenarios with simulation. This couldn't reflect the interaction during the operation which can cause unexpected results. Therefore, a collaborative simulation system for production in shipyard was developed in this study. The developed system is comprised of three parts. The first part is an input device which generates signals such as hoisting up and down of the wire ropes of the cranes. The second part is a dynamics engine which receives the signals from several operators and reflects them as a simulation scenario. The last part is a display device which is used to share simulation results between the workers and visualizes the simulation results in multi-views on the network. Finally, the developed system was applied to a block erection process which is operated by three crane operators and one commander. As a result, it is shown that the developed system can be used to simulate or train the collaborative work of the operators in shipyard.


Puncture force was measured in 'Gala∑ apple (Malus sylvestris (L.) Mill. var. domestica (Borkh.) Mansf.) fruit from 16 to 175 days after full bloom over 2 years using a range of circular flat-tipped probes (1 to 11 mm diameter) to test the firmness of each fruit. The area-dependent (Ka) and perimeter-dependent (Kp) coefficients of puncture force were determined and were used to calculate the indicative puncture force approximating a standard 11.1-mm-diameter Effegi/Magness-Taylor probe for even the smallest fruit. Ka declined exponentially throughout fruit development with much greater changes occur- ring closer to bloom. In contrast, maximum Kp occurred at 107 to 119 days after full bloom before declining progressively. Estimated firmness (using a 11.1-mm-diameter probe) declined constantly from 16 days after full bloom. Ka was associated with developmental changes in cortical tissue intercellular air space, cell volume and cell packing density although relation- ships changed throughout fruit growth. However seasonal change in Kp was not associated with any obvious anatomical change in the cortex.


The content of the present article summarizes from two perspective, quantitative and a other qualitative one, the centers of attention of the Physical Education's teachers (PE), in the first years of its educational profession. The quantitative perspective, analyzes the significant differences (Statistica 4,0) between the beliefs of a group of professors studied during a formative process, centering to us in those dimensions that obtained these differences and therefore, are reason for high preoccupation by the teachers. The qualitative perspective, analyzes the speech of the teachers studied during 18 sessions of formation, through the program Analysis Qualitative Data 3,0, emphasizing the more frequent thematic categories and therefore of more appearance and preoccupation by the teachers studied during its sessions of formation. Also ilustratives maps appear, with text examples of these thematic categories to observe the different directions that take the interests from the teachers. The results show that from both perspective, a common direction of the attention centers is observed towards the learning of the students. KEY WORDS: Centers of attention, practical knowledge in PE, in-service teacher training


This article examines why Augustine cleansed his sermons on the Psalms on the feast days of the martyrs of graphic and vivid descriptions of suffering found in earlier martyr narratives, and looks at what replaced them. It is argued that Augustine "domesticates" suffering, and reconstructs the martyr narratives for a post-martyrdom Catholic Church, especially in response to dominant discourses active in the rival Donatist movement, which had effectively monopolised physical suffering. He does this via four discourses: a) The continuity of physical suffering from the early martyrs to the current Donatist martyrs present in the martyrologies assumes a claim on genealogy, which Augustine has to counter; b) There is a focus on the physical body of the martyr, with prurient and erotic detail in Donatist martyr stories, while Augustine proposes a new scopic economy, equally yet differently erotic, of "spiritual seeing"; c) The sacrifice of the martyr as atonement for sins stands out as a main point of difference between the Donatists and Augustine, and so Augustine develops one of the earliest psychotheologies of suicide; and d) Augustine provides a counter-discourse to a claim to mnemonic spatiality which provides the Donatists with healing and a sense of belonging and, most importantly, signifies a stance of purity over and against the Catholics. Finally, this article asks what the psychagogical effect of this domestication was on the everyday life of the Catholic Christians.


Background/Context Under supplemental educational services ("supplemental services"), a parental choice provision of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), schools that have not made adequate yearly progress in increasing student achievement are required to offer low-income families free, afterschool tutoring. Existing research shows low attendance rates among eligible students and little to no aggregate effects on achievement for students who do attend. Focus of study We employ a framework grounded in examining the instructional setting, or "instructional core," and we draw on the unique contributions of qualitative research to help explain the limited effects of supplemental services on student achievement. Specifically, we address the following research question: How can in-depth examination of the instructional core explain the impact of supplemental services on student learning? Research Design Our findings draw on data from an ongoing mixed-method and multisite study of the implementation and impact of supplemental educational services in five urban school districts located in four states. Although this paper includes quantitative data from this study, analysis focuses on qualitative data, including observations of tutoring sessions using a standardized observation instrument; semistructured interviews with district staff, provider administrators, and tutors; focus groups with parents of eligible students; and document analysis. Findings We identify two primary reasons for a lack of effects. First, there is a "treatment exposure" problem where most students receive far less than 40 hours of tutoring over the course of a school year, a critical threshold for seeing significant effects on achievement. In addition, there are discrepancies between an invoiced hour of tutoring and actual instructional time. Second, supplemental services has an instructional quality problem. Instruction lacks innovation; the curriculum typically does not align to that of the day school; programs do not meet all students' instructional needs, especially students with disabilities and English language learners; and there can be considerable variation in quality within the same provider. Conclusions Our findings lay the foundations for being able to not only establish best practices for supplemental services, but to suggest policy changes to facilitate these best practices and offer insights to a host of other parental choice, out-of-school time (OST), and accountability-based reforms.


It is difficult for anyone to acknowledge that an idea he or she has been leaching may be invalid. I faced this situation several years ago and, after a period of vacillation, concluded that heritability analysis, the dominant paradigm in behavioural genetics, was not merely weak at its foundations but actively misleading to the nonspecialist; hence, it ought to be relegated to the history of science along with phlogiston, penis envy and cold fusion. During a postdoctoral fellowship year with McClearn and DeFries at the Institute for Behavioral Genetics at the University of Colorado in 1968-69, I eagerly absorbed the lessons of Falconer and my mentors, who were foremost authorities on heritability analysis. These lessons were acquired easily because mathematically they were so similar to the classic rendition of the analysis of variance presented by Hays and Winer, the stans6cal gurus of psychology graduate students in that period.


Abstract : Satellite constellation resiliency is an important consideration gaining momentum at the top levels of the Air Force and at Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). The increased availability of threats to satellite systems is challenging the capabilities provided by space assets. More specifically, the global positioning system (GPS) satellite constellation is utilized for a variety of missions, to include providing precise geolocation information for navigation. Any degrade in GPS capabilities as observed in an urban canyon environment or due to the loss of a GPS satellite may hinder the overall mission. We use the System Effectiveness Analysis Simulation (SEAS) to model the GPS constellation in an urban canyon environment which provides information to a special operation force (SOF) in their e ort to recover a weapon of mass destruction (WMD). By varying the type of operations and the number of satellites lost in the simulation, insight is gained into the impact of degradation through the selected top level mission metrics. A series of statistical difference tests and a designed experiment reveal a resiliency threshold on the number of satellites removed from the constellation. As a result, we conclude that the GPS constellation is resilient even after the loss of several satellites.


A follow-up study of 149 pediatric fractures of the femoral shaft (146 patients had a radiographic control) demonstrated a significant influence of multiple reductions and residual axial deviations on the incidence and extent of posttraumatic overgrowth. The presented group of patients did not show a positive correlation between therapeutic shortening at the time of the initial reduction and reduced incidence of long term overgrowth. Neither extent nor incidence of overgrowth could be prevented by this method. We therefore recommend to reduce fractures of the femoral shaft without forshortening, because it stimulates repair mechanisms at the growth plate and enhances overgrowth. In contradiction to the current concept of therapeutic recommendations it could be shown that posttraumatic rotational deformities will correct themselves in the course of physiologic detorsion of the femoral neck. In 67% of the studied group of patients initial errors of rotation corrected themselves by this mechanism. According to our results the therapeutic concept of pediatric femoral shaft fractures is revised and a new concept of initial and long term treatment is proposed.


ABSTRACT
 This paper draws on findings from a qualitative study of the social wellbeing of young people caring for a close family member. The research makes a novel contribution to the international literature by examining the moral resilience of young adult carers. Focus groups or individual, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with fifteen young people in South-East England during 2018–2019. The paper explores whether young people with a seriously ill or disabled family member define and conduct themselves in moral terms and how they respond to the moral challenges of a caring life. It was found that the participants saw moral value in their caring role and their actions reflected a desire to provide compassionate care. Previous research into young adult carers had indicated that the caring role stimulated their political consciousness, but this study suggests that the role also strengthens their moral consciousness. However, designating girls as carers in early life shifts the moral responsibility to females and compounds gender inequity in caring. Hence, there is a need to address social and gender inequalities in care. In addition, healthcare professionals should recognise when statutory input is necessary to facilitate young people's broader lifeplans.


Mortality is different across countries, states and regions. Several empirical research works however reveal that mortality trends exhibit a common pattern and show similar structures across populations. The key element in analyzing mortality rate is a time-varying indicator curve. Our main interest lies in validating the existence of the common trends among these curves, the similar gender differences and their variability in location among the curves at the national level. Motivated by the empirical findings, we make the study of estimating and forecasting mortality rates based on a semi-parametric approach, which is applied to multiple curves with the shape-related nonlinear variation. This approach allows us to capture the common features contained in the curve functions and meanwhile provides the possibility to characterize the nonlinear variation via a few deviation parameters. These parameters carry an instructive summary of the time-varying curve functions and can be further used to make a suggestive forecast analysis for countries with barren data sets. In this research the model is illustrated with mortality rates of Japan and China, and extended to incorporate more countries. All numerical procedures are transparent and reproduced on www.quantlet.de.


A characteristic feature of the Daphnia (Crustacea: Cladocera) life cycle are the so-called ephippia, which are fertilised eggs that need to undergo diapause. When they are shed by the female, they sink to the lake bottom, where they may become embedded in the sediment and may remain viable for decades. Extracting and hatching ephippia in the laboratory and subjecting resurrected lineages to conditions representative of historic lake environments allows retrospective investigation of life-history responses to environmental change. Here we reanalyse data from such a resurrection experiment (Piscia et al. , 2015: Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 94:46–51). Contemporary and past lineages of Daphnia galeata Sars 1863 were obtained from Lake Orta (Italy), a deep, subalpine lake with a well-documented history of industrial copper pollution. Experimental Daphnia were subjected to three copper treatments representative of two levels of historic as well as to current (i.e., unpolluted) lake conditions, and life-table data were collected. With these data at hand, we first estimated vital rates (survival, maturation, and reproduction) and used these rates to project the asymptotic population growth rates ( λ ) for each population-by-treatment combination. Next, we performed life-table response experiments (LTRE) to estimate the contributions of the vital rates to observed differences in λ . Finally, we used elasticity analysis to explore the functional relationship between λ and each of the vital rates. We found that survival rates were only compromised at elevated copper levels. Moreover, past, resurrected Daphnia had a higher λ at low copper concentrations compared to unpolluted conditions, but a lower λ when exposed to high copper levels. Contemporary Daphnia , on the other hand, only reproduced successfully in unpolluted water. Under these conditions, however, they had a higher population growth rate than the past Daphnia , suggesting a cost of copper tolerance in the latter. This cost was mainly due to a lower probability of reproduction and reduced fecundity, whereas survival remained largely unaffected. Finally, we found higher elasticity values of λ to survival than to reproductive rates. This suggests that any change in the environment that will affect survival rather than reproductive parameters will have a much larger impact on Lake Orta's current Daphnia population.


The painter's painter. Light, color and penetrating portraits from Spain's Golden Age luminary. Manet called him "the greatest painter of all." Picasso was so inspired by his masterpiece Las Meninas that he painted 44 variations of it. Monet, Renoir, and Degas were heavily influenced by the paintings of Philip IV's grand chamberlain. Francis Bacon famously painted a study of his portrait of Pope Innocent X. Indeed, Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velazquez (1599-1660) was more than the most important painter of the Spanish Golden Age. He is one of the most admired European painters who ever lived, and an authority and influence for generations of artists to come. This catalog raisonne brings together Velazquez's complete works, jaw-droppingly reproduced in extra-large format, with a selection of enlarged details and brand new photography of recently restored paintings, brought about by the joint initative of TASCHEN and Wildenstein. The book's dazzling images are accompanied by insightful commentary from Jose Lopez-Rey on Velazquez's interest in human liveliness and equal attention to all subjects, from an old woman frying eggs to a pope or a king, as well as his commitment to color and light, which would influence the Impressionists over two centuries later.


Schumpeter persistently sought to reconcile innovation with general equilibrium to explain economic evolution. In essence, he was interested in innovatory discontinuities that upset equilibrium and generate a transitional dynamics converging to a different state of technology. There are two central approaches to the analysis of economic evolution which revolve around the Schumpeterian vision: the evolutionary approach as originated in the landmark book by Nelson and Winter An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change and the neoclassical approach emerging from Romer's seminal paper "Endogenous Technological Change" Neither of these approaches is able to explain economic evolution in an economy where both general equilibrium and innovatory discontinuities can happen. In this paper I formalize the notion of innovatory discontinuity using the concept of 'ideas production function' and present an appreciative model of economic evolution involving equilibrium, innovation and innovatory discontinuities. This (hybrid) model sheds some light on the answer to the question: is economic evolution continuous or discontinuous?


Abstract Background: Diabetes mellitus is a highly prevalent non-communicable disease worldwide. The prevalence of diabetes in Qatar exceeds the prevalence of diabetes in the Middle East and North Africa region and the globe. Similarly, diabetes-related complications and mortality are dramatically increasing worldwide. Poor health outcomes and debilitating consequences can result from inadequate control of diabetes. Previous studies have demonstrated the benefit of pharmaceutical care services on outcomes of diabetes. No studies were done in Qatar regarding this issue. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to: (1) characterize the clinical profile of patients with diabetes attending an ambulatory care clinic at Qatar Petroleum (QP) Medical Center including diabetes-related comorbidities and complications; (2) evaluate the impact of a Comprehensive Pharmaceutical Care Service (CPCS) on glycemic control [glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and fasting plasma glucose (FPG)]; (3) evaluate the impact of the CPCS on diabetes comorbidities including lipid profile [low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides (TG), and total cholesterol (TC)], systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and body mass index (BMI) and; (4) classify the drug-related problems (DRPs) identified by pharmacists during the follow-up period. Methods: This was a multiple time series, observational, retrospective, pre-post study among patients attending diabetes clinic at QP Medical Center in Dukhan. Primary clinical outcome measures including HbA1c, FPG, weight, BMI, SBP, DBP, and lipid profile were measured at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months after receiving the CPCS through a retrospective chart review of electronic medical records for the year 2016. The secondary outcome measure, the types of DRPs identified by pharmacists, was collected over the period of 12 months of initiating the CPCS and categorized into a predetermined classification system. Data analyses were performed using IBM SPSS® version 23.0. Primary clinical outcome measures were analyzed inferentially using Repeated Measure ANOVA to determine the impact of the intervention. Sociodemographic characteristics, basic clinical characteristics, baseline and current medications regimens, and types of DRPs identified by pharmacists were analyzed descriptively using frequencies, percentages and means as appropriate. Results: A total of 96 eligible patients with diabetes were included in the study. CPCS significantly improved the following parameters from baseline to 6 and 12 months: HbA1c (8.5%, 7.4%, 7.1%, respectively; P <0.001), FPG (154.1 mg/dL, 115.4 mg/dL, 112.8 mg/dL, respectively; P <0.001), weight (79.9 Kg, 78.3 Kg, 76.9 Kg, respectively; P <0.001), BMI (29.1 Kg/m2, 28.5 Kg/m2, 28.1Kg/m2, respectively; P <0.001), SBP (140.2 mmHg, 129.1 mmHg, 125.3 mmHg, respectively; P <0.001) and DBP (84.7 mmHg, 79.5 mmHg, 76 mmHg, respectively; P <0.001). However, no significant reductions from baseline to 6 and 12 months were observed in LDL-C (2.7 mmol/L, 2.8 mmol/L, 2.7 mmol/L, respectively; P =0.702), HDL-C (1.2 mmol/L, 1.2 mmol/L, 1.3 mmol/L, respectively; P =0.551), TG (1.6 mmol/L, 1.7 mmol/L, 1.7 mmol/L, respectively; P =0.728), and TC (4.3 mmol/L, 4.3 mmol/L, 4.1 mmol/L, respectively; P =0.101). The most prevalent three DRPs identified were lack of understanding of the medication (39.8%), inappropriate dose, form, schedule, route, or method of administration (17.3%), and actual and potential adverse events (14.3%). Conclusion: The provision of CPCS in a primary healthcare setting in Qatar improves clinical outcomes in patients with diabetes over a 12-month follow-up period. Future studies are needed to determine the long-term outcomes of CPCS.


Multi-agent pathfinding (MAPF) deals with planning paths for individual agents such that a global cost function (e.g., the sum of costs) is minimized while avoiding collisions between agents. Previous work proposed centralized or fully cooperative decentralized algorithms assuming that agents will follow paths assigned to them. When agents are {\em self-interested}, however, they are expected to follow a path only if they consider that path to be their most beneficial option. In this paper we propose the use of a taxation scheme to implicitly coordinate self-interested agents in MAPF. We propose several taxation schemes and compare them experimentally. We show that intelligent taxation schemes can result in a lower total cost than the non coordinated scheme even if we take into consideration both travel cost and the taxes paid by agents.


LPS elicits several immediate proinflammatoy responses in peripheral blood leukocytes via a recently described pathway including CD14, Toll-like receptors (TLR), serine-threonine kinases, and NF-κB transcription factor. However, the functional responses of intestinal epithelial cells (IEC) to stimulation with LPS are unknown. Expression of mRNA and protein for CD14 and TLRs were assessed by RT-PCR, immunoblotting, and immunohistochemistry in mouse and human IEC lines. LPS-induced activation of signaling pathways (p42/p44 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK), p38, p65, NF-κB) were assessed by immunoblotting and gel shifts. CD14 mRNA and protein expression were not detectable in IEC. However, human TLR2, TLR3, and TLR4 mRNA were present in IEC. TLR4 protein was expressed in all cell lines; however, TLR2 protein was absent in HT29 cells. Immunofluorescent staining of T84 cells demonstrated the cell-surface presence of the TLRs. LPS-stimulation of IEC resulted in activation (>1.5-fold) of the three members of the MAPK family. In contrast, LPS did not significantly induce activation of JNK and p38 in CMT93 cells, p38 in T84 cells and MAPK and JNK in HT29 cells. Downstream, LPS activated NF-κB in IEC in a time-, dose-, and serum-dependent manner. IEC express TLRs that appear to mediate LPS stimulation of specific intracellular signal transduction pathways in IEC. Thus, IEC may play a frontline role in monitoring lumenal bacteria.


Inks comprised of metallic Fe or Ni powders, an elastomeric binder, and graded volatility solvents are 3D‐printed via syringe extrusion and sintered to form metallic cellular structures. Similar structures are created from Fe2O3 and NiO particle‐based inks, with an additional hydrogen reduction step before sintering. All sintered structures exhibit 92–98% relative density within their struts, with neither cracking nor visible warping despite extensive volumetric shrinkage (≈70–80%) associated with reduction (for oxide powders) and sintering (for both metal and oxide powders). The cellular architectures, with overall relative densities of 32–49%, exhibit low stiffness (1–6 GPa, due to the particular architecture used), high strength (4–31 MPa), and high ductility, leading to excellent elastic and plastic energy absorption, when subjected to uniaxial compression.


Contributors address the role of senior managers in relation to internationalisation, globalisation, and sustainable development and share how these often overlapping challenges can be addressed. Consideration has been given to a range of potentially competing demands including the relationship between what Paul Luker describes as the 'core mission and values of HE' and what Caruana and Hanstock describe as 'marketisation discourse'.

The Global University: The Role of Senior Manager is written by higher education institution senior managers, for HEI senior managers. Supported by HEFCE Leadership, Governance and Management Funding, 'The Global University: the role of senior managers' is a companion publication to 'The Global University: the role of the curriculum'.

Many of the contributors are regarded as critical champions of internationalisation in the UK as well as thoughtful strategists in the process of affecting sustainable university-wide change.

To provide further food for thought, in addition to the UK contributions, a case study on university-wide approaches to the development of global citizens at the University of British Columbia and a perspective on the barriers affecting the process of internationalisation in Latin American Universities have also been included.

Contributors address key concepts from a variety of perspectives and what will quickly become apparent is that the terms are not always translated in quite the same way (a way of seeing is also a way of not seeing) but in spite of this, collectively, considerable insight for moving the agenda forward is provided.

At the very least, the publication will serve to inspire debate on what should constitute the vision, mission and values of a global university, within the context of global society. Given the global footprint of universities and the ability of our graduates to influence change in global society, the publication maintains that universities cannot ignore their corporate and social responsibilities: senior managers have a critical role to play as leaders of this agenda and of change that results in positive benefits for a wider stakeholder group.


Scientific users consider cloud platform as a popular distributed computing platform for deploying large scale medical workflow applications. These applications can be executed cost-effectively in IaaS cloud service model, as it provides scientific users with infinite pool of heterogeneous resources and pay-peruse billing model. In the proposed work, the medical science applications are mapped to the IaaS resources based on the billing scheme and the billing granularity of the cloud resources. The goal of the proposed work is to schedule medical workflow applications using discrete particle swarm optimization (DPSO) for minimizing makespan and cost. The schedule generated by the DPSO is rescheduled based on the task runtime and resource billing granularity. The proposed approach is evaluated on Epigenomic medical workflow application.


This paper delineates the main characteristics of the Episciences platform, an environment for overlay peer-reviewing that complements existing publication repositories, designed by the Centre pour la Communication Scientifique directe (CCSD ) service unit. We describe the main characteristics of the platform and present the first experiment of launching two journals in the computer science domain onto it. Finally, we address a series of open questions related to the actual changes in editorial models (open submission, open peer- review, augmented publication) that such a platform is likely to raise, as well as some hints as to the underlying business model.


Dialogic research, building on the dialogic philosophy of Mikhail Bakhtin, is fundamentally concerned with the social, discursive nature of language. This article describes an application of dialogic research methods in a pilot study conducted in an Education and Care setting in Wellington, New Zealand focusing on an 18-month-old toddler and his teacher. The purpose of this exploratory study was to 'operationalize' dialogic research within this early childhood education context, in preparation for a larger investigation. Approaching the fi eld through this dialogic research method offered an alternative means of investigating the acts of a toddler through genre (as the framework of analysis) and utterance (as the unit of analysis). This article argues for dialogic research as a method which enables toddler and teacher 'voices' to authentically inter-animate and contribute accordingly to the research process, thus promoting hermeneutic complexity rather than scientifi c truth. KEYW O RDS assessment, Bakhtin, dialogic research, early childhood education, methodology, teacher


Nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) is a powerful technique of extracting meaningful patterns from an observed matrix and has been used for many applications in the audio signal processing field. In this article, the principle of NMF and some extensions based on a complex generative model are reviewed. Also, their application to audio source separation is presented.


Precision functionalized polyesters, with defined monomer sequences, are prepared using an orthogonal post-polymerization strategy. These polyesters can be synthesized from bio-derived monomers and are targeted to degrade, by hydrolysis processes, to biocompatible diols and diacids; the new structures enabled by this methodology would be very difficult to synthesize by alternative strategies. A series of 9 well-defined highly alternating AB-type copolyesters, containing terminal and internal alkene functionalities, are synthesized in high conversions by the ring-opening copolymerization of epoxides and cyclic anhydrides. Firstly, the polyesters are functionalized by a selective hydroboration–oxidation reaction to exclusively and quantitatively hydroxylate the terminal alkenes, leaving the alternating internal alkenes unreacted. Subsequently, the internal alkenes are quantitatively transformed into carboxylic acid, amine, alkyl and oligo-ether groups, by thiol–ene reactions, to afford AB polyesters with alternating functional substituents. Three polyesters showing alternating hydrophilic/hydrophobic side-chain sequences self-assemble in solution to form nanostructures that are characterized using transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering methods (Rh 1⁄4 100–300 nm). The selective patterning methodology provides facile, efficient and orthogonal functionalization of alternating polyesters with near-quantitative (AB)n repeat sequences. The method is expected to be generalizable to other polymers and provides access to completely new AB alternating structures with the potential to exploit ligand multi-valency and adjacency to enhance properties.


Discussion of the question whether yaws and syphilis are the same or different diseases has been going on for many years. Formerly it ranged over the clinical field, and concerned itself with differences in the morphology of lesions. Since the discovery of the specific germs, the controversy has extended to include the experimental field.
A glance at the literature of the past decade seems to indicate that the discussion is not as brisk now as it once was. The Index Medicus lists under the heading of Frambersia all current medical contributions on yaws and its relation to syphilis. The number of linear column centimeters occupied by the articles on frambesia in the past ten years are as follows: 19, 19, 16, 22 (in 1933), 18, 16, 16, 12, 9, 11. A subject of live interest shows increased bulk in the literature, as witness Sulfanilamide and Derivatives, which climbed from 37 linear centimeters in 1937 to 330 in 1939.


Three-dimensional geologic modeling by integrated analysis and interpretation of drill core, 2-D and 3-D seismic, mine survey, and geologic map data provides new insights into the structural setting of the 85.5 million tonne (Mt) Flin Flon-Callinan-777 volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) ore system hosted in the Paleoproterozoic Flin Flon belt of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Canada. The resultant camp-scale 3-D geologic model was, in addition to the densely drill intersected VMS-hosting mine horizon, constrained by lithostratigraphic reference drill holes intersecting the footwall and hanging-wall rock successions of the ore system, which were established by relogging 52 drill holes and systematically reconciling the lithofacies classes in their log descriptions with the lithofacies units of the 1:10,000-scale Flin Flon mining district geologic map. The lateral persistence and large stratigraphic range of these drill hole markers supported seismic interpretation and allowed tracing lithostratigraphic horizons and structures in areas with low drill hole density, expanding 3-D subsurface insight from the local to the more regional structural setting of the ore system. The overall 3-D modeled geometry and topological relationships between lithostratigraphic surfaces and multiple generations of thrust faults suggest that the Flin Flon mining district is underlain by an E-dipping stack of W-vergent thrust imbricates that formed during precollisional and collisional stages of the 1.9 to 1.8 Ga Trans-Hudson orogeny. The imbricate stack was subsequently deformed by E-trending ductile thrust faults that internally imbricated the Flin Flon arc assemblage and the molasse cover rocks of the Missi Group and brought up rocks of the former over the latter in a northerly direction. The VMS-hosting Millrock Member has been stacked on at least four structural levels, enhancing the VMS potential in the footwall and hanging wall of the known ore deposits where both thrust systems intersect.


Natural disasters generate enormous amounts of waste, which adversely impacts on public health and the environment. The increasing number of natural disasters has made post-disaster construction and demolition (C&D) waste management a crucial component of disaster recovery. This became apparent in New Zealand after the Canterbury region suffered enormously from the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. The East Coast City of Christchurch was severely affected, with the resulting demolition of around 1,400 commercial properties and 7,500 residential properties. It was estimated that this generated approximately 4 million tonnes of debris and probably more than a million tonnes from repairs. The government-appointed Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) led and coordinated the recovery effort, including post-disaster C&D waste management. This paper reflects on the post-earthquake C&D waste management processes and their limitations, and makes recommendations to improve operations in future disasters. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with government and non-government organisations involved with C&D waste management, including CERA and accredited demolition contractors. Findings revealed that the "pick and go" strategy introduced by CERA was very effective, as it directed debris straight into the end-use market. This study identified a number of limitations in the current C&D waste management process, such as lack of pre-event planning; poor coordination between local authorities and contractors during the recovery, incomplete policies and acts, and insufficient capacity in C&D waste facilities to process waste. The findings from this research contribute to a growing body of literature on Post-disaster C&D waste management. This paper recommends the creation of a powerful organisation with a clear responsibility and goal to fully control waste management in future disasters in New Zealand.


We study the generalization properties of the popular stochastic optimization method known as stochastic gradient descent (SGD) for optimizing general non-convex loss functions. Our main contribution is providing upper bounds on the generalization error that depend on local statistics of the stochastic gradients evaluated along the path of iterates calculated by SGD. The key factors our bounds depend on are the variance of the gradients (with respect to the data distribution) and the local smoothness of the objective function along the SGD path, and the sensitivity of the loss function to perturbations to the final output. Our key technical tool is combining the information-theoretic generalization bounds previously used for analyzing randomized variants of SGD with a perturbation analysis of the iterates.


Aim: To compare the amount of apically extruded debris using Reciproc (R25) file with different reciprocal angles.
Methodology: In this research, 60 extracted mandibular premolars with a single root, a single canal, and a single apical foramen were used. Specimens, the working length of which was determined by a stainless steel 10-K file, were randomly distributed into three experimental groups (n = 20) as follows: Group 1 150° counterclockwise (CCW)-30° clockwise (CW); Group 2 180° CCW-60° CW; and Group 3 210° CCW-90° CW. For the irrigation, 10 mL of distilled water was administered via syringe pump. The extruded debris was collected into Eppendorf tubes tared in advance. The distribution of data was analyzed using a Shapiro-Wilk test. A Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for statistical analysis. The null hypothesis is no significant difference between the groups in terms of the amount of apical extrusion of debris.
Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the groups with regard to amount of apical extrusion of debris (p>0.05). Nevertheless, the highest average amount of extrusion of debris was detected in group 1, and the lowest in group 3.
Conclusion: According to the results of this study, different reciprocal angles during chemomechanical preparation has no significant effect on the amount of apical extrusion of debris.

How to cite this article: Çelik N, Kaya S, Adıgüzel Ö. Comparing the effect of Reciproc R25 rotary file system on the amount of apical extrusion of debris via using it with different reciprocal angles. Int Dent Res 2021;11(Suppl.1):63-6. https://doi.org/10.5577/intdentres.2021.vol11.suppl1.10

Linguistic Revision: The English in this manuscript has been checked by at least two professional editors, both native speakers of English.


The investigation involved implementing various self-assessment practices and evaluated the impacts on student achievement, self-confidence and mastery of science concepts. The study included 30 eighth grade students with academic abilities ranging from below to above grade level. This research was conducted at Washington Middle School in Missoula, Montana. The treatment was implemented over the course of four physical science units spanning from November through February. Student achievement was assessed by analyzing class participation, unit test scores and Assignment and Effort Tracking Sheets. Student attitudes were evaluated through the pre and post-treatment data from the Student Attitude Inventory and Course-Related Self-Confidence Survey.


The structural pattern of the Red Sea region, an area where continental lithosphere is cut by a young oceanic rift, was studied by means of satellite and space shuttle radar imagery. The Space Shuttle Mission 2 made two passes over the Red Sea bracketing a region transitional between the southern Red Sea, where true seafloor spreading started about 5 Ma BP, and the northern Red Sea where crust is probably continental, though thinned and stretched. Structures on these passes define bands of shearing in the African and Arabian margins parallel to the Dead Sea Fracture Zone (000–020°). Combinations of these data with LANDSAT information reveal four shear bands along the margins of the Red Sea and one oblique to the Gulf of Suez. We have named the northern three Red Sea shear zones detected on the SIR-A data, the Brothers–Dead Sea Fracture Zone, the Zabargad Fracture Zone and the Shagara Fracture Zone. Two sets of normal faults were also detected, trending 330–340° (parallel to the northern Red Sea coastline) and 310–320° (parallel to the axial deeps in the Red Sea). A map of the 310–320° faults bordering the Red Sea resembles a V-shaped wedge narrowing to the north near the Gulf of Suez. These faults may have formed as a result of the most recent push of seafloor spreading. If this is so, then there may be a propagating tectonic wedge moving from south to north which thins the continental crust up to distances of 300 km from the axis of spreading. Following continental deformation, oceanic crust may be emplaced in 'hot points' along the rift axis. These 'punctiform' oceanic spreading centres should propagate in the same direction as continental rifting. During this episode palaeo-shear zones probably act as barriers ('locked zones') to the axial propagation. One such case is at the Zabargad Fracture Zone where the oblique impact of the propagating rift against the palaeo-shear may have placed the Red Sea's western side under compression and uplift while the eastern side may have been subject to oblique extension with the formation of pull-apart basins. The Space Shuttle imagery allows integration of some of the northern Red Sea morphotectonic features with structures on the continent.


Regular types are a powerful tool for computing very precise descriptive types for logic programs. However, in the context of real-life, modular Prolog programs, the accurate results obtained by regular types often come at the price of efficiency. In this paper we propose a combination of techniques aimed at improving analysis efficiency in this context. As a first technique we allow optionally reducing the accuracy of inferred types by using only the types defined by the user or present in the libraries. We claim that, for the purpose of verifying type signatures given in the form of assertions the precision obtained using this approach is sufficient, and show that analysis times can be reduced significantly. Our second technique is aimed at dealing with situations where we would like to limit the amount of reanalysis performed, especially for library modules. Borrowing some ideas from polymorphic type systems, we show how to solve the problem by admitting parameters in type specifications. This allows us to compose new call patterns with some precomputed analysis info without losing any information. We argue that together these two techniques contribute to the practical and scalable analysis and verification of types in Prolog programs.


Sir Galahad, alias Bertha Eckstein-Diener, was a famous Austrian author writing in the first half of the twentieth century. Her most important books include the novel The Conic Sections of God (Die Kegelschnitte Gottes [1921]), which contains much autobiographical material, and Mothers and Amazons (Mütter und Amazone [1932]), a cultural history of women focusing on matriarchies. Bertha Eckstein-Diener had an unusual life: the daughter of a well-to-do factory owner, she grew up in Vienna, married polymath Friedrich Eckstein against her father's will, divorced her husband after several years of marriage, survived a tragic love affair and travelled constantly. She was proud both of her slim figure and of her sporting achievements. As a young woman, she was one of Vienna's best figure skaters, an excellent horse rider and a mountaineer. She gave up skating for skiing, which became her main pastime in winter. She also learned ski jumping. The little information that is available about her skiing activities clearly demonstrates that this sport played a key role in her life. Besides perfectly keeping up with her self-image as a competent woman, skiing provided her with the opportunity of escaping normal life and experiencing freedom and adventure.


BHUTANESE COUNSELORS' EXPERIENCES WITH WESTERN COUNSELING: A QUALITATIVE STUDY Susan V. Lester Old Dominion University, 2015 Director: Dr. Radha J. Horton-Parker Following centuries of independence from the rest of the world, the remote and fastdeveloping Kingdom of Bhutan has recently opened its doors to outside influence. Bhutan has invited the profession of counseling to aid in responding to growing mental health problems, social and family issues, and school and career guidance needs. This study employed the methods of phenomenology to investigate the experiences of Bhutanese counselors with Western counseling in order to understand the intersection of the culture of Bhutan with the culture of counseling. Eleven participants were interviewed and four themes were identified: Conceptualization of counseling, Bhutanese culture, Bhutanese counseling, and the relationship between Western counseling and Bhutan. The worldview differences between collectivism and individualism are highlighted as well as the compatibility and integration of Buddhist principles with counseling. Elements of a potential model of Bhutanese counseling are suggested as well as recommendations for counselor training, ongoing Western contributions, and the further development of the profession.


Abstract. The tropical thermocline may have played a crucial role in maintaining weaker sea surface temperature gradients during the early Pliocene and in the onset of late Pliocene northern hemisphere glaciation. Whereas the Pliocene Pacific thermocline evolution is well documented, complete records of Pliocene tropical Atlantic thermocline depths are limited to the Caribbean region. Here, we use the oxygen isotope gradient between surface to subsurface dwelling planktic foraminifera from Ocean Drilling Program Site 959 in the eastern equatorial Atlantic to track vertical changes in thermocline depth over the course of the Pliocene. This record shows that eastern equatorial Atlantic thermocline depth varied substantially during the early Pliocene, before finally deepening abruptly around 4.5 Ma to remain relatively stable until at least 2.8 Ma. Eastern equatorial Atlantic and Caribbean records are almost identical, suggesting a common control on the sudden step-wise thermocline deepening across the basin, in contrast to previous assumptions. The Pliocene evolution of the tropical Atlantic thermocline differs is remarkably from the Pacific, which is characterized by gradual basin-wide shoaling. It remains unclear what mechanisms were involved in the dichotomous thermocline evolutions. Whereas Central American Seaway closure may have shoaled the Pacific thermocline, it is not yet understood if and how this process may have deepened the Atlantic thermocline. A divergent evolution of temperatures of the source regions may explain the opposite thermocline developments observed, possibly amplified by a positive feedback loop involving tropical cyclone intensity.


In the current essay, the writer will try to approach the cases of separatism and especially those of illegal separatism which are creating unrecognized or partially recognized states. It is true though that these cases, even of forced separatism, are matter which has been subjected to the international law and mainly to the principle of the security of a minority group and finally the right to self-determination. Although the principle of self-determination is respected under the Charter of the United Nations (article 1§2), it is still rather vague to define what kind of group is subjected to it. The Charter doesn't provide much information about it and keeps the Wilsonian concept of "self-determination for people", therefore cases of separatism are still under broad and heated debate. Although this paper will focus on the case of forced separatism in Cyprus and especially the case of Northern Cyprus, which has been separated from the Cypriot mainland after the Turkish invasion of 20th July 1974 and has proclaimed to be the independent "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus"1 after 1983. Moreover I will try to focus on the aspects of the separatist arguments posed from the Turkish community for protection from the Greek paramilitary forces and the fact of the invasion which made the whole territory an occupied territory (S/RES/550, 1984) rather than an independent state coming from a legitimate secessionist movement. Hence the arguments and the methodology followed in this paper will move in a dialectic path by highlighting first of all the historical aspects of the case of Cyprus from 1878 and the British rule over the island. Afterwards we will mention the arguments supporting the cases of legitimate secessionism and we will attempt to give a possible definition of illegal and forced separatism which are carried out after invasions and territorial claims that are made under the safeguard clause of the United Nations Covenant of Friendly relations of 1970. These claims are tightly connected to the-so called but disputable remedial right to secessionism. The remedial right of secessionism is pleaded when the central government is adopting a discriminatory behavior against to a minority group with specific religious or racial characteristics by following strict political, economic and social policies on this community (Buchanan, 1997).


The present study compares the results of three two-dimensional procedures for sociometric status determination: the Asher and Dodge (1986) system, the rating scale method SSrat of Maassen, Akkermans, and Van der Linden (1996), and the nomination procedure of Coie and Dodge (1983). The study followed 170 children from third grade through sixth grade. Children were asked (a) to nominate the classmates with whom they most liked and least liked to play, and (b) to rate how much they liked to play with each of their classmates. The SSrat method determines sociometric status with higher validity and stability than do the other two methods. SSrat's methodological strengths and practical advantages as compared to the Asher and Dodge system demonstrate that it is a valuable, if not preferable, alternative for determining children's sociometric status in situations where the use of a rating scale is appropriate.


This paper presents the development of a resonant DC link inverter for an electric vehicle application. The resonant link frequency is approximately 70kHz and the inverter drives a low voltage 2.2kW AC induction motor. The IGBT inverter operates off a 240V DC supply and an active clamping circuit limits the resonant bus voltage to 500V. A synchronized PWM scheme is used to modulate the resonant inverter. Experimental results showing the operation of the resonant inverter in motoring and regenerating modes are given. A performance comparison of hard switching and resonant inverters with respect to power losses and motor current THD is provided, and it is shown that at PWM frequencies greater than 10kHz the resonant inverter is more efficient.


Through-casing resistivity (TCR) measurement instruments such as Cased Hole Formation Resistivity are extensively used for the dynamic monitoring of oil reservoirs during the production phase in oil wells to evaluate the residual oil distribution. However, two shortcomings still exist in the common TCR model based on single-injection electrodes: The real value of steel-casing resistance is difficult to acquire, and the effect from mechanical tolerances of electrode scale is unpredictable. This paper proposes an innovative model based on double-injection electrodes. In this new model, all the required variables can be measured simultaneously; furthermore, a compensating arithmetic method is employed to obtain the real casing resistance. Self-adaptive goal-oriented hp-finite-element simulations have been performed to prove that the influence of mechanical tolerances of electrode scale can be reduced effectively. Therefore, the TCR measurement accuracy is highly improved.


As power systems generally are large interconnected systems controlled by several parties, centralized optimal power flow (OPF) control taking the entire grid into account is often not feasible. To use optimal control in power systems nevertheless, the overall system is decomposed into areas with associated subproblems, which are solved in an iterative way. Currently available decomposition techniques assume that the models and control objectives of areas are formulated to be non-overlapping, i.e., the border of one area is at the same time also the border of a neighboring area. However, when the areas are determined independently from each other, e.g., by sensitivity analysis, the areas can be overlapping, making currently existing techniques not directly applicable. In this paper, we extend one of these techniques, viz. a modified Lagrange decomposition method, to the case of overlapping areas. Simulations are carried out on an adjusted IEEE 57-bus system in which the controlled entities are FACTS devices and the objective is to improve system security.


The proliferation of overlapping free trade agreements (FTA) in recent years has led to pair-wise hub-and-spokes (HAS) throughout the world. Being avid subscribers to FTAs, many countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including the United States, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Australia, have become trade hubs to their partners who are in turn relegated to spoke status. In this paper, we question whether being a hub is welfare optimal for a small and open economy such as Singapore compared to membership in a single bilateral FTA or a multi-member free trade zone. Within this context, we use a computable general equilibrium model to examine the welfare implications of the triangular trade relationship of the United States, Singapore and Japan. This is facilitated by the Japan-Singapore Economic Partnership Agreement, the USA-Singapore Free Trade Agreement, and a hypothetical USA-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement. The analysis is extended to incorporate 'super-hub' effects, that is, the spoke countries could be trade hubs in other HAS systems. Our experiment reveals that hub status generates positive welfare gain and is the highest Singapore can get from the trade configurations considered. Meanwhile, Japan loses more than the USA when both are relegated to spoke status. These findings prove to be robust under different market structures and production technologies, deeper economic integration, 'super-hub' effects, as well as uncertainty in the key model parameters and the extent of trade liberalisation shocks. Copyright 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.