Most people still think of themselves as belonging to a particular culture. Yet today, many of us who live in affluent societies choose aspects of our lives from a global cultural supermarket, whether in terms of food, the arts or spiritual beliefs. So if roots are becoming simply one more consumer choice, can we still claim to possess a fundamental cultural identity? Global Culture/Individual Identity focuses on three groups for whom the tension between a particular national culture and the global cultural supermarket is especially acute: Japanese artists, American religious seekers and Hong Kong intellectuals after the handover to China. These ethnographic case studies form the basis for a theory of culture which we can all see reflected in our own lives. Gordon Mathews opens up the complex and debated topics of globalization, culture and identity in a clear and lively style.


Abstract The Hugh Miller collection (mainly NMS G.1859.33) held at the National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh, consists of 591 palaeobotanical specimens, 54 of which are of type and/or figured status. A preliminary assessment of this collection, in the light of renewed interest in Hugh Miller's works in the bicentenary of his birth (2002), has provided new insights into this remarkable Scottish geologist. Miller, through writing popular articles in both newspaper and book format, publicized the various subdisciplines of palaeontology including palaeobotany. His distinctive writing style promoted public understanding of the science, and helped his readers to grasp the concept of deep time and the intricacies of past worlds. An appendix of type and figured material based on Miller's collection is included.


MARKETING ACCEPTANCE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO SELECTED INSTITUTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS by Melanie Goodson Narkawicz This study examined the level of acceptance of marketing by colleges and universities in the United States. It was based upon the "Four Stage Model Reflecting the Acceptance of Marketing in Higher Education Institutions" developed by Sinunons and Laczniak (1992). The primary purposes of this study were to validate the model and to identify the operational level of marketing acceptance at colleges and universities. Secondary purposes were to determine if the level of acceptance differed according to source of control/affiliation (public v. private), highest level of degree awarded (associate, baccalaureate, master's, doctors), regional location, urban location, and institutional size. Variables were measured through a survey instrument developed by the researcher. A pilot test was conducted for reliability and validity testing of the instrument. It was then sent to a random sample of institutions which was chosen from the population of all nonproprietary colleges and universities in the United States. Responses from 243 institutions were used for data analysis. Major findings include: 1) stage completion was associated with the source of control (public v. private), a greater percentage of private institutions have completed each stage; 2) source of control/affiliation should be controlled for when comparing marketing of institutions; 3) most colleges have completed Stage One (marketing as promotion), with fewer than half completing Stage Two (marketing as market research), and about a quarter completing Stages Three (marketing as enrollment management), and Four (strategic marketing management); 4) there were no differences in stage scores based on the highest level of degree awarded, regional location, urban location, and institutional size when controlling for the source of control/affiliation; 5) the Four Stage Model has some validity, but more research is needed, particularly regarding the latter stages. Several recommendations were made. They primarily focus on the model, sampling and measurement, and future research needed on marketing acceptance.


In recent years, communication in public social media increasingly affected enterprises. Internet users began to share information about products, brands, and companies. Research currently focuses on investigating this form of communication by using quantitative methods in order to get a better understanding of it and of its relevance for companies and society. However, little is known about how enterprises themselves spread information in social media and how stakeholders talk about brands and products. In our work, we investigate communication genres directed from stakeholder-to-stakeholder, from business-to-stakeholder, and from stakeholder-to-business. By doing this, we were able to broadly analyze the content of communication in social media. In our research, we focus on the company adidas, an international manufacturer of sports clothes. We concentrate on the awareness aspect and adapted a theoretical model in order to evaluate company-related communication in Twitter. Our case study includes 289,513 tweets which were collected on 60 consecutive days. In order to identify genres and to answer the research questions, we manually analyzed 500 randomly chosen tweets as well as all those tweets published by official corporate accounts. We come to the conclusion that communication in social media is indeed of high importance for adidas. Furthermore, we show that adidas enters the communication in Twitter strategically to increase the awareness of their products.


The North American landscape changed tremendously following the arrival of European settlers. Before European arrival, New England's landscape was primarily forested. As Europeans moved inland from the eastern seaboard, they cleared the forest for settlement and agricultural use. Eventually the Industrial Revolution made a different kind of mark on the landscape. Starting in the late 1790s, the textile mill industry developed throughout the region. Mills were located along swift moving rivers, which later produced power when dams were created along them. Following the early 1900s mill production decreased, leading to the abandonment of many mills and their adjacent dammed mill ponds. However, the environmental changes wrought by the mill ponds still exist in New England's landscape. Large volumes of fine sediment have since built up in some of these former mill ponds and concerns about the sediment and water quality have become widespread. Today many former textile mill rivers throughout the U.S and Europe have been tested in an attempt to determine current contamination levels and to apply appropriate strategies if necessary to reduce pollutants to acceptable levels. Little is known about water and sediment quality of the former mill ponds in Scituate, Rhode Island. This research sought to address this problem by conducting trace metal testing of two mill ponds in the Scituate River Watershed: Peabody Pond and Jordon Pond. Results revealed that both ponds contain pollutants from present and past sources, but that contemporary land use practices may be the most harmful to water and sediment quality. Existing mill metal piping left on the landscape and present-day motorways and urban runoff contain large quantities of suspended solids such as copper, lead and zinc with lead showing the highest concentration levels of all metals tested. This research demonstrates that our past landscape activities, specifically New England's historic textile production, still influences present environmental conditions, and that as human activities on the landscape change, so do threats to environmental quality.


Abstract An experimental study aimed at investigating potential topographic amplification of seismic waves was conducted on a 50‐m‐tall and 185‐m‐wide soft‐rock ridge located at Los Alamos National Laboratory near Los Alamos, New Mexico. Ten portable broadband seismograph stations were placed in arrays across the ridge and left to record ambient vibration data for ∼9 hours. Clear evidence of topographic amplification was observed by comparing spectral ratios calculated from ambient noise recordings at the toe, slope, and crest of the instrumented ridge. The inferred resonance frequency of the ridge obtained from the experimental recordings was found to agree well with several simple estimates of the theoretical resonance frequency based on its geometry and stiffness. Results support the feasibility of quantifying the frequency range of topographic amplification solely using ambient vibrations, rather than strong or weak ground motions. Additionally, comparisons have been made between a number of widely used experimental methods for quantifying topographic effects, such as the standard spectral ratio, median reference method, and horizontal‐to‐vertical spectral ratio. Differences in the amplification and frequency range of topographic effects indicated by these methods highlight the importance of choosing a reference condition that is appropriate for the site‐specific conditions and goals associated with an experimental topographic amplification study.


This study examined the impact of employees' fairness perceptions regarding organizational work−life balance initiatives on their performance of counterproductive work behaviour (CWB). Moderating effects of adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism were also explored. Quantitative data collected from 224 public sector employees demonstrated significant main and moderating effects of informational justice, adaptive perfectionism and maladaptive perfectionism on CWB. Adaptive perfectionism weakened the link between informational justice and CWB, while maladaptive perfectionism strengthened it. Qualitative data collected from 26 employees indicate that both the social exchange and job stress models are useful frameworks for understanding CWB in the context of work−life balance initiatives; CWB emerged as both a negative emotional reaction to unfairness and as a tool used by employees to restore equity in the exchange relationship with their employer. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.


Abstract We study how the duration of paid parental leave affects the accumulation of cognitive skills among children. Using a reform which extended parental leave benefits from 12 to 15 months for Swedish children born after August 1988 we evaluate the effects of prolonged parental leave on children's test scores and grades at age 16. We show that, on average, the reform had no effect on children's scholastic performance. However, we do find positive effects for children of well-educated mothers, a result that is robust to a number of different specifications. We find no corresponding heterogeneity relative to parental earnings or fathers' education, or relative to other predictors of child performance. We find no effects on intermediate outcomes such as mothers' subsequent earnings, child health, parental fertility, divorce rates, or the mothers' mental health. Overall the results suggest positive causal interaction effects between mothers' education and the amount of time mothers spend with their children. Since the institutional context is one in which the alternative is subsidized day care, the results imply that subsidizing longer parental leave spells rather than day care reinforce the relationship between maternal education and school outcomes.


Weekly water samples were taken to measure stable isotope composition (δ13C and δ15N) of particulate organic matter (POM) in Lake Wauberg, Florida, from June 1994 to May 1995. The average δ13C of POM was ‐19.3%, consistent with an autochthonous origin from phytoplankton production, and exhibited a seasonal pattern that coincided with changes in water temperature, pH, CO2 concentration, and phytoplankton biomass in the surface water. The 13C enrichment in POM was attributed to reduced isotope fractionation due to carbon (C) limitation and the use of an isotopically heavy dissolved inorganic carbon pool supported mainly by atmospheric invasion and anaerobic respiration. Intermittent declines in δ13C of POM were related to the frequent collapses of phytoplankton blooms and increases in CO2 concentration resulting from both increased community respiration and terrestrial loading. Average δ15N of POM was 1.3% and varied within a narrow range (20.1% to 2.5%). No significant correlation between phytoplankton biovolume and the δ15N of POM was found. The low δ15N is indicative of strong N2 fixation, which is in line with the low concentration of dissolved inorganic nitrogen and the presence of high biovolume of N2‐fixing cyanobacteria in the surface water. This study suggests that stable C isotopes are good proxies for surface water CO2 concentration and primary production, while stable N isotopes can be used to indicate N2 fixation.


Article history Received 23 Aug 2015 Accepted 14 Nov 2015 Introduction: Leisure activities are common among the elderly, however the effect of such activities on their mental health is poorly defined and not underpinned by strong evidence. This study aims to determine the prevalence of leisure activities and its relation to mental health in the elderly. Methods: A crosssectional study was conducted and 400 community dwelling older adults 60 years and more with appropriate cognitive function (Abbreviated Mental Test score 7 and more), were recruited through multi-stage stratified cluster sampling in Tehran, Iran. Data was gathered by demographic questionnaire and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). The primary outcomes to measure were the prevalence of leisure activities, and GHQ score in subgroups. Data were analyzed by Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, ANOVA, independent t-test and multiple linear regressions. Results: Of participants 62% were in their 7th decade (60-74 years), 56% (224) were female with mean age of 66.98 ± 8.22 , and 44% (176) male with mean age of 66.98 ± 8.22. GHQ scores showed 65% of participants had good mental health (0-23) and 35% had mental health problems (24 and more). Mean of GHQ score in participants (n = 377) was 21.8 ± 11.37 (0-28). watching television (77%), reading books ( 40.3%), walking (31.5%) and taking trip (36%) were more interesting leisure activities among older adults .Women, single, unemployed, alone and illiterate older adults had statistically significant(p ≤ 0.05) upper GHQ scores. Participating in active leisure activities such as taking trip and cultural classes, participating in non-government organization activities, going to parks and gym and walking had significant relationships with good mental health (p ≤0.05). Conclusion: Encouraging older adults to participation in active leisure activities would be an effective intervention in mental health improvement. On the other hand understanding of relationship between type of leisure activities and mental health, provides evidence for policy makers and health care planners to offer and facilitate a context in which older adults can improve participation in active leisure activities.


Background: Self-help is an effective treatment for depression. Less is known, however, about how acceptable people find different self-help treatments for depression. Aims: To investigate preferences and attitudes toward different self-help treatments for depression in comparison to psychotherapy and antidepressants. Method: N = 536 people who were not actively seeking treatment for depression were randomly assigned to read about one of five treatment options (bibliotherapy, Internet-based self-help, guided self-help, antidepressants, or psychotherapy) before rating how acceptable they found the treatment. Participants also ranked the treatments in order of preference. Results: Psychotherapy and guided self-help were found to be the most acceptable and preferred treatment options. Antidepressants and bibliotherapy were found to be the least acceptable treatments, with antidepressants rated as the most likely to have side effects. Preference data reflected the above findings – psychotherapy and guided self-help were the most preferred treatment options. Conclusions: The findings highlight differences in attitudes and preferences between guided and unguided self-help interventions; and between self-help interventions and psychotherapy. Future research should focus on understanding why unguided self-help interventions are deemed to be less acceptable than guided self-help interventions for treating depression.


A bound pronoun in the subject position of a finite embedded clause renders the clause boundary relatively transparent to relations ordinarily confined to monoclausal, control, and raising configurations. For example, too/enough-movement structures involving a finite clause boundary are degraded in sentences like *This book is too long [for John to claim [that Bill read ___ in a day]] but improved when the finite clause has a bound pronominal subject as in ?This book is too long [for John1 to claim [that he1 read ___ in a day]]. This bound pronoun effect holds across a wide range of phenomena including too/enough-movement, tough-movement, gapping, comparative deletion, antecedent-contained deletion, quantifier scope interaction, multiple questions, pseudogapping, reciprocal binding, and multiple sluicing; we confirm the effect via a sentence acceptability experiment targeting some of these phenomena. Our account has two crucial ingredients: (a) bound pronouns optionally enter the derivation with unvalued ϕ-features and (b) phases are defined in part by convergence, so that under certain conditions, unvalued features void the phasal status of CP and extend the locality domain for syntactic operations.


"Move. Choreographing You explores the interaction between visual art and dance since the 1960s. This beautifully illustrated book, published in connection with a major exhibition, focuses on visual artists and choreographers who create sculptures and installations that direct the movements of audiences--making them dancers and active participants. Move shows that choreography is not merely about the notation of movement on paper or in film but about the ways the body inhabits sculpture and installations." -- Publisher's website.


Despite its significance in microfluidics, the effect of confinement on the transition from the tank-treading (steady motion) to the tumbling (unsteady motion) dynamical state of deformable micro-particles has not been studied in detail. In this paper, we investigate the dynamics of a single viscous vesicle under confining shear as a general model system for red blood cells, capsules, or viscous droplets. The transition from tank-treading to tumbling motion can be triggered by the ratio between internal and external fluid viscosities. Here, we show that the transition can be induced solely by reducing the confinement, keeping the viscosity contrast constant. The observed dynamics results from the variation of the relative importance of viscous-, pressure-, and lubrication-induced torques exerted upon the vesicle. Our findings are of interest for designing future experiments or microfluidic devices: the possibility to trigger the tumbling-to-tank-treading transition either by geometry or viscosity contrast alone opens attractive possibilities for microrheological measurements as well as the detection and diagnosis of diseased red blood cells in confined flow.


The subject of this paper is the nature of the sampling operation performed by the human visual sense, restricted to black and white, nonstereoscopic, photopic vision. The hypothesis is presented that the human visual sense samples the spatial "power" spectrum (The term spatial power spectrum is used throughout to describe the absolute value of the square of the Fourier spatial transform of the image, although it is recognized that the word "power" is, strictly, a misnomer in this context. It is to be particularly noted that the word spectrum does not, here, refer to the electromagnetic frequency spectrum of the radiation associated with the image but to the spatial frequency spectrum of the pattern structure of the image.) of the input image, just as the aural sense samples the temporal power spectrum of the input sound. The justification for this hypothesis is the fact that the sensitivity of the retina (except at the fovea) to form, or pattern, in the input image is very much poorer than is suggested by the corresponding upper cutoff spatial frequency of the retina. This property is characteristic of power-spectrum sensitive devices. A physical model retina is described that could perform the hypothesized spectral-sampling operation.


Abstract. The reliable quantification of ultraviolet (UV) radiation at the earth's surface requires accurate measurements of spectral global solar UV irradiance in order to determine the UV exposure to human skin and to understand long-term trends in this parameter. Array spectroradiometers (ASRMs) are small, light, robust and cost-effective instruments, and are increasingly used for spectral irradiance measurements. Within the European EMRP ENV03 project "Solar UV", new devices, guidelines and characterization methods have been developed to improve solar UV measurements with ASRMs, and support to the end user community has been provided. In order to assess the quality of 14 end user ASRMs, a solar UV intercomparison was held on the measurement platform of the World Radiation Center (PMOD/WRC) in Davos, Switzerland, from 10 to 17 July 2014. The results of the blind intercomparison revealed that ASRMs, currently used for solar UV measurements, show a large variation in the quality of their solar UV measurements. Most of the instruments overestimate the erythema-weighted UV index – in particular at large solar zenith angles – due to stray light contribution in the UV-B range. The spectral analysis of global solar UV irradiance further supported the finding that the uncertainties in the UV-B range are very large due to stray light contribution in this wavelength range. In summary, the UV index may be detected by some commercially available ASRMs within 5 % compared to the world reference spectroradiometer, if well characterized and calibrated, but only for a limited range of solar zenith angles. Generally, the tested instruments are not yet suitable for solar UV measurements for the entire range between 290 and 400 nm under all atmospheric conditions.


Corporate social responsibility regarding CO2 emission reduction has gained grounds as an integrated part of organizations. To present the sustainability efforts made by the organization, many of the largest corporations publish annual corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports to engage with their stakeholders. In this study, we address the questions to what extent organizations report about sustainability of their corporate real estate portfolio to stakeholders, which indicators they use to report and which characteristics of the organization influence the reported indicators. This is studied based on a content analysis of CSR reports of 2014. The reports of a random sample of 200 organizations of the 500 largest organizations in the world are analysed. Interviews with corporate real estate managers of a smaller sample of key organizations are carried out to complement the quantitative analysis with qualitative information about underlying reasons and practices. Logistic regression is used to relate differences in reporting tendencies to characteristics of the organization. The results indicate that, apart from the more frequently used indicators as energy consumption, GHG emissions, water consumption and waste, indicators as renewable energy, supply chain management and community engagement are also topics frequently addressed by the organizations. However, we find significant differences in reporting content that can be related to organization characteristics. The amount of employees has the biggest positive influence on reporting of CRE sustainability indicators. Furthermore, significant differences related to market capitalization, geographic region (Europe versus US) and industrial sector are found. The interviews provide an indication that the reporting and implementation of sustainability measures are often misaligned: not reporting CRE sustainability indicators does not mean that the measures are not implemented within the organization. The interviewed organizations are often implementing sustainability on an ad-hoc basis which could explain the lack of reporting in the CSR reports.We argue that a form of standardization of CSR reporting could help to increase transparency and benchmark a company's sustainability performance regarding CREM, but that such a standard is still a rather remote goal as long as many organizations have not reached a mature state in terms of CREM in general and sustainable CREM in particular.


A series of copper(II) complexes, CuL·imidazole, where L2− are tridentate Schiff base ligands formed by condensation of salicylaldehyde with a series of amino acids, have been synthesized. Visible spectral data indicate that copper(II) in these complexes are five coordinate in the solid state and in solution. Electrospray mass spectrometry has been used to show how these complexes react in alcohol/NaOH solutions with and without the presence of d-galactose. In the absence of d-galactose where the amino acid in the ligand is serine, the alcohol group on the ligand is converted to its alkyl ether after sonication of the solution for up to 4 h. In the presence of d-galactose, an alkoxy group is added to the ligands except for the ligand containing serine after sonication of the solutions for up to 4 h. At the same time, d-galactose is oxidized to its aldehyde. Where the ligand contains methionine, oxygen is also added to the ligand, most likely to the thioether sulfur. Graphical Abstract


It is now well established that a subset of T‐cell‐derived cytokines (termed Th2 cytokines) programme the timing and characteristics of atopic airway disease including mast‐cell sensitization, eosinophil and lymphocyte infiltration and recently mucus secretion. To date, attempts to devise ways to selectively limit the activities of Th2 cytokine‐producing cells have been frustrated. However, the recent identification of the molecules which direct the activation and maturation of T cells has led to some successful attempts to block the activities of Th2 cells in models of atopic airway inflammation. Some of the agents with the most potential include antagonists of the T‐cell costimulatory molecule CD28, local stimulators of the Th1 subset of cytokines such as the BCG vaccine and potentially, antagonists of the eotaxin chemokine receptor and agonists of the T‐cell costimulatory molecule CTLA‐4. Not only do such agonists and antagonists represent potential new therapies, they could represent a rich hunting ground for those who aim to determine the ways in which atopic airway disease can be diagnosed and understood.


In a public good experiment, the paper analyses to which extent individuals with economic education behave differently in a second-order dilemma. Second-order dilemmas may arise, when individuals endogenously build up costly institutions that help to overcome a public good problem (first-order dilemma). The specific institution used in the experiment is a communication platform allowing for group communication before the first-order public good game takes place. The experimental results confirm the finding of the literature that economists tend to free ride more intensively in public good games than non-economists. The difference is the strongest in the end-game phase, yielding in the conclusion that the magnitude of the end-game effect depends on the share of economists in the pool of participants. When it comes to the building-up of institutions, the individual efficiency gain of the institution and its inherent cost function constitute the driving forces for the contribution behaviour. Providing an investment friendly environment yields in economists contributing more to the institution than non-economists. Therefore, we make clear that first-order results of a simple public good game cannot be simply applied for second-order incentive problems.


REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY
Multicentre Confidential Enquiries into Perioperative Equine Fatalities (CEPEF) have not been conducted since the initial CEPEF Phases 1-3, 20 years ago.

OBJECTIVES
To collect data on current practice in equine anaesthesia and to recruit participants for CEPEF-4.

STUDY DESIGN
Online questionnaire survey.

METHODS
An online questionnaire was prepared and the link distributed internationally to veterinarians possibly performing equine anaesthesia, using emails, posters, flyers and an editorial. The questionnaire included 52 closed, semiclosed and open questions divided into 8 subgroups: demographic data, anaesthetist, anaesthesia management (preoperative, technical equipment, monitoring, drugs, recovery), areas of improvements and risks and motivation for participation in CEPEF-4. Descriptive statistics and Chi-squared tests for comparison of categorical variables were performed.

RESULTS
A total of 199 questionnaires were completed by veterinarians from 14 different countries. Of the respondents, 43% worked in private hospitals, 36% in private practices and 21% in university teaching hospitals. In 40 institutions (23%) there was at least one diplomate of the European or American colleges of veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia on staff. Individual respondents reported routinely employ the following anaesthesia monitoring modalities: electrocardiography (80%), invasive arterial blood pressures (70%), pulse oximetry (60%), capnography (55%), arterial blood gases (47%), composition of inspired and expired gases (45%) and body temperature (35%). Drugs administered frequently or routinely as part of a standard protocol were: acepromazine (44%), xylazine (68%), butorphanol (59%), ketamine (96%), diazepam (83%), isoflurane (76%), dobutamine (46%), and, as a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, phenylbutazone (73%) or flunixin meglumine (66%). Recovery was routinely assisted by 40%. The main factors perceived by the respondents to affect outcome of equine anaesthesia were the preoperative health status of the animal and training of the anaesthetist.

CONCLUSIONS
Current practice in equine anaesthesia varies widely, and the study has highlighted important topics relevant for designing a future prospective multicentre cohort study (CEPEF-4). The Summary is available in Chinese - see Supporting information.


The objective of this study was to construct a BeiDou navigation satellite system (BDS)/global positioning system (GPS)-integrated positioning algorithm that meets the accuracy requirement of forest surveys and to analyze its accuracy to provide theoretical and technical support for accurate positioning and navigation in forests. The Quercus variabilis broad-leaved forest in Jiufeng National Forest Park and the Sabina Coniferous forest in Dongsheng Bajia forest farm were selected as the study area. A Sanding T-23 multi-frequency three-constellation receiver and a u-blox NEO-M8T multi-constellation receiving module were used for continuous observation under the forest canopy. Compared with T-23, the u-blox NEO-M8T is much lighter and more flexible in the forest. The BDS/GPS-integrated positioning algorithm for forests was constructed by temporally and spatially unifying the satellite systems and using a reasonable observed value weighting method. Additionally, the algorithm is also written into the RTKLIB software to calculate the three-dimensional (3D) coordinates of the forest observation point in the World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS-84) coordinate system. Finally, the results were compared with the positioning results obtained using GPS alone. The experimental results indicated that, compared with GPS positioning, there were 13–27 visible satellites available for the BDS/GPS-integrated positioning algorithm for forests, far more than the satellites available for the GPS positioning algorithm alone. The Position Dilution of Precision (PDOP) values for the BDS/GPS-integrated positioning ranged from 0.5 to 1.9, lower than those for GPS positioning. The signal noise ratio (SNR) of the BDS/GPS-integrated satellite signals and GPS satellite signals were both in the range of 10–50 dB-Hz. However, because there were more visible satellites for the BDS/GPS-integrated positioning, the signals from the BDS/GPS-integrated satellites were stronger and had a more stable SNR than those from the GPS satellites alone. The results obtained using the BDS/GPS-integrated positioning algorithm for forests had significantly higher theoretical and actual accuracies in the X, Y and Z directions than those obtained using the GPS positioning algorithm. This suggests that the BDS/GPS-integrated positioning algorithm can obtain more accurate positioning results for complex forest environments.


Social media is a platform in which tons and tons of
text are generated each and every day. The data is so large that cannot be
easily understood, so this has paved a path to a new field in the information
technology which is natural language processing. In this paper, the text data
which is used for the classification is tweets that determines the state of the
person according of the sentiments which is positive, negative and neutral.
Emotions are the way of expression of the person's feelings which has a high
influence on the decision making tasks. Here we have proposed the text
representation, Term Frequency Inverse
Document Frequency (tfidf), Keras embedding along with the machine learning and
deep learning algorithms for the purpose of the classification of the
sentiments, out of which Logistics Regression machine learning based methods
out performs well when the features is taken in the limited amount as the
features increases Support Vector Machine (SVM) which is also one of the
machine learning algorithm out performs well making a benchmark accuracy for
this dataset as the 75.8%. For the research purpose the dataset has been made publically
available.


Characterization of the surface activity of previously obtained polymerizable dialkyl maleates is performed to find out the relation between the structure of surfactants and their performances. The given polymerizable surfactants were synthesized for using in the emulsion polymerization. Three groups of dialkyl maleatesnonionics, cationics, and zwitterionicswith different chain lengths of hydrophobic alkyl group are investigated. Critical micelle concentration (cmc) values are determined for water soluble surfactants. It is found that cmc decreases with increasing length of the hydrophobic alkyl group. For nonionic and cationic surfactants interfacial tension at the interface between water and dodecane is measured. Droplet size in oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions is determined for all given surfactants. Cationic and zwitterionic dialkyl maleates with the longest investigated alkyl chain (R = C16H33, C17H35) provide good stability of O/W emulsions. In order to compare the obtained results, measurements with we...


The incidence of Legionnaires' disease in Slovakia is low (0.2/million people), though underestimated; only a few sporadic cases have been documented. This chapter presents a study focused on an investigation of a potable water system for Legionella contamination and an evaluation of the risk of possible exposure, reflecting seroreactivity or even infection of nosocomial origin in patients of the hospital, where laboratory diagnostic tests for Legionella infection are not performed. The quantitative contamination of the water distribution system was 104 to 107 CFU/liter and was supported by the presence of legionellae in water from central and P3 tanks. Contamination was supported by legionellae surviving in the central tank, promoted by the nonadequate maintenance of the tank, especially in a temperature regimen (50 to 52№C) and hypochlorination. To assess the risk of exposure to contaminated tap water for inpatients, the authors did a serosurvey for antibodies in patients submitted to a normal treatment regimen from block A, colonized with legionellae in 20 to 45% from 1995 to 1999. A small group of patients suffering from pneumonia (more than 100) in the same hospital in which Legionella laboratory tests are not in routine use, was investigated in order to find another explanation for the absence of nosocomial legionellosis. There was a lack of convalescent-phase sera and samples for cultivation due to insufficient cooperation with clinicians and notably missing detection by Legionella urinary test. This test is widely recommended for active surveillance of legionellosis in colonized hospitals.


The link between US labor cost and price inflation has weakened notably over the past three decades. In this paper we document this decline and analyse potential contributing factors. We consider four important trends that have shaped the US economy of late: (i) improved anchoring of inflation expectations; (ii) the changing constellation of shocks hitting the economy; (iii) increased trade integration and (iv) rising firm market power. We find that the improved anchoring of inflation expectations has played a particularly relevant role but also that the latter two trends offer promising avenues to understand the decline in pass-through from labor cost to price inflation. Our results also bring supportive evidence to the view taken by the FED in the context of its monetary policy strategy review that a robust job market can be sustained without causing an outbreak of inflation. JEL Classification: C32, E24, E31


Traditional trust management schemes developed for wired and wireless ad hoc networks are not well suited for sensor networks due to their higher consumption of resources such as memory and power. In this work, we propose a new lightweight group-based trust management scheme (GTMS) for wireless sensor networks, which employs clustering. Our approach reduces the cost of trust evaluation. Also, theoretical as well as simulation results show that our scheme demands less memory, energy, and communication overheads as compared to the current state-of-the-art trust management schemes and it is more suitable for large-scale sensor networks. Furthermore, GTMS also enables us to detect and prevent malicious, selfish, and faulty nodes.


Thirty six chromium resistant bacterial strains were isolated from tanneries effluent (CrT-I, CrT-2, CrT-3, CrT-4, CrT-5, CrT-6, CrT-7, CrT-8, CrT-9, CrT-l0, CrT11, CrT-12, CrT-13, CrT-14, CrT-15, CrT-16, CrT-17) electroplating effluent (CrM-1, CrM-2, CrM-3, CrM-4, CrM-5, CrM-6, CrM-7, CrM-8, CrM-9, CrM-l1, CrM-l1, CrM-12, CrM-13, CrM-14) and from chromium polluted soil (S-3, S-4, S-6, S-7 and S-8) samples. All the s trains could resist very high concentrations of hexavalent chromium both in rich (20 to 60 mg m1-1 K2CrO4) as well as minimal (2 to 10 m1-1 K2CrO4) medium. Although strains showed some difference in resistance to different metallic salts and antibiotics, but all of them exhibited multiple resistance to metals (MnSO4, CU SO4, HgC12, Zn SO4, Ni SO4, CrCl3, CoC12 and Pb (NO3)2) and antibiotics (ampicillin, kanamycin, streptomycin, chloramphenicol and tetracycline). On the basis of different morphological and biochemical characterization strains CrM-1, S-6 were affiliated with family Bacillaceae; CrM-5, CrM-6, S-7, S-8 with Micrococaccae; CrT-13, Brevibacteriaceae; CrM2, CrM-3, CrM-11, CrM-12, CrM-14 to Enterobacteriaceae and -12, CrT-13, CrT-I4, CrT-IS, CrT-16, CrT-17, CrM-4, CrM-5, CrM-6, CrM-7, CrM-CrT-1, CrT-2, CrT-3, CrT-4, CrT-5, CrT-6, CrT-7, CrT-8, CrT-9, CrT-l0, CrT-11, CrT8, CrM-9, CrM-l0 and CrM-13 shared most of their characteristics with family Pseudomonadaceae. All the strains have ability to take .up chromate both by active and passive pathways. In majority of the strains optimum chromium (VI) reduction was observed at pH 7 and 37°C. They also reduced handsome amount of chromium (VI) even at very high initial chromium (VI) concentration (1000 µg m1-1 K2CrO4). These observations revealed that increase in size of inoculums (four times) did not lead to proportionate reduction of chromate and in majority of strains the amount of Cr(VI) reduced with 9.6x 107 cells m1-1 was slightly more as compared to 2.4x 107 cells m1-1. The rate of chromium (VI) reduction increased when culture were agitated 150 rpm in an incubating shaker as compared to stationary cultures. Salts of different heavy metals (Ni, 200 µg m1-1; Mn, 200 µg m1-1; Zn, 200 µg m1-1; Cu, 200 µg m1-1; Co, 50 µg m1-1 and Ag, 50 µg m1-1) did not appear to have any significant effects on t he chromium reduction potential of these strains. All the strains have capacity to reduce toxic chromium (VI) into chromium (III) present in industrial effluent samples directly. Not only bacterial cell but supernatant obtained from these cultures was also able to reduce chromium (VI) to chromium (III). Under chromium stress, different growth (seed germination, seedlings length leaf area, fresh weight, dry weight per gram fresh weight) and biochemical parameters (protein content, auxin content, acid phosphatase and chromium content) of all three crops (Triticum aestivum, Helimzthus aannuus and Vigna radiata) were severely affected. Majority of bacterial inoculations resulted in an increment in all the growth as well as biochemical parameters in these three economically important crops as compared to their respective non-inoculated control. In pots experiments, in all the three crops (Triticum aestivum, Helianthu annuus and Vigna radiata) chromium resistant bacterial strains (especially CrT-1, CrT-4, CrT-6, CrM-l and S-6) significantly increased the growth and yield parameters not only in the chromium free but also in the presence of both trivalent (300 µg g-1 CrCl3 as well as hexavalent chromium (300 µg g-1 K2CrO4) stresses. Therefore, the presence of chromium resistant bacteria appears to promote root growth and enhance hexavalent chromium removal from solution by protecting roots from hexavalent chromium toxicity through a process of Cr(VI) reduction in to the Cr(III) near the root surface. Application of hexavalent chromium caused disintegration of cells/tissues in root, shoot and leaves of Triticum a estivum, Helianthus annuus and Vigna radiata. But in bacterized seedlings the toxic effects of hexavalent chromium were less obvious because bacterial strains give some alleviation to the plants by decreasing the availability of toxic Cr (VI) to plants roots. Hence in addition to others factors contributing by the bacterial strains and chromium salts, it appears that auxin production in plants was stimulated the by these bacterial strains which caused some modification in the internal morphology of the different tissues of T. aestivum, H. annuus and V. radiata seedlings both under control and under chromium stress conditions. Due to chromium stress especially Cr(Vl) much reduction in the length parameters was observed leading to stunted growth which caused some increment in width of cells/tissues.

Bacterial strains especially (CrT-1, CrT-l3, CrM-l, CrM-3 and S-6) were very efficient in the reduction of hexavalent chromium into trivalent chromium and this activity extenuated in the presence of Eichonzia crassipes plants. Among these three chromium resistant bacteria CrT-1, CrT -13 and S -6 were selected for 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Strains CrT -1, CrT -13 and S-6 were isolated from the effluent of tanneries and from chromium contaminated soil. All the three strains were very efficient in the uptake and reduction of toxic hexavalent chromium. Beside this strains were also able to improve the growth of different crops (Triticum aestivum, Helianthus annuus and Vigna radiata) efficiently as compared to others strains from the respective source. In the present study the resistance level of all three strains Ochrobactrum intermedium CrT-1, sp. CrT-13 and Bacillus cereus S-6 is much high as compared to the others strains from the same source. Plant growth promoting effect of these strains was also better as compared to others strains. Nevertheless CrM-1 and CrM-3 also proved to be efficient chromate reducers and also inhibit growth promoting activity. Their molecular identification is targeted in future. Hence these strains could easily utilized in the bioremediation of chromium contaminated waste waters/soil as well as plant growth promoting tool for various economically important cash crops.


From the Publisher:
The Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition, offers enterprise developers a simplified, component-based approach to creating applications for both intranets and the Internet.

Created by the Enterprise Team of the Java Software group at Sun Microsystems, Designing Enterprise Applications with the Java™ 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition describes the application configurations supported by the J2EE platform and presents practical guidelines for determining the best design for particular needs. It explores web-based clients based on Java servlets and Java ServerPages, middle-tier solutions using Enterprise JavaBeans technology, and backend connections based on JDBC technology. It also presents security, deployment, transaction management, and other key issues for today's applications.

Using both smaller code samples and a full-scale e-commerce example, this book provides concrete guidelines to assist with mastering the features and benefits of the J2EE platform.

Chapters include:

An introduction to the J2EE platform and several scenarios for Internet and intranet applications built on the J2EE platform An in-depth discussion of the technologies provided by the J2EE platform How to create Web-based applications implemented with Java servlets and JavaServer Pages technologies How to implement the middle tier of J2EE applications using Enterprise JavaBeans component technology How to connect new J2EE applications to existing information systems using JDBC and other technologies A discussion of packaging and deploying applications for the J2EE platform Information ontechniques, both automatic and programmatic, for managing transactions An in-depth exploration of the security features provided by the J2EE platform A complete hands-on example of an e-commerce application—the Java Pet Store Demo—written using these design guidelines A glossary of terms used in discussing the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition and its technologies


A chemical mutagenesis approach has been used to generate novel models carrying point mutations in mouse Tardbp, the gene encoding TDP43. TDP43 is a highly conserved protein, which in humans has been shown to be critical in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD-TDP). The aims of the work described in this thesis are to assess ten TDP43 point mutations at a behavioural, cellular and molecular level to determine whether they are functional and if they can be used as tools or models to understand TDP43 function and dysfunction in the mouse. A comprehensive behavioural assessment of four mouse mutant lines has been completed to assess for TDP43 mutant phenotypes. Behavioural assessment has encompassed general health assessment through to motor capabilities. Tests regularly applied include SHIRPA, grip strength, rotarod and open field. All mutations have also been assessed in vitro using a cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) add-back assay. The data presented in this thesis characterises the nonsense mutation Q101X, and a missense mutation K160R, generated in mice. The K160R mutation lies within the first RNA recognition motif of TDP43. Compound mutants (TardbpQ101X/K160R) were also generated and assessed. Q101X causes homozygous lethality as occurs in knockout TDP43 mice. This supports the Q101X mutation as being an alternative null allele. Q101X, K160R and compound mutants (TardbpQ101X/K160R) show common neuronal associated phenotypes in the SHIRPA, including limb grasping and a softer body tone. The compound mutants (TardbpQ101X/K160R) also present novel alterations at six months as demonstrated using electron microscopy. Additionally, weight and preliminary anxiety phenotypes have been shown. Q101X heterozygotes were also crossed to transgenic SOD1G93A mice to generate double mutants. Mutations in SOD1 also cause ALS. Modifying effects were assessed through behavioural characterisation with no overt interaction identified. All missense mutations were assessed in vitro using a CFTR mini-gene assay. Out of ten identified point mutations, F210I, a mutation in the second RNA recognition motif of TDP43 showed deficient splicing activity. This was further confirmed ex vivo in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs). The F210I mutation is an RNA-binding hypomorphic allele. It shows disrupted Tardbp transcript regulation, supporting potential perturbations in TDP43 auto-regulation. There are also further alterations in RNA metabolism, two processes potentially critical to ALS and FTLD-TDP. F210I demonstrates the importance of the second RNA recognition motif in RNA-binding function.


Glomeruli are anatomical and possibly functional modules in the vertebrate olfactory bulb. We investigated the spatial arrangement of glomeruli in the olfactory bulbs of adult zebrafish (Brachydanio rerio). A solution of the lipophilic tracer Dil was injected into the nasal cavities. Axons of sensory neurons projecting from the olfactory epithelium into the bulb were traced anterogradely, thus labeling the whole population of glomeruli. The glomerular distribution was analyzed in detail by confocal laser-scanning microscopy. We find that a typical olfactory bulb contains a small number of about 80 glomeruli that have a stereotyped configuration in all animals investigated. All glomeruli exhibit bilateral symmetry. Twenty-two single glomeruli could be identified from animal to animal by their characteristic position and morphology. The remaining glomeruli either are embedded in glomerular plexus and therefore cannot be delineated reliably, or belong to a densely clustered subpopulation of on average 49 glomeruli in the dorsal olfactory bulb. No sexually dimorphic glomeruli were identified. To test whether glomerular constancy is specific for the zebrafish, we performed similar tracing experiments in the goldfish and found several indications for a similar invariance of glomeruli in this species. The remarkable stereotypy of this pattern is reminiscent of the insect olfactory system and has been demonstrated here for the first time in a vertebrate. It will now be possible to examine whether these identifiable glomeruli are functionally specialized in terms of odor processing. If so, zebrafish may emerge as a tractable model system for studies on olfactory coding.


Abstract We present new imaging data and archival multiwavelength observations of the little-studied emission nebula K 1-6 and its central star. Narrow-band images inHα (+[N II]) and [O III] taken with the Faulkes Telescope North reveal a stratified, asymmetric, elliptical nebula surrounding a central star which has the colours of a late G or early K-type subgiant or giant. GALEX ultraviolet images reveal a very hot subdwarf or white dwarf coincident in position with this star. The cooler, optically dominant star is strongly variable with a period of 21.312± 0.008 days, and is possibly a high-amplitude member of the RS CVn class, although an FK Com classification is also possible. Archival ROSAT data provide good evidence that the cool star has an active corona. We conclude that K 1-6 is most likely an old bona fide planetary nebula at a distance of ∼1.0 kpc, interacting with the interstellar medium, and containing a binary or ternary central star. The observations and data analyses reported in this paper were conducted in conjunction with Year 11 high school students as part of an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant science education project, denoted Space To Grow, conducted jointly by professional astronomers, educational researchers, teachers, and high-school students.


Abstract. Observational data of tropical disturbances are analyzed in order to investigate tropical cyclogenesis. Data from 37 cases observed during three field campaigns are used to investigate possible correlations between various dynamic and thermodynamic variables. The results show that a strong mid-level vortex is necessary to promote spin up of the low-level vortex in a tropical cyclone. This paper presents a theory on the mechanism of this process. The mid-level vortex creates a thermodynamic environment conducive to convection with a more bottom-heavy mass flux profile that exhibits a strong positive vertical gradient in a shallow layer near the surface. Mass continuity then implies that the strongest horizontal mass and vorticity convergence occurs near the surface. This results in low-level vortex intensification. For two of the disturbances that were observed during several consecutive days, evolution of the dynamics and thermodynamics is documented. One of these disturbances, Karl, was observed in the period before it intensified into a tropical storm; the other one, Gaston, was observed after it unexpectedly decayed from a tropical storm to a tropical disturbance. A hypothesis on its decay is presented.


Productivity and waste factors are interdependent of each other. Waste is a major problem in the construction industry which amounts to 60% of the construction effort. A study focused on the construction efficiency by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the UK has documented 25% 50 % of waste relates to coordinating labour and managing, moving, and installing materials. Therefore the main aim of this study is to find out the possibilities of waste reduction in the construction industry through lean construction applications. The method adopted for this study is a case study research approach where it concludes the results obtained from a major construction project in New Zealand. A pilot case study was carried out to understand the existing practices. The research study substantially followed the process mapping method to identify the level of concern in waste minimisation on a construction site. Outcomes from the studies indicate that one third of non value adding activities are resulting from factors under the control of management. This study concludes that there are more opportunities to eliminate waste and add value to the construction process. Hence by improving management practices through a lean implementation the non value adding time of a construction project can be reduced and thereby productivity can be improved significantly.


Low salinity plumes of coastal origin are occasionally found far offshore, where they dis- play a distinct color signature detectable by satellites. The impact of such plumes on carbon fixation and phytoplankton community structure in vertical profiles and on basin wide scales is poorly under- stood. On a research cruise in June 1999, ocean-color satellite-images (Sea-viewing Wide Field-of- view Sensor, SeaWiFS) were used in locating a Mississippi River plume in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Profiles sampled within and outside of the plume were analyzed using flow cytometry, HPLC pig- ment analysis and primary production using 14 C incorporation. Additionally, RubisCO large subunit (rbcL) gene expression was measured by hybridization of extracted RNA using 3 full-length RNA gene probes specific for individual phytoplankton clades. We also used a combination of RT- PCR/PCR and TA cloning in order to generate cDNA and DNA rbcL clone libraries from samples taken in the plume. Primary productivity was greatest in the low salinity surface layer of the plume. The plume was also associated with high Synechococcus counts and a strong peak in Form IA rbcL expression. Form IB rbcL (green algal) mRNA was abundant at the subsurface chlorophyll maximum (SCM), whereas Form ID rbcL (chromophytic) expression showed little vertical structure. Phyloge- netic analysis of cDNA libraries demonstrated the presence of Form IA rbcL Synechococcus phylo- types in the plume. Below the plume, 2 spatially separated and genetically distinct rbcL clades of Prochlorococcus were observed. This indicated the presence of the high- and low-light adapted clades of Prochlorococcus. A large and very diverse clade of Prymnesiophytes was distributed throughout the water column, whereas a clade of closely related prasinophytes may have dominated at the SCM. These data indicate that the Mississippi river plume may dramatically alter the surface picoplankton composition of the Gulf of Mexico, with Synechococcus displacing Prochlorococcus in the surface waters.


A major goal of biomedicine is to understand the function of every gene in the human genome.1 Null mutations can disrupt both copies of a given gene in humans and phenotypic analysis of such 'human knockouts' can provide insight into gene function. To date, comprehensive analysis of genes knocked out in humans has been limited by the fact that null mutations are infrequent in the general population and so, observing an individual homozygous null for a given gene is exceedingly rare.2,3 However, consanguineous unions are more likely to result in offspring who carry homozygous null mutations. In Pakistan, consanguinity rates are notably high.4 Here, we sequenced the protein-coding regions of 7,078 adult participants living in Pakistan and performed phenotypic analysis to identify homozygous null individuals and to understand consequences of complete gene disruption in humans. We enumerated 36,850 rare (<1 % minor allele frequency) null mutations. These homozygous null mutations led to complete inactivation of 961 genes in at least one participant. Homozygosity for null mutations at APOC3 was associated with absent plasma apolipoprotein C-III levels; at PLAG27, with absent enzymatic activity of soluble lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2; at CYP2F1, with higher plasma interleukin-8 concentrations; and at either A3GALT2 or NRG4, with markedly reduced plasma insulin C-peptide concentrations. After physiologic challenge with oral fat, APOC3 knockouts displayed marked blunting of the usual post-prandial rise in plasma triglycerides compared to wild-type family members. These observations provide a roadmap to understand the consequences of complete disruption of a large fraction of genes in the human genome.


Clinopyroxenes from the Campiglia Marittima skarn range from hedenbergite to johannsenite (Jh 7 to Jh 100 ). Twenty single-crystals were selected for structural refinements and electron microprobe analyses. (100) twins were present and treated using a halved data set. End-member johannsenite is best approximated by the crystal Jh7GJ2, with a formula Na 0.01 Ca 0.96 Mn 0.99 Mg 0.02 Fe 0.01 Al 0.01 Si 2.00 O 6 , which was refined to R obs = 0.024. The structural change along the johannsenite-hedenbergite join is interpreted using the concept of the I-beam module. For instance, the variation of lattice parameters with composition is markedly anisotropic, being minimal along c (the I-beam direction), intermediate along a (perpendicular to the bases of adjacent I-beams) and maximal along b (parallel to the base of the I-beam). The replacement of manganese for iron expands and deforms the M1 polyhedron, and determines further coupling effects in the M2 and T polyhedra. These effects mostly consist of a more deformed M2 geometry, with longer M2-O bonds, and larger differences between the bridging and non-bridging T-O bond distances. Both the compositional and structural data indicate a complete solid solution between johannsenite and hedenbergite. All the different crystal structure parameters (lattice constants, bond distances, distortion parameters) vary continuously. Their trends suggest small values for the thermodynamic excess functions, implying limited deviations from the ideal solid solution along the johannsenite-hedenbergite join.


Translation ability is known as one of the most difficult language abilities to measure. A typical method of measuring translation ability involves asking translators to translate sentences and to request professional evaluators to grade the translations. It imposes a heavy burden on both translators and evaluators. In this paper, we propose a practical method for assessing translation ability. Our key idea is to incorporate translators' vocabulary knowledge for translation ability assessment. Our method involves just asking translators to tell if they know given words. Using this vocabulary information, we build a probabilistic model to estimate the translators' vocabulary and translation abilities simultaneously. We evaluated our method in a realistic crowdsourcing translation setting in which there is a great need to measure translators' translation ability to select good translators. The results of our experiments show that the proposed method accurately estimates translation ability and selects translators who have sufficient skills in translating a given sentence. We also found that our method significantly reduces the cost of crowd-sourcing translation.


We present a deep reinforcement learning approach to minimizing the execution cost of neural network computation graphs in an optimizing compiler. Unlike earlier learning-based works that require training the optimizer on the same graph to be optimized, we propose a learning approach that trains an optimizer offline and then generalizes to previously unseen graphs without further training. This allows our approach to produce high-quality execution decisions on real-world TensorFlow graphs in seconds instead of hours. We consider two optimization tasks for computation graphs: minimizing running time and peak memory usage. In comparison to an extensive set of baselines, our approach achieves significant improvements over classical and other learning-based methods on these two tasks.


Abstract Previous studies have shown that certain vaccines induce suboptimal responses in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV, PLWH). However, responses to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccines have not been fully characterized in these patients. Here we show that the BNT162b2 vaccine induces robust immune responses comparable to responses in healthy donors.


As more images and videos are becoming available in compressed formats, researchers have begun designing algorithms for different image operations directly in their domains of representation, leading to faster computation and lower buffer requirements. Image and Video Processing in the Compressed Domain presents the fundamentals, properties, and applications of a variety of image transforms used in image and video compression. It illustrates the development of algorithms for processing images and videos in the compressed domain. Developing concepts from first principles, the book introduces popular image and video compression algorithms, in particular JPEG, JPEG2000, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and H.264 standards. It also explores compressed domain analysis and performance metrics for comparing algorithms. The author then elucidates the definitions and properties of the discrete Fourier transform (DFT), discrete cosine transform (DCT), integer cosine transform (ICT), and discrete wavelet transform (DWT). In the subsequent chapters, the author discusses core operations, such as image filtering, color enhancement, image resizing, and transcoding of images and videos, that are used in various image and video analysis approaches. He also focuses on other facets of compressed domain analysis, including video editing operations, video indexing, and image and video steganography and watermarking. With MATLAB codes on an accompanying CD-ROM, this book takes you through the steps involved in processing and analyzing compressed videos and images. It covers the algorithms, standards, and techniques used for coding images and videos in compressed formats.


Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has gained great interest in recent years as a potential technology to mitigate industrial carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Ionic liquids (ILs) were identified as potential CO2 capturing solvents, due to their negligible vapour pressure, high thermal stability, and wide range of thermophysical properties. However, determining a task-specific IL merely through experimental studies is tedious and costly, as there are about a million possible combinations of cations and anions that may make up the ILs. This work presents a systematic approach to design an optimal IL for the purpose of carbon capture. The significant contribution of the presented approach in this work is the introduction of disjunctive programming to identify optimal operating conditions of the process involved while solving the IL synthesis problem. As studies show, the performance of ILs changes with the operating conditions, which in turn affects overall performance of the carbon capture process. Hence, the presented approach will determine the optimal IL by considering the effect of system operating conditions, and simultaneously determining optimal conditions of the carbon capture process. Operating conditions of the process are modelled as continuous variables; disjunctive programming can discretise these variables and reduce search space for results. Since most of the ILs to be designed are novel solvents, their thermophysical properties are estimated using the group contribution (GC) method. Appropriate structural constraints are defined to ensure the structure of the synthesised IL is feasible. An illustrative case study is solved to demonstrate the proposed approach.


Black carbon (BC) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are two atmospheric pollutants produced by motor vehicles using carbonaceous fuels. As a part of the Mexico City Project, measurements of BC, PPAHs and many other gasand particle-phase emissions were measured in Mexico City using a mobile laboratory during the Mexico City Metropolitan Area field campaign in April 2003 (MCMA-2003). The main goal of this research is to estimate emissions of BC and particulate PAHs (PPAHs) for Mexico City's vehicle fleet. The emissions of gas-phase pollutants such as carbon monoxide (CO), total nitrogen oxides (NOy) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) are also estimated. The mobile lab has previously been used to chase vehicles and measure their emissions, but analysis has traditionally focused on determining emission factors of individual vehicles associated with specific chasing events. The laboratory continuously samples ambient air from an inlet at the front of the van, and it is always "seeing" exhaust plumes from the vehicles around it while driving through traffic. We have developed an algorithm that automatically identifies the exhaust plume measurement points, which are then used as the basis for calculation of emission factors. In the nearly 90 hours of onroad sampling during the field campaign, we have identified ~30,000 exhaust measurement points. The large sample size enables us to estimate fleet-average emission factors and thus the emission inventory. Motor vehicles are estimated to emit approximately 1,960 tons year BC, 56.2 tons year PPAHs, 1,320,000 tons year CO, 125,000 tons year NOy and 2440 tons year VOCs. The spatial and temporal patterns of BC and PPAHs in different locations with in MCMA are also studied.


Climate change created predominantly by burning fossil fuels leads to increased pressure on biodiversity. It may cause extinction in lizard species over the forthcoming years. Lizard species that are unable to adjust rapidly enough to the ecological alterations due to climate change are particularly under threat. Therefore, vulnerable lizard species should be monitored and adopt climate change scenarios. This study examines the changes in the habitats of Danford's lizard (Anatololacerta danfordi) according to the RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 (HADGEM2-ES) climate scenarios. We modelled the current habitat preferences of A. danfordi using the MaxEnt method based on the bioclimatic features derived from Worldclim. Our results showed that A.danfordi prefers habitats with the bioclimate features including 12 mm for precipitation of driest month, 1-2oC for mean temperature of wettest quarter, -4oC for min temperature of coldest month, and 600 mm for annual precipitation. We determined the potential distributions of the A.danfordi using the model and GIS facilities for both RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 climate scenarios. In conclusion, the potential habitats of this lizard species may be dramatically influenced from two climate scenarios. We envisage that the suitable habitats may be mostly relocated from the south toward the north. A.danfordi may not adapt this rapid change and may not migrate to new suitable locations within this short period. Therefore, governments should make provisions against climate change without delay.


One of the outstanding problems of terahertz spectroscopy is the measurement of the underlying vibrational spectrum of a molecular solid, where individual vibrational transitions are often merged into broad absorption features by line-broadening processes. We address this problem using the technique of waveguide terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS), whereby a thin polycrystalline molecular film is contained within a single-mode metal parallel plate waveguide. Thin films of the molecular solids cyclotrimethylene trinitramine (RDX explosive) and 4-iodo-4′-nitrobiphenyl serve to demonstrate the ability of waveguide THz-TDS to resolve previously unseen complex underlying THz vibrational spectra at cryogenic temperatures, with linewidths as narrow as 7 GHz. With such narrow linewidths we are able to demonstrate the measurement of vibrational line-center frequencies to a precision of 1 GHz.


On February 2, 1965, the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam kidnapped Gustav Hertz, Chief of Public Administration for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Hertz's captivity set in motion an intricate series of diplomatic gestures that involved several governments, including those of Algeria, Cambodia, and France, and numerous prominent individuals, such as Senator Robert Kennedy, Cambodian leader Norodom Sihanouk, and Algerian President Ahmed Ben Bella, in an effort to win his release. This article examines the Hertz kidnapping to illustrate that South Vietnamese politics heavily influenced and thwarted U.S. nation-building efforts. The case reveals that when perpetuating the impression of South Vietnamese sovereignty conflicted with saving the life of a USAID leader, U.S. officials chose the first objective.


As a result of long term researches of Artificial Intelligent, the influence as well as the amount of possible use-cases of chatbots is growing constantly. As to health care, chatbots can be used to simplify the interaction between experts and patients. For example, chatbots can help people who are affected by depression, as the barrier to chat with an application is less high than meeting a real person. While time flexibility can be a benefit for patients, the response to frequently asked questions relieves experts so they can focus on important issues. Consequently, the usage of chatbots in psychological
and medical sectors can be a step to improve the health care system. The objective of this master's thesis is to create a system concept involving a conversational agent, a mobile application and a back-end application to built solutions for the psychological and medical sectors. As all possible use-cases can not be clearly restricted, the concept is designed to be adjustable. Referring to health care, the systems needs to be able to react to critical situations like medical emergencies. However, handling life-threatening cases exceeds the capability of the system and always needs human assistance. Therefore, the concept also includes human participants such as experts. To test the approach, a mobile application was developed that includes a simple conversation using the AI assistant IBM Watson Assistant. In addition, a generic framework was developed to handle multiple third-party chatbots. Furthermore, the mobile application reacts to critical situations, such as the detection of suicidal thoughts or if the user enters an input that is unknown for the system. Moreover, the knowledge base of the chatbot can be extended using a conversation formatted process.


The task of every government, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, is to provide services and goods for citizens and to maintain economic order. Therefore, the combination of legislation, the judiciary and administration is inevitable. Moreover, public administrations must transform the way they function by using more information and communication technology in order to remain responsive and efficient. This challenge was further revealed during lockdowns in individual countries, which affected their social and economic development. The solution to that challenge is the implementation of e-government in the public sector. It also increases innovation in governance processes as well as efficiency and effectiveness by offering more participative opportunities to citizens. Hence, a mature level of e-government development also arises. Nevertheless, there are significant differences among the levels of e-government development in the EU-28. The aim of this article is to assess the influence of e-government maturity on government effectiveness and efficiency in the EU-28. In order to obtain empirical results, a two-stage least square regression (2SLS) was applied. The empirical results show that e-government maturity positively and significantly contributes to enhancing government effectiveness and efficiency in the EU-28. In addition, the rule of law plays an important role in each stage regression model. Based on the empirical results, we can conclude that e-government is inevitable and should ensure the proper functioning of public administration during the Covid-19 pandemic.


This article was created from a dissertation which dealt with the issue of children's special needs, with particular regard to the age group 0-3. It moves from the attempt, today more current than ever, of the educational services to consider the diversity of each individual no longer as a limitation but as a value that can enrich all those who come in contact with it. In this perspective, the recognition and enhancement of diversity are a central theme in educational debate. The text speaks about inclusive educational services and the features they must have to respond to the special needs of the children that they receive. At the conclusion of this work, interviews have been made to some managers of educational services, from different areas of Tuscany. These interviews were made in order to point out how educational services welcome children with special needs. The result is a picture showing how educational services take steps to receive the diversity in general, and in particular in terms of disability, inside the nursery schools.


Studies have reported the effects of imprisonment on the wives and girlfriends of prisoners, but have not investigated how these women perceive love and commitment. This study analyzes four different styles of love: eros (romantic love), storge (amicably love), mania (possessive love), and agape (altruistic love) in a sample of 96 women who are in relationships with prisoners. The same love styles were compared to a control sample of N=96 women. They were selected from a larger sample of 859 women such that the variables age and duration of the relationship of the two groups were matched. Results show that women in relationships with prisoners score higher on the eros and agape love styles in comparison to the women from the control group. Those women who stay in love with prisoners seem to endure the negative consequences of their partners imprisonment through feelings of deep love, commitment, and altruistic care.


Background: Substance use disorders (SUDs) are present in more than 50% of subjects diagnosed with schizophrenia. However, there are no controlled studies assessing the efficacy of antipsychotic drugs in this subgroup of patients. The aim of the present work was to compare the efficacy of risperidone and zuclopenthixol in a sample of schizophrenic subjects with dual diagnosis. Method: Thirty-three male were selected for treatment with risperidone, while another 33 were treated with zuclopenthixol. Substances most commonly used were alcohol, cannabis (both 82%) and cocaine (32%). Patients were randomized and treated for the first six months with one antipsychotic and the second six months with the other antipsychotic. Psychopathological and clinical scales were used every two months. Participants received training on how to reduce their consumption of substances (Substance Abuse Management Module, SAMM). Results: During the first six months risperidone group patients presented fewer positive urine tests and showed better compliance with the SAMM programme. In the second period the patients treated with risperidone significantly improved their scores on the PANSS-negative subscale. Differences between the CGIs indicated that the subjects who moved from risperidone to zuclopenthixol worsened, while those who moved from zuclopenthixol to risperidone significantly improved. Conclusions: Risperidone was more effective than zuclopenthixol in improving the symptoms of schizophrenia and substance use.


With the rise in inclusive practices, information on evidence-based practices for teaching learners with mild to moderate disabilities is an important topic. Many professional and government organizations are working to disseminate this information to educators; however, the process can be thwarted by time, resources, training, and implementation of practices. By using multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) such as response to intervention (RtI) or positive behavior interventions and support (PBIS), schools can assess for, identify, and implement supports for all learners. If a learner continues to encounter challenges, even with high-quality teaching and strategies, then a more intensive intervention may be needed. One schoolwide change would be to use universal design for learning (UDL) to ensure strategies and supports are provided to all learners. Additionally, students may benefit from assistive technology. Teachers can learn about free and commercial evidence-based educational practices to create a safe environment, implement positive behavioral supports, and provide systematic, explicit instruction in academic areas of reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social sciences.


The southern margin of South Africa developed as a consequence of shear motion between the African and South American plates along the Agulhas-Falkland Transform Fault during the Early Cretaceous break-up of Gondwana. The Agulhas-Karoo Geoscience Transect crosses this continental margin, and includes two combined offshore-onshore seismic reflection/refraction profiles. We present results from the western offshore profile. Using ocean-bottom seismometers and a dense airgun shot pattern, a detailed image of the velocity – depth structure of the margin from the Agulhas Passage to the Agulhas Bank was derived. Modelling reveals crustal thicknesses of between 7 km and 30 km along the profile. The upper crust has P-wave velocities of between 5.6 and 6.6 km/s and the lower crust has velocities that lie between 6.4 and 7.1 km/s. Uppermost mantle velocities range from 7.8 to 8.0 km/s. The 52 km wide continent-ocean-transition zone, where the Moho rises steeply, occurs at the Agulhas-Falkland Fracture Zone. Beneath the Southern Outeniqua Basin and the Diaz Marginal Ridge, a zone of relatively low velocities (~5 km/s) with a thickness of up to 3 km, can be discerned in the upper crust. We interpret this zone as an old basin filled with pre-break-up metasediments, which may be related to the Cape Fold Belt. We suggest that the origin of the Diaz Marginal Ridge is bound up with the tectonic history of this basin as it exhibits a similar velocity structure. Almost no stratified sediment cover exists in the Agulhas Passage because of strong erosion due to ocean currents. The velocity structure and seismic reflection results indicate the presence of alternating layers of volcanic flows and sediments, with a mean velocity of about 4 km/s. We suggest these volcanic flows were an accompaniment of possible re-activation events of parts of the Agulhas-Falkland Fracture Zone. Tectonic motion seems to be sub vertical instead of strike-slip along the re-activated part of the fracture zone. Therefore, a relation to the uplift of the South African crust may be possible.


Because principles of nursing process are the building blocks for all care models, the nursing process is the first model nurses need to learn to "think like a nurse." This trusted resource provides the practical guidance needed to understand and apply each phase of the nursing process, with an increased emphasis on developing both critical thinking and clinical reasoning skills. With an easy-to-follow and engaging writing style, the author provides strategies, tools, and abundant examples to help nurses develop the skills they need to thrive in today's complex health care setting.


The efficiency of polysiloxane surfaces modified with ortho, meta and para-nitrophenyl moieties as a low cost adsorbent for removing lead ions from aqueous solution has been investigated in this paper. Batch experiments were conducted to study the effects of the main parameters such as contact time, initial concentration of Pb(II), adsorbent dose, solution pH, and temperature on the adsorption of Pb(II) by polysiloxane surfaces. The maximum removal of lead(II) is found to be 97 % at pH 8 for (Si-p-NO2), 95.9 % for(Si-o-NO2) and 93.7% for (Si-m-NO2) initial Pb(II) concentration of 10 mg·L−1, adsorbent dose of 1 g·L−1, agitation speed of 200 rpm, and temperature of 25 °C. The same study was done for the effect of dose (5 mg) and showed 99 % removal using the (Si-p-NO2).Dynamics of the adsorption process were studied, and the values of rate constants of pseudofirst-order and pseudosecond-order were calculated. Equilibrium isotherms for the adsorption of Pb(II) were analyzed by the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The Langmuir isotherm model was found to represent better the data of Pb(II) sorption onto polysiloxane surfaces. Different thermodynamic parameters, namely, changes in standard Gibbs energy, enthalpy, and entropy, were also evaluated from the temperature dependence, and the results suggest that the adsorption reaction is non-spontaneous and endothermic in nature. The prepared compound was characterized using solid 13CNMR, TGA, FT-IR, UV-vis and SEM.


We re-evaluated the relationship between territorial Svalbard rock ptarmigan male presence and ecological relevant variables related to vegetation, terrain and snowmelt, building on the lessons learned from a previous regional habitat multiscale model, to predict breeding habitat suitability of this high-arctic, endemic ptarmigan on a large spatial scale. We used 11 years (2000–2010) of presence/absence data of territorial males, a multi-scale generalized linear modelling framework (glms) and recent advances in digital satellite based vegetation mapping. The final habitat model contained four significant predictors related to vegetation, terrain (elevation and slope) and a heat load index, as a proxy for snowmelt. Increasing amount of one particular habitat type, 'established dense Dryas heath' influenced habitat suitability positively at a small scale, while gentle sloping landscapes of intermediate steepness (10–25°) and elevation in the upper southwest facing part of the mountain slopes characterized occurrence at the landscape scale. The best model attained a relatively high explanatory power with a good ability to discriminate correctly between used and available sites. We extrapolated the habitat model to all parts of Spitsbergen with a current growing season sufficiently long for ptarmigan to complete a breeding cycle. The model indicates that only a small proportion of the vegetation covered land area (∼3.9%) is highly suitable for ptarmigan. In Svalbard the ptarmigan is an attractive game species, appears in low densities with low annual survival, has restricted availability of breeding habitat and is likely vulnerable to climate change. In such contexts, we suggest to use our predictive habitat model in harvest management of the species so that hunting quotas and efforts may be adjusted to habitat suitability, indicating the reproductive potential, in the hunting areas.


The seminal 2003 paper by Cosley, Lab, Albert, Konstan, and Reidl, demonstrated the susceptibility of recommender systems to rating biases. To facilitate browsing and selection, almost all recommender systems display average ratings before accepting ratings from users which has been shown to bias ratings. This effect is called Social Inuence Bias (SIB); the tendency to conform to the perceived \norm" in a community. We propose a methodology to 1) learn, 2) analyze, and 3) mitigate the effect of SIB in recommender systems. In the Learning phase, we build a baseline dataset by allowing users to rate twice: before and after seeing the average rating. In the Analysis phase, we apply a new non-parametric significance test based on the Wilcoxon statistic to test whether the data is consistent with SIB. If significant, we propose a Mitigation phase using polynomial regression and the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) to predict unbiased ratings. We evaluate our approach on a dataset of 9390 ratings from the California Report Card (CRC), a rating-based system designed to encourage political engagement. We found statistically significant evidence of SIB. Mitigating models were able to predict changed ratings with a normalized RMSE of 12.8% and reduce bias by 76.3%. The CRC, our data, and experimental code are available at: http://californiareportcard.org/data/


This Essay explores the puzzle of Vermont Yankee v. NRDC. Vermont Yankee stands as a definitive rejection of judicial efforts to control burgeoning informal rulemaking by adding to the procedural requirements contained in the Administrative Procedure Act. Yet judicial expansion of the APA's procedural requirements has continued apace, and the Court's simultaneous sanction of searching substantive scrutiny sits oddly with its excoriation of the D.C. Circuit for that court's perceived procedural excesses. To understand Vermont Yankee, the Essay puts the decision in its administrative and judicial context, exploring the case law and practical dilemmas facing administrators, advocates, and judges as the case unfolded. The Essay argues Vermont Yankee is very much a creature of its time, when dramatic expansions in congressionally-mandated regulation led to multiple political and institutional struggles - between advocates and agencies, between agencies and courts, and between the Supreme Court and the D.C. Circuit. But the cautionary tale of Vermont Yankee has broader significance and demonstrates the challenges facing judicial review in the modern administrative state.


This paper discusses a system which uses machine vision algorithms for the detection of tubes in an extremely `noisy' industrial environment. The heart of the algorithm consists of sampling of the image in predefined sparse bands perpendicular to the likely orientation of the tubes followed by the application of a normalized correlation as a detection filter over these bands. After assigning a reliability factor to each local maxima of the correlation function, these points are then mapped to the Hough space to determine the equations of the midlines of the tubes. Given these equations, the number of tubes and any positional anomalies are reported.


Numerosity and privileges of occurrence of various types of interjections (primary conventional, primary non-conventional, secondary, and onomatopoeic) were investigated in three different literary readings of Winnie-the-Pooh (Milne 1926), in one reading of Ulysses (Joyce 1960), and in an artistic performance by actors (the film The third man , Korda, Selznik, & Reed 1949). The spoken corpora, based on printed texts as source, consisted of 667 interjections. Ameka's (1992 b, 1994) hypothesis that, parallel to their independence from ambient grammar, interjections would also be isolated temporally by preceding and following pauses, was not confirmed; for the entire corpus, only 39% of all interjections were thus isolated. However, an alternative hypothesis, that interjections serve an initializing function, was confirmed: Altogether, 77% of the interjections were found to be initializing, i.e., were preceded by a pause, introduced a speaking turn, introduced an utterance, and/or introduced a citation. Primary conventional interjections constituted the majority of interjections (overall 56%), but only two of these were common to all the corpora ( oh and ah ). By far the highest percentage (28 %) of primary nonconventional interjections occurred in the artistic performance of The third man. None of these occurred in either the novel or the screenplay of The third man, unlike the primary non-conventional interjections throughout the text of the literary readings. Functions of interjections are discussed in terms of Goffman's (1981: 226) animators (literary readers, 26% of whose spoken interjections were added to those in the printed text) and principals (actors, 79% of whose spoken interjections were added to those in the printed text), in terms of literacy and orality, and in terms of the emotional stance and perspective of a speaker at the very moment of utterance.


In arid and semi-arid regions the lack of drinkable water often corresponds with a high solar insolation. These conditions are favourable for the use of solar energy as the driving force for water treatment systems. Especially in remote rural areas with low infrastructure and without connection to a grid, smallscale, stand-alone operating systems for the desalination of brackish water from wells or salt water from the sea are desirable to provide settlements with clean potable water. Fraunhofer Institut für Solare Energiesysteme is currently developing a solar thermally driven stand alone desalination system. The aim is to develop systems for a capacity range of 0.2 to 10 m3/day. Technical simplicity, long maintenance-free operation periods and high quality potable water output are very important aims for successful applications of the systems. The separation technique that the system is based on is membrane distillation. The implemented heat source is a corrosion-free, sea water resistant thermal collector.


During the Central Equatorial Pacific Experiment, ice crystal sizes and shapes were measured in an outflow anvil. A habit (i.e., column, bullet rosette, Koch fractal polycrystal, sphere) was assigned to each particle using a self-organized neural network based on simulations of how the maximum particle dimension and area ratio varied for random orientations of these crystals. Average ice crystal size and shape distributions were calculated for 25 km long segments at six altitudes using measurements from a two-dimensional cloud probe for crystals larger than 90 μm and a parameterization for smaller crystals based on measurements from the Video Ice Particle Sampler (VIPS). Mean-scattering properties were determined by weighting the size and shape dependent single-scattering properties computed with ray-tracing algorithms according to scattering cross-section. Reflectances at 0.664, 0.875, 1.621, and 2.142 μm were then calculated using a Monte Carlo radiative transfer routine. Although these reflectances agree reasonably with those measured by the MODIS airborne simulator (MAS) above the anvil, uncertainties in cloud base and system evolution prevent a determination of whether ray-tracing or anomalous diffraction theory better predict reflectance. The calculated reflectances are as sensitive to the numbers and shapes of crystals smaller than 90 μm as to those of larger crystals. The calculated reflectances were insensitive to the classification scheme (i.e., neural network, discriminator analysis, and previously used classification scheme) for assigning particle shape to observed crystals. However, the reflectances significantly depended on assumed particle shape.


Recent research in network coding shows that, joint consideration of both coding and routing strategies may lead to higher information transmission rates than routing only. A fundamental question in the field of network coding is: how large can the throughput improvement due to network coding be? In this paper, we prove that in undirected networks, the ratio of achievable multicast throughput with network coding to that without network coding is bounded by a constant ratio of 2, i.e., network coding can at most double the throughput. This result holds for any undirected network topology, any link capacity configuration, any multicast group size, and any source information rate. This constant bound 2 represents the tightest bound that has been proved so far in general undirected settings, and is to be contrasted with the unbounded potential of network coding in improving multicast throughput in directed networks.


Consumer-based food activism (CBFA) is increasingly a symbol of modern politics. Through eating, food purchasing, and other consumer behaviours, individuals advocate for social justice causes. However, CBFA is critiqued for being enabled or produced by neoliberal ideologies, which emphasize individuals' market-based positions as consumers over other (activist) roles, effectively diminishing any influence such personal behaviours have on changing broader structural systems. This project is an exploratory study investigating i) the types of food activism food activists are engaged in; ii) whether they experience CBFA as an effective means to cause social change; and iii) if their roles as consumers and activists are conflicting. In other words, this study seeks to ground the theoretical debates involving the ineffectiveness of CBFA and the dualistic consumer-activist identity. An online survey of self-identified contemporary food activists allowed the collection of data using both close-ended and open-ended questions. The results indicate that these food activists understand their roles as consumers as an opportune component of being food activists, while their effectiveness is both enabled and constrained by neoliberal market systems. While other studies investigate CBFA through particular forms such as organic or local food, this project contributes to the literature by recognizing that food activism is not confined to singular forms of CBFA, nor is it utilized to advocate for single food issues. Future research involving CBFA must continue to unpack the complexities involved in contemporary food activists' understandings of CBFA, its effectiveness, and their roles as both consumers and activists while contemplating the stomach as a political space. Keywords : food activism, consumer activism, neoliberal ideology,  consumer-activist dualism, food politics Data of the article First received : 14 June 2017 | Last revision received : 14 November 2017 Accepted : 29 November 2017 | Published online : 29 December 2017 URN: nbn:de:hebis: 34-2017110153680


With the ever increasing die sizes and the accompanied increase in the average global interconnect length, delay-optimal-routing and buffer-insertion techniques are significantly straining the power budget of modern ICs. To mitigate the impact of the power consumed by the interconnects and buffers, a power-efficient multipin routing technique is proposed in this paper. The problem is based on a graph representation of the routing possibilities, with the objective of identifying the minimum power path between the interconnect source and set of sinks. The technique is tested by applying it to the International Symposium on Physical Design and IBM benchmarks to verify the accuracy, complexity, and solution quality. Results obtained indicate that an average power saving as high as 32% for the 130-nm technology is achieved with no impact on the maximum chip frequency.


In the colonial era, Charleston, South Carolina, was the largest city in the American South. From 1700 to 1775 its growth rate was exceeded in the New World only by that of Philadelphia. The first comprehensive study of this crucial colonial center, "Building Charleston" charts the rise of one of early America's great cities, revealing its importance to the evolution of both South Carolina and the British Atlantic world during the eighteenth century. In many of the southern colonies, plantation agriculture was the sole source of prosperity, shaping the destiny of nearly all inhabitants, both free and enslaved. The insistence of South Carolina's founders on the creation of towns, however, meant that this colony, unlike its counterparts, would also be shaped by the imperatives of urban society. In this respect, South Carolina followed developments in the rest of the eighteenth-century British Atlantic world, where towns were growing rapidly in size and influence. At the vanguard of change, burgeoning urban spaces across the British Atlantic ushered in industrial development, consumerism, social restructuring, and a new era in political life. Charleston proved no less an engine of change for the colonial Low Country, promoting early industrialization, forging an ambitious middle class, a consumer society, and a vigorous political scene. Bringing these previously neglected aspects of early South Carolinian society to our attention, Emma Hart challenges the popular image of the pre-revolutionary South as a society completely shaped by staple agriculture. Moreover, "Building Charleston" places the colonial American town, for the first time, at the very heart of a transatlantic process of urban development.