Online virtual worlds are 3D graphical environments in which users create avatars that live, work, and play—some are actual games; others are social networking sites. These worlds offer significant potential for expanding the study of social and economic behavior. One of these worlds, Second Life (SL), began in 2003 and now has more than millions of unique accounts held by virtual residents and approximately 800,000 users who log in each month. Although few results from SL surveys have been published, automated surveys are common in the virtual world. They are conducted through links to web surveys, by in-world "survey bots" (programs that administer questionnaires), and through e-mail invitation to panel members recruited through SL. This article evaluates the effectiveness of recruitment techniques to complete a self-administered survey within SL. The authors tested several techniques: a billboard in an SL public space, classified ads in SL publications, paid search engine advertisements, and SL web forum posts. All survey recruits completed the same survey administered at the RTI SL facility kiosk. Our findings suggest that a diverse convenience sample can be obtained in SL at a minimal cost.


Modern conflicts and stability operations pose complex challenges for both military and civilian actors tasked with promoting the rule of law during conflict and stability operations. Military operations can occur both during armed conflict and in situations that do not qualify as armed conflict, such as disaster relief or humanitarian intervention, for example. The legal classification of a particular situation – including non-conflict situations – determines which law governs the actions, rights and obligations of those involved. The continuum of conflict ranges from domestic disorders to non-international armed conflicts to international armed conflicts, including belligerent occupation. Other situations involving the use of military force or military capabilities may include counter-piracy or counter-terrorism operations, disaster relief, or humanitarian assistance, for example. In addition, conflicts sometimes involve elements of both international and non-international armed conflict and often evolve from one form of conflict into another. The emergence of new forms of conflict, for which there is may be no ready characterization, complicates matters. Most contemporary military operations thus involve multiple legal frameworks, including international humanitarian law, human rights law, and the domestic law of both the territorial state and the state sending troops, as well as, perhaps, a United Nations mandate and bilateral or multilateral treaties, or additional layers such as joint operations doctrine. Understanding how these various legal regimes interact in practice on the ground is a challenging task and is fundamental to promoting the rule of law in conflict and post-conflict environments. For example, uncertainty about the applicable law can impact a range of determinations including, among others, detention regimes, targeting, and the parameters of the authority and responsibility for conducting operations. Identifying the applicable law in a conflict or during a stability operation is thus an essential first step that enables both military and civilian actors to define their engagement in any international intervention. This article analyzes the impact of differing legal characterizations – or a lack of characterization altogether – in complex conflict situations. Amid the complicated set of considerations that contribute to conflict characterization, the interaction of different applicable legal frameworks poses several key issues that policy-makers and military and civilian decision-makers should consider and weigh seriously. In particular, this article presents four main categories of operational concepts that can be particularly vulnerable to uncertain conflict characterizations and highlights the legal fault lines that may result from such ambiguity or uncertainty: Detainee Issues, including detention, treatment, transfer and trial; Use of Force, encompassing targeting, weapons and host nation influence on operations; Civil-Military Relations, including humanitarian assistance and relations between the military and non-governmental organizations; and Third State responsibilities during conflict and related situations. In all of these areas, operational challenges can arise in the face of uncertain or differing characterizations of conflict, underscoring the importance of the normative legal frameworks and the need to understand how they interact and the consequences of any legal fault lines.


Transportation infrastructure, a vital component to sustain economic prosperity, represents the largest public-owned infrastructure asset in the U.S. With over a trillion invested dollars invested into long-lived physical assets such as roads and bridges, transportation agencies are tasked with maintenance and rehabilitation efforts to ensure that the access to transportation facilities is readily available and that the infrastructure is properly preserved. The management of these assets and the determination of their value, however, have been at the forefront of discussions in many state agencies and local governments. As a consequence, asset valuation has become a key component in asset management because it links the performance of infrastructure and deterioration process with the value of the infrastructure and its depreciation, providing critical information for decision makers at various levels to make more informed decisions. A utility-based methodological framework for the valuation of transportation infrastructure is presented along with a case study to demonstrate its applicability. A general framework is presented with emphasis on the valuation of pavement infrastructure. The results from the framework are then compared to existing valuation methods in addition to a series of sensitivity analysis on the variation of performance measures and their effect on the value of an asset. The development of this valuation approach serves as a starting point for assessing, in addition to the physical condition of an asset, the operational measures that can often make an asset less useful to its customers and managing agency. Utility theory can be utilized to combine the effect of performance indicators of varying measures and scales on the value of an asset. The proposed framework can assist state and local transportation agencies in the optimization of resource allocation procedures for better coordination of asset investments, facilitating benefit-cost analyses to quantify the impact of infrastructure investments. This tool allows agencies to detect deficiencies if any, in the management of its assets, providing a feedback mechanism that can foster an introspective review of its current management practices that may need further refinement or possibly elimination.


BACKGROUND
South Africa transformed higher education through the enactment of the Higher Education Act (No. 101 of 1997). The researcher identified the need to develop a model for the mentoring of newly-appointed nurse educators in nursing education institutions in South Africa.

OBJECTIVES
To develop and describe the model for mentoring newly-appointed nurse educators in nursing education institutions in South Africa.

METHOD
A qualitative and theory-generating design was used (following empirical findings regarding needs analysis) in order to develop the model. The conceptualisation of the framework focused on the context, content, process and the theoretical domains that influenced the model. Ideas from different theories were borrowed from and integrated with the literature and deductive and inductive strategies were applied.

RESULTS
The structure of the model is multidimensional and complex in nature (macro, mesoand micro) based on the philosophy of reflective practice, competency-based practice andcritical learning theories. The assumptions are in relation to stakeholders, context, mentoring, outcome, process and dynamic. The stakeholders are the mentor and mentee within an interactive participatory relationship. The mentoring takes place within the process with a sequence of activities such as relationship building, development, engagement, reflective process and assessment. Capacity building and empowerment are outcomes of mentoring driven by motivation.

CONCLUSION
The implication for nurse managers is that the model can be used to develop mentoring programmes for newly-appointed nurse educators.


The most recent pionic—hydrogen experiment marks the completion of a whole series of measurements, the main goal of which was to provide conclusive data on pion—nucleon interaction at threshold for comparison with calculations from Chiral perturbation theory. The precision achieved for hadronic shift and broadening of 0.2% and 2%, respectively, became possible by comprehensive studies of cascade effects in hydrogen and other light exotic atoms including results from the last years of LEAR operation. In order to obtain optimum conditions for the Bragg crystal spectrometer, the cyclotron trap II has been used to provide a suitable X—ray source. To characterize the bent crystal spectrometer, the cyclotron trap has been modified to operate as an electron—cyclotron resonance source, which produces with high intensity narrow X‐ray transitions in the few keV range originating from highly charged ions.


Redirected Walking uses rotation, translation and curvature gains to manipulate users of VR environments. This paper presents a new detection threshold for rotation, translation and curvature gain for the HTC Vive. The calculated rotation gain was 13% increased and 21% decreased rotation. For translation gain, 19% increased and 5% decreased movement. The detection threshold for curvature gain was a circle with a radius of less than 22m. When comparing these results to previous studies, which used hardware with lower resolution, frame rate and FOV, the results indicate that it is easier to detect two type of gain, increased rotation and decreased translation gain in the HTC Vive. Further I investigate if there is a range of gains that is noticeable, but is still comfortable for the user. The results indicate that for most, there are detectable gains that are still comfortable when noticeable. Though how great the difference in gain is between noticeable and uncomfortable is extremely dependant on the person's sensitivity to the given gain.


Although soft robotics promises a new generation of robust, versatile machines capable of complex functions and seamless integration with biology, the fabrication of such soft, three dimensional (3D) hierarchical structures remains a significant challenge. Stereolithography (SLA) is an additive manufacturing technique that can rapidly fabricate the complex device architectures required for the next generation of these systems. Current SLA materials and processes are prohibitively expensive, display little elastic deformation at room temperature, or exhibit Young's moduli exceeding most natural tissues, all of which limit use in soft robotics. Herein, we report a low-cost build window substrate that enables the rapid fabrication of high resolution (∼50 μm) silicone (polydimethylsiloxane) based elastomeric devices using an open source SLA printer. Our thiol-ene click chemistry permits photopolymerization using low energy (He < 20 mJ cm-2) optical wavelengths (405 nm < λ < 1 mm) available on many low-cost SLA machines. This chemistry is easily tuned to achieve storage moduli, 6 < E < 283 kPa at engineering strains, γ = 0.02; similarly, a large range of ultimate strains, 0.5 < γult < 4 is achievable through appropriate selection of the two primary chemical constituents (mercaptosiloxane, M.S., and vinylsiloxane, V.S.). Using this chemo-mechanical system, we directly fabricated compliant machines, including an antagonistic pair of fluidic elastomer actuators (a primary component in most soft robots). During printing, we retained unreacted pockets of M.S. and V.S. that permit autonomic self-healing, via sunlight, upon puncture of the elastomeric membranes of the soft actuators.


Prior research has explored many facets of innovation, provided models of governance maturity, and analyzed the impact of corporate decision-making on innovation. However, there is little research on IT governance maturity in higher education or on IT innovation in organizations outside of the IT industry. Findings from previous research were ambiguous regarding whether a mature IT governance process helps or hinders innovation. This study fills a gap in existing knowledge by reviewing the literature and examining the interaction of IT governance and information technology innovation at five major U.S. universities. It provides insights into the structures and processes necessary for IT governance to facilitate technology innovation and the factors required for effective IT governance in higher education. Highly effective IT governance processes focused on collaboration and communication were associated with greater integration of radical innovation into institutional processes than effective IT governance processes that focused primarily on the prioritization of large enterprise projects. Incremental technology innovations were pervasive among all schools studied. IT governance was found to be more effective under a delegated model of decision-making authority that empowers IT governance bodies than under a CIO-centric model. The inclusion of a faculty, students and business units in IT governance committees was associated with a stronger innovation culture.


The subjects of Salman Rushdie's collection of non-fiction range from The Wizard of Oz, U2, India and Indian writing, the death of Princess Diana, and football, to twentieth-century writers including Angela Carter, Arthur Miller, Edward Said, J. M. Coetzee and Arundhati Roy. In a central section, 'Messages from the Plague Years', Rushdie focuses on the fight against the Iranian fatwa, presenting texts both personal and political, which show for the first time how it was to live through those days. Rushdie's columns for the New York Times confront current issues - Kashmir, Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Islam and the West - as well as lighter topics such as reality TV, sport and sleaze. The book ends with the lectures that give it its title - Rushdie's exploration of the theme of frontiers: crossing them, breaking taboos, and - in the light of September 11 - the world of permeable frontiers in which we all live.


The paper examines the impact of the Greater Cairo Master Plan and New Towns Policy on urban housing crisis through some case studies focusing especially on New Cairo City, to the east of downtown Cairo. The empirical research attempts to qualitatively examine the complex reasons for the failure of various policies and implementations in meeting housing needs of middle and low-income people. This has resulted in the emergence of nearly empty new towns, and the increasing fortification of the affluent nouveaux riche within exclusive desert condominiums and gated communities, a phenomenon which aggravated social injustice and housing inequality. These communities' global architectural styles and marketing strategies are linked to neo-liberal economic policies and private entrepreneurial urban governance related to individualised rights of seclusion, privacy and consumption. Influenced by expatriates in the Gulf monarchies, these desert enclaves are located in Greater Cairo's western desert (6th October City: Dream Land, Gardenia and Beverly Hills) and in the eastern suburbs (New Cairo City: Katameya Heights, Golf City, Al Rehab City, Mirage City, Arabella). Surrounded by golf courses, recreational and commercial facilities, these luxurious residential districts tend to be exterritorial with their construction, maintenance and economies, being largely controlled by international property development firms, whilst locally underlining the ever-sharper social disparity between rich and poor. Whilst exclusive lifestyles and security measures are defining features of these desert resort communities, these gated enclaves do not exist in isolation from their geographical and cultural environments, as noted in New Cairo City. Since 2000 New Cairo City was established as a result of merging Greater Cairo Master Plan's eastern new settlements (1, 3 and 5 ), creating a large suburban community. Initially the area was inhabited by 1992 Cairo's earthquake victims officially relocated to public housing units in settlement (3), which were later regarded incompatible with the development of golf gated communities.To a certain extent, New Cairo City encapsulates most of the features and problems of Greater Cairo's urban situation, in terms of a hybrid mixture of decayed public resettlement housing for the poor and up-market private gated resort communities for wealthy expatriate groups. New Cairo City, regarded as heterotopian spatial layers with diverse fragmented communities and as venue for new claims by global capital investment, 'juxtaposes in a single real place different spaces and locations that are incompatible' (Foucault 1997, p.356). The empirical study adopted a qualitative ethnographic analysis of the on-going contestation between resettled urban poor's right to the city, residents of gated communities, real estate and property speculators and official urban policy. A small area survey was administered within New Cairo City, with in-depth interviews recording narratives of both secondary stakeholder agencies (policy makers, urban planners, NGOs activists, real estate agents) and primary stakeholder groups (urban poor households within resettlement housing and affluent residents within gated communities). The study proposed a stakeholder approach to the sustainable development of new suburban communities in the context of real estate investment and urban planning policies,. Such approach would advocate public– private partnership and grass roots co-operation between home owners, relocated urban poor, land developers, housing experts and local authorities, in order to create inclusive and sustainable urban spaces.


A self-templation strategy was used to synthesise isophthalamide [2]catenanes of various sizes in up to 51% yield without the need for metal ions as templates or mediators of covalent bond formation. Using this strategy a bis-monodentate catenane was prepared incorporating exohedral pyridine units. Upon complexation of this ligand with AgOTf a one-dimensional coordination polymer was obtained in the solid state in which both macrocycles of the catenane are involved in binding to the metal nodes, resulting in a rare example of a coordination assembly in which mechanical bonds are incorporated into the structure backbone.


Partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) form an attractive and principled framework for agent planning under uncertainty. Point-based approximate techniques for POMDPs compute a policy based on a finite set of points collected in advance from the agent's belief space. We present a randomized point-based value iteration algorithm called PERSEUS. The algorithm performs approximate value backup stages, ensuring that in each backup stage the value of each point in the belief set is improved; the key observation is that a single backup may improve the value of many belief points. Contrary to other point-based methods, PERSEUS backs up only a (randomly selected) subset of points in the belief set, sufficient for improving the value of each belief point in the set. We show how the same idea can be extended to dealing with continuous action spaces. Experimental results show the potential of PERSEUS in large scale POMDP problems.


The current literature on the economic effects of machine learning, robotisation and artificial intelligence suggests that there may be an upcoming wave of substitution of human labour by machines (including software). We take this as a reason to rethink the traditional ways in which technological change has been represented in economic models. In doing so, we contribute to the recent literature on so-called perpetual growth, i.e., growth of per capita income without technological progress. When technology embodied in capital goods are sufficiently advanced, per capita growth becomes possible with a non-progressing state of technology. We present a simple Solow-like growth model that incorporates these ideas. The model predicts a rising wage rate but declining share of wage income in the steady state growth path. We present simulation experiments on several policy options to combat the inequality that results from this, including a universal basic income as well as an option in which workers become owners of "robots".


The Marsokhod rover returned data from six stations that were used to decipher the geomorphology and geology of a region not previously visited by members of the geomorphology field team. Satellite images and simulated descent images provided information about the regional setting. The landing zone was on an alluvial apron flanking a mountain block to the west and a playa surface to the east. Rover color images, infrared spectra analysis of the mountains, and the apron surface provided insight into the rock composition of the nearby mountains. From the return data the geomorphology team interpreted the region to consist of compressionally deformed, ancient marine sediments and igneous rocks exposed by more recent extensional tectonics. Unconsolidated alluvial materials blanket the lower flanks of the mountains. An ancient shoreline cut into alluvial material marks a high stand of water during a past, wetter climate period. Playa sediments floor a present-day, seasonally, dry lake. Observations made by the rover using panoramic and close-up (hand specimens—scale) image data and color scene data confirmed the presence of boulders, cobbles, and fines of various provinces. Rover traverses to sites identified as geologically distinct, such as fan, channel, shoreline, and playa, provided useful clues to the geologic interpretations. Analysis of local rocks was given context only through comparison with distant geologic features. These results demonstrated the importance of a multifaceted approach to site interpretation through comparison of interpretations derived by differing geologic techniques.


For centuries man has used coastal waters and the seas as a receptacle for %:/astes. Although the oceans have an enormous capacity to assimilate wastes, this limit is now being exceeded, or at least threatened, in many parts of the world. The resulting damages affect not only ecological stability and survivability of aquatic life, but also human uses and enjoyment of marine water. This paper identifies beneficial water uses impaired by marine pollution and evaluates them in an economic framework. Economic damages from current levels of pollution are estimated along •shorelines of the United States. Ranges of damage values are assumed to reflect uncertainty and incompleteness of the data base. Water uses that are assessed include commercial fishing, recreation (boating, sports fishing, swinming, and beach picnicking), and navigation. ' .At the international level, the severity of marine pollution is evaluated in a qualitative sense. Documented damages to recreational beaches and commercial fisheries are cited; and specific marine pollution problems are recognized for various countries. To date, economic analyses of international pollution control strategies have received minimal. attention, although legal policies on cooperation are evolving.


Recent governmental policies in the UK have been focusing on the promotion of mental health in children and young people and mental health provision in school has now become a government priority (DfE, 2016; DH, 2014). In these government initiatives, the role of educational psychologists (EPs) as external professionals that can support students' mental health has been frequently underrepresented and relatively limited to the delivery of therapeutic interventions (AEP, 2017). Existing research in mental health in educational psychology appears to focus on evaluations of therapeutic interventions. This study aims to extend the educational psychology evidence base and explain EPs' successful mental health casework. It aims to inform future educational psychology practice and improve mental health outcomes for children and young people. The current study is qualitative and adopts a constructivist epistemology with elements of the transformative paradigm. The study uses a constructivist grounded theory methodology (Charmaz, 2014) and data was gathered through semi-structured interviewing with five educational psychologist participants of a single local authority. Data gathering and analysis followed the steps suggested by Charmaz (2014). The outcomes of the data analysis were theoretically sensitised based on literature from attachment theory in psychotherapy, person-centred counselling, self-determination theory, solution-focused approaches and consultation. The constructed grounded theory focuses on EPs' direct work with school staff and parents and suggests that EPs use two sets of interacting processes in their work with adults. One relates to adults' engagement in cognitively demanding problem solving activities that aim to enable them to support the needs of the child by challenging their perceptions, teaching them new skills and leading them to cognitive and behavioural change. The other set of processes aims at the development of a secure attachment base within the involvement that offers emotional support and comfort when the adults feel overwhelmed by the challenging processes involved. The grounded theory suggests a theoretical framework for educational psychology practice and implications for professional practice and future policy are discussed alongside limitations and suggestions for future research.


Wheat types may be classified according to strength, a baking characteristic. Since the demand for wheat is derived demand, the baking characteristic is directly related to end use. Accordingly, the wheat classes that are used in this study are divided into sub-groups according to strength, that is, strong, medium, and weak wheats. Time-series methods are employed to determine how the different classes of wheats are related within each sub-group. The different wheats under the different sub-groups are found to be substitutes to various degrees, but form a robust cointegrating relationship, implying that the wheat prices in these markets are bound together by a long-term equilibrium relationship. Within each of the sub-groups, the U.S. wheats were found to act as a price leader, driving the prices of other wheats belonging in the same sub-group. These U. S. wheats were found to form no long-run relationship between each other given their distinct end uses. The study highlights the importance of differentiating wheat by end use to specify price linkages more accurately.


Using one lexicographical tool, the Diccionario Critico Etimologico Castellano e Hispanico (DECH), and two corpora, the HathiTrust's digital library and the Google Books Ngrams, we tracked the occurrence of thousands of loanwords in Spanish to describe their use, origin, and historical context. In doing so, we used computational methodologies to parse, lemmatize, group, count, and extract the information of all these tools. Results from parsing the etymologies of the DECH dictionary reveal a strong influence of Greek and French on the Spanish lexicon. The results from tracking the occurrence of loanwords in Spanish reveal a clear trend in the use of loanwords over time and support the hypothesis that the lexicon of a language reflects the sociopolitical and sociocultural change that their speakers undergo.


Snow- and glacier melt are important contributors to river discharge in high-elevated areas of the Himalayan region. Thus, it is important that the key processes controlling snow and glacier accumulation and melting, are well represented in hydrological models. In this study, the sensitivity of modelled discharge to different snowmelt parameterizations was evaluated. A distributed hydrological model that operated on a 1 × 1 km2 grid at a daily time resolution was applied to a high-elevated mountainous basin, the Upper Beas basin in Indian Himalaya, including several sub-basins with a varying degree of glacier covered areas. The snowmelt was calculated using (i) a temperature-index method, (ii) an enhanced temperature-index method including a shortwave radiation term, and (iii) an energy balance method. All model configurations showed similar performance at daily, seasonal, and annual timescales and a lower performance for the validation period than for the calibration period; a main reason being the failure to capture the observed negative trend in annual discharge in the validation period. The results suggest that model performance is more sensitive to the precipitation input, i.e. interpolation method than to the choice of snowmelt routine. The paper highlights the challenges related to the lack of high quality data sets in mountainous regions, which are those areas globally with most water resources.


NOTE: You are purchasing astandaloneproduct; MyProgrammingLabdoes not come packaged with this content. If you would like to purchase both the physical text and MyProgrammingLab search for 0134059859 / 9780134059853 Starting Out with C++ from Control Structures through Objects, Brief Version plus MyProgrammingLab with Pearson eText -- Access Card Package, 8/e, which includes: 0134014863 / 9780134014869 MyProgrammingLab with Pearson eText -- Access Card -- for Starting Out with C++ CSO, Brief Version 0134037324 / 9780134037325 Starting Out with C++ from Control Structures through Objects, Brief Version MyProgrammingLab should only be purchased when required by an instructor. For introductory courses in computer programming A Problem-Solving Approach to Programming In Starting Out With C++: From Control Structures through Objects, Brief Edition , Gaddis takes a problem-solving approach, inspiring students to understand the logic behind developing quality programs while introducing the C++ programming language. This style of teaching builds programming confidence and enhances each student's development of programming skills. This edition in the Starting Out With Series covers the core programming concepts that are introduced in the first semester introductory programming course. As with all Gaddis texts, clear and easy-to-read code listings, concise and practical real-world examples, and an abundance of exercises appear in every chapter. The Eighth Edition is updated and revised to reflect changes to the C++ programming language. Also available with MyProgrammingLab This title is also available with MyProgrammingLab to help students fully grasp the logic, semantics, and syntax of programming. Through practice exercises and immediate, personalized feedback, MyProgrammingLab improves the programming competence of beginning students who often struggle with the basic concepts and paradigms of popular high-level programming languages. MyProgrammingLab consists of hundreds of practice exercises organized around the structure of this textbook. For students, the system automatically detects errors in the logic and syntax of their code submissions and offers targeted hints that enable students to figure out what went wrongand why. For instructors, a comprehensive gradebook tracks students submissions and provides educators a dynamic tool for monitoring individual and class performance.


Because of their unique physical and chemical properties, the use of metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) has considerably increased in various fields. This has led to a new concern about their presence in the environment. Since their negative effect and potential toxicity impact have been confirmed, scientists focus on the development of different procedures for their detection, identification, characterization and quantification, not only in homogeneous and simple matrices, but also in complex environmental matrices. The current review presents cloud point extractions recently developed and used for the separation/preconcentration of MNPs (such as Ag, Au, CuO, ZnO, and Fe3O4) before their spectrometric quantification. This combination has been shown as a promising alternative for separation/preconcentration and quantification of MNPs in different environmental waters (such as tap, canal, mineral, bottled, lake, river, sea waters, or treated and untreated wastewaters) and some antibacterial products. The reviewed separation procedures have illustrated not only the separation of MNPs from the matrix, but also the separation of MNPs from their metallic ions. After optimization, high preconcentration factors and quantitative recoveries were described in most cases.


Background. Insulin resistance and the prevalence of diabetes are high in the Middle Eastern population and in people of South Asian origin. Because of epidemic proportions that diseases have reached in these populations. It is important to find early markers along with preventative interventions. Recent data indicates that the metabolic defect in the pre-diabetic condition relates more strongly to post-prandial deficiency than to the fasted state. Women have lower levels of risk factors for metabolic disease when assessed in the post-absorptive state. However, very few reports have investigated these in the post-prandial state, especially amongst an Arab population. Objectives. This study investigated systemic cardiovascular risk factors both in the fasted and post-prandial state in a healthy, non-diabetic female local population. Methods. A cohort of young female, non-diabetic subjects representative of a general Qatari population was recruited. The study was approved by the national ethical committee and all subjects gave written informed consent. Subjects attended after an overnight fast and blood samples were taken prior to and 30 and 120 minutes after ingesting a liquid mixed meal. Anthropometric measures included age, height, weight, blood pressure and pulse. Bioimpedance was used to measure body fat (%, mass and distribution) andBasel Metabolic Rate {BMR},(Tanita MC-980). Glucose (hexokinase, Roche), lipids (Roche), insulin and proinsulin (Mercodia),Glucose like peptide1 {GLP-1},(Millipore) and adipokines (R & D Systems) were all determined. Data were analysed by SPSS version 22.0 for windows. Parametric tests were used for normally distributed data and non-parametric analysis for skewed dataare shown in the text as Mean {SD} or Median {Interquertal range }. Results. The subjects were young (Age 29.8 {4.9} years), non-obese (BMI 25.6 {4.7} kg/m2}, normotensive (systolic BP 109 {10} and diastolic BP 72 {6} mmHg) and normolipidaemic (Total-cholesterol 3.5 {0.7}, LDL-cholesterol 2.0 {0.4}, HDL-cholesterol 1.3 {0.3}, triglycerides 0.6 {0.2} mmol/L). Their total body fat was relatively high (34 {6.5} %), which was reflected by elevated levels of systemic leptin (30.8 {17.5-53.0} ng/ml) and lower adiponectin (8.1 {6.0-11.3} ?g/ml). Despite no apparent fasting or post-prandial hyperglycaemic and HOMA-IR levels being normal, post-prandial hyperinsulinaemia and hyperproinsulinaemia were significant (see Table). Proinsulin also constituted 19% of total insulin-like molecules. Discussion. Young normal-weight Qatari women with no apparent metabolic disease are hyperinsulinaemic and hyperproinsulinaemic in the fed state. Thus, elevated post-prandial levels of insulin-like molecules may be an early, sensitive marker for the metabolic defect that precedes cardiometabolic disease in this population. Table. Fasting and post-prandial concentrations of insulin-like molecules VariablesFasting30 minutes120 minutes Glucose (mmol/L)4.6 (0.3)5.0 (0.7)4.3 (0.5) Insulin (mIU/L)5.1 (4.0-6.3)50.5 (31.5-57.9)28.8 (23.2-37.4) Proinsulin (pmol/L)8.1 (5.7-11.4)22.3 (14.0-38.7)34.3 (22.0-49.6) GLP-1 (pmol/L)2.0 (1.8-2.4)8.4 (6.0-11.3)7.0 (3.3-9.6) Data ar shown as mean (SD) or median (interquartile range).


In the context of stochastic search, once regions of high performance are found, having the property that small changes in the candidate solution correspond to searching nearby neighborhoods provides the ability to perform effective local optimization. To achieve this, Gray Codes are often employed for encoding ordinal points or discretized real numbers. In this paper, we present a method to label similar and/or close points within arbitrary graphs with small Hamming distances. The resultant point labels can be viewed as an approximate highdimensional variant of Gray Codes. The labeling procedure is useful for any task in which the solution requires the search algorithm to select a small subset of items out of many. A large number of empirical results using these encodings with a combination of genetic algorithms and hill-climbing are presented. Keywords—Gray Code; Graph Labeling; Local Search; Genetic Algorithms; Stochastic Search


Wnt signalling regulates multiple processes including angiogenesis, inflammation, and tumorigenesis. Norrin (Norrie Disease Protein) is a cystine-knot like growth factor. Although unrelated to Wnt, Norrin activates the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Signal complex formation involves Frizzled4 (Fz4), low-density lipoprotein receptor related protein 5/6 (Lrp5/6), Tetraspanin-12 and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). Here, we report crystallographic and small-angle X-ray scattering analyses of Norrin in complex with Fz4 cysteine-rich domain (Fz4CRD), of this complex bound with GAG analogues, and of unliganded Norrin and Fz4CRD. Our structural, biophysical and cellular data, map Fz4 and putative Lrp5/6 binding sites to distinct patches on Norrin, and reveal a GAG binding site spanning Norrin and Fz4CRD. These results explain numerous disease-associated mutations. Comparison with the Xenopus Wnt8–mouse Fz8CRD complex reveals Norrin mimics Wnt for Frizzled recognition. The production and characterization of wild-type and mutant Norrins reported here open new avenues for the development of therapeutics to combat abnormal Norrin/Wnt signalling. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.06554.001


Judge Richard Posner's recent book, "Law, Pragmatism, and Democracy", is a major contribution to the ongoing debate over the best conception of democracy and the role of judicial review within it. Posner urges that political and legal decision-makers should be guided by what he calls everyday pragmatism rather than worry about abstract moral considerations (chs. 1-2). He links this conception of pragmatic government to an unromantic theory of democracy that rejects more demanding and idealistic views currently embraced by many political theorists and legal scholars. In contrast to deliberative democracy and other theories that require a high level of disinterested political involvement on the part of citizens, Posner follows Joseph Schumpeter in defending a theory of democracy limited to a competitive power struggle among members of a political elite for the electoral support of the masses. He further argues that judicial review should be based on a combination of pragmatism and adherence to his limited conception of democracy, rather than sticking closely to formalist theories of adjudication, which demand strict adherence to the text of the Constitution, legal precedent, or the original intent of the framers (chs. 6-10). Judge Posner makes a large number of powerful points and his critiques of opposing views are often devastating. Unfortunately, he is less persuasive in defending the central theses of this book: his theories of pragmatism, democracy, and judicial review. Posner's version of pragmatism is both too narrow and too broad. Its excessive narrowness resides in Posner's failure to come to grips with the fact that the pragmatic soundness of an action cannot be assessed without a prior determination of whether the results it accomplishes are normatively desirable. This latter judgment cannot itself be a purely pragmatic one, but requires some sort of normative theory of ends. On the other hand, Posnerian pragmatism is also too broad because it is not clear what if any considerations can be excluded from its scope. A theory that incorporates everything ultimately proves nothing. Posner's model of democracy likewise suffers from important deficiencies. While he is surely correct in claiming that Schumpeterian democracy is a superior alternative to the unrealistic visions of deliberative democrats, he is too quick to conclude that it is the best currently available version. Posner's defense of Schumpeter does not sufficiently consider the shortcomings exposed in recent scholarship in political science and economics. As a result, Posner fails to adequately refute the possibility that Schumpeterian democracy might function better if the powers of democratic legislatures were much more severely restricted than he considers desirable. Finally, Posner's argument that judicial decision-making should be based on his theories of pragmatism and democracy suffers from the limitations of those theories themselves. It also has additional shortcomings of its own, including the likely inability of judges to implement those theories. As Posner himself partially acknowledges, judges may often serve democracy better by staying within the bounds of formalism.


The unprecedented growth of public disquiet about sleaze in contemporary Britain can be interpreted in a number of different ways. Defenders of the status quo point to the relatively sudden and distinctive emergence of the sleaze issue as a concept in public debate, arguing that it is only (or primarily) a mass media creation, a spasm or temporary moral panic in which a small number of problems are overdramatized and ascribed implausible levels of significance. For this school of thought, sleaze is a minor issue or a non-issue for most of the public, and its sudden prominence has no lasting constitutional significance beyond perhaps triggering a few, incremental safeguards of the kind recommended in the first Nolan Committee report. By contrast, more critical voices suggest that the 'sleaze' furore is indicative of a substantial and recurring problem within the British polity, left unresolved by previous periods of reform, and now eliciting strong calls for fundamental constitutional change from the majority of citizens. In the past, the difficulties in deciding between these two views have been considerable for a number of reasons. First, it was hard to say anything very objective about the media's behaviour. Second, the available survey information about public opinion on these issues was fragmentary and often seriously defective in terms of the questions asked or the methods used. Against a background where media influences and public attitudes could only be rather impressionistically described, it was much harder to determine the significance of problems with established institutional rules. Here we remedy these difficulties using two new data sources—information derived from a systematic analysis of mass media behaviour on the sleaze issue, discussed in our first section; and data from the comprehensive survey of public attitudes to constitutional reform questions contained in the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust's State of the Nation surveys in 1991 and 1995, discussed in the second section. The conclusions show how these findings put the current sleaze furore into a different perspective. The media's impact in creating an integrated issue is acknowledged. But the public's response to the disparate concerns included in the overall issue reflects longer term and fundamental problems in traditional constitutional arrangements and with the dominant 'self-regulation' ethos of Britain's governing elites.


Dental caries and periodontal diseases have historically been considered the most important part of the global burden of oral diseases. At present, the distribution and severity of oral diseases vary in different parts of the world and within the same country or region. Dental caries is still a major public health problem in most industrialized countries, affecting 60-90% of schoolchildren and the vast majority of adults. It is also a prevalent oral disease in several Asian and Latin American countries, while it appears to be less common and less severe in most African countries. It is expected, however, that the incidence of dental caries will increase in the near future in many developing countries of Africa, as a result of growing consumption of sugars and inadequate exposure to fluorides. The significant role of socio-behavioural and environmental factors in oral disease and health is demonstrated in a large number of epidemiological surveys. The current pattern of dental caries reflects primarily distinct risk profiles across countries (related to living conditions, lifestyles and environmental factors) and the implementation of preventive oral health systems. In some industrialized countries there has been a positive trend in the reduction of tooth loss among adults in recent years, though the proportion of edentulous persons in the elderly population is still high in some countries. In most developing countries, access to oral health services is limited and teeth are often left untreated or are extracted because of pain or discomfort. Tooth loss and impaired oral function are therefore expected to increase as a public health problem in many developing countries. Tooth loss in adult life may also be attributable to poor periodontal health. Severe periodontitis, which may result in tooth loss, is found in 5-15% of most populations. In industrialized countries, studies show that tobacco use is a major risk factor for adult periodontal disease. With the growing consumption of tobacco in many developing countries, the risk of periodontal disease and tooth loss may therefore increase. Oral cancer is closely related to the use of tobacco and excessive consumption of alcohol. The prevalence of oral cancer is particularly high among men, and is the eighth most common cancer worldwide. In south and central Asia, consumption of tobacco in various forms is particularly high, and cancer of the oral cavity ranks among the three most common types of cancer. Periodontal disease and tooth loss are also related to chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus: the growing incidence of diabetes may further impact negatively on oral health of people in several developing countries. …


In this work, an extended overview of the marine renewable energy in the Mediterranean Sea is provided as regards current status, potential problems, challenges, and perspectives of development. An integrated and holistic approach is necessary for the economic viability and sustainability of marine renewable energy projects; this approach comprises three different frameworks, not always aligned, i.e., geotechnical/engineering, socio-economic, and environmental/ecological frameworks. In this context, the geomorphological, climatological, socio-economic, and environmental/ecological particularities of the Mediterranean basin are discussed, as they constitute key issues of the spatial context in which marine renewable energy projects are to be implemented. General guidelines for the sustainable development of marine renewable energy in the Mediterranean are also provided.


At the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range straddling the Montana-Wyoming border, the fate of a herd of mustangs rests with the Bureau of Land Management and local horse conservationists. Nationally, the two sides are generally pitted against each other in the ugly world of horse politics. But in the Pryors, advocates and government have forged a tenuous partnership. Both sides want to see healthy horses on healthy range. And there could hardly be a better herd to benefit from such a truce. The Pryor Mountain mustangs have a unique genetic heritage at stake. The horses are some of the last surviving relics of an old-world horse lineage that dates back to the equines originally brought to the Americas by Spanish conquistadors. It's a lineage on the cusp of being eclipsed in the wild.


Many extrasolar (bound) terrestrial planets and free-floating (unbound) planets have been discovered. While the existence of bound and unbound terrestrial planets with liquid water is an important question, of particular importance is the question of these planets' habitability. Even for a globally ice-covered planet, geothermal heat from the planetary interior may melt the interior ice, creating an internal ocean covered by an ice shell. In this paper, we discuss the conditions that terrestrial planets must satisfy for such an internal ocean to exist on the timescale of planetary evolution. The question is addressed in terms of planetary mass, distance from a central star, water abundance, and abundance of radiogenic heat sources. In addition, we investigate the structure of the surface H2O layers of ice-covered planets by considering the effects of ice under high pressure (high-pressure ice). As a fiducial case, a 1 M⊕ planet at 1 AU from its central star and with 0.6–25 times the H2O mass of the Earth could have an internal ocean. We find that high-pressure ice layers may appear between the internal ocean and the rock portion on a planet with an H2O mass over 25 times that of the Earth. The planetary mass and abundance of surface water strongly restrict the conditions under which an extrasolar terrestrial planet may have an internal ocean with no high-pressure ice under the ocean. Such high-pressure ice layers underlying the internal ocean are likely to affect the habitability of the planet.


Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease, and its main hallmark is the deposition of amyloid beta (Aβ) peptides. However, several clinical trials focusing on Aβ-targeting agents have failed recently, and thus new therapeutic leads are focusing on alternate targets such as tau protein pathology, Aβ-metal induced oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation. To address these different pathological aspects of AD, we have employed a multifunctional compound 4-(benzo[d]thiazol-2-yl)-2-((4,7-dimethyl-1,4,7-triazonan-1-yl)methyl)-6-methoxyphenol (L1) that integrates Aβ-interacting and metal-binding fragments in a single molecular framework and exhibits significant antioxidant activity and metal chelating ability, and also rescues neuroblastoma N2A cells from Cu2+-induced Aβ neurotoxicity. Along with in vivo Aβ-binding and favorable brain uptake properties, the treatment of transgenic 5xFAD mice with L1 significantly reduces the amount of both amyloid plaques and associated phosphorylated tau (p-tau) aggregates in the brain by 40-50% versus the vehicle-treated 5xFAD mice. Moreover, L1 mitigates the neuroinflammatory response of the activated microglia during the Aβ-induced inflammation process. Overall, these multifunctional properties of L1 to attenuate the formation of amyloid plaques and p-tau aggregates while also reducing the microglia-mediated neuroinflammatory response are quite uncommon among the previously reported amyloid-targeting chemical agents, and thus L1 could be envisioned as a lead compound for the development of novel AD therapeutics.


Until a few years ago, the panorama of recent architectural production in the southern Alps seemed merciless. Now the balances have partially balanced themselves out, defining new geographies. If we look at the phenomenon with a certain detachment, we can see that the accumulated delay has not only harmed. In fact, considering the scene of today's global architecture, the exasperated tension for the morphology, the search for the sensationalism of the image as an essential element of marketing, the authorship and self-referentiality of the gesture seem to finally disappear.
In other words, the new, the novelty – not to be confused with innovation – as ontological values, has, fortunately, lost part of its appeal, in favour of other themes linked to the context, the appropriateness of uses, compatibility, environmental, to the rewriting and reuse of the existing. If we link this to the current socio-economic situation, which sees the reconsideration of inland areas, the crisis of certain models of consumption – including tourism – of the territory and the redistribution of flows, unprecedented opportunities arise for previously marginal geographical realities, if not completely excluded from the circuits and narratives of the glamorous mountain. This gives rise to design opportunities cultivated in understatement, perhaps "suffered" but far from the "performance anxieties" that often connote glossy and designer interventions that we usually see elsewhere.


Recommender systems are considered as useful software that helps users in screening and evaluating products. The fact that users do not know how these systems make decisions leads to an information asymmetry. Thus, users need to trust if they want to take over systems' recommendations. Applying social interfaces has been suggested as helpful extensions of recommender systems to increase trust. These are called (Social) Recommendation Agents. While many articles and implementations can be found in the field of e-commerce, we believe that Recommendation Agents can be applied to other contexts, too. However, a structured evaluation of contexts and design dimensions for Recommendation Agents is lacking. In this study, first, we give an overview of design dimensions for Recommendation Agents. Second, we explore previous research on trust and Recommendation Agents by means of a structured literature review. Finally, based on the resulting overview, we highlight three major areas for future research.


This article offers a 'first step' toward understanding the consequences of intranational political violence on the growth of a nation's largest cities. Theory and research from studies on forced migration and internal displacement are used to construct several hypotheses that assess the impact that various forms of intranational political violence have on the growth of major urban areas within the developing world. Hypotheses are tested using a cross-national time-series sample of 85 developing nations from 1974 to 2005. The results provide strong empirical evidence that various forms of intranational political violence are significantly related to population growth amongst a nation's largest cities. Specifically, attacks on government personnel are associated with an increase in population growth among a nation's largest cities. Violence targeting civilians are associated with decelerated growth in a nation's largest city but increased growth in major secondary cities. Finally, increases in the intensity and duration of civil wars are associated with decreases in population among secondary cities but exhibit a curvilinear growth pattern in a nation's largest city (i.e. an increase then decrease). It is argued that the findings are at least partially explained by the 'spatial logics' that arise from a given form of political violence. It is concluded that more attention should be given to studying the consequences of political violence on the urbanisation process for rapidly urbanising nations.


Purpose: A neural model of speech production based on self-organizing neural networks and comprising motor and sensory modules for feedback and feed-forward control is introduced. The model is capable of describing speech acquisition stages as well as speech perception effects. Method: 20 instances of the neural model were trained as in early stages of speech acquisition (babbling and imitation) in order to create 20 different virtual toddlers. Perceptual experiments were performed using these virtual listeners. Results: Typical effects of speech perception occur during identification experiments on vocalic and consonantal acoustic stimulus continua. Consonantal categorical perception directly occurs during babbling while the vocalic perceptual magnet effect occurs later on during language specific imitation training. Conclusion: The introduced neural model of speech production using self-organizing neural networks is capable (a) of illustrating the close relationship between production and perception of speech and (b) of elucidating the formation of speech perception during speech acquisition.


Gender equality in the labour market is a key topic in the Nordic cooperation on gender equality. As a follow up to two earlier reports on part-time work this third report is an introductory study to part-time work and gender in the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Aland Islands. The aim is to map what is known about part-time work, and where possible, explain working patterns in these areas. The report gives an overview of the labour markets of the three areas and introduces part-time work based on existing data. The report also present findings from an exploratory study with women who work part-time in the Faroe Islands. Erika Anne Hayfield, PhD, Assistant Professor of Social Sciences at the University of the Faroe Islands, Rogvi Olavson, MSc Sociology and Liv Patursson, MSc Gender Studies wrote the report on request by NIKK, for the Nordic Council of Ministers.


Researchers at the Bureau of Mines investigated the use of close-range photogrammetry and subsequent stereo digitizing to obtain data from rock fracture roughness profiles. The photogrammetric process yielded results that were acceptable but somewhat inferior to those obtained by a mechanical profilometer. On the basis of this study, further pursuit of photogrammetry as a data collection method in mining is proposed. Fractal geometry was investigated as a means of measuring the roughness of rock fracture profiled. Four fractal algorithms were used: divider method, modified divider method, box method, and spectral method. A comparison of the methods gave ambiguous results. Brown's modified divider method provided the best means of obtaining the fractal dimension. Shear strength estimates were obtained using the parameters of the modified divider method and Myers' Z2 measure. Because of differences in results when comparing the different ways of obtaining the fractal dimension, future users of fractals in studies of rock fractures are advised to cross-check their results carefully.


Long-term exploitation of industrial electropolishing baths may contribute to the emergence of surface defects and may limit the range of applicable current densities. Due to this, extending the time of use of industrial baths is a major challenge. The application of electrochemical reduction in the process of reduction industrial baths enabled to reduce its contamination and, as a result, to enhance the surface quality of electropolished samples of grade 304 stainless steel. The contamination influence of the electropolishing bath on such parameters of the electropolished samples as roughness, gloss, mass reduction, and corrosion resistance was compared. The conducted tests included reduction of the contaminated industrial bath with use of cathodic reduction and monitoring of bath contamination with use of emission spectrometry ICP-OES. Potentiodynamic tests in 0.5 M chlorine environment with the aim to determine the influence of electrochemical reduction of the plating bath on surface resistance demonstrated that the pitting corrosion resistance of samples electropolished in a bath after reduction was reduced by approximately 0.1 V in comparison with samples electropolished before reduction. The calculations conducted for 24 corrosion resistance measurements demonstrated that differences between the results were significant. Bath reduction leads to improved roughness and gloss, even by approximately 500 GU (gloss units). At the same time, mass reduction decreases even by 13% in comparison with the process conducted in the bath before reduction. This may have a positive influence by slowing down the bath contamination process and, as a result, it reduces negative environmental impact. Another argument that supports the reduction of industrial baths is slowing down the process of cathode contamination during the electropolishing process. In industrial conditions, this may extend the possibility to conduct the process without the need for cathode reduction or replacement.


The ACM Special Interest Group on Data Communications (SIGCOMM) has been a major research forum for fifty years. This community has had a major impact on the history of the Internet, and therefore we argue its exploration may reveal fundamental insights into the evolution of networking technologies around the globe. Hence, on the 50th anniversary of SIGCOMM, we take this opportunity to reflect upon its progress and achievements, through the lens of its various publication outlets, e.g., the SIGCOMM conference, IMC, CoNEXT, HotNets. Our analysis takes several perspectives, looking at authors, countries, institutes and papers. We explore trends in co-authorship, country-based productivity, and knowledge flow to and from SIGCOMM venues using bibliometric techniques. We hope this study will serve as a valuable resource for the computer networking community.


Acehnese has been depicted for their heroism and craziness in great deal of literature as a result of their firm stand and continuous fight during the war against the Dutch colonial power at the turn of the 19 th to the 20 th century (Siegel, 1979; Hurgronje, 1906). As in a number of his other works of fiction, in his first novel of the Buru Quartet, This Earth of Mankind, Pramoedya Ananta Toer also makes many references to Aceh and the Acehnese (Toer, 1982). This paper aims to explore the aspects of heroism of Acehnese fighters and another side of human tragedies in the context of Aceh war as represented by Toer in this novel. The two themes are extracted and highlighted as the results of the analysis of Toer's narrative through the flashback made by one of his characters much of whose life has been dictated by his past engagement against Acehnese fighters in a number of battles in Aceh. While the heroism is amplified as being part of the characteristics of the Acehnese fighters, the tragic elements feature the suffering experienced by the colonial soldier later in his life. Both aspects reflect Toer's perspective and emotional tie to one of the ethnic groups from the extreme west of the archipelago.


The hihi/stitchbird (Notiomystis cincta), an endangered New Zealand endemic species, has one selfsustaining population not subject to human intervention, located on Little Barrier Island (Te Hauturu-o-Toi), in the Hauraki Gulf, Auckland. All other hihi populations have been derived from Little Barrier Island and all require active management. Changes in the population of hihi on Little Barrier Island are, therefore, of great conservation interest. During 2005–2013, densities of hihi were compared using distance sampling to those of two other endemic forest birds: tūī (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae) and tīeke/North Island saddleback (Philesturnus rufusater). Tūī has a broadly similar diet with both adapted to nectivory, and tīeke a more omnivorous diet. During 2005–2006, hihi densities were relatively high (3.1–4.0 hihi ha−1) but declined during 2007 (1.3 hihi ha−1). Similarly, tūī had comparatively high densities during 2005–2006 (3.0–4.4 tūī ha−1 respectively) but declined during 2007 (1.6 tūī ha−1). By 2009, hihi density increased (3.1 hihi ha−1) then declined and remained at low densities during 2010–2013 (0.8–1.1 hihi ha−1). Tūī density also increased by 2009 (2.2 tūī ha−1), but was variable during 2010–2013 (0.7–3.3 tūī ha−1). In contrast, tīeke densities remained relatively stable from 2005–2013 (1.7–2.8 tīeke ha−1). Extrapolating from 2013 estimates of 1.0 hihi ha−1, 1.5 tūī ha−1 and 2.2 tīeke ha−1, the island populations were about 3100 hihi (95% confidence interval (CI) 2500–3400), 4600 tūī (95% CI 4300–4900) and 6800 tīeke (95% CI 6200–7400). The variability in hihi and tūī densities suggests strong drivers of population change, perhaps availability of preferred food types. However, the comparatively constant hihi density in the latter half of the study compared to more variable tūī density suggests other factors are affecting the tūī population. The lower variability in tīeke density suggests their populations are influenced by other factors. Notwithstanding historical natural variation in hihi density, the low densities recorded during 2010–2013 are likely to have increased the risk of loss due to both short-term stochastic and long-term environmental change. We therefore recommend continued monitoring of the hihi population using distance sampling and investigation of the factors that influence hihi density.


ABSTRACT We describe the presence and characteristics of two self-splicing group I introns in the sole 23S rRNA gene of Coxiella burnetii. The two group I introns, Cbu.L1917 and Cbu.L1951, are inserted at sites 1917 and 1951 (Escherichia coli numbering), respectively, in the 23S rRNA gene of C. burnetii. Both introns were found to be self-splicing in vivo and in vitro even though the terminal nucleotide of Cbu.L1917 is adenine and not the canonical conserved guanine, termed ΩG, found in Cbu.L1951 and all other group I introns described to date. Predicted secondary structures for both introns were constructed and revealed that Cbu.L1917 and Cbu.L1951 were group IB2 and group IA3 introns, respectively. We analyzed strains belonging to eight genomic groups of C. burnetii to determine sequence variation and the presence or absence of the elements and found both introns to be highly conserved (≥99%) among them. Although phylogenetic analysis did not identify the specific identities of donors, it indicates that the introns were likely acquired independently; Cbu.L1917 was acquired from other bacteria like Thermotoga subterranea and Cbu.L1951 from lower eukaryotes like Acanthamoeba castellanii. We also confirmed the fragmented nature of mature 23S rRNA in C. burnetii due to the presence of an intervening sequence. The presence of three selfish elements in C. burnetii's 23S rRNA gene is very unusual for an obligate intracellular bacterium and suggests a recent shift to its current lifestyle from a previous niche with greater opportunities for lateral gene transfer.


The first year of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data are compared with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data for derivation of biophysical variables in Senegal, West Africa. The dynamic range of the two MODIS vegetation indices (VIs)—the continuity vegetation index (CVI) and the enhanced vegetation index (EVI)—is generally much larger than for the NOAA AVHRR normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data, indicating the importance of the change in near-infrared wavelength configuration from the NOAA AVHRR sensor to the MODIS sensor. Senegal is characterized by a pronounced gradient in the vegetation density covering a range of agro-climatic zones from arid to humid and it is found that the MODIS CVI values saturate for high VI values while the EVI demonstrates improved sensitivity for high biomass. Compared to NOAA AVHRR the MODIS VIs generally correlate better to the MODIS fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (fAPAR) absorbed by vegetation canopies and the leaf area index (LAI; the one-sided green leaf area per unit ground area). CVI is found to correlate better to both fAPAR and LAI than is the case for EVI because of the larger dynamic range of the CVI data. This suggests that the problem of background contamination on VIs from soil is not as severe in Senegal as has been found in other semi-arid African areas.


Introduction The aim of this study was to evaluate information provided on pregnancy, personal decision making, disease course, and outcome of pregnancy from a patient's perspective in a population of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) attending two general hospitals. Patients and methods A questionnaire was sent to all female patients with IBD in two general hospitals in the Netherlands. The questionnaire comprised four sections: (i) demographic data and medication use (ii) details on previous pregnancies and reasons for not becoming pregnant, (iii) outcome of pregnancies before IBD diagnosis, and (iv) outcome of pregnancies after IBD diagnosis. If necessary, medical records were reviewed to verify responses or for further medical details. Results In total, 385 women returned the questionnaire, 501 completed pregnancies were reported, and 113 women had never been pregnant. In 272 women with at least one pregnancy, 334 pregnancies occurred before IBD diagnosis, 157 after IBD diagnosis, and in 10 cases, IBD was diagnosed during pregnancy. Medication for IBD was used in 67% of pregnancies after IBD diagnosis, mainly 5-ASA preparations (54%). Women with ulcerative colitis experienced more IBD-related complaints during pregnancy compared with women with Crohn's disease (25 vs. 14%, P=0.016). Additional medication (n=21) or surgery (n=2) for IBD during pregnancy was indicated in 14% of cases. Most women reported an uneventful pregnancy course (79%). Preterm birth occurred in 13% of pregnancies. Conclusion Pregnancy in women with IBD seen in a general hospital can be managed with a good outcome. Step-up therapy is needed in a minority of cases, and severe complications are rare.


The apparent contradiction in the title is a word-play on the different meanings attributed to the word reproducible across different scientific fields. What we imply is that unreproducible findings can be built upon reproducible methods . Without denying the importance of facilitating the reproduction of methods , we deem important to reassert that reproduction of findings is a fundamental step of the scientific inquiry. We argue that the commendable quest towards easy deterministic reproducibility of methods and numerical results should not have us forget the even more important necessity of ensuring the reproducibility of empirical findings and conclusions by properly accounting for essential sources of variations. We provide experiments to exemplify the brittleness of current common practice in the evaluation of models in the field of deep learning, showing that even if the results could be reproduced, a slightly different experiment would not support the findings. We hope to help clarify the distinction between exploratory and empirical research in the field of deep learning and believe more energy should be devoted to proper empirical research in our community. This work is an attempt to promote the use of more rigorous and diversified methodologies. It is not an attempt to impose a new methodology and it is not a critique on the nature of exploratory research.


Variations in the foreign exchange market influence all aspects of the world economy, and understanding these dynamics is one of the great challenges of international economics. This book provides a new, comprehensive, and in-depth examination of the standard theories and latest research in exchange-rate economics. Covering a vast swath of theoretical and empirical work, the book explores established theories of exchange-rate determination using macroeconomic fundamentals, and presents unique microbased approaches that combine the insights of microstructure models with the macroeconomic forces driving currency trading. Macroeconomic models have long assumed that agents--households, firms, financial institutions, and central banks--all have the same information about the structure of the economy and therefore hold the same expectations and uncertainties regarding foreign currency returns. Microbased models, however, look at how heterogeneous information influences the trading decisions of agents and becomes embedded in exchange rates. Replicating key features of actual currency markets, these microbased models generate a rich array of empirical predictions concerning trading patterns and exchange-rate dynamics that are strongly supported by data. The models also show how changing macroeconomic conditions exert an influence on short-term exchange-rate dynamics via their impact on currency trading. Designed for graduate courses in international macroeconomics, international finance, and finance, and as a go-to reference for researchers in international economics, Exchange-Rate Dynamics guides readers through a range of literature on exchange-rate determination, offering fresh insights for further reading and research.


DTU Orbit (28/12/2018) Ultimate Limit State Model Basis for Assessment of Offshore Wind Energy Converters. This paper establishes the model basis regarding the ultimate limit state consisting of structural, loading, and probabilistic models of the support structure of offshore wind energy converters together with a sensitivity study. The model basis is part of a risk based assessment and monitoring framework and will be applied for establishing the "as designed and constructed" reliability as prior information for the assessment and as a basis for designing a monitoring system. The model basis is derived considering the constitutive physical equations and the methodology of solving these which then in combina-tion with the ultimate limit state requirements leads to the specific constitutive relations. As a result finite element models based on shell elements incorporating a structural and a loading model are introduced and described in detail. Applying these models the ultimate capacity of the support structure and the tripod structure are determined with a geometrically and materially nonlinear finite element analysis. The observed failure mechanisms are the basis for the definition of the ultimate limit state responses. A probabilistic model accounting for the uncertainties involved is derived on the basis of literature review and measurement data from a prototype Multibrid M5000 support structure. In combination with the developed structural and loading models, sensitivity analyses in regard to the responses are peiformed to enhance the understanding and to refine the developed models. To this end, as the developed models necessitate substantial numerical efforts for the probabilistic response analysis predetermined designs of numerical experiments are applied for the calculation of the sensitivities using the Spearman rank correlation coefficient. With this quantification of the sensitivity of the random variables on the responses including nonlinearity the refinement of the model is performed on a quantitative basis.


Century, Catherine Seville, Cambridge University Press, 2006, 1139461001, 9781139461009, 354 pages. Technological developments have shaped copyright law's development, and now the prospect of endless, effortless digital copying poses a significant challenge to modern copyright law. Many complain that copyright protection has burgeoned wildly, far beyond its original boundaries. Some have questioned whether copyright can survive the digital age. From a historical perspective, however, many of these 'new' challenges are simply fresh presentations of familiar dilemmas. This book explores the history of international copyright law, and looks at how this history is relevant today. It focuses on international copyright during the nineteenth century, as it affected Europe, the British colonies (particularly Canada), America, and the UK. As we consider the reform of modern copyright law, nineteenth-century experiences offer highly relevant empirical evidence. Copyright law has proved itself robust and flexible over several centuries. If directed with vision, Seville argues, it can negotiate cyberspace..


Currently, over 15% of new HIV infections occur in children. Breastfeeding is a major contributor to HIV infections in infants. This represents a major paradox in the field because in vitro, breast milk has been shown to have a strong inhibitory effect on HIV infectivity. However, this inhibitory effect has never been demonstrated in vivo. Here, we address this important paradox using the first humanized mouse model of oral HIV transmission. We established that reconstitution of the oral cavity and upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract of humanized bone marrow/liver/thymus (BLT) mice with human leukocytes, including the human cell types important for mucosal HIV transmission (i.e. dendritic cells, macrophages and CD4+ T cells), renders them susceptible to oral transmission of cell-free and cell-associated HIV. Oral transmission of HIV resulted in systemic infection of lymphoid and non-lymphoid tissues that is characterized by the presence of HIV RNA in plasma and a gradual decline of CD4+ T cells in peripheral blood. Consistent with infection of the oral cavity, we observed virus shedding into saliva. We then evaluated the role of human breast milk on oral HIV transmission. Our in vivo results demonstrate that breast milk has a strong inhibitory effect on oral transmission of both cell-free and cell-associated HIV. Finally, we evaluated the effect of antiretrovirals on oral transmission of HIV. Our results show that systemic antiretrovirals administered prior to exposure can efficiently prevent oral HIV transmission in BLT mice.


Ceratitis capitata Wiedemann (Diptera: Tephritidae) is a cosmopolitan pest, originary from West-Africa, that has invaded almost all the temperate and tropical countries by the unwanted aid of the men. During its adaptation to these new environments, C. capitata has widened its host plant portfolio, being nowadays a key pest for more than 400 plant species of economic importance. Due to this importance, many importing countries had established quarantine measures and borders against fruit world-wide trade, which had directly impacted on the plant protection policies of producer countries. Spain and Tunisia are located in the Mediterranean basin; the first known world-wide dispersal point of C. capitata. In these two countries, C. capitata is considered a key pest mainly for citrus species and other soft-fruits. From a historical point of view, Plant Protection policies in Spain were switched from a nearly ecological management (with great losses) to mainly chemical-based treatments with the spread of organosphosphate compounds early on XX century. With the development of European Union, national Plant Protection plans were modified, introducing the Integrated Pest Management programs (IPM), on which environment and human-friendly methods should be selected instead of the most damaging chemical treatments. Following these steps, Tunisia is integrating the use of biorrational methods while keeping the use of chemicals as low as possible. To this end, in the present thesis dissertation, I would focus on the use of natural enemies as the best and sustainable control method, coming back to the Biological Control programs that were successful in the past against other pests in both countries. More precisely, this dissertation is presenting the results on the implementation of Classical Biological Control against C. capitata in citrus, by the importation, evaluation and release of the parasitoid species Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) in both countries. This parasitoid species, native from East Asia, is currently used against other tephritid pest species, key species for other countries and commodities. In the First Chapter I will present a literature review on the Plant protection policies against this key pest, and what is know about the performance and success of this parasitoid species. At the Second Chaper, I will present the results of the implementation of laboratory rearings of both insects to achieve all the remaining objectives, along with the determination of life parameters of the specie that will determine its success as natural enemy. In this second chapter I will also present the determination of biotic (host densities and availability) and abiotic (temperature, RH, rainfall) factors affecting the performance of D. longicaudata over C. capitata. During the Third Chapter, I will demonstrate that D. longicaudata is able to exhert control of C. capitata under natural Mediterranean climatic conditions when either challenging the parasitoid with hosts directly from the laboratory rearing or in a more natural condition, within the fruits, a forestep required to determine its inclusion in the national Plant Protection Policies. Results show that D. longicaudata exhert up to 30% of medfly population reduction by means of induced mortality along the provisioning of new parasitoid offspring that would propagate and establish in the country. Along these results I showed that D. longicaudata was able to control medfly infestation foci at a rate that depend on climatic conditions and on the number of released females. At the Fourth Chapter, I will reveal the results of D. longicaudata dispersion abilities along its capability to exhert control of C. capitata populations while applied joinly with SIT, by means of open-field test trials, with a new developed sentinel fruits methodology. In this chapter, I consider also the abiotic factors that could determine its naturalization in other Mediterranean countries with similar climatic conditions. The results of this chapter highlight the need of such dispersal studies at the corresponding local climatic conditions to establish the release procedures. At the Fifth Chapter, I will expose the results of importation and naturalization of D. longicaudata in Tunisia, with the required studies on the presence of native enemies and the identification of a new parasitoid Pachycrepoideus vindemmiae Rondani (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae)., the establishment of laboratory rearings for the release trials, and the side-effects of the available control measures that will face D. longicaudata in Tunisian citrus orchards which will determine the procedure in tempo and form for the releases. At the end of this dissertation, I will present the main conclusions achieved that can be summarized in: (i) D. longicaudata is a viable natural enemy that can be successfully released in Mediterranean countries against C. capitata; (ii) Its biotic potential under the mild climatic conditions identified will help in the naturalization of this species, and in the establishment of release protocols, but also, (iii) its climatic requirements highlight the need of switching from Classical Biological Control to Inoculative Biological control, that means that both countries require mass-rearing facilities to provide these insects, along the involvement of growers in the application of IPM measures including the augmentoriums to facilitate the naturalization of the introduced species along the preservation of the native ones.


This thesis is based on eighteen months' fieldwork in Tissana: a bustling multi-ethnic fishing town on Sierra Leone's southern coast. It tells the story of the successive waves of young migrants who, for several decades, have been arriving on the coast from rural areas seeking an alternative to the indentured labour conditions of a farming economy still shaped by the legacy of domestic slavery. Set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing post‐war economy, and in an ecological context in which fish stocks are in treacherous decline, I explore the intersection between people's everyday struggles for economic survival and their taken-for-granted knowledge of the substance of the world within which those fragile livelihoods play out.

In a region in which we have come to correlate 'memory' with the collective scars of slavery and civil war, Tissana's older residents look back with nostalgia and remember the youthful energy, conspicuous consumption and seemingly easy 'freedom' of their town's early boom years. In some respects, the pattern is familiar from accounts of resource rushes all across Africa: the convergence of large numbers of young strangers in an unfamiliar landscape far from the authority of village elders opened up a space in which a new kind of moral economy emerged. However, within just a few decades of its initial boom, the fluidity of Sierra Leone's fishing economy is already under intense pressure. Fish stocks have suffered a noticeable decline and, as catches become smaller and more erratic, people find themselves drawn once more into networks of dependency and reciprocity that offer their only viable hope of material security. A constant tension animating everyday life in Tissana is how people are able to work, through the strategic deployment of material gifts, to nurture the relationships that they rely upon for their subsistence, whilst simultaneously attempting to protect themselves from becoming entangled in other, less appealing social bonds.

At its core, then, this is a work about the materiality of human relationships; of social bonds formed and lived under conditions of such stark economic uncertainty that, very often, 'love' and 'livelihoods' are difficult to disaggregate — and even more difficult to trust. Here relationships often have a peculiarly fleshy, ethnographically observable aspect. One can go a long way towards mapping the town's fluctuating networks of friendship, love, debt, and obligation simply by watching the gifts of fish exchanging hands on the wharf.

The town also raises a quite particular set of problems for an anthropologist interested in the materiality of social life. I explore how the lived experience of poverty, and the anxiety of stretched livelihoods are entangled with quotidian discussions of blessings, swears, initiation societies, and 'fetish' medicines: elements of social life that we might intuitively gloss as 'ritual', but that are, in fact, integral to the everyday economic order. Here, my work builds on a long literature in Sierra Leonean ethnography. Anthropologists working in this region have often revealed how their interlocutors do not draw any sharp distinction between 'material' and 'immaterial' elements of the physical environment and the agencies that inhabit it (Ferme 2001; Tonkin 1979; Bellman 1984). My contribution to this literature is to explore how such apparently abstruse questions of im/materiality become relevant in people's lives through economic practice: through the everyday decisions people make, and the work they invest, in fishing, trading, and gift-exchange.


The number of applications requiring shielding against electro-magnetic interference (EMI) is growing. Materials that are lightweight, and formable need to be developed for shielding against EMI. The benefits of using a new family of such ultra-lightweight conductive materials could be readily applied to applications ranging from molded cases for terrestrial electronics to shielding systems for satellites. To investigate the potential for such a material, composites of metallized microballoons in an epoxy matrix are examined in this paper. Factors influencing the electrical conductivity are discussed, and the shielding performance is tested using two different methods; one on a laboratory scale and one on an industrial scale. The methods employed differ in the transmission frequency range and their measured value of attenuation. The values of conductivity and shielding performance are compared with those of existing shielding materials. Variables available which have the potential to allow application specific tailoring of the shielding material are described. Results indicate that shield densities less than 0.6 g/cm 3 , with shielding levels better than conventional shields, are possible.


A purpose of this book is to present recent World Bank analytical work on the causes of violence and conflict in Colombia, highlighting pilot lending programs oriented to promote peace and development. The Bank's international experiences in post-conflict situations in different countries and their relevance for Colombia are also examined in this volume. The identification of socio-economic determinants of conflict, violence, and reforms for peace came about as a key element of the Bank's assistance strategy for Colombia, defined in conjunction with government authorities and representatives of civil society. This report is organized as follows: After the introductory chapter, Chapter 2 provides a conceptual framework for understanding a broad spectrum of political, economic, and social violence issues; identifies the role played by both the country's history and the unequal access to economic and political power in the outbreak and resilience of political violence; and examines as costs of violence the adverse impact on Colombia's physical, natural, human, and social capital. Chapter 3 analyzes the costs of achieving peace and its fiscal implications; and indicates that exclusion and inequality rather than poverty as the main determinants of violence and armed conflict. Chapter 4 reviews the Bank's experience in assisting countries that are experiencing, or have already overcome, domestic armed conflict. The authors illustrate the relevance of these cases for Colombia.


Abstract:In May 2015, a University of Cincinnati team unexpectedly discovered a large stone-built tomb of Late Helladic IIA date near Tholos Tomb IV on the first day of renewed excavations at the Palace of Nestor, Pylos. Hundreds of artifacts of gold, silver, bronze, ivory, and semiprecious stones were found with the body of a single male, 30–35 years old, dubbed the "Griffin Warrior." Many of the grave goods were manufactured in the Minoan world. Among the gold artifacts were four signet rings decorated with Minoan ritual scenes. Here we discuss the excavation of the grave, describe the rings, and consider the significance of the rings' iconography for the Mycenaeans who buried them.


By developing metrics for evaluating cleanroom air system performance and overall load intensity, this paper provides energy benchmarking results for thirteen cleanroom environmental system performance, and identifies opportunities for improving cleanroom energy efficiency while maintaining or improving cleanroom contamination control. Comparisons with IEST Recommended Practice are made to examine the performance of cleanroom air systems. These results can serve as a vehicle to identify energy efficient cleanroom design practices and to highlight important issues in cleanroom operation and maintenance. Results from this study confirm that there are opportunities in improving energy efficiency of cleanroom environmental systems while maintaining effective contamination control.


Prisons remain one of the social service agencies of last resort for women. Female prisoners are often disproportionately women of color, who are survivors of physical and/or sexual abuse as children and adults, with significant substance abuse problems, mental health problems, and low attainment of educational, vocational, and employment success, and with fragmented family histories including intergenerational involvement with the criminal justice system. However, understanding how these gendered characteristics are associated with prison program participation remains unclear as there is a lack of emphasis on the factors that help explain prisoners' patterns of participation in prison programs. Understanding factors that are associated with participation in prison programs is important as some programs have been associated with recidivism reduction.

This dissertation examined the characteristics associated with prison program participation among female prisoners. It used codified interview data from state inmates in the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities. Hierarchical logistic regressions were used to evaluate the odds that a female prisoner had participated in a prison program given her pattern of response to questions about her demographics, static (unchanging) and dynamic (malleable) criminogenic characteristics, gender-responsive characteristics, and intergenerational characteristics. Hierarchical logistic regressions were performed on participation on seven types of prison programs (religious, visitation, vocational/educational, self-help, prerelease, drug and alcohol, mental health).

This study found that for females' participation in prison programs, 7% of the change in variance for religious program participation, 8% of the change in variance for visitation program participation, 22% of the change in variance for vocational/ educational program participation, 12.5% of the change in variance for self-help program participation, 14% of the change in variance for prerelease program participation, 8% of the change in variance for drug and alcohol program participation, and 22% of the change in variance for mental health program participation was explained when factoring in a set of characteristics among the female prisoners. These effect sizes offer meaningful discussion on the significance of gender-responsivity, the importance of strength-orientation, and the tailoring of programs within the prison to account for the heightened needs often presented by female prisoners.


Tidal streams are a powerful probe of the Milky Way (MW) potential shape. In this paper, we introduce a simple test particle method to fit stream data, using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo technique to marginalise over uncertainties in the progenitor's orbit and the Milky Way halo shape parameters. Applying it to mock data of thin streams in the MW halo, we show that, even for very cold streams, stream-orbit offsets - not modelled in our simple method - introduce systematic biases in the recovered shape parameters. For the streams that we consider, and our particular choice of potential parameterisation, these errors are of order ~20% on the halo flattening parameters. However, larger systematic errors can arise for more general streams and potentials; such offsets need to be correctly modelled in order to obtain an unbiased recovery of the underlying potential.
Assessing which of the known Milky Way streams are most constraining, we find NGC 5466 and Pal 5 are the most promising candidates. These form an interesting pair as their orbital planes are both approximately perpendicular to each other and to the disc, giving optimal constraints on the MW halo shape. We show that - while with current data their constraints on potential parameters are poor - good radial velocity data along the Pal 5 stream will provide constraints on qz - the flattening perpendicular to the disc. Furthermore, as discussed in a companion paper, NGC 5466 can provide rather strong constraints on the MW halo shape parameters, if the tentative evidence for a departure from the smooth orbit towards its western edge is confirmed.


This paper presents empirical insights into the patterns of subcontracting arrangements and management in the Malaysian automobile industry. Despite a small sample size, the empirical results contribute some knowledge to the subcontracting-related patterns. This study found that two out of four proposals were consistent with the Japanese, but the results still show some distinctive patterns. Although outsourcing is a common practice among the three auto makers under investigation, its patterns are different from the Japanese average: the level of outsourcing was much higher for the production of commercial vehicles than passenger cars; and for functional parts than the general parts. Moreover, multi-sourcing instead of single sourcing as in the Japanese for most auto parts was adopted by the national auto makers. It is also agreeable that a mixed combination of market, hierarchy, and social capital factors were hand-in-hand responsible for managing and binding the auto maker-supplier relationship, but the absence of a full-fledged hierarchical configuration and distinct job specialisation has contributed to a less efficient management system in the subcontracting which would hinder the ability of the national auto makers to compete in the global market. Further research should give attention to global sourcing, subcontracting in services, and subcontracting in non-national auto makers.


This article assesses changes in the mode of music consumption from record collecting to digital archiving and subscribing to a music service, and argues that the subscription model is unviable. First, it considers the change in the perceived source of value of the music commodity going from tangible to intangible formats. Then, it tracks the trade-offs made by music consumers who exchange purchasing recordings for subscribing to music download and streaming services, and notes the imbalances in favor of the intellectual property rights owners. Then, it analyzes the features that appeal to the collector's psyche enough to capture the collector into a "digital enclosure." It concludes with an analysis of the incommensurability between the activities of the music collector and those of the music service user.


Research into the expression and perception of emotions has mostly focused on facial expressions. Recently, body postures have become increasingly important in research, but knowledge on muscle activity during the perception or expression of emotion is lacking. The current study continues the development of a Body Action Coding System (BACS), which was initiated in a previous study, and described the involvement of muscles in the neck, shoulders and arms during expression of fear and anger. The current study expands the BACS by assessing the activity patterns of three additional muscles. Surface electromyography of muscles in the neck (upper trapezius descendens), forearms (extensor carpi ulnaris), lower back (erector spinae longissimus) and calves (peroneus longus) were measured during active expression and passive viewing of fearful and angry body expressions. The muscles in the forearm were strongly active for anger expression and to a lesser extent for fear expression. In contrast, muscles in the calves were recruited slightly more for fearful expressions. It was also found that muscles automatically responded to the perception of emotion, without any overt movement. The observer's forearms responded to the perception of fear, while the muscles used for leaning backwards were activated when faced with an angry adversary. Lastly, the calf responded immediately when a fearful person was seen, but responded slower to anger. There is increasing interest in developing systems that are able to create or recognize emotional body language for the development of avatars, robots, and online environments. To that end, multiple coding systems have been developed that can either interpret or create bodily expressions based on static postures, motion capture data or videos. However, the BACS is the first coding system based on muscle activity.