The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) have 5 defined levels of automation within the J3016 standard for vehicular automation within a dynamic environment. To achieve the maximum level of automation, the vehicle must be able to rely on its onboard sensor(s) to navigate in real-traffic environment. Single and/or only augmentation system may not be sufficient to meet safety and integrity of road user. Where data fusion through a multi-sensor, including Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) with an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), LiDAR, radar and/or optical camera can be considered as a potential candidate to meet reliable precision and integrity of position solution. In this paper, presenting ESA's project, Integrity Monitoring and Prediction Concept for Autonomous Car Resilience and Safety (IMPACARS) by fusing GNSS with RTK-based positioning, IMU and LiDAR. The approach have been tested in various road-traffic environment scenarios, urban, semi-urban and GNSS signal denied environment. The results presented is based RTK-based positioning with static base station and moving station as potential another vehicle on road within the ad-hoc vehicular communication environment. The field trials continue to navigate through multipath and GNSS signal blockage regions, which are common in cities due to the high-rise buildings, creating a concrete jungle. IMU's can provide corrections to the position, velocity and acceleration of the vehicle through the 6 degrees of freedom generated by the internal gyros and accelerometers and using a dead reckoning approach. The LiDAR can produce a full 360? scan of the environment, from these scans local features can be identified to provide relative positioning based on landmarks and detect objects in the vehicle's path to prevent a collision. The system is maintained and monitored by the proposed innovative integrity model suitable for level 5 autonomous vehicles by fusing GNSS, IMU and LiDAR. Using this approach, a preliminary study was conducted, comparing the integrity performance of GNSS standalone positioning and sensor-fusion positioning within high multipath or GNSS signal blockage environments. The scenario cases are an open sky urban environment, narrow view due to high-rise buildings and tree cover where the dense foliage dilutes the GNSS signals. It is concluded that the positioning integrity of the vehicle after fusion is much more accurate and reliable, resulting in a suitable Protection Level (PL) for a level 5 autonomous vehicle.


We studied the polarization anisotropy of second harmonic generation (SHG) in polyhedral inclusion bodies (PIBs) of nuclear polyhedrosis viruses (NPV). Due to a body-centered-cubic arrangement of polyhedrin trimers, a characteristic SHG polarization property with a mixture of I23 and I3 symmetry was measured from PIBs. With this characteristic SHG anisotropy, it provides an intrinsic nonlinear signal for virus infection studies in living cells. With multimodal harmonic generation microscopy, we also demonstrated 3D imaging on PIBs of NPV in living cells. The distribution and the number of PIBs in intact infected cells can be revealed without the help of fluorescent labeling.


The Comcast Situation, the latest development in a story of increasing private control over access to basic communications functions, has brought national attention to the way in which this country conducts its communications policy. In this Article, Professor Crawford suggests that Comcast's blocking activities, and the FCC's ad hoc treatment of Comcast, reveal the fundamental incoherence of current communications law. After tracing the history of the non-discrimination principle in U.S. treatment of telegraphy and telephony, Professor Crawford suggests that regulatory gymnastics and credulous courts have caused us to forget that private discriminatory control over basic communications networks has never been acceptable. At the same time, public uproar over growing private domination of this basic service is rising to the level that caused the U.S. to create its communications legal structure in the first place. Professor Crawford calls for reforms that will restore the role of basic non-discriminatory transport that the framers of U.S. communications law had in mind.


Abstract This paper presents a summary of scientific results obtained during the last few years in the National Research Centre "Kurchatov Institute" (NRC KI). The main aims of this research are the development of a new experimental method that can be applied for the investigation of the influence of a high level of radiation damage on the plasma erosion effects of irradiated materials (graphite materials and tungsten) at different temperatures and the investigation of hydrogen isotope accumulation in these materials relevant to fusion reactor conditions (in ITER). A high level of radiation damage in these materials (0.1 to 10 displacements per atom) was achieved by irradiating them with fast charged particles at the NRC KI cyclotron, simulating fast neutron irradiation in a fusion reactor. The plasma erosion effects in irradiated and nonirradiated materials were compared using the linear plasma simulator LENTA at NRC KI. The performed investigations have shown that the erosion factor of irradiated graphite materials is increased and the tungsten surface structure is changed due to the accumulation of radiation damage. No influence of irradiation on tungsten erosion rate was observed in these experimental tests. The accumulation of hydrogen isotopes and helium concentrations were measured in the irradiated tungsten. The performed work and the obtained results suggest a new promising experimental method for the experimental investigation of plasma effects on fusion structural materials at different irradiation temperatures and different radiation damage levels.


In our everyday chit-chat, there is a conversation initiator, who proactively casts an initial utterance to start chatting. However, most existing conversation systems cannot play this role. Previous studies on conversation systems assume that the user always initiates conversation, and have placed emphasis on how to respond to the given user's utterance. As a result, existing conversation systems become passive. Namely they continue waiting until being spoken to by the users. In this paper, we consider the system as a conversation initiator and propose a novel task of generating the initial utterance in open-domain non-task-oriented conversation. Here, in order not to make users bored, it is necessary to generate diverse utterances to initiate conversation without relying on boilerplate utterances like greetings. To this end, we propose to generate initial utterance by summarizing and chatting about news articles, which provide fresh and various contents everyday. To address the lack of the training data for this task, we constructed a novel large-scale dataset through crowd-sourcing. We also analyzed the dataset in detail to examine how humans initiate conversations (the dataset will be released to facilitate future research activities). We present several approaches to conversation initiation including information retrieval based and generation based models. Experimental results showed that the proposed models trained on our dataset performed reasonably well and outperformed baselines that utilize automatically collected training data in both automatic and manual evaluation.


BACKGROUND Differences in industry structure can help to explain divergences in the strategic planning that new ventures undertake. Considering that entry barriers are lower in highly fragmented industries, one would expect to find that many new entrepreneurial firms gravitate toward these industries. Amongst the topics that are key to this issue is that of a new firm's strategic planning and, more specifically, its strategic marketing. The strategic marketing plan for a new venture is crucial to firm survival for a number of reasons dealing with the nature of scarce resources in startup companies. Resources such as brand name, financial capital and founder experience are central to many startup firms. However, there are few instances where all three are present at the initial conditions of firm founding. In order to optimize a firm's survival, founders must utilize their scarce marketing resources efficiently and effectively or risk failure through death or substandard profits. In a fragmented industry, one way to maximize firm exposure is through franchising. Although many scholars in the Strategy field have seen franchising as an issue in the context of Agency Theory, franchising can also be viewed as a technique to maximize the problem of newness (Stinchcombe 1965) that many small firms face. Therefore, franchising can address several issues pertaining to both small, new firms and fragmented industries. First, in an environment that approaches perfect competition, franchising can consolidate sellers by placing them under a common umbrella. Secondly, franchising can allow a startup to have instant brand recognition giving it validity and legitimacy (Terreberry 1971) through acquisition. Thirdly, franchising can act as a management mechanism for the franchisor by delegating the franchisee as a de facto corporate manager even though the franchisee is technically a proprietor. This paper will treat franchising as a strategic marketing tool in the context of fragmented industry space. The test case for the industry type is the real estate brokerage industry in the United States. Real estate brokerages can be considered fragmented because there are numerous small agencies (sellers) in the marketplace. In the past 20 years, franchising has become more prevalent in the brokerage industry as firms such as Remax, Coldwell Banker, Long and Foster, and Prudential consolidate small agencies under one umbrella. A number of research questions follow. First, are there significant differences between franchised and non-franchised brokerage firms in terms of the number of listings per agent employed, days on market (DOM) of listed properties, commission rates, and advertising presence? Secondly, and in light of the findings to the first question, can it be stated that becoming a franchised brokerage is a strategic marketing option over becoming an independent firm. In other words, franchising is a business trade off. For the recognition and standardization that the franchisee receives, he or she must incur transaction costs which have to be no more than the benefits incurred. Is this the case? This study will use brokerage data from the Philadelphia Multiple Listing Service (MLS) to answer the preceding questions. The paper will be empirical in nature in that hypotheses will be posited and tested which correspond to these research questions. Multiple regression, T-Tests and Probit Analysis will be used to analyze the data in order to test the overarching notion that franchises in fragmented industries act as a strategic marketing option over independent agencies. This work will add to the existing literature in Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management. The gap in the current literature that I am addressing in this paper is in looking at the decision to franchise or not as a strategic marketing decision in an entrepreneurial setting. Although there is an extensive literature on franchising as a phenomenon, very little of it is focused on the decision of the franchisee. …


Knowledge management in recent times has been considered a major source of competitive advantage in many business organisations in which the construction industry is a major player. Knowledge management includes the generation, capturing, sharing, transfer, re-use, storage, communication, of knowledge with the aim to improve organisational or project effectiveness. One important factor however that influence or impacts organisational effectiveness in relation to knowledge management is the ability to capture and codify knowledge that resides in the minds or sub-consciousness of individuals. Knowledge capturing involves the use of variety of techniques to elicit facets of an individual's technical knowledge such as insights, experiences, social networks and lessons learned which is then shared or stored to mitigate organisational knowledge loss. The knowledge capturing process is the first activity in the knowledge management framework which seeks to make tacit knowledge explicit and vice versa, thereby reinforcing the work of Nonaka and Takeuchi of the SECI model. Client Satisfaction with service received from professionals in the construction industry has witnessed a steady decline below 70% from initial 75% in 2009. Variations and Design changes which is as a result of change request or mistakes during requirement elicitation are the main reason for cost and time overruns. Statistics show that over 70% of construction projects suffer re-work and changes and this is largely caused by improper requirement capturing which results from clients finding it difficult to get across the knowledge in their minds (tacit knowledge) to professionals during the briefing process. The aim of this research however, is to develop a framework that would help construction professionals, architects to be precise, elicit client's requirements using knowledge capturing techniques for improved client satisfaction in the UK construction industry. The researchers underlying philosophies leans towards the interpretivist epistemological stance, the idealist ontological stance and a value laden axiological stance. In order to achieve the stated aim, a survey strategy was explored. Face to face interviews and questionnaires were administered to construction professionals (architects) within the UK construction industry. The interview was used to collect qualitative data from 6 architects with vast years of experience in client briefing in the UK construction industry. These professionals were from academia and industry, and they were selected based on their experiences and engagement in client briefing. A questionnaire was also designed to capture responses from over 250 architectural professionals and 100 responses was received and analysed alongside the interviewed respondents which were then used to refine the developed framework. From the findings in the research, several architects use different knowledge capturing techniques to elicit requirements from their clients however, majority of the respondents admit that the use of graphical representations such as BIM can help elicit requirements in the mind of clients. Also, relationship building can help bring down the walls of misrepresentation and misunderstanding that exist during interview sessions with the client. From the analysis of the respondents, some factors have been identified which mitigate against effective client requirement such a culture that is not prone to change, not integrating IT with the briefing process, government policies and so on. In conclusion, paying adequate attention to the wealth of KC techniques available helps in overcoming issues such as cost and time overruns which strengthens the importance of KC to the client briefing process. In the course of the research, some effective KC techniques have been identified such as BIM technology, interviews, AutoCAD and so on. Certain barriers to KC have been identified and factors that influence proper client briefing has also been identified in the course of this research, as a result, this research offers a framework, with a guideline, on how to effectively elicit client's requirements using KC techniques for improved client satisfaction in the UK construction industry.


This book presents a new global optimization technique using Taguchi's method and its applications in electromagnetics and antenna engineering. Compared with traditional optimization techniques, Taguchi's optimization method is easy to implement and very efficient in reaching optimum solutions. Taguchi's optimization method is developed based on the orthogonal array (OA) concept, which offers a systematic and efficient way to select design parameters. The book illustrates the basic implementation procedure of Taguchi's optimization method and discusses various advanced techniques for performance improvement. In addition, the integration of Taguchi's optimization method with commercial electromagnetics software is introduced in the book. The proposed optimization method is used in various linear antenna arrays, microstrip filters, and ultra-wideband antenna designs. Successful examples include linear antenna array with a null controlled pattern, inear antenna array with a sector beam, linear antenna array with reduced side lobe levels, microstrip band stop filter, microstrip band pass filter, coplanar waveguide band stop filter, coplanar ultra-wide band antenna, and ultra-wide band antenna with band notch feature. Satisfactory results obtained from the design process demonstrate the validity and efficiency of the proposed Taguchi's optimization method. Contents: Introduction / Orthagonal Arrays / Taguchi's Optimization Method / Linear Antenna Array Designs / Planar Filter Designs / Ultra-wide Band (UWB) Antenna Designs / OA-PSO Method / Conclusions


The aim of this study was to identify potential implementation interventions to increase the uptake of shared decision making (SDM) in clinical practice in New South Wales (NSW) Health. The Agency for Clinical Innovation hosted a full-day SDM masterclass in May 2017 and 53 attendees completed a survey to identify barriers to implementing SDM. The Theoretical Domains Framework, COM-B ('capability', 'opportunity', motivation' and 'behaviour') Model and Behaviour Change Wheel were used to conduct a theoretical analysis of the barriers and identify potential interventions to increase the uptake of SDM. This was supplemented by a purposive review of articles about current international efforts to facilitate SDM. From the theoretical analysis, 9 of the 14 theoretical domains were considered relevant to implementing SDM in the NSW Health context. Multi-faceted interventions including education, training, enablement, modelling, incentivisation, persuasion and environmental restructuring were identified as potential ways to increase SDM. The review of international articles identified communication and marketing, patient and public involvement, research, training, legislation, patient decision aids, service provision, clinical champions, financial incentives and policy as interventions being used to increase the uptake of SDM internationally. Based on current perceptions about barriers for SDM implementation in NSW Health, initial efforts should focus on workforce skills development, motivation, communication and marketing, service provision and creating receptive work environments. Investments into facilitating SDM will require an ongoing commitment to enhancing patient experience, evidence translation and reducing unwarranted variations in care.What is known about the topic?Shared decision making is considered an important strategy for reducing unwarranted variation in health care and promoting person-centred care. Despite a growing evidence base, uptake in Australia has been slow.What does this paper add?A description of the theoretical methods and results used to identify potential implementation interventions to increase the uptake of shared decision making clinical practice in New South Wales Health, Australia.What are the implications for practitioners?Learnings from this present case study may be relevant to other organisations wanting to support a culture of shared decision making and meet the National Safety and Quality Healthcare Standards in Australia.


Water may contain contaminants and other undesirable debris and it is important to keep these contaminants at acceptable levels. One such contaminant is the nitrate compound. Raman spectroscopy can be used to determine a material's components. The aim of this study is to demonstrate Raman spectroscopy's linear response to increasing nitrate concentrations in the range of 1 - 10 g NO3/L. Solutions were made with known concentrations of nitrates to create the calibration curve. Three test samples were also created to test the accuracy of the calibration curve. Sulfate as an internal standard was used. Results show that as nitrate concentrations increased, there was a linear increase in the ratio of nitrate peak area to the standard sulfate peak area. The test samples for accuracy showed a percent difference of values ranging from 1-9%.


This special issue explores the relationship between religious heritages and space. We will approach religious heritages as spatial phenomena to analyse how heritages are constructed, manifested, lived and experienced, celebrated and cherished but also neglected, disputed or contested through and in space(s). This intro-ductory paper starts by untangling religious and heritage discourses triggered by the July 2020 Hagia Sophia transformation into a mosque. Furthermore, we refer to anthropological theorisations of religious and heritage and the ambiguity of sacralisation and heritagisation. Diverse theories of space and interconnectivity of time and spatial dimensions in the context of religious heritage sites are presented as inspiring tools for anthropologically oriented studies. While cases analysed in this special issue concern European societies (in England, the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland), broader theoretical questions are instructive and could be applied to other geographical locations, especially when heritage discourses and processes of heritagisation interact with various conceptualisations of sacred and secular.


We present a new method that achieves a two-way coupling between deformable solids and an incompressible fluid where the underlying geometric representation is entirely Eulerian. Using the recently developed Eulerian Solids approach [Levin et al. 2011], we are able to simulate multiple solids undergoing complex, frictional contact while simultaneously interacting with a fluid. The complexity of the scenarios we are able to simulate surpasses those that we have seen from any previous method. Eulerian Solids have previously been integrated using explicit schemes, but we develop an implicit scheme that allows large time steps to be taken. The in-compressibility condition is satisfied in both the solid and the fluid, which has the added benefit of simplifying collision handling.


This thesis is concerned with the modelling and control of the acid copper electroplating
process for the manufacturing of printed circuit boards (PCB). The objectives
of this study were to investigate the effects of process and product parameters on the
workpiece level uniformity during the acid copper plating of lithographic patterns,
plated-through holes (PTH) and blind-via (BV), and to explore the minimization of the
deposit thickness variation. The parameters studied were the average current density
(ACD), plating duration, concentration of additive and sulphuric acid, electrode
separation (ES), line width and active area density ratio (AADR) of the circuit pattern.
The effects of the copper sulphate concentration, aspect ratio (CAR) and depth ratio
were also studied for the PTH and BV plating. The results of the study enhance the
understanding of the limitations of applying current distribution and statistical models
to the copper electroplating of PCB at a workpiece level.
Multifactor two-level factorial and the central composite rotatable five-level
experiments were designed, and a total of fourteen sets of experiment were conducted
sequentially and used to generate statistical process models. For the plating of uniform
patterns, ACD, ES and their quadratic effects were found to be significant and a 6-
term second order model was built and verified to predict and minimize the workpiece
level variability. The existence of a minimum plating variability was attributed to the
minimum deviation from the Faraday's nominal thickness observed under a particular
combination of ACD and ES. For non-uniform patterns, ACD, AADR and the
ACD x ES interaction were found significant and an 8-term first-order prediction
model was constructed. The minimum variability achievable was found to increase with
the AADR, and was explained by the scattering effect of AADR on the average plating
thickness. Verification of the model with patterns of same AADR but different line
width revealed the limitation of the continuum concept, i. e. AADR alone is not
sufficient to characterize a non-uniformly patterned substrate. Subsequent verification
runs using a simple circuit pattern showed further that a composite parameter involving
the overall active area density, the continuum area and the number of AAD contrasts,
was appropriate.
For the PTH plating, ACD, CAR, ACD2 and the ACD x ES, ES x CAR interactions
were found significant but only ES, ES2 and ACD x ES were active for BV plating.
Second-order models were also developed for the two processes in their respective
optimum regions and verified experimentally. The optimum values of ACD and ES,
and the minimum variability achievable were found to increase with the corrected
aspect ratio of the through-hole. Given the difference in the optimum regions of the
PTH and BV plating, a new response surface of the PTH process was constructed at
the optimum region of the BV process and vice versa. The process limiting the
workpiece level uniformity under different combinations of ACD and ES was found by
the intersections of these responses surfaces. Finally, process parameters limiting the
simultaneous minimization of the plating variability of pattern, PTH and BV were
discussed. It showed that under most situations, the workpiece level variability of BVs
was higher than that of the PTHs.


When all the momentous current changes in technology and social structure have run their course, we will have created a new world society. Will this society--the total complex of who we are and how we behave--resolve our major economic and social problems? This is the question that John P. Powelson addresses in his provocative new book, "The Moral Economy."In his discussion of worldwide problems--including poverty, the environment, population growth, ethnic bias, welfare, social security, and health care--Powelson proposes that solutions to social problems are best sought in a greater balance of power among social groups. He explains how to design institutional structures, like government, education, and religion, that will permit conflict to be resolved peacefully and fairly. He also shows how a moral economy--a balance between interventionism and libertarianism--and economic prosperity are mutually reinforcing."The Moral Economy" proposes a desirable world that is historically possible, if certain trends of the past millennium are continued into the next, and if world power becomes more diffuse. As we enter the twenty-first century, it looks to the horizon to suggest what a distant future might bring."[A] coherent and stunning scenario for the future of humankind. . . . a message for all epochs." --J. D. Von PischkeJohn P. Powelson is Professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Colorado.


The overall aim of the thesis was to assess the feasibility and utility of using blood collected on filter paper, dried blood spots (DBS), to improve patient management in remote settings. The use of DBS was evaluated for patient monitoring, quality assurance of point of care testing, and for surveillance to improve syndromic management.
Systematic literature reviews, laboratory studies, and implementation of DBS based diagnostics were performed to answer these objectives. DBS is a feasible alternative to plasma in monitoring viral load in HIV patients on treatment. The type of filter paper, collection, storage and processing methods are critically important to obtain valid results for monitoring HIV. A DBS protocol was evaluated for syphilis serology, giving an adjusted sensitivity and specificity of 97.7% and 99.4% compared to plasma. DBS was implemented as quality assurance for Point-of-care test (PaCT), which showed that health worker proficiency varied significantly between clinics, stressing the importance of quality assurance.
Laboratory evaluations revealed the possibility of obtaining adequate sensitivities to detect febrile illnesses; malaria, dengue, leptospira, B.bacilliformis, and chikungunya, but not for R. typhi and O.tsutsugamushi by DBS. When implemented in Peru, a local B.bacilliformis outbreak was identified which proved that DBS was more sensitive than the current surveillance method. The goal of this research was to determine whether DBS can improve patient management in remote settings. As new technologies are being developed rapidly, the use of simple and robust tools such as filter paper has continued to provide an affordable and reliable solution for clinical sample collection. While DBS is not the best sampling method, it is the simplicity and robustness that makes it useful in remote settings. This research showed that DBS can be used for monitoring HIV patient on antiretroviral therapy, the quality of syphilis diagnosis, and determining the major causes of fever in children to improve recommendations for syndromic management.


Internetworking third generation (3G) technologies with wireless LAN (WLAN) technologies such as Universal Mobile Telecommunication Systems (UMTS) and IEEE 802.11, respectively, is an emerging trend in the wireless domain. Its development was aimed at increasing the UMTS network's capacity and optimizing performance. The increase in the number of wireless users requires an increase in the number of smaller WLAN cells in order to maintain an acceptable level of QoS. Deploying smaller cells in areas of higher mobility (e.g., campuses, subway stations, city blocks, malls, etc.) results in the user only spending a short period of time in each cell, which significantly increases the rate of handoff. If the user does not spend sufficient time in the discovered WLAN's coverage area, the application cannot benefit from the higher data rates. Therefore, the data interruption and performance degradation associated with the handoff cannot be compensated for. This counters the initial objective for integrating heterogeneous technologies, thus only handoffs that are followed by a sufficient visit to the discovered WLAN should be triggered. The conventional RF-based handoff decision method does not have the necessary means for making an accurate decision in the type of environments described above. Therefore, a location-aided handoff decision algorithm was developed to prevent the triggering of handoffs that result from short visits to discovered WLANs' coverage area. The algorithm includes a location-based evaluation that runs on the network side and utilizes a user's location, speed, and direction as well as handoff-delay values to compute the minimum required visit duration and the user's trajectory. A WLAN coverage database is queried to determine whether the trajectory's end point falls within the boundaries of the discovered WLAN's coverage area. If so, the mobile node is notified by the UMTS network to trigger the handoff. Otherwise, the location-based evaluation reiterates until the estimated trajectory falls within the boundaries of the discovered WLAN's coverage area, or the user exits the coverage area. By taking into consideration more then merely RF-measurements, the proposed algorithm is able to predict whether the user's visit to the WLAN will exceed the minimum requirements and make the decision accordingly. This allows the algorithm to prevent the performance degradation and cost associated with unbeneficial/unnecessary handoffs. http://www.unik.no/personer/paalee/


We present a recursion scheme based on attribute grammars that can be transparently applied to trees and acyclic graphs. Our recursion scheme allows the programmer to implement a tree traversal and then apply it to compact graph representations of trees instead. The resulting graph traversals avoid recomputation of intermediate results for shared nodes -- even if intermediate results are used in different contexts. Consequently, this approach leads to asymptotic speedup proportional to the compression provided by the graph representation. In general, however, this sharing of intermediate results is not sound. Therefore, we complement our implementation of the recursion scheme with a number of correspondence theorems that ensure soundness for various classes of traversals. We illustrate the practical applicability of the implementation as well as the complementing theory with a number of examples.


Introduction: Exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) has recently been linked to declining fertility in men in both developed and developing countries. Since many EDCs possess intrinsic estrogenic or androgenic activities, thus, the gonad is one of the major targets of EDCs. Areas covered: For the past 2 decades, studies found in the literature regarding the disruptive effects of these EDCs on reproductive function in human males and also rodents were mostly focused on oxidative stress-induced germ cell apoptosis, disruption of steroidogenesis, abnormal sperm production and disruption of spermatogenesis in particular cell adhesion function and the blood–testis-barrier (BTB) function. Herein, we highlight recent findings in the field illustrating testis-specific proteins are also targets of EDCs. Expert opinion: This information should be helpful in developing better therapeutic approach to manage ECD-induced reproductive toxicity. This information is also helpful to identify potential targets for male contraceptive development.


The static paper-based School noticeboard is a thing of the past. There is no longer a need, or desire, for small
groups of students to congregate around a central location. Advertised events are no longer printed on to
poorly reproduced paper flyers and then pinned on to wall-mounted cork boards next to the School's
administration office. However, the need and desire to stay plugged into the student social community has not
disappeared; but has been transformed by modern developments in the way students interact with each
other.
As the educational landscape inevitably shifts towards a more flexible, cost-effective model of providing
academic course elements on a distance learning basis, the opportunity for students to interact with each
other outside of their immediate social or workshop group is dwindling. This leads to a general lack of cohesion
in the student cohort, which therefore impacts on student experience.
Social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and non-proprietary online blogs, such as Wordpress, are an
inherent part of the modern student's life, and the apps which provide the link between these parent sites and
the student's mobile phones, tablets and laptops create an unprecedented immediacy in the way that
messages are communicated between users. 'The ubiquity of social media is no more apparent than at the
university where the technology is transforming the ways students communicate, collaborate, and learn' (Tess,
2013: 60). However, as Roblyer et al (2010: 135) observe, platforms such as Facebook have 'the potential to
become a valuable resource to support their educational communications and collaborations' with academics.
Until now, social media has been primarily used as a separate entity, albeit importantly, to the 'at
university'/offline student experience, perhaps as a means of promoting special events, such as social activities
or extra-curricular lectures, or to raise general awareness for a type of regular practice, such as creating
specialist groups for online discussions of certain aspects of university life. We see this as a missed
opportunity.
Correa et al (2010: 248) define social media as providing 'a mechanism for the audience to connect,
communicate, and interact with each other and their mutual friends through instant messaging or social
networking sites" but which has "that has little to do with traditional informational media use'. The problem is
that the designated 'social' areas of university-branded and operated managed learning environments, such as
The University of Hertfordshire's 'Studynet' system, and university-run online social media groups on nonproprietary
platforms, have tended to be regarded by students as almost a 'sub-class' of online social
interaction.
Many students either opt-out of receiving regular notifications from these groups - thereby negating the
benefits of compiling a seemingly large membership - or allow regular notifications, but having their effect
minimised as students become inured to the constant stream of information. Although education providers
deem this information potentially useful, students acknowledge that is not personally targeted and therefore
easy and beneficial to mentally and physically filter it out completely.
However, with some modification to the way that social and educational online communities are created and
administered, it has been proved that the 'grey area' between total immersion and total denial of universityled
social media can be achieved. This balance will enhance learning, improve social interaction between
students in all programmes and years of study, and create healthy, largely unregulated communities aimed at
improving the student experience.
With these issues in mind, the research hypothesis addressed in this paper is 'Despite the general resistance of
students towards university-run online communities, social media platforms can be used to improve student
engagement, thereby enhancing the student experience'.
The authors' findings, supported by evidence of enhanced student engagement, conclude that huge steps
toward optimal implementation of working online communities have been demonstrated.


From 1985 to 1995, death rates for the population aged 0 to 99 declined at an average annual rate of 1.5% in France, 1.2% in Japan, and 0.4% in the United States. These trends in mortality, if they continue, would yield a life expectancy at birth from 85 to 90 years in the 21st century. Given the presence of entropy in the life table, a life expectancy at birth of 100 years, if it ever occurs, is unlikely to arise until well past the time when everyone alive today has already died. Overly optimistic forecasts of life expectancy have already influenced important areas of public policy.


Scholastic Teaching Resources. Paperback / softback. Book Condition: new. BRAND NEW, Using Benchmark Papers to Teach Writing with the Traits: Grades 3-5: Student Writing Samples with Scores and Explanations, Model Lessons, and Interactive White Board Activities for Teaching Revision and Editing Skills (annotated edition), Ruth Culham, Trait expert Ruth Culham has culled papers from diverse 3-5 classrooms and collated them here into a unique trait-based teaching resource. Each paper is scored by trait and includes teacher commentary explaining the evaluation based on Culham's scoring guides, which are included in the book. You'll find six papers per trait, spanning the grading continuum from low to high. Put papers on the overhead or Smartboard as models for a whole-class writing lesson, make copies for small-group discussions of a trait, invite students to critique or rank papers . . . these are just a few of the possibilities. All papers are included on CD in two versions--original and with teacher comments. For use with Grades 3-5.


ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a clinically useful speech-language screening procedure for young children with cleft palate ± cleft lip (CP) to identify those in need of speech-language intervention. Twenty-two children with CP were assigned to a +/− need for intervention conditions based on assessment of consonant inventory using a real-time listening procedure in combination with parent-reported expressive vocabulary. These measures allowed evaluation of early speech-language skills found to correlate significantly with later speech-language performance in longitudinal studies of children with CP. The external validity of this screening procedure was evaluated by comparing the +/− need for intervention assignment determined by the screening procedure to experienced speech-language pathologist (SLP)s' clinical judgement of whether or not a child needed early intervention. The results of real-time listening assessment showed good-excellent inter-rater agreement on different consonant inventory measures. Furthermore, there was almost perfect agreement between the children selected for intervention with the screening procedure and the clinical judgement of experienced SLPs indicate that the screening procedure is a valid way of identifying children with CP who need early intervention.


In this paper we present a novel abstraction technique for Markov decision processes (MDPs), which are widely used for modelling systems that exhibit both probabilistic and nondeterministic behaviour. In the field of model checking, abstraction has proved an extremely successful tool to combat the state-space explosion problem. In the probabilistic setting, however, little practical progress has been made in this area. We propose an abstraction method for MDPs based on stochastic two-player games. The key idea behind this approach is to maintain a separation between nondeterminism present in the original MDP and nondeterminism introduced through abstraction, each type being represented by a different player in the game. Crucially, this allows us to obtain distinct lower and upper bounds for both the best and worst-case performance (minimum or maximum probabilities) of the MDP. We have implemented our techniques and illustrate their practical utility by applying them to a quantitative analysis of the Zeroconf dynamic network configuration protocol


Evaluation of the strength of portland cement concrete using flexural strength and compressive strength tests is examined. Problems with the use of flexural testing in the field are discussed and alternative specification approaches to minimize testing problems and to provide an organized way of troubleshooting and settling low strength problems are covered. Data collected by the concrete industry and by a consultant for FAA projects show standard deviations for flexural strength from paving projects ranging from about 40 psi to 150 psi (coefficient of variation from 6 to 20 percent) with an average standard deviation of 75 psi. Specifications for concrete for air field pavements should recognize that an adequate strength overdesign as well as good testing practices are necessary to assure that a very high percentage of strength tests will meet requirements. Data are presented from case studies which show the effect of different specification strategies. Also, included are suggested quality control and trouble shooting protocols which should be included in specifications to improve data and information available and to handle low strength tests. It will help determine whether the concrete, as-placed, is truly substandard; whether the low strength is simply due to poor curing, handling, and testing; or whether it is due to an occasional low test from normal statistical variation. The procedure includes evaluation of the project data, as well as, the proper use of non-destructive tests and testing of cores when necessary. Specifications and testing can be improved to minimize on-the-job strength problems, and provide an organized way of investigating strength problems so that job delay and strength problems due to poor testing can be rapidly identified and minimized.


Each clock has built-in deficiencies since the manufacturing process is not precise on atomic level. These inaccuracies cause each clock to drift in a unique way. Clock skew has been already studied and used to identify computers. Based on the previous research in clock-skew-based identification, this paper provides a summary of use cases and methods for clock-skew-based identification. Nevertheless, the main contribution of the paper is following: (1) A formal evaluation of the requirements for precise clock skew estimations. The formal approach is accompanied with an empirical study of 24,071 clock skew measurements. (2) A method that links IPv4 and IPv6 addresses of a single computer. (3) A scenario, during which a malicious attacker mimics clock skew of another computer and consequently, for example, penetrates through authentication mechanisms considered during previous research. (4) Even though the real network observations expose that current precision in clock skew estimation is not sufficient to uniquely identify devices in moderately-sized network, some IPv4 and IPv6 addresses can be linked based on unique clock skew shifts of a computer, for example caused by a running NTP daemon.


Abstract : Industrial Control Systems (ICS) monitor and control operations associated with the national critical infrastructure (e.g., electric power grid, oil and gas pipelines and water treatment facilities). These systems rely on technologies and architectures that were designed for system reliability and availability. Security associated with ICS was never an inherent concern, primarily due to the protections afforded by network isolation. However, a trend in ICS operations is to migrate to commercial networks via TCP/IP in order to leverage commodity benefits and cost savings. As a result, system vulnerabilities are now exposed to the online community. Indeed, recent research has demonstrated that many exposed ICS devices are being discovered using readily available applications (e.g., Shodan search engine and Google-esque queries). Due to the lack of security and logging capabilities for ICS, most knowledge about attacks are derived from real world incidents after an attack has already occurred. Further, the distributed nature and volume of devices requires a cost effective solution to increase situational awareness. This research evaluates two low cost sensor platforms for enhancing situational awareness in the ICS environment. Data obtained from the sensors provide insight into attack tactics (e.g., port scans, Nessus scans, Metasploit modules, and zero-day exploits) and characteristics (e.g., attack origin, frequency, and level of persistence). The results indicate that the low cost cyber sensors perform sufficiently within the ICS environment. Furthermore, findings enable security professionals to draw an accurate, real-time awareness of the threats against ICS devices and help shift the security posture from reactionary to preventative.


In January 2007, the young and optimistic soldiers of the 2-16, the American infantry battalion known as the Rangers, were sent to Iraq as part of the surge. Their job would be to patrol one of the most dangerous areas of Baghdad. For fifteen months, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter David Finkel was with them, following them almost every grueling step of the way. The resulting account of that time, The Good Soldiers, is a searing, shattering portrait of the face of modern war. In telling the story of these soldiers, both the heroes and the ruined, David Finkel has also written a classic work of war reporting.


Importance Caffeine is known to decrease vasodilation and have immunosuppressant effects, which may potentially decrease the risk of rosacea. However, the heat from coffee may be a trigger for rosacea flares. The relationship between the risk of rosacea and caffeine intake, including coffee consumption, is poorly understood. Objective To determine the association between the risk of incident rosacea and caffeine intake, including coffee consumption. Design, Setting, and Participants This cohort study included 82 737 women in the Nurses' Health Study II (NHS II), a prospective cohort established in 1989, with follow-up conducted biennially between 1991 and 2005. All analysis took place between June 2017 and June 2018. Exposures Data on coffee, tea, soda, and chocolate consumption were collected every 4 years during follow-up. Main Outcomes and Measures Information on history of clinician-diagnosed rosacea and year of diagnosis was collected in 2005. Results A total of 82 737 women responded to the question regarding a diagnosis of rosacea in 2005 in NHS II and were included in the final analysis (mean [SD] age at study entry, 50.5 [4.6] years). During 1 120 051 person-years of follow-up, we identified 4945 incident cases of rosacea. After adjustment for other risk factors, we found an inverse association between increased caffeine intake and risk of rosacea (hazard ratio for the highest quintile of caffeine intake vs the lowest, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.69-0.84; P < .001 for trend). A significant inverse association with risk of rosacea was also observed for caffeinated coffee consumption (HR, 0.77 for those who consumed ≥4 servings/d vs those who consumed <1/mo; 95% CI, 0.69-0.87; P < .001 for trend), but not for decaffeinated coffee (HR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.56-1.14; P = .39 for trend). Further analyses found that increased caffeine intake from foods other than coffee (tea, soda, and chocolate) was not significantly associated with decreased risk of rosacea. Conclusions and Relevance Increased caffeine intake from coffee was inversely associated with the risk of incident rosacea. Our findings do not support limiting caffeine intake as a means to prevent rosacea. Further studies are required to explain the mechanisms of action of these associations, to replicate our findings in other populations, and to explore the relationship of caffeine with different rosacea subtypes.


Despite the long list of publications on parser combinators, there does
not yet exist a monadic parser combinator library that is applicable in real
world situations. In particular naive implementations of parser combinators
are likely to suffer from space leaks and are often unable to report
precise error messages in case of parse errors. The Parsec parser combinator
library described in this paper, utilizes a novel implementation
technique for space and time e±cient parser combinators that in case of
a parse error, report both the position of the error as well as all grammar
productions that would have been legal at that point in the input.


The purpose of this thesis is to present a novel, physics-based, capacitive model for Gallium Nitride High Electron Mobility Transistors that contain gate field-plate structure. The proposed methodology is fully analytical, providing a set of equations between the design parameters and input, output and reverse capacitance of the device. Together with previously proposed physics-based analytical models for output characteristcs of a HEMT, proposed capacitive model gives the complete model of a GaN switching device. Thereore, it can be implemented into power loss models for the topology of interest and used for device design optimization by power losses minimization. The target application of the device modelled in this work is a high-frequency (HF) DC/DC converter used as a dynamic power supply in Envelope Tracking and Envelope Elimination and Restoration techniques. The main challenge in these HF topologies is to increase the efficiency of the signal transmission together with the bandwidth. Since AlGaN/GaN HEMTs present a technological solution that does not contain p-n junctions, their capacitacnies are significantly lower comparing to Si MOSFETs. Therefore, they present excellent candidates for switching devices in high-frequency converters. Furthermore, using proposed physics-based capacitive model, their design can be optimized for a particular application. That was the main motivation for the work presented in tis thesis. The main contributions of this thesis are the proposed capacitance model together with the optimization process of the HEMT design. The model was verified by experimental characterization of the device. Additionaly, in order to verify its applicability for the design optimization process, model was implemented into a power loss model of a high-frequency buck converter. Simulated efficiency curves showed very good agreement with the measurements, verifying the precision of the proposed methodology. Furthermore, the obtained model showed that field-plate design dominantely influences Miller's charge in the device and determines the breakdown voltage rating. Therefore, the field-plate was optimized separately from other design parameters, by minimizing gate-to-drain charge for a target breakdown voltage. Furthermore, implementation of the obtained physics-based model into a power loss model of a buck converter and variation of different design parameters, provided directions in which parameters should be changed (increased/decreased) in order to minimize the power losses. This resulted in the optimized design of the device that reduced loss total losses in the converter for 80%, at 20MHz of switching frequency and output power of 20W. Total loss breakdown showed that switching losses that presented 81% of the total losses were decreased for 76% due to highly improved capacitance characteristics of the device.


Even if models are able to predict more and more accurately pollutant discharge in streams, surface water sampling remains a very common practice to monitor substance concentrations and loads in streams and to calibrate models. However, as this method is temporally and spatially punctual, monitoring a whole catchment requires multiple sampling sites with time-distributed samples. Instruments are expensive, and sample collection, on-site interventions and maintenance are costly and time-consuming, in particular if the experimental site is remote. Another issue is the estimation of the discharge loads of a pollutant, especially for non-chemostatic compounds; their hydrograph-related chemical dynamics may be miss-evaluated when a rapid storm occurs using a time-paced sampling strategy with large sampling intervals. Many manufacturers provide discharge gauges (pressure probes or ultra-sonic sensors) or other instruments (rain gauge, chemical probes, etc.) that can be coupled with automatic water samplers in order to program an event-paced sampling. However, automatic samplers usually provide limited programming options that may not meet the needs of the experimenter of a specific catchment. The concept presented here proposes to use a simple microcontroller board in order to determine the timing of the samples by sending electrical pulses to a conventional automatic sampler with input capability. The flow level is measured by a low-cost ultrasonic sensor and sent to the microcontroller, which will process the signal according to user and site-custom parameters. For example, a simple power-law recession model can be apply to approximate the duration of the recession period given the maximal discharge rate measured for a storm. The sample intervals can thereafter be set in order to distribute all the bottles available over the total recession duration. The microcontroller sends a pulse (grab sample query) to the sampler at every sample time calculated by the program. A GSM/GPRS shield coupled with the microcontroller allows the data upload (flow rates, sample time, state, number of bottles available, etc.) on a web-server and can inform the experimenter by SMS about the beginning of a sampling event, a water level alert or a technical issue. This technique provides a low-cost and very flexible solution for designing advanced sampling schemes.


A numerical wave refraction and longshore sediment transport model was employed to examine the alignment of two long sweeping beaches and a series of headland beaches in an essentially enclosed embayment, Port Phillip Ray, Australia. The model, which is suitable for general application to irregular bathymetry and variable wave conditions, indicated that net sediment transport along these beaches was essentially zero under the prevailing wind-driven wave-energy climate. As the bay is almost fully enclosed, the results suggest that the beaches have obtained an alignment which is in equilibrium with the overall shape of the bay and the local weather conditions. The analysis highlights the importance of beach alignment in a sediment-limited environment and the need to conform with the equilibrium alignment when establishing artificial beaches in this bay and bays of a similar type.


Elevated blood glucose associated with diabetes produces progressive and apparently irreversible damage to many cell types. Conversely, reduction of glucose extends life span in yeast, and dietary restriction reduces blood glucose. Therefore it has been hypothesized that cumulative toxic effects of glucose drive at least some aspects of the aging process and, conversely, that protective effects of dietary restriction are mediated by a reduction in exposure to glucose. The mechanisms mediating cumulative toxic effects of glucose are suggested by two general principles of metabolic processes, illustrated by the lac operon but also observed with glucose-induced gene expression. First, metabolites induce the machinery of their own metabolism. Second, induction of gene expression by metabolites can entail a form of molecular memory called hysteresis. When applied to glucose-regulated gene expression, these two principles suggest a mechanism whereby repetitive exposure to postprandial excursions of glucose leads to an age-related increase in glycolytic capacity (and reduction in beta-oxidation of free fatty acids), which in turn leads to an increased generation of oxidative damage and a decreased capacity to respond to oxidative damage, independent of metabolic rate. According to this mechanism, dietary restriction increases life span and reduces pathology by reducing exposure to glucose and therefore delaying the development of glucose-induced glycolytic capacity.


In this paper an attempt is made to shed light on the syntax of Young Avestan participles in the perspective of recent cross-linguistic research on converbs. After a short overview on terminological issues, the reader is provided with a general survey of the functional scale of the participles in Young Avestan. The focus is then placed on the "adverbial" function, which turns out to be the dominant one in the language. Within this context, the position of adverbial participial clauses within main clauses and scope phenomena are given a closer look. The position of adverbial participles is generally free, but a preference for postposing of purpose clauses clearly exists. Both conjunct and local scope of illocutionary force operators are attested. Data on negation is sparse, but indicates a restriction on main clause operator scope. A final section discusses the syntactic status of these participles.


The comprehensive aim of this study is to increase the understanding of the cross-country differences in low fertility. In particular, the study discusses the interaction between women´s preferences, family policy, female labor force participation and fertility. The central argument of the thesis is that women, driven by their preferences but constrained by family policies and household's resources, choose between three different types of strategies concerning work and family. In the empirical part of the thesis longitudinal data is employed to study women´s career strategy choices in Germany, the UK, and Finland. In all three countries a substantially large share of the women has remained outside the labor market for longer periods and has high average fertility ("homemaking career"). The largest share of the women have combined work and children with shorter absences from the labor market ("combination strategy"). Finally, a considerable share of the women have been working/studying continuously and have low fertility ("career strategy"). All in all, the study adds to the literature on women´s heterogeneous work-family decisions and suggests that future research on fertility should concentrate more on the heterogeneity in women´s preferences and choices.


Abstract Social Trinitarians attempt to solve the logical problem of the Trinity by claiming that there are three numerically distinct divine persons. A common objection to this view is that it is seemingly committed to the existence of multiple Gods and is therefore polytheistic. I consider Edward Wierenga's response to this objection, as well as two other possible responses, and show that each faces serious philosophical problems. I conclude that, in the absence of a better method of distinguishing the property of being divine from that of being a God, Social Trinitarians are committed to the existence of more than one God.


Photograph of lone beach house after the hurricane of 1919 in Corpus Christi. Inscribed on the back of the photo, "This is the one house left on North Beach. Shows them repairing it. At X you see a corner of the Army Hospital." Note by C.L.B. - the McDonald house.


Based on previous Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) design results, an 11 channel microreactor of dimensions (0.5 mm × 0.5 mm × 100 mm) (width × depth × length) and optimal manifold geometry was fabricated, coated with a newly-developed Au/SBA-15 catalyst and then integrated in an experimental rig specifically built for this research. Propane (as model volatile organic compound) oxidation experiments were conducted at three different flow velocities, 12.5, 15.4 and 17.5 m/min, respectively, at six temperatures, 150, 200, 225, 250, 275, and 300 °C, respectively. The catalyst was prepared by one-pot sol-gel synthesis of SBA-15 with MPTMS (3-mercaptopropyl-trimethoxy-silane) before loading with HAuCl4 gold precursor and then characterized by SEM/EDX, TEM and wide angle XRD. A novel catalyst coating technique was developed, using airbrush (0.3 nozzle) to spray a catalyst slurry into the microchannels that produced a thin, firm and uniform layer of Au/SBA-15 catalyst coating inside the microreactor. The experimental measurements revealed that propane conversion increased as the flow feed rates decreased and increased with increasing temperatures in the reactor. For the built microreactor and for the flows and temperatures set, the combustion of propane was possible with measurable conversions and reasonable reactor stability, the performance of the catalyst appeared to be central to the satisfactory operation of the reactor.


An astral configuration $(p_q, n_k)$ is a collection of $p$ points and $n$ straight lines in the Euclidean plane where every point has $q$ straight lines passing through it and every line has $k$ points lying on it, with precisely $\lfloor {q+1\over 2} \rfloor$ symmetry classes (transitivity classes) of lines and $\lfloor {k+1\over 2} \rfloor$ symmetry classes of points. An odd astral configuration is an astral configuration where at least one of $q$ and $k$ is odd. This paper presents all known results in the classification of odd astral configurations where $q$ and $k$ are both at least 4.


Objective: This study assessed: 1) the effectiveness of a Motivational Interviewing (MI) training program to improve the skills of family practice residents, and 2) resident and Standardized Patient's perception of the effectiveness of training and beliefs about MI in clinical practice.Methods: Seventeen family practice residents completed training over two months, followed by two months of reflection with peers and the researchers. Standardized Patient interactions were videotaped at baseline, post-intervention, and 3 months later, and were independently assessed using the Behavior Change Counseling Index (BECCI). Residents and Standardized Patients completed reflections at the end of each interaction, and residents completed a post-training survey.Results: Thirteen residents completed the intervention and assessments. Average BECCI scores increased from 0.74 to 2.26, indicating positive change in residents. All residents demonstrated an increase in knowledge and an increase in their perceived ability to use MI with patients.Comments: Adding individualized feedback is needed to maintain skills and confidence among trainees. Research on the effect of the use of MI on patient outcomes is also needed.Conclusion: Incorporating MI training into a medical school curriculum is a potentially feasible, efficient and effective way of improving patient outcomes related to lifestyle behaviors.


The 2nd edition of Chopra's Google SketchUp provides key pedagogical elements, which help prepare readers for the workforce. The content provides real-world and applied material including better PowerPoint presentations and how-to animations. Additional features include updated content to reflect software upgrades and market use; new pedagogy elements and interior design; and more robust resources that will are appropriate for different users of Google Sketch. The book also addresses the similarities between the adapted title, Google SketchUp 8 for Dummies, and Google SketchUp 2. This includes a title that contains the core content and basic software how-to from For Dummies; revised TOC to reflect the course; and new material developed/written by writer and academic advisors/reviewers. This edition goes beyond the basic software use to teach on portions of SketchUp.


We consider an online stochastic game with risk-averse agents whose goal is to learn optimal decisions that minimize the risk of incurring significantly high costs. Specifically, we use the Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR) as a risk measure that the agents can estimate using bandit feedback in the form of the cost values of only their selected actions. Since the distributions of the cost functions depend on the actions of all agents that are generally unobservable, they are themselves unknown and, therefore, the CVaR values of the costs are difficult to compute. To address this challenge, we propose a new online risk-averse learning algorithm that relies on one-point zeroth-order estimation of the CVaR gradients computed using CVaR values that are estimated by appropriately sampling the cost functions. We show that this algorithm achieves sub-linear regret with high probability. We also propose two variants of this algorithm that improve performance. The first variant relies on a new sampling strategy that uses samples from the previous iteration to improve the estimation accuracy of the CVaR values. The second variant employs residual feedback that uses CVaR values from the previous iteration to reduce the variance of the CVaR gradient estimates. We theoretically analyze the convergence properties of these variants and illustrate their performance on an online market problem that we model as a Cournot game.


This book analyses the historical significance of rivaling concepts of world order in 20th century East Asia. It discusses in detail the relationship of territoriality and political rule, discourses of amity and enmity, and finally the role of hegemoniality in the process of imaging a possible postnational world in twenty-first century East Asia and beyond.


Usually, programs are written and documented in English, and use English at execution time for interacting with users. This is true not only from within GNU, but also in a great deal of proprietary and free software. Using a common language is quite handy for communication between developers, maintainers and users from all countries. On the other hand, most people are less comfortable with English than with their own native language, and would rather be using their mother tongue for day to day's work, as far as possible. Many would simply love seeing their computer screen showing a lot less of English, and far more of their own language. GNU `gettext' is an important step for the GNU Translation Project, as it is an asset on which we may build many other steps. This package offers to programmers, translators, and even users, a well integrated set of tools and documentation. Specifically, the GNU `gettext' utilities are a set of tools that provides a framework to help other GNU packages produce multi-lingual messages. These tools include a set of conventions about how programs should be written to support message catalogs, a directory and file naming organization for the message catalogs themselves, a runtime library supporting the retrieval of translated messages, and a few stand-alone programs to massage in various ways the sets of translatable strings, or already translated strings. A special GNU Emacs mode also helps interested parties in preparing these sets, or bringing them up to date.


The past quarter of a century has seen a surge in Chinese syntactic research that has produced a sizeable literature on the analysis of almost every construction in Mandarin Chinese. This guide to Chinese syntax analyzes the majority of constructions in Chinese that have featured in theoretical linguistics in the past twenty-five years, using the authors' own analyses as well as existing or potential alternative treatments. A broad variety of topics are covered, including categories, argument structure, passives, and anaphora. The discussion of each topic sums up the key research results and provides new points of departure for further research. This book will be invaluable both to students wanting to know more about the grammar of Chinese, and to graduate students and theoretical linguists interested in the universal principles that underlie human languages.


Success of HIV prevention projects for injection drug users (IDUs) depends on the support of the communities in which they are implemented. This article presents data from cross-sectional community surveys of HIV knowledge and attitudes toward peer-based HIV prevention interventions for injection drug users in a border area of Lang Son Province, Vietnam and Ning Ming County, Guangxi Province, China. Analysis of these surveys at baseline and 18 months reveals generally high or improving levels of HIV knowledge and positive attitudes toward the interventions in both Vietnam and China. Levels of knowledge and positive attitudes tended to be higher in Vietnam than in China. Interviews with staff and peer educators suggest that the project's community education efforts have increased support for the interventions and contributed to their smooth implementation. However, the community surveys also reveal some continuing deficits in HIV knowledge and understanding of the interventions, including perceptions that provision of new needles/syringes will result in increased drug use. Additional education, including dissemination of countervailing project data, is necessary to address these deficits and further increase community support for the interventions.


A control scheme for a multilevel AC-AC converter is presented. The converter resembles a matrix converter but it uses the cascade converter in place of converter valve. This is a string of H-bridge modules, each equipped with a DC storage capacitor, as the building block of the converter. This yields a highly modular implementation approach which may be suitable for high voltage, high power applications. One of the main issues with these modular multilevel converter topologies is the regulation of the capacitors voltages. This is a prerequisite to successfully operate the topology. This work explains the basics of the multilevel matrix converter and develops its associated control schemes to operate it as AC-AC converter. Control objectives include: regulation of multiple capacitor voltages; control of the multiple valve currents; and control of the output voltages. The proposed scheme is verified experimentally and through simulations. Results show good system performance in rejecting load impacts; maintaining capacitor voltages and valve currents within normal values; drawing low distortion, and close to unitary power factor, currents from the line; and creating high quality output voltages which result in low distortion load currents. The matrix multilevel converter thus shows great potential for high performance, high power motor drives.


Reconstruction of inhomogeneous dielectric objects from microwave scattering by means of quantitative microwave tomography is a nonlinear, ill-posed inverse problem. In this paper, we employ the Huber function as a robust regularization approach for this challenging problem. The resulting reconstructions both in 2D and 3D from sparse data points for piecewise constant objects are encouraging. The reconstructions of more complex permittivity profiles from breast phantom data indicate potential for use in biomedical imaging.


Principals' health and well-being has been recognised as a concern at National and State levels in Australia (Riley, 2012) and internationally (Pont, Nusche, & Moorman, 2008). Whilst this concern is well documented within the literature there is little research into how principals are actually maintaining their Subjective Well-Being (SWB). This study sought to investigate and explore the strategies that experienced principals utilised in order to maintain their SWB. Diener's (2006, 2009) work on SWB formed the basis for the concept of SWB used in this study.

This study used an interpretive case study methodology. The focus of the case was principals' SWB and within the case there were multiple participants. The model used in the design of this study was 'An Interactive Model of Research Design' (Maxwell, 2009). Data were gathered from a purposive geographical sample of school principals in one Australian state (N = 11) using two semi-structured interviews each approximately 60 to 90 minutes in duration. Four specific steps (referred to by Cohen et al., 2007) were used to analyse the data in order to: generate units of meaning; classify, categorise and order these units of meaning; structure narratives to describe the interview contents; and interpret the interview and survey data.

Data revealed that the participants in this study were constantly evaluating their own performance (action) against what they perceived a competent principal would do, given the circumstances. Each principal had a unique perspective as to what constituted competency. When the participants evaluated the moments alongside their perceived standard of what a competent principal should do and the evaluation was positive, it had a positive impact on their SWB. The impact was positive because the participants experienced positive affect, and/or experienced low level negative moods, and/or felt satisfied with life. Therefore principals saw themselves as doing a good job because of their actions (i.e., making a positive difference in the lives of students and others) and this contributed to their positive SWB.

Analysis of the data revealed that participants were utilising previous experience (i.e., tacit knowledge), and then surfacing this knowledge to inform particular ways of
working (i.e., tacit knowing) to maintain their SWB. Analysis of the data illuminated that this way of working involved three processes:
1) Fuel It (FIT) Process;
2) Awakening, Thinking, Enacting, Reflecting (ATER) Process; and
3) MegaPositioning.
Processes were selected based upon the principal's evaluation of the moment, and their preferred way of working. The findings show that tacit knowing is strongly linked to the maintenance of SWB.

The study is significant as it highlights the process and strategy selection that experienced principals make in order to maintain their SWB and continue to effectively work in their role as principal. The process of maintaining SWB appears to be learnt and underpinned by experiential knowledge and the surfacing of this knowledge in the self (i.e., tacit knowing). The study makes three new contributions to the field; one is methodological (i.e., the use of methodology for investigating SWB) and the other two are theoretical (i.e., a process for maintaining SWB, captured in the explanatory framework; and tacit knowing informs evaluations linked to SWB).

Three recommendations are made as a result of this research: (a) principals need to engage in professional learning throughout their career around improving their own SWB: (b) principals should be provided with safe and supportive opportunities to improve their competency; and (c) principals need an appropriate reporting system for principals with low SWB and the signs of not coping.

The findings from this study allow the reader to explore how some Australian principals maintain their SWB. It is suggested that the research could be used in three ways: firstly to provide school principals with current research regarding ways of working that are being utilised in the field to maintain and enhance SWB; secondly to inform principals' supervisors regarding these ways of working; and thirdly to share these practices with policy makers.


This is a guidebook to Syria's historical and archeological treasures. It is a new, revised and expanded edition in a travel-friendly format. Syria is home to some of the world's richest historical and archaeological remains dating from the Bronze Age through biblical and Byzantine times to the early Islamic and Ottoman periods. Yet even in an age of mass tourism these magnificent monuments are little known and rarely visited - in other words, ripe for discovery by independent-minded and adventurous travellers."The Monuments of Syria" is organised as a gazetteer of all Syria's historical sites, with complementary sections on history and architectural influences and comprehensive chronologies and glossaries. This fully revised edition includes the latest information about site visits and the layout of museums, extensive and detailed itineraries for further travel and a new 24-page colour section.


The social meaning of Fanakalo (F) and the social motivation for using it in South Africa are the focus of this article. Ethnographic evidence assembled from a range of written sources reveals that largely unfavorable connotations are associated with F. On the strength of this data, the contextual characteristics of the use of F as an unmarked (or preferred) choice are described. It is shown that F is restricted to work (that is, to non-affective domains) and is used in interactions where there is an asymmetrical role and power relationship between the participants (best described as master-servant). Furthermore, F is negatively evaluated by Blacks, who are always the less powerful participants.Also considered is oral ethnographic data, in the form of spontaneous, naturally-occurring interpersonal exchanges and self-reports on why people use F. Examination of this data shows that in marked settings, F is exploited as a conversational resource between South Africans, whether Black or White. It is shown that in marked settings F is a marker of solidarity, whereas in unmarked settings use of the language connotes power and domination.


Two African writers give their point of view on the above question. Elechi Amadi is a Nigerian writer whose major novels, The Concubine and The Great Ponds deal with the traditional past of the people. Ngugi wa Thiong'o is a Kenyan writer whose novels deal with the Kenyan war of Independence and present-day political oppression in Kenya. His involvement with theatre in the vemacular has eamed him a year's imprisonment and he is at present in exile. The editor invites comments and opinions from readers who might like to pursue this discussion. This journal article is available in Kunapipi: http://ro.uow.edu.au/kunapipi/vol5/iss1/7 The Question Commitment: View of Two a Writer's Points of Two African writers give their point of view on the above question. Elechi Amadi is a Nigerian writer whose major novels, The Concubine and The Great Ponds deal with the traditional past of the people. Ngugi wa Thiong'o is a Kenyan writer whose novels deal with the Kenyan war of Independence and present-day political oppression in Kenya. His involvement with theatre in the vemacular has eamed him a year's imprisonment and he is at present in exile. The editor invites comments and opinions from readers who might like to pursue this discussion.


Abstract Airborne LiDAR is increasingly used in forest carbon, ecosystem, and resource monitoring. For practical design and manufacture reasons, the 1064 nm near-infrared (NIR) wavelength has been the most commonly adopted, and most literature in this field represents sampling characteristics in this wavelength. However, due to eye-safety and application-specific needs, other common wavelengths are 1550 nm and 532 nm. All provide canopy structure reconstructions that can be integrated or compared through space and time but the consistency or complementarity of 3D airborne LiDAR data sampled at multiple wavelengths is poorly understood. Here, we report on multispectral LiDAR missions carried out in 2013 and 2015 over a managed forest research site. The 1st used 3 independent sensors, and the 2nd used a single sensor carrying 3 lasers. The experiment revealed differences in proportions of returns at ground level, vertical foliage distributions, and gap probability across wavelengths. Canopy attenuation was greatest at 532 nm, presumably due to leaf tissue absorption. Relative to 1064 nm, foliage was undersampled at midheight percentiles at 1550 nm and 532 nm. Multisensor data demonstrated differences in foliage characterization due to combined influences of wavelength and acquisition configuration. Single-sensor multispectral data were more stable but demonstrated clear wavelength-dependent variation that could be exploited in intensity-based land cover classification without the aid of 3D derivatives. This work sets the stage for improvements in land surface classification and vertical foliage partitioning through the integration of active spectral and structural laser return information.


A method was developed of obtaining propulsive base flow data in both hot and cold jet environments, at Mach numbers and altitude of relevance to NASA launcher designs. The base flow data was used to perform computational fluid dynamics (CFD) turbulence model assessments of base flow predictive capabilities in order to provide increased confidence in base thermal and pressure load predictions obtained from computational modeling efforts. Predictive CFD analyses were used in the design of the experiments, available propulsive models were used to reduce program costs and increase success, and a wind tunnel facility was used. The data obtained allowed assessment of CFD/turbulence models in a complex flow environment, working within a building-block procedure to validation, where cold, non-reacting test data was first used for validation, followed by more complex reacting base flow validation.


This paper proposes a new concept for the utilization of fibrous filters for the classification of nanoparticles. The present work confirmed that the filter employed in the present work can separate particles smaller than 100 nm. The main conclusions obtained in the present work are as follows: (1) Inertial filter utilizes inertial impaction of particles and the classification performance can be predicted by the log penetration law and the single fiber collection efficiency, (2) 50% cutoff size is reduced by increasing the filtration velocity and is predicted by Stk50 = 1, (3) Inertial filter developed in the present work has a low pressure drop compared to a low pressure impactor and therefore the volatilization of volatile organic compounds is suppressed during the atmospheric aerosol sampling.


Earlier research suggests that many people in their fifties and early sixties are not well informed about their Social Security benefit entitlements in old age. This paper investigates the effect of deviations between individuals' anticipated and realized Social Security benefits on several measures of well-being in retirement, such as the change in consumption expenditures at retirement, a self-assessed measure of how retirement years compare to the years before retirement, and whether the retired individual is worried about having enough income to get by. The analysis is based upon US data from the Health and Retirement Study, following individuals over a long time period from their fifties into retirement. We find that people who over estimated their Social Security benefits are worse off according to several measures of well being in retirement. This relationship seems to be more pronounced for respondents who claimed benefits earlier than anticipated than for those who were misinformed.


Modelling radio galaxies in the Millennium simulation: SKA/MeerKAT sources and CMB contaminants F. A. Ramamonjisoa MSc thesis, Department of Physics, University of the Western Cape. We investigate the modelling of radio galaxies within a semi-analytic framework in the Millennium Simulation of the Virgo Consortium. The aim is to assess the radio sources contamination of Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) signatures of clusters of galaxies in Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) experiments. The modelling is also relevant to the Karoo Array Telescope (MeerKAT) and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) science. The semi-analytical model consists of N-body simulation, the Millennium Run to trace the merger history of dark matter haloes within the Λ Cold Dark Matter (ΛCDM) cosmology and a follow up of the black hole accretion history and Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) evolution. We study the growth of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) in galaxy centres and determine the black hole mass accretion conversion into radiation. We identify a model which matches observed radio luminosity function. We describe a model of observed sample of radio surveys at a given frequency and a flux density limit to obtain a model of radio luminosity function (space density of radio sources as a function of redshift) that we compare with our simulated data. We determine the redshift distribution of radio galaxies (FRI), blazars and radio quasars (FRII) in the simulation. We focus the modelling on flat spectrum population of blazars since their jets are collimated towards us and thus constitute the most potential contaminants of the CMB. We determine the spatial and density distribution of radio sources in clusters with a virial mass Mvir ≥ 2 × 1014h−1M and then compute the temperature fluctuations and fluxes produced by these cluster radio sources. Our main results include: the model provides a reasonable match within uncertainties with the model obtained by Dunlop & Peacock (1990) [39] using their best fit of radio luminosity function at redshift z . 0.3. The model underestimates the number of radio sources at high redshift z & 1. Radio sources are concentrated around the centre of clusters with a maximum density at r . 0.1r200 where r200 is the radius within which the density is 200 times the iv critical density. Radio sources are more concentrated in low mass clusters. The model predicts a surface density profile of radio sources with luminosity P ≥ 1023 W.Hz−1 at 1.4 GHz (z . 0.06) in agreement with that of Lin & Mohr (2007) [58] at r . 0.1r200 but underestimates the density in the outskirts of the clusters. BL Lacs and FRI radio galaxies produce non negligible contamination at redshift z . 0.1. They produce a mean temperature fluctuation ∼ 4.5 μK at redshift z ∼ 0.01 which can be at the same level as the kinetic SZE signal produced by the cluster. Blazars constitute potential contaminant of the thermal SZ effect at redshift z ∼ 1.0 and z ∼ 1.5 at 145 GHz where they produce a mean temperature 300 μK 350 μK for an average mass of the cluster.


Educational policy depends on assumptions about fairness in education, whether they are made explicit or kept implicit. Without a view of fairness, one would be in the dark as to what should be done about the reproduction of social inequality through education, or whether or not anything should be done at all. The aim of this paper is to uncover the view of fairness in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) education policy. It is based on an analysis of the normative argumentation concerning educational fairness in a set of policy documents from the last seven years, with special emphasis on the association between social background and educational achievement. The main result of the analysis is that the OECD explicitly operate with a loose idea of equal opportunity, compatible with even a merely formal equality, but implicitly with a meritocratic variant of fair equality of opportunity. In the final section, I argue that the OECD approach to fairness suffers from a limitation in that it considers educational justice in isolation from social justice in general.


The avatars of the new capitalism are decreeing how the larger economy should evolve, and follow their efficient reconfigurations of human, technological and physical resources, because it adds up to more freedom. This presented the political space with the opportunity to converge with the economic space. The result was the corporatisation of government that is inherently neo-liberal (or neo-conservative) that often produced analysis-free policies. Coupled with that, was the evolution of the passive consumer-citizen. These three challenges facing our transparent society bring into question the legitimacy of a democratic process, that seems to be driven by cultural forms which celebrate personal change and indifference, but not collective progress. This paper concludes that freedom is not just an individual matter, given the complexity of the issues, such as with surveillance and privacy, so a collective response backed by intellectual analysis can effectively confront the totalising discourse of the powerful, and force its own version of reality on the public agenda.


Children are increasingly exposed to armed conflict and targeted by governmental and nongovernmental combatants. Armed conflict directly and indirectly affects children's physical, mental, and behavioral health. It can affect every organ system, and its impact can persist throughout the life course. In addition, children are disproportionately impacted by morbidity and mortality associated with armed conflict. A children's rights–based approach provides a framework for collaboration by the American Academy of Pediatrics, child health professionals, and national and international partners to respond in the domains of clinical care, systems development, and policy formulation. The American Academy of Pediatrics and child health professionals have critical and synergistic roles to play in the global response to the impact of armed conflict on children.


This paper analyzes state level data from the manufacturing sector in India for the period 1986-87 to 1999-00 to study the efficiency dynamics of a 'typical' firm in individual states during the pre- and post reform years. Using the non-parametric method of Data Envelopment Analysis we utilize super-efficiency models to rank the states in terms of their performance and investigate the dynamics of the efficiency rankings over time. We find no major change in the efficiency ranking of states after the reforms. Nor is there any evidence of convergence in the distribution of efficiency in the post-reform period.


An interactive framework for soft segmentation and matting of natural images and videos is presented in this paper. The proposed technique is based on the optimal, linear time, computation of weighted geodesic distances to the user-provided scribbles, from which the whole data is automatically segmented. The weights are based on spatial and/or temporal gradients, without explicit optical flow or any advanced and often computationally expensive feature detectors. These could be naturally added to the proposed framework as well if desired, in the form of weights in the geodesic distances. A localized refinement step follows this fast segmentation in order to accurately compute the corresponding matte function. Additional constraints into the distance definition permit to efficiently handle occlusions such as people or objects crossing each other in a video sequence. The presentation of the framework is complemented with numerous and diverse examples, including extraction of moving foreground from dynamic background, and comparisons with the recent literature.


In this paper an algorithm for the generation of single input change (SIC) pairs is presented, termed the accumulator-based SIC pair generation (ASG) algorithm; SIC pairs have been effectively utilised for testing robustly detectable sequential faults. ASG is implemented in hardware utilising an accumulator whose inputs are driven by a barrel shifter. Since such structures (accumulators whose inputs are driven by barrel shifters) are commonly found in current, high- speed signal processing VLSI circuits, the presented schema provides a practical solution for the built-in testing of such circuits for testing delay and stuck-open faults. Utilisation of ASG to applying SIC pairs to adjacent pairs of inputs of the CUT, resulting in pseudoexhaustive schemes, is also addressed.


48824 ABSTRACT The objective was to determine whether increased dietary protein would enhance mammary development in prepubertal heifers fed for rapid body growth (1.2 kg/d). Fifty-four Holstein heifers (weighing ∼ 134 kg) were assigned to one of three treatments. Heifers were fed a total mixed ration with metabolizable energy at 2.85 Mcal/kg and metabolizable protein at low, standard, or high concentrations (37, 41, or 44 g/Mcal of metabolizable energy, respectively) from 3.5 mo of age until slaughter at ∼ 46 d after puberty. Heifers fed low, standard, and high protein gained 1130, 1170, and 1180 g/d, respectively. Dietary protein did not affect age or weight of heifers at puberty or slaughter, withers height gain, or carcass composition. Average mammary parenchymal DNA content for heifers on diets of low, standard, and high protein was 595, 619, and 670 mg/100 kg of body weight, respectively, and was not significantly different. However, for heifers that attained puberty early, those fed low protein had 33% less parenchymal DNA than those fed high protein, even though their body growth and carcass composition were not compromised. We conclude that dietary protein does not have a major effect on mammary development of rapidly grown prepubertal heifers, provided the diet contains adequate protein for normal body growth. But we suggest that feeding low-protein diets increases the risk of impaired mammary development when heifers are fed for rapid growth and attain puberty early and that the new National Research Council guidelines for protein relative to energy seem adequate mammary


Forest type maps play a significant role in sustainable forest management. For many years aerial photos and satellite data were a primary data source supporting forest type mapping. Recent developments in remote sensing provide opportunities to further enhance forest type maps by introducing variations of spectral, biochemical and biophysical properties at various scales. A structural sampling and collection of the above variables will support an improved interfacing between spatially continuous data, forest type maps and finally will support forward and inverse modeling of advanced forest biochemical, -structural, and other relevant variables.
The main objective of this study is to acquire, process and analyze spectral signatures of main forest tree species of the Caspian forest (namely Fagus orientalis, Quercus castaneifolia, Carpinus betulus, Alnus subcordata, and Parrotia persica) located in the Research Forest owned by the University of Tehran on the Northern slopes of the Elburz mountains, Iran. We have sampled 102 spectra each of the afore mentioned tree species using leaf 'pile' reflectance and branch pile reflectance. We build a comprehensive database of leaf optical properties, and other measures such as branch and twig reflectance. Field spectroradiometric measurements (350-2500nm) were carried out in the course of summer 2007. Spectral measurements were acquired in altitude gradients between 400-2100m (low, mid and high elevation) of the Elburz mountains. All spectral signatures after preprocessing were analyzed physically and statistically. We select a set of vegetation indices related to optical properties of the leaves and exploit changes of vegetation reflectance signature dependent on illumination conditions (shaded vs. non-shaded leaves) and chlorophyll content. We conclude that the Vogelmann index (R740/R720) is more sensitive to chlorophyll content in comparison with the other indices. It shows that hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) is significantly different in spectral signatures compared to beech (Fagus orientalis), oak, (Quercus castaneifolia) and alder (Alnus subcordata) as well as ironwood (Parrotia persica) with alder and oak being statistically different