Our ability to make logical inferences is considered as one of the cornerstones of human intelligence, fuelling investigations of reasoning abilities in non-human animals. Yet, the evidence to date is equivocal, with apes as the prime candidates to possess these skills. For instance, in a two-choice task, apes can identify the location of hidden food if it is indicated by a rattling noise caused by the shaking of a baited container. More importantly, they also use the absence of noise during the shaking of the empty container to infer that this container is not baited. However, since the inaugural report of apes solving this task, to the best of our knowledge, no comparable evidence could be found in any other tested species such as monkeys and dogs. Here, we report the first successful and instantaneous solution of the shaking task through logical inference by a non-ape species, the African grey parrot. Surprisingly, the performance of the birds was sensitive to the shaking movement: they were successful with containers shaken horizontally, but not with vertical shaking resembling parrot head-bobbing. Thus, grey parrots seem to possess ape-like cross-modal reasoning skills, but their reliance on these abilities is influenced by low-level interferences.


Background: The +T294C polymorphism in PPARδ represents a functional SNP affecting transcriptional activity of the PPARδ gene. To address whether this polymorphism is associated with the risk for coronary heart disease and/or plasma lipid levels in women, we studied a group of 967 female patients with hyperlipidaemia in the presence (n=453) or absence (n=514) of coronary heart disease. Methods: 967 female patients with or without coronary heart disease were genotyped using mutagenically separated polymerase chain reaction (MS-PCR). Statistical analysis was performed according to genotype with parameters of lipid metabolism as dependant variables. Results: A highly significant association between the rare C allele and lower plasma HDL concentrations was found in female subjects. The effect remained significant after correcting for multiparametric testing according to Bonferoni and was seen only in subjects with a BMI below the median. Moreover, a significant association of the C-allele with coronary heart disease and BMI was obtained. Regarding the entire group, trends towards higher VLDL and LDL levels were observed. Conclusions: Our data show for the first time that the PPARδ +T294C polymorphism is associated with lipid levels and coronary heart disease in women. However, the molecular mechanism of action remains to be elucidated.


Although courtly literature is often associated with a chivalrous and idyllic life, the fifteen original essays in this collection demonstrate that the quest for love in the world of medieval courtly literature was underpinned by violence. Lovers were rejected, mistrust ruled, rape was a rampant problem, and marriage was often characterized by brutality. Albrecht Classen brings together an outstanding group of historical, cultural, and literary scholars in this volume to investigate the complicated, nuanced, and often surprising unions of love and violence in courtly medieval literature.


We have observed a stimulated thermal-scattering-mediated self-starting phase-conjugation effect in dye-doped nematic liquid crystal. The buildup time was observed to be in the millisecond range for an input laser power of the order of 0.4 W. Because of the broadband birefringence of nematic liquid crystals, it is expected that the effect could be realized over the spectral regime from the visible to the infrared.


Article type Systematic Review article Introduction: Hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) is known as a chronic liver disease associated with severe pulmonary deoxygenation due to intrapulmonary vascular vasodilation. Although liver transplantation is accepted as a main treatment of HPS, identifying effective drugs for recovery of HPS can be effective in postponing the transplantation and decreasing the mortality rate of patients before the transplantation. In this study we briefly reviewed the pathogenesis of HPS and also systematically reviewed the current pharmacological treatment of HPS. Method: Pubmed, Scopus, and Google scholar were searched for the relevant English language clinical and experimental articles about the medications used in the treatment of HPS. Results: A total of 38 articles were included in this study which mostly resulted in decreasing NOS expression, NO production, endothelin-1 activation, intrapulmonary angiogenesis and increasing oxygenation. Conclusion: Various drugs have been proposed in treatment of HPS but more large controlled trial studies, is necessary to determine the exact efficacy of each drugs for HPS recovery.


This thesis is directed to the area of typography and the affects certain typefaces have on a reader's perception of the message of a text. There have been both empirical and non-empirical studies done that show evidence that connotations and feelings have been associated with typefaces. The intent of this study was to determine the feelings associated with a particular group of typefaces by relating each face to a list of adjective pairs and comparing the results with the content of books which incorporated the face on their jackets. This was to determine whether the content of a book and the feeling of the typeface used on its cover correlated with each other in order to aid in the reader's perception of the subject matter. The book jackets consisted of only type, with no other photograph or illustration. The method of testing used is called the semantic differential method. This method systematically measures degrees ofmeanings for various stimuli; the typefaces in this case. Twenty typefaces were chosen to be tested against twenty-two pairs of antonym attributes. A normal distribution was set up for each pair of attributes and the results found eight typefaces with two or more attributes of one standard deviation or higher. A sample set of books incorporating one of these eight typefaces on their jackets was collected and the contents of these books were compared with the typeface's attributes. Content matter of the books was determined from bookstore categories, catalog listings, and jacket flap summaries. ix From the sample sets, the percentage of contents corresponding to an attribute ranged from 0 to 100% for certain faces and certain attributes. Some choices of typefaces seemed very appropriate for a book's content while others did not. It was concluded that although books are categorized by their content, those responsible for choosing typefaces for the covers of these books 1 .) do not always take this categorizing into consideration, or 2.) are not aware of the feelings and connotaions people get from various typefaces. In response to these conclusions, a corollary investigation was performed to determine the reasons book designers do choose particular typefaces when designing book jackets. The responses included individual and per sonal reasons; production, supplier and time limitations; and specific protocol within publishing houses. All felt that a resource containing information regarding typefaces and the feelings they stimulate would be valuable. CHAPTER


This is an inquiry about the morality of lawyers and law practice. Some modern academic critiques hold law practice to be immoral or unjust as compared to the standard of "common morality" or of the sense of "justice" shared in the community. This Essay advances a different standard of reference, one that takes into account the pervasive conflicts within society and the limitations on the government's ability to get at the truth. These limitations generate a role for lawyers as empowered figures who employ government authority as partisans and confidantes for their clients. That role is comparable to other roles that involve exercise of authority, particularly the roles of government officials and business managers.


Abstract When estimating a regression function or its derivatives, local polynomials are an attractive choice due to their flexibility and asymptotic performance. Seifert and Gasser proposed ridging of local polynomials to overcome problems with variance for random design while retaining their advantages. In this article we present a data-independent rule of thumb and a data-adaptive spatial choice of the ridge parameter in local linear regression. In a framework of penalized local least squares regression, the methods are generalized to higher order polynomials, to estimation of derivatives, and to multivariate designs. The main message is that ridging is a powerful tool for improving the performance of local polynomials. A rule of thumb offers drastic improvements; data-adaptive ridging brings further but modest gains in mean square error.


JVRB, 12(2015), no. 3. - Human behavior is a major factor modulating the consequences of road tunnel accidents. We investigated the effect of information and instruction on drivers' behavior as well as the usability of virtual environments to simulate such emergency situations. Tunnel safety knowledge of the general population was assessed using an online questionnaire, and tunnel safety behavior was investigated in a virtual reality experiment. Forty-four participants completed three drives through a virtual road tunnel and were confronted with a traffic jam, no event, and an accident blocking the road. Participants were randomly assigned to a control group (no intervention), an informed group who read a brochure containing safety information prior to the tunnel drives, or an informed and instructed group who read the same brochure and received additional instructions during the emergency situation. Informed participants showed better and quicker safety behavior than the control group. Self-reports of anxiety were assessed three times during each drive. Anxiety was elevated during and after the emergency situation. The findings demonstrate problematic safety behavior in the control group and that knowledge of safety information fosters adequate behavior in tunnel emergencies. Enhanced anxiety ratings during the emergency situation indicate external validity of the virtual environment.


Recent studies have demonstrated that nondemented patients with Parkinson's disease with visual hallucinations had lower scores on frontal-executive tasks than parkinsonian patients without hallucinations, most likely due to defective cholinergic circuitry. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether development of visual hallucinations in patients with Alzheimer's disease may also be related to more severe frontal dysfunctions. In the present study, 36 patients were included who were affected by probable Alzheimer's disease (18 with visual hallucinations and 18 without) and 38 patients affected by idiopathic Parkinson's disease (19 with visual hallucinations and 19 without). Patients completed a neuropsychological test battery and a short questionnaire to collect information about hallucination types and features. Multivariate analysis showed that patients with Alzheimer's disease scored significantly lower than patients with Parkinson's disease and that patients with hallucinations scored significantly lower than patients without hallucinations. Within both the Alzheimer's disease group and the Parkinson's disease group, patients with visual hallucinations scored significantly lower than patients without visual hallucinations, particularly on tests evaluating frontal-executive functions. These results demonstrate that patients with visual hallucinations show a significant impairment on tests tapping frontal-executive functions in Alzheimer's disease, as previously demonstrated (and verified here) in Parkinson's disease. On this basis it seems likely that analogous cognitive mechanisms underlie development of visual hallucinations in both degenerative diseases. Moreover, we may speculate that a defective circuitry of the prefrontal cortex is crucial for the genesis of hallucinations.


The 2030 Agenda, adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2015, outlines an ambitious and universal plan of action for people, planet and prosperity as it seeks to strengthen universal peace and freedom. This report presents national and Nordic action on Agenda 2030 with the aim to inform and support the Nordic Council of Ministers in formulating a new Nordic Sustainable Development Programme. All Nordic countries are engaged and strongly committed to implementing Agenda 2030 and there is a broad societal interest in joint Nordic action. The existing Nordic Strategy for Sustainable Development and several other key initiatives within Nordic cooperation already contribute to the goals of Agenda 2030. A new Nordic Sustainable Development Programme can build upon a strong foundation and add further value to the national and international work done by the Nordic countries.


How do individuals shape societies? How do societies shape individuals? This article develops a framework for studying the connections between micro and macro phenomena. The framework builds on two ingredients widely used in social science—population and variable. Starting with the simplest case of one population and one variable, additional variables and additional populations are systematically introduced. This approach enables simple and natural introduction and exposition of such operations as pooling, matching, regression, hierarchical and multilevel modeling, calculating summary measures, finding the distribution of a function of random variables, and choosing between two or more distributions. To illustrate the procedures we draw on problems from a variety of topical domains in social science, including an extended illustration focused on residential racial segregation. Three useful features of the framework are: First, similarities in the mathematical structure underlying distinct substantive questions, spanning different levels of aggregation and different substantive domains, become apparent. Second, links between distinct methodological procedures and operations become apparent. Third, the framework has a potential for growth, as new models and operations become incorporated into the framework.


The role of the court interpreter in the United States, as in many other countries, has been defined by the legal profession in light of important precepts of the adversarial justice system. Interpreters, who are considered officers of the court, are strictly forbidden to give advice or provide explanations to clarify intended meaning, and are often instructed by judges to provide a "verbatim" interpretation. However, scholarly research on the role of the interpreter has revealed the shortcomings of the argument that interpreters are mere conduits transferring verbal messages from one language to another. This paper will examine the dichotomy between the need for interpreter neutrality in an adversarial setting and the limitations this imposes on their ability to convey the full meaning of culture-bound terms. It will conclude with some suggested guidelines for navigating the treacherous waters between the Scylla of literal interpretation and the Charybdis of active intervention in the communicative event.


OBJECTIVES
Most contemporary epidemiologic studies require complex analytical methods to adjust for bias and confounding. New methods are constantly being developed, and older more established methods are yet appropriate. Careful application of statistical analysis techniques can improve causal inference of comparative treatment effects from nonrandomized studies using secondary databases. A Task Force was formed to offer a review of the more recent developments in statistical control of confounding.

METHODS
The Task Force was commissioned and a chair was selected by the ISPOR Board of Directors in October 2007. This Report, the third in this issue of the journal, addressed methods to improve causal inference of treatment effects for nonrandomized studies.

RESULTS
The Task Force Report recommends general analytic techniques and specific best practices where consensus is reached including: use of stratification analysis before multivariable modeling, multivariable regression including model performance and diagnostic testing, propensity scoring, instrumental variable, and structural modeling techniques including marginal structural models, where appropriate for secondary data. Sensitivity analyses and discussion of extent of residual confounding are discussed.

CONCLUSIONS
Valid findings of causal therapeutic benefits can be produced from nonrandomized studies using an array of state-of-the-art analytic techniques. Improving the quality and uniformity of these studies will improve the value to patients, physicians, and policymakers worldwide.


1. Under standard conditions Peripatopsis loses water twice as rapidly as an earthworm, forty times as rapidly as a smooth-skinned caterpillar, and eighty times as rapidly as a cockroach. 2. Water loss almost certainly takes place through the tracheae. 3. Lack of control of water loss is due to the large numbers of spiracles which have no closing mechanism. 4. Although the Onychophora have many efficient adaptations for a terrestrial habit, the type of tracheal system alone may have been responsible for the group not becoming widespread and successful.


Abstract Naraoiids in the Kaili biota (Taijiangian Stage, Wulingian Series, lower Middle Cambrian) are preserved in a variety of taphonomic states. Decomposition, entombment, and fossil diagenesis of Kaili naraoiid specimens (n = 69) are described. The decay rates of appendages, internal organs, and dorsal sclerites are different, and should be treated as separate taphonomic elements. A classification scheme to delineate the preservational states is proposed here to distinguish carcasses from molts in deposits with exceptional preservation. For example, at least 35% of Kaili naraoiids represent carcasses. Among them, ∼21% of individuals are interpreted as having been buried alive (Type A preservational state) and 79% showed some evidence of decay prior to burial (Type B preservational state). 65% of naraoiids can be either molts or decayed carcasses, and molts typically are articulated (Type C preservational state). Disarticulated (Type D preservational state) specimens are rare. Kaili naraoiids were buried in three orientations with respect to bedding: (1) parallel, (2) oblique, and (3) folded-over (specimens with noticeably shortened anterior shields). Due to the nature of the naraoiid bauplan, most specimens (∼77%) tend to be buried parallel to bedding. All naraoiid specimens with folded-over anterior shields (10%) represent carcasses. Identified taphonomic modifications caused by post-burial processes include extruded gut contents, three-dimensionally preserved internal organs, and sclerite fractures. Preservation of three-dimensional soft-parts accompanied by flattened hard-parts is interpreted here as the result of syndiagenetic anaerobic microbial decay. The relief and size of preserved midguts depend on: (1) availability of volatile tissues, (2) abundance and types of microbes, and (3) duration of anaerobic microbial decay prior to compactional dewatering.


Even a smartphone needs a smart user to take advantage of all of its brilliance-especially when that phone is as jam-packed with features as the Treo. To master all of the Treo's phone, email, Internet, photographic, and organizational capabilities, you need this pocket-sized guide! As the only Treo guide authorized by its maker (palmOne), this one goes way beyond the manual to demonstrate the tricks and techniques that aren't divulged anywhere else. With Treo in your hand and this guide at your side, you can work as you read, mastering one topic quickly and then moving on to the next. Each tip or technique takes just minutes to complete, which means you can use what you learn immediately and watch your skills improve every time you pick up your handheld. Use this guide just as you do your Treo itself-when you need it, to do precisely what you want with your smartest of tools!


BEYOND THE BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP with the United States, the Americas are essentially marginal to Canada's interests, however one defines the latter, and they are likely to remain so in the foreseeable future. In such a context, the challenge for the government is to design a policy that is consistent over time, that can have significant impact in the few areas that are more relevant to the country's interests, that is likely to command sufficient resources for that purpose and that can be sustained over time. No easy task.This article first examines the structural basis of Canada's relationship with the rest of the Americas--or more precisely, the lack thereof--and challenges three of the key assumptions of the policy adopted since 1989. A second section examines a limited number of files whose relevance for Canada is higher--Mexico and Brazil--and another where a focused policy could have significant positive impacts.THE AMERICAS OF OUR DREAMSSince 1989, Canadian policy toward the Americas has been remarkably proactive. The story of Canada's "rediscovery" of the Americas(1) has been portrayed as a decisive march toward the country's full integration in hemispheric affairs. The landmarks of Canada's deepening option for the hemisphere are numerous and impressive: the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement in 1988; full membership in the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990; the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994; the Miami Summit, also in 1994, where Canada forcefully endorsed the project of a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA); free trade with Chile in 1997; the Quebec Summit in 2001; and then a bilateral trade agreement with Costa Rica (2002) and trade negotiations with the rest of Central America. Between these landmarks, the government and its diplomats have shown remarkable commitment to, and certainly made their mark on, hemispheric affairs, playing a key role in setting up the negotiation and support infrastructure for the FTAA, in addition to chairing the first stage of the negotiation. Similarly, Canada's commitment to a suddenly proactive OAS translated into a number of initiatives, from the establishment of a unit for the promotion of democracy, in the general secretariat of the OAS, to the inclusion of a democracy clause in the Quebec Summit declaration and the adoption in Lima, in 2001, of an "Inter-American Democratic Charter."On the ground, an activist diplomacy was translating these general principles into continuing support for democratic consolidation and peace processes in Guatemala, Colombia and perhaps, more spectacularly, in Peru.(2) Finally, the significant capabilities of Canada's diplomatic apparatus, however stretched, have been put to intensive use in the hosting of an extraordinary number of major hemispheric events: from the Americas Business Forum in Toronto (1998), the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg (1999), the "Ninth Conference of the Spouses of Heads of State and Government of the Americas" (1999), to the OAS General Assembly in Windsor (2000) and the Quebec Summit of the Americas (2001).Three broad assumptions have driven those activities: 1) the hemisphere is now the only possible regional "home" for Canada in the vast world, what happens there is important from the standpoint of Canada's economic, political and security interests, and Canada has the capacity to become a significant player in the region; 2) the hemisphere is integrating--economically, politically and as a security complex--as a "rules-based" regional trade regime is emerging and as its multilateral institutional machinery gains relevance; and 3) the region is getting better, both economically and politically, its countries are progressively joining the global community of democracies and, albeit slowly, struggling out of economic under-development.(3)While these assumptions might have been relatively compelling in 1989 and especially in 1994 after the Miami Summit--but before Mexico's Peso Crisis--they now simply look wrong--completely wrong--which suggests that the policy they underlie might require substantial change. …


In this article, I depart from the typical discussion of the Korean sociocultural concept of han as a collective feeling of unresolved resentment, pain, grief, and anger that runs in the blood of all Koreans. Scholars, artists, writers, and critics frequently characterize han as "the Korean ethos" and the soul of Korean art, literature, and film. It is said to be unique to Koreans and incomprehensible to Westerners. I argue, however, that its contemporary biologisticoriented meaning emerged first during the Japanese colonial period as a colonial stereotype, and that tracing the afterlife of han gives us a postcolonial understanding of its deployment in culture. I examine how hanoriginated under the contradictions of coloniality, how it evolved from a colonial construct to its adoption into Korean ethnonationalism, and how it travels into a completely new context through the Korean diaspora. Rather than dismissing han as nothing more than a social construct, I instead define han as an affect that encapsulates the grief of historical memory—the memory of past collective trauma—and that renders itself racialized/ethnicized and attached to nation.


We investigate the gravity gradient components corrected for major known anomalous density structures within the Earth's crust. Heterogeneous mantle density structures are disregarded. The gravimetric forward modeling technique is utilized to compute the gravity gradients based on methods for a spherical harmonic analysis and synthesis of a gravity field. The Earth's gravity gradient components are generated using the global geopotential model GOCO-03s. The topographic and stripping gravity corrections due to the density contrasts of the ocean and ice are computed from the global topographic/bathymetric model DTM2006.0 (which also includes the ice-thickness dataset). The discrete data of sediments and crust layers taken from the CRUST2.0 global crustal model are then used to apply the additional stripping corrections for sediments and remaining anomalous crustal density structures. All computations are realized globally on a one arc-deg geographical grid at a mean satellite elevation of 255 km. The global map of the consolidated crust-stripped gravity gradients reveals distinctive features which are attributed to global tectonics, lithospheric plate configuration, lithosphere structure and mantle dynamics (e.g., glacial isostatic adjustment, mantle convection). The Moho signature, which is the most pronounced signal in these refined gravity gradients, is superimposed over a weaker gravity signal of the lithospheric mantle. An interpretational quality of the computed (refined) gravity gradient components is mainly limited by a low accuracy and resolution of the CRUST2.0 sediment and crustal layer data and unmodeled mantle structures.


The definitive guide to building data-driven Android applications for enterprise systemsAndroid devices represent a rapidly growing share of the mobile device market. With the release of Android 4, they are moving beyond consumer applications into corporate/enterprise use. Developers who want to start building data-driven Android applications that integrate with enterprise systems will learn how with this book. In the tradition of Wrox Professional guides, it thoroughly covers sharing and displaying data, transmitting data to enterprise applications, and much more.Shows Android developers who are not familiar with database development how to design and build data-driven applications for Android devices and integrate them with existing enterprise systems Explores how to collect and store data using SQLite, share data using content providers, and display data using adapters Covers migrating data using various methods and tools; transmitting data to the enterprise using web services; serializing, securing, and synchronizing data Shows how to take advantage of the built-in capabilities of the Android OS to integrate applications into enterprise class systemsEnterprise Android prepares any Android developer to start creating data-intensive applications that todays businesses demand.


Compared with other methods, such as using a 3D laser scanner, multi-view images etc, a single view-based 3D face synthesis method is the most appropriate to make supervision free, resulting in a fast performance aftermath. However, the existing single view-based face synthesis algorithms have problems in depth estimation, systemic automation, interoperability, and being able to deal with complex backgrounds. Aimed at resolving the existing problems, a single view-based face synthesis algorithm has been developed, which enables 3D face synthesis from an arbitrary head-and-shoulder image with a complex background. Compared with other existing single view-based algorithms, the developed one has many advantages. Unlike some [Feng00a] [Val0l] that require user interaction, the developed algorithm can implement automated face synthesis; compared with those single view-based algorithms only capable of coping with faces in the neutral state [Hu04] [Kuo02], the developed algorithm is undoubtedly suitable for wider range of head pose; in contrast to those single view-based methods [Fen00a] [Ho01] [Kuo02] [Hu04] targeting only pure face images, our system can tackle those face images with more complicated background. Moreover, a number of technical improvements for face detection, chin extraction and face model adaptation etc, have also been made in the developed system. In light of the configuration of the developed single view-based face synthesis system, the thesis falls into five chapters, apart from the Introduction and Conclusion chapters. Chapter 2 reviews the current state of the art technologies in 3D face synthesis and their applications, leading to the motivation of the thesis. Chapter 3 and 4 are dedicated to spatial face detection and facial feature extraction, respectively, followed by Chapter 5 that focuses on face model adaptation and 3D face texturing. Since many technologies, such as 3D face rendering and 3D model-based video coding etc, demand a seamless coupling of face synthesis and facial animation techniques. Chapter 6 conducts a technical introduction to facial animation from its principle to implementation. Finally, the development of this single view-based 3D face synthesis system can benefit many human machine applications, such as pose invariant face recognition and 3D model-based video coding.


Deception is a fundamental issue across a diverse array of settings, from cybersecurity, where decoys (e.g., honeypots) are an important tool, to politics that can feature politically motivated "leaks" and fake news about candidates. Typical considerations of deception view it as providing false information. However, just as important but less frequently studied is a more tacit form where information is strategically hidden or leaked. We consider the problem of how much an adversary can affect a principal's decision by "half-truths", that is, by masking or hiding bits of information, when the principal is oblivious to the presence of the adversary. The principal's problem can be modeled as one of predicting future states of variables in a dynamic Bayes network, and we show that, while theoretically the principal's decisions can be made arbitrarily bad, the optimal attack is NP-hard to approximate, even under strong assumptions favoring the attacker. However, we also describe an important special case where the dependency of future states on past states is additive, in which we can efficiently compute an approximately optimal attack. Moreover, in networks with a linear transition function we can solve the problem optimally in polynomial time.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the association of 6 clinical features with outcome of dogs with generalized megaesophagus.

DESIGN
Retrospective cohort study.

ANIMALS
71 client-owned dogs with radiographic evidence of generalized esophageal dilation.

PROCEDURES
Medical records were reviewed for data on signalment, age at onset of clinical signs, body weight, evidence of undernutrition, and the administration of drugs to treat or prevent esophagitis. Radiographs were reviewed for evidence of aspiration pneumonia (AP) and to calculate the relative esophageal diameter. Details of outcome were collected from the medical records and by contacting owners and referring veterinarians. The association of 6 factors with death before discharge and overall survival time was assessed.

RESULTS
Overall median survival time was 90 days. Nineteen (26.7%) patients died before discharge from the hospital. Radiographic evidence of AP was both positively associated with death before discharge and negatively associated with overall survival time. An age at onset of clinical signs of >13 months was negatively associated with overall survival time. No evidence of an association of the degree of esophageal dilation or the use of drugs to prevent or treat esophagitis with death before discharge or overall survival time was found.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Radiographic evidence of AP and the age at onset of clinical signs were the only variables found to be significantly associated with survival time in this study, and this should be considered when advising on prognosis in dogs with megaesophagus.


In order to elucidate the biologic behavior of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the long‐term prognostic impact of the pathologic features of 143 surgically resected HCC were studied. Seventy‐four were smaller than 5 cm in diameter (small HCC), and 69 were larger (large HCC). This study confirmed that tumor size was an important but not the only determining prognostic factor in HCC. Although cirrhosis could cause hepatic failure, patient mortality was mainly attributable to tumor recurrence, which, in turn, was strongly correlated with the invasive nature of HCC. Tumor invasion to the liver and the intraportal spread were very frequent and particularly extensive in large HCC. In both small and large HCC the noninvasive groups not only had high 4‐year actuarial survival (84.6% and 90%, respectively), but there was also no patient mortality from intrahepatic tumor recurrence. Therefore, it was concluded that invasiveness of an HCC is the most crucial factor in determining the long‐term outcome for the patient, and that the clinical course of resected HCC is predictable in a great majority of the cases. In our small HCC series only 2.4% of HCC were regarded as having true multicentric origin. These findings suggest that the majority of HCC occur unicentrically, and that multiplicity and tumor recurrence result mostly from intrahepatic dissemination. In both small and large HCCs invasive tumors were accompanied by high patient mortality from tumor recurrence even when the tumor was small, indicating that intrahepatic spread may start very early during the growth of HCC.


This study investigated students' attitudes towards language learning, especially speaking, at King Mongkut's Institute of Technology, North Bangkok, Thailand. One of the important factors needing change in Thai education is the improvement of language teaching, especially speaking. The aims of the research are to improve Thai students' motivation to speak English through a range of materials and activities used for promoting students' confidence in speaking English. Action research procedures (plan, act, observe, reflect and revise) were used to study the processes and participant Three English teachers took part in the project to assist in its implementation and to observe the outcomes. The study was conducted in two cycles: the first cycle involved teaching a program to a class of engineering students for one semester. The teacher used new student centred techniques to teach differently from traditional teaching using six activities as a tool to motivate students to speak. These were: Self- Introduction, an English Movie, a Popular Song, My Favourite Story, Foreigner Interview and a Coffee-break Discussion. The second cycle followed the reflection on the first cycle to further develop materials, activities, teaching techniques and teacher's roles. It involved a further semester teaching the six activities to a new class Data from Cycle I were analysed and used to make improvements for Cycle II. Observers played a role in evaluating, suggesting and revising the program. Data from Cycle II were presented to show the final outcomes and changes. Data were collected through the teacher's journal, observers' sheets, students' worksheets, students' diaries and self-rating scales. The data are presented through narrative and through interpretation of students' responses. Data were also used to construct a model for promoting students' confidence in speaking English for King Mongkut's Institute of Technology, North Bangkok. The results of the research indicated that students' increased confidence in speaking English was influenced by teaching learning strategies, using authentic materials and presenting the activity in non-threatening terms. Student centred approaches including pair and group work, cooperative learning, giving the opportunity to practise, time to rehearse and promoting positive attitudes towards language learning also contributed to improve outcomes. Further factors included a general interactive approach to teaching and teacher roles, using communication strategies, promoting positive attitudes and a positive atmosphere. Finally, the action research process itself helped students and teachers to reflect on their successes and failures in teaching and learning.


A two-dimensional (2D) distributed feedback (DFB) structure is fabricated on dye-doped sol-gel derived hybrid zirconia films by soft lithography. The Q-switched Nd:YAG laser (\lambda = 532 nm) is used to pump these structures. The lasing emissions of the gain medium doped with Rhodamine 6G (Rh6G) in two perpendicular directions are shown, and the threshold pump energy is measured.


Objectives: In the developing countries, a large number of people depend on the traditional folk medicine as primary substances in their healthcare systems especially rural areas healers and patients from centuries. An estimated 35,000 to 70,000 plant species are used for medicinal and therapeutic purposes in the world. The objectives of this study were to screen the phytochemical constituents and antibacterial activities also to evaluate antioxidant property of the Ammi visnaga (L.) Lam. entire plant. Methods: The Ammi visnaga plant was phytochemically screened (acetone, methanolic and aqueous) for the presence of phytogenic chemicals and, their effect on 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl radical (DPPH) was used to determine their free radical scavenging activity. Broth microdilution method was applied to detect antibacterial activity and determine minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of aqueous and organic extracts of Ammi visnaga (L.). The antimicrobial activity was examined against 3 reference strains namely: Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853). Moreover, MIC against Acinetobacter baumannii clinical strain was included. Results: The results showed that Ammi visnaga methanolic extract contains a mixture of phytochemical classes as proteins, tannins, flavonoids, glycosides and steroids and revealed that this plant has high antioxidant activity (IC50=6 µg/ml). While aqueous extract exhibited antimicrobial activity against S. aureus (MIC= 25 mg/ml), E. coli (25 mg/ml), P. aeruginosa (25 mg/ml) and A. baumannii (50 mg/ml). Organic extract of Ammi visnaga (L.) showed stronger inhibition of bacterial growth, where MIC values for S. aureus, E. coli, P. aeruginosa and A. baumannii were 0.35, 2.78, 5.56 and 5.56 mg/ml, respectively. Conclusions: The results of the present study indicated that the Ammi visnaga (L.), especially organic extract, exhibited strong antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial isolates and has high antioxidant activity and therefore it can provide natural source of antibacterial drugs and antioxidants and can be useful in preventing various diseases including cancer


In high-spectral resolution experiments with the petawatt Vulcan laser, strong x-ray radiation of KK hollow atoms (atoms without n = 1 electrons) from thin Al foils was observed at pulse intensities of 3 × 10(20) W/cm(2). The observations of spectra from these exotic states of matter are supported by detailed kinetics calculations, and are consistent with a picture in which an intense polychromatic x-ray field, formed from Thomson scattering and bremsstrahlung in the electrostatic fields at the target surface, drives the KK hollow atom production. We estimate that this x-ray field has an intensity of >5 × 10(18) W/cm(2) and is in the 3 keV range.


Background People approaching the end of their lives have physical and psychological needs that should be met in a timely way, at any point during the night or day, and met in a way which addresses their needs and preferences. Crises at any time require prompt, safe and effective urgent care (NICE 2011). Methods Rennie Grove Hospice Care (RGHC) provides 24/7 care, with a night service available from 9.15 pm to 7.15am. RGHC conducted an independent study to identify the value of the service, including reasons people make contact at night and how many calls could be settled without a visit. Over the study period (145 nights) each call was charted with demographic details, reason for call and outcome. Results 550 calls were received, resulting in 335 visits. On seven nights there were no visits, the highest number in a night was nine, with an average 3.79 visits per night. Only those consenting to participate were analysed, reducing eligiblity to 351 calls and 208 visits. Of these, reasons for a night visit included symptom control (64%), carer support (19%), death (13%), death verified by night team (9%), message (7.5%), planned visit (7%) and 'other' (4%). Major symptoms included pain (42%), anxiety (32%), nausea (17%) and a small number with chest problems, bowel issues, pyrexia, syringe pumps. In 143 cases a visit was not necessary due to telephone reassurance (55%), another service being more suitable (12%), the team were too busy (8%), and 12% were handed to the next shift. Conclusions The night team plays a vital role in 24/7 care, with 40% of calls being managed without a visit. Visits were, in the main, for symptoms or problems concerning support. Death, for a Hospice at Home service also becomes a significant issue requiring a prompt and caring response.


The background of the extremely hostile rhetoric of a small group of local ethnologists in their alleged criticism of using scientometrics in research evaluation in Serbia was studied using publicly available data. Assuming absurdity of the 'criticism' is self-evident, the study was focused around their latent motivation, rather than manifest content of the accusations. Taking as starting point the position of person who was recognized as the inspirer of 'criticism', the citation network of sociocognitively related authors was identified and mapped by using multidimensional scaling. Network partitioning based on successive introduction of various criteria resulted in four groups with centrally positioned Core, containing Hard Core in the middle. Citation rate and citation habits of the Hard Core, were analyzed in comparison with other network groups and suitable controls. To complete the Core portrait, methodological character of the papers appearing in a journal they mainly publish in, as well as the content of the university methodological syllabi they are responsible for, was analyzed, also comparatively. The results revealed the explosive growth of the citation rate of the group, particularly evident for the Hard Core. The growth is based on excessive (instrumental, manipulative) mutual citation exchange, taking mostly place in the two journals published by the group's affiliated institution. The two prominent group members making Hard Core and profiting most from overcitation, who are at the same time the 'critics' of scientometrics, are found to be indulged also in other forms of misconduct, characteristic of social climbers inflating their research performance. Based on the results, a few hypothetical explanations for their fabricated criticism were offered. Regardless of the viability of these explanations the results suggest that citation behavior can be motivated by social group reasons, supporting general scientometric-sociometric hypothesis, and jeopardizing citation rate as an indicator. On the other hand, the methods used show that such misbehaviors are detectable, while their ill consequences are manageable.


Recent advances in the stem cell field make it possible to culture three-dimensional human tissues in a dish called organoids. These organoids have promising scientific and clinical applications that range from disease modelling to (personalized) drug development and organoid transplantation. Storage of organoids in living biobanks enables long-term, international, academic and commercial distribution and use. These promises are paired with ethical challenges. In the thesis entitled 'Organoid technology: an identification and evaluation of the ethical challenges', Sarah Boers pro-actively examines the ethical challenges associated with organoid technology in four parts. Part I sets the ethical research agenda through mapping four clusters of challenges that require pro-active scrutiny, namely: the moral and legal status of organoids, consent, biobank governance, and responsible clinical translation. In Part II Boers examines the moral status of organoids, in Part II she formulates conditions for the exchange of organoids and related human tissue products, and Part IV evaluates the ethical challenges related to the clinical translation of organoids in first-in-human organoid trials. Here follows a short summary of the most important findings. Regarding the moral status of organoids, in Part II Boers proposes to recognize organoids as hybrids that ambiguously relate to persons and their bodies as well as to technologies and markets. Organoids are grown from human tissue samples and they represent the donors and their bodies, identity and values. Simultaneously, organoids are (bio)technological instruments that bear commercial value. These different values can conflict. The challenge lies in enabling (partial) commercialization of organoids to stimulate biomedical innovation, while respecting the values and interests of donors and society. Part III contends that current ethical conditions and safeguards for the exchange of human tissues (or human tissue banking and research), i.e. donor consent, anonymization of tissue samples, and the non-commercialization principle, are inapt to meet this challenge. Alternatively, Boers proposes a 'consent for governance model' as leading paradigm for the exchange of organoids and related human tissue products. In this model the ethical emphasis shifts from initial donor consent to ongoing governance obligations, including privacy by design, participant engagement, benefit sharing, and ethical oversight. In Part IV Boers argues that the inclusion of children in a first-in-human live organoid trial is only justified if direct benefits can be reasonably expected, provided that other conditions for responsible research with children are met. Furthermore, Boers proposes a novel approach to evaluate risks and benefits in first-in-human trials in which estimates of efficacy based on animal studies and reference class evidence are integrated into the assessment. This thesis contributes to morally responsible innovation, not only in organoid technology, but also in the broader biotechnological field where sophisticated human tissue products are exchanged in an increasingly complex global market.


Multimedia learning objects are important component sof high quality, technology-mediated instruction. Learning objects allow the student to use the content learned in a particular part of a course and; 1. demonstrate mastery of the content, 2. apply that knowledge to solving a problem, and 3. use the content in a critical thinking exercise that both demonstrates mastery and allows the student to place the content within the context of the larger topic of the course. The difficulty associated with the use of learning objects on a broad scale is that they require programming skills most professors and instructors do not possess. Learning objects also tend to be custom productions and are defined in terms of the programming and code terminology, further limiting the professor's ability to understand how they are created. Learning objects defined in terms of styles of learning and teaching allow professors and instructors to develop a deeper understanding of the learning objects and the design process. A set of learning objects has been created that are designed for some of the important styles of learning and teaching. They include; visual learning, writing skills, critical thinking, timerevealed scenarios, case studies and empirical observation. The learning objects are designed and described in terms that the average instructor can readily understand and redesign for their own courses. They are also designed in such a way that they can readily be reprogrammed for new applications in other courses and subject areas, with little or no additional programming.


Polarization and group formation processes on social media networks have received ample academic attention, but few studies have looked into the discursive interactions on social media through which intergroup conflicts develop. In this comparative case study, we analyzed two social media conflicts between farmers and animal right advocates to understand how conflicts establish, escalate, and return dormant through issue and identity framing and the discursive use of emotions. The results show that the two groups used the same set of frames throughout the three phases. We identify this as a symmetric conflict framing repertoire. The groups both use a dominant moral frame (animal welfare is of absolute value), but express distinct views on policy solutions. This triggers a contestation of credibility (who knows best and who cares most for animals) in which the two groups use the same set of issue and identity frames to directly oppose each other. The binary opposition is initially established through issue framing but escalates into an identity conflict that involves group labeling and blaming. The discursive use of emotion reinforces this escalation in two ways. First, it reinforces a vicious cycle in the contestation of credibility: While emotions are implicitly used to frame oneself as caring and trustworthy, emotion is explicitly used to frame the other party as deceptive and irrational. Second, disputants use collective emotions as a response to the other group's offensive actions (blaming) and as a justification of one's own collective actions. We discuss how this conflict differs from previously studied conflicts to provide plausible explanations for these findings.


This paper presents the results of a research program that was aimed at evaluating: (1) sensory evaluation of meat from entire male pigs, (2) preventive measures to reduce boar taint prevalence, (3) accuracy of detection for boar taint, and (4) the relationship between farm management characteristics and levels of mounting and aggressive behaviour of boars. Using observational and experimental studies data were collected in various segments of the pork supply chain. Consumer acceptance of meat from entire male pigs was evaluated. The effectiveness of preventive measures to reduce boar taint prevalence was determined. The relationship of farm (management) characteristics with boar taint prevalence, animal behaviour, skin lesions and lameness respectively was analysed. The similarity of the rank order between consumer perception of odour and human nose scores, skatole and androstenone levels respectively was determined. Consumers evaluate meat that passed the boar taint detection test comparable to meat from gilts. Meat samples that did not pass this test were evaluated less favourable. Ranking AI boars on their genomic breeding values for low boar taint resulted in a reduction in boar taint prevalence of 40%. The skatole level is lower in boars fed via a long trough than in boars fed by a single space feeder. Few eating places, restricted feeding, a low level of amino acids in the diet, insufficient water supply of the drinking system, illness of the pigs, a suboptimal climate and fear for humans were associated with a higher level of sexual and aggressive behaviour and more skin lesions. A partly open pen wall, clean pens and pigs, wider gaps of the slats, feeding by a long trough, and feeding wet by-products were associated with less sexual and aggressive behaviour and less skin lesions. Having more than 30 animals per pen was associated with a higher probability of high boar taint prevalence levels. Hygienic conditions were associated with lower boar taint prevalence levels. Assessing similarity of the rank order comparison between consumer perception and three selected boar taint detection parameters for the consumer perception attribute odour of meat resulted in the highest Kendall's W values for the human nose scores. In conclusion, boar tainted meat was rated as less pleasant by consumers compared to meat of gilts and non-tainted boar meat, indicating the need of detection as a safety net at the slaughter line. Breeding was an effective preventive measure to reduce boar taint. Farms with appropriate management, feeding and housing conditions have reduced levels of mounting and aggressive behaviour. Human nose scores were a better predictor of the rank order of consumer perception, compared to skatole levels and to androstenone levels. © 2015 Royal Netherlands Society for Agricultural Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Please cite this article in press as: G.B.C. Backus, et al., Evaluation of p Life Sci. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.njas.2015.11.002 ∗ Corresponding author. Connecting Agri and Food, Oostwijk 5, 5400 AM Uden, The Net E-mail address: firstname.lastname@example.com (G.B.C. Backus). 1 Present address: Connecting Agri and Food, Oostwijk 5, 5400 AM Uden, The Netherla ttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.njas.2015.11.002 573-5214/© 2015 Royal Netherlands Society for Agricultural Sciences. Published by Else roducing and marketing entire male pigs, NJAS Wageningen J. herlands, +316-53724943.


Diseases of the male genitalia range from infectious lesions to inflammatory and neoplastic conditions, including many genital manifestations of more general skin diseases. This review highlights the clinical features, diagnosis and treatment of the most common dermatoses of the male genitalia. Herpes genitalis and infections caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) are increasing, particularly in young sexually active people. Herpes simplex virus infection is the commonest infectious cause of genital ulceration, with evidence that many infections are asymptomatic. HPV infection may be latent, subclinical and clinical. The most common causal agents for condyloma acuminatum are low‐risk HPV 6 and 11; high‐risk HPV types 16 and 18 are associated with premalignant and malignant lesions. Treatment for genital warts remains unsatisfactory; recurrences are common. Imiquimod, a new topical immunotherapeutic agent, which induces interferon and other cytokines, has the potential to be a first‐line therapy for genital warts. Scabies and pediculosis are transmitted by skin‐to‐skin contact and sexual transmission is common, with the penis and scrotum favourite locations for scabious lesions. Oral ivermectin, a highly active antiparasitic drug, is likely to be the treatment of choice, but until approval is granted it should be reserved for special forms of scabies. Common skin diseases, e.g. psoriasis and lichen planus, may have an atypical appearance in the genital area. The typical psoriatic scale is usually not apparent because of moisture and maceration. Allergic contact dermatitis of the genital area may result from condoms, lubricants, feminine hygiene deodorant spray and spermicides. More often, contact dermatitis is irritant, resulting from persistent moisture and maceration. Lichen sclerosus is a chronic inflammatory disease that occurs as atrophic white patches on the glans penis and foreskin. The penile form is a common cause of phimosis in uncircumcised men; involvement of the urethral meatus may lead to progressive meatal stenosis. Plasma cell balanitis is a benign, idiopathic condition presenting as a solitary, smooth, shiny, red‐orange plaque of the glans and prepuce of a middle‐aged to older man. Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in situ, e.g. erythroplasia of Queyrat and Bowen's disease, cannot be excluded clinically; their apparent clinical benignity may lead to lengthy periods of misdiagnosis and biopsy is required to confirm the diagnosis. SCC is the most common malignancy of the penis and the role of oncogenic HPV‐types has been also established in SCC of the penis. Prevention of SCC of the penis presupposes an identification of risk factors, early detection of all pre‐cancerous lesions and treatment of phimosis.


The conference is a major international forum for analyzing and discussing trends and approaches in research in the field of economics, politics and law. We provide a platform for discussions on innovative, theoretical and empirical studies of problems in these disciplines. Given the international focus, materials of a comparative nature are especially welcomed.Doctors and candidates of science, scientists, specialists of various profiles and directions, applicants for academic degrees, teachers, graduate students, undergraduates and students are invited to participate in the conference.CONFERENCE SECTIONSSection 1 Finance, monetary circulation and credit Section 2 Accounting and taxation Section 3 Management and marketing Section 4 World economy Section 5 Business economics Section 6 Mathematical methods of economics Section 7 Relevant economic issues Section 8 Constitutional and municipal law Section 9 Civil and family law Section 10 Labor and business law section 11 Criminal law and criminology section 12 International law Section 13 entitled Administrative Section 14 law enforcement Section 15 Topical issues of jurisprudence Section 16 Topical issues in political science.Additional criteria considered in the consideration of the submitted document are its accuracy, organization / presentation (ie logical flow) and recording quality.


Cecchetti et al. (2006) develop a method for allocating macroeconomic performance changes among the structure of the economy, variability of supply shocks and monetary policy. We propose a dual approach of their method by borrowing well-known tools from production theory, namely the Farrell measure and the Malmquist index. Following Färe et al (1994) we propose a decomposition of the efficiency of monetary policy. It is shown that the global efficiency changes can be rewritten as the product of the changes in macroeconomic performance, minimum quadratic loss, and efficiency frontier. JEL: E52, E58


This article affirms the essential role of play for the well-being of children within the school context. The article explores the definition of play, why play is so important, gives examples of play in schools, and advocates for a child-centered approach to learning. The downside of a curriculum-centered approach is explored as an agent of anti-well-being for children. Standards and standardized tests are toxic to children's healthy growth and development, crowding out or eliminating play from schools. The article advocates for a place for play in schools in order to promote the well-being of every child.


Driven by advances in technology as well as standardisation efforts, the adoption of smart things gathers pace in various industries. Smart things range from simple objects being equipped with smart labels to comprehensive objects with embedded storage, computing, and networking capabilities. They aim at improving product operation and usage as well as at enabling functionality beyond their original purpose of use. Think of connected cars that seek for enhancing traffic safety and efficiency as well as for enabling telematic services, or industrial assets that sense and monitor their condition in order to improve maintenance operations. This thesis addresses smart products, a specific class of smart things that targets simplicity of product use by means of multi-modal and personalised product-to-user interaction. For this purpose, smart products are equipped with knowledge and knowledge-related functionality. Amongst others, this includes domain and problem-solving knowledge that is used to enable active user guidance.

Given their resource limitation and potential intermittent connectivity, smart products are typically not able to locally store all content required and created across their life cycle neither can they connect to remote systems at all times for storing and / or retrieving information. Yet, in order to achieve simplicity of product use, it is essential that product-to-user interaction is not distorted by long user-perceived delays for retrieving required information or by falling back to simple interaction means, because of content being not accessible. Hence, there is a need for intelligent mechanisms that make content available when required and accessible with low latency.

This thesis studies how procedural problem-solving knowledge associated with smart products can be utilised by content placement strategies, i.e., content replication and replacement strategies, to enhance content access. According to the results of the EU-funded research project SmartProducts, the thesis assumes procedural problem-solving knowledge to be modelled in the form of workflows that reflect sequences of activities and feature annotation of activity-related content needs. Also, it assumes complex-structured workflows that consist of multiple alternative branches with the actual branch(es) to be followed being determined dynamically.

On this basis, the thesis contributes three workflow-based replication strategies, namely Most Probable Path (MPP), Path Assessment (PA), and Cooperative Path Assessment (CPA). These strategies utilise workflow structures to predict and pre-replicate (i.e., replicate in advance) workflow-related content needs in order to enhance query efficiency of content requests during workflow execution. While MPP, PA, and CPA pursue the same objective, they vary in the way of balancing enhancement of query efficiency with the potential risk of false pre-replication as well as in their incorporated sphere of knowledge.

In order to address uncertainty in execution of branched workflows and the resulting risk of falsely pre-replicated content, the workflow-based replication strategies apply the proposed concept of transient replicas. Transient replicas are assigned gradually increasing Time To Live (TTL) intervals. While they may be persisted in case the number of requests exceeds a pre-defined threshold, they are removed in case they are not accessed within their active TTL. This avoids pre-replication wastage in the long term and limits the number of replicas to be maintained.

Moreover, the replication strategy Content Class (CC) is proposed. Instead of relying on observed or predicted access patterns, this approach enables smart product applications to classify their intended content use and provides content-class-specific best effort policies to improve content organisation.

Given the typical benefits of integrated content replication and replacement strategies, this thesis proposes the two replacement strategies MFR for Transient Replicas (MFRTR) and Enhanced Content Replacement (ECR) that complement the workflow-based replication strategies and CC, respectively. MFRTR extends the well-known replacement policy MFR [KRT06, KRT07] by taking into account transient replicas with lazy removal properties. Thus, transient replicas are only removed if additional storage capacity is needed for serving pending storage operations. This results in efficient utilisation of available storage capacity without increasing replacement overhead. ECR extends MFRTR by leveraging content classification for determining replacement candidates. Instead of purely relying on access frequency and recency, this approach aims at preserving location properties of content according to its classification.

The value of the proposed content placement strategies is assessed with a simulation-based evaluation study that adopts the application scenario smart aircraft manufacturing developed jointly with EADS Innovation Works. This study reveals that the proposed strategies improve overall and workflow-related query efficiency by up to 28% and 62%, respectively, compared to related work. As to the knowledge of the author, the proposed content placement strategies are the first that leverage procedural problem-solving knowledge associated with smart products and enable application-affected content organisation while taking into account the challenges of smart products.


Face verification has many potential applications including filtering and ranking image/video search results on celebrities. Since these images/videos are taken under uncontrolled environments, the problem is very challenging due to dramatic lighting and pose variations, low resolutions, compression artifacts, etc. In addition, the available number of training images for each celebrity may be limited, hence learning individual classifiers for each person may cause overfitting. In this paper, we propose two ideas to meet the above challenges. First, we propose to use individual bins, instead of whole histograms, of Local Binary Patterns (LBP) as features for learning, which yields significant performance improvements and computation reduction in our experiments. Second, we present a novel Multi-Task Learning (MTL) framework, called Boosted MTL, for face verification with limited training data. It jointly learns classifiers for multiple people by sharing a few boosting classifiers in order to avoid overfitting. The effectiveness of Boosted MTL and LBP bin features is verified with a large number of celebrity images/videos from the web.


John Patrick Shanley's play Doubt - a Parable (2004) revisits the world he knew as a child, which is the Bronx of the 1960's. The story centers upon a Catholic Irish-Italian school community, and the plot relates to a doubt - that grows into belief, and ends up as certainty - on the part of Sister Aloysius, the principal of the school, who is persuaded that Father Flynn, the vicar, has been harassing the only Black student in the school. The play is an open-ended construct, allowing each reader/spectator to build their own interpretation of the facts implied. Shanley is more than the author of the play. He has also worked as the producer of the play on the stage and he turned the story into a movie screenplay, Doubt, and has worked as a director to the movie. In this paper we examine the strategies used by Shanley to keep the possibility of interpretation open as he translates his own work into different media, on the page and on the screen.


Recently, allover the world, one of the main solutions for achieving higher quality concrete is the use of Self Consolidating Concrete (SCC). This investigation introduces an experimental program, consisting of 15 different SCC mixtures, aiming at studying the mechanical properties of SCC through compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and the flexural strength. The main parameters investigated in this study were: lime stone powder as an addition, silica fume as a replacement of the cement content, coarse aggregate size, and coarse to total aggregate ratio. The relationships between the studied properties were suggested in this study and compared to the other models suggested by international codes to enhance our understanding of the behavior of SCC. The results indicated that the optimal percent of lime stone powder to be used in SCC is 20% though it might introduce some slight reduction in cube compressive strength. It is also found that the replacement of 10% of cement content by silica fume greatly enhanced the mechanical properties examined in this investigation. The use of smaller sized coarse aggregate (10 mm) produced better performance than the larger coarse aggregate (20 mm). Moreover it was concluded that the international codes studied here underestimate the tensile strength calculated from the corresponding compressive strength when applied to the SCC. However, the CEB-FIP model to estimate the tensile strength from the flexural strength for normal concrete overestimates the tensile strength for SCC. Different models were suggested in this investigation but need further validation.


This paper examines the explanatory and the prescriptive value of German (and related) federalist ideas with regard to the constitutionalization of international law. The author contends that respective scholars have, on the one hand, developed federalist thought with regard to the national constitutional level which may help to explain or shape international processes of constitution-building. On the other hand, they have themselves promoted international federalism as a natural extension of their national constitutional doctrine, hence partially weakening the classical dichotomy between national and international law.


Different nanostructures of TiO2 play an important role in the photocatalytic and photoelectronic applications. TiO2 nanotubes (TNTs) have received increasing attention for these applications due to their unique physicochemical properties. Focusing on highly functional TNTs (HF-TNTs) for photocatalytic and photoelectronic applications, this study describes the facile hydrothermal synthesis of HF-TNTs by using commercial and cheaper materials for cost-effective manufacturing. To prove the functionality and applicability, these TNTs are used as scattering structure in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Photocatalytic, optical, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), electrochemical impedance spectrum, incident-photon-to-current efficiency, and intensity-modulated photocurrent spectroscopy/intensity-modulated photovoltage spectroscopy characterizations are proving the functionality of HF-TNTs for DSSCs. HF-TNTs show 50% higher photocatalytic degradation rate and also 68% higher dye loading ability than conventional TNTs (C-TNTs). The DSSCs having HF-TNT and its composite-based multifunctional overlayer show effective light absorption, outstanding light scattering, lower interfacial resistance, longer electron lifetime, rapid electron transfer, and improved diffusion length, and consequently, J SC , quantum efficiency, and record photoconversion efficiency of 10.1% using commercial N-719 dye is achieved, for 1D-based DSSCs. These new and highly functional TNTs will be a concrete fundamental background toward the development of more functional applications in fuel cells, dye-sensitized solar cells, Li-ion batteries, photocatalysis process, ion-exchange/adsorption process, and photoelectrochemical devices.


The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is the most widely used cellular technology in the world. Approximately 800 million people around the world are using GSM for different purposes, but mostly for voice communication and SMS. For GSM, like many other widely used systems, security is crucial. The security involves mechanisms used to protect the different shareholders, like subscribers and service providers. The aspects of security that this report covers are mainly anonymity, authentication and confidentiality. The important aspects of the system that need protection are described, along with the implementation of mechanisms used for the protection. It appears that many of the very valuable aspects of GSM can be attacked. The anonymity of a GSM user is compromised resulting in the attacker being able to observe the time, rate, length, sources or destinations of e g calls. Even tracking a subscriber's movements becomes possible. However, a passive attack is not sufficient to perform these attacks. The attacker needs to mount an active attack using equipment offering base station functionality. Authentication is a crucial aspect of a wireless communication system due to the nature of the medium used, i e the radio link that is available to every one and not only the legitimate entities. Even the authentication mechanisms are attacked. It is possible to clone a subscription either by having physical access to the smart card or over the air interface. Cloning a subscription over the air requires base station functionality. The most obvious threat against communication systems is eavesdropping on conversations. The privacy of GSM conversations is protected using some version of the A5 algorithm. There are several impressive cryptanalytical attacks against these algorithms, that break the encryption and make it possible to eavesdrop in real-time. Most of these algorithms require, however, extensive computation power and unrealistic quantities of known plaintext, which make it difficult to use them in practice. Difficulties using cryptanalytical attacks to break the confidentiality of GSM calls does not mean that conversations are well protected. Loopholes in the protocols used in GSM make it possible for an outsider, with access to sufficient equipment, to eavesdrop on conversations in real-time. In the presence of these threats and vulnerabilities it is justified to wonder whether GSM provides sufficient security for users with very valuable information to communicate. These users may be military organisations, senior management personnel in large companies etc. GSM's current security model does note provide sufficient protection for these entities. An additional layer of security should be added to the current security model.


Whether the protection afforded by a vaccine wanes over time and if so, by how much, are important public health questions with implications for mass immunization programs. However, the measurement of such effects is fraught with difficulties. Generally, clinical trials are too short to provide evidence on waning effects. Thus it is necessary to rely on epidemiologic data, which are subject to ascertainment bias. Furthermore, standard epidemiologic measures, such as hazard ratios, may not accurately reflect waning effects. We develop two models of waning vaccine efficacy, the selection and deterioration models. In the selection model, waning arises from heterogeneity in the duration of protection. In the deterioration model, the hazard ratio of infection in vaccinated individuals relative to unvaccinated individuals increases with time. The two models are the with-waning analogs of the previously defined "all or nothing" and "leaky" models. Likelihood functions based on these models are obtained for cohort and case-report data, as typically collected in surveillance studies of vaccine efficacy. These likelihood functions involve three groups of parameters, corresponding to the hazard of infection, vaccine efficacy (possibly including waning effects), and ascertainment of infections. Our strategy is to fit a range of models incorporating a variety of assumptions about the vaccine efficacy model, ascertainment bias, and age dependence of the hazard. If allowing for waning improves the fit of the model under a range of scenarios, then we infer that it is a genuine effect. We apply the methods to two sets of data on whooping cough vaccine efficacy in the United Kingdom.


At least 5000 years old, the "I Ching" is a book of oracles containing the whole of human experience. Used for divination, it is a method of exploring the unconscious; through the symbolism of its hexagrams we are guided towards the solution of difficult problems and life situations. It can also be read as a book of wisdom revealing the laws of life to which we must all attune ourselves if we are to live in peace and harmony.


Rudolfer [1]
studied properties and estimation of a state Markov chain binomial (MCB) model of extra-binomial
variation. The variance expression in Lemma 4 is stated without proof but is
incorrect, resulting in both Lemma 5 and Theorem 2 also being incorrect. These
errors were corrected in Rudolfer [2]. In Sections 2 and 3 of this paper, a new
derivation of the variance expression in a setting involving the natural
parameters is presented and the
relation of the MCB model to Edwards' [3] probability generating function (pgf)
approach is discussed. Section 4 deals with estimation of the model
parameters. Estimation by the maximum likelihood method is difficult for a
larger number n of Markov trials due
to the complexity of the calculation of probabilities using Equation (3.2) of Rudolfer
[1]. In this section, the exact maximum likelihood estimation of model
parameters is obtained utilizing a sequence of Markov trials each involving n observations from a {0,1}- state MCB model and may be used for any value of n. Two examples in
Section 5 illustrate the usefulness of the MCB model. The first example gives
corrected results for Skellam's Brassica data while the second applies the
"sequence approach" to data from Crouchley and Pickles [4].


We model the process of a data center as a multiobjective problem of mapping independent tasks onto a set of data center machines that simultaneously minimizes the energy consumption and response time (makespan) subject to the constraints of deadlines and architectural requirements. A simple technique based on multi-objective goal programming is proposed that guarantees Pareto optimal solution with excellence in convergence process. The proposed technique also is compared with other traditional approach. The simulation results show that the proposed technique achieves superior performance compared to the min-min heuristics, and competitive performance relative to the optimal solution implemented in LINDO for small-scale problems. Keywords—Energy-efficient computing, distributed systems, multi-objective optimization.


Parallel thinking is a mindset that enables computer scientists to think about and implement systems that allow activities to happen concurrently. This mindset is needed in designing and implementing a wide range of computer systems involving coordinated components (e.g., parallel, distributed, and multi-user systems). No matter what the coordinated component is, whether human or computer, the underlying issue is to imagine coordination between these components and manage the distribution and reintegration of coordinated work. The rapid development of multi-core technologies has attracted people's attention back to parallelism. Ubiquitous and pervasive computing further brings parallelism into the everyday experiences of non-computer scientists. Designing and developing for ubiquitous parallelism become an essential and heavy responsibility for every software designer and developer. This situation creates a new standard for every one working in the computing field; simply understanding the techniques and algorithm in parallel-distributed computing to support parallel computing resources is not enough; the ability to create support for parallel human activities is also needed. Therefore, the need to train CS students to have a "parallel thinking" mindset is more urgent than ever. This doctoral work approaches the pedagogy of parallel thinking by teaching CS students to model coordination for parallel human activities explicitly. Although most participants started with an undeveloped imagination for human coordination, they were able to improve by focusing on coordination issues in the context of a class. The research method was to study a semester-long experimental class in the Department of Computer Science at Virginia Tech through a qualitative design-based research approach. Multiple types of data were collected using methodological triangulation to maximize validity. The data analysis process was guided by Grounded Theory (GT) through a systematic set of procedures. The outcomes provide a rich, thick, and detailed description about how CS students conceptualize and approach parallel thinking. The research contributes to CS education, programmer cognition literature, and computer supported collaborative system design and development by elaborating and analyzing various challenges in coordinated system creation, and making suggestions about pedagogical solutions, and software infrastructure and tools design.


An industry wide emphasis on sustainable asphalt practices has given rise to increasing use of warm mix asphalt technologies. WMA reduces both binder viscosity and mixing and compaction temperatures by 20-55°C during the asphalt mix production and laydown process. This research investigates several bio-derived WMA additives that act as chemical modifiers with surfactant properties. Two established additives derived from the forest products industry are studied as well as a WMA additive in development that is derived from corn. The WMA material responses are measured for binder testing and mixture testing. All binder testing with the additives was conducted using a Performance Grade (PG) 64-22 binder and the same binder was polymer modified with an SBS polymer to attain a PG 70-22 binder. Dynamic modulus testing on a State DOT approved 10 million ESAL mix design was performed to compare stiffness at a wide range of temperatures and frequencies. The newly developed, corn-derived IDB additive was successful in allowing asphalt to be compacted at a reduced temperature. All additives were added at the same dosage level. The IDB binder and mix test results were comparable to other commercially available WMA additives; however, no particular additive consistently produced the highest or lowest test results.


Since 1999, intensive research efforts have vastly increased what is known about the history of coerced migration of transatlantic slaves. A huge database of slave trade voyages from Columbus's era to the mid-nineteenth century is now available on an open-access Web site, incorporating newly discovered information from archives around the Atlantic world. The groundbreaking essays in this book draw on these new data to explore fundamental questions about the trade in African slaves. The research findings--that the size of the slave trade was 14 percent greater than had been estimated, that trade above and below the equator was largely separate, that ports sending out the most slave voyages were not in Europe but in Brazil, and more--challenge accepted understandings of transatlantic slavery and suggest a variety of new directions for important further research. For the most complete database on slave trade voyages ever compiled, visit www.slavevoyages.org.


Many researchers and practitioners are appealing for more innovative approaches where online lecturer use of technology is guided by a clear philosophy of learning to engage students in more meaningful learning. This research aimed to better understand teaching and learning in an online learning environment through the development and application of an appropriate pedagogical framework to facilitate successful learning experiences. To achieve this aim, a qualitative interpretive methodology was adopted to case study an online lecturer and his 14 students' experiences in a semester long fully online asynchronous graduate Research Methods course in a New Zealand tertiary institution. The study had three phases. Phase 1, the Review Phase, was a baseline survey to elicit the views of various online lecturers and their students on the nature of online learning and how learning can be successfully facilitated in such environments. The findings and recommendations from the literature led to identifying five guiding principles to frame the development of a pedagogical intervention. The principles, which map onto five key sociocultural ideas, depict learning as a mediated, situated, distributed, goal-directed and participatory activity within a socially and culturally determined learning community. Phase 2, the Designing the Intervention and Implementation Phase, concerned designing an intervention to facilitate student learning experiences. An emergent and iterative strategy, the negotiated intervention strategy, framed the collaborative design process used by the researcher to work with the case study lecturer. Teaching strategies supporting each of the guiding principles were shared with the lecturer, planned for and implemented in the case study course. Phase 3, the Evaluation Phase, examined how successful the intervention was in terms of three planes of participant development: personal, interpersonal and community. The key findings from this research highlight successful online teaching and learning experiences as involving active and changing participation in a learning community. This participation is framed and shaped by the use of authentic and relevant tasks that situate activity; interaction and teamwork to tap into cognition as distributed; goal-directed activities; and Web-based technological tools and activities to mediate action. Participation is realised through the kinds of roles members of the community adopt in support of intellectual, social and emotional development over time. Overall, the findings confirm the value of a sociocultural approach in the design and facilitation of online learning experiences. The notion of participation in a learning community through the adoption of different roles provides a useful orientation for understanding lecturer and student responsibilities and strategies to serve different purposes of teaching and learning. These ideas inform our understanding of appropriate conditions for successful teaching and learning and have important implications for guiding teaching-learning practices in online learning environments.


Climate variability and change impact groundwater resources by altering recharge rates. In semi‐arid Basin and Range systems, this impact is likely to be most pronounced in mountain system recharge (MSR), a process which constitutes a significant component of recharge in these basins. Despite its importance, the physical processes that control MSR have not been fully investigated because of limited observations and the complexity of recharge processes in mountainous catchments. As a result, empirical equations, that provide a basin‐wide estimate of mean annual recharge using mean annual precipitation, are often used to estimate MSR. Here North American Regional Reanalysis data are used to develop seasonal recharge estimates using ratios of seasonal (winter vs. summer) precipitation to seasonal actual or potential evapotranspiration. These seasonal recharge estimates compared favorably to seasonal MSR estimates using the fraction of winter vs. summer recharge determined from isotopic data in the Upper San Pedro River Basin, Arizona. Development of hydrologically based seasonal ratios enhanced seasonal recharge predictions and notably allows evaluation of MSR response to changes in seasonal precipitation and temperature because of climate variability and change using Global Climate Model (GCM) climate projections. Results show that prospective variability in MSR depends on GCM precipitation predictions and on higher temperature. Lower seasonal MSR rates projected for 2050–2099 are associated with decreases in summer precipitation and increases in winter temperature. Uncertainty in seasonal MSR predictions arises from the potential evapotranspiration estimation method, the GCM downscaling technique and the exclusion of snowmelt processes.


Legged robots can potentially venture beyond the limits of wheeled vehicles. While creating controllers for such robots by hand is possible, evolutionary algorithms are an alternative that can reduce the burden of hand-crafting robotic controllers. Although major evolutionary approaches to legged locomotion can generate oscillations through popular techniques such as continuous time recurrent neural networks (CTRNNs) or sinusoidal input, they typically face a challenge in maintaining long-term stability. The aim of this paper is to address this challenge by introducing an effective alternative based on a new type of neuron called a single-unit pattern generator (SUPG). The SUPG, which is indirectly encoded by a compositional pattern producing network (CPPN) evolved by HyperNEAT, produces a flexible temporal activation pattern that can be reset and repeated at any time through an explicit trigger input, thereby allowing it to dynamically recalibrate over time to maintain stability. The SUPG approach, which is compared to CTRNNs and sinusoidal input, is shown to produce natural-looking gaits that exhibit superior stability over time, thereby providing a new alternative for evolving oscillatory locomotion.


Bug bounties have become increasingly popular in recent years. This paper discusses bug bounties by framing these theoretically against so-called platform economy. Empirically the interest is on the disclosure of web vulnerabilities through the Open Bug Bounty (OBB) platform between 2015 and late 2017. According to the empirical results based on a dataset covering nearly 160 thousand web vulnerabilities, (i) OBB has been successful as a community-based platform for the dissemination of web vulnerabilities. The platform has also attracted many productive hackers, (ii) but there exists a large productivity gap, which likely relates to (iii) a knowledge gap and the use of automated tools for web vulnerability discovery. While the platform (iv) has been exceptionally fast to evaluate new vulnerability submissions, (v) the patching times of the web vulnerabilities disseminated have been long. With these empirical results and the accompanying theoretical discussion, the paper contributes to the small but rapidly growing amount of research on bug bounties. In addition, the paper makes a practical contribution by discussing the business models behind bug bounties from the viewpoints of platforms, ecosystems, and vulnerability markets.


Keywords:

 outdoor education;physical geography;fieldwork;embodiment;interdisciplinary;transdisciplinary

Outdoor practitioners and academic geographers arguably share a common origin in the explorers of the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. The two interests diverged during the twentieth century, as academic geography became less dependent on travel, and the pursuit of knowledge no longer provided the sole justification for exploration and adventure, but some synergies remain, at least in experiencing and making sense of the natural environment. This paper reflects on some pilot fieldwork for an on-going research project that combines fluvial geomorphology and outdoor education practice, in order to explore the parallels and differences between physical geography and outdoor education. A key area of divergence is identified in the degree of attention paid to the 'self', and particularly the body, in our interactions with the environment. We highlight the role of embodied experience both in our approach to the field site and in the subsequent framing and re-framing of the research project, joining calls for greater attention to be paid to the corporeal practice of fieldwork. We conclude by arguing that Driver's notion of an 'unsettled frontier' (2001, Geography militant: cultures of exploration and empire Blackwell, Oxford) between science and adventure is as relevant for contemporary discourse as he suggests it is for historical geography.


of paper presented at Bird Strike Committee USA/Canada Meeting, Lake Mary and Sanford, Florida, August 18–21, 2008. Reducing Bird Strike Risks Through Insect Management at a Military Base Dedrick Pesek and Michael J. Bodenchuck USDA Wildlife Services, Box 100410, San Antonio, TX 78201-1710 USA David J. Hayes USDA Wildlife Services, PO Box 50848, Billings, MT 59105 USA Mark Mapston Texas AgriLife Extension Service, 122 North East Street, Uvalde, TX 78801 USA USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Services (WS) and the U.S. Air Force (USAF) work collaboratively to minimize bird strike risks at Air Force Bases (AFB) nationwide. At Laughlin AFB near Del Rio, Texas migratory, insectivorous birds in the aircraft operations area pose a bird strike risk to pilots and crews. The peak of bird strikes at Laughlin AFB is associated with the peaks of bird migration in the spring and fall. Noting this, WS recommended the application of carbaryl insecticide in the Laughlin AFB operational area to reduce insects and foraging opportunities for birds to reduce bird strike risks. Two trial treatments were conducted in 2006 which showed promising results. Before operational carbaryl treatments could be carried out, several procedural requirements needed to be completed. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents were prepared by WS and completed by the USAF. To meet U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirements for pesticide registration, a 2(ee) amendment to the label was prepared and accepted by the EPA. A carbaryl application then was conducted in April 2008. Insectivorous bird strikes were reduced by 80% compared with previous years when no treatment was applied.


Visual perceptual disorders in patients with Parkinson's disease I. van der Lijna,b, G.A. de Haana,b, F.E. van der Feena,b, J. Heutinka,ba Department of Clinical and Developmental Neuropsychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlandsb Royal Dutch Visio, Centre of expertise for blind and partially sighted people, Huizen, The NetherlandsObjectivesDespite increasing recognition of non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD), visual disorders are still less well documented than other symptoms of the disease. This is alarming since visual disorders are highly associated with a decline in quality of life and participation in society. The current study aims to explore the nature of visual perceptual disorders in patients with PD.MaterialsThe DiaNAH test battery for visual perception (De Vries, et al. 2017) consists of 11 tests: Bells test, Cake Thief, Trail Making Test (TMT), L-POST Figure-Ground Segmentation, L-POST Motion Detection, L-POST Shape Ratio Discrimination, Corsi Block Tapping Task, Taylor Complex Figure, Dot Counting, Visual Object Space Perception (VOSP) Silhouettes, and Crowding. These tests are completed in Metrisquare© using a 24" tablet. MethodThirty PD patients (mean age: 72.17, 60% male, 93% good visual acuity) referred to Royal Dutch Visio for visual care and rehabilitation were assessed by a neuropsychologist. A frequency analysis of the scores on the DiaNAH tests was performed to explore the nature of visual perceptual disorders. ResultsThe results suggest that the most frequently occurring disorder was limited visuomotor speed and visual search in a complex task (TMT part B), found in 62% of patients. Diminished figure-ground perception (L-POST Figure-Ground Segmentation; 45%), visuocognitive load (Crowding; 41%), and visuospatial functioning (Taylor Complex Figure; 34%) were also found in a considerable amount of patients. Least common were problems in visual shape recognition (L-POST Shape Ratio Discrimination; 14%), object perception (VOSP Silhouettes; 11%), and non-lateralized attention and spatial cognition (Cake Thief; 7%). Compared to normative data of healthy individuals, patients attained an abnormal score on an average of 3 out of 11 tests. DiscussionThe results show that a wide range of visual perceptual disorders commonly occur in patients with PD referred for visual care and rehabilitation. These disorders cannot be explained by low visual acuity, since 93% of patients had good visual acuity. ConclusionsFurther exploration regarding the nature, severity and prevalence of visual perceptual disorders in patients with PD is recommended, since this knowledge is essential to guide care and rehabilitation and to increase patients' quality of life and participation in society. ReferencesDe Vries, S.M., J. Heutink, B. J. M. Melis-Dankers, A. C. L. Vrijling, F. W. Cornelissen & O. Tucha (2017). Screening of visual perceptual disorders following acquired brain injury: A Delphi study. Applied Neuropsychology: Adult; 25(3):197-209.


Summary 1. A number of major therapeutic trials in mild hypertension were conducted from 1972 to 1980. With one exception, there was little or no coordination between the trials, although they were dealing with the same problem. 2. A Joint WHO/ISH Mild Hypertension Liaison Committee was set up after most of the trials had started. The objective of the Committee, to promote information exchange and comparisons among the trials, was attained. Certain similarities and disparities between the trials were also identified. 3. Some of the disparities proved useful because they made it possible to analyse the problem from different points of view. Others did not introduce any new elements but, on the contrary, hampered inter-trial comparability. 4. Early standardization of methodological details in such trials is essential, particularly if several studies are to investigate the same problem. This would be possible only if prior agreement were reached concerning research policy, especially in rapidly developing fields of hypertension research.