Recently, alternative water treatment systems have been implemented due to the eutrophication of reservoirs, in which high concentrations of organic matter prevent the use of conventional water treatment methods. This paper presents a study on the electrolytic process for water treatment using an alternating current. A reactor with iron and stainless steel electrodes was built and introduced into a water treatment system equipped with conventional coagulation with alum and direct descending filtration. Factors such as pH levels, turbidity, colour, and reductions in the specific UV absorbance were evaluated. The results showed a significant reduction in the specific UV absorbance between raw water and treated water (19.51–26.45%). Furthermore, the reactor did not significantly change the pH of the water. The average turbidity of the treated water was less than or equal to 0.5 NTU, and the average colour reached 2 HU, classifying the treated water as drinking water according to the current ordinance in Brazil. The cost of the electricity used by the reactor was $0.10 per cubic metre of water produced.


A feasibility study on upgrading an existing heat distribution network to a low-temperature distribution grid has been carried out during this project. The integration of a solar thermal system combined with a borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) for covering the space heating demand of the buildings as well as the application of CO2 heat pumps and water storage tanks for domestic hot water (DHW) production were investigated in order to apply more renewable energy sources.The energy analysis included several measures, such as modeling the energy demand of the buildings, finding a reasonable number of solar collectors to be installed and dimensioning a ground source heat pump (with the use of CoolPack and Engineering Equation Solver EES) and a geothermal storage (Earth Energy Designer Software EED) as well as CO2 heat pumps (CoolPack/EES).An economic analysis of all proposed measures has been carried out based on the Net Present Value (NPV) and Net Present Value Quotient (NPVQ). Initial costs, annual costs, annual savings as well as the payback time of the energy systems have been calculated.It is found that it is not feasible to invest in the proposed energy system for space heating because the payback time (28 years) of the system is longer than the lifetime of the solar thermal system. Furthermore, the solar gain from the solar collectors is not sufficient for recovering the ground temperature of the BTES with solar energy only which is why external sources would be needed for supplying the remaining energy needed to recover the ground temperature.Results show that an integration of CO2 heat pumps and water storage tanks for DHW production is very promising as the payback time for the investigated system is only 4 years which is why this part should be investigated further.


Restorative justice is entering the social work literature as a strategy that can transform lives harmed by violence. However, the literature has yet to explore how restorative justice can transform communities. Despite the lack of published information, communities across the globe and the United States are experiencing important benefits from restorative justice-based interventions. This article explores 4 restorative justice strategies that seek to transform communities: restorative boards, community conferencing, community restorative support, and truth and reconciliation commissions. The examination of the strategies includes case studies that are used to support a larger discussion of application, practice, outcomes, evaluation literature, and critiques.


In this paper we present the results of a coherent narrow-band search for continuous gravitational-wave signals from the Crab and Vela pulsars conducted on Virgo VSR4 data. In order to take into account a possible small mismatch between the gravitational wave frequency and two times the star rotation frequency, inferred from measurement of the electromagnetic pulse rate, a range of 0.02 Hz around two times the star rotational frequency has been searched for both the pulsars. No evidence for a signal has been found and 95% confidence level upper limits have been computed both assuming polarization parameters are completely unknown and that they are known with some uncertainty, as derived from X-ray observations of the pulsar wind torii. For Vela the upper limits are comparable to the spin-down limit, computed assuming that all the observed spin-down is due to the emission of gravitational waves. For Crab the upper limits are about a factor of two below the spin-down limit, and represent a significant improvement with respect to past analysis. This is the first time the spin-down limit is significantly overcome in a narrow-band search.


Eutrophication is an increase in primary production due to increased nutrient supply and its consequences. In its widest sense eutrophication means any increase of nutrient availability that increases primary production. Frequently, however, eutrophication is understood exclusively as the consequence of nutrient input by anthropogenic activities. The primary consequence of eutrophication in aquatic environments is an enhancement of algal productivity and accumulation of algal biomass. Secondary consequences are changes in community structure of plankton and benthos. Man-induced eutrophication or changes in biodiversity are nothing new: they are a well-known consequence of human culture. Eutrophication phenomena accompanied all human settlements. Even in the early days of mankind human activities resulted in ecosystem changes. Several large animals such as the mammoth survived the glacial periods, but not the last one. It has been suggested that Neolithic hunters decimated this species to extinction. Similar suggestions have also been made regarding other large mammals that did not continue to exist after the last glacial. The main sewage canal in the city of Rome, 'cloaca', has given rise to a number of expression regarding sewage pathways in numerous languages. Since classical and medieval times there have been 'clean-ups' of unsanitary, plague-ridden cities. Eutrophication is thus the oldest environmental problem of human civilization and not a recent phenomenon. However, with the significant increase of human population over recent decades, eutrophication has developed from a more or less local to a global issue. Due to changes in human living conditions and the declining number of people employed in agriculture, the population in the coastal zone increases steadily. The nutrient concentration increases continually from small streams over rivers and larger lakes to the estuaries. The consequences of this, such as discoloured waters, 'rotten' bottom water, odour and reduced fishing yields are obvious to even a casual observer. The combined effect of increasing human population and movement to the coastal zone, the environmental pressure on rivers, estuaries and shelf regions results in an ever-increasing pressure on the entire coastal zone (Figure 1). Consequently, eutrophication turns into an escalating global phenomenon as long as the human population increases. Homo sapiens has thus a vital impact


A novel Na7Fe4.5(P2O7)4 compound was fabricated as a cathode for sodium-ion batteries by a mechanical milling assisted solid state method for the first time. The as-prepared material exhibits superior electrochemical performance based on half-cell testing. After uniform carbon coating, it exhibits lower electrochemical polarization, better conductivity and faster sodium ion diffusion kinetics. Benefiting from these advantages, the Na7Fe4.5(P2O7)4 was endowed with higher charge–discharge capacity, better cycle life and outstanding rate performance. The high rate capability and good cyclability of this material in non-aqueous electrolytes are advantageous for low-cost and safe battery systems.


The goal is to develop a miniaturized system allowing continuous measurement of glucose concentration profiles over 24 hours for several days. The unique feature of the PharmaSens / IMT approach lies in the insertion mechanism and the needle size to assure optimum user-friendliness and patient comfort. The measurement method is based on classical amperometric detection using an enzymatic membrane. The sensor substrate is made on a flexprint substrate and consists of a 3-electrode cell on a needle-shaped tip of  100 μm width and is covered with polymeric membranes. The sensor is integrated in a device that combines the insertion mechanism and electronics.


Abstract Mineral weathering processes in soils are important controls on soil characteristics and on bio- and geochemical cycling. Elucidation of these processes and their mechanisms is crucial for understanding soil environments and their influence globally. An Umbric Podzol from the Falkland Islands was studied while investigating possible ways to counteract soil degradation and loss. The soil had lost the O, E, and Bs horizons through erosion, thus revealing the transitional B/C horizon, which grades into the underlying parent material. Samples were taken from the B/C surface and 5 cm below the surface, then analyzed with X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, organic C and N analysis, analysis of extractable Fe and Al with the dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate and ammonium oxalate methods, and Fourier-transform infrared analysis. The soil fabric and mineralogy were compatible with derivation from sandstone rock. Clasts of heterogeneous mineral composition as well as loose material from disaggregated clasts were present. The soil had large proportions of quartz and albite, and minor amounts of muscovite, chlorite, plagioclase, feldspar, kaolinite, and non-diffracting Fe oxide (goethite and/or ferrihydrite). The most peculiar characteristic was a large component (~7 wt% of the bulk soil) of an amorphous (non-X-ray diffracting) silicate phase of small particle size (<1 μm), non-extractable, with heterogeneous composition. The average composition of this phase is similar to that of the bulk soil and approaches that of Al-Fe-rich smectite. The amorphous phase is not allophane or imogolite by any of the analyses carried out. The amorphous silicate phase is formed partly by the translocation of metals from O, E, and Bs horizons and partly by dissolution of the primary minerals of the B/C horizon, both of which precipitated in combination with low water mobility causing rapid saturation of the interstitial water. There are no reports of amorphous silicate phases with these characteristics or abundances from soils or other weathering environments. Thus, our observations indicate the existence of complex, successive weathering steps not yet identified that could be investigated in materials subjected to slow weathering such as the soil described here.


Abstract This paper investigates how dividend taxes influence portfolio choices, using the response to the distinctive treatment of a subset of foreign dividends in the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (JGTRRA) of 2003. An open-economy after-tax capital asset pricing model is used to derive the hypothesis that JGTRRA should lead to a portfolio reallocation by U.S. investors toward equities in tax-favored countries. A difference-in-difference analysis that compares U.S. equity holdings in affected and unaffected countries finds a substantial portfolio reallocation toward the former. This effect cannot be explained by several potential alternative hypotheses, including differential changes to the preferences of American investors, differential changes in investment opportunities, differential time trends in investment, changed tax evasion behavior, or changes in stock prices associated (or contemporaneous) with JGTRRA.


Maize 98140 contains a single insert consisting of the gat4621 and the Zm-hra expression cassettes, providing herbicide tolerance. Bioinformatic analyses and genetic stability studies did not raise safety issues. The levels of the GAT and Zm-HRA protein in maize 98140 have been sufficiently analysed. The minimum standards for the design of field trials, set out in the EFSA GMO Panel guidance document, were not met. Therefore the EFSA GMO Panel was not in a position to conclude on the comparative assessment of the compositional, agronomic and phenotypic characteristics, on the basis of the data provided. In the absence of conclusions on the comparative assessment of composition, the risk assessment was restricted to the newly expressed proteins and to specific metabolites resulting from the acetylase activity of the GAT4621 protein. The EFSA GMO Panel has identified a gap in the data on the agronomic and phenotypic characterisation of GM maize 98140 and considers that uncertainty over these characteristics remains. However, considering the scope of this application, the available data and the poor survival capacity of maize outside cultivated land, the EFSA GMO Panel concluded that there is very little likelihood of environmental effects due to the accidental release into the environment of viable grains from maize 98140. Considering its intended use as food and feed, interactions with the biotic and abiotic environment were not considered to be an issue. Risks associated with an unlikely but theoretically possible horizontal gene transfer from maize 98140 to bacteria have not been identified. The monitoring plan and reporting intervals were in line with the intended uses of maize 98140.


Photo-identification and focal animal sampling were used to examine the daytime behavior of territorial male sea otters (Enhydra lutris) in Simpson Bay, Prince William Sound, Alaska, during the summer (June to August) of 2003. The average number of otters (all age classes of males and females) in the study area was 121 ± 12.1 SD (n = 5 surveys). The bout duration of six behaviors (resting, grooming, foraging, interacting with other otters, swimming at the surface, and patrolling), activity time budgets, and interactions with females were determined for territorial males. Ten males were observed during 183 focal follows (i.e., observation periods), representing 92 h of observation. More time was spent foraging (30%) than on any other activity, and foraging bouts were longer than all other activities. Males interacted with females with pups (59%) and with single females (41%). Two of three consortships (i.e., mating associations lasting ca. three days) were formed with single females. Sixty-seven percent of interactions between territorial males were aggressive and were longer than one min.


Query abandonment by search engine users is generally considered to be a negative signal. In this paper, we explore the concept of good abandonment. We define a good abandonment as an abandoned query for which the user's information need was successfully addressed by the search results page, with no need to click on a result or refine the query. We present an analysis of abandoned internet search queries across two modalities (PC and mobile) in three locales. The goal is to approximate the prevalence of good abandonment, and to identify types of information needs that may lead to good abandonment, across different locales and modalities. Our study has three key findings: First, queries potentially indicating good abandonment make up a significant portion of all abandoned queries. Second, the good abandonment rate from mobile search is significantly higher than that from PC search, across all locales tested. Third, classified by type of information need, the major classes of good abandonment vary dramatically by both locale and modality. Our findings imply that it is a mistake to uniformly consider query abandonment as a negative signal. Further, there is a potential opportunity for search engines to drive additional good abandonment, especially for mobile search users, by improving search features and result snippets.


In this paper, standard-cell based memories (SCMs) are proposed as an alternative to full-custom sub-VT SRAM macros for ultra-low-power systems requiring small memory blocks. The energy per memory access as well as the maximum achievable throughput in the sub-VT domain of various SCM architectures are evaluated by means of a gate-level sub-VT characterization model, building on data extracted from fully placed, routed, and back-annotated netlists. The reliable operation at the energy-minimum voltage of the various SCM architectures in a 65-nm CMOS technology considering within-die process parameter variations is demonstrated by means of Monte Carlo circuit simulation. Finally, the energy per memory access, the achievable throughput, and the area of the best SCM architecture are compared to recent sub-VT SRAM designs.


The emulsion copolymerization of Styrene (Sty)-Butyl acrylate (BuA) was
carried out in a semibatch reactor with sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) as surfactant and potassium persulphate (KPS) as initiator. The effects related to the distribution of the
monomer, the surfactant, and the initiator on the copolymer composition and the
overall behaviour of the reactor were thoroughly studied.
It was found that BUA rich initial charge increased the polymerization rate,
reduced the particle sizes, and minimized the composition drift. The experimental
data showed that the free unadsorbed surfactant in the reactor increased with
increasing the fraction of the BuA monomer initially charged in the reactor. This led
to an increase in the number of polymer particles and in return increased the
polymerization rate. In addition, cross-linked copolymer was obtained when the BuA
content was high indicating the possibility of gel effect which as well led to the
apparent increase in the polymerization rate. The water-solubilities of the monomers
did not affect the reaction kinetics or the copolymer composition. This was
demonstrated experimentally and by means of mathematical modeling.
Reducing the surfactant and the initiator concentrations showed the general
behaviour of lower polymerization rates and larger particle sizes. The copolymer
composition was not affected by the changes in the surfactant and the initiator
concentrations in the reactor. Feeding part of the initiator or the surfactant during the
semi batch stage while maintaining constant concentrations showed major effects on
the sizes and the numbers of the polymer particles, and the polymerization rate. This
is believed to be related to the change in the agitation intensity as a result of varying
the volume of the initial charge. No effects were observed on the copolymer
composition and the monomers mass fraction in the particles.


A dynamical analysis of an effective homogeneous and irrotational Weyssenhoff fluid in general relativity is performed using the 1 + 3 covariant approach that enables the dynamics of the fluid to be determined without assuming any particular form for the spacetime metric. The spin contributions to the field equations produce a bounce that averts an initial singularity, provided that the spin density exceeds the rate of shear. At later times, when the spin contribution can be neglected, a Weyssenhoff fluid reduces to a standard cosmological fluid in general relativity. Numerical solutions for the time evolution of the generalized scale factor R(t) in spatially curved models are presented, some of which exhibit eternal oscillatory behaviour without any singularities. In spatially flat models, analytical solutions for particular values of the equation-of-state parameter are derived. Although the scale factor of a Weyssenhoff fluid generically has a positive temporal curvature near a bounce (i.e. ), it requires unreasonable fine tuning of the equation-of-state parameter to produce a sufficiently extended period of inflation to fit the current observational data.


This in-depth cases tudy examinest he troubled introduction of a new computerisedr eservation
system at French Railways. Socrale, based on the American Airlines Sabre system, had a disastrous
beginning.I t wasb adly receivedb y the Frenchp ublic, led to strikes andg overnmentin quiries,a nd had to
be modified substantially.T he literatureo n information systemsf ailure is reviewedf rom functionalistt o
social constructivista nd critical perspectivesa nd the thesis aims to challengeb eliefs and assumptions
about technological success and failure. The notion of 'symmetry' from the sociology of technology
emphasisetsh at failures expresst he samed ynamicsa s successess,h owingh ow technologicalc hoicesa re
not obvious or unproblematic.
Differences between air and rail transporý between American and European transport
deregulation and between the needs of national identity, regional development and public access to
transporta re all reflectedi n the questiono f yield managementY. ield managemenist a crucial component
of computerisedre servations ystemsa nd was first adoptedd uring the deregulationo f the US air transport
industry in the early 80s. It requires complex optimisation software designed to manage passenger
revenues and control demand, by manipulating the availability of full and discounted fares according to
monitoredd emanda nds tatisticaal nalysis.
Latour and Callon's sociology of 'translation' helps analyse how the Socrate project was
undertaken and interpreted as: borrowing from airline pricing, aiming to gain competitive advantage,
associatingS ocrate to the successo f high-speedt rains, attemptingt o changep assengersb' uying and
travelling behaviour, transformingt he organisationa nd helping identify profitable market segmentsA.
non-essentialisst tanceh elpsu nderstandh ow social and technicald istinctionsa re socially constructeda nd
how the differentiation between what is technical and what is social, for instance in the conception and
application of yield managementi,s a mattero f power and politics. Clegg's circuits of power are usedt o
complement the sociology of translation in examining how power and political factors contribute to
information systemsb ecoming( or not) obligatoryp assagep oints.
Politically controversialc hangesin Frenchr ail transporta re associatedw ith the role of computer
technology in deregulated European and global electronic markets and its effects on the concept of
nationali dentity and sovereigntyin transportp olicy-making.


This paper introduces our approach towards annotating a large heritage corpus, which spans over 100 years of alpine literature. The corpus consists of over 16.000 articles from the yearbooks of the Swiss Alpine Club, 60% of which represent German texts, 38% French, 1% Italian and the remaining 1% Swiss German and Romansh. The present work describes the inherent difficulties in processing a multilingual corpus by referring to the most challenging annotation phases such as article identification, correction of optical character recognition (OCR) errors, tokenization, and language identification. The paper aims to raise awareness for the
efforts in building and annotating multilingual corpora rather than to evaluate each individual annotation phase.
Keywords: multilingual corpora, cultural heritage, corpus annotation, text digitization


A measure of development only in terms of consumption of goods is too narrow. Indeed, development is a wider and more complex concept and both theoretical and empirical analysis should be broadened to include a large set of those aspects which contribute to determine the standard of life of people. An answer to this topic is represented by the Human Development Index which ranks nations according to the aggregation of three socioeconomic indicators, whose choice might seem restrictive, especially when a large set of countries with different paths of development is considered. As a possible improvement of this well-known index some economic, social and environmental indicators have been added in order to derive a comprehensive aggregated index of development. In addition, non-replaceability among the various dimensions of development is assumed, that is only a condition where the different components show the same relative proportions is considered sustainable over time. To this aim a concave Sustainable Socioeconomic Development Index which penalizes progressively the dissimilarity among the components is presented and applied to a large sample of countries. With respect to the hypothesis of perfect substitutability among the different variables, the final ranking of countries is quite different in the case of the Sustainable Socioeconomic Development Index, where penalisations to unbalanced degrees of development have been applied.


Hospitals are facing severe increases in the cost of clinical supplies, and a common strategy is to drive economies of scale achieved by hospital consolidation. The supply strategy of "volume leveraging" involves sourcing through contracts with Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) for commercial distributors and manufacturers of medical products. This study seeks to document the empirical benefits associated with volume leveraging, through analysis of purchasing data from three large hospitals. The dependent variables include a number of factors that are used to justify volume leveraging approaches, yet the study finds no significant explanatory factors that determine price variation related to the volume purchased. Interviews with physicians and clinicians suggest that poor data quality leads to lack of transparency, and an inability to aggregate volumes across inventory SKUs may be preventing volume-based cost savings from materializing. The results also suggest that lack of transparency results in low levels of utilization, which increases costs.


The present study was done to prepare a gastroretentive floating tablet of captopril (CAP) which is an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACE-inhibitor) used in the treatment of hypertension and heart failure. CAP is mainly absorbed from the proximal intestine and to a lesser extent from the stomach, also CAP stability decreases as the pH raised above 1.2 and this makes it a suitable candidate for floating dosage form.Effervescent floating tablets of CAP were prepared in order to prolong the gastric residence time and increase the bioavailability of the drug. The floating tablets of CAP were prepared by direct compression and wet granulation technique, using the polymer hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) as the primary retarding polymer together with carboxymethylcellulose(CMC) ,ethyl cellulose(EC) and pectin as a secondary release modifying polymers in different ratios of (1:1, 3:1 and 9:1). Different formulation parameters were studied such as type of diluents, amount of effervescent agent, methods of preparation and their effects on buoyancy and the in vitro drug release profile as well as their physical characteristics. The wet granulation method shows a good flow and compressibility characteristics and a better dose uniformity in comparison with direct compression technique. Pectin together with HPMC in the ratio of 1:1 was found to meet the requirement for a good matrix formation and floating characteristics and the drug release was sufficiently sustained for 12 h with floating time >24h and floating lag time of 2 min. Kinetic modeling of the release data for the selected formula showed that the mechanism of drug release pattern follows anomalous or non –fickian diffusion.


The changing geographical distribution of species, or range shift, is one of the better documented fingerprints of climate change in the marine environment. Range shifts may also lead to dramatic changes in the distribution of economic, social, and cultural opportunities. These challenge marine resource users' capacity to adapt to a changing climate and managers' ability to implement adaptation plans. In particular, a reluctance to attribute marine range shift to climate change can undermine the effectiveness of climate change communications and pose a potential barrier to successful adaptation. Attribution is a known powerful predictor of behavioural intention. Understanding the cognitive processes that underpin the formation of marine resource users' beliefs about the cause of observed marine range shift phenomena is therefore an important topic for research. An examination of the attribution by marine resource users of three types of range shifts experienced in a marine climate change hotspot in southeast Australia to various climate and non-climate drivers indicates the existence of at least three contributing cognitions. These are: (i) engrained mental representations of environmental phenomena, (ii) scientific complexity in the attribution pathway, and (iii) dissonance from the positive or negative nature of the impact. All three play a part in explaining the complex pattern of attribution of marine climate change range shifts, and should be considered when planning for engagement with stakeholders and managers around adaptation to climate change


A sigma-delta (ΣΔ) based technique is used to embed a complex modulation
scheme such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) into a single ONOFF
bit stream operating at the carrier frequency. The amplitude of the signal is related
to the pulse widths and the phase is related to the pulse positions. The pulse edges are
time quantised to align with the system clock. The work is based on a Cartesian ΣΔ
scheme which uses Cartesian filters and a polar quantiser to move quantisation noise
away from the band of interest.
The first contribution of this thesis is the introduction of an improved odd
quantisation and joint quantisation process. Odd quantisation uses pulse widths
constrained to an odd number of clock periods compared to the more traditional even
quantisation with an even number of clock periods. Joint quantisation uses pulses of
unrestricted widths. It is shown that the odd quantisation scheme outperforms the even
quantisation scheme by about 2 dB in terms of signal-to-noise ratio and the joint
quantisation scheme enhances this by a further 3 dB. The improvement comes at the
expense of complexity. A joint quantiser requires a two dimensional (2D) quantisation
process, which for an oversampling ratio (OSRRF) of 8 involves 197 operations. A method
that simplifies this to 44 operations is proposed.
The second contribution involves the development of a new frequency tuning
method. It involves phase rotators before and after the quantiser rotating at an
intermediate frequency. Tuning spectrally shifts both the signal and noise null together,
but the final phase conversion process generates an image and distortion products of both
the noise and signal, resulting in a higher than expected noise floor and unwanted
spurious signals. A deliberate choice of intermediate frequency (fIF) equal to or greater
than the transmission bandwidth plus half of a channel bandwidth, will move all
distortion products out of band. Unfortunately there is a deterioration in the in-band noise
null compared to the non-shifted condition of about 8 dB and this worsens as the
intermediate frequency increases.
A mathematical derivation has been developed to predict the size and position of
the unwanted images. The signal image can be removed by pre-distorting the input
signal. A method for reducing noise enhancement caused by frequency tuning has also
been developed. It involves distorting the feedback signal in the ΣΔ converter. The above
improvements will enhance the use of all-digital ΣΔ based transmitters in future wireless
communication system.


Metabolomic methods can also be utilised to screen diverse biological sources of potentially novel and sustainable sources of antibiotics and pharmacological-active drugs. Dereplication studies by LC-HRFTMS and NMR can establish the chemical profile of endophytic and/or endozoic microbial extracts and their plant or animal sources. Identifying the compounds of interest at an early stage will aid in the isolation of the bioactive components. Therefore metabolite profiling is important for functional genomics and in the search for new pharmacologically active compounds. Using the tools of metabolomics through the employment of LC-HRFTMS as well as high resolution NMR will be a very efficient approach. Metabolomic profiling has found its application in screening extracts of macroorganisms as well as in the isolation and cultivation of suspected microbial producers of bioactive natural products. Metabolomics is being applied to identify and biotechnologically optimize the production of pharmacologically active secondary metabolites. The links between metabolome evolution during optimisation and processing factors can be identified through metabolomics. Information obtained from a metabolomics data can efficiently establish cultivation and production processes at a small scale which will be finally scaled up to a fermenter system, whilst maintaining or enhancing synthesis of the desired compounds. MZmine and SIEVE softwares are utilized to perform differential analysis of sample populations to find significant expressed features of complex biomarkers between parameter variables. Metabolomes are identified with the aid of existing high resolution MS and NMR records from online or inhouse databases like AntiMarin, a database of microbial secondary metabolites and marine natural products. This is further validated through available reference standards and NMR experiments. Metabolomics has become a powerful tool in systems biology which allows us to gain insights into the potential of natural marine isolates for synthesis of significant quantities of promising new agents, and allows us to manipulate the environment within fermentation systems in a rational manner to select a desired metabolome.


This paper addresses the application of the emerging compressive sensing (CS) technology to the detection of ultra-wideband (UWB) signals. Capitalizing on the sparseness of random UWB signals in the basis of eigen-functions, we develop a new CS dictionary called eigen- dictionary. Coupled with this eigen-dictionary, an enhanced Bayesian learning procedure is proposed to reconstruct the sparse UWB signal from a small collection of random projection measurements. Furthermore, by utilizing a common sparsity profile inherent in UWB signals, the proposed Bayesian algorithm naturally lends itself to multi-task CS for simultaneously recovering multiple UWB signals. Since the statistical inter-relationships between different CS tasks are exploited, the multi-task (MT) Bayesian CS can efficiently improve the reconstruction accuracy and thus the performance of UWB communications. Simulations based on real UWB data demonstrate the advantages of the proposed approach over its counterparts.


Learning and identifying events in network traffic is crucial for service providers to improve their mobility network performance. In fact, large special events attract cell phone users to relative small areas, which causes sudden surge in network traffic. To handle such increased load, it is necessary to measure the increased network traffic and quantify the impact of the events, so that relevant resources can be optimized to enhance the network capability. However, this problem is challenging due to several issues: (1) Multiple periodic temporal traffic patterns (i.e., nonhomogeneous process) even for normal traffic, (2) Irregularly distributed spatial neighbor information, (3) Different temporal patterns driven by different events even for spatial neighborhoods, (4) Large scale data set. This paper proposes a systematic event detection method that deals with the above problems. With the additivity property of Poisson process, we propose an algorithm to integrate spatial information by aggregating the behavior of temporal data under various areas. Markov Modulated Nonhomogeneous Poisson Process (MMNHPP) is employed to estimate the probability with which event happens, when and where the events take place, and assess the spatial and temporal impacts of the events. Localized events are then ranked globally for prioritizing more significant events. Synthetic data are generated to illustrate our procedure and validate the performance. An industrial example from a telecommunication company is also presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed method.


Cooling in an end-winding region of a high-powered, large-sized generator still remains a challenge today because of a number of factors: a larger number of parts/components with irregular geometries, complexity in cooling flow paths, flow splitting and mixing, and interactions between rotor-induced rotating flows and nonrotating flows from stationary sections. One of the key challenges is to model cooling flows passing through armature bars, which are made up of bundles of strands of insulated copper wires and are bent oppositely to cross each other. This work succeeded in modeling a complex generator end-winding region with great efforts to simplify the model by treating the armature bar region as a porous medium. The flow and pressure fields at the end-winding region were investigated numerically using an axial symmetric computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. Based on the analysis, the cooling flow rate at each flow branch (rotor-stator gap, rotor subslot, outside space block, and small ventilation holes to the heat exchanger) was determined, and the high-pressure gradient zones were identified. The CFD results have been successfully used to optimize the flow path configuration for improving the generator operation performance, and the control of the cooling flow, as well as minimizing windage losses and flow-introduced noises.


We exploit an exogenous process change at two emergency departments (EDs) within a health system to test the theory that increasing capacity in a discretionary work setting increases wait times due to additional services being provided to customers as a consequence of reduced marginal costs for a task. We find that an increase in physician's capacity for ordering ultrasounds (U/S) resulted in an 11.5 percentage point increase in the probability of an U/S being ordered, confirming that resource availability induces demand. Furthermore, we find that the additional U/S demand increased the time to return other radiological tests due to the higher demand placed on radiologists from the additional U/S. Consequently, the average length of stay (LOS) for patients with an abdominal complaint increased by nearly 30 minutes, and the waiting time to enter the ED increased by 26 minutes. We do not find any indications of improved performance on clinical metrics, with no statistical change in the number of admissions to the hospital or readmissions to the ED within 72 hours. Our study highlights an important lesson for process improvement in interdependent service settings: increasing process capacity at one step in the process can increase demand at that step, as well as for a subsequent shared service, and both can result in an overall negative impact on performance.


We study the boundedness of Toeplitz operators $T_a$ with locally integrable symbols on Bergman spaces $A^p(\mathbb{D})$, $1 < p < \infty$. Our main result gives a sufficient condition for the boundedness of $T_a$ in terms of some ``averages'' (related to hyperbolic rectangles) of its symbol. If the averages satisfy an ${o}$-type condition on the boundary of $\mathbb{D}$, we show that the corresponding Toeplitz operator is compact on $A^p$. Both conditions coincide with the known necessary conditions in the case of nonnegative symbols and $p=2$. We also show that Toeplitz operators with symbols of vanishing mean oscillation are Fredholm on $A^p$ provided that the averages are bounded away from zero, and derive an index formula for these operators.


The prediction of pipe failures in urban water systems is a complex process because the available failure records, originating in work orders, are often short and incomplete. To identify a robust and simple model with good failure prediction results using short data history, three existing models were compared in this study: the single-variate Poisson process, the Weibull accelerated lifetime model, and the linear-extended Yule process. This work also presents modifications to these models that enable them to produce more accurate predictions and overcome computational issues for practical software implementation. The three models, together with the improvements where applicable, were applied to water supply system data provided by a Portuguese water utility, and the results were comparatively analysed to assess the accuracy of each model. The Weibull accelerated lifetime model yielded the best results among the three models, accurately predicting failures and detecting pipes with high failure likelihood; however, it is based on Monte Carlo simulations, which can be time-consuming. The linear extended Yule process could also effectively detect pipes with higher failure likelihood; however, it presented a clear tendency to overestimate the number of future failures. The single-variate Poisson process is the simplest of the three models and produced failure prediction results of lower quality.


Background: Myofascial pain dysfunction syndrome (MPDS) has been recognized as the most common, nontooth-related chronic orofacial pain condition that confronts dentists. A variety of therapies have been described in literature for its management. Objectives: This study is a prospective study carried out to evaluate the efficacy of occlusal splint therapy and compare it with transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) in the management of MPDS. Materials and Methods: Sixty patients who reported to the Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Pacific Dental College, Udaipur, since September 2009, in the age range of 17–55 years were included in the study and were randomly assigned to two equally sized groups, A and B. Group A patients received TENS therapy, whereas Group B patients received soft occlusal splint therapy. All the patients were evaluated for pain using visual analog scale (VAS), maximum comfortable mouth opening, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) clicking, and tenderness during rest and movement, as well as for the number of tender muscles at the time of diagnosis, after the first week of initiation of therapy, and every month for 3 months of follow-up. Results: There was a progressive decrease in VAS, number of tender muscles, TMJ clicking, and tenderness with various jaw movements, and there was a significant improvement in mouth opening in patients on occlusal splint therapy during the follow-up period when compared with TENS therapy group. Conclusion: Occlusal splint therapy has better long-term results in reducing the symptoms of MPDS. It has better patient compliance, has fewer side effects, and is more cost-effective than TENS therapy; hence, it can be chosen for the treatment of patients with MPDS.


The mentir-vrai is a concept invented by Aragon that has already been studied in Aragon's works of fiction. Our perspective will take into account the manifestation of the mentir-vrai in non-fictional essays, particularly those that Aragon devoted to Henri Matisse during the period going from the aftermath of World War II to the beginning of the nineteen-seventies. The use of the mentir-vrai in these texts shows the implications of the concept in terms of political discourse and its link with the Aragon's poetics. Discussing the particular way in which Aragon uses autobiographical anecdotes or confessions in non-fictional texts allows us to understand how aesthetic problems are intricately linked to political questions. Aragon's approach to writing forbids all simplifications of the relationship between art and politics: it is impossible to affirm that literature simply serves a political purpose, or, conversely, that Aragon's political position somehow "dissolves" or "evaporates" when incorporated into an aesthetic discourse. Both politics and poetics, relying on Aragon's rhetorical capacities, are the two faces of a single attitude towards life, an attitude that, like the term "mentir-vrai" itself, does not exclude the complexity of an internal contradiction. I would like to consider two texts from Aragon's Henri Matisse, roman, published in 1971. Henri Matisse, roman includes all of Aragon's texts on Matisse, written from 1941 until the painter death in 1954, as well as a group of texts written, roughly, from 1968 through 1971, the period during which Aragon worked on the composition of the two volume set, choosing the iconography and extensively annotating the previously published texts. It is a very complex work, involving writing, reading, rereading and rewriting, and incorporating a subtle combination of texts and images: reproductions of paintings and drawings by Matisse, photographs, manuscripts. The two texts I would like to examine are "Apologie du luxe" written in 1946, as a preface to a book on Matisse published by Skira, and "Que l'un fut de la chapelle," written in 1969 during the second phase of the writing of Henri Matisse, roman, the phase of the arrangement of the texts into what is partly an anthology and partly a novel. These two texts are explicitly linked within Henri Matisse, roman. Each chapter refers directly to the other, the earlier text by means of a note written at the same time as the later text. These two texts can be considered as forming a pair in the economy of the book. Their confrontation brings us to a decisive point in understanding the work as a whole. The "Alfred Barr jr. affair" Both are polemic texts, and of all the texts of Henri Matisse, roman, the two most visibly so. The title "Apologie du luxe" clearly identifies the text as belonging to a rhetorical genre. "Que l'un fut de la chapelle" uses all of the resources and modalities of rhetorical discourse: irony, logical demonstration playing on oppositions and dialectic reversals, accounts by eyewitnesses, rhetorical questions, textual analyses. Both "chapters" establish a system of verbal defense that confirms, despite the twenty-three years separating the two texts and their different motivating factors, the deeper unity of what is at stake for Aragon in Henri Matisse, roman: the defense, from "incorrect" interpretations, of a vision of Matisse that Aragon believes to be "juste"; the self-defense of a writer who, many years later, uses the publication of an "anthology" to respond to those who criticized his texts initially. "Is Matisse a `useless' painter?," Aragon asks in the first text and "did Matisse believe in God?" in the second. However, these questions only acquire their meaning in the relationship that they establish--and that is why I paraphrase them in such a naive way--with the political context in which they are placed, that is: the Cold War opposition between communism and American capitalism. …


Abstract Objective To consider the plausible nutritional impacts of fluctuations in money availability within an income cycle for remote Indigenous Australians. Design Community-level dietary intake (energy, micro/macronutrients) and expenditure on foods and beverages (F&B) were estimated over one year for three remote Indigenous Australian communities (Northern Territory, Australia) using monthly F&B transaction data. F&B that were likely to be consumed during a period within an income cycle when money was relatively limited (low money period (LMP) foods) were identified by panel consensus and scenario modelling was conducted to simulate the nutritional outcomes of a range of F&B selection responses to having an LMP. Results All scenarios resulted in reduced diet quality during the LMP relative to overall average diet values. Protein and fat energy percentages were reduced and carbohydrate energy percentage increased. Despite reduced expenditure, declines in energy intake were typically buffered due to the reduced energy cost ($AU/MJ) of the LMP diet. The micronutrient profile of the LMP diet was substantially poorer, such that additional key micronutrients dropped below population-weighted Estimated Average Requirements/Adequate Intakes. Conclusions The modelling undertaken herein suggests that even a short period of low money within an income cycle may noticeably contribute to the reduced diet quality of remote Indigenous Australians and exacerbate lifestyle disease risk. Dietary strategies that are designed to respond to diets and expenditure during different income cycle periods, rather than the overall average diet and expenditure, should be considered for improving diet quality and reducing cardiometabolic disease risk in remote Indigenous Australians.


The objective of this study was to determine whether preoperative estimates of regional myocardial uptake of 18-F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) could predict postoperative improvement in ejection fraction in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) for ischemic cardiomyopathy. 20 consecutive patients [left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤27%] were referred for preoperative positron emission tomography (PET) to measure regional myocardial FDG uptake and were deemed candidates for CABG. All individuals had technically adequate vessels and significant viability. The left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery was severely diseased in all patients. Because of the importance of the anterior wall to overall ventricular performance, FDG uptake was semiquantitated in those regions and related to postoperative LVEF. 17 patients underwent CABG with an uneventful recovery. LVEF increased from 22 ± 4 to 26 ± 7% 2 weeks postsurgery (p < 0.05), with ≥5% change noted in 7 patients (group 1) and <5% noted in 10 patients (group 2). No preoperative or perioperative clinical variable could predict those with improved ventricular function. The relative amount of FDG uptake in the anterior wall was higher in group 1 compared with group 2 (93 ± 9 vs. 81 ± 13%; p < 0.05) and correlated with the change in LVEF post-CABG (r = 0.50; p < 0.05). >88% of FDG uptake in the LAD region had a positive predictive accuracy of 67% and negative predictive accuracy of 88% for improved LVEF postbypass. Late follow-up estimates of LVEF (median of 10 months) showed that early changes in function were sustained. In summary, among patients with severe coronary artery disease and depressed LVEF, ventricular function may improve early postrevascularization. PET estimates of relative FDG uptake in the anterior wall help predict those individuals who are likely to have the greatest increment in LVEF.


Abstract. This study uses digital ionosonde data from a cusp latitude station (Cambridge Bay, 77° CGM lat.) to study the convection into the polar cap. Days when the IMF magnetic field was relatively steady were used. On many days it was possible to distinguish an interval near noon MLT when the ionosonde data had a different character from that at earlier and later times. Based on our data, and other published measurements, we used the interval 10:00-13:00 MLT as the cusp interval and calculated the convection into the polar cap in this interval. The integrated convection accounted for only ~1/3 of the open polar cap flux. If the convection through the prenoon/postnoon regions on either side of the cusp was calculated the remaining 2/3 of the flux could be accounted for. The characteristics of the prenoon/postnoon regions were different from the cusp region, and we attribute this to transient flank merging versus more steady frontside merging for the cusp. Keywords. Ionosphere (Plasma convection) Magnetospheric physics (Polar cap phenomenon)


In the current work, we labelled human hematopoietic stem cells with polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) that can be tracked by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and studied their effect on cell metabolism, proliferation, secretomics, genomics and differentiation. We showed that NPs had no effect on the stem cell differentiation program but affected their paracrine activity.


In a 2013 essay analysing recent British, women-centred, television crime drama, eminent feminist theorist Charlotte Brunsdon suggests there is evidence that as a 'generative sensibility', postfeminism has peaked and is now waning. Discussions of postfeminism have been more prevalent in media studies but as both Janelle Reinelt (2006) and Elaine Aston (2010) have asserted in the field of 'new writing' for the theatre over the last decade or so, its impact has been evident through an overt lack of engagement with feminism. This article considers Brunsdon's contention in relation to theatre through the analysis of three plays, Amelia Bullmore's Di and Viv and Rose (2011), April De Angelis's Jumpy (2011) and The Awkward Squad by Karin Young (2012), all of which refer back to feminism of the 1980s. Understood as part of a small but notable upsurge in cultural production that 're-visits' and 're-claims' aspects of this politics recent past often ignored, overlooked or rejected under the dominant postfeminist narrative, the success of these three plays can be perceived as part of a broader cultural moment in the UK in which feminism appears to be 'fashionable' again. As such, they offer the opportunity to learn some of the lessons not just of feminist history but of historiography, in regard of what 'stories' are told about this politics past in the present and what alliances these might enable in the future.


The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), as directed by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991, Section 1039, is addressing the Highway Timber Bridge Research and Demonstration Program. Funding for the program is being made available for six years. The program, in its sixth year of funding, is being coordinated between the FHWA's Office of Engineering, the Office of Engineering Research and Development, and the Office of Technology Applications. This paper presents an overview of the program.


There is a paucity of published systematic research investigating object detection within the military context. Here, we establish baseline human detection performance for five standard military issued camouflage patterns. Stimuli were drawn from a database of 1242 calibrated images of a mixed deciduous woodland environment in Bristol, UK. Images within this database were taken during daylight hours, in summer and contained a PASGT helmet, systematically positioned within each scene. Subjects (20) discriminated between the two image types in a temporal 2AFC task (500ms presentation for each interval), with the detection scenario being the percentage of instances participants correctly detected the target. Cueing (cued/not-cued to target location), colour (colour/greyscale) and distance from the observer (3.5/5/7.5m) were manipulated, as was helmet camouflage pattern. A Generalized Linear Mixed Model revealed significant interactions between all variables on participant performance, with greater accuracy when stimuli were in colour, and the target location was cued. There was also a clear ranking of patterns in terms of effectiveness of camouflage. We also compare the results with a computational model based on low-level vision, and eye tracking data, with encouraging results. Our methodology provides a controlled means of assessing any camouflage in any environment, and the potential to implement a machine vision solution to assessment. In this instance, we show differences in the effectiveness of existing solutions to the problem of camouflage, concealment and deception (CCD) on the battlefield. Funded by QinetiQ as part of Materials and Structures Low Observable Materials Research Programme. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


This thesis is about the Sliding Spark Spectrometry as a new method in atomic spectroscopy for direct analysis of solid, non conducting substances. The basic principle of the sliding spark spectroscopy is the thermal vaporization of a small amount of the sample surface using a high current spark which takes place between two tungsten electrodes which are placed direct on the surface of the non conducting material of the sample.
The components of the sample are vaporized, fragmented and ionised; a bright, tube shaped creeping discharge plasma is excited which emits characteristic light radiation which can be evaluated with the spectrometer optic.
In this thesis the adaptation of the sliding spark technique for the direct analysis of sewage sludge and waste water is described.


An IgM mouse monoclonal antibody (McAb) Bf4 was produced to a surface polysaccharide of Bacteroides fragilis NCTC 9343. Immunoblotting showed that McAb Bf4 reacted strongly with a high molecular mass structure which was sensitive to oxidation with periodate but resisted protease treatment. An inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) indicated that McAb Bf4 did not cross react with the sixteen Bacteroides species and strains tested. Cells of B. fragilis NCTC 9343 recovered from the various interfaces of a Percoll discontinuous density gradient were tested in the inhibition ELISA. Bacteria from the 0-20%, 20-40% and 40-60% interfaces inhibited the ELISA; however, cells from the 60-80% interface did not. Electron microscopy with immunogold labelling showed that McAb Bf4 did not react with the extracellular fibrous network on bacteria recovered from the 0-20% interface, or the extracellular electron dense layer on cells from the 60-80% interface; however, it was associated with a surface structure on cells from the 20-40% interface. Growth in vivo did not enrich for bacteria with this structure.


"Active Ageing – Personalised food and meal solutions for health and quality of life"(Aktivt aldrande – individuellt anpassade maltidslosningar for halsa och livskvalitet hosaldre. Diarienr 2013-02780) is a project that aims to maintain the quality of life and autonomy of older persons, through individual and personalised meal solutions that fit their needs and requirements. The target group are primarily the age 75 or older. Five work packages are included in the project. One of the work packages had the scope of developing a concept for the ordering, distribution and delivery of meal to the elderly.The final report from that work package can be found in SP Report 2015:75. An interdisciplinary approach – combining knowledge of ICT (information and communications technology) – Technology, food quality, packaging, logistic, sensory, and waste/return systems for the food that is distributed is increasingly necessary. Being able to influence food choices, for the elderly, is central and open up possibilities for different activities and the development of new products, models and services that might be facilitated by collaborating with SMEs (micro, small and medium sized enterprises) and other business partners interested in delivering solutions for the elderly consumers. The concept for the ordering, distribution and delivery of meal to the elderly developed in the project can be used by other end users and/or for other products and services.Students at the KTH performed a case study "cold chain of chilled meals" together with participant, Medirest, from the project Active Ageing which is presented in this report.The focus is on hospital food provisioning, which is an even more delicate branch in the general food processing panorama. The entire cold chain is mapped and analysed, from the factory up to the hospital wards, in order to ensure integrity and identify critical points. The work is done in collaboration with Medirest, a company responsible for food provision in five hospitals in Stockholm's county. The aim of the project were to investigate if Medirest cold chain of a meal containing chicken were kept intact starting from when the frozen chicken were thawed until it was delivered in a meal box to the S:t Gorans Hospital, including all storing and transportation.Starting from the background knowledge of food regulations, production procedures, logistic technologies and delivery schemes, the overall situation can be depicted and subsequently investigated. Temperature measurements were carried out upon cooked chicken. The results shows that the chicken holds a temperature below 6°C, which is Medirest's goal, when it is put in the holding fridge at Medirest. The temperature fluctuates a lot.When it is put in the holding fridge at the hospital the temperature is held more constant, just above 6°C. The difference may depend on the activity and the amount of internal loads, as well as the ventilation flow required at the Medirest facility. The most exposed parts of the cold chain were during the preparation of the meal boxes, the transportation to the hospital, and during the delivery of the meal boxes to the different wards. The measurements were carried out in November, which is a relative cold month. Problems not showed in this study could however occur during the summer months when the cold chain is exposed to higher loads and higher ambient temperatures.


The aim of this study was to determine the effect of tempeflour and obtain a formulation that was elected in the manufacture of sago crackers based on quality standards cracker (SNI 01-2713-1999). This study was conducted experimentally by using Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with four treatments and four replications. The treatment in this study was K1 (sago starch : tempeflour100% : 0%), K2 (sago starch : tempeflour 90% : 10%), K3 (sago starch : tempeflour 80% : 20%) and K4 (sago starch : tempeflour 70% : 30%). Data were analyzed statistically using ANOVA and tested further by DNMRT at 5%. The results showed that the addition of tempeflour in the manufacture of sago crackers different in each treatment significantly affected the moisture content, ash content, protein content, flower power as well as evaluating the sensory descriptive and hedonic overall. Sago crackers chosen in this study is a cracker K3 (sago starch : tempeflour 80% : 20%), with a water content of 7,60%, 1,37% ash content, protein content of 5,92% and ranges from 41,24% flower power to the characteristicsslightlybrowncolored, flavoredtempe, tasteless tempeand crispas well asthe overallpreferredpanelists.


In recent years, federal courts have become increasingly aggressive in shaping regulatory policy, abandoning their traditional deference to bureaucratic expertise. This new judicial activism has been particular evident in the regulation of air pollution. R. Shep Melnick analyzes the effects a variety of court decisions have had on federal air pollution control policy and assesses the courts institutional capacity for policymaking in such a complex arena. In six cases studies of environmental programs or issues he examines the interplay among the courts, the Environmental Protection Agency, Congress, and the White House. The conventional wisdom is that the courts have improved environmental policymaking, but Melnick concludes that as a whole the consequences of court action under the Clean Air Act are neither random nor beneficial. He finds that court action has encouraged legislators and administrators to establish goals without considering how they can be achieved, widening the gap between promise and performance. The results, he charges, have been increased cynicism, serious inefficiencies and inequities, and a lack of rational debate. An analysis of the institutional characteristics of the judicial branch reveals how these problems have come about and why they are likely to afflict other programs as well as environmental regulation. The author proposes several reforms to improve the courts ability to handle regulatory cases."


The preservation of culture, language and history is recognised as being of crucial importance for future and current generations. Africa, especially, has the unique problem of needing to archive many collections of crucial significance to the world, yet without the skills or funds that often are utilised in this pursuit. The Bleek and Lloyd collection, that documents Bushman culture, and the DISA collection, that documents the South African liberation struggle, are examples of such projects. In both cases, and in other similar projects, there is a growing need for approaches to digital preservation, tools and techniques that better suit the needs and environment of developing countries. Some very specific solutions have emerged to solve problems related to Internet bandwidth and information accessibility, and these will be discussed, but these problems are only recently being acknowledged. Current digitisation efforts still outstrip efforts to organise information. Future technical solutions will therefore need to be found to maintain the pace of preservation as well as ensure ongoing access to all the peoples of the world.


Abstract Objectives: To compare the efficacy of the polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine in older adults between clinical trial and observational studies and to discuss the implications for long-term–care facilities (LTCFs). Data Source: A Medline search (to April 2003). Study Selection: All meta-analyses of randomized and quasi-randomized trials of pneumococcal vaccines with placebo or no treatment were sought. All cohort or case–control studies were sought. Data Synthesis: Of the 16 individual randomized clinical trials included in the reviews, 8 compared pneumococcal vaccine in individuals 55 years and older individuals. Only one study specifically addressed LTCF residents. Although no significant protective effect of the vaccine in elderly subpopulations was found, on the basis of wide confidence intervals and small subpopulation sample sizes, beneficial effects, particularly for pneumococcal bacteremia, could not be ruled out. Of the individual observational studies, 11 specifically evaluated vaccine efficacy in older adults. Vaccine efficacy was demonstrated in 9 of the 11 studies with no protective effect was shown in 2 studies. Conclusion: Although the pooling of clinical trial data does not demonstrate significant efficacy of the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine in subgroups of older adults, these subgroup studies lacked power to show significant differences. Observational studies repeatedly demonstrate efficacy in older adults, and the vaccine has been demonstrated to be cost-effective and safe. It is strongly promoted by U.S. and Canadian advisory committees. On the basis of this available evidence, the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine should currently be recommended for older adults, especially those who are residents of LTCFs.


The sequence of a nasal-plus-voiceless-obstruent (plosive) is a less favoured cluster cross-linguistically. Languages adopt various strategies to avoid such a cluster. These include nasal substitution, nasal deletion, post-nasal voicing, denasalization etc. The Dravidian language Malayalam exhibits post-nasal voicing to avoid NC. Interestingly, it also allows nasal gemination for the same purpose; and both the processes share identical domains: morpheme internal as well as across morphemes. Presumably this is a pointer towards some subtler facts at work inviting serious critical engagement. In course of the present study, it has been found that: (a) nasal gemination is a marked strategy to avoid NC and is restricted to a limited set of morphemes; and (b) post-nasal voicing is a more productive and hence unmarked strategy in this language. A principled account, in terms of constraint interaction, of these discrete processes and their underlying functional unity emerges if the theory of underspecification is roped in while positing the input form. Additionally, some predictions follow automatically about the direction of language change.


Before 1968 foreign language teaching in non-vocational schools in the Netherlands presented a relatively simple and stable picture: French, German and English were compulsory subjects for all pupils and all pupils were examined in these subjects. Since then the situation has changed drastically. In 1968 a new law came into effect which made it possible for pupils to drop either one or two foreign languages - depending on the type of school they attend - well before their final exams. One of the most dramatic results was that more than half of the pupils decided not to take an exam in French. Also, the share of foreign languages in the curriculum dropped from ± 28% to 24.5%. Teachers and their associa-tions voiced their worries about the effects of the new law in their journals and in consultative committees. In response to this, the Ministry of Education requested the I.T.S (Instituut voor Toegepaste Sociologie = Institute of Applied Sociology) at Nijmegen to start a large-scale research project into foreign langufige needs in the Nether-lands .In this paper arguments for the teaching of modern foreign languages and the needs they are based on are examined. Three categories of needs are distinguished and it is argued that, in the Dutch situation, the cate-gory of needs for communicative foreign language skills carries most weight. Next it is argued that, although a foreign language teaching policy cannot be successful unless it is based on a consideration of foreign language needs, they are several other factors - language political, learning psychological, linguistic, educational - which should also be taken into account. Finally, some results of the I.T.S.-research project into foreign language needs are discussed in detail and it is concluded that these re-sults can be profitably used as a starting point for a fundamental discus-sion with regards to a well-balanced foreign language teaching policy for the future.


Flood wave dynamics simulations are determined by a robust and accurate Lagrangian block advection (LBA) scheme that can track the dry-and-wet interface and capture the shocks without using any slope limiter to control the numerical oscillations. Two series of challenging numerical problems are considered using the LBA. First, computations are carried out for water waves in a parabolic bowl. The wetting-and-drying interface on the surface of the bowl is tracked by the LBA method with absolute computational stability. The accuracy of the LBA method is verified by the convergent of the numerical solution to an exact solution. Finally, the LBA method is applied to carry out a series of flood wave simulations, which have closely reproduced the data obtained from the laboratory experiments.


Hypoxia in solid tumors is associated with treatment resistance and increased metastatic potential. Although hypoxia has been reported in pancreatic cancer patients, there is little direct evidence that this contributes to their overall poor prognosis. To address this, we examined the associations between hypoxia and biological aggression in a series of patient-derived xenografts grown orthotopically. Early passage xenografts were established from 16 patients undergoing surgery for pancreatic cancer and maintained in the pancreas of immune-deprived mice. Hypoxic cells were labeled using the 2-nitroimidazole probe EF5 and stained for immunofluorescence microscopy of tissue sections or as cell suspensions for flow cytometry. Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) uptake, microvessel density, cleaved caspase-3, and the differentiation markers E-cadherin, cytokeratin 19, and vimentin were analyzed in relation to hypoxia. Orthotopic implants closely resembled the histology of the original surgical samples. The 16 primary xenografts showed a wide range in their growth rates and metastatic potential, reminiscent of the spectrum of behavior seen in the clinic. EF5 labeling, tumor growth rates, and metastatic patterns were highly consistent within replicates, indicating a significant transmissible (genetic or epigenetic) component. Hypoxia was highly correlated with rapid tumor growth, increased BrdUrd uptake, and with spontaneous metastasis formation. mRNA expression analysis showed increased expression of genes involved in cell survival and proliferation in the hypoxic models. The results suggest that hypoxia is a major adverse prognostic factor in pancreatic cancer patients and support the introduction of techniques to measure hypoxia directly in patients and the development of treatment protocols to target hypoxia. Cancer Res; 71(8); 3110–20. 2011 AACR.


Apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) appears to be involved in a second pathway of programmed cell death that does not rely on the cytochrome c-Apaf1-caspase 9 pathway. Joza et al. knocked out the aif gene in embryonic stem (ES) cells (aif/y) and found that these cells did not contribute to chimeric mice when injected into blastocysts, but did retain their ability to differentiate into endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm as ES cells in culture. When the ES cells formed embryoid bodies, the aif/y ES cells failed to undergo cell death and normal cavitation (an essential step in the initiation of gastrulation), suggesting that AIF may control a very early apoptotic event in embryogenesis. Analysis of the characteristics of the programmed cell death exhibited during cavitation suggest that the pathway requires AIF, is genetically separable from the Apaf1-caspase 9 pathway, and can occur without activation of caspase 3. N. Joza, S. A. Susin, E. Daugas, W. L. Stanford, S. K. Cho, C. Y. J. Li, T. Sasaki, A. J. Elia, H.-Y. M. Cheng, L. Ravagnan, K. F. Ferri, N. Zamzami, A. Wakeham, R. Hakem, H. Yoshida, Y.-Y. Kong, T. W. Mak, J. C. Zúñiga-Pflücker, G. Kroemer, J. M. Penninger, Essential role of the mitochondrial apoptosis-inducing factor in programmed cell death. Nature 410, 549-554 (2001). [Online Journal]


CMOS micromachining processes are being increasingly used to fabricate integrated MEMS devices. Verification of such designs requires extraction from layout to mixed domain circuits and MEMS schematics for lumped parameter simulation. The higher etch hole density and multilayer interconnect in CMOS-MEMS designs results in a larger and more complex problem than in polysilicon MEMS. In addition, integrated MEMS verification needs accurate extraction of mechanical and electrical parasitics. This paper reports an extractor with improvedscanline-basedalgorithms to meet the larger problem size associated with integrated CMOSMEMS layouts. In addition, ahierarchical binrepresentation is used to store the multilayer electrical connectivity information. A new graph-basedalgorithm, which reads in an user customizable library file, is used to recognize the wide range of comb drive and spring designs resulting from the flexibility in connectivity. The utility of the extractor is demonstrated using selected designs.


The vast amount of phenotypic information collected in some wild animal populations makes them extremely valuable for unravelling the genetics of ecologically important traits and understanding how populations adapt to changes in their environment. Next generation sequencing has revolutionized the development of large marker panels in species previously lacking genomic resources. In this study, a unique genomics toolkit was developed for the great tit (Parus major), a model species in ecology and behavioural biology. This toolkit consists of nearly 100 000 SNPs, over 250 million nucleotides of assembled genomic DNA and more than 80 million nucleotides of assembled expressed sequences. A SNP chip with 9193 SNP markers expected to be spaced evenly along the great tit genome was used to genotype 4702 birds from two of the most intensively studied natural vertebrate populations [Wytham Woods/Bagley Woods (United Kingdom) and de Hoge Veluwe/Westerheide (The Netherlands)]. We show that (i) SNPs identified in either of the two populations have a high genotyping success in the other population, (ii) the minor allele frequencies of the SNPs are highly correlated between the two populations and (iii) despite this high correlation, a large number of SNPs display significant differentiation (FST) between the populations, with an overrepresentation of genes involved in cardiovascular development close to these SNPs. The developed resources provide the basis for unravelling the genetics of important traits in many long‐term studies of great tits. More generally, the protocols and pitfalls encountered will be of use for those developing similar resources.


In this paper, a novel video-based multimodal biometric verification scheme using the subspace-based low-level feature fusion of face and speech is developed for specific speaker recognition for perceptual human-computer interaction (HCI). In the proposed scheme, human face is tracked and face pose is estimated to weight the detected facelike regions in successive frames, where ill-posed faces and false-positive detections are assigned with lower credit to enhance the accuracy. In the audio modality, mel-frequency cepstral coefficients are extracted for voice-based biometric verification. In the fusion step, features from both modalities are projected into nonlinear Laplacian Eigenmap subspace for multimodal speaker recognition and combined at low level. The proposed approach is tested on the video database of ten human subjects, and the results show that the proposed scheme can attain better accuracy in comparison with the conventional multimodal fusion using latent semantic analysis as well as the single-modality verifications. The experiment on MATLAB shows the potential of the proposed scheme to attain the real-time performance for perceptual HCI applications.


With the increasing incidence of human cancer and continued difficulty in treating metastatic tumors, there is an urgent need to identify biomarkers for tumors with poor outcome and novel therapeutic targets. Many therapeutic targets have been found in recent years. One promising biomarker and therapeutic target that is valuable for human tumor is nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NFE2L2, Nrf2). In this chapter, we will discuss the regulatory mechanisms and conflicting roles of Nrf2 during different stages of tumor development as well as its involvement in the drug resistance and hypoxia-induced chemoresistance. We will also discuss various positive and negative modulators of Nrf2 as reference to their potential utility as study tools and leads for further clinical development.


Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) is currently one of the main control system focuses of vehicle and vehicle component manufacturers. Currently it is seen as a comfort system, reducing driver fatigue in heavy traffic, but it has the possibility to provide a lot of safety related features in the near future and becoming an integral part of an Intelligent Transport System (ITS). Incorporating ACC into an existing vehicle simulation system allows faster system development and removes safety issues from system testing as the vehicle model, complete with control systems, can be tested on the computer rather than on the street. An ACC system, which in this implementation also requires a vehicle dynamics controller (VDC or ESP/sup TM/), has been incorporated into the vehicle simulation package FASIM C++. This provides a powerful tool to develop ACC and extend its function, reducing development time and removing the risk to personal that occurs when such vehicle control systems are tested under driving conditions (normal or otherwise). The complete system is also a typical example of a mechatronic system. This paper discusses the advantages of simulating with ACC, suggests some extensions that would allow it to be turned into an Advanced Driver Assistance (ADA) system for incorporation into an ITS, and presents some preliminary simulation results.


The "too systemically important to fail" problem is one of the most intractable problems of our time. During the financial panic of 2008, governments around the world decided to use taxpayer funds to rescue their most important financial institutions rather than allow them to be liquidated at fire-sale prices. Policymakers have developed measures to make future failures less likely or severe. If failures nevertheless occur, however, regulators will want to resolve systemically important institutions in a way that provides a credible alternative to taxpayer-funded bailouts. This Essay establishes an economic model for testing when a proposed solution is credible. It applies that test to proposals for a new Chapter 14 to the Bankruptcy Code and to the FDIC's new resolution authority, examining especially the FDIC's possible use of this authority to recapitalize the systemically important and viable parts of a failed institution and liquidate the rest without cost to taxpayers.


In this study, the effect of some chemical additives such as methanol, ethanol, sodium oleat and chloroform on the dry ultrafine grinding of calcite powder (X50= 33 μm, Sv=0.95 m 2 /cm 3 ) was investigated by using a stirred mill. The experiments were carried out by a batch operation, and the change in average particle size (X50), particle size distribution (PSD) width, surface area (Sv) and color properties (lightness, whiteness) of calcite powder. The results show that the lightness (L) values of the ground calcite products slightly increased from 97.67 to 97.94 with grinding aids (methanol and ethanol) increased from 0.25% to 1%. The whiteness index (WI) value of the ground calcite products satisfactorily increased from 93.88 to 97.51 with grinding aids (ethanol) at a rate of 0.5%.


There are substantial geographic variations in coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality rates in England that may in part be due to differences in climate and air pollution. An ecological cross-sectional multi-level analysis of male and female CHD mortality rates in all wards in England (1999–2004) was conducted to estimate the relative strength of the association between CHD mortality rates and three aspects of the physical environment - temperature, hours of sunshine and air quality. Models were adjusted for deprivation, an index measuring the healthiness of the lifestyle of populations, and urbanicity. In the fully adjusted model, air quality was not significantly associated with CHD mortality rates, but temperature and sunshine were both significantly negatively associated (p<0.05), suggesting that CHD mortality rates were higher in areas with lower average temperature and hours of sunshine. After adjustment for the unhealthy lifestyle of populations and deprivation, the climate variables explained at least 15% of large scale variation in CHD mortality rates. The results suggest that the climate has a small but significant independent association with CHD mortality rates in England.


Digitally Controlled, Modular Electronic Load Jason March This project entails the design and development of a digitally controlled, modular electronic load. The proposed load is unique from existing designs because it has the added ability to increase its maximum current level by adding identical modules in parallel. Each module is designed to sink a maximum of 5A at 60V but more modules allow for more current. The cost and simplicity of the design are considered such that it can be reproduced in-house to replace, whenever possible, the resistor box for load testing of any analog circuits but more specifically power electronic circuits. The design process as well as the hardware development is explained in detail in this report. Results from hardware testing are also provided.


Many arid grasslands around the world are affected by woody plant encroachment and by the replacement of a relatively continuous grass cover with shrub patches bordered by bare soil. This shift in plant community composition is often abrupt in space and time, suggesting that it is likely sustained by positive feedbacks between vegetation and environmental conditions (e.g. resource availability) or disturbance regime (e.g. fire or freeze). These feedbacks amplify the effects of drivers of shrub encroachment, i.e. of conditions favouring a shift from grass to shrub dominance (e.g. overgrazing, climate change). Here, we review some major drivers and feedbacks and identify the basic stages in the transition from grassland to shrubland. We discuss some possible scenarios of interactions between drivers and feedbacks that could explain the transition from a stage to the next and the potential irreversibility of the shift from grass to shrub dominance. We introduce a simplistic modelling framework that can integrate the various drivers to explain the emergence of bistability for shrub‐encroached grassland systems. Published 2011. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.


Simultaneous dehydrogenation of cyclohexanol to cyclohexanone and hydrogenation of α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds to corresponding α,β-unsaturated alcohols was carried out in a single pot reaction without addition of any external hydrogen donor. Cu nanoclusters supported on nanocrystalline MgO were found to be the active catalyst for the chemoselective transfer hydrogenation of unsaturated carbonyl compounds to produce the corresponding alcohols with very high yields. Transfer hydrogenation of cyclohexanol and cinnamaldehyde produced cyclohexanone and cinnamyl alcohol with 100% selectivity. This Cu/MgO catalyst can be easily recovered and recycled up to more than five times without any significant loss of activity, which confirmed the true heterogeneous nature of this catalyst. Several α,β-unsaturated compounds were also tested for this reaction and it was found that for all the cases the yield is >95%. The ease of handling without requiring high pressure H2 or a hazardous hydrogen source makes this transfer hydrogenation more practical and useful.


 Abstract — In structural-health monitoring of fiber reinforced plastics (FRPs), every single inorganic fiber sensor that are integrated into the bulk material requires an electrical insulation around itself, when the surrounding reinforcing fibers are electrically conductive. This results in a more accurate data acquisition only from the sensor fiber without any electrical interventions. For this purpose, thin nano-films of aluminium oxide (Al 2 O 3 )-based electrical-insulation coatings have been fabricated around the Silicon Carbide (SiC) single fiber sensors through reactive DC magnetron sputtering technique. The sputtered coatings were amorphous in nature and the thickness of the coatings increased with an increase in the sputter time. Microstructural characterization of the coated fibers performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed a homogeneous circumferential coating with no detectable defects or cracks on the surface. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses of the as-sputtered and 2 hours annealed coatings (825 & 1125 ˚C) revealed the amorphous and crystalline phases of Al 2 O 3 respectively. Raman spectroscopic analyses produced no characteristic bands of Al 2 O 3 , as the thickness of the films was in the nanometer (nm) range, which is too small to overcome the actual penetration depth of the laser used. In addition, the influence of the insulation coatings on the mechanical properties of the SiC sensor fibers has been


The rapid and significant development of communications links between satellites has
made it possible to use various applications such as relay voice, video, multimedia, etc. As a result, a great deal of research has been done in this field during the last few years to reduce power consumption and increase transmission reliability.

This thesis is concerned with an analysis of intersatellite links in free space, with optical links using laser sources being considered in particular. It includes a literature survey and a thorough theoretical investigation into designing the model of the link in free space. This thesis describes the novel technique of designing the optical receiver that consists of PIN photodiode as a photodetector, Semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) and a 3rd order Butterworth filter with central decision detection. In addition, it discusses the use of several different coding schemes for use in such links: multiple pulse position modulation (MPPM); digital pulse position modulation (DPPM);
Dicode pulse position modulation (Dicode PPM).

This novel technique of an optical receiver is investigated and new work is presented in order to examine the noise performance of this optical receiver and hence determine its sensitivity and the number of photons received for a specified error rate.
Further new work is carried out to compare these coding schemes in terms of error weightings and coding efficiency through showing how the PCM error rate is affected by false alarm and erasure errors for MPPM, DPPM and Dicode PPM coding 3, 4, 5 and 6 bits of PCM. An original maximum likelihood sequence detector (MLSD) is presented in this thesis in order to perform these comparisons. In addition, computer simulations models (using MCAD) are performed to compare these three coding schemes operating with 3, 4, 5 and 6 bits of PCM in terms of sensitivity and
bandwidth efficiency. These comparisons show that MPPM coding 3, 4, 5 and 6 bits of PCM is the appropriate coding scheme to be used in optical inter-satellite links in free space and PCM data rates of 1 Gbit/s.


Developing integrated environmental models of everywhere such as are demanded by the requirements of, for example, implementing the Water Framework Directive in Europe, is constrained by the limitations of current understanding and data availability. The possibility of such models raises questions about system design requirements to allow modelling as a learning and data assimilation process in the representation of places, which might well be treated as active objects in such a system. Uncertainty in model predictions not only poses issues about the value of different types of data in characterising places and constraining predictive uncertainty but also about how best to present the pedigree of such uncertain predictions to users and decision-makers.


The paper describes the architecture and concept of operation of a Framework for Adaptive Process Modeling and Execution (FAME). The research addresses the absence of robust methods for supporting the software process management life cycle. FAME employs a novel, model based approach in providing automated support for different activities in the software development life cycle, including project definition, process design, process analysis, process enactment, process execution status monitoring, and execution status-triggered process redesign. FAME applications extend beyond the software development domain to areas such as agile manufacturing project management, logistics planning, and business process reengineering.


© Gianna Knowles 2009.In today's climate of multi-professional working, this book examines how children from the ages of 3 to 11 are educated, in the educational and social context of the Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda. There are chapters dedicated to the five outcomes of Every Child Matters (which are: being healthy; staying safe; enjoying and achieving; making a positive contribution; achieving economic wellbeing), as well as comprehensive guidance on how to ensure the ECM standards are met. However, this book also looks at the broader scope of how children learn in early years settings and primary schools, and is written at a level that enables the reader to develop their own knowledge and understanding. Issues discussed include: Social justice; Diversity and inclusion; The child in society; Working with families Case studies are provided in each chapter, along with activities, suggestions for further reading and useful websites. Suitable for Childhood Studies and Education Studies courses, and for teaching assistants studying for a Foundation Degree or Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) status, the content is equally relevant for teacher-training courses and practicing teachers and those working towards the EYPS award.


The antibiotic vancomycin was developed by Eli Lilly in the 1950s in response to the growing number of Staphylococcus aureus infections that were resistant to penicillin. Vancomycin was not widely used at the time because of its high toxicity. However, use of vancomycin in the United States has increased dramatically since the 1980s because of the emergence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Enterococcus species. There are three known mechanisms for vancomycin resistance: 1) target site modification by van genes, 2) biofilm formation, and 3) bacterial cell wall thickening. Of these mechanisms, target site modification is the most common. In this study, we analyzed cultivable highly vancomycin-resistant Gram-positive bacteria from the saliva of migratory songbirds, which were captured at the bird banding station at Fort Hays State University in previous work. Individual bacterial isolates were identified by partial 16S rRNA sequencing. The majority of the identified bacteria were Staphylococcus succinus, with the majority being isolated from American Robin, which is commonly found in all of North America. Some of these bacteria carry vanA, vanB, and vanC genes and also have the ability to form biofilms. One of the van gene-carrying isolates is also coagulase-positive which is also considered a strong virulence factor. Given the wide range of the American Robin and ease of gene transfer between Gram-positive cocci, we postulate that these organisms could serve as a source of vancomycin resistance genes in human pathogens.


In this paper, we examine whether sell-side financial analysts show a bias when translating their soft information into a hard format. Sell-side analysts produce both soft research output, in the form of a textual report, and hard research output, including earnings forecasts, target prices, and stock recommendations. In our study, we find evidence that analysts' hard outputs undershoot the neutral implication of their own soft output. Furthermore, our cross-sectional results show that our observed conservative bias increases when the underlying information signals are of poorer quality, which we measure by the forecast horizon, linguistic cues in the report, and characteristics of the firms' information environments. Consistent with the well-known analyst optimism, we find that hard outputs assimilate analysts' soft output more conservatively when their soft output conveys bad news. Our findings suggest that the fundamental distinctions between soft and hard information lead to a predicable bias when analysts harden their soft information.


The acoustic consequences of gestural overlap afford listeners multiple, time-varying cues for a given linguistic percept. Findings from "offline" perceptual tasks and "online" real-time processing converge in demonstrating that listeners attend to the dynamic cues, tracking the coarticulatory information over time. These findings also converge in showing that listeners systematically differ in their perceptual weighting of the information contributed by the coarticulatory source and its effects; that is, listener attention is selective. One factor contributing to these listener differences in perception grammars may be listener-specific experiences with particular coarticulatory patterns. However, another factor is the quasi-systematic nature of coarticulatory variation, which provides listeners with covarying cues and therefore multiple possible weightings that are fully consistent with the input. Of particular interest for sound change are "innovative" listeners, for whom the coarticulatory cues are heavily weighted. These listeners' perception grammars have the potential to contribute to changes in which the coarticulatory effect is requisite and its source may be lost – but only insofar as those grammars are publicly manifested. Such manifestation is likely to occur in conversational interactions either through innovative listeners' expectations about coarticulated speech or through those listeners' own productions.


The article examines the role of psychodynamic formulation in directing clinical rehabilitation following acquired brain injury, focusing on the contribution of Kohut's theory of self-psychology. This is based on a case study of a man showing poor emotional and functional recovery following mild traumatic brain injury. Self-psychology formulation was used to understand psychopathology and guide psychodynamic therapy. The brain injury itself served as a severe narcissistic injury, which threatened self-worth and triggered distress. In addition, the patient was particularly vulnerable to narcissistic injury, due to a relational trauma as an infant in which presumably he was deprived of socio-emotional learning during right brain development. This postulates how detrimental early socioaffective experiences provided a growth-inhibiting environment for his developing brain. Thus, his poor recovery may be the outcome of two consecutive brain injuries: one developmental, due to relational trauma, and the other acquired as an adult following a road traffic collision. This helps provide a satisfactory formulation as to why a mild brain injury can result in devastating functional and emotional outcomes. The therapeutic work focused on constructing a sense of coherent self as a means to correct for unsatisfactory self-object experiences in early life and current family dynamics. It is hoped that the article contributes to the growing understanding of the central role childhood experiences can play in shaping the adult's reactions to a traumatic brain injury, as well as the complex relationship with pre-injury personality, injury severity, and functional outcome.


Agent-based artificial financial markets are bottom-up models of financial markets which explore the mapping from the micro level of individual investor behavior into the macro level of aggregate market phenomena. It has been recently recognized in the literature that such (agentbased) models are potentially a very suitable tool to generate or test various behavioral hypotheses. One of the psychological biases that received a lot of attention in financial studies, both mainstream and behavioral, is the phenomena of investor overconfidence. This paper studies overconfident investors in the agent-based artificial financial market based on the Levy, Levy, Solomon (2000) model. Overconfidence is modeled as miscalibration, i.e. as underestimated risk of expected returns. We find that overconfident investors create less frequent but more extreme bubbles and crashes when compared to the unbiased efficient market believers of the original model. When investors are modeled to exhibit a biased self-attribution, they quickly move to the state of high overconfidence and remain there. With an unbiased self-attribution, on the other hand, investor overconfidence varies greatly, but around a moderate level of overconfidence.