In a previous paper, Liu argued for the importance of establishing a precise theoretical foundation for program debugging from first principles. In this paper, we present a first step towards a theoretical exploration of program debugging algorithms. The starting point of our work is the recent debugging approach based on predicate switching. The idea is to switch the outcome of an instance of a predicate to bring the program execution to a successful completion and then identify the fault by examining the switched predicate. However, no theoretical analysis of the approach is available. In this paper, we generalize the above idea, and propose the bounded debugging via multiple predicate switching (BMPS) algorithm, which locates faults through switching the outcomes of instances of multiple predicates to get a successful execution where each loop is executed for a bounded number of times. Clearly, BMPS can be implemented by resorting to a SAT solver. We focus attention on RHS faults, that is, faults that occur in the control predicates and right-hand-sides of assignment statements. We prove that for conditional programs, BMPS is quasi-complete for RHS faults in the sense that some part of any true diagnosis will be returned by BMPS; and for iterative programs, when the bound is sufficiently large, BMPS is also quasi-complete for RHS faults. Initial experimentation with debugging small C programs showed that BMPS can quickly and effectively locate the faults.


Ocean Data View (ODV) is a computer program for the interactive analysis and visualization of oceanographic and other geo-referenced profile, trajectory or time-series data. The software is available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and UNIX systems. ODV data and settings files are platform independent and can be exchanged between all supported systems.

ODV lets the users maintain and analyze very large datasets on inexpensive and portable hardware. Various types of graphics output can be produced easily, including high-quality station maps, general property-property plots of one or more stations, scatter plots of selected stations, section plots along arbitrary cruise tracks, and property distributions on general isosurfaces. Commonly used isosurfaces are constant depth, density or temperature layers. ODV supports display of scalar and vector data by coloured dots, numerical data values or arrows. In addition, ODV includes three different gridding algorithms that calculate fields on automatically generated grids on the basis of the normally heterogeneously distributed data. Gridded fields can be contoured and colour shaded.

ODV has a large user community with almost 40,000 registered users worldwide.


Transported probability density function (PDF) methods have been applied widely and effectively for modelling turbulent reacting flows. In most applications of PDF methods to date, Lagrangian particle Monte Carlo algorithms have been used to solve a modelled PDF transport equation. However, Lagrangian particle PDF methods are computationally intensive and are not readily integrated into conventional Eulerian computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes. Eulerian field PDF methods have been proposed as an alternative. Here a systematic comparison is performed among three methods for solving the same underlying modelled composition PDF transport equation: a consistent hybrid Lagrangian particle/Eulerian mesh (LPEM) method, a stochastic Eulerian field (SEF) method and a deterministic Eulerian field method with a direct-quadrature-method-of-moments closure (a multi-environment PDF-MEPDF method). The comparisons have been made in simulations of a series of three non-premixed, piloted methane–air turbulent jet flames that exhibit progressively increasing levels of local extinction and turbulence-chemistry interactions: Sandia/TUD flames D, E and F. The three PDF methods have been implemented using the same underlying CFD solver, and results obtained using the three methods have been compared using (to the extent possible) equivalent physical models and numerical parameters. Reasonably converged mean and rms scalar profiles are obtained using 40 particles per cell for the LPEM method or 40 Eulerian fields for the SEF method. Results from these stochastic methods are compared with results obtained using two- and three-environment MEPDF methods. The relative advantages and disadvantages of each method in terms of accuracy and computational requirements are explored and identified. In general, the results obtained from the two stochastic methods (LPEM and SEF) are very similar, and are in closer agreement with experimental measurements than those obtained using the MEPDF method, while MEPDF is the most computationally efficient of the three methods. These and other findings are discussed in detail.


The familiar umbrella has been redesigned for power harvesting from renewable energy sources resulting in the Eco-Brella . Several engineering technologies are utilised: aerodynamics for fin design, mechatronics for power management, materials for thermoelectric and solar film, CAD for the layout, and heat transfer for human comfort. The result is a sustainable design capable of harvesting both solar and wind energies which are converted into electric power for the benefit of the individual carrying it. In windy climates, the Eco-Brella rotates by virtue of a light turbine which causes rotation of a dynamometer. Solar film is shaped into an umbrella-like configuration with efficient power conversion (10%–20% depending on conditions). Generated power is channeled through power management system capable of 1) charging a rechargeable battery from which other batteries of portable electronic devices are charged and/or 2) providing personal thermal comfort by blowing cool (hot) air on hot (cold) days.


The architecture of current operator infrastructures is being challenged by the non-stop growing demand of data hungry services appearing every day. While currently deployed operator networks have been able to cope with traffic demands so far, the architectures for the 5th generation of mobile networks (5G) are expected to support unprecedented traffic loads while decreasing costs associated with the network deployment and operations. Indeed, the forthcoming set of 5G standards will bring programmability and flexibility to levels never seen before. This has required introducing changes in the architecture of mobile networks, enabling different features such as the split of control and data planes, as required to support rapid programming of heterogeneous data planes. Network softwarisation is hence seen as a key enabler to cope with such network evolution, as it permits controlling all networking functions through (re)programming, thus providing higher flexibility to meet heterogeneous requirements while keeping deployment and operational costs low. A great diversity in terms of traffic patterns, multi-tenancy, heterogeneous and stringent trafic requirements is therefore expected in 5G networks.

Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualisation (NFV) have emerged as a basic tool-set for operators to manage their infrastructure with increased flexibility and reduced costs. As a result, new 5G services can now be envisioned and quickly programmed and provisioned in response of user and market necessities, imposing a paradigm shift in the services design. However, such flexibility requires the 5G transport network to undergo a profound transformation, evolving from a static connectivity substrate into a service-oriented infrastructure capable of accommodating the various 5G services, including Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC). Moreover,
to achieve the desired flexibility and cost reduction, one promising approach is to leverage virtualisation technologies to dynamically host contents, services, and applications closer to the users so as to offload the core network and reduce the communication delay. This
thesis tackles the above challenges which are detailed in the following.

A common characteristic of the 5G services is the ubiquity and the almost permanent connection that is required from the mobile network. This really imposes a challenge in the signalling procedures provided to get track of the users and to guarantee session continuity. The mobility management mechanisms will hence play a central role in the 5G networks because of the always-on connectivity demand. Distributed Mobility Management (DMM) helps going towards this direction, by flattening the network, hence improving its scalability, and enabling local access to the Internet and other communication services, like mobile-edge clouds. Simultaneously, SDN opens up the possibility of running a multitude
of intelligent and advanced applications for network optimisation purposes in a centralised network controller. The combination of DMM architectural principles with SDN management appears as a powerful tool for operators to cope with the management and data burden expected in 5G networks.

To meet the future mobile user demand at a reduced cost, operators are also looking at solutions such as C-RAN and different functional splits to decrease the cost of deploying and maintaining cell sites. The increasing stress on mobile radio access performance in a context of declining revenues for operators is hence requiring the evolution of backhaul and fronthaul transport networks, which currently work decoupled. The heterogeneity of the nodes and transmission technologies inter-connecting the fronthaul and backhaul segments makes the network quite complex, costly and ineffcient to manage
flexibly and dynamically. Indeed, the use of heterogeneous technologies forces operators to manage two physically separated networks, one for backhaul and one for fronthaul. In order to meet 5G requirements in a cost-effective manner, a unified 5G transport network that unifies the data, control, and management planes is hence required. Such an integrated fronthaul/backhaul transport network, denoted as crosshaul, will hence carry both fronthaul and backhaul traffic operating over heterogeneous data plane technologies, which are software-controlled so as to adapt to the fluctuating capacity demand of the 5G air interfaces.

Moreover, 5G transport networks will need to accommodate a wide spectrum of services on top of the same physical infrastructure. To that end, network slicing is seen as a suitable candidate for providing the necessary Quality of Service (QoS). Traffic differentiation is usually enforced at the border of the network in order to ensure a proper forwarding of the traffic according to its class through the backbone. With network slicing, the traffic may now traverse many slice edges where the traffic policy needs to be enforced, discriminated and ensured, according to the service and tenants needs. However, the very basic nature that makes this efficient management and operation possible in a flexible way -- the logical centralisation -- poses important challenges due to the lack of proper monitoring tools, suited for SDN-based architectures. In order to take timely and right decisions while operating a network, centralised intelligence applications need to be fed with a continuous stream of up-to-date network statistics. However, this is not feasible
with current SDN solutions due to scalability and accuracy issues. Therefore, an adaptive telemetry system is required so as to support the diversity of 5G services and their stringent traffic requirements.

The path towards 5G wireless networks also presents a clear trend of carrying out computations close to end users. Indeed, pushing contents, applications, and network functions closer to end users is necessary to cope with the huge data volume and low latency required in future 5G networks. Edge and fog frameworks have emerged recently to address this challenge. Whilst the edge framework was more infrastructure-focused and more mobile operator-oriented, the fog was more pervasive and included any node (stationary or mobile), including terminal devices. By further utilising pervasive computational resources in proximity to users, edge and fog can be merged to construct a computing platform, which can also be used as a common stage for multiple radio access technologies (RATs) to share their information, hence opening a new dimension of multi-RAT integration


Abstract A new plant of Late Devonian (Famennian) age, Melvillipteris quadriseriata gen. et sp. nov., is reported from Melville Island, Nunavut, Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Main axes and two orders of lateral branches are recognized. The main axes are monopodial in habit, with a zigzag and/or upright appearance and dense adventitious roots attached on some internodes. First-order branches are inserted on the main axes in distichous pairs, showing a quadriseriate pattern (i.e. alternate pairs); they bear one or two sterile ultimate appendages on the proximal portions, and then distally bear alternate second-order branches. Second-order branches bear alternate ultimate appendages which may be fertile or sterile; the sterile ultimate appendages are composed of one or two successive dichotomies, terminating in oppositely recurved tips, and fertile appendages show an elaborate branching system. Each fertile appendage has an initial dichotomy forming two sister branches, each of which further divides three or four times to produce ultimate divisions terminated by sporangia. Two to four small fusiform sporangia are grouped in a truss which is supplied by penultimate division of the fertile appendage. The sporangia have a pointed tip and a longitudinal dehiscence. This new plant resembles other plants with a quadriseriate branching pattern (e.g. Rhacophyton Crépin, Cephalopteris Nathorst, Protocephalopteris Ananiev, Ellesmeris Hill, Scheckler & Basinger and Protopteridophyton Li & Hsü), and is assigned to the Rhacophytales. Its similarity to and divergence from the rhacophytaleans, cladoxylopsids and other related plants are discussed.


[1] The physical characteristics of hydrate-bearing sediments sampled by pressure coring from the Ulleung Basin in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) were investigated using an instrumented chamber capable of testing recovered natural sediments that have never left the methane hydrate stability field. The heterogeneous distribution of segregated hydrate veins and lens structures in sediments results in highly variable geophysical and geomechanical properties. The scaled production test was conducted by controlled depressurization of pressure cores while dissociation and gas production were concurrently monitored using various sensors in the instrumented chamber. The hydrate saturation was estimated to be ∼19.5% in the pore space. Data show a sharp reduction in sediment shear and bulk stiffnesses during hydrate dissociation. Relatively fast gas migration was observed, probably along high-conduction planes left behind as hydrate veins dissociated. The spatial distribution of hydrates in sediment was analyzed based on 3-D image processing. The phenomena relevant to the production test and sampling effects during pressure coring are discussed.


The definition of authorization under the Stored Communications Act raises questions about implied authorization in situations where someone fails to secure an email account properly. The few cases that have addressed this issue under the federal act or its state equivalents have not created a bright-line rule. Instead, the question of authorization has been highly fact-dependent. Two leading interpretive theories have emerged on the question of authorization: the code-based theory and the trespass theory. While the code-based interpretation of authorization seems pleasing because it appears to provide highly predictive outcomes, it fails in some circumstances. This failure is especially obvious when someone inadvertently and unintentionally gives someone else permanent access to an email account by, for instance, saving their username and password in the browser of a shared computer. Courts interpreting cases in this context implicitly reject the codebased interpretation of authorization, which would provide no remedy, in favor of the trespass theory. Ultimately, the code-based model does not provide enough flexibility to fit all situations in which the courts wish to provide a remedy. The best test, therefore, involves aspects of both theories. * Nicholas R. Ulrich, University of Washington School of Law, Class of 2015. Thank you to my adviser Peter Winn and my editor Shira Zucker; their help and advice were invaluable. 1 Ulrich: The Code-Based Interpretation of Authorization: An Incomplete Pic Published by UW Law Digital Commons, 2015 222 WASHINGTON JOURNAL OF LAW, TECHNOLOGY & ARTS [VOL. 10:3


Being aware of the factors that develop a positive organisational climate is especially important in universities, where the academic members of staff are, in large measure, self-motivated. To identify the determinants of organisational climate for university academia, the validity and reliability of the first-order constructs of autonomy, cohesion and pressure were examined. These three constructs were found to have inadequate validity in this environment. The remaining five valid constructs indicated a second-order organisational climate construct organisational climate was influenced by support, followed by trust and fairness, and then by recognition and innovation. The findings of our study will assist university managers to identify areas to focus upon when developing their academic staff in the pursuit of improving the organisational climate.


Principal component analysis (PCA), a well-established technique for data analysis and processing, provides a convenient form of dimensionality reduction that is effective for cleaning small Gaussian noises presented in the data. However, the applicability of standard principal component analysis in real scenarios is limited by its sensitivity to large errors. In this paper, we tackle the challenge problem of recovering data corrupted with errors of high magnitude by developing a novel robust transfer principal component analysis method. Our method is based on the assumption that useful information for the recovery of a corrupted data matrix can be gained from an uncorrupted related data matrix. Specifically, we formulate the data recovery problem as a joint robust principal component analysis problem on the two data matrices, with common principal components shared across matrices and individual principal components specific to each data matrix. The formulated optimization problem is a minimization problem over a convex objective function but with non-convex rank constraints. We develop an efficient proximal projected gradient descent algorithm to solve the proposed optimization problem with convergence guarantees. Our empirical results over image denoising tasks show the proposed method can effectively recover images with random large errors, and significantly outperform both standard PCA and robust PCA with rank constraints.


Music is often used as a self‐help tool to alleviate insomnia. To evaluate the effect of bedtime music listening as a strategy for improving insomnia, we conducted an assessor‐blinded randomized controlled trial. Fifty‐seven persons with insomnia disorder were included and randomized to music intervention (n = 19), audiobook control (n = 19) or a waitlist control group (n = 19). The primary outcome measure was the Insomnia Severity Index. In addition, we used polysomnography and actigraphy to evaluate objective measures of sleep, and assessed sleep quality and quality of life. The results showed no clear effect of music on insomnia symptoms as the group × time interaction only approached significance (effect size = 0.71, p = .06), though there was a significant improvement in insomnia severity within the music group. With regard to the secondary outcomes, we found a significant effect of the music intervention on perceived sleep improvement and quality of life, but no changes in the objective measures of sleep. In conclusion, music listening at bedtime appears to have a positive impact on sleep perception and quality of life, but no clear effect on insomnia severity. Music is safe and easy to administer, but further research is needed to assess the effect of music on different insomnia subtypes, and as an adjunctive or preventive intervention.


In the late 1920s and early 1930s, professional anthropologists and prominent race scientists in Germany served as judges in a series of mail-in photographic competitions designed to identify the most representative examples of the so-called Nordic race. This essay examines the interactions between judges and audience in three of these contests. Race scientists and entrants collaborated to construct a vision of the Nordic race as primarily male and middle and upper class. More important, the contests served to configure the very categories of "science" and "lay public" for the new discipline of race science (Rassenkunde), setting them in an unequal relationship to each other. Race scientists portrayed their audience as the entire German people, or Volk, which they represented as desperately in need of racial knowledge that only experts in Rassenkunde could provide. Rather than breaking down divisions between race scientists and the public, the collaborative process of the contests served to construct those very categories.


Seven studies (N = 2352) examine backhanded compliments—seeming praise that draws a comparison with a negative standard—a distinct self-presentation strategy with two simultaneous goals: eliciting liking ("Your speech was good…�?) and conveying status ("…for a woman�?). Backhanded compliments are common, from delivering feedback in work settings to communicating in casual conversation, and take several distinct forms (Studies 1a-b). Backhanded compliments have mixed effectiveness, as people who deliver backhanded compliments erroneously believe that they will both convey high status and elicit liking (Studies 2a-2b) but recipients and third-party evaluators grant them neither (Study 3a-3b); however, backhanded compliments are successful in reducing recipients' motivation (Study 3c). We identify two constructs useful in determining the general effectiveness of ingratiation: excessive concern with image drives negative perceptions of backhanded compliment givers, while perceptions of low relative rank in a distribution drives the reduced motivation of backhanded compliment recipients.


Fast spreading of a decane droplet over superoleophilic substrates with multimodal surface roughness and different chemical composition of the top textured layer is studied experimentally. New techniques and software based on digital image processing of high spatial resolution optical images of a spreading droplet developed in this study allowed one to distinguish 3 spreading fronts propagating along the substrate with multimodal roughness. It was found that the spreading velocities for bulk droplet base, for the front associated with the propagation of liquid over microchannels/microgrooves, and for the nanotexture impregnation are significantly differed from each other. An important new feature of spreading obtained in this study is related to anisotropic spreading for the latter two fronts at the simultaneous isotropic spreading of bulk drop base. The analysis of obtained experimental data for spreading of the decane droplet over the superoleophilic substrates with different chemical composition indicates that the spreading velocity is affected by the Young (local three-phase) contact angle, established in the course of spreading of liquid along the rough/textured substrate.


Several studies have suggested that the mental structures of programmers of procedural languages have a close relationship with a model of structural knowledge related to functional information known as programming Plans. It also has been claimed that experienced programmers organize this representation in a hierarchical structure where some elements of Plans are focal or central to them. However, it is not clear that this is the case for other types of programming languages, especially for those which are significantly different from the procedural paradigm.The study reported in this paper investigates whether these claims are true for Prolog, a language which has important differences to procedural languages. Prolog does not have obvious syntactic cues to mark blocks of code (begin/end, repeat/until, etc). Also, its powerful primitives (unification and backtracking) and the extensive use of recursion might influence how programmers comprehend Prolog code in a significant way.The findings of the study suggest that Plans and functional information are important for Prolog programmers, but that there is also at least another model of structural knowledge valid for this language. This model of structural knowledge, Prolog schemas, is related to data structure information and it seems that a hierarchical organisation that highlights the relevance of some of its elements as focal is valid for Prolog. These results support the view that comprehension involves the detection of varying aspects of the code and that each of the structures related to these aspects might have their own organization and hierarchical relations.


The knowledge of the state of health of machinery gears helps developing cost effective maintenance plans, preventing costly down times caused by catastrophic failures. The widest spread strategy in industry to avoid faults and failures is based on preventive maintenance. Only its combination with a condition-based maintenance can detect early signs of potential machinery failures. Often, accurate information about the state of health of a piece of equipment is difficult to obtain. Strategies based on intelligent predictive maintenance could improve this situation. The most established method to gather information in mechanical systems using gearboxes relays in the use of accelerometers, which are expensive and whose installation is usually troublesome. The analysis of the electric signature of the electric motor that drives the gearbox provides a non-intrusive method, based on readily available information. Changes in the speed and load conditions of the gearbox produce correlated variations in the feeding current and voltage of the motor. A detailed analysis of these electrical signals can produce useful information about the state of health of the system. In this paper, a gear prognosis simulator (GPS) test bench equipped with a multistage gearbox is used to analyze different types of mechanical faults in the gears. Three fault families have been identified, high damage, moderate damage and low damage. Specific working conditions of the test bench have been selected to mimic the operation of different mechanical systems, such as machine tools or electro-mechanical actuators. The motor electrical current signature in the different conditions is analyzed to determine the health state of the gearbox. Signal descriptors (such as rms, kurtosis, peak-to-peak value, impulse factor, shape factor, etc.) are obtained from stationary speed. A selection of the most relevant descriptors has been carried, doing a one-way analysis. The results obtained reveal appreciable differences between the different faulty and nominal states of the gears, making possible the detection of the health state of the system using different advance data analysis techniques.


Cr(III) metal ion in low spin triamidoamine-supported chromium(III) carbonyl complex {[(RN)3N]CrCO, 1} has a unique feature of S=1/2 being unusual for a Cr(III) metal ion, which is high spin with S=3/2 in most complexes and this gives us the basis for this theoretical study. The primary preoccupation has been to determine the electronic ground state and other low-energy state with much emphasis places on the bonding scheme of the conformation obtained at this ground state. DFT calculations elucidated this bonding scheme paying special attention on the Cr-CO metal-ligand π backbonding. Varying the auxiliary ligand (where R= H, CH3, or C6H5) gave significant changes on the results obtained for the metal-ligand backbonding. Their molecular structures were described revealing a trigonal bipyramidal coordination geometry of the chromium center with all structures having Cr-CO bond angle of 180 o being the most stable. Calculations with the highly efficient OLYP, BLYP, OPBE and PW91 DFT functionals with a variation of the spin occupations gave interesting results. An electronic structural analysis of these structures at their different spin occupations indicated that besides the electronic ground state other low-energy states do exist. From a broader perspective, comparison of the results obtained with variation of DFT exchange functionals, spin occupation, auxiliary groups, their respective changes affected on the geometry (bond angles and bond lengths) and on their electronic structures gave a better understanding of the bonding scheme of this complex. University of Tromsø 2008


ABSTRACT The American cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) is one of the fruits containing antioxidants in great quantity and of high quality. From recent research, it is evident that both cranberry and its products, when consumed chronically or acutely, boost the antioxidant effect. Likewise, most studies revealed the anti-inflammatory potential of the cranberry polyphenols. Both effects exert direct action mechanisms, revealed by the ability of the polyphenols to remove the reactive oxygen species, as well as indirect effects, represented by the action of these phytochemicals on the cell signaling pathways and genetic expression. A limited number of articles that evaluated the effects of cranberry on mitochondrial damages are available. However, an enhancement in the functions of this organelle was confirmed by the increased production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Therefore, further studies are required to demonstrate the benefits credited to the use of cranberry, as well as to describe the action mechanisms of the polyphenols.


Medulloblastoma is a brain tumor of neuroepithelial origin, which represents 15 to 30% of all pediatric brain tumors, and less than 1% of CNS adult neoplasms. We report the imaging findings of 8 adult patients with medulloblastoma. The mean age was 35 years, ranging from 20 to 65 years, and the male:female rate was 3:5. The tumors were predominantly lateral (63%), hyperdense on CT scans (83%), and on the MRI, hypointense on T1 (100%) and hyperintense on T2 (80%) weighted images. It was seen intratumoral necrosis and cysts in six cases and calcifications in three. Hydrocephalus was observed in 5 cases and brain stem invasion in four. The imaging findings of medulloblastomas in adults are different of those in child, and also nonspecific. Although these tumors are uncommon in adults, they must be considered in the differential diagnosis of cerebellar masses in the posterior fossa of this age group.


The water column of the Landsort Deep, central Baltic Sea, is stratified into an oxic, suboxic, and anoxic zone. This stratification controls the distributions of individual microbial communities and biogeochemical processes. In summer 2011, particulate organic matter was filtered from these zones using an in situ pump. Lipid biomarkers were extracted from the filters to establish water-column profiles of individual hydrocarbons, alcohols, phospholipid fatty acids, and bacteriohopanepolyols (BHPs). As a reference, a cyanobacterial bloom sampled in summer 2012 in the central Baltic Sea Gotland Deep was analyzed for BHPs. The biomarker data from the surface layer of the oxic zone showed major inputs from cyanobacteria, dinoflagellates, and ciliates, while the underlying cold winter water layer was characterized by a low diversity and abundance of organisms, with copepods as a major group. The suboxic zone supported bacterivorous ciliates, type I aerobic methanotrophic bacteria, sulfate-reducing bacteria, and, most likely, methanogenic archaea. In the anoxic zone, sulfate reducers and archaea were the dominating microorganisms as indicated by the presence of distinctive branched fatty acids: archaeol and pentamethylicosane (PMI) derivatives, respectively. Our study of in situ biomarkers in the Landsort Deep thus provided an integrated insight into the distribution of relevant compounds and describes useful tracers to reconstruct stratified water columns in the geological record.


Perhaps one of the most enabling features of Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard and its successors of the third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) family is the addition of multiple transmission and reception antennas at one transmitting or receiving side or both for improving data throughput and network quality of service (QoS). This paper addresses the impact of employing MIMO in LTE base stations on coexistence requirements of deploying LTE cells in the band 2.6 GHz. Based on the developed coexistence model and simulation results, the adoption of MIMO can dramatically increase separation requirements, and therefore requires more careful site engineering and isolation measures to ensure peaceful coexisted systems.


This paper draws together empirical findings from our study of hackathons in the UK with literature on big data through three interconnected frameworks: data as discourse, data as datalogical and data as materiality. We suggest not only that hackathons resonate the wider socio-technical and political constructions of (big) data that are currently enacted in policy, education and the corporate sector (to name a few), but also that an investigation of hackathons reveals the extent to which 'data' operates as a powerful discursive tool; how the discourses (and politics) of data mask and reveal a series of tropes pertaining to data; that the politics of data are routinely and simultaneously obscured and claimed with serious implications for expertise and knowledge; and that ultimately, and for the vast majority of hackathons we have attended, the discursive and material constructions of data serve to underpin rather than challenge existing power relations and politics.


Obesity is a growing health concern in Qatar because of the increased risk for type 2 diabetes, hypertension and other vascular disorders. One of the early adverse vascular events in obese individuals is an abnormal endothelial function which might alter the mechanism of vasodilatation. In particular, it is thought that loss of nitric oxide (NO)-mediated vasodilatation might be compensated by dilatation mediated by endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) in these individuals. It is however not clear whether such a switich in the contributions of these mediators would depend on the degree of loss of vascular endothelial function. Given that micro vessels in subcutaneous (SC) and omental (OM) fat depots of obese individuals might suffer different degrees of endothelial dysfunction [1], this study investigated whether the roles of NO and EDHF as mediators of vasodilatation of these vessels are altered in morbidly obese Qataris. Small arteries were isolated from SC and OM adipose tissues collected from consented morbidly obese Qatari patients (n=18) undergoing bariatric surgery at Hamad general hospital Doha. The vessels were studied by wire myography. Relaxation curves were generated for actetylcholine (Ach, the classical endothelium-dependent relaxant) in the absence or presence of NωNitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, 100 µM, inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase), apamin (0.5 µM) + charybdotoxin (0.1 µM) -combined blocker of EDHF, or BaCl2 (30 µM, blocker of inward rectifier potassium Kir channel ) on initial tone built with noradrenaline (1-5 µM). Curves were also generated for the NO donor and endothelium-independent relaxant, sodium nitroprusside (SNP). The patients had body mass index (BMI) of 46±2 Kg.m-2 and fasting plasma insulin of 17±2 mU/L [Mean±SEM]). Vessels from the SC depot were generally more responsive to Ach compared to OM vessels. Ach curves for both SC and OM vessels were significantly shifted to the right by L-NAME (n=5-7, p<0.05) and more so by apamine+charybdo toxin (n=6-7, p<0.01). The Emax for SC vessels dropped by ω 37 % in the presence of L-NAME and by ω 64 % in the presence of apamin+charyb dptoxin. For OM vessels, the the reductions were ω 27 and ω 40 % respectively. BaCl2 caused a rightward shift in Ach response in both vessel types (n=4-5, p<0.05) although significant reduction in Emax was only recorded in OM vessels (p<0.05). When Ach and SNP responses were compared for each vessel type, only the OM vessels showed significant endothelial dysfunction (pω0.01). The results show that eventhough NO still plays a significant part in the endothelium-dependent dilator mechanisms of these vessels from morbidly obese Qataris, EDHF appears to play a greater role, particularly, in the SC vessels. The results also show that the increased role for EDHF is not due to loss of endothelial function since the substantially greater role in SC vessels was observed inspite of the relatively better endothelial function recorded in them compared with OM vessels. Furthermore, Kir channel involvement appears to be depot specific and largely in the OM vessels.


This is a critical analysis of the history of the American Civil Liberties Union and at the same time the history of American liberalism in the twentieth century. It represents the first published account of the ACLU's record. Other works on the organization either dealt only with specific issues or have been simply journalistic accounts. Donohue provides the first systematic analysis by a social scientist. This book is directed at those interested in the history of American liberalism and, no less, the history of American conservatism, for ideological struggle within the United States touches directly on civil libertarian concerns. The work is especially significant for American constitutional lawyers, political scientists, and for those concerned with serious ideas in American life. Supporters as well as critics of the ACLU will be attracted to this work for different reasons. It is unquestionably the most serious work now available and is likely to remain the touchstone for any such work for many years to come.


This research overviewed the present situation of Korean early childhood education and care workforce's
certification, education and training, and working conditions, according to the elements to assure the
quality of teachers. Results show that structure and condition of the initial teacher training system,
certificating system, professionalism development system and working environment and treatment of
kindergarten teachers were slightly better than child care center teachers', and private kindergarten
teachers' were better than the public teachers'. The hidden issues behind it such as marginalization,
traditional child caring discourse and underestimating of caring were pointed out, which must be
considered in addition to the elements related to teachers' quality that appear on the surface, when the
integration plan of kindergarten and day care center is discussed.


Management of human resources in health is a major challenge to health systems development in Thailand. This includes planning for, production, deployment and utilization of health personnel. Although a number of measures have been instituted to meet this challenge, considerable gaps still remain. Recently, hospital autonomy was introduced with a major emphasis to improve efficiency in the delivery of health services by the public sector. The term autonomy carries a number of connotations such as good governance, contractual relationships between public hospitals and the government, market exposure. It also means different things in different contexts. Different conclusions with regard to improving system efficiency have been derived from the experiences of several countries adopting hospital autonomy. Yet, there are a number of reports devoted to discussing the implications of hospital autonomy on the management of human resources in health. Using Thailand as a case study, this paper aims to explore the potential implications of integrated health system intervention. Within the Thai context, it is argued in this paper that autonomy of a network of public providers, rather than autonomy of individual hospitals, should be encouraged if management of health manpower is to be optimized. Other issues related to autonomy are also discussed in varying detail.


We propose an evolutionary approach for image reconstruction in nuclear medicine. Our method is based on a cooperative coevolution strategy (also called Parisian evolution): the "fly algorithm". Method and Materials: Each individual, or fly, corresponds to a 3D point that mimics a radioactive emitter, i.e. a stochastic simulation of annihilation events is performed to compute the fly's illumination pattern. For each annihilation, a photon is emitted in a random direction, and a second photon is emitted in the opposite direction. The line between two detected photons is called line of response (LOR). If both photons are detected by the scanner, the fly's illumination pattern is updated. The LORs of every fly are aggregated to form the population total illumination pattern. Using genetic operations to optimize the position of positrons, the population of flies evolves so that the population total pattern matches measured data. The final population of flies approximates the radioactivity concentration. Results: We have developed numerical phantom models to assess the reconstruction algorithm. To date, no scattering and no tissue attenuation have been considered. Whilst this is not physically correct, it allows us to test and validate our approach in the simplest cases. Preliminary results show the validity of this approach in both 2D and fully-3D modes. In particular, the size of objects, and their relative concentrations can be retrieved in the 2D mode. In fully-3D, complex shapes can be reconstructed. Conclusions: An evolutionary approach for PET reconstruction has been proposed and validated using simple test cases. Further work will therefore include the use of more realistic input data (including random events and scattering), which will finally lead to implement the correction of scattering within our algorithm. A comparison study against ML-EM and/or OS-EM methods will also need to be conducted.


Last summer, we represented the 1200 species observations of the First Annual Blogger Bioblitz in RDF. This allowed us to easily integrate the data with existing RDF data on natural history, taxonomy, food webs, conservation status, and invasive status. Using our Swoogle/Tripleshop approach to dataset construction, we were able to respond to a variety of ad-hoc queries

Our efforts last year were external to the running of the bioblitz. For this year's blogger bioblitz (late August), we have taken responsibility for data processing, and will encourage participants to make use of two tools we have developed that ease the process of user-generated RDF - the Spotter Firefox plug-in, and RDF123. We will encourage ISWC participants to photo-blog Karlsruhe wildlife during the conference, and to use Spotter to generate RDF of their posts. We will also attempt a full bioblitz of a suitable area near the Conference Centre. Our demo will allow users to browse the dataspace resulting from all observations, together with background data, and to issue SPARQL queries over the data.


Robert E. Kohn. New Close Readings of The Crying of Lot 49. Brentwood, MO : Mira Digital Publishing, 20 1 1 . 216 pp. Paperback, $10.49.Writing in 1987, twenty-one years after the publication of Thomas Pynchon's second novel, critic Alan Wilde prematurely claimed, "The Crying of Lot 49 has been combed over thoroughly and well for all its possible meanings." Twenty-five years later, further meanings are still be teased out of Pynchon's tangled tale, supporting Frank Kermode's earlier claim that Lot 49 "is loaded with hidden meanings, and although there will be a consensus as to certain of these, there is no suggestion that the process of interpretation need ever cease." Both remarks are quoted by Robert E. Kohn in his new book (on pp. 2 and 25, respectively), an attempt to uncover more of those "hidden meanings."Trained as an economist, Kohn's method is to propose a model, such as the assumption a certain book influenced Pynchon, run a simulation to find words and concepts common to both texts, and then see if the model implies or yields "facts capable of being observed," as economist Milton Friedman put it in Essays in Positive Economics, which Kohn cites (3). He goes on to quote Friedman's blithe admission, 'Truly important and significant hypotheses will be found to have 'assumptions' that are wildly inaccurate descriptive recommendations of reality, and, in general, the more significant the theory, the more unrealistic the assumptions" (6-7). Emboldened by this model and by the freedom Roland Barthes granted to readers upon announcing the death of the author (4), Kohn runs a number of simulations on Pynchon's novel, acknowledging that he may be wrong in some of his assumptions, but grateful nonetheless that those assumptions have "given me insights into aspects of the novel that I wouldn't have had otherwise" (97).So, in Chapter one, he acts on the assumption that Pynchon read E. M. Forster's Aspects of the Novelpnor to writing Lot 49 - a safe assumption, given its popularity at the time - then proposes as a "corollary hypothesis" that "the fact that Forster's book was made possible by 'a bequest in [William Clark's] will to Trinity College" suggests that Pynchon was thereby inspired to make the protagonist of his novel the executor of a will (45). If this strikes you as probable, or at least a possibility that cannot be ruled out with 100% certainty, then you'll find Kohn's book a goldmine of such nuggets. If, on the other hand, you consider that a meaningless coincidence, and probably the furthest thing from Pynchon's mind when he decided to make Oedipa Maas an executrix, then you'll probably throw the book at the wall before finishing it.The book would have been more suitable titled New Intertextual Readings of The Crying of Lot 49, for each chapter pairs Pynchon's novel with a possible influence: Aspects of the Novel in Chapter one, Henry Adams and J. R. Pierce in Chapter two, followed by chapters on Rachel Carson; Loren Eiseley and Charles Darwin; various authors on plate tectonics; The Tibetan Book of the Dead; the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; critics Roland Barthes, Paul Virilio, and F. R. Leavis; and two tangentially related essays on Pynchon's Against the Day and Inherent Vice. …


Despite the emergence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) throughout Europe, Germany considered itself free of the disease. However, on November 26, 2000, the first domestic case of BSE appeared in the country, leading to public concerns about food safety. The occurrence of BSE within the country's borders had dramatic economic and social effects. The response of the German public and politicians far surpassed that in the UK, which was affected by the disease to a much greater extent. Germany's response to BSE was rapid, with new risk management policies, including testing a high percentage of cattle, implemented within months. To date, Germany has not had a case of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). The strong public reaction to the identification of BSE in Germany demonstrates the importance of taking public perceptions of and concerns about zoonotic diseases into account in risk management decision-making.


The international research community involved in the GMES, INSPIRE, and GEOSS initiatives is actively pursuing the specification of information and service oriented solutions for geospatial data interoperability. A prominent interoperability issue pertains to discovery services. From an information technology point of view, the challenge is to implement interoperable discovery services for data and processing resources that are collected and managed using multidisciplinary standards and tools. We have designed and experimented a new, improved model and technology for the discovery of geospatial resources: an advanced catalog service featuring additional functionalities like mediation and asynchronous distribution. Besides, the described solution addresses another well-recognized issue: the integration of discovery and access services for complex resources-such as EO datasets.


water resources are limited and the groundwater levels decrease due to water abuse. This causes the lack of water problem in some regions of Iran. Therefore the hydrological and statistical methods needed for prediction of the water levels at a given location, region or times. The groundwater levels are variables changing by space and time, and their data can be considered as a spatial-temporal data set. Modeling of the correlation structures of such data is a major tool, for the prediction of unknown water level at some specified locations and times. This correlation structure is specified by fitting suitable variogram or covariogrammodels to the data. In this article some nonseparable covariance models were briefly reviewed. Then the spatial-temporal variogram of underground water levels were estimated as product and sum-product models. Finally the underground water levels of Birjand region was predicted using the universal kriging and give the contour map at the selected time. Moreover the prediction precision of different models were compared numerically.


An increasing number of villages in many countries do not have any local supplier at all. In the retail sector of Germany, the large supermarket companies require at least 5,000 inhabitants in the catchment area to run a shop. The aim of this paper is to assess the contribution of village shops to local supply and social life as well as about their economic viability. Therefore, findings from a telephone survey of approximately 100 shop operators in Germany are presented. The results show the limited supply and social function of the shops as well as their precarious economic situation. Many shops only offer a small range of goods so that the coverage of basic needs is difficult and they are mostly visited for supplementary purchases. Most village shops provide a snack area as a meeting place, but these are relatively seldom used. The findings indicate that permanent public and civic support is required to sustain many small shops in small villages. Because of the market conditions, however, public initiatives cannot halt the trend towards increasing numbers of 'food deserts'; at best they can slow down the process. Where village shops cannot be sustained economically, home delivery services, mobile supermarkets or improved mobility services are feasible options for assuring local supply for less mobile people.


The vulnerability of coral reefs to climate change, such as regional warming, became fully evident during the strong 1997–1998 El Niño event. This El Niño episode was associated with elevated sea‐surface temperatures and caused mass mortality throughout many of the world's coral reefs. We analyzed the isotopic manifestation of this event in six Porites sp. coral skeletons from different localities in a small atoll (Alphonse) at the Seychelles Island. The aim was to validate the use of coral stable isotope compositions as recorders of such events in the past. The coupling between local‐scale environment and global warming was weaker then expected, with regional warming being evident only when data from five colonies were averaged. Local conditions had a large effect on the isotopic compositions of coral skeletons. We conclude that future paleoclimate reconstructions, especially those attempts to identify past El Niño events, must be based on more than a single coral record. Moreover, the strong effect of local habitat on the isotopic composition of Porites sp. has to be considered when interpreting δ13C and δ18O records.


Material parameters such as Young's modulus and internal friction are important for estimation of material performance. This paper presents an experimental study for measuring material related parameters using a selfmixing interferometric (SMI) configuration. An SMI system consists of a laser diode (LD), a lens and an external target to be measured. When a part of the lasing light back-reflected or back-scattered by the external target re-enters the LD internal cavity, both optical frequency and intensity of the lasing light can be modulated. This modulated laser intensity is often referred as SMI signal. Generally, the target related movement or its surface information can be retrieved from this SMI signal. In this paper, an SMI system is implemented. A tested sample is used as the target to form the external cavity of the LD. The tested sample is stimulated in vibration. Continuous wavelet transform (CWT) is utilized to retrieve the vibration information of the tested sample from an SMI signal. We are able to obtain both Young's modulus and internal friction from a piece of an experimental SMI signal. This work provides a novel, simple non-destructive solution for simultaneous measurement of Young's modulus and internal friction.


The transportation sector is a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for around one-quarter of current annual emissions. Surface transportation (passenger vehicles, buses, rail, and freight transportation) contributes 75% of total emissions, with the remaining 25% allocated equally between air and water transport. According to the recently released 5th Assessment Report of the IPCC (September 2013), the transportation sector is expected to grow significantly in future years, particularly in rapidly developing countries around the world, and will therefore be one of a few key drivers of increasing global warming. Unless there is a major political effort and consumer willingness to change current energy consumption patterns and travel modes over the next few decades, transport-related emissions are likely to double by 2050 relative to levels observed in 2010. Because of the contribution of transportation to climate change and its impact on urban air quality, a comparative assessment of potential carbon emission reductions and health benefits of reduced particulate matter emissions was undertaken considering several low carbon pathways for development of the urban road transport sector up to 2050. As a result, we conclude that aggressive changes will be needed to scale back future emissions by 20% (or more) compared to present day emissions. These changes will impact vehicle fuel economy (+50%), urban mobility patterns (lower private car demand and greater use of public transportation), choice of alternative fuels (less use of petroleum-based fuels and greater use of biofuels and electrons) and electricity generation mix (greater use of renewables, carbon capture technologies for limiting fossil fuel carbon emissions, and/or nuclear energy). Public acceptance is fundamental to bring about changes in consumer attitudes and behaviour. Given the long lead times required for research, development, demonstration and deployment of new technologies, the time to act is now if we are to limit the global mean surface temperature increase to within 2°C above preindustrial levels.


In 1576 Martin Frobisher captured an Inuk man off the coast of Baffin Island using several bells. These sounding objects were viewed in two fundamentally different ways. The Inuk considered them to be soul-filled gifts; all things, and especially sounding things, were said by the Inuit to have a guardian spirit. For Frobisher, however, as for most European merchant adventurers from the late 1400s onwards, bells had a specific function within the early capitalist enterprise. They were trinkets that helped get commodities by securing the trust of native peoples. For this reason, Frobisher brought along with him over three hundred bells on his first journey into the Arctic. Not yet considered a commodity in the classic economic sense, bells in the late sixteenth century were called "trinkets," trinkets that were indispensable to making contact with indigenous Americans and to getting at the many commodities the Americas had to offer.


Subsets of murine natural killer (NK) cells exist that express the Ly-49 family of molecules that recognize different major histocompatibility complex (MHC) determinants. Bone marrow transplantation studies were performed to examine the in vivo functions of 2 of these subsets. Subsets of Ly-49A and Ly-49G2 NK share specificity for the same MHC class 1 ligand, Dd, binding of which results in an inhibitory signal to the NK cell but allows them to lyse H2b targets in vitro. We therefore examined the ability of these subsets to reject H2b bone marrow cell allografts in lethally irradiated mice. Surprisingly, depletion of Ly-49A+ NK cells in BALB/c or B10.D2 mice (both H2d) had no effect on the rejection of H2b BMC. However, Ly-49A depletion did partially abrogate the ability of B10.BR (H2k) mice to reject H2ballografts. Although depletion of either Ly-49A+ or Ly-49G2+ NK cells alone had no effect on the ability of B10.D2 mice to reject H2b BMC, depletion of both subsets dramatically and synergistically abrogated rejection. Studies with various B10 congenic mice and their F1 hybrids indicate that this synergy between Ly49A and Ly4G2 depletion occurs in every instance. Thus, Ly-49A+ NK cells appear to play a role in the rejection H2b bone marrow allografts, but, in most strains of mice studied, Ly-49G2+ NK cells must also be eliminated. The putative roles of these NK cell subsets in clinical transplantation remains to be elucidated.


Enterolobin, a 55 KDa haemolytic protein from Enterolobium contortisiliquum seeds, was purified and further characterized. Its partial amino acid sequence was determined by using both manual and automatic methods of sequence determination. A number of 271 residues could be placed by means of overlaps. A computational search of these overlapped peptides against the PM database revealed that some residues of one peptide had short sequence matches to the bacterial pore-forming aerolysins from Aeromonas hydrophyla and Aeromonas sobria and to colicin lb from Escherichia coli. A subsequent search for similar sequence patterns stored in the PROSITE database showed that the predicted cytolytic site of enterolobin and the aerolysins have similarities to the pattern of the tonB-dependent receptors of bacteria. This pattern occurs not only in these membrane receptor proteins, but also in colicins and other pore- formers and transport proteins. Hydropathy profile analyses made for aerolysins and the predicted cytolytic sites demonstrated their overall hydrophilic character with some short stretches of hydrophobic regions. Studies on the kinetics of haemolysis of normal red cells by enterolobin in the presence of possible effectors such as Ca(^2+), EDTA, galactose, choline, phosphatidylcholine, cholesterol, ricin and with trypsinised erythrocytes were performed. The analyses indicated that the membrane receptor for enterolobin was probably a protein, perhaps the band 3 anion-exchanger protein. Optical and electron microscopic observations of the effects of enterolobin and gold-enterolobin on the membranes of red cell and cancer cells were carried out, and revealed severely damaged membranes after contact with the cytolysin. Gold-enterolobin had a random distribution around holes on the red cell membrane. Bioassays showed that enterolobin was toxic to larvae of the insect Callosobruchus maculatus but not to those of Spodoptera litorallis. Assays of in vitro proteolysis using larval gut enzymes showed that only S. litorallis proteases could digest enterolobin. The mechanism of toxicity of enterolobin did not involve any damage to the microvillar membranes of the epithelial gut cells of C. maculatus as shown by electron microscopy.


Focus Issue on Orthogonal-Frequency-Division Multiplexed Communications Systems and Networks The impact of a wide range of different parameters of various components involved in optical modems using adaptively modulated optical orthogonal-frequency-division multiplexing (AMOOFDM) on the transmission performance of AMOOFDM signals is explored thoroughly, in single-channel, unamplified, multimode-fiber (MMF)-based, intensity modulation and direct detection (IMDD) transmission links. Practically available optimum component parameters are identified, based on which the AMOOFDM modems are optimized. It is shown that the optimized AMOOFDM modems enable a >70% increase in the capacity versus reach performance without compromising link loss margins, in comparison with that achieved without modem optimization. In addition, the validity of the identified optimum parameters and the feasibility of the optimized AMOOFDM modems are also statistically verified for implementation in the vast majority of installed MMF links. Statistical investigations show that the optimized AMOOFDM modems can support >50Gbits/s signal transmission over 300m in 99.5% of already installed MMF links with loss margins of >7dB. Furthermore, it is also confirmed statistically that the optimized AMOOFDM modems have excellent performance flexibility and great robustness to various fiber and/or system implementation-related impairments.


Entrainment of antecrystic zircon in early saturated main silicate phases has been recognized as a complicating factor in high-precision U-Pb geochronology of Phanerozoic granitic systems, but has not been demonstrated for Precambrian rocks. We report U-Pb ages (secondary ion mass spectrometry) and trace element (laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry) compositions of zircon from three main ferroan granite types of the late Paleoproterozoic Wiborg rapakivi granite batholith of southeastern Finland and vicinity. Zircon was extracted from the interior parts of megacrystic (diameters as large as 15 cm) rapakivi-textured alkali feldspar ovoids using a microdrilling technique. Compared to zircon in ovoid groundmass, zircon in the ovoids has higher incompatible element values (e.g., uranium and rare earth elements) and, for two of the three samples examined, slightly older (by ∼1 m.y.) average U-Pb ages. These observations suggest that the ovoid material of the rapakivi granites entrained zircon from earlier magmas that were compositionally different than the final magmatic host of the ovoids. Groundmass zircon implies similar average U-Pb ages for all the studied samples, ca. 1628 Ma; this is regarded as the final crystallization age of the granites. These observations show that it is viable to measure statistically valid age differences between antecrysts and groundmass of Proterozoic granites. Overall, our sampling technique provides enhanced textural control of antecrystic zircon in a wide range of sample materials.


Prolyl-4-hydroxylation is necessary for proper structural assembly of collagens and oxygen-dependent protein stability of hypoxia-inducible transcription factors (HIFs). In vitro function of HIF prolyl-4-hydroxylase domain (PHD) enzymes requires oxygen and 2-oxoglutarate as cosubstrates with iron(II) and vitamin C serving as cofactors. Although vitamin C deficiency is known to cause the collagen-disassembly disease scurvy, it is unclear whether cellular oxygen sensing is similarly affected. Here, we report that vitamin C-deprived Gulo(-/-) knockout mice show normal HIF-dependent gene expression. The systemic response of Gulo(-/-) animals to inspiratory hypoxia, as measured by plasma erythropoietin levels, was similar to that of animals supplemented with vitamin C. Hypoxic HIF induction was also essentially normal under serum- and vitamin C-free cell-culture conditions, suggesting that vitamin C is not required for oxygen sensing in vivo. Glutathione was found to fully substitute for vitamin C requirement of all 3 PHD isoforms in vitro. Consistently, glutathione also reduced HIF-1α protein levels, transactivation activity, and endogenous target gene expression in cells exposed to CoCl(2). A Cys201Ser mutation in PHD2 increased basal hydroxylation rates and conferred resistance to oxidative damage in vitro, suggesting that this surface-accessible PHD2 cysteine residue is a target of antioxidative protection by vitamin C and glutathione.


Young children can sometimes acquire new vocabulary words with only limited, indirect exposure (Carey & Bartlett, 1978). We propose that structural alignment processes lead to fluent detection of commonalities and differences that facilitate incidental word learning. To test this, we adapted the Carey and Bartlett paradigm, varying the alignability of the objects that 4year-olds saw while hearing the novel word chromium. In Experiment 1, children in the High-Alignment condition were significantly better than those in the Low-Alignment condition at identifying chromium objects in a subsequent task. In Experiment 2, we ruled out an alternative account by equalizing the overall amount of information presented to the two groups. We also found that the advantage of high alignment persisted after two-to-four days. These results suggest that structural alignment is a mechanism by which children can learn word meanings even in incidental word learning situations.


Many animal populations are affected by road-kills . In this note I report that corpses of road-killed Sand Martins Riparia riparia attracted conspecifics and thereby increased mortality risk. Close to a lake in northern Greece I observed large numbers of Sand Martins, many of which rested on a road, and seven dead martins were found among them . In six trials I placed the corpses at different places on the road or on a nearby parking area, and in every case new resting flocks of 50-500 individuals formed by the first ~--`_ individuals landing < 0.5 in away from the corpses . Further, in each experiment at least 1-5 individuals mounted and attempted to copulate with the corpses. Thus, attraction of conspecifics to corpses, possibly enhanced by necrophilia, may increase rates of road-kills .


by Nancy Foner. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2000. 334 pp. $29.95.For those interested in immigrants and New York City, this is must reading. Though some readers may not agree with some of Professor Foner's interpretations of why or how some group "made it" in the big apple, they will find her overall approach both interesting and provocative.Basically, she describes and compares two major immigrant movements to New York City. The first is of Jews and Italians from 1880 to 1920, and the other of post-1965 Mexicans, Asians, Latin Americans, and Caribbean Islanders. The earlier movement arrived at Ellis Island after a long and wearying boat ride, while the later arrived at the JFK international airport, after a flight of a few hours or a day at most.In comparing the two movements, Professor Foner, who is an anthropologist at Purchase College in New York, utilizes a variety of sociological, demographic, literary, and historical sources, as well as some of her studies. Each chapter deals with a different aspect of how immigrant groups confronted and reacted to life and conditions in the city. In comparison to Jews and Italians, some recent immigrant groups, particularly Asians, are generally more educated, financially better off, less given to self-ghettoization, and more likely to obtain high-paying jobs. Conversely, for today's uneducated, there are fewer non-skilled jobs available.With a minimum of academic jargon, Professor Foner explores the many similar and different reasons why immigrants came, the skills and values they brought, the areas they resided in, the work they did, the problems of women, the changing racial and ethnic demography of the city, the prejudices and racism they confronted, the education they had or sought, and the problems of adjusting and acculturating in a huge, multicultural metropolis.She concludes with a series of haunting questions, such as whether the offspring of today's immigrants will replicate the successes of earlier Jews and Italians, whether today's immigrant offspring will retain the emotional, familial, and political attachments their parents had for "the old country," and, most provocatively, whether race will continue to be a divisive force within and between immigrant groups.It is her use of critical white theory in dealing with Jews, Italians, African Americans, and current ethnic groups that is debatable. Yes, there were late nineteenth-and early twentieth-century academics, politicians, and demagogues who thought Jews and Italians belonged to an inferior race, but such "racism" was not a problem for them the way it was for Blacks, Indians, and Asians, then or today. In the case of Jews, theological and economic antisemitism was older and more injurious, as was first brazenly displayed by Peter Stuyvesant in old New York when he wanted to expel a boat-load of Jews -- those "hateful enemies and blasphemers of the name of Christ. …


Over the past few years, considerable progress has been made in the area of machine learning. However, when these learning machines, including support vector machines (SVMs) and neural networks, are applied to massive sets of high-dimensional data, many challenging problems emerge, such as high computational cost and the way to adapt the structure of a learning system. Therefore, it is important to develop some new methods with computational efficiency and high accuracy such that learning algorithms can be applied more widely to areas such as data ruining, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and bio-informatics.
In this thesis, we mainly focus on three problems: methodologies to adapt the structure of a neural network learning system, speeding up SVM's training and facilitating test on huge data sets. For the first problem, a local learning framework is proposed to automatically construct the ensemble of neural networks, which are trained on local subsets so that the complexity and training time of the learning system can be reduced and its generalization performance can be enhanced. With respect to SVM's training on a very large data set with thousands of classes and high-dimensional input vectors, block diagonal matrices are used to approximate the original kernel matrix such that the original SVM optimization process can be divided into hundreds of sub-problems, which can be solved efficiently. Theoretically, the run-time complexity of the proposed algorithm linearly scales to the size of the data set, the dimension of input vectors and the number of classes. For the last problem, a fast iteration algorithm is proposed to approximate the reduced set vectors simultaneously based on the general kernel type so that the number of vectors in the decision function of each class can be reduced considerably and the testing speed is increased significantly.
The main contributions of this thesis are to propose effective solutions to the above three problems. It is especially worth mentioning that the methods which are used to solve the last two problems are crucial in making support vector machines more competitive in tasks where both high accuracy and classification speed are required. The proposed SVM algorithm runs at a much higher training speed than the existing ones such as svm-light and libsvm when applied to a huge data set with thousands of classes. The total training time of SVM with the radial basis function kernel on Hanwang's handwritten Chinese database (2,144,489 training samples, 542,122 testing samples, 3755 classes and 392-dimensional input vectors) is 19 hours on P4. In addition, the proposed testing algorithm has also achieved a promising classification speed, 16,000 patterns per second, on MNIST database. Besides the efficient computation, the state-of-the-art generalization performances have also been achieved on several well-known public and commercial databases. Particularly, very low error rates of 0.38%, 0.5% and 1.0% have been reached on MNIST, Hanwang handwritten digit databases and ETL9B handwritten Chinese database.


Since the 1970s the role of fishery bycatch as a factor reducing, or limiting the recov- ery of, marine mammal populations has been increasingly recognized. The proceedings of a 1990 International Whaling Commission symposium and workshop summarized fishery and bycatch data by region, fishery, and species, and estimated the significance of the 'impacts' of bycatch in passive gear on all cetacean species and subspecies or geographically defined populations. A global review of pinniped bycatch in 1991 concluded that incidental mortality in passive gear had contributed to declines of several species and populations. Here we update the information on cetacean gillnet bycatch, assess bycatch data on marine mammals other than cetaceans (i.e. pin- nipeds, sirenians, and 2 otter species), determine where important data gaps exist, and identify species and populations known or likely to be at high risk from bycatch in gillnets. We found that at least 75% of odontocete species, 64% of mysticetes, 66% of pinnipeds, and all sirenians and marine mustelids have been recorded as gillnet bycatch over the past 20-plus years. Cetacean bycatch information in some areas has improved, facilitating our ability to identify species and populations at high risk, although major gaps remain. Understanding of the scale of pinniped and sirenian bycatch has also improved, but this bycatch remains poorly documented, especially at the population level. This study reveals how little is known about marine mammal bycatch in gillnets in much of the world. Even as other significant threats to marine mammals have become better documented and understood, bycatch remains a critical issue demanding urgent attention if there is to be any hope of preventing further losses of marine mammal diversity and abundance, and of protecting, or restoring, ecological health.


Materials with structural elements, clusters and crystallites or molecules with size dimension in the range 1–100 nm and/or 4–20 Å have found potential and real applications as antimicrobial agents, catalysts, nano-filters in waste water treatments and scale forming ions removal etc. These nano/micro-structured materials possess large surface area which is one of the most important properties needed in different fields of applications. In this short review, the different protocols available for the synthesis ranging from green chemistry to chemical reduction methods, structural characterization, morphology and applications of nanostructured materials such as layered double hydroxides, silver and molybdenum oxides have been discussed.


An approach to schedule lattice wave digital filters so that the maximal sample frequency is obtained is presented. In the approach, bit-serial arithmetic and a scheduling method that decouples the sample period from the scheduling period are used. A lower bound on the scheduling period required to arrive at the minimum sample period is given. Different latency models for the arithmetic operations, and their effect on the minimum sample period are discussed. The operation schedule is mapped to a hardware structure using isomorphic mapping. The throughput of the resulting implementations is comparable to corresponding bit-parallel implementations.


Because preschool is the first step in a child's school career, it is necessary to understand how children from different social backgrounds integrate and adapt to it. Oral language plays a key role in this process: it is the mean and result of socialization at school and is the "vital condition for the success of all pupils" (BOEN, 26/03/2015). Children integrate and adapt at school by communicating. At the same time, school socialization increases the opportunities to communicate with peers and with the adults responsible for the children, promotes learning and strengthens linguistic skills. A virtuous circle – or a spiral of failure – may therefore become established between children's sociability, oral communication and learning at school.
Social inequalities are a key factor in this chain since, as of age 2, children from different backgrounds do not exhibit the same level of language skills and do not all use, to the same extent, the linguistic codes that are encouraged at school. These early differences, which are transmitted within the family, have given rise to numerous studies that have revealed the influence of the nature and quantity of the speech addressed to children in different social environments. However, these works tell us little about the influence of peers, which may modulate the impact of the family given that peer groups give rise to a certain social mix, in particular in the school context. School attendance therefore introduces a new factor into the equation, especially when the academic group is socially mixed or through the speech produced by the teachers.
The aim of DyLNet is to observe and characterize the relations between child socialization and oral language learning during the preschool period by means of an innovative multidisciplinary approach that combines work in the fields of language acquisition, sociolinguistics and network science.
It will be implemented through the 3-year follow-up of all the children (≈150) and teaching staff at a socially mixed preschool. The social interactions between individuals will be recorded using wireless sensor technology which will record inter-individual proximity data at 30 second intervals. These sensors will be worn for one week every month for a period of 3 years. We will monitor the children's language development on the basis of their results in general language tests and the recording of their social use of language in natural interactions, through microphones implemented on the sensors. Finally, the children's social profiles will be identified by means of questionnaires sent to their families.
Thanks to the analytical (detection of communities) and modeling (data driven multi-agent models) power of the network science, the social interaction data will be matched against the children's linguistic performances and sociolinguistic usage. The task, in particular, will be to examine the influence of the children's social relations on their language development (if individuals stay in the same peer community between two observation times, does the linguistic distance between them falls over the same period?) and, equally, the influence of language on these social relations (if two individuals belong to the same linguistic group at time T, does the probability that they will be in the same peer community increase at time T+n?). We shall also examine the interactions between the pupils and the teaching staff – teachers and classroom assistants – in order to observe whether their frequency has an impact on the children's language development. Finally, DyLNet will result in the provision to the scientific community of a database indicating the relations between the recorded interaction frequencies and the language descriptions of a broad school community of children and adults followed up over three years.


In 1997, the Ohio Senate passed Senate Bill 102 which established the Ohio School Facilities Commission as a separate agency to oversee the rebuilding projects of the public schools in Ohio. The bill also exempted the construction contractors from paying prevailing wages on these projects on the hypothesis that this exemption would lower the construction cost. The purpose of this study is to investigate this hypothesis through the statistical analysis of 8,093 bids received from the years 2000 through 2007 for the schools' construction. Union contractors who paid their workers union wages and non-union contractors who did not pay prevailing wages bid these projects. The hypothesis, that prevailing wage laws increased the construction cost, was tested by comparing the bids/ SF (square foot) from both groups (union and nonunion) for the different construction trades. The study indicated that there was statistical significant difference between the bids/square foot for union contractors and the bids/square foot for non-union contractors for only the following trades: earthwork, existing conditions, plumbing, electrical and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning). The averages of bids/SF from the union contractors were higher than those from the non-union contractors for earthwork, existing conditions and plumbing works, and the opposite for electrical and HVAC works. There was no statistical significant difference in the bids from the communications, concrete, conveying equipment, electronic safety and security, equipment, finishes, fire suppression, furnishings, masonry, openings, structural steel, thermal and moisture protection, plastics and composites and wood works.


The knowledge of the energy level structures of atoms and molecules is mainly obtained by spectroscopic experiments.Both photoabsorption and photoemission spectra are subject to the electric dipole selection rules(also known as optical selection rules). However, the selection rules for atoms and molecules in the scattering experiments are not identical to those in the optical experiments. In this paper, based on the theory of the molecular point group, the selection rules are derived and summarized for the electric monopole, electric dipole, electric quadrupole, and electric octupole transitions of diatomic molecules under the first Born approximation in scattering experiments. Then based on the derived selection rules, the electron scattering spectra and x-ray scattering spectra of H2, N2, and CO at different momentum transfers are explained, and the discrepancies between the previous experimental results measured by different groups are elucidated.


Background: Excessive pain following surgery is a common entity that has been highlighted in the literature for almost 40 years. The exponential growth in the understanding of the multifarious nature of pain physiology and perception has been paralleled with significant scientific advancements in the interventional management of pain. Despite this progress, the literature remains replete with examples of patients experiencing unnecessary levels of pain following surgery. Unalleviated pain after surgery is highly prevalent and impacts negatively on patients' morbidity and mortality. The deleterious short and long-term effects of unrelieved pain on patients are multifold. There is increasing evidence which shows that acute pain can progress into chronic pain. The literature documents that chronic pain after surgery is a common occurrence. Nurses play a crucial role in pain management and must be highly knowledgeable to ensure their practices in the management of pain are of a high quality standard.

Aim: The central purpose of this study was to determine the baseline level of knowledge and attitudes regarding pain of Irish surgical nurses working in three teaching hospitals in Dublin.

Methodology: A cross-sectional survey research design was employed into this study. A modified version of the validated 'Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain' (NKAS) tool and a demographic form were utilized to ascertain the knowledge and attitudes base of Irish nurses' working in these acute surgical settings. The sample comprised a convenience sample of 94 nurses working in the acute surgical wards of the three hospitals.

Results: Results revealed that the mean percentage score overall was 65.7%. Only 3.2% of nurse participants obtained a passing score of 80% or greater. Widespread knowledge deficits and poor attitudes were noted in this study, particularly in the domain of pharmacological management of pain. Positive correlations were observed between the respondents' score and nursing grade and level of education. Further analysis revealed respondents had an inaccurate self-evaluation of their pain management knowledge.

Conclusion: The results of this study support the universal concern of inadequate knowledge and attitudes of nurses' regarding pain. Educational and quality improvement initiatives in pain management could enhance nurses' knowledge base in the area of pain and possibly improve practices.


This randomized within‐subjects crossover‐designed study evaluated intra‐arterial blood pressure (BP) traits in seven healthy males (24 ± 1 years) during heavy resistance exercise (HRE) to failure (10 × 5 repetitions, 5RES) and not to failure (10 × 3 repetitions, 3RES), both at 5RM load. By combining few repetitions, avoidance of Valsalva maneuver, and restricting the duration of each contraction, we hypothesized (a) that HRE could be performed without acute excessive elevated BP; (b) a dose relationship regarding acute BP elevation following 5RES versus 3RES; and (c) both modes of HRE to induce post‐exercise hypotension (PEH). BP was measured before, during, and throughout 90 minutes post‐exercise. Systolic BP and mean arterial pressure decreased during 3RES (P < .001 and P < .05) and increased during 5RES (P < .01 and P < .001). The maximal individual systolic BP observed during exercise was 191 (3RES) and 212 mm Hg (5RES). Both modes of HRE induced PEH with lower systolic and mean arterial pressure (both P < .01). Documented by continuous intra‐arterial BP monitoring, this study demonstrates that HRE can be performed without acute excessive elevated BP during exercise, but still induce PEH. These novel results are important, as they may pave way for future studies utilizing HRE in patients where avoidance of excessive elevated BP is important.


There is currently much talk of the private sector role in nutrition, and whether the state can 'shape' the market to deliver better nutritional outcomes.  This issue of the IDS Bulletin presents research findings in this area, developed by the consortium of research partners under the Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition in South Asia (LANSA) programme. The IDS Bulletin aims to analyse existing (or potential) agri-food value chain pathways for delivering nutritious foods from agriculture to vulnerable populations in South Asia. It discusses the role of both public and private actors in making these value chains more effective in achieving sustained increased consumption of nutrient-rich foods. In comparing the different pathways, this set of articles warns against the assumption that increasing the supply of certain products will directly lead to increased consumption. It highlights how, in South Asia, interventions or policies that try to enhance these pathways often struggle because of a mix of supply, distribution, marketing, and consumption challenges. This IDS Bulletin argues that the key to sustainable food systems might be a 'food sovereignty' approach. This calls for awareness at all levels of decision-making – public, private and civil society – in the promotion of nutrition-sensitive value chains, emphasising the need for a stronger government role in shaping agri-food value chain pathways. By looking at the limits of what business can and cannot achieve in a given market environment, the IDS Bulletin provides insights to policymakers about how to create an appropriate institutional environment that shapes how these value chains operate for the benefit of nutritionally vulnerable target groups.


Courts and scholars assume that group causation theories (e.g., concerted action) deter wrongdoers. This article empirically tests, and rejects, this assumption, using a series of incentivized laboratory experiments. Contrary to common belief, data from over 200 subjects shows that group liability can encourage tortious behavior and incentivize individuals to act with as many tortfeasors as possible. Surprisingly, we find that subjects can be just as likely to commit a tort under a liability regime as they would be when facing no tort liability. Group liability can also incentivize a tort by making subjects perceive it as fairer to victims and society. These findings are consistent across a series of robustness checks, including both regression analysis and non-parametric tests.

We also test courts' and scholarly insistence that the but-for test fails in cases subject to group causation. We use a novel experimental design that allows us to test whether, and to what extent, each individual's decision to engage in a tortious activity is influenced by the decisions of others. Upending conventional belief, we find strong evidence that the but-for test operates in group causation settings (e.g. concurrent causes). Moreover, in our experiments, subjects' reliance on but-for causation produced the very tort that group liability attempted to discourage.

A major function of liability in torts, criminal law and other areas of the law is to deter actors from engaging in socially undesirable activities. The same is said about doctrines that result in group liability. Our empirical results challenge this basic logic.


This article studies the interplay of U.S. primary and general elections. I examine how the nomination of an extremist changes general-election outcomes and legislative behavior in the U.S. House, 1980–2010, using a regression discontinuity design in primary elections. When an extremist—as measured by primary-election campaign receipt patterns—wins a "coin-flip" election over a more moderate candidate, the party's general-election vote share decreases on average by approximately 9–13 percentage points, and the probability that the party wins the seat decreases by 35–54 percentage points. This electoral penalty is so large that nominating the more extreme primary candidate causes the district's subsequent roll-call representation to reverse, on average, becoming more liberal when an extreme Republican is nominated and more conservative when an extreme Democrat is nominated. Overall, the findings show how general-election voters act as a moderating filter in response to primary nominations.


Abstract In recent decades, the number of women under criminal justice supervision has increased considerably, many of whom are serving time for drug offenses. Furthermore, women in prison are more likely than their non-institutionalized counterparts to suffer from a substance abuse disorder. While there is a growing body of research concerning women offenders' drug abuse and treatment needs, few studies have examined the substance abuse treatment outcomes of women in the criminal justice system. Using data from Outcome Evaluation of the Forever Free Substance Abuse Treatment Program, this study compared women's self-reported drug use twelve months after participation in high-intensity (n = 101) and low-intensity (n = 81) prison-based substance abuse treatment programming (N = 182). Women who perceived high levels of emotional social support were less likely to report substance use at 12-month follow-up. Furthermore, perceptions of emotional social support and treatment intensity interacted in their association with relapse, such that the protective effect of social support was strongest for women who participated in high-intensity programming. The results of the analyses highlight the importance of perceived social support for women with substance abuse disorders who are transitioning from prison-based substance abuse treatment programming to the community.


We present an updated checklist of the birds of the islands of Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire, and the islets of Klein Curaçao and Klein Bonaire, southern Caribbean, and compare this with earlier checklists (K.H. Voous, Stud. Fauna Curaçao Carib. Isl. 7: 1–260, 1957; Ardea 53: 205–234, 1965; Birds of the Netherlands Antilles, 1983). The avifaunal composition of the three main islands is relatively similar (similarity coefficients of 74–78% for residents and 65–73% for migrants) whereas the two islets are, or were in the past, inhabited mainly by sea birds. The total number of recorded resident species for these islands has increased from 115 (1957) to 168 (2006), and of migrants from 117 (1957) to 236 (2006). This increase was most prominent for the island of Aruba (residents from 34 to 56, migrants from 28 to 166), and least for Curaçao (residents from 42 to 57, migrants from 55 to 168). Historically Klein Curaçao was an important nesting site for seabirds, i.e. boobies, gulls and terns, but mining of guano in the 19th century significantly lowered the ornithological value of the islet. Klein Bonaire suffered heavily from the presence of goats but is slowly recovering following their removal and the islet's inclusion. Despite the presence of a large number of migrants, or non-breeding birds, the islands are of limited importance as a stop-over site for birds. Migrants arrive from both the north (boreal migrants from North and Middle America) and the south (austral migrants from South America). We illustrate the phenology of migration with the numbers of migrant warblers species and migrant gulls and terns, and the abundance of migrant raptors recorded on the three islands. While migrants can be observed in all months of the year, for the warblers and raptors there are clear peaks in boreal spring (Mar–Apr) and autumn (Oct–Nov), with few summering birds in the boreal summer. The gulls and terns appear to be present in more or less equal numbers during all months of the year. About two-thirds of the breeding residents are either deemed common or rather common, and this proportion is consistent for all three islands. Of the breeding residents few are common or very common on one island, and at the same time scarce or very scarce on other islands. Notable exceptions are Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber that is an abundant breeding resident on Bonaire, a regular non-breeding visitor (with several attempts of breeding) in the low hundreds on Curaçao, but is only an irregular non-breeding visitor on Aruba. Yellow Oriole Icterus nigrogularis is common as a breeding resident on Curaçao, rather common on Bonaire, but scarce on Aruba. The islands are home to six globally threatened or near-threatened species. Two species, the Caribbean Coot Fulica caribaea and the Yellow-shouldered Parrot Amazona barbadensis are represented by globally significant populations, whereas the other species (Piping Plover Charadrius melodus, Olivesided Flycatcher Contopus cooperi, Cerulean Warbler Dendroica cerulea and Golden-winged Warbler Vermivora chrysoptera) use the islands as over-wintering or stop-over site during migration. The Yellow-shouldered Parrot is found mainly on Bonaire, where there is a resident population of some 400 birds; small numbers are occasionally observed on Aruba and these may comprise migrant birds from Venezuela's Paraguaná Peninsula or may represent released birds. The Caribbean Coot is present on all three islands and its status on the islands has improved, with more breeding sites occupied and more birds present than in Voous's time. From a conservation perspective, a significant breeding population of Greater Flamingo on Bonaire and a smaller population on Curaçao are noteworthy as well as a breeding colony of Least Tern Sterna antillarum on Klein Bonaire. On the basis of the presence of these threatened and conservation-dependent species we identify fifteen Important Bird Areas, i.e. four on Aruba, five on Curaçao and six (including Klein Bonaire) on Bonaire.


Child mortality is a persistent problem in sub-Saharan Africa that policymakers have up to now been unable to solve. The Millennium Development Goals set the bar for progress at a two-thirds reduction by the year 2015 (UNDP 2011). However, there has been nowhere near sufficient progress to meet this goal. While the child mortality rate in sub-Saharan Africa had fallen from 18 percent in 1990 to 13 percent in 2009, the total number of child deaths has increased from 3,937,000 in 1990 to 3,976,000 in 2009. Additionally, the share of under-five deaths coming from Sub-Saharan Africa increased from 31 percent in 1990 to 50 percent in 2009 (UNICEF et al. 2010).
 Policymakers seeking to reduce child mortality and meet this goal have long sought to identify what programs are effective and why, but up to now have been unsuccessful. A common explanation for this failure is that health production is a complicated process that depends on many interrelated health inputs that all involve choices (Rutstein 2002). I thus argue in this dissertation that understanding how households make decisions about investment in interrelated health inputs is essential to improving child health. Here I focus specifically on how households respond to competing disease risks in making health input decisions. I argue that a better understanding of this decision-making process will enable policymakers to answer key questions about why programs are effective in reducing child mortality. Here I have specifically addressed two questions: 1) why does the effect of the same program differ by program site and 2) why do families spend little on disease prevention and have high price sensitivity for it when they spend relatively large amounts on medical treatment.
 I developed a theoretical model of household allocation with competing disease risks for children to demonstrate that household will respond to child health programs by investing in more disease prevention for their children and that this response will differ by determinants of household allocation to children. This differential response will lead to mortality effects that vary by these determinants of household allocation. I developed an additional theoretical model of parents' decisions to invest in disease prevention or spend on medical treatment in the presence of competing disease risks. I demonstrated that high levels of competing disease risks will decrease investment in disease prevention, increase price sensitivity for prevention, and increase the use of medical treatment when sick. I applied these two models to the questions raised above and evaluate them empirically using data from sub-Saharan Africa. I find empirical support for both models.