Finding and removing outliers is an important problem in data mining. Errors in large databases can be extremely common, so an important property of a data mining algorithm is robustness with respect to errors in the database. Most sophisticated methods in machine learning address this problem to some extent, but not fully, and can be improved by addressing the problem more directly. In this paper we examine C4.5, a decision tree algorithm that is already quite robust - few algorithms have been shown to consistently achieve higher accuracy. C4.5 incorporates a pruning scheme that partially addresses the outlier removal problem. In our ROBUST-C4.5 algorithm we extend the pruning method to fully remove the effect of outliers, and this results in improvement on many databases.


As a subset of political theory, postcolonial critique exists to examine the fundamental disparity in the asymmetrical power relations between the actors involved in colonial and imperial interaction. Part of this examination includes the assumption that the totalizing nature of imperial practice and its effects are necessarily problematic. This paper examines the notion that there can be a 'universal history' for human beings, as sketched in the political writings of Immanuel Kant. In addition, the historical context of Kant's political theory, centered within 18 th century European imperialism, forms a substantial portion of the examination. The paper begins with a consideration of the friction between Kant's ideas of human freedom and natural necessity. Kant's solution to this conflict is to sketch a model of historical development that is then applied universally to human beings and human societies. This paper considers Kant's writings, in their historical context, in order to evaluate the degree to which Kant is subject to the problems inherent to the discourse of imperialism.


The atmospheric energy constraint on precipitation change Angeline G. Pendergrass Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Dennis L. Hartmann Department of Atmospheric Sciences How does rain change with global warming? This dissertation investigates the rate of global-mean precipitation increase, changes in atmospheric radiative cooling, and the changes in frequency and intensity of rain events. We examine changes in global-mean precipitation and atmospheric radiative cooling in comprehensive climate model simulations. In a realistic forcing scenario including both greenhouse gases and aerosols, clear-sky absorption of shortwave radiation is correlated with the rate of global-mean precipitation increase. In a scenario forced by increasing carbon dioxide alone, we make radiative transfer calculations to separate the responses of clear-sky atmospheric radiative cooling due to warming, moistening, and the carbon dioxide itself. Clear-sky atmospheric radiative cooling increases in response to vertically uniform warming and constant relative humidity moistening of the atmosphere. These increases are partially offset by decreases due to the direct radiative effects of carbon dioxide and black carbon. Global-mean precipitation increases by the same rate as the change in clear-sky atmospheric radiative cooling. Changes in the frequency of rain and the rate at which it falls constitute the increase in global-mean precipitation. We develop a methodology for characterizing the frequency and amount of rainfall as functions of the rain rate. We define two modes of response, one in which the distribution of rainfall increases in equal fraction at all rain rates (the increase mode) and one in which the rainfall shifts to higher or lower rain rates without a change in mean rainfall (the shift mode). We apply this description of change to simulations of global warming in climate models. We also calculate the response of the tropical rainfall distribution to ENSO phases in models and observations and apply the increase and shift modes. In addition to the increase and shift modes of change, some models show a substantial increase in rainfall at the highest rain rates. In some models this extreme mode can be shown to be associated with increases in grid-scale precipitation.


Abstract The paper takes its departure from Ingarden's distinctions between four different main modes of being: absolute, extratemporal, real, and purely intentional. It introduces a distinction between two kinds of ideal entities: impurely ideal and purely ideal. Of the former kind are universals, and of the latter numbers; Ingarden regards both as existing in the extratemporal mode. It is then discussed whether Ingarden, and many others, has fallen prey to a mode illusion; and that, in fact, the impurely ideal entities exist in the real mode and the purely ideal in the purely intentional mode of being. The answers are weakly affirmative. On these presuppositions a concept of "mixed intentional object" is introduced. It seems to be of importance for how to understand numerical scales and the development of science.


Preparation of this study aimed to evaluate whether CSR program PT Holcim Indonesia Tbk has met the criteria of GRI-Standard and determine whether CSR program PT Holcim Indonesia Tbk is able to support perncapaian SDG's targets in 2030. This study is a qualitative and quantitative research. Research data collection techniques by interviewing the management of PT Holcim Indonesia Tbk namely Community Relations division and the local government. The second data collection techniques is by distributing questionnaires to people who get Holcim CSR program. The results of data analysis in this research produces information that only PT Holcim Indonesia CSR program Tbk economics that has influence on the target perncapaian SDG's. While the social and environmental fields have not been proven to have an effect on the achievement of the target SDG's. The results of the data analysis was due largely Holcim CSR program is only focused on the achievement of the economy and the realization of all the indicators for the achievement of SDG's may have been performed by the company as a whole, but does't plan implemented CSR programs on community sustainability.


Wheelchair ramps at street intersections are a simple product of construction. In California, the standards for these ramps are established by the State Architect and are common to all agencies that own public streets and build pedestrian facilities in the state. There are 541 such street-owning agencies. When 541 agencies produce a simple product to the same requirements, one might expect to find little difference in the cost of the product or the time taken to produce it. This proved not to be the case. A significant pattern of difference was found between the cost and time to produce ramps by the State Department of Transportation (DOT) as opposed to the cost and time to produce ramps by local cities. The differences appear to be rooted in historic practices which, in turn, are rooted in the procurement laws that govern to two types of agency. Those laws date back to 1875 and 1883 respectively, and they have led to the DOT adopting a more product-based form of specification while cities use specifications that emphasize performance. This difference in specifications drives the cost and schedule differences. The paper illustrates the use of benchmarking between agencies and the "path dependent" influence of historic practices.


Available online 28 May 2011 Although a leader's integrity seems to be essential for effective leadership, no empirical studies have examined the relationship between leader behavioral integrity (the consistency between words and actions) and follower job performance. Further, no empirical studies have examined how follower behavioral integrity might also impact job performance. Using data from three studies, we addressed these issues by testing the effects of leader and follower behavioral integrity on follower job performance. Study 1 was an online experiment in which behavioral integrity was manipulated in written scenarios; Study 2 was a field study; and Study 3 was a longitudinal lab study with temporary work teams. Findings from the studies indicated that leader behavioral integrity was not directly related to follower job performance, but was related indirectly via trust in the leader and follower satisfaction with the leader. Results also indicated that follower behavioral integrity had a significant impact on job performance, both directly and indirectly via leader trust in the follower and satisfaction with the follower. Finally, results indicated that perceptions of behavioral integrity were based primarily on individual differences and not higher level-of-analysis effects. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


This application brief describes a "Module Discussant" activity assigned in an online graduate-level leadership theory course. The assignment was designed to stimulate higher-level thinking, apply leadership theory to practice, and foster extensive communication among students in the online learning environment using a common learning management tool—the online discussion forum. This brief presents leadership educators with perspectives from two professors who coordinated the assignment, as well as the perspective of a graduate student participating in the activity. The professors and students involved report that the assignment resulted in compelling levels of engagement and critical thinking. Recommendations for future use and for enhancing the quality of the assignment are also offered.


In this book, Federico Sturzenegger and Mariano Tommasi propose formal models to answer some of the questions raised by the recent reform experience of many Latin American and East European countries. They apply common standards of analytical rigor to the study of economic and political behavior, assuming political agents to be rational and forward-looking, with expectations consistent with the properties of the underlying model. The book is organized around three basic questions: first, why do reforms take place? Second, how are reforms implemented? And third, which candidates are most likely to undertake reform? Although most of the chapters deal with policy issues in developing economies, the findings also apply to areas such as social security and health care reform in industrialized countries.


SPARQL is the W3C Recommended query language for RDF. My current work aims at extending SPARQL in two distinct ways: (i) to allow a better integration of RDF and XML; and (ii) to define a query language for RDF extended with domain specific annotations. Transforming data between XML and RDF is a much required, but not so simple, task in the Semantic Web. The aim of (i) is to enable transparent transformations between these two representation formats, relying on a new query language called XSPARQL. On a different aspect, representing and reasoning with meta-information about RDF triples has been addressed by several proposals for representing time, trust and provenance. A common extension of RDF (and RDFS inferencing rules), capable of encompassing all these proposals, with a clearly defined semantics is much desirable. Building on top of Annotated RDF, we present such an extension and an extension of the SPARQL language capable of querying triples with annotations. An open research issue remains the possibility of unifying the two, currently independent, extensions of SPARQL.


Abstract. Water table depth (WTD) effects on net ecosystem CO2 exchange of boreal peatlands are largely mediated by hydrological effects on peat biogeochemistry and the ecophysiology of peatland vegetation. The lack of representation of these effects in carbon models currently limits our predictive capacity for changes in boreal peatland carbon deposits under potential future drier and warmer climates. We examined whether a process-level coupling of a prognostic WTD with (1) oxygen transport, which controls energy yields from microbial and root oxidation–reduction reactions, and (2) vascular and nonvascular plant water relations could explain mechanisms that control variations in net CO2 exchange of a boreal fen under contrasting WTD conditions, i.e., shallow vs. deep WTD. Such coupling of eco-hydrology and biogeochemistry algorithms in a process-based ecosystem model, ecosys, was tested against net ecosystem CO2 exchange measurements in a western Canadian boreal fen peatland over a period of drier-weather-driven gradual WTD drawdown. A May–October WTD drawdown of  ∼  0.25 m from 2004 to 2009 hastened oxygen transport to microbial and root surfaces, enabling greater microbial and root energy yields and peat and litter decomposition, which raised modeled ecosystem respiration (Re) by 0.26 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1 per 0.1 m of WTD drawdown. It also augmented nutrient mineralization, and hence root nutrient availability and uptake, which resulted in improved leaf nutrient (nitrogen) status that facilitated carboxylation and raised modeled vascular gross primary productivity (GPP) and plant growth. The increase in modeled vascular GPP exceeded declines in modeled nonvascular (moss) GPP due to greater shading from increased vascular plant growth and moss drying from near-surface peat desiccation, thereby causing a net increase in modeled growing season GPP by 0.39 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1 per 0.1 m of WTD drawdown. Similar increases in GPP and Re caused no significant WTD effects on modeled seasonal and interannual variations in net ecosystem productivity (NEP). These modeled trends were corroborated well by eddy covariance measured hourly net CO2 fluxes (modeled vs. measured: R2  ∼  0.8, slopes  ∼ 1 ± 0.1, intercepts  ∼ 0.05 µmol m−2 s−1), hourly measured automated chamber net CO2 fluxes (modeled vs. measured: R2  ∼ 0.7, slopes  ∼ 1 ± 0.1, intercepts  ∼ 0.4 µmol m−2 s−1), and other biometric and laboratory measurements. Modeled drainage as an analog for WTD drawdown induced by climate-change-driven drying showed that this boreal peatland would switch from a large carbon sink (NEP  ∼  160 g C m−2 yr−1) to carbon neutrality (NEP  ∼  10 g C m−2 yr−1) should the water table deepen by a further  ∼ 0.5 m. This decline in projected NEP indicated that a further WTD drawdown at this fen would eventually lead to a decline in GPP due to water limitation. Therefore, representing the effects of interactions among hydrology, biogeochemistry and plant physiological ecology on ecosystem carbon, water, and nutrient cycling in global carbon models would improve our predictive capacity for changes in boreal peatland carbon sequestration under changing climates.


On 3 September 2012, the General Medical Council (GMC) guidance 'Protecting children and young people: the responsibility of all doctors'1 came into effect. This guidance from the GMC should be welcomed and should command support from all doctors and other health professionals.

The circumstances that led to the development of this guidance came about from the GMC's handling of a fitness to practice hearing relating to Professor Southall in 2010. As Mr Niall Dickson, Chief Executive of the GMC, wrote in May 20102 …there is no doubt that this case has caused considerable concern within the paediatric community. This is vital and difficult work and nothing should deter professionals from undertaking it, to protect vulnerable children across the UK. Accordingly, we will convene an expert group to review the guidance for paediatricians involved in child protection to ensure we can provide clarity and reassurance about what is expected from those who practise in this critically important area of healthcare.

Earlier this year, Mr Dickson commented3 The expert group attempted to bring together all parties to try to understand the issues. It was not without controversy, but the resulting guidance will be launched this summer and I believe it will command support from the majority of professionals working in this field. … The next stage must be to work with all doctors to make sure the guidance is put into practice.

It is interesting to note the change of focus for this guidance over its two years of gestation. In May 2010, according to Mr Dickson, the guidance was for paediatricians involved in child protection. Now the guidance is addressed to all doctors. This change of emphasis is crucial …


Covering the rearing of queens, honey-making methods, honey marketing, the benefit of pollinator rental, and everything else related to beekeeping, The New Complete Guide to Beekeeping explains step-by-step what it takes to establish a thriving hive that produces an amazing end product, and all the simple pleasures of beekeeping along the way. Whether you capture a native colony from a hollow tree (a method only for the brave!), adopt a hive from someone who has too many (a much easier method), or start from scratch by buying a queen and purchasing worker bees by the pound, this is a comprehensive guide to making your endeavor successful and even profitable. Whole chapters are dedicated to: the best plants for honey production; seasonal hive management; pests and predators; pollination; honey bee biology; and finding more information from government and public sources.


The author provides a descriptive and analytic examination of the nature, magnitude, and structure of U.S. trade with Muslim countries. From the U.S. point of view, two-way trade with Muslim countries is small in dollar terms: the U.S. is a more critical market to Muslim countries than the imports from Muslim countries are to the U.S., except for oil and gas. The U.S. imports roughly one-third of its petroleum from Muslim countries, whereas its non-petroleum trade deficit with Muslim countries is only about $15 billion. Although trade disputes with Muslim countries are rare, and several Muslim countries benefit from free or preferential trade agreements with the U.S., the author lists others whose exports cannot compete in the U.S. market against rival producers under present U.S. trade policies. Key Words: U.S. international trade, bilateral trade agreements, World Trade Organization, oil, natural gas, textiles, I. Introduction An issue of great concern in the United States over the last few years has been its relationship with Muslim countries. The September 11 terrorist attacks, followed by U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the nation-building effort there by the U.S. after the wars, have generated interest in public forums and academic circles on the U.S. relation with Muslim countries. While there is a considerable literature relating to U.S. political, energy and strategic interests in Muslim countries, particularly in the Middle East (see, for example, Ross 2005), few studies focus on the trade relation with the Muslim world. This is surprising since the U.S. has undertaken several initiatives in recent years to enhance and strengthen economic ties with Muslim countries. This paper plans to fill this gap by examining the U.S. trade relations with those nationss. More specifically, it provides a descriptive and analytic examination of the current nature, magnitude and structure of U.S. trade with them. There are important reasons to examine this topic. After 9/11, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick declared that the promotion of trade relations would be one of the central weapons of America's campaign to combat terrorism (cited in Lael and Litan 2003). President Bush spoke in even stronger terms: "The terrorists attacked the World Trade Center, and we will defeat them by expanding and encouraging world trade" (quoted in Lael and Litan 2003). After its military victories in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Bush administration has assigned trade policy a major role to combat terrorism and win peace. During the U.S.-Bahrain free trade agreement signing ceremony in September 2004, Robert Zoellick further declared that "a contest for the soul of Islam" is raging in Muslim countries, and that the U.S. wanted to help by promoting trade that generates jobs and reduces poverty (http://www.ustr.gov/). With this as context, what do we know about the U.S. trade relationship with Muslim countries? Several survey results find a disquieting view of the United States relationships with them. A recent survey result, jointly released by Public Agenda and Foreign Affairs magazine, showed that Americans are perplexed and anxious about their country's relation with the Muslim world (Arumi and Bittle 2005). According to the Public Agenda Confidence in the U.S. foreign policy index, nearly 64 percent gave the U.S. a "C" or worse in its relations with Muslim countries. Forty percent of the respondents claimed that they "worry a lot," followed by another 34 percent who claimed that they "worry somewhat," about a growing hatred of the U.S. in those countries. Indeed, in a survey conducted for a Georgetown University research project, 'Muslims in the American Public Square,' Zogby International reports that 38 percent of American Muslims believe that American foreign policy is hostile toward Islamic countries and Muslims (Project MAPS). The existence of strong Muslim antipathy toward the United States, particularly since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, is hardly new. …


Guatemala is one of the most unequal countries in Latin America and has the highest incidence of poverty. The indigenous population is more than twice as likely to be poor than the nonindigenous group. Fiscal incidence analysis based on the 2009-2010 National Survey of Family Income and Expenditures shows that taxes and transfers do almost nothing to reduce inequality and poverty overall or along ethnic and rural-urban lines. Persistently low tax revenues are the main limiting factor. Tax revenues are not only low but also regressive. Consumption taxes are regressive enough to offset the benefits of cash transfers: poverty after taxes and cash transfers is higher than market income poverty.


The purpose of the present research work is to explore how precise verbal communication can capture the semantic content of physical products. The article presents an overview of the background and work done so far. Furthermore are ideas for future work discussed. The background includes the increasing need to communicate soft qualities in all stages of complex design processes. Research carried out so far includes 3 investigations with a combination of questionnaires and an experiment where product search was carried out based on verbal communication alone. Preliminary results indicate that there exists a mutual understanding of many of the terms describing the qualities and properties and that good verbal communication of sensory and perceived product qualities are possible. However a number of the selected terms seem to have several interpretations causing ambiguous information. We suggest more emphasis in design education on training precise verbal communication concerning semantic contents in products.


Background: Prior work on the link between blood-based biomarkers and cognitive status has largely been based on dichotomous classifications rather than detailed neuropsychological functioning. The current project was designed to create serum-based biomarker algorithms that predict neuropsychological test performance. Methods: A battery of neuropsychological measures was administered. Random forest analyses were utilized to create neuropsychological test-specific biomarker risk scores in a training set that were entered into linear regression models predicting the respective test scores in the test set. Serum multiplex biomarker data were analyzed on 108 proteins from 395 participants (197 Alzheimer patients and 198 controls) from the Texas Alzheimer's Research and Care Consortium. Results: The biomarker risk scores were significant predictors (p < 0.05) of scores on all neuropsychological tests. With the exception of premorbid intellectual status (6.6%), the biomarker risk scores alone accounted for a minimum of 12.9% of the variance in neuropsychological scores. Biomarker algorithms (biomarker risk scores and demographics) accounted for substantially more variance in scores. Review of the variable importance plots indicated differential patterns of biomarker significance for each test, suggesting the possibility of domain-specific biomarker algorithms. Conclusions: Our findings provide proof of concept for a novel area of scientific discovery, which we term 'molecular neuropsychology'.


The single particle
model was extended to include electrode and particle volume expansion effects
observed in high capacity alloying electrodes. The model was used to predict
voltage profiles in sodium ion batteries with tin and tin-phosphide negative
electrodes. It was seen that the profiles predicted by the modified model were
significantly better than the classical model. A parametric study was done to
understand the impact of properties such as particle radius, diffusivity,
reaction rate etc on the performance of the electrode. The model was also
modified for incorporating particles having a cylindrical morphology. For the
same material properties, it was seen that cylindrical particles outperform
spherical particles for large L/R values in the cylinder due to the diffusion
limitations at low L/R ratios. A lattice spring-based degradation model was
used to observe crack formation and creep relaxation within the particle. It
was observed that the fraction of broken bonds increases with an increase in
strain rate. At low strain rates, it was seen that there was a significant
expansion in particle volumes due to creep deformation. This expansion helped
release particle stresses subsequently reducing the amount of fracture.


Secrecy about negative technological impacts is claimed as an entitlement in a variety of situations, though the practice is coming into question. In the environmental arena, where firms claim exemption from disclosure requirements, the law is developing along a fault line that runs between familiar intellectual property and tort categories. The current resolution -- simply transplanting traditional trade secrecy practice into the regulatory context -- is inadequate.Knowledge about technological effects, such as pollution, has two separate personae. It may be commercially valuable if its distribution is limited, yet it also may be the key to identifying a disease or ecological harm if it is distributed freely in medical and research settings. The two functions of such data -- commercial and scientific -- operate in very different frameworks of meaning. A claim of entitlement in one sphere has effects in the other, but the legal language necessary to compare the two has not been developed. This article attempts to outline a basis for understanding the issues by examining trade secrecy in the context of regulation of chemical pollution.Secrecy is an ambiguous concept and covers a wide range of behaviors. Legal doctrine usually starts from the position that a privilege of secrecy must be justified, perhaps because information is so flexible and productive. Once it is released, information may travel far and quickly. This characteristic itself may explain our ambivalence about secrecy and the fact that, in practice, the law's treatment of claims to information is somewhat uneven. The legal decisionmaker who is called upon to decide whether a secret shall be revealed is placed in a difficult position; as an outsider one cannot fully appreciate the value of the secret or measure the risks of releasing it. The structure of the situation lends rhetorical power -- a "Pandora's Box" effect -- to claims of entitlements to secrecy. Courts, agencies, and legislatures may respond to secrecy issues in distinct ways, since secrets and the risks of revealing them will be presented differently in litigation, administrative, and legislative settings. Trade secrecy has one meaning in a common law setting and very different implications when it is grafted onto regulation.


We propose an algorithm called Sparse Manifold Clustering and Embedding (SMCE) for simultaneous clustering and dimensionality reduction of data lying in multiple nonlinear manifolds. Similar to most dimensionality reduction methods, SMCE finds a small neighborhood around each data point and connects each point to its neighbors with appropriate weights. The key difference is that SMCE finds both the neighbors and the weights automatically. This is done by solving a sparse optimization problem, which encourages selecting nearby points that lie in the same manifold and approximately span a low-dimensional affine subspace. The optimal solution encodes information that can be used for clustering and dimensionality reduction using spectral clustering and embedding. Moreover, the size of the optimal neighborhood of a data point, which can be different for different points, provides an estimate of the dimension of the manifold to which the point belongs. Experiments demonstrate that our method can effectively handle multiple manifolds that are very close to each other, manifolds with non-uniform sampling and holes, as well as estimate the intrinsic dimensions of the manifolds.


Up to 50% increase in the power density of the existing pressurized water reactor (PWR)-type reactors can be achieved by the use of internally and externally cooled annular fuel geometry. As a result, the accumulated stockpiles of Pu, especially if incorporated in fertile-free inert matrix, can be burnt at a substantially higher rate as compared with the conventional mixed oxide-fueled reactors operating at standard power density. In this work, we explore the basic feasibility of a PWR core fully loaded with Pu incorporated in fertile-free fuel of annular internally and externally cooled geometry and operating at 150% of nominal power density. We evaluate basic burnable poison designs, fuel management strategies, and reactivity feedback coefficients. The three-dimensional full core neutronic analysis performed with Studsvik Core Management System showed that the design of such a Pu-loaded annular fuel core is feasible but significantly more challenging than the Pu fertile-free core with solid fuel pins operating at nominal power density. The main difficulty arises from the fact that the annular fuel core requires at least 50% higher initial Pu loading in order to maintain the standard fuel cycle length of 18 months. Such a high Pu loading results in hardening of the neutron spectrum and consequent reduction in reactivity worth of all reactivity control mechanisms and, in some cases, positive moderator temperature coefficient (MTC). The use of isotopically enriched Gd and Er burnable poisons was found to be beneficial with respect to maximizing Pu burnup and reducing power peaking factors. Overall, the annular fertile-free Pu-loaded high-power-density core appears to be feasible, although it still has relatively high power peaking and potential for slightly positive MTC at beginning of cycle. However, we estimate that limiting the power density to 140% of the nominal case would assure acceptable core power peaking and negative MTC at all times during the cycle.


We propose a novel way to enhance the sensitivity of single-mode-multimode-single-mode (SMS) fiber structure in the measurement of surrounding refractive index (RI), which is realized by depositing the multimode fiber section with a high RI overlay. First, as an essential basis of the analysis of the novel structure, characteristics of mode reorganizations in the deposited multimode fiber are discussed. Second, based on full-vector mode expansion, a theoretical analysis of transmission characteristics of the deposited SMS fiber structure is presented. Third, aimed at RI measurement ranges which are of common interest in liquid and gas sensing, the transmission spectra of the structure in response to the surrounding RI are investigated by simulations. To well utilize the collective effect of multiple interference modes in mode reorganizations, the monitoring based on wavelength shifts of valleys and the optimization of the overlay are analyzed for various application requirements. Lastly, largely enhanced sensitivities for RI measurements are demonstrated with properly designed overlay. For RI ranges from 1.31 to 1.35 and 1.0 to 1.03, average sensitivities of 900 and 206 nm/RIU are achieved with overlay thicknesses of 340 and 470 nm, respectively.


In a generation's time, collaborative methods of innovation have become a centerpiece of modern economic organization. Rather than creating technology primarily in-house, companies often enter into complex contractual arrangements whereby innovation processes cross firm boundaries. This collaborative approach gives a firm access to external expertise without executing a full acquisition. Collaboration poses a puzzle for theories of economic organization. On one hand, uncertainty is significant when firms are jointly creating new technology, which makes formal contracts highly incomplete. On the other hand, innovation networks often appear too dynamic and heterogeneous for the typical prerequisites for informal constraints to readily obtain. How then are innovation networks governed?In an important series of papers, Professors Gilson, Sabel, and Scott argue that collaborating firms have devised a new variant of relational contracting to govern their joint efforts. This new governance form carefully blends formal agreements with informal contracts. The formal contract only indirectly governs the collaboration: instead of determining performance obligations, unique contractual provisions create an information-sharing regime that facilitates the development of informal constraints. In their parlance, formal contracts "braid" with informal social norms. Braided contracting theory is a provocative conceptual advance, but questions arise when it is applied beyond the case studies upon which Gilson et al. base their argument. A broad analysis of alliance agreements reveals that many alliances do not include braiding mechanisms in situations where Gilson et al.'s theory would expect them, raising the question of how to understand alliance diversity. This article argues that variation in alliance design is not surprising, however, if one takes a wider ranging view of the exchange hazards collaborators face. Braided contracting theory's limitation is that it conceives of the exchange problem only in terms of opportunism problems. Building upon overlooked scholarship, this Article argues that exchange hazards in innovation networks are multidimensional. Rather than tools for fostering informal constraints on opportunism, the unique provisions observed in alliance contracts directly address a broad confluence of problems collaborators face. Variation in alliance design is then understood as the result of those multiple exchange hazards recombining in different intensities across collaborations. This broader perspective of the contracting problem not only better explains the details of network governance but also refocuses our attention upon an important if unappreciated source of innovation networks' fragility — the complex, often tenuous, interdependence between governance mechanisms. This novel theory of the contractual infrastructure supporting innovation networks also has immediate normative implications. Foremost, it clarifies important aspects of the case law involving disputes between collaborators, which prior scholarship has overlooked. Courts adjudicating disputes between collaborators do not pursue minimalistic intervention designed to protect informal relational contracts, as Gilson et al. argue, but directly address collaborative dysfunction in its full multidimensionality by leveraging multiple doctrines at once. Consistent with this reading of the case law are the unique dispute resolution systems often included in collaboration agreements. Those systems frequently bifurcate (or even trifurcate) dispute resolution on substantive grounds between different private and public tribunals. In short, the enforcement infrastructure is as multifaceted as the alliance agreements themselves. The result is a vision of innovation's private ordering more complex and theoretically rich than previously imagined.


Interview surveys of 116 coastal residents and fishermen and surveys by motorboat were conducted in 2000 and 2001 in French Guiana in order to assess the distribution, habitats and conservation status of the West Indian manatee Trichechus manatus. There were 72 reported sightings of manatees, and we made 10 sightings during river surveys. Interviews suggested that manatees may be less abundant than in the recent past, but are still present and regularly sighted all along the coast and in estuaries up to 80 km inland. The main reason for any recent decline is probably hunting for meat, pressures from development and, in some areas, pollution from maritime traffic. Although only opportunistically caught, manatees are still poached. In some areas they are killed for cultural beliefs, but only on a small scale. The main habitat for the manatee in French Guiana is estuarine mangroves. A survey at Coswine, an area where manatees have been sighted year-round, indicated that this mangrove area is characterized by biotic and abiotic factors within the range known to provide suitable habitat for the species. However, habitats for manatees in French Guiana are limited and receive little formal protection, and the species' status is based more on fortuitous protection than on any active conservation. Public awareness programmes for the manatee are currently being developed by local NGOs, but a regional conservation programme is also required.


Legal scholars' interest in Shakespeare has often focused on conventional legal rules and procedures, such as those of The Merchant of Venice or Measure for Measure. Those plays certainly reveal systemic injustice, but within stable, prosperous societies, which enjoy a generally well-functioning legal order. In contrast, Shakespeare's first historical tetralogy explores the conditions for the very possibility of a legal system, in terms not unlike those described by Hobbes a half-century later. The first tetralogy's deeply collapsed, quasi-anarchic society lacks any functioning legal regime. Its power politics are not, as in many of Shakespeare's other plays, merely latent, lurking beneath the patina of an otherwise functioning legal order. They pervade all of society. Dissenting from a long critical tradition, this article suggests that the figure of Henry VI does not merely represent antiquated medievalism or inept rule. Through Henry's constant recourse to legal process, arbitration and anti-militarism, the first tetralogy goes beyond questions about how to establish a functioning legal order. It examines the possibility, and meaning, of a just one.


We analyse the link between internet use and foreign sourcing of services and materials inputs. In our empirical analysis using firm level data for Ireland we find, among firms that a priori all purchase inputs abroad, that those who commenced outsourcing from suppliers over the internet ("Adopters") experience significantly higher growth rates of services offshoring. This result shows in a variety of econometric methods (OLS, Propensity Scoring (Kernel, Nearest Neighbour and Caliper Matching)). Adopting the internet for outsourcing induced an increase in the share of foreign services by 3.2-4.0 per cent.


We develop and test an economic theory of insurgency motivated by the informal literature and by recent military doctrine. We model a three-way contest between violent rebels, a government seeking to minimize violence by mixing service provision and coercion, and civilians deciding whether to share information about insurgents. We test the model using panel data from Iraq on violence against Coalition and Iraqi forces, reconstruction spending, and community characteristics (sectarian status, socioeconomic grievances, and natural resource endowments). Our results support the theory's predictions: improved service provision reduces insurgent violence, particularly for smaller projects and since the "surge" began in 2007.


This was a transformative period in English history. In 1783 the country was at one of the lowest points in its fortunes, having just lost its American colonies in warfare. By 1846 it was once more a great imperial nation, as well as the world's strongest power and dominant economy, having benefited from what has sometimes (if misleadingly) been called the 'first industrial revolution'. In the meantime it survived a decade of invasion fears, and emerged victorious from more than twenty years of 'war to the death' against Napoleonic France. But if Britain's external fortunes were in the ascendant, the situation at home remained fraught with peril. The country's population was growing at a rate not experienced by any comparable former society, and its manufacturing towns especially were mushrooming into filthy, disease-ridden, gin-sodden hell-holes, in turn provoking the phantasmagoria of a mad, bad, and dangerous people. It is no wonder that these years should have experienced the most prolonged period of social unrest since the seventeenth century, or that the elite should have been in constant fear of a French-style revolution in England. The governing classes responded to these new challenges and by the mid-nineteenth century the seeds of a settled two-party system and of a more socially interventionist state were both in evidence, though it would have been far too soon to say at that stage whether those seeds would take permanent root. Another consequence of these tensions was the intellectual engagement with society, as for example in the Romantic Movement, a literary phenomenon that brought English culture to the forefront of European attention for the first time. At the same time the country experienced the great religious revival, loosely described under the heading 'evangelicalism'. Slowly but surely, the raffish and rakish style of eighteenth-century society, having reached a peak in the Regency, then succumbed to the new norms of respectability popularly known as 'Victorianism'.


Composite axial members
[Concrete-filled Steel Tube (CFT) columns and Composite-Plate Shear Walls/Concrete
Filled (C-PSWs/CF)] may be subjected to a combination of loading conditions,
such as gravity, wind, seismic or fire. Under fire loading, the member would
experience degradation of material properties and non-uniform temperature
distribution through the cross-section. A time-temperature study is necessary
to determine the member capacity and stability under fire loading.

This thesis presents (a) the
development and validation of a 2D fiber-based numerical analysis tool for modeling
composite axial members under fire loading and (b) the results of benchmarked
numerical studies conducted on composite axial members (CFTs and C-PSWs). The
studies involved simulating fire conditions by exposing steel faceplates to elevated
temperatures (ASTM E119 Time-Temperature Curve) while maintaining a constant
axial load. The fiber model was benchmarked using experimental results and
further validated with benchmarked Finite Element (FE) models.

The parametric study on CFTs
involved analyzing the effect column slenderness, column aspect ratio, section
slenderness, and material properties on the behavior of columns at elevated
temperatures. Section slenderness and concrete strength were seen to have a
significant effect on column capacity, while aspect ratio and steel yield
strength had a minor influence. A layer of fire protection was modeled to
understand its effect on stability (failure time and critical load). It was
observed that a layer of fire protection delayed the time to failure (Fire
Rating) but caused the member to fail at marginally lower axial loads. The
parametric study results are used to develop equations for calculating the
compression strength of CFTs at elevated temperatures.

The studies on C-PSWs involved
modeling the walls using two methods, which are analyzing the entire wall
section and analyzing a strip of the wall section. Results from both methods
are compared with finite-element and experimental data and proposed equations
for axial capacity are validated. One-sided heating of walls is also explored
and validated.


This paper presents a realtime, incremental multibody visual SLAM system that allows choosing between full 3D reconstruction or simply tracking of the moving objects. Motion reconstruction of dynamic points or objects from a monocular camera is considered very hard due to well known problems of observability. We attempt to solve the problem with a Bearing only Tracking (BOT) and by integrating multiple cues to avoid observability issues. The BOT is accomplished through a particle filter, and by integrating multiple cues from the reconstruction pipeline. With the help of these cues, many real world scenarios which are considered unobservable with a monocular camera is solved to reasonable accuracy. This enables building of a unified dynamic 3D map of scenes involving multiple moving objects. Tracking and reconstruction is preceded by motion segmentation and detection which makes use of efficient geometric constraints to avoid difficult degenerate motions, where objects move in the epipolar plane. Results reported on multiple challenging real world image sequences verify the efficacy of the proposed framework.


This book explores current thinking on corporate governance by way of a detailed study of the governance practices of fourteen Japanese companies. The author was granted extensive access to these Japanese companies, as well as to their partner companies, their shareholders, and their banks, and is therefore able to provide a detailed insight into the way that Japanese companies are actually governed on a day-to-day basis. The book suggests that current mainstream conceptualizations of corporate governance are inadequate, as they do not help to understand the way that these Japanese companies are directed and controlled in practice. In the majority of cases, governance operates through a system which draws on the reciprocal obligations, responsibilities, and trust generated in everyday interactions at the individual and organizational level. The conclusions of the research have important implications not only for our understanding of the Japanese system of corporate governance, but also for international corporate governance policy and research in general. In particular, the book commends greater recognition that alongside the currently dominant concern 'controlling' the behaviour of company managers, the governance of companies might equally be considered in terms of the responsibilities, reciprocal obligations, and trust inherent in everyday interactions. The book is equally accessible and relevant to both academics and to those involved with corporate governance issues on a day-to-day basis, including financial services providers, lawyers, policymakers, and company directors.


We developed novel artificial flowers that dispense and receive powdered food dyes as pollen analogues while their nectar is replenished by capillary action. Dye receipt, which can be measured colourimetrically, is a direct surrogate for pollen receipt or female reproductive success, but can also serve to compare pollen donation (male reproductive success) from flowers with different colours of dye. By allowing captive bumble bee colonies to visit large arrays of such flowers, we investigated whether total dye receipt depended on the sugar concentration of a flower's nectar. Estimating pollen transfer, rather than simply visitation rate, is appropriate for this question because flowers with more concentrated nectar might accrue more pollen not only through higher visitation rates but also through longer visits that transfer more pollen per visit. Flowers with richer nectar did receive more dye regardless of their spatial arrangement, but the effect was greatest when rich and poor flowers were segregated in large blocks, as opposed to being intermingled.


Massive subdural haematoma and dementia: a "yin and yang" paradigm An 85-year-old man with a 2-year history of cognitive decline and falls, and signs of brain atrophy on previous computed tomography imaging, presented with severe drowsiness. Axial and coronal non-contrasted cerebral computed tomography images (Figure, A and B respectively) showed massive bi-hemispheric acute (hyperdense) and chronic (hypodense) subdural haematoma, with extensive parenchymal compression. Dementia is strongly associated with brain atrophy and frequent falling, both of which are risk factors for subdural bleeding1 caused by stretching and tearing of subdural veins2. The formation of a subdural haematoma can have further adverse effects in terms of cognitive decline. Surgical decompression of the subdural haematoma led to progressive improvement of the patient's neurological status in the following weeks. The axial image resembles the black and white "yin and yang" symbol, which is conceptually relevant to the patient's clinical history of subdural haematoma and dementia — two interdependent entities giving rise to each other. 


The following materials, modeled after the chart prepared by Professor Allen Rostron and Professor Nancy Levit at the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Law, and after my Information for Submitting to Online Law Review Companions, contains information about twenty-nine (29) U.S.-based law reviews and journals classified under the subject "Gender, Women and Sexuality" by the Washington & Lee Law Journal Rankings (here) and five (5) additional journals that contain the word "gender" in their title, but that are not listed in the Washington & Lee Law Journal Rankings. Within each category (W&L-ranked journals, then non-ranked journals) journals are listed in the order of the "rank" of the school, if any (as determined by the most recent US News overall ranking, not because that system merits endorsement, but because it is convenient). Specifically, the chart derives from the journals' websites the following information:

• Name of the specialty journal
• Word count limitation, if any
• Preferred submission method
• Whether articles from online journal are included in HeinOnline's Law Journal Library
• Other information of possible interest to authors
• US News ranking of affiliated school, if any
• W&L Law Journal Ranking within category of "Gender, Women and Sexuality," by "combined" score for 2017 (most recent year available).

For further information concerning the rankings of the journals and their associated law schools, please consult the source of your choosing. Many colleagues find the Washington & Lee law review rankings website helpful. The author welcomes corrections and additions to this chart.


With population growth and urbanization, demand for improved water services has been growing. It is imperative therefore to examine different factors that influence demand for improved water services and the resultant welfare changes. Using cross-sectional household survey data collected through structured questionnaire from ten administrative units in Mekelle City, we estimate household willingness to pay models and identify major determinant factors of demand for improved water service. In order to help us do this, we considered selection issues and estimated models using the Heckman Two-Step Estimator. Our results show that the amount of bid (amount of money households would be willing to pay) that households (already connected to private taps) would be willing to pay is positively associated with household income, ownership of the house, price of vended water and the practice of water purification. For households who are not connected to private taps, the amount they would be willing to pay for (improved) private tap connection is positively associated with formal education, housing status and gender. We also investigate the welfare gains and losses as a result of improved water service. Analytical results show that, as the number of households who subscribe to improved water service increases, there is a gain in surplus for households and revenue (producer surplus) for the municipality.


Soft matter systems and materials are moving toward adaptive and interactive behavior, which holds outstanding promise to make the next generation of intelligent soft materials systems inspired from the dynamics and behavior of living systems. But what is an adaptive material? What is an interactive material? How should classical responsiveness or smart materials be delineated? At present, the literature lacks a comprehensive discussion on these topics, which is however of profound importance in order to identify landmark advances, keep a correct and noninflating terminology, and most importantly educate young scientists going into this direction. By comparing different levels of complex behavior in biological systems, this Viewpoint strives to give some definition of the various different materials systems characteristics. In particular, the importance of thinking in the direction of training and learning materials, and metabolic or behavioral materials is highlighted, as well as communication and information‐processing systems. This Viewpoint aims to also serve as a switchboard to further connect the important fields of systems chemistry, synthetic biology, supramolecular chemistry and nano‐ and microfabrication/3D printing with advanced soft materials research. A convergence of these disciplines will be at the heart of empowering future adaptive and interactive materials systems with increasingly complex and emergent life‐like behavior.


The purpose of the study presented in this paper is to test the ability of WaterCad, which simulates chlorine concentrations throughout water supplies, in predicting chlorine concentrations in the Jabal Amman distribution system and hence provide a tool to water supply operators in Jordan that helps them to better manage chlorine concentrations throughout distribution systems. To achieve this goal a sampling programme that aimed at measuring chlorine concentrations throughout Jabal Amman over time was conducted over a 2-year period. Half of the data collected was used for model calibration and the other half was used for model verification. Results showed good agreement between measured and simulated chlorine concentrations. An important input for WaterCad is bulk chlorine decay coefficient. So, bulk chlorine decay coefficient for Zai Water Treatment Plant effluent, which supplies water to Jabal Amman, was modelled in terms of initial chlorine concentration, total organic carbon and temperature based on laboratory experiments. The developed mathematical model was used to determine bulk chlorine decay coefficient for the conditions of initial chlorine concentration, total organic carbon and temperature observed at the time of sampling, the determined bulk chlorine decay coefficient was then input into WaterCad.


The Wigner distribution function is used to describe general properties of the irradiance distribution at the Fresnel diffraction planes of one-dimensional phase gratings. We report a remarkably simple, analytical expression for the irradiance distribution at one quarter of the Talbot length of any phase grating. As illustrative examples, we consider binary and triangular phase profiles.


The use of Malachite Green (MG) as an anti-fungal and anti-bacterial in the aquaculture industry has obtained attention in food safety. MG and its metabolite Leuco-Malachite Green (LMG) are highly toxic to aquatic environment and harmful to human health through daily consumption and it becomes more dangerous when accumulated in fish tissues. At present, the minimum required performance limits (MRPLs) for total MG (MG and LMG) concentration is 2 μgkg-1 or 2 ppb. Hence, the simple, rapid, sensitive and portable biosensor is really needed.
The aim of this research is to study the chemical inhibition of Butyrylcholinesterase enzyme (BuChE) by total MG in the presence of 0.3 mM Butyrylthiocholine iodide substrate (BTCi) for MG biosensor development. The MG biosensor has developed for total MG detection in fishes especially the tilapia and has validated by using the LC-MS/MS method. This electrochemical study has done by using screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) and the inhibition study has done by using free and immobilized enzyme. Then, it has characterized and analyzed using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chrono-amperometry (CM). The supporting electrolyte, pH, set potential, scan rate and response range includes enzyme loading, polymer concentration, incubation and response time of the MG biosensor has optimized electrochemically. Meanwhile, the reproducibility, repeatability, operational stability and storage stability included cross reactivity has carried out. Finally, the developed MG biosensor method was validated with the LC-MS/MS method using real fish samples including the recovery study.
In this study, 4UmL-1 BuChE enzyme (C1057) has used and the CV analysis was carried out as a preliminary study. The reproducibility of the SPCE was characterized electrochemically against potassium hexacyanoferrate (II) trihydrate and 93.65 % active surface areas of carbon working electrode were achieved. BuChE enzyme has incorporated within 0.08M pyrrole monomer during the electro-polymerization process at 0.1 V amperometrically for 20 minutes, which enzyme has entrapped within the thin films of polypyrrole (PPy). The total MG (MG and LMG) has determined by measuring the current using amperometric technique at 0.4 V for 100 s using 0.1 M phosphate buffer at pH 8.0. This analysis needs five minutes of incubation time for enzyme-substrate reaction and inhibition before measurement, and it may get up to 78 % inhibition at 2 ppb total MG.
A linear standard curve of total MG has developed (0.25 ppb to 10 ppb) based on the current measurement (μA) using standard solution (Y = - 0.9113x + 10.84, R2 = 0.9445), which has good reproducibility and operational stability until five measurements. Instead of that, the enzyme activity has reduced (repeatability) slowly after the third measurement. However, the MG biosensor probe is able to re-use after treated with the pyridine-2-aldomine (PAM-2) activator. The shelf life of the MG biosensor took more than six months with 20 % protein or enzyme loss. The total MG also showed the higher inhibition (48 %) at 2 ppb compared to other triphenylmethane dyes. This MG biosensor method has validated using the LC-MS/MS method with a regression value of 0.9262 (correlation graph) upon ten unknown samples with recoveries valuing more than 60 % of spiked sample.


We consider techniques for combining self-descriptions from people who occupy some vocational niche, so as to describe the ideal characteristics of a prototypal member of the occupation, and delineate the requirements of the niche. Such prototypes would be most useful in recruitment or in vocational guidance if they were worded in terms of a general descriptive language, applicable across occupations. Here a vocational-interest inventory, the VOC-99, provided the common language. Data from two samples were converted to prototypal combinations of interests; these were expressed as the values of three broad summary scales, each one corresponding to one dimension of a spatial 'map' of the VOC-99. A first sample of market researchers characterized the aptitudes and preferences of the "ideal market researcher", by rating the interest items along a 5-point scale. A second sample of survey interviewers used the inventory to describe themselves, endorsing or rejecting items by following a three-way forced-ranking task. The results for survey interviewers show some predictive value when the VOC-99 is used as part of the assessment procedure in the selection of job applicants. ********** Most researchers in the field of vocational counselling would accept that for a given vocational role (an occupation or career path), there is an optimal combination of traits of personality or intellect or character, such that possession of those traits is associated with increased satisfaction and performance in the role. This is the congruence hypothesis (Holland. 1985). It also seems reasonable to expect the individuals occupying the role to display this combination of traits more frequently than the population at large (this follows from the assumption that there is some job mobility; and that individuals are more likely to stay in a job, once they find one which is matched to their skills and character). In other words, round pegs tend to seek out round holes. One sometimes finds the expectation justified by a 'birds of a feather' argument, as follows: if a particular personality or character is common in an occupational niche. then the happiness and productivity of a prospective employee who displays the same traits will be enhanced by the like-minded company. "Congruent environments provide job satisfaction for the subjects because they are among people with similar tastes and values to their own, and where they can perform tasks which they enjoy and are able to do" (Furnham, 1992, p. 101). (1) In consequence, a vital component of any comprehensive system for vocational counselling is a database of occupations, profiled in terms of optimal traits and interests. A first example out of many is the software package Kudos (CASCAid, 2006), which includes the core 'aspects' and more peripheral activities associated with 1700 kinds of work, and can match these to a jobseeker's preferences among the entire inventory of activities. Second, the Dictionary of Holland Occupational Codes (Gottfredson & Holland, 1996) assigns a primary, secondary and tertiary category to each of 12.860 occupations. Categories come from a six-fold system (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional), so a typical code might be the acronym R-I-E. The same system underlies the ACT interest inventory (Swaney, 1995) and the US Department of Labor's O*NET database (2003). But profiling even one occupational niche is not trivial: it requires in-depth knowledge, and a fine-grained analysis of the duties associated with the niche. For instance, Sackett, Cornelius and Carron (1981) used 237 task statements to break down the role of "Chemical processing-plant foreman". Difficulties stand in the path of directly questioning "Subject matter experts" who work in the occupation in question (Harvey. 1991: Morgenson & Campion, 1997). Moreover, new jobs and careers are continually emerging as economies evolve (even as old ones fade into obsolescence), and one can understand why whole bureaucracies are required simply to categorize and profile them. …


When I think of the challenges facing international society in the wake of the invasion of Iraq, two images come to mind. The first, a work of postcard art, depicts a screenprint of the Statue of Liberty, with a twist. In the place of her striking face and radiating crown appears a decidedly masculine image: that of a helmeted marine, grim and tight-jawed, a cigarette poking insolently from his lips. The caption reads, in bold white capitals on black, "PEACE," and beneath it another phrase, asterisked: "conditions apply." The second is a newspaper photograph of a young woman in New York taken during the global demonstrations against the war in February 2003. She has been called out of the march by the photographer and stands, at once defiant and bewildered, against a row of mounted police. Rugged up against the winter cold, she holds a placard upon which she has written a question: "Perpetual war for perpetual peace?"


In recent years, many computational methods have been proposed to tackle the problems that arise in analyzing various large-scale high dimensional data in biology and medicine. Useful techniques have been developed by the use of conventional statistical modeling and analysis and have helped to reveal many biological mechanisms. However, with the rapid development of high throughput technologies, biological and medical data generated nowadays are becoming increasingly more heterogeneous and complex. It is therefore necessary to develop more effective and efficient approaches to analyzing such data, requiring more powerful methods like advanced machine learning algorithms and network based methods.

In this special issue, eighteen novel investigations are presented, including a number of newly proposed techniques for up-to-date data analysis and application systems for interesting biological and medical problems.

A computational method was proposed by B. Wang et al. to identify novel candidate genes related to apoptosis. This method first applied shortest path algorithm in a large protein-protein interaction network to search new candidate genes and then the candidate genes were filtered by a permutation test. Twenty-six genes were obtained and analyzed regarding their likelihood of being novel apoptosis-related genes.

F. Yuan et al. proposed a computational method to identify new candidate genes and chemicals based on currently known genes and chemicals related to prostate cancer by applying shortest path approach in a hybrid network which was constructed according to information concerning chemical-chemical interactions, chemical-protein interactions, and protein-protein interactions.

B. Sun et al. designed an analysis pipeline to study the relationships between eight types of damaging protein posttranslational modifications (PTM) and a few human inherited diseases and cancers. The results suggested that some human inherited diseases or cancers might be related to the interactions of damaging PTMs.

Y. Zhan et al. identified a five-gene signature that predicts prognosis in patients with kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC). The RNA expression data from RNA-sequencing and clinical information of 523 KIRC patients were analyzed. The AUC (area under ROC curve) of the five-gene signature was 0.783 which showed high sensitivity and specificity.

Z. Ji et al. developed a Nonnegative Matrix Factorization (NMF) based feature selection approach (NMFBFS) to identify potential clinical symptoms for HCC patient stratification. The results on 407 HCC patient samples with 57 symptoms showed the effectiveness of the NMFBFS approach in identifying important clinical features, which will be very helpful for HCC diagnosis.

C. Zhang et al. proposed adaptive weight regularized ADSIR for low dose CT reconstruction. Three numerical experiments are carried out for evaluation and comparisons are made with other algorithms.

J. I. Galvan-Tejada et al. presented the potential of X-ray based multivariate prognostic models to predict the onset of chronic knee pain. Using X-rays quantitative image-assessments, multivariate models may be used to predict subjects that are at risk of developing knee pain by osteoarthritis.

Y. Cui et al. developed a method called ROC-Boosting to select significant Haar-like features extracted from tongue images for health identification. They analyzed the images of 1,322 tongue cases and selected features focused on the root, top, and side areas of the tongue which can classify the healthy and ill cases.

S. Wang et al. proposed a novel automatic approach for dendritic spine identification in neuron image. The method integrated wavelet based conditional symmetric analysis and regularized morphological shared-weight neural networks. Its good performance and the comparison with existing methods suggest the utility of the method.

S. Yang et al. proposed the use of a combination of edgeR and DESeq to analyze miRNA sequencing data with a large sample size.

R. Hu et al. proposed an automated resource provisioning method, G2LC, for bioinformatics applications in IaaS. It guaranteed applications performance and improved resource utilization. Evaluated on real sequence searching data of BLAST, G2LC saved up to 20.14% of resource.

R. Hu and C. Li proposed an improved PID algorithm based on insulin-on-board estimate using a combinational mathematical model of the dynamics of blood glucose-insulin regulation in the blood system. The simulation results demonstrated that the improved PID algorithm can perform well in different carbohydrate ingestion and different insulin sensitivity situations. Compared with the traditional PID algorithm, the control performance was improved obviously and hypoglycemia can be avoided.

J. G. Rodriguez-Escobedo et al. described the use of the "a priori" algorithm at resolving KIR gene patterns associated with haematological malignancies, previously unrevealed through traditional statistical approaches.

Z. Jiang et al. built a new method to predict chemical toxicities based on ontology information of chemicals. This method was more effective than previous method and provided new insights to study chemical toxicity and other attributes of chemicals.

L. Yuan et al. explored the hidden relationship between miRNAs and imprinted genes in cell pluripotency. They found that the neighbors of imprinted genes on molecular network were enriched in modules such as cancer, cell death and survival, and tumor morphology. The imprinted region may provide a new look for those who are interested in cell pluripotency of hiPSCs and hESCs.

T. Liu et al. reviewed the recent discoveries and advance in the field of evolutional developmental biology in light of the development in large-scale omics studies.

J. A. Vanegas et al. presented a survey on the state-of-the-art text mining approaches to extraction of biomolecular events, which are useful for understanding the underlying biological mechanisms. The popular natural language processing and machine learning methods and tools have been analyzed for this task of phases varied from feature extraction, trigger/edge detection to postprocessing.

Z. Zeng et al. surveyed natural language processing techniques in bioinformatics. First, they searched for knowledge on biology and retrieved references using text mining methods and reconstructed databases. Then, they analyzed the applications of text mining and natural language processing techniques in bioinformatics. Finally, numerous methods and applications are discussed for future use by text mining and natural language processing researchers.

In summary, this special issue collects a number of innovative studies that address various challenging issues in analyzing data in biology and medicine. We hope that this publication will become a landmark in the international development of the relevant literature and also will help encourage more researchers and practitioners to be engaged in this ever increasingly important field.

Lei Chen

Tao Huang

Chuan Lu

Lin Lu

Dandan Li


Contemporary universities are engaged in multiple activities, which are often disconnected and subject to powerful external influences. Undergraduate research projects have been posited as a means of enhancing undergraduate education and improving the integration of research and teaching. However, engagement with the core research activity of the institution is not easily achieved. Greater integration between disparate activities within the university is hindered by the dynamics of the higher education field, pressures on academic staff and students, and funding policies. Expanded undergraduate involvement in externally funded research projects could engender connectivity between disconnected parties and with learning contexts often considered external to the university.


This paper discusses the notion of differentiated commitments or burden sharing in the ongoing negotiations on emissions reductions of greenhouse gases. The negotiations, which takes place in the Ad Hoc Group on the Berlin Mandate (AGBM) under the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC), is leading up to the third Conference of the Parties (COP-3), which is scheduled to take place in Kyoto in December later this year. The paper briefly surveys some of the main issues in the negotiations and argues that the question of differentiated commitments or burden sharing is only one among many difficult topics on the negotiating table. Based on some proposed principles of 'fairness', a few central indicators are identified and we provide data on these for a group of OECD countries. We outline some of the propositions for differentiated commitments in the current negotiations, and concludes that within the framework of the OECD countries, burden sharing is only possible if countries outside of the European Union (EU) can compensate USA for the additional greenhouse gas reductions needed to allow high cost countries to commit to lower abatement than the average reduction level. However, an attractive option, not explored in this paper, is for the group of countries outside EU and USA to make a deal with countries with economies in transition, as these countries generally are expected to have relatively low marginal reduction costs. Further studies of such 'east-west' deals are clearly warranted. * Paper presented at a Seminar on Climate Change Negotiations organised by Nordic Council of Ministers, Oslo 22-23 May, 1997. Thanks to A. Torvanger and A. Aaheim for comments and criticism. § CICERO, P.O.Box 1129, Blindern, N-0317 Oslo, Norway. Fax: +47 22 85 87 51, e-mail: email@example.com.


We demonstrate a fabrication breakthrough to produce large-area arrays of vertically aligned silicon nanowires (VA-SiNWs) with full tunability of the geometry of the single nanowires and of the whole array, paving the way toward advanced programmable designs of nanowire platforms. At the core of our fabrication route, termed "Soft Nanoparticle Templating", is the conversion of gradually compressed self-assembled monolayers of soft nanoparticles (microgels) at a water-oil interface into customized lithographical masks to create VA-SiNW arrays by means of metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE). This combination of bottom-up and top-down techniques affords excellent control of nanowire etching site locations, enabling independent control of nanowire spacing, diameter and height in a single fabrication route. We demonstrate the fabrication of centimeter-scale two-dimensional gradient photonic crystals exhibiting continuously varying structural colors across the entire visible spectrum on a single silicon substrate, and the formation of tunable optical cavities supported by the VA-SiNWs, as unambiguously demonstrated through numerical simulations. Finally, Soft Nanoparticle Templating is combined with optical lithography to create hierarchical and programmable VA-SiNW patterns.


Kids on the Move is the core traffic safety education (TSE) resource for Victorian primary schools. It comprises three books. Book 1 focuses on whole school TSE, book 2 on early primary learning and book 3 on later primary. The resource also includes a DVD, A Child's World of Traffic to support parents to use everyday traffic situations to teach their children about road safety. To understand the effectiveness of the resource, Edith Cowan University was commissioned to undertake two studies. VicRoads commissioned the initial study. One of the objectives was to evaluate the effectiveness of the pedestrian components of Kids on the Move (Book 2 – Prep to Year 2) and the DVD, A Child's World of Traffic, including: impact of the resources on pedestrian safety knowledge, understanding and self-reported behaviours in parents; effectiveness of the resources as parent education tools. The TAC commissioned the second study to determine the extent to which the resource has been implemented in Victorian schools. The study also reports on the: extent to which schools understand the Victorian "core and enrichment" approach; barriers to implementation; most effective approaches for implementation. This paper will report on the outcomes of both studies. The initial study found that the resource had positive results in relation to parents' supervision of their children and the teaching of road safety skills and behaviours.


In the majority of liquid pipelines, the pump station discharge pressure ranges are much greater than the pressure ranges experienced at the suction end of the downstream pump station. Consequently, the cyclic pressure induced fatigue damage accumulation rate is greater at the discharge end than at the suction end of a given pipeline segment. In completing an integrity assessment of a fatigue susceptible feature, assuming that the pump station discharge cyclic pressure profile applies to all features in the line segment is conservative. This conservative assumption can lead to un-necessary repairs, unintentional damage from over-prescribed maintenance, or inefficient decisions regarding maintenance action prioritization.
 The following paper presents the results of a Canadian Energy Pipeline Association (CEPA) initiative to develop a simple approach to define the cyclic pressure history at any point in a liquid pipeline segment based on the bounding discharge and suction pump station Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) pressure time history data. The approach was developed based on collected operating pipeline SCADA pressure time history data for line segments with intermediate measurement points which could be used to validate the developed model. The pressure time histories for all the locations were analyzed using a Rainflow cycle counting technique to develop pressure range spectra (i.e. histograms of pressure range events) and the cyclic pressure severity of each of the time histories was characterized by the Spectrum Severity Indicator (SSI). The SSI represents the number of annual 90MPa hoop stress cycles required to accumulate the same fatigue damage as the actual pressure spectrums.
 The technique presented in this paper illustrates how to infer the pressure range spectra or SSI at intermediate locations. The technique is shown to be a significant improvement (i.e. higher location specific accuracy) than either applying the discharge pressure spectrum or applying a linear interpolation between discharge and suction conditions in fatigue life assessments.
 The liquid pipeline cyclic pressure characterization technique presented in this paper will permit integrity assessment or severity ranking of features along a pipeline to be based on an accurate local pressure profile rather than an upper bound. This understanding will help to improve the accuracy of defect loading, one of the three main pillars in integrity assessment (i.e., loading, geometry, materials) for defects susceptible to cyclic loading (e.g., cracking, mechanical damage).


We focus on the collision avoidance problem in distributed optical burst switching (OBS) networks. Our proposal involves cooperation between the routing and the wavelength assignment tasks. The main idea is to classify each wavelength at an output link of a node as suited either to sending or to relaying data bursts. Furthermore, burst retransmission management is important to realize OBS networks. We propose the cooperation method considering retransmission. Simulation results show that the proposed method can reduce the burst loss probability, particularly for long-distance transmissions. As a result, unfairness in the treatment of short and long hop bursts can be alleviated.


Learning and Exploiting Relational Structure for Efficient Inference Aniruddh Nath Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Pedro Domingos Computer Science & Engineering One of the central challenges of statistical relational learning is the tradeoff between expressiveness and computational tractability. Representations such as Markov logic can capture rich joint probabilistic models over a set of related objects. However, inference in Markov logic and similar languages is #P-complete. Most existing tractable statistical relational representations are very limited in expressiveness. This dissertation explores two strategies for dealing with intractability while preserving expressiveness. The first strategy is to exploit the approximate symmetries frequently found in relational domains to perform approximate lifted inference. We provide error bounds for two approaches for approximate lifted belief propagation. We also describe propositional and lifted inference algorithms for repeated inference in statistical relational models. We describe a general approach for expected utility maximization in relational domains, making use of these algorithms. The second strategy we explore is learning rich relational representations directly from data. First, we propose a method for learning multiple hierarchical relational clusterings, unifying several previous approaches to relational clustering. Second, we describe a tractable high-treewidth statistical relational representation based on Sum-Product Networks, and propose a learning algorithm for this language. Finally, we apply state-of-the-art tractable learning methods to the problem of software fault localization.


We measure and analyze the single-hop packet delay through operational routers in the Sprint Internet protocol (IP) backbone network. After presenting our delay measurements through a single router for OC-3 and OC-12 link speeds, we propose a methodology to identify the factors contributing to single-hop delay. In addition to packet processing, transmission, and queueing delay at the output link, we observe the presence of very large delays that cannot be explained within the context of a first-in first-out output queue model. We isolate and analyze these outliers. Results indicate that there is very little queueing taking place in Sprint's backbone. As link speeds increase, transmission delay decreases and the dominant part of single-hop delay is packet processing time. We show that if a packet is received and transmitted on the same linecard, it experiences less than 20 /spl mu/s of delay. If the packet is transmitted across the switch fabric, its delay doubles in magnitude. We observe that processing due to IP options results in single-hop delays in the order of milliseconds. Milliseconds of delay may also be experienced by packets that do not carry IP options. We attribute those delays to router idiosyncratic behavior that affects less than 1% of the packets. Finally, we show that the queueing delay distribution is long-tailed and can be approximated with a Weibull distribution with the scale parameter a=0.5 and the shape parameter b=0.6 to 0.82.


If our potential adversaries are understood, publicity drawing the attention of bioterrorists to plausible bioweapons is the primary contribution the NSABB makes by censorship recommendations. Attempting censorship by attracting the entire world's attention to information of concern is obviously counterproductive. It is equally problematic to curb research in an attempt to prevent those outside our borders from understanding how to create bioweapons. That horse is, "Out of the barn and in the next county". Locking the barn door is not going to change this. Proliferation of molecular biology, vaccine and other knowledge across the world has already taken place. Thus, the best course is to make sure that we understand what human bioterrorists could do as well as we understand what nature can do. To date, nature has been the worst bioterrorist, but in theory human engineering can be worse. Medicine is biodefense. The focus needs to be on response capability and surveillance, just as in any other infectious disease control. Attempting to track, outwit or contain terrorists should be left to clandestine intelligence services that are equipped to understand and interdict them. Perhaps it is true that such capabilities in our clandestine services are poorly developed or directed. The remedy for that, though, is to work to improve matters by prodding politicians rather than operate independently in attempts at interdiction that may be counterproductive. Science, law enforcement, the military and intelligence services need to work together and understand each other's appropriate roles.


Australia's native grass species contain a diverse array of wild cereal relatives which are adapted to a broader range of environmental conditions than current commercial cereals and may contain novel alleles which have utility in commercial production systems. Characterizing the available variation in endosperm morphology is one of the first steps towards in planta manipulation of endosperm by either the introgression of novel alleles or bioengineering cereal starch and protein. The endosperm of 19 crop wild relatives (CWR) was examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Mature caryopses were fixed, dehydrated, critical-point dried and then snap fractured transversely through the grain. Wild relatives exhibited similar types of starch granules to that of their respective cultivated species, though in general the wild species retained a greater proportion of the endosperm cell wall at maturity. The two species examined with no closely related cultivated species exhibited a rice-like endosperm. Wild sorghum relatives exhibited an abundance of endosperm variations described as variations in starch granule size, shape and surface morphology, and the distribution of protein bodies. This is particularly important because the grain of Sorghum bicolor has inherently low starch and protein digestibility. These variations within the wild relatives of commercial cereals may provide novel sources of genetic diversity for future grain improvement programmes.


Diffraction of electromagnetic waves by a planar array of perfectly conducting strips is analyzed by a simple numerical technique based on mode expansion and point matching. Results are compared against other numerical results available in the literature to demonstrate the versatility and the accuracy of the proposed method. Further numerical results are presented which show the usefulness of these structures as shielding grids, reflectionless metallic supports, polarizers, and diffractors in obstructured communication links.


We report on changes in the structural, interfacial, and electrical characteristics of sub-1 nm equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) HfO2 grown on InAs by atomic layer deposition. When the HfO2 film was deposited on an InAs substrate at a temperature of 300 °C, the HfO2 was in an amorphous phase with an sharp interface, an EOT of 0.9 nm, and low preexisting interfacial defect states. During post deposition annealing (PDA) at 600 °C, the HfO2 was transformed from an amorphous to a single crystalline orthorhombic phase, which minimizes the interfacial lattice mismatch below 0.8%. Accordingly, the HfO2 dielectric after the PDA had a dielectric constant of ∼24 because of the permittivity of the well-ordered orthorhombic HfO2 structure. Moreover, border traps were reduced by half than the as-grown sample due to a reduction in bulk defects in HfO2 dielectric during the PDA. However, in terms of other electrical properties, the characteristics of the PDA-treated sample were degraded compared to the as-grown sample, with EOT values of 1.0 nm and larger interfacial defect states (Dit) above 1 × 10(14) cm(-2) eV(-1). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data indicated that the diffusion of In atoms from the InAs substrate into the HfO2 dielectric during the PDA at 600 °C resulted in the development of substantial midgap states.


Algorithms today influence, to some extent, nearly every aspect of journalism, from the initial stages of news production to the latter stages of news consumption. While they may be seen as technical objects with certain material characteristics, algorithms are also social constructions that carry multiple meanings. Algorithms are neither valueless nor do they exist in isolation; they are part of algorithmic assemblages that include myriad actors, actants, activities, and audiences. As such, they are imbued with logics that are only sometimes reflective of journalism's.
 Algorithms have played an active role in a broader quantitative turn within journalism that began in the 1970s but rapidly accelerated after the turn of the century. They are already used to produce hundreds of thousands of articles per year through automated journalism and are employed throughout the many stages of human-driven newswork. Additionally, algorithms enable audience analytics, which are used to quantify audiences into measures that are increasingly influencing news production through the abstractions they promote. Traditional theoretical models of newswork like gatekeeping are thus being challenged by the proliferation of algorithms.
 A trend toward algorithmically enabled personalization is also leading to the development of responsive distribution and curated flows. This is resulting in a marked shift from journalism's traditional focus on shared importance and toward highly individualized experiences, which has implications for the formation of publics and media effects. In particular, the proliferation of algorithms has been linked to the development of filter bubbles and evolution of algorithmic reality construction that can be gamed to spread misinformation and disinformation.
 Scholars have also observed important challenges associated with the study of algorithms and in particular the opaque nature of key algorithms that govern a range of news-related processes. The combination of a lack of transparency with the complexity and adaptability of algorithmic mechanisms and systems makes it difficult to promote algorithmic accountability and to evaluate them vis-à-vis ethical models. There is, currently, no widely accepted code of ethics for the use of algorithms in journalism.
 Finally, while the body of literature at the intersection of algorithms and journalism has grown rapidly in recent years, it is still in its infancy. As such, there are still ample opportunities for typologizing algorithmic phenomena, tracing the lineage of algorithmic processes and the roles of digital intermediaries within systems, and empirically evaluating the prevalence of particular kinds of algorithms in journalistic spaces and the effects they exert on newswork.


Carbon footprint impact and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is beginning to pervade modern civil construction and operational practices. Designers, owners, communities and nations are struggling to incrementally reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Green armouring of civil structures, historically hard armoured in rock, holds promise for significant reduction of the carbon footprint of construction. This paper explores the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by utilizing Turf and Root Reinforcement Mat (TRM) technology in armouring civil structures as compared to traditional rock armouring. The paper outlines the generally accepted use of geosynthetics in civil structure construction, and surveys the current greenhouse gas reduction strategies in construction. A case study of the Assiniboine River Diversion Failsafe in Manitoba, Canada outlines successes in the armouring of a civil structure against erosion utilizing TRM technology. A comparative analysis explores the carbon footprint of constructing with this green technology as compared to hard armouring with conventional construction methods such as rock riprap and rock armouring. Highlighted is the significant carbon footprint efficiency of this Turf and Root Reinforcement Mat green armouring technique. (A) For the covering abstract of this conference see ITRD record number 201310RT334E.


The aim of this paper is to reveal the nuclei, flows and surfaces generated by tourism in Guatemala that, nowadays, constitute the basis for the promotion of the country in the international market. Following the trend in Central America, and after a long civil war, Guatemala is encouraging the growth of its tourism economy. The starting point of this research is rooted in the fact that there are only a handful of places, distributed over the Guatemalan terri- tory, that articulate the tourist flows (constituted mainly by international visitors) and onto which tourism surfaces are being constructed. We assume that this territorial structure is still weak, does not include all areas of the country and it is mostly dependant on regional emitting markets. The context of the territorial structure of tourism in Guatemala suggests that all countries in the region are competing to get access to the international tourism market and that this competition will be decided in favour of those nations that mastermind the administration of their natural and cultural resources. At the end of the text, we comment on the basics of the territorial structure found by our study.


Hospital as a major provider of health services plays a major role in the health system. One of the major problems that the medical staff has to grapple with is the issue of discharging the patients from the health centers. Regarding the management of the hospital and enhancement of patient care, measuring patients' waiting times to be discharged from the hospital is an important issue. Patients' dissatisfaction and their complaint about long duration of discharge are reported. In this regard the present study investigates factors affecting discharge duration and it also tries to promote satisfaction level of clients who have been discharged and that of those who are awaiting admission. Method: This study was descriptive – analytical. The subjects were composed of all patients admitted to Be'sat medical center in Sanandaj whose documents contained their doctor's discharge order. Simple sampling was applied and the sample size was 200 discharged patients' documents. After the interviewers were instructed and necessary coordination was made with the hospital management, wards which documented the timing of the documents were asked to provide data on timing in all phases from the patients' discharge by their doctors through their discharge by the related wards. Collected data were analyzed through Win SPSS software. Variance test and test of compared means were used to figure out the relation between patients' mean time of discharge and their demographic characteristics. Results: Based on discharge process of 200 patients, the findings of the study were presented in 30 tables. Results showed that the highest frequency was related to the men surgery ward and the lowest one to the women orthopedic and neurosurgery wards. Thirty-two percent of the subjects were discharged on Sunday and Wednesday had the lowest discharge percentage of 4. Moreover, the highest frequency distribution based on 37 percent of hospitalization days was 5 and more days. Regarding the gender of the wards' secretaries, the highest percentage was 89% which was related to females. And regarding their years of service was one year with the highest percentage of 31%. The results of the ANOVA showed that there was a significant difference between different wards of the hospital. Discussion: Discharging patients is accompanied with numerous problems which can affect patients' recovery process and promotion of their health. The process of discharging patients is a complex challenge faced by hospital management; and modifying this process is considered as a key strategy based on which all activities in a hospital can be defined, developed and executed in order to achieve harmony. [Nasrin Aliramaei, Nahid Kan'ani, Ziba Afrasiabian, Sohila Estifaie, Elham Naseri, Susan Ghasrsaz, Roxana Yaghmaei. Investigating Discharge Duration of Patients and Factors Affecting it in Be'sat Medical Center, Sanandaj in 2011. Life Sci J 2013;10(4s):605-612] (ISSN:1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com. 93


Homo erectus has been broadly defined to include fossils from Africa, Asia, and possibly Europe, or restricted to a supposedly confined Asian clade. Recently discovered fossils of H. erectus are allowing new insights into aspects of its evolution, such as the timing and mode of the species' emergence in Africa and its relationship to Asian populations. However, the currently available African record predating 1.0 Ma is poor, consisting of the Turkana basin, Olduvai and the more limited South African materials. Here, we describe and compare eight craniodental fossils of ~1.4 Ma recovered from Konso, Ethiopia, that we attribute to H. erectus. These include KGA10-1, one of the better-preserved H. erectus mandibular specimens known from eastern Africa, and other fragmentary dental and cranial remains. The Konso H. erectus fossils show a mosaic of primitive and derived features. These include a large and thick mandibular corpus, a moderately developed lateral prominence, a reduced premolar morphology, and a tendency for smaller relative sizes of the posterior molars compared with earlier Homo. In some dentognathic details, such as the lack of a buccolingually narrow M1 and the presence of double mental foramina, the Konso fossils differ from eastern African H. erectus of ≥1.5 Ma. The fragmentary cranial remains exhibit weak angular and occipital tori, and an apparently weak occipital flexion, as with the eastern African H. erectus examples known from ~1.65 to 1.2 Ma. The available evidence is consistent with the interpretation that African early H. erectus shows morphological con- tinuity within the ~1.65 to 1.0 Ma time period, with relatively little morphological evolution prior to 1.4 Ma and advanced dentognathic gracility occurring sometime thereafter. The Konso evidence cor- roborates the hypothesis that the African H. erectus populations represent a variable but continuous evolutionary succession that was a likely source of multiple events of gene flow to the Eurasian con- tinent.


Fearfulness reaction was examined using tonic immobility (TI) response and differential leucocyte counts as physiological indicators of distress from sire and dam brown layer lines. The study was performed on 20 male and 131 female chickens from the sire line and 24 male and 116 female chickens from the dam line. The duration of TI, the time interval until the bird righted itself, and the number of inductions (15 s periods of restraint) necessary to attain TI were recorded. If TI could not be induced after 5 attempts, a score of 0 was recorded. After the TI test, blood samples were collected from 16 male and 45 female chickens in the sire line and 17 sires and 42 dams in the dam line and leucocyte parameters were examined. After the normality test, TI, tonic immobility per number of inductions (TI/Ind) and the heterophil:lymphocyte (H/L ratio) showed deviations from normality. After applying the Box-Cox transformation all data were analysed by a general linear model using JMP. Heritabilities and phenotypic correlations were also obtained Significant line differences were obtained from TI reactions. There were no significant differences in the leucocytic parameters between lines, except for eosinophils. The H/L ratio was significantly higher in males than in females. Heritability estimates for the duration of TI and TI/Ind were low to moderate in the sire line, but moderate to high in the dam line. The results suggest that fearfulness could be controlled through selection.