The authors of The Economic Effects of Constitutions use econometric tools to study what they call the "missing link" between constitutional systems and economic policy; the book is an uncompromisingly empirical sequel to their previous theoretical analysis of economic policy. Taking recent theoretical work as a point of departure, they ask which theoretical findings are supported and which are contradicted by the facts. The results are based on comparisons of political institutions across countries or time, in a large sample of contemporary democracies. They find that presidential/parliamentary and majoritarian/proportional dichotomies influence several economic variables: presidential regimes induce smaller public sectors, and proportional elections lead to greater and less targeted government spending and larger budget deficits. Moreover, the details of the electoral system (such as district magnitude and ballot structure) influence corruption and structural policies toward economic growth. Persson and Tabellini's goal is to draw conclusions about the causal effects of constitutions on policy outcomes. But since constitutions are not randomly assigned to countries, how the constitutional system was selected in the first place must be taken into account. This raises challenging methodological problems, which are addressed in the book. The study is therefore important not only in its findings but also in establishing a methodology for empirical analysis in the field of comparative politics.


Although Affordance Theory has become increasingly influential in the Information Systems (IS) literature, the exact process through which the affordances of IT are actualised is less studied. In this paper, we build on a realist ontology of affordance and an interpretive epistemology of how affordances are perceived and actualised to trace the process of actualisation. On the basis of insights drawn from a case study of a telemedicine project in a remote mountainous region of Nepal, we develop a concept, which we call the "Trajectory of Affordances." Trajectory of Affordances captures the complex relations between affordances of IT and the role of goal‐oriented actors who perceive and then play a vital role in actualising them, using capabilities that are enabled by facilitating conditions to take the necessary action. Trajectory of Affordances shows that the affordances of IT can travel from perception to actualisation through multiple paths, sometimes clustering together, and in the process, often lead to the emergence of new affordances.


Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) is a promising technology to enrich the core functionality of picture archiving and communication systems (PACS). CBIR has a potentially strong impact in diagnostics, research, and education. Research successes that are increasingly reported in the scientific literature, however, have not made significant inroads as medical CBIR applications incorporated into routine clinical medicine or medical research. The cause is often attributed without sufficient analytical reasoning to the inability of these applications in overcoming the "semantic gap". The semantic gap divides the high-level scene analysis of humans from the low-level pixel analysis of computers. In this paper, we suggest a more systematic and comprehensive view on the concept of gaps in medical CBIR research. In particular, we define a total of 13 gaps that address the image content and features, as well as the system performance and usability. In addition to these gaps, we identify 6 system characteristics that impact CBIR applicability and performance. The framework we have created can be used a posteriori to compare medical CBIR systems and approaches for specific biomedical image domains and goals and a priori during the design phase of a medical CBIR application. To illustrate the a posteriori use of our conceptual system, we apply it, initially, to the classification of three medical CBIR implementations: the content-based PACS approach (cbPACS), the medical GNU image finding tool (medGIFT), and the image retrieval in medical applications (IRMA) project. We show that systematic analysis of gaps provides detailed insight in system comparison and helps to direct future research.


Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) are sites that contribute significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity. The purpose of the Guidelines for using A Global Standard for the Identification of Key Biodiversity Areas is to ensure that KBA identification is based on consistent, scientifically rigorous yet practical methods. These KBA Guidelines provide an overview of the steps for identifying and delineating KBAs, together with explanation of how the KBA criteria, thresholds and delineation procedures should be applied in practice. The KBA Guidelines should be used hand-in-hand with the KBA Standard (IUCN, 2016).


Mood disorders are pervasive among community college students and can put them at higher risk for developing more severe disorders and academic failure. Mindful exercise, including yoga, Tai Chi, and others has been shown to improve mood within this population. Therefore, more research is necessary to better understand the relationship of regular mindful exercise to the perception of mood in community college students. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of participation in mindful exercise courses on community college students' perception of perceived stress and general mood over a 16-week semester. Eighteen students (13 female, and 5 male) participated in the study and completed the courses in Fall 2018. Measures included pre- mid- and post-study surveys measuring participants' self-perception of their general mood, stress, and physical activity. Results showed positive, although not statistically significant, trends in participants' perception of improved mood and decreased feelings of stress and fatigue. Findings suggest the practice of mindful exercise can positively influence community college students' perceived stress and mood. Further study is needed to explore other methods of incorporating mindful exercise into the community college environment in both the academic and non-academic settings.


C.H. Dodd's framework for understanding the Gospel according to John: An evaluation. During the previous century Dodd was one of the most significant and influential interpreters of the Gospel of John. His views on the symbolic nature of the Gospel formed the basis of his hermeneutical program for understanding the Gospel. He understood the Johannine symbols in the light of what he regarded as the relevant background material. Theologically he interprets the symbols within a Platonic-like structure, arguing that the symbols in John function as hermeneutical bridges between the background material and the theological formation of the Gospel of John. In subsequent literary studies this approach was and still is questioned.


Faithful segregation of chromosomes is ensured by the spindle checkpoint. If a kinetochore does not correctly attach to a microtubule the spindle checkpoint stops cell cycle progression until all chromosomes are attached to microtubules or tension is experienced while pulling the chromosomes. The C. elegans gene, san-1, is required for spindle checkpoint function and anoxia survival. To further understand the role of san-1 in the spindle checkpoint, an RNAi screen was conducted to identify genetic interactions with san-1. The kinetochore gene hcp-1 identified in this screen, was known to have a genetic interaction with hcp-2. Interestingly, san-1(ok1580);hcp-2(ok1757) had embryonic and larval lethal phenotypes, but the phenotypes observed are less severe compared to the phenotypes of san-1(ok1580);hcp-1(RNAi) animals. Both san-1(ok1580);hcp-1(RNAi) and san-1(ok1580);hcp-2(RNAi) produce eggs that may hatch; but san-1(ok1580):hcp-1(RNAi) larvae do not survive to adulthood due to defects caused by aberrant chromosome segregations during development. Y54G9A.6 encodes the C. elegans homolog of bub-3, and has spindle checkpoint function. In C.elegans, bub-3 has genetic interactions with san-1 and mdf-2. An RNAi screen for genetic interactions with bub-3 identified that F31F6.3 may potentially have a genetic interaction with bub-3. This work provided genetic evidence that hcp-1, hcp-2 and F31F6.2 interact with spindle checkpoint genes.


Default risk is one of the most important and fastest growing areas in derivatives. Single-name credit default swaps are now well established, and markets for contracts based on the default experience of a credit portfolio, like collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) and basket default swaps, are developing rapidly. Portfolio credit risk requires default correlation as a critical input. But defaults are rare, so default correlation must be estimated in another way, typically from correlations in stock returns. In a "structural" credit risk model, a credit event occurs when the net asset value of the firm falls below a critical threshold. Transitions among credit rating classes can be modeled with a set of thresholds corresponding to the different ratings. The widely used "normal copula" model treats the default probability for a single issuer, and default correlations among pairs of issuers, as arising from exposure to a set of common stochastic risk factors plus an idiosyncratic term. The resulting models are intuitive, but calibration to (implied) correlations embedded in market CDO prices can be difficult, especially as the number of factors increases. In this article, Overbeck and Schmidt offer an alternative structural approach that produces similar values to the normal copula model, with considerably less difficulty. Their trick is to alter the time scales of the Wiener processes driving the underlying asset values, which is equivalent to allowing time-varying volatilities, and permits a much easier calibration of the correlations.


Highly virulent H5N1 Asian bird flu is poised to arrive in the United States. If the avian flu virus mutates, becoming transmissible from person to person, widespread disease is probable. Presuming World Health Organization predictions hold, patient demand may overwhelm medical facilities making pandemic influenza preparation and coordination essential. This article provides a checklist to use to organize your pandemic flu-planning efforts. Physician offices and other healthcare facilities must stay flexible in their response to a possible influenza pandemic. Prepare by planning in advance for the worst-case scenario. Revise your plan as needed to keep abreast of future developments.


The Homeric epos is an opportunity given to Gnosticism to tell the tragic history of the Soul, confined in the cosmos. Odysseus is a Redeemer to reach the gate of heaven. This fact is probably linked with the story of Telegonus, that travelling in search of his father Odysseus, kills him. Telegonus, on learning of his mistake, brings his father's body, along with Penelope and Telemachus, to the island of his mother, where Circe makes them immortal. To achieve these levels of awareness and «see» the flashes of another reality, the Gnostics are helped by psychoactive drugs, the vehicle towards a new state of consciousness. A tool that was part of their visionary biopolitical strategy. The ancient Gnostics realized at an early time that theurgy and archaic mythology, so favourable to the cosmos and optimism, would cause a derive of reification and would reduce epics and mythology to mere objects of social control and mental health. Gnostic biopolitics seem therefore to react against a power which permeates all bodies and minds, as it appears in some theurgical Neoplatonism. The biopolical power expresses itself through a control that reaches the depths of consciences and bodies, and, at the same time, the totality of social relations. To this mechanism the Gnostics would appear to desire to rebel, reinterpreting epics and mythology through a new, changed paradigm, the reified world of bodies, objects with no sense of reality and truth, namely God, the true light blessed by God that lives in a distant and unknown dimension.


Hydrolyzed leather proteins have been used illegally by some dairy industries in dairy products to increase the protein content in the last few years. As a specific amino acid in collagen, the detection of L-hydroxyproline (L-Hyp) can be used to indicate whether the hydrolyzed leather proteins are added to dairy products or not. A sensitive capillary electrophoretic method with in-capillary optical fiber light-emitting diode-induced fluorescence detection (ICOF-LED-IFD-CE) was developed for the determination of L-Hyp and further for identification of hydrolyzed leather proteins in dairy products. Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) labelled L-Hyp (FITC-Hyp) was detected in a background electrolyte of 20 mM sodium borate at pH 9.4 and an applied voltage of 17 kV in less than 8 min. The limit of detection (LOD) for FITC-Hyp was 0.61 nM at the signal to noise ratio (S/N) of 3. The intraday precision (n = 6) of migration time and peak area was 2.65% and 1.97%, while the interday precision (n = 6) of migration time and peak area was 1.54% and 2.36%, respectively. The accuracy of the proposed method was judged by standard addition method, spectrophotometry method and commercial LIF-CE, and the results indicated that the proposed method was reliable. The ICOF-LED-IFD-CE method was successfully applied to determine L-Hyp in dairy products.


The uniqueness of shape as a perceptual property lies in the fact that it is both complex and structured. Shapes are perceived veridically -- perceived as they really are in the physical world, regardless of the orientation from which they are viewed. The constancy of the shape percept is the sine qua non of shape perception; you are not actually studying shape if constancy cannot be achieved with the stimulus you are using. Shape is the only perceptual attribute of an object that allows unambiguous identification. In this first book devoted exclusively to the perception of shape by humans and machines, Zygmunt Pizlo describes how we perceive shapes and how to design machines that can see shapes as we do. He reviews the long history of the subject, allowing the reader to understand why it has taken so long to understand shape perception, and offers a new theory of shape. Until recently, shape was treated in combination with such other perceptual properties as depth, motion, speed, and color. This resulted in apparently contradictory findings, which made a coherent theoretical treatment of shape impossible. Pizlo argues that once shape is understood to be unique among visual attributes and the perceptual mechanisms underlying shape are seen to be different from other perceptual mechanisms, the research on shape becomes coherent and experimental findings no longer seem to contradict each other. A single theory of shape perception is thus possible, and Pizlo offers a theoretical treatment that explains how a three-dimensional shape percept is produced from a two-dimensional retinal image, assuming only that the image has been organized into two-dimensional shapes. Pizlo focuses on discussion of the main concepts, telling the story of shape without interruption. Appendixes provide the basic mathematical and computational information necessary for a technical understanding of the argument. References point the way to more in-depth reading in geometry and computational vision.


This paper addresses foreland basin fragmentation through integrated detrital zircon U–Pb geochronology, sandstone petrography, facies analysis and palaeocurrent measurements from a Mesozoic–Cenozoic clastic succession preserved in the northern Andean retroarc fold‐thrust belt. Situated along the axis of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia, the Floresta basin first received sediment from the eastern craton (Guyana shield) in the Cretaceous–early Palaeocene and then from the western magmatic arc (Central Cordillera) starting in the mid‐Palaeocene. The upper‐crustal magmatic arc was replaced by a metamorphic basement source in the middle Eocene. This, in turn, was replaced by an upper‐crustal fold‐thrust belt source in the late Eocene which persisted until Oligocene truncation of the Cenozoic section by the eastward advancing thrust front. Sedimentary facies analysis indicates minimal changes in depositional environments from shallow marine to low‐gradient fluvial and estuarine deposits. These same environments are recorded in coeval strata across the Eastern Cordillera. Throughout the Palaeogene, palaeocurrent and sediment provenance data point to a uniform western or southwestern sediment source. These data show that the Floresta basin existed as part of a laterally extensive, unbroken foreland basin connected with the proximal western (Magdalena Valley) basin from mid‐Paleocene to late Eocene time when it was isolated by uplift of the western flank of the Eastern Cordillera. The Floresta basin was also connected with the distal eastern (Llanos) basin from the Cretaceous until its late Oligocene truncation by the advancing thrust front.


Increased globalisation, coupled with rising domestic competition, has led a growing number of firms to search beyond their traditional domestic markets for business opportunities in recent years. As a result, export-led economic growth has gained renewed attention amongst policy makers, particularly amongst those in industrialising nations, or so-called efficiency-driven economies. This search for drivers of economic growth has gained further impetus from the economic pressures brought about by the fall in growth in advanced markets following the global financial crisis coupled with the rising competitiveness of other industrialising emerging economies. A common policy proposal amongst countries trying to improve their competitiveness is to weaken the domestic exchange rate as a means to stimulate exports. However, depreciation also increases exchange rate risk. Given the renewed emphasis on this policy lever, this research examines the impact of exchange rate on export performance in a sample of nine efficiency-driven economies over the period 1990 to 2009. These economies that we survey include Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, Thailand and Turkey, which all have floating exchange rate arrangements during the survey period. Panel data models using a fixed-effects method were used, and it was found that a weakening of the exchange rate does not necessarily improve export performance. To the contrary, for the nine countries surveyed, export growth seems to be associated with stronger exchange rates. Whilst our results suggest that the lag effect of exchange rate movement on export performance is slightly more pronounced, the relationship nevertheless remains statistically insignificant.


The sea below 200 meters depth accounts for 95% of the volume of the ocean, making it the largest habitat for life on Earth. Though it is perpetually cold, generally dark, and subject to extreme pressures, the deep sea contains a wealth of unique and unusual species, habitats and ecosystems. It also contains a wealth of mineral resources, some of them in unique or highly enriched concentrations. Attempts to recover these resources during the 1970s and 1980s were impaired by legal uncertainties and technical constraints, along with metal prices that did not justify the enormous investments required. Today, the legal uncertainties have been largely resolved, marine mining and environmental monitoring technology has advanced rapidly. This report aims to stimulate interest in the deep ocean and the discussions surrounding its potential development, with a specific focus on deep-sea mining of hard metal-bearing minerals.


It has frequently been stated that there exists a gap between production scheduling theory and practice. In order to put theoretical findings into practice, advances in scheduling models and solution procedures should be embedded into a piece of software – a scheduling system – in companies. This results in a process that entails (1) determining its functional features, and (2) adopting a successful strategy for its development and deployment. In this paper we address the latter question and review the related literature in order to identify descriptions and recommendations of the main aspects to be taken into account when developing such systems. These issues are then discussed and classified, resulting in a set of guidelines that can help practitioners during the process of developing and deploying a scheduling system. In addition, identification of these issues can provide some insights to drive theoretical scheduling research towards those topics more in demand by practitioners, and thus help to close the aforementioned gap.


The Home Office has estimated that each year in Britain between 3400 and 5400 offences occur in which glass is used as a weapon. Two surveys of victims of assault who attended accident and emergency departments in Bristol and south London found that the most commonly used sharp weapons were bar glasses.1,2 Another study found that three quarters of such injuries had arisen through assaults with straight sided bar glasses of one pint (0.57 1) capacity ("noniks" - or no nicks).3

Contrary to expectation, three quarters of the glasses were intact until they were thrown or thrust at someone and then broke on impact. Almost all injuries were to the face, and doctors working in accident and emergency departments predicted that deformity at six months would be "noticeable" or "very noticeable" in three quarters of the victims. The British Association of Hand Surgeons identified more than 200 accidental hand injuries due to bar glasses in three months in 1987.4 These surveys highlight the morbidity produced by bar glass - mostly in young people, …


Postmenopausal women have an increasing risk of suffering from osteoporosis (Bord et al. 2003) and to developing the 'metabolic syndrome' (Carr 2003; Lobo 2008). These are two conditions with serious sequelae that are rising in importance globally. In recent years there has been investigations that showed a correlation between these diseases and the interaction of fat and bone metabolism (Hwang and Choi 2010).
In order to develop alternatives with less side affects than the common hormone replacement therapy for women in postmenopause, there is research interest in the field of phytotherapy. So far, studies have proven that the Ecdysteroid 20-hydroxy-Ecdysone (Ecd) seems to have multiple positive effects. For example in bioassay it improved the menopause typical "hot flushes" (Puri et al. 2012) and prevented the development of osteoporosis and metabolic syndrome (Seidlova-Wuttke et al. 2010a; Seidlova-Wuttke et al. 2010b).
This dissertation was structured to compile the literature and provide new original research on the effects of Ecd as a potential therapy for post-menopausal women
Besides the investigation of Ecd and the reaction this has on bone, this work also analyses the influence of Ecd on the adjoining adipose tissue, in order to assess the interaction of fat and bone metabolism.

The established model of ovariectomized (ovx) rats for the postmenopause woman was used. There have been four groups, each with ten rats. Three groups were ovx. Every ovx group got either soy free food, soy free food + Ecd or soy free food + 17-s-Estradiol (E2). After 4 weeks they were decapitated and the primary investigator performed the histomorphological analysis. Analytical parameters of the investigations were the due of fat, trabecular tissue and red bone marrow in the metaphyse, thickness of corticalis, the epiphysial cartilage and the due of fat in the joint space.
One of our first findings was that the thickness of corticalis of the tibia was maintained in the Ecd group. After four weeks giving Ecd it was significantly thicker than the ovx-group.
In addition we found a significant loss of trabecular tissue in the metaphysis, which is an important component of osteoporosis, in the ovx-group. The Ecd-group showed a significant higher amount of trabecular tissue than the ovx-group. The bonemarker osteocalzin and crossLaps showed a higher bone metabolism after giving Ecd. This encourages the hypothesis that the anti osteoporosic effect of Ecd is based on increasing bone structure, dislike E2 which enacts this through decreasing loss of bone structure (Kapur et al. 2010).
Seemingly Ecd also has a protective effect concerning the increase of fat mass. The part of fat in the bone marrow of the metaphysis was significantly less than that in the ovx-group. Therefore the adjoining bone is less exposed to lipotoxication, which is a result of a higher production of cytokines of the adipozytes (Cao 2011).
Also the due of fat in the joint space in the Ecd-group was significant lower. In consideration of the results of the department of endocrinology Gottingen, which showed that the joint cartilage was significantly wider in the Ecd- and the E2-groups, it can lead to the conclusion that Ecd and the metabolic effects of it on fat may also protect against osteoarthritis.
We would recommend further research to confirm and add to the findings of our study.
Ecd additionally confirmed it's already known proliferative effects. The epiphysial cartilage in Ecd-group was significant wider and the due of red bone marrow in the metaphysis was significant higher than in the ovx-group for our sample of rats.
Because of the interaction of fat- and bone metabolism osteoporosis could be named as a "metabolic syndrome of the bone".
This study reveals that Ecd has not just a positive effect on the bone, it also has a protective influence on the development of the adjoining adipose tissue. That means that Ecd may have the potential to influence various sources of the development of osteoporosis and may also be able to prevent it.


Evaluation of spatial accessibility to public transportation has a weak background in many emerging countries, including Iran. Transit-Oriented Development is of great interest among Iranian planners and academics, but little is known about transit orientation provided by major public transport systems exemplified by the Tehran Metro. Statistical difference tests and polynomial regression done in this study show how residential densities within walking distances of metro stations established at different times after 1998 are significantly different. Both population and employment densities have decreased in more recent stations compared to those opened between 2005 and 2010. Moreover, one-way T-Tests comparing the population and densities of older lines with those of newer lines reveal that, in most cases, densities within walking distances of stations of older lines are higher. The paper concludes that lack of proper site selection and failing to locate new stations near job centers and highly populated areas threatens the transit-friendliness that emerged in the early years after establishing the first metro station in 1998.


Upper Triassic (Norian) strata of the Miankuhi Formation in northeastern Iran have been studied palynologically, revealing a diverse but poorly preserved association of dinoflagellate cysts. Based on representatives of the genera Hebecysta, Heibergella, Rhaetogonyaulax and Sverdrupiella, the strata are assigned to the middle of the Hebecysta balmei Zone with an inferred age of early Late Norian. The association shows similarities with assemblages from Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Northwest Europe, arctic Canada and Alaska, indicating an interconnection of warm Tethyan waters during the Late Triassic. The occurrence of Sverdrupiella species in the clastic, near-shore marine deposits of Miankuhi, and their presence in similar sedimentary facies world-wide, indicate that this genus was well adapted to clastic shallow-marine environments.


One of the most costly and damaging disasters in U.S. history, the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake was the largest earthquake to strike California since 1952 and the most devastating to hit the San Francisco Bay Area since 1906. From the earliest hours following impact, as initial reconnaissance efforts got under way, it was evident that Loma Prieta would become an important case study for the various disciplines concerned with earthquake hazard reduction. Because Loma Prieta presented such an obvious opportunity to learn more about the earthquake hazard, an unprecedented number of studies were undertaken in the earth sciences, engineering, and the social science. At this point, a little more that three years after the event, an enormous amount of data have been collected and a lot has been learned on a wide range of topics. This paper focuses on the lessons for emergency preparedness and response that have resulted from that research. After presenting a brief overview of research on Loma Prieta, the paper considers research findings and practical implications related to the actions of individuals, households, and the public at large; groups and organizations, and government agencies and the intergovernmental system.


An acknowledged expert on the Hebrew Bible, Thomas Dozeman offers a fresh translation of the Hebrew and Greek texts of the book of Joshua and explores the nature, function, and causes of the religious violence depicted therein. By blending the distinct teachings of Deuteronomy and the Priestly literature, Dozeman provides a unique interpretation of holy war as a form of sacred genocide, arguing that, since peace in the promised land required the elimination of the populations of all existent royal cities, a general purging of the land accompanied the progress of the ark of the covenant. This essential work of religious scholarship demonstrates how the theme of total genocide is reinterpreted as partial conquest when redactors place Joshua, an independent book, between Deuteronomy and Judges. The author traces the evolution of this reinterpretation of the central themes of religious violence while providing a comparison of the two textual versions of Joshua and an insightful analysis of the book's reception history.


Augmented reality (AR) applications sense the environment, then create virtual objects overlaid on human senses. Examples include games such as Kinect Adventures! and tablet applications that show virtual furniture in the context of a real room. No current OS has special support for such applications, so they must perform all sensing and object recognition themselves. As a result, permissions for AR applications are necessarily coarse grained: applications must ask for access to raw sensor feeds, such as video and audio. Unfortunately, these raw feeds expose significant additional information over and above what applications need, such as location, identity of the user, or sensitive information written on documents. To meet the needs of AR applications, we introduce a new OS abstraction: the recognizer. A recognizer takes as input raw sensor streams, then outputs higher-level objects, such as a skeleton or a face. We introduce a novel fine-grained permission system where AR applications can obtain the output of recognizers, but do not see the raw sensor data. We tackle the problem of permissions with noisy data, as recognizers may have false positives. We introduce a trusted OS component for managing noisy data in a prototype using the Kinect for Windows SDK. We show how recognizers in the OS eliminate duplication of heavyweight object recognition across applications, and we quantify the resulting performance improvement. Finally, we introduce privacy goggles, which allows users to inspect what data the application can see, both at install time and afterwards. We show that a small set of recognizers are sufficient to support all shipping Kinect applications, and we quantify users' privacy attitudes toward the output of these recognizers.


Tumor heterogeneity has major implications for tumor development and response to therapy. We relate intra-tumor heterogeneity to morphology as determined by MRI (or CT) images by applying a biologically-inspired model of tumor growth. This model represents the development of a tumor as a set of expanding spheres, each representing a distinct clonal center, with the sprouting of new spheres representing new centers. Each clonal center may possess different characteristics, including genetic composition, growth rate and response to treatment. A major implication of our work is that assessment of a tumor using volume measurements (RECIST, WHO) may not accurately reflect the response to treatment. The application of this new concept to clinical imaging studies has confirmed its ability to track and inform clinicians more accurately about changes in tumor size and morphology due to growth or therapeutic intervention.


Conventional rangeland management has focused on optimisation of secondary production. Yet rangelands provide multiple goods and services at local and landscape scales. The diversity of resources available from rangelands underpins the livelihood security of developed and underdeveloped rural communities across all continents. This diversity of resources, and consequent livelihood options, is receiving greater recognition in management and research fora, whilst simultaneously offering greater opportunities for new and innovative uses of rangelands for subsistence and commercial needs. The session will appraise the diversity of rangeland resources used by rural communities and examine the viability and sustainability of different livelihood options within rangelands.


I read the article by Chaarani MW et al (Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip Before and After Increasing Community Awareness of the Harmful Effects of Swaddling Vol.ll/No.l/ June 2002), with great interest. Two issues need to be addressed. The authors write i(That the habit of swaddling is common tradition in the Middle East that goes back to hundreds of years " and their belief that in 14 months people gave up swaddling which they practiced for generations, to the extent that the numbers of Development Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH) dropped drastically from 20 percent to 60 percent is unusual Other important factors which need to be looked are the genetic factors in the incidence of DDH(1) and not just swaddling. Factors like breech presentation and oligohydramnios are known to predispose to DDH(2) and they might be the cause of decrease in numbers of DDH in the study population.


Abstract From 2006 to 2008 the predominant theme in the Chinese media was preparations for the 2008 Olympics. These preparations were not merely about putting up new sports stadiums; China also underwent a massive public etiquette campaign, aimed at "civilizing" Chinese citizens. This was nominally so they could be good hosts during the Beijing Olympics. The 2006–08 emphasis on Olympic-related news coverage and the ongoing public morals campaign was what I have called a campaign of mass distraction: a propaganda campaign designed to mobilize the population around a common goal, and distract them from more troubling issues such as inflation, unemployment, political corruption and environmental degradation. This article discusses China's Olympics propaganda within the context of the modernization of the Chinese Communist Party's propaganda system – which has included incorporating practices originating in modern democratic states – and considers in what way changes in the propaganda system reflect changes in China's system of political control.


This paper presents an empirical investigation of the consolidation process among banking organizations over the past 40 years. As merger announcements in the news make clear, consolidation is a continuing saga. While consolidation has been the dominant characteristic of the banking industry for decades, tests show that consolidation has not been a stable process. These tests indicate that nine different episodes, ranging in duration from one year to 11 years, describe the bank consolidation process since 1960. Closer examination of the episodes reveals that consolidation slowed after the early 1980s for banks with less than $2.7 billion in assets, but accelerated and was operating at its fastest pace between 1994 and 2000 for banks with more than $2.7 billion in assets. Furthermore, in the 1994-2000 episode, the largest banks, those with assets greater than $24.3 billion were most likely to exit the industry while the smallest banks, those with assets of less than $100 million, were least likely to exit the industry. Transition probabilities from the most recent consolidation episode provide a plausible estimate of what the banking industry's structure will look like in the future.


Interdisciplinary teaming requires not only multiple levels of expertise but also social competencies gained through interactive contexts. In the classroom, a situativity approach that encourages student engagement can help students learn to value differing perspectives. To foster students' interdisciplinary collaborative skills, an interdisciplinary capstone design class that brings students and faculty from electrical and computer engineering, industrial design, and marketing was developed and twelve fourth-year students participated (four from each discipline). The students were tasked with designing a next generation firefighter helmet that incorporates innovative computing technology. Various interventions such as learning modules and teaming exercises were implemented throughout the class to help students learn how to communicate across disciplines. Direct observation, interviews, questionnaires, and assessment of course assignments indicated both benefits and limitations of the class. Implications and future directions are also discussed.


The use of antimicrobial agents in the food industry is critical for the reduction and control of foodborne pathogens as part of food safety programs. The food industry is looking for new naturally occurring agents with bioactive properties including antimicrobial activity. Mushrooms have been known to contain many medicinal and bioactive agents responsible for their survival in the wild. Clitocybe nuda is an edible mushroom, located in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, used in many culinary styles of these regions. The purpose of this study is to perform a sensory evaluation of the mushroom extract to determine acceptable levels to panelists and to confirm antibacterial activity of the mushroom extract at these levels. The sensory evaluation was performed in liquid egg and tested for color, odor, texture, flavor, and overall acceptance at 0 (control), 10, and 20 mg per milliliter mushroom extract. The antibacterial testing was performed in liquid egg and TSB growth medium. The tests were performed on Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella Typhimurium, Heidelberg, and Enteritidis at 4°C and 24°C. The sensory evaluation showed that the control sample scored the highest. The mushroom extract at 0, 10, 20, 60, and 90 mg/mL were tested for antibacterial efficiency. Greater antibacterial activity against Listeria monocytogenes than Salmonella spp was noted. Mushroom extract showed greater bacterial reduction in liquid eggs at 4°C.


Handoff performance with mobile IPv6 strongly depends on the efficiency of IP-layer configuration mechanisms as well as the flexibility of mobile nodes to schedule and parallelize their signaling. This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the handoff performance with standard IPv6 protocols and mobile IPv6, and identifies several sources for delay. Some of the delays are already well known, but an optimized and widely applicable handoff approach is yet to be found. While substantial efforts are currently being invested into localized mobility-management architectures, such approaches feature poor scalability and limited deployability given their requirements in terms of financial investments and coordination across administrative borders. This article hence explores a number of promising IPv6 and end-to-end mobile IPv6 optimization proposals, some of which are currently under standardization within the IETF, and elaborates how a combination of those can significantly improve handoff experience without loss of scalability. The article further shows that the optimizations may not only improve reactive handoff performance, but also facilitate efficient proactive handoff management


Abstract: The last magmatic stage before the Sveconorwegian orogeny in the Baltic Shield is represented by bimodal, c.1.16 Ga volcanics from the Bandak Group in southern Norway and largely coeval basalts from the Dal Group in SW Sweden. In both areas, the volcanic rocks are intercalated with sedimentary units and the onset of basin development is marked by deposition of clastic sediments. In the lower part of the Bandak Group, the Morgedal basalts are relatively evolved and geochemical signatures suggest assimilation of lower crustal components. In contrast, the subsequent Gjuve basalts are more primitive and record assimilation of upper crustal rocks similar to exposed basement rocks. In the Bandak Group, the chemistry of the basalts changes within the stratigraphy, such that the older Morgedal basalts (MgO = 5.2–8.8 wt%, initial ϵNd 2.81–3.96, Zr/Y = 4.0–5.1, Zr/Nb = 34–50, La/Nb = 2.4–3.7) are more fractionated and have more enriched Nd isotope ratios compared to the Gjuve basalts (MgO = 6.4–12.3 wt%, initial ϵNd 4.05–4.97, Zr/Y = 3.4–4.7, Zr/Nb = 20–30, La/Nb = 1.5–2.4). This suggests that there earliest basalts are more contaminated, and it appears that the composition of the crustal component changed with time. A thin felsic volcanic unit, the Dalen Formation, separates the two basalt sequences. It represents melting of upper crustal rocks, triggered by injection of mafic magmas into crustal magma chambers. In the Dal Group, basalts form a relatively thin unit (< 500 m) where flows with high MgO values (> 9%) were least affected by assimilation of crustal components. Whole-rock geochemistry and Nd isotope ratios for the Bandak and Dal basalts indicate shallow melting of sub-continental lithospheric mantle in response to extension in a continental back-arc setting, related to subduction along the western margin of Baltica. These constraints envision a similar tectonic evolution with that of eastern Laurentia, which support models of a pre-Grenvillian supercontinent with a long-lived, active margin that reached western Baltica.


This thesis investigated the potential use of Linear Predictive Coding in speech communication applications. A Modified Block Adaptive Predictive Coder is developed, which reduces the computational burden and complexity without sacrificing the speech quality, as compared to the conventional adaptive predictive coding (APC) system. For this, changes in the evaluation methods have been evolved. This method is as different from the usual APC system in that the difference between the true and the predicted value is not transmitted. This allows the replacement of the high order predictor in the transmitter section of a predictive coding system, by a simple delay unit, which makes the transmitter quite simple. Also, the block length used in the processing of the speech signal is adjusted relative to the pitch period of the signal being processed rather than choosing a constant length as hitherto done by other researchers. The efficiency of the newly proposed coder has been supported with results of computer simulation using real speech data. Three methods for voiced/unvoiced/silent/transition classification have been presented. The first one is based on energy, zerocrossing rate and the periodicity of the waveform. The second method uses normalised correlation coefficient as the main parameter, while the third method utilizes a pitch-dependent correlation factor. The third algorithm which gives the minimum error probability has been chosen in a later chapter to design the modified coder. The thesis also presents a comparazive study beh-cm the autocorrelation and the covariance methods used in the evaluaiicn of the predictor parameters. It has been proved that the azztocorrelation method is superior to the covariance method with respect to the filter stabf-it)' and also in an SNR sense, though the increase in gain is only small. The Modified Block Adaptive Coder applies a switching from pitch precitzion to spectrum prediction when the speech segment changes from a voiced or transition region to an unvoiced region. The experiments cont;-:ted in coding, transmission and simulation, used speech samples from .\£=_'ajr2_1a:r1 and English phrases. Proposal for a speaker reecgnifion syste: and a phoneme identification system has also been outlized towards the end of the thesis. CONTENTS Page ABSTRACI' ii Chapter


The world is stochastic and chaotic, and organisms have access to limited information to take decisions. For this reason, brains are continuously required to deal with probability distributions, and experimental evidence confirms that they are dealing with these distributions optimally or close to optimally, according to the rules of Bayesian probability theory. Yet, a complete understanding of how these computations are implemented at the neural level is still missing. We assume that the "computational" goal of neurons is to perform Bayesian inference and to represent the state of the world efficiently. Starting from this assumption, we derive from first principles two distinct models of neural functioning, one in single neuron and one in neural populations, which explain known biophysics and molecular processes of neurons.
The models we propose suggest a new original interpretation for various neural quantities. Action potentials, which are usually considered the paramount form of communication between neurons, in our model of single neuron dynamics are reinterpreted as an internal communication channel. On the contrary, intracellular calcium concentration is interpreted as the most explicit representation of the external world inside the neuron. Specifically, we propose that calcium level represents the log-odds probability ratio of a particular hidden state in the world. Furthermore, we reinterpret synaptic vesicle release as a sampling process, which simulates the external world given all the available information. Finally, the neural population dynamics we propose interpret spontaneous neural activity as a process of sampling from the prior world statistics. This enables the system to implement a Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm that produces inference by sampling.
The proposed models generate various observable predictions, which match experimental results about synaptic vesicle release, short-term synaptic potentiation, ions channels open probability, intracellular calcium dynamics and propagation, spike rate adaptation and neural receptive fields.


The influence of glucose on nonglucose-stimulated in sulin secretion was examined in two animal models with reduced B-cell mass: rats treated with streptozotocin as neonates (SZ) and rats with a partial pancreatectomy (Px). The effects of arginine and IBMX upon insulin secretion were studied at varying glucose con centrations using the in vitro, isolated, perfused pan creas. In normal rats, as expected, 16.7 mM glucose caused a biphasic insulin release and arginine-stimulated in sulin secretion was markedly potentiated by an in crease in background glucose concentration. In the SZ model, 16.7 mM glucose caused a minimal insulin re sponse. However, arginine stimulated insulin release at 2.8 mM glucose as well as at higher glucose concen trations. A similar alteration in the glucose regulation of insulin secretion was shown with another secret agogue, IBMX, even though responses to this agent in the SZ rats exceeded those of the controls at both high- and low-background glucose concentrations. The less diabetic, Px model showed partial preservation of the glucose regulation of the B-cell response to arginine. Thus, a reduction in B-cell mass leads not only to a toss of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion but also to impaired glucose regulation of nonglucose-stimulated insulin secretion.


This is a thorough revision of the definitive, classic text for any level course on refrigeration, refrigeration and air conditioning, and environmental control in buildings. It is an equipment-oriented textbook that applies theoretical results of engineering theories to refrigeration and air conditioning engineering problems. This enables the student to understand both common and uncommon problems in designing, selecting and applying air conditioning and refrigeration components and systems. The material has been updated to apply to the new Environmental Protection Agency requirements and to the new technology developed in response to the energy crisis. New to this edition is a discussion of solar energy; coverage of the basic principles of acoustics and noise control (in relation to air conditioning systems), fans and ducts, pumps and piping, and air conditioning units. While all the material in the text can be understood and executed without computers, alternate computer solutions are shown for system simulation. SI units are used throughout.


As we learned in the previous section, stress—especially if it is chronic—takes a toll on our bodies and can have enormously negative health implications. When we experience events in our lives that we appraise as stressful, it is essential that we use effective coping strategies to manage our stress. Coping refers to mental and behavioral efforts that we use to deal with problems relating to stress, including its presumed cause and the unpleasant feelings and emotions it produces.


In this paper, sizing equations of an Axial Flux Permanent Magnet (AFPM) machine based on analytical method are presented. Dimensions of the stator and rotor cores are calculated. It is shown that the magnetic flux densities throughout these cores remain closed to the flux density of B-H curve knee point of the ferromagnetic material characteristics. A new algorithm is proposed to determine dimensions of different parts of machine and it is used to calculate height of permanent magnet precisely. To show the suggested algorithm capability, a sample AFPM machine is designed based on sizing equations and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is employed to validate these design formulas. A complete simulation study is done and some of the results are presented to confirm the accuracy of the sizing equations.


Cloud computing is an interesting and beneficial area in modern distributed computing. It enables millions of users to use the offered services through their own devices or terminals. Cloud computing offers an environment with low cost, ease of use and low power consumption by utilizing server virtualization in its offered services (e.g., Infrastructure as a Service). The pool of Virtual Machines (VMs) in a cloud computing Data Center (DC) needs to be managed through an efficient task scheduling algorithm to maintain quality of service and resource utilization and thus ensure the positive impact of energy consumption in the cloud computing environment. In this study, an experimental comparative study is carried out among three task scheduling algorithms in cloud computing, namely, random resource selection, round robin and green scheduler. Based on the analysis of the simulation result, we can conclude which algorithm is the best for scheduling in terms of energy and performance of VMs. The evaluation of these algorithms is based on three metrics: Total power consumption, DC load and VM load. A number of experiments with various aims are completed in this empirical comparative study. The results showed that there is no algorithm that is superior to the others. Each has its own pros and cons. Based on the simulation performed, the green scheduler gives the best performance with respect to energy consumption. On the other hand, the random scheduler showed the best performance with respect to both VM and DC load. The round robin scheduler gives better VM and DC load than the green scheduler but have more energy consumption than both random and green schedulers. However, since the RR scheduler distributes the tasks fairly, the network traffic is balanced and neither the server nor the network node will get overloaded or congested.


In this work we reported novel Yb-doped (Ba1−xSrx)AlSi5O2N7 phosphors showing intense persistent luminescence (PersL) in the visible and near-infrared (NIR) regions simultaneously. Both Yb2+ and Yb3+ were found to be PersL emitters, which presented a broad emission band centered at 664 nm and a sharp emission at 980 nm, respectively. The radiance of PersL in the Ba0.8Sr0.2AlSi5O2N7:Yb phosphor at 60 min after ceasing UV irradiation was 4.82 × 10−3 mW Sr−1 m−2, approximately one-third of the well-known ZnGa2O4:Cr3+ PersL phosphor. The results demonstrate that Yb could be a promising red-to-NIR PersL emitter and more Yb-activated phosphors could be developed for red-to-NIR PersL.


One of the key trends in computing over the past two decades has been increased distribution, both at the processor level, where multi-core architectures are now the norm, and at the system level, where many key services are currently distributed overmultiple machines. Thus, understanding the power and limitations of computing in a concurrent, distributed setting is one of the major challenges in Computer Science. In this thesis, we analyze the complexity of implementing concurrent data structures in asynchronous shared memory systems. We focus on the complexity of a classic distributed coordination task called renaming, in which a set of processes need to pick distinct names from a small set of identifiers. We present the first tight bounds for the time complexity of this problem, both for deterministic and randomized implementations, solving a long-standing open problem in the field. For deterministic algorithms, we prove a tight linear lower bound; for randomized solutions, we provide logarithmic upper and lower bounds on time complexity. Together, these results show an exponential separation between deterministic and randomized renaming solutions. Importantly, the lower bounds extend to implementations of practical shared-memory data structures, such as queues, stacks, and counters. From a technical perspective, this thesis highlights new connections between the distributed renaming problem and other fundamental objects, such as sorting networks, mutual exclusion, and counters. In particular, we show that sorting networks can be used to obtain optimal randomized solutions to renaming, and that, in turn, the existence of these solutions implies a linear lower bound on the complexity of the problem. In sum, the results in this thesis suggest that deterministic implementations of shared-memory data structures do not scale well in terms of worst-case time complexity. On the positive side, we emphasize randomization as a natural alternative, which can circumvent the deterministic lower bounds with high probability. Thus, a promising direction for future work is to extend our randomized renaming techniques to obtain efficient implementations of concurrent data structures.


In several recently proposed stochastic optimization methods (e.g. RMSProp, Adam, Adadelta), parameter updates are scaled by the inverse square roots of exponential moving averages of squared past gradients. Maintaining these per-parameter second-moment estimators requires memory equal to the number of parameters. For the case of neural network weight matrices, we propose maintaining only the per-row and per-column sums of these moving averages, and estimating the per-parameter second moments based on these sums. We demonstrate empirically that this method produces similar results to the baseline. Secondly, we show that adaptive methods can produce larger-than-desired updates when the decay rate of the second moment accumulator is too slow. We propose update clipping and a gradually increasing decay rate scheme as remedies. Combining these methods and dropping momentum, we achieve comparable results to the published Adam regime in training the Transformer model on the WMT 2014 English-German machine translation task, while using very little auxiliary storage in the optimizer. Finally, we propose scaling the parameter updates based on the scale of the parameters themselves.


More than a million macromolecules per minute pass through the nuclear envelope of a eukaryotic cell. An important challenge is to understand how the NPC coordinate efficiently the bi-directional trafficking necessary for the basal cellular activities and the rapid translocation of regulatory proteins in response to signaling. In higher eukaryotes each NPC contains approximately 30 different proteins. Some of these have been mapped to distinct parts of the NPC and shown to interact with transport receptors. However, it is not clear whether the different nucleoporins may directly participate in distinct nuclear transport events leading to regulatory changes of gene expression, or if they all may be involved in providing an elaborate but passive channel for general nuclear entry.The work presented in this thesis begins with the characterization of Drosophila nucleoporin Nup88, which together with the nucleoporin Nup214 forms a complex in the cytoplasmic filaments of the NPC. Unlike Nup214, Nup88 has a cell specific expression suggesting that different cells types have selective requirement of Nup88s intrinsic function during animal development. Nup88 and Nup214 are selectively required for REL protein translocation upon signaling. In nup88 mutants the upstream signaling cascade leading to the degradation of IkB homolog Cactus is functional however, Dorsal and Dif remain cytoplasmic in both mutants rendering inactive their immune response.We showed that both nucleoporins Nup88 and Nup214 are interdependent for their localization at the nuclear envelope. In the absence of Nup214, Nup88 becomes degraded and Nup88 is necessary for localizing Nup214 to the NPC. The complex is required for tethering CRM1 on the nuclear envelope and its major function is to attenuate nuclear export. Immunoprecipitations from embryonic extract suggest that the affinity of the complex for CRM1 could be modulated during embryo development. Reduction of the gene dosage on either Nup88 or Nup214 allow the progression of CRM1 mutants through several developmental stages suggesting that the barrier for protein export provided by anchoring a pool of CRM1 to the Nup88/214 complex has important functions in Drosophila development.Finally, detailed analysis of Nup88, Nup214 and CRM1 mutants reveals that the REL protein translocation and the activation of the innate immune responses are dependent on the inhibitory action of the Nup88/Nup214 complex on CRM1 export.Our results suggest a new mechanism of regulation through NPC, where dynamic interplay between nucleoporin complexes can accommodate transport of signaling effectors in response to physiological responses.


Accurate human activity recognition (HAR) is the key to enable emerging context-aware applications that require an understanding and identification of human behavior, e.g., monitoring disabled or elderly people who live alone. Traditionally, HAR has been implemented either through ambient sensors, e.g., cameras, or through wearable devices, e.g., a smartwatch, with an inertial measurement unit (IMU). The ambient sensing approach is typically more generalizable for different environments as this does not require every user to have a wearable device. However, utilizing a camera in privacy-sensitive areas such as a home may capture superfluous ambient information that a user may not feel comfortable sharing. Radars have been proposed as an alternative modality for coarse-grained activity recognition that captures a minimal subset of the ambient information using micro-Doppler spectrograms. However, training fine-grained, accurate activity classifiers is a challenge as low-cost millimeter-wave (mmWave) radar systems produce sparse and non-uniform point clouds. In this paper, we propose RadHAR, a framework that performs accurate HAR using sparse and non-uniform point clouds. RadHAR utilizes a sliding time window to accumulate point clouds from a mmWave radar and generate a voxelized representation that acts as input to our classifiers. We evaluate RadHAR using a low-cost, commercial, off-the-shelf radar to get sparse point clouds which are less visually compromising. We evaluate and demonstrate our system on a collected human activity dataset with 5 different activities. We compare the accuracy of various classifiers on the dataset and find that the best performing deep learning classifier achieves an accuracy of 90.47%. Our evaluation shows the efficacy of using mmWave radar for accurate HAR detection and we enumerate future research directions in this space.


Objective: At molecular and cellular level, antioxidants tend to inactivate harmful free radicals. In current study, methanol extract of Buddleja asiatica (loganiaceae) was screened for its antioxidant activity using biologically relevant methodologies. Methods: The whole plant of methanol extract of Buddleja asiatica was screened for its in vitro free radical scavenging assays like DPPH (1,1 diphenyl 2 picryl hydrazyl) assay, nitric oxide scavenging activity, hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity, hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, superoxide anion radical scavenging activity, CUPRAC (cupric ions reducing) assay, DMPD (N, N-dimethyl-p-phenylene diamine dihydrochloride) assay, metal ion chelation assay xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity and lipid peroxidation assay. Results: The IC50 values were found to be 15 μg/ml, 96.2 μg/ml, 35.2 μg/ml, 52.2μg/ml, 40.98 μg/ml, 18.02 μg/ml, 43.6 μg/ml 55.6 μg/ml and 136.2 μg/ml for DPPH free radical, nitric oxide radical, hydrogen peroxide radical, hydroxyl radical, superoxide anion radical, DMPD radical, metal ion chelation, xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity and lipid peroxidation assays respectively. The absorbance of methanol extract of Buddleja asiatica in CUPRAC assay was found to be 0.6772 at the highest concentration tested. Results were compared with commercial antioxidants such as quercetin, rutin, vitamin E, curcumin, gallic acid, EDTA and allopurinol. Conclusion: The strong antioxidant activity of Buddleja asiatica may be credited to the presence of phenyl ethanoid glycosides (E-acteoside,), iridoid glucosides (methylcatalpol, catalpol, aucubin), non phenolic compounds (1-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-2-methoxy-3-(2-hydroxy-triaconta-3,12-dienoate)-glycerol), flavonoids (ajugol), sterols (buddlejol, stigmasterol, taraxerol), triterpenoids (13, 28-epoxy-23-hydroxy-11-oleanene-3-one) and essential oils in methanol extract.


The inaugural National Leadership Education Research Agenda was created to establish a foundation for scholarship that will guide the fiel d of Leadership Education and develop it as a discipline. Its timely research priorities present a framework for scholarship and resulting applied and basic implications. This paper provide s perspective about the agenda's conceptualization, development, and application. I t establishes perspective for the applied nature of the agenda and transdiciplinary scholarship that can lead to powerful implications for the field of Leadership Education and the constituents it ser ves. Further, it explores the agenda's priorities and how the resulting collaborative dial ogue can advance the fields of Leadership and Leadership Education globally.


As new flame retardant (FR) approaches are developed they must be evaluated with conventional FR additives, processing additives, stabilizers, and fillers. In most cases this is done in a number of polymers, and a variety of processing conditions also must be optimized. Thus the development of new FR methods is a multi-parameter problem. A full-factorial approach to developing the structure–property relationships of interest requires numerous experiments and is prohibitively labor intensive; additional methods in which the composition space can be rapidly sampled and evaluated are necessary. Several new high throughput approaches are described herein which have been correlated with conventional flammability tests.


We consider the asymmetry of the buoyancy field in the vertical direction in stratified turbulence. While this asymmetry is known, its causes are not well understood, and it has not been systematically quantified previously. Using theoretical arguments, it is shown that both stratified turbulence and isotropic turbulence in the presence of a mean scalar gradient will become positively skewed, as a direct consequence of the presence of stratification and mean scalar gradient, respectively. Assuming a rapid adjustment of isotropic turbulence to a stable stratification on a time scale $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}\sim N^{-1}$ , where $N$ is the Brunt–Väisälä frequency, a scaling for the skewness of the vertical buoyancy gradient is obtained. Direct numerical simulations of stratified turbulence with forcing are performed and the positive skewness of $\unicode[STIX]{x2202}b/\unicode[STIX]{x2202}z$ is confirmed ( $b$ is the buoyancy). Both the volume-averaged dimensional skewness, $\langle (\unicode[STIX]{x2202}b/\unicode[STIX]{x2202}z)^{3}\rangle$ , and the non-dimensional skewness, $S$ , are computed and compared against the theoretical predictions. There is a good agreement for $\langle (\unicode[STIX]{x2202}b/\unicode[STIX]{x2202}z)^{3}\rangle$ , while there is a discrepancy in the behaviour of $S$ . The theory predicts $S\sim 1$ and a constant skewness, while the direct numerical simulations confirm that the skewness is $O(1)$ but with a remaining dependence on the Froude number. The results are interpreted as being due to the concurrent action of linear and nonlinear processes in stratified turbulence leading to $S>0$ and to the formation of layers and interfaces in vertical profiles of buoyancy.


Despite the important critiques of the mainstream offered by heterodox economics, the dominant method remains econometrics. This major new Handbook provides an invaluable introduction to a range of alternative research methods better suited for analysing the social data prominent in heterodox research projects, including survey, historical, ethnographic, experimental, and mixed approaches, together with factor, cluster, complex, and social network analytics. Introductions to each method are complemented by descriptions of applications in practice.


Snowfall, temperature and wind are three factors that quickly change avalanche conditions. Ridge-top winds have been used to assess avalanche conditions with mixed success due to high variability. Few analyses have tested the effect upper atmospheric winds have on avalanche conditions. This study attempts to quantify the effect upper atmospheric wind direction and speed have on the spatial pattern of natural avalanching in the mountains near Gothic, Colorado. The Gothic dataset consists of over 3,300 natural avalanches spanning a time period of 33 years. These data are associated with daily new snow water equivalence (SWE) collected at Gothic, as well as 500mb wind direction and speed from the National Centers for Environmental Protection/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) gridded reanalysis project. I hypothesize that prevailing 500mb winds are more likely to be associated with natural avalanches in avalanche paths with a starting zone aspect lee to the prevailing free air winds. In addition, I hypothesize that the odds of a natural avalanche occurring increases with increasing new SWE, increasing 500mb wind speeds, and 500mb wind direction. These hypotheses are tested using simple probability analysis as well as a two-component hurdle model. As expected, avalanche paths lee to the 500mb wind direction have an increased probability of avalanching in relation to paths facing in other directions. However, exceptions do occur, some of which can be explained by cross-loading. The hurdle model results indicate that after accounting for new SWE, 500mb wind speed is significant in determining whether or not a day will be considered an avalanche day. Once a day is determined to be an avalanche day, 500mb wind direction is an important determinant for the daily avalanche hazard after accounting for new SWE. These results have practical significance. They give avalanche forecasters confidence that upper air wind direction is a useful predictor of the pattern of avalanche activity at the valley or mountain range scale, and the exceptions observed show that such predictions cannot be applied at the path scale. These scale issues demonstrate the general nature of backcountry advisories and why they cannot be applied at the scale of individual slopes.


Today's smartphones store a variety of sensitive information and provide access to sensitive functionality. Despite an abundance of features to secure one's phone, many users leave their devices unprotected putting themselves and their organizations at risk. Over the past year, several vendors have started to offer fingerprinting functionality in an effort to increase the number of people who protect their phones. We present the results of a study conducted to determine whether fingerprint-based authentication functionality is likely to gain greater levels of adoption than today's PIN-based solutions. Our study utilizes a task-based method in which participants complete a set of ten tasks. The study compares the usability of Apple's iPhone 5S Touch ID fingerprint-based authentication with more traditional PIN-based authentication. Our results suggest that, from a usability standpoint, fingerprint-based authentication is better than PIN-based authentication and could contribute to reduce the dismal number of people who do not have locking functionality in place to protect access to their phones.


Background The Advanced RBC Application of the CellaVision DM9600 system (CellaVision AB, Lund, Sweden) automatically characterizes and classifies red blood cells (RBCs) into 21 morphological categories based on their size, color, shape, and inclusions. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of the CellaVision Advanced RBC Application with respect to the classification and grading of RBC morphological abnormalities in accordance with the 2015 International Council for Standardization in Haematology (ICSH) guidelines. Methods A total of 223 samples, including 123 with RBC morphological abnormalities and 100 from healthy controls, were included. Seven RBC morphological abnormalities and their grading obtained with CellaVision DM9600 pre- and post-classification were compared with the results obtained using manual microscopic examination. The grading cut-off percentages were determined in accordance with the 2015 ICSH guidelines. The sensitivity and specificity of the CellaVision DM9600 system were evaluated using the manual microscopic examination results as a true positive. Results In pre-classification, >90% sensitivity was observed for target cells, tear drop cells, and schistocytes, while >90% specificity was observed for acanthocytes, spherocytes, target cells, and tear drop cells. In post-classification, the detection sensitivity and specificity of most RBC morphological abnormalities increased, except for schistocytes (sensitivity) and acanthocytes (specificity). The grade agreement rates ranged from 35.9% (echinocytes) to 89.7% (spherocytes) in pre-classification and from 46.2% (echinocytes) to 90.1% (spherocytes) in post-classification. The agreement rate of samples with within-one grade difference exceeded 90% in most categories, except for schistocytes and echinocytes. Conclusions The Advanced RBC Application of CellaVision DM9600 is a valuable screening tool for detecting RBC morphological abnormalities.


The status of all the species ascribed in the literature to Stylactaria is discussed, that nominal genus is considered a congener of Hydractinia and a new species (Hydractinia calderi n. sp.) is described. The medusae of the medusabased genera Hansiella and Tregoubovia, formerly ascribed to the Hydractiniidae, are shown to be more like the medusae of Thecocodium, a genus having ptilocodiid hydroids. Both Hansiella and Tregoubovia are thus transferred to the Ptilocodiidae. With their removal from the Hydractiniidae, a redefinition of both families is provided. The genus Fiordlandia is considered as synonym of Clavactinia.


BACKGROUND
In planning a new family medicine clerkship, a clinical performance examination (CPE) using focused encounters was included in the student evaluation. This format was believed to best reflect the types of experiences that students would be exposed to during the primarily ambulatory care family medicine clerkship.

METHODS
Testing scenarios were representative of either the problem-based cases on which the curriculum had been developed or the 20 common problems seen in family medicine. To date, 175 students have taken the CPE, each completing two cases.

RESULTS
The first year of experience indicates that there are no differences in student performance between periods and that students do not perform differently on the first case than they do on the second. No significant effect for scenarios was found. Examiner effects have been found, however.

CONCLUSION
These effects suggest a need for further work in standardizing the scoring of the examination.


MORA is a novel platform for high-level FPGA programming of streaming vector and matrix operations, aimed at multimedia applications. It consists of soft array of pipelined low-complexity SIMD processors-in-memory (PIM). We present a Domain-Specific Language (DSL) for high-level programming of the MORA soft processor array. The DSL is embedded in C++, providing designers with a familiar language framework and the ability to compile designs using a standard compiler for functional testing before generating the FPGA bitstream using the MORA toolchain. The paper discusses the MORA-C++ DSL and the compilation route into the assembly for the MORA machine and provides examples to illustrate the programming model and performance.


MOTIVATION
Life science researchers often require an exhaustive list of protein coding genes similar to a given query gene. To find such genes, homology search tools, such as BLAST or PatternHunter, return a set of high-scoring pairs (HSPs). These HSPs then need to be correlated with existing sequence annotations, or assembled manually into putative gene structures. This process is error-prone and labor-intensive, especially in genomes without reliable gene annotation.

RESULTS
We have developed a homology search solution that automates this process, and instead of HSPs returns complete gene structures. We achieve better sensitivity and specificity by adapting a hidden Markov model for gene finding to reflect features of the query gene. Compared to traditional homology search, our novel approach identifies splice sites much more reliably and can even locate exons that were lost in the query gene. On a testing set of 400 mouse query genes, we report 79% exon sensitivity and 80% exon specificity in the human genome based on orthologous genes annotated in NCBI HomoloGene. In the same set, we also found 50 (12%) gene structures with better protein alignment scores than the ones identified in HomoloGene.

AVAILABILITY
The Java implementation is available for download from http://www.bioinformatics.uwaterloo.ca/software.


We investigate relationships between Indonesian drought, the state of the equatorial Indian Ocean, and ENSO using three instrumental indices spanning 1884–1997 A.D.: 1. EQWIN, a zonal wind index for the equatorial Indian Ocean; 2. the Dipole Mode Index (DMI), an indicator of the Indian Ocean SST gradient; and 3. tropical Pacific Niño‐3.4 SSTs. A regression model of the Java Sep–Dec Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) using a combination of these indices provides significant predictive skill (ar2 = 0.50). Both the DMI and EQWIN correlate strongly with Java droughts (r = 0.71 and 0.66, respectively), but weakly with wet events (r = 0.21 and 0.18, respectively), while the Niño SST index correlates moderately with both dry and wet events (r = 0.31 and 0.36, respectively). Our findings indicate that Java droughts are intensified during El Niños that coincide with negative EQWIN conditions, which are also linked to a strengthened Indian monsoon


Corpora of referring expressions elicited from human participants in a controlled environment are an important resource for research on automatic referring expression generation. We here present G-TUNA, a new corpus of referring expressions for German. Using the furniture stimuli set developed for the TUNA and D-TUNA corpora, our corpus extends on these corpora by providing data collected in a simulated driving dual-task setting, and additionally provides exact duration annotations for the spoken referring expressions. This corpus will hence allow researchers to analyze the interaction between referring expression length and speech rate, under conditions where the listener is under high vs. low cognitive load.


This paper presents a new method for islanding detection. The proposed method depends on applying an artificial intelligence method based artificial immune system (AIS) with sandia frequency shift (SFS) method. AIS is used to improve the performance of the SFS method including the improvement of the system power quality, reduction in non-detection zone (NDZ) and reducing the islanding detection time. The proposed method is tested and applied to a test system and the results show that the proposed method is more efficient in islanding detection.


To examine the influence of social activities on birth rates in Makurdi town of Benue State Nigeria, a total of 23,000 recorded births from the year 2006 to 2015 were collated from six renown hospitals purposively selected based on issuance of ethical clearance and availability of data. With the use of secondary data, descriptive analysis was implored using tables and graphs. The result shows that births in Makurdi are characterized with two major peaks and two troughs. There is the March to June peak and the September to October peak. Alternatively, there is also the July to August trough and the December to January trough. Males generally dominate March births while females dominate December births. More pregnancies are conceived in the cool dry season which marks wedding celebrations, Christmas and New Year festivities while the hot dry season marking the Easter festivity and farming activities records the least conceptions. The implication is that conception is higher during festive periods that fall within months of low temperature. Therefore, the Ministry of health and other stake holders in Makurdi town should carry out awareness campaign on effective family planning during periods of high social activities or festivities to address the issue of high birth rates and over population in our society; Schools managements in Makurdi town should educate the students during festive periods to avoid teenage pregnancy.


Biomedical cell image analysis is one of the main application fields of computerized image analysis. This paper outlines the field and the different analysis steps related to it. Relative advantages of different approaches to the crucial step of image segmentation are discussed. Cell image segmentation can be seen as a modeling problem where different approaches are more or less explicitly based on cell models. For example, thresholding methods can be seen as being based on a model stating that cells have an intensity that is different from the surroundings. More robust segmentation can be obtained if a combination of features, such as intensity, edge gradients, and cellular shape, is used. The seeded watershed transform is proposed as the most useful tool for incorporating such features into the cell model. These concepts are illustrated by three real-world problems. Received December 16, 2003 1


Traditionally, there has been a preoccupation with the concept of risk in criminal justice research and practice, with very little emphasis placed on the notion of protection. Recently, forensic psychology researchers and practitioners have become more interested in the idea of protective factors – the factors that are association with a reduction rather than an increase in offending. However, this area of research is in its infancy, and much is still unclear. The current thesis aims to analyse the development of this concept, as well as how it is currently understood. I will argue that current conceptualisations of protection are limited, and will outline a range of criticisms. I then develop a preliminary model that will aim to overcome these problems. More specifically, I will clearly define the notion of protection, offer an explanation of how protective factors may exert their protective effects, and discuss how this understanding of protection can be applied to offender interventions. PROTECTIVE FACTORS IN THE SEXUAL OFFENDING AREA 4 PROTECTIVE FACTORS IN THE SEXUAL OFFENDING AREA 5


Many studies have shown the efficacy of orientation and three-dimensional joint angle measurement for patient evaluation or rehabilitation purposes. But currently, the use of these systems for routine practice is questionable. The commercially available devices are generally too expensive and complicated-to-use. This study proposed the fusion between two affordable types of orientation measuring systems, which used separately couldn't satisfy the health professionals' needs. One was a portable magnetic tracker limited in accuracy, sampling frequency and possibly distorted. The other was triplets of gyroscopes limited by their bias, which generates orientation drift after integration. The fusion algorithm presented here relay on two cascaded complementary Kalman filters to estimate the bias of the gyroscopes and to provide accurate and high frequency orientation even during distortion periods. This system was assessed during treadmill walking and reported good performances.


Helopeltis theivora is known as a pest of cocoa and tea in Malaysia. Insecticides have been used for the control of the mirids since cocoa and tea are grown widely in this country. Several mechanisms of insecticide resistance have been proposed and metabolic detoxification was shown to play a major role in insecticide resistance. Although H. theivora is recognized as a leaf-destroying pest of tea, little is known about the genetic background of the mirid, H. theivora and its host plant, tea. This lack of information has lead to the loss of genetic variability and allelic differences of tea clones planted in Malaysia. Little molecular work has been done in H. theivora but some information can be obtained for tea.
In a study on the evaluation of the levels infestations of H. theivora on different varieties of tea, the results showed that the tea varieties could be categorized into three different groups namely resistant' intermediate and susceptible. For tea, RAPD and RAMs markers were used to study the genetic relationships among the resistant and susceptible varieties found in Bukit Cheeding and Sungai Palas. Both the dendrograms based on the RAMs and RAPD markers' respectively grouped the tea varieties into two clusters with the intermediate varieties grouping with the resistant (first cluster) or susceptible (second cluster) varieties. The genetic differences are based on their geographical distributions and partially based on their resistance towards damage by the insect (H. theivora).
Two DNA markers were used to identify the genetic variation of H. theivora' namely random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and random amplified microsatellites (RAMs). For RAPD and RAMs markers, after screening 20 arbitary primers, 8 primers were identified as being useful for generating RAPD markers and 5 primers for RAMs markers. A dendrogram obtained through the use of these DNA level markers showed that the first cluster pooled both the populations of H. theivora from BOH estate at Bukit Cheeding and Sungai Palas together while the population of H. theivora from Tanah Rata clustered by itself. This showed that the populations of H. theivora were not clustered together based on their geographical distributions. This clustering pattern could be due to H. theivora (eggs and nymphs) being present on the planting materials from Bukit Cheeding and planted at Sungai Palas since both the plantations are owned by Boh.
Eighteen microsatellite primer pairs were designed for H. theivora. Out of these, six were found to be polymorphic (CT2, CT4, CT9, CT15, CT17 and CT18). This study showed that the RAMs technique is suitable and efficient for isolating single locus DNA microsatellites markers for H. theivora.Enzyme studies using inhibitors' polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and gluthatione-s-transferase (GST) analysis using a spectrophotometer were used to identify the metabolic enzymes involved in the development of resistance in H. theivora. The results showed that of the 25 enzymes screened for 8 enzymes were detectable in H. theivora. The dendrogram resulting from the cluster analysis based on isoenzyme data grouped the Bukit Cheeding and the Tanah Rata populations together while the Sungai Palas population clustered by itself. For the Bukit Cheeding and Tanah Rata populations, insecticides were not frequently sprayed when compared with the Sungai Palas population. Esterases and oxidases were enzymes observed to play roles in the insecticide resistance mechanism in H. theivora. Meanwhile, for GST analysis the presence of low activity of GST was detected in H. theivora. This results show that the resistance of H. theivora towards insecticides appeared not to be due to an increased detoxification by gluthatione s-transferase.


Films containing a layer of Ag nanoparticles embedded in silicon dioxide were produced by RF magnetron sputtering. Optical transmittance measurements at several angles of incidence (from normal to 75°) revealed two surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peaks, which depend on electric field direction: one in the ultraviolet and another red-shifted from the dilute Ag/SiO₂ system resonance at 410 nm. In order to investigate the origin of this anisotropic behavior, the structural properties were determined by transmission electron microscopy, revealing the bidimensional plane distribution of Ag nanoparticles with nearly spherical shape as well as the filling factor of metal in the composite. A simple model linked to these experimental parameters allowed description of the most relevant features of the SPR positions, which, depending on the field direction, were distinctly affected by the coupling of oscillations between close nanoparticles, as described by a modified Drude-Lorentz dielectric function introduced into the Maxwell-Garnett relation. This approach allowed prediction of the resonance for light at 75° incidence from the SPR position for light at normal incidence, in good agreement with experimental observation.


In this work, a new two-dimensional analytic optics design method is presented that enables the coupling of three ray sets with two lens profiles. This method is particularly promising for optical systems designed for wide field of view and with clearly separated optical surfaces. However, this coupling can only be achieved if different ray sets will use different portions of the second lens profile. Based on a very basic example of a single thick lens, the Simultaneous Multiple Surfaces design method in two dimensions (SMS2D) will help to provide a better understanding of the practical implications on the design process by an increased lens thickness and a wider field of view. Fermat's principle is used to deduce a set of functional differential equations fully describing the entire optical system. The transformation of these functional differential equations into an algebraic linear system of equations allows the successive calculation of the Taylor series coefficients up to an arbitrary order. The evaluation of the solution space reveals the wide range of possible lens configurations covered by this analytic design method. Ray tracing analysis for calculated 20th order Taylor polynomials demonstrate excellent performance and the versatility of this new analytical optics design concept.


This thesis is a theoretical and experimental investigation of a gigawatt picosecond dye laser oscillator-amplifier system, and the application of that system to the study of ultrafast lasing and carrier dynamics in semiconductor lasers. Beginning with a review of traveling wave rate equations, nonlinear pulse propagation in a generalized two-level amplifying/absorbing medium is discussed. This permits a qualitative treatment of synchronously mode-locked dye lasers. The formalism is then refined to provide a quantitative analysis of picosecond dye laser amplifier chains, including amplified spontaneous emission, saturable absorbers used for amplifier stage isolation, gain saturation with "angular hole-burning" and triplet losses, and linear and nonlinear pulse shaping effects. Experimentally, the construction and operation of a three stage Nd:YAG laser pumped picosecond dye laser amplifier chain is described. Numerical modeling is used to compare the theoretical analysis with the experimental results. In addition, a brief discussion of picosecond time domain measurement techniques is presented, focussing on nonlinear optical methods. This includes a parametric sum frequency upconversion gating technique used extensively in this work to provide linear, picosecond resolution temporal measurements of optical pulses which are synchronized to the dye laser pulses. The output of the picosecond dye laser system is used to optically generate high carrier densities in semiconductor lasers, and the ensuing short pulse lasing dynamics are investigated and compared to the predictions of a simple rate equation analysis. Novel effects are observed in the spectrally resolved temporal measurements of the lasing output from picosecond optically pumped buried heterostructure semiconductor lasers. A model is developed which includes both broadband stimulated emission as well as many-valley and hot electron effects in the semiconductor, and the model is in close agreement with the observed behavior. The conclusion is drawn that the picosecond lasing dynamics of semiconductor lasers can be understood if the conventional rate equations are abandoned in favor of a more fundamental analysis which includes not just the dynamics of the optical energy exchange in the laser cavity, but the detailed picosecond dynamics of the semiconductor material as well.


Abstract By the lights of a central logical positivist thesis in modal epistemology, for every necessary truth that we know, we know it a priori and for every contingent truth that we know, we know it a posteriori. Kripke attacks on both flanks, arguing that we know necessary a posteriori truths and that we probably know contingent a priori truths. In a reflection of Kripke's confidence in his own arguments, the first of these Kripkean claims is far more widely accepted than the second. Contrary to received opinion, the paper argues, the considerations Kripke adduces concerning truths purported to be necessary a posteriori do not disprove the logical positivist thesis that necessary truth and a priori truth are co-extensive.


Based on the newly implemented inventor survey in Japan and the U.S., we have examined the commercialization and other uses of triadic patents. Although the two countries have a similar overall level of commercialization (60% of the triadic patents), the structure is different: in Japan, we see a higher incidence of in-house use relative to the overall level of commercialization, more inventions being licensed and less used for startups. We also see more multiple uses(in-house and license/startup) in Japan. In both countries licensing plays a relatively important role for commercializing the inventions from R&D targeted to new business and to enhancing the technology base. Consistently, licensing becomes more important as a patenting reason as the invention involves more scientific knowledge. The key difference in startups between the two countries is a high incidence of the inventions of university researchers being used for startups in the U.S. (35%). In both countries strategic holding (use of the patents for blocking and the prevention of inventing around) is one of the major reasons of non-commercialized patents. Only 20% of the internally commercialized patents can be used on a stand-alone basis in both countries, and both the incidence of cross-license conditional on license and the incidence of license itself tend to increase with the size of the bundle of the patents to be jointly used with that invention. As appropriation measures, the first mover advantage(FMA)in commercialization and the FMA in R&D are the most important in both countries, while the latter becomes more important as the invention involves more scientific knowledge. The U.S. inventors rank patent enforcement significantly higher than possessing complementary capabilities, while the reverse is the case for Japanese inventors. In addition, enhancing the exclusive exploitation of the invention is a more important patenting reason in the U.S. The fact that the commercialization rate of patented inventions is quite similar between the two countries despite of the significant difference of the appreciation of exclusivity indicates that exclusivity may promote exploitation in certain areas and retard it in others. Finally, non-conventional patenting reasons are also important in both countries: blocking and pure defense are at least as important as licensing, and corporate reputation is an important reason for patenting by small firms.


Abstract. Multispectral remote sensing images are widely used for landuse/landcover (LULC) classification. Performance of such classification practices is normally evaluated through the confusion matrix which summarizes the producer's and user's accuracies and the overall accuracy. However, the confusion matrix is based on the classification results of a set of multi-class training data. As a result, the classification accuracies are heavily dependent on the representativeness of the training data set and it is imperative for practitioners to assess the uncertainties of LULC classification in order for a full understanding of the classification results. In addition, the Gaussian-based maximum likelihood classifier (GMLC) is widely applied in many practices of LULC classification. The GMLC assumes the classification features jointly form a multivariate normal distribution, whereas as, in reality, many features of individual landcover classes have been found to be non-Gaussian. Direct application of GMLC will certainly affect the classification results. In a pilot study conducted in Taipei and its vicinity, we tackled these two problems by firstly transforming the original training data set to a corresponding data set which forms a multivariate normal distribution before conducting LULC classification using GMLC. We then applied the bootstrap resampling technique to generate a large set of multi-class resampled training data from the multivariate normal training data set. LULC classification was then implemented for each resampled training data set using the GMLC. Finally, the uncertainties of LULC classification accuracies were assessed by evaluating the means and standard deviations of the producer's and user's accuracies of individual LULC classes which were derived from a set of confusion matrices. Results of this study demonstrate that Gaussian-transformation of the original training data achieved better classification accuracies and the bootstrap resampling technique is a very helpful tool for assessing uncertainties of LULC classification. The uncertainties in classification accuracies were also found to be affected by the sizes of class-specific training samples.


While deep neural networks have proven to be a powerful tool for many recognition and classification tasks, their stability properties are still not well understood. In the past, image classifiers have been shown to be vulnerable to so-called adversarial attacks, which are created by additively perturbing the correctly classified image. In this paper, we propose the ADef algorithm to construct a different kind of adversarial attack created by iteratively applying small deformations to the image, found through a gradient descent step. We demonstrate our results on MNIST with convolutional neural networks and on ImageNet with Inception-v3 and ResNet-101.


Background and Purpose: Ocimum basilicum L. var. genovese was grown from seed in selected soil types (eutric cambisol, fluvisol and humoglay) in order to analyse its morpho-physiological flower preference and morphometric characteristics of aerial parts in relation to microclimatic conditions and physico-chemical soil properties. Materials and methods: The soil texture was analyzed using the »pipette method«, concentration of CaCO3 was determined using the volumetric method and percentage of humus and carbon was detected using Tiurin's method. Electrometric method was used for chemical reaction of soil. The amount of nectar per flower was assessed using microcapillary method. Morphometric analysis comprised measurements of plant height, length and width of leaf, internode length, petiole length and leaf number. Results and conclusions: Considering the whole flowering period, the most luxuriant growth and the highest intensity of secretion was recorded on eutric cambisol. Results of morphometric analysis showed that statistically significant difference existed between the plants on eutric cambisol and humoglay (p<0.05). With respect to diurnal dynamics of nectar secretion, a pattern with a single daily peak was recorded, irrespective of the type of soil. Daily maximum was recorded at 8 am on eutric cambisol (0.104 ml/flower), and at 10 am on fluvisol (0.166 ml/flower) and humoglay (0.103 ml/flower). After reaching the highest values, secretion had decreasing tendency toward evening, and minimal nectar amount was sampled at 6 pm in all soil types (0.006–0.016 ml). Surprisingly, on nectar collecting day in June, the highest total daily nectar amount per flower was measured on humoglay (0.351ml) and the lowest on eutric cambisol (0.288ml). Air humidity and evaporation were positively and temperature negatively correlated with diurnal dynamics of nectar production in all soil types.