Abstract A nineteenth-century mummy pigment (Hafkenscheid paint material collection) was analysed by direct temperature-resolved mass spectrometry (DTMS) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS, Py-GC/MS, Py-TMAH-GC/MS). Megilp and asphalt (Hafkenscheid collection) reference samples were analysed under similar conditions. The mummy pigment investigated is complex. Py-GC/MS data indicated a pre-treated asphalt, i.e. only (di)benzothiophene- and traces of hopane-asphalt markers were left in the sample. DTMS, GC/MS and Py-TMAH-GC/MS results for the pigment pointed to the presence of slightly aged mastic resin and conifer resin and a complex lipid fraction. A poorly oxidized linseed oil and additions of beeswax, seen as long chain normal fatty acids, and another fat of a bacterial, fungal or human origin showing myristic acid, C6:1-C16:1 and C18:1 mono-unsaturated fatty acids, iso and anteiso fatty acids were found. The main components, mastic resin and linseed oil, suggest a megilp combined with a black mummy-like pigment. In spite of the degraded asphalt, the unusual fat and the beeswax found, a connection between Egyptian mummies and the Hafkenscheid mummy pigment cannot be proven.


The concept of liminality describes the experiences of individuals who live "between and betwixt" as a result of their indeterminate status in society. This concept seems appropriate to describe the experiences of people who live with vision loss, because we simultaneously belong to two social or cultural groups. On the one hand we must navigate the mainstream society in which we live day to day, which we are often able to do with the vision we have left. On the other hand, our disability sets us apart from that mainstream society. This idea of living in "between and betwixt" the worlds of the blind and the sighted was the personal challenge that motivated me to pursue this autobiographic research through a heuristic framework. With heuristic research, the researcher is involved in the study as a first participant or co-researcher.
The purpose of this heuristic research study was to describe and explain the graduate school experiences of a selected group of graduate students who have visual disabilities in order to help me better understand my own experiences and identity as a graduate student with a visual disability. My exploratory questions that guided this study were:
1. How do I, as a student with a visual disability, perceive and describe my social and academic experiences in graduate school?
2. How do other graduate students who have visual disabilities perceive and describe their social and academic experiences in graduate school?
3. What barriers and challenges do we as graduate students with visual disabilities encounter in graduate school?
4. What factors empower us as students with visual disabilities to achieve success in graduate school?
Employing heuristic research methods, I conducted responsive interviews with three purposefully selected co-researchers who also provided related documents for my review. Alternating periods of immersion and incubation, I examined the data in order to develop an individual depiction for each co-researcher, a group depiction, a detailed portrait of one of the co-researchers, and a creative synthesis that expressed my emerging self-understanding through an artistic approach. This creative synthesis captures my improved appreciation for my liminal status as something to be celebrated rather than overcome.
Analysis of the data yielded a number of common barriers or challenges faced by the co-researchers. These included a continuing lack of accessibility for both instructional materials and online content management systems, as well as feelings of social isolation, especially in relation to their non-disabled peers. To overcome these challenges, the co-researchers relied on the supportive relationships of their family members, their major professors and other staff within their departments. The co-researchers' personal characteristics of perseverance, resilience and resourcefulness also played a key role in their success, as did their ability to reframe their disabilities into a positive aspect of their lives. This reframing of their disabilities, along with their personal…


Based on the recent breakthrough of Huang (2019), we show that for any total Boolean function $f$, the deterministic query complexity, $D(f)$, is at most quartic in the quantum query complexity, $Q(f)$: $D(f) = O(Q(f)^4)$. This matches the known separation (up to log factors) due to Ambainis, Balodis, Belovs, Lee, Santha, and Smotrovs (2017). We also use the result to resolve the quantum analogue of the Aanderaa-Karp-Rosenberg conjecture. We show that if $f$ is a nontrivial monotone graph property of an $n$-vertex graph specified by its adjacency matrix, then $Q(f) = \Omega(n)$, which is also optimal.


Acquiring and Preserving Written Records: A Sacred Commission Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that righteous men and women can receive inspiration and reve lation from a loving and omniscient Heavenly Father. Revelation is sacred, and although Latter-day Saints are counseled to maintain the sanctity of personal revelatory experience, they are also encouraged to preserve their sacred experiences in personal records. For the Latter-day Saint faithful, the written word—including their scriptures but also their journals, diaries, correspondence, and even the more mundane business ledger or e-mail message—is a mediating space where the sacred and the profane may meet. The blank page or tablet has always been a place of unlimited potential and literary opportunity. The blank page also represents a dialogical space where the faithful can talk to God. In other words, the blank page can be transformed into holy text for an individual, a family member, or the larger community of Saints. It is on paper and in prayer that the righteous converse with their Creator. It is on paper that the faithful document their travails and sorrows as well as their joys and successes. And it is on paper that the righteous convey or relate their experiences to future generations. Revelation in tandem with the written record provides historical and spiritual memory and hence the thread of continuity that preserves the past, thereby guaranteeing the longevity of a righteous community. The preservation of texts is therefore a sacred and holy task. John Murphy 68 • The FARMS Review 19/2 (2007) In the ancient world, for example, record keepers who created and preserved texts were often priests who carried out their sacred work in temples and holy sanctuaries. Temples have always represented that sacred ground where heaven meets earth, and it is no accident that both ancient and modern manuscript repositories and libraries have often been associated with churches and other sacred places. Although manuscript curators and librarians are not necessarily priests in the Latter-day Saint tradition, their role in appraising, acquiring, processing, preserving, and making records accessible is a vital one. Because the Saints value sacred revelatory experience and thus cherish historical experience and knowledge, manuscript repositories can and do play central roles in the Latter-day Saint spiritual and historical tradition. This explains their enormous and expensive efforts to preserve as full a record of the past as possible. For example, because Brigham Young University is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and because the L. Tom Perry Special Collections is a central element within that university system, manuscript curators employed by BYU are expected to meet the highest professional standards in their work. Their task to document the historical experiences of Latter-day Saints is a sacred one. Another sacred aspect of their work is to document all human activity that flows from or has a potential impact on the faith of the Saints (see Doctrine and Covenants 123, which provides a justification for collecting and preserving, among other things, the "libelous publications" [v. 4] of their enemies). The Saints value land and landscape, tolerance and diversity, faithful scholarship and learning, and creativity. They seek a "knowledge of history, and of countries, and of kingdoms, of laws of God and man" (D&C 93:53), and they "seek after" that which is "virtuous, lovely, or of good report" (Articles of Faith 1:13). To the extent possible, the Saints must assemble and preserve a full record of all these things, and they must maintain a true and sacred record of both human activity and God's dealings with his children. This professional activity is in harmony with BYU's stated mission to "assist individuals in their quest for perfection and eternal life." Written Records (Murphy) • 69 So it is not surprising that the university's mission statement highlights the idea that "the gospel encourages the pursuit of all truth." Consequently, "students at BYU should receive a broad university education. The arts, letters, and sciences provide the core of such an education, which will help students think clearly, communicate effectively, understand important ideas in their own cultural tradition as well as that of others, and establish clear standards of intellectual integrity." Written records, particularly those we designate "primary sources," are vital to a "broad university education."1 They are also important for the community of Saints. By having access to the unmediated and unedited words of their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, to the thoughts, words, and wisdom of their spiritual and intellectual forebears, and to the greatest thought that their people have had to offer, the Saints will come to "think clearly" and will be assisted in understanding the vital role of revelation and the written record in developing and perpetuating a Zion community. As we come to terms with our historic past and learn to love and appreciate those who sacrificed and suffered so that we might grow and develop, we in turn will see prophecy and ancient revelation fulfilled as the "hearts of the children . . . turn to their fathers" (Joseph Smith—History 1:39; see Malachi 4:6; D&C 110:15; 128:17). We will also be led to look to the future with faith and hope. 1. "BYU Mission Statement," found at unicomm.byu.edu/president/missionstatement .aspx (accessed 28 November 2007).


The present study was carried out for the development of the water stress wheat cultivars with higher grain yield by studying the genetic basis of crucial morphological traits. Nine wheat genotypes were grouped into six lines and three testers and these parents were crossed line x tester fashion. Eighteen crosses including nine parents were planted in the field in randomized complete block design with three replications. Three drought tolerant varieties Chakwal-50, Chakwal-86 and Kohistan-97 were also sown to compare the results in water stress environment. Highest negative GCA effects were observed in WN-36 for plant height (-6.17) and flag leaf area (-1.53), while for peduncle length it was noted in 8126 lines (-1.15). Highest positive GCA effects were observed in WN-32 for a number of grains per spike (5.21), grain yield per plant (2.08) and for spikelet per spike (0.33), while for 8126 and WN-10 the number of tillers per plant (0.67) and spike length (0.25) was found, respectively. The crosses 9451 × WN-25, WN-36 × 8126, WN-10 × 8126 showed highest negative SCA effects for plant height (-8.06), flag leaf area (2.89), and peduncle length (-2.05), respectively. Moreover, the cross combinations of WN-36 × WN-25, WN-32 × WN-25 and AARI-7 × 9526 showed positive SCA effects for number of tillers per plant (1.52), spike length (0.72) and number of spikelet per spike (0.84) respectively, while the interaction of WN-35 × 8126 crosses showed highest positive SCA effects for number of grains/spike (5.69) and grain yield/plant (2.75). The parental material used in this study and cross combinations obtained from these parents may be exploited in future breeding endeavors. * Corresponding Author: Muhammad Atif Muneer  email@example.com International Journal of Agronomy and Agricultural Research (IJAAR) ISSN: 2223-7054 (Print) 2225-3610 (Online) http://www.innspub.net Vol. 9, No. 2, p. 57-64, 2016 International Journal of Agronomy and Agricultural Research (IJAAR) ISSN: 2223-7054 (Print) 2225-3610 (Online) http://www.innspub.net Vol. 5, No. 1, p. 14-22, 2014


Background To identify what types of activity contribute to overall physical activity in South Asian ethnic groups and how these vary according to sex and age. We used the White British ethnic group as a comparison. Methods Self-reported physical activity was measured in the Health Survey for England 1999 and 2004, a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey that boosted ethnic minority samples in these years. We merged the two survey years and analysed data from 19 476 adults. The proportions of total physical activity achieved through walking, housework, sports and DIY activity were calculated. We stratified by sex and age group and used analysis of variances to examine differences between ethnic groups, adjusted for the socioeconomic status. Results There was a significant difference between ethnic groups for the contributions of all physical activity domains for those aged below 55 years, with the exception of walking. In women aged 16–34 years, there was no significant difference in the contribution of walking to total physical activity (p=0.38). In the 35–54 age group, Bangladeshi males have the highest proportion of total activity from walking (30%). In those aged over 55 years, the proportion of activity from sports was the lowest in all South Asian ethnic groups for both sexes. Conclusions UK South Asians are more active in some ways that differ, by age and sex, from White British, but are similarly active in other ways. These results can be used to develop targeted population level interventions for increasing physical activity levels in adult UK South Asian populations.


In today's largest open environment, the World Wide Web, human-to-computer interactions are predominant. The natural evolution envisioned by many people is towards a Web in which the majority of interactions will be computer-to-computer. This has certain benefits but also raises significant research challenges. For addressing some of these challenges, we use the concept of service to model computer-to-computer interactions. A service is delivered by a provider upon request from a consumer. In this thesis, we address research issues related to the discovery of services, their composition as workflows, and the optimal execution of these workflows with respect to given cost measures. In addressing these research issues, we concentrate on those aspects specific to open environments, in particular the large number of possible services. This is taken into account for both discovery and composition. Prevailing approaches to composition assume all services to be known a prior, whereas in our case services are incrementally retrieved from a directory. The composer uses the current search state to iteratively generate new queries to the directory. As these queries can be quite complex, the directory supports an expressive formalism both for the description of the service request and for the control of the discovery process. As the result set of a query can be potentially large, guiding the discovery process is key to speed up the composition process. This is achieved by user-specified selection and ranking functions that encode algorithm-specific heuristics. In order for the discovery process to be efficient, we have designed our directory as a search tree where service descriptions are numerically represented as sets of intervals. Inner nodes in the search tree provide bounds regarding potential results in each sub-tree. These bounds are used for guiding the search process in a best-first manner. We reconcile flexibility with efficiency by making the internal organization of the directory completely transparent to the client. The original query is transformed into a relaxed version that is used for evaluating internal nodes of the directory. As in open environments directories are accessed by multiple clients, consistency of the directory is ensured through a technique based on multiversion concurrency control, well integrated with the internals of the directory system. In our case, a version represents a complete read-only search tree. Our composition engine uses type-related constraints between services in order to automatically generate workflows. In addition to completely matching services, our system also accommodates partially matching services. In this case, the composition engine integrates several services using a switch, although each service taken alone may fail type compatibility. Based on runtime values, the appropriate service is used such that type-compatibility is ensured. Composed services formulated as workflows can be optimally executed according to given cost metrics. For this purpose, we introduce a special execution mediation layer, formed by execution sites, each situated in the proximity of one ore more services. Parts of the workflow are optimally distributed across execution sites.


Interviews with key players in the City of Sault Ste. Marie have revealed that one of the main hindrances to the rejuvenation of the downtown core is the opioid crisis. The negative stigma associated with drug addiction is having an extremely negative impact on the quality of life in the city. Plastic surgery will not heal the problem. The disease needs to be addressed head-on. This thesis proposes a network of rehabilitation spaces as a new, necessary and positive institution in the city. Combining rehabilitation clinics with additional programs that can help patients to establish drug free lifestyles is an opportunity to educate the public regarding addiction disease. The intention is not only to rehabilitate the individual, but indirectly the community and built environment as well. Drug rehabilitation strategies will be reinterpreted as design strategies for addressing the existing deteriorating fabric.


We present a new model based on Gaussian processes (GPs) for learning pair-wise preferences expressed by multiple users. Inference is simplified by using a preference kernel for GPs which allows us to combine supervised GP learning of user preferences with unsupervised dimensionality reduction for multi-user systems. The model not only exploits collaborative information from the shared structure in user behavior, but may also incorporate user features if they are available. Approximate inference is implemented using a combination of expectation propagation and variational Bayes. Finally, we present an efficient active learning strategy for querying preferences. The proposed technique performs favorably on real-world data against state-of-the-art multi-user preference learning algorithms.


This thesis concerns the characteristics of the collaborative relationships (partnering and alliances) between oil companies and their contractors which were popular in the UK oil and gas industry in the 1990s. It also considers the nature and role of trust in such relationships. Over the last fifteen years companies in the UK oil and gas industry have been collaborating to enhance the sustainability of the industry. They have perceived some of the collaborative relationships to have been highly successful whereas others have been considered as failures. However, there is little firm evidence on what factors relate to success and failure or how success and failure have been defined. The thesis discusses the special features of the collaborative relationships in the industry and the difficulty of developing a precise definition for them or for their success. It is also recognised that some factors can be seen as critical to success but that their presence may also be seen as an indicator of success, and this potential circularity is discussed within the thesis. The first phase of the research was undertaken in September 1999 to find out the distinguishing features of alliancing and partnering and the factors that have been associated with their success and failure. Using a self-administered questionnaire, mostly qualitative free-text data were collected from a sample drawn randomly from three different sets of people associated with the industry. Information was extracted from the qualitative data through content analysis. The first phase indicated that, in general, performance level i. e. achievement of goals expressed in terms of cost saving, time, and safety level; sharing risks and rewards; and acquiring more business is the broadly used criterion for measuring success or failure of alliances in the industry. Presence of trust was found to be the most important factor for enabling success of an alliance and it was followed by shared and aligned goals, open behaviour, shared knowledge, clear role, commitment of members, co-operative behaviour and honesty. Factors which often cause failure are absence of shared, aligned and clear goals, absence of trusting attitude, absence of open communication, presence of un-addressed cultural differences, and absence of strong proactive leadership. The second phase of the study was undertaken because both the literature and the results of the first phase identified presence of trust as a very important success factor in collaborative relationships. Its aim was to understand peoples' perception of trust and its role in collaborative relationships with the following research questions: What do people mean when they speak or think about trust in the industry? , What are the effects of presence of trust in collaborative relationships' and What needs to be done to maintain trust in relationships? Data for the second phase was collected in July 2001 from five collaborative relationships, involving 21 companies from the upstream oil and gas industry, through a questionnaire survey and appropriate statistical methods were used to analyse the data. The findings suggest that people give high priority to the following types of trust; contractual trust, competence trust, process-based trust, strong form of trust and cognitive trust. The findings also suggest a method for dividing people into those with trusting attitudes and those with non-trusting attitudes. The second phase used factors identified in the first phase to attempt to measure perceived levels of trust and perceived levels of success in the relationships of the people surveyed. A strong positive link between the perceived level of trust in an alliance and its perceived success was identified from the data. The thesis includes a review of the research process used and reflects on lessons learned and improvements which could have been made. Areas for further research which build on the work in this thesis are suggested.


Foot and nail care specialists spend a great portion of their day using nail drills to reduce nail thickness and smooth foot callouses. This process generates a large amount of dust, some of which is small enough to breathe in and deposit into the deepest regions of the respiratory tract, potentially causing health problems. Foot and nail dust often contain fungi, from both fungally-infected and healthy-looking nails. While the majority of healthy individuals can tolerate inhaled fungi, the immune systems of older, immunocompromised, and allergy-prone individuals often react using the inflammatory TH2 pathway, leading to mucus overproduction, bronchoconstriction, and, in severe cases, lung tissue damage. To protect vulnerable podiatry professionals, wearing a surgical mask, using a water spray suppression system on nail drills, installing air filtration systems, and considering drilling technique can help reduce the exposure to nail dust.


The requirements of modern e-learning techniques change. Aspects such as community interaction, flexibility, pervasive learning and increasing mobility in communication habits become more important. To meet these challenges e-learning platforms must provide support on mobile learning. Most approaches try to adopt centralized and static e- learning mechanisms to mobile devices. However, often technically it is not possible for all kinds of devices to be connected to a central server. Therefore we introduce an application of a mobile e-learning network which operates totally decentralized with the help of an underlying ad hoc network architecture. Furthermore the concept of ad hoc messaging network (AMNET) is used as basis system architecture for our approach to implement a platform for pervasive mobile e- learning.


The Next Big Thing is being grown organically, cultivated by software developers and pruned by personal Weblog publishers. The rising Weblogging space of the Internet is looking more like traditional hypertext than the Web of the 1990s. The ways in which Weblogging has evolved beyond the previous limitations of the Web as hypertext, and the ways Weblogging is evolving towards common-use hypertext destined to play a critical role in everyday life, will be explored. We have a vision of a universal information management system built on extending the traditional hypertext framework. In our utopian future, everyone will use tools descended from today's blogs to structure, search and share personal information, as well as to participate in shared discussion. We begin by expressing a vision of common-use hypertext for information management and interpersonal communication. This vision is grounded in the rapid evolution of Weblogs and known issues in information systems and hypertext. The practical implications of who will use these systems, and how, is expanded as usage scenarios for Weblogs now and in the future. After recapping the current issues facing the Weblogging community, we look to the long-range implementation issues with optimism. Our system is forward-looking yet realistic. The activities the system will support are extrapolated from recent developments in the online community, and most of the sketches of implementation are based on current approaches. It is of more than passing interest that the features we extrapolate were all described by Nelson as early hypertext ideals. Of particular interest is that the features are now being implemented because of perceived immediate need by communities of interest.


IEEE 802.11 standard has evolved from the basic transmission rates in early days to multiple rates today with advanced encoding and antenna techniques. The performance of IEEE 802.11 wireless networks is supposed to benefit from the support of multiple transmission rates. To take advantage of multiple available rates, a strategy is required to choose the most appropriate rate in transmission: rate adaptation in wireless networks is the selection of the optimal transmission rate for data frames under current channel conditions. For this purpose, a rate adaptation scheme must assess the channel condition and then accordingly adjust the data rate if necessary. In this dissertation, we extensively survey the rate adaptation schemes in literature. We progressively proposed three strategies to address some open problems in rate adaptation. First, we exploit the periodical mandatory beacon frames in IEEE 802.11 networks to estimate the initial rate for a stream of data frames and yield the scheme Beacon Assisted Rate Adaptation (BARA). In IEEE 802.11 networks, particularly with basic CSMA/CA access, the assessment of channel condition may become complex because frame losses likely result from channel condition degradation or transmission collision, and each type of frame loss requires a different response in rate adjustment. To diagnose the cause of a frame loss, we propose the basic rate retransmission technique and a rate adaptation scheme Loss Differentiated Rate Adaptation (LDRA), based on Signal-Noise-Ratio (SNR). However, SNR and Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) are deemed not to be good channel condition indicators. Then we investigate rate adaptation schemes based on frame losses with loss differentiation ability. We discuss some anomalies observed in implementing a Linux based rate adaptation testbed. Based on the observations, we propose Effective Rate Adaptation (ERA) to effectively adapt rates in mixed frame lossy environments. ERA judiciously exploits the IEEE 802.11 fragmentation mechanism to accurately diagnose the cause of a loss and responds accordingly. We analytically prove that the fragmentation mechanism incurs less overhead and is more effective than using RTS/CTS at the basic (lowest) rate for rate adaptation in a collision dominated environment. ERA also takes effective actions to overcome abnormalities observed in other rate adaptation schemes. For performance evaluation, we first simulate all our three schemes on ns-2. Moreover, we implement ERA and four selected most recent representative rate adaptation schemes on a Linux based testbed and evaluate them with extensive experiments in both controlled and public field tests. Experiment results demonstrate that our proposed schemes outperform their peers in most scenarios.


Input is one of the most important elements in the process of second language acquisition (SLA). As Gass (1997) points out, second language learning simply cannot take place without input of some sort. Since then, specific issues have been actively debated in SLA on the nature of input and input processing, such as the amount of input that is necessary for language acquisition, various attributes of input and how they may facilitate or hinder acquisition, and instructional method that may enhance input. In this paper, four hypotheses and paradigms of input processing have been described. It is delineated that although the three paradigms of triggering, input hypothesis, and interaction hypothesis have been widely used and accepted, they lack the ability to account for the dynamic nature of language. Affordance, on the other hand, can account for such a nature of language. Therefore, affordance replaces fixed-eye vision by mobile-eye vision; an active learner establishes relationships with and within the environment. The learner can directly perceive and act on the ambient language without having to route everything through a pre-existing mental apparatus of schemata and representation, while this is not true in the fixed-code theory. In the fixed-eye theory of communication it is assumed that ready-made messages are coded at one end, transmitted, and then decoded in identical form at the other end. We need in its place a constructivist theory of message construction and interpretation.


When attempting to persuade an agent to believe (or disbelieve) an argument, it can be advantageous for the persuader to have a model of the persuadee. Models have been proposed for taking account of what arguments the persuadee believes and these can be used in a strategy for persuasion. However, there can be uncertainty as to the accuracy of such models. To address this issue, this paper introduces a two-dimensional model that accounts for the
uncertainty of belief by a persuadee and for the confidence in that uncertainty evaluation. This gives a better modeling for using lotteries so that the outcomes involve statements about what the user believes/disbelieves, and the confidence value is the degree to which the user does indeed hold those outcomes (and this is a more refined and more natural modeling than found in [19]). This framework is also extended with a modelling of the risk of disengagement by the persuadee.


This wide-ranging book presents the first comprehensive and comparative account of the slave trade within the nations and colonial systems of the Americas. While most scholarly attention to slavery in the Americas has concentrated on international transatlantic trade, the essays in this volume focus on the slave trades within Brazil, the West Indies, and the Southern states of the United States after the closing of the Atlantic slave trade. The contributors cast new light upon questions that have framed the study of slavery in the Americas for decades. The book investigates such topics as the illegal slave trade in Cuba, the Creole slave revolt in the U.S., and the debate between pro- and antislavery factions over the interstate slave trade in the South. Together, the authors offer fresh and provocative insights into the interrelations of capitalism, sovereignty, and slavery.


Dispersal barriers and corridors between habitat patches can strongly affect colonization processes, and therefore patch occupation probability. However, most metapopulation dynamic models assume that heterogeneity in the landscape between patches can be neglected, basing dispersal on the Euclidean (shortest) distance between patches. For heterogeneous landscapes inter-patch distance should take into account the resistance of landscape features to movement, as with the least-cost algorithms implemented in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). In this study, we explore how patch occupancy is sensitive to Euclidean versus a landscape-based distance (least-cost algorithm). We illustrate our method with two metapopulations of the Yellow-bellied Toad (Bombina variegata) in the Rhone plain, Switzerland. The approach allows us to identify which patches are the most sensitive to the inter-patch landscape; i.e., from a conservation point of view, those patches where improving connectivity (e.g., by building vegetated corridors, removing barriers to dispersal) might be a valuable management scenario.


In this study, a traffic simulation system (TSS) to provide novice driver candidates with opportunities for training and testing has been developed. Autonomous vehicles that follow the flow of traffic in a microsimulation environment were prepared using a hierarchical concurrent state machine. Autonomous vehicles are skilled and have behavioral aspects such as tracking the lanes, following the vehicles, complying with traffic rules, decelerating, accelerating, and intersection crossings. These driver behaviors are parameterized to allow the autonomous agents to act while disregarding the rules (i.e. aggressive behaviors) or behaving normally. The TSS is operated in 3 different modes, namely the orientation, training, and testing modes. During the orientation phase, the candidate driver's target is to get used to the system and the vehicle, along with traffic rules in city conditions. During training, the driver is warned orally (when necessary) and given written handouts about the mistakes that occurred during the training session. The rules to be obeyed in traffic are kept in an XML file in the system and the data are used to follow the driver's behaviors. During the testing phase, an evaluation mechanism is employed. It observes whether the drivers obey or disregard the rules during the testing time interval. At the end of the test drive, a report showing the driver's mistakes is given. The reports and test results can be recorded in the database with the drivers' names for further analysis and evaluation processes. Driver candidates perform the driving using a steering wheel and pedals, along with a screen platform consisting of 3 monitors. With the TSS user interface, parameterized items such as vehicle selection, the crowdedness of the traffic, the timing of the traffic lights, and the determination of air conditions are possible. The system provides a cheap, affordable, and nonrisky platform for the trainees. Test results show that the system improves the drivers' skills and builds trust in them.


Objective: The aim of our study was the optimization and standardization of intracellular dedicator of cytokinesis 8 (DOCK8), LPS-responsive beige-like anchor protein (LRBA), SH2D1A/SLAMassociated protein (SAP) and X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) protein expressions in healthy controls with a single flow cytometer protocol and to concomitantly evaluate the possible use of this method for diagnosis. Materials and Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from heparinized blood samples. Protein expressions were analyzed as mean fluorescein intensity difference (∆MFI) according to the isotype. Results: ∆MFI values obtained by DOCK8 antibody staining were 21.3±4 in CD3+ T cells and 25±3.3 in CD20+ T cells in healthy controls. These values in patients with DOCK8 deficiency were either very low or completely absent. ∆MFI values obtained by LRBA protein antibody staining were 36±7.7 in healthy controls, while they were at the very low levels of 5.9±1.8 in the LRBA protein deficiency patients. The values obtained by SAP and XIAP antibody staining were 30.2±3 in CD8+ T cells for SAP, 13.9±3.2 in CD3+ T and 14.6±3.5 in CD20+ B cells for XIAP. Since the SAP and XIAP results were not confirmed by gene sequencing, the results were not compared to healthy controls. Conclusion: Due to its rapid and reliable results in clinically relevant cases for DOCK8 and LRBA deficiencies, analysis of protein expression is primarily suitable to evaluate intracellular staining protocol by flow cytometer. In addition, this particular method could be suitable for patients considered to be SAP and XIAP deficient.


Global population growth and increasing incomes across the world are resulting in consumers' rising demand for quality and diverse foods. Trade liberalisation and modernisation of production, processing and distribution systems enable agro-food companies to quickly access raw materials from farmers. Thus, efficient supply chains have a key role to play in the global marketing of foods. They also significantly contribute to satisfying consumers' needs and responding to emerging food trends. The organisation of the product flow among farmers, buyers, processors and customers through contracts represents an increasingly important marketing channel in modern food supply chains due to its potential to decrease costs and increase profits for the participants in the chain. However, vulnerable small-scale farmers in developing countries such as Malawi are often excluded from the benefits of the transformed food industry. Contract farming is recognised as one of the tools linking farmers with modern agro-food supply chains, which enables Malawian small-scale farmers to improve their livelihoods. This study explored, examined and addressed the key challenges in contract farming arrangements in the paprika supply chain in Central Malawi. A mixed methods approach was used to collect qualitative and quantitative data. A total of 428 household questionnaires were administered to contracted small-scale paprika farmers in two Malawian districts. These were supplemented with ten focus group interviews with small-scale farmers, 21 semi-structured stakeholder interviews, ten expert semi-structured interviews and two focus group discussions with stakeholders. The study found that the quality of communication among the key participants in the paprika supply chain was low. Furthermore, the enabling environment provided limited access to input and services for small-scale farmers. The paprika contract secured quality seeds and extension services to contracted small-scale farmers. Nevertheless, the provision of fertilisers, pesticides, chemicals, storage and transportation services was not part of the Malawian contract. Poor contract design and side-selling practices posed a threat to the chain's efficiency and sustainability. Small-scale farmers gained benefits from the contracted production but contracting itself was not a sufficient strategy to sustain their livelihoods throughout the year. More dedicated involvement of farmers' organisations and NGOs in empowering small-scale farmers, and the Government's presence through the national Contract Farming Strategy could contribute to better efficiency and sustainability of the chain. The study's main contribution include: adding new evidence on contract farming performance in developing countries; highlighting the importance of contract design and the issue of side-selling for improved contracting conditions, and demonstrating how dissemination of the study's finding scan be incorporated into study design to increase the validity, rigour and impact of the research.


Abstract Translation memories (TMs), as part of Computer Assisted Translation (CAT) tools, support translators reusing portions of formerly translated text. Fencing books are good candidates for using TMs due to the high number of repeated terms. Medieval texts suffer a number of drawbacks that make hard even "simple" rewording to the modern version of the same language. The analyzed difficulties are: lack of systematic spelling, unusual word orders and typos in the original. A hypothesis is made and verified that even simple modernization increases legibility and it is feasible, also it is worthwhile to apply translation memories due to the numerous and even extremely long repeated terms. Therefore, methods and algorithms are presented 1. for automated transcription of medieval texts (when a limited training set is available), and 2. collection of repeated patterns. The efficiency of the algorithms is analyzed for recall and precision.


Empirical evidence supports the hypothesis that workers have a strong preference for job security. Building on this, the empirical research focused so far on the analysis of the "port-of-entry hypothesis" – namely on testing whether temporary jobs may act as a springboard towards standard employment relationships – underexploring the issue of what would make workers indifferent between the two options. This is the aim of the present paper. Using a dedicated survey on a random sample of workers from the Italian public employment service, we find that: i) workers actually require a monetary compensation to trade a non-standard job for a standard one; ii) moreover, they display lexicographic preferences over contracts, inasmuch as when they have to compare an open-ended contract to a freelance contract (chosen as the epitome of precariousness in Italy), the compensation they ask for does not depend on contract duration; on the opposite, when they compare open-ended jobs to fixed-term jobs (where only expected duration actually matters) the required compensation does not depend on the type of contract, but only on its planned duration; iii) the estimated MRS between wage and contract duration is 257 more Euros per month to accept a one-year shorter employment relationship.


One of the aims of the CoLUPSIA project is to explore options for establishing payments for ecosystem services (PES) within the two districts where the project is working: Seram and Kapuas Hulu. These guidelines were prepared to support the CoLUPSIA team in completing this assessment and have since been revised to incorporate some findings from the field assessments.For most new PES schemes, the ecosystem service to be paid for has already been identified. Best practice guides, such as that developed by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), provide extensive guidance on how to design and implement a PES scheme. However, for the CoLUPSIA project, the purpose of the feasibility assessments was to determine the potential for a PES project and the actions necessary to establish the project. This guide was developed to support that process.


The existing models of undeformed chip thickness for face milling found in the literature neglect the radial rake angle of the tool, and they assume that its value is zero. The effect of the variation of the radial rake angle has not yet been discussed in the literature. As a novelty, this article investigates such an effect, especially the effect on chip thickness. A new tool model is proposed that takes into account the radial rake angle. A new method to calculate the chip thickness has been developed that uses the new tool model and is based on several existing numerical and approximation methods. It is analytically proved that the effect of the radial rake angle must be taken into account for calculating accurate results; however, in the case of lower feed rates, that effect is insignificant. The presented procedures are evaluated with respect to their accuracy and computing requirements. The proposed new methods have been verified by cutting experiments.


Photograph of the Huffhines family posing together outdoors. The five women are standing in a row with four men behind them, on a riser or bench. They are identified from left to right as (front row) Vera Huffhines Pistole, Ophie Huffhines Smith, Fannie May Huffhines, Birdie Huffhines Popplewell McCollum, Cecil Clyde Huffhines and (back row) Glen Huffhines, John S. Huffhines, Royce Huffhines, Cyrus Huffhines.

Text on the back of the photo says: Vera 233B - Ophie 2339 - Fannie May 2337 married Huffhines - Birdie 2334 - Clyde 2331 married Elmo Huffhines.
Glen 233A - John S. 2338 - Royce 2336 - Cyrus 2332.
children of C. C. 223 Major Huffhines and Sallie Chick Huffhines, Vickery Park 1957 Huffhines Reunion
6/87 donated by Shearer & Donald Huffhines to RPL


Aggregation of intestinal metaplasia and dysplasia was investigated among families participating in a population-based gastroscopic screening survey in an area of China with one of the world's highest rates of stomach cancer. The prevalence of gastric dysplasia was significantly increased among those with dysplasia among siblings or spouses, but not parents. The odds of dysplasia were nearly doubled if an eldest brother or a spouse was affected. Sibling and spousal associations for intestinal metaplasia were much less pronounced and not statistically significant. The specificity of the findings suggests that familial risk of advanced precancerous lesions (dysplasia) is influenced not only by genetic factors, but also by environmental factors operating in childhood and early adult life.


In the present study, an optical system is proposed for maskless lithography using a digital micromirror device (DMD). The system consists of an illumination optical system, a DMD, and a projection lens system. The illumination optical system, developed for 95% uniformity, is composed of fly's eye lens plates, a 405 nm narrow band pass filter (NBPF), condensing lenses, a field lens and a 250W halogen lamp. The projection lens system, composed of 8 optical elements, is developed for 4 lTEXg${\mu}m$l/TEXg resolution. The proposed system plays a role of an optical engine for PCB and/or FPD maskless lithography. Furthermore, many problems arising from the presence of masks in a conventional lithography system, such as expense and time in fabricating the masks, contamination by masks, disposal of masks, and the alignment of masks, may be solved by the proposed system. The proposed system is verified by lithography experiments which produce a line pattern with the resolution of 4 lTEXg${\mu}m$l/TEXg line width.


Availability of clean water is one of the most urgent challenges for our societies. Practically, all water sources around the world are polluted to some degree due to a heavy influx of industrial effluents and domestic and agricultural wastes discharged into water sources. Membrane technology has gained significant attention in the water treatment, because of its advantages such as cost effective, no phase change, easy fabrication and high removal efficiency. One of the most important environmental issues today is water contamination with heavy metals, due to their strong toxicity even at low concentrations. Heavy metals exist in water in colloidal, particulate and dissolved phases, and their occurrence in water is either of natural origin (e.g. eroded minerals within sediments and leaching of ore deposits) or of human origin. Polymeric membrane filtration such as Nanofiltration are commonly used membrane process in heavy metals removal and multivalent and monovalent ions. Hence, we have developing a low cost and high efficiency polymeric NF membrane. The commercial/conventional NF polymeric membrane development is moving in the direction of improving the cross-linking chemical bonds, optimizing the effective porosity, and searching for better polymer groups. Most NF membranes are charged, and hence, they have a higher rejection to multivalent ions (heavy metals) than to monovalent ions; therefore, selective partition of ions is possible through electrostatic interaction. However, for heavy metal removal to lower ppm values, the surface charge of the desired polymeric membrane has to be enhanced. Our new innovative idea is to increase the surface charge of the NF polymeric membrane; with this improvement we add a new dimension of enhancement to the NF polymers. We have doped NF polymeric membranes with selectively metallic nanoparticles, which will be actively driven and oriented with respect to the surface vector of the membrane and its pores and then therefore the surface charge of the membrane will be significantly enhanced, the effective surface area and the pores sizes will be increased due to hydrophopic interactions between the coated magnetic nanoparticles and the heavy metal ions removal through adsorption in addition to the traditional steric effect and Donnan exclusion. As a consequence consequently the overall process of heavy metal removal will be significantly improved in every direction, which will directly affect the filtration quality, efficiency and the cost. We have prepared the NF polymer chemically, the doping process with the selective metallic nanoparticles performed with the help of a selective electromagnetic pulse sequence. Characterisation with dedicated analytics based on analytical tools such as X-ray photo-emission spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) showed an evidence of noticeable increase in surface charge, surface roughness and density of porosity. XPS measurements revealed that nanoparticles are bonded to the polymer strand forming vibrating polymeric nano-chains. As a sequence, the obtained NF polymeric membrane is a novel material with enhanced intrinsic properties for monovalent, multivalent ions and heavy metal removal, which is expected to have significant influence in developing filtration and treatment membrane for drinking and ultra-grade water as well as for water desalination.


© Elizabeth Holt and Rebecca Clift 2007 and Cambridge University Press, 2009. Reported speech, whereby we quote the words of others, is used in many different types of interaction. In this revealing study, a team of leading experts explore how reported speech is designed, the actions it is used to perform, and how it fits into the environments in which it is used. Using contemporary techniques of conversation analysis, the authors show how speech is reported in a wide range of contexts - including ordinary conversation, storytelling, news interviews, courtroom trials and medium-sitter interactions. Providing detailed analyses of reported speech in naturallyoccurring talk, the authors examine existing linguistic and sociological studies, and offer some insights into the phenomenon. Bringing together work from the most recent investigations in conversation analysis, this book will be invaluable to all those interested in the study of interaction, in particular how we report the speech of others, and the different forms this can take.


Recent literature suggests that historical accidents can trap economies in inefficient equilibria. In a prototype model in the literature, there are two locations, the productive South and the unproductive North. By accident of history, the industry starts in the North. Because of agglomeration economies, the industry may reside in the North forever, an inefficient outcome. This paper modifies the standard model by assuming there is a continuum of locations between the North and the South. Productivity gradually increases as one moves South. There is a unique long-run equilibrium in this economy where all agents locate at the most productive locations.


Abstract. Stream interaction regions (SIRs) that corotate with the Sun (corotating interaction regions, or CIRs) are known to cause recurrent geomagnetic storms. The Earth's L5 Lagrange point, separated from the Earth by 60 degrees in heliographic longitude, is a logical location for a solar wind monitor – nearly all SIRs/CIRs will be observed at L5 several days prior to their arrival at Earth. Because the Sun's heliographic equator is tilted about 7 degrees with respect to the ecliptic plane, the separation in heliographic latitude between L5 and Earth can be more than 5 degrees. In July 2008, during the period of minimal solar activity at the end of solar cycle 23, the two STEREO observatories were separated by about 60 degrees in longitude and more than 4 degrees in heliographic latitude. This time period affords a timely test for the practical application of a solar wind monitor at L5. We compare in situ observations from PLASTIC/AHEAD and PLASTIC/BEHIND, and report on how well the BEHIND data can be used as a forecasting tool for in situ conditions at the AHEAD spacecraft with the assumptions of ideal corotation and minimal source evolution. Preliminary results show the bulk proton parameters (density and bulk speed) are not in quantitative agreement from one observatory to the next, but the qualitative profiles are similar.


Why do many democracies fail to reform their labor market institutions? We study the feasibility of reforms that include the compensation of the insiders for the removal of labor market regulations. In our model workers differ in their ability to perform well on a liberalized labor market. The workers' ability is unobservable for the government. This informational asymmetry generates additional costs for a government that wants to implement a compensation package together with a labor market reform. Under asymmetric information, a reformer who wants to "buy" the approval of voters has to pay them an informational rent in addition to the pure costs of compensation that would arise under symmetric information. In this setting unemployment may be constrained Pareto-efficient. Consequently, no reform, under majority voting labor market reforms, may fail politically because there exists no reform package that gets the approval of a majority of voters. Our model explains the emergence of political deadlocks where low rates of unemployment can be removed in the political process while high rates of unemployment tend to be politically stable.


Background

We report the first documented case of visual hallucinations with disembodiment and selfmotion illusion on eye closure.

Clinical presentation

A 71-year-old woman was operated on for a cyst of the left centrum semiovale, adjacent to the precuneus, the posterior cingulate cortex and the splenium of corpus callosum. Two days after, she complained of visual hallucinations occurring on eye closure. She reported reminiscences of landscapes, trees and animals. She had a sensation of floating and moving, flying over the landscapes or walking on lanes. She could stop the hallucinations by opening her eyes. The hallucinations lasted for six days. Pharmacological and neurological possible origins of the hallucinations were explored.

Conclusion

No direct relation could be found between the pharmacological treatment and the hallucinations. Cerebral volumetric analysis showed a structural reorganization following cyst drainage, which might have conducted to transient hyper excitability of the surrounding structures. The release phenomenon induced by eye closure might have triggered the activation of a distributed network within associative visual, parietal and temporal cortices. The involvement of the splenium and the cingulum is discussed. Furthermore, MRI- and DTI-follow-up suggests that structural reorganization after surgery can be spread over long periods until disappearance of cyst-related deformations. Stabilization of cyst volume, near to zero, was observed after about 2 years.


Data on hydrogeological and lithological characteristics of geological formations are obtainable at every dam site. In practice, it is essential to examine the data using an engineering-based approach such as geostatistical methods. Specifically, it is important to recognize the principal factors that significantly control hydrogeological characteristics, such as Rock Quality Designation (RQD) and average hydraulic conductivity of the rock mass (Lugeon value). In this study, the statistical properties of these parameters are examined as functions of depth, lithology and the spatial distribution of the data points. The results of this study show that the spatial distribution and lithology are the main controls. Using this approach one can determine the most permeable rock formations, potential karst locations and the areas that may warrant more extensive study. The results of stochastic simulation could be extensively enhanced by considering the spatial distribution of hydrogeological characteristics.


"Over half a thousand Thai manuscripts are currently being held in British institutions, with the largest collection at the British Library. Other important collections are at the Wellcome Library, the Royal Asiatic Society, the Bodleian Library and the John Rylands Library.Thai manuscripts and historic documents first came to Britain as a result of trade contacts, and documents from the earliest period include official letters and materials received from Thai counterparts. Manuscripts were also brought from Thailand by missionaries, travelers, traders, and officers of the India Office stationed in Burma, others were systematically collected by educators and scholars with a particular research interest. The largest number of manuscripts contains Buddhist scriptures and texts related to Buddhism, many of them in Pali language. However, almost all topics that can be found in the Thai manuscript tradition are represented in the collections held in the UK, for example literary and linguistic works, traditional medicine and healing practices, customary laws, cosmology and astrology, fortune-telling and divination, and animal treatises. Approximately a quarter of these manuscripts are illustrated or decorated in some way; some being outstanding examples of the tradition of Thai manuscript painting and manuscript decoration.This diversity is the result of the different intentions and ambitions of the collectors. Some collectors carefully chose material that they had a certain research interest for. For example, Henry Ginsburg who was fascinated by the beauty of Thai manuscript art built the most important collection of illustrated Thai manuscripts in the UK (held at the British Library). Another collector, Henry Wellcome, was particularly interested in medical texts and artefacts; therefore his collection contains dozens of medical treatises and herbals.Many manuscripts were given to British institutions after the death of a collector, and the trade in manuscripts only began to play a role in the second half of the 20th century. In my article I will give an overview of Thai manuscript collections in the UK, and major contributors and builders of these collections."


Offering a fresh look at trade during the second industrial revolution, Global Markets Transformed "describes a world of commodities on the move--wheat and rice, coffee and tobacco, oil and rubber, all jostling around the planet through a matrix of producers, processors, transporters, and buyers. Steven C. Topik and Allen Wells discuss how innovations in industrial and agricultural production, transportation, commerce, and finance transformed the world economy from 1870 to 1945.Topik and Wells trace the evolution of global chains of commodities, from basic food staples and stimulants to strategically important industrial materials, that linked the agricultural and mineral-producing areas of Latin America, Asia, and Africa to European and North American consumers and industrialists. People living a great distance apart became economically intertwined as never before. Yet laborers and consumers at opposite ends of commodity chains remained largely invisible to one another. Affluent American automobile owners who were creating the skyrocketing demand for tires, for example, knew almost nothing about poor Brazilian tappers who sweated in the Amazon to supply the rubber necessary for their vehicles.As commodity chains stretched out around the world, more goods were bound up in markets that benefited some countries more than others. Global Markets Transformed" highlights the lessons and legacy of the early years of globalization--when the world's population doubled, trade quadrupled, industrial output multiplied fivefold, and the gap between rich and poor regions grew ever wider.


In this paper we computationally study the relation between adaptive behaviour and emotion. Using the reinforcement learning framework, we propose that learned state utility, , models fear (negative) and hope (positive) based on the fact that both signals are about anticipation of loss or gain. Further, we propose that joy/distress is a signal similar to the error signal. We present agent-based simulation experiments that show that this model replicates psychological and behavioural dynamics of emotion. This work distinguishes itself by assessing the dynamics of emotion in an adaptive agent framework – coupling it to the literature on habituation, development, extinction and hope theory. Our results support the idea that the function of emotion is to provide a complex feedback signal for an organism to adapt its behaviour. Our work is relevant for understanding the relation between emotion and adaptation in animals, as well as for human–robot interaction, in particular how emotional signals can be used to communicate between adaptive agents and humans.


Although we have advanced in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms intrinsic to the morphogenesis of chordate embryos, the question of how individual developmental events are integrated to generate the final morphological form is still unresolved. Microscopic observation is a pivotal tool in developmental biology, both for determining the normal course of events and for contrasting this with the results of experimental and pathological perturbations. Since embryonic development takes place in three dimensions over time, to fully understand the events required to build an embryo we must investigate embryo morphogenesis in multiple dimensions in situ. Recent advances in the isolation of naturally fluorescent proteins, and the refinement of techniques for in vivo microscopy offer unprecedented opportunities to study the cellular and molecular events within living, intact embryos using optical imaging. These technologies allow direct visual access to complex events as they happen in their native environment, and thus provide greater insights into cell behaviors operating during embryonic development. Since most fluorescent protein probes and modes of data acquisition are common across species, we have chosen the mouse and the ascidian, two model organisms at opposite ends of the chordate clade, to review the use of some of the current genetically‐encoded fluorescent proteins and their visualization in vivo in living embryos for the generation of high‐resolution imaging data. Microsc. Res. Tech. 69:160–167, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


The rat uterotrophic assay is a recommended tier 1 screening assay for environmental estrogens, but no comparable assay exists for altricial birds. We orally dosed zebra finch chicks daily during their linear growth phase (days 5–11) with estradiol benzoate (EB), genistein, methoxychlor, or octylphenol, all dissolved or suspended in canola oil, or canola oil alone, as a vehicle control. On day 12, oviducts were removed, weighed and examined histologically. All doses of EB (0.1–1,000 nmol/g body wt), genistein at 100 nmol/g, and methoxychlor and octylphenol at 1,000 nmol/g, markedly increased oviduct weight, with the highest dose of EB inducing a 60‐fold increase over controls. Oviducts were differentiated in a dose‐depedent manner to the point of having tubular glands and a pseudostratified, ciliated epithelium at the higher doses of EB. Our earlier results show that EB at 100 and 1,000 nmol/g impairs reproductive performance of zebra finches. Thus, the zebra finch oviduct bioassay measures estrogenicity over a wide dose range and, for EB exposure, can predict impairment in adult reproductive performance. The responsiveness of chick oviducts to estrogen stimulation may serve as a useful marker of estrogen exposure in wild populations of songbirds.


Child protection manuals and literature emphasise that developing a sense of identity is one of the most important elements in achieving good outcomes for children and young people in out of home care. Yet, the very issue of identity raises questions that many child protection workers are ill equipped to answer. Current theories of identity development in children lack evidence from the children and young people themselves in informing these notions, which have been criticised as adult-centric. Essentially this research is about placing the narratives of children and young people in care to the forefront, whilst exploring what this means in practice by contextualising these narratives within the systemic paradigms that impinge upon their lived experience.

The research presented in this paper surveys the formation of identity for children and young people in out of home care, using narrative art therapy, with a particular emphasis on multi-cultural and Indigenous children and young people. The research provides insight into the images created by children and young people and explores identity, culture and sense of self from their own perspective.

The research was undertaken in a regional area of Queensland Australia where the majority of children in the child protection system who are identified as Indigenous come from two or more cultural backgrounds. Hence, the unique racial mix of the research site also provides insight into multi-cultural identity. Only two participants in the research were from only one culture and only one of these was Anglo Australian. Unlike other studies, which have focused on children who are from two cultures with one of these cultures being Anglo, the children in this study represented children from up to five cultures, ensuring a unique opportunity to explore how children negotiate several cultural identities simultaneously. As a consequence the research offers insights into the implementation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle, whilst exploring the issues that arise as both a consequence of adherence to the principle and practice that informs its implementation.

The second part of the research views identity from the perspective of professionals working in child protection and out of home care. The narratives within the research highlight the depth and complexity of working with children and identity in child protection, particularly for Indigenous workers. What becomes apparent as a consequence is the disempowerment experienced by the Indigenous workers along with the disparity in belief systems between those that underpin Indigenous identity and those embedded in child protection practice. As explored in this research, Indigenous identity is linked to the spirit and the spirit is intrinsic to healing. This thesis explores this question particularly as it pertains to Indigenous children in out of home care. This research proposes a new working paradigm that acknowledges non-western notions of identity as a way forward in developing alternative ways of working with Indigenous children in out of home care.


As oil exploration and development costs rise, the oil industry increases its efforts to improve oil recovery (IOR) from existing fields. IOR is achieved mainly by drilling more wells, but drilling in partially depleted reservoirs is challenging due to narrow pressure margins. Offshore drilling in harsh environments, such as the North Sea, presents additional challenges, since the heaving motion from a floating rig induces large surge and swab pressures in the well. This brief suggests a remedy for this problem using automatic control of well pressure. Taking advantage of an experimental lab facility recently completed at NTNU, a model of the drilling system is developed using subspace identification methods. The model serves as a basis for state estimation and controller design using model predictive control. Applying the controller to the lab facility, pressure oscillations are suppressed by 70%-90% compared with the open-loop case, depending on the period of the heave motion.


We have investigated the phase behavior of a system of hard cylinders in the limit L/D→0. Simulations in
this limit are possible because the model can be mapped onto a system of particles with finite volume but
variable shape. Our simulations indicate that infinitely thin disks exhibit a columnar phase, and that the
nematic-columnar transition is first order. Combining this result with previous simulations of cut spheres, this
transition appears to be first order for all aspect ratios 0


The four parathyroid glands (glandulae parathyreoidae, epithelial cells) are each located in close anatomical vicinity of the two thyroid lobes. Here, one differentiates between the upper and the lower pair, which each originate from the endoderm of the third or fourth branchial pouches, respectively. The epithelial cells of the parathyroid glands produce the parathyroid hormone PTH, which plays an important role in the context of calcium homeostasis. In this context, symptoms are, for instance, either increased (hyperparathyroidism) or decreased parathyroid hormone levels (hypoparathyroidism).


Academic journals often represent the 'zeitgeist' (defining mood or spirit) of the current debates and new developments in a discipline. We asked the question 'Ubivuimus, quo vadimus' Acta Criminologica? 'Where have we been and where are we going' with the aim, among others, of revealing insights into trends of research topics, author productivity and methodological aspects of the journal. A content analysis was conducted of articles published in the Acta Criminologica journal between the twenty-year period of 1994 and 2013, in order to describe shifts in the origins of publications, the number and post-level of authors, research methods, units of analysis, themes and matters related to the incorporation of policy and theory in publications. Having excluded special and conference editions, a total of 629 articles were included in the analysis. The twenty-year period was divided into five four-year terms to facilitate time-trend analyses. Depending on the nature of the variables involved, statistically significant differences over the five intervals were determined by means of the Mann-Whitney U and Kruskall-Wallis H tests. Significant shifts featured in terms of local versus international publications (p=0.013); the universities that contributed to the journal (p=0.006); the number and post-levels of authors per publication (pl0.001); the frequency of empirical versus literature-based articles (pl0.001); and the research approaches (p<0.001) and designs (p=0.010) of contributions. Further insights were revealed regarding the units of analysis used in published work, as well as fluctuations in the thematic content of articles. The limited use of theory in publications and minimal focus on the value of research with regard to policy and decision-making remain a cause of concern. Overall, the research demonstrated the value of critically reflecting over time on the trends in publication in the Acta Criminologica with the view of informing future directions.


During turnover at 10 degrees C at pH 7.4 in the presence of ethylene, the MoFe protein of Klebsiella pneumoniae nitrogenase (Kp 1) exhibited an electron-paramagnetic-resonance signal with g-values at 2.12, 1.998 and 1.987. 57Fe isotopic substitution demonstrated that this signal arose from the Kp 1 FeMo-cofactor in an S = 1/2 spin state.


SUMMARY: Fifty-three strains from six species of the genus Bacillus were tested for their ability to produce gelatinase and to disintegrate the collagen matrix of bone. Some strains of B. cereus and B. anthracis produced a true collagenase which brought about complete disintegration of the collagen substrate, while strains of B. subtilis, B. licheniformis, B. brevis and B. megaterium were either completely inactive or produced only partial disintegration. Collagenase production was always accompanied by gelatinase production but the reverse was not the case. Concentrated culture filtrates of B. cereus were shown to contain collagenase and gelatinase whereas those of B. subtilis contained contained gelatinase only.


Electoral redistricting shapes political scientists' perceptions of partisan polarization and incumbency. This paper examines the redistricting process at the county level of government, using the cases of McLean and Champaign Counties, Illinois. This research analyzes the McLean County board's voting cleavages in order to highlight considerations of nonpartisan electoral bodies. With Champaign County as a comparison, it also uses a series of linear regression models to analyze redistricting's effects on county incumbency and board composition. Redistricting impact proved insignificant, but the study demonstrates correlations between county electoral composition and state-level electoral trends, and also confirms the important influence of partisanship on redistricting and electoral outcomes. This article is available in Res Publica Journal of Undergraduate Research: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/respublica/vol16/iss1/9


Introduction Cancers of the vulva account for 3% to 5% of all cancers of the female genital. This study was conducted to evaluate clinical, pathological, and molecular prognostic factors in patients with cancer of the vulva. Methods Patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva who had undergone surgical treatment at the Department of Pelvic Surgery and Gynecology Service, Aristides Maltez Hospital, between June 1993 and June 2011 were selected. Clinical, epidemiological, pathological, and molecular characteristics related to the prognosis of these patients were evaluated in relation to the prognosis. In the molecular evaluation, we studied the expression of p53 and matrix metalloproteinase 2 by immunohistochemistry. Results Seventy-five patients were eligible for the study. In multivariable analysis, factors related to survival were as follows: tumor size larger than 4 cm (P = 0.014), an invasion depth greater than 2 mm (P = 0.023) and matrix metalloproteinase 2 expression in more than 50% of the tumor cells (P = 0.046). With the use of the relative risks of the factors identified in the multivariable analysis, a point count was developed for a prognostic classification (the score classifies patients into 3 categories). Conclusions A tumor size larger than 4 cm, an invasion depth greater than 2 mm, and metalloproteinase 2 expression in more than 50% of the tumor cells seem to be related to lower overall survival rate in patients with cancer of the vulva undergoing surgical treatment. A classification of the patient's prognosis can be performed using a point count based on these relative risks.


Understanding the effect of monetary policy (change in interest rate) on several sub-components of inflation, as some of them are believed to be dominated by other than demand-side dynamics, is important to analyze the effectiveness of monetary policy. VAR models, which are widely used to study monetary policy impulse, suffer from degrees of freedom constraints and hence, studying the behavior of several sub-components of inflation for monetary policy innovation using a standard VAR model may not be feasible. Taking advantage of the FAVAR method, in this paper we have extracted the impulse response functions for several important sub-components of wholesale price (WPI) inflation. The results show that even though most of the sub-components of WPI inflation behave as expected, for protein items� inflation and primary non-food articles� inflation, supply-side constraints are not as over-bearing as commonly perceived.


The purpose of this study was to assess the usefulness of serial bone scintigraphy in the detection of skeletal and extraskeletal metastases in dogs with appendicular osteosarcoma. Twenty-six dogs with primary, appendicular osteosarcoma were entered into a limb-sparing protocol. Bone scintigraphy was performed upon presentation, after neoadjuvant therapy but prior to surgery and at selective intervals after limb-sparing surgery to evaluate for the presence of metastasis. Thoracic radiographs, and radiographs of other sites, were also made at the time of each bone scan. All dogs had a complete necropsy. No dog had bone or lung metastases detected prior to treatment. The bone scans, medical records, and radiographs of each dog were reviewed retrospectively. All but one dog developed metastatic disease. Bone metastatic sites were confirmed at necropsy in 12 of the 26 dogs. Seven of these 12 dogs had bone metastatic sites which were not producing clinical signs, i.e. an occult metastasis. In five of the seven dogs, the occult site was the first metastatic site detected. Extraskeletal metastases were identified scintigraphically in six of the 26 dogs, but these were clinically apparent prior to bone scintigraphy in each dog. Suspected malignant scintigraphic lesions were proven benign in six dogs. In five dogs with malignant bone lesions at necropsy the last bone scan prior to euthanasia was normal. The time interval between scintigraphy and necropsy was variable in these five dogs. All dogs without bone metastases at necropsy had normal bone scans. This study validates the usefulness of bone scintigraphy for detection of occult bone metastasis and improved ability for tumor staging in dogs with appendicular osteosarcoma.


[1] The multiyear lidar and radar measurements obtained from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) and CloudSat between June 2006 and May 2010 were used to investigate the seasonal and interannual variabilities of the vertical and horizontal cloud distributions, cloud top height above ground (Htop) thickness (CTH), effective radius (re), and ice water content (IWC) over the southern high latitudes poleward of 60°S. The collocated lidar and radar data were used to derive the cloud mask, which was used to classify the clouds into four classes according to the cloud base height above ground (Hbase) and CTH. The Amundsen/Bellingshausen Sea region showed the highest cloud occurrence (>80%) and Antarctic Plateau had lowest cloud occurrence (<30%). The low-level clouds accounted for more than 60% of the total cloudiness, and their occurrence was greater during summer than during winter, but deep and high-level cloud occurrence, CTH, and Htop were greater during winter than during summer. CTH and Htopof deep and high-level clouds were greater over ocean than over land, but both CTH and Htopof low-level clouds were greater over land than over ocean. The mean IWCs for high-level clouds over land and ocean were 0.85 (2.0) and 1.3 (3.1) mg/kg, respectively, and the mean re over land and ocean were 18.0 (22.1) and 21.5 (26.4) μm, respectively, for winter (summer). The study provides a high-quality data set of cloud properties over the Antarctic region to improve our understanding and model simulations of Antarctic clouds.


Regardless of extensive researches on hydrologic forecasting models, the issue of updating the outputs from forecasting models has remained a main challenge. Most of the existing output updating methods are mainly based on the presence of persistence in the errors. This paper presents an alternative approach to updating the outputs from forecasting models in order to produce more accurate forecast results. The approach uses the concept of the similarity in errors for error prediction. The K nearest neighbor (KNN) algorithm is employed as a similarity-based error prediction model and improvements are made by new data, and two other forms of the KNN are developed in this study. The KNN models are applied for the error prediction of flow forecasting models in two catchments and the updated flows are compared to those of persistence-based methods such as autoregressive (AR) and artificial neural network (ANN) models. The results show that the similarity-based error prediction models can be recognized as an efficient alternative for real-time inflow forecasting, especially where the persistence in the error series of flow forecasting model is relatively low.


Transparent thin film transistors (TFTs) have been the subject of extensive scientific research over the last couple of decades, for applications in displays and imaging, as their implementation in active-matrix liquid crystal displays backplanes is expected to improve their performance in terms of switching times and stability. To this end, several material systems have emerged as contenders to address this need for a high performance, low power, large-area electronics i.e. thin film silicon, organic semiconductors and metal oxides. The electronic limitations of thin film silicon are well documented, and although organic semiconductors have seen significant improvements in recent years, their persistent low mobility and instability means that they are unlikely to progress beyond niche applications. This thesis is focused on the investigation of the physical properties of metal oxides and their implementation in TFTs. Metal oxide based TFTs were fabricated by spray pyrolysis, a simple and large-area-compatible deposition technique. More precisely, the implementation of titanium-aluminate and niobium-aluminate both wide band gap and high-k gate dielectric metal oxides in solution processed ZnO-based TFTs was studied and high performance, low operational voltage devices were fabricated. ZnO-based TFTs employing stoichiometric Al2O3-TiO2 (k~13, Eg~4.5 eV) or Nb2O5-Al2O3 (k~13.5, Eg~5.1 eV) as gate dielectric exhibited low leakage currents, high on-off current modulation ratios, high field-effect mobilities and low subthreshold voltage swings. Furthermore, the implementation of solution-processed crystalline indium-zinc oxide (c-IZO) as active channel material in TFTs was equally investigated and high-performance c-IZO-based TFTs employing Al2O3 were fabricated. The effects of metal cation doping in c-IZO matrix were investigated in particular, and c-IZO:X (X:Ga,Y,Zr,Nb) based TFTs were fabricated and their properties were assessed for each dopant. Amongst them, Yttrium doped c-IZO (c-YIZO)-based TFTs exhibited the best performance in terms of low off-state currents, high field-effect mobilities and low subthreshold voltage swings.


Traveling safely in outdoor environments is one of the most challenging activities for vision-disabled people. To improve the mobility of these people, an assistive navigation system is necessary. This paper is a step towards developing this system. We propose a robust method to detect the pedestrian marked lane at traffic junctions. The proposed method involves three stages: patches of interest (POI) extraction, lane marker detection and lane detection. The POI extraction is first performed to detect image patches located on the lane marker boundaries using template matching. Potential lane markers are then formed by using shape and intensity information. Finally, the walkable lane region is determined by verifying pairs of detected potential makers. A probabilistic framework using multiple geometric cues is proposed for the verification step. We create a new dataset collected from diverse environments and evaluate the proposed method on this dataset. The experimental results under challenging conditions have illustrated the efficiency and robustness of the proposed method compared to conventional techniques.


With increasing global competition, most manufacturing businesses turn to increase their production technologies to gain competitive advantage. Flexible manufacturing systems are also one of these production technologies. Flexible manufacturing systems have the capacity to produce a variety of products in a short time and in specified quantities. With the widespread use of advanced technology, manufacturing companies have begun using flexible manufacturing system to take advantage of benefits of this system. When evaluating or selecting of flexible manufacturing systems, many criteria, which are conflicted, should be considered. Hence, multi-criteria decision making methods are used in the evaluation or selection of flexible manufacturing systems. In this study, the flexible manufacturing systems will be selected with the Entropy based range of value (ROV) method. The objective weights of the criteria will be obtained by the Entropy method and alternatives will be ranked by the ROV method. Eight different alternatives are ranked with respect to their performance by using of this method. Since there is no study using ROV in Turkish literature, this study is thought to contribute to Turkish literature.


On the two hundredth anniversary of his birth, Karl Marx remains, in so many different ways, a controversial figure. One issue, about which there has been heated debate, is the relationship between the circumstances of the first half of the nineteenth century, which shaped Marx's ideas, and the contemporary validity of those ideas. Some commentators see the fundamental circumstances of a capitalist economy and society, today and two hundred years ago, as fundamentally similar, so that Marx's insights, even if shaped far off in the past, retain their basic relevance. Others are inclined to feel that ideas formulated in the age of the French Revolution of 1789, of Hegel's philosophy, and of the very first years of the industrial revolution, might be less easily applicable to today's conditions. I will approach this debate somewhat differently, by considering three questions – one each from philosophy, economics and politics – that concerned Marx all this life. For each of these questions, basic issues surrounding them changed at different points between 1850 and 1880. Marx's response to these changes will be compared with how his Marxist successors and other thinkers of the twentieth century responded to them. Conference de : Jonathan Sperber (University of Missouri) Commentaire : Quentin Deluermoz (universite Paris 13) Date : Lundi, 28 mai 2018, 18h-20h Lieu : Institut historique allemand, 8, rue du Parc-Royal, 75003 Paris Information et reservation : firstname.lastname@example.com


Based on the missional experiences of the Wolaita Zone Kale Heywet Church (WZKHC) in Southern Ethiopia, this dissertation argues the indispensable nature of the holistic approach to mission in order to fulfil the missional responsibility of the church effectively. Balance must be kept between the two aspects of mission (evangelism and social concern) and they need to be integrated as working towards a single goal of proclaiming the Kingdom of God. In other words, neither of the two aspects of mission may to be magnified at the expense of the other nor should they be dichotomized as two unrelated parts. J\1ission emerges from the nature of God. Ever since the creation of the universe God has been at work and the church takes part in what he is doing. God's mission is holistic. Through Jesus Christ, He is working towards the redemption of the whole creation to its originally intended state. The research attempts to give attention to this concept as the Kingdom-oriented (Messio Dei) mission versus church-centered mission in light of holistic approach. To weigh the experience of the church (WZKHC) from the perspective of the Scripture, OT and NT analysis will be done in detail. Furthermore, the eschatological views pertinent to the final state of the creation and millennium will also be assessed in order to find out their contribution as a root of imbalance or polarization between evangelism and social concern. The aim the study is to frod out the factors that contribute to the imbalanced and non integrated approach to mission in the WZKHC in order to help the church regain the holistic perspective. This would be done mainly through qualitative research method, although quantitative approach is also employed rarely. Key termsChurch, Gospel; Holistic mission; Integral mission; Shalom; Kingdom of God; Missio Dei; Transformation; End time.


Urticaria is a common presentation in Emergency Department. Most of the time its idiopathic or immune mediated. In a small proportion of cases it may be a symptom of serious medical illness. We report two case of urticaria with underlying medical causes. Case 1: A 33-year-old female presented to emergency with recurrent urticaria, which started 5 months back. Even though it responded to antihistamines, symptoms recurred on discontinuing medicines. No other symptom and no other past medical illness. Clinical examination was unremarkable, except for extensive urticaria. Her laboratory evaluation showed hyperthyroidism, and deranged liver function test (LFT). She was started on carbimazole and symptoms improved after a few weeks. Symptom recurred after 3 months when dose was reduced and promptly relieved on restarting old dose. After few weeks she discontinued her medication and symptom recurred. On restarting the medicine she improved again. Her LFT also improved on follow up. Case 2: One young female was seen in emergency with episodic urticaria for 6 months. She responded to antihistamines but recurred on discontinuing medicine. No significant illness in past. Clinical examination showed anaemia and generalised urticaria. Her laboratory test showed microcytic hypo chromic anaemia and her iron profile was suggestive iron deficiency. Urticaria symptoms improved after she was initiated on iron replacement. Discussion: The above two cases represents two systemic causes of urticaria. Exact mechanism of how these disorder produce urticaria is unknown. In case of iron deficiency, iron therapy even in the absence of anaemia, is found to improve urticaria. The prevalence of thyroid autoimmunity is high in patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria. Mast cell over stimulation by thyroid hormone is thought to be the mechanism behind the urticaria in hyperthyroidism. Physicians should look for systemic causes when patients present with recurrent symptoms.


Photopolymers are suitable for a medium of holographic data storages and stable media with high diffraction efficiency. The reaction process of such photopolymers proceeds based on elementary reactions and it is highly complicated. In present work, we have simulated formation of diffraction gratings in photopolymers, and analyzed their diffraction characteristics according to the beam propagation method. Using this method, we obtained diffraction characteristics that are otherwise difficult to analyze by conventional methods based such as coupled-wave analysis. In addition, we also performed experiment for evaluation of recording characteristics of photopolymers by interference fringe recording. It is our expectation that the results of present work will provide beneficial information for the implementation of holographic data storage.


The Quality of Service (QoS) is one of most important issues in providing an acceptable level of service. Communication engineers need a guide for action to improve QoS parameters such as data rate, bit error rate, latency, and jitter. Improving QoS includes a set of steps that should be performed by an engineer; these steps are belonging to two categories, system and network steps. In this paper we developed a flow chart of a general guide to improve QoS in a digital communication system, based on our knowledge of the modern communication system and impairments that lead to system degradation. We outline the options and advices to approach the subject of QoS in digital transmission.


As city-regions across Canada continue to grow, the need for some municipal services, such as mass transit, is shifting from a local to a regional basis. This transformation is giving rise to regional servicing challenges, placing greater pressure on city-regions and their municipalities to provide services across municipal boundaries in a coordinated and streamlined fashion. For instance, cross-boundary commuters in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area face an array of unintegrated local transit systems and fare structures that are apart from the regional transit authority, Metrolinx. While mass transit in the Vancouver metropolitan area has been integrated under the regional transit authority, TransLink, local and provincial officials are looking for ways to improve the governance of TransLink. The antiquated solutions of forced amalgamation and provincial mandates on service sharing have produced few economies of scale and have greatly undermined local autonomy. Provinces need to shift their focus from imposing centralized local government to creating frameworks that promote cooperative and flexible local governance. By working together in such a framework, municipalities can identify and resolve regional servicing challenges effectively, all while keeping amalgamation at bay and their local autonomy intact. City-regions across Canada should be looking to the regional district governance model in British Columbia, where regional districts are "regional coordinators," rather than "regional authorities" with topdown powers. The distinction matters greatly for regional governance. Along these lines, TransLink in British Columbia and Metrolinx in Ontario should include local policymakers and stakeholders on their boards more than they do today. This would result in transit services being better tailored to the municipalities served and would improve accountability and transparency. The Alberta government has been engaged in a series of changes to the Municipal Government Act, with a particular focus on mandating how municipalities are to work together. Instead of this authoritative approach, which has failed in Ontario, Alberta should create the kind of regional governance framework in which municipalities will want to work and cooperate. Intermunicipal cooperation offers municipalities an effective means to strike an efficient balance between the need to meet regional interests on the one hand and to maintain local autonomy on the other.


The objectives of this study were a) to develop a youth Affinity for Nature Scale that can be used to document the affective outcomes of children participating in nature based programs; b) to review three relevant strains of literature informing the development of the scale: emotion theory, child development, and affinity for nature; and c) to review the importance of this scale's utility in terms of the current state of children's relationship with the natural world. The study outcomes include a field friendly instrument based on the emotion literature providing outdoor educators a reliable method to assess program outcomes aimed at connecting children to nature. A sample of 309 campers was recruited for the initial scale development. Content criterion and discriminant validity were assessed. The results showed there was adequate internal consistency and reliability for a 10 items a shorter 5 item scale. In addition, the paper gives a rationale for the utility of this scale based on current trends of human and environmental health. In response to the growing concerns of childhood obesity, emotional health, and decreases in environmental literacy and sensitivity camps, nature centers, park and recreation organizations, and public land agencies are increasingly tailoring their program offerings to provide opportunities for children to connect with nature. These educators and program planners need tools that are easy to administer in the field to evaluate affective outcomes for the youth in their programs.


The provision of financial services has changed dramatically over the past two decades. Technological innovation and deregulation have extended providers' geographic range and broadened the array of products they are capable of delivering. These changes have intensified competition among financial service firms. In recent years Massachusetts, like other states, has passed legislation designed to narrow disparities among the tax burdens of these institutions. At the same time, the Commonwealth has passed tax cuts designed to enhance the competitiveness of Massachusetts-based financial institutions. Consequently, the degree to which the Commonwealth has actually leveled the tax playing field for them is unclear. This article attempts to resolve the issue. The author concludes that tax changes enacted in recent years have widened some disparities in tax treatment of Massachusetts-based financial institutions while narrowing others. Tax burdens on most Massachusetts-based financial institutions have been reduced, enhancing their competitive standing vis-a`-vis their out-of-state rivals. However, it is not clear that the Commonwealth has narrowed interindustry differences in tax burdens. ; The author proposes that in the interests of tax neutrality, fairness, and administrative simplicity, the Commonwealth might consider narrowing disparities in tax treatment among financial institutions. He believes that measures designed to reduce differences in tax burdens merit further attention.


All organizations today confront data quality problems, both systemic and structural. Neither ad hoc approaches nor fixes at the systems levelinstalling the latest software or developing an expensive data warehousesolve the basic problem of bad data quality practices. Journey to Data Quality offers a roadmap that can be used by practitioners, executives, and students for planning and implementing a viable data and information quality management program. This practical guide, based on rigorous research and informed by real-world examples, describes the challenges of data management and provides the principles, strategies, tools, and techniques necessary to meet them. The authors, all leaders in the data quality field for many years, discuss how to make the economic case for data quality and the importance of getting an organization's leaders on board. They outline different approaches for assessing data, both subjectively (by users) and objectively (using sampling and other techniques). They describe real problems and solutions, including efforts to find the root causes of data quality problems at a healthcare organization and data quality initiatives taken by a large teaching hospital. They address setting company policy on data quality and, finally, they consider future challenges on the journey to data quality.