Based upon existing crystallographic evidence, HbS, HbC, and HbA have essentially the same molecular structure. However, important areas of the molecule are not well defined crystallographically (e.g. the N-terminal nonhelical portion of the α and β chains), and conformational constraints differ in solution and in the crystalline state. Over the years, our laboratory and others have provided evidence of conformational changes in HbS and, more recently, in HbC. We now present data based upon allosteric perturbation monitored by front-face fluorescence, ultraviolet resonance Raman spectroscopy, circular dichroism, and oxygen equilibrium studies that confirm and significantly expand previous findings suggesting solution-active structural differences in liganded forms of HbS and HbC distal to the site of mutation and involving the 2,3-diphosphoglycerate binding pocket. The liganded forms of these hemoglobins are of significant interest because HbC crystallizes in the erythrocyte in the oxy form, and oxy HbS exhibits increased mechanical precipitability and a high propensity to oxidize. Specific findings are as follows: 1) differences in the intrinsic fluorescence indicate that the Trp microenvironments are more hydrophobic for HbS > HbC > HbA, 2) ultraviolet resonance Raman spectroscopy detects alterations in Tyr hydrogen bonding, in Trp hydrophobicity at the α1β2interface (β37), and in the A-helix (α14/β15) of both chains, 3) displacement by inositol hexaphosphate of the Hb-bound 8-hydroxy-1,3,6-pyrenetrisulfonate (the fluorescent 2,3-diphosphoglycerate analog) follows the order HbA > HbS > HbC, and 4) oxygen equilibria measurements indicate a differential allosteric effect by inositol hexaphosphate for HbC ∼ HbS > HbA.


Since nearly two decades, a decline of interest in scientific studies has entailed the choice of new objectives for science teaching in many countries. To put it briefly, affective factors like motivation and the development of competencies, for instance critical analysis, have received much attention, as well as new approaches to teaching, like Inquiry Based Science Education. Although multiple learning benefits are invoked in each case, also for the future citizen, there is often, de facto, a trend toward less conceptual development and structuring, be it in teaching objectives or in students' achievements. I will briefly discuss the risks of oversimplification and teaching rituals in physics, and the need for developing a critical stance in students. I will then discuss, based on two investigations at upper secondary or university level (hot air balloon, radio carbon dating), the idea that a competence like critical analysis should not be envisaged separately from a minimum conceptual development. The final discussion will bear on implications for teaching.
A second part of this talk will be given in a session about physics education: From a subtractive to multiplicative approach, two concept-driven interactive pathways on the selective absorption of light.


PURPOSE
To classify medically treated open-angle glaucoma (OAG) by the pattern of progression using hierarchical cluster analysis, and to determine OAG progression characteristics by comparing clusters.

METHODS
Ninety-five eyes of 95 OAG patients who received medical treatment, and who had undergone visual field (VF) testing at least once per year for 5 or more years. OAG was classified into subgroups using hierarchical cluster analysis based on the following five variables: baseline mean deviation (MD), baseline visual field index (VFI), MD slope, VFI slope, and Glaucoma Progression Analysis (GPA) printout. After that, other parameters were compared between clusters.

RESULTS
Two clusters were made after a hierarchical cluster analysis. Cluster 1 showed -4.06 ± 2.43 dB baseline MD, 92.58% ± 6.27% baseline VFI, -0.28 ± 0.38 dB per year MD slope, -0.52% ± 0.81% per year VFI slope, and all "no progression" cases in GPA printout, whereas cluster 2 showed -8.68 ± 3.81 baseline MD, 77.54 ± 12.98 baseline VFI, -0.72 ± 0.55 MD slope, -2.22 ± 1.89 VFI slope, and seven "possible" and four "likely" progression cases in GPA printout. There were no significant differences in age, sex, mean IOP, central corneal thickness, and axial length between clusters. However, cluster 2 included more high-tension glaucoma patients and used a greater number of antiglaucoma eye drops significantly compared with cluster 1.

CONCLUSIONS
Hierarchical cluster analysis of progression patterns divided OAG into slow and fast progression groups, evidenced by assessing the parameters of glaucomatous progression in VF testing. In the fast progression group, the prevalence of high-tension glaucoma was greater and the number of antiglaucoma medications administered was increased versus the slow progression group.


The goal of this study was to conduct a probabilistic ecological risk assessment for tributyltin (TBT) in surface waters of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Ecological risk was characterized by comparing the probability distributions of environmental exposure concentrations with the probability distributions of species response data determined from laboratory studies. The overlap of these distributions was a measure of risk to aquatic life. Tributyltin exposure data from the Chesapeake Bay watershed were available from over 3600 water column samples from 41 stations in nine basins from 1985 through 1996. Most of the stations were located in the Virginia waters of Chesapeake Bay, primarily the James, Elizabeth and York Rivers. In Maryland waters of the Bay, various marina, harbor and river systems were also sampled. As expected, the highest environmental concentrations of tributyltin (based on 90th percentiles) were reported in and near marina areas. The sources of TBT causing these high concentrations were primarily boat hulls and painting/depainting operations. Lower concentrations of TBT were reported in open water areas, such as the Potomac River, Choptank River and C and D Canal, where the density of boats was minimal. Temporal data from a ten year data base (1986-1996) from two areas in Virginia showed that TBT water column concentrations have declined since 1987 legislation prohibited the use of TBT paints on recreation boats (<25 m). Acute saltwater and freshwater TBT toxicity data were available for 43 and 23 species, respectively. Acute effects for saltwater species were reported for concentrations exceeding 420 ng/L; the lowest acute value for a freshwater species was 1110 ng/L. The acute 10th percentiles for all saltwater and freshwater species were 320 and 103 ng/L, respectively. The order of sensitivity from most to least sensitive for saltwater trophic groups and corresponding acute 10th percentiles were as follows: zooplankton (5 ng/L), phytoplankton (124 ng/L), benthos (312 ng/L) and fish (1009 ng/L). For freshwater species, the order of sensitivity from most to least sensitive trophic groups and corresponding acute 10th percentiles were: benthos (44 ng/L), zooplankton (400 ng/L), and fish (849 ng/L). Chronic data for both saltwater and freshwater species were limited to a few species in each water type. Based on these limited data, the saltwater and freshwater chronic 10th percentiles were 5 and 102 ng/L, respectively. Limited mesocosm and microcosm studies in saltwater suggested that TBT concentrations less than 50 ng/L did not impact the structure and function of biological communities. The saltwater acute (320 ng/L) and chronic (5 ng/L) 10th percentiles were used to determine ecological risk because all exposure data were from saltwater areas of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Highest ecological risk was reported for marina areas in Maryland waters of Chesapeake Bay and for areas in Virginia such as the Elizabeth River, Hampton Creek and Sarah Creek. Low ecological risk was reported for areas such as the Potomac River, Choptank River, C and D Canal and Norfolk Harbor. Regulation of TBT on recreational watercraft in 1987 has successfully reduced water column concentrations of this organometallic compound. However, various studies have showed that TBT may remain in the sediment for years and continue to be source for water column exposures.


We study how changes in prudential requirements affect cross-border lending of Canadian banks by utilizing an index that aggregates adjustments in key regulatory instruments across jurisdictions. We show that when a destination country tightens local prudential measures, Canadian banks increase the growth rate of lending to that jurisdiction, and the effect is particularly significant when capital requirements are tightened and weaker if banks lend mainly via affiliates. Our evidence also suggests that Canadian banks adjust foreign lending in response to domestic regulatory changes. The results confirm the presence of heterogeneous spillover effects of foreign prudential requirements.


The purpose of this paper is to examine the scholarly literature on the adoption of technology in education in order to identify the key considerations for designing, delivering, and evaluating a professional development (PD) program to support the use of Apple Inc.'s iPad technology by higher education teachers. Scholars who have studied the adoption of technology in educational settings indicate the need for PD in order for success. Even with hyped technology, such as the iPad, providing access alone is not enough for successful adoption. I begin by examining the literature on the use of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in educational contexts and how it might influence a PD program. In the following five sections of the paper, I examine five elements that I have identified as crucial to successful technology adoption: technology, time, individual beliefs, organizational structures, and evaluation. Finally, I summarize the key considerations identified throughout the literature review. Based upon my review, a professional development program should: 1. Benefit both pre-adoption and post-adoption learners. 2. Include a learning intervention that aims to increase pre-adoption learners' perceptions on usefulness and ease-of-use. 3. Integrate both product technology and idea technology. 4. Demonstrate useful apps with workflow in a context that learners understand. 5. Begin with familiar activity before challenging beliefs. 6. Seek out stakeholders and idea leaders to provide context and champion the program. 7. Provide ways to share the re-inventions of idea technology at regular intervals. 8. Provide multiple training interventions spread out over time. 9. Use post-adoption learners to encourage change in beliefs of pre-adoption learners. 10. Mitigate pro-adoption bias by evaluating individual's perceptions using the TAM. 11. Evaluate impact by measuring the individual's impact of a lost device. 12. Repeat evaluations over various time frames to measure the change in the organization.


This thesis is dedicated to the study of fluorescent conjugated polymers made of fluorene labelled with rylene moieties. Those polymers are important candidates for use in Organic Light Emitting Devices (OLEDs). The dyes present in the polymers were studied at the single-molecule level. The first part of the work is devoted to the construction and validation of an epi-fluorescent confocal/widefield/Total Internal Reflection microscope. The ensemble properties of the samples are first measured in solution. The combination of steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopies allows us to unravel the photophysics of the conjugated polyfluorene polymer containing perylenediimides in its backbone. Energy transfer is found to occur between the polyfluorene and the perylenediimide units. Beside energy transfer, a photoinduced electron transfer is also supposed to take place. Widefield microscopy is used to measure the end-to-end distance in single polymer chains. From those measurements the polymer is shown to present a quasi linear shape inside its host matrix. From the simulation of the end-to-end distance distribution, a conjugation length of 4-6 fluorene units is found. The introduction of a new subtraction method associated with defocused imaging allows us to study a more complicated polymer containing more perylenediimide units. The location and the 3D orientation of the incorporated dyes were measured at the same time by this new technique named SPIDER. Finally, the sequential two-color measurements allow us to get useful informations concerning the energy transfer occurring between polyfluorene backbone and perylenediimide units at the single molecule level.


IN JANUARY 1968, TO THE DISMAY of the federal government of Canada, the government of Quebec accepted an invitation to send provincial representatives to a meeting in Libreville, Gabon, of education ministers of France and the French African states. After centuries of relative isolation, the French Canadian people had begun to take an interest in other French-speaking peoples around the world, and in the late 1950s and early 1960s that interest grew. At the same time, the government of Quebec began to assert its right to represent French Canadians internationally, thereby challenging federal exclusivity in foreign affairs and, in the federal view, posing a threat to Canada's national unity. Quebec's aspirations forced the federal government to defend its own interests, touching off an intense struggle over responsibility for foreign affairs that lasted throughout the 1960s, complicated by support from France for Quebec's aspirations, and peaked in the years after Charles de Gaulle, president of France, made his famous 'Vive le Quebec libre' speech in July 1967.The literature addressing Quebec's attempts to foster an international identity for itself in the 1960s focuses overwhelmingly on relations between Quebec and France and the effect they had on Canadian foreign policy and on relations between the federal and provincial governments.(f.1) Little importance is attached to the competition between the federal government and Quebec over contacts with the French- speaking countries of Africa in this early period. The literature overlooks the fact that Quebec's aggressiveness in pursuit of membership in la francophonie in the late 1960s was motivated in part by its failed attempts to establish direct relations with French African countries earlier in the decade.(f.2)In April 1961, the federal government announced funding of $300,000 for a programme to provide educational assistance to the countries of French Africa. For most of the 1960s the programme was Canada's principal form of contact with the newly independent French African states. It was also a programme that the government of Quebec felt entitled to direct and for which it was willing to assume large responsibilities. Because education is the preserve of the provinces under the Canadian constitution, officials in Quebec thought that Quebec should bear the responsibility and take the credit for educational assistance to French Africa. Believing that the government of Quebec was the 'national' government of Canada's French Canadians, these officials thought Quebec had a special interest in relations with other French- speaking states, and the educational assistance programme became the vehicle through which to establish initial international contacts. Quebec's desire for a prominent role in the programme, however, challenged federal responsibility for foreign affairs and the ability of the federal government to represent all Canadians internationally. The conflict that resulted was the first skirmish in a long battle between the federal and provincial governments over relations with the international French-speaking community known as la francophonie.The origins of the Canadian educational aid programme for French Africa lay in the gifts the government of Canada planned to give to the various states of the French community on the occasion of their independence from France in 1960 and 1961. Until then, Canadian external aid had been overwhelmingly devoted to the developing countries of the British Commonwealth. By the early 1960s, however, Canadian officials were beginning to recognize Canada's interest in helping to maintain the Western orientation of the new states of French Africa. They also began to listen to the many French Canadians who were openly critical of the focus of Canadian aid on the Commonwealth. External aid to French Africa came to be seen as a means for the Canadian government to demonstrate its commitment to keeping communism at bay while simultaneously responding to the needs of French Canadians. …


Abstract. Audio playback of vocalizations by conspecifics is commonly used to elicit calls when surveying birds of prey. Methods for call surveys vary widely in their use of silent listening periods, and usually range from 3–15 min in length. We aimed to refine this approach for detecting Great Horned Owls (Bubo virginianus) in Arctic Alaska, which is the northernmost limit of their breeding range. We used two playback protocols: protocol 1 entailed uninterrupted playback, whereas protocol 2 interspersed silent listening periods with playback during 12-min surveys. In playback surveys consisting of 166 point counts during the 2017 and 2018 breeding seasons, the probability of detecting a Great Horned Owl was 0.46 (95% CI ¼ 60.09) with protocol 1 and 0.35 (95% CI ¼ 60.12) with protocol 2 (P ¼ 0.18). The probability of detection rose with the length of the playback: of all owls detected during the 12-min surveys, 23% (95% CI ¼ 66.4%) responded within the first 3 min, 52 6 7.6% within the first 6 min, and 80 6 6.1% within 9 min. Including silent listening periods was not necessary for detecting Great Horned Owls during call surveys. We found no correlation between probability of detection and either cloud cover or wind speed (P ¼ 0.60 and P ¼ 0.28, respectively). However, we found a negative correlation between temperature and probability of detection (P ¼ 0.02). From these surveys, we calculated the density of Great Horned Owls in the Middle Fork Koyukuk Valley, Alaska (approximately 67.589°N, 149.789°W) was 4.2 6 2.6 owls/km2 during the winters of 2017 and 2018, which represents the first estimate of density at the northern breeding limit of the species.


The aim of this work is to check the effect of granting tag-along rights to stockholders by analyzing the behavior of the return of the stock. To do so we carried out event studies for a group of 21 company stocks, divided into service provider companies and others, who granted this right to their stockholders after Law 10,303 was passed in October, 2001. In the test we used two models for estimating abnormal returns: adjusted to the market and adjusted to the risk and market. The results of the tests we carried out based on these models did not capture abnormal returns (surpluses), telling us that the tag-along rights did not affect the pattern of daily returns of the stocks of companies traded on BOVESPA (The Sao Paulo Stock Exchange). We did not expect this result because of the new corporate governance practices adopted by companies in Brazil.


Previous studies on women's work and health have tended to summarize women's occupations in broad categories and ignore job-specific workload. We compared occupational characteristics, burnout, health behaviour, and predictors of subjective health status between German midwives and medical office assistants (MOAs). We conducted a crosssectional survey using a standardized questionnaire with items addressing aspects of the occupational biography, job characteristics, unpaid work, social support, gender role orientation, and health status and behaviour. Burnout was measured using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI, Maslach and Jackson 1986). Altogether 386 questionnaires for midwives and 552 questionnaires for MOAs were sent out (response rates 60.4% and 44.1% respectively). Chi-squareand Mann-Whitney-U-tests and multiple regression models were conducted. Significant group differences were found regarding, for example, satisfaction with salary and control. More midwives than MOAs would choose their profession again (p<0.001). The level of burnout was medium for MOAs. Midwives had medium levels of burnout on two subscales and low levels on one subscale of the MBI. Health behaviours such as smoking, alcohol consumption and exercise did not differ between the occupations. Midwives conducted breast self-examination and ate whole-wheat products more often, whereas MOAs utilized GP and cancer checkups more frequently and consumed more medication. Satisfaction with salary and overtime hours predicted burnout in both occupations. Burnout and smoking were the only overlapping predictors of the health status of midwives and MOAs. Further studies should consider differences between female-dominated occupations when designing appropriate studies on women's health. Increases in salar y and reductions in ov ertime hours may be appropriate interventions for health promotion in these occupations.


With one crisis every 58 months on average, statistically speaking the beginning of the next crisis would be around April 2015 and would end by March 2016. This paper documents the theoretical structure of a dynamic global CGE model, as well as illustrates the potential economic consequences of another global crisis on the world economy.

The two main reasons for developing a dynamic model is (1) to identify transition paths of variables between the initial equilibrium and the post-simulation equilibrium; and (2) to incorporate the convergence speed of out-of-steady state growth paths for specific variables. The first – transition paths – are particularly useful when the study has an explicit interest in inter-temporal aspects of exogenous variables (e.g. investment phase-in) or endogenous variables (e.g. inflation pattern). The second – convergence speed – helps improve the credibility of predictions by allowing lagged adjustments to be introduced into the model (e.g. in investment and/or in the labour market).

The calibration of the global dynamic model involves developing baseline growth paths for each of the regional economies that are globally consistent. Development of a world baseline include currently introducing demographic as well as real GDP projections in each region. The paper analyses the policy scenario applying interval-differentiated shocks in both the baseline and in the counterfactual simulations. This allows taking full advantage of quarterly GDP forecasts produced by our in-house global VAR model that is consistent with our set of countries.


A Phillips Curve (PC) framework is utilized to study the challenging post-1985 disinflation process in Israel. The estimated PC is stable and has forecasting power. Based on endogenous structural break tests we find that actual and expected inflation are co-breaking. We argue that the step-like development of inflation is in line with shocks and monetary policy that changed inflationary expectations. The disinflation process was long, and a long-term commitment by both the Central Bank and the government was required. Credibility was achieved gradually and the transition from the last step of 10% to 2% inflation was accomplished by introducing an inflation targeting regime.


Human working memory capacity develops during childhood and is a strong predictor of future academic performance, in particular, achievements in mathematics and reading. Predicting working memory development is important for the early identification of children at risk for poor cognitive and academic development. Here we show that structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging data explain variance in children's working memory capacity 2 years later, which was unique variance in addition to that predicted using cognitive tests. While current working memory capacity correlated with frontoparietal cortical activity, the future capacity could be inferred from structure and activity in basal ganglia and thalamus. This gives a novel insight into the neural mechanisms of childhood development and supports the idea that neuroimaging can have a unique role in predicting children's cognitive development.


Ankylosaurian dinosaurs are armored, quadrupedal members of the ornithischian clade Thyreophora. Ankylosaurs are typically portrayed with the metacarpals slanted and distally divergent, with their proximal ends arranged in a shallow arc, both in the literature (Matthew 1922; Gaston et al. 2001; McCrea et al. 2001; Vickaryous et al. 2004) and in museum mounts (Fig. 1). In contrast, Carpenter (1984) illustrated the metacarpals of the ankylosaur Sauropelta edwardsorum Ostrom, 1970, from the Lower Cretaceous Cloverly Formation of Wyoming and Montana, with their proximal ends arranged in a tight, semicircular arc, but even in that depiction themetacarpals were slanted and distally divergent. Members of the thyreophoran clade Stegosauria, the sister taxon to the Ankylosauria (Butler et al. 2008), have also typically been portrayed with slanted and distally divergent metacarpals (Marsh 1891; Gilmore 1914; Galton and Upchurch 2004). Some researchers expressed the opinion that stegosaur metacarpals were held vertically, not distally divergent, with their proximal ends arranged in a tight, semicircular arc, so that the metacarpus formed a vertical half−tube (von Huene 1931; Thulborn 1990; Christiansen 1997) such that flexion of digit I would move it toward digit V. Manual manipulation of stegosaurian metacarpals has since confirmed that this is the correct configuration of the stegosaurian metacarpus (Senter 2010).Here I investigate the possibility that the ankylosaurian metacarpus exhibited a similar configuration. As in the previous study on stegosaurs (Senter 2010), I treat the slanting and spreading configuration and the vertical semi−tubular configuration as competing hypotheses, each with a set of testable predictions. Each hypothesis of metacarpal configuration in ankylosaurs predicts that the configuration (1) is allowed by the shapes of the metacarpals, (2) provides a better fit (alignment and contact of opposing articular surfaces) between the metacarpals than the competing hypothesis, (3) does not compromise the goodness of fit between the metacarpals and the phalanges, (4) is not contradicted by articulated specimens, and (5) agrees with ichnological evidence. In the previous study on stegosaurs I included an additional prediction: that the configuration provides sufficient support for and does not disarticulate the more proximal forelimb bones. Here, that prediction is omitted, because the ankylosaurian carpus is unknown (Vickaryous et al. 2004) except for a single carpal described by Maleev (1954).


We present a dynamic two-region model with overlapping generations. There are two types of public expenditure, education and infrastructure funding, and governments decide optimally on budget size (tax rate) and its allocation across the two outlays. Productivity of government infrastructure spending can differ across regions. This assumption follows well established empirical evidence, and highlights regional heterogeneity in a previously unexplored dimension. We study the implications of three different fiscal regimes for capital accumulation and aggregate national welfare. Full centralization of revenue and expenditure decisions is the optimal fiscal arrangement for the country when infrastructure spending productivity is similar across regions. When regional differences exist but are not too large, the partial centralization regime is optimal where the federal government sets a common tax rate, but allows the regional governments to decide on the budget composition. Only when the differences are sufficiently large does full decentralization become the optimal regime. National steady state output is instead highest when the economy is decentralized. This result is consistent with the "Oates conjecture" that fiscal decentralization increases capital accumulation. However, in terms of welfare this result can be reversed.


Organizations are continuously confronted with decision-making in their daily business practice. Information technology plays a key role, supporting and automating decision-making processes, enabling the flow and distribution of information and knowledge and enhancing collaboration and exchange across the entire organization. Both, decision-making and information technology combine social and technological aspects of collaboration and collective action within a socio-economic system. Social media technologies such as corporate social networks, collaborative projects, instant messengers, content sharing platforms, blogs, micro-blogs, rating and voting systems, influence how human beings collaborate, build communities, exchange information, and jointly create content.
This thesis combines aspects of social and behavioural science, collective decision-making and information technology into a qualitative research project. The main objective of this thesis was to explore and to gain a deep understanding of the implications of the integration of social media technologies to enhance collective judgement and the complex decision-making processes within corporate and less formal contexts. Therefore, this research identified real, potential and perceived benefits, disadvantages and barriers of social media integration in collective decision-making processes. The outcome focusses on evidence to establish whether social media technologies are capable of advancing the collective decision-making process.
This study applied an exploratory qualitative research approach, which incorporated semi-structured interviews, multiple case studies and documentary data. Three case studies built the foundation of the field research conducted over a period of nine months, resulting in thirty semi-structured interviews. For each investigated site, ten individuals from various departments and different roles participated in thirty to forty minutes, semi-structured interviews recorded at their premises. Documents shared by the interviewees such as internal presentations, videos, meeting minutes and communication notes added to the overall data set.
The key findings can be divided into three focus areas, (a) social media within a business environment and organizational readiness, (b) social media and collective action in business such as mass collaboration and problem solving and (c) social media integrated in collective decision-making derived from the benefits, disadvantages and barriers identified.
Real benefits surfaced in the area of communication, interaction, involvement, reproducibility, aggregation and the independence of physical presence. From a communication perspective, the decision-making process benefits from utilizing different channels to convey and present information. These communication channels facilitate synchronous and asynchronous interaction, engaging different parties such as stakeholders, committees, experts, management and other participants in the process. Since the information created is continuously captured and stored, social media adds the benefit of reproducibility to the collective decision-making process. Rating and voting functions aggregate thoughts, opinions, and monitor, at an early stage of the process, tendencies and reflective developments in the group. Finally, rating and voting mechanisms build a collective choice acknowledged by a majority of a business collective. Social media relieves the requirement of physical presence in a collective decision-making process utilizing the corporate Intranet and the Internet. This adds flexibility to the selection of the participants and provides a basis of employee engagement from small to large-scale endeavours.
Potential benefits relate to some extent to the explored real benefits. They focus on motivation of social interaction and collaboration, building relationships, enhancing the flow of information and fostering a reflective culture capable of collectively solving problems. From an organizational behaviour perspective, these benefits are capable of stimulating employees to engage in organizational topics, and utilizing organizational intelligence by sharing knowledge and experience to support collective decision-making.
Perceived benefits include enhanced communication, interaction, involvement, and acceptance, variety of opinions, engaging employees in collective actions and integrating experts. Perceived disadvantages concentrated around social interaction. They manifested as distraction, losing focus on objectives, biased information, and loss of control, opinion manipulation, information overload and a less formal nature of the process. Barriers were identified in the area of abuse of personal information, additional workload in the daily business, unclear benefits, refusal to share knowledge, lack of trust about the information created and presented, manipulation of opinions, and continuous availability.
The results of the thesis provided the evidence that utilization and integration of social media in the collective decision-making process depend on organizational readiness, which relates to the context. Social media application differs from the application in the Internet since social conformity, cohesion and internal competition influence participation and outcome. This means, the ability to integrate employees in collective action and the utilization of social media requires, besides acceptance of the new technology, a culture of openness, and willingness to share, engage and contribute. Therefore, this research suggests, from a managerial perspective, focussing on collective action capabilities, utilizing social media as an enabler to connect employees, to stimulate interaction, participation, and capture and support the information flow during a decision-making process. Recommendations for future research suggest analysing organizations in longitudinal studies to explore how they gain advantage of collective action concerning aggregation of knowledge using social media as a platform.


The September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, the subsequent anthrax follow-up and the US embassy attack in Kenya not only demonstrated the extent and possibilities of terrorist attacks on both the weak and strong and even the most sophisticated security conscious of nations, but also the extent, methods and forms which the perpetrators can employ to make their statement or achieve their objectives. These and other events around the world reflect the emerging typologies of the phenomenon in contemporary times The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at a time raised fears of a high likelihood, in the future, of food terrorism or an incident of unintentional food contamination that would result in serious food borne illness that would affect a significant number of people. The question then is, since no country is isolated in international politics and bearing in mind the symbolic nature of most terrorist acts, what are the possibilities of such attacks on Nigeria's food supply and what are the emergency response capabilities of the country in such occurrences. The geopolitics of Nigeria and her status as the most populous black nation in the world as well as the inherent religious intolerance in her domestic politics in particular the Maitasina riot, Bokoharam disturbances and Talakuta riot are all pointers to the precarious position of the country on the terrorist drawing board. This work analyzes the possibilities of food terrorism in Nigeria. It examines the factors that heighten the susceptibility of the country to such attacks and evaluates the country's emergency response capabilities in the face of such reality. The paper argues that just as other countries have learnt from the US experience, Nigeria should also perfect her strategies to counter or manage such eventualities.


Background: Low density lipoprotein (LDL) particles have shown to be heterogeneous structures with distinctive electrical charges. Alteration in the fatty acids content of the LDL particles is known to affect their structural features, electrical charges, and ultimately physiologic properties and, in this way, may play a role in the pathology of coronary artery disease (CAD). On the basis of evidences, in the present study, the relationship of fatty acids content of LDL particles and their electrical charge was assessed in patients with CAD in comparison with control subjects. Methods: In the current case- control study, from subjects who referred to the Mostafa Khomeini Hospital in Ilam during a time period from December 2013 to October 2014, 40 CAD patients and 40 control subjects were selected based on the clinical and angiographic parameters. The fatty acids content and electrical charges of LDL particles were measured by using a gas chromatography system, equipped with a flame ionization detector GC-FID, Acme 6000 M (Young Lin Co., Korea) as well as a Zetasizer (Malvern Instruments Ltd., UK), respectively. Results: In the present study, CAD patients and control subjects were matched for age, sex, and body mass index (BMI). The electrical charge amounts of LDL particles in the patients group was significantly lower than those in the control subjects (P= 0.0001). There was an inverse correlation between the electrical charge amounts of the LDL particles and the saturated fatty acids as well as linoleic acid contents of them in CAD patients group. However, we found a direct correlation between the unsaturated fatty acids (monounsaturated fatty acids and some of the polyunsaturated ones) content of the LDL particles and their electrical charge amounts (P= 0.02). Conclusion: Results of the present study demonstrated that the increased saturated fatty acids as well as the linoleic acid contents of the LDL particles are associated with decreased electrical charge amounts of these particles and this situation may engage in pathogenesis of CAD. © 2015 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.


A useful and convenient means to analyze the radio frequency (RF) signals being sent by a speech processor to a cochlear implant would be to actually capture and display them with appropriate software. This is particularly useful for development or diagnostic purposes. sCILab (Swiss Cochlear Implant Laboratory) is such a PC-based software tool intended for the Nucleus family of Multichannel Cochlear Implants. Its graphical user interface provides a convenient and intuitive means for visualizing and analyzing the signals encoding speech information. Both numerical and graphic displays are available for detailed examination of the captured CI signals, as well as an acoustic simulation of these CI signals. sCILab has been used in the design and verification of new speech coding strategies, and has also been applied as an analytical tool in studies of how different parameter settings of existing speech coding strategies affect speech perception. As a diagnostic tool, it is also useful for troubleshooting problems with the external equipment of the cochlear implant systems.


This paper addresses teachers' skills on ICT Integration in teaching and learning and constraints that hinder the adoption in Government owned secondary schools. The study employed a cross-section research design which guided the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data. Simple random sampling was employed in the selection of participants of which data were collected from 75 teachers in government secondary schools, 15 Heads of Schools, 1 DEO and 3 Quality Assurers. Questionnaires and interviews were used to obtain data. Qualitative data were analysed through content analysis while descriptive statistics was used to analyse quantitative data with the aid of SPSS version 21. The findings revealed that, most of the secondary school teachers had minimal skills of integrating ICT in teaching and learning due to different challenges such as lack of ICT facilities, inadequate computer labs in schools, and inadequate pre-service and in-service teachers training. Finally, the paper recommends a holistic approach in harmonising the curriculum requirements and the ICT policy strategies so as to create awareness among teachers, thus develop the required ICT pedagogical skills.


Church's simple type theory allows quantification over sets and functions. This expressive power allows a natural formalization of much of mathematics. However, searching for set instantiations has not yet been well-understood. Here we study the role of set comprehension in higher-order automated theorem proving. In particular, we introduce formulations of Church's type theory which are restricted with respect to set comprehension. We then define corresponding semantics and show soundness and completeness. Using completeness, we show that some restrictions to set comprehension are complete. That is, we can prove any theorem with restricted set comprehension that could be proven with unrestricted set comprehension. We also show some restrictions are incomplete. This methodology is used to study set comprehension both in the presence and absence of extensionality.
We also describe methods for automated theorem proving in extensional type theory with restricted set instantiations. The approach to automated proof search presented here extends mating search by including connections up to extensional and equational reasoning. Search procedures based on these ideas have been implemented as part of the TPS theorem prover. The procedures have also been augmented by including the ability to solve for certain sets using set constraints. We describe the implementation and include experimental results.


Previous research related to the optimization of mining operations has predominantly focused on generating a life-of-mine production schedule that maximizes the discounted cash flows of the material extracted and products produced. Stochastic optimization models address the issue of integrating uncertainty into the decision-making, leading to mine designs and production schedules with higher value and better risk management, thus helping to ensure that the mining operation is capable of meeting production targets over time. More recent models address the challenge of stochastic global optimization, which aim to holistically optimize a mining complex, from the production schedule, through to the products created, marketed and sold. Existing stochastic formulations, however, assume that the bottlenecks in the mining complex, such as mine production and milling capacities, have been defined a-priori, thus ignore the impact that the quantity and timing of capital expenditures required to create these capacities may have on the overall profitability of the operation. This work builds on previous developments in stochastic global optimization for mining complexes and integrates capital expenditure options in order to appropriately design the bottlenecks or constraints in the model. This formulation is solved using a combination of the particle swarm optimization and simulated annealing algorithms. An application for a copper mining complex demonstrates the ability to decide when to invest capital in order to increase the number of both trucks and shovels used. The results indicate that the stochastic optimizer is able to outperform its deterministic-equivalent by significantly reducing the risk associated with materials sent to the mill, in addition to an overall increase in net present value by 5.7%.


Monte Carlo simulations have been used to study three different models for linear, titrating polyelectrolytes in a salt‐free environment: (i) a rigid polymer with rigid bonds (rigid rod); (ii) a flexible polymer with rigid bonds; and (iii) a flexible polymer with flexible bonds. The use of a very efficient pivot algorithm has made it possible to simulate very long chains, with up to several thousand titrating groups. The results have been compared to a mean field approximation for a rigid rod and variational results emanating from a Flory type approach. It is found that the rigid rod mean field model gives a qualitatively correct description for the apparent dissociation constant for all three models. At room temperature, the energy contribution to the apparent dissociation constant often dominates over the entropic term, which partly explains the relative success of this approach. In the case of flexible bonds, both the conformational behavior and the behavior of the apparent dissociation constant are well described by a variational ansatz with a quadratic term, largely thanks to the harmonicity of the bonds themselves. The approach is less successful for rigid bonds, which becomes evident for highly charged chains where a harmonic entropy term is incorrect. This can be remedied by replacing it with an expression valid in the strong coupling regime. Empirical scaling expressions have also been found, primarily for the end‐to‐end distance.


We present abundances for seven stars in the (extremely) low-metallicity tail of the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal galaxy, from spectra taken with X-shooter on the ESO VLT. Targets were selected from the Ca II triplet (CaT) survey of the dwarf abundances and radial velocities team (DART) using the latest calibration. Of the seven extremely metal-poor candidates, five stars are confirmed to be extremely metal-poor (i.e., [Fe/H] < -3 dex), with [Fe/H] = -3.47 +/- 0.07 for our most metal-poor star. All have [Fe/H] <= -2.5 dex from the measurement of individual Fe lines. These values are in agreement with the CaT predictions to within error bars. None of the seven stars is found to be carbon-rich. We estimate a 2-13% possibility of this being a pure chance effect, which could indicate a lower fraction of carbon-rich extremely metal-poor stars in Sculptor compared to the Milky Way halo. The [alpha/Fe] ratios show a range from +0.5 to -0.5, a larger variation than seen in Galactic samples although typically consistent within 1-2 sigma. One star seems mildly iron-enhanced. Our program stars show no deviations from the Galactic abundance trends in chromium and the heavy elements barium and strontium. Sodium abundances are, however, below the Galactic values for several stars. Overall, we conclude that the CaT lines are a successful metallicity indicator down to the extremely metal-poor regime and that the extremely metal-poor stars in the Sculptor dwarf galaxy are chemically more similar to their Milky Way halo equivalents than the more metal-rich population of stars.


Intellectual property law protects the owner of each patented invention or copyrighted work of authorship with a largely uniform set of exclusive rights. In the modern context, it is clear that innovators' needs for intellectual property protection vary substantially across industries and among types of innovation. Applying a socially costly, uniform solution to problems of differing magnitudes means that the law necessarily imposes uniformity cost by underprotecting those who invest in certain costly innovations and overprotecting those with low innovation costs or access to alternative appropriability mechanisms. This Article argues that reducing uniformity cost is the central problem for intellectual property policymaking. There are three approaches for reducing uniformity costs: (1) granting real options to obtain or maintain intellectual property rights (such as renewable terms); (2) using standards rather than rules to define rights, thereby making their application more context-sensitive; and (3) tailoring rights legislatively or judicially. This Article focuses on the ways in which current law deploys these approaches to reduce uniformity cost and argues that recent changes in the law have exacerbated the problem of uniformity cost.


Rural Anglo-Saxon settlements in the hinterland of York are notoriously invisible. As a result of major urban rescue archaeology campaigns in the 1970s, more could be inferred about Anglo-Saxon Yorkshire from finds in York than from rural sites. That picture is gradually changing. During the last ten yews, research on two sites in the Yorkshire Wolds - Wharram Percy and Cottam - now allows us to explain this invisibility, and to characterise settlements of this period. This paper describes how a battery of archaeologica1 techniques, including aerial photography, resistivity, magnetometry, fieldwalking, excavation, and collaboration with metal-detectorists have been used in combination to identify and map these sites, with Geographical Information Systems (GIS) used to integrate the information. The conclusion to be drawn is that early medieval sites are not so much invisible as hitherto unrecognised, and the foundations have now been laid for a programme of identification based upon remote sensing and cropmark morphology.


Ship 17 is the first of 63 vessels from the submerged city of Thonis‐Heracleion in Egypt to have been excavated. The peculiar constructional features of this ship, which dates to the Late Period (722–332 BC), allow us to argue for a previously undocumented type of construction that finds parallels in Herodotus' description of a Nilotic freighter known as a baris (History, 2.96, c.450 BC). The aim of this article is to outline the main characteristics and the possible sequence of construction of Ship 17.


Aims. We describe a newly-developed magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code with the capacity to simulate the interaction of any arbitrary perturbation (i.e., not necessarily limited to the linearised limit) with a magnetohydrostatic equilibrium background. Methods. By rearranging the terms in the system of MHD equations and explicitly taking into account the magnetohydrostatic equilibrium condition, we define the equations governing the perturbations that describe the deviations from the background state of plasma for the density, internal energy and magnetic field. We found it was advantageous to use this modified form of the MHD equations for numerical simulations of physical processes taking place in a stable gravitationally-stratified plasma. The governing equations are implemented in a novel way in the code. Sub-grid diffusion and resistivity are applied to ensure numerical stability of the computed solution of the MHD equations. We apply a fourth-order central difference scheme to calculate the spatial derivatives, and implement an arbitrary Runge-Kutta scheme to advance the solution in time. Results. We have built the proposed method, suitable for strongly-stratified magnetised plasma, on the base of the well-documented Versatile Advection Code (VAC) and performed a number of one- and multi-dimensional hydrodynamic and MHD tests to demonstrate the feasibility and robustness of the code for applications to astrophysical plasmas.


SPARQL query containment under schema axioms is the problem of determining whether, for any RDF graph satisfying a given set of schema axioms, the answers to a query are contained in the answers of another query. This problem has major applications for verification and optimization of queries. In order to solve it, we rely on the mu-calculus. Firstly, we provide a mapping from RDF graphs into transition systems. Secondly, SPARQL queries and RDFS and SHI axioms are encoded into mu-calculus formulas. This allows us to reduce query containment and equivalence to satisfiability in the mu-calculus. Finally, we prove a double exponential upper bound for containment under SHI schema axioms.


The aim of the study presented in this thesis is to explore the electrical and physical properties of films of tin and lead clusters. Understanding the novel conductance properties of cluster films and related phenomenon such as coalescence is important to fabricate any cluster based devices. Coalescence is an important phenomenon in metallic cluster films. Due to coalescence the morphology of the films changes with time which changes their properties and could lead to failure in cluster devices. Coalescence is studied in Sn and Pb cluster films deposited on Si3N4 surfaces using Ultra High Vacuum (UHV) cluster deposition system. The conductance of the overall film is linked to the conductance of the individual necks between clusters by simulations. It is observed that the coalescence process in Sn and Pb films follows a power law in time with an exponent smaller than reported in literature. These results are substantiated by the results from previous experimental and Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulation studies at UC. Percolating films of Sn show unique conductance properties. These films are characterized using various electrode configurations, applied voltages and temperatures. The conductance measurements are performed by depositing clusters on prefabricated gold electrodes on top of Si3N4 substrates. Sn cluster films exhibit a variety of conductance behaviours during and after the end of deposition. It is observed that the evolution of conductance during the onsets at percolation threshold is dependent on the film morphology. Samples showing difference responses in onset also behave differently after the end of deposition. Therefore all samples were categorized according to their onset behaviour. After the end of deposition, when a bias voltage is applied, the conductance of Sn films steps up and down between various well-defined conductance levels. It is also observed that in many cases the conductance levels between which these devices jump are close to integral multiples of the conductance quantum. There are many possible explanations for the steps in conductance. One of the explanations is formation and breaking of conducting paths in the cluster films by electric field induced evaporation and electromigration respectively. The stepping behaviour is similar to that in non-volatile memory devices and hence very interesting to explore due to potential applications.


Abstract A computational protocol to predict the infrared spectra of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) tabun (GA), sarin (GB), soman (GD) and cyclosarin (GF) has been developed. Sarin was used to benchmark the method through gas phase simulations. DFT calculations using the EDF2 functional and diffuse 6-311++G** basis set was found to give the closest match to experimental infrared spectra. Using the same functional the 6-31G (2df, 2p) basis set was found to be superior when hydrated sarin was modelled. GA, GB, GD and GF, together with 11 commonly used simulants, were modelled in the gas and hydrated states. Complexes of GB and a number of CWA mimics with α-cyclodextrin were modelled to give insight into their different modes of inclusion.


This article contributes to the emerging cannon of work on emotion and affect by extending conversations on reflexivity to include a relational ontology. I draw on geographical literature and the psychoanalytic concepts of transference and countertransference to examine how a combination of unconscious, subconscious and embodied experiences can further inform research interactions. Emotion and affect are examined in the research setting that moves beyond the clinical encounter to bring forms of unconscious communication into the realm of the everyday. The experiences that participants draw on are often beyond language and symbolisation, but are simultaneously situated in the body and its relations with other bodies. Examples are based on a qualitative research project exploring the relocation experiences of disaster survivors from Christchurch's major earthquake on 22 February 2011. The article concludes that, by focusing on transference and countertransference, unconscious and embodied connections can be fore-grounded. Research, then, becomes a cooperative space where the researcher and the participants form a knowledge framework that includes senses, emotion and affect.


Upstream ORFs (uORFs) are translational control elements found predominantly in transcripts of key regulatory genes. No mammalian genetic model exists to experimentally validate the physiological relevance of uORF-regulated translation initiation. We report that mice deficient for the CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein beta (C/EBPbeta) uORF initiation codon fail to initiate translation of the autoantagonistic LIP (liver inhibitory protein) C/EBPbeta isoform. C/EBPbeta(DeltauORF) mice show hyperactivation of acute-phase response genes, persistent repression of E2F-regulated genes, delayed and blunted S-phase entry of hepatocytes after partial hepatectomy, and impaired osteoclast differentiation. These data and the widespread prevalence of uORFs in mammalian transcriptomes suggest a comprehensive role of uORF-regulated translation in (patho)physiology.


Modernist criticism via Anglo-American channels came to the fore in writing on Irish art in the 1960s and 1970s. It offered an alternative to the deployment of nationalist rhetoric in assessing the value of visual art to Irish cultural life which had been dominant since independence in 1922. The use of a Modernist approach came from wider economic and linguistic factors and above all from the provincial attitude of the art establishment which sought validation from New York or London. This paper focuses on one of the most influential and contentious essays on post-war Irish art, the catalogue text of the 1971 exhibition the Irish Imagination 195971. It considers how modem Irish art was presented in this text and how this presentation related to the priorities of the art establishment in the Republic of Ireland in the early 1970s. Coming at a crucial moment in the escalation of violence in Northern Ireland and the demise of Modernism internationally, the essay encapsulates many of the contradictions of its time.The years leading up to the Irish Imagination exhibition were pivotal ones for the display and production of art in the Republic of Ireland. Disputes over the National College of Art by students protesting against its outdated curriculum and administration in conjunction with the partisan collecting policies of the Arts Council at the end of the 1960s highlighted the contentious position of visual art in contemporary Irish culture.1 The former put visual art at the forefront of the media and the prolonged debate concerning the National College of Art and Design bill in the Dail and Senate in 1971 brought Irish visual art into a new critical focus. In addition to this the period saw the disintegration of civil law in Northern Ireland and the stability of the Republic appeared to be severely under threat.Sponsored by the Arts Council of Ireland, the Irish Imagination 1959-71 exhibition was one of a number of satellite exhibitions held as part of Rose 71. Rose was an international exhibition held in Dublin every four years, the first in 1967. A jury of three international critics selected fifty contemporary artists, whose work 'appealed aesthetically to their three individual tastes'.2 Rose, an Irish word meaning 'poetry of vision', was chosen because it was short and easily pronounceable in English. 3It also evoked a universal and timeless idea of art that was in keeping with the rationale of the exhibition. No Irish artists were selected for the main Rose '67 or Rose '71.Rose was clearly intended to put the Republic of Ireland on the international culture map. It was closely connected with the tourist industry. The Honorary President of Rose, Minister for Finance, Charles Haughey, revealed the state's recognition of the propagandist values of the venture when he noted that for a 'tourist country it was important to be identified with the best in contemporary culture'.4 The visitor potential of Rose was reflected in its sponsors, which included Aer Lingus, Bord Failte (the Irish tourist board), and CIE (the national public transport company).The Irish Imagination exhibition allowed the official participation of Irish artists at Rose, albeit in a subsidiary exhibition. It was therefore an important vehicle for promoting contemporary Irish visual art in what was envisaged to be an international forum. The show was held at the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modem Art, Dublin and offered an idiosyncratic view of modem Irish art, featuring 136 paintings by over 20 contemporary Irish artists. Subsequently it travelled to Boston, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia. The timeframe of the exhibition, 19591971, emphasised the significance of contemporary Irish art and cultural life. 1959 marked the beginning of a concerted interest in acquiring and promoting visual art by the Arts Council of Ireland and coincidentally the election of Sean Lemass as Taoiseach.5 Lemass's government had pursued progressive economic policies that contributed to a dramatically positive shift in Irish economic as well as social life in the 1960s. …


Microbial starter cultures represent a fundamental level of innovation in the wine sector. Selected yeast strains are routinely used to achieve the needed biomass preparation to accelerate and steer alcoholic fermentation in grape must. The use of starter cultures to induce malolactic fermentation in wine relies on the characterisation and propagation of suitable strains of lactic acid bacteria. Furthermore, the selection of new strains, the renewal of management of microbial resources and new technologies allow continuous improvements in oenology, which may increase the beneficial aspects of wine. In this review, with the aim to stimulate microbial-driven, consumer-oriented advances in the oenological sector, we propose an overview of recent trends in this field that are reported by following the classical separation into 'product innovation' and 'process innovation'. Hence, we shall highlight i) the possible positive innovative impacts of microbial resources on the safety and the sensorial and functional properties of wine (product innovation) and ii) the potential microbial-based improvements allowing the reduction of time/costs and the environmental impacts associated with winemaking (process innovation).


Along with the advancement in information technology, serving the information would be more interesting if presented in a medium that can combine various forms of information there, so the more interesting people to see. Software applications that are suitable for this requirement is a multimedia software application that can provide information through form text, images, animation, sound and video. In this thesis, the authors build software associated with multimedia technology education, with the title First Lessons Application Development For Preschool Children Based Multimedia. The name of this application as simple as possible so that users (children preschool age) can enjoy this learning. The material presented in this APP, are taken material taken from textbooks in school. Material itself is f amiliar with numbers, addition, subtraction, recognize letters, complete the letter, select the letter. In a system of multimedia-based APP is, we need a program capable of making a combination of text, images, audio, video and animation in an interactive computer. To realize this make use of writer software Adobe Director MX, Macromedia Flash MX 2004, Shoting glanda 2005, Cool editpro, Adobe photoshop CS3 with Windows Xp operating system.This system helps the children in the learning process. keywords : Multimedia, Interactive, the children s


Life has existed on Earth for more than 4 billion years. Earth currently is the only planet known
to contain life. A large diversity of life forms exists, which is a result of evolutionary process.
Which life forms appeared first and when did they appear? What geological conditions set the stage
for the appearance of these many diverse life forms? This activity approaches this subject by
constructing biological and geological events on a time line.


Sendak, Maurice. Bumble-Ardy . New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2011. Print. Maurice Sendak's devotion to chaos, revelry, and the inherent wildness of children is present once again in Bumble-Ardy, the story of a little pig intent on celebrating his ninth birthday. Having had his first eight birthdays summarily passed over by an immediate family who "frowned on fun," Bumble-Ardy is overjoyed when he is adopted by his "devine" Aunt Adeline. Like the doting relative she is, Adeline throws Ardy a sweet and thoughtful (though low-key) birthday party; however, Ardy, unsatisfied with his aunt's efforts, decides to throw his own party, without his aunt's permission. Having invited all of his most unsavoury friends, Bumble-Ardy's party crescendos into a chaotic whirlwind until Aunt Adeline finally arrives home to break up the shenanigans. Many children will have been introduced to Sendak's work through the classic Where the Wild Things Are , and superficially at least, many of the same elements are at work in Bumble-Ardy. The art style remains raw, colourful, and roughly executed, as a complement to the subject matter. However, the wildness on display in Bumble-Ardy is written to very different effect than that of Where the Wild Things Are. Whereas Wild Things ' Max was instantly relatable to young children—his mischief presented as harmless escapism and the product of a healthy and flourishing imagination—Ardy lacks the character definition necessary both to connect with readers and to excuse his behavior. While being deprived of birthday parties for nine years could certainly make a little boy act out, Ardy's actions in the story feel especially deceptive, almost crossing a line from mischief into malice. Though Aunt Adeline forgives her nephew, of course, the emotional coda of the story feels tacked on. Instead, Adeline's almost-terrifying outburst at arriving home, her house in shambles, is far more likely to stick with readers. The scenes of emotion, wildness, and chaos show glimpses of Sendak's best work; however, the story itself makes a poor and lazy showcase for these talents. Flip through Bumble-Ardy to appreciate Sendak's artwork, but when it comes time to read your child a bedtime story, go with Where the Wild Things Are instead. Recommended with reservations: 2 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Amy Paterson Amy Paterson is a Public Services Librarian at the University of Alberta's H. T. Coutts Education Library. She was previously the Editor of the Dalhousie Journal of Interdisciplinary Management and is very happy to be involved in the Deakin Review and the delightful world of children's literature.


Navigation in video games has been a vastly neglected topic in game studies. In this paper a classification system for navigational acts has been developed through theoretical work as well as the analysis of multiple games. The result is an exclusive five-step classification system. Moreover, the development showed that navigational acts are highly dependent on the environment in which they occur. The system is a first step towards a deeper understanding of how the player navigates the gameworld, instead of what she navigates.


Three phenomena which concern coal solubilization and depolymerization were studied during this reporting period. Previous investigations have shown that lignin peroxidases mediate the oxidation of soluble coal macromolecule. Because it appears to be a substrate, soluble coal macromolecule is also an inhibitor of veratryl alcohol oxidation, a reaction that is mediated by these enzymes. The mechanism of inhibition is complex in that oxidation (as assayed by decolorization) of soluble coal macromolecule requires the presence of veratryl alcohol and veratryl alcohol oxidation occurs only after a substantial lag period during which the soluble coal macromolecule is oxidized. In a previous quarterly report we proposed a reaction mechanism by which this may occur. During the present reporting period we showed that our proposed reaction mechanism is consistent with classical enzyme kinetic theory describing enzyme activity in the presence of a potent inhibitor (i.e., an inhibitor with a very low KI ). The oxidative decolorization and depolymerization of soluble coal macromolecule was also studied. Because wood rotting fungi produce hydrogen peroxide via a variety of reactions, we studied the effect of hydrogen peroxide on soluble coal macromolecule decolorization and depolymerization. Results showed that substantial decolorization occurred only at hydrogen peroxide concentrations that are clearly non-physiological (i.e., 50 mM or greater). It was noted, however, that when grown on solid lignocellulosic substrates, wood rotting fungi, overtime, cumulatively could produce amounts of hydrogen peroxide that might cause significant oxidative degradation of soluble coal macromolecule. Thirdly, we have shown that during oxalate mediated solubilization of low rank coal, a pH increase is observed. During this reporting period we have shown that the pH of solutions containing only sodium oxalate also undergo an increase in pH, but to a lesser extent than that observed in mixtures containing sodium oxalate and low rank coal. It is our hypothesis that bicarbonate ion is formed during oxalate mediated solubilization of low rank coal and this is responsible for the increase in pH that is observed. A general reaction by which this occurs is proposed herein.


Discomfort glare is a major challenge for the design of workplaces. The existing metrics for discomfort glare prediction share the limitation that they do not take gaze direction into account. To overcome this limitation, we developed a 'gaze-driven' method for discomfort glare assessment. We conducted a series of experiments under simulated office conditions and recorded the participants' gaze using mobile eye tracking and the luminance distributions using high dynamic range imaging methods. The two methods were then integrated to derive 'gaze-centred' luminance measurements in the field of view. The existing 'fixed-gaze' and the newly developed 'gaze-driven' measurement methods are compared. Our results show that there is a significant difference between the two methods. In this paper, the procedure for integrating the recorded luminance images with the recorded gaze dynamics for obtaining gaze-centred luminance data is described. This gaze-centred luminance data will be compared to the subjective assessment of glare in Part 2 of this study.


Standardized tools are needed to identify and prioritize the most harmful non-native species (NNS). A plethora of assessment protocols have been developed to evaluate the current and potential impacts of non-native species, but consistency among them has received limited attention. To estimate the consistency across impact assessment protocols, 89 specialists in biological invasions used 11 protocols to screen 57 NNS (2614 assessments). We tested if the consistency in the impact scoring across assessors, quantified as the coefficient of variation (CV), was dependent on the characteristics of the protocol, the taxonomic group and the expertise of the assessor. Mean CV across assessors was 40%, with a maximum of 223%. CV was lower for protocols with a low number of score levels, which demanded high levels of expertise, and when the assessors had greater expertise on the assessed species. The similarity among protocols with respect to the final scores was higher when the protocols considered the same impact types. We conclude that all protocols led to considerable inconsistency among assessors. In order to improve consistency, we highlight the importance of selecting assessors with high expertise, providing clear guidelines and adequate training but also deriving final decisions collaboratively by consensus.


This paper presents a comprehensive survey of the existing blockchain protocols for the Internet of Things (IoT) networks. We start by describing the blockchains and summarizing the existing surveys that deal with blockchain technologies. Then, we provide an overview of the application domains of blockchain technologies in IoT, e.g., Internet of Vehicles, Internet of Energy, Internet of Cloud, Edge computing, etc. Moreover, we provide a classification of threat models, which are considered by blockchain protocols in IoT networks, into five main categories, namely identity-based attacks, manipulation-based attacks, cryptanalytic attacks, reputation-based attacks, and service-based attacks. In addition, we provide a taxonomy and a side-by-side comparison of the state-of-the-art methods toward secure and privacy-preserving blockchain technologies with respect to the blockchain model, specific security goals, performance, limitations, computation complexity, and communication overhead. Based on the current survey, we highlight open research challenges and discuss possible future research directions in the blockchain technologies for IoT.


In cloud computing, resource subscription is an important procedure which enables customers to elastically subscribe to IT resources based on their service requirements. Resource subscription can be divided into two categories, namely long-term reservation and on-demand subscription. Although customers need to pay the upfront fee for a long-term reservation contract, the usage charge of reserved resources is generally much cheaper than that of the on-demand subscription. To provide a better Internet service by using cloud resource, service operators will expect to make a trade-off between the amount of long-term reserved resources and that of on-demand subscribed resources. Therefore, how to properly make resource provision plans is a challenging issue. In this paper, we present a two-phase algorithm for service operators to minimize their service provision cost. In the first phase, we propose a mathematical formulae to compute the optimal amount of long-term reserved resources. In the second phase, we use the Kalman filter to predict resource demand and adaptively change the subscribed on-demand resources such that provision cost could be minimized. We evaluated our solution by using real-world data. Our numerical results indicated that the proposed mechanisms are able to significantly reduce the provision cost.


ABSTRACT PURPOSE: Aging is a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease due in part to increased oxidative stress and arterial stiffening. Lifestyle modifications, such as exercise, are among the first-line of approach for preventing vascular dysfunction. Exercise training has been shown to foster antioxidant states and improve vascular health. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the effect of 8-weeks of sprint exercise training using inertial loading on vascular health in 50-70 y old. METHODS: Thirty-one apparently healthy middle-aged and older adults (59 ± 5 years, 17 females) participated in the study. The participants performed 15 sprints per training session week 1, 20 sprints per session weeks 2-4 and 30 sprints per session weeks 5-8 with 56s, 41s, and 26s of rest, respectively, between sprints. Training sessions occurred three times per week for 8 weeks. Each sprint consisted of 4s of all-out cycling where the participants accelerated a heavy flywheel from a stationary position to maximal angular velocity. They were instructed to keep pedaling throughout the duration of the 4s to achieve maximal power and cadence. Baseline and post intervention measurements of flow-mediated dilation (FMD; index of endothelium-dependent vasodilation), cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI; indicator of arterial stiffness), and arterial blood pressure were made. RESULTS: CAVI decreased significantly following the 8-weeks of inertial load exercise training (2.38%; p=0.048). Additionally, grouping the participants by age or sex did not influence the reduction observed with CAVI. However, FMD and blood pressure did not change significantly (p≥0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The 8-weeks of exercise training using an inertial load ergometer decreased arterial stiffness in men and women 50-70 y. Future studies are needed to determine the efficacy of this type of exercise intervention in clinical populations to improve vascular function.


A total of 256 recent benthic foraminiferal species belonging to 111 genera is identified from 73 carbonate-siliciclastic sedimen samples collected along the coast of southern Somalia (Burgao channel) and eastern Kenya (Lamu Archipelago). This represents the first survey of recent foraminifers in this region of East Africa. The sediment samples are representative of different environments (e.g.,
mangrove flats, tidal channels, restricted shelf, and open shelf), water depths (0-60 m), and salinities (strongly brackish to normal marine conditions). Q-mode Hierarchical Cluster Analysis reveals that nine assemblages can be distinguished; for each assemblage, faunal composition and distribution, diversity indices and dominance are assessed. As predicted by ecological models, there is an overall trend of increasing species diversity from the backwater zone within channels to open marine conditions, and from intertidal to subtidal settings. Salinity, suspended sediment, nutrient levels, and tidal exposure are the most influential factors in determining benthic foraminiferal distribution patterns. An interesting feature is the nearshore contraction of the depth gradient determining the
shallower distribution of several larger foraminiferal species, as evidenced by the depth ranges of five species of Amphistegina


The removal of siloxanes (D4 and D5) and volatile organic contaminants (hexane, toluene and limonene) typically found in sewage biogas was investigated in a lab-scale biotrickling filter (BTF) packed with lava rock under anoxic conditions. Complete removal efficiencies for toluene and limonene were recorded at all empty bed residence time (EBRT) tested. The influence of EBRT was remarkable on the abatement of D5, whose removal decreased from 37% at 14.5 min to 16% at 4 min, while the removal of D4 and hexane remained below 16%. The packing material was supplemented with 20% of activated carbon aiming at increasing the mass transfer of the most hydrophobic pollutants. This strategy supported high removal efficiencies of 43 and 45% for hexane and D5 at the lowest EBRT. CO 2 and silica were identified as mineralization products along with the presence of metabolites in the trickling solution such as dimethylsilanediol, 2- carene and α -terpinene.


This paper critically evaluates the pilot of a Thesis Writers' Circles program offered to Education PhD and DEd students at the University of Melbourne in semester 2, 2005. The analysis focuses on the needs of those students that were felt to be well-met by this model of support. Broadly, the paper identifies two distinct but inter-related themes: firstly, the challenge of developing writing skills to a level sufficient to meet the demands of preparing a research thesis; secondly, the importance for research higher degree students of building confidence as apprentice academic writers. In relation to the latter theme, the paper identifies the benefits of community participation and peer-collaboration in working towards the aim of consolidating a thesis-writing identity. It is in this capacity, we argue, that thesis writers' circles have distinct advantages compared with other forms of candidature support, making them a valuable supplement to both conventional supervision practices and generic English language and thesis writing programs. The paper affirms the importance not only of equipping international and non-English speaking background (NESB) students with writing tools and strategies, but also of creating opportunities for all postgraduate research students to receive (and offer) non-judgmental feedback on work-in-progress within a discipline-specific learning and discourse community.


Research on the Czech flora has a long tradition and yielded a large number of records on the occurrence of plants. Several independent electronic databases were established during the last three decades in order to collect and manage these records. However, this fragmentation and the different characteristics of each database strongly limit the utilization and analyses of plant distribution data. Solving these problems was one of the aims of the Centre of Excellence PLADIAS (Plant Diversity Analysis and Synthesis. 2014-2018). which is also the source of the name of the central database of the project: Pladias - Database of the Czech Flora and Vegetation (www.pladias.cz). We developed an occurrence module as a part of the Pladias database in order to integrate species occurrence data on vascular plants in the Czech Republic for use in pure and applied research. In this paper, we present a description of the structure of this database, data handling and validation, creation of distribution maps based on critically evaluated records as well as descriptions of the original databases and explorative analyses of spatiotemporal and taxonomic coverage of the integrated occurrence data. So far we have integrated more than 13 million records of almost 5 thousand taxa (species, subspecies, varieties and hybrids). which came from five large national databases. seven regional projects and records collected within the PLADIAS project. The Pladias database is now the largest set of data on vascular plant occurrence in the Czech Republic, which is subject to continuous quality control. Analyses of this database pointed to differences in spatial and taxonomic coverage of the source datasets. However, it also showed that the targeted effort of experts focused on validating existing records, as well as the collection of new data is still necessary in order to obtain reliable distribution data for individual species.


Background
Osteoarthritis is one of the most prevalent joint diseases in older adults. Since hands play a key role in daily activities, their impairment causes disability and reduction of independency. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of using Kinesio tape on pain, range of motion (ROM), hand strength, and functional abilities in patient with hand osteoarthritis (HOA).

Methods
In this randomized clinical trial study, 38 patients with the diagnosis of HOA were selected and randomly assigned to Kinesio tape plus exercise (KT-EXE) and exercise (EXE) groups. Each group included 19 subjects who participated in an 8-week intervention. Visual analog scale, Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand questionnaire, as well as goniometer and dynamometer measurements, were used to assess pain severity, upper extremity functional disabilities, ROM, and grip strength, respectively, before and after the intervention and at 2 months of follow-up.

Results
There was no significant difference in pre-intervention scores between the two groups. Statistical analysis revealed significant improvement in pain, ROM, hand strength, and upper-extremity functional abilities after the intervention in KT-EXE and EXE groups. In addition, the follow-up analysis showed significant changes, compared to the initial assessments except for the pain in the EXE group. Results of the independent t-test revealed that change was significantly greater in KT-EXE group than that in the EXE group at post-intervention and 2-month follow-up assessments except for the wrist flexion and upper-extremity functional abilities at final evaluation.

Conclusion
Obtained results of this study showed that Kinesio taping and hand exercise may have a positive effect on the improvement of pain, ROM, hand strength, and upper-extremity functional abilities in patients with HOA. In addition, these two methods can be simultaneously used for the rehabilitation of this condition.


This dissertation investigates the problem of representation discovery in discrete Markov decision processes, namely how agents can simultaneously learn representation and optimal control. Previous work on function approximation techniques for MDPs largely employed hand-engineered basis functions. In this dissertation, we explore approaches to automatically construct these basis functions and demonstrate that automatically constructed basis functions significantly outperform more traditional, hand-engineered approaches.
We specifically examine two problems: how to automatically build representations for action-value functions by explicitly incorporating actions into a representation, and how representations can be automatically constructed by exploiting a pre-specified task hierarchy. We first introduce a technique for learning basis functions directly in state-action space. The approach constructs basis functions using spectral analysis of a state-action graph which captures the underlying structure of the state-action space of the MDP. We describe two approaches to constructing these graphs and evaluate the approach on MDPs with discrete state and action spaces.
We show how our approach can be used to approximate state-action value functions when the agent has access to macro-actions: actions that take more than one time step and have predefined policies. We describe how the state-action graphs can be modified to incorporate information about the macro-actions and experimentally evaluate this approach for SMDPs with discrete state and action spaces.
Finally, we describe how hierarchical reinforcement learning can be used to scale up automatic basis function construction. We extend automatic basis function construction techniques to multi-level task hierarchies and describe how basis function construction can exploit the value function decomposition given by a fixed task hierarchy. We demonstrate that combining task hierarchies with automatic basis function construction allows basis function techniques to scale to larger problems and leads to a significant speed-up in learning.


In this project, the effect of flipping the classroom by the use of videocasts was studied to measure its effectiveness on student learning outcomes compared to the traditional classroom. Also the effect of increasing the number of videos per week on students' learning was studied. To accomplish the objectives of the project, the class was divided into three periods: no video period, one video a week period and two videos a week period. The data revealed that students scored higher in the one video period in both teacher-made assessments and weekly online quizzes. Also, increasing the number of the videos to two did not show any increase either in the teacher made neither assessments nor the online quiz result. Overall, students reported positive feedback regarding the flipped classroom approach and the results showed that they preferred it to the no videos period, traditional approach.


Bound for the Promised Land is the first extensive examination of the impact on the American religious landscape of the Great Migration—the movement from South to North and from country to city by hundreds of thousands of African Americans following World War I. In focusing on this phenomenon's religious and cultural implications, Milton C. Sernett breaks with traditional patterns of historiography that analyze the migration in terms of socioeconomic considerations.

Drawing on a range of sources—interviews, government documents, church periodicals, books, pamphlets, and articles—Sernett shows how the mass migration created an institutional crisis for black religious leaders. He describes the creative tensions that resulted when the southern migrants who saw their exodus as the Second Emancipation brought their religious beliefs and practices into northern cities such as Chicago, and traces the resulting emergence of the belief that black churches ought to be more than places for "praying and preaching." Explaining how this social gospel perspective came to dominate many of the classic studies of African American religion, Bound for the Promised Land sheds new light on various components of the development of black religion, including philanthropic endeavors to "modernize" the southern black rural church. In providing a balanced and holistic understanding of black religion in post–World War I America, Bound for the Promised Land serves to reveal the challenges presently confronting this vital component of America's religious mosaic.


Forty-three 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age determinations of lava flows, domes, ignimbrites, and dikes, plus 14 C dates from seven distal tephra layers, combined with stratigraphy, geochemistry, and Sr and Th isotope data, establish an eruptive chronology for the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic complex at 40.5° S in the Andean southern volcanic zone (SVZ). The complex preserves ~131 km 3 of lava and tephra that erupted from numerous vents widely separated in time and space. Approximately 80% of the total volume consists of basaltic to andesitic lava that formed two broad shield volcanoes between 314 and 70 ka. The modern Puyehue stratovolcano was built on the southerly shield during the past 69 k.y. following a hiatus of 25 k.y. Puyehue has erupted ~15 km 3 of basaltic to rhyolitic magma that spans the entire compositional range found in the southern SVZ and evolved via at least six phases including: (1) basaltic andesitic to dacitic lavas between 69 and 32 ka, (2) a shift to bimodal magma compositions that is first expressed by a rhyodacite mingled with inclusions of MgO-rich basaltic andesite at 34 ka, (3) dacitic to rhyolitic flows and domes from 19 to 12 ka, (4) basaltic to basaltic andesitic flows between 15 and 12 ka, (5) subsequent rhyolitic dome growth in several effusive and explosive stages between 7 and 5 ka, followed by (6) a powerful series of phreatomagmatic and sub-Plinian eruptions at ca. 1.1 ka that obliterated the preceding rhyolite domes and formed the present 2.5-km-diameter, 280-m-deep summit crater. Along the Cordon Caulle fissure zone, ~5 km 3 of rhyodacitic to rhyolitic lavas, domes, and cones have formed during the past ~16.5 k.y., including explosive and effusive eruptions in 1921–1922 and 1960. Eruptive rates were nonuniform over time, with background growth at 0.04 km 3 /k.y. or less, punctuated by spurts at up to 0.90 km 3 /k.y. The time-averaged rate, 0.42 km 3 /k.y., is nearly double that at the Tatara-San Pedro complex 500 km to the north during the past 300 k.y. These findings indicate that within a single arc the magmatic and eruptive fluxes at individual frontal volcanoes can be highly variable. The last three stratocone-building events on Puyehue began during periods of deglaciation, suggesting a relationship between unloading of ice and ease of magma ascent. Puyehue basalt exhibits subtle changes in 238 U- 230 Th, 87 Sr/ 86 Sr, and trace element composition over time that signal shifts in the composition and degree of melting of the mantle wedge, or the extent to which basalt was modified by assimilation of heterogeneous crustal melts. The complex has become exceptionally bimodal and more explosive over time with recent rhyolites evolving by extreme crystal fractionation of mafic magma and lesser volumes of andesite and dacite created via mixing of rhyolite and basalt. Despite the high flux of basalt during the past 300 k.y., no large silicic magma reservoir formed in the upper crust. Instead, 238 U- 230 Th data favor rapid ascent of several small bodies of basaltic and silicic magma from the lower crust, promoted perhaps by conduits that reflect strike-slip faulting beneath the complex.


In a lecture at Keio University in Tokyo, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said that the U.S. price level is falling short of the 2 percent path maintained between 1995 and 2012. The gap between the current price level, measured by the personal consumption expenditures price index, and the previously established path has now widened to 4.6 percent. He also said that U.S. macroeconomic data have been relatively weak, on balance, since the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) met in March and raised the fed funds rate. Financial market readings since then have moved in the opposite direction of what would typically be expected. ?This may suggest that the FOMC?s contemplated policy rate path is overly aggressive relative to actual incoming data,? Bullard said. He also discussed the relationship between unemployment and inflation and said that, even if U.S. unemployment declines substantially further, the effects on U.S. inflation are likely to be small.


The emergence in the late nineties in South Africa of new environmental governance systems as decentralised sets of formal and informal agreements among diverse groups and organisations in the form of networks and partnerships is an exciting development following international trends. South Africa is still at an early phase in the evolution of governance models, but that no one set of institutional arrangements can solve all types of collective problems. Therefore, institutions need to be designed in ways that are compatible with particular types of problems, presenting us with a unique opportunity for organisational and social learning. With the basic concepts of integration, collaboration/co-operation and coordination as points of departure, an assessment framework is developed to identify, describe and document the evolving characteristics of decentralised environmental governance systems. The emerging water catchment and biosphere environmental governance systems are described as two contrasting examples of some of the prospects and challenges facing South Africa in this regard.


Understanding how changes in the boreal fire regime will affect high latitude climate requires knowledge of the sensitivity of the surface energy budget to shifts in vegetation cover. We measured components of the surface energy budget in three ecosystems that were part of a fire chronosequence in interior Alaska for 3 years. Our sites were within the perimeter of stand-replacing fires that occurred in 1999, 1987, and ∼1920 (hereafter referred to as the 1999-burn, the 1987-burn, and the control). Vegetation cover consisted primarily of sparse short grasses at the 1999-burn, aspen and willow (deciduous trees and shrubs) at the 1987-burn, and black spruce (evergreen conifer trees) at the control. Averaged over the 3 years of our study, annual net radiation decreased by approximately 25% at the 1999-burn and 30% at the 1987-burn, relative to the control. Sensible heat decreased by an even larger amount, by approximately 57% for the 1999-burn and 44% for the 1987-burn as compared with the control. Climate during spring and summer varied considerably among the 3 years. The three stands responded differently to this climate variability with consequences for surface energy exchange. As a result of earlier snow cover loss in 2003 and 2004, net radiation during spring increased substantially in the recently disturbed stands, but not in the control. In response to a sustained summer drought in 2004, latent heat decreased more in the 1987-burn during August than in the control. Our results imply that a shift in plant functional types expected to accompany increases in boreal fire activity may amplify interannual climate variability during both spring and summer.


Not widely known outside his native Argentina until the 1960's, Jorge Borges is regarded as a major writer of poetry, essays and fantastic, complex stories and as a major influence on many authors, such as Garcia Marquez, Donald Barthelme and John Barth


Chocolate: Pathway to the Gods takes readers on a journey through 3,000 years of the history of chocolate. It is a trip filled with surprises. And it is a beautifully illustrated tour, featuring 132 vibrant color photographs and a captivating sixty-minute DVD documentary. Along the way, readers learn about the mystical allure of chocolate for the peoples of Mesoamerica, who were the first to make it and who still incorporate it into their lives and ceremonies today. Although it didn t receive its Western scientific name, Theobroma cacao?food of the gods??until the eighteenth century, the cacao tree has been at the center of Mesoamerican mythology for thousands of years. Not only did this ?chocolate tree? produce the actual seeds from which chocolate was extracted but it was also symbolically endowed with cosmic powers that enabled a dialogue between humans and their gods. From the pre-Columbian images included in this sumptuous book, we are able to see for ourselves the importance of chocolate to the Maya, Aztecs, Olmecs, Mixtecs, and Zapotecs who grew, produced, traded, and fought over the prized substance. Through archaeological and other ethnohistoric research, the authors of this fascinating book document the significance of chocolate to gods, kings, and everyday peopleover several millennia. The illustrations allow us to envision the many ancient uses of this magical elixir: in divination ceremonies, in human sacrifices, and even in ball games. And as mythological connections between cacao trees, primordial rainforests, and biodiversity are unveiled, our own quest for ecological balance is reignited. In demonstrating the extraordinary value of chocolate in Mesoamerica, the authors provide new reasons?if any are needed to celebrate this wondrous concoction.


Template matching is vital for any pattern recognition application but its computational cost increases as templates pool increases. We propose a novel two stage algorithm for the recognition of printed segmented isolated characters of any script especially for cursive scripts like Arabic and Urdu. This algorithm is based on cluster guided pattern recognition through the use of k-means clustering algorithm to considerably reduce the recognition time for the template matching based pattern recognizer. In the first stage Confusion matrix of templates pool is generated through template matching and then applying cluster prediction algorithm on confusion matrix, three different sets of clusters are predicted using k-means clustering. Based on a cost evaluation criterion, the final value for clusters is selected which is used to perform clustering. The proposed approach automatically ensures the same recognition rate as that of template matching alone because cluster centers just serve to reduce the search space of template matching from global pool of templates to local one and actual recognition is still function of template matching. The proposed technique is applied on Urdu character set in Naskh font style. The implementation results show 8.45 times faster recognition rate.