The Spatial Audio Data Immersive Experience (SADIE) project aims to identify new foundational relationships pertaining to hu-man spatial aural perception, and to validate existing relation-ships. Our infrastructure consists of an intuitive interaction in-terface, an immersive exocentric sonification environment, and a layer-based amplitude-panning algorithm. Here we highlight the system's unique capabilities and provide findings from an initial externally funded study that focuses on the assessment of human aural spatial perception capacity. When compared to the existing body of literature focusing on egocentric spatial perception, our data show that an immersive exocentric environment enhances spatial perception, and that the physical implementation using high density loudspeaker arrays enables significantly improved spatial perception accuracy relative to the egocentric and virtual binaural approaches. The preliminary observations suggest that human spatial aural perception capacity in real-world-like immersive exocentric environments that allow for head and body movement is significantly greater than in egocentric scenarios where head and body movement is restricted. Therefore, in the design of immersive auditory displays, the use of immersive exocentric environments is advised. Further, our data identify a significant gap between physical and virtual human spatial aural perception accuracy, which suggests that further development of virtual aural immersion may be necessary before such an approach may be seen as a viable alternative.


Government contaminated site regulators, as policy executors and makers, have a profound impact on the development of green and sustainable remediation (GSR), but their cognitive level of GSR has not been well-studied. China has some experience in the management of contaminated sites and has the foundation to promote GSR. This study was conducted in the form of a questionnaire to investigate the understanding of GSR among Chinese site regulators at different levels. The study found that there was still a lot of resistance to promoting GSR in China. Firstly, even though the regulators thought GSR was necessary in China, most of them did not know GSR very well or lacked practical experience. Secondly, existing national and provincial policy standards did not have a good balance between the environmental, social and economic aspects, but gave priority to the environmental factors. Thirdly, the lack of standard and regulatory requirements was the most significant barrier to the implementation of GSR. The results of the survey can provide a reference for China or other developing countries to implement GSR. Practitioners should provide more knowledge and cases for regulators, supplement national policies or improve the provincial and municipal policy system.


The purpose of this paper is to test for the effect of Federal Government budget deficits on one-year tax-adjusted nominal and real interest rates in an IS-LM-AS model. The results suggest that the specification of the dependent variable is a crucial issue in the debate over the linkage between deficits and interest rates, The evidence shows a positive and significant effect of various measures of the Federal Government deficit and debt on the real tax-adjusted Treasury bill rate in both the levels and the first-differenced equations but not on the nominal tax-adjusted rate. The positive and significant deficit-debt coefficients are also confirmed when the first-differenced equation is estimated by instrumental variables and when the equation is estimated over various time periods. Thus, there is robust evidence of a positive linkage between federal government borrowing and the tax-adjusted real but not nominal interest rates.


: Is creativity only a human domain? Can a neural network, even the most sophisticated architecture, fed with material created and chosen by man, be creative, and even if it is not a work of art secondary to human beings? Or maybe, as Bakhtin, and behind him Kristeva, wanted, each of our expressions is still destined to be secondary, because this is the nature of language? What is creativity, what can artificial intelligence do, what critical literary reflections can its work induce, especially in the context of intertextual and interpoetic relations? In the article I am searching for answers on the example of functioning of neural networks type GAN and GPT-2 model. Apart from fragments of analyzed texts and references to the theory of literature, there is also an introduction to the structure and essence of the analyzed technological solutions.


Much writing on gender and sport is focused upon the negative impact of girls' exclusion from the arena, suggesting by inference that current practice in sport and physical education offers an uncomplicatedly positive sport experience for boys, and that gender, in and of itself, offers a simple starting point for research into young people's experience of sport. Rethinking Gender and Youth Sport seeks to articulate certain themes which, it is suggested, might contribute to broadening and furthering discussion in the area of gender, youth sport and physical activity. This collection considers a number of themes relating to gender in sport, including: * the body * competence, ability and school physical education * cultural change and diversity * gendered spaces * human rights and well-being. Authoritative writers have contributed thought provoking chapters which will prompt the reader to re-think the ways in which gender is understood within the context of youth sport.


This study examines the protective principle of extraterritorial criminal jurisdiction in international law and its use for combatting the threat of international terrorism. The study is, generally speaking, one of two parts.

The first part explores the rationale of protective jurisdiction and the interests that it serves, and assesses the importance of the rationale of this jurisdiction for combatting transnational crimes, including the problem of international terrorism. It also sheds important light on the modern historical development of protective jurisdiction and the various public and private efforts made to codify this ground of jurisdiction during the first half of the twentieth century.

The second part of the study provides original, empirical research into contemporary State practice, in an effort to examine whether, and, if so, to what extent, States have used protective jurisdiction for combatting the threat of international terrorism. It also enumerates, based on this practice, as well as the use of a range of other primary sources, including relevant treaty and U.N. Security Council practice, a list of vital interests that have been included under the ambit of protective jurisdiction lex lata and around which a basic level of agreement appears to have clustered. The study proposes that it may be possible to define protective jurisdiction in contemporary customary international law based on a 'shared vital State interests' approach. That is, the protection of certain vital interests is in conformity with the practice of the international community of States.

The study concludes that, in the light of the findings of State practice inter alia and the recent decision of the International Law Commission to include the topic of extraterritorial jurisdiction in its long-term programme of work, the codification of protective jurisdiction is necessary and desirable more than ever before. The most important advantages of the adoption of such an instrument are that it could be used as a persuasive source to guide States and courts in the adoption and interpretation of domestic laws; provide for the more effective protection of shared vital State interests by the international community; and complement the existing legal framework and 'fill in' gaps left by ad hoc sectoral treaties for combatting the increasingly complex, diffuse and evolving threat of international terrorism.


Abstract The SCO— a linchpin of China's Eurasia policy is viewed ominously by most international watchers. China is nurturing the SCO as an exclusive nucleus to undercut the US strategic outreach. But, Central Asia, the main nucleus, suffers from strategic ambiguity and the states there seek varied goals and play major power off each other. There is also an ostensible mismatch between Russia's liberal and China's expansionist approach. Will the SCO emerge as a distinct pole or will it remain an opportunistic alliance of desperate states? This paper argues that despite all the rhetoric, the organization will suffer from multiple limitations.


[Extract] Eucalyptus dominates more than 90 per cent of Australian forests and woodlands and supports a wide range of endemic vertebrates and invertebrates. Nonetheless, few insects, and even fewer mammals, eat the foliage to any appreciable extent (Landsberg and Cork 1997). Eucalyptus
foliage contains low amounts of dietary nitrogen, which is essential for the maintenance and reproduction of all animals (Cork and Foley 1991), but also appreciable amounts of essential oils and phenolic compounds. Both these groups of compounds are believed to have a significant influence on the acceptability of foliage as food and the nutritional quality of that foliage (Hume 1982).

There has long been speculation about the degree and nature of the influence of Eucalyptus oils on the food choice of herbivores. This interest has been driven by a number of considerations. Firstly, the restricted diet of koalas suggests that a knowledge of its nutrition and food choices will contribute substantially to its conservation and the conservation of other sympatric species (Cork and Sanson 1990).

Secondly, efforts to establish plantations of Eucalyptus for wood fibre and sawn timber are plagued by the damage inflicted on plants by pest insects and mammals (Montague 1994,
Patterson et al. 1996). Although this is countered by extensive poisoning campaigns, current research is seeking to incorporate naturally resistant genotypes into plantation management systems (Farrow 1993). Determining the role of essential oils and related compounds in conferring resistance to herbivores has substantial economic consequences.

Finally, the dominance of Eucalyptus in the Australian environment, a variable level of herbivory and the substantial quantities of plant secondary metabolites contained in the foliage, has spurred a number of studies seeking a more fundamental understanding of the evolutionary interactions between plants and herbivores (Morrow and Fox 1980, Morrow et al. 1976, Cork and Foley 1991). For example, Morrow and Fox (1980) used Eucalyptus and its volatile oils to test whether herbivory was controlled by the metabolic costs of detoxification. These types of studies have made important contributions to broader ecological theory.

In this chapter, we review studies which have examined the role of Eucalyptus oils in determining the feeding of Australian insects and mammals or which have measured the consequences
of ingested oils. We conclude by evaluating the role of essential oils in conferring natural herbivore resistance on Eucalyptus and the prospects of selecting high yielding genotypes for use in breeding programmes.


Vertical distribution and population structure of Metridia pacifica and M. okhotensis were investigated at Site H in the Oyashio region (western subarctic Pacific) to evaluate their life cycle modes. Although recruitment of M. pacifica continued throughout the year in the top 250 m of the water column, 2 pronounced generations were recognized. The first generation was character- ized by rapid development during the spring phytoplankton bloom (generation length: 2-3 mo), and the second by slow development (generation length: 9-10 mo) with overwintering at Stage 5 in deeper-layers (up to 1000-2000 m). In contrast, M. okhotensis was consistently found at depth (250-1000 m) throughout the year, except for excursions to the subsurface layer for spawning during the phytoplankton bloom. Developmental sequences of M. okhotensis could not be resolved very clearly, largely because of extremely low abundance of Copepodite Stages 2 and 3 (C2-C3). As a ten- tative life cycle scenario, the C1 produced during one year was considered to overwinter and develop to C5 through the phytoplankton bloom of the next year. These C5 overwinter and molt to C6 and reproduce during the phytoplankton bloom of the following year. Thus, the generation length of M. okhotensis is estimated as 2 yr. For both species, active spawning and subsequent growth are closely associated with phytoplankton bloom. For overwintering stages of both species, a large deposition of lipid in the body and its gradual decrease toward the onset of phytoplankton bloom of the next year was seen. While no comparable life cycle data is presently available for M. okhotensis, the present results of M. pacifica are compared with the results from other regions, showing a large between- region variation in the life cycle patterns of this species. Further, the present results are discussed in the context of broad overwintering mechanisms of pelagic copepods living in high-latitude seas.


Nostalgia, because it was originally treated as a disease, still has negative connotations. It is a dirty word because it is usually used to cut something down as not being rooted in reality, a person or an artwork for example. To say that one is nostalgic is to dismiss that emotion on the grounds that should one investigate the emotion itself one would necessarily find it to be unfounded in anything rational or concrete.


There is an increasing body of scholarship (e.g. Wang, 2017) analyzing the way workplace learning has been progressively backed by swift developments in information and communication technology, which has generated deep-seated alterations to the manners individuals access data and knowledge, and collaborate with other employees. E-learning zeroes in on the utilization of computer and network technologies to establish an elaborate learning setting entailing a broad series of information and knowledge resources and an array of clarifications for learning, education, and reciprocal action. Technology-dominated proposals make e-learning schemes less learning successful, determining their confined effect on stimulating individuals to take in and maintaining employee knowledge and abilities advanced. Focusing on the instrumental role of job design, workplace instruction, and educational experience, the aim of this paper is to prove that, for personnel, albeit knowledge and abilities may be assimilated by engaging in e-learning procedures, more frequently employees do not assume that e-learning is significant to their regular activities and effective in enhancing job performance. For entities, e-learning is commonly drawn up without considering the organizational strategy and mission, and particular training preconditions. Our results support prior research and illustrate the urgency of understanding that technology should be incorporated in pedagogical design to enhance technology affordances, education should be adjusted to separate demands and organizational objectives, evaluations should be bolstered to establish the accomplishment of e-learning aims, and strategic planning should be made for putting into practice chiefly in furthering organizational setting or culture. Workplace learning and its climate imply intricate, ambivalent, and constantly indefinite series of circumstances. Our research insists on the needs of regulating objective-led separate, social, and organizational mechanisms determined by the aims to enhance both specific and organizational performance via workplace e-learning schemes.


After the crisis of 2008, new regulatory requirements have emerged with supervisors strengthening their position in terms of requirements to meet IRBA standards. Low Default Portfolios (LDP) present specific characteristics that raise challenges for banks when building and implementing credit risk models. In this context, where banks are looking to improve their Return On Equity and supervisors strengthening their positions, this paper aims to provide clues for optimizing Post-Scoring classification as well as analyzing the relationship between the number of classes in a rating scale and the impact on regulatory capital for LDPs.


The purpose of this article is to demonstrate some of the ways in which rural histories can enhance our understanding of both rural and urban resistance, both past and present, in contemporary South Africa. In order to do so, it explores two books in conversation with each other, Thembela Kepe and Lungisile Ntsebeza's edited volume Rural Resistance in South Africa: The Mpondo Revolts after Fifty Years as well as Peter Alexander, Thapelo Lekgowa, Botsang Mmope, Luke Sinwell and Bongani Xezwi's Marikana: A View from the Mountain and a Case to Answer. These two books provide a useful platform from which to engage in a re-examination of rurally based protest and repression in order to locate some of the suggestive links, particularly in regard to the transmission of repertoires of struggle, between the Marikana strike and the Mpondo revolts, as well as the on-going struggles of the organised poor in some of South Africa's urban centres.


*Corr esponding author Three groups of pegmatites distinct in their geological position, age, internal structure, mineral assemblages and chemical composition of minerals (tourmaline, amphibole, garnet, and biotite) were distinguished in the Vlastějovice region, Moldanubian Zone: a) tourmaline-bearing pegmatites (Qz + Kfs + Pl + Bt + Ms + Tur) enclosed in the pre-Variscan orthogneiss, b) contaminated amphibole-bearing pegmatites (Pl + Qz + Amp + Kfs + fluorite + allanite) hosted by the Fe-skarn, and c) tourmaline-bearing pegmatites cutting paragneisses (Qz + Kfs + Pl + Bt + Ms + Ab + Tur + Grt) and the Fe-skarn (Qz + Kfs + Pl + Bt + Tur ± Ab, Amp, Grt, elbaite). The pegmatites enclosed in the orthogneiss show simple internal structure and mineral assemblages, together with low degree of tectonometamorphic overprint. The amphibole-bearing pegmatites, likely anatectic and related to the Variscan MP–HT regional metamorphism, are spatially restricted to the Fe-skarn body and highly variable in shape, size, effects of in situ contamination by Ca, Fe ± F and REE from the host Fe-skarn, and degree of hydrothermal overprint. The tourmaline-bearing pegmatites related to the Variscan magmatic event cut different rocks (paragneisses, Fe-skarn bodies) and belong to the Moldanubian rare-element pegmatite province. They show distinct degree of textural differentiation, geochemical fractionation and external contamination by Ca and/or Fe (Ca,Fe-rich Al-poor tourmalines) higher in the less evolved pegmatite bodies in the Fe-skarn. The tourmaline-bearing pegmatites were evidently generated from the granite–pegmatite body in the footwall contact of the Fe-skarn. Degrees of the textural differentiation and geochemical fractionation of the individual tourmaline-bearing pegmatites are comparable to those of the respective parts of the parental Footwall granite–pegmatite body. This observation seems consistent with the model of sequential derivation of pegmatite melts from evolving parental granite. Primitive to highly evolved and usually B-rich pegmatites originated during the Variscan orogeny from the MP (~0.6–0.7 GPa) to the LP conditions (~0.2 GPa), and manifest that formation of various granitic pegmatites was an integral part of the tectonomagmatic evolution of the region.


An unprecedented rise of renewable and distributed energy resources imposes unprecedented challenges in terms of complexity to power grids. Multitudes of devices are not only connected to the electricity grid but need appropriate information and communication technologies for proving their services. These devices ask for novel control mechanisms on different levels and regional scales. In this paper, we show how concepts from Organic Computing may support the controlled self-organization of the future smart grid. We propose a generic hierarchical architecture as a framework for various energy management systems. This architecture is able to reflect the physical power grid structure as well as the interdependencies of its stakeholders, user objectives, subsystems, and devices. It enables adaptive responses to changing objectives as well as disturbances in the system. Various simulations of systems based on the proposed architecture show the applicability of the proposed architecture to domains of energy management in smart grids.


This paper provides details of the analysis done for Ethiopia's background study for its implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). The analysis provides an assessment of agricultural growth options utilizing a new computable general equilibrium (CGE) model for Ethiopia based on data from the EDRI 2004/05 Ethiopia Social Accounting Matrix (SAM). The CGE model results indicate that if Ethiopia can meet its targets for crop yields and livestock productivity, then it should be possible to reach and sustain the six percent agricultural growth target during 2006-2015.


Recent researches in the field of cataloguingconfirmed that the library catalogue is losing its importance and its service cannot match the level of Google, Google Scholar, Google Books and Amazon. Ultimately it made the library users to bypass the library catalogue for their information requisites. The scenario asserts the need of major shifts in cataloguing in various aspects and compels to examine the current status of library catalogues. Online Public Access Catalogues (OPAC) of twenty eight libraries are taken for this investigation. A checklist has been prepared for the same. Features of Amazon and Google including Google Scholar and Google Books were contemplated for this evaluative study, as the research studies revealed that all these have made great impact on library cataloguing. This investigation finds the weaker sections such as accessibility, content enrichment, and information sharing capability in OPACs; and suggests that it should be integrated into OPAC. In addition, the ongoing developments in OPACs have been discussed in this paper. The researchers aim to identify the problematic areas in OPACs which will certainly be the base for developing the prototype.


Stated Preference (SP) methods have been used extensively in transport research and elsewhere both for demand forecasting purposes and to value the importance attached to different product features and travel attributes. Alongside the broader acceptance and wider application of SP
methods, some practitioners (Bates, 1998; Ampt et al., 2000; Wardman and Shires, 2001) have argued for greater openness in discussing what they see as significant concerns surrounding SP. The present study is motivated by the desire to analyse and reduce biases in the SP application, specifically addressing the issue of the strategic biasing of SP responses.

The review of biases observed in the previous SP applications explored the sources of bias, which can be categorized as unrealistic design, incentive to strategic bias and task complexity effects. Amongst these, the issues of design/scenarios specification and task complexity have
received a considerable amount of attention. On the other hand, and despite serious concerns in the early literature, the strategic biasing of responses tends to have been overlooked in recent times, particularly within the SP methodology. This study is motivated by the desire to
investigate the incentives for respondents to bias their answer in the SP survey and methods to amend the bias.

This study reviewed and summarised concerns surrounding the extent to which the SP responses to hypothetical questions reliably reflect individuals' true preferences when there is an incentive to bias responses. The discussion was illustrated with examples from research in transport field,
environment science and marketing.

In an empirical demonstration using data obtained from 1222 respondents (10885 preference observations) on the valuation of the improved rolling stock in Greater Manchester, UK, this study presented results for different designs. Based on the review of studies on rolling stock in
recent years, a suite of SP experiments were designed to investigate the effects of different designs on responses. Two factors were introduced into the experiment, a `cheap-talk' script and `adding more attributes to mask the research aim', to amend incentives to bias. In the
experiment, post-questionnaire questions on respondents' perception of experiments were introduced. More specifically, respondents' perceptions of the task load, familiarity of experiment alternatives together with their perceptions of the attribute change were added to
probe the decision making process and the impact of perception on the decision making.

Standard logit models were used to demonstrate the overall effects of variables for the whole sample. The segmentation model, based on the incremental factors, was used to identify respondents' taste variations. The heteroskedastic multinomial logit (HMNL) model was used to incorporate the impact of design factors, respondents' characteristics and perceptions into the scale parameter, which were unable to be captured by the standard logit model.

This study found that the cheap-talk script decreased the valuation of the improved rolling stock by 20% on average, through increasing respondents' sensitivity to the cost attribute in the SP survey. However, this impact was not significant at the 5% significance level. This indicates
that the warning message will help individuals to amend the incentive to strategic bias in the SP experiment; however bias may remain in our study.

This study did not detect significant impact of the complex design on the valuation of the improved rolling stock, although task complexity effects were detected where a large error variance was found in the complex SP design.

Individuals' perceptions have significant impacts on the valuation and model estimation precision. Individuals' familiarity with alternatives in the experiment increased the value of the improved rolling stock and improved the estimation precision. Individuals' perceptions of
potential price increase have an impact on the valuation and estimation precision. The more likely respondents perceived the potential price increase, the fewer preferences were given to the improved rolling stock and respondents were observed to be more consistent in their choice making.

In brief, this study suggests that incentives to strategic bias exist in the SP experiment due to its
hypothetical nature. Warning message such as a CT script is helpful to amend individuals' incentive to strategic bias. Attention should be made to the complexity of the experiment, as respondents are subjected to certain cognitive ability. In the SP analysis, individuals'
perceptions can be incorporated into the model analysis.


ABSTRACT Northern Uganda received significant international attention during and immediately after the conflict between the Government of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army, in which over 20,000 women and children were abducted and trafficked. However, globally there has been little investigation into the long-term impacts on formerly abducted women in post-conflict reconstruction, or on their own efforts to improve their conditions. This article presents original photovoice evidence from 13 co-researchers; all members of the Women's Advocacy Network, a grassroots organisation seeking to improve life in northern Uganda for women. All the co-researchers are from the Acholi ethnic group and were formerly abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army. They are all engaged in rebuilding their lives in Gulu, northern Uganda. The article seeks to present the work of the co-researchers and explores the long-term needs they identify for formerly abducted women in conflict zones. It also explores how their own experiences with abduction continues to erode the recognition of their humanity, both in terms of how they are perceived by their communities and how they view themselves, and how they are individually and collectively working to reassert their place in the moral universe.


There is evidence of a paradigm shift in organizational structures as organizations utilize the internet technology to add a virtual dimension to their activities. Virtuality in the manufacturing domain is referred to as Virtual Enterprises (VE) or Extended Enterprises and within the commercial domain is referred to as the Virtual Organization.
The key factor in virtuality is the information flows across enterprises. The quasi-integration of information systems is made possible by the technology but the implications for information management has received scant attention in the literature. This paper explores the concept of virtuality to identify the possible challenges for information management. This exploration identifies a preliminary set of prerequisites associated with information management in the virtual organization. Further research to help meet this challenge is identified.


In the 21st century, information and communication technologies (ICT) have developed rapidly and influenced most of the fields and education as well. Then, ICT have offered a favorable environment for the development and use of various methods and tools. With the developments in technology, blended learning has gained considerable popularity in recent years. Together with the developments it brought along the description of particular forms of teaching with technology. Blended learning is defined simply as a learning environment that combines technology with face-to-face learning. In other words blended learning means using a variety of delivery methods to best meet the course objectives by combining face-to-face teaching in a traditional classroom with teaching online. This article examines students' views on blended learning environment. The study was conducted on 64 students from Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technologies in 2005–2006 fall semester in Instructional Design and Authoring Languages in PC Environment at Hacettepe University. The results showed that the students enjoyed taking part in the blended learning environment. Students' achievement levels and their frequency of participation to forum affected their views about blended learning environment. Face-to-face interaction in blended learning application had the highest score. This result demonstrated the importance of interaction and communication for the success of on-line learning.


Determining the genetic diversity and differentiation among populations is a critical element of conservation biology, but for many aquatic, data-deficient species with small population sizes, this is not possible. Closely related species may therefore provide a model. For the first time, using over 4000 single-nucleotide polymorphism loci, we characterise the population genetic diversity and structure of one of the world's rarest marine fish, the spotted handfish (Brachionichthys hirsutus), a species which is also a member of the most threatened marine bony fish family (Brachionichthyidae). Fin clips were taken from 170 live spotted handfish across seven disjunct sites within the only known estuary (in Tasmania, Australia) where multiple populations of the species are found. Spatially discrete populations clustered into three genetic groupings and a significant variance in allele frequencies among populations (overall FST=0.043), even at the small scale of the estuary, was observed. Furthermore, low contemporary migration rate estimates suggest low genetic homogeneity between locations. Because of the low genetic connectivity, population clusters of spotted handfish within the estuary should be considered as separate conservation management units. This insight should be considered for management and conservation strategies of other data-deficient and threatened species in the family.


Augmented Reality (AR) technology have been recognised as an effective experience enhancer with a broad application range. It is challenging to explore such potentials in the area of learning and teaching by utilising AR features in behavioural stimulation and monitoring. In this study, the author aims at exploit AR technology to institute a system for cognitive development. The principle goal of such playful learning system is to improve the overall ability of toddlers to function in social environments through cognition forming and behavioural redirecting. This paper introduces an interactive training game that assists children between two and seven years old to develop their cognitive model through intuitive theory-based educational AR gamification. A pilot study implements Montessori training theory is described in this paper.


Understanding language goes hand in hand with the ability to integrate complex contextual information obtained via perception. In this work, we present a novel task for grounded language understanding: disambiguating a sentence given a visual scene which depicts one of the possible interpretations of that sentence. To this end, we introduce a new multimodal corpus containing ambiguous sentences, representing a wide range of syntactic, semantic and discourse ambiguities, coupled with videos that visualize the different interpretations for each sentence. We address this task by extending a vision model which determines if a sentence is depicted by a video. We demonstrate how such a model can be adjusted to recognize different interpretations of the same underlying sentence, allowing to disambiguate sentences in a unified fashion across the different ambiguity types.


Background: Cervical cancer is the second cause of cancer related mortality for Filipino women. Mortality rates of cervical cancer are high amongst Filipino women; however, uptake of cervical cancer screening (e.g., pap-testing) is low. In 2015, 2.34 million overseas Filipino workers (OFW) were recorded. Migration may present additional barriers to accessing pap-testing. Gaining understanding of barriers and facilitators to pap-testing for OFWs is crucial to improve uptake of pap-testing.
Methods: An explanatory sequential mixed-methods research design was adopted comprising two phases, a web-based cross-sectional survey (N=480), followed by web-based qualitative interviews (N=8). A socio-ecological conceptual framework was used to explore barriers and pap-test uptake. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to assess key determinants of pap-testing. Qualitative results were analysed using thematic content analysis.
Results: The sample included 480 OFWs (59.3% domestic workers) living and working in 28 different countries (mean age 36.69, age range 23-58). The largest proportion of women who participated lived in Hong Kong (24.4%). Nearly all (96.4%) of OFWs were aware of pap-testing but less than half (43.5%) had ever engaged in pap-testing. Statistically significant predictors of pap testing were: marital status; fear of outcome of pap-test; having sufficient time; recommendation from health care provider; and collectivism values. Exploration of results through interviews, revealed additional findings and social and structural contexts not conducive to pap-testing, including poverty and the overriding need to provide financially for family.
Conclusion: This study demonstrated the complexity and multifactorial characteristics of pap-testing following the socio-ecological framework. For OFWs, individual, social- cultural, and institutional barriers to pap-testing were embedded in structural barriers, resulting in health inequalities. Recommendations targeted at multiple levels offer the potential for further understanding and the development of culturally appropriate interventions, with the ultimate aim of increasing OFWs' uptake of pap-testing.


With the growing awareness that the G protein beta and gamma subunits directly regulate the activities of various enzymes and ion channels, the importance of identifying and characterizing these subunits is underscored. In this paper, we report the isolation of cDNA clones encoding eight different human gamma subunits, including three novel forms designated gamma 4, gamma 10, and gamma 11. The predicted protein sequence of gamma 4 shares the most identity (60-77%) with gamma 2, gamma 3, and gamma 7 and the least identity (38%) with gamma 1. The gamma 4 is modified by a geranylgeranyl group and is capable of interacting with both beta 1 and beta 2 but not with beta 3. The predicted protein sequence of gamma 10 shows only modest to low identity (35-53%) with the other known gamma subunits, with most of the differences concentrated in the N-terminal region, suggesting gamma 10 may interact with a unique subclass of alpha. The gamma 10 is modified by a geranylgeranyl group and is capable of interacting with beta 1 and beta 2 but not with beta 3. Finally, the predicted protein sequence of gamma 11 shows the most identity to gamma 1 (76% identity) and the least identity to the other known gamma (33-44%). Unlike most of the other known gamma subunits, gamma 11 is modified by a farnesyl group and is not capable of interacting with beta 2. The close resemblance of gamma 11 to gamma 1 raises intriguing questions regarding its function since the mRNA for gamma 11 is abundantly expressed in all tissues tested except for brain, whereas the mRNA for gamma 1 is expressed only in the retina where the protein functions in phototransduction.


This article identifies a new trend in the adjudication of international boundary disputes and examines it from a historical and normative perspective. For many years, the resolution of international land boundary disputes was governed exclusively by the principle of the stability and continuity of boundaries. Under this paradigm, the main role of international adjudicators was to determine the exact location of historical boundary lines that had been set forth in colonial-era treaties or decrees. Once these lines were ascertained, they were strictly enforced, and any attempt to challenge them was dismissed. In recent years, however, international adjudicators have been increasingly inclined to deviate from historical boundaries in order to promote "human-oriented" goals such as the protection of borderland populations or the bolstering of peace efforts. After demonstrating this development in several cases, the article evaluates its normative implications. For that purpose, it turns to Critical Border Studies (CBS), an emerging field within political geography that critically explores the sources, functions and effects of borders. CBS sheds light on the power asymmetries that underlie the traditional paradigm and points to the need to adopt a more dynamic and equitable approach to boundary delineation. Drawing on CBS insights as well as on recent boundary jurisprudence, the article maps out several types of human-oriented considerations that international adjudicators should take into account when deciding boundary disputes, and examines ways to balance them with the principle of the stability of boundaries. Beyond its contribution to the study and development of international boundary law, this article demonstrates the broader potential of marrying international law with critical geography, which has so far mostly been overlooked.


The Panama City Beaches project was authorized by the Water Resources Development Act of 1986. The authorized plan provides for the placement of a protective beach to elevation 4 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD), with a storm berm to elevation 7 feet NGVD, together providing a 110-foot wide beach. This project will establish an artificial dune system having a top width of 30 feet at elevation 15 feet NGVD and stabilized by vegetation, for the area between Philips Inlet and the Panama City Harbor entrance channel, a distance of about 18.5 miles. Due to the long time that has elapsed since the last formulation effort (March 1976 Feasibility Study), significant changes in policy resulting from the 1986 and 1988 Water Resources Development Acts, and the advances in the coastal engineering field, a reformulation effort is being performed. Reformulation includes a rescoping of the study effort required for this project. The study effort includes investigations to optimize the engineering design, minimize project cost and maximize economic and environmental benefits. This paper will describe the interrelationships of the coastal and economic analyses used for this project.


Summary form only given, as follows. A scalable event identification system for power quality events is proposed. Unlike ANN-based approaches where the system is not scalable and not "debug-able" without retraining; the proposed approach is particularly advantageous compared to those of ANNs since it is scalable, debug-able and easily modified. This approach is adopted from artificial intelligence's rule-based approach and attempts to mimic power engineers thought processes in identifying PQ events. This paper describes prerequisites in constructing such a scalable system, Examples of rules to identifying power quality event are also presented. The prototype of the system is built and tested using 770 field-measured voltage waveforms which covers ten types PQ events. The accuracy rate is nearly 95% with less than 6% of rejection rate. Potential applications of the proposed system in PQ community are also described.


Using a survey of 586 college students from Beijing, China, this study tested the theory of situational support by exploring Chinese students' motivations to participate in nonprofit fundraising events. This study also compared theory variables between Chinese and U.S. college students by looking at similar data from a survey previously conducted with 514 U.S. students. There were differences between the two groups regarding constraint recognition, subjective norms, attitudes toward fundraising, and other variables, perhaps because of Confucianism, collectivism, and other differences between China and the United States. The findings generate a range of theoretical and practical implications including how nonprofit practitioners in China might develop better communication and messaging strategies to segment publics, motivate potential donors, and advance future fundraising efforts.


.NET 3.5 will help you create better Windows applications, build Web Services that are more powerful, implement new Workflow projects and dramatically enhance the user's experience. But it does so with what appears to be a collection of disparate technologies. In Programming .NET 3.5, bestselling author Jesse Liberty and industry expert Alex Horovitz uncover the common threads that unite the .NET 3.5 technologies, so you can benefit from the best practices and architectural patterns baked into this newest generation of Microsoft frameworks. While single-topic .NET 3.5 books delve into Windows Presentation Foundation and the other frameworks in greater detail, Programming .NET 3.5 offers a "Grand Tour" of the release that describes how the four principal technologies can be used together, with Ajax, to build modern n-tier and service-oriented applications. Developers have struggled to implement these patterns with previous versions of the .NET Framework, but this hands-on guide uses real-world examples and fully annotated source code to demonstrate how .NET 3.5 can make it easy. The concepts and technologies that this book covers include: XAML -- Microsoft's new XML-based markup language for UI, used with WPF Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) -- a new presentation framework and graphics subsystem for Windows that puts Vista-like effect in your grasp Ajax Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) - a new standards-based framework that enables applications to communicate across a network using a variety of protocols Workflow Foundation (WF) -- framework for defining, executing, and managing workflows CardSpace -- framework for managing the identities of your users You'll learn how to useeach of the four frameworks alone and in concert to build a series of meaningful example applications. Examples are written in C#, and all of the source code will be available for download at both the O'Reilly and the authors' site, which offers access to a free support forum. Between them, authors Jesse Liberty and Alex Horovitz have nearly forty years of experience in delivering commercial applications for companies such as Citibank, Apple, AT&T, NeXt, PBS, Ziff Davis, and dozens of smaller organizations. Their combined experience is valuable for telling the story of .NET 3.5 and how it will shorten the development life cycle for applications developers, and enhance your productivity.


Eight prominent philosophers and theologians confront the problems posed by natural and human evil for theistic belief. Each thinker sets out his or her theodicy and its connections to current social and philosophical debates. The other contributors then offer critiques of each theodicy, to which its author subsequently responds. The result is a valuable introduction to philosophical and theological perspectives on contemporary evil and to the nature of discourse in the philosophy of religion.


The dependence of the population of the target state, and the excitation cross section and rate, on pulse duration Q, laser intensity I, and a molecular matrix element A is discussed for two-photon molecular excitation. Perturbative and rotating wave approximation (RWA) expressions for the observables are obtained; the latter are used to discuss the validity of the former. For example, the perturbative cross section and rate increasingly underestimate the RWA results as I increases for given A and Q. Two- and ten-level model dipolar molecules are employed for illustrative purposes. The results are relevant for understanding two-photon excitation processes and their enhancement and include discussions of the roles the permanent dipole- and virtual-state mechanisms in such processes and of the validity of using intensity-independent cross sections to gauge the strength of such excitations.


For American teenagers, Shakespeare is much more than "the guy who wrote Romeo and Juliet", as Lena Haloway innocently defines him in the dystopian novel Delirium. In the US Shakespeare is still a constant fixture, "a mainstay in the curricula of America's schools and colleges, and the value of reading his work is still assumed" (Vaughan, Vaughan 2012:2); teenagers are required to engage not only with the works of the Bard but also with their modern adaptations at different stages of their education. The present paper investigates three American YA novels, published between 1999 and 2012, in which teenagers engage with Shakespeare's works. For the characters, reading is a formative experience that alleviates their pain, enables them to externalize their feelings, and to develop emotionally, psychologically and socially: texts are related to the lives of the young protagonists, questioned, challenged, moralized and used as a lens through which one can examine the teen world.


China's practice of gifting and loaning giant pandas has been given new impetus as a result of damage to panda-conservation facilities caused by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and China's rise as an economic power. We suggest that a new, third phase of panda diplomacy is under way that is distinct from the previous two. Phase 1 during the Mao era (in the 1960s and 1970s) took the form of China gifting pandas to build strategic friendships. Phase 2 followed Deng Xiaoping's rise to power in 1978 when gifts became gift loans involving a capitalist lease model based on financial transactions. In the emerging phase 3, panda loans are associated with nations supplying China with valuable resources and technology and symbolize China's willingness to build guanxi—namely, deep trade relationships characterized by trust, reciprocity, loyalty, and longevity. Notable is the correlation of guanxi loan deals with nations supplying resources and technologies to China in the aftermath of the 2008 earthquake in panda habitat. As captive breeding resumes with the completion of repairs to the earthquake-damaged Wolong Breeding center, we predict that panda diplomacy will increase and that panda conservation, more than ever, will be the outcome of a complex, dynamic interplay among politics, markets, and conservation science.


This article offers a first large scale analysis of argumentative polylogues in the fracking controversy. It
provides an empirical methodology (macroscope) that identifies, from large quantities of text data through semantic frame
analysis, the many players, positions and places presumed relevant to argumentation in a controversy. It goes beyond the usual
study of framing in communication research because it considers that a controversy's communicative context is shaped, and in turn
conditions, the making and defending of standpoints. To achieve these novels aims, theoretical insights from frame semantics,
knowledge driven argument mining, and argumentative polylogues are combined. The macroscope is implemented using the
Semafor parser to retrieve all the semantic frames present in a large corpus about fracking and then
observing the distribution of those frames that semantically presuppose argumentative features of polylogue (meta-argumentative
indicators). The prominent indicators are Taking_sides (indicator of "having an argument"),
Evidence and Reasoning (indicators of "making an argument"). The automatic retrieval of the
words associated with the core elements of the semantic frame enables the mapping of how different players, positions, and
discussion venues are assembled around what is treated as disagreeable in the controversy. This knowledge driven approach to
argument mining reveals prototypical traits of polylogues related to environmental issues. Moreover, it addresses a problem in
conventional frame analysis common in environmental communication that focuses on the way individual arguments are presented
without effective consideration of the argumentative relevance the semantics and pragmatics of certain frames operating across
discourses.


We derive the adjoint equations associated with the calculation of Frechet derivatives for tomographic inversions based upon a Lagrange multiplier method. The Frechet derivative of an objective function χ(m), where m denotes the Earth model, may be written in the generic form δχ = ∫ K_m(x) δ ln m(x) d^3x, where δ ln m = δm/m denotes the relative model perturbation and K_m the associated 3D sensitivity or Frechet kernel. Complications due to artificial absorbing boundaries for regional simulations as well as finite sources are accommodated. We construct the 3D finite-frequency "banana-doughnut" kernel K_m by simultaneously computing the so-called "adjoint" wave field forward in time and reconstructing the regular wave field backward in time. The adjoint wave field is produced by using time- reversed signals at the receivers as fictitious, simultaneous sources, while the regular wave field is reconstructed on the fly by propagating the last frame of the wave field, saved by a previous forward simulation, backward in time. The approach is based on the spectral-element method, and only two simulations are needed to produce the 3D finite-frequency sensitivity kernels. The method is applied to 1D and 3D regional models. Various 3D shear- and compressional-wave sensitivity kernels are presented for different regional body- and surface-wave arrivals in the seismograms. These kernels illustrate the sensitivity of the observations to the structural parameters and form the basis of fully 3D tomographic inversions.


Surgery may not be the most obvious treatment for mental illness. Surgeons are people who find it extremely rewarding to act and see the impact of their actions on their patients. However, operating on the body may not have very specific effects on a disordered mind. This fact has not hindered enthusiasts intervening surgically believing their outcomes to be positive. Such excesses have been tragic, as is well known in the history of lobotomy (see review of The Lobotomist in this week's BMJ).).

Figure 1

Andrew Scull

Yale University Press, £18.95, pp 352 ISBN 0 300 10729 3

Rating: ★★★★

Less well known is the phase of surgery on other parts of the body that preceded that on the brain itself. Madhouse is a biographical history of Henry Cotton (1876-1933), an eminent and notorious American psychiatrist, who believed that the cause of mental illness was the systemic effects of largely hidden chronic infections. Septic foci, therefore, must be searched for and eradicated. Particular attention was paid to the teeth and tonsils. Even if many people were sceptical about the causal connection, Cotton argued that detoxification was none the less beneficial, and that patients were relieved when they found that their mental condition was the result of poisoning by infection. Cotton's theory of focal infection may have met its demise because of the drastic, and not infrequently fatal, operation of colectomy.

This well written book emphasises the extent to which it is misleading to view Cotton as essentially a maverick. He received considerable support from the psychiatric profession. For example, he benefited from the interest and admiration of Adolf Meyer, regarded as the dean of American psychiatry in the first half of the 20th century. Meyer wrote Cotton's obituary, concluding that he had "an extraordinary record of achievement." Meyer suppressed a report of the poor outcome of Cotton's work in the forlorn hope that he could persuade Cotton to accept the reality of his results.

The entanglement of Meyer in this tale is significant as his psychobiological approach at least theoretically stands in contrast to Cotton's insistence that we have to recognise the physical nature of functional mental disturbance. For instance, Meyer regarded Cotton's claims as somewhat extreme, suggesting they went "beyond what I personally believe to be my experience." None the less, Meyer's justification for experimenting with the aggressive treatment was the results, complaining that there were not the resources to evaluate the procedures extensively.

We may think we are protected from the dangers and blindness of wish-fulfilling expectations in the era of the randomised controlled trial. However, simplistic and biologically reductionist accounts of mental disorder, which underpinned the work of Cotton, still sustain modern pharmacotherapy. For example, it is commonly said that psychotropic medication corrects chemical imbalances in the brain. This theory is as much without proof and requires as much faith and self deception as that of Cotton. Perhaps we can learn from our sense of outrage about the events described in this book. I think the lesson is that a psychosocial understanding of mental illness, if it is to be influential, needs also to have a strong ethical foundation.


AB and ABA di- and triblock copolymers where A is the hydrophilic poly(oligoethylene glycol methacrylate) (POEGMA) block and B is a thermo-responsive sulfobetaine block [2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl] dimethyl-(3-sulfopropyl) ammonium hydroxide (PDMAPS) were synthesised by aqueous RAFT polymerisation with narrow dispersity (ĐM ≤ 1.22), as judged by aqueous SEC analysis. The di- and triblock copolymers self-assembled in salt-free water to form micelles with a PDMAPS core and the self-assembly of these polymers was explored by SLS and TEM analysis. The micelles were shown, by DLS analysis, to undergo a micelle-to-unimer transition at a critical temperature, which was dependent upon the length of the POEGMA block. Increasing the length of the third, POEGMA, block decreased the temperature at which the micelle-to-unimer transition occurred as a result of the increased hydrophilicity of the polymer. The dissociation of the micelles was further studied by SLS and synchrotron SAXS. SAXS analysis revealed that the micelle dissociation began at temperatures below that indicated by DLS analysis and that both micelles and unimers coexist. This highlights the importance of using multiple complementary techniques in the analysis of self-assembled structures. In addition the micelle-to-unimer morphology transition was employed to encapsulate and release a hydrophobic dye, Nile Red, as shown by fluorescence spectroscopy.


ABSTRACT The outer domain of the HIV-1 gp120 envelope glycoprotein contains the epitope for broadly neutralizing antibodies directed to the CD4-binding site, many of which are able to neutralize over 90% of circulating HIV-1 isolates. While the outer domain is conformationally more stable than other portions of the HIV-1 envelope, efforts to express the outer domain as an immunogen for eliciting broadly neutralizing antibodies have not been successful, potentially because natural outer domain variants do not bind strongly to antibodies such as VRC01. In this study, we optimized the antigenic properties of the HIV-1 Env outer domain to generate OD4.2.2, from the KER2018 strain of clade A HIV-1, enabling it to bind antibodies such as VRC01 with nanomolar affinity. The crystal structure of OD4.2.2 in complex with VRC-PG04 was solved at 3.0-Å resolution and compared to known crystal structures including (i) the structure of core gp120 bound by VRC-PG04 and (ii) a circularly permutated version of the outer domain in complex with antibody PGT128. Much of the VRC-PG04 epitope was preserved in the OD4.2.2 structure, though with altered N and C termini conformations. Overall, roughly one-third of the outer domain structure appeared to be fixed in conformation, independent of alterations in termini, clade, or ligand, while other portions of the outer domain displayed substantial structural malleability. The crystal structure of OD4.2.2 with VRC-PG04 provides atomic-level details for an HIV-1 domain recognized by broadly neutralizing antibodies and insights relevant to the rational design of an immunogen that could elicit such antibodies by vaccination.


The synthesis of 'designer drugs' and derivatives has recently proliferated in the illicit drug market. For forensic drug analysis, conventional sample preparation and chromatographic separation techniques may be laborious and time-consuming. The characterization of these controlled substances may benefit from more rapid and high-throughput techniques. DMS (Differential Mobility Spectrometry), a variant of ion mobility spectrometry, is an emerging technology for post-ionization differentiation and filtration of isobaric interferences. When used before mass spectrometric analysis, DMS provides ion filtration on the order of milliseconds. Electro-sprayed DMS-MS studies have been implemented by various researchers for forensic studies. A complication associated with the introduction of sprayed ionization techniques is that the mechanism of solvent–ion interactions in DMS separation still remains unclear. In this study, we employ DART ionization as a robust solvent-less ionization technique coupled to DMS to demonstrate their combined utility and compatibility. Herein, amphetamine and derivatives were analyzed suggesting a promising alternative for rapid separation and characterization of new psychoactive substances.


The most fundamental composite particles in nuclear
physics are hadrons, which can be composed of two or three quarks.
Hadrons which consist of three quarks are Baryons; two notable
types of Baryons are protons and neutrons which are the fundamental
particles that comprise atomic nuclei and therefore are the
fundamental building blocks of matter. Hadrons which consist of two
quarks are mesons; this type of hadron forms from interactions in
matter occurring at very high energies. Currently, nuclear
scattering experiments are used to probe the structure of hadrons.
The experiments consist of beams of leptons fired at designated
target hadrons; leptons are a type of spin $\frac{1}{2}$ particle
that like quarks and gluons has an unknown substructure. The
leptons used in the scattering experiments of interest for this
analysis are electrons and muons. Deep inelastic scattering (DIS)
collisions are a critical example of scattering experiments that
use leptons fired at high enough energies at the target hadrons to
enable the user to determine the structure of these hadrons; the
goal of these computations is to create theoretical models based on
DIS data. The DIS between leptons and target hadrons can be probed
using Quantum Chromo Dynamics, or QCD. QCD is a field theory used
to describe and analyze strong interactions which occur among
partons within the hadron. QCD provides a framework for separating
the cross section of DIS into components that can be computed by
expansions of the strong couplings and components that can only be
computed by experiment, or the ``soft'' parts. Artificial neural
networks (ANNs) provide a novel method for modeling the ``soft''
parts of DIS that eliminate user bias in making these models fit
the experimental data. ANNs are sets of data organized into nodes,
referred to as neurons, that take input data models and use layers
of neurons containing computational algorithms to transform them
into final sets of data neurons. Previous attempts to use ANNs to
model DIS data have used supervised networks, where the final data
set was used as a guidance step each time the ANN algorithm is
used; this has led to success in eliminating bias in theoretical
models but has not made it possible to visualize and classify these
models. A new type of neural network, capable of dimensional
reduction of data, without the supervising process of the previous
networks is needed to effectively model functions describing
nuclear scattering for a range of kinematics and to enable us to
analyze the models formed during the ANN algorithm based on their
behaviors and quality of fit to experimental data sets. The Self
Organizing Map (SOM) is an ANN, using unsupervised learning, that
was successfully used to create such desired, unbiased theoretical
models of the Parton Distribution Functions, or PDFs. In addition,
the SOM successfully showed the relationship between how well the
generated models fit data sets and the models' behavior by making
it possible to observe how the PDFs cluster on two dimensional
maps. The SOM was…


The Khalili Collection of kimono comprises over 200 garments and spans 300 years of Japanese textile artistry. The form of the T-shaped, straight-seamed, front-wrapping kimono has changed very little over the centuries, yet the collection reveals an astonishing variety of designs. In Japanese dress it is the surface decoration that is important and indications of gender, age, status, wealth and taste are expressed through the choice of colour and motif. The kimono presented here convey the remarkable creativity of designers who produced works of art that would enfold the wearer. The enormous range of patterns were executed in a complex combination of techniques, with some garments requiring the expert skills of a number of different artisans. The Khalili Collection includes formal, semi-formal and informal kimono, underkimono and jackets, worn by women, men and children. Represented are the sophisticated garments of the samurai elite and the affluent merchant classes of the Edo period (1603-1868), the shifting styles and new colour palette of Meiji-period dress (1868-1912) and particularly the bold and dazzling kimono of the Taisho (1912-26) and early Showa (1926-89) eras, which utilized innovative techniques and drew fresh inspiration from both past traditions and the modern world. Here, an international team of authors examine the art and evolution of the kimono in the historical context of the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries, under the editorship of Anna Jackson, Keeper of the Asian Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.


NewsIn the past few years, researchers have reported dramatic responses to a handful of new drugs that are given to cancer patients with a specific mutation in their tumors. But although these drugs can shrink solid tumors and extend patients' lives, for reasons that are still not well understood, they never completely eliminate the cancer. Researchers are seeking to identify the ways that tumors resist the drug, then find or develop second-generation drugs that block these escape routes so they can design a cocktail—perhaps two, three, or more drugs—that, if given when a patient is first diagnosed, could stop tumors from ever evading the blockade. This approach has worked for patients infected with HIV, who usually take three antiviral drugs, and many researchers say there's no reason it shouldn't work for cancer. But even if a combination therapy stops tumor growth, it may not buy patients more than a temporary reprieve, researchers admit. To stretch the benefit over years, it might be necessary to devise one complex cocktail after another, each tailored to a patient's evolving tumors.


We propose a dimensionality reduction method to identify linear projections that capture interactions between two or more sets of variables. The method, distance covariance analysis (DCA), can detect both linear and nonlinear relationships, and can take dependent variables into account. On previous testbeds and a new testbed that systematically assesses the ability to detect both linear and nonlinear interactions, DCA performs better than or comparable to existing methods, while being one of the fastest methods. To showcase the versatility of DCA, we also applied it to three different neurophysiological datasets.


User fees have long been seen as an efficient financing mechanism because beneficiaries of services pay for the benefits received. This point of view is especially applicable to public services with commercial aspects and in situations for which links between consumption and price are relatively easy to make. However, road pricing, such as tolls, can be very high and important to local price levels. This paper examines the way in which expenditures on tolls are tracked and measured in the United States through the consumer expenditure survey (CES) run by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The paper describes the CES and its methods, both generally and for tolls and road charges specifically, and compares those with estimates of U.S. tolls from other sources and from some micro-data the authors have compiled for the New York metropolitan area. The results suggest that the current CES underestimates consumer toll expenditures. Because the CES is a key background input into the consumer price index, the paper argues that flow-on effects continue through to measurement of U.S. inflation and gross domestic product as well.


A specialized technology for reasoning with descriptions that extends the class of useful inferences beyond simple inheritance has been developed as part of the Strategic Computing Initiative of the US Dept. of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Loom and the Knowledge Representation Editing and Modeling Environment (KREME), which capture this technology in the form of an inference engine, called a classifier, are described. These systems share the notion that the ability to define and reason with descriptions is basic to the task of knowledge representation. Loom supports a description language (the frame component) and a rule language, and uses its classifier to help bridge the gap between the two. The classifier gives Loom the additional deductive power to provide inference capabilities not found in current knowledge-representation tools. KREME, a knowledge acquisition and editing tool, uses a classifier to help knowledge engineers maintain consistency while developing knowledge bases. One of KREME's functions is to bring both actual and potential conflicts to developers' attention. KREME can also help merge separately developed knowledge bases. Description unification is compared with Prolog-style unification, and the benefits of description technology are examined.<<ETX>>


Lukin, A. and K. Bitiutskikh, 2017. Investigation on the use of hemp fl our in cookie production. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 23 (4): 664–667 The aim of this research was to study the potential use of hemp fl our in the making of cookies. A method for producing sugar cookies with improved organoleptic and physicochemical properties was developed. The results of a sensory evaluation of a new type of product are presented. As a result of the study, characteristic descriptors for organoleptic quality analysis have been developed to aid the evaluation of the ready product by its main quality parameters (taste, fl avor, color and surface condition), as well as determine the product's doneness, chewiness and shape. Based on the spider plot of organoleptic properties of the cookies, an improvement in the doneness property was found when replacing 10 and 20% of hemp fl our with corn fl our. On the total score, gluten-free cookies made from hemp fl our and corn fl our at an 80:20 ratio showed high quality scores, their total scores being second after traditional cookies made using the basic recipe. A recipe for gluten-free sugar cookies made with hemp fl our was created based on the conducted optimization. It has been determined that adding corn fl our to the cookie recipe changes their sensory characteristics in addition to improving texture and physicochemical properties.


In this paper we address the problem of writing specifications for programs that use various forms of modularity, including procedures and Java-like classes. We build on the formalism of separation logic and introduce the new notion of an abstract predicate and, more generally, abstract predicate families. This provides a flexible mechanism for reasoning about the different forms of abstraction found in modern programming languages, such as abstract datatypes and objects. As well as demonstrating the soundness of our proof system, we illustrate its utility with a series of examples.


In the past decade or so, Paul's ideas about the eschaton as expressed in Romans 11 have been invoked in a lively discussion about why the Catholic Church today does not organize campaigns to convert Jews to Christianity. Particularly important have been his words about "the full number of the Gentiles." This essay asks if Paul's letters require, or support as most appropriate today, a triumphal Christian expectation that at the end of days Jews will inevitably admit that they had been wrong all along in saying "no" to the Christian proclamation of the Gospel. It suggests that a crucial factor is whether Christian readings of Romans 11 today—as well as typical translations of Romans 11—are predicated on a view of Paul as an apostate who departed from Judaism. It argues that current actualizations of Pauline eschatology are quite different if Paul is instead understood as an apostle to the nations from within Judaism. It concludes that present-day eschatological scenarios need to have greater complexity than simplistic zero-sum phrases like "a Jewish turn to Christ" or "Christians will see their error," and that Paul himself—in a very different religious world—tried to resist such binary thinking when it came to Jews and non-Jews.


This thesis focuses on two specific clinical areas: music therapy with pre-school children with autistic spectrum disorder and their parents, and music therapy diagnostic assessments with children between the ages of four and twelve who are suspected of being on the autistic spectrum.
Firstly, the literature was examined and the clinical work was described in detail. This process made it possible to determine what characterises the author's particular approach, and to find out how it may be different to other music therapists' work. A 45 minute video which illustrates the approach with pre-school children with autism and their parents accompanies this thesis.
Two outcome research investigations were carried out. The first involved studying ten pre-school children with autistic spectrum disorder and their parents who received weekly, individual music therapy sessions over a period of 18 to 26 weeks each. The sessions were video-taped and the videos analysed in detail. The parents were interviewed and asked to fill in questionnaires both pre- and post-treatment. Nine out of the ten dyads achieved some or all of the individual aims set out before treatment began. The parents all felt that music therapy had been effective. The author also looked at how she spent her time in music therapy sessions across the ten children and found that she was generally very active and spent a high proportion of her time vocalising.
The second investigation compared Music Therapy Diagnostic Assessments (MTDA) with Autistic Diagnostic Observation Schedules (ADOS) carried out on 30 children suspected of being on the autistic spectrum. A scoring system similar to that used for the ADOS was devised for the MTDA especially for this research investigation. In addition, the children were interviewed after both the MTDA and the ADOS and the people carrying out the tests filled in a questionnaire about their perceptions of the assessment tool after every test. The two assessments showed 72 % of agreement between diagnostic categories, indicating that the MTDA was providing similar information as a recognised and established diagnostic tool. However, the two assessments also showed significant differences in scores of individual questions, indicating that the MTDA could serve a useful and distinct purpose in helping the psychiatric team to diagnose children with autism. The children generally enjoyed the assessments and the music therapist felt that the test was easy to carry out and score, indicating that the MTDA was 'user-friendly'.
Throughout this thesis the author has adopted a personal style particularly when describing her own clinical work and when examining the literature. Although the two outcome investigations rigorously examined numerical data, the author also described her own impressions as the research investigation progressed.


The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the brown algae Sargassum vulgare, Colpomenia sinuosa and Padina pavonica extracts on the germination rate, cell division and protein pattern of Trigonella foenum-graecum L (fenugreek). The seaweed extracts elicited better response at lower concentrations while higher concentrations decreased the germination rate of fenugreek seeds when compared to control. With respect to protein pattern of fenugreek, 20 bands were recorded, nine monomorphic, eight polymorphic and three unique. Some bands are specific to each seaweed which may be attributed to their chemical composition. Extract of S. vulgare was more effective on germination of fenugreek seeds than the other seaweeds extracts used in this investigation. These results suggest that cytotoxic effect of high concentration of seaweeds extract may be due to accumulation of their phenolic content. The results of the present investigation also suggest that seaweeds can be exploited for stimulation the growth of economic crops instead of chemical fertilizers.


The principles behind such common problems as mastitis, infertility and lameness are explained in detail and linked to effective control programmes. The same approach is taken towards a full range of potential cattle disorders, broadly grouped according to age and development of the animal from the young calf to the adult. Already the standard text for a wide range of college course throughout the world, the considerable increase in detail makes this full colour and updated third edition an essential tool in the daily fight to keep intensely managed stock in first-class condition and to optimise productivity. For the farmer, it is an invaluable tool in dealing with the sick animal.


In this paper, I use municipal soy trade data covering the years 2010 to 2015 to investigate the export market for Brazilian soy and what the expansion of soy exports leads to in terms of land use. The soy data were acquired from the Trase database and offer an unprecedented opportunity to map the international demand for soy to the municipal production and land use in Brazil. To the best of my knowledge, no equally detailed agricultural trade flow data has been available for research studies before this, lending originality to this study. For the econometric analysis, I use a fixed effects instrumental variable approach, with trade-weighted world income as an instrument for soy demand, to estimate the effect of soy demand on agricultural land use and deforestation. Unsurprisingly, I find a strong positive link between the Brazilian soy export market and the land use of exporting soy farms. This expansion of land has necessarily replaced other forms of land use. This paper is primarily an investigation of what alternative land uses have been restricted as a consequence of soy exports increasing. The main finding is that there is a significant negative elasticity between the land use of non-soy crops and the international soy demand. This implies that a significant share of the land use expansion of soy happens at the expense of other agricultural land use. However, I find no conclusive evidence that deforestation has been hastened by the increasing international demand for soy. This non-finding can be caused by either lacking power in statistical tests, by the effect of soy expansion on deforestation only being indirect due to displacement of other crops which again replace forests, or by Brazilian policies restricting the expansion of soy farming into forested territories being successful in curbing the negative externalities of soy farming. I also discuss the dominant role of China in the importing market, with a short analysis of what a trade war between the US and China would entail for Brazil.


The practice of corporate philanthropy has evolved significantly over the past several decades and has now become an integral part of corporate strategy. This article identifies an emerging form of corporate community involvement called "Corporate Social Initiatives" (CSI). These programs differ from their predecessors in that they are connected to the firm's core values, responsive to moral pressures, based on the firm's core competencies, and have clear objectives and means of measurement. Firms are adopting these initiatives as a part of a strategy that seeks competitive advantage through reputation assets or as a response to perceived pressures from the moral marketplace. This article explicates the drivers behind the increased interest in CSI, relates CSI to changes in the environment of social expectations for business, reviews potential challenges to CSI programs, and suggests critical factors in the design of successful CSI programs.


From 1875 to 1877 Mr. Thureau held a position as Lecturer at the Bendigo (Victoria) School of Mines, of
"Geology as applied to Mining," Mineralogy; also practical
Mining, the Administrative Council of that institution
arranged during each winter for a series of public lectures on Popular Science, and at such he elaborated a series of lectures
upon the hydrothermal origin of the famous Bendigo Quartz
Reefs. He was subsequently elected,
upon unsolicited nominations and recommendations, as a
Fellow of the Geological Society of London, which honourable position he still holds and treasures.
The discovery of silver in the ash or mud, adds, for the
first time, this metal to the list of elementary substances
observed in the materials ejected from volcanoes, and the
addition derived some special interest from the fact of this
ash having come from the greatest volcanic (active) vents of
that great "argentiferous" zone of the Andes. Small as
would be the proportion of silver, it must represent a very
large quantity of that metal ejected during the eruption, in
view of the vast masses of volcanic ash, etc., distributed over
the large area which is indicated by the fall of argentiferous
ashes at a distance of 102 miles from the central crater to
Bahia de Caraguez.
Mr. Thureau states that, if silver, lead, iron, manganese, titanium, chlorium,
mercury and other less important metals occur in volcanic
ash or mud shown by frequent analyses, as derived,
inter alia from the immensely rich argentiferous formations
which that gigantic "vent" cotopaxi protrudes; a similar
occurrence here on a smaller scale, within a well-known
"auriferous zone" is not only feasible, but can be, or is now,
demonstrated to be a fact. The only, and to us most valuable
difference, is, that the South America ejecta expelled the
silver in its ashes, whilst, with our "Iron Blow" the ash or "mud" is still retained within the "dead" vent or closed
fissure, and happily for the colony at large, it is comeatable,
and it can be extracted by future systematic mining operations,
followed by skilful treatment for the rich gold it is reported
same contains.


A number of restaurant chains, retailers, and grocers in the US have pledged to source cage-free (CF) eggs only in the foreseeable future (e.g., by 2025 or 2030) due to marketing reasons or concerns over animal welfare. However, CF housing has some inherent challenges and a predominant one is poor air quality (ammonia gas – NH3 and particulate matter – PM) and increased emissions. The high NH3 levels primarily arise from the extended accumulation of manure on the litter floor, whereas the high PM levels are generated from dustbathing and foraging activities of the birds on the litter. Spraying liquid agent such as electrolyzed water (EW) has been shown to effectively suppress PM from litter of CF hen houses. However, liquid spray could enhance NH3 emissions as it increases the litter moisture content (LMC). Application of low pH liquid to the litter would help control NH3 while suppressing PM, but concerns arise about the potential corrosive effect of acidic liquid on the housing equipment. To overcome this dilemma, this study evaluated the effect of applying a commercial poultry litter additive (LA, PLT®) on NH3 emissions of CF hen litter sprayed with neutral EW (NEW) at dosage of 25 mL (kg dry litter)-1 d-1. The PLT application rates were 0.3, 0.6, and 0.9 kg m-2, denoted as Low-LA, Med-LA, and High-LA, respectively. The litter samples were placed inside dynamic emission chambers (DECs) and stirred to mimic hen scratching. PLT was topically applied onto the litter on day 1; NEW was sprayed daily for 11d, followed by a 3-d non-spray period (i.e., 14 d per trial); and each regiment was replicated four times. Ammonia emission rate (ER) of the control-no LA, Low-LA, Med-LA, and High-LA regimens (mean±SE) was 0.76±0.05, 0.55±0.06, 0.37±0.04, and 0.16 ±0.02 g (kg dry litter)-1d-1, respectively, namely 28-79% reduction by the treatments. The NH3 reduction efficiency is linearly proportional to the PLT® application rate, with higher application rate resulting in significantly lower litter pH (P<0.05). On the last day of each trial (d14), the Med-LA and High-LA regimens continued to show relatively low NH3 emissions, suggesting the need for a longer measurement period in the field verification that will follow. The NEW spray increased LMC by up to 60% after 11 once-a-day sprays, which reduced PM2.5, PM10, and TSP levels from 3.83, 6.39, and 7 mg m-3 to 0.07, 0.14, and 0.15 mg m-3, respectively. After a 3-day spray suspension, the PM levels rebounded to 0.72, 1.02, and 1.12 mg m-3 for PM2.5, PM10, and TSP due to decreased litter moisture. The trade-off between NH3 emission reduction and the cost associated with the litter additive application needs to be assessed under commercial CF production conditions.


This document defines two extensions (Select and Sort) for the Service Location Protocol (SLP). These extensions allow a User Agent (UA) to request that the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) entries in a Service Reply (SrvRply) be limited to the specified number, or be sorted according to the specified sort key list. Using these two extensions together can facilitate discovering the best match, such as finding a service that has the maximum speed or the minimum load.


Matrix factorization has been recently utilized for the task of multi-modal hashing for cross-modality visual search, where basis functions are learned to map data from different modalities to the same Hamming embedding. In this paper, we propose a novel cross-modality hashing algorithm termed Supervised Matrix Factorization Hashing (SMFH) which tackles the multi-modal hashing problem with a collective non-matrix factorization across the different modalities. In particular, SMFH employs a well-designed binary code learning algorithm to preserve the similarities among multi-modal original features through a graph regularization. At the same time, semantic labels, when available, are incorporated into the learning procedure. We conjecture that all these would facilitate to preserve the most relevant information during the binary quantization process, and hence improve the retrieval accuracy. We demonstrate the superior performance of SMFH on three cross-modality visual search benchmarks, i.e., the PASCAL-Sentence, Wiki, and NUS-WIDE, with quantitative comparison to various state-of-the-art methods


********** Arabic-Canadian Writing originated in the early 1970s. First Generation Canadians of Arabic descent produced over 150 books and many more pieces in the form of contributions to literary magazines. This literary tradition covers writing styles ranging from the realist to the post-modernist. It is produced in French, English and Arabic, thereby fulfilling twice over the definition given by Deleuze and Guattari to minor literatures. (1) It bears the indelible mark of exile and can presently join ranks with "other solitudes" Canada has come to acknowledge, admit and embrace. Arabic-Quebecois/Canadian Writing has so far failed to attract much academic interest. For instance, the 1988 "Literatures of Lesser Diffusion" conference, held at the University of Alberta, and the resultant proceedings of that conference which featured more than two dozen articles on the writings of various cultural minority groups, did not include anything on the topic except for a paper on Naim Kattan (see Rahimieli). To my knowledge, the paper I presented at the XIVth Congress of the International Comparative Literature Association (Edmonton, 1994) may have constituted the first time it was dealt with at a professional meeting. It is equally absent from the important collection entitled Other Solitudes (1990) published with the support of government agencies, notably the Department of The Secretary of State, and grouping literary extracts and interviews from eighteen representatives of Cultural Communities. Even the excellent book by Baha Abu-Laban, entitled An Olive Branch on the Family Tree; The Arabs in Canada (1980), though containing a wealth of information, does not deal with the literature of Canadians of Arabic origins. Moreover, a monograph on Arabic-Canadian writing has not yet made an appearance amongst the books commissioned in the 1980s by the Canadian Government on literatures of national minorities, including Hungarian (1987), Australian (1992), Asian (1988), Urdu (1988), Hispanic (1988), and Italian (1988), to mention but a handful. (2) Given the above-mentioned facts, the aim of the present study is to illustrate some of the basic aspects of this literature, leaving it to further research I am undertaking to deal with the topic in more depth. To embark at this point on a complex analysis of the formal and artistic characteristics of Arabic-Canadian literature when some fundamental modalities of its existence remain largely unknown by scholars and the public would be premature. My purpose here is the preliminary archaeological work of finding and identifying; of classifying, surveying and accounting for a growing body of literary texts which fall under the rubric "Arabic-Canadian"; of addressing questions about the writers who produced these texts. My approach is a-normative: that of the researcher as opposed to the literary critic (Lambert, 1980:66). My standpoint is also influenced by Siegfried Schmidt's empirical view of literature and his formulation of the principles underlying the development of social systems. I am here mainly address ing components pertaining to two of the four major categories of literary institutions, namely production and reception. There are about thirty-five Arabic-Canadian writers, of whom twenty-three have produced major works (one book or more). The rest are published in reviews and magazines. I suspect there are more yet to be discovered. Almost half (11) (3) of the major writers are Egyptian, the others come from Lebanon, Iraq, Algeria, Syria and Tunisia. They settled mostly in Quebec and Ontario, in that order. They are often trilingual. In addition to Arabic, the languages mastered amongst them are French, English, German, Armenian, Hebrew, and Italian. They have various religious backgrounds: Coptic-Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim and Jewish. Many have multiple ethnic origins, some very distant, others more immediate. The Egyptian-Quebecois writer Anne-Marie Alonzo has distant Maltese, Palestinian and Syrian origins, and the Egyptian Antoine Naaman was of Syrio-Lebanese descent. …


We report results from transverse laser-diode pumping of Tm:YAG and Tm:Ho:YAG rods. Using two 60-W quasicontinuous-wave laser-diode bars and a special dielectric coating structure on the barrel surface of the laser rod, laser operation was obtained at room temperature with threshold pump energies below 100 mJ and with output pulse energy above 10 mJ in free-running operation and 2 mJ in Q-switched operation. The Tm:Ho:YAG laser was more susceptible to a temperature increase in the material and performed significantly poorer in the Q-switched mode of operation than the Tm:YAG laser. This was predicted by a model accounting for up conversion and the dynamic equilibrium between the upper levels in thulium and holmium in Tm:Ho:YAG.


As a critical power transmission system, planetary gearbox is widely used in many industrial important machines such as wind turbines, aircraft turbine engines, helicopters. Early fault detection and diagnosis of the gearbox will help to prevent unexpected breakdowns of this important equip-ment. Misalignment is one of the major operating problems in the planetary gearbox which may be caused by inadequate system integration, variable operating conditions and differences of elastic deformations in the system. In this paper, the effect of varying degrees of installation misalignment of planetary gearbox are investigated based on vibration measurements using spectrum analysis and modulation signal bispectrum (MSB) analysis. It has shown that the misalignment can be diagnosed in the low frequency range in which the adverse effect due to co-occurrence of amplitude modula-tion and frequency modulation (AM-FM) effect is low compared with the components around meshing frequencies. Moreover, MSB produces a more accurate and reliable diagnosis in that it gives correct indication of the fault severity and location for all operating conditions. In contrast, spectrum can produce correct results for some of the operating conditions. Keywords: Planetary gearbox, Condition Monitoring, Misalignment, Modulation signal bispectrum.


The precipitation of bovine serum albumin (BSA), lysozyme (LYS), and alfalfa leaf protein (ALF) by two large- and two medium-sized condensed tannin (CT) fractions of similar flavan-3-ol subunit composition is described. CT fractions isolated from white clover flowers and big trefoil leaves exhibited high-purity profiles by 1D/2D NMR and purities >90% (determined by thiolysis). At pH 6.5, large CTs with a mean degree of polymerization (mDP) of ∼18 exhibited similar protein precipitation behaviors and were significantly more effective than medium CTs (mDP ∼9). Medium CTs exhibited similar capacities to precipitate ALF or BSA, but showed small but significant differences in their capacity to precipitate LYS. All CTs precipitated ALF more effectively than BSA or LYS. Aggregation of CT-protein complexes likely aided precipitation of ALF and BSA, but not LYS. This study, one of the first to use CTs of confirmed high purity, demonstrates that the mDP of CTs influences protein precipitation efficacy.


Human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 can integrate into the host genome, thereby rendering the viral coding genes susceptible to epigenetic modification. Using bisulfite genomic sequencing, we determined the methylation status of all 110 CpG sites within the viral epigenome in advanced stage III/IV HPV-16–associated head and neck cancers. We found that the viral genome was hypomethylated in the majority of head and neck cancers, in particular within the viral regulatory region, long control region (LCR), which controls transcription of the E6 and E7 oncogenes. The hypomethylation status of LCR correlated with detectable levels of E6 and E7 expression, which suggests that the tumors may still be dependent on these viral oncogenes to maintain the malignant phenotype. In addition to the methylation status of LCR, we report other potential factors which may influence intratumoral E6 and E7 expression including viral copy number and integration site. We were able to detect the viral epigenetic alterations in sampled body fluids, such as serum and saliva, which correlated with the changes observed in the primary tumors. Because viral epigenetic changes occur in the setting of viral integration into the human genome, the detection of methylated HPV genes in the serum and/or saliva may have diagnostic potential for early detection strategies of viral integration and assessment of risk for cancer development in high-risk individuals. Our findings also support continued targeting of the E6 and/or E7 antigens through various vaccine strategies against HPV-associated cancers. Cancer Prev Res; 4(2); 207–17. ©2011 AACR.


I review recent work in the DISP group at Duke University focusing on imaging and spectroscopic sensors for feature specific and data efficient sensing. I describe experiments in diffuse source Raman spectroscopy and hyperspectral imaging and I analyze geometric and coherence constraints on generalized sampling strategies in optical sensor design.


We introduce a predictive concept recognition methodology for description logics based on a new closed terminology assumption. During knowledge engineering, our system adopts the standard open terminology assumption as it automatically classifies concept descriptions into a taxonomy via subsumption inferences. However, for applications like configuration, the terminology becomes fixed during problem solving. Then, closed terminology reasoning is more appropriate. In our interactive configuration application, a user incrementally specifies an individual computer system in collaboration with a configuration engine. Choices can be made in any order and at any level of abstraction. We distinguish between abstract and concrete concepts to formally define when an individual's description may be considered finished. We also take advantage of the closed terminology assumption, together with the terminology's subsumption-based organization, to efficiently track the types of systems and components consistent with current choices, infer additional constraints on current choices, and appropriately guide future choices. Thus, we can help focus the efforts of both user and configuration engine.