A new methodology to describe fractured reservoirs by construction of geological models calibrated to well test data is evaluated by case application. The aim of the approach is to construct a three-dimensional (3D) fracture/matrix model that represents the main components of the reservoir architecture. The model allows a close approximation of complex geological features. The geological model is calibrated against well tests to determine the geometrical and single phase flow properties required to reproduce the well test. This process may allow discrimination between different equally plausible geological scenarios and the output of the approach has implications for input to reservoir simulators. Input to the model includes the seismic-scale reservoir structures, the geological layering and observed intersections with flowing fractures in wells. A structural model is built within this framework in accordance with the geologist's understanding of the fracture system and geomechanical principles. The structural model is comprised of surfaces, which may represent individual fractures or, alternatively, may represent more complex geological features including fractured layers or fault zones. The matrix is represented either implicitly or explicitly. A case application is described where three well tests in the same reservoir volume are modelled. All three well tests were matched within the same internally consistent geological model, which previously had not been achieved using standard analytical well test analysis tools. This may illustrate the advantage of utilizing a more realistic geological model. Having established a series of models consistent with both the geological and flow data it becomes possible to identify the key components of the model that must be represented in a reservoir simulation model.


In this paper we introduce a linear algorithm to recover the Euclidean motion between one orthographic and two perspective cameras from straight line correspondences filling the gap in the analysis of motion estimation from line correspondences for various projection models. The general relationship between lines in three views is described by the trifocal tensor. Euclidean structure from motion for three perspective views is a special case in which the relationship is defined by a collection of three matrices. We describe the case of two calibrated perspective views and an orthographic view. Similar to the other cases, our linear algorithm requires 13 or more line correspondences to recover 27 coefficients of the trifocal tensor.


Institutions, Human Action, and Transaction Costs Institutional economics founds itself on recognizing the fact that human action and its results must be fundamentally analyzed in connection with the economic, social, and political rules that govern human action in the society. (1) Thus, the economic approach on institutions is focused on identifying the optimal institutional arrangement, given the obvious possibilities of the normative analysis of alternative institutional arrangements (see Eggertsson 1990; Pejovich 1995). Nowadays, economists consider that economic performance depends strongly on the societal institutional framework. In the institutional approach of Douglass North, the theory of institutions "is constructed from a theory of human behavior combined with a theory of the costs of transacting" (North 1990:27). By combining these theories, one can understand why institutions exist and what role they play in the functioning of the society. North also mentions that if you add the theory of production, one can analyze the institutions' implication on the economic performance. It is obvious that the immutable role of the social institutions is to reduce and limit the uncertainty of human cooperation, to give a steady structure for everyday life. With no intention to underestimate the role of social institutions in the reduction of uncertainty, this paper will emphasize the irrelevance of the transaction costs criteria, as objective sources of valuation of the institutions' efficiency. Contrary to North and other mainstream institutionalists, when the human action theory is combined with the transaction costs theory, the result can be exactly the misappropriation of the fundamental criteria according to which we have to judge the institutions and institutional change. In fact, a real human action theory is one that necessarily includes the (transactional) essence of the human interaction costs. In order to lay the scientific foundations of an economic theory of the institutions and, at the same time, to find out the role of the institutions upon prosperity, a real human action theory does not need to be combined with a hypothetical transaction costs theory. This paper will also emphasize the implications of the institutions' utilitarian approach in the economic science and public debates on politics. One may ask whether there had ever been any other two words in the economic literature that generate as much friction as "transaction costs?" (2) The economics of transaction costs began with "The Nature of Firm," the famous article of Ronald Coase from 1937. (3) The Swedish Bank Prize in Economics laureate, Ronald Coase explains the existence of the firm and the integration of the activities from this kind of organizational structure using the transaction cost concept--"the cost of using the price mechanism" in the original terminology of (Coase 1937: 390). But, as Oliver Williamson shows (Williamson and Winter 1991: 8), "one could say that Coase's approach on the transaction costs did not face time as well as the theory [of firm], on the whole." In "The Nature of the Firm," Coase neither defined the empiric character of transaction costs, nor explained how these could be recognized. Despite all contradictions regarding the transaction costs, today this theory represents the cornerstone of efficiency analyses on comparative institutional arrangements. (4) These analyses are focused on the role transaction costs play in determining the distribution of property rights; broadly defined as all laws, rules, social customs, and organizations that generate incentives for human action. The economic theory reveals the universal fact that any human action entails a cost, as human action means choice, and therefore sacrifices and foregone opportunities. Accordingly, doing a transaction has a cost; conceptually, the transaction cost phenomenon becomes easily accepted (see Williamson 1979: 234). …


John Ruskin, a prominent Victorian writer and social critic, exerted a tremendous influence on his contemporary artists and sociologists. His ideas regarding aesthetics, architecture, social responsibility, humanity, spirituality, and laborer's rights found many supporters both in his lifetime and after his death. The present essay focuses on his social criticism and his views on architecture, and in particular, on Gothic architecture, as expounded in his famous essay titled "The Nature of Gothic," included in the second volume of his The Stones of Venice. The aim is to realize why and how Ruskin draws upon the external, and especially, the internal features of Gothic architecture to give vent to the reasons for his discontent with the social and economic conditions of his time. The central question, therefore, is how a social critic, here Ruskin, may express his views through introducing the general and specific elements of his favorite architecture. In other words, the purpose of this study is to see how architecture can embody and reflect the prescribed values of a social critic. In England, as in the rest of Europe, the nineteenth century was a period of industrial revolution, discoveries, invention, exploration, and unprecedented scientific progress, all of which radically altered the social and economic conditions of life. Some of the most obvious manifestations of these alterations include: massive migration from rural areas to burgeoning cities, the construction of big factories, mass production and the emergence of consumer societies, the development of railroads and steamships, population growth, and class difference. Technology not only changed the material life of man, but also its futurism brought about a general sense of optimism; science, progress, and evolution were deemed to be the final saviors of mankind. The discoveries made in astronomy, geology, evolutionary biology, medicine, and natural sciences triggered a re-statement of old beliefs. Darwin's theory of evolution, for instance, shook many of the ideas the Victorians had about themselves and their place in the world and when it eventually became widely accepted, it dramatically changed subsequent thought and literature. But this is not all. Once the values and tendencies of the new society were established, reactionary attitudes also began to emerge. Writers such as Arnold, Ruskin, and Carlyle in England bitterly criticized the assumptions of the new-born industrial middle class and passionately advocated the revival of medieval social cooperation and harmony between man and nature and mind and body. Ruskin, for example, argues that the title "Dark Ages" given to the medieval times is wholly inapplicable since They were, on the contrary, the bright ages; ours is the dark one; ... we build brown brick walls, and wear brown coats.... On the whole, these are much sadder ages than the early ones; not sadder in the noble and deep way, but in the dim wearied way--the way of ennui and jaded intellect, and uncomfortableness of soul and body. (Modern Painters, 326) In his Modern Painting, and in a chapter on Turner's The Garden of the Hesperides, Ruskin argues that any work of art always introduces the moral wealth or depravity of its society. Similarly, in his famous essay titled "Traffic," Ruskin mocks English people's conception of an ideal life, as a world of pleasure and "iron and coal" and asserts that such an outlook ultimately leads to a barren and dehumanized society in which the moneyed classes are totally oblivious to the sufferings of the industrial urban poor. In the same article and on the issue of the mania of success he observes that "the ruling goddess may be best generally described as the "Goddess of Getting-on" ... and all your great architectural works are, of course, built to her" (Selections, 286). As a disciple of Carlyle, Ruskin invites contemporary England to recognize precisely what its ideologies and values imply. …


he principle of self-determination has at heart the achievement of true representation and democracy based on the idea that the consent of the governed alone can give government legitimacy. The principle was primarily responsible for the decolonisation process that shaped our current international community. 'Self-determination' has been used in equal rhetorical brilliance by a number of leaders - some meritorious, with a genuine concern for human emancipation, others dubious, with ascendancy to power at the heart of their project. In any case, 'self-determination' has come to mean different things in different contexts. Being a vital principle, especially in the post-colonial state, it is one factor that represents a threat to world order while at the same time holding out the promise of longer-term peace and security based on values of democracy, equity and justice. This book looks at the intricacies of the norm in its current ambiguous manifestation and seeks to deconstruct it with regard to three particularly inter-related discourses: that of minority rights, statehood and sovereignty, and the doctrine of uti possidetis which shaped the modern post-colonial state. These norms are then analysed further within two case studies. One, concerning the creation of Bangladesh where 'self-determination' was achieved. The second, examines the situation in the Western Sahara where 'self-determination' (whatever its manifestation) is yet to be expressed. In the course of these case studies we seek to highlight the problematic nature of 'national identity' and the 'self' in settings far removed from post-Westphalian Europe.


Floods are among the most destructive natural disasters, which are highly complex to model. The research on the advancement of flood prediction models contributed to risk reduction, policy suggestion, minimization of the loss of human life, and reduction of the property damage associated with floods. To mimic the complex mathematical expressions of physical processes of floods, during the past two decades, machine learning (ML) methods contributed highly in the advancement of prediction systems providing better performance and cost-effective solutions. Due to the vast benefits and potential of ML, its popularity dramatically increased among hydrologists. Researchers through introducing novel ML methods and hybridizing of the existing ones aim at discovering more accurate and efficient prediction models. The main contribution of this paper is to demonstrate the state of the art of ML models in flood prediction and to give insight into the most suitable models. In this paper, the literature where ML models were benchmarked through a qualitative analysis of robustness, accuracy, effectiveness, and speed are particularly investigated to provide an extensive overview on the various ML algorithms used in the field. The performance comparison of ML models presents an in-depth understanding of the different techniques within the framework of a comprehensive evaluation and discussion. As a result, this paper introduces the most promising prediction methods for both long-term and short-term floods. Furthermore, the major trends in improving the quality of the flood prediction models are investigated. Among them, hybridization, data decomposition, algorithm ensemble, and model optimization are reported as the most effective strategies for the improvement of ML methods. This survey can be used as a guideline for hydrologists as well as climate scientists in choosing the proper ML method according to the prediction task.


In the last decades, citizen initiatives have become more important for neighbourhood development. This applies as well to sustaining urban green and the (temporary) development of urban food gardening and small parks. Development through citizen initiatives is not a straight-forward task for planners as it means a new way of planning and legitimizing of planning decisions. Although citizen initiative and involvement in planning has gained much attention in planning practice in the last decades, planners still struggle with it. Citizen and entrepreneurial initiators of land-use projects for green and urban farming also have difficulty to understand the process of project approval or denial. Following the analysis of Schatz and Roberts (2016) of an 'untenable governance menage a trois' of relational, participatory and neoliberal planning, it seems that in bottom-up planning three types of planning come together: technocratic, deliberative, and neoliberal. This makes the current struggles of planners and initiators involved in bottom-up spatial planning no surprise. In this paper we explore, based on a literature review, ingredients for a tool that could help professional planners (civil servants) and initiators to better understand each other and the planning process and improve the substantive discussion on land-use initiatives and in this way the accountability, credibility and thus, legitimacy of decision. To come to our list of ingredients, we take inspiration from the work of Mouffe and others who have stressed the conflicting views and interests involved in any policy issue. Taking her 'agonistic approach' to policy-making we aim to develop a tool that gives more room to substance in policy making: the different motivations, ambitions and political views of people in planning processes. Following scholars that take the work of Mouffe one step further, we look at concepts of boundary work and boundary objects (Metze, 2010), policy arrangements (Buizer, 2009) and a trading zone approach (Saporito, 2016) to come to a better understanding of, and a practical solution to, how to work with conflicting views in practice on planning process as well as substance. Second, we turn to social psychology and conflict resolution (Illes et al. 2014, Nash et al. 2010) to better understand the conflicts at stake around land-use decisions and to identify productive and counterproductive strategies to work with these conflicts. Third, we take inspiration in business literature to better understand how we can depict conflicting views for land-use and how we can come to a workable and integral concept of how to use a specific plot of land.


This study estimates the elasticity of demand for inbound tourism from 24 countries to Dubai with a view to understand the factors that influence this demand. The variables tourist arrivals, real per capita income, relative prices, and accommodation costs were tested for panel unit roots, and panel cointegration was employed to determine the specification of the models to be used. These models were estimated employing Fixed Effects and Random Effects approaches. The choice between Fixed and Random Effects models was made using the Hausman Test. Determinants of the elasticity of demand for the entire panel are consistent with theory. Within the subgroups there are differences. Arab countries and countries of the Indian subcontinent have an income elasticity of demand >1. Tourists from the developed countries seem to be the most sensitive to relative prices and the cost of accommodation is significant only for tourists from the Arab and Indian subcontinent countries. Income elasticity of tourism especially from Arab countries and countries of the Indian subcontinent is high, indicating that marketers should tailor their strategies accordingly. Accommodation costs have negative impact on demand, highlighting the need for more budget hotels. Relative increase in prices has a negative impact on tourism demand, highlighting the need to control domestic inflation.


This is the second paper of a series aimed to study the stellar kinematics and population properties of bulges in highly inclined barred galaxies. In this work, we carry out a detailed analysis of the stellar age, metallicity and [Mg/Fe] of 28 highly inclined (I > 65°) disc galaxies, from S0 to S(B)c, observed with the SAURON integral-field spectrograph. The sample is divided into two clean samples of barred and unbarred galaxies, on the basis of the correlation between the stellar velocity and h3 profiles, as well as the level of cylindrical rotation within the bulge region. We find that while the mean stellar age, metallicity and [Mg/Fe] in the bulges of barred and unbarred galaxies are not statistically distinct, the [Mg/Fe] gradients along the minor axis (away from the disc) of barred galaxies are significantly different than those without bars. For barred galaxies, stars that are vertically further away from the mid-plane are in general more [Mg/Fe]-enhanced and thus the vertical gradients in [Mg/Fe] for barred galaxies are mostly positive, while for unbarred bulges the [Mg/Fe] profiles are typically negative or flat. This result, together with the old populations observed in the barred sample, indicates that bars are long-lasting structures, and therefore are not easily destroyed. The marked [Mg/Fe] differences with the bulges of unbarred galaxies indicate that different formation/evolution scenarios are required to explain their build-up, and emphasizes the role of bars in redistributing stellar material in the bulge-dominated regions.


Cross-linked sago starch phosphate (SgP) with high phosphorus contents was successfully synthesized by reacting sago with a mixture of primary and secondary sodium phosphates under acidic condition. The experimental variables investigated include pH, temperature, reaction time, and mixture rate . The physicochemical properties evaluated were moisture, swelling power, water binding capacity, transmittance (%T) and percent amylose (%Am ), while t he past ing properties examined were pasting time, pasting temperature, viscosity at peak, final, and setback. The g ranule structure was observed by scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction. The results showed that the maximum degree of phosphate substitution was obtained at pH of 6.50, 40 ° C, 20 minutes of reaction time and 300 rpm of mixing rate. The physicochemical (%T and %Am) and past ing (viscosity at peak, final, and setback) properties of SgP were significantly different (P<0.01) from Sg. Structure of SgP was characterized by FT-IR and the results indicated a new absorption peak at 2362.87 cm -1 which was characterized as the phospho-diester (RO-PO 3 -R') stretching vibration. In the fingerprint area, there were two new absorption peaks at 1242.05 and 989.79 cm -1 which were characterized as the P=O and C-O-P vibration, respectively. Sago granule s were substantially altered after cross-linking.


Economic interactions often imply to gauge the trustworthiness of others. Recent studies showed that when making trust decisions in economic games, people have some accuracy in detecting trustworthiness from the facial features of unknown partners. Here we provide evidence that this face-based trustworthiness detection is a fast and intuitive process by testing its performance at split-second levels of exposure. Participants played a Trust game, in which they made decisions whether to trust another player based on their picture. In two studies, we manipulated the exposure time of the picture. We observed that trustworthiness detection remained better than chance for exposure times as short as 100 ms, although it disappeared with an exposure time of 33ms. We discuss implications for ongoing debates on the use of facial inferences for social and economic decisions.


A Multitude of Sins is a collection of short stories. Richard Ford insists he had always planned for them to be included in the same volume; their individuality, however, raises the question of the cohesion and of the coherence of A Multitude of Sins, which depends on how satisfactorily the separate pieces connect. The textual aspect of connection reflects a diegetic universe characterized by fragmentation: the stories involve a very limited number of characters who can hardly communicate and quite often find themselves greatly alienated. Disconnection threatens psychological as well as textual integrity; disruptive as it is, this trend actually makes up a key element in the dynamics at play in A Multitude of Sins. Its fragmented world is one narrative construct that strives to build meaning through a maze of perceptions whose randomness may disorient the characters and the readers alike. This article appraises the fragmented quality of that construct before attempting to define the connecting impulse that provides at once fictional material and literary relevance.


Background: Patient-centered care is strongly advocated as a key for improving the quality of healthcare. Research examining the impact of patient-centered care in healthcare has concluded that there are demonstrable albeit inconsistent relationships between patient experience, quality of care, and healthcare outcomes. Knowledge of the impact of patient-centered care in the treatment of substance use disorder is limited. The aim of this review was to assess relationships between indicators of patient-centered care (satisfaction and patient-reported experience measures) and patient outcomes (substance use, psychological wellbeing, and service use) among people attending treatment for substance use disorder. Methods: A systematic electronic literature search of a range of databases was conducted with variations of the search terms 'patient-centered care', 'substance use disorders', and residential or community specialist 'treatment'. The populations, interventions and outcomes were summarized and described according to the PRISMA statement. Results: A total of 25 articles were identified, of which only five included a patient-centered indicator other than satisfaction. Indicators of patient-centered care showed a generally positive association with improved outcomes, particularly between satisfaction with treatment and substance use. Nonetheless, mixed and contradictory results were not uncommon, more so for psychological wellbeing outcomes. Conclusions: There were demonstrable relationships between patient-centered indicators and outcomes for people receiving treatment for substance use disorder. However, conclusions are limited due to underrepresentation of patient-reported experience measures. Further research in the area is needed involving comparisons of patient centered indicators with outcomes and use of patient-reported experience measures together with satisfaction. Registration number: CRD42018092829


With increasing availability of data resources on the molecular parts of a living cell, biologists are focussing on holistic understanding of cellular mechanisms and the emergent dynamics arising out of their complex interactions. Comprehending the fine-grained signal specificity, gene regulation and feedback mechanisms of molecular interactions at a network level forms a central theme of systems biology.
With the speed and sophistication of computational methods, in silico modeling and simulation techniques have become a powerful tool for biologists challenged with understanding the system complexity of biological networks. Numerical simulation of classical chemical kinetics (CCK), agent-based simulations of biological processes, and linear optimization models of metabolic networks, have been applied to the study of cellular behaviors with varying degrees of success. The spatio-temporal scales of cellular processes, coupled with the knowledge gap and complexity of biological networks limit the application of existing computational techniques.
In this dissertation, we present a network-centric modeling and simulation approach to systematically study the stochastic dynamics of cellular processes at a molecular level. The central theme of our approach revolves around abstracting a complex biological process as a collection of discrete, interacting molecular entities driven in time by a set of discrete biological events (bioEvents). We develop the discrete-event based simulation engine, called iSimBioSys, together with an integrated database of biological pathways, which captures the temporal dynamics of the molecules through stochastic interactions of different bioEvents.
With an illustrative case study of signal transduction networks in bacterial cells, we highlight the efficiency of a discrete event based approach in capturing high-level system dynamics of a biological process, particularly in reproducing the switching effect of the PhoPQ pathway in Salmonella cells as reported in experimental work. Next, we build a detailed stochastic model for the fundamental process of gene expression in prokaryotic cells and study the biological events of transcription and translation using the proposed simulation framework. Our results identify the role of transcriptional and translation machinery in controlling the burstiness of protein generation. We extend our simulator to incorporate a hybrid algorithm which combines stochastic models of signalling and regulatory events with a flow-based model for metabolic networks. In order to validate the efficacy of the hybrid simulation approach, we develop an integrated database of signaling and metabolic networks in the bacterial cell Escherechia Coli. The hybrid simulation recreates experimentally observed regulation of metabolic flux distributions in the network while providing new insights into the mechanism of regulation.


Limnological research on the lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MCM), Antarctica, is typically carried out during the austral spring-summer (October-January) when logistical support is readily available; the current study marks the first sampling effort during the summer-fall transition (January-April). Sampling during the darkness of winter is logistically difficult and expensive, and my study is an important step towards understanding the year-round ecology of the dry valley lakes. Bacterial productivity, measured as protein synthesis and DNA replication, and bacterial cell numbers were measured 10-12 times between October 2007 and April 2008 in Lakes Fryxell (FRX) and the east and west lobes of Lake Bonney (ELB and WLB). Lake Fryxell was the most productive (bacterial) lake on average by an order of magnitude (average = 1.24 mg C m d; range = 0.00 to 3.29 mg C md), and also contained the greatest bacterial biomass (~10 cells ml) by 1 to 3 orders of magnitude. If bacterial production were directly linked to organic carbon supplied by photosynthetic primary production, a decrease in bacterial production would be expected during the sunset; however, no statistically significant change in bacterial production (α=0.05) was observed during the summer-fall transition. A distinct decoupling of bacterial protein production and DNA replication was detected in FRX and ELB of the lakes as the season progressed, and was present in WLB throughout the season, indicating either a shift towards a lower growth-rate in response to decreasing light or nutrient supply, or a mechanism for dealing with the perennially low temperatures, low light, and nutrient poor conditions in the lakes. Overall, it appears that bacterial communities remain active during the darkness of winter, when the lakes enter a period of "net heterotrophy", which cannot be sustained unless the carbon balance of the TV lakes is reset by climatic events.


This article addresses the partial equilibrium functioning of the short‐term credit market in eighteenth‐century Lisbon and its response to massive gold inflows from Brazil. Gold inflows were a colonial rent, and thus a source of income and a financial asset that increased the liquidity supply in a credit market populated by both (direct) participants and non‐participants in the colonial trade or in mining. As a source of income it would induce a positive upward pressure on interest rates, while as a financial asset it would lead to the opposite. A method is developed to extract interest rates from notarized personal credit, unbundling the aggregate and the idiosyncratic components of risk pricing. The results show that interest rates in Lisbon did not differ critically from those observed in other cities at the core of the premodern European economy, which were spared from devastation by the earthquake that struck Lisbon in 1755. A simple model relating the market interest rate series to gold stock variations finds that the liquidity channel dominated over the endowment channel, which explains the downward trend in interest rates up until 1757 when the interest rates were freely settled. Mild credit rationing may have been introduced by a 5 per cent ceiling on interest rates that was imposed after 1757.


Collaborative Filtering (CF) is widely employed for making Web service recommendation. CF-based Web service recommendation aims to predict missing QoS (Quality-of-Service) values of Web services. Although several CF-based Webs service QoS prediction methods have been proposed in recent years, the performance still needs significant improvement. Firstly, existing QoS prediction methods seldom consider personalized influence of users and services when measuring the similarity between users and between services. Secondly, Web service QoS factors, such as response time and throughput, usually depends on the locations of Web services and users. However, existing Web service QoS prediction methods seldom took this observation into consideration. In this paper, we propose a location-aware personalized CF method for Web service recommendation. The proposed method leverages both locations of users and Web services when selecting similar neighbors for the target user or service. The method also includes an enhanced similarity measurement for users and Web services, by taking into account the personalized influence of them. To evaluate the performance of our proposed method, we conduct a set of comprehensive experiments using a real-world Web service dataset. The experimental results indicate that our approach improves the QoS prediction accuracy and computational efficiency significantly, compared to previous CF-based methods Keywords—location based service, CF method, Qos prediction method, CF based web service. ----------------------------------------------************************------------------------------------------


The latency between machines on the Internet can dramatically affect users' experience for many distributed applications. Particularly, in multiplayer online games, players seek to cluster themselves so that those in the same session have low latency to each other. A system that predicts latencies between machine pairs allows such matchmaking to consider many more machine pairs than can be probed in a scalable fashion while users are waiting. Using a far-reaching trace of latencies between players on over 3.5 million game consoles, we designed Htrae, a latency prediction system for game matchmaking scenarios. One novel feature of Htrae is its synthesis of geolocation with a network coordinate system. It uses geolocation to select reasonable initial network coordinates for new machines joining the system, allowing it to converge more quickly than standard network coordinate systems and produce substantially lower prediction error than state-of-the-art latency prediction systems. For instance, it produces 90th percentile errors less than half those of iPlane and Pyxida. Our design is general enough to make it a good fit for other latency-sensitive peer-to-peer applications besides game matchmaking.


Abstract The Fertility Education Initiative was established in 2016 to provide education on fertility, modern families and reproductive science for young adults, teachers, health professionals, parents and adults. We report on our study to determine the feasibility and acceptability of using the arts to delivery fertility education in schools. The evaluation was mixed methods: (i) two focus groups with young people aged 14–16 and 16–18 were conducted to investigate attitudes to fertility awareness; and (ii) seventeen 16–22 year olds were divided into two groups and each undertook a day of art workshops that consisted of two visual and two theatrical workshops and then completed questionnaires at the end of each workshop and at the end of the day. The artists were interviewed using a semi-structured interview. Young adults confirmed they were interested in learning about fertility, but current understanding varied. The majority thought that fertility education should be delivered in schools at ages 16–18. During the art workshops they learnt some facts but asked for more science and discussion. They felt using art was powerful and they wanted to hear the artists personal stories. Tools using a number of platforms need to be developed that can be taken into schools nationally and evaluated for their engagement.


Though impressive classification accuracy is often obtained via discrimination-based learning techniques such as Multi-Layer Perceptrons (DMLP), these techniques often assume that the underlying training sets are optimally balanced (in terms of the number of positive and negative examples). Unfortunately, this is not always the case. In this paper, we look at a recognitionbased approach whose accuracy in such environments is superior to that obtained via more conventional mechanisms. At the heart of the new technique is a modified auto-encoder that allows for the incorporation of a recognition component into the conventional MLP mechanism. In short, rather than being associated with an output value of "1", positive examples are fully reconstructed at the network output layer while negative examples, rather than being associated with an output value of "0", have their inverse derived at the output layer. The result is an auto-encoder able to recognize positive examples while discriminating against negative ones by virtue of the fact that negative cases generate larger reconstruction errors. A simple technique is employed to exaggerate the impact of training with these negative examples so that reconstruction errors can be more reliably established. Preliminary testing on both seismic and sonar data sets has demonstrated that the new method produces lower error rates than standard connectionist systems in imbalanced settings. Our approach thus suggests a simple and more robust alternative to commonly used classification mechanisms.


OBJECTIVE
To describe the development of a scale for measuring the barriers to condom use in Nigeria and to evaluate its content, feasibility, reliability, and validity.

METHODS
The scale consists of 22 items and is structured on three dimensions: condom sexual satisfaction; condom health hazard; and condom sexual interest. It was evaluated on a sample of 786 students attending the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

FINDINGS
The scale appears to be easy to use, and is acceptable and reliable.

CONCLUSION
The scale appears suitable for obtaining estimates of personal experiences of sexual and reproductive condom use. Further, it may be employed for assessing factors that hinder condom use in sexual relationships and is useful for determining the predisposition of individuals to use condoms in future sexual encounters.


This study investigates in detail value chain trade of the EU and its Member States, compares it to that of other trading blocs and regions such as NAFTA and East Asia, and delves into implications of value chain trade on specialisation and competitiveness as well as on the declining income elasticity of trade. The analysis of value chain (VC) trade, understood as trade that involves internationally organised production processes, is based on the latest update of the World Input-Output Database (WIOD). It relies to a large extent on a forward production integration measure termed re-exported domestic value added (DVAre) which comprises exports of intermediates that cross international borders at least twice. Results confirm the conjecture that the expansion of international value chains has come to a halt in the post-crisis period (2011-2014). Still, the EU's VC trade was growing at the same pace as value added exports in general in the post-crisis years, implying that value chains were not dismantled. In contrast, worldwide VC trade was indeed less dynamic than value added exports, which could be seen as a sign that some value chains are on the retreat. Zooming closer into the EU, there was a marked reshuffling of market shares of Member States in EU-wide VC trade from large Member States such as France, Italy and the United Kingdom towards a group of Central European (CE) economies – Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia – which together form the Central European Manufacturing Core. Looking at the question whether VC trade is rather regional in scope, VC trade is separated into regional value chain (RVC) trade – involving only regional production partners – and global value chain (GVC) trade – involving also extra-regional partner countries. For the EU as a whole this split is about half-half, with only a slight move towards GVC trade between 2000 and 2014. Strikingly, demand is strongly shaping the organisation of production while RVCs are predominantly producing for the EU market, GVCs are predominantly procuring for third countries. As regards implications of value chain trade, these are harder to assess. Overall, implications for structural change and competitiveness are rather country and context specific. Changes in attitudes towards international value chains contributed to the significant decline in the income elasticity of trade.


The main function of piston compression ring is to seal the space between the piston and the liner, acting as slider bearing, subjected to reciprocating motion. The compression ring-cylinder liner conjunction has been extensively studied and it is responsible for a significant part of the total frictional parasitic power losses of an engine. Paradoxically, the required sealing function of the compressions ring can result in increased friction. Therefore, in order to improve engine efficiency, it is important to fundamentally understand and subsequently palliate some of these losses. Another problem in any slider bearing-type contact is lubricant film rupture and cavitation in the conjunctional outlet zone, reducing load carrying capacity and potentially leading to erosion damage.A cavitation model presented in two-phase flow CFD analysis of the ring-bore contact under isothermal conditions. Liquid flow is modelled as a continuous phase and a dispersed phase, representing cavitation bubbles. Many of the fundamental physical processes assumed to take place in cavitating flows are incorporated into the model.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


"The Rivered Earth" contains four effervescent libretti written by Vikram Seth - the international bestselling author of "A Suitable Boy" - to be set to music by Alec Roth - together with an account of the pleasures and pains of working with a composer. Entitled "Songs in Time of War", "Shared Ground", "The Traveller" and "Seven Elements", they take us all over the world - from Chinese and Indian poetry to the beauty and quietness of the Salisbury house where the poet George Herbert lived and died. Spanning centuries of creativity and humanity, these poems pulse with life, energy and inspired brilliance. They are accompanied by four pieces of calligraphy by Vikram Seth, who also captured the ethereally beautiful photograph of his Salisbury garden for the book cover. "Signum Classics" has released two CDs of the music written to accompany "The Rivered Earth", entitled "Shared Ground" and "Songs in Time of War". Both recordings feature the violinist Philippe Honore and Birmingham's Ex Cathedral choir. Praise for Vikram Seth: "The best writer of his generation". ("The Times"). "Such writing reminds us that there are secrets beyond technique, beyond style, which have to do with a quality of soul on the part of the writer, a giving of oneself". ("Guardian"). "A phenomenon, a prodigy, a marvel...It is hard to believe that Seth is only one man". ("Evening Standard"). Equally gifted as a poet, essayist, memoirist, travel writer and novelist, Vikram Seth is perhaps best known for his phenomenal "A Suitable Boy" and is currently working on a sequel to be published in 2013, "A Suitable Girl". He has published three other novels - "An Equal Music", "The Golden Gate" and "Two Lives". He has released several poetry collections - "Mappings", "The Humble Administrator's Garden", "All You Who Sleep Tonight", "Beastly Tales", "Three Chinese Poets" and "The Frog and the Nightingale". Seth is the winner of the 1994 Commonwealth Writers Prize for "A Suitable Boy", the 1985 Asia Commonwealth Poetry Prize and in 2007 was awarded the Padma Shri in Literature and Education.


In view of the importance of determination of cell type in patients with bronchial carcinoma who are to be given chemotherapy a series of 140 histologically proved cases was analysed to assess the accuracy of pretreatment diagnosis by cytology and bronchial biopsy. Final histological diagnosis was made after thoracotomy (131 cases) or necropsy (9 cases). Before treatment, malignancy was diagnosed in 71% of cases with 91% accuracy in cell typing. Diagnostic yield was greatest in squamous carcinoma (81%) and least with adenocarcinoma (50%). Large-celled and small-celled anaplastic carcinomas gave yields of 61% and 68% respectively. Accuracy of cell typing was high (90-97%) except for large-celled anaplastic carcinoma (71%). All diagnostic methods were not employed in every case. In patients supplying samples the diagnosis was made by sputum cytology in 57%, by rigid bronchoscopy cytology in 57%, by fibreoptic bronchoscopy cytology in 71% and biopsy in 53%. Causes of diagnostic failures and possible means of increasing accuracy of pretreatment diagnosis were discussed.


As a result of dramatically improved survival rates for children with congenital heart disease, a new patient population of adults with congenital heart disease has emerged over the last decades. Since very little was known about long-term psychosocial outcomes in these patients, several studies have been done into the psychosocial functioning of adults with congenital heart disease. For most of these studies, the main question has been whether psychosocial functioning of adults with congenital heart disease was comparable to that of their healthy peers from the general population. Within the population of adults with congenital heart disease, the effects of cardiac diagnosis and operative variables on psychosocial functioning have frequently been described. However, the effects of gender on psychosocial outcome in these patients have rarely been studied. In most studies, no comparisons were made between male respectively female patients with same-sex persons from the general population, nor has the role of gender been explored directly between male versus female patients with congenital heart disease. This can be considered remarkable, since gender-differences in psychosocial functioning have been found in the general population. Therefore it seems unwarranted to assume that the psychosocial functioning of males with congenital heart disease will be comparable to that of female patients.


At the end of 2019, the Fraunhofer IMW Innovation Acceptance Unit and the Fraunhofer ISC organized a German-Italian symposium to discuss and further develop concepts with the goal of protecting cultural heritage from the effects of climate change. The digitization of cultural heritage, for example, the use of digital twins for damage and material analysis, was one of the four main topics of the symposium. The Fraunhofer IMW Innovation Acceptance Unit moderated the main topic "Cultural Heritage and Society", during which they also presented the results of a study on the social value of cultural heritage. Now, Fraunhofer IMW has issued a conference volume that combines lectures from the international experts in attendance.

The symposium "Cultural Heritage – Challenges in Times of Climate Change and Digitalization" took place from November 27 to 29, 2019 at Villa Vigoni on Lake Como in Italy. High-ranking cultural heritage experts from Italy and Germany were invited.

The digitization of cultural heritage was one of the four main symposium topics. For example, research on the potential to identify climate change-related threats to cultural heritage sites and develop potential solutions through the use of new digitization technologies was presented. In addition to creating digital records of cultural heritage in the form of documents or audio material, a method common since the 1980s, attendees discussed the possibility of creating digital twins of sculptures using photogrammetry, structured light and ultrasound technologies. In accordance with this method, the Cultural Heritage Research Alliance, a network of fifteen Fraunhofer institutes, eight Leibniz research museums, five main institutions of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, the "Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden" and the Saxon State and University Library Dresden, for example, already enables visitors to virtually experience exhibits with the help of digital twins.

The Fraunhofer IMW Innovation Acceptance Unit moderated the session "Cultural Heritage and Society." Uta Pollmer, research fellow of the Innovation Acceptance Unit and cultural heritage expert at Fraunhofer IMW, presented the results of a study on the social value of cultural heritage in her paper "The Socio-Economic Value of Cultural Heritage." In a pilot project of the Cultural Heritage Research Alliance, the research team of the Innovation Acceptance Unit tested two methods, expressing the non-monetary, social value of a cultural heritage object in numerical form. This strategy serves as a means of encouraging investments for the preservation and protection of cultural heritage by using monetary arguments.

The symposium and the conference volume were sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).


Abstract The Dave Brubeck Quartet9s 1958 tour on behalf of the U.S. State Department, part of the grand Cold War project of propagating American-style democracy in opposition to communism, did not advance in an orderly and self-evident manner. Rather it was an extremely contingent enterprise enacted through countless individual actions and statements by a motley assortment of bureaucrats and businessmen, and frequently teetered on the brink of chaos. The story of Brubeck9s tour, including its evolution and impact, is complex and multifaceted, involving overlapping and conflicting agendas, governmental secrecy, high-minded idealism, and hard-nosed business. The narrative also raises issues of race and race relations in the context of the Cold War struggle against communism and brings into focus the increasing cultural prestige of jazz and other popular genres worldwide during the period when the ideological premises of the Cold War were being formulated. Thirty years later——in 1988, as the Cold War was waning——the Quartet performed in Moscow at the reciprocal state dinner hosted by President Ronald Reagan for General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev during their fourth summit meeting. The sequence of events leading up to this occasion, including the Quartet9s long-anticipated tour of the Soviet Union during the previous year, reveals Brubeck to have been not only a talented musician but a canny entrepreneur as well. By the late 1980s the cultural and political landscape had shifted so dramatically as to be virtually unrecognizable to the Cold Warriors of the 1950s. By all accounts, Brubeck9s tours in the 1950s and 1980s were among the most successful of their kind. Though Brubeck attributes their efficacy primarily to the power of an influential idea that came into its own toward the beginning of the Cold War——namely, jazz as democracy——the documentary record makes clear that the impact of his travels involved a multifarious nexus of other factors as well, including reputation, personality, and marketability.


Italy has seduced generations with its sunshine, landscapes, art treasures and the warmth and vitality of its people, devoted to style, sensuality and the pleasures of life. The reality is less rosy. Italy is as exasperating as it is enchanting. Appalling public services, a rotten political class, the creeping tentacles of the Mafia, the all-forgiving Mother Church and infinitely indulgent 'mamma' have long prevented Italians facing up to their collective failings. In 'The New Italians', journalist Charles Richards paints a compelling group portrait of the country and people, spanning football to Freemansonry, kickbacks to kidnappings. He concludes that however much things change, the Italians will remain essentially the same, and pull through with their customary 'brio'.


In this paper, an optical network optimization based on particle swarm intelligence is described. The particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is evocated in order to solve the problem of resource allocation (RA) based on the signal-to-noise plus interference ratio optimization in a hybrid wavelength division multiplexing/optical code division multiplexing network with quality-of-service restrictions. The RA optimization based on the PSO strategy allows the regulation of the transmitted power in order to maximize the energy efficiency. For the network optimization context, a system model is described, figures of merit are presented, and a suitable model for the heuristic optimization approach is developed, with emphasis on the optimization of input parameters and network performance. Afterward, extensive numerical results for both optimization problems are discussed, taking into account realistic network operation scenarios.


The past 40 years have witnessed profound changes in the international competitiveness of Mainland China's scientific research. Based on publication data from Chinese researchers in the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) from the Web of Science (WoS), this study aims to provide a bird's-eye view of how social science research in Mainland China has internationalized over the past four decades. The findings show that the number of social science articles published by Chinese authors in international journals has experienced a noticeable increase, and the collaboration networks of researchers from Mainland China have broadened, with the number of articles with a Chinese first author showing a strong upward trend. In addition, findings show that Chinese scholars are published in a wider range of journals, and there has been a steady increase in their appearance in higher impact journals (influenced in part by certain journals). Finally, different social science disciplines show various degrees of internationalization. This study provides a broad view from which to examine the internationalization process in Mainland China's social science landscape in the last four decades, while also noting some of the possible explanations for these changes, thereby deepening our understanding of social science research stemming from the region.


A major factor contributing to smoking initiation and experimentation by teenagers is the ability to 'bum' cigarettes. Yet research until now has ignored the impact of a lending/borrowing market on the smoking decisions of teenagers. In this paper, we develop a theoretical model where smoking decisions are determined by an individual's utility maximization process that includes an incentive to lend cigarettes. Predictions from this model are tested using data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveys that can distinguish between teens who primarily buy and those who primarily bum their cigarettes. We show the ways in which price and restrictions on smoking will impact the decision to buy or bum cigarettes, as well as the impact on the allocation of purchased cigarettes between those self-consumed and those lent to others. Key results indicate that as prices and restrictions increase, teenagers are less likely to be regular smokers who purchase cigarettes and are more likely to consume smaller quantities obtained via the lending market. The basic conclusions are that anti-smoking policies have significant effects on the quantity of cigarettes consumed by teens and that these policies can help reduce the number of teens that escalate from experimental to regular smoking.


Mango (Mangifera indica L.) locally called Ma Muang, is one of the important sources of plant-derived medicinal herbs with a whole range of nutritional and medicinal properties. Having high nutritional value with high range of polyphenols and specific enzyme contents, the ripe mango was shown to have high antioxidant and anti carcinogenic properties, making it a high potential candidate for nutraceutical use. Technology has already been developed in which freeze-dried mango powder retains the same quality as fresh ripe mango pulp. Freeze-dried mango processing by using ripe mango 'Nam Dok Mai' to meet the zero discharge criteria has been developed. The main objectives in this study were process development on freeze-dried mango powder and utilize waste from freeze-drying ripe mango that result in high productivity and low environmental impact. The designed production process has considered the wastes from freeze-dried mango pulp powder processing process, which are peels and seeds. These are freeze-dried mango pulp powder processing, mango peel extraction processing and mango seed kernel extraction processing. The freeze-dried mango pulp powder processing has been done on ripe mango pulp by peeling, cutting pulp into slices, pulp mashing using electrical blender, followed by freeze-drying to get freeze-dried mango powder for nutraceutical use. The mango peel extraction process was done by grinding the peel, followed by acetone extractionand used for cosmetics and functional foods. The mango seed kernel extraction process is by using alcohol extraction to get mango butter or mango seed oil for cosmetic use. This production process showed zero discharge by the end of the process. The clean production of freeze-dried mango powder was implemented by using Fruit Juice Pilot Plant, Industrial Park Center, KMUTT. The results showed high productivity and low environmental impact. The preliminary study on financial analysis showed high feasibility for commercial production.


In this paper, a theoretical analysis of steady laminar fully developed flow and heat transfer of two immiscible Magnetohydrodynamic and viscous fluids through a horizontal channel taking into an account the effect of viscous and Joule dissipation is presented. The flow below the interface is assumed to be electrically conducting while the other fluid and the channel walls are electrically insulating. The channel walls are maintained at two different and constant temperatures. Partial differential equations governing the flow and heat transfer are transformed to ordinary differential equations and are solved exactly for both the region. The variation of velocity and temperature profiles with respect to various parameters such as Magnetic field parameter, Prandtl number, Eckert number, ratios of viscosity and thermal conductivity are depicted graphically.


This paper explicates the contextual factors influencing the workers' perceptions of the MS, and hence, the possibilities for a joint view between workers and managers. The paper is based on in depth interviews with 16 workers in four metal working SMEs in Sweden. The contextual factors can be viewed at two levels: individual and organisational. This paper contributes to richer descriptions of what the individual and organisational contextual factors incorporate, and to the clarification of the important role communication channels plays for the possibilities of a joint view. Thereby, contributing to increased knowledge on the manufacturing strategy formation process.


I introduce a new distributed system for effective training and regularizing of Large-Scale Neural Networks on distributed computing architectures. The experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of flexible model partitioning and parallelization strategies based on neuron-centric computation model, with an implementation of the collective and parallel dropout neural networks training. Experiments are performed on MNIST handwritten digits classification including results.


A new class of discrete-length block co-oligomers comprising oligodimethylsiloxane (oDMS) and oligomethylene (oM) is presented. For this, oM blocks containing up to 69 backbone carbons are synthesised via an iterative, Wittig reaction-based strategy. Ligation with oDMS hydrides permits the formation of a library of block co-oligomers (BCOs) in which the block configuration, MW, and composition can be tuned. Differential scanning calorimetry and small-angle X-ray scattering show that all BCOs exhibit microphase separation into well-ordered lamellar morphologies, driven by the crystallisation of the oM blocks. Pre-melting order–order transitions are present for a number of BCOs, resulting in an alteration of the oM crystal packing as well as in changes of the overall microphase-segregated structure. As a result of the discrete nature of the BCO chains, we propose models that describe the molecular organisation within the microphase-segregated structures by evaluating the changes in the lamellar thickness upon varying the BCO architecture.


Most papers in this focus issue on 'climate and climate impact projections for adaptation strategies' are solicited by the guest editorial team and originate from a cluster of projects that were initiated 5 years ago. These projects aimed to provide climate change and climate change adaptation information for a wide range of societal areas for the lower parts of the deltas of the Rhine and Meuse rivers, and particularly for the Netherlands. The papers give an overview of our experiences, methods, approaches, results and surprises in the process to developing scientifically underpinned climate products and services for various clients. Although the literature on interactions between society and climate science has grown over the past decade both with respect to policy-science framing in post-normal science (Storch et al 2011 J. Environ. Law Policy 1 1–15, van der Sluijs 2012 Nature and Culture 7 174–195), user-science framing (Berkhout et al 2014 Regional Environ. Change 14 879–93) and joint knowledge production (Hegger et al 2014 Regional Environ. Change 14 1049–62), there is still a lot to gain. With this focus issue we want to contribute to best practices in this quickly moving field between science and society.


The Liquid Metal Fuel Reactor Program requires rapid, accurate analyses of large numbers of bismuth metal samples. A spectrochemical solution procedure using a rotating disc technique with a Baird-Atomic Research Direct Reading Spectrograph is described. Yttrium is added as an internal standard. Magnesium and zirconium are determined with a precision of 2% of the amount present; the precision for iron, chromium, manganese, nickel and molybdenum is within 4–12%.


MicroRNAs are small RNA molecules and constitute a relatively novel class of gene expression regulators, found in the great majority of eukaryotic cells. Their role in human physiology and pathology is actively being researched with new exciting discoveries continuously coming to the forefront. MicroRNAs play a crucial role in the biogenesis and function of the cardiovascular system and act as important regulators of various metabolic and signaling pathways in cardiovascular disease. In this review there will be a summary on current knowledge about the expression, regulation and function of microRNAs in the most common diseases of the cardiovascular system as well as a presentation of and discussion about their promising future role as new biomarkers and therapeutic targets.


Osteopoikilosis (OP) is a benign sclerosing bone dysplasia, which may mimic many different bone pathologies. We present here a case of OP, whose magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study was considered to have bone metastases. Our case admitted with hip pain to another hospital. His MRI examination revealed multiple sclerotic areas which previously determined as bone metastases of unknown primary origin. MRI examination of pelvis with T2-weighted transverse image shows multiple round hypointense lesions located in both femoral heads. When we re-examined the MRI findings, these sclerotic areas were thought to be related to OP. We conclude that the MRI findings of OP may mimic the bone metastases. MRI findings suggesting bone metastases may be related to an OP. Turk J Phys Med Rehab 2006;52(2):85-87


Frank H. Wu (Howard University Law School) considers the controversial topic of dog-eating as a case study in the dilemmas of diversity. By analyzing the question "do Asians eat dogs?" and the possible
 answers available to Asian Americans, he concludes that only the response "why do you ask?" adequately addresses the ambiguities and ambivalence of the exchange. In providing numerous examples of the claims
 that Asians eat dogs, along with a typology of the answers given by Asian Americans, throughout history and in contemporary culture, the author concludes by suggesting that preliminary rules establishing
 the equality of all participants in the discussion are necessary to sustain civic society.


Objective: Few studies have examined the relationship between childhood maltreatment and personality disorder in later years of the children's life especially in Eastern Mediterranean countries . This study was conducted to explore the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and personality disorder during their later years of life in an Iranian sample. A cross sectional study was conducted in Kerman , a city in South East of Iran in 2005 . Method: Cases were 148 substances dependent women who were admitted in Shahid Beheshti hospital and women who were in Kerman's prison for detoxification. With emphasis on confidentiality and obtaining oral consent, we asked the subjects to fill out a questionnaire which included demographic variables and 27 questions concerning all types of abuse , neglect and household dysfunction . Using multivariate Logistic regression, the association between baseline characteristics, childhood maltreatment and household dysfunction variables and personality disorder were analyzed . Results: The mean age of the cases was 33.13 ± 10.94, and borderline personality disorder (24.3%) was the most frequent type of personality disorder in this sample. Physical abuse (45.4%) , emotional abuse (36.2%) and emotional neglect (92.1%) were the most frequent type of maltreatment. While dependency was considered as an independent variable, with logistic regression analysis, sexual abuse was the only type of childhood maltreatment which showed statistically significant association with personality disorder . Conclusion: There was a statistically significant association between increased prevalence of severe personality disturbances among those experiencing multiple types of abuse and neglect .Such studies are important for a more complete understanding of these problems and for practical efforts to alleviate them . Keywords: Addiction, Adult survivors of child abuse, Personality disorders, Women Iran J Psychiatry 2009; 4:52-55 Research conducted over the past decade indicates that a wide range of psychological and interpersonal problems are more prevalent among those who have been abused including but not limited to sexual abuse than among individuals with no such experiences (1-3). A good deal of scholarly attention has been paid to the possibility that maltreatment during the first 18 years of life increases the likelihood of symptoms of dissociation ,increased hostility ,higher impulsivity Levels , borderline personality disorder and drug use during adolescence . The deficits in cognitive, social, emotional , behavioral functioning and negative peer relationships are associated with maltreatment (4-7). An increased prevalence of severe personality disturbances was observed among those experiencing multiple types of abuse including emotional , physical , sexual and neglect (3, 4, 7) . Women are at high risk for being exposed to childhood maltreatment (3, 8-10). Furthermore, we conducted this study to further clarify the relationship between personality disturbances and childhood maltreatment in substance dependent women in Iran as improved understanding of the potential outcomes could lead to better targeted efforts for secondary prevention. Materials and Method A cross - sectional study was conducted in Kerman, a city in South East of Iran in 2005 . At first, the cases were 152 substance dependent women admitted in Shahid Beheshti hospital and those in Kerman 's prison ; 4 subjects dropped out of the study for they have no completely compliance. The diagnosis of substance dependency and personality disorder was made by means of semi structural clinical interview for DSM - IV axis I and II disorder (11) by a psychiatrist or assistant of psychiatry . The subjects were asked to fill out a questionnaire which included demographic variables and 27 questions concerning child maltreatment including abuse(physical , emotional , or sexual )and questionnaire and neglect as child and teenager questions measuring household dysfunction including household substance abuse, parental separation or divorce. …


Aim: To discuss the etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and management of PB, supported by a series of 9 cases from a personal series. Methods: Radiological images of 9 cases of PB were retrieved from different hospitals and studied and information relating to PB was obtained from various internet databases including PUB Med, Google, Google Scholar and Educus. Results: Portal biliopathy (PB) is a rare complication of extra-portal venous obstruction. Most patients remain asymptomatic, but some may present with raised alkaline phosphatase level, abdominal pain, fever, and cholangitis. It tends to be associated with gallbladder (GB) wall abnormalities, a cavernous transformation of the portal vein and choledochal varices. Extrinsic compression of the common bile duct, (CBD), by dilated venous collaterals together with pericholedochal fibrosis from the inflammatory process can cause portal thrombosis, which may lead to biliary stricture and dilatation of the proximal biliary tree. These strictures set the scene for formation biliary stones and cholangitis. Liver function test abnormalities are common but remain non-specific. Imaging features are instrumental in the diagnosis of PB. This paper presents 9 of such cases of portal biliopathy, with discussions on their causation, the course of the disease process and management particularly minimally invasive procedure. The role of ultrasound (US), computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and direct puncture cholangiography is discussed. Surgical management is evaluated. An imaging atlas is provided. Conclusions: PB is a rare but significant complication of portal venous obstruction that has an insidious onset and may remain asymptomatic until late. PB has associated coagulopathies, and a variety of other disorders, which are discussed, illustrated and the diagnosis-elaborated. The role of MRI as a non-invasive imaging tool is emphasized.


It has been suggested that there is an influence of cultural contexts of writing, based on different academic settings, on student writers' uses of metadiscoursal resources principally showing authorial stance (see Lee & Casal, 2014). Nevertheless, very few studies have sought to empirically validate this statement. Boosters, another so-called term "Emphatics", are markers of certainty and of authorial commitment; they are one of the important metadiscoursal devices used to indicate the authorial stance. Yet, they are evidently found underresearched. This preliminary study investigates cross-cultural variation of metadiscoursal boosters in the Applied Linguistics dissertations written in Thailand and in the U.S. The analysis is based on a corpus of the randomly-selected 40 doctoral dissertations, 20 from each of the Thai and American corpora. Using Hyland's (2005) interactional model of metadiscourse, the overall rhetorical and different categorical-based distribution of boosters were calculated across the different chapters of dissertations. The comparative analysis of different chapters of doctoral dissertations writing in Thailand and in the U.S. reveals significant cross-cultural differences underpinning different academic cultures, overall frequency of metadiscoursal boosters across not only chapters but also sub-grammatical categories of boosters. The analysis of 40 dissertations from universities in two different countries reveals that there are significant discrepancies in terms of distribution and usage patterns of metadiscoursal boosters across the corpora e.g. dissertations by Thai student writers displayed more substantial use of metadiscoursal boosters while a more limited range of structural patterns where boosters were utilized was evident in their writings; boosters were found to occur most frequently in Results, Literature Review and Discussion chapters, respectively; and the most frequently used categories of metadiscoursal boosters found in the three chapters were verbs, adverbs and adjectives, correspondingly. The analysis accordingly suggests that authorial identity in the form of assertions in students' writing is inevitably linked to the specific cultural and academic contexts in which the writing is produced and targeted by its intended readers, truly even within the same discipline. An explanation for the rhetorical differences found has been attempted by taking part-genres, different discourse communities, and writing practice into account. The paper has concluded some implications for the teaching of academic writing particularly for EFL learners.


The United States Supreme Court will soon hear oral arguments on two cases, Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius. Both cases present similar questions with regard to the applicability of the First Amendment's "Free Exercise Clause" to corporations. In Hobby Lobby, the Tenth Circuit found that Free Exercise rights existed for a corporation, without regard to its status as a non-church, profit-seeking entity. In Conestoga, however, the Third Circuit agreed that a corporation could have Free Exercise rights, but such rights did not apply if the corporation happened to be "secular" and "for-profit", defining characteristics which appear nowhere in the Constitution and which are contrary to recent First Amendment jurisprudence and other precedent, including the seminal case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. Why would there be such a distinction relating to a right as fundamental as the exercise of religion? According to the Conestoga court, it all comes down to profit. A legal entity that exists to produce profits for those who organized it can't exercise religion, but one that exists without an interest in profits miraculously is vested with the right to exercise religion. In Hobby Lobby, the court summarized (and subsequently rejected) the government's position as being a black and white distinction between non-profit religious organizations, which have Free Exercise rights, and for-profit secular organizations, which have no such rights. The government made the same argument in Conestoga, and in that case the majority adopted the government's position.Not only is the government's distinction arbitrary and without logical or legal basis, it is utterly at odds with recent developments in corporate law.The advent of the "Benefit Corporation" (or "B-Corp") has formally established a gray area between the black of the non-profit religious organization and the white of the for-profit secular organization with respect to First Amendment rights generally and Free Exercise rights specifically. Indeed, a corporation organized as a B-Corp can be religious and formed for purposes other than the sole pursuit of profit. Such a creature was apparently beyond the knowledge of the Conestoga court.Well, not the entire Conestoga court. Judge Kent Jordan, in his meticulously argued dissent, touched upon the radical upheaval in the law occasioned by the recent establishment of the B-Corp in many states, pointing out that a B-Corp, like a religious non-profit corporation, is a legal entity that exists for purposes other than the solitary pursuit of profit; in fact, B-Corps can be formed in furtherance of religious purposes, much like a religious non-profit.The purpose of this paper is to elaborate on Judge Jordan's discussion of B-Corps in his Conestoga dissent and further, to argue that not only should Free Exercise rights apply to corporations that have a religious purpose, such as B-Corps, but also such rights should exist for what I refer to as "de-facto B-Corps."This paper concludes with an epilogue that summarizes the decision in the Hobby Lobby/Conestoga case and discusses the implications of any Congressional attempt to undermine the Supreme Court's decision through changes to RFRA or any other statute that would purport to strip free exercise rights from for-profit corporations. In such a case, the Supreme Court would have an opportunity to decide the case on First Amendment grounds. This paper argues that the Hobby Lobby/Conestoga opinion set out the groundwork for future courts to use strict scrutiny (the same standard under which RFRA cases are decided) under the Smith "individualized" exemption doctrine to strike down any Congressional attempts to deprive for-profit corporations of their First Amendment Free Exercise rights.


ABSTRACT The diversity of the genetic code systems used by microbes on earth is yet to be elucidated. It is known that certain methanogenic archaea employ an alternative system for cysteine (Cys) biosynthesis and encoding; tRNACys is first acylated with phosphoserine (Sep) by O-phosphoseryl-tRNA synthetase (SepRS) and then converted to Cys-tRNACys by Sep-tRNA:Cys-tRNA synthase (SepCysS). In this study, we searched all genomic and metagenomic protein sequence data in the Integrated Microbial Genomes (IMG) system and at the NCBI to reveal new clades of SepRS and SepCysS proteins belonging to diverse archaea in the four major groups (DPANN, Euryarchaeota, TACK, and Asgard) and two groups of bacteria ("Candidatus Parcubacteria" and Chloroflexi). Bacterial SepRS and SepCysS charged bacterial tRNACys species with cysteine in vitro. Homologs of SepCysE, a scaffold protein facilitating SepRS⋅SepCysS complex assembly in Euryarchaeota class I methanogens, are found in a few groups of TACK and Asgard archaea, whereas the C-terminally truncated homologs exist fused or genetically coupled with diverse SepCysS species. Investigation of the selenocysteine (Sec)- and pyrrolysine (Pyl)-utilizing traits in SepRS-utilizing archaea and bacteria revealed that the archaea carrying full-length SepCysE employ Sec and that SepRS is often found in Pyl-utilizing archaea and Chloroflexi bacteria. We discuss possible contributions of the SepRS-SepCysS system for sulfur assimilation, methanogenesis, and other metabolic processes requiring large amounts of iron-sulfur enzymes or Pyl-containing enzymes. IMPORTANCE Comprehensive analyses of all genomic and metagenomic protein sequence data in public databases revealed the distribution and evolution of an alternative cysteine-encoding system in diverse archaea and bacteria. The finding that the SepRS-SepCysS-SepCysE- and the selenocysteine-encoding systems are shared by the Euryarchaeota class I methanogens, the Crenarchaeota AK8/W8A-19 group, and an Asgard archaeon suggests that ancient archaea may have used both systems. In contrast, bacteria may have obtained the SepRS-SepCysS system from archaea. The SepRS-SepCysS system sometimes coexists with a pyrrolysine-encoding system in both archaea and bacteria. Our results provide additional bioinformatic evidence for the contribution of the SepRS-SepCysS system for sulfur assimilation and diverse metabolisms which require vast amounts of iron-sulfur enzymes and proteins. Among these biological activities, methanogenesis, methylamine metabolism, and organohalide respiration may have local and global effects on earth. Taken together, uncultured bacteria and archaea provide an expanded record of the evolution of the genetic code. Comprehensive analyses of all genomic and metagenomic protein sequence data in public databases revealed the distribution and evolution of an alternative cysteine-encoding system in diverse archaea and bacteria. The finding that the SepRS-SepCysS-SepCysE- and the selenocysteine-encoding systems are shared by the Euryarchaeota class I methanogens, the Crenarchaeota AK8/W8A-19 group, and an Asgard archaeon suggests that ancient archaea may have used both systems. In contrast, bacteria may have obtained the SepRS-SepCysS system from archaea. The SepRS-SepCysS system sometimes coexists with a pyrrolysine-encoding system in both archaea and bacteria. Our results provide additional bioinformatic evidence for the contribution of the SepRS-SepCysS system for sulfur assimilation and diverse metabolisms which require vast amounts of iron-sulfur enzymes and proteins. Among these biological activities, methanogenesis, methylamine metabolism, and organohalide respiration may have local and global effects on earth. Taken together, uncultured bacteria and archaea provide an expanded record of the evolution of the genetic code.


This chapter addresses the following question: What are the advantages of extending a fuzzy expert system (FES) to an artificial neural network (ANN), within a computer‐ based speech therapy system (CBST)? We briefly describe the key concepts underlying the principles behind the FES and ANN and their applications in assisted speech therapy. We explain the importance of an intelligent system in order to design an appropriate model for real‐life situations. We present data from 1‐year application of these concepts in the field of assisted speech therapy. Using an artificial intelligent system for improving speech would allow designing a training program for pronunci‐ ation, which can be individualized based on specialty needs, previous experiences, and the child's prior therapeutical progress. Neural networks add a great plus value when dealing with data that do not normally match our previous designed pattern. Using an integrated approach that combines FES and ANN allows our system to accomplish three main objectives: (1) develop a personalized therapy program; (2) gradually replace some human expert duties; (3) use "self‐learning" capabilities, a component traditionally reserved for humans. The results demonstrate the viability of the hybrid approach in the context of speech therapy that can be extended when designing similar applications.


Cyprus has been through many significant changes in the decade of 2000-2010. The purpose of this study was to assess differences in levels of ethnic identity, person perception and racism by comparing archived data of 2000, 2004 and 2010 as well as identify possible significant relationships among these variables. Two hundred ninety eight university-age participants were included across the three years of reference of the study. Concerning ethnic identity, results indicated a significant decrease from 2000 to 2010. Concerning racism, results indicated a small but significant decrease from 2000 to 2010. Concerning person perception, results indicated an inverted 'U' effect with significant increase in perceived similarity in 2004. Concerning the relationships, out-group perceived similarity was related to lower levels of racism. No significant relationship existed between ethnic identity, racism and out-group perceived similarity. Possible explanations for these results as well as implications for multicultural education, diversity teaching and training, educational and government policy development are discussed.


Sampling-based model-predictive control (MPC) is a promising tool for feedback control of robots with complex, non-smooth dynamics, and cost functions. However, the computationally demanding nature of sampling-based MPC algorithms has been a key bottleneck in their application to high-dimensional robotic manipulation problems in the real world. Previous methods have addressed this issue by running MPC in the task space while relying on a low-level operational space controller for joint control. However, by not using the joint space of the robot in the MPC formulation, existing methods cannot directly account for non-task space related constraints such as avoiding joint limits, singular configurations, and link collisions. In this paper, we develop a system for fast, joint space sampling-based MPC for manipulators that is efficiently parallelized using GPUs. Our approach can handle task and joint space constraints while taking less than 8ms~(125Hz) to compute the next control command. Further, our method can tightly integrate perception into the control problem by utilizing learned cost functions from raw sensor data. We validate our approach by deploying it on a Franka Panda robot for a variety of dynamic manipulation tasks. We study the effect of different cost formulations and MPC parameters on the synthesized behavior and provide key insights that pave the way for the application of sampling-based MPC for manipulators in a principled manner. We also provide highly optimized, open-source code to be used by the wider robot learning and control community. Videos of experiments can be found at: https://sites.google.com/view/manipulation-mpc


The goal of the research is the comparative analysis of a quality of life and quantitative characteristics of a chronic tense headache as well as the studying of adaptive reactions. 123 women (middle age 42,6±2,3) with initiatory stages of chronic tense headaches have been examined using diagnostic criteria of the International classifcation of headache disorders (ICDH — II, 2003), headache diary and the McGill Pain Questionnaire. Headache intensity was estimated by the Visual Analog Scale. Monitoring quality of life (QOL) was organized in a form of a questionnaire SF-36. An adaptive reactions type was analizing by L. Kh. Garkavi. Clinical implications and quantitative characteristics of a chronic tense headache, condition of vegetative and emotional sphere, and also quality of life and adaptive reactions are studied. Infuence of chronic headache on various components quality of life was investigated. Monitoring of physical, psychological and social functioning of patients with reception of differential and integrated quantity indicators of QOL, and also the analysis of adaptic reactions will give the chance to the doctor to develop a complex of practical references on treatment chronic tense headache at patients with poor quality of life and adverse adaptive reactions.


This book explores the most recent developments in the theory of planar quasiconformal mappings with a particular focus on the interactions with partial differential equations and nonlinear analysis. It gives a thorough and modern approach to the classical theory and presents important and compelling applications across a spectrum of mathematics: dynamical systems, singular integral operators, inverse problems, the geometry of mappings, and the calculus of variations. It also gives an account of recent advances in harmonic analysis and their applications in the geometric theory of mappings.
 The book explains that the existence, regularity, and singular set structures for second-order divergence-type equations--the most important class of PDEs in applications--are determined by the mathematics underpinning the geometry, structure, and dimension of fractal sets; moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces; and conformal dynamical systems. These topics are inextricably linked by the theory of quasiconformal mappings. Further, the interplay between them allows the authors to extend classical results to more general settings for wider applicability, providing new and often optimal answers to questions of existence, regularity, and geometric properties of solutions to nonlinear systems in both elliptic and degenerate elliptic settings.


The presented research deals with the relationships between readiness to experience empathy and interpersonal decentration and social radicalism. The participants (N=60) were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: induced decentration, induced centration, and control condition. Readiness to experience empathy was measured with the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis, 1983). The level of radicalism in social attitudes was measured by a specially developed Radicalism Questionnaire. As predicted, the results indicate that after induced decentration persons exhibited less radical social attitudes than in the neutral condition and less radical than in the centration condition. In the centration condition attitudes were the most radical. The results also show a weak negative correlation between the readiness to experience empathy and strength of social radicalism. Additionally an interaction effect was discovered between the level of empathy and activated centration, showing that the effect of activated centration on radicalism was stronger among persons with low empathetic disposition.


In the field of Global Satellite Navigation System (GNSS), modern mass-market receivers are able to provide raw measurements, thus representing a valuable resource for the design of new navigation algorithms. Among these devices, a considerable amount of smartphones allows to gather such measurements before they are processed to compute the positioning solution. In parallel, they provide natively ubiquitous connectivity within low-latency cellular networks. This framework has enabled the implementation of novel paradigms of positioning including networked GNSS positioning. Navigation algorithms exploiting relative positioning have been widely investigated in the last years and many kinds of shareable data have been integrated within collaborative approaches (e.g. GNSS navigation data, relative distance, relative heading). The present work investigates geometrical impairments in the computation of pairwise ranges (i.e. Inter-Agent Range) through the exchange of GNSS-only measurements between a pair of GNSS receivers in short baseline scenario. Although Inter-Agent Range technique acts similarly to code-pseudorange single differences, it exploits the angle obtained from the joint observation of a common satellite by two collaborating receivers. A statistical characterization of the output measurements is provided along with the evaluation of optimal and suboptimal geometrical conditions. A mathematical model for collaborative systems is formulated and compared with a collection of realistic simulation results for the validation. Raw and corrected measurements were compared, thus highlighting a remarkable advantage of the latter in terms of biases. The results confirm the suitability of the presented model for the optimization of collaborative and differential GNSS applications.


Systemic innovation theory emphasizes that innovations are the result of an interdependent exchange process between different organizations. This is reflected in the current paradigm in European innovation policy, which aims at the support of collaborative R&D and innovation projects bringing together science and industry. Building on a large data set using project-level evidence on 406 subsidized R&D cooperation projects, the present paper provides detailed insights on the relationship between the innovative success of R&D cooperation projects and project characteristics. Patent applications and publications are used as measures for direct outcomes of R&D projects. We also differentiate between academic-industry projects and pure inter-firm projects. Main results of negative binomial regressions are that large-firm involvement is positively related to patent applications, but not to publications. Conversely, university involvement has positive effects on project outcomes in terms of publications but not in terms of patent applications. In general, projects' funding is an important predictor of innovative success of R&D cooperation projects. No significant results are found for spatial proximity among cooperation partners and for the engagement of an applied research institute. Results are discussed with respect to the design of R&D cooperation support schemes.


Satellite altimeter sea surface height anomaly (SSHA) data accuracy and applications are rapidly maturing over the open ocean, but more attention is required where continental shelves and marginal seas are concerned. Refined radar range measurement correction approaches are needed to enhance the quality of coastal altimeter SSHA data and to enhance the potential impact that altimeter data can play in improved ocean circulation modeling and prediction. This study provides a regional assessment of satellite altimeter SSHA data from the Jason-2, Jason-1, and TOPEX/Poseidon data sets collected over the Northwest Atlantic coastal region of the United States. The validation approach follows recent studies in numerous shelf regions to address changes from standard or default data quality flagging scheme that can enhance satellite altimeter SSHA data recovery, optimal choice of de-aliasing corrections in deriving subtidal sea level time series, and validation of altimeter data using in situ tide gauge and current measurement data sets. Spatial analyses show the impact of data filtering and corrections from the coastline out onto the slope. Revised handling of the data provides a 5–10% increase in availability (from about 70% up to 80% for waters beyond 50 km from shore). The RMS differences between tide gauge and surface layer current measurements at the 60 day time scale are 3–4 cm and 6 cm/s, respectively, and of magnitude consistent with several recent coastal altimeter data validation efforts.


Dual diagnosis or dual disorders are terms used to define the presence of an addictive disorder and another mental health disorder in an individual. With a high prevalence of dual diagnosis (above 50%) being well documented in clinical and epidemiological studies, clinicians, researchers, and policy makers have increasingly been paying attention to the challenges of identifying and implementing adequate management of cooccurring disorders/dual pathology, especially since they have been frequently associated with relapses, poor treatment engagement, and overall unsatisfactory treatment outcomes. The papers selected for this special issue represent a good panel for addressing this challenge. It is however quite certain that the subject is extremely vast and, hence, the selected topic and the papers are not an exhaustive representation of this area of dual diagnostic disorders. Nonetheless, they represent the rich and complex web of interactions which underplay dual diagnosis, which we have the pleasure of sharing with the readers.

The special issue contains five papers, from different geographical regions of the world, each dealing with a different subject within this vast area. A paper from Germany titled "Reflections on Addiction in Students Using Stimulants for Neuroenhancement: A Preliminary Interview Study" uses face to face interviews with university students to explore determinants of nonmedicinal uses of methylphenidate and amphetamines for pharmacological neuroenhancement. While highlighting the need for long term empirical research, on the basis of some quite interesting results, the authors conclude that the beliefs and behavior of their sample population appear to be risky in terms of development of addiction. Such findings can help in understanding the underpinnings of addictions in student population and may have the potential to ultimately improve targeted interventions for this important group.

In a paper from Malaysia titled "The Effect of Nicotine Dependence on Psychopathology in Patients with Schizophrenia," A. Yee et al. study the prevalence of nicotine dependence in a cross-sectional study and investigate the effects of nicotine dependence on psychopathology among 180 outpatients with schizophrenia at a general hospital in Malaysia. They have observed a higher prevalence of nicotine dependence among patients with schizophrenia when compared to the general population in Malaysia. They have also observed a significant association between negative symptoms of schizophrenia and nicotine use, which supported the notion of self-medication hypothesis of schizophrenia.

In another paper from Brazil titled "Revictimization of Violence Suffered by Those Diagnosed with Alcohol Dependence in the General Population," F. G. Moreira et al. studied the vicious association of violence and alcohol dependence syndrome in a general population. Although they observed that urban and familial violence in the general population and alcohol dependence had a complex interplay, they felt that a policy of reducing familial and domestic violence may be necessary to reduce alcohol dependence. This is an interesting conclusion and calls for further validation in well-designed longitudinal studies.

In a paper from Australia titled "Khat Use: What Is the Problem and What Can Be Done?" which was unique in being a qualitative research study as well as studying a minority population, Y. S. Omar et al. used the techniques of focused group discussions and thematic analysis to address khat use and evolve strategies to deal with this rapidly progressing problem.

In a paper from Canada, titled "Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms, Comorbidities, Substance Use, and Social Outcomes among Men and Women in a Canadian Sample," E. Vingilis et al. screened for ADHD symptoms and its correlates including substance use. They observed a higher lifetime cocaine use and comorbid anxiety and depression, which points to the difficulties of being able to manage this complex group of patients.


A key component of drug development is to establish the compound's dose-response relationship, and identify all effective doses of the drug with a general goal of selecting the minimum effective dose (MED). A new closed testing procedure is proposed for identifying the MED for a single component drug. This procedure is based on constructing simultaneous one-sided confidence bands for the response surface of each dose's effect relative to placebo. Our methodology utilizes a stepwise closed testing to test the ordered hypotheses of equality of mean dose-responses. The pattern of the rejected and accepted null hypotheses provides the estimate of the MED, if it exists.In the case of a combination drug, in addition to demonstrating safety and efficacy the FDA requires demonstrating that each component makes a contribution to the claimed effects. A combination which satisfies the last requirement is called an efficacious combination. In the most common case both single drugs are approved ones, and therefore, the efficacious combinations are effective, that is, they produce a therapeutic effect which is superior to placebo.We propose a closed testing procedure for estimating the minimum efficacious combinations (MeD's) in a two-drug study and introduce a notion of the MeD-set.The main advantage of a closed testing procedure is the strong control of the familywise error at level of significance a and allowing testing individual hypotheses at the same significance level a without multiplicity adjustments.The proposed procedure is based on two main steps. In the first step, all possible structures of the population MeD-set are identified and the related closed family of hypotheses is constructed, and the proper step-down testing partial order is established. The second step is the "a-testing" step. Using the closed testing principle, we test the hypotheses by constructing the AVE-test statistic. The pattern of the rejected null hypotheses identifies the MeD-set. In order to assess the performance of our procedure, we define several statistical measures. These notions are used in a large simulation study to examine the goodness of the estimation procedures and to identify the population configurations when the procedure performs the best.