Rechargeable lithium–iodine (Li–I2) batteries are a promising electrochemical energy storage candidate due to their high energy and power density. However, the high solubility of iodine in electrolytes seriously deteriorates the electrochemical performance of Li–I2 batteries. In addition, the low iodine content in the cathode impedes the enhancement of energy density. Active graphene (AG) has a large specific surface area, abundant micropores and mesopores, free inter-particle voids and unimpeded ion diffusion channels, making it a promising substrate for loading a high content of iodine. In this study, I2–AG composites were fabricated through an in situ iodine deposition route. The facile synthesis process can introduce a high content of iodine into the nanopores of AG effectively. The microstructure and morphology of the I2–AG composites were characterized using Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) methods. The results show that iodine is well dispersed in the nanopores of AG. The as-prepared I2–AG composites exhibit high specific capacity, excellent cyclic performance and high rate performance. In particular, the I2–AG composite, with a high iodine content of 56 wt%, delivers a high capacity of 218 mA h g−1 at a 1C rate, and maintains 161 mA h g−1 after 500 cycles, corresponding to a low capacity fading of only 0.023% per cycle. Especially, the I2–AG composite exhibits outstanding high-rate performance. Even at 20C, an appreciable discharge capacity of 184 mA h g−1 can still be obtained. The results indicate that the high content of soluble iodine can be well constrained in the nanopores of AG during charging and discharging processes, making Li–I2 batteries a promising alternative energy storage device with both high energy and high power density.


Abstract. Deep water formation in climate models is indicative of their ability to simulate future ocean circulation, carbon and heat uptake, and sea level rise. Present-day temperature, salinity, sea ice concentration and ocean transport in the North Atlantic subpolar gyre and Nordic Seas from 23 CMIP5 (Climate Model Intercomparison Project, phase 5) models are compared with observations to assess the biases, causes and consequences of North Atlantic deep convection in models. The majority of models convect too deep, over too large an area, too often and too far south. Deep convection occurs at the sea ice edge and is most realistic in models with accurate sea ice extent, mostly those using the CICE model. Half of the models convect in response to local cooling or salinification of the surface waters; only a third have a dynamic relationship between freshwater coming from the Arctic and deep convection. The models with the most intense deep convection have the warmest deep waters, due to a redistribution of heat through the water column. For the majority of models, the variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is explained by the volumes of deep water produced in the subpolar gyre and Nordic Seas up to 2 years before. In turn, models with the strongest AMOC have the largest heat export to the Arctic. Understanding the dynamical drivers of deep convection and AMOC in models is hence key to realistically forecasting Arctic oceanic warming and its consequences for the global ocean circulation, cryosphere and marine life.


This document contains a set of updates to the base syntax for CMC, a
Certificate Management protocol using the Cryptographic Message Syntax
(CMS). This document updates RFC 5272, RFC 5273 and RFC 5274. The new
items in this document are: New controls for future work in doing
server side key generation. Definition of a Subject Information Access
value to identify CMC servers. The registration of a port number for
TCP/IP for the CMC service to run on.


We present a new technique of real-time measurement for the pure axial force distribution exerted by a full size active polishing tool on large aspheric surfaces. The technique uses an array of custom developed flat line load cells incorporating semiconductor strain gauges that can withstand the large shear forces in polishing. Design, manufacture and characterization of the force sensor array and its instrumentation to the active polisher are described. In particular, thermal characterization of the sensors proved that the temperature change by a few degrees required for a polishing tool has negligible effects on sensitivity and zero-point offset. Effects of non-axial force components were compensated with four independent half-bridge signals inside a sensor unit. This was further removed with a gap condition between the sensor array and the structural membrane, of which the latter functions as a point of pushing and pulling the polishing lap. The sensor array shows a potential usage in detecting and controlling the non-axial force components in operation. The real-time graphical map of axial polishing force generated by the sensor array improved the polishing efficiency by at least 30% compared to the traditional polishing technique.


This article proposes a radical change in the way African-American children and families are handled within the legal system when abuse and neglect are at issue. African-American disproportionality in child protection cases is significant for the United States because documentation shows that African-American children are overrepresented in the child welfare system in forty-eight states, although research shows that there is no difference in the occurrence of child abuse and neglect among the races. The first part of the article presents an overview of disproportionality by presenting the national statistics and research, revealing where racial bias and disparate treatment occurs within the child welfare system. Current state legislation developed to address disproportionality is also discussed. The second part of the article outlines the proposed African-American Child Welfare Act and sets forth the legislative goals for the legal and social work systems that serve to protect children and to improve family relationships. It also examines the need for federal legislation to address the problem of overrepresentation of African-American children in the foster care system. The third part of the article analyzes the constitutional issues that arise when proposing a federal law that provides a different set of legal guidelines for one race. The article argues that the law must change in order to counterbalance the existing disproportionality in a large-scale, meaningful way and to provide equal protection to African-American families and children.


The piece examines proposals for changing the current system for registering securities under the Securities Act of 1933. Under the current transaction-based system, issuers must register each non-exempt public offering of securities. Despite the SEC's rule-making power, regulatory revision, at least with respect to the implementation of any major changes to the existing federal securities regulation landscape, has traditionally followed a somewhat cyclical model.First, there is discussion in the academic and professional literature, commenting on, criticizing or proposing changes to some facet of the existing regulatory system ("public debate"); then, either overlapping with or following this public debate, the SEC may informally float non-binding suggestions for changes, through presentations at conferences, or unofficial articles and publications written by SEC staff members ("agency debate"). Again, perhaps overlapping with the agency debate, the SEC may next issue a formal statement, such as a release, containing proposals to address, and even further shape the discourse, seeking comments on the statements ("agency proposal"). After renewed public debate, and taking into consideration, to varying extents, the comments made, the SEC then exercises its rule-making power and formalizes the revisions into rules ("agency action").Because of the cyclical nature of the model, as new rules are enacted and put into effect, courts may have an opportunity to interpret them or to pass on their constitutionality, and commentators and the private bar have an opportunity to evaluate the success of the new rules and any deficiencies or other issues arising therefrom, generating additional public debate. Thus, in the aftermath of the agency action, the cycle starts all over again ("next public debate"). The agency action portion of the model has become much easier for the SEC to accomplish in recent years. The SEC is now authorized by statute to go beyond rule-making simply to carry out the provisions of securities laws. Agency action to adopt a company registration system is the next logical step in the progression from a transaction-based registration system to a company-based registration system. This progression includes the public debate and agency action that was the precursor of company registration - the adoption of the integrated disclosure system for the primary offering and secondary trading markets and the adoption of the shelf registration process. This was followed by the penultimate step towards a company-based registration system, the universal shelf. Arguably, the entire federal securities regulatory system fits into the cyclical model. This Article, however, is limited to an exploration of the company registration proposal put forth by the SEC in July 1996 in its historical context. Part II of this Article is an application of the cyclical model to the adoption of the integrated disclosure system and the shelf registration process. Part III is an application of the cyclical model to the SEC's company registration proposal as a logical outflow of prior debates, including a discussion of possible issues left unresolved by or raised by the company registration proposal that may generate the next public debate, with a recommendation that the SEC adopt company registration.


Effects of Temporal Self-Comparisons on the Pursuit of Improvement Sokiente Watariye Dagogo-Jack Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Mark R. Forehand Department of Marketing and International Business This dissertation consists of three chapters. Chapter one reviews the current state of knowledge on temporal self-comparisons and distills different theories and findings into three key principles that can guide future research on the role of temporal comparisons in consumer behavior. Chapters two and three are empirical investigations intended to stand alone as submissions to peer-reviewed journals. Chapter two examines the effects of temporal self-comparisons on product upgrade behavior (i.e., the pursuit of improvement external to the self). Four experiments show a "temporal egotism" process whereby consumers project their own selfimprovement perceptions onto self-connected brands, which subsequently increases product upgrade likelihood. Chapter three explores the interactive effects of temporal and social comparisons on self-improvement pursuit (i.e., the pursuit of improvement internal to the self). Five experiments demonstrate that temporal decline in the self increases consumers' interest in self-improvement products and remedial behaviors when they are of relatively high social standing, but not when they are of lower social standing.


With the development of neuroinformatics, a number of large int rnational databases of brain imaging data have been built by integrati n images collected from multiple imaging centers or neuroscientific research i nstitutes. This thesis aims to develop accurate, robust and automatic brain image a nalysis methods that can be applied to analyze the images contained in the lar g databases. First a fully automatic algorithm, the Adaptive Disconnection method, was developed to segment the brain volume into the left and right cerebral hemispheres, the left and right cerebellar hemispheres and the b rainstem in threedimensional magnetic resonance images. Using the partial d ifferential equations based shape bottlenecks algorithm cooperating with a n information potential value clustering process, the method detects and cu ts, first, the compartmental connections between the cerebrum, the cerebellum an d the brainstem in the white matter domain, and then, the interhemispheric c onnections of the extracted cerebrum and cerebellum volumes. The modeling of partial volume effect is used to locate cerebrum, cerebellum and brainstem boundaries, and make the interhemispheric connections detectable. With th e knowledge of the subject orientation in the scanner, the Adaptive Disconnection method can automatically adapt the variations in subject location and norm al brain morphology in different images without the aid of stereotaxic registra tion. The method was evaluated with one simulated realistic database and three c linical databases. The evaluation results showed that the developed method is very accurate and can well tolerate the image noises and intensity non-uniformit y. TheAdaptive Disconnectionmethod was applied to analyses of cerebral structural asymm etries in schizophrenia. The obtained results were consistent wit h previously reported observations and hypotheses of abnormal brain asymmetry in sch zophrenia. Furthermore, an automatic shape analysis method was develo p d based on the Adaptive Disconnectionmethod for studying the Yakovlevian torque in three-dimensional brain magnetic resonance images by nume rically modeling the interhemispheric fissure shape with polynomial surface and measuring its regional averaged and local curvature features. This shape analysis method can produce straightforward quantification and geometric inte rpretation of local and regional Yakovlevian torque.


Abstract An understanding of basic reproductive biology is essential for successful species-specific management of elasmobranch fishes (sharks, skates, and rays). Such information is often gained through gross dissection or other lethal techniques, which are not appropriate for threatened and endangered species. Previous work on other vertebrates suggested that sex steroid hormones can be extracted from muscle tissues to identify reproductive status. Collecting for muscle biopsy is quick and minimally invasive and can be done without removing an animal from the water. Thus, the objective of the current study was to determine the efficacy of using muscle steroid hormones to assess the reproductive biology of elasmobranch fishes. The results suggest that concentrations of muscle progesterone, testosterone, and estradiol can be successfully quantified to study reproduction by radioimmunoassay. Additionally, there were significant correlations between the plasma and muscle estradiol concentrations in Spiny Dogfish Squalus acanthias and the progesterone, testosterone, and estradiol concentrations in Atlantic Sharpnose Sharks Rhizoprionodon terraenovae. The present investigation thus demonstrates that skeletal muscle is a nonlethally harvestable tissue that is well suited for studying the reproductive biology of elasmobranchs.


In recent years, the biosolubilization of rock phosphates by phosphate-solubilizing microorganisms has become a major topic of research studies. However, the microorganisms used in previous studies were mostly single and known species, and studies seldom focused on mixed communities of microorganisms or microbial consortia from natural environments. In this study, a microbial consortium from rhizospheric soil was used to solubilize two different compositions of medium- to low-grade rock phosphates — designated as ore samples 1 and 2 — in a laboratory-scale bioreactor. The microbial consortium showed good growth in the bioreactor, reduced the suspension pH and released soluble phosphates from the ores. Scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy showed the action of the microbial consortium on the ore surface. There was considerable corrosion on the ore surface, and 3.42 and 4.93 percent of the element phosphorus was removed from ore samples 1 and 2, respectively. Microorganisms were sampled from the bioreactor for the analysis of their community structures by Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing. The analysis show that the suspensions added with different ore samples had different microbial diversities and richness. This study provides new insight into the biosolubilization of rock phosphates by a microbial consortium directly taken from rhizospheric soils.


Abstract In this work, we study the effective behavior of a two-dimensional variational model within finite crystal plasticity for high-contrast bilayered composites. Precisely, we consider materials arranged into periodically alternating thin horizontal strips of an elastically rigid component and a softer one with one active slip system. The energies arising from these modeling assumptions are of integral form, featuring linear growth and non-convex differential constraints. We approach this non-standard homogenization problem via Gamma-convergence. A crucial first step in the asymptotic analysis is the characterization of rigidity properties of limits of admissible deformations in the space BV of functions of bounded variation. In particular, we prove that, under suitable assumptions, the two-dimensional body may split horizontally into finitely many pieces, each of which undergoes shear deformation and global rotation. This allows us to identify a potential candidate for the homogenized limit energy, which we show to be a lower bound on the Gamma-limit. In the framework of non-simple materials, we present a complete Gamma-convergence result, including an explicit homogenization formula, for a regularized model with an anisotropic penalization in the layer direction.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Triglyceride-rich lipoproteins may contribute to the high cardiovascular risk of patients with CKD. This study evaluated associations of apo-B and markers of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins with cardiovascular events in people with CKD.

DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS
Analyses were conducted in 9270 participants with CKD in the Study of Heart and Renal Protection (SHARP): 6245 not on dialysis (mean eGFR 26.5 ml/min per 1.73 m2), and 3025 on dialysis when recruited. Cox regression methods were used to evaluate associations of lipids with incident atherosclerotic and nonatherosclerotic vascular events, adjusting for demographics and clinical characteristics. Hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated per 1 SD higher level for apo-B, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglyceride-rich lipoprotein cholesterol (i.e., total cholesterol minus LDL cholesterol minus HDL cholesterol), non-HDL cholesterol, log triglyceride, and log ratio of triglyceride to HDL cholesterol.

RESULTS
During a median follow-up of 4.9 years (interquartile range, 4.0-5.5 years), 1406 participants experienced at least one atherosclerotic vascular event. In multivariable adjusted models, positive associations with atherosclerotic vascular events were observed for apo-B (HR per 1 SD, 1.19; 95% confidence interval, 1.12 to 1.27), triglycerides (1.06; 1.00 to 1.13), the ratio of triglyceride to HDL cholesterol (1.10; 1.03 to 1.18), and triglyceride-rich lipoprotein cholesterol (1.14; 1.05 to 1.25). By contrast, inverse associations with nonatherosclerotic vascular events were observed for each of these lipid markers: apo-B (HR per 1 SD, 0.92; 0.85 to 0.98), triglycerides (0.86; 0.81 to 0.92), the ratio of triglyceride to HDL cholesterol (0.88; 0.82 to 0.94), and triglyceride-rich lipoprotein cholesterol (0.85; 0.77 to 0.94).

CONCLUSIONS
Higher apo-B, triglycerides, ratio of triglyceride to HDL cholesterol, and triglyceride-rich lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations were associated with increased risk of atherosclerotic vascular events in CKD. Reducing triglyceride-rich lipoproteins using novel therapeutic agents could potentially lower the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk in the CKD population.


Eosinophils preferentially accumulate at sites of chronic allergic diseases such as bronchial asthma. The mechanisms by which selective eosinophil migration occurs are not fully understood. However, interactions of cell-surface adhesion molecules on the eosinophil with molecular counterligands on endothelial and epithelial cells, and on extracellular matrix proteins, are likely to be critical during the recruitment process. One possible mechanism for selective eosinophil recruitment involves the alpha-4-beta-1 (VLA-4) integrin which is not expressed on neutrophils. Correlations have been found between infiltration of eosinophils and endothelial expression of VCAM-1, the ligand for VLA-4, in the lungs of asthmatic individuals as well as in late phase reactions in the lungs, nose and skin. Epithelial and endothelial cells respond to the Th2-type cytokines IL-13 with selective de novo expression of VCAM-1, consistent with the possible role of VCAM-1/VLA-4 interactions in eosinophil influx during allergic inflammation. Both beta-1 and beta-2 integrins on eosinophils exist in a state of partial activation. For example, eosinophils can be maximally activated for adhesion to VCAM-1 or fibronectin after exposure to beta-1 integrin-activating antibodies or divalent cations, conditions that do not necessarily affect the total cell surface expression of beta-1 integrins. In contrast, cytokines like IL-5 prevent beta-1 integrin activation while promoting beta-2 integrin function. Furthermore, ligation of integrins can regulate the effector functions of the cell. For example, eosinophil adhesion via beta-1 and/or beta-2 integrins has been shown to alter a variety of functional responses including degranulation and apoptosis. Thus, integrins appear to be important in mediating eosinophil migration and activation in allergic inflammation. Strategies that interfere with these processes may prove to be useful for treatment of allergic diseases.


Puppeteer is a system for adapting component-based applications in mobile environments. Puppeteer takes advantage of the exported interfaces of these applications and the structured nature of the documents they manipulate to perform adaptation without modifying the applications. The system is structured in a modular fashion, allowing easy addition of new applications and adaptation policies.

Our initial prototype focuses on adaptation to limited bandwidth. It runs on Windows NT, and includes support for a variety of adaptation policies for Microsoft PowerPoint and Internet Explorer 5. We demonstrate that Puppeteer can support complex policies without any modification to the application and with little overhead. To the best of our knowledge, previous implementations of adaptations of this nature have relied on modifying the application.


Current software systems have to cope with many different problems like increased complexity or changes in their application environment. To deal with these a demand for new concepts beside object-oriented programming has arisen. One of the new concepts are roles. Many groups and people contributed to the investigation of the concept of roles and one of them is the research-training group RoSI. This group has as a focus the investigation of role-based information systems. In particular, the extension of common data models with new features, like Roles, Relationships and Compartments, that are used to capture dynamic and complex application domains. The first results in this regard could already be presented through the developments of a new conceptual modelling language that is called Compartment Role Object Model (CROM) and a query language with the name Role Structured Query Language (RSQL). Furthermore, there exist a prototypical Database Management System (DBMS) supporting RSQL. The problem is that no benchmark exists to evaluate the prototypical DBMS or role-based information systems in general. Besides this, the incorporation of the research results like CROM and RSQL into existing software is a problem, as well. To solve these problems is is the goal of this work. Hence, to realize this goal a transformation tool is introduced that changes an object-oriented information system like a benchmark to an information system that is based on RSQL or CROM. The introduced tool is composed of a model transformation process that can take an arbitrary input and a model-driven benchmark transformation process. Both processes are based on an investigation of five benchmark schemata. Moreover, the investigated benchmarks are SmallBank, TPC-C, TPC-H, AuctionMark and SEATS and these were transformed with the transformation tool to test its functionality.


If, as Derrida supposes, each era creates its own ghosts, we live in extraordinarily creative times. Our rational, technological world is populated with more phantoms than ever. We are paralysed in a frozen now, smothered by the massed murmurings of the past, stalked by the angry revenants of forgotten radicals and the awful twins of a future, that is at once inconceivable and yetinevitable. In this, final, session of the current Speculative Tate seminars, we take a spectral turn to explore haunting, the figure of the ghost and hyperstitional forms of temporality. The ghost, rather than supernatural relic of a primitive age, is an increasingly prevalent aspect of the modern world. From avatars and chatbots to bump maps and page curls, the digital world is populated with a host of skeuomorphic phantoms clothed in shroud sails of the dust scratches and imperfections of lost surface patination and the process noise of unfulfilled modernism. Whether these persistent incursions are understood in religious, ontological, scientific or epistemological terms, they taunt us by flouting our schemata. Life has become an immense accumulation of ghosts. Everything that was once directly lived is now haunted byitself.


We consider the following target monitoring problem: Given a set of stationary targets T = {t1, · · · , tm} and a set V = {v1, · · · , vn} of sensors, the target monitoring problem asks for generating a family of subsets of sensors V1, · · · , Vs called monitoring sets, such that each Vi monitors all targets. In doing so, the objective of this problem is to maximize z = s/k, where k=maxvj∈V |{i : vj ∈ Vi}|. Maximizing z means generating a large number of monitoring sets and minimizing the number of frequencies of a sensor (or node) in these sets. As energy is one of the main issues of wireless sensor networks and sensing consumes energy, maximizing z has a direct impact in prolonging the lifetime of sensor networks. This is because by maximizing z, we distribute the monitoring responsibilities to all sensors as equally as possible and at the same time, reduce the participations of individual nodes in these monitoring sets. Towards achieving this goal, we present a localized algorithm. The algorithm is simple and requires each node to know only its 2-hop neighborhood. Furthermore, nodes do not need to know their geographic positions. In short, the main idea is that each node maintains a record (counter, ID), where counter is the number of previous monitoring sets in which the node has been selected to monitor the targets. To select sensors for the next monitoring set, for each target, the lexicographically smallest sensor covering it, is selected. We provide special instances where the algorithm obtains an optimum result. As a by-product of the algorithm, it is shown that the size of a monitoring set is at most a constant times the size of a minimum monitoring set when the number of targets is a constant. We present extensive simulation results to evaluate the performance of the algorithm in randomly generated graphs.


It seems that the vocabulary knowledge of Iranian university students for English translation is below minimal comprehension. One possible factor affecting the vocabulary knowledge of students is the oral input presented by professors in their classes. This research seeks to analyze the role of oral input in vocabulary learning. For this reason, twenty- three content courses from B.A. English translation syllabus were selected. Hence, the professors` lectures were recorded and then transcribed. Next the data was analyzed with Range 32, the software developed by Paul Nation. The findings revealed that almost ninety percent of the oral vocabulary items used by professors were in the first 1000 word families that are the most frequent words in English. Moreover, the results showed that the level of vocabulary items used by professors did not change over the past semesters. Therefore, it is clear that one of the possible reasons for students' inadequate vocabulary knowledge is lack of rich oral input, because students do not have sufficiently strong motivation to work harder to comprehend their instructors. The results of this research bring into focus the need for more systematic preparation and presentation of the vocabulary items in the course syllabus.


We present optical photometry and spectra of the superluminous Type II/IIn supernova (SN) CSS121015:004244+132827 (z = 0.2868) spanning epochs from −30 d (rest frame) to more than 200 d after maximum. CSS121015 is one of the more luminous SNe ever found and one of the best observed. The photometric evolution is characterized by a relatively fast rise to maximum (∼40 d in the SN rest frame), and by a linear post-maximum decline. The light curve shows no sign of a break to an exponential tail. A broad Hα is first detected at ∼+40 d (rest frame). Narrow, barely resolved Balmer and [O III] 5007 A lines, with decreasing strength, are visible along the entire spectral evolution. The spectra are very similar to other superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) with hydrogen in their spectrum, and also to SN 2005gj, sometimes considered Type Ia interacting with H-rich circumstellar medium. The spectra are also similar to a subsample of H-deficient SLSNe. We propose that the properties of CSS121015 are consistent with the interaction of the ejecta with a massive, extended, opaque shell, lost by the progenitor decades before the final explosion, although a magnetar-powered model cannot be excluded. Based on the similarity of CSS121015 with other SLSNe (with and without H), we suggest that the shocked-shell scenario should be seriously considered as a plausible model for both types of SLSN.


Objective This research aims to evaluate the wider health system effects of the introduction of an intermediate-tier service for eye care. Setting This research employs the Minor Eye Conditions Scheme (MECS), an intermediate-tier eye care service introduced in two London boroughs, Lewisham and Lambeth, in April 2013. Design Retrospective difference-in-differences analysis comparing changes over time in service use and costs between April 2011 and October 2014 in two commissioning areas that introduced an intermediate-tier service programme with changes in a neighbouring area that did not introduce the programme. Data sources MECS audit data; unit costs for MECS visits; volumes of first and follow-up outpatient attendances to hospital ophthalmology; the national schedule of reference costs. Main outcome measures Volumes and costs of patients treated. Results In one intervention area (Lewisham), general practitioner (GP) referrals to hospital ophthalmology decreased differentially by 75.2% (95% CI −0.918% to −0.587%) for first attendances, and by 40.3% for follow-ups (95% CI −0.489% to −0.316%). GP referrals to hospital ophthalmology decreased differentially by 30.2% (95% CI −0.468% to −0.137%) for first attendances in the other intervention area (Lambeth). Costs increased by 3.1% in the comparison area between 2011/2012 and 2013/2014. Over the same period, costs increased by less (2.5%) in one intervention area and fell by 13.8% in the other intervention area. Conclusions Intermediate-tier services based in the community could potentially reduce volumes of patients referred to hospitals by GPs and provide replacement services at lower unit costs.


The object of this thesis are thunderstorms in Norway. In the first part, the variability of thunderstorms in time and space is investigated, based on synoptic observations from 60 weather stations in Norway. An analysis of the annual and diurnal variability is carried out, and the long term tendency is explored on the basis of long time series from for five different locations. Some of the results are discussed with respect to the static stability of the atmosphere. There is high variability of the frequency of thunderstorms from one year to another, but there is no clear long term trend in the frequency of thunderstorms in Norway from 1957/58 to 2009. The interannual and diurnal variability confirm that thunderstorms in Southeast Norway have a continental character with a maximum activity in the late afternoon in the summer, while the west coast of Norway has a maritime character with thunderstorms observed through the whole year. The study shows that in the winter, the frequency of thunderstorms is greater in the northern part of the west coast of Norway than in the southern part of the west coast. In the autumn, the relative frequency is opposite: the southern part of the west coast has higher frequency than the northern part. This variability agrees with the frequency of low static stability. In the second part, the case of the 3 July 2009 thunderstorm in Oslo is investigated. The flow is simulated with The Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) with different configurations, including 7 microphysical parametrizations and 4 cumulus schemes. A predictability analysis is done for the best configuration. The 3 July case study shows that the convective precipitation is quite sensitive to the resolution, the microphysical parametrizations, the cumulus schemes and the initial data. This real case is described with respect to the temperature, moisture, convective available potential energy (CAPE) and convective inhibition (CIN). Trajectories are also calculated to find the origin of the airmasses. The predictability of the event is good in terms of prediction of the potential for convective precipitation, while the predictability of the high quantity and location of the precipitation is not as good. The 96 hour forecast gives a better forecast than the 72 hours forecast. The reason for this is traced back to a difference in temperature at levels between 600 hPa and 900 hPa over Kattegat.


Coffee husk was used as potential biosorbent in order to adsorb volatile compounds from wastewater of clove oil distillation and the oil was recovered from the wastewater. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used for the characterization of coffee husk. Coffee husk was carbonized and activated using hydrochloric acid. Identification of functional group by infrared spectrum on coffee husk showed the dominant peaks at 3327 cm−1 (O−H) and 1608 cm−1 (C−C, C−O). The activated carbonized coffee husk showed the OH-peaks weakly in the spectrum. SEM surface analysis showed an uneven surface on the coffee husk. The optimum adsorption of clove oil was determined by chemical oxygen demand (COD). Optimization of coffee husk adsorbent was obtained by waste volume of 10 ml, the weight of 1.5 g and contact time of 120 min. The adsorption efficiency of the organic compound from wastewater was 37.96%. Eugenol and eugenol acetate recovery of coffee husk adsorption were 79.44% and 54.05%, respectively. The recovery of clove oil in wastewater distillation was 0.31%.


OBJECTIVES
Darunavir is a protease inhibitor that is administered with low-dose ritonavir to enhance its bioavailability. It is prescribed at standard dosage regimens of 600/100 mg twice daily in treatment-experienced patients and 800/100 mg once daily in naive patients. A population pharmacokinetic approach was used to characterize the pharmacokinetics of both drugs and their interaction in a cohort of unselected patients and to compare darunavir exposure expected under alternative dosage regimens.

METHODS
The study population included 105 HIV-infected individuals who provided darunavir and ritonavir plasma concentrations. Firstly, a population pharmacokinetic analysis for darunavir and ritonavir was conducted, with inclusion of patients' demographic, clinical and genetic characteristics as potential covariates (NONMEM(®)). Then, the interaction between darunavir and ritonavir was studied while incorporating levels of both drugs into different inhibitory models. Finally, model-based simulations were performed to compare trough concentrations (Cmin) between the recommended dosage regimen and alternative combinations of darunavir and ritonavir.

RESULTS
A one-compartment model with first-order absorption adequately characterized darunavir and ritonavir pharmacokinetics. The between-subject variability in both compounds was important [coefficient of variation (CV%) 34% and 47% for darunavir and ritonavir clearance, respectively]. Lopinavir and ritonavir exposure (AUC) affected darunavir clearance, while body weight and darunavir AUC influenced ritonavir elimination. None of the tested genetic variants showed any influence on darunavir or ritonavir pharmacokinetics. The simulations predicted darunavir Cmin much higher than the IC50 thresholds for wild-type and protease inhibitor-resistant HIV-1 strains (55 and 550 ng/mL, respectively) under standard dosing in >98% of experienced and naive patients. Alternative regimens of darunavir/ritonavir 1200/100 or 1200/200 mg once daily also had predicted adequate Cmin (>550 ng/mL) in 84% and 93% of patients, respectively. Reduction of darunavir/ritonavir dosage to 600/50 mg twice daily led to a 23% reduction in average Cmin, still with only 3.8% of patients having concentrations below the IC50 for resistant strains.

CONCLUSIONS
The important variability in darunavir and ritonavir pharmacokinetics is poorly explained by clinical covariates and genetic influences. In experienced patients, treatment simplification strategies guided by drug level measurements and adherence monitoring could be proposed.


This thesis is concerned with the analysis, control and identification of hybrid dynamical systems. The main focus is on a particular class of hybrid systems consisting of linear subsystems. The discrete dynamic, i.e., the change between subsystems, is unknown or nondeterministic and cannot be influenced, i.e. controlled, directly. However changes in the discrete dynamic can be detected immediately, such that the current dynamic (subsystem) is known.

In order to motivate the study of hybrid systems and show the merits of hybrid control theory, an example is given. It is shown that real world systems like Anti Locking Brakes (ABS) are naturally modelled by such a class of linear hybrids systems. It is shown that purely continuous feedback is not suitable since it cannot achieve maximum braking performance. A hybrid control strategy, which overcomes this problem, is presented.

For this class of linear hybrid system with unknown discrete dynamic, a framework for robust control is established. The analysis methodology developed gives a robustness radius such that the stability under parameter variations can be analysed. The controller synthesis procedure is illustrated in a practical example where the control for an active suspension of a car is designed.

Optimal control for this class of hybrid system is introduced. It is shows how a control law is obtained which minimises a quadratic performance index. The synthesis procedure is stated in terms of a convex optimisation problem using linear matrix inequalities (LMI). The solution of the LMI not only returns the controller but also the performance bound.

Since the proposed controller structures require knowledge of the continuous state, an observer design is proposed. It is shown that the estimation error converges quadratically while minimising the covariance of the estimation error. This is similar to the Kalman filter for discrete or continuous time systems. Further, we show that the synthesis of the observer can be cast into an LMI, which conveniently solves the synthesis problem.


Russell Brand grew up in Essex . His father left when he was three months old, he was bulimic at 12 and left school at 16 to study at the Italia Conti stage school. There, he began drinking heavily and taking drugs. He regularly visited prostitutes in Soho, began cutting himself, took drugs on stage during his stand-up shows, and even set himself on fire while on crack cocaine. He has been arrested 11 times and fired from 3 different jobs - including from XFM and MTV - and he claims to have slept with over 2,000 women. In 2003 Russell was told that he would be in prison, in a metal hospital or dead within six months unless he went in to rehab. He has now been clean for three years. In 2006 his presenting career took off, and he hosted the NME awards as well as his own MTV show, 1 Leicester Square, plus Big Brother's Big Mouth on Channel 4. His UK stand-up tour was sold out and his BBC Radio 6 show became a cult phenomenon, the second most popular podcast of the year after Ricky Gervais. He was awarded Time Out's Stand Up Comedian of the Year and won Best Newcomer at the British Comedy Awards. In 2007 Russell hosted both the Brit Awards and Comic Relief, and continued to front Big Brother's Big Mouth. His BBC2 radio podcast became the UK's most popular. Russell writes a weekly football column in the Guardian and is the patron of Focus 12, a charity helping people with alcohol and substance misuse.


This study examines environmental disasters in the Levant. The data is drawn from contemporary sources. The main aim is to determine the long and short-term repercussions of environmental disasters on the regional affairs during the Crusader, Ayyubid and Mamluk periods.


Progress in the science and practice of medicine requires leveraging financial resources to pursue ideas, achieve new goals, and extend professional objectives. These resources are generally allocated through agencies that function through peer review. The need to onvince a reviewing body, funding agency, or philanhropic foundation that these collective plans merit support s, therefore, a rate-limiting step. Herein I outline perspecives gained over years of writing and reviewing grants, and uggest themes to incorporate and traps to avoid in naviating this process. I focus the discussion on federal grant pplications—specifically, independent investigator-initiated R01) applications— commenting where relevant on entored-type (K) award applications. The commonlities among these applications serves as a focal point.


This research study aims to provide insights into how suppliers can enable and support their
clients' sustainability initiatives most effectively, in a business-to-business context. A
detailed review of recent articles on the subject of sustainability, from academic and
practitioner journals, was undertaken. A qualitative research approach was followed: eight
semi-structured, in-depth interviews were carried out with senior managers from three
different organisations.
The literature provides evidence of an increasing belief among business leaders in the
competitive advantage that sustainable approaches can bring organisations. Collaboration
and engagement with all key stakeholders are critical to the success of sustainability
initiatives. An organisation should first develop a clear sustainability strategy of its own,
before attempting to support its clients' sustainability initiatives. Sustainability strategy must
be embedded in the firm's overall business strategy, linked to business needs, and aligned
with the organisation's values. The following factors should be taken into account when
developing a sustainability strategy: 1) The degree and type of environmental impact that the firm has; 2 The firm's value chain and its customers' requirements; 3) The firm's level of maturity regarding sustainability issues; 4) The extent of regulation, requirements for transparency, and other external
environmental factors; 5) The firm's motivations relating to sustainability issues, along with its values and culture; 6) The shared concerns that exist between the firm and its stakeholders; 7) The areas of sustainability that the firm is able to address: capabilities and expertise; 8) Competitors' achievements on sustainability, in order to benchmark industry best
practice.
Having developed its own sustainability strategy, the supplier firm should then determine the
areas of sustainability in which it has the most capability and expertise: these are the areas
where it will have the most credibility with clients. The authors recommend that the supplier
should then carry out a 'customer sustainability diagnosis' with the client, to help the latter
identify the most important areas to address: together, the supplier and client should
examine all the factors that will have a bearing on determining the best sustainability
strategy for the client (see bullet point list above). The supplier needs to build credibility with
the client by providing evidence of success in the area of sustainability, and providing
relevant benchmarking data. This should improve the supplier's access to business
decision-makers, and help the supplier to become a trusted adviser. The authors believe
that suppliers should take a strongly collaborative approach with clients, focusing on
understanding each client's particular needs, and demonstrating that they have the
capabilities and expertise to address their client's sustainability issues. If they can achieve
this, suppliers will be in an excellent position to enable and support their clients'
sustainability initiatives in the most effective way. It would be interesting for a future
qualitative research study to explore sustainability issues in different supplier-client contexts,
and in different industry settings.


Our aim was to assess to what extent detection of differential timing of passage in migrant birds depends on the sampling frequency (SF). We determined if Blackcaps Sylvia atricapilla performed differential migration by age and sex when passing over N Iberia. We mist netted and ringed migrating Blackcaps at a stopover site, both during the autumn (2005) and the spring (2006) migrations. During autumn, adult female Blackcaps passed later than juvenile birds and adult males. In spring, however, migration differed mainly by sex rather than by age. In particular, males passed over earlier than females, likely due to the pressure on males to earlier arrival at their breeding areas. A simulation based on daily captures at the Constant Effort Site showed that the ability to detect differential timing of passage was affected by SF, with P-values being higher with decreasing SF. However, the proportion of variance explained by differences in timing of passage between sex or age classes was not affected by SF. This implies that at Constant Effort Sites a low SF may be adequate to detect differential timing of passage if a higher sampling effort per day (e.g. by sampling with more mist nets, and/or for a longer period) is maintained.


The Colenso fault is a major northwest to southeast trending fault zone in the Pan-African Saldania Belt of the Western Cape Province in South Africa that is spatially closely associated with granitoids of the ~550 to 510 Ma Cape Granite Suite. Most of these granites were previously considered to be largely post-tectonic intrusions, but structural data presented in this study demonstrate the synkinematic emplacement of granitoids into, and along, the Colenso Fault. The kinematic analyses of shear zones and granite fabrics together with previously published and new geochronological data are combined to provide constraints on the complex kinematic history of the fault and the tectonic evolution of the hitherto poorly understood Saldania Belt. Early, strongly gneissose granitoids of the composite Darling batholith (547 ± 6 Ma) were emplaced during sinistral strike-slip movement along the Colenso fault. Both the timing of emplacement and penetrative deformation of the Darling batholith suggest an intrusion of the pluton during the main Pan-African collisional event in the Saldania Belt. The younger Trekoskraal granite intrudes synkinematically into dextral strike-slip faults related to deformation along the Colenso fault. Single-zircon ages from synkinematic aplites constrain the timing of dextral strike-slip shearing to 539 ± 4 Ma. The emplacement of the late-kinematic Cape Columbine granite during dextral strike-slip faulting indicates that dextral strike-slip kinematics along the Colenso fault continued at least until ~520 Ma. These results point to a reversal of strike-slip motion along the Colenso fault at ~540 Ma that coincides with the onset of uplift of rocks of the Saldania Belt. The final exhumation of the belt at ~515 to 520 Ma is marked by the near-surface emplacement of the last phases of the Cape Granite Suite, related subaerial volcanism, sedimentation of the coarse-clastic, fault-bounded Klipheuwel Group, and the overlying fluvial to shallow-marine sequence of the Mid-Cambrian Cape Supergroup. The temporal and spatial overlap between igneous activity and rift-type sedimentation indicates that a substantial part of the Cape Granite Suite was emplaced in an overall transtensional and/or extensional setting. During this time, the voluminous plutonism of the Cape Granite Suite most likely represented a significant heat input that also contributed to a thermal weakening of the crust. In view of the Early Paleozoic extensional setting suggested here, we interpret Ar-Ar mineral ages of ~500 Ma and post-orogenic plutonism that are widely documented from Pan-African belts throughout southwestern Africa to reflect a thermal event related to crustal thinning and associated mantle upwelling that follows the main phase of Pan-African collisional tectonics.


This article compares the concept of the living body (or "flesh") in Edmund Husserl's Ideas II with that of the French phenomenologist Michel Henry. It locates in their descriptions of the I Can a basic difference in the way they understand the roles that impressionality, affectivity, and perception play in the phenomenological method. It then examines Henry's concept of "auto-affection" and argues that the "strong" and "weak" senses of auto-affection must be understood in terms of what Henry, following Kierkegaard, calls the "dialectic of pathos." Henry finally distinguishes three degrees of passivity—of sensibility with regard to the world, of flesh with regard to itself, and of flesh with regard to incarnation. In the shift from the second to the third, we see a shift from a concept of givenness to a concept of "givenness from above." It is here that the article locates the presence of a "transcendence" in Henry's work, which in turn helps to clarify how he understands the boundary between phenomenology and theology.
Keywords: phenomenology, transcendence, affectivity, body, flesh, givenness, Michel Henry, Edmund Husserl, incarnation, impressionality


A huge increase in engineering graduates from the BRIC countries in recent decades potentially threatens the competitiveness of developed countries in producing high value-added products and services, while also holding great promise for substantially increasing the level of global basic and applied innovation. The key question is whether the quality of these new BRIC engineers will be high enough to actualize this potential. The objective of our study is to assess the evolving capacity of BRIC higher education systems to produce qualified engineering graduates. To meet this objective, we compare developments in the quality of undergraduate engineering programs across elite and non-elite higher education tiers within and across each BRIC country. To assess and compare the quality of engineering education across the BRIC countries, we use multiple sources of primary and secondary data gathered from each BRIC country from 2008-2011. In combination with this, we utilize a production function approach that focuses on key input-, process- and outcome-based indicators associated with the quality of education programs. Our analysis suggests that in all four countries, a minority of engineering students receives high quality training in elite institutions while the majority of students receive low quality training in non-elite institutions. Our analysis also shows how the BRIC countries vary in their capacity to improve the quality of engineering education.


Recent studies have emphasized the need for understanding the accumulation and fate of metal contaminants at different trophic levels and across a broad spectrum of lake types. To address both issues, metal concentrations (Hg, Zn, Cd, As, and Pb) were measured in the water, two size fractions of zooplankton, and fish from 20 lakes in contaminated to pristine watersheds in the northeastern United States. Our goals were to examine links between watershed characteristics and aqueous metal levels in lakes and relationships between aqueous concentrations, metal burdens in different plankton groups and in fish. Two pairs of metals, (1) Hg and Zn and (2) As and Pb, exhibited strong similarities both in the factors that predict their concentrations in water and in the patterns of accumulation in particular trophic levels. Aqueous concentrations of Hg and Zn were highest in cool water lakes, whereas As and Pb were highest in more eutrophic lakes in agricultural areas. Aqueous Cd concentrations were closely correlated with the land‐use variables, percentage of agricultural land, and road densities. Similarly, Hg and Zn both biomagnified from small plankton (45–202 µm) to macrozooplankton (>202 mm) and from macrozooplankton to fish. In contrast, bioaccumulation of both As and Pb diminished with increasing trophic level. Although aqueous metal and zooplankton metal levels were not significant predictors of As and Pb levels in fish, metal levels in zooplankton were predictive of Hg and Zn in fish, suggesting that sources of bioaccumulation differ for different metals. Our findings demonstrate the importance of investigating upper and lower trophic levels separately, to fully understand metal transfer pathways in aquatic food webs.


Melanopsin is an atypical opsin protein required in vertebrates to mediate nonvisual responses to light, including regulation of circadian behavior and pupil constriction. Panda et al. report that, when expressed in Xenopus oocytes, melanopsin activates heterotrimeric G protein signaling pathways characteristic of invertebrate opsins in response to light. Melanopsin could also activate mammalian TRPC channels, whose paralogs in Drosophila serve as phototransduction channels. Thus, an invertebrate signaling system appears to be preserved in the mammalian retina. S. Panda, S. K. Nayak, B. Campo, J. R. Walker, J. B. Hogenesch, T. Jegla, Illumination of the melanopsin signaling pathway. Science 307, 600-604 (2005). [Abstract] [Full Text]


The Mt. Bobs-Boomerang area in southern Tasmania is rugged and mountainous
(600-1080m above sea level), with a perhumid cool (Thornthwaire classification) climate and a range
of geological substrates inclucling mudstone, sandstone, limestone and dolerite. 164 species of
vascular plants, all native to Tasmania, have been recorded in the study area. The subalpine vegetation
is composed primarily of rainforest and scrub communities. Fires have had major effects on these
communities, but are rare; the period since the Last fire varies between about 50 and 500 years. A small
area of herbland and heathland occupies the poorly drained valley fioors and different herbland
communities are found on the flats and limestone cliffs around Lake Sydney.
Above the treeline, which occurs at about 1000m on Mt. Bobs and the Boomerang, heathland
is the major vegetation formation. Herblands are found in sheltered sites with the longest snowlie, and
fjaeldmark, much of it associated with a pattern of non-sorted solifluction terraces, occupies the
highest, most exposed part of the mudstone-capped Boomerang.
Exposure to strong winds, snowlie, substrate type, degree of waterlogging and fire frequency
appear to be major environmental delerminants of the plant communities.


sel-12 and hop-1 are two C. elegans genes which are structurally and functionally homologous to the human presenilins, PS1 and PS2. Mutations in the human presenilins contribute to the majority of familial Alzheimer's disease cases. Work in C. elegans also revealed that presenilins are involved in Notch signaling as a reduction of sel-12 presenilin activity is able to suppress the phenotype associated with lin-12/Notch gain-of-function mutations. Several lines of evidence suggest that presenilins are an active protease that mediate the transmembrane cleavage event that releases the LIN-12/Notch intra-cellular domain from the membrane. This step is crucial for nuclear Notch signaling. As a consequence, loss of all presenilin activity, in a sel-12; hop-1 double mutant, causes phenotypes associated with the complete absence of all Notch signaling in C. elegans.
Loss of sel-12 function in C. elegans leads to a highly penetrant egg-laying defect (Egl) which resembles the Egl defect present in lin-12 hypomorphic alleles. The inability of sel-12 mutant animals to lay eggs is shown here to be caused by two defects: (i) a  cell specification defect which results in a blockage of the vulva-uterine connection and (ii) a sex-muscle patterning defect leading to morphologically abnormal and misattached vulva-muscles.
In order to find new molecules that are able to influence presenilin mediated signaling we screened for extragenic suppressors of the sel-12 Egl defect. In several screens four spr genes (suppressor of presenilin) were identified, which are able to suppress both sel-12 defects in the egg-laying system. The spr genes are not able to influence LIN-12/Notch signaling directly but require the activity of the second C. elegans presenilin hop-1 for sel-12 suppression. Molecular analysis of SPR-5 revealed that it belongs to a conserved family of FAD containing polyamine-oxidase like proteins. The human homologue is found to be an integral component of the CoREST transcriptional co-repressor complex. Further analysis of the other spr genes revealed that SPR-1 is the C. elegans homolog of the human CoREST protein, which is also a component of the CoREST complex. Based on the physical interaction of SPR-5 and SPR-1 presented here, it is likely that a CoREST like complex also exists in C. elegans. Mutations in this complex lead to a stage specific de-repression of hop-1 expression which is then able to substitute for sel-12 presenilin activity during development of the egg-laying system.
The two remaining suppressors, spr-3 and spr-4, encode nuclear C2H2 zinc finger proteins that have been shown to up-regulate hop-1 transcription in a similar way and thus may be involved in nuclear targeting of the C elegans CoREST complex.
sel-12 is also highly expressed in neurons, which suggests that it may also be required for neuronal function. Experiments presented here show that sel-12 is, for example, involved in the function and morphology of the AIY interneurons, which control the thermotaxis behaviour in C. elegans.


Introduction: Complications due to diabetes are a major cause of disability, reduced quality of life and death. Recent studies have emphasized the role of serum ferritin in insulin resistance and the incidence of diabetes mellitus. However, the role of ferritin as a marker of iron overload in pancreatic damage and peripheral insulin resistance or its role as an inflammatory marker is not clear. The aim of this study is to establish a correlation between serum ferritin, FBS and HbA1c in type 2 diabetes mellitus and to evaluate the role of serum ferritin on the glycemic status in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods: This was a cross- sectional study of 100 cases, visiting medical outpatient department of a tertiary care teaching hospital. Diabetic patients were compared with age and sex matched normal healthy controls. Effect of serum ferritin on glycemic status, gender and age was noted. Results: Statistically significant increase of FPG, HbA1C and serum ferritin levels were observed in type 2 diabetes mellitus group than controls in both females and males while there was no statistically significant difference of hemoglobin between diabetic group and controls in females and males. There was a high (r= 0.62, r= 0.66) positive correlation between SF and HbA1c of females and males respectively in diabetic group P-value=< 0.01. Conclusion: Higher positive correlation of serum ferritin with HbA1c shows that hyperglycemia affects ferritin levels possibly due to inflammation or oxidative stress or a combination of the two.
KEYWORDS: Type 2 diabetes mellitus; Glycosylated haemoglobin; Ferritin.


Using feminist pedagogy and postcolonial theory, the authors of this article focus on the (re)presentation of Asian sexualities in an Asian classroom through a feminist reading of the short prose fiction "Bandong," by Suchen Christine Lim. Constantly aware that representations of sexualities are closely linked to power, the authors question how academic knowledge can seek to (re)present Asian sexualities when that knowledge itself is deeply imbricated in power structures that empower global concepts of sexualities. The argument advanced in this article draws attention to essentialistic gender representations that continue to this day of Asian femininities and masculinities. For instance, the authors challenge the ways in which the trope of the subjugated Asian woman and man works in predictable ways to disempower Asian women and men far removed from such stereotypical locations. Critiquing dominant representations of Asian sexualities in the classroom involves teaching students to take ownership of their own reading and re-reading of texts. In addition, the article delves into how the authors attempt to make the academic package relevant to their students situated in the local Singaporean context.


Named Data Networking (NDN) is a newly proposed Internet architecture. NDN retains the Internet's hourglass architecture but evolves the thin waist. Instead of pushing data to specific locations, NDN retrieves data by name. On one hand, this simple change allows NDN networks to use almost all of the Internet's well tested engineering properties to solve not only IP's communication problems but also digital distribution and control problems. On the other hand, a distribution architecture differs in fundamental ways from a point-to-point communication architecture of today's Internet and raises many new research challenges. Simulation can serve as a flexible tool to examine and evaluate various aspects of this new architecture. To provide the research community at large with a common simulation platform, we have developed an open source NS-3 based simulator, ndnSIM, which faithfully implemented the basic components of a NDN network in a modular way. This paper provides an overview of ndnSIM.


The literature on expertise is wide-ranging, both across many domains and within software development, however when findings from these are contrasted with literature on experience in pair programming, some startling differences become apparent. For example, knowledge seems to be a key feature in obtaining expertise, however there is little mention of core programming knowledge as a measure of expertise in the pair programming literature. This paper discusses these discrepancies, along with findings on the reliability of various types of rating, to provide context for the presentation of data from a survey of commercial pair programmers which aims to help clarify what factors are considered good indicators of pair programming expertise by different groups.


The charged nature of a cellulosic fiber surface is expected to play major roles in such phenomena as fiber dispersion, flocculation, adhesion, and adsorption of polyelectrolytes. This review focuses on the evaluation of such charges by means of electrokinetic measurements, with emphasis on the fiber-pad streaming potential technique. Results of recent experiments suggest that a continuous network or networks of pores below the outer surface of a kraft fiber can significantly contribute to observed streaming potential data. At present it is not clear whether the main subsurface contributions to the observed electrokinetic effects come from fibrillar layers on the fiber surfaces or from systems of nanopores within the cell walls of fibers. Based on the literature it is possible to suggest two conceptual models to account for the fact that the streaming potential of polymer-treated fibers can change in sign, dependent on the concentration of salt. Additional research is needed to clarify various theoretical and practical points. There may be opportunities to make more effective use of streaming potential tests in the future by carrying out such tests at reduced salt levels.


Introduction Information and Communication Technology (ICT), is a composite term, which embodies three important concepts. To understand ICT, one must understand all three concepts. "Information" means many things to many people, depending on the context. Scientifically, information is processed data. Information can also be loosely defined as that which aids decision making. Information, though abstract, could also be visualized as a commodity, which could be bought or sold. Other writers have defined information as: Any potentially useful fact, quantity or value that can be expressed uniquely with exactness. Information is whatever is capable of causing a human mind to change its opinion about the current state of the real world (de watteville and Gilbert 2000) Communication refers to the transfer or exchange of information from person to person or from one place to another. When action produces a reaction, whether positive or negative, communication has taken place. Other writers in the field of communication studies have defined communication as: ... a process: a transfer of information, ideas, thoughts and messages. It involves a sender, a receiver, a code and, a language that is understood by both the sender and the receiver. ... a process involving the passing of messages through the use of symbols which all parties in the communication encounter understand. It involves the exchange of ideas, facts, opinions, attitudes and beliefs between people. It is not a one-way affair. There must be a sender to transmit the message, and receiver to make appropriate decisions on how the rest of the exchange should continue. (James, et al., 2004) Technology refers to the use of scientific knowledge to invent tools that assist human beings in their efforts to overcome environmental hazards and impediments to comfort. In this regard, technology refers to the things like the computer, telephone, cell phone, GSM handsets, television, radio, etc. Put together, therefore, ICT has been defined as: The acquisition, analysis, manipulation, storage and distribution of information; and the design and provision of equipment and software for these purposes. (de watteville and Gilbert 2000) ICT and Information Technology (IT) are similar concepts that can be used interchangeably. IT implies communication and therefore it becomes obvious that the two terms are synonymous. Overview of the State of ICT in Nigerian University Libraries Due to harsh economic conditions and government apathy to library development in Nigeria, the state of ICT in university libraries is mediocre. The literature affirms that quality of a university can be judged by the content and quality of the service offered by the library. Due to the same economic conditions and government apathy, the content and quality of services of most Nigerian university libraries have deteriorated to such a level that the quality of the products of such universities has also been adversely affected. The National Universities Commission (NUC) set up a Quality Control Division (QCD) which did research to test the quality of Nigerian university academic programmes. The NUC set up benchmarks for each academic programme which were evaluated and scored based on the following criteria: Criteria Percent Staffing 32 Academic 23 Content Physical 25 Facilities Library 12 Funding 05 Employers' 03 Rating Total 100 Academic programmes must have a score of 70 percent or above in each of the core areas of Staffing, Academic Content, Physical Facilities, and the Library in order to get full accreditation. The result of the 2005 NUC Accreditation Exercise was shocking. A total of 102 academic programmes (7.16%) were not only denied accreditation but also barred from admitting new students. …


In this issue of the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health , Farioli et al (1) describe that wealthier populations report more back and neck pain than poorer populations, contradicting the well-established consensus on presence and nature of socioeconomic differences in health. Their evidence is based on an analysis of the variation in prevalence of musculoskeletal pain across 34 European countries. The authors suggest that back pain is related to affluence, on the one hand, and culturally determined health beliefs, on the other hand. When this ecological association reflects causality at the individual level, current primary prevention strategies for musculoskeletal disorders must be completely overhauled. What could explain these remarkable findings of Farioli and colleagues?

Socioeconomic inequalities in health are well documented in all Western countries. Almost all important health problems and major causes of premature mortality are more common among persons with lower education, income, and occupational class. Typically, workers in manual jobs have 1.5 to 2-fold higher death rates than those in non-manual jobs and these inequalities are even larger when comparing unskilled workers with professionals (2). Similar differences are reported for self-assessed health, chronic conditions, and perceived disability. Most chronic diseases have a substantially higher prevalence in lower educational groups, but, interestingly for back disorders, only modest health inequalities have been reported (3). A recent study in the general working population in Oslo, Norway, reported marked socioeconomic gradients between lower occupational class and higher prevalence of musculoskeletal pain. Inequalities were larger among men than women and more pronounced for low-back and arm than for neck-shoulder pain. Physical job demands explained a substantial proportion of the absolute occupational class inequalities in low-back pain, while job autonomy was more important in explaining the inequalities in neck-shoulder and arm pain (4). In the GAZEL cohort of French workers, the prevalence of low-back pain lasting >30 days was significantly higher among blue-collar workers than their managers. Socioeconomic disparities reduced substantially after adjustment for mechanical load (5). In summary, all available evidence suggests a strong association between wealth and health: health determines wealth through a selection process and wealth influences health through a causation process (6).

An important issue to consider is whether the presented associations suffer from the "ecological fallacy" whereby associations observed between characteristics of populations do not have relevance for associations at the individual level (7). In other words, trends across countries may be different from those within each country. Interestingly, Farioli and colleagues (1) present some evidence in their analyses for the existence of this ecological fallacy. For both back and neck pain, the prevalence was somewhat higher among workers in lower occupational classes. After adjustment for educational level and occupation, no association was apparent with socioeconomic class. Thus, the analysis with individual data shows no health inequalities, whereas the comparison at country level shows reversed health inequalities.

Farioli et al's other explanation for their findings was that back pain is culturally determined. It is not unreasonable to assume such a psychological mechanism behind the high prevalence of back and neck pain. Already in the 1950s, Mechanic (8) found that symptom expression and healthcare-seeking behavior was highly influenced by cultural factors. In the 1960s, Engel (9) proposed the biopsychosocial model of healthcare that Waddell effectively applied to back pain in the 1980s (10). Psychological factors could play a causal role in back pain development, but it is more conceivable that they influence persistence of pain and occurrence and persistence of disability. The problem is that the available evidence is not in line with a simple psychological model. For example, a review of nine cohort studies concluded that there was little evidence to link fear avoidance with poor prognosis of back pain (11). Also, the finding in Farioli's study that the highest prevalence of neck or upper-limb symptoms was reported in Finland does not seem in line with the psychological or cultural explanation. There is no indication that Finns are overly expressive about health symptoms or in healthcare-seeking behavior. It is also difficult to imagine how we should act upon this knowledge. Should a high prevalence of back or neck pain be simply disregarded as culturally determined health beliefs or should Finns be told to complain less?

One of the pitfalls in back pain research is that both back pain and its exposures can be simply assessed by a questionnaire. However, most of these measurements provide reliable and valid estimates of neither exposure nor outcome. In our view, this is one of the most important reasons for the continuing controversy about the causes of back pain, with some authors negating an association and others advocating important associations with work. In general, good evidence of a causal relation between factors at work and health outcomes requires a clear assessment of exposure, an unambiguous case definition of the disease at hand, and several well-conducted epidemiological studies to underpin the relation between exposure and health outcome (12).

The measurement of low-back pain is a daunting task because there is no generally accepted case definition and there are many dimensions that affect its severity such as the intensity, frequency, and duration of pain, presence of radiation, and disability. Hoy et al (13) recently systematically reviewed studies that reported prevalence of back pain. They found a mean one-year back pain prevalence of 38% with a standard deviation of 19.4% indicating a wide variation across populations. They also found that five of ten methodological factors significantly influenced the reported prevalence. Therefore, it seems that asking persons "Did you suffer from back pain last year?" does not seem to be a very reliable measure of back pain. Dionne et al (14) proposed a minimal case definition of back pain as "back pain in the past four weeks that limited activities or daily routine", based on a consensus of experts. They advocated the use of a broader definition that incorporated more of the elements mentioned above. It seems that we can still improve here.

From the preventive point of view, the high prevalence of back and neck pain reported by Farioli et al seems to confirm the idea that we are not doing very well with back pain. Also other studies indicate that pain rates seem to be stable or rising over time (15). At the moment, the only feasible preventive measure seems to be to decrease exposure to biomechanical risk factors. However, this is neither a simple task because decreasing biomechanical exposure comes, very often, at the expense of productivity. There is still a long way to go both in terms of research methods and developing and evaluating intervention strategies for prevention of back pain.


Cross-cultural learning has gained increased interest and importance within school curricula in recent years. Schools are using technology to accumulate resources for cross-cultural learning, which has predominantly been pre-prepared videos, documentaries, photos and textual information available online. In this paper we describe the engagement with video technology on mobile smartphones by three migrant families who were tasked with developing cross-cultural resources over the course of six weeks. The resources developed were then used as a learning resource in a classroom and feedback was taken from the teacher. Our study has established that mobile phones particularly smartphones are an accessible, evocative and affordable avenue to aid in the development of cross-cultural resources alongside building stronger parental engagement in schools. The study contributes an expansion of knowledge in research areas that seek to use video technology on mobile phones to build cross-cultural resources for learning and strengthen home-school and school-home communication.


The Mississippian Madison Formation contains abundant fracture zones and breccias that are hydrothermal in origin based on their morphology, distribution, and geochemical signature. The hydrothermal activity is related to crustal shortening during the Laramide orogeny. Brecciation is accompanied by dedolomitization, late-stage calcite precipitation, and porosity occlusion, especially in outcrop dolomites. The tectonic-hydrothermal late-stage calcite reduces permeability in outcrops and, potentially, high-quality subsurface reservoir rocks of the subsurface Madison Formation, Bighorn Basin. The reduction of permeability and porosity is increased along the margins of the Bighorn Basin but not predictable at outcrop scale. The destruction of porosity and permeability by hydrothermal activity in the Madison Formation is unique in comparison to studies that document enhanced porosity and permeability and invoke hydrothermal dolomitization models. Hydrothermal breccias from the Owl Creek thrust sheet are classified into four categories based on fracture density, calcite volume, and clast orientation. Shattered breccias dominate the leading edge of the tip of the Owl Creek thrust sheet in the eastern Owl Creek Mountains, where tectonic deformation is greatest, whereas fracture, mosaic, and chaotic breccias occur throughout the Bighorn Basin. The breccias are healed by calcite cements with 18O values ranging between 26.5 and 15.1 Peedee belemnite (PDB), indicating that the cements were derived from isotopically depleted fluids with elevated temperatures. In the chaotic and mosaic breccia types, large rotated and angular clasts of the host rock float in the matrix of coarse and nonzoned late-stage calcite. This appearance, combined with similar 18O values across even large calcite veins, indicates that the calcite precipitated rapidly after brecciation. Values for 13C (5–12 PDB) from the frontal part of the Owl Creek thrust sheet indicate equilibrium between methane and CO2-bearing fluids at about 180C. Fluid inclusions from the eastern basin margin show that these cements are in equilibrium with fluids having minimum temperatures between 120 and 140C and formed from relatively low-salinity fluids, less than 5 wt.% NaCl. Strontium isotope ratios of these hydrothermal fluids are more radiogenic than proposed values for Mississippian seawater, suggesting that the fluids mixed with felsic-rich basement before migrating vertically into the Madison Formation. We envisage that the tectonic-hydrothermal late-stage calcite-cemented breccias and fractures originated from undersaturated meteoric groundwaters that migrated into the burial environment while dissolving and incorporating Ca2+ and and radiogenic Sr from the dissolution of the surrounding carbonates and the felsic basement, respectively. In the burial environment, these fluids were heated and mixed with hypersaline brines from deeply buried parts of the basement. Expulsion of these fluids along basement-rooted thrust faults into the overlying strata, including the Madison Formation, occurred most likely during shortening episodes of the Laramide orogeny by earthquake-induced rupturing of the host rock. The fluids were injected forcefully and in an explosive manner into the Madison Formation, causing brecciation and fracturing of the host rock, whereas the subsequent and sudden decrease in the partial pressure of CO2 caused the rapid precipitation of calcite cements. The explosive nature of hydrothermal fluid migration ultimately produces heterogeneities in reservoir-quality carbonates. In general, flow units in the Madison Formation are related to sequence boundaries, which create vertical subdivisions in the porous dolomite. The late-stage calcite cement surrounds hydrothermal breccia clasts and invades the dolomite, reducing porosity and permeability of the reservoir-quality rock. As a consequence, horizontal flow barriers and compartments are established that are locally unpredictable in their location and extent and regionally predictable along the margins of the Bighorn Basin.


PURPOSE
The multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor sorafenib is used for the treatment of advanced-stage renal cell carcinoma. However, the safety and efficacy of this agent have yet to be evaluated in the preoperative period, where there may be potential advantages including tumor downstaging. This prospective trial evaluates the safety and feasibility of sorafenib in the preoperative setting.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Thirty patients with clinical stage II or higher renal masses, selected based on their candidacy for nephrectomy, underwent preoperative treatment with sorafenib. Toxicities, surgical complications, and tumor responses were monitored.

RESULTS
Of the thirty patients enrolled, 17 patients had localized disease and 13 had metastatic disease. After a course of sorafenib therapy (median duration, 33 days), a decrease in primary tumor size (median, 9.6%) and radiographic evidence of loss of intratumoral enhancement, quantified using a methodology similar to Choi criteria (median, 13%), was also observed. According to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors, of the 28 patients evaluable for response, two patients had a partial response and 26 had stable disease, with no patients progressing on therapy. Toxicities from sorafenib were similar to that expected with this class of medication. All patients were able to proceed with nephrectomy and no surgical complications related to sorafenib administration were observed.

CONCLUSION
The administration of preoperative sorafenib therapy can impact the size and density of the primary tumor and appears safe and feasible. Further studies are required to determine if preoperative systemic therapy improves outcomes in patients undergoing nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma.


Polypropylene (PP) is a highly versatile polyolefin, which is being used in a wide variety of applications. Depending on the final application, the chemical and morphological properties of PP have to be tailored. The current research work was performed with a particular focus towards the morphological changes in PP triggered by welding. Welding is a widely applied method for joining plastics which, however, generates a complex morphological polymer structure at the weld. The effect of processing on the morphology of PP was studied for welds between plates of PP homopolymer (PP-H). Due to the complex interplay of heating and cooling rates as well as the mechanical forces during welding, the PP chains rearrange themselves in different patterns and forms different zones in the weld, which were qualitatively analyzed by polarized light microscopy (PLM). Three distinct zones, which differ in their crystal structure and size, were observed in PLM, namely the injection molded plate with the original morphology, the weld seam and the weld core. The different cooling and heating rates cause the polymer to crystallize at different rates. Quantitative studies on these effects raised upon welding are a prerequisite to modulate the end use properties of a welded PP. Hence, the orientation of polymer chains was quantified by infrared microscopy (µFT-IR) across PP welds. Thus it could be shown that the polymer chains were oriented along machine direction (MD) at the plates and normal direction (ND) at the weld seams.
One of the major applications of PP is the sector of pipes which are being used to transport various kinds of liquid media. Disinfection of water by strong oxidants due to health reasons is a routine process in the current situation. Yet, the transportation of this disinfected water can cause severe damages to PP. A detailed research on the deterioration rates and the mechanisms underlaying when PP is in contact with hot water and chlorinated water with different chlorine concentrations and at different temperatures was carried out. The pipes chosen for the durability studies were a random copolymer of propylene with ethylene (PP-R) nucleated with α- and β-nucleating agents (PP-R1 and PP-R2 respectively).
The pipes were stabilized with 1,3,5-tris (3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxybenzyl)-2,4,6-methylbenzene (AO-13), Pentaerythritol tetrakis (3-3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl) propionate (AO-18) and the processing stabilizer tris(2,4-di-tert-butylphenyl) phosphite (PS-2). The characteristic ester carbonyl absorption in the infrared spectrum at 1740 cm-1 was used to quantify AO-18. However, the characteristic bands of AO-13 overlapped with the bands of AO-18 and PS-2. To overcome this problem a new method has been developed for µFT-IR to quantify AO-13 from a mixture with AO-18 and PS-2. The quantification results of AOs obtained from µFT-IR were well supported by Extraction→HPLC.
PP is vulnerable to deterioration in the absence of stabilizers. Thus, monitoring the stabilizer loss is an alternative approach to determine the durability of polymers in reactive environments. Degradation/extraction of AOs is highly dependent on the morphology of the material. In that case, the extrusion of polymer melt into the form of hollow cylindrical pipes generates a distinct morphological profile across the pipe wall. Using µFT-IR it could be shown that the polymer chains in PP-R1 were orientated along the extrusion direction due to the fast crystallization of the injected melt triggered by α-nucleation. The diffusion of small molecules through these kinds of oriented networks is faster than randomly oriented ones. In PP-R2, the β- nucleation led to a random orientation of polymer chains at the inner surface which gave impermeability towards the small molecules. This difference in the penetration characteristics of PP-R1 and PP-R2 manifested in different deterioration rates of the pipes. The faster penetration of the media caused the formation of a higher amount of macroradicals in PP-R1. Hence a higher amount of AOs was required to stabilize these macroradicals to prevent the polymer chain scission.
In order to understand the influence of temperature on the degradation of the polymer, ageing was carried out at two temperatures 95 and 110 °C. Out of these experiments, the degradative processes of the polymer, namely the loss of antioxidants and reduction in molar mass of the polymer, proceeded more rapidly at 110 °C. Experiments with different chlorine concentrations showed that deterioration was more pronounced at higher chlorine concentrations. The depletion of the two AOs, AO-18 and AO-13, differs in their rates. In detail it was found that AO-18 is lost faster to the inner medium than AO-13, irrespective of ageing condition and temperature. The degradation of AO-18 can be caused via two mechanisms: The hydrolysis of the ester bond and via the intended donation of phenolic hydrogen to the macroradicals. On the contrary AO-13 is susceptible towards degradation solely by the quenching of macroradicals. Therefore, an accelerated degradation of AO-18 was observed irrespective of the ageing temperature.


ABSTRACT Helicobacter pylori is the etiological agent of diseases such as gastritis, gastric and duodenal ulcers, and two types of gastric cancers. While some insight has been gained into the etiology of these diverse manifestations, by and large, the reason that some individuals develop more severe disease remains elusive. Recent studies have focused on the roles of H. pylori toxins CagA and VacA on the disease process and have suggested that both toxins are intimately involved. Moreover, CagA and VacA are polymorphic within different H. pylori strains, and particular polymorphisms seem to show a correlation with the development of particular disease states. Among VacA polymorphisms, the intermediate region has recently been proposed to play a major role in disease outcome. In this article, we describe a detailed sequence analysis of the polymorphic intermediate region of vacA from strains obtained from a large South Korean population. We show that polymorphisms found at amino acid position 196 are associated with more severe disease manifestations. Additionally, polymorphisms found at amino acid position 231 are linked to disease in strains that carry the non-EPIYA-ABD allele of CagA. Collectively, these data help explain the impact of the VacA intermediate region on disease and lead to the hypothesis that there are allele-driven interactions between VacA and CagA.


Motivated by applications from computer network security and software engineering, we study the problem of reducing reachability on a graph with unknown edge costs. When the costs are known, reachability reduction can be solved using a linear relaxation of sparsest cut. Problems arise, however, when edge costs are unknown. In this case, blindly applying sparsest cut with incorrect edge costs can result in suboptimal or infeasible solutions. Instead, we propose to solve the problem via edge classification using feedback on individual edges. We show that this approach outperforms competing approaches in accuracy and efficiency on our target applications.


The Artificial Neural Network (ANN) technology has been used in various areas. In the building industry, however, ANN is relatively less utilized due to its complexity and uncertain benefits of its application along with the costs associated with its development. This paper introduces ANN regarding its applicability and potential benefits in building operations, especially for energy savings. Thermal loads calculations are most widely used for the operation of building energy systems. An ANN model was developed to predict a large office building's cooling loads. The EnergyPlus simulation program was used to generate thermal loads data and the Python program to develop an ANN model. The initial ANN model predicted a case study building's cooling loads within the CVRMSE value of 7.3% initially, and later 6.8% after optimization, which is within the tolerance range of 30% recommended by the ASHRAE Guideline 14. This study showed the potential benefit of energy savings that can be achieved by utilizing the ANN model for accurately predicting the cooling loads.


OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this study were to evaluate biomechanical variables related to balance control in sitting, and the effects of kayak training, in individuals with spinal cord injury.

SUBJECTS
Twelve individuals with spinal cord injury were investigated before and after an 8-week training period in open sea kayaking, and 12 able-bodied subjects, who did not train, served as controls.

METHODS
Standard deviation and mean velocity of centre of pressure displacement, and median frequency of centre of pressure acceleration were measured in quiet sitting in a special chair mounted on a force plate.

RESULTS
All variables differed between the group with spinal cord injury, before training, and the controls; standard deviation being higher and mean velocity and median frequency lower in individuals with spinal cord injury. A significant training effect was seen only as a lowering of median frequency.

CONCLUSION
The results indicate that individuals with spinal cord injury may have acquired and consolidated an alternative strategy for balance control in quiet sitting allowing for only limited further adaptation even with such a vigorous training stimulus as kayaking.


Water is an economic good and as such has as a value to a spectrum of users, who are willing to pay for it. Consumers will use water until the marginal costs exceed the marginal benefits from use of an additional cubic meter of water. Similarly, producers will supply water until the marginal costs exceed the marginal return of an additional cubic meter of water supplied. This article surveys the insights on the desirability and possibilities for using economic policy instruments to attain a sustainable use of water. Special attention will be paid to the scope and viability of price instruments as well as to privatisation and liberalisation of the sector, since these issues feature prominently in the current policy debate. To this aim, we will offer a stylised picture of the water market for end users by devoting particular attention to the relevant characteristics of demand and supply, including market failures that warrant government intervention to regulate the market. Next, the focus is shifted to the possibilities of influencing supply and demand such that the market for water satisfies basic sustainability criteria.


Abstract : This paper presents the techniques that we have been developing recently to solve the problem of path clearance. In the path clearance problem the robot needs to reach its goal as quickly as possible without being detected by enemies. The problem is complicated by the fact that the robot does not know the precise locations of enemies, but has a list of their possible locations. Either the robot itself or scout robots can be used to sense these possible enemy locations before the robot traverses through them on the way to its goal. We have recently developed a general and efficient algorithm called PPCP (Probabilistic Planning with Clear Preference) for planning under uncertainty in the environment. In this paper we first describe how it can be applied to the problem of path clearance when there are no scout robots available and show that there are significant benefits of planning with PPCP over commonly used alternatives. We then explain a strategy for how to use the PPCP algorithm in case multiple scout robots are available and show that this strategy reduces the time it takes for the robot to reach its goal even further.


Abstract. Updating the cadastre requires much work carried out by surveying companies in countries that have still not solved the problem of updating the cadastral data. In terms of the required precision, these works are among the most accurate. This raises the question: to what extent may modern digital photogrammetric methods be useful in this process? The capabilities of photogrammetry have increased significantly after the introduction of digital aerial cameras and digital technologies. For the registration of cadastral objects, i.e., land parcels' boundaries and the outlines of buildings, very high-resolution aerial photographs can be used. The paper relates an attempt to use an alternative source of data for this task - the development of images acquired from UAS platforms. Multivariate mapping of cadastral parcels was implemented to determine the scope of the suitability of low altitude photos for the cadastre. In this study, images obtained from UAS with the GSD of 3 cm were collected for an area of a few square kilometres. Bundle adjustment of these data was processed with sub-pixel accuracy. This led to photogrammetric measurements being carried out and the provision of an orthophotomap (orthogonalized with a digital surface model from dense image matching of UAS images). Geometric data related to buildings were collected with two methods: stereoscopic and multi-photo measurements. Data related to parcels' boundaries were measured with monoplotting on an orthophotomap from low-altitude images. As reference field surveying data were used. The paper shows the potential and limits of the use of UAS in a process of updating cadastral data. It also gives recommendations when performing photogrammetric missions and presents the possible accuracy of this type of work.


Abstract This paper presents improved automatic moving target detection and tracking framework that is suitable for UAV imagery. The framework is comprised of motion compensation phase to detect moving targets from a moving camera, target state estimation with Kalman filter, and overlap-rate-based data association. Finally, P-N learning is used to maintain target appearance by utilizing novel structural constraints to select positive and negative samples, where data association decisions are used as positive (P) constraints. After learning target appearance, a cascaded classifier is employed to detect the target in case of association failure. The proposed framework enables to recapture targets after being out of camera field of view and helps discriminating between targets with similar appearance while alleviating drift problems. Experimental results obtained with publicly available DARPA aerial datasets demonstrate that the proposed tracker with automatic detection feedback achieves better recall and average overlap than existing manually-initialized trackers.


Seventy‐five L. monocytogenes isolates of human listeriosis, the intestinal contents of cows and beef were divided into 5 major clusters, 17 sub‐clusters and 28 minor clusters by typing using random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD). According to their major RAPD category, L. monocytogenes isolates serotyped as 1/2b and 4b were distinguished from L. monocytogenes isolates of serovars 1/2a and 1/2c. Moreover serovar 4b was distinguished from serovar 1/2b by a difference in the RAPD sub‐cluster category. All L. monocytogenes were found to possess either actA gene Type I or n, and only one actA gene type was detected in each RAPD minor cluster. actA gene Type II was observed in 32.0%, 38.5 % and 18.9% of isolates from humans, cows and beef, respectively, and was detected more frequently in serovar 4b (46.9%) than in serovars 1/2a (22.2%), 1/2b (7.7%) and 1/2c (0.0%). Twenty (80%) of 25 human isolates fell within three minor RAPD types (II‐d (16%), V‐p‐1 (36%), V‐p‐2 (28%)). Two isolates from humans and beef were found to have the same RAPD type (Type IV‐k‐1), actA gene type (Type I) and serovar (1/2b). Our results suggest that only a few genotypes of L. monocytogenes are predominant in human listeriosis in Japan, although the human isolates were collected over a broad span of time and a wide geographical range. Our results also suggest that RAPD‐, actA gene‐ and sero‐typing can be useful for epidemiological analysis.