Dwarf-green coconut fibers were modified by alkali treatment and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), as well as thermogravimetric (TGA), mechanical, and dielectric analyses. Changes in composition, structure, and morphology of the coconut fibers were observed after sodium hydroxide treatments due to the removal of lignin, hemicellulose, and other impurities. The XRD data were in agreement with the morphological analysis, where the crystallinity fraction increased with the concentration of alkali solution and fell off above 10%. The infrared spectrometry showed the partial dissolution of hemicellulose, lignin, and pectin, which was clearly identified by the band at 1736 cm-1. Thermogravimetric analysis showed a double degradation process for the untreated dwarf-green coconut fibers, while a single one was observed after the pretreatment. The tensile properties showed an increased elongation at break, modulus, and strength, and the dielectric results showed a decrease of all parameters (permittivity, dielectric loss, and conductivity), reflecting the reduced dipole and ion mobility associated with the loss of amorphous components.


In this first ever English-language edition of Oscar Niemeyer's memoirs, the architect reveals how his many passions - among them his large family, many friends, the sensuous landscape of Brazil, women, Communism, art and literature - have all influenced his life and in turn inspired his architecture. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Niemeyer graduated from the National School of Fine Arts in 1934. As a student he worked in the office of Lucio Costa, and on graduation he began collaborating with Le Corbusier on a new Ministry of Education and Health Building in Rio. Yet, in contrast to the International Style, Niemeyer's curvilinear forms reflected Brazil's lush, undulating landscape and the emotive style of its music and dance. Here Niemeyer recounts his life in an informal, fluid narrative that moves from his childhood in Rio, through to friendships with intellectuals and politicians such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Fidel Castro, to tales of adventurous road trips. The book includes 40 specially-made sketches by Niemeyer, a chronology of his notes and an index.


Abstract This article deals with the paradox that, in order to remedy discrimination and redress disadvantage, we have to invoke broad social categories and identities which are themselves implicated in relations of inequality and subordination. This paradox is explored from three different angles. First, the article argues for a complex understanding of equality. In terms of this understanding, the right to equality is underpinned by at least three interdependent, yet constantly shifting values, namely dignity, equality and democracy. Secondly, a radical understanding of difference is advocated, which seeks to destabilise the symbolic oppositions and hierarchies that underlie inequality and exclusion, and which avoids the uncritical equation of difference with supposedly self-contained individual and collective identities. Thirdly, the article echoes calls for a memorial understanding of constitutionalism which resists the monumentalisation of past struggles and is concerned with the limits of the law in detecting and responding to disadvantage. It is argued that these three perspectives, taken together, enable a transformative discourse on equality, which remains open to the capacity of disadvantage and difference to resist the closure into which law inevitably lapses.


This bachelor thesis looks into the use Enterprise Service Bus(ESB) as the central hub in system integration, which is currently the newest standard for large-scale system integration. The thesis is focused on issues with ESB integration and solutions to these problems, as the positive aspects have already been covered in other reports. There is not much available information about the issues that can occur when using a ESB architecture and how to resolve thes issues. The contribution of this thesis is gathering known issues from both academic papers and from the industry and providing solutions to these issues. Also, we present a set of guidelines for developers that are new to ESB. These guidelines was formed by answers from a questionnaire that is in turn formed by a literature review, designed to nd issues with ESB integration. The solutions we found can be used by new ESB developers to avoid common mistakes and also might also assist by providing a solution in case an issue already har occurred.


We present a field experiment in which we set up a call-center to study how the productivity of workers is affected if managers treat their co-workers in an unfair way. This question cannot be studied in long-lived organizations since workers may change their career expectations (and hence effort) when managers behave unfairly towards co-workers. In order to rule out such confounds and to measure productivity changes of unaffected workers in a clean way, we create an environment where employees work for two shifts. In one treatment, we lay off parts of the workforce before the second shift. Compared to two different control treatments, we find that, in the layoff treatment, the productivity of the remaining, unaffected workers drops by 12 percent. We show that this result is not driven by peer effects or altered beliefs about the job or the managers' competence, but rather related to the workers' perception of unfair behavior of employers towards co-workers. The latter interpretation is confirmed in a survey among professional HR managers. We also show that the effect of unfair behavior on the productivity of unaffected workers is close to the upper bound of the direct effects of wage cuts on the productivity of affected workers. This suggests that the price of an employer's unfair behavior goes well beyond the potential tit-for-tat of directly affected workers.


Early detection and localisation of bronchial cancer remains a challenging task. One approach is to exploit the changes in the autofluorescence characteristics of the bronchial tissue as a diagnostic tool with improved sensitivity. Evidence exists that this native fluorescence or autofluorescence of bronchial tissues changes when they turn dysplastic and to carcinoma in situ. There is an agreement in the literature that the lesions display a decrease of autofluorescence in the green region of the spectrum under illumination with violet light and a relative increase in the red region of the spectrum is often reported. Imaging devices rely on this principle to detect early cancerous lesions in the bronchi. Based on a previous spectroscopic study, an industrial imaging prototype has been developed to detect early cancerous lesions in collaboration with the firm 'Richard Wolf Endoskope GmbH'. A preliminary clinical trial involving 20 patients with this spectrally optimised system proved that autofluorescence can detect lesions that would otherwise have remained invisible even to an experienced endoscopist under white light illumination. A systematic analysis of the autofluorescence images pointed out that real-time decisional functions can be defined in order to reduce the number of false positive results. Using this method, a Positive Predictive Value (PPV) of 75% was achieved using autofluorescence only. A PPV of even 100% were obtained when white light mode and autofluorescence mode were combined under the applied conditions. Furthermore, the sensitivity was estimated to be twice as high in AF mode than in WL mode.


Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is an important and commonly used treatment for a variety of haematological malignancies. Central to the therapeutic benefits of allogeneic BMT is the role of donor T cells, which mediate a potent anti-neoplastic effect against tumours in the recipient. However, the presence of donor T cells is also tightly associated with the development of the life-threatening condition graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD), a disorder where alloreactive donor T cells recognise the recipient as 'non-self' and elicit a potent anti-host immune response. Antigen presenting cells (APC) are critical to the induction of acute GVHD. However, recent studies have questioned whether any particular subset of APC has a non-redundant role in the priming of an alloreactive donor T cell response. One of the most commonly affected organs in acute GVHD is the skin, which contains a diverse array of professional APC subsets capable of initiating potent immune responses. One such subset is Langerhans cells (LC), a population of radioresistant dendritic cells (DC) that form a dense interlacing network within the epidermis. Using an in vivo mouse model of acute GVHD where host LC can be conditionally depleted, LC were found to play an important role in the development of acute GVHD in the skin. The depletion of host LC significantly reduced the severity of cutaneous GVHD that developed following allogeneic BMT. Host LC were required in situ in the epidermis for both the accumulation and function of alloreactive donor CD8 T cells in the skin. A role for host Langerin+ dDC, a population shown to be critical for CD8-mediated T cell responses in the skin, was also ruled out. These findings describe a novel role for host LC in the regulation of cutaneous GVHD in situ, which could identify a novel target for organ specific immunosuppression following allogeneic BMT.


Abstract In the journal article Did DI do it? The impact of a programme designed to improve literacy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in remote schools, Guenther and Osborne (2020) compare schoolwide NAPLAN reading scale scores for 25 Very Remote Indigenous schools implementing Direct Instruction through the Flexible Literacy for Remote Primary Schools Program ('Flexible Literacy' or 'the program') with those for 118 Very Remote Indigenous schools not involved with the program, to assert the program has not improved literacy outcomes. Good to Great Schools Australia (GGSA) undertook an analysis of the same school data for Reading, Writing, Spelling and Grammar and Punctuation scores. Our findings contradict theirs. In all areas, schools participating in the program show significant growth compared with all Australian and all Very Remote Indigenous schools. In Reading, schools involved in the program from 2015 to 2017 averaged 124% growth, while the average growth for comparable ages was 19 and 34% for Australian and Very Remote Indigenous schools, respectively. In Grammar and Punctuation schools involved in the program in the same period grew 180%, whilst growth for Australian schools was 15%, and for Very Remote Indigenous schools, 28%. These contrasting results illustrate the importance of evaluating growth to assess the impact of educational programs, rather than achievement alone, particularly in the case of Very Remote Indigenous schools where achievement levels are far below Australian grade levels. Guenther and Osborne's comparison of achievement across schools rather than measuring growth within schools obscures real gains and is misleading.


Banana plantation generates a huge volume of fibres as residues. The use of natural fibres as fillers in the rubber industry is a new trend. This is especially due to their availability, low cost and environmental friendliness. Of the commonly available natural fibres, banana fibre contains the highest cellulose content of 60-65%. Banana fibre has been incorporated into phenol formaldehyde and polyester resins as a reinforcing material. However, the use of banana fibre in dry rubber formulations is novel. The banana fibre can also be modified physically or chemically to enhance the properties of the rubber products. The objective of the present study is to investigate the effect of fibre loading on rheological properties and the physico-mechanical properties of a dry rubber compounds. In this study, banana fibres were extracted using a mechanical retting method, and were ground using a domestic grinder to prepare fibres in the size range 0.01 – 1.2 mm.  The fibres were characterized and extracted fibres were examined under optical microscope. The ground fibres were incorporated into a natural rubber compound as a filler. Two series of filled natural rubber compounds were prepared by varying the fibre loading from 0 to 50 phr at 10 phr intervals; one with banana fibre alone and the other in the presence of a coupling agent (phenol formaldehyde and hexamethylene tetra amine), commonly used to enhance compatibility of natural rubber and biofibres. Cure characteristics, and physico-mechanical properties of the vulcanizates, were investigated according to ISO and BS standards. The properties of the banana fibre filled compounds were compared with the carbon black filled compounds. Cure time decreased gradually with banana fibre loading when banana fibre alone was incorporated into the rubber compound. However, the variation of cure time for all compounds was low and lie within the range of 4 to 5 min. Hardness increased with the banana fibre loading, while tensile properties such as tensile strength and elongation at break, and tear strength decreased. The property variations showed that the banana fibre alone behaves as a diluent filler. With incorporation of the coupling agent tensile strength elongation at break and tear strength improved for all banana fibre loadings. Tensile strength increase is limited to 25% maximum, but elongation at break increased by 200% at 50 phr banana fibre loading. This property enhancement suggested banana fibre with the coupling agent is a reinforcing filler to natural rubber.


This article evaluates the contribution to contemporary music and digital sound design of the German-American composer and inventor Rolf Gehlhaar (1943–2019). It sets in context his creative output, commencing with a biographical overview of his education in the USA, early career as a member of Stockhausen's circle in Cologne, and subsequent work as a composer informed by an increasing humanitarian commitment to the development of technological resources designed to widen participation in musical creation and performance. In drawing on published re-sources as well as the personal memories of the author, the article develops an initial bibliographical resource intended to represent existing research in the fields to which Gehlhaar made a key contribution, and to stimulate investigation into his life, times and continuing influence. While the article sets out to record these achievements, it also seeks to capture the character and personality of the man behind them.


People tend to live in large cities close to volcanoes. In the past, this connection was a result of the fertile soils, water supplies, and cultural-historical sites provided by volcanoes. Today, the most important link comes from peoples' preferences to live at or near coastlines, where more than half of the Earth's active volcanoes are concentrated. Volcanoes literally create new real estate, by building land above sea level. They also provide natural harbors and fortifications, tourist attractions, geothermal energy, mineral resources, and water supplies from crater lakes and from mountain snow and rain. One out of twelve humans lives within the danger zone of an active volcano. However, even an "active" volcano can be quiet for hundreds, even thousands, of years between eruptions. Do the long-term benefits of living near a volcano outweigh the risks? People can only answer this question if they understand the hazards and if they can be assured of warning early enough to save their lives, if not their property, by moving away in time.


Fragility that periodically erupts into a full-blown financial crisis appears to be an integral feature of market-based financial systems in spite of the emergence of sophisticated risk management tools and regulatory systems. If anything, the increased frequency of modern crises underscores how difficult it is to diversify away systemic risk and that perceptions of perfectly stable financial systems are normally flawed, even if the source of the next crisis remains well concealed to the expert eye.

Although it is impossible to forecast a financial crisis with a high degree of accuracy and certainty, earlier crises always leave lessons useful in preparation for future crises, from whatever source. It is thus clear that the best way to deal with preventing and addressing major financial crises is to build the defenses of the financial system, including effective institutions, while at the same time trying to identify potential sources of crisis. We should take every opportunity to learn and work to build stronger and more effective financial systems. This paper compares and contrasts the three major crises of the past 3 decades, both to distill the lessons to be learned from them and to identify what more can be done to strengthen our financial systems. As the world addresses the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the centrality of these lessons is clear.


Green leafy vegetable is a major source of vitamins and micronutrients for people using only vegetarian diets rich in carbohydrates. In remoterural settlements where vegetable cultivation is not practiced and market supplies are, not organized, local inhabitants depend on indigenousvegetables, both cultivated in agricultural fields or kitchen gardens and wild for enriching the diversity of food. Knowledge of such food ispart of traditional knowledge, which is largely transmitted through participation of individuals of households. The purpose of this study was todocumentation of plants used as vegetables by the people of Rupandehi district of Lumbini zone of western Nepal. This paper revealed total51 plant species belong to 45 genera under 32 Families of vascular plants. Out of 32families, 24 families belong to dicot, 4 families to monocotand 4 families belong to ferns. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijasbt.v3i1.12220 Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol, Vol. 3(1): 111-118


Recent commercial wireless applications such as Point to Point radio links, LMDS (Local Multipoint Distribution Service), LMCS (Local multi-point Communications Service) and Commercial K-Band Satellite based services have spurred significant activity in development of mmWave power amplifiers. These applications lie in the frequency range of 18 to 42GHz with possible future extensions to 60GHz. These systems employ digital modulation schemes for which highly linear mmWave power amplifiers are essential. This paper presents an overview of some chipsets consisting of High Power amplifiers covering the frequency range of 18 to 32GHz. Preferred solutions to a low cost subsystem vary from one subsystem manufacturer to another as it involves assembly and test capabilities in addition to component costs. The overall direction appears to be toward multi-chip module assemblies. Here, both chip and packaged level component options are considered.


Background: "Social determinants of heath" (SDHs) are nonclinical factors that profoundly affect health. Helping community health centers (CHCs) document patients' SDH data in electronic health records (EHRs) could yield substantial health benefits, but little has been reported about CHCs' development of EHR-based tools for SDH data collection and presentation. Methods: We worked with 27 diverse CHC stakeholders to develop strategies for optimizing SDH data collection and presentation in their EHR, and approaches for integrating SDH data collection and the use of those data (eg, through referrals to community resources) into CHC workflows. Results: We iteratively developed a set of EHR-based SDH data collection, summary, and referral tools for CHCs. We describe considerations that arose while developing the tools and present some preliminary lessons learned. Conclusion: Standardizing SDH data collection and presentation in EHRs could lead to improved patient and population health outcomes in CHCs and other care settings. We know of no previous reports of processes used to develop similar tools. This article provides an example of 1 such process. Lessons from our process may be useful to health care organizations interested in using EHRs to collect and act on SDH data. Research is needed to empirically test the generalizability of these lessons.


The ability to localize Internet hosts is appealing for a range of applications from online advertising to localizing cyber attacks. Recently, measurement-based approaches have been proposed to accurately identify the location of Internet hosts. These approaches typically produce erroneous results due to measurement errors. In this paper, we propose an Enhanced Learning Classifier approach for estimating the geolocation of Internet hosts with increased accuracy. Our approach extends an exisiting machine learning based approach by extracting six features from network measurements and implementing a new landmark selection policy. These enhancements allow us to mitigate problems with measurement errors and reduces average error distance in estimating location of Internet hosts. To demonstrate the accuracy of our approach, we evaluate the performance on network routers using ping measurements from PlanetLab nodes with known geographic placement. Our results demonstrate that our approach improves average accuracy by geolocating internet hosts 100 miles closer to the true geographic location versus prior measurement-based approaches.


The floristic composition and structure of a premontane moist forest remnant were studied in the El Rodeo Protected Zone, Central Valley of Costa Rica. Three one-hectare plots were established in the non-disturbed forest, and all trees with a diameter at breast height (dbh) of 10 cm or greater were marked, measured and identified. The plots were located within a radius of 500 m from each other. A total of 106 tree species were recorded in the three plots. Average values: species richness 69.6 species ha-1, abundance 509 individuals ha-1, basal area 36.35 m2 ha-1. Total diversity was 3.54 (Shannon Index, H'), and the species similarity among the plots ranged between S = 0.68 and 0.70 (Sorensen Similarity Index). Most tree species are represented by few individuals (five or less). There is a lack of emergent trees and arborescent palms in the forest canopy. According to the Familial Importance Value, Moraceae, followed by Fabaceae, Lauraceae, and Sapotaceae, largely dominates this forest. Pseudolmedia oxyphillaria (Moraceae) is the dominant species (Importance Value Index), accounting for 25% of all the marked trees in the plots, followed by Clarisia racemosa (Moraceae), Heisteria concinna (Olacaceae), and Brosimum alicastrum (Moraceae). The size class distributions were similar among plots, and in general followed the expected J-inverted shape. Differences in tree abundance, floristic composition, and spatial distribution of some species among the plots suggest heterogeneity of this ecosystem's arborescent vegetation. Moreover, it is an important natural reservoir for the conservation of rare and endangered tree species in a national level. Using these results as a baseline, this study should start a long term monitoring of the structure and composition of this very reduced and fragmented ecosystem.


Many applications involve stream data with structural dependency, graph representations, and continuously increasing volumes. For these applications, it is very common that their class distributions are imbalanced with minority (or positive) samples being only a small portion of the population, which imposes significant challenges for learning models to accurately identify minority samples. This problem is further complicated with the presence of noise, because they are similar to minority samples and any treatment for the class imbalance may falsely focus on the noise and result in deterioration of accuracy. In this paper, we propose a classification model to tackle imbalanced graph streams with noise. Our method, graph ensemble boosting, employs an ensemble-based framework to partition graph stream into chunks each containing a number of noisy graphs with imbalanced class distributions. For each individual chunk, we propose a boosting algorithm to combine discriminative subgraph pattern selection and model learning as a unified framework for graph classification. To tackle concept drifting in graph streams, an instance level weighting mechanism is used to dynamically adjust the instance weight, through which the boosting framework can emphasize on difficult graph samples. The classifiers built from different graph chunks form an ensemble for graph stream classification. Experiments on real-life imbalanced graph streams demonstrate clear benefits of our boosting design for handling imbalanced noisy graph stream.


Building on a diverse stream of literature, knowledge strategy and NSD in particular, the theory investigated in this research is that service firms can use knowledge strategy to improve the innovation performance of their business. Although scholars are now beginning to organise their research agendas around a set of explicit hypotheses concerning the causes and effects of knowledge intensive environments, knowledge management has only recently emerged as an explicit area of pursuit for managing firms. This research empirically investigated knowledge management activity in the context of NSD, and as such provides insight into a subject area previously lacking in rigorous empirical studies. Previous research in the field of NSD has tended to concentrate its focus on the financial services market. In contrast, this research drew its sample from a wider population and identified that many of the findings appear to be generalisable across a number of business markets, both in a consumer and business context. In adopting a knowledge-based view of a service business, this research conceptualised a notion of NSD Knowledge Environment( NKE) to represent the way in which knowledge supports the business' ability to develop new services across a NSD programme. The nine unique bundles of resources which comprise the NKE (knowledge depth; knowledge dispersion; NSD memory, personal interaction; climate of learning; creative climate; entrepreneurial climate; collaborative climate; goal climate) were found to be capable of yielding sustainable, above-normal business performance. The NKE was discovered to have a significant impact on the service business' overall NSD programme performance across four distinct measures: financial; new opportunities; customer responsiveness innovation. Whilst service firms were found to be aware of the importance of knowledge resources to their business, few had embraced a business-wide' framework, for managing- particular knowledge 'assets.' This research therefore indicates the importance of addressing the need for. a knowledge management framework targets specifically at NSD success. Whilst the NKE was discovered to have a'significant impact on the service business' overall ability to develop innovative new products supports the findings of previous research, interestingly, this research identified a multi-dimensional concept of innovativeness, comprising both measures of innovative outcomes and innovative processes. The more innovative NSD programmes were found to be more successful on many' other performance dimensions (financial'and nonfinancial) than their counterparts,i. e. innovative NSD programmes were more successful than their competition on all dimensions, aswell as having a very high percentage of sales and profits originating from new services introduced in the last three years. The overall implication of this research is that if a firm's scarcer resources are the source of improved economic performance, it follows that supportive knowledge practices and a supportive internal knowledge environment must be created to ensure these assets are leveraged successfully.


In the past, texture‐based classification of soils has been used for grouping soils in variably saturated water flow and solute transport studies. Classification of soils becomes especially important for large‐scale studies where the spatial and temporal variability in the hydraulic properties of soils exceeds the field sampling capabilities. Although soil‐texture‐based classification has been widely used, questions remain about the validity of its use from a hydraulic perspective. In this study, we attempt to answer the following questions: (1) what is the optimal number of (soil hydraulic) classes that can adequately classify the soils from a hydraulic standpoint, and (2) how does such a classification compare to the soil texture classification currently used? To investigate these questions, the commonly used k‐means clustering algorithm was integrated with the ROSETTA pedotransfer functions to predict the so‐called soil hydraulic classes. The optimal soil hydraulic classifications and the associated uncertainty were estimated for numbers of soil hydraulic classes varying from 2 to 30. It was concluded that the optimal number of soil hydraulic classes is 12. The optimal soil hydraulic classes were represented in a ternary diagram called the soil hydraulic triangle. While there exist some surprising similarities in classification between the soil texture triangle and the soil hydraulic triangle for soils with high sand percentages (sand >60%), the opposite is true for soils with low sand contents. From a hydraulic standpoint, the texture‐based classification does not classify soils well when there is a considerable impact of capillary forces. The soil texture and hydraulic classes were analyzed for accuracy using two databases. Compared to the soil texture classes, it was found that the soil hydraulic classes marginally improve the accuracy of classification. Even though the improvement is only marginal, it was observed that the optimality of soil texture triangle for hydraulic studies cannot be assured because of the nonuniform distribution of data across various textural possibilities in the two databases. As an extension of this research, we have also estimated the average soil hydraulic parameters for the different optimal soil hydraulic classes.


ABSTRACT Xeric limestone prairies occur in southwestern and southern Illinois. These small grassland communities are present on thin soil and commonly have relatively extensive areas of exposed rock. Warm-season clump grasses, primarily Schizachyrium scoparium and Bouteloua curtipendula, are dominant along with a mixture of prairie and open-forest species. The vascular flora of two xeric limestone prairies, located near the bluff line of the Mississippi River on the property of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Buettner in Monroe County, Illinois, were surveyed in 2011. A total of 174 vascular plant species were recorded from the two prairies, with 60 species present in survey plots. Bouteloua curtipendula dominated the East prairie followed by Schizachyrium scoparium, Andropogon gerardii, and Ruellia humilis. Andropogon gerardii dominated the West prairie followed by Bouteloua curtipendula, Solidago ulmifolia, Aster oblongifolius, Tridens flavus, and Schizachyrium scoparium. Vegetation covers 38.0% and 33.5% of the surface in these two prairies, while exposed rock was between 17% and 19%, and bare ground and litter was from 40% to 44%.


Harmful algal blooms (HABs) have been plaguing Lake Erie with increasing frequency and intensity in recent years. The problem reached crisis proportions in August 2014 when nearly half a million persons in the Toledo, Ohio area were left without safe drinking water when a toxin produced by HABs in Lake Erie was detected at elevated levels in the city's public water supply system. Excess nutrients entering the lake, especially phosphorus from nonpoint sources, are the primary contributors to the HABs problem in Lake Erie.This report, commissioned by the Commissioners of Lucas County, Ohio, offers legal solutions to Lake Erie's HABs problem. After providing some scientific background, the report describes the complex web of federal and Ohio laws applicable to key sources of phosphorus pollution, explores legal tools that other regions such as the Chesapeake Bay are using to combat nutrient pollution, and makes recommendations for using and improving the law in Ohio and the region to reduce HABs in Lake Erie. Grant funding opportunities at the federal and state level also are identified.


Spin qubits are very valuable and scalable candidates in the area of quantum computation and simulation applications. In the last decades, they have been deeply investigated from a theoretical point of view and realized on the scale of few devices in the laboratories. In semiconductors, spin qubits can be built confining the spin of electrons in electrostatically defined quantum dots. Through this approach, it is possible to create different implementations: single electron spin qubit, singlet–triplet spin qubit, or a three-electron architecture, e.g., the hybrid qubit. For each qubit type, we study the single qubit rotations along the principal axis of Bloch sphere including the mandatory non-idealities of the control signals that realize the gate operations. The realistic transient of the control signal pulses are obtained by adopting an appropriate low-pass filter function. In addition. the effect of disturbances on the input signals is taken into account by using a Gaussian noise model.


The malware detection arms race involves constant change: malware changes to evade detection and labels change as detection mechanisms react. Recognizing that malware changes over time, prior work has enforced temporally consistent samples by requiring that training binaries predate evaluation binaries. We present temporally consistent labels, requiring that training labels also predate evaluation binaries since training labels collected after evaluation binaries constitute label knowledge from the future. Using a dataset containing 1.1 million binaries from over 2.5 years, we show that enforcing temporal label consistency decreases detection from 91% to 72% at a 0.5% false positive rate compared to temporal samples alone.
The impact of temporal labeling demonstrates the potential of improved labels to increase detection results. Hence, we present a detector capable of selecting binaries for submission to an expert labeler for review. At a 0.5% false positive rate, our detector achieves a 72% true positive rate without an expert, which increases to 77% and 89% with 10 and 80 expert queries daily, respectively. Additionally, we detect 42% of malicious binaries initially undetected by all 32 antivirus vendors from VirusTotal used in our evaluation. For evaluation at scale, we simulate the human expert labeler and show that our approach is robust against expert labeling errors. Our novel contributions include a scalable malware detector integrating manual review with machine learning and the examination of temporal label consistency.


Inexact or approximate circuits show great ability to reduce power consumption at the cost of occasional errors in comparison to their conventional counterparts. Even though the benefits of such circuits have been proven for many applications, they are not wide spread owing to the absence of a clear design methodology and the required CAD tools. In this regard, this paper presents a methodology to automatically generate inexact circuits starting from a conventional design by adding only one small step in the digital design flow. Further, this paper also demonstrates that achieving pruning at gate-level can lead to substantial savings in terms of power consumption, critical path delay and silicon area. An order of magnitude area and power savings is demonstrated for a 64-bit gate level pruned high-speed adder for a 10% relative error magnitude.


We study the locality of an extension of first-order logic that captures graph queries computable in ${AC}^0}$, i.e., by families of polynomial-size constant-depth circuits. The extension considers first-order formulas over relational structures which may use arbitrary numerical predicates in such a way that their truth value is independent of the particular interpretation of the numerical predicates. We refer to such formulas as Arb-invariant first-order. We consider the two standard notions of locality, Gaifman and Hanf locality. Our main result gives a Gaifman locality theorem: An Arb-invariant first-order formula cannot distinguish between two tuples that have the same neighborhood up to distance $(\log n)^c$, where $n$ represents the number of elements in the structure and $c$ is a constant depending on the formula. When restricting attention to string structures, we achieve the same quantitative strength for Hanf locality. In both cases we show that our bounds are tight. We also present an applicati...


The objective of this paper is to propose research methods for studying the cognitive skills that are required to play online games, and also the skills required for the alternative consumption of games (mostly pirate initiatives); the first subject is part of a master's degree research, and the latter is part of a PhD research. These cognitive skills shall be studied through five categories of analysis which were created by the CiberCog/Uerj research group. The issue of cognitive skills for online games will be studied with a qualitative method (e.g. netnography; interviews using the Underlying Discourse Unveiling Method – UDUM; participant observation - watching and interacting) and also with a quantitative method (closed questionnaire available via Google Docs). Meanwhile, to study alternative consumption of games a participant observation on virtual communities shall be used.


Modal noise generation in multimode optical fiber is identified as occurring in two statistically differing regimes, that in which there is independence of the speckles (open regime) and that in which the speckles have an interdependency related to the constancy of the total light power in the core modes (closed regime). We derive statistical expressions for modal noise generation in the closed regime and verify them with experiment.


A 14-year old loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) plantation approximately 5 acres in size was cut during August 2013 with a tracked feller-buncher. A grapple skidder transported trees from one-half of the tract to a landing where they were piled whole-tree. Remaining trees were left whole-tree in skidder bundles (small piles) in the stand. All trees were left on-site and allowed to dry for approximately 70 days. After the drying period disks were cut from trees selected from the outer, middle, and bottom zones of each pile size for moisture content determination. Disks were cut from the butt, mid-stem, and top (approximately 2 inches) of each sample tree. A sub-sample of disks was taken at Dbh (Diameter at Breast Height). Moisture content (% wet-basis) averaged 23.8 percent for samples collected from trees located on the outside of the skidder bundles. Moisture content of samples taken from the middle and bottom sections of skidder bundles averaged 24.3 and 29.2 percent, respectively. Moisture content of samples taken from trees on the outside of the large pile averaged 28.6 percent, compared to 40.5 percent for trees located in the middle of the large pile and 48.9 percent for trees located at the bottom of the large pile. During the drying period rainfall totaled 4.77 inches. Temperature and relative humidity averaged 74.1°F and 71.7 percent, respectively.


We investigate the properties of freely suspended nematic nanodroplets of increasing size formed by elongated Gay–Berne mesogens, using extensive molecular dynamics simulations. We find that the nanodroplets have an elongated shape with an aspect ratio changing with size and that in the 50–100 nm size range (N ≈ 50 000–100 000 particles) they show a spontaneous symmetry breaking of the surface bipolar director field into a twisted pattern, whose chirality we quantify with a specific index. The droplets are found to be inhomogeneous in terms, e.g. of the local orientational order, and a detailed description of their internal and interfacial structure is given.


Purpose
The ecosystem perspective on innovation and business has emerged as the secret sauce of innovative organizations. While its theoretical foundations are premised on innovation system literature, the broad adoption of the ecosystem concept has resulted in conceptual ambiguity. The purpose of this paper is to tackle the ambiguous use of innovation ecosystem terminology and structure a conceptual frame for the field, identifying definitions of an innovation ecosystem and how the concept has been established in previous literature.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper examines the ambiguous use of terminology by reviewing the literature with bibliometric coupling and co-citation analysis by which thematic differences in ecosystem literature were identified. The study gathered the scientific publications from Thomson Reuters Web of Sciences Core Collection (n=4,681) from 1990 to 2015.

Findings
Six major bibliometrically coupled clusters were identified, of which the three largest clusters are innovation system studies, regional innovation studies and technological innovation studies. In addition, further analysis shows an emerging cluster that is focused on ecosystems, having its roots in eight seminal papers. This ecosystem research cluster includes seven sub-clusters, such as innovation ecosystem studies, business ecosystem studies and studies focusing on ecosystem development.

Research limitations/implications
The authors' approach highlights how a lot of recent ecosystem studies actually belong to previous, well-developed research streams. However, there is also a separate, emergent research stream that includes the innovation and ecosystem studies. As a research implication, the paper concludes by suggesting the research agenda for further studies.

Originality/value
Even though literature on innovation systems and ecosystems is extensive literature, no studies have captured the emergence of the ecosystems approach and its relation with the systems of innovation literature.


What persuades a memory lymphocyte to stick around for years after an infection has been cleared? For B cells, the explanations have been that either antigens persist somehow or that some B cells develop into long-lived antibody-secreting plasma cells that need no stimulation. Bernasconi et al. provide evidence for an intermediate mechanism in which nonspecific stimuli--not limited to antigens from any one pathogen--spur B cells into continued antibody production. In culture, human memory, but not naïve, B cells divided strongly in response to CpG sequences of DNA, which are powerful signals to innate immune cells. The T cell cytokine interleukin-15 evoked the same response, and like CpG, could induce some B cells to become plasma cells. Frequencies of antigen-specific plasma B cells and levels of circulating antibody in individuals over a decade after vaccination agreed with predictions made from these experiments. N. L. Bernasconi, E. Traggiai, A. Lanzavecchia, Maintenance of serological memory by polyclonal activation of human memory B cells. Science 298, 2199-2202 (2002). [Abstract] [Full Text]


»The Denominational-Religious Cleavage within the German Electorate: Origins, Stability and Change«. The German religious cleavage developed during a political conflict concerning the rights of the Catholic Church in the early 1870s of the just-founded German Empire. The Christian Democratic Party was successful in transforming this cleavage into a denominationalreligious cleavage after WWII. Within the electorate, this cleavage is manifested by the CDU/CSU party identification of both religious Catholics and Protestants, the former delineated by frequency of church attendance, and the latter by religious belief systems. Communal social relationships among these groups support the stability of this cleavage. In addition, the CDU affiliation of Protestants varies by region. It is strongest within the overwhelmingly Protestant northern regions of Germany where the CDU was founded after WWII without "help" of former members of the Catholic Zentrum party. This cleavage between the Christian Democrats on the one side and all other parties on the other side still existed in 1982 as shown with Allbus data of that year.


We consider Dung's argumentation framework, in which an argument system consists of a set of arguments and a binary relation between arguments representing the notion of a conflict. The semantics given by Dung define (with respect to each argument system) acceptable sets of arguments called extensions. For his so-called stable semantics, Dung also gives an alternative definition in terms of an equation that a set satisfies if and only if that set is a stable extension. However, neither the original definition nor the equation reflect the fact that the stable semantics (similarly to all of Dung's semantics) rely upon the notion of an admissible set. Moreover, none of Dung's other semantics have been characterized by such an equation.

Our first goal is to provide such characterizations for the other semantics: We capture Dung's semantics by means of equations that a set satisfies if and only if it is an extension under the semantics at hand. Not only do we give such equations, but we also take care of providing them as a unified characterization expressing the common grounds of Dung's semantics. Beyond Dung's semantics, we are interested in semantics (within Dung's argumentation framework) relying upon the notion of an admissible set. Our second goal is to show that many of those semantics are captured like Dung's, using the same unified characterization.


Recent advances in processing and networking capabilities of computers have led to an accumulation of immense amounts of multimedia data such as images. One of the largest repositories for such data is the World Wide Web (WWW). We present Cortina, a large-scale image retrieval system for the WWW. It handles over 3 million images to date. The system retrieves images based on visual features and collateral text. We show that a search process which consists of an initial query-by-keyword or query-by-image and followed by relevance feedback on the visual appearance of the results is possible for large-scale data sets. We also show that it is superior to the pure text retrieval commonly used in large-scale systems. Semantic relationships in the data are explored and exploited by data mining, and multiple feature spaces are included in the search process.


Olfactory and visual signals are transduced through nonmotile cilia, some of which have elaborate structural modifications. Mukhopadhyay et al. report that the architecture of one such sensory neuron's cilia are shaped by the sensory input the cell receives. The AWB neuron in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a chemosensory neuron that detects repulsive cues from bacteria through long, branched cilia. The AWB of worms raised without bacteria in the culture medium had cilia with short, wide branches with increased membrane surface area. This phenotype was also observed in worms that lacked any one of several proteins required in AWB for sensory signaling, including two cyclic nucleotide-gated channel subunits, a guanylyl cyclase, and a G protein-coupled receptor kinase. Cilium remodeling also required the second messengers Ca2+ and guanosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cGMP), as well as proteins required for ciliary biogenesis such as Kinesin-II and RAB8. The signaling requirement for proper morphology was cell-autonomous, because transgenically providing these proteins to only the AWB neuron restored wild-type morphology. TAX-2, a subunit of cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channel predicted to be permeable to Ca2+, was specifically required during late larval development to maintain wild-type ciliary structure, because inactivation of tax-2 during this time period using temperature-sensitive alleles produced cilia with altered morphology. Therefore, the ciliary architecture of the AWB neuron was affected by sensory input only during a defined developmental window. These findings identify a cell-autonomous requirement for sensory input in shaping the structure of the sensory cilia and suggest that plasticity in ciliary architecture could provide a means for increasing the sensory surface area (and therefore increasing sensitivity) to olfactory signals as an adaptation to sensory deprivation experienced during a critical developmental time period. S. Mukhopadhyay, Y. Lu, S. Shaham, P. Sengupta, Sensory signaling-dependent remodeling of olfactory cilia architecture in C. elegans. Dev. Cell 14, 762-774 (2008). [PubMed] J. F. Reiter, A cilium is not a cilium is not a cilium: Signaling contributes to ciliary morphological diversity. Dev. Cell 14, 635-636 (2008). [PubMed]


Abstract Entomophagy is widespread among indigenous people, promoting the gathering of traditional ecological knowledge of insect life histories and plant-insect interactions. In the Amazon, the cultivation of palm weevil larvae (Rhynchophorus palmarum and Rhinostomus barbirostris) for food provides an important supplement to the diets of many indigenous people. This study conducted with the Jotï people from Venezuelan Amazonia examined their traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of palm (Oenocarpus bacaba) and weevil interactions and how they have applied their TEK to optimize returns on palm weevil cultivation. They manipulate palms to induce changes in the resource-partitioning and competition that occurs naturally between weevil species, thereby increasing harvests of their preferred species of weevil. We found that the Jotï's traditional ecological knowledge was congruent with scientific findings of weevil natural history and palm and weevil interactions. This analysis identifies potential research directions that may provide solutions to agricultural problems such as palm weevil infestations in palm plantations. We conclude that understanding and preserving traditional ecological knowledge and practices is important for organisms such as palm weevils that rarely have been studied in their natural forest settings.


The Commissariat à L'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (CEA) and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) intend to develop prototype or demonstration sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs) within two decades. The common final goal of their respective programs is SFR commercialization. The target of a commercial SFR for CEA and JAEA is basically consistent with Generation IV goals. Based on their industrial backgrounds and feedback from past and existing reactor experiences, CEA and JAEA have selected pool and loop configurations for the Advanced Sodium Technological Reactor for Industrial Demonstration (ASTRID) and the Japanese Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor (JSFR), respectively. CEA and JAEA have cross-analyzed both pool and loop concepts (ASTRID and demonstration JSFR, respectively). The analysis results show that both concepts are technologically feasible and meet design goals. From the viewpoint of collaboration, the analysis identifies a wide range of collaborative areas in several fields: design principles (e.g., design target and design standard); development of components and systems; development of component parts, devices, or subsystems; design methods; simulation tools; etc.


We empirically analyze the nature of returns to scale in active mutual fund management. We find strong evidence of decreasing returns at the industry level: As the size of the active mutual fund industry increases, a fund's ability to outperform passive benchmarks declines. At the fund level, all methods considered indicate decreasing returns, but estimates that avoid econometric biases are insignificant. We also find that the active management industry has become more skilled over time. This upward trend in skill coincides with industry growth, which precludes the skill improvement from boosting fund performance. Finally, we find that performance deteriorates over a typical fund's lifetime. This result can also be explained by industry-level decreasing returns to scale.


Two texts by Andrea Fraser are reprinted as part of October's ongoing effort to publish contemporary documents of cultural activism that aims to create spaces of progressive resistance to threats of authoritarianism. Written as a speech delivered at the Museum Ludwig Cologne in 2017, Fraser's "Trusteeship in the Age of Trump," demonstrates how the privatization of social services and the arts through philanthropy is part of a larger withdrawal of government responsibility for the welfare of its citizens. Accompanying the lecture is an open letter, drafted Andreas Fraser and Eric Golo Stone in late 2016 and signed by dozens of art world figures, demanding the resignation of now Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin from the Board of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.


Least squares estimators, when trained on a few target domain samples, may predict poorly. Supervised domain adaptation aims to improve the predictive accuracy by exploiting additional labeled training samples from a source distribution that is close to the target distribution. Given available data, we investigate novel strategies to synthesize a family of least squares estimator experts that are robust with regard to moment conditions. When these moment conditions are specified using Kullback-Leibler or Wasserstein-type divergences, we can find the robust estimators efficiently using convex optimization. We use the Bernstein online aggregation algorithm on the proposed family of robust experts to generate predictions for the sequential stream of target test samples. Numerical experiments on real data show that the robust strategies may outperform non-robust interpolations of the empirical least squares estimators.


This is a landmark publication on prevalence estimation theory and method in the European Union. The monograph – the result of collaboration between 30 scientific authors – explores the relationship between epidemiological work on the estimation of drug problems and the development of drug policy and strategy.

The strengths and weaknesses of the most commonly used estimation techniques – such as case finding, capture–recapture, multiplier and nomination – are uncovered in the volume, as are the virtues of combining and comparing different methods in the estimation process. The monograph underlines the need to improve the quality of data on which prevalence estimates depend, and to complement these estimates with qualitative studies exploring other aspects of the drug situation beyond the statistics.

Table of contents
• Science and policy
• Case-finding methods
• Capture-recapture methods
• Multiplier methods
• Nomination methods
• Combining and comparing different estimation methods


Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a pleiotropic factor, which plays an
important role in the nervous system. Previously, we had produced
highly enriched (88.3±8.1%) transplantable populations of neural
progenitors from rhesus monkey embryonic stem cells (rESCs) using an
embryoid body (EB) system containing HGF and G5 supplement. However,
the exact role of HGF in the neural differentiation process as well as
the mechanism of HGF is not clear. Here, on the basis of the
ameliorated differentiation system, we efficiently produced populations
of neural progenitors (81.66±4.37%) from rESCs in an adherent
monoculture system containing HGF and basic fibroblast growth factor
(bFGF) within two weeks. Moreover, we obtained similar results with the
systems containing either HGF or bFGF alone, or neither of them, which
implied that extrinsic HGF can not determine the neural fate of the
rESCs in the differentiation process. Further results suggested HGF
with bFGF synergistically promoted the proliferation of the neural
progenitors derived from rESCs. In conclusion, through this study, a
much simpler method of inducing rESCs differentiation towards neural
cells has been established and extrinsic HGF did not function in neural
induction from rESCs to neural progenitor cells. However, HGF with bFGF
synergistically promoted the proliferation of the neural progenitors
derived from rESCs.


This study focused on the effect of interest rate policy on the growth of the Nigerian economy. It sought to assess the significance of interest rate, and to suggest measures that could enhance economic growth in Nigeria. To achieve the objective of the research, some macroeconomic indicators in the Nigerian economy, using an ex-post facto research design were applied. The data were analyzed using the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method. From the examination, it was uncovered that there was a huge connection between financing cost and GDP in Nigeria. It was additionally found that there was a huge connection between rate for currency exchange and total national output in Nigeria. Inflation was likewise found to significantly affect total national output in Nigeria. In light of these discoveries, it is suggested that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) ought to structure policy framework on the rate of interest that will dependably support and encourage culture of savings in the real sector. This can be accomplished by expanding the rate accruing to savings from foreign and local investors. Additionally, aggregate economic output should be seen as the bane of government policy thrust, through bringing down of rate charged to lending and expanding rate to savings, as this improves financial development.


Inspired by recent work in attention models for image captioning and question answering, we present a soft attention model for the reinforcement learning domain. This model uses a soft, top-down attention mechanism to create a bottleneck in the agent, forcing it to focus on task-relevant information by sequentially querying its view of the environment. The output of the attention mechanism allows direct observation of the information used by the agent to select its actions, enabling easier interpretation of this model than of traditional models. We analyze different strategies that the agents learn and show that a handful of strategies arise repeatedly across different games. We also show that the model learns to query separately about space and content (`where' vs. `what'). We demonstrate that an agent using this mechanism can achieve performance competitive with state-of-the-art models on ATARI tasks while still being interpretable.


The Mandatory Victims Restitution Act requires restitution for federal crimes involving property. In particular, the defendant is required to return any property taken, or, if return is impossible, to pay for the victim's loss, which may be offset by a partial return of the property. In mortgage fraud cases, this usually entails calculating the lender's loss — an unpaid loan — and offsetting that loss by the value of the collateral for the loan, which the lender recovers. The circuits disagree about how to value the recovered collateral as an offset to restitution: Should its value be determined by its appraised fair market value or, conversely, by its final foreclosure price when the victim-lender sells it? This Note concludes that courts should presumptively use the foreclosure price, except when that price can be shown not to approximate the value at the date of return.


The greatest sensitivity and attention to the geoenvironmental problematic underline the urgency to face some matters with new awareness and responsibility, like the management of the territory, the exploitation of the georesources, the energy problem, and the defense against natural risks. The civil community asks for ready and exhaustive answers. The technical-scientific competence of the geologist, linked with the shared deontological practice with respect to the normative in force, can give trust back to the citizens, and support to the political decisoris, the safety and the raising of our professionalism. The Italian territory is a great economic, social and cultural resource that must be defended and valued through the contribution of geologists. New strategies, spheres of action, and operational tools are needed. The National Council of Geologists in Italy is working in this direction.


This study sought to explore the challenges faced by educators in the inclusion of beginners with dyslexia in mainstream primary schools of Nkangala District in Mpumalanga province, South Africa. An exploratory case study design was adopted. Focus-group and semistructured individual interviews were used to collect data. 10 mainstream primary schools which were conveniently sampled participated in this study. The same sampling procedure was used to select principals and senior teachers who taught Grade 1 and 3 classes. The major findings of the study were that some relevant stakeholders have a negative attitude towards the inclusion of learners with dyslexia in mainstream schools. These attitudes basically emanate from lack of specific inclusion policies, inadequate knowledge of dyslexia, limited teaching and learning resources and high workload. The study recommends the development of more specific inclusion policies, intensified dyslexia awareness programmes and workshops, improvisation of learning resources and reduction of teacher workload thereby promoting individual attendance to learners with dyslexia.


Abstract. In this paper, the correlation between cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning and precipitation has been studied by making use of the data from weather radar, meteorological soundings, and a lightning location system that includes three direction finders about 40 km apart from each other in the Pingliang area of east Gansu province in P. R. China. We have studied the convective systems that developed during two cold front processes passing over the observation area, and found that the CG lightning can be an important factor in the precipitation estimation. The regression equation between the average precipitation intensity (R) and the number of CG lightning flashes (L) in the main precipitation period is R = 1.69 ln (L) - 0.27, and the correlation coefficient r is 0.86. The CG lightning flash rate can be used as an indicator of the formation and development of the convective weather system. Another more exhaustive precipitation estimation method has been developed by analyzing the temporal and spatial distributions of the precipitation relative to the location of the CG lightning flashes. Precipitation calculated from the CG lightning flashes is very useful, especially in regions with inadequate radar cover. Key words. Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (atmospheric electricity; lightning; precipitation)


Open-ended contact probes have been widely utilized in laboratory environment to quantify the dielectric properties of high permittivity and lossy materials such as biological tissues and other lossy liquids. At microwave frequencies, the dielectric properties of biological tissues have been quantified with open-ended contact probes method with the motivation of building microwave diagnostic and therapeutic technologies. The method is preferred to other microwave dielectric property measurement techniques due to broadband measurement capabilities and minimal sample preparation requirements. However, the measurement procedure is cumbersome and the measurements tend to be error-prone. The commercial probes can have error rates as high as 5% and it can increase with the cable movements, calibration degradation, and probe wear-off. Although the technique is powerful and able to measure the inherent dielectric property discrepancy between different tissues the applications are confined to laboratory use. To explore the true potential of this technique and enable the transition of this technique to a diagnostic technology, there is a need to improve the technique and analyze the performance in a layered heterogeneous medium. In this work, we performed simulations and measurements with open-ended contact probes having different aperture diameters. The probes are built with copper and Teflon sandwiched between inner and outer conductors. Measurements with open-ended coaxial probes are performed on layered medium emulating the dielectric properties of the biological tissues to analyze the sensing depth and sensitivity of four in-house fabricated open-ended coaxial probes. An in-house algorithm is utilized to retrieve the dielectric properties of the mediums utilized during this study.


'I am doing your Majesty some service here, whilst I am preparing the story of your sufferings; that posterity may know by whose default the nation was even overwhelmed with calamities, and by whose virtue it was redeemed.' Clarendon's massive History has since its first publication in 1702-4 dominated our images of the English Civil War. Written by a man who for over a quarter of a century was one of the closest advisers to Charles I and Charles II, it contains a remarkably frank account of the inadequacies of royalist policy-making as well as an astute analysis of the principles and practice of government. Clarendon chronicles in absorbing detail the factions and intrigues, the rise of Cromwell and the death of Charles I, the bloody battles and the eventual Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 after the Interregnum. He brings to life the key players in a series of brilliant character portraits, and his account is admired as much for its literary quality as its historical value. This new selection conveys a strong sense of the narrative, and contains passages from Clarendon's autobiography, The Life, including the important description of the intellectual coterie at Great Tew in the 1630s. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.


Abstract This article provides a holistic examination of the international legal frameworks which regulate targeted killings by drones. The article argues that for a particular drone strike to be lawful, it must satisfy the legal requirements under all applicable international legal regimes, namely: the law regulating the use of force (ius ad bellum); international humanitarian law and international human rights law. It is argued that the legality of a drone strike under the ius ad bellum does not preclude the wrongfulness of that strike under international humanitarian law or international human rights law, and that since those latter obligations are owed to individuals, one State cannot consent to their violation by another State. The article considers the important legal challenges that the use of armed drones poses under each of the three legal frameworks mentioned above. It considers the law relating to the use of force by States against non-State groups abroad. This part examines the principles of self-defence and consent, in so far as they may be relied upon to justify targeted killings abroad. The article then turns to some of the key controversies in the application of international humanitarian law to drone strikes. It examines the threshold for non-international armed conflicts, the possibility of a global non-international armed conflict and the question of who may be targeted in a non-international armed conflict. The final substantive section of the article considers the nature and application of the right to life in armed conflict, as well as the extraterritorial application of that right particularly in territory not controlled by the State conducting the strike.


Static cache analysis characterizes a program's cache behavior by determining in a sound but approximate manner which memory accesses result in cache hits and which result in cache misses. Such information is valuable in optimizing compilers, worst-case execution time analysis, and side-channel attack quantification and mitigation.Cache analysis is usually performed as a combination of `must' and `may' abstract interpretations, classifying instructions as either `always hit', `always miss', or `unknown'. Instructions classified as `unknown' might result in a hit or a miss depending on program inputs or the initial cache state. It is equally possible that they do in fact always hit or always miss, but the cache analysis is too coarse to see it.Our approach to eliminate this uncertainty consists in (i) a novel abstract interpretation able to ascertain that a particular instruction may definitely cause a hit and a miss on different paths, and (ii) an exact analysis, removing all remaining uncertainty, based on model checking, using abstract-interpretation results to prune down the model for scalability.We evaluated our approach on a variety of examples; it notably improves precision upon classical abstract interpretation at reasonable cost.


Rice is the basic food of most Indonesian people. Currently available in three types of rice is white rice, brown rice, and embryo rice. Embryo rice is brown or red rice reprocessed to eliminate the phytic acid that are anti-nutrients in the hard layer of the epidermis and maintain embryo containing 66% of the total nutrition of rice.Embryo rice milk (surasem) uses the basic ingredients of embryonic red rice and mineral water at a dose of about 1 in 20, cooked within 46 minutes using a pressure cooker to decompose rice nutrients into the water. Subsequent processing is mixing surasem with the natural flavors of fresh fruits such as apples and berries, stirred and packed with a volume of 220 ml. Surasem excellent consumption by people with diabetics mellitus and hypertension due to low glucose and high anti oxidant content. This activity produces surasem with various fruit flavors in packs ready for sale, is distributed to the campus cafeteria and government agencies, and health care communities in Jember. Business development is done by increase production capacity, packaging design, marketing by leveraging information and communication technologies, and franchise business models based small and medium enterprises (UKM) to become a profitable business opportunity, contributing to improving the health and prosperity of society. Keywords : Embryo Rice, Natural flavorings, Surasem


Subterranean termites are serious pests of wood in service in much of the world. One of the most popular techniques for monitoring and controlling termites is the use of in-ground monitoring stations. Different cellulosic matrices were evaluated in terms of mass loss, moisture content variation and termite presence, accounting for spatial coordinates and monitoring station conditional variables, including: type of cellulosic matrix, matrix treatment and meteorological conditions, during one year in field conditions, both in Portugal and in the USA. A multivariate redundancy analysis was performed resulting in 60.4% of data variability being explained by the variables considered in this analysis. Spatial variables were responsible for the highest amount of variance observed in the response variables monitored for the termite monitoring stations, followed by the type of cellulosic matrix, from which cellulose and Hevea brasiliensis were the most influential variables. The optimization of termite in-ground monitoring stations should be performed through correct evaluation of termite feeding preferences and decay resistance, in order to choose an adequate bait matrix and a proper bait design. The termite species biology and the geographical location where control programs will be applied should also be taken into account.


As the magnitude, complexity, and urgency of many sustainability problems increase, there is a growing need for universities to contribute more effectively to problem solving. Drawing upon prior research on social-ecological systems, knowledge- action connections, and organizational innovation, we developed an integrated conceptual framework for strengthening the capacity of universities to help society understand and respond to a wide range of sustainability challenges. Based on experiences gained in creating the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions (Mitchell Center), we tested this framework by evaluating the experiences of interdisciplinary research teams involved in place-based, solutions-oriented research projects at the scale of a single region (i.e., the state of Maine, USA). We employed a multiple-case-study approach examining the experiences of three interdisciplinary research teams working on tidal energy development, adaptation to climate change, and forest vulnerability to an invasive insect. Drawing upon documents, observations, interviews, and other data sources, three common patterns emerged across these cases that were associated with more effective problem-solving strategies. First, an emphasis on local places and short-term dynamics in social- ecological systems research provides more frequent opportunities for learning while doing. Second, iterative stakeholder engagement and inclusive forms of knowledge co-production can generate substantial returns on investment, especially when researchers are dedicated to a shared process of problem identification and they avoid framing solutions too narrowly. Although these practices are time consuming, they can be accelerated by leveraging existing stakeholder relationships. Third, efforts to mobilize interdisciplinary expertise and link knowledge with action are facilitated by an organizational culture that emphasizes mutual respect, adaptability, and solutions. Participation of faculty associated with interdisciplinary academic programs, solutions-oriented fields, and units with partnership-oriented missions hastens collaboration within teams and between teams and stakeholders. The Mitchell Center also created a risk-tolerant culture that encouraged organizational learning. Solutions-focused programs at other universities can potentially benefit from the lessons we learned.


We explore a synergistic approach to use the complementary angular samplings from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to improve MODIS surface bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) and albedo retrieval. Preliminary case studies show that MODIS and MISR surface bidirectional reflectance factors (BRFs) are generally comparable in the green, red, and near infrared. An information index is introduced to characterize the information content of directional samplings, and it is found that MISR angular observations can bring additional information to the MODIS retrieval, especially when the MISR observations are close to the principal plane. We use the BRDF parameters derived from the MISR surface BRFs as a priori information and derive a posteriori estimates of surface BRDF parameters with the MODIS observations. Results show that adding MISR angular samplings can reduce the relative BRF prediction error by up to 10% in the red and green, compared to the retrievals from MODIS-only observations which are close to the cross-principal plane.


The abstract is to be in fully-justified italicized text, at the top of the left-hand column, below the author and affiliation information. Use the word "Abstract" as the title, in 12-point Times, boldface type, centered relative to the column, initially capitalized. The abstract is to be in 10-point, single-spaced type. The abstract may be up to 3 inches (7.62 cm) long. Leave two blank lines after the Abstract, then begin the main text.


Recently, the public has become more aware of the environmental problems facing our planet today. Underground water pollution is one of these problems, and it requires serious attention. As a result, many studies have been performed to examine the movement of water within soil. These studies present many new models for determining soil water retention rates. It is essential that these models be investigated for accuracy and applicability. This study attempts to analyze three of these well-known water retention models: Campbell, Saxton, and Huston-Cass. To analyze these models, the pressure plate test (ASTM C199-09) was performed on soil samples with different soil textures and from different geographical locations within the country of Iran. Using these results, the general applicability of each model was measured using the 1:1 slope line correlation method. In addition, the accuracy and applicability of each model was measured by calculating the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and the Mean Absolute Error (MAE) for major samples with different soil textures. The results indicate that the Huston-Cass model is the most applicable for predicting soil water retention rates regardless of soil texture. Further results show that the Campbell model is more applicable relative to the Saxton model with regards to loamy soil. The Saxton model shows low accuracy and applicability, and should therefore only be used in cases where a high level of accuracy in the estimating process is not essential, or in cases with high pressure or suction terms. Key-Words: Model Applicability, Pressure Plate Test, Site Investigations, Soil Water Retention Models


Open source is the future of technology. This community is growing by the day; developing and improving existing frameworks and software for free. Open source replacements are coming up for almost all proprietary software nowadays. This paper proposes an open source application which could replace Skype, a popular VoIP soft phone. The performance features of the developed software is analyzed and compared with Skype so that we can conclude that it can be an efficient replacement. This application is developed in pure Java using various APIs and package and boasts features like voice calling, chatting, file sharing etc. The target audience for this software will initially only be organizations (for internal communication) and later will be released on a larger scale.


I. INTRODUCTION II. Overview of Accountable Care Organizations A. What is an Accountable Care Organization? B. Structure and Operations C. Preliminary Cost and Quality Findings III. CONFLICT WITH FEDERAL STARK PHYSICIAN SELF-REFERRAL LAW A. Potential Implication of Stark B. Purpose of Stark C. Stark and ACO Approaches to Achieving Shared Goals IV. CMS' WAIVER APPROACH AND ALTERNATIVES A. Current Waiver B. Public Comments Received on CMS' Interim Final Waiver Rule C. Alternative Approaches V. RECOMMENDATION VI. CONCLUSION I. INTRODUCTION Scholars and legal practitioners have long debated the virtues and vices of integrated models of health care delivery and financing. Few such models have been as promising or as rapidly adopted as Accountable Care Organizations ("ACOs"), the latest concept in delivering cost-effective, high-quality health care. Implementation of pre-ACO models, however, never required extensive grants of immunity to providers and suppliers from the federal Stark physician self-referral law ("Stark") and other fraud and abuse laws. (1) The broad waivers issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") for implementing ACOs raise unprecedented legal questions concerning Stark's application to these hospital/physician arrangements designed to decrease costs. Furthermore, the waivers represent new opportunities to reconcile, through rulemaking, the cost savings of ACOs with their attendant risks of physician abuse or patient harm accomplished through Stark-proscribed self-referral. This Article discusses: the ACO model and how it works (Part I); the specific areas of conflict between Stark regulations and ACOs and their respective approaches to regulating health care cost and quality (Part II); CMS' current interim waiver of Stark for ACO arrangements, including stakeholder reactions through public comment and alternative approaches to resolving ACO-Stark conflict (Part III). Part IV analyzes the costs and benefits of addressing ACO-Stark conflict through a temporary waiver versus ex ante reconciliation of the two regimes. It recommends that CMS maintain the current waiver with additional safeguards to mitigate Stark risks, and consult findings from the 2012 empirical data collected before taking further action. II. OVERVIEW OF ACCOUNTABLE CARE ORGANIZATIONS This section provides a general survey of Accountable Care Organizations ("ACOs"). It discusses what an ACO is, how it is structured and operated, and current empirical results regarding ACOs' effects on cost and quality of health care services delivered. A. What is an Accountable Care Organization? An Accountable Care Organization ("ACO") is a group of medical providers and suppliers that work together to manage and coordinate care for a patient population. (2) The Medicare Shared Savings Program ("MSSP"), authorized under the Affordable Care Act ("ACA"), gives providers and suppliers the option to create such a structure for Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries. (3) In exchange for reducing medical costs and maintaining quality of care at or beyond a level specified by CMS, the ACO providers and suppliers receive a share of cost savings realized through voluntarily implementing various service delivery reforms. (4) These include processes to promote evidence-based medicine, sharing of electronic health records ("EHR"), joint decision-making and governance, and care coordination processes. (5) More generally, the ACA statute outlines ACO objectives, which are to: promote accountability, encourage investment in infrastructure, coordinate provision of Medicare services, and redesign care processes for high quality and efficient service delivery. (6) ACOs have adopted a variety of innovative methods for integrating care and reducing costs for specific patient populations. Studies based on ACO pilot demonstrations present a plethora of qualitative findings of provider-specific approaches to accomplishing ACO goals. …


Abstract Nitrogen availability is considered limiting for plant growth at the forest-tundra ecotone, and it might modulate ecosystem response to climate warming. The aim of this research was to compare the impact of climate, vegetation cover, and soil organic matter (SOM) chemistry on N mineralization rates at the forest-tundra ecotone. We therefore estimated N mineralization in mountain birch (Betula pubescens Ehrh. ssp. czerepanovii) forest and tundra soil across a broad-scale latitudinal gradient in Fennoscandia, which incorporated 4 research sites (Dovrefjell, Vassijaure, Abisko, and Joatka). During the summer period, ammonium was the dominant form of mineralized nitrogen in forest soils, while nitrate mineralization rates were higher at tundra sites during the winter. A negative regression relationship between an index of climatic continentality and N mineralization was found. Further, summer NH4+ mineralization rates increased with total N content in soils, while NO3− mineralization seemed to be associated with C availability. Our study showed markedly contrasting inorganic N release in forest and tundra soil, and that, although mineralization rates differed between the summer and winter period, the winter activity was relatively high and should not be ignored. We conclude that a shift in the forest-tundra ecotone in response to climate warming will have stronger effects on nitrogen availability at these sites than the direct effects of warming.


Burn wound fluid analysis can be useful in representing the physiological changes taking place in the underlying burn tissue micro-environment. These data may relate to cellular components, signalling mediators and protein content, and can provide clues as to the extent of local tissue damage, the depth of the wound and the potential for systemic complications. This information can impact on wound management decisions, and appears to provide a more accurate reflection of the burn wound pathophysiology than traditional blood or serum investigations. This review provides the historical context of burn fluid analysis, and suggests new avenues for utilising this untapped resource.


The genus Hermodice Kinberg, 1857 was established with the species Aphrodita carunculata Pallas, 1766, based on the shape and development of the caruncle. Several species were later described within the genus; however, it is currently regarded as monotypical, with H. carunculata as a widespread species. An evaluation of available type and nontype specimens together with observations of living specimens has allowed the diagnostic features to be refined, and two new features have been included: the number of branchial filaments and the anal lobe. Consequently, in this study we have been able to confirm the differences between Hermodice and Pherecardia Horst, 1886. The type species, H. carunculata, has been redescribed, and H. nigrolineata Baird, 1870 has been re-established. Further, H. formosa (Quatrefages, 1866) has been transferred to Pherecardia, together with H. pennata Treadwell, 1906 and H. distincta Hoagland, 1920.


Some researchers, for example, Koop (1992), and Sims (1988), advocated for Bayesian alternatives to unit-root testing over the classical approach using the augmented Dickey-Fuller test (ADF). This paper studies what Koop (1992) called the 'Objective' Bayesian approach to unit-root testing. We apply the 'objective' Bayesian unit-root test to a study of long-run purchasing power parity (PPP) for the post-Bretton Woods era. While the classical approach using the ADF test cannot reject the unit-root hypothesis, the Bayesian approach, on the other hand, suggests that the unit-root hypothesis is not strongly supported by the sample data. Rather, the trend-stationary hypothesis receives the highest posterior probability in all cases except for the Japanese yen/German mark real exchange rate where the stationary hypothesis receives the highest posterior probability. In two Monte Carlo simulations, however, we find that the 'objective' Bayesian test have relatively low power in distinguishing between plausible alternatives, making it difficult to draw any conclusions concerning long-run PPP. We conclude that, at least for the 'objective' Bayesian test, the Bayesian approach is not necessary better than the classical ADF approach.


In a series of articles we have looked at individual early Middle English writing systems and explored aspects of multivocal sound/symbol and symbol/sound relationships. This article combines previous observations with new material, and provides insights into the genesis of these relations and how they may interconnect. Since many early Middle English texts survive as copies, not originals, they may give clues to the orthographic systems of their exemplars too. We investigate the 'extensibility' of Litteral and Potestatic Substitution Sets. Writing systems may be economical or prodigal. The 'ideal' economical system would map into a broad phonetic or a phonemic transcription: that is, one 'sound', one symbol. In early Middle English there is no one standard written norm, so there is potentially less restraint on diversity than in standard systems. Further extensibility is built into the system. We show that much of what tends to be dismissed as 'scribal error' rather represents writing praxis no longer familiar to us – flexible matrices of substitution and variation.


— This paper describes a new model for check-in process: customized (or business-oriented) check-ins. This approach introduces a new mobile service that lets any business publish customized records (statuses) in social networks (Facebook in the current release) in exchange for some benefits (discounts, gifts, coupons) provided for the customers. For the business, this service introduces a new way for advertising in the social networks. For the consumers, this service introduces a way for exchanging access to the own social graph for some benefits (e.g., gifts, discounts, coupons).


This paper examines patterns of housing wealth among the aged in Australia over time and compares Australian housing wealth patterns with those in North America and Western Europe, to determine if the Australian elderly hold particularly high levels of housing wealth, and if this leads to a relative overconsumption of housing. The paper uses data from the three most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Household Expenditure Surveys (1993-94, 1998-99 and 2003-04).


Certain geologic media are known to have small permeability; subsurface environments composed of these media and lacking well developed secondary permeability have groundwater flow sytems with many distinctive characteristics. Moreover, groundwater flow in these environments appears to influence the evolution of certain hydrologic, geologic, and geochemical systems, may affect the accumulation of pertroleum and ores, and probably has a role in the structural evolution of parts of the crust. Such environments are also important in the context of waste disposal. This review attempts to synthesize the diverse contributions of various disciplines to the problem of flow in low-permeability environments. Problems hindering analysis are enumerated together with suggested approaches to overcoming them. A common thread running through the discussion is the significance of size- and time-scale limitations of the ability to directly observe flow behavior and make measurements of parameters. These limitations have resulted in rather distinct small- and large-scale approaches to the problem. The first part of the review considers experimental investigations of low-permeability flow, including in situ testing; these are generally conducted on temporal and spatial scales which are relatively small compared with those of interest. Results from this work have provided increasingly detailed information about many aspects of the flow but leave certain questions unanswered. Recent advances in laboratory and in situ testing techniques have permitted measurements of permeability and storage properties in progressively "tighter" media and investigation of transient flow under these conditions. However, very large hydraulic gradients are still required for the tests; an observational gap exists for typical in situ gradients. The applicability of Darcy's law in this range is therefore untested, although claims of observed non-Darcian behavior appear flawed. Two important nonhydraulic flow phenomena, osmosis and ultrafiltration, are experimentally well established in prepared clays but have been incompletely investigated, particularly in undisturbed geologic media. Small-scale experimental results form much of the basis for analyses of flow in low-permeability environments which occurs on scales of time and size too large to permit direct observation. Such large-scale flow behavior is the focus of the second part of the review. Extrapolation of small-scale experimental experience becomes an important and sometimes controversial problem in this context. In large flow systems under steady state conditions the regional permeability can sometimes be determined, but systems with transient flow are more difficult to analyze. The complexity of the problem is enhanced by the sensitivity of large-scale flow to the effects of slow geologic processes. One-dimensional studies have begun to elucidate how simple burial or exhumation can generate transient flow conditions by changing the state of stress and temperature and by burial metamorphism. Investigation of the more complex problem of the interaction of geologic processes and flow in two and three dimensions is just beginning. Because these transient flow analyses have largely been based on flow in experimental scale systems or in relatively permeable systems, deformation in response to effective stress changes is generally treated as linearly elastic; however, this treatment creates difficulties for the long periods of interest because viscoelastic deformation is probably significant. Also, large-scale flow simulations in argillaceous environments generally have neglected osmosis and ultrafiltration, in part because extrapolation of laboratory experience with coupled flow to large scales under in situ conditions is controversial. Nevertheless, the effects are potentially quite important because the coupled flow might cause ultra long lived transient conditions. The difficulties associated with analysis are matched by those of characterizing hydrologic conditions in tight environments; measurements of hydraulic head and sampling of pore fluids have been done only rarely because of the practical difficulties involved. These problems are also discussed in the second part of this paper.


Abstract This paper provides a method for determining a numerical solution of the thermal damage of living tissues using a nonlinear dual phase lag model. Due to the nonlinearity of the basic equations, the finite element approach is adopted to solve such problems. The numerical outcomes obtained by the finite element technique are also compared with the existing experimental study to verify the accuracy of the numerical calculations. Based on the formulation of Arrhenius, the thermal damages to the tissues are estimated by the denatured protein range. Numerical results for temperatures are presented graphically. Also, the comparisons between the numerical outcomes and the existing experimental data show that the present mathematical models are effective tools to evaluate the bioheat transfer in a spherical living tissue.


This introduction examines the global legislative process as it applies to environmental agreements. It argues that this process should be seen as consisting of at least two phases. Phase one seeks to create a broad legislative framework designed to facilitate debate emanating from three different perspectives: science, equity, and economics. Phase one also seeks to attract as many countries as possible to the negotiating process. Phase two then tries to reconcile at least some of the conflicts inherent in these three different starting points.


In June 2018, the second Context, Cognition and Communication conference was held in Warsaw. Philosophers and linguists from over twenty countries presented more than eighty papers on the broadly understood philosophy of language and mind. After the conference, we announced the call for papers for the special issue of Semiotic Studies under the general title Meaning, Content and Reference. The call was addressed both to conference participants and the sophical community in general. The current issue of Semiotic Studies contains the best articles submitted in response to that call.


Keep your electronics safe from prying eyes with the BLACKHAWK! Under the Radar bags. Even when powered down and turned off, devices emit a slight electronic pulse that can be identified by thieves using sophisticated detection devices. This allows them to hone in on your valuable electronics to either steal or access private information. Designed to block these electronic transmissions, Under the Radar removes your electronic signature and protects your data and your gadgets.


Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in the circulatory system have been suggested to maintain vascular homeostasis and contribute to adult vascular regeneration and repair. These processes require that EPCs recognize the extracellular matrix (ECM), migrate, differentiate, and undergo tube morphogenesis. The ECM plays a critical role by providing biochemical and biophysical cues that regulate cellular behavior. Here, we tested the importance of transforming growth factor‐beta‐induced protein (TGFBIp) in regulation of the differentiation and angiogenic potential of human cord blood‐derived EPCs (CD133+C‐kit+Lin− cells). EPCs displayed increased endothelial differentiation when plated on TGFBIp compared to fibronectin. EPCs also exhibited increased adhesion and migration upon TGFBIp stimulation. Moreover, TGFBIp induced phosphorylation of the intracellular signaling molecules SRC, FAK, AKT, JNK, and ERK in EPCs. Using integrin‐neutralizing antibodies, we showed that the effects of TGFBIp on EPCs are mediated by integrins α4 and α5. Furthermore, TGFBIp increased the adhesion, migration, and tube formation of CD34+ mouse bone marrow stem cells in vitro. Gene expression analysis of EPCs plated on TGFBIp revealed that EPCs stimulated by TGFBIp exhibit increased expression of Notch ligands, such as delta‐like 1 (DLL1) and Jagged1 (JAG1), through nuclear factor‐kappa B signaling activation. Collectively, our findings demonstrate, for the first time, that locally generated TGFBIp at either wounds or tumor sites may contribute to differentiation and angiogenic function of EPCs by augmenting the recruitment of EPCs and regulating the expression of endothelial genes DLL1 and JAG1. Stem Cells 2015;33:2052–2062


We have previously presented a monitoring algorithm for compliance checking of policies formalized in an expressive metric first-order temporal logic. We explain here the steps required to go from the original algorithm to a working infrastructure capable of monitoring an existing distributed application producing millions of log entries per day. The main challenge is to correctly and efficiently monitor the trace interleavings obtained by totally ordering actions that happen at the same time. We provide solutions based on formula transformations and monitoring representative traces. We also report, for the first time, on statistics on the performance of our monitor on real-world data, providing evidence of its suitability for nontrivial applications.


We generate a high-spectral-irradiance, high-quality continuum by weakly focusing femtosecond pulses in Kr gas. We use this continuum as a source for rapid Z-scan measurements of the degenerate nonlinear absorption spectrum and the associated dispersion of the nonlinear refraction in optical materials throughout the visible. We measure the degenerate two-photon absorption spectra and the dispersion of the nonlinear refractive index, n2, of two well-characterized semiconductors (ZnSe and ZnS) as reference samples for our method, along with dilute solutions of organic materials. The latter materials demonstrate application of the technique to samples with lower nonlinearities.