Inland flood risks are defined by a range of environmental and social factors, including land use and floodplain management. Shifting patterns of storm intensity and precipitation, attributed to climate change, are exacerbating flood risk in regions across North America. Strategies for adapting to growing flood risks and climate change must account for a community's specific vulnerabilities, and its local economic, environmental, and social conditions. Through a stakeholder-engaged methodology, we designed an interactive decision exercise to enable stakeholders to evaluate alternatives for addressing specific community flood vulnerabilities. We used a multicriteria framework to understand what drives stakeholder preferences for flood mitigation and adaptation alternatives, including ecosystem-based projects. Results indicated strong preferences for some ecosystem-based projects that utilize natural capital, generated a useful discussion on the role of individual values in driving decisions and a critique of local environmental and hazard planning procedure, and uncovered support for a river management alternative that had previously been considered socially infeasible. We conclude that a multicriteria decision framework may help ensure that the multiple benefit qualities of natural capital projects are considered by decision makers. Application of a utility function can demonstrate the role of individual decision-maker values in decision outcomes and help illustrate why one alternative may be a better choice than another. Although designing an efficient and accurate multicriteria exercise is quite challenging and often data intensive, we imagine that this method is applicable elsewhere. It may be especially suitable to group decisions that involve varying levels of expertise and competing values, as is often the case in planning for the ecological and human impacts of climate change.


Liquid crystal systems show strong responses to small changes in both temperature and electric field. Changing these conditions can result in phase shifts and other similar behaviors. We study several theoretical models of smectic liquid crystals. The ideas and notation are first developed in basic polynomial models used to describe liquid crystal systems dependent only on temperature. Specifically, smectic-C to smectic-A phase transitions are examined in a fourth-order polynomial model. The bifurcations in the nonlinear equations are shown to correspond to the phase transitions in the system. Similar analytic techniques are then applied to a more complex model, based on the work of Schaub and Mukamel[1]. This model, which includes terms for electric field dependance and chirality, describes smectic-C* liquid crystal molecules wound into helixes. Increasing temperature and electric field strength tends to "unwind" the helixes into the smectic-A or smecticC state. The phase transition from the smectic-C* phase to smectic-A phase is identified analytically in the special case of zero electric field. Numeric analysis of the system in general is undertaken with bvp5c, a Matlab boundary value problem solver. The region of transition from smectic-C* to smectic-C is mapped using numeric solutions, and specific areas of interest wherein the phase transition changes in nature are highlighted.


There is currently great interest in lidar surveys of salt marshes to support coastal management and decision making. However, vertical uncertainty of lidar elevations is generally higher in salt marshes than in upland areas, and it can be difficult to empirically quantify due to the challenges of obtaining ground control in marshes. Assuming that most of the component uncertainties in the lidar geolocation equation will remain essentially constant over a relatively small location, it is posited that vertical uncertainty in a marsh will vary mostly as a function of surface and cover characteristics. These, in turn, should affect lidar waveforms recorded during the survey, and therefore, analysis of the waveform shapes may allow for prediction of vertical uncertainty variation. Waveforms at three test sites were used to compute 16 computationally efficient features that describe the shapes; and simple, multilinear, and principal component regressions were used to evaluate their ability to predict elevation differences between lidar and Global Positioning System ground control. The results show that a simple estimate of waveform width can explain over 50% of the total variability in elevation differences but that multilinear regression does not significantly improve the performance. Somewhat surprisingly, skewness of the waveform does not appear to be a good predictor of elevation differences in these cases.


Many important search tasks require multiple search sessions to complete. Tasks such as travel planning, large purchases, or job searches can span hours, days, or even weeks. Inevitably, life interferes, requiring the searcher either to recover the "state" of the search manually (most common), or plan for interruption in advance (unlikely). The goal of this work is to better understand, characterize, and automatically detect search tasks that will be continued in the near future. To this end, we analyze a query log from the Bing Web search engine to identify the types of intents, topics, and search behavior patterns associated with long-running tasks that are likely to be continued. Using our insights, we develop an effective prediction algorithm that significantly outperforms both the previous state-of-the-art method, and even the ability of human judges, to predict future task continuation. Potential applications of our techniques would allow a search engine to pre-emptively "save state" for a searcher (e.g., by caching search results), perform more targeted personalization, and otherwise better support the searcher experience for interrupted search tasks.


The interaction between community and markets remains a central theme in the social sciences. The empirical evidence is rich: in some instances, markets strengthen social ties, while in others they undermine them. The impact of markets on inequality and welfare also varies widely. This paper develops a model where individuals in a social network choose whether to participate in their network and whether to participate in the market. We show that individual behavior is defined by the q-core of the network and the key to understanding the conflicting evidence is whether the market and the network are complements or substitutes.


The standard story of the development of modern tort liability is straightforward, but it turns out to be seriously misleading. The story is that, in the second half of the nineteenth century, negligence liability replaced the pre-modern forms of action as the principal basis for the imposition of liability for accidental bodily injury and property. Suits for negligence began to be brought, and insurance against liability for negligence was introduced. The tort system, and the liability insurance system that had arisen to accompany it, were then quiescent for the next half-century. Around 1970 tort liability began to expand substantially. For several decades there have been contentions that at that point there was an "explosion" of tort liability.

The problem with this story is that it trades on a misleading caricature of what was occurring in the tort system before 1970. Tort law doctrine was indeed largely quiescent during the middle four or five decades of the twentieth century, just as the story suggests, until the well-known doctrinal expansions of 1965 to 1985 began. But tort liability was not quiescent at all. The magnitude of payments made to tort victims increased exponentially between 1920 and 1970 – by some measures, at a much greater rate than after 1970 -- and the magnitude of premiums paid for liability insurance increased in the same exponential manner. In addition, after liability insurance was introduced late in the nineteenth century, it did not simply become a behind-the-scenes source of financing for tort defendants, the way a passive guarantor stands behind a debtor. Rather, between 1920 and 1970, the courts confirmed, created, and extended liability insurers' duty to defend their policyholders in tort suits and their duty to accept reasonable offers to settle tort suits against their policyholders. Liability insurers' active performance of those duties created an unrecognized dynamic cycle that intensified the growth of tort liability, bringing it to the point where it stood in 1970. This Article rethinks the conventional story, by examining the important developments in tort liability and liability insurance that preceded the "explosion" of tort liability, and offers historical, political, and intellectual reasons why the misleading conventional story took root.


Conventional methods for computing 3D projects are nowadays usually implemented on standard or graphics processors. The performance of these devices is limited especially by the used architecture, which to some extent works in a sequential manner. In this article we describe a project which utilizes parallel computation for simple projection of a wireframe 3D model. The algorithm is optimized for a FPGA-based implementation. The design of the numerical logic is described in VHDL with the use of several basic IP cores used especially for computing trigonometric functions. The implemented algorithms allow smooth rotation of the model in two axes (azimuth and elevation) and a change of the viewing angle. Tests carried out on a FPGA Xilinx Spartan-6 development board have resulted in real-time rendering at over 5000fps. In the conclusion of the article, we discuss additional possibilities for increasing the computational output in graphics applications via the use of HPC (High Performance Computing).


Abstract We provide a two good model of oligopolistic production and trade with one good being commodity money. There is the usual demand function of the consumers for the produced good that producer-sellers face. Each seller is a budget constrained preference maximizer and derives utility (or satisfaction) from consuming bundles comprising commodity money and the produced good. We define a competitive equilibrium strategy profile and a Cournotian equilibrium and show that under our assumptions both exist. We further show that at a competitive equilibrium strategy profile, each seller maximizes profits given his own consumption of the produced good and the price of the produced good, the latter being determined by the inverse demand function. Similarly we show that at a Cournotian the sellers are at a Cournot equilibrium given their own consumption of the produced good. Assuming sufficient differentiability of the cost functions we show that at a competitive equilibrium each seller either sets price equal to marginal cost or exhausts his capacity of production; at a Cournotian equilibrium each seller either sets marginal revenue equal to marginal cost or exhausts his capacity of production. We also study the evolution of Cournotian strategies as the sellers and buyers are replicated. As the number of buyers and sellers go to infinity any sequence of interior symmetric Cournotian equilibrium strategies admits a convergent subsequence, which converges to an interior symmetric competitive equilibrium strategy. In a final section we discuss the Bertrand Edgeworth price setting game and show that a Bertrand Edgeworth equilibrium must be a derived from a competitive equilibrium price. Here we show that if at a symmetric competitive equilibrium, the sellers consume positive quantities of the produced good then the competitive equilibrium cannot be a Bertrand Edgeworth equilibrium. Thus, if at all symmetric competitive equilibria the sellers consume positive amounts of the produced good, then a Bertrand Edgeworth equilibrium simply does not exist.


Where there is vigorous competition, and consumer confidence, there is economic growth. E-commerce drives both of these but there remain situations where traders exploit technology or consumer behavioural biases, and seek to compete on the wrong things –such as unrealistic up front prices. This harms competition and can reduce consumer trust, meaning that consumers consume less. This could occur when traders: i) prevent consumers from accessing, assessing or acting on information, and so make the wrong choice; ii) take advantage of their superior understanding of technology to collect data or money from consumers; iii) abuse the advantages of the internet (ease of set up, cross jurisdictional reach, access to markets) to misrepresent the price, the quality, the range of products on offer, or the service you will get. Firms should therefore behave responsibly, and not seek to steal an unfair march on their competitors. Effective enforcement incentivises the right behaviours. In order to enforce effectively, EU agencies need to prioritise robustly and build strong competence in internet investigation. Increasingly enforcement activities need to be run as international projects involving non EU enforcers and industry allies –and we need to be willing to protect overseas consumers as well as our own. It is important that the legal framework facilitates, rather than hinders, enforcement –so that for example investigators can easily discover the true identity of traders who run anonymous websites, that they are able to carry out covert test purchases, and so that websites causing harm to the economic interests of consumers can swiftly be removed. There are a number of areas where the EU legislator should consider further work, in order to address those persistent threats that have proven difficult to eradicate so far: clarifying the scope of platform responsibility; extending consumer protection to all individuals; ensuring all CPC enforcers have clear robust evidence gathering powers; providing a straightforward and cheap website take down power; ensuring enforcers are able protect non EU consumers, and can secure redress.


On February 3, 2016, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released its Ethical and Social Policy Considerations of Novel Techniques for Prevention of Maternal Transmission of Mitochondrial DNA Diseases report.1 Commissioned by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the report provides important information for the agency, which is considering the approval of mitochondrial replacement therapy for the prevention of mitochondrial DNA diseases.1 Expansive in its purview and thorough in its scrutiny, the report concludes that it is "ethically permissible" to embark on clinical trials involving human beings, subject to rigorous safety and efficacy imperatives.1 The report further recommends that initial clinical trials be limited to male embryos whose mitochondria cannot be transmitted to their progeny.1 In so doing, the IOM is seeking to preclude transmission of unintended outcomes to the progeny.1 In an unforeseen turn of events, the release of the IOM report was preceded by the enactment of a federal statute that prohibits the FDA from considering research applications for the conduct of this therapy.2 This Viewpoint seeks to contextualize the


Overcriminalization and overpunishment are the two key features of federal criminal law today, yet the constant drumbeat to "federalize" criminal law has accomplished precious little in terms of public safety. The failed drug war proves as much: federal prosecutors have filled the nation's prisons with low-level drug dealers and drug users serving long sentences, but drugs remain widely available at greater purity and lower prices throughout the land — and drug overdoses are at record highs. Instead of focusing on areas of federal comparative advantage, such as terrorism, international drug trafficking, and organized crime, federal prosecutors waste scarce resources "playing district attorney" — that is to say, pursing many of the same kinds of street crimes that state prosecutors do. The result is a federal prison population that is bursting at the seams, and a national drug problem that has never been worse.

The time has come for a major overhaul of federal criminal law. The number and scope of federal criminal statutes should be drastically reduced, and the definition of federal crimes tightened and modernized, to limit federal enforcers to offenses that are of peculiar concern to the federal government and offenses that states cannot adequately handle on their own. Sentencing policies that generate unusually severe punishment in federal court, such as harsh mandatory minimum sentences, and overbroad asset forfeiture laws, should be repealed or at least drastically reformed to eliminate incentives for prosecutors to pursue garden-variety criminal matters in federal court. In this context, as in many others, "less is more": a streamlined federal criminal code limited to the nation's worst offenses, which reserves major penalties for major crimes, will better protect the public than does our costly and ineffective current system of overfederalization.


Context. Observations of young open clusters show a bimodal distribution of stellar rotation. In those clusters, Sun-like stars group into two main populations of fast and slow rotators. Beyond an age of approximately 600 Myr, the two populations converge towards a single sequence of slow rotators. Aims. The present study addresses the origin of this bimodal distribution and the cause of its observed evolution. Methods. New prescriptions of mass-loss rate and Alfven radius dependences on Rossby number suggested by observations are implemented in a phenomenological model of angular-momentum loss and redistribution. The obtained model is used to calculate the time evolution of a rotation-period distribution of solar-mass stars similar to that observed in the 5 Myr-old NGC 2362 open cluster. The simulated distributions at subsequent ages are compared with those of h Per, the Pleiades, M 50, M 35, and M 37. Results. The model is able to reproduce the appearance and disappearance of a bimodal rotation-period distribution in open clusters providing that a brief episode of large-angular-momentum loss is included in the early evolution of Sun-like stars. Conclusions. I argue that a transitory episode of large-angular-momentum loss occurs on Sun-like stars with Rossby numbers between 0.13 and 0.3. This phenomenon of enhanced magnetic braking by stellar wind would be mainly driven by a rapid increase of mass loss at a critical rotation rate. This scenario accounts for the bimodal distribution of stellar rotation in open clusters with ages between 20−30 Myr and approximately 600 Myr. The mass-loss rate increase could account for a significant fraction of the X-ray luminosity decay of Sun-like stars in the 0.13−0.3 Rossby number range where a transition from the saturated to the non-saturated regime of X-ray emission is observed. Observed correlations between Li abundance and rotation sequences in the Pleiades and M 34 clusters support this scenario.


A plate-and-frame composite membrane bio reactor (PFCMBR) integrating the immobilized cell technique and the membrane separation technology was developed for groundwater denitrification. In PFCMBR the groundwater and external carbon source (ethanol solution) are separated by the plate-like immobilized cell, molecules of nitrate and ethanol diffused from the respective frames into the plate-like immobilized cell where nitrate was reduced to gaseous nitrogen by the denitrifying bacteria present there with ethanol as carbon source. The microporous membrane attached to one side of plate-like immobilized cell is used to separate product water from a plate-like immobilized cell or to provide effective retention of the biomass.Using the PFCMBR for groundwater denitrification, the over dosed external carbon source can be reused, and its treatment performance was perfect during continuous operation up to 98 days, and almost all effluent NO3 --N, NO2 --N, and CODMn concentrations are below their maximum contaminant levels.


CdS is having many optoelectronic applications including solar cell, photodiode, light emitting diode, non linear optics, heterogeneous catalysis. Holmium doped CdS nanoparticles were prepared by chemical precipitation route. The particle size was determined from the x-ray line broadening. Samples were characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM and EDS. The size of the particles has been increased from 13.4 nm to 16.7 nm as the calcination temperature was increased. Ultrasonic velocity through doped sample was measured. Also variation of compressibility of CdS: Ho nanofluid with various grain size have been carried out and found that compressibility increases with decrease of particle size. The elastic properties of the nanofluid has been studied extensively. Certain important physical parameters such as adiabatic compressibility, specific acoustic impedance, relative association, intermolecular free length, Rao's constant, Wada's constant of holmium doped Cadmium sulphide nanofluid were evaluated and variation of these acoustic parameters with temperature and particle size were reported.


Electronic biochips are defined by the merge of integrated electronics, containing diverse sensors, with reaction solution and sample hold in reaction chamber(s). Based on their overall structure, electronic biochips can work in either well-confined or in area-confined configurations. Extreme parceling of the sample (digital approach), coupled with electronic biochips, can radically enhance the throughput performance of the assay, especially in an area-defined configuration. This takes advantage of the increased sensitivity that follows device miniaturization, as illustrated in our experiments on Silicon Nano Ribbons.


Although the usage and release amounts of PPCP related residues is low compared to densely populated regions of our globe, the lack of modern sewage treatment installations (STP) also in larger Arctic settlements, in addition to low ambient temperature conditions (slow microbiological transformation and no photochemical degradation during winter), results in surprisingly high concentration of selected pharmaceuticals into the Arctic environment. Thus, the combination of lower elimination/degradation rates and reduced retention in STP treatment is contributing to surprisingly high release concentration into the receiving Arctic (mainly) aquatic environment. Pharmaceuticals are designed to express a specific biochemical function at low levels as a part of an integrated therapeutically procedure. This biochemical effect, desirable during therapy and treatment, may cause unwanted environmental toxicological effects on non-target organisms when the compound is released into the environment. In the Arctic Environments, pharmaceutical residues are released into lowto very low ambient temperatures in an receiving aqueous environments. Low biodegradability and, thus, prolonged residence time must be expected for the majority of the pharmaceuticals entering the aquatic system. This is especially critical when significant amounts of antibiotic/ antimicrobial agents are released in a low temperature environment and, thus, enhancing the potential for resistance against these substances in the local microbial communities. The environmental toxicological consequence of the continuous release are, thus, expected to be different compared to temperate regions of the globe. The impact on the human


High‐speed solar wind streams modify the Earth's geomagnetic environment, perturbing the ionosphere, modulating the flux of cosmic rays into the Earth atmosphere, and triggering substorms. Such activity can affect modern technological systems. To investigate the potential for predicting the arrival of such streams at Earth, images taken by the Heliospheric Imager (HI) on the STEREO‐A spacecraft have been used to identify the onsets of high‐speed solar wind streams from observations of regions of increased plasma concentrations associated with corotating interaction regions, or CIRs. In order to confirm that these transients were indeed associated with CIRs and to study their average properties, arrival times predicted from the HI images were used in a superposed epoch analysis to confirm their identity in near‐Earth solar wind data obtained by the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft and to observe their influence on a number of salient geophysical parameters. The results are almost identical to those of a parallel superposed epoch analysis that used the onset times of the high‐speed streams derived from east/west deflections in the ACE measurements of solar wind speed to predict the arrival of such streams at Earth, assuming they corotated with the Sun with a period of 27 days. Repeating the superposed epoch analysis using restricted data sets demonstrates that this technique can provide a timely prediction of the arrival of CIRs at least 1 day ahead of their arrival at Earth and that such advanced warning can be provided from a spacecraft placed 40° ahead of Earth in its orbit.


From the zeros of the mathematician to the void of the philosophers, from Shakespeare to the empty set, from the ether to the quantum vacuum, from being and nothingness to creatio ex nihilo, there is much ado about nothing at the heart of things. Recent exciting discoveries in astronomy are shown to shed new light on the nature of the vacuum and its dramatic effect upon the explanation of the Universe. This remarkable book ranges over every nook and cranny of nothingness to reveal how the human mind has had to make something of nothing in every field of human enquiry.


Use of Solarization to Kill the Root Crown and Reduce the Seed Bank Viability of Rubus armeniacus Focke and Cytisus scoparius (L.) Link Himalayan blackberry (Rubus armeniacus Focke) and Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius (L.) Link) are two common invasive species of the Pacific Northwest. While many methods currently exist to control these two species, both posses inherent characteristics and structures making them resistant to existent methods in the forms of aggressive vegetative growth and resprouting from root fragments and large persistent seed banks. The goal of this thesis is to explore the potential application of solarization as a control method for these two species. In a field trial, the effectiveness of solarization was to tested against several existent control methods focusing on the stem and root crown survivorship. In a subsequent greenhouse experiment, the seed banks of R. armeniacus and C. scoparius were subjected to solarization at varying soil temperatures. Results indicate that solarization does have the potential of killing root crowns and reducing the seed banks of R. armeniacus and C. scoparius. Clear plastic solarization was found to be more effective at increasing the soil temperature than black plastic and increases in soil temperature resulted in reduced root crown, stem, and seed bank survival. Further research in to solarization though will be required to best modify the technique to match the climate of the Pacific Northwest.


The paper studies the problem of wave transmission along a fluid-loaded plane elastic membrane supported by a finite array of equally spaced ribs. One of the ribs is driven by a time-harmonic line force and the rest have infinite impedance, so that fluid loading provides the only mechanism for the transmission of energy. Existing solutions for the infinite analogue exhibit a stop/pass band frequency structure, in which the energy is, alternately, exponentially localized around the driving force and constant along the array. However, at pass band frequencies this is inconsistent with numerical studies of finite arrays, which reveal marked amplitude fluctuations. In this paper an exact solution is given for a general finite configuration. This is used to explain and further explore the response. In particular it is shown that as the array length increases the pass band response becomes increasingly sensitive to frequency, and the solution cannot approach an asymptotic limit. The results give the forces along the array as an interference pattern, which may be thought of as propagating inwards from each end. This solution is obtained by forming a 2 x 2 matrix which relates the forces at any pair of adjacent ribs to those at the next pair. From the action of this matrix the response can be found everywhere, and the detailed properties of the solution are determined by those of the matrix. Special treatment is needed to deal with the band edges, which conform neither to stop nor pass band behaviour.


The stability of penicillinase messenger RNA has been assessed from the kinetics of enzyme production after inhibition of RNA synthesis with actinomycin or rifampicin. An average messenger half-life of 4-7 min. is indicated, both for induced Bacillus licheniformis 749, and the constitutive mutant 749/c. Although this value is twice that estimated for average total m-RNA by similar techniques, there is no indication of a 'long-lived messenger ' as previously implicated in other reports. An attempt was made to estimate the content of penicillinase messenger from data on the level of penicillinase made per bacterium, the polysome size, the messenger half-life and the total level of unstable RNA per bacterium. It is suggested that at the maximum induced rate of enzyme formation there are approximately I 10 penicillinase messengers per bacterium, and in the constitutive about twice this number.


Tunas are a major constituent of the pelagic-oceanic fisheries in the tropical and sub-tropical seas
around the world. Some of the species as the albacore, bigeye, bluefin, skipjack and yellowfin are widely
distributed over a great part of the world oceans and support fisheries of considerable importance, being
exploited by some of the maritime nations, chief among them being Japan, United States of America,
U.S.S.R., China (Taiwan) and Spain. Most tunas are migratory and their movements are related to the
shifting features of the oceanic environments. As the fishing grounds are beyond the territorial waters, the
different nations exploit the resources from the same productive regions, a fact which warrants international
understanding to regulate and conserve the available resources. The estimated tuna and bill fish landings
from the Indian Ocean currently stands at about 175 thousand metric tons which is expected to be doubled
by 1975. While Japan and U.S.S.R. are the leading nations exploiting the Indian Ocean resources, other
countries like Australia, Union of South Africa and Malaysia, Pakistan and Ceylon are also deeply interested
in developing their oceanic fisheries. Most of the oceanic species grow to very big size and lend themselves
for canning and processing by other methods, the products finding a ready market in all progressive
countries.


We study the unitary Cayley graph associated to an arbitrary finite ring, determining precisely its diameter, girth, eigenvalues, vertex and edge connectivity, and vertex and edge chromatic number. We also compute its automorphism group, settling a question of Klotz and Sander. In addition, we classify all planar graphs and perfect graphs within this class.


In Place of a Show is a singular account of four theatre buildings from around the world: theatres stripped of their primary purpose, lying empty, preserved as museums, or demolished. Playfully combining first-person narratives, scholarly research and visual documents, Augusto Corrieri explores the material and imaginative potentials of these places, charting interconnections between humans, birds, vegetation, and the beguiling animations of inanimate things, such as walls, curtains and seats.

Across four chapters we learn of the uncanny dismantling and reconstitution of a German Baroque auditorium during the Second World War; the phantasmal remains of a demolished music hall in London's East End; a Renaissance Italian theatre, fleetingly transformed into an aviary by the appearance of a swallow; and a lavish opera house emerging from the Amazon rainforest. In these pages we are invited to discover theatres as sites of anomalous encounters and surprising coincidences: places that might reveal the performative entanglement of human and nonhuman worlds.


Bacteria, which may be exposed to widely varying osmotic conditions, respond to hyperosmotic stress by accumulating solutes. For instance, the ABC (ATP-binding cassette) transporter OpuA of Lactococcus lactis takes up glycine betaine to combat water loss and cell shrinkage. OpuA reconstituted in proteoliposomes is activated by increased luminal ion concentration, with the threshold depending on the ionic lipid content of the membrane; however, the mechanism has been unclear. Biemans-Oldehinkel et al. reconstituted OpuA into liposomes containing MgATP and various concentrations of potassium phosphate, exposed the liposomes to solutions of different osmolality (eliciting varying degrees of shrinkage), measured transport of radiolabeled glycine betaine, and determined that transport varied as a function of internal ionic strength. OpuA contains tandem CBS (cystathionine-β-synthase) domains with an anionic C-terminal tail at the C-terminal end of its ATPase subunits. Analysis of the effects of ionic strength on the transport properties of OpuA mutants reconstituted into liposomes containing different fractions of anionic lipids (in which the lumen contained an ATP-regenerating system) indicated that the CBS domain acted as a sensor for ionic strength. The anionic tail modulated the ion-sensing properties of the transporter, shifting the ionic strength dependence of the transporter to higher values. The authors proposed a model in which the OpuA domains gate membrane transport through an electrostatic switching mechanism in which interactions between the CBS domain and the negatively charged membrane are dependent on surface charge and ionic strength, allowing the transporter to switch into an active "on" position in response to changes in ionic strength. CBS domains are found in more than 4000 proteins, including transporters, voltage-gated chloride channels, and various enzymes; this research raises the intriguing possibility that other CBS-containing proteins may be similarly regulated. E. Biemans-Oldehinkel, N. A. B. N. Mahmood, B. Poolman, A sensor for intracellular ionic strength. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 103, 10624-10629 (2006). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Understanding how people use different spaces in a building can inform design interventions aimed at improving the utility of that building, but can also inform the design of future buildings. We studied space use in an office building following a method we have designed to reveal the occupancy rate and navigational patterns. Our method involves two key components: 1) a pervasive sensing system that is scalable for large buildings, and high number of occupants, and 2) participatory data analysis engaging stakeholders including interior architects and building performance engineers, to refine the questions and define the needs for further analyses through multiple iterations. In this paper, we describe our method in detail, and exemplify how HCI methods and approaches can contribute to professional building design projects.


ABSTRACT The West is at an inflection point in its relations with Russia; the stakes for having an accurate understanding of its president, Vladimir Putin, have never been higher. A misreading of this man – now one of the most consequential international political figures and challengers to the US-led world order since the end of the Cold War – could have catastrophic consequences. Russia's 8,000 nuclear weapons (and the vehicles to deliver them to any point on the globe) underscore the huge risks of not understanding who Putin is, what he wants, how he thinks, and why. Where do his ideas and conceptions come from? How does Putin look at the outside world? Why did he annex Crimea in 2014 and intervene in Syria in 2015? What does he know about the West? What does he think about the United States? These are all critical questions.


Partial observations of continuous time-series dynamics at arbitrary time stamps exist in many disciplines. Fitting this type of data using statistical models with continuous dynamics is not only promising at an intuitive level but also has practical benefits, including the ability to generate continuous trajectories and to perform inference on previously unseen time stamps. Despite exciting progress in this area, the existing models still face challenges in terms of their representational power and the quality of their variational approximations. We tackle these challenges with continuous latent process flows (CLPF), a principled architecture decoding continuous latent processes into continuous observable processes using a time-dependent normalizing flow driven by a stochastic differential equation. To optimize our model using maximum likelihood, we propose a novel piecewise construction of a variational posterior process and derive the corresponding variational lower bound using trajectory re-weighting. Our ablation studies demonstrate the effectiveness of our contributions in various inference tasks on irregular time grids. Comparisons to state-of-the-art baselines show our model's favourable performance on both synthetic and real-world time-series data.


Summary Self-managed shelters claim that participants who have been homeless are better able to run a shelter than regular providers. Little research has investigated self-managed shelters. In this article, we have described the experiences of participants and peer workers with empowerment processes in Je Eigen Stek (Your own place, JES), a self-managed shelter, based on an eight-year qualitative responsive evaluation. Findings We distinguish three clusters of individual experiences: (1) enthusiastic, (2) moderate to critical, and (3) negative, respectively, associated with decreasing engagement with social life in and management of JES. Those not engaged can still benefit materially and from the freedom of choice JES offers, which is generally appreciated. Empowerment provides a useful framework and JES in turn offers new insights into the dialectical nature of empowerment. Empowerment consists of freedom of choice and capacity development and neither should be emphasized over the other. The emphasis in JES is on freedom of choice, which does not automatically lead to developing capacities. Social workers try to balance both aspects of empowerment. Applications Our analysis shows how offering freedom of choice can contribute to empowerment, although social workers need to be aware that participants might opt not to work on capacity development.


The paper addresses the need to consider anthropometric diversity in design and suggests a basic approach for the simultaneous consideration of variance in two key dimensions. This as a basic step from the common, but in many cases poor, approach to use univariate percentile data in design. The bivariate method described can be applied when utilising DHM tools for design in that key dimension values for extreme but likely anthropometric measurement combinations are calculated and entered as input data when representative manikins are defined. The mathematical procedure is described and the outcome of the method is compared to a typical percentile based approach, indicating more accurate accommodation levels being reached by the proposed method. The method is to be seen as a simple method to be used for basic design problems where variance in few anthropometric dimensions are to be considered simultaneously, and not as an alternative for more advanced multivariate methods. The paper takes a pragmatic standpoint, directing its message towards practitioners using DHM tools for design purposes.


Once a thriving center with commercial links to the Indian Ocean, what remains of Great Zimbabwe is its monumental architecture. Its rise and decline have long been linked to environmental changes in southern Zimbabwe, beginning in the second half of the 13th century with agropastoralists thriving in the region's well‐watered granite hills and valleys, and culminating in a vast urban and trading society. Later, c.1550 AD, it is argued, drying climate, land overexploitation, and changing regional trading patterns would lead to the decline of Great Zimbabwe. A review of this model is necessary since Great Zimbabwe and communities living around it survive in a region constantly threatened by water crises. However, we still know very little on the forms and uses of water and how these have influenced its development and demise. This article offers a multilayered review of available information on water, including new records on environmental sequences, modern water sources, and provisioning models from in and around Great Zimbabwe. The integration of both old and new datasets allows us to follow the history of people‐water interaction from early times to the present. We argue that understanding of the local environment was vital in managing both water excesses and shortages in the past, and show that some of this knowledge survives among indigenous communities linked to the site and living in the surrounding landscape. While nearby Masvingo town has persistently lived under water‐emergency conditions, farmers around Great Zimbabwe mitigate shortfalls of modern water provision through a balanced and mutually vital interaction with natural water resources such as springs and soil moisture. WIREs Water 2016, 3:195–210. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1133


This study provides validity evidence for the Capture-Recapture (CR) method, borrowed from ecology, as a measure of second language (L2) productive vocabulary size (PVS). Two separate "captures" of productive vocabulary were taken using written word association tasks (WAT). At Time 1, 47 bilinguals provided at least 4 associates to each of 30 high-frequency stimulus words in English, their first language (L1), and in French, their L2. A few days later (Time 2), this procedure was repeated with a different set of stimulus words in each language. Since the WAT was used, both Lex30 and CR PVS scores were calculated in each language. Participants also completed an animacy judgment task assessing the speed and efficiency of lexical access. Results indicated that, in both languages, CR and Lex30 scores were significantly positively correlated (evidence of convergent validity). CR scores were also significantly larger in the L1, and correlated significantly with the speed of lexical access in the L2 (evidence of construct validity). These results point to the validity of the technique for estimating relative L2 PVS. However, CR scores are not a direct indication of absolute vocabulary size. A discussion of the method's underlying assumptions and their implications for interpretation are provided.


The Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, has been spreading via human activities from its native range in South America across much of the globe for more than a century. This invasive ant was first detected in Japan in 1993. Its successful world‐wide expansion is attributed to a social structure, namely supercoloniality, whereby individuals from separate nests cooperate. Here, we examined the genetic structure of L. humile populations to understand its invasion history.


More than 20 years the Reactor Physics Laboratory of the Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (INRNE-BAS) provides technical support of Kozloduy NPP regarding nondestructive neutron fluence determination of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV). The activities on neutron fluence assessment and related evaluation of RPVmetal degradation (embrittlement temperature shift∆TF ) as well as the consequent RPV lifetime prediction were started in 1986 and are still ongoing. The Reactor Physics Laboratory together with the Radioanalitical Methods Laboratory carried out reactor dosimetry at Kozloduy NPP Units 1 to 6 for validation/verification of the neutron fluence calculation by activation monitors. For this purpose ex-vessel detectors have been installed and irradiated in the air cavity behind the vessel periodically from 1993. The obtained results have provided important information needed for taking decisions on reactor lifetimemanagement. Further improvements of the RPV neutron fluence determination methodology are foreseen. Large scale international effort is searched to validate these improvements.


This study is concerned with the particular role of the teacher as a leader of pupils in a class,
a legislated requirement for teachers in South Africa since 1996.
Literature and research have focussed attention regarding leadership in education on the
principal, school governing body and school management team, and more recently distributed
leadership in schools. This study, in contrast, seeks to concentrate on the leadership of
teachers as they teach classes of pupils.
A review of the current leadership literature applicable, in my view, to the practice of
leadership in schools, provided the opportunity for the development of a theoretical framing
for the study around the categories of leaders knowing, doing, being and relating.
Teachers from eight Section 21 (state-aided, previously advantaged and currently well-resourced)
schools in the greater Ethekweni region of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa were
selected for the study. They were observed in their teaching and interviewed to interrogate
their understanding and performance as leaders, and to establish how and why leadership
occurred or did not occur. Sampling for the four teachers who were observed in their teaching
was purposive to establish levels of understanding, and enactment of leadership amongst
advantaged teachers teaching in well resourced schools. These teachers were recommended
for selection for this study by their principals, as teachers who had previously – in the opinion
of the principals, evidenced leadership in their teaching. Forty three other teachers were
interviewed in focus groups and film stimulus focus groups to view, consider and comment
on teacher leadership behaviours in selected feature films – providing a vehicle for
identifying how leadership occurs in teachers' classes and what it is that teachers understand
about leadership.
Insights into the reason for teachers exercising leadership in a class were gained from
consideration of the character and the competence of teachers, the circumstances under which
leadership occurs and the nature of 'called' leaders with a sense of identity.
The occurrences that caused the teachers to lead without any apparent training for leadership
are examined in the light of the fact that these were selected teachers from well resourced
schools who had all enjoyed growing and educational advantage. Their learning about
leadership had been a largely unconscious occurrence in their lives. They did not know that
they knew about leadership in teaching.
The study firstly provides explanation of the phenomenon of leadership occurrence and
understanding by teachers, who deny training in leadership and are not even aware of policy
dictating that role for teachers insight and secondly, a new understanding of the relevant
nature of the leadership practised by the teachers observed, and finally presents argument on
the symbiotic nature of teaching and leading. This develops the thesis of the study; when
teachers teach, they lead – to teach is to lead.
It is recognised that the majority of teachers in South Africa will…


Bodhisattva ideas have steadily developed since medieval times, to become key characteristics of Chinese Mahāyāna Buddhism. Monks and nuns in the Mahāyāna tradition generally have bodhisattva precepts conferred upon them while undergoing the Triple Platform Ordination, and adhering to both these precepts and the bhikṣu/bhikṣuṇī precepts is a conspicuous feature of Mahāyāna monastic practice. Against this backdrop, it is worth exploring Chinese monastics' perceptions of the bodhisattva precepts and ideal, and the practices surrounding them, in the current sociocultural contexts of Taiwan and Mainland China. Though both these regions share the same tradition of Chinese Mahāyāna Buddhism, it has very different manifestations. This long-term, cross-Straits comparative study also reveals a hitherto under-theorised conflict between vinaya rules and the bodhisattva ideal.


In this book, the micro-modular approach known as Tiernet within Conceptual Semantics is introduced. Constructions make up an important part in the approach, but in this approach constructions are considered to be exceptions, licensed links between micro-modules, one of the kinds of symbolic modules in the approach. Similar to construction grammar approaches, the micro-modular approach takes a solid interest in the 'periphery' and thus also studies irregular linking principles like constructions.The book details particulars in the development of generative grammar and the relation of Conceptual Semantics to this development, and then introduces the micro-modular approach and shows its usefulness for the description of language generally by not only using examples from English, but also, and in particular, by applying the micro-modular approach of Conceptual Semantics to data from Finnish.


Summary

The dietary requirement of tryptophan for juvenile Asian sea bass (Lates calcarifer Bloch) was studied. The juveniles (mean initial weight, 5.30 ± 0.06 g) were given semi-purified test diets containing fish meal, gelatin, squid meal, and crystalline amino acids, for 12 weeks. Each set of isonitrogenous and isocaloric test diets contained graded levels of tryptophan. Fish (15 per tank) were reared in 250-L fiberglass tanks provided with continuous flow-through sea water at 26°C and salinity of 28 p.p.t. Fish were fed twice daily at a feeding rate of 8% of the body weight day−1 for the first 4 weeks and at 3.5–2.5% of the body weight day−1 from 5 to 12 weeks. The experiment was in a completely randomized design with two replicates per treatment. Mean percentage weight gains and feed efficiency ratios were significantly different in fish fed varying tryptophan levels. Survival was 100% in all treatments. On the basis of break-point analysis of the growth response, the dietary tryptophan requirement of juvenile Asian sea bass is 0.41% of the dietary protein. This information will be useful in further refinement of practical feed formulations for the Asian sea bass.


This study analyzes the spatial distribution of low birth weight (LBW) in the State of Sergipe, Brazil, evaluating the event as a health indicator. The analysis was based on 166,312 live births in the 75 municipalities in the State, using an ecological approach. Four methods were used: cluster analysis, correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, and multiple comparisons (Tukey). The study shows internal homogeneity in the municipalities' health districts and in the groups resulting from the cluster analysis. Considering a 10% loss of information, seven groups were identified, two of which were residues (Aracaju and Porto da Folha). There is a downward trend in LBW in Sergipe (with a mean of 6.97% during the period), reflecting a slight improvement in quality of life. The causes suggest relations with the environment and are influenced by spatial occupation patterns. The percentage of LBW is a useful indicator of individual risk, but as a collective health indicator it does not appear capable of expressing differences between regions that do not display strong inter-variability.


This paper examines the rice yield gap between Myanmar and Vietnam, two countries that show a stark contrast in terms of rice production in the past two decades. It considers the impact on yield of price policies and public investments in production technology. While domestic rice prices were once controlled in both countries, no clear deterioration or improvement in terms of trade for rice producers were confirmed in the past two decades. Rather, the widening yield gap in this period might be attributable to differences in technological changes due to public investments. It is implied that Myanmar needs more effective public investments in agriculture to upgrade production technology. Furthermore, the experience of the two countries suggests that delegating the budget to local governments might raise the effectiveness of public investments.


Inverse reinforcement learning (IRL) attempts to infer human rewards or preferences from observed behavior. Since human planning systematically deviates from rationality, several approaches have been tried to account for specific human shortcomings. However, the general problem of inferring the reward function of an agent of unknown rationality has received little attention. Unlike the well-known ambiguity problems in IRL, this one is practically relevant but cannot be resolved by observing the agent's policy in enough environments. This paper shows (1) that a No Free Lunch result implies it is impossible to uniquely decompose a policy into a planning algorithm and reward function, and (2) that even with a reasonable simplicity prior/Occam's razor on the set of decompositions, we cannot distinguish between the true decomposition and others that lead to high regret. To address this, we need simple `normative' assumptions, which cannot be deduced exclusively from observations.


The freshwater crayfish Samastacus spinifrons, is one of six species of the Family Parastacidae (Crustacea, Decapoda, Astacidea) inhabiting freshwaters in Chile from the Aconcagua River to the Taitao Peninsula, and the only one that is currently considered attractive for national aquaculture. In this article, we review the potential of this species for aquaculture with commercial or restocking purposes. For this, we analyze: a) the species' biological advantages and disadvantages in an eventual situation of confined culture; b) previous culturing experiences carried out in Chile, with an emphasis on their respective contributions; and c) the causes that were likely to have prevented the consolidation of culturing this species in Chile. Finally, the above analyses provided the basis for our proposal of the most appropriate way to culture S. spinifrons.


Summary
Reproductive success for species in which offspring are confined to a distinct resource depends on the ability of parents to locate reproductive sites as well as the quality of these sites in terms of the food source, risk of predation and competition. To locate hosts for their offspring, parasitic wasps, or parasitoids, use plant odour blends induced by herbivore feeding. These herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) may also be used by competitors and predators. Therefore, offspring of parasitoids that respond to the most conspicuous odours may find themselves more frequently involved in competition or predation risk.
We studied cultivars of Brassica oleracea that are known to differ in volatile production that underlies attractiveness to parasitoids and asked whether variation in this parameter is associated with a heterogeneous distribution of intrinsic competition among parasitoid larvae and predation risk by hyperparasitoids that parasitize parasitoid larvae or pupae. We inoculated field-grown plants with Pieris caterpillars and, thereafter, exposed them to the natural parasitoid community. We measured the frequency of multiple incidences of parasitism in these herbivores. Cocoons of the parasitoids were collected to identify the degree of hyperparasitism associated with different Brassica cultivars.
Pieris caterpillars on cultivars that were more attractive to Cotesia parasitoids were more commonly parasitized by several females of the same (superparasitism) or different wasp species (multiparasitism) than caterpillars on less attractive plants. Cocoons of parasitoids on attractive plants also more frequently produced hyperparasitoids.
Our results show that there is heterogeneity in intrinsic competition and risk of hyperparasitism for parasitoids on different cabbage cultivars and that this heterogeneity is likely generated by variation in attraction of parasitoids to HIPVs of these cultivars. We conclude that parasitoids may find themselves between a rock and a hard place as cues for host presence may also predict high levels of competition and risk of predation. We speculate that this affects selection on parasitoid responses to plant odours and enhances selection on traits that make wasps better intrinsic or extrinsic competitors as well as selection for adaptive traits – such as crypsis – that protect them against hyperparasitoids.


This book is a great resource for people who enjoy polyhedra, symmetry, geometry, mathematics and origami. The types of models presented are similar in nature to the models in Mukerji's Marvelous Modular Origami, but some of the chapters are more advanced and all of the designs are new. The reader can learn about polyhedra while making these models and is left with the ability to design one's own models. Step-by-step folding instructions for over 40 models are presented. Although the book is for intermediate folders, beginners are encouraged to try because origami basics are explained. The diagrams are easy to follow and each model is accompanied by breathtaking finished model photographs.


The placenta thickness has a relationship with fetal growth, since it is the only one way of his feeding. The objective of the study was to compare the fetal age progress and the placenta thickness in Saudi pregnant women. In a cross sectional descriptive study, one thousand pregnant women with mean age of 29 years old, were examined by ultrasound imaging. Inclusion criteria was Saudi pregnant women of normal pregnancy, exclusion criteria included fetal or maternal disorders. 3.5MHz, 5MHz convex probes and 7-10 MHz linear probe were used to examine the participants and to get the required measurements of placenta thickness and gestational age (GA) through measuring the biparietal diameter (BPD), abdominal circumference (AC) and femoral length (FL). In the (12 th -25 th ), (26 th -36 th ) and (37 th -40 th ) Weeks the GA were; 18.9 ± 4.2, 33.2 ± 2.9 and 38.1± 0.89 respectively. While the placenta thickness measurements were; 23.1mm ± 5.5, 35.0 mm ± 6.2 and 39.6 mm ± 7.0 respectively for the same periods. The highest frequency of placenta grading was Grade2 which is (36.0% of 1000). The highest frequency of placental location was Anterior Fundal which is (22.1% of 1000). There was strong statistical association between the increasing of placenta thickness and the GA, P = 0.000. The placenta thickness measurements can be carried on consideration with the other GA measurements parameters.


Horace (65-8 bc) was one of the greatest poets of the Golden or Augustan age of Latin literature, a master of precision and irony who brilliantly transformed early Greek iambic and lyric poetry into sophisticated Latin verse of outstanding beauty. Offering allusive and exquisitely crafted insights into the brief joys of the present and the uncertain nature of the future, his Odes and Epodes explore such diverse themes as the virtues of pastoral life, the joys of wine, friendship and love, and the poet's personal anguish following Brutus' defeat at the battle of Phillipi. Ranging from subtle and tender hymns to the gods to bawdy celebrations of human passions, they remain among the most influential of all poems, inspiring poets from the Roman era to the European Renaissance, the Enlightenment and beyond.


Most pages on the Web are designed for the desktop environment and render poorly on the small screens available on handheld devices. We introduce Reusable End-User Customization (REUC), a technique that lets end users adapt the layout of Web pages by removing, resizing and moving page elements. REUC records the user's customizations and automatically reapplies them on subsequent visits to the same page or to other, similar pages, on the same Web site. We present PageTailor, a REUC prototype based on the Minimo Web browser that runs on Windows Mobile PDAs. We show that users can utilize PageTailor to adapt sophisticated Web sites, such as Amazon, BBC and MSN, for browsing on a PDA. Moreover, the customizations remain effective for up to a year, even as the content of pages is updated, and can be reused across similar pages, limiting the customization effort required to browse a site.


The breakwater proposed for a yacht harbour on the Sussex coast of England comprises a solid base up to the level of low water and a cellular structure, having a perforated front wall and solid backwall, above low water level. A model of the breakwater (scale 1:48) was tested m a flume at the Hydraulics Research Station, Wallmgford, and measurements were made of wave reflections and wave forces. For comparison force measurements were also made on a solid faced breakwater. The reflection tests were carried out with waves of normal incidence and at 1+5 to the breakwater for waves (prototype) m the range h to 15 seconds and up to 15 ft. in height. The results are presented in graphical form and a simplified analysis Is put forward to explain them. The force measurements were made for 7 and 10 second waves (prototype) up to 22 ft. in height. The results are presented as a non-dimensional plot with envelope curves of maximum force. The results are also given of stability tests on a rock mound against the solid base of the breakwater.


The hyperspectral satellite sensing capacity is expected to increase substantially in the near future with the planned deployment of hyperspectral systems by both space agencies and commercial companies. These enhanced observational resources will offer new and improved ways to monitor the dynamics and characteristics of terrestrial ecosystems. This study investigates the utility of time series of hyperspectral imagery, acquired by Hyperion onboard EO-1, for quantifying variations in canopy chlorophyll (Chlc), plant productivity, and yield over an intensive farming area in the desert of Saudi Arabia. Chlc is estimated on the basis of predictive multi-variate empirical models established via a machine learning approach using a training dataset of in-situ measured target variables and explanatory hyperspectral indices. Resulting time series of Chlc are translated into Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) and Yield based on semi-empirical relationships, and evaluated against ground-based observations. Results indicate significant benefit in utilizing the full suite of hyperspectral indices over multi-spectral indices constructible from Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2.


Results are presented of an experimental investigation into the influence of mainstream acceleration on the heat transfer coefficient downstream of injection through a row of 35° holes in a flat plate. A mass transfer analogue technique was used, with two uniform acceleration parameters, K (=ν(du∞/dx)/u∞2), of 1.9 × 10−6 and 5.0 × 10−6 in addition to the zero acceleration base-line case.Two injectants, air and carbon dioxide, were employed to give coolant to mainstream density ratios of 1.0 and 1.52 respectively. The blowing rate varied from 0.5 to 2.0.The heat transfer coefficient beneath the film reduced progressively as the acceleration increased, with maximum reductions from the zero acceleration datum case of about 27%. In the presence of acceleration, the heat transfer coefficient at a given blowing rate was dependent on the density ratio, an increase in the density ratio leading to a decrease in the heat transfer coefficient. An empirical correlation of the data over most of the range of densities and blowing rates of the experiments has been developed.Copyright © 1990 by ASME


This article considers changes in the association between educational attainment and occupational prestige in Germany over time. We argue that the link between attainment and occupational prestige has become weaker over time because of compositional changes in graduate occupational destinations. Prior to higher education expansion, the small elite group of graduates tended to access the occupationally closed and thus more prestigious professions on graduation. As higher education participation expanded, however, an increasing proportion of graduates found employment in less prestigious and more diverse graduate jobs. The results confirm our theoretical expectations. The association between educational attainment and occupational prestige has decreased over time as graduates entered a broader range of jobs and their relative advantage over those with lower levels of qualifications decreased. This can, in fact, be attributed to a merely compositional change among graduates' occupational destinations from prestigious professions towards less prestigious free-market graduate occupations.


Problem: People in the developed countries spend around 90 % of their time indoors, so the design of healthy and comfortable buildings presents a key fundament. Construction of energy-efficient buildings with increased air tightness of the building envelope and poorly maintained ventilation systems often results in unhealthy and uncomfortable indoor conditions as well as in Sick Building Syndrome (SBS). In Part 1, risk factors for SBS are identified. In Part 2, an interactive influences among risk factors are detected and a preventive and control strategy to lower the occurrence of SBS is designed. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify and classify risk factors for SBS, as well as to define relevant parameters for the occurrence of SBS. Method: In the period of January to February 2014, comprehensive literature review was carried out studying risk factors for SBS. We searched two bibliographic databases (Pub Med and Science Direct) for peer-reviewed publications from 1974 to 2014. Results and discussion: Based on the results of the comprehensive literature review, the risk factors for SBS can be classified into six major groups, i.e. physical, chemical, biological, psychosocial, personal and others. Conclusions: Identification of risk factors presents a first step towards integral prevention and control of SBS. The identified and classified risk factors and their parameters are used for the design of a preventive strategy to lower the occurrence of SBS (Part 2).


This thesis examines the dynamics and control of a class of systems furnished by kinematic systems on exponential matrix Lie groups, when the plant evolves in continuous-time, but whose controller is implemented in discrete-time. This setup is called sampled-data and is ubiquitous in applied control. The class of Lie groups under consideration is motivated by our previous work concerning a similar class of kinematic systems on commutative Lie groups, whose local dynamics were found to be linear, which greatly facilitated control design. This raised the natural question of what class of systems on Lie groups, or class of Lie groups, would admit global characterizations of stability based on the linear part of their local dynamics. As we show in this thesis, the answer is—or at least includes— leftor right-invariant systems on exponential Lie groups, which are necessarily solvable, nilpotent, or commutative. We examine the stability of a class of difference equations that arises by sampling a rightor left-invariant flow on a matrix Lie group. The map defining such a difference equation has three key properties that facilitate our analysis: 1) its Lie series expansion enjoys a type of strong convergence; 2) the origin is an equilibrium; 3) the algebraic ideals enumerated in the lower central series of the Lie algebra are dynamically invariant. We show that certain global stability properties are implied by stability of the Jacobian linearization of dynamics at the origin, in particular, global asymptotic stability. If the Lie algebra is nilpotent, then the origin enjoys semiglobal exponential stability. We then study the synchronization of networks of identical continuous-time kinematic agents on a matrix Lie group, controlled by discrete-time controllers with constant sampling periods and directed, weighted communication graphs with a globally reachable node. We present a smooth, distributed, nonlinear discrete-time control law that achieves global synchronization on exponential matrix Lie groups, which include simply connected nilpotent Lie groups as a special case. Synchronization is generally asymptotic, but if the Lie group is nilpotent, then synchronization is achieved at an exponential rate. We first linearize the synchronization error dynamics at the identity, and show that the proposed controller achieves local exponential synchronization on any Lie group. Building on the local analysis, we show that, if the Lie group is exponential, then synchronization is global. We provide conditions for deadbeat convergence when the communication graph is unweighted and complete. Lastly, we examine a regulator problem for a class of fully actuated continuous-time kinematic systems on Lie groups, using a discrete-time controller with constant sampling period. We present a smooth discrete-time control law that achieves global regulation on


Reef slope coral communities were surveyed for long-term (20 years) changes in scleractinian coral cover, numbers of coral colonies and species richness, over the time intervals between the years 1973, 1983 and 1992. We compare such long-term structural changes in the communities at depths of 10, 20, 30 and 40 m. Our data are based on series of photographic records of permanent quadrats, a total of 36 m 2 reef bottom at each depth, along four transects on the leeward coasts of the islands of Curacao and Bonaire. We summarize the changes in the permanent quadrats over time to demonstrate the main trends in the data set and, to understand the significance of the data for the reef community, test the results as effects of time and depth using mixed model ANOVA's. Changes in numbers of coral colonies and coral cover were a function of depth. Number of coral colonies decreased significantly at depths of 10, 20 and 30 m, but not at 40 m. Coral cover decreased significantly at 10 and 20 m, but not at 30 and 40 m. Diversity (species richness) decreased through the years independent of depth. There were no consistent differences between the two 10-year time-intervals. These results confirm earlier observations of coral mortality and spatial mobility which showed the deep reef (30, 40 m) as a much more constant environment than the relatively disturbed shallower reef (10, 20 m)


OVERVIEW: Many companies lack a clearly articulated and well-communicated product innovation and technology strategy. Such a strategy is essential and is strongly linked to positive performance in product innovation. A framework for developing a product innovation strategy is presented, and the various steps of strategy development are described, from best-practice ways to define innovation goals and objectives through to the selection of strategic arenas and the development of the strategic map. Defining attack plans and entry strategies are also described. Finally, methods for resource allocation and deployment using strategic buckets and strategic roadmaps are outlined.


ABSTRACT Major storms commonly are cited as important geomorphic and sedimentologic agents, and their significance is perhaps most emphatically noted in interpretations of modern and ancient tidal flats. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of Hurricane Michelle on the carbonate tidal flats of Andros Island, Bahamas, by coupling remote-sensing data and field observations. Although regional MODIS remote-sensing data reveal that the passage of Hurricane Michelle suspended sediments across the shallow bank, integrating ultra-high-resolution remote-sensing data with field observations demonstrates that the hurricane had almost no impact on the Andros Island tidal flats. This lack of impact is surprising because the storm still had hurricane-force winds as it passed immediately over some of the focal areas. With this hurricane, storm strength and intra-storm interval were probably not limiting factors. Instead, several influences combined to minimize the storm's impact on both sedimentation and erosion, including the low level of water on the bank resulting from ebb tides and, in the northwestern area, from offshore storm winds, and the short duration of the storm resulting from its high forward velocity. Given the apparent prevalence of widespread storm effects on ancient tidal flats, but the spatially limited major geomorphic impacts of storms on many modern systems, we suggest that the geologic evolution and preservation of ancient tidal-flat successions may have been shaped by mega-storms that simply cannot form in the present global climate. Nonetheless, understanding tidal-flat dynamics and changes on human timescales will require continued monitoring and assessment of low-impact storms such as Michelle, as well the more sensational hurricanes that produce widespread death, destruction, and deposition.


The key cognitive impairments of children with attention deficit/-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) include executive control functions such as inhibitory control, task-switching, and working memory (WM). In this training study we examined whether task-switching training leads to improvements in these functions. Twenty children with combined type ADHD and stable methylphenidate medication performed a single-task and a task-switching training in a crossover training design. The children were randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group started with the single-task training and then performed the task-switching training and the other group vice versa. The effectiveness of the task-switching training was measured as performance improvements (relative to the single-task training) on a structurally similar but new switching task and on other executive control tasks measuring inhibitory control and verbal WM as well as on fluid intelligence (reasoning). The children in both groups showed improvements in task-switching, that is, a reduction of switching costs, but not in performing the single-tasks across four training sessions. Moreover, the task-switching training lead to selective enhancements in task-switching performance, that is, the reduction of task-switching costs was found to be larger after task-switching than after single-task training. Similar selective improvements were observed for inhibitory control and verbal WM, but not for reasoning. Results of this study suggest that task-switching training is an effective cognitive intervention that helps to enhance executive control functioning in children with ADHD.


Background: Considering the high estimates of undiagnosed and untreated obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), there is a need for simple and accurate diagnostic tests. Neck circumference has long been correlated with OSA, but its usefulness as a diagnostic tool has been limited. Aims: We proposed to evaluate the value of a simple neck grasp test to help identify OSA. We hypothesized that the inability of a patient in a sleep clinic to fit their hands around their neck is predictive of OSA. Materials and Methods: A retrospective review of medical records of patients evaluated in a general sleep clinic was performed. Easy sleep apnea predictor (ESAP) positive was defined as the inability to place the hands around the neck with digits touching in the anterior and posterior. ESAP negative was the ability to place hands around the neck. Positive for OSA in this symptomatic sleep clinic population was defined as an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) of ≥5. Results: A total of 47 subjects (36% female) had ESAP data available, which were reviewed. The mean age was 51.6 years (SD 14.4, range 29-81 years). The mean body mass index (BMI) was 38.8 (SD 9.9, range 20.4-69.5). Review showed 87.2% (N = 41) tested positive for OSA by AHI of ≥5. The sensitivity and specificity of ESAP were 68.3% and 100%, respectively. The positive predictive power was 100% and the negative predictive power was 31.6%. Conclusion: As we hypothesized, ESAP positive (inability to span neck) was predictive of OSA in a population of sleep clinic patients. An ESAP positive test was 100% predictive of the presence of OSA (AHI of ≥5). ESAP shows promise for ease of clinical use to predict the presence of OSA in a general sleep clinic population.


The study included 10 using the split control expansion technique and the immediate implant placement. This study showed that, as the result of using the split control technique of treatment, an expansion of the alveolar bone of 3 to 4 mm has been achieved, and it allowed the immediate placement of dental implants and the loading 4 months postimplant placement. The benefits of this technique make it much better that the existing traditional ones and allow the possibility to prepare the alveolar bone and the immediate placement of the endosseous dental implants, without any controlled vertical and horizontal expansion of the alveolar bone with osteotomes. Bone expansion and compaction technique using osteotomes allows condensing the spongy bone by alveolar horizontal resorption. The osteotome technique represents a substantially less-invasive procedure for controlled alveolar horizontal expansion (especially in lateral sites of the mandible).


The Tasmanian beef industry is currently under pressure as a result of factors such as
declining terms of trade, increased competition from other enterprises, degradation of
grazing land, drought, and rising costs of inputs to production. These issues significantly
affect the long-term viability of the industry, and highlight the need for improved
understanding of the relationships between agricultural productivity, profitability, and
the biophysical capacity of the land. This thesis considered key productivity and
profitability drivers of beef production in Tasmania through the integration of farm
financial and biophysical data. The aims were:
• To identify the key, factors affecting productivity and profitability of beef
production
• To examine the utility of Geographical Information System (GIS) and spatial
modelling for analysing and integrating financial and environmental data relevant
to assessing farm business performance
• To use case studies to investigate relationships between farm business
performance and farm biophysical attributes in the beef industry
• To consider GIS and spatial modelling applications that may be suitable for decision
support and scenario analysis in livestock industries.
Farm financial data for the 2006/2007 financial year of 27 beef enterprises were
obtained through a financial benchmarking process. Additional data relating to
enterprise management were also collected using a questionnaire. Biophysical data for
each property were derived using GIS technology. Data from each enterprise were
integrated and statistically analysed to identify correlations between financial
performance and biophysical capacity of the land. To gain an understanding of how well
the enterprises represented the State-wide industry, and to map landscapes suitable for supporting profitable beef enterprises in the state, GIS was also used to characterise the
overall beef industry in Tasmania.
Building on this exploratory analysis, case studies were used to study in more detail the
relationships between financial, biophysical and management data at an enterprise
level. Based on Australian Bureau of Statistics protocols, additional information relating
to management philosophy, environmental assets and natural resource management
was collected for these enterprises. Examining the correlations from the exploratory
analyses, and information from the case studies in conjunction with the landscape
mapping and characterisation of the Tasmanian beef industry, the suitability of this
technique as a decision support and scenario analysis tool was considered.
Analysis of the financial data has shown significant variation in the productivity and
profitability of Tasmanian beef enterprises. Statistical analysis of the financial data with
the biophysical data identified a number of correlations. The proportion of land that is
improved pasture, the proportion of relatively high or low fertility soils and the
efficiency of beef production (Kg/ha) were strongly related to the profitability of an
enterprise. Reduced risk, through increased operating profit margin and reduced cost of
production, were explained in part by increased efficiency of beef production and land
area. Stocking rate was strongly correlated with biophysical attributes that influence
pasture production - in particular, area under irrigation, long term rainfall and air
temperature.
This project has shown GIS and spatial modelling to be an effective method for
identifying statistically significant biophysical variables that help explain the
performance of beef producing enterprises in Tasmania.


This paper analyses the challenges faced by the policy makers in the U.K. in designing, managing, and winding up of a Metronet Public-Private-Partnership (Project), with a value of nearly GBP 16 billion. The PPP project, initiated in 2003, was envisaged to be a 30 year project, but by 2008 the project was wound up and reverted to the public authorities. The paper examines the reasons for this outcome, and the performance of the London underground since the wounding up of PPP in 2008. The paper is an instructive case study for India, a middle income which plans to use the PPP method extensively in meeting its infrastructure and social sector challenges. Among the key implications arising from the Metronet PPP case study for India are the government's willingness and ability to rethink major decisions, and even reverse them; flexibility in re-skilling its government agencies to fulfil mission objectives; and demonstrated intent and accountability to meet citizen's emerging and aspirational needs. Intangible aspects involving social and political norms of the stakeholders were found to play an important role in the outcome of the Metronet PPP project.


Management of hunger has to look into issues of availability, accessibility and adequacy. Posing it from an ethical perspective the paper argues out in favour of right to food. But, for this to happen, the state has to come up with an appropriate and effective bill on food and nutrition security, address the issue of inadequate provisioning of storage space by state agencies leading to rotting of foodgrains - a criminal waste when people are dying of hunger, and rely on a bottom-up approach involving the community that complements the top-down administrative structure to identify poor and reduce both exclusion and inclusion errors in targeting.


Two groups report activities for ephrins beyond axon guidance and cell migration. Bonaparte et al. performed a microarray screen comparing cells that were permissive and nonpermissive for Nipah virus (NiV)- or Hendra virus (HeV)-mediated cell fusion (a surrogate measure of infection) and identified ephrin B2 (EFNB2), whose mRNA was abundant in fusogenic cells. When expressed in nonfusogenic cells, EFNB2 rendered those cells competent for HeV-mediated fusion. A soluble Fc fusion protein (EFNB2/Fc) blocked HeV- and NiV-stimulated cell fusion of EFNB2-transfected cells, and this fusion protein coimmunoprecipitated and interacted with soluble forms of the attachment glycoprotein (sG) from the two viruses in surface plasmon resonance assays. Viral infection was also assayed; EFNB2/Fc prevented HeV and NiV infection in permissive cells, and EFNB2 was sufficient to allow infection by HeV and NiV when transfected into nonpermissive cells. Benson et al. report that ephrin B3 is expressed in postnatal myelinating oligodendrocytes of the central nervous system and is a constituent of purified myelin. Neurite outgrowth of postnatal cortical neurons, which express EphA4 (the receptor for ephrin B3), was inhibited when the cells were cultured in the presence of soluble ephrin B3/Fc fusion protein or a soluble fusion of the known myelin-based outgrowth inhibitor, myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG). Indeed, the ephrin B3/Fc was more potent than MAG/Fc. Cortical neurons plated on myelin deficient for ephrin B3 showed more outgrowth compared with that of neurons whose growth was inhibited by plating on wild-type myelin. Cortical neurons deficient in p75, the receptor for several myelin-based inhibitors of neurite outgrowth, including MAG, also exhibited decreased neurite growth inhibition. However, neurite extension was restored to that of cells cultured in the absence of myelin when p75–/– neurons were plated on ephrin B3-deficient myelin. (Thus, the effects of ephrin B3 and those of the other myelin-based inhibitors appear to be additive). Inhibition of neurite outgrowth by myelin was alleviated in both cortical neurons and cerebellar granule neurons when these cells were cultured in the presence of soluble fusion proteins for EphA4 or p75. These results suggest that ephrin-Eph signaling may be another mediator of myelin-based neurite inhibition, which has implications for treatment of spinal cord injury. M. I. Bonaparte, A. S. Dimitrov, K. N. Bossart, G. Crameri, B. A. Mungall, K. A. Bishop, V. Choudhry, D. S. Dimitrov, L.-F. Wang, B. T. Eaton, C. C. Broder, Ephrin-B2 ligand is a functional receptor for Hendra virus and Nipah virus. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 102, 10652-10657 (2005). [Abstract] [Full Text] M. D. Benson, M. I. Romero, M. E. Lush, Q. R. Lu, M. Henkemeyer, L. R. Parada, Ephrin-B3 is a myelin-based inhibitor of neurite outgrowth. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 102, 10694-10699 (2005). [Abstract] [Full Text]


The superconducting fluxonium circuit is an artificial atom with a strongly anharmonic spectrum: when biased at a half flux quantum, the lowest qubit transition is an order of magnitude smaller in frequency than those to higher levels. Similar to conventional atomic systems, such a frequency separation between the computational and noncomputational subspaces allows independent optimizations of the qubit coherence and two-qubit interactions. Here we describe a controlled-Z gate for two fluxoniums connected either capacitively or inductively, with qubit transitions fixed near 500 MHz. The gate is activated by a microwave drive at a resonance involving the second excited state. We estimate intrinsic gate fidelities over 99.9% with gate times below 100 ns.


This volume reprints 20 chapters from the editors' comprehensive Histories of Maize (2006) that are relevant to Mesoamerican specialists and students. New findings and interpretations from the past three years have been included. Histories of Maize is the most comprehensive reference source on the botanical, genetic, archaeological, and anthropological aspects of ancient maize published. Included in this abridged volume are new introductory and concluding chapters and updated material on isotopic research. State of the art research on maize chronology, molecular biology, and stable carbon isotope research on ancient human diets have provided additional lines of evidence on the changing role of maize through time and space and its spread throughout the Americas. The multidisciplinary evidence from the social and biological sciences presented in this volume have generated a much more complex picture of the economic, political, and religious significance of maize.


The transcription factor networks that regulate basal and xenobiotic-modulated expression of the hepatic sulfotransferases affect the dynamics of xenobiotic detoxication, carcinogen bioactivation and metabolic homeostasis. Emerging evidence suggests that liver-enriched transcription factors, the aryl hydrocarbon (Ah) receptor and members of the nuclear receptor transcription factor superfamily all play integrated roles in the control of sulfotransferase gene transcription. Unlike the well known up-regulation of CYP1A1, expression of rat hepatic aryl (SULT1A1) and hydroxysteroid (SULT2A) sulfotransferase is suppressed in response to treatment with the prototypic Ah receptor ligand, 2, 3, 7, 8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin. Glucocorticoid-inducible rat hepatic SULT1A1 gene transcription occurs through a glucocorticoid receptor (GR)-mediated mechanism, while human hepatic SULT1A1 does not display GR-inducible expression. By comparison, liver-enriched transcription factors, such as CCAAT/enhancer binding protein, are essential for the maintenance of basal and GR-inducible rat hepatic SULT2A expression. The transcriptional control of rodent and human hepatic SULT2A expression is subject to trans-activation by the environmental sensor, pregnane X receptor (PXR). IR0 (inverted repeat with zero intervening bases) motifs located in the 5'-flanking regions of rodent SULT2A genes are required for transcriptional activation by PXR and other nuclear receptors, including constitutive androstane receptor, farnesoid X receptor and vitamin D receptor. Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha) mediates the induction of human, but not rat, hepatic SULT2A gene transcription, thus implicating a role for fatty acids as endogenous regulators of hepatic sulfonation in humans. This review focuses on the xenobiotic sensors and transcription factor systems that regulate sulfotransferase gene expression.


We introduce a new routing algorithm which can detect routing loops by evaluating routing updates more thoroughly. Our new algorithm is called Routing with Metric based Topology Investigation (RMTI), which is based on the simple Routing Information Protocol (RIP) and is compatible to all RIP versions. In case of a link failure, a network can reorganize itself if there are redundant links available. Redundant links are only available in a network system like the internet if the topology contains loops. Therefore, it is necessary to recognize and to prevent routing loops. A routing loop can be seen as a circular trace of a routing update information which returns to the same router, either directly from the neighbor router or via a loop topology. Routing loops could consume a large amount of network bandwidth and could impact the endtoend performance of the network. Our RMTI approach is capable to improve the efficiency of Distance Vector Routing.


In the last few years participatory research with farmers (FPR), pioneered by NGOs, has moved into the public sector and has recently become a mechanism for government?NGO collaboration. It has been successful in heterogeneous environments and is particularly advocated in areas where green revolution technology and extension models are not appropriate or successful. This paper considers the particular attractions and challenges of facilitating FPR in hillside environments from the perspective of a project which uses such an approach for soil and water conservation in the semi-arid foothills of Bolivia and is funded by a bilateral agency with an interest in generic results. Three emerging issues addressed by the project are: the need to involve government (par ticularly NARS) staff; the need to make the whole research process, not just problem identification, participatory throughout; and the challenges of using FPR in more complex systems than crop trials and comparisons. The paper goes on to show how other methodologies relate to the FPR approach, with implications for future rural development research, particularly the distribution of benefits when the process is externally initiated, and the potential for generalizing results and comparing impacts over time. These link into new issues to do with stakeholder interactions, institutional roles, and the need to relate individual experimentation to broader change, taking a more holistic view of resource allocations within the watershed.


This chapter deals with the phenomenon of subject and object raising and proposes an analysis within Functional Discourse Grammar as presented in Hengeveld and Mackenzie (2008). After an introduction to the main properties of raising, Section 3 argues that the pragmatic motivation of raising is to establish textual cohesion and thematic continuity in discourse by keeping a referent active. This is illustrated with Spanish corpus data. Section 4 develops an analysis within the theory of Functional Discourse Grammar and shows that its four-level architecture is adequate to capture the properties of raising and to account for the tension between semantics, syntax and pragmatics in the process. However, it is argued that the theory would benefit by the introduction of a new dimension of pragmatic organization which would serve to represent the pragmatic properties of raising in a more effective way.


In this paper we test for the gravitation of regulating return rates, namely those return rates yielded by capital goods incorporating the best methods of production. We define them within a vintage capital model taking into consideration capacity utilization, capital depreciation and wages of workers using past capital vintages. We consider two data sets regarding US manufacturing activities and we find that gravitation does take place. Our results are contrasted with those of the previous literature. Research and policy implications are discussed.


Let V be an infinite matrix with rows and columns indexed by the positive integers, and entries in a field F. Suppose that v_{i,j} only depends on i-j and is 0 for |i-j| large. Then V^n is defined for all n, and one has a "generating function" G=\sum a_{1,1}(V^n)z^n. Ira Gessel has shown that G is algebraic over F(z). We extend his result, allowing v_{i,j} for fixed i-j to be eventually periodic in i rather than constant. This result and some variants of it that we prove will have applications to Hilbert-Kunz theory.


This thesis develops a new theoretical understanding of Melbourne's urban wildscapes through a discussion of a variety of playful practices that take place within them. The urban wildscape is an interdisciplinary concept that refers to marginal or neglected areas within augmented city spaces. I expand on the concept of the wildscape by linking it to the work of Henri Lefebvre and human geographers, arguing that the urban wildscape is not only visual, but can be experienced and produced by a city's inhabitants. The thesis is interdisciplinary, drawing on cultural studies, law, urban planning and architectural theories. It examines the legislation, case law, and design principles that attempt to control behaviour within the city. The study finds evidence of internal regulation structures that are inherent within the practitioners' use (and creation) of these wildscapes, and puts forward a case for a loosening of official regulation of such activities based on their contribution to an inclusive, vibrant, postmodern city. The thesis also makes a contribution to knowledge in interdisciplinary methodology. The analysis is achieved through critical ethnography. This involves self-reflexivity, critique and transformative redefinition, which is challenging when using data drawn in part from informant interviews. The critique allows a questioning of law's certainties. Legal responses are often contradictory and ambiguous as administrators grapple to preserve Melbourne's image as a creative arts hub and a safe city. Major conclusions reached are that urban wildscapes are not lawless zones, but spaces where complex systems of unofficial rules and regulations exist. These are spaces rich with possibilities. The thesis explores the benefits of the urban wildscape to Melbourne and argues that the future city must learn to embrace them


The pathway to summertime convective precipitation remains a vexing research problem because of the nonlinear feedback between soil moisture content and the atmosphere. Understanding this feedback is important to the southeastern U. S. region, given the high productivity of the timberland area and the role of summertime convective precipitation in maintaining this productivity. Here we explore triggers of convective precipitation for a wide range of soil moisture states and air relative humidity in a mosaic landscape primarily dominated by hardwood forests, pine plantations, and abandoned old field grassland. Using half‐hourly sensible heat flux, micrometeorological, hydrological time series measurements collected at adjacent HW, PP, and OF ecosystems, and a simplified mixed layer slab model, we developed a conditional sampling scheme to separate convective from nonconvective precipitation events in the observed precipitation time series. The series analyzed (2001–2004) includes some of the wettest and driest periods within the past 57 years. We found that convective precipitation events have significantly larger intensities (mean of 2.1 mm per 30 min) when compared to their nonconvective counterparts (mean of 1.1 mm per 30 min). Interestingly, the statistics of convective precipitation events, including total precipitation, mean intensity, and maximum intensity, are statistically different when convective precipitation is triggered by moist and dry soil conditions but are robust in duration. Using the data, we also showed that a "boundary line" emerges such that for a given soil moisture state, air relative humidity must exceed a defined minimum threshold before convective precipitation is realized.


The structure of an XML document can be optionally specified by means of XML Schema, thus enabling the exploitation of structural information for efficient document handling. Upon schema evolution, or when exchanging documents among different collections exploiting related but not identical schemas, the need may arise of adapting a document, known to be valid for a given schema S, to a target schema S'. The adaptation may require knowledge of the element semantics and cannot always be automatically derived. In this paper, we present an automata-based method for the static analysis of user-defined XML document adaptations, expressed as sequences of XQuery Update update primitives. The key feature of the method is the use of an automatic inference method for extracting the type, expressed as a Hedge Automaton, of a sequence of document updates. The type is computed starting from the original schema S and from rewriting rules that formally define the operational semantics of a sequence of document updates. Type inclusion can then be used as conformance test w.r.t. the type extracted from the target schema S'.