We derive new self-consistent theoretical UV, optical, and IR diagnostics for the interstellar medium (ISM) pressure and electron density in the ionized nebulae of star-forming galaxies. Our UV diagnostics utilize the intercombination, forbidden, and resonance lines of silicon, carbon, aluminum, neon, and nitrogen. We also calibrate the optical and IR forbidden lines of oxygen, argon, nitrogen, and sulfur. We show that line ratios used as ISM pressure diagnostics depend on the gas-phase metallicity with a residual dependence on the ionization parameter of the gas. In addition, the traditional electron density diagnostic [S ii] λ6731/[S ii] λ6717 is strongly dependent on the gas-phase metallicity. We show how different emission-line ratios are produced in different ionization zones in our theoretical nebulae. The [S ii] and [O ii] ratios are produced in different zones and should not be used interchangeably to measure the electron density of the gas unless the electron temperature is known to be constant. We review the temperature and density distributions observed within H ii regions and discuss the implications of these distributions on measuring the electron density of the gas. Many H ii regions contain radial variations in density. We suggest that the ISM pressure is a more meaningful quantity to measure in H ii regions or galaxies. Specific combinations of line ratios can cover the full range of ISM pressures (4 < log(P/k) < 9). As H ii regions become resolved at increasingly high redshift through the next generation of telescopes, we anticipate that these diagnostics will be important for understanding the conditions around the young, hot stars from the early universe to the present day.


Migration of ungulates is under pressure worldwide from range contraction, habitat loss and degradation, anthropogenic barriers and poaching. Here, we synthesize and compare the extent of historical migrations of the white-bearded wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) to their contemporary status, in five premier East African ecosystems, namely the Serengeti-Mara, Masai Mara, Athi-Kaputiei, Amboseli and Tarangire-Manyara. The current status, threats to migration, migratory ranges and routes for wildebeest were characterized using colonial-era maps, literature reviews, GIS and aerial survey databases, GPS collared animals and interviews with long-term researchers. Interference with wildebeest migratory routes and dispersal ranges has stopped or severely threatens continuation of the historical migration patterns in all but the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem where the threat level is relatively lower. Wildebeest migration has collapsed in Athi-Kaputiei ecosystem and is facing enormous pressures from land subdivision, settlements and fences in Amboseli and Mara ecosystems and from cultivation in Tarangire-Manyara ecosystem. Land use change, primarily expansion in agriculture, roads, settlements and fencing, increasingly restrict migratory wildebeest from accessing traditional grazing resources in unprotected lands. Privatization of land tenure in group ranches in Kenya and settlement policy (villagization) in Tanzania have accelerated land subdivision, fencing and growth in permanent settlements, leading to loss of key wildebeest habitats including their migratory routes and wet season calving and feeding grounds. These processes, coupled with increasing human population pressures and climatic variability, are exerting tremendous pressures on wildebeest migrations. Urgent conservation interventions are necessary to conserve and protect the critical wildebeest habitats and migration routes in East Africa.


This paper assesses the effectiveness of essay tutorials offered to first-year economics students at the UCT (University of Cape Town) in their first language (L1). All students in the study are first-language speakers of an African language. Firstly, using propensity score matching, we econometrically assess the impact of these tutorials on students' essay marks. Although our sample size is small [n=220], our findings provide preliminary evidence of a positive impact of the intervention on a student's final essay mark. The results show that the average gain for students who attended an essay tutorial in their L1 was 4.85%, with this result being statistically significant at the 10% significance level. Secondly, students' perceptions of the tutorials' effectiveness, as documented by online evaluations and focus groups, are examined. These findings suggest that allowing for unmediated L1 use in tertiary education classrooms can foster inclusivity and promote participation in otherwise largely monolingual spaces.


In recent years there have been tremendous advances in our ability to rapidly and cost‐effectively sequence DNA. This has revolutionized the fields of genetics and biology, leading to a deeper understanding of the molecular events in life processes. The rapid technological advances have enormously expanded sequencing opportunities and applications, but also imposed strains and challenges on steps prior to sequencing and in the downstream process of handling and analysis of these massive amounts of sequence data. Traditionally, sequencing has been limited to small DNA fragments of approximately one thousand bases (derived from the organism's genome) due to issues in maintaining a high sequence quality and accuracy for longer read lengths. Although many technological breakthroughs have been made, currently the commercially available massively parallel sequencing methods have not been able to resolve this issue. However, recent announcements in nanopore sequencing hold the promise of removing this read‐length limitation, enabling sequencing of larger intact DNA fragments. The ability to sequence longer intact DNA with high accuracy is a major stepping stone towards greatly simplifying the downstream analysis and increasing the power of sequencing compared to today. This review covers some of the technical advances in sequencing that have opened up new frontiers in genomics.


Approximation to the solutions of non-linear differential systems is very useful when the exact solutions are unattainable. Perturbation expansion replaces the system with a sequences of smaller problems, only the first of which is typically linear. This works well by hand for the first few terms, but higher order computations are typically too demanding for all but the most persistent. Symbolic computation is thus attractive; however, symbolic computation of the expansions almost always encounters intermediate expression swell, by which we mean exponential growth in subexpression size or repetitions. A successful management of spatial complexity is vital to compute meaningful results. This thesis contains two parts. In the first part, we investigate a heat transfer problem where two-dimensional buoyancy-induced flow between two concentric cylinders is studied. Series expansion with respect to Rayleigh number is used to compute an approximation of a solution, using a symbolicnumeric algorithm. Computation sequences are used to help reduce the size of intermediate expressions. Up to 30 order solutions are computed. Accuracy, validity and stability of the computed series solution are studied. In the second part, Hilbert's 16 problem is investigated to find the maximum number of limit cycles of certain systems. Focus values of the systems are computed using perturbation theory, which form multivariate polynomial systems. The real roots of such systems leads to possible limit cycle conditions. A modular regular chains approach is used to triangularize the polynomial systems and help to compute the real roots. A system with 9 limit cycles is constructed using the computed real roots.


The work of early missionary linguists in Central and South America received some criticism in the 19th and 20th centuries. This paper seeks to show that such comments were unfair in that they lacked proper historical contextualization. The first part focuses on the educational background of early missionaries. The second part outlines the theoretical model under which missionary grammarians operated. A perusal of their works reveals that they analyzed exotic languages at two different levels: at a universal or notional level; and at the level of usage or the ways universal features were manifested in particular languages. The third part examines the linguistic terms particle and case within the two-tiered model. The conflicting statements perceived by some modern scholars regarding the application of such terms to linguistic data vanish if one considers such statements within their theoretical framework. Previous linguistic currents have to be judged within their own epistemological framework; otherwise the risk of misrepresentations is great.


This Nutshell follows the structure and format of the authors' casebook-Children and the Law: Doctrine, Policy and Practice. The authors have devoted entire chapters to the meaning of "parent," abuse and neglect, the foster care system, adoption, medical decision-making, support and other financial responsibilities, protective legislation, and delinquency. Representation of children is also covered throughout the book, as are several relevant international law issues, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, international child labor, and US tobacco exports to children overseas.


The security of computer systems fundamentally relies on memory isolation, e.g., kernel address ranges are marked as non-accessible and are protected from user access. In this paper, we present Meltdown. Meltdown exploits side effects of out-of-order execution on modern processors to read arbitrary kernel-memory locations including personal data and passwords. Out-of-order execution is an indispensable performance feature and present in a wide range of modern processors. The attack is independent of the operating system, and it does not rely on any software vulnerabilities. Meltdown breaks all security assumptions given by address space isolation as well as paravirtualized environments and, thus, every security mechanism building upon this foundation. On affected systems, Meltdown enables an adversary to read memory of other processes or virtual machines in the cloud without any permissions or privileges, affecting millions of customers and virtually every user of a personal computer. We show that the KAISER defense mechanism for KASLR [8] has the important (but inadvertent) side effect of impeding Meltdown. We stress that KAISER must be deployed immediately to prevent large-scale exploitation of this severe information leakage.


An active sensing diagnostic system for reinforced concrete SHM has been under investigation. PZT elements were mounted on the surface of reinforced bar to form a smart rebar system. Test results show that the system based guided wave can detect the damage of the concrete structure, and it is sensitive to anomalies in structures. But the damping of concrete is high, which causes energy to be dissipated fast when transmitting through it, and lead to the amplitude of output signal be too small to be used in real engineering application. System optimization has been performed based on experimental tests and numerical simulation. By changing both PZT layout and size, test results showed that the output signals have been increased significantly with magnitudes. Then the optimized active sensing system has been applied to explore the detection of the fell-off of CA layer. CA layer fell-off is the most common defect in ballastless track, one of the key element of high speed railway structure. Through the experimental tests, it proves that the amplitude of output signal will be decreased exponentially with increase of the thickness of covered concrete around the rebar, which implies that the output signal's amplitude would be increased noticeably with CA mortar layer's fell-off. This leads to a potential method to monitor the fell-off of CA mortar layer. Keywords: PZT rebar, Signal optimization, CA mortar layer fell-off detection doi: 10.12783/SHM2015/241


The human proteome is replete with short linear motifs (SLiMs) of four to six residues that are critical for protein-protein interactions, yet the importance of the sequence surrounding such motifs is underexplored. We devised a proteomic screen to examine the influence of SLiM sequence context on protein-protein interactions. Focusing on the EVH1 domain of human ENAH, an actin regulator that is highly expressed in invasive cancers, we screened 36-residue proteome-derived peptides and discovered new interaction partners of ENAH and diverse mechanisms by which context influences binding. A pocket on the ENAH EVH1 domain that has diverged from other Ena/VASP paralogs recognizes extended SLiMs and favors motif-flanking proline residues. Many high-affinity ENAH binders that contain two proline-rich SLiMs use a noncanonical site on the EVH1 domain for binding and display a thermodynamic signature consistent with the two-motif chain engaging a single domain. We also found that photoreceptor cilium actin regulator (PCARE) uses an extended 23-residue region to obtain a higher affinity than any known ENAH EVH1-binding motif. Our screen provides a way to uncover the effects of proteomic context on motif-mediated binding, revealing diverse mechanisms of control over EVH1 interactions and establishing that SLiMs can't be fully understood outside of their native context.


This book constitutes the refereed postconference proceedings of the 4th IFIP WG 9.2, 9.6, 11.6, 11.7/FIDIS International Summer School, held in Brno, Czech Republic, in September 2008. The 20 revised papers were carefully selected from numerous submissions during two rounds of reviewing. They are grouped in topical sections on information, ethics, identifiers; privacy issues; wireless security and privacy; challenges of emerging technologies; privacy-enhanced and anonymous applications; business and organizational perspectives; privacy awareness and individual control; and anonymity attacks and analysis. These interdisciplinary contributions target researchers and practitioners interested in the technical, social, ethical or legal perspectives of increasing diversity of information and communication technologies.


In the early twentieth century, Uchiyama Gudō, Seno'o Girō, Lin Qiuwu, and others advocated a Buddhism that was radical in two respects. Firstly, they adopted a more or less naturalist stance with respect to Buddhist doctrine and related matters, rejecting karma or other supernatural beliefs. And secondly, they held political and economic views that were radically anti-hegemonic, anti-capitalist, and revolutionary. Taking the idea of such a "radical Buddhism" seriously, A Buddha Land in This World: Philosophy, Utopia, and Radical Buddhism asks whether it is possible to develop a philosophy that is simultaneously naturalist, anti-capitalist, Buddhist, and consistent. Rather than a study of radical Buddhism, then, this book is an attempt to radicalize it. The foundations of this "radicalized radical Buddhism" are provided by a realist interpretation of Yogācāra, elucidated and elaborated with some help from thinkers in the broader Tiantai/Tendai tradition and American philosophers Donald Davidson and W.V.O. Quine. A key implication of this foundation is that only this world and only this life are real, from which it follows that if Buddhism aims to alleviate suffering, it has to do so in this world and in this life. Twentieth-century radical Buddhists (as well as some engaged Buddhists) came to a similar conclusion, often expressed in their aim to realize "a Buddha land in this world." Building on this foundation, but also on Mahāyāna moral philosophy, this book argues for an ethics and social philosophy based on a definition of evil as that what is or should be expected to cause death or suffering. On that ground, capitalism should be rejected indeed, but utopianism must be treated with caution as well, which raises questions about what it means – from a radicalized radical Buddhist perspective – to aim for a Buddha land in this world.


Anyon condensation forms a mechanism that allows us to relate different topological phases. We study anyon condensation in the framework of projected entangled pair states (PEPS) where topological order is characterized through local symmetries of the entanglement. We show that anyon condensation is in one-to-one correspondence to the behavior of the virtual entanglement state at the boundary (i.e., the entanglement spectrum) under those symmetries, which encompasses both symmetry breaking and symmetry protected (SPT) order, and we use this to characterize all anyon condensations for Abelian double models through the structure of their entanglement spectrum. We illustrate our findings with the Z(4) double model, which can give rise to both toric code and doubled semion order through condensation, distinguished by the SPT structure of their entanglement. Using the ability of our framework to directly measure order parameters for condensation and deconfinement, we numerically study the phase diagram of the model, including direct phase transitions between the doubled semion and the toric code phase, which are not described by anyon condensation.


In the early 1990s, the Italian National Health Service was characterized by excessive centralization and consequent lack of accountability for expenditures by local agencies. Subsequent reforms transferred a significant degree of financial responsibility and a role in program creation to the regions, but holding local health care units accountable for expenditures while maintaining quality of service remained a challenge. The region of Lazio has been at the forefront of the innovative use of financial techniques. Lazio has: 1) increased efficiency by centralizing purchases for certain bulk items and establishing controls on costs related to public and private providers, 2) issued asset-backed securities (ABS) backed by outstanding transfers from the central government, 3) securitized leases resulting from sale and leaseback of its hospitals, and 4) securitized past-due receivables on the books of various suppliers from the region's hospitals and local health authorities through Atlantide Finance, a special-purpose vehicle. Securitization of health care receivables has helped suppliers collect their payments sooner and provided a valid alternative to traditional ways of discounting notes in the Italian system. At the same time, such securitization has allowed the region the possibility of postponing debt payments to suppliers, the avoidance of interest payments, relief from legal actions brought by suppliers, and a reduction of payment delays.


This paper contains a general description of a soil anchor of novel design whose technical development programme is now complete. Although this anchor, called the QMC-anchor, is designed mainly for offshore applications, it can and will be used for on-land applications also.
During the development process extensive field trials were undertaken; elaborate computer model studies were also performed in order to determine the driveability characteristics of the anchor. Both these aspects have been discussed in some detail. A good degree of correlation was achieved between the observed and predicted performances of the anchor.


An atom is characterized mathematically as an evolving superposition of possible values of properties and experimentally as an instantaneous phenomenon with a precise value of a measured property. Likewise, an organism is to itself a flux of experience and to an observer a tangible body in a distinct moment. Whereas the implicit atom is the stream of computation represented by the smoothly propagating wave function, the implicit organism is both the species from which the body individuates and the personal mind its behavior explicates. As with the wave computation that underlies the atom, the substance of the implicit organism is not matter but information. And like projection from a superposition of potential values to a single outcome in a precise and fleeting moment, the organism actualizes only one of the many possible behaviors calculated in the ongoing presence we know as consciousness.


We examine the angular Goos-Hanchen shift on an epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) metamaterial as the angle of incidence and the thickness of the slab is changed. In our calculations, s- and p-polarized light source propagating in vacuum is incident on a lossless and lossy ENZ slabs. Our results show very large magnitude of ΘGH  on specific angle of incidence and slab thickness. Increasing the loss in the material also increases the magnitude of the shift. The large ΘGH shifts could be used to explore the development of a high sensitivity ENZ-based sensor.


Evoking a muscular response using Functional Electrical Stimulation onto paralyzed muscles will allow patients with spinal cord damage at the level of C4-L1 to perform aerobic and strengthening exercise training. The provoked activity will improve body strength, body composition, mitigate disuse atrophy, and enhance cardiopulmonary function.
The study designs included case report, case control, case series, pre-clinical and post-clinical intervention and outcomes measure, clinical trial, prospective cohort study, cross-sectional, and longitudinal repeated measures design. The statistical methods and methods of data analysis used were ANOVA, ASIA impairment scores, ? level and p-value, mean ± standard error, r2, Student paired t-test, PASW statistics, Spearman rank correlation coefficient, Mann-Whitney U test, regression analysis, and Wilcoxon signed-rank test.
The outcome of the study showed an increase in muscle thickness, strength, and lean muscle mass. There was improvement in oxygen consumption, positive effect on cardiorespiratory functioning, metabolic activity, and a slight increase in bone density. Subjects were able to perform more intense exercising as the training regime had progressed.
The significance of these findings shows a potential way to improve the health of subjects with spinal cord injury, but also to recover and eventually regain the use of the muscles that were once paralyzed. Functional electrical stimulation therapy will introduce physical activity to a population that is normally found to be inactive.

Keywords: Functional electrical stimulation, spinal cord injury, FES-cycling, FES-rowing, rehabilitation, exercise training


Title of Document: PERCEPTUAL CONSEQUENCES OF EARLY-ONSET HEREDITARY HEARING LOSS IN THE BELGIAN WATERSLAGER CANARY (SERINUS CANARIUS) Amanda M. Lauer, Doctor of Philosophy, 2006 Directed By: Professor Robert J. Dooling, Department of Psychology Belgian Waterslager canaries (BWS) are bred for a distinctive low-pitched song that includes sounds that are thought to resemble water. This strain of canary has been used in multiple neurobiological and behavioral studies of song learning. These birds have a permanent hereditary hearing loss associated with missing and abnormal hair cells. The hearing deficit develops after hatch, but is present when the birds learn their song. The manner in which these birds process complex sounds indisputably affects the content of their vocalizations; however, no studies have looked at BWS canaries' ability to detect and discriminate sounds other than detection of pure tones in quiet. Thus, the BWS canary provides a unique opportunity to investigate the relationship between the form and function of an auditory system involved in vocal learning. Here I describe a series of psychoacoustic experiments that investigate differences in masking, discrimination, temporal processing, and perception of song elements in BWS canaries and normal-hearing non-BWS canary strains. Spectral and temporal studies of masking showed that frequency resolution and the phase response of the basilar papilla are impaired in BWS canaries. Frequency discrimination was superb at low frequencies, but worse than normal at high frequencies in BWS canaries. Duration and intensity discrimination was not adversely affected by the hearing loss. Temporal resolution was normal or better than normal under some conditions in BWS canaries. Despite the hearing loss, BWS canaries are able to accurately discriminate among strain-specific song syllables as well as syllables of other canary strains. In fact, BWS canaries are actually better than non-BWS canaries at discriminating among BWS canary syllables. These perceptual predispositions in BWS canaries are presumably related to the structural abnormalities of the inner ear, and are likely to play a role in song learning and song maintanence by enhancing the birds' ability to attend to important acoustic features that are characteristic of BWS vocalizations. PERCEPTUAL CONSEQUENCES OF EARLY-ONSET HEREDITARY HEARING LOSS IN THE BELGIAN WATERSLAGER CANARY (SERINUS CANARIUS)


OBJECTIVE
Multimodal rehabilitation programmes (MMRP) for chronic pain could be improved by determining which patients do not benefit fully. General distress and pain-related fear may explain variations in the treatment effects of MMRP.

DESIGN
Cohort study with a cross-sectional, prospective part.

PATIENTS
Chronic musculoskeletal pain patients referred to 2 hospital-based pain rehabilitation clinics.

METHODS
The cross-sectional part of this study cluster analyses patients (n = 1,218) with regard to distress and pain-related fear at first consultation in clinical pain rehabilitation and describes differences in external variables between clusters. The prospective part follows the subsample of patients (n = 260) participating in MMRP and describes outcome post-treatment.

RESULTS
Four distinct subgroups were found: (i) those with low levels of distress and pain-related fear; (ii) those with high levels of pain-related fear; (iii) those with high levels of distress; and (iv) those with high levels of distress and pain-related fear. These subgroups showed differences in demogra-phics, pain characteristics, quality of life, and acceptance, as well as the degree of MMRP participation and MMRP outcome.

CONCLUSION
Among patients with chronic pain referred to MMRP there are subgroups with different profiles of distress and pain-related fear, which are relevant to understanding the adaptation to pain and MMRP outcome. This knowledge may help us to select patients and tailor treatment for better results.


In this paper we consider whether a neutrino sail, a sheet of material absorbing neutrinos and gaining thrust from their momentum change, is a viable method of spacecraft propulsion. We calculate the thrust that could be achieved per unit area and compare this to that possible using a photon solar sail. We also calculate the thickness of sail necessary assuming that there are no special conditions under which the cross section for neutrino interactions with nuclei can be increased. We find that a thickness of 34000 light years would be necessary if a sheet of osmium were used, whereas neutron star matter could achieve this at 189 km thickness. We conclude that a neutrino sail is not a practical method of propulsion.


This paper explores the research looking at an intervention done with four preschool students with autism like tendencies. Two of the students are on the autism spectrum and two students show autism like tendencies and deficiencies. All four students struggled in social situations and play with their peers. The intervention provided for all four students was a checklist of skills needed to be successful in a social situation; group games, cooperative play and cleaning up. The article review discusses many supports provided and areas of need for young and adolescent students on the autism spectrum. The results of the intervention showed that three out of the four students did show improved social skills according to the preschool social skills checklist; one student maintained his current social skills.


Water mass generation and mixing in the eastern Fram Strait are strongly influenced by the interaction between Atlantic and Arctic waters and by the local atmospheric forcing, which produce dense water that substantially contributes to maintaining the global thermohaline circulation. The West Spitsbergen margin is an ideal area to study such processes. Hence, in order to investigate the deep flow variability on short-term, seasonal, and multiannual timescales, two moorings were deployed at ~1040 m depth on the southwest Spitsbergen continental slope. We present and discuss time series data collected between June 2014 and June 2016. They reveal thermohaline and current fluctuations that were largest from October to April, when the deep layer, typically occupied by Norwegian Sea Deep Water, was perturbed by sporadic intrusions of warmer, saltier, and less dense water. Surprisingly, the observed anomalies occurred quasi-simultaneously at both sites, despite their distance (~170 km). We argue that these anomalies may arise mainly by the effect of topographically trapped waves excited and modulated by atmospheric forcing. Propagation of internal waves causes a change in the vertical distribution of the Atlantic water, which can reach deep layers. During such events, strong currents typically precede thermohaline variations without significant changes in turbidity. However, turbidity increases during April–June in concomitance with enhanced downslope currents. Since prolonged injections of warm water within the deep layer could lead to a progressive reduction of the density of the abyssal water moving toward the Arctic Ocean, understanding the interplay between shelf, slope, and deep waters along the west Spitsbergen margin could be crucial for making projections on future changes in the global thermohaline circulation.


Many nonsense mutants that map in the β-galactosidase structural gene produce material that forms precipitin lines when tested by double diffusion on agar against antiserum prepared from native β-galactosidase. Relative sizes of the cross-reacting materia!s measured by sucrose density gradient centrifugation are the same as sizes calculated from genetic mapping of nonsense mutants. Orientation of the protein to its gene is also indicated.


UV-Vis spectral fingerprinting was used to discriminate Camellia sinensis leaves of two different harvests and multivariate data analysis was applied to determine the relevant metabolites for separation. First statistical mixture designs of pure ethanol, ethyl acetate, dichloromethane and chloroform solvents as well as their binary, ternary and quaternary mixtures extracted larger varieties and amounts of C. sinensis leaf metabolites than would be obtained from classical solvent extractions. UV-Vis spectral fingerprints of crude extracts were subjected to Orthogonal Signal Correction and Partial Least Squares-Discrimination Analysis (OSC-PLS-DA) for classification. The spectra were all correctly identified and classified, showing that the OSC-PLS-DA model possesses a good predictive ability to separate spectral fingerprints of different harvests. VIP score values showed that bands at 272, 410 and 663 nm were responsible for separation. These metabolites were identified by HPLC-DAD as caffeine and pheophytin a. According to the mixture model, the maximum values of relative abundances of both caffeine and pheophytin a can be extracted with pure dichloromethane.


Drupal 7 Explained is for people who want a fun and clear introduction to Drupal.Drupal 7 Explainedrequires absolutely no experience with Drupal, content management, site construction, programming, scripting, or even HTML.Discover what Drupal does and how it works; then install Drupal 7, master site administration, simplify site creation via workflows, create highly-usable navigation, and much more.Quickly change site designs with themes; find, choose, install, and use modules, including Views; create advanced layouts with Display Suite Panels; customize user access; update and back up your sites; and build multiple site types, step by step! Please note: This is book is 100% aimed at Drupal beginners. Drupal 7 Explained contains no code and that is absolutely deliberate. If you want to learn how to create themes or code modules, there are other books for you.


Account Account for: state reasons for, report on. Give an account of: narrate a series of events or transactions Analyse Identify components and the relationship between them; draw out and relate implications Apply Use, utilise, employ in a particular situation Appreciate Make a judgement about the value of Assess Make a judgement of value, quality, outcomes, results or size Calculate Ascertain/determine from given facts, figures of information Clarify Make clear or plain Classify Arrange or include in classes/categories Compare Show how things are similar of different Construct Make; build; put together items or arguments Contrast Show how things are different or opposite Critically Add a degree or level of accuracy depth, knowledge and understanding, logic, questioning, reflection and quality to Analyse/Evaluate) Deduce Draw conclusions Define State meaning and identify essential qualities Demonstrate Show by example Describe Provide characteristics and features Discuss Identify issues and provide points for and/or against Distinguish Recognise or note/ indicate as being distinct or different from; to note differences between Evaluate Make a judgement based on criteria; determine the value of Examine Inquire into Explain Relate cause and effect; make the relationships between things evident; provide why and/or how Extract Choose relevant and/or appropriate details Extrapolate Infer from what is known Identify Recognise and name Interpret Draw meaning from Investigate Plan, inquire into and draw conclusions about Justify Support an argument or conclusion Outline Sketch in general terms; indicate the main features of Predict Suggest what may happen based on available information Propose Put forward (for example a point of view, idea, argument, suggestion) for consideration or action Recall Present remembered ideas, facts or experiences Recommend Provide reasons in favour Recount Retell a series of events Summarise Express, concisely, the relevant details Synthesise Putting together various elements to make a whole


Objectives: The aim of this research was to examine the dimensions of axis I disorders during the first four months after Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and mental states after TBI. Method: Overall, 238 patients (43 females and 195 males) with TBI, in a descriptive- longitudinal study, were selected by consecutive sampling procedure and each of them undergone medical examinations. After 4 months of follow-up, 65.1% (155 cases) of the patients referred to a psychiatrist to determine the nature of their mental disorder due to TBI, using a structured clinical interview, based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed. (DSM-IV) . Results: The results showed that 75.5% (117 cases) of the patients had post-injury mental disorders secondary to TBI . Of these, 88 patients (75.2%) showed the comorbidity of mental disorders. However, the most common mental disorders due to TBI included personality change (58.6%), mood disorders (32.3%), anxiety disorders (20%), sleep disorders (19.3%), chronic amnesia (12.9%) and somatoform disorders (1.3%). Delirium, eating and psychotic disorders due to TBI, each up to 0.64%, were also diagnosed . Conclusion: The high frequency of mental disorders is evident in the acute phase after TBI, along with many novel cases of personality changes, mood and anxiety disorders. Therefore TBI patients must be monitored and evaluated at least in a 4- month period after the trauma to reduce the risk of mental disorders incident.


Simulations and Serious Games are powerful e-learning tools that can be designed to provide learning opportunities that stimulate their participants. To achieve this goal, the design of Simulations and Serious Games will often include some balance of three factors: motivation, engagement, and flow. Whilst many frameworks and approaches for Simulation and Serious Game design do provide the means for addressing a combination of these factors to some degree, few address how those factors might be affected by the presence of an out-of-game tutor. It is the position of some researchers that the presence of real-world tutors in a Simulation or Serious Game experience can be shown to have a detrimental effect on motivation, engagement, and flow as a continuously changing state for the participant from in-game to out-of-game breaks immersion. The focus of this study was to develop a framework for the design of Simulations and Serious Games that could provide the means to mitigate some of these identified negative effects of real world tutor. The framework itself, referred to as the Wrongness Framework, uses artificial intelligence techniques and practices to provide internal feedback and assessment to the participant as a foundation for the creation of a rudimentary in-game tutor. To achieve this goal it was necessary to develop the Wrongness Framework to include not only the findings of other scholars and researchers on the topic of feedback and assessment but also to introduce original refinements to existing artificial intelligence mechanisms. To test the abilities of the Wrongness Framework it was applied to two unique case studies each with a different purpose and scope. The first, the AdQuest case study, was a graphic design Serious Game scenario testing the ability of the Wrongness Framework's assessment mechanisms by having 102 postgraduate design students submit graphics for a luxury brand advertisement. These graphics were then assessed by the Wrongness Framework against expectations found in the Wrongness Framework's Intelligent System Knowledge Bank. The students were then surveyed for their responses to their assessments and individual rating scores for each design were taken. The second case study, Promasim, explored the possibilities of feedback tone and efficacy for non-player characters in a project management simulation. This was achieved with the use of expert interviews by both academics and working professionals to provide the information of experienced project managers to develop experiential interaction events for the Simulation. Despite the results of these case studies a full case for the success of the Wrongness Framework could not be made. However, many of the identified challenges for the Wrongness Framework were met and, as such, a case can be made that an adequate foundation for the framework has been successful and has provided the case for further refinement.


. The epizootiology of epizootic haematopoietic necrosis virus (EHNV) was examined by experimental transmission and pathogenicity trials in the first known host species, Perca fluviatilis L., and 11 other introduced and native teleosts of Australia. Perca fluviatilis and four other species were highly susceptible to disease following bath exposure to EHNV. Three species developed disease only when inoculated by intraperitoneal injection, and four species wore resistant to infection under the experimental conditions employed. Renal haematopoietic necrosis was the most consistent lesion produced, with hepatic, splenic and pancreatic necrosis also occurring in certain species. The resistance of the virus to desiccation, disinfectants, high and low pH and temperature, and to prolonged storage at selected temperatures was assessed, demonstrating that the virus can survive for long periods in the aquatic environment and on fomites. Carrier individuals of P. fluviatilis, Salmo gairdneri Richardson, Maccullochella peeli (Mitchell), and possibly other teleosts, represent a further reservoir of infection. However, the virus could not be isolated from common insect and crustacean prey species, and no parasitic vectors were identified. It is proposed that EHNV has contributed to serious population declines of native species in recent decades, particularly of Macquaria australasica (Cuvier), Galaxias olidus Gunther and Bidyanus bidyanus (Mitchell). Salmonids are also known to be naturally and experimentally susceptible to the virus.


Background: Long QT syndrome (LQTS) typically presents with syncope, seizures, or sudden death. Patients with LQTS have been misdiagnosed with a seizure disorder or epilepsy and treated with antiepileptic drug (AED) medication. The gene, KCNH2, responsible for type 2 LQTS (LQT2), was cloned originally from the hippocampus and encodes a potassium channel active in hippocampal astrocytes. We sought to test the hypothesis that a "seizure phenotype" was ascribed more commonly to patients with LQT2. Methods: Charts were reviewed for 343 consecutive, unrelated patients (232 females, average age at diagnosis 27 ± 18 years, QTc 471 ± 57 msec) clinically evaluated and genetically tested for LQTS from 1998 to 2006 at two large LQTS referral centers. A positive seizure phenotype was defined as the presence of either a personal or family history of seizures or history of AED therapy. Results: A seizure phenotype was recorded in 98/343 (29%) probands. A seizure phenotype was more common in LQT2 (36/77, 47%) than LQT1 (16/72, 22%, p < 0.002) and LQT3 (7/28, 25%, p < 0.05, NS). LQT1 and LQT3 combined cohorts did not differ significantly from expected, background rates of a seizure phenotype. A personal history of seizures was more common in LQT2 (30/77, 39%) than all other subtypes of LQTS (11/106, 10%, p < 0.001). Conclusions: A diagnostic consideration of epilepsy and treatment with antiepileptic drug medications was more common in patients with LQT2. Like noncardiac organ phenotypes observed in other LQTS-susceptibility genes such as KCNQ1/deafness and SCN5A/gastrointestinal symptoms, this novel LQT2-epilepsy association raises the possibility that LQT2-causing perturbations in the KCNH2-encoded potassium channel may confer susceptibility for recurrent seizure activity.


Property rights are the backbone of Western Civilization. Capitalism can only be successful if individuals feel secure about the ownership of their assets. Patents are the property rights granted to the inventor by the government. Without these rights, inventors will find it extremely difficult monetizing their contributions to society. Thus, in an effort to incentivize innovation and commit society to human progress, our Founding Fathers built our country on a strong set of intellectual property rights. At the same time, nothing impedes innovation like a monopoly and, in essence, all a patent amounts to is a monopoly, the right to exclude others from monetizing a specific innovation over an extended period of time. Hence, at the margin, patents increase the incentive to create new patentable knowledge, while simultaneously also stifling the dissemination of that knowledge. A good patent system strikes the right balance between innovation and a government-granted, anti-competitive monopoly. After a 20-year period of an unprecedentedly pro-patent environment in the United States, the value of patents has never been higher. Patents, as opposed to their intended use of incentivizing innovation, are now seen as a form of protection against litigation, and also a weapon to litigate patent infringements to extract license fees and royalty payments from companies who are supposedly in violation of these patents. The pendulum has swung, and patents are now stifling innovation to an extent not conceived of by our Founding Fathers. This thesis will explore the reasons for the extreme increase in the value of patents over the years and will attempt to propose a plan of action to swing the pendulum back where our Founding Fathers originally intended it to be.


'Autistic processes', Frances Tustin tells us, is the revised version of a paper that she presented in March 1969 at what was then still called the ACP Study Weekend. Three years previously the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry had published her description of her little autistic patient John (Tustin, 1966 Tustin, F. (1966) 'A significant element in the development of autism: a psycho-analytic approach'. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 7: 56–67.): something one cannot imagine happening today. Tustin describes the two publications as companion papers that should be 'read in conjunction with each other'. Both concern what she calls the 'hole' type of depression, but 'Autistic processes' delineates 'primitive processes which become excessive in order to protect against its catastrophic effects'. This statement foreshadows her later formulation that children with autism made use of self-protective strategies in order to deal with catastrophic, and sometimes psychotic, anxieties; a view that found expression in the title of her last book: The Protective Shell in Children and Adults (Tustin, 1990a Tustin, F. (1990a) The Protective Shell in Children and Adults. London: Karnac.


Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are becoming increasingly popular and the amount of UAV traffic in urban environments will largely increase in the future, due to profitable tasks which are particularly suited to UAVs, e.g., parcel delivery and surveillance, in particular in the context of smart cities. Trying to ensure the traffic safety and efficiency by acting on the UAV controller alone might be challenging, since the set of involved players (regulators, manufacturers, business users) is large and diversified. In this work, we address this problem by proposing a language for defining rules suitable for UAV traffic which can be enforced in a decentralized way by the UAVs themselves, without any need for communication and regardless of the UAV navigation algorithm. The language allows to express realistic rules, such as ``when cruising, keep a minimum altitude'', concisely and such that they can be processed online by each single UAV basing on its perception of the nearby environment. We experimentally validate the ability of our proposal to impact on the UAV traffic efficiency and safety by performing a large number of simulations with and without a set of realistic rules.


Muscular dystrophy (MD) is a set of progressive muscle wasting conditions characterised by progressive muscle weakness and limited range of motion (ROM). Current evidence of these clinical features, their associations and impacts on quality of life (QoL) are however, largely focussed on children with Duchenne MD (DMD). By comparison, quantified evidence of these features remains limited in adults with Becker's MD (BMD), Limb-Girdle MD (LGMD) and Facioscapulohumeral MD (FSHD), and unreported in adults with DMD. Current guidance on living with MD encourages physical activity (PA) and physiotherapy as methods to maintain health and function, however the understanding of PA and the effectiveness of physiotherapy, remains limited in its reporting in adults with MD. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to quantify lower limb strength and ankle ROM in adults with MD, identify the associations of these clinical features and the impact of muscle weakness on QoL, measure the effectiveness of physiotherapy on ROM, and quantify the progression of muscle weakness, in adults with MD. Healthy adult controls (CTRL) were shown to have greater maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) of plantar-flexion (PFMVC) and knee extension (KEMVC), ROM measures of passive ROM (ROMPassive) and active ROM (ROMActive) than adults with DMD (75%, 92%, 66%, 82%), BMD (51%, 41%, 34%. 55%), LGMD (58%, 53%, 45%, 60%) and FSHD (35%, 25%, 35%, 56%). KEMVC and PFMVC were positively associated with 10m walk time in ambulant adults with MD (r= 0.484 and r= 0.502), and PFMVC was associated with ROMActive in all adults with MD (r= 0.376-.750). Strength (KEMVC) was positively associated with only two domains of QoL, in BMD (r= 0.544 and r= 0.609). By comparison, activities of daily living (positively), self-efficacy (positively), pain (negatively) and fatigue (negatively) were more consistently associated with QoL in adults with MD. The stiffness properties of the Gastrocnemius Medialis (r= -0.494) and muscle tendon unit (MTU) (r= -0.464) were both negatively associated with ROMPassive in BMD and DMD, respectively. Physiotherapy was shown as effective for acutely improving ROMPassive (19%) and decreasing MTU stiffness (-27%), in adults with DMD. PA was shown to explain both the variance in 10m walk time in ambulant adults with MD (R2 = 0.540), and the change in lower limb strength over 12 months in adults with BMD (PFMVC, R2 = 0.585; KEMVC, R2 = 0.532). Change in lower limb muscle strength in adults with DMD was reported as -19% PFMVC and -14% KEMVC per year. Evidence from this thesis suggests in ambulant adults with MD PA is an important measure to promote to help maintain lower limb strength and function. While in non-ambulant adults with MD a shift in focus to measures of pain and fatigue is required, and that there is some benefit from physiotherapy on the ROMPassive of the ankle in DMD, likely due to reductions in the stiffness properties of the MTU.


Design Hypercortisolism during pregnancy is a risk factor for prematurity. Long-term exposure to hypercortisolism may lead to permanent comorbidities, such as hypertension or diabetes, even after remission. Our aim was to determine whether women with a history of Cushing's disease (and being eu-, hypo- or hypercortisolic at the time of pregnancy) had the same risks of comorbidities, and especially prematurity, during pregnancy. Methods It was a retrospective multicentric study focusing on mothers with a history of Cushing's disease or diagnosed during pregnancy, followed in French tertiary referral centers. We compared the outcomes of pregnancies depending on the cortisolic status at the time of pregnancy. Results A total of 60 patients (78 pregnancies including 21 with hypercortisolism, 32 with hypocortisolism and 25 in eucortisolism in 25) were evaluated. The overall rate of preterm birth was 24.3%, with a peak in women diagnosed during pregnancy (62.5%), a high risk in hypercortisolic (33%) and hypocortisolic (19.3%), and a low risk (8%) in eucortisolic women Gestational diabetes and hypertension were observed in 21% and 10.4% of the whole cohort, with a higher risk in hypercortisolic women. Cesarean delivery was performed in 33.7% of the cohort. Conclusions Being non-eucortisolic at the time of pregnancy increases the risk of prematurity and comorbidities compared to the general population. Women with a history of Cushing's disease should thus be carefully monitored during pregnancy. The high rate of cesarean delivery emphasizes the fact that these pregnancies should always be considered at risk.


Persistent androgen receptor (AR) transcriptional activity underlies resistance to AR-targeted therapy and progression to lethal castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Recent success in retargeting persistent AR activity with next generation androgen/AR axis inhibitors such as enzalutamide (MDV3100) has validated AR as a master regulator during all stages of disease progression. However, resistance to next generation AR inhibitors limits therapeutic efficacy for many patients. One emerging mechanism of CRPC progression is AR gene rearrangement, promoting synthesis of constitutively active truncated AR splice variants (AR-V) that lack the AR ligand-binding domain. In this study, we show that cells with AR gene rearrangements expressing both full-length and AR-Vs are androgen independent and enzalutamide resistant. However, selective knock-down of AR-V expression inhibited androgen-independent growth and restored responsiveness to androgens and antiandrogens. In heterogeneous cell populations, AR gene rearrangements marked individual AR-V-dependent cells that were resistant to enzalutamide. Gene expression profiling following knock-down of full-length AR or AR-Vs showed that AR-Vs drive resistance to AR-targeted therapy by functioning as constitutive and independent effectors of the androgen/AR transcriptional program. Further, mitotic genes deemed previously to be unique AR-V targets were found to be biphasic targets associated with a proliferative level of signaling output from either AR-Vs or androgen-stimulated AR. Overall, these studies highlight AR-Vs as key mediators of persistent AR signaling and resistance to the current arsenal of conventional and next generation AR-directed therapies, advancing the concept of AR-Vs as therapeutic targets in advanced disease.


Fission track (FT) thermochronology studies on igneous and metamorphic rocks from the Ruby Mountains-East Humboldt Range metamorphic core complex provide important constraints on the timing and nature of major mid-Tertiary extension in northeast Nevada. Rocks from within the Ruby-East Humboldt detachment (brittle-ductile normal-sense shear) zone were analyzed; the dominant lithology studied was variably mylonitic mafic orthogneiss. Nonmylonitic amphibolite from the top of the structurally lower migmatitic core and porphyritic biotite granodiorite from the Oligocene (circa 36 Ma) Harrison Pass pluton were also studied. FT ages on apatite, zircon, and sphene (except one 18.4-Ma apatite from the basal portion of the detachment zone) are concordant and range in age from 26.5 Ma to 23.6 Ma; all ages overlap at 1 σ between 25.4 Ma and 23.4 Ma. These data suggest that rocks of the upper and middle portions of the detachment zone cooled rapidly from temperatures above ∼285°C (sphene closure temperature) to below ∼70°C (lower temperature limit of track stability in apatite) near the beginning of the Miocene (minimum cooling rate of 40°C/Ma). The length distribution of confined fission tracks in apatites from these exhumed middle crustal rocks is strikingly similar to those of rocks known to have cooled rapidly (Fish Canyon ash flow tuff). The lower part of the detachment zone as well as the underlying migmatitic core also cooled through sphene and zircon closure temperatures during this time interval, but apparently only cooled to a temperature within the zone of partial annealing of apatite (∼70°–130°C). Residence of these rocks in this zone led to a partial retention of fission tracks, thus resulting in a reduced age. Confined track length distributions from apatite provide independent evidence of very rapid cooling but also indicate that the rocks of the lower detachment zone experienced a more protracted cooling history (remained hotter longer) than structurally higher levels of the zone. FT data firmly establish the lower limit on the timing of mylonitization during detachment faulting in this area as 23.4 Ma. Rapid cooling of the region is considered to reflect large-scale tectonic denudation (intracrustal thinning), the vertical complement to crustal extension. Rocks originating in the middle crust (10–15 km) were quickly brought near the surface along the Ruby-East Humboldt detachment fault (brittle-ductile simple shear zone) and juxtaposed against brittlely extended rocks deformed under upper crustal conditions.


Freezing of gait (FoG) is a disabling symptom associated with falls, with little or no responsiveness to pharmacological treatment. Current protocols used for rehabilitation are based on the use of external sensory cues. However, cued strategies might generate an important dependence on the environment. Teaching motor strategies without cues [i.e., action observation (AO) plus Sonification] could represent an alternative/innovative approach to rehabilitation that matters most on appropriate allocation of attention and lightening cognitive load. We aimed to test the effects of a novel experimental protocol to treat patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and FoG, using functional, and clinical scales. The experimental protocol was based on AO plus Sonification. 12 patients were treated with 8 motor gestures. They watched eight videos showing an actor performing the same eight gestures, and then tried to repeat each gesture. Each video was composed by images and sounds of the gestures. By means of the Sonification technique, the sounds of gestures were obtained by transforming kinematic data (velocity) recorded during gesture execution, into pitch variations. The same 8 motor gestures were also used in a second group of 10 patients; which were treated with a standard protocol based on a common sensory stimulation method. All patients were tested with functional and clinical scales before, after, at 1 month, and 3 months after the treatment. Data showed that the experimental protocol have positive effects on functional and clinical tests. In comparison with the baseline evaluations, significant performance improvements were seen in the NFOG questionnaire, and the UPDRS (parts II and III). Importantly, all these improvements were consistently observed at the end, 1 month, and 3 months after treatment. No improvement effects were found in the group of patients treated with the standard protocol. These data suggest that a multisensory approach based on AO plus Sonification, with the two stimuli semantically related, could help PD patients with FoG to relearn gait movements, to reduce freezing episodes, and that these effects could be prolonged over time.


3D model generation through Photogrammetry is a modern overlay of digital information representing real world objects in a virtual world. The immediate scope of this study aims at generating 3D models using imagery and overcoming the challenge of acquiring accurate 3D meshes. This research aims to achieve optimised ways to document raw 3D representations of real life objects and then converting them into retopologised, textured usable data through mobile phones. Augmented Reality (AR) is a projected combination of real and virtual objects. A lot of work is done to create market dependant AR applications so customers can view products before purchasing them. The need is to develop a product independent photogrammetry to AR pipeline which is freely available to create independent 3D Augmented models. Although for the particulars of this research paper, the aim would be to compare and analyse different open source SDK's and libraries for developing optimised 3D Mesh using Photogrammetry/3D Scanning which will contribute as a main skeleton to the 3D-AR pipeline. Natural disasters, global political crisis, terrorist attacks and other catastrophes have led researchers worldwide to capture monuments using photogrammetry and laser scans. Some of these objects of "global importance" are processed by companies including CyArk (Cyber Archives) and UNESCO's World Heritage Centre, who work against time to preserve these historical monuments, before they are damaged or in some cases completely destroyed. The need is to question the significance of preserving objects and monuments which might be of value locally to a city or town. What is done to preserve those objects? This research would develop pipelines for collecting and processing 3D data so the local communities could contribute towards restoring endangered sites and objects using their smartphones and making these objects available to be viewed in location based AR. There exist some companies which charge relatively large amounts of money for local scanning projects. This research would contribute as a non-profitable project which could be later used in school curriculums, visitor attractions and historical preservation organisations all over the globe at no cost. The scope isn't limited to furniture, museums or marketing, but could be used for personal digital archiving as well. This research will capture and process virtual objects using Mobile Phones comparing methodologies used in Computer Vision design from data conversion on Mobile phones to 3D generation, texturing and retopologising. The outcomes of this research will be used as input for generating AR which is application independent of any industry or product. 3D-AR


An extended review is presented of Bruno Latour's book Aramis, or the Love of Technology (Harvard University Press, 1996). Attention is paid to the textual style and strategies in the book, and also to how it fits in with, and exemplifies, many of the more abstract claims central to Latour's actor-network theory. In particular, consideration is given to the provocative arguments in the book about the status of nonhuman beings in social-scientific research, and to the specific manoeuvre whereby Aramis, this transportation project which never quite made it from being an idea to being a completed object, is accorded agency—and even a voice—in the text. The 'x-morphising' which underpins Aramis in this respect is examined, and is subsequently criticised for a flattening out of agency which permits humans and nonhumans to be regarded as 'social' equivalents. Although attracted to Latour's radical emancipation of nonhuman things from a social-scientific netherworld, we nonetheless conclude by worrying about the flat and undifferentiated 'spatial imaginary' at the heart of what he is attempting to do for actors of all kinds in Aramis.


A traveling-wave integrated slot radiator is designed using electromagnetic duality theory based off of the ring portion of a radial multi-port driven radiator to minimize the area required exclusively for the antenna. It is designed in 32 nm SOI CMOS and driven by a buffered quadrature VCO at 4 points to create the traveling wave that radiates out of the backside of the chip. It is measured to have a maximum EIRP of 6.0 dBm at 134.5 GHz with a total radiated power of -1.7 dBm while drawing 168 mW DC power.


ABSTRACT Solidarity is supposed to facilitate collective action. We argue that it can also help overcome false consciousness. Groups practice 'epistemic solidarity' if they pool information about what is in their true interest and how to vote accordingly. The more numerous 'Masses' can in this way overcome the 'Elites,' but only if they are minimally confident with whom they share the same interests and only if they are (perhaps only just) better-than-random in voting for the alternative that promotes their interests. Being more cohesive and more competent than the Masses, the Elites can employ the same strategy perhaps all the more effectively. But so long as the Masses practice epistemic solidarity they will almost always win, whether or not the Elites do. By enriching the traditional framework of the Condorcet Jury Theorem with group-specific standards of correctness, we investigate how groups can organize to support the alternatives truly in their interests.


Knowledge audit lays a concrete foundation for any knowledge management programs. The central topic of this paper is to integrate various knowledge audit related techniques into pre-audit preparation, in-audit process and post-audit analysis in a systematic manner. Culture assessment, in the form of surveys and radar charts, along with orientation program make up the pre-audit preparation. Structured interviews are carried out to capture process-critical knowledge. Knowledge inventory, knowledge maps and knowledge flow analysis compose of post-audit analysis. Knowledge inventory is then built for stocktaking knowledge assets and thus revealing the key knowledge assets by measuring them against four performance criteria. Knowledge mapping together with social network analysis are to show the knowledge exchange path and make the key knowledge suppliers and customers visible. They are then being further applied into knowledge flow analysis, which serves to reveal the strength and weakness of the current knowledge flow. A case study of applying the designed instruments in the Engineering Division of the Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Limited and the related analysis are also present in this paper.


Abstract Mental health nursing in New South Wales, Australia has experienced considerable change as a profession over the past 20 years. In a climate of reduced funding and heightened service need, rural and remote geographies continue to affect workplace environments and experiences. This article presents qualitative focus group data to identify what workplace strategies and experiences mental health nurses working in rural and remote communities used in their day-to-day practices. Findings demonstrate socially patterned working conditions and experiences consistent with national and international research outcomes, specifically that emotional and physical resilience is required to survive and thrive as a mental health professional. Specific workplace experiences reveal three key themes (workplace culture; professional pride; rewards, people and places) which characterise participants' perceptions and overall work satisfaction. Examples from each of these themes are presented to illustrate what contributed or detracted from individual mental health nurses' overall perception of their workplaces, and particularly such positive feelings as, 'I love my job'. From consideration of these experiences, greater insight into the profession may be gained that fosters policies and practices to address ongoing issues of low retention and high turnover rates.


Data streaming has established itself as a viable communication abstraction in data-intensive parallel and distributed computations, occurring in applications such as scientific visualization, performance monitoring, and large-scale data transfer. A known problem in large-scale event communication is tailoring the data received at the consumer. It is the general problem of extracting data of interest from a data source, a problem that the database community has successfully addressed with SOL queries, a time tested, user-friendly way for noncomputer scientists to access data. By leveraging the efficiency of query processing provided by relational queries, the dQUOB system provides a conceptual relational data model and SOL query access over streaming data. Queries can be used to extract data, combine streams, and create new streams. The language augments queries with an action to enable more complex data transformations such as Fourier transforms. The dQUOB system has been applied to two large-scale distributed applications: a safety critical autonomous robotics simulation and scientific software visualization for global atmospheric transport modeling. In this paper, we present the dQUOB system and the results of performance evaluation undertaken to assess its applicability in data-intensive wide-area computations, where the benefit of portable data transformation must be evaluated against the cost of continuous query evaluation.


Appearance of aneuploidy in the germ and somatic lines is usually associated with chromosome and genome rearrangements leading to polysomies and cancer. However, aneuploidy plays an important role in chromosome evolution and in the regulation of the ontogenetic development and phenotypic expression. The latter is known as chromosome diminutions. In Oligochaeta (mainly family Naididae but also Lumbricidae, Erpobdellidae and Branchiobdellidae), we have equated the variability of the chromosome count numbers with aneuploidy based on the results of our analyses and identified chromosome-like nondisjunctions as a major mechanism responsible for it. Another author detected Robertsonian-like translocations producing aneuploidy in Eisenia fetida (Lumbricidae, Oligochaeta). Our observations, nevertheless, show that, among karyotyped haploid/diploid cells, the most frequent were haploid (1n) or diploid (2n) chromosome counts connected by multiples. The number of aneuploidy counts was decreasing with the increase of x in expressions 1n + x/1n – x or 2n + x/2n – x. Noteworthy is that not all frequencies of chromosomes in a pair have the same probability. For example, odd aneuploidy numbers of chromosomes are significantly less frequent than the even ones. The wide spread of aneuploidy among Oligochaeta supports the punctuated equilibria model of evolution.


OF DISSERATION I CAN'T HEAR YOU BUT I'M NOT SURE I'M GOING TO TELL YOU: PERCEPTIONS OF STIGMA AND DISCLSOURE FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING Communication processes can be affected by stigma – a negative evaluation of an individual's attributes that discredits or identifies the individual as not normal (Goffman, 1963). One such communicative process that is affected by stigma is disclosure. Disclosure is when individuals share personal information that reveals something not previously known (Charmaz, 1991). One such group of individuals who may be forced to choose between disclosing (to get accommodations or social support) and avoiding stigma (by not disclosing) is individuals with disabilities (Braithwaite, 1991; Charmaz, 1991). This study focuses on one particular population of individuals with disabilities – those with a hearing loss. Through the use of interactive interviewing and Communication Privacy Management (CPM) theory, this study examines hard of hearing and deaf individuals' perceptions of both the disclosure process and stigma. CPM examines how and why people conceal or reveal private information, such as hearing loss (Petronio, 1991, 2002). Using CPM, this study poses research questions surrounding how hard of hearing individuals disclose and manage turbulence surrounding their hearing loss. Further, participants' perceptions and responses to stigma surrounding hearing loss are also examined. Based on the participants' responses, managing the boundaries surrounding their hearing loss includes considerations of identity, the other person/people in the interaction, risks of not disclosing, timing, and how much to disclose. Further, participants viewed boundary turbulence as positive only when it was helpful; otherwise, they reported a feeling of a loss of control. In examining stigma and other consequences of disclosure, participants talked about being labeled, not being worth others' time, and being seen as incapable. Finally, participants reported a wide variety of responses to stigma surrounding their hearing loss. In this study, I also discuss the implications of these findings, both theoretical and practical implications, and how they reflect the lives of the deaf and hard of hearing. Finally, I address the directions for future research on this topic as well as the limitations to this study.


This paper addresses how to optimally decentralize the execution of a multi-agent mission defined at the trajectory-level, where the information flow among agents in the system are limited by a predefined network topology. Each agent's decentralized controllers are constrained to be parameterized functions of the relative distances and angles between itself and its neighbors. Starting with a discussion on what it means for a controller to be considered decentralized, the problem is posed as an optimal control problem for switched autonomous systems. We derive optimality conditions for the parameters defining each mode for each agent, which is combined with optimality conditions for when to switch between consecutive modes. Simulations are used to showcase the operation of the proposed optimal decentralization algorithm on a complex example.


In this paper, we describe a system developed for hands free audio analysis for a living room environment. It comprises detection and localisation of the verbal and paralinguistic events, which can augment the behaviour of virtual director and improve the overall experience of interactions between spatially separated families and friends. The results show good performance in reverberant environments and fulfil real-time requirements.


Abstract—A factorial design of experiments and a response surface methodology were implemented to investigate the liquid-liquid extraction process of zinc (II) from acetate medium using the 1-Butylimidazolium di(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate [BIm+][D2EHP-]. The optimization process of extraction parameters such as the initial pH effect (2.5, 4.5, and 6.6), ionic liquid concentration (1, 5.5, and 10 mM) and salt effect (0.01, 5, and 10 mM) was carried out using a three-level full factorial design (33). The results of the factorial design demonstrate that all these factors are statistically significant, including the square effects of pH and ionic liquid concentration. The results showed that the order of significance: IL concentration > salt effect > initial pH. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showing high coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.91) and low probability values (P < 0.05) signifies the validity of the predicted second-order quadratic model for Zn (II) extraction. The optimum conditions for the extraction of zinc (II) at the constant temperature (20 °C), initial Zn (II) concentration (1mM) and A/O ratio of unity were: initial pH (4.8), extractant concentration (9.9 mM), and NaCl concentration (8.2 mM). At the optimized condition, the metal ion could be quantitatively extracted.


Brain delivery is one of the major challenges in drug development because of the high number of patients suffering from neural diseases and the low efficiency of the treatments available. Although the blood-brain barrier (BBB) prevents most drugs from reaching their targets, molecular vectors - known as BBB shuttles - offer great promise to safely overcome this formidable obstacle. In recent years, peptide shuttles have received growing attention because of their lower cost, reduced immunogenicity, and higher chemical versatility than traditional Trojan horse antibodies and other proteins.


The abundances, molecular weights, molar absorptivities, and polydispersities of sediment pore water dissolved organic matter (DOM) and ferrous iron, Fe(II), were measured from three sites within a freshwater wetland (Old Woman Creek) adjacent to Lake Erie. DOM concentrations (expressed as organic carbon) increased with depth. Number‐average molecular weight, weight‐average molecular weight, and molar absorptivities (at 280 nm) also increased with depth up to 5 cm and remained relatively constant below this depth. These properties are indicative of the respective changes in the size of the DOM constituents and the number of aromatic moieties present. Moreover, a strong correlation was observed between Fe(II) and DOM, which suggests that both constituents coaccumulate in these pore fluids, It is hypothesized that reductionof iron oxides coated with organic matter releases both DOM and Fe(II). Increases in the molecular weights and molar absorptivities of the DOM constituents suggest that the "sorbed" component released by iron oxide dissolution is composed of larger and more aromatic molecules. The molecular‐weight data also suggest that much of the refractory organic carbon in the interstitial waters comprises smaller‐than‐expected polymeric molecules. Thus, the release of the sorbed organic materials during the reductive dissolution of the oxide phases in anoxic sediments coupled with the selective preservation of refractory organic components may play an important role in both the DOM‐mediated fate of pollutants and the cycling of carbon in wetlands.


Justification logic originated from the study of the logic of proofs. However, in a more general setting, it may be regarded as a kind of explicit epistemic logic. In such logic, the reasons why a fact is believed are explicitly represented as justification terms. Traditionally, the modeling of uncertain beliefs is crucially important for epistemic reasoning. While graded modal logics interpreted with possibility theory semantics have been successfully applied to the representation and reasoning of uncertain beliefs, they cannot keep track of the reasons why an agent believes a fact. The objective of this paper is to extend the graded modal logics with explicit justifications. We introduce a possibilistic justification logic, present its syntax and semantics, and investigate its meta-properties, such as soundness, completeness, and realizability.


This article charts Iran's relations with Central Asia following the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. This event gave Iran a new set of neighbours to the north, and this came at a time when Iran was undergoing changes in the direction of its foreign policy from radical idealistic goals, such as the export of the Islamic Revolution, to more pragmatic aims, including giving priority to its own national interests and pursuing good neighbourly relations. Since 1991, Iran has attempted to develop relations towards the Central Asian states, both bilaterally and through various regional fora. Iran's actions have been based, in part, on a greater commitment to regionalism that has been evident in Iranian foreign policy since the early 1990s. This has focused on cultivating economic, infrastructural and cultural links with the region, rather than any form of ideological crusade, and has helped reduce Iran's international isolation. Following a historical contextualisation and explanation of the place that the lands of Central Asia hold in the Iranian geopolitical imagination, the article explores the key concerns of Iran in the region. It will examine Iran's position on what it perceives as being the key issues shaping its Central Asian diplomacy, namely regional economic cooperation, pipeline politics, the status of the Caspian Sea, security cooperation and cultural diplomacy. This provides a revealing case study of how Iran perceives itself as a vital player in the region, seeking to emphasise the benefits of its geostrategic location, relative stability, and increasing international role following the nuclear deal.


Differences in the targets of HipA and its variant HipA7 may explain why these kinases have different effects on bacterial persistence. Balancing bacterial growth with drug resistance Within some bacterial populations, a subset of cells grows more slowly than the rest, which decreases the competitive fitness of these cells under favorable growth conditions but enables them to survive exposure to antibiotics. The kinase HipA is important for the survival of such Escherichia coli persister cells because it targets the glutamate-tRNA ligase GltX, thus halting translation and slowing cell growth. A variant of this kinase that is associated with some clinical isolates, HipA7, is more efficient than HipA in inducing persistence, although it is less effective at reducing cell growth. Through phosphoproteomic analyses, Semanjski et al. found that although both HipA and HipA7 targeted GltX, HipA also targeted additional substrates, which likely account for the potency of HipA in reducing cell growth and may explain why HipA7, despite being more effective at promoting persistence, is less toxic than HipA. The bacterial serine-threonine protein kinase HipA promotes multidrug tolerance by phosphorylating the glutamate-tRNA ligase (GltX), leading to a halt in translation, inhibition of growth, and induction of a physiologically dormant state (persistence). The HipA variant HipA7 substantially increases persistence despite being less efficient at inhibiting cell growth. We postulated that this phenotypic difference was caused by differences in the substrates targeted by both kinases. We overproduced HipA and HipA7 in Escherichia coli and identified their endogenous substrates by SILAC-based quantitative phosphoproteomics. We confirmed that GltX was the main substrate of both kinase variants and likely the primary determinant of persistence. When HipA and HipA7 were moderately overproduced from plasmids, HipA7 targeted only GltX, but HipA phosphorylated several additional substrates involved in translation, transcription, and replication, such as ribosomal protein L11 (RplK) and the negative modulator of replication initiation, SeqA. HipA7 showed reduced kinase activity compared to HipA and targeted a substrate pool similar to that of HipA only when produced from a high–copy number plasmid. The kinase variants also differed in autophosphorylation, which was substantially reduced for HipA7. When produced endogenously from the chromosome, HipA showed no activity because of inhibition by the antitoxin HipB, whereas HipA7 phosphorylated GltX and phage shock protein PspA. Initial testing did not reveal a connection between HipA-induced phosphorylation of RplK and persistence or growth inhibition, suggesting that other HipA-specific substrates were likely responsible for growth inhibition. Our results contribute to the understanding of HipA7 action and present a resource for elucidating HipA-related persistence.


Fog along roadways is a dangerous hazard that leads to crashes resulting from limited visibility. Low visibility gives drivers less time to react to potential obstacles that can suddenly appear and require immediate action. To solve this issue, early warning systems involving Dynamic Message Signs or other types of devices are used to alert drivers of the impending visibility condition so that they are prepared. This research focuses on testing the effectiveness of one form of warning systems to investigate how it impacts driver behavior in foggy conditions. To accomplish this objective, a simulation study is developed to test variables of interest including: Roadway Type, Fog Level, DMS Presence, Beacon Presence, Traffic Volume, and DMS Message Provided. Using a factorial design, 24 scenarios are created by randomizing the variables listed using statistical software to be tested on 72 volunteer participants. Using a NADS MiniSim Driving Simulator, the participants driving behavior is recorded including speed and breaking behavior under an initial clear condition followed by a reduced visibility fog condition. From demographics, drivers age 35 and over consistently showed a higher likelihood of speed reduction between clear and fog conditions with overall reduction increasing with age. This is seen when looking at the mean change in speed based on driver age where young drivers (18-25 yrs) reduced speeds by 7MPH, older drivers (35-45 yrs) reduced by 12MPH, and elder drivers (65+ yrs) reduced by 17MPH. The more often a person drove and those that were educated at a graduate level also showed a higher chance of speed reductions. This demonstrates the impact of experience and exposure to driving performance under reduced visibility conditions. Those who recently drove under fog conditions or learned to drive in Florida were found to be less likely to reduce their speeds when entering the fog. This is attributed to these drivers being confident or familiar with the environment resulting in risky driving behavior. For the scenario variables, it is determined that the type of roadway a driver travels plays a major role in how much speed reduction occurs and thus how much a driver decelerates when entering a low visibility environment. On average, drivers traversed the fog zone at 50MPH with the lowest travel speed being 30MPH. Since the speed limit on the freeway is 5MPH higher than the arterial, drivers' traveling along this road are noted to decelerate at higher rates to achieve this target speed. Additionally, DMS presence and message also provided an impact on the drivers' choice to decelerate and reduce travel speed within the fog condition. Under the most severe conditions, the probability of a driver reducing speed increases as the number of DMS present increases. Additionally, when a DMS presents a warning and specifies the action that a driver should take, in this case 'reduce speed,' greater speed reductions and decelerations are observed and are more likely to occur. Interestingly the number of DMS did not have a significant impact on driver behavior under every fog condition like the message presented did except in the most severe fog condition. Taking into account that 33% of drivers did not accurately remember the number of DMS encountered it can be concluded that the warning message itself is the most important aspect of the early warning system. This indicates that drivers accurately remember being directed to reduce speed whether they are given the advisement once or multiple times based on the number of DMS present. Further research into how the warning message is presented or worded could provide additional insight into the impact it can have on driver behavior. Since it is observed that drivers acknowledge the 'reduce speed' advisement, it is likely that specifying a specific speed limit could also warrant driver obedience. Additional testing and observation of driver reaction to larger traffic volumes and situations within the fog would also allow for further analysis of driver behavior under reduced visibility and the impact the early warning system has on their behavior.


The railroad industry utilizes wayside detection systems to monitor the temperature of freight railcar bearings in service. The wayside hot-box detector (HBD) is a device that sits on the side of the tracks and uses a non-contact infrared sensor to determine the temperature of the train bearings as they roll over the detector. Various factors can affect the temperature measurements of these wayside detection systems. The class of the railroad bearing and its position on the axle relative to the position of the wayside detector can affect the temperature measurement. That is, the location on the bearing cup where the wayside infrared sensor reads the temperature varies depending on the bearing class (e.g., class K, F, G, E). Furthermore, environmental factors can also affect these temperature readings. The abovementioned factors can lead to measured temperatures that are significantly different than the actual operating temperatures of the bearings. In some cases, temperature readings collected by wayside detection systems did not indicate potential problems with some bearings, which led to costly derailments. Attempts by certain railroads to optimize the use of the temperature data acquired by these wayside detection systems has led to removal of bearings that were not problematic (about 40% of bearings removed were non-verified), resulting in costly delays and inefficiencies. To this end, the study presented here aims to investigate the efficacy of the wayside detection systems in measuring the railroad bearing operating temperature in order to optimize the use of these detection systems. A specialized single bearing dynamic test rig with a configuration that closely simulates the operating conditions of railroad bearings in service was designed and built by the University Transportation Center for Railway Safety (UTCRS) research team at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) for the purpose of this study. The test rig is equipped with a system that closely mimics the wayside detection system functionality and compares the infrared sensor temperature reading to contact thermocouple and bayonet temperature sensors fixed to the outside surface of the bearing cup. This direct comparison of the temperature data will provide a better understanding of the correlation between these temperatures under various loading levels, operating speeds, and bearing conditions (i.e. healthy versus defective), which will allow for an optimization of the wayside detectors. The impact on railway safety will be realized through optimized usage of current wayside detection systems and fewer nonverified bearings removed from service, which translates into fewer costly train stoppages and delays.


INTRODUCTION
Previous studies argue that saccade adaptation, traditionally induced by intrasaccadic step (ISS), remaps visual perception. Here, we ask whether saccadic vector alteration is cause or consequence of the perceptual remapping. For this reason, we applied ISS on a landmark near an unmoved saccadic target, and then tested subjects' localization performance and their saccadic gains towards the landmark, in two separate experiments.

METHODS
In Experiment 1, six subjects made delayed saccades (cued by offset of fixation point) to a target with a nearby landmark. Subjects used a mouse cursor to localize the post-saccadic position of the landmark, which in some trials disappeared on saccade onset (Landmark-Off) and in the others stayed on until the appearance of the cursor (Landmark-On). After a baseline period, the landmark underwent ISS. Experiment 2 was the same as Experiment 1, except subjects localized landmarks via saccades (with screen blanking on saccade onset to eliminate any feedback). When the saccadic goal was the target, the landmark stayed on for 400ms after saccade onset. Again, after a baseline period the landmark underwent an ISS.

RESULTS
In Experiment 1, the landmark was significantly mislocalized in both Landmark-On and, more importantly, Landmark-Off trials-despite no corresponding change in saccade gain to the target. In Experiment 2, saccades to the target were also unchanged, but saccades to the landmark were adapted, despite the lack of visual feedback for saccades to the landmark.

DISCUSSION
We conclude that the visual system includes non-target (landmark) error signals between pre-saccadic and post-saccadic visual information to maintain its spatial accuracy. These findings also suggest that saccade adaptation, induced by ISS, is not just a motor recalibration based on saccadic landing error: Part of the saccadic gain change is derived by a prior change in visual perception. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


Data replication is a key issue in a Data Grid and can be managed in different ways and at different levels of granularity: for example, at the file level or object level. In the High Energy Physics community, Data Grids are being developed to support the distributed analysis of experimental data. We have produced a prototype data replication tool, the Grid Data Management Pilot (GDMP) that is in production use in one physics experiment, with middleware provided by the Globus Toolkit used for authentication, data movement, and other purposes. We present here a new, enhanced GDMP architecture and prototype implementation that uses Globus Data Grid tools for efficient file replication. We also explain how this architecture can address object replication issues in an object-oriented database management system. File transfer over wide-area networks requires specific performance tuning in order to gain optimal data transfer rates. We present performance results obtained with GridFTP, an enhanced version of FTP, and discuss tuning parameters.


The central argument of this thesis is that the
contradictions between modernisation and restoring a national
identity, drawn from the Arab-Islamic culture, have generated
tensions in the Maghreb (Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia). The
thesis concentrates on the particular problems posed 4y language
and language policies in these contemporary circumstances.
Chapter One provides an overview of the major
concerns of the thesis, with a special stress on cultural
and language questions.
The main argument of Chapter Two is that Western
theories of development are based on the assumption of the
universality of the Western model, and undervalue the social
and cultural elements of developing nations, including the
Maghreb.
Chapter Three extends the analysis to the role of
language and nationalism in the process of nation building
and analyses, with special reference to Algeria, the
contradictions between development policies drawn from the
West, and language policies stressing an Arab-Islamic
identity. This chapter deals particularly with the problems
of having Arabic as the national language and French as the
operational language.
Chapter Four examines comparatively the
interrelationship between language policies and the social
and educational contexts of the Maghreb. The arguments of
the chapter are: that language policies have been influenced
more by ideological than practical considerations; that
contradictions at the political level are reflected in the
social and educational contexts; that these contradictions
are affecting the educational system adversely.
Chapter Five draws the themes of the thesis
together, and reassesses contemporary difficulties over
language policies in the context of modernisation problems.
The chapter makes proposals for new language policies in a
complex linguistic, cultural and economic, situation, with
some concluding comments on the specific case of Algeria.


In this study we assess global biogeography and correlation patterns among three components of microbial life: bacteria, microeukaryotes, and T4-like myoviruses. In addition to environmental and biogeographical considerations, we have focused our study on samples from high-latitude pristine lakes from both poles, since these simple island-like ecosystems represent ideal ecological models to probe the relationships among microbial components and with the environment. Bacterial assemblages were dominated by members of the same groups found to dominate freshwater ecosystems elsewhere, and microeukaryotic assemblages were dominated by photosynthetic microalgae. Despite inter-lake variations in community composition, the overall percentages of OTUs shared among sites was remarkable, indicating that many microeukaryotic, bacterial, and viral OTUs are globally-distributed. We observed an intriguing negative correlation between bacterial and microeukaryotic diversity values. Notably, our analyses show significant global correlations between bacterial and microeukaryotic community structures, and between the phylogenetic compositions of bacterial and T4-like virus assemblages. Overall, environmental filtering emerged as the main factor driving community structures.


Excerpt] In general, the premiums charged by health insurance companies represent actuarial estimates of the amount that would be required to cover three main components: (1) the expected cost of the health benefits covered under the plan, (2) the business administrative costs of operating the plan, and (3) a profit. The final premium calculation often is adjusted upward or downward to reflect several factors, such as making up for a previous financial loss. Health insurance premiums have been trending up, while the value of coverage has trended down. Available data indicate that both administrative and medical costs continue to rise, but the rate of growth in these expenses slowed between 2008 and 2009. The data also suggest that the rise in medical costs is primarily attributable to the price of services, not increased utilization. The rise in the cost of health insurance has received considerable attention by Congress and resulted in calls for more regulation. The regulation of private health insurance has traditionally been under the jurisdiction of the states. Most states have used their regulatory authority over the business of insurance to require the filing of health insurance documents containing rate information for one or more insurance market segments or plan types. With the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148, PPACA) on March 23,2010, and subsequent amendments, the federal government will assume a role in private health insurance rate reviews by providing grants to states and requiring health insurance companies to provide justifications for proposed rate increases determined to be unreasonable. This report provides an overview of the concepts, regulation, and available public data regarding private health insurance premiums. This report will be updated to reflect relevant legislative activity and the availability of new public data.


The current approach to the enforcement of copyright restrictions on intellectual properties to be distributed by electronic means (particularly, via the Web) aims at blocking unauthorised duplication by means of increasingly sophisticated protection systems (encryption, watermarks, net-active software, etc.). The paper argues that an approach of this kind runs counter to current technological trends, and that it should be eventually replaced by a model in which unauthorised duplication is not done because it is not convenient on the user's part, not because it is not possible. Such model rejects the pay-per-view concept in favour of a relatively expensive membership fee by which the user of an `Open Global Library' acquires the personal right to unlimited downloading. The fee is anchored to a range of intrinsically non-copyable services, to discourage `eavesdropping' by non-members, and coupled with a reward scheme to distribute part of the membership fee to the authors of the intellectual properties. Implications and open problems for advertising, private enterprise and environmental protections are discussed.


WorldMap is an open source online mapping application which aims to lower barriers for scholars who wish to visualize, analyze, organize, present, and publish mapped information. In late 2013, 290 respondents among the 8,000 registered users participated in an online survey in which they described their activities, purposes, experiences, and preferences regarding the system. Participants also described their professional background, GIS skill level, age, gender, and country of work. This study analyzes the results of the survey, by summarizing the responses to each question independently and by examining the relationships and dependencies of these answers across the different questions to try to better understand why users responded the way they did. The study is based on the user‐centered design (UCD) approach. We aim to use the survey results to improve our understanding of user demographics and needs. Findings from this study will be used to guide WorldMap improvements, and we hope the findings will also shed light on the broader requirements of online GIS users.


This chapter offers a feminist reading of Pashukanis's legal theory as a contribution to critical evaluation of the relationship between legality, commodification and gender. Contemporary feminist interests in the relationship between legal and non-legal norms, in the role of commodification, and in the limits of gender as a category of analysis, make a re-engagement with Pashukanis timely. For Pashukanis, legal form constitutes subjects as if they have property rights over objects, generates exchange value, and represents differently situated subjects as if they are equal. Here I develop an account of legal form analysis that recuperates Pashukanis's distinction between legal form and technical regulation, his theorisation of the subject of commodification, and his historical method of form/content analysis. Drawing on this critical reading of Pashukanis, I argue for the development of legal form analysis so as to accommodate the roles of social reproduction and consumption in the generation of care value and use value in commodity-exchanging societies. I illustrate this method by providing a legal form analysis of a conflict in consent rights over the use of genetically related embryos. Such an analysis asks how consent rights would extract care value from the subject's reproductive wishes, recognise contributions to the development of the embryo, and recognise investments in the future use of that embryo. In this way, legal form analysis provides a reading of legal contributions to the generation of value from human reproductive activities without making assumptions about their gendered content.