Recent advancements in semi-conductor fabrication has led to a dramatic increase in the size of data sets of advanced imaging sensors. While increased pixel counts leads to greater area coverage and higher resolution, it also results in higher image processing time. If real-time image processing is required, power and size requirements go up as large data processing computers are required to keep pace with the data. In this paper, we propose using desktop Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) to shrink the Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) pyramid. We have developed a novel approach to computing polarimetric data using GPUs. The GPU is inherently designed to perform parallel floating point operations quickly. Image processing is very well suited to the GPU architecture, where every pixel can be represented as a thread and all threads executed concurrently on the GPU. The processing of polarized imagery requires calculating the Stokes parameters and Degree of Linear Polarization (DoLP) of each pixel in the Focal Plane Array (FPA) of a sensor. In addition, dead pixel replacement is also desired in order to achieve better image contrast and create a higher quality image. Processing this data for large FPAs in Matlab takes as much as 30 seconds per frame, even after optimizing through vectorization. The Matlab code to process the polarized imagery was re-coded in NVidia's C API named CUDA and functions were run on an NVidia 9400 GS GPU with 64 cores. Massive speedup was attained, reducing the time to process a frame from 30 seconds in Matlab to 50 ms in CUDA, a speedup of 600x. In this paper we show that through use of the GPU we are able to accomplish real-time image processing using advanced algorithms, while at the same time reducing system SWaP requirements.


The development of sports economics has exploded in recent years, and this well-researched and relevant book explores some of the most critical themes. Contemporary Issues in Sports Economics examines topics that have previously received little attention in the literature, such as the determinants and social impacts of sports participation including the link to crime levels. The distinguished authors also discuss some of the less investigated aspects of professional team sports, including: • sports betting, financing and governance; • the impact of low scoring matches on competitive balance and fan appeal in European football; and • the effect on player transfers of a luxury tax on club payrolls in Major League Baseball.


The molecular support of genetic information, DNA, has to be packaged and organized inside the tiny volume of nuclei, cells, or virus capsids, in an ordered and dynamical way. Evolution has favored different strategies in different kingdoms: a liquid crystal ordering mechanism prevails in viruses; strong entanglement due to supercoiling is the main compacting strategy in bacteria; the building of a hierarchical and tunable architecture mediated by DNA–protein interaction constitutes the main compacting mechanism in archaea and eukaryotes. The interplay between these different strategies is however much more complex than at first sight and all these strategies can be used in a synergistic way. All of them have to deal with the same elementary physical constraint which hinders compaction: electrostatic repulsion due to the high line charge density of DNA. In this review, we will show how this apparent weakness can be turned into a strength in order to compact this long molecule in a functional way.


The Convention on the Rights of the Child spells out the basic human rights to which children everywhere are entitled to. This also includes organised sports, in which many Swedish children take part. Sports are traditionally regarded to be good and healthy leisure activity for children and sport has a strong position in Sweden. Nevertheless it seems like the most important element, playing for fun, gradually has become more serious. The increasing professionalism and commercialisation of sport has contributed to this seriousness. At the same time the Swedish sport federations has taken more (social) responsibility, and tried to structure the sports movement with, for instance, policy documents. People in general have also become more aware of problematic issues in sport due to research and media's interest of maltreatment of children in sports. Also several organisations and interest groups have recently put the protection of children in sports on their agendas, in order to raise the moral standard in Swedish sports. The belief that children automatically benefit and develop into good citizens just by participating in organised sport is losing its grip in the discourse, therefore this paper will discuss issues in organised children and youth sport in the light of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Do the sports movement need to do more to prevent violations against children? If so, can the UN Convention be a helpful tool? The paper investigates: 1) The policy document regarding children's sports that the Swedish Sport Confederation has developed. 2) The connection between the Sports Movement and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 3) Paradoxes in children's sport.


Sixty percent of U.S. high school biology teachers are not advocates for either evolutionary biology or nonscientific alternatives. Just over 5 years ago, the scientific community turned its attention to a courtroom in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Eleven parents sued their Dover, Pennsylvania, school board to overturn a policy explicitly legitimizing intelligent design creationism. The case, Kitzmiller v. Dover, followed a familiar script: Local citizens wanted their religious values validated by the science curriculum; prominent academics testified to the scientific consensus on evolution; and creationists lost decisively. Intelligent design was not science, held the court, but rather an effort to advance a religious view via public schools, a violation of the U.S. Constitution's Establishment Clause (1). Many scientists cheered the decision, agreeing with the court that the school board displayed "breathtaking inanity" [p. 765 (1)]. We suggest that the cheering was premature and the victory incomplete.


New 2-dimensional NMR correlation methods are presented which allow one to obtain selected high-resoln. multiplets where all signals have pos. pure absorption peak shapes. The multiplets do not suffer from any cancellation effects, and their fine structure consists of a simple superposition of square patterns in 2-dimensional frequency domain that can be readily interpreted. The intensities of doublets, triplets, and quartets obey the same simple binomial rules as those for conventional 1-dimensional NMR spectra. The methods rely on a transfer of in-phase magnetization during a doubly selective irradn. period. Complications arising from undesirable coherence-transfer phenomena are eliminated either by removing antiphase terms while leaving the in-phase components unaffected or by a combination of spin-locking of in-phase terms and elimination of antiphase terms. [on SciFinder (R)]


Mathematical models are relevant to indicate the optimal location of facilities and, consequently, help in the search for efficiency in the supply chain. Although facility location problems are consolidated in the Operational Research field, few publications are dedicated to investigate the profile of the academic production (the amount of paper published), aiming to direct new studies on the subject and propose models that solve the current challenges. Thus, this paper aims to present a scientometric analysis of the articles on facility location published in the Web of Science, in order to verify the profile of Brazilian scientific production. As result, approximately 2% of the papers have researchers affiliated to Brazilian institutions. The interest for the subject is recent, with emphasis on universities. Brazil maintains an intense international collaboration network, cooperating with 45 different countries, especially USA. Finally, there is opportunity for publications that include the environmental dimention to mathematical models and for expansion in company-university-government collaboration.


The global microfinance movement is driven by the claim that once poor micro-entrepreneurs are provided access to capital, they will be able to generate high returns. The existing evidence on returns to capital is mixed and too limited to substantiate this claim. This paper reports on a field experiment conducted in Pakistan, in co-operation with Akhuwat microfinance, in which interest free loans were randomly provided to microenterprises. We find that treatment leads to a significant increase in working capital and in business profits. Using randomized treatment as an instrument for capital, we find average monthly returns to capital of 8.6 to 11.9 a month. These returns are substantially higher than the interest rates charged by microfinance institutions in Pakistan.


High plasma levels of free fatty acids (FFA) stimulate the secretion of splanchnic somatostatin, and both are elevated in insulin deficiency. To determine if the hypersomatostatinemia of insulin deficiency is secondary to high FFA levels, plasma somatostatin-like immunoreactivity (SLI) was measured in a group of insulin- deprived alloxan-diabetic dogs during nicotinic acid-induced lowering of their elevated plasma FFA to normal, and in a group of nondiabetic dogs during nicotinic acid-induced lowering of their FFA to subnormal values. In insulin-deprived diabetic dogs, nicotinic acid reduced plasma FFA from 1.07 ± 0.2 (M ± SE) mmol/L to 0.6 ± 0.1 mmol/L (P < 0.02), approximately the basal FFA level in normal dogs. This was accompanied by a significant decline in plasma SLI levels from a mean baseline of 247 ±15 pg/ml to a mean nadir of 199 ± 10 pg/ml (P < 0.005). The latter was, nevertheless, significantly above the basal SLI level of the nondiabetic dogs. In contrast, in normal dogs, nicotinic acid-induced reduction in FFA from 0.54 ± 0.02 mmol/L to 0.24 ± 0.03 mmol/ (P < 0.001) was associated with only a small and inconsistent decrease in SLI. These findings suggest that the hypersomatostatinemia of insulin-deficient alloxan-diabetic dogs is, in part, secondary to high plasma FFA levels.


The linker protein LAT functions as a signaling network hub where several proteins bind and become activated. The importance of LAT in T cell-receptor signaling is well documented; however, the role of LAT in other immune cells has not been so intensively examined. Saitoh et al. show that LAT has an important function in FcϵRI signaling in mast cells. Mast cells derived from LAT-deficient mice are able to partially signal through FcϵRI cross-linking and can activate Syk and Vav; however, activation of SLP-76, of both isoforms of PLC-γ, and of specific MAPK pathways was greatly reduced. In addition, Ca2+ mobilization, exocytotic degranulation, and the expression of several cytokines were impaired in LAT-deficient mast cells. These results suggest that LAT is important for proper signaling by FcϵRI and for physiological responses to antigens. Saitoh, S., Arudchandran, R., Manetz, T.S., Zhang, W., Sommers, C.L., Love, P.E., Rivera, J., and Samelson, L.E. (2000) LAT is essential for FcϵRI-mediated mast cell activation. Immunity 12: 525-535. [Online Journal]


International human rights have been codified in a number of declarations and conventions, but these rights are not always enforced. This paper will examine the right to citizenship and the other essential rights linked to it. When national governments are unable or refuse to grant citizenship to a group of people it results in a violation of international human rights norms. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) play a key role in enforcing human rights standards in three ways: first, NGOs with lawyers on staff can work through national legal systems to ensure that rights, such as citizenship, are granted. Second, NGOs can bring human rights violations to the attention of the general public in order to pressure national governments to take action. Third, the human rights violations can be brought to the attention of international organizations such as the UN to put pressure on the offending nation. This paper will explore how International Justice Mission implemented all three of these measures in order to influence the Thai government to grant citizenship to the Karen people, a hill tribe in northern Thailand. International Justice Mission's efforts were successful in bringing international attention to the plight of the Karen as well as navigating the Thai legal system to assist in the citizenship process.


The choice of a suitable delivery method plays a considerable role in the performance of a construction project. Previous research has attempted the development of a systematic approach to project delivery method selection focusing on performance information. However, such attempts did not properly address public agencies and legislative impediments are almost entirely neglected as suggested variables in such models. This paper addresses these limitations by presenting a quantitative analysis to test whether federal and state legal limitations do influence project performance. Project characteristics from the U.S. General Services Administration Capital Construction Project database are presented. The database is analyzed using cross-tabulation to determine potential correlations among the variables, and specifically their relation to project delivery method choice and performance information. Contributions from this research are reflected in presenting a methodology for choosing alternative delivery methods while considering project characteristics and specifically the legislative impediments associated with a construction project and their influence on project performance.


Microzooplankton are important consumers of phytoplankton primary production, but phytoplankton defenses against these predators are not well understood despite their expected importance. We tested for inducible defenses in the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi, an abundant and cosmopolitan bloom‐forming species with a heteromorphic haploid‐diploid life cycle, against the ciliate predator Strombidinopsis acuminatum. We hypothesized that the two life‐cycle phases (calcifying diploid and motile noncalcifying haploid) of E. huxleyi are differently defended against predation. Using short‐term (30 min) ingestion rate assays, we compared predation on E. huxleyi that had been previously exposed to predators for 24 h to predation on naïve (unexposed) E. huxleyi. Prey were considered to have a defense response when ingestion rates on naïve cells were higher than ingestion rates on predator‐exposed cells. Haploid E. huxleyi had a strong defense response, with a 25–43% reduction in ingestion rate due to predator exposure, whereas diploid E. huxleyi had no defense response. Haploid E. huxleyi grown with reduced nutrient availability showed no defense response when initially offered to ciliates (although there was evidence of a delayed defense response). Additionally, the presence of defended haploid E. huxleyi did not reduce ciliate ingestion on another prey species (Heterocapsa triquetra). This defense system points to complex predator‐prey interactions as key factors controlling the structure and function of marine planktonic communities.


Wireless intervehicular communication will enable a broad range of applications in the future. However, multiple vehicles, multiple diverse applications, multiple vehicle manufacturers, and the mobile vehicular environment raise several issues related to utilizing the wireless medium effectively. In this paper, we present a method for efficiently communicating vehicle data among neighboring vehicles, primarily for safety applications. The ldquomessage dispatcherrdquo (MD) coordinates communication between applications and the wireless channel at the application level. It addresses technical implementation issues, business deployment considerations, and issues of extensibility and system architecture. The MD concept has become an integral part of the Society of Automotive Engineers' safety message-standardization effort. We describe the MD and present results illustrating its utility. We also describe a deployment in several vehicles at Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor, MI. Then, using data collected from the vehicles, we investigate a predictive-coding method for data transmission using the MD. We show that this scheme can reduce wireless-channel utilization and bandwidth requirements by over 80%, as compared to regular transmission methods. Several insights for future wireless-channel usage optimization are provided.


Abstract This paper presents TrendStream, a versatile architecture for very large word n-gram datasets. Designed for speed, flexibility, and portability, TrendStream uses a novel trie-based architecture, features lossless compression, and provides optimization for both speed and memory use. In addition to literal queries, it also supports fast pattern matching searches (with wildcards or regular expressions), on the same data structure, without any additional indexing. Language models are updateable directly in the compiled binary format, allowing rapid encoding of existing tabulated collections, incremental generation of n-gram models from streaming text, and merging of encoded compiled files. This architecture offers flexible choices for loading and memory utilization: fast memory-mapping of a multi-gigabyte model, or on-demand partial data loading with very modest memory requirements. The implemented system runs successfully on several different platforms, under different operating systems, even when the n-gram model file is much larger than available memory. Experimental evaluation results are presented with the Google Web1T collection and the Gigaword corpus.


The known distributions of two mutational variants of the albumin gene that are restricted to Mexico and/or North America, Albumin Mexico (AL*Mexico) and Albumin Naskapi (AL*Naskapi), were expanded by the electrophoretic analysis of sera collected from more than 3, 500 Native Americans representing several dozen tribal groups. With a few exceptions that could be due to recent, isolated cases of admixture, AL*Naskapi is limited to groups that speak Athapaskan and Algonquian, two widely distributed language families not thought to be related, and to several linguistically unrelated groups geographically proximate to its probable ancestral homeland. Similarly, AL*Mexico is limited to groups that speak Yuman or Uto-Aztecan, two language groups in the American Southwest and Baja California not thought to be closely related to each other, and to several linguistically unrelated groups throughout Mexico. The simultaneous consideration of genetic, historical, linguistic, and archaeological evidence suggests that AL*Naskapi probably originated on the northwestern coast of North America, perhaps in some group ancestral to both Athapaskans and Algonquians, and then spread by migration and admixture to contiguous unrelated, or distantly related, tribal groups. AL*Mexico probably originated in Mexico before 3,000 years BP then spread northward along the Tepiman corridor together with cultural influences to several unrelated groups that participated in the Hohokam culture.


This article analyses the role played by social norms in farmers' decisions to enroll into an agri-environmental scheme (AES). First, it develops a simple theoretical model highlighting the interplay of descriptive and injunctive norms in farmers' utility functions. Second, an empirical valuation of the effect of social norms is provided based on the results of a stated preference survey conducted with 98 wine-growers in the South of France. Proxies are proposed to capture and measure the weight of social norms in farmers' decision to sign an agri-environmental contract. Our empirical results indicate that the injunctive norm seems to play a stronger role than the descriptive norm.


Tritium benchmark experiments with D-T neutron are a key issue to verify the tritium production rate (TPR) of the fusion blanket. The most useful method to measure the TPR in the neutron benchmark experiments is the liquid scintillation counting with Li2CO3 pellet. Ten years ago, the method of Li2CO3 pellet has been sufficiently verified the accuracy by means of D-T fast neutron irradiation and it was concluded within 10%. However, on the recent breeding blanket design, tritium is dominantly produced with the thermal neutron made with the scattering of D-T neutron and also the accuracy of the tritium production rate is requested below 10%. Therefore, previous verification is not sufficient for the recent blanket design and it is necessary to carry out the activity of the verification again. The JAERI, ENEA and TUD began to carry out the tritium benchmark experiment to verify the tritium production rate for the recent fusion blanket.


CamBioTec, a Canadian-Latin American Network promoting the safe and effective use of agricultural and environmental biotechnology, undertook an analysis of the current capacities of Argentina, Chile and Canada with respect to the management of information related to assessment and approval of products of modern biotechnology/ genetically engineering. This report is based on data obtained during a number of interviews and institutional visits conducted during August 1998 and includes: an overview of current regulatory policy, identification of key human resources and authorities, analysis of information management capacity, recommendations for capacity building, and descriptions of relevant international initiatives. Canada has a regulatory system in place that is respected throughout the world for its ability to insure high-quality agricultural biotechnology products that meet international human and environmental health and safety standards. Argentina is recognized as leader among Latin American countries in the regulation of biotechnology products. Chile is a well-known center of genetic diversity for a number of plant species but with very little in the way of biosafety regulation. Together these countries represent a broad spectrum of technical experience, regulatory policy, and agricultural interests.


Abstract The calculation of fuel isotopic compositions is essential to support design, safety analysis, and licensing of many components of the nuclear fuel cycle—from reactor physics and severe accident analysis to back-end fuel cycle issues, including spent-fuel storage and transportation, reprocessing, and radioactive waste management. Versions of the ORIGEN code, developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, have been used worldwide for isotopic depletion and decay analysis for more than three decades. The supported version of ORIGEN, maintained as the depletion analysis module for SCALE 6, performs detailed time-dependent isotopic generation and depletion for 1946 nuclides for reactor fuel and activation analysis. Stand-alone ORIGEN calculations can be performed using cross-section libraries developed for a wide range of reactor types and fuel designs used worldwide, including light water reactors UO2 and MOX, CANDU, VVER 440 and 1000, RBMK, and graphite reactors. Alternatively, within SCALE 6, ORIGEN can be automatically coupled to two-dimensional discrete ordinates or three-dimensional Monte Carlo transport solvers that provide problem-dependent cross sections for use in the ORIGEN depletion calculation. The hybrid ability to function as either a stand-alone or coupled depletion code provides ORIGEN advanced capabilities to simulate a broad range of applications for various reactor systems. The nuclear data libraries in ORIGEN have been significantly improved recently, using modern ENDF/B nuclear data evaluations. The most recent developments in SCALE 6.1 include the addition of ENDF/B-VII decay data, energy-dependent fission yields, and fine-group ORIGEN neutron cross sections based on the JEFF-3.0/A special purpose activation files. Advanced methods and data for neutron and gamma source energy spectral analysis are also available in the current version of the code. The ORIGEN code and associated nuclear data libraries have been extensively validated against experimental data that include spent nuclear fuel isotopic assay data for actinides and fission products, radiation source spectra, and decay heat measurements.


Abstract. A coastal observing system for Northern and Arctic Seas (COSYNA) aims at construction of a long-term observatory for the German part of the North Sea, elements of which will be deployed as prototype modules in Arctic coastal waters. At present a coastal prediction system deployed in the area of the German Bight integrates near real-time measurements with numerical models in a pre-operational way and provides continuously state estimates and forecasts of coastal ocean state. The measurement suite contributing to the pre-operational set up includes in situ time series from stationary stations, a High-Frequency (HF) radar system measuring surface currents, a FerryBox system and remote sensing data from satellites. The forecasting suite includes nested 3-D hydrodynamic models running in a data-assimilation mode, which are forced with up-to-date meteorological forecast data. This paper reviews the present status of the system and its recent upgrades focusing on developments in the field of coastal data assimilation. Model supported data analysis and state estimates are illustrated using HF radar and FerryBox observations as examples. A new method combining radial surface current measurements from a single HF radar with a priori information from a hydrodynamic model is presented, which optimally relates tidal ellipses parameters of the 2-D current field and the M2 phase and magnitude of the radials. The method presents a robust and helpful first step towards the implementation of a more sophisticated assimilation system and demonstrates that even using only radials from one station can substantially benefit state estimates for surface currents. Assimilation of FerryBox data based on an optimal interpolation approach using a Kalman filter with a stationary background covariance matrix derived from a preliminary model run which was validated against remote sensing and in situ data demonstrated the capabilities of the pre-operational system. Data assimilation significantly improved the performance of the model with respect to both SST and SSS and demonstrated a good skill not only in the vicinity of the Ferry track, but also over larger model areas. The examples provided in this study are considered as initial steps in establishing new coastal ocean products enhanced by the integrated COSYNA-observations and numerical modelling.


The article discusses three so far unpublished silver cone-shaped elements of horse-trappings found in the tomb near the village of Ruets, Targovishte region.The tomb near the village of Ruets (old Yrukleler), Targovishte region in North-eastern Bulgaria, was discovered by chance in 1925 in the Maljuk mound located in the Kavatsite locality to the southeast of the village. Vasil Mikov excavated the tomb in the same year. According to the available data, a burial was revealed in the tomb, that in turn was under a mound.The grave goods found in the tomb include a bronze Chalcidian type helmet, a bimetal bell cuirass made of bronze and iron, a folding bronze plate (μίτρη) worn together with/under the bell cuirass, an iron short sword – akinakes, two iron spear heads, eleven bronze arrowheads, a bronze amphora-hydria with images of Sirens in the lower parts of the handles, a bronze strainer, a bronze situla, a bronze vessel – podanipter, a bronze buckle, an iron bridle, two bone objects, a glass vessel (aryballos) and a fragment of a red-figured hydria. At present they are stored in the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia. Due to the nature of their discovery, it is unclear whether these are all grave goods to the buried warrior. Tree silver cone-shaped elements of horse-trappings are also among the items mentioned above and they are the subject of the present study.


Selecting the right model to simulate a specific watershed has always been a challenge, and field testing of watersheds could help researchers to use the proper model for their purposes. The performance of three popular Geographic Information System (GIS)-based watershed simulation models (European Hydrological System Model (MIKE SHE), Agricultural Policy/Environmental Extender (APEX) and Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT)) were evaluated for their ability to simulate the hydrology of the 52.6 km2 Canagagigue Watershed located in the Grand River Basin in southern Ontario, Canada. All three models were calibrated for a four-year period and then validated using an independent four-year period by comparing simulated and observed daily, monthly and annual streamflow. The simulated flows generated by the three models are quite similar and closely match the observed flow, particularly for the calibration results. The mean daily/monthly flow at the outlet of the Canagagigue Watershed simulated by MIKE SHE was more accurate than that simulated by either the SWAT or the APEX model, during both the calibration and validation periods. Moreover, for the validation period, MIKE SHE predicted the overall variation of streamflow slightly better than either SWAT or APEX.


We analyze fluctuations of particle displacements and stresses in a sheared athermal suspension of elastic capsules (red blood cells). Upon variation of the volume fraction from the dilute up to the highly concentrated regime, our numerical simulations reveal different characteristic power-law regimes of the fluctuation variances and relaxation times. In the jammed phase and at high shear rates, anomalous scaling exponents are found that deviate from pure dimensional predictions. The observed behavior is rationalized via kinetic arguments and a dissipation balance model that takes into account the local fluid flows between the particles. Our findings support the view that the rheology of dense suspensions is essentially governed by the non-affine displacements.


Designer Maker User is an introduction to The Design Museum's collection, looking at the development of modern design through these three interconnected roles.
The thematic appraoch features almost 1000 items of twentieth and twenty-first century design viewed through the angles of the designer, manufacturer and user, including a crowdsourced wall.
The exhibition covers a broad range of design disciplines, from architecture and engineering, to the digital world, fashion and graphics. Designer Maker User features a bold, colourful and engaging display developed to encourage engagement for general and specialist audiences.


Objective This study investigated the psychometric properties of the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) (China version) in older Chinese with diabetes living in Beijing, China. Methods The SF-36 was administered to community-based sample of 182 older adults with diabetes living in Beijing. Data collection was conducted in face-to-face interviews. Reliability and validity were assessed using internal consistency, convergent and discriminant analyses. Exploratory principal components analyses (PCA) were conducted to compare the sample's response patterns with the hypothesized scale constructs. Results Item level validation of the scale supported the assumptions of the hypothesized structure. Internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha >.70) of the subscales were acceptable except for the General Health subscale (.67). PCA confirmed general support of the two hypothesized dimensional factors and eight concepts (factors). The physical component summary (PCS) and the mental component summary (MCS) explained 62.26% of the variance and the eight factors components explained 67.39% of the variance. Known-group comparisons of scale scores indicated significantly higher levels of functionality for respondents with no blood pressure, heart, or depressive symptomatology problems. Conclusions The Chinese version of the SF-36 showed good reliability and validity and was culturally equivalent. The scale is appropriate for use with older Chinese adults with diabetes.


First of all, the combined alternating torque of small three phase induction motor fed by six stepped wave voltage-source inverter is analysed by the simplified basic model. The various harmonic components of the combined torque are clarified and shown on the look-up table which are consisted of the stator magnetic field and rotor current. Moreover, the causes of these torques are pointed out.Secondly, the fundamental equations of the combined toruque which are derived from the basic model are expressed by the equivalent circuit parameters. As a result of the simulation of the fundamental equations, the more pracically simplified equations are derived and also the experiment by the laboratory equipment are performed to evaluate the validity. The simplified equations are satisfied the following items; (1) the higher harmonics below the 17th harmonics are neglected, (2) the only actual effective alternating torque components are calculated.Finally, as a result of comparision between computation and experiment, we confirmed the validity of the simplified equations.


The internet has changed the way we communicate and so changed society and culture. Internet, Society, and Culture offers an understanding of this change by examining two case studies of pre and post internet communication. The first case study is of letters sent to and from Australia in 1835-1858 and the second is a study of online gaming. In both case studies, the focus is on the ways communication is created. The result is the definition of two types of communication that are lived simultaneously in the twenty-first century. One type of communication is from before the internet and relies on the body having touched and created a message-for example, by attaching signature-to stabilise the nature of sender, message and receiver. Internet-dependant communication is different because no identity-marker can be trusted on the internet and so individuals' styles of communicating are used to stabilise the transmission of messages. Being after the internet means having to live these two contradictory forms of communication. - See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/internet-society-and-culture-9781441134875/#sthash.NoSnIoBC.dpuf


IntroductionThe prevalence of diagnosed hypertension in Canada is projected to increase despite the incidence rate decreasing. Previous work around the world has utilized survey data to provide estimates of prevalence and incidence. Administrative data is population-level, and may provide more reliable estimates of provincial prevalence and incidence than could be achieved using survey data.
Objectives and Approach

To produce age and sex-specific prevalence and incidence estimates of diagnosed hypertension in Alberta from 2007 to 2015,
To project estimates to the fiscal year of 2019/2020.

Data from the Discharge Abstract Database, physician claims database, National Ambulatory Care Reporting System, and provincial health insurance registry will be linked using unique anonymous personal identifier and gender. A validated case definition of diagnosed hypertension for use in administrative datasets will be used to identify annual prevalent and incident cases from claims data. Obstetric cases will be excluded. The provincial health insurance registry will be used to estimate denominator values.
ResultsResults of this analysis are not available for the time of abstract submission as the timeline for this analysis projects completion in April 2018.
Conclusion/ImplicationsMaintained surveillance of diagnosed hypertension is important to inform health policy and spending decisions, to monitor efficacy of public health interventions, and to inform patient care. Furthermore, diagnosis guidelines have been updated since 2017. Providing estimates for the prevalence of diagnosed hypertension in Alberta five years into the future to compare to actual prevalence estimates may indicate whether changes in prevalence are due to actual changes in health status or to changes in diagnosis guidelines.


Latino fathers are at risk for mental health issues for many reasons. In general men utilize support services less than women, even though studies have shown men experience mental health issues like anxiety, stress and depression just as much as women (Lee and Owens, 2007). It is widely known that immigrants face extra hardships than puts a strain on them and their families. For example the language barrier, acculturation, a new culture, poverty, low-paying jobs, education and many more all play a role in why Latino immigrants, illegal and legal face adversity once in the United States (Flores and Carey, 2000). It is this reason why Latino men are in need of more support whether it is from the government, non profits, or at a local level. This study took 19 Latino fathers from Chicago and interviewed them. Using grounded theory two main ideas emerged from the interviews. They are unique risk factors of Latino fathers and unique resiliency factors of Latino fathers. With the information we already know about Latinos and mental health and the ideas on risk and resiliency factors, human service providers can support the programs geared to this population. A literature review will provide information that is already available about Latinos, men and mental health. Finally, implications are offered for programs, practice and research for the future.


A novel dynamic-based semi-blind approach is proposed to identify an autoregressive and moving average (ARMA) system in this paper. By using a chaotic driving signal, an ARMA system can be identified accurately by a dynamic-based estimation method called the ergodic-based minimum phase space volume (EMPSV). A maximum-likelihood formulation of EMPSV is provided to certify its unbiasedness and asymptotical efficiency. Monte Carlo simulations show that the EMPSV approach has a smaller mean-square error performance than the minimum phase space volume method and the conventional identification approach based on least-squares estimation with white Gaussian probing signals. The proposed approach is then applied to blind deconvolution of real audio signals and semi-blind channel equalization for chaos communications. It is shown that the EMPSV approach has improved deconvolution and equalization performances compared to conventional techniques in both applications.


In this paper, we describe how we extended a distributed key-value store called Anna into an elastic, multi-tier service for the cloud. In its extended form, Anna is designed to overcome the narrow cost-performance limitations typical of current cloud storage systems. We describe three key aspects of Anna's new design: multi-master selective replication of hot keys, a vertical tiering of storage layers with different cost-performance tradeoffs, and horizontal elasticity of each tier to add and remove nodes in response to load dynamics. Anna's policy engine uses these mechanisms to balance service-level objectives around cost, latency and fault tolerance. Experimental results explore the behavior of Anna's mechanisms and policy, exhibiting orders of magnitude efficiency improvements over both commodity cloud KVS services and research systems.


The skin mucus of gilthead sea bream was mapped by one-dimensional gel electrophoresis followed by liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry using a quadrupole time-of-flight mass analyzer. More than 2,000 proteins were identified with a protein score filter of 30. The identified proteins were represented in 418 canonical pathways of the Ingenuity Pathway software. After filtering by canonical pathway overlapping, the retained proteins were clustered in three groups. The mitochondrial cluster contained 59 proteins related to oxidative phosphorylation and mitochondrial dysfunction. The second cluster contained 79 proteins related to antigen presentation and protein ubiquitination pathways. The third cluster contained 257 proteins where proteins related to protein synthesis, cellular assembly, and epithelial integrity were over-represented. The latter group also included acute phase response signaling. In parallel, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis methodology identified six proteins spots of different protein abundance when comparing unstressed fish with chronically stressed fish in an experimental model that mimicked daily farming activities. The major changes were associated with a higher abundance of cytokeratin 8 in the skin mucus proteome of stressed fish, which was confirmed by immunoblotting. Thus, the increased abundance of markers of skin epithelial turnover results in a promising indicator of chronic stress in fish.


We study a class of quantum measurements that furnish probabilistic representations of finite-dimensional quantum theory. The Gram matrices associated with these Minimal Informationally Complete quantum measurements (MICs) exhibit a rich structure. They are "positive" matrices in three different senses, and conditions expressed in terms of them have shown that the Symmetric Informationally Complete measurements (SICs) are in some ways optimal among MICs. Here, we explore MICs more widely than before, comparing and contrasting SICs with other classes of MICs, and using Gram matrices to begin the process of mapping the territory of all MICs. Moreover, the Gram matrices of MICs turn out to be key tools for relating the probabilistic representations of quantum theory furnished by MICs to quasi-probabilistic representations, like Wigner functions, which have proven relevant for quantum computation. Finally, we pose a number of conjectures, leaving them open for future work.


We would like to thank AME Medical Journal for inviting us to write an editorial comment on the recently published article by Lebon et al . in the European Spine Journal entitled "Magnetically controlled growing rod in early onset scoliosis: a 30-case multicenter study" (1). Historically reports on spine-based distraction techniques such as traditional growing rods (TGR) were dominantly from North America. The trend of reports on the newer devices and techniques including magnetically controlled growing rods (MCGR) has recently shifted more towards European countries mainly to the UK as well as Hong Kong where the approvals were earlier than USA. It is very encouraging to see other countries are now involved in trying MCGR and reporting their findings, which eventually will benefit the early onset scoliosis (EOS) patients all around the world. This report by Lebon et al . in a multicenter setting in France is a very promising step in line with global popularization of MCGR and we would like to congratulate our French colleagues for undertaking this study.


A study was undertaken to establish whether sus pension of dry milk powder in isobutanol and 1-octanol during particle size analysis and preparation for scanning electron microscopy introduce d artifacts. The median , volume-based diameter, d[v, 0.5], of spray-dried milk powders containing 27-67% lactose changed over time of exposure to isobutanol. No changes in median diameter were observed when powders were exposed to 1-octanol. Changes in particle si ze resulted from solubilization of amorphous lactose and/ or recrystallization of lactose on the particle surface. Both a - and ,6 -lactose were formed during contact with isobutanol as indicated by X-ray dif fraction and scanning electron microscopy. The magni tude of the characteristic peaks for a- and ,6 -lactose and scanning electron micrographs indicated that the amount of lactose crysta l form ed was proportional to the initial amount of amorphous lactose in the sample. 1-0ctanol was determined to be a suitable suspension medium for sizing of milk powders containing lactose.


Abstract Complex moving visual stimuli are used to induce states of relaxation, hypnosis and revery. To test the efficacy of using aquarium contemplation to induce relaxation, 42 patients were randomly assigned to one of five treatments prior to elective oral surgery: 1) contemplation of an aquarium, 2) contemplation of a poster, 3) poster contemplation with hypnotic induction, 4) aquarium contemplation with hypnosis, and 5), a non intervention control. Blood pressure, heart rate, and subjective and objective measures of anxiety were used as dependent measures. Pretreatment with aquarium contemplation and hypnosis, either alone or in combination, produced significantly greater degrees of relaxation during surgery than poster contemplation or the control procedure. Two-way analysis of variance demonstrated that a formal hypnotic induction did not augment the relaxation produced by aquarium contemplation.


Among the defining characteristics of moral cosmopolitanism are the convictions that personal relations, membership in social or political organizations like local communities or nation-states are insignificant for agents when determining their scope of moral concern. The moral scope is unlimited and the moral duties reach globally. Following up observations made by Onora O'Neill and others, it is argued that Singer's model needs a complementary tool to allocate duties. That tool can be found by supplementing the agent centered perspective of the model with a regard for the social and institutional circles encompassing right holders. Instead of focusing on the duty holder, I suggest that the cosmopolitan's "ultimate unit of moral concern" – here, the claimholder is regarded central. Thus, Singer's cosmological model is kept, but in a rights-based methodological approach for allocating duties. Methodologically, what needs to be investigated is whether the scope of legitimate moral claims expands from the agent for the same reasons that the circle of moral concern expands from Singer's agent.


 Abstract — Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are specialized hybrid electric vehicles that have the potential to obtain enough energy for average daily commuting from batteries. These batteries would be charged from the power grid and would thus allow for a reduction in the overall petroleum consumption. To implement the plug-in function, a single phase bidirectional ac-dc converter interfacing with the grid is essential. The implementation of a bidirectional ac-dc converter can allow for battery recharge from the grid, battery energy injection to the ac grid, and battery energy for ac power stabilization. In this paper, the basic requirements and specifications for PHEV bidirectional ac- dc converter designs are presented. Generally, there are two types of topologies used for PHEVs: an independent topology and a combination topology that utilizes t he drive motor's inverter. Evaluations of the two converter topologies are analyzed in detail. The combination topology analysis is emphasized because it has more advantages in PHEVs, in respect to savings in cost, volume and weight.


We propose an algorithm for simultaneously estimating state transitions among neural states and nonstationary firing rates using a switching state-space model (SSSM). This algorithm enables us to detect state transitions on the basis of not only discontinuous changes in mean firing rates but also discontinuous changes in the temporal profiles of firing rates (e.g., temporal correlation). We construct estimation and learning algorithms for a nongaussian SSSM, whose nongaussian property is caused by binary spike events. Local variational methods can transform the binary observation process into a quadratic form. The transformed observation process enables us to construct a variational Bayes algorithm that can determine the number of neural states based on automatic relevance determination. Additionally, our algorithm can estimate model parameters from single-trial data using a priori knowledge about state transitions and firing rates. Synthetic data analysis reveals that our algorithm has higher performance for estimating nonstationary firing rates than previous methods. The analysis also confirms that our algorithm can detect state transitions on the basis of discontinuous changes in temporal correlation, which are transitions that previous hidden Markov models could not detect. We also analyze neural data recorded from the medial temporal area. The statistically detected neural states probably coincide with transient and sustained states that have been detected heuristically. Estimated parameters suggest that our algorithm detects the state transitions on the basis of discontinuous changes in the temporal correlation of firing rates. These results suggest that our algorithm is advantageous in real-data analysis.


The factors influencing the comprehension of pronouns at a local sentence level and at a global text level were examined with the purpose of satisfying six aims. The first and primary aim was to explicate the relationship between local and global influences on pronoun comprehension. At the sentence level, the subject of the sentence had an important effect (especially on the assignment of ambiguous pronouns), there was a strong influence of a gender cue and a general knowledge factor, gender bias, affected assignment even in the presence of a gender cue. When sentences were embedded within text, there was an additional effect of the discourse topic. The second aim concerned the difference between the comprehension of single sentences and of texts. Results indicated that conclusions drawn from single sentence experiments should not be generalised to texts. The third aim investigated some of the factors which signal the discourse topic: Frequency of mention, initial mention in a passage and the title were all important and the effect of the topic on pronoun assignment was graded, depending on the number of factors signalling the topic. The fourth aim was to clarify whether the deep or surface subject was critical for pronoun comprehension. The deep subject was more important in passive sentences, but this result may not generalise to active sentences. The fifth aim was to investigate whether the effects of local subject and global topic were top-down or bottom-up. The effect of the topic appeared to be top-down, while the subject's effect showed elements of both types of processing. The final aim investigated the role of general knowledge in pronoun comprehension. The results suggested that inferences from general knowledge are always made during comprehension. Some proposals are made on the basis of these results and further hypotheses arising from them are considered.


The United States Supreme Court's failure to understand the relationship between individuals and groups in its equal protection jurisprudence has resulted in jurisprudence that makes no sense. The Court's inability to recognize the forms of bias associated with group membership has hampered the realization of the equal protection ideal. Analyzing the Court's gender equality decisions, the author proposes another path in equal protection jurisprudence that would analyze systemic privilege, recognizing the structures of subordination and domination. Examining equal protection through a privilege lens would clarify the interrelation of individuals to groups, provide an avenue for addressing biases, and sidestep the intent requirement currently mandated in cases alleging discrimination. A privilege analysis would ensure that the vision of democratic participation, central to the meaning of the Equal Protection Clause, could become a reality.


1. The action of spironolactone, a well-known antagonist of mineralocorticoids, on aldosterone regulation was investigated in normal young men to see whether it also acted as an inhibitor of biosynthesis in the adrenal gland. 2. The action of spironolactone was studied under three different conditions: (a) during 3 days of treatment with spironolactone; (b) during 1 day of combined administration with long acting adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH); (c) in the course of a continuous infusion of angiotensin II. 3. Spironolactone did not alter the metabolism of aldosterone or cortisol. 4. Spironolactone administration produced: (a) a marked increase in both aldosterone secretion and plasma renin activity, but no change in the plasma aldosterone/plasma renin activity ratio, the cortisol secretion rate or the plasma corticosterone concentration; (b) no blunting in the response of aldosterone to stimulation by ACTH; (c) no decrease in plasma aldosterone concentration when changes of the endogenous renin activity were prevented by an infusion of angiotensin II. 5. These results do not confirm the considerable inhibition of aldosterone excretion found by others after spironolactone administration to normal men. We observed no inhibition of aldosterone biosynthesis by spironolactone. However, a minimal, short-lived inhibition of biosynthesis cannot be excluded, but this possible action of spironolactone plays at best a minor role in the action of this drug.


We demonstrate that some recently proposed iterative identification and control design schemes do not necessarily converge to a local minimum of the design objective in the case of a restricted complexity model. There is, however, a link between these approaches and a recently proposed iterative optimization based control design procedure based on experimental data. We show that if the achieved and the desired output responses are perfectly matched, the schemes are (essentially) equivalent under noise free conditions.


Introduction: We have proposed new quantitative methods for assessment and classification of selected tumors to assist oncopathological diagnostics. These methods are based on computer-aided analysis of histopathological images. Materials and Methods: In this paper we propose a simple new methods of quantitative image-based assessment of color tissue histopathology slides. The method is based on color filtration pixel-by-pixel of the whole virtual slides will be called CFPP method. Information contained in such slides that results from staining tissues from biopsies with different dyes helps to reveal details that might otherwise not be apparent. Results: We demonstrated that with appropriate image preprocessing our method helps out in diagnosis of Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL or DLBL). Conclusions: In collaboration with pathologists and oncologists our computer-aided method may be adapted and adjusted to assist in diagnosis of other problems in digital pathology. Key-Words: digital pathology, tumor grading, proliferation index, biopsy, lymphoma, DLBCL, CFPP method


Interactivity is a primary performance measure for distributed interactive applications (DIAs) that enable participants at different locations to interact with each other in real time. Wide geographical spreads of participants in large-scale DIAs necessitate distributed deployment of servers to improve interactivity. In a distributed server architecture, the interactivity performance depends on not only client-to-server network latencies but also interserver network latencies, as well as synchronization delays to meet the consistency and fairness requirements of DIAs. All of these factors are directly affected by how the clients are assigned to the servers. In this paper, we investigate the problem of effectively assigning clients to servers for maximizing the interactivity of DIAs. We focus on continuous DIAs that changes their states not only in response to user operations but also due to the passing of time. We analyze the minimum achievable interaction time for DIAs to preserve consistency and provide fairness among clients, and formulate the client assignment problem as a combinatorial optimization problem. We prove that this problem is NP-complete. Three heuristic assignment algorithms are proposed and their approximation ratios are theoretically analyzed. The performance of the algorithms is also experimentally evaluated using real Internet latency data. The experimental results show that our proposed Greedy Assignment and Distributed-Modify Assignment algorithms generally produce near optimal interactivity and significantly reduce the interaction time between clients compared to the intuitive algorithm that assigns each client to its nearest server.


Medical images communicate imperative information to the doctors about a patient's health situation. Internet broadcasts these medical images to inaccessible sites of the globe which are inspected by specialist doctors. But data transmissions through unsecured web invoke validation problems for any image data. Medical images that are transmitted through the internet must be watermarked with patient pictures for substantiation by the doctors to ascertain the medical image. Medical images contain very susceptible information connected to a patient's health. Watermarking medical images necessitate attentive adjustments to protect the information in the medical images with patient image watermarks. The medical images are used as an envelope image in the watermarking process which is visible on the network. These envelope medical images are watermarked with patient images in wavelet domain there by using the BAT algorithm form optimizing the embedding process for peak signal to noise ratio(psnr) and normalized cross correlation coefficient (ncc) values. The medical image envelope and letter inside envelope i.e. watermark image are transformed into wavelet domain and are mixed using scaling factor alpha which is termed as embedding strength. BAT algorithm is an optimization algorithm specialized in optimizing the values of peak-signal-to-noise ratio for a particular value of alpha, the embedding watermark strength. Finally these watermarked medical images are put on the network along with the secret key that will be used for extraction. At the receiving the embedded watermark is extracted using 2DWT using the embedding strength value using BAT algorithm. The robustness of the proposed watermarking techniques is tested with various attacks on the watermarked medical images. Peak-Signal-to-Noise ratios and Normalized cross correlation coefficients are computed to accesses the quality of the watermarked medical images and extracted patient images. The results are produced for three types of medical images with one patient image watermarks using single key by using four wavelets (haar, db, symlets, bior) at four different levels (1&2).


Energy ratings have been used as a marker of exercise readiness (i.e. pre-exercise physical/mental state indicating ability to perform) within flexible nonlinear periodization (FNLP)-based resistance training interventions. However, empirical data is lacking regarding the utility of this approach for aerobic exercise. The purpose of this study was to examine the ability of pre-exercise energy level to predict affective and behavioral responses to prescribed aerobic exercise. Participants consisted of 19 women and 8 men (N=27, age=20±4 years, estimated maximal oxygen uptake=37±6). Participants performed two 30-min bouts of treadmill exercise under an imposed moderate intensity (70–75% of age-predicted maximal heart rate; %HRmax) condition and a self-selected intensity condition. Pre-exercise energy level was assessed using the Energy Index (EI) score derived from the Profile of Mood States. Feeling Scale (FS) was the dependent variable in the imposed bout and average intensity (%HRmax) was the dependent variable during the self-selected bout. Multiple regression analyses were used to determine if EI predicted mean FS and %HRmax. After controlling for potential confounders, EI significantly predicted mean FS (β=.499, p=.037) during imposed exercise. No significant relationship existed between EI and overall intensity (β =−121, p=.554) during self-selected exercise. While EI predicted in-task core affect it was unrelated to self-selected intensity. It is premature to suggest EI as an optimal predictor of exercise readiness in regards to aerobic exercise for aerobically untrained young adults. More research is needed to determine an evidence-based marker of readiness that can be used for aerobic exercise prescribed within the context of FNLP.


Jeep Cherokee, Sue Bee Honey, and Crazy Horse Malt Liquor are all established brand names and trademarks that use representations of Native Americans to help sell their products. How stereotypes are created, and how pictorial metaphors used in advertising perpetuate these beliefs, is the focus of this study. McCracken's Meaning Transfer Model and Barthes's semiotic analysis serve as the framework of this study. The findings, which are important to scholars and practitioners, posit that these images build upon longstanding assumptions about Native Americans by Whites and reinforce an ideology that has resulted in a consumer "blind spot" when it comes to recognizing this form of racism. This study contributes to the scarce literature on representations of American Indians in modern media, providing a framework for understanding why these images persist and why they are problematic.


Purpose: The aim of this research is to examine whether enterprises exchange information in the area of sharing economy, what barriers exist in the process of information exchange and what are the directions and ways to exchange information. Design/methodology/approach: Research on the customs and habits of information exchange on available resources between entities operating in various sectors of the economy was carried out in 2019. Data on the use and exchange of property resources was obtained from enterprises in Poland. Companies for the study were selected at random, where the layers constituted the size of the company; an identical number of companies was drawn from each layer, which made it possible to study differences due to the number of employees, and on the other hand, it did not interfere with the results obtained. The primary data were collected using the CATI method. The collected empirical material was developed using specialized statistical software Statistica. Findings: Research findings suggest that the exchange of information between enterprises is closely related to the pursuit of their own goals. They also indicate that an important role in the exchange of information about free resources is played by the trust between enterprises that are participants of the exchange process. Practical implications: The results obtained may be useful for an information sharing platform development. They allow for better design of this platform, considering the directions and ways to exchange information and to identify barriers affecting this process. Originality/value: The research is original because it can be used to develop future research directions, like further work concentrating on the role of trust in the process of information exchange between enterprises.


State-building refers to the processes undertaken by new states, while reconstitution refers to the rearrangement of an existing state following either secession or collapse. Somaliland and South Sudan are involved in process of state-building, while Sudan and Somalia are engaged in state reconstitution. Three distinctive models of state-building are taking place in the four countries. This Policy Note analyses the interlinked yet distinct process of state building.


This article details the current work status of the ETSI Reconfigurable Radio Systems Technical Committee, positions the ETSI work with respect to other standards efforts (IEEE 802, IEEE SCC41) as well as the European Regulatory Framework, and gives an outlook on the future evolution. In particular, software defined radio related study results are presented with a focus on SDR architectures for mobile devices such as mobile phones. For MDs, a novel architecture and inherent interfaces are presented enabling the usage of SDR principles in a mass market context. Cognitive radio principles within ETSI RRS are concentrated on two topics, a cognitive pilot channel proposal and a Functional Architecture for Management and control of reconfigurable radio systems, including dynamic self-organizing planning and management, dynamic spectrum management, joint radio resource management. Finally, study results are indicated that are targeting a SDR/CR security framework.


Abstract : The existing spatial smoothing (SS) technique, although it is effective in decorrelating coherent signals, can only be applied to uniformly spaced linear arrays which are very sensitive to the directions-of-arrival (DOA's) and can be used to estimate azimuth angles only. To significantly improve the robustness of DOA estimation and of beamforming and to estimate both azimuth and elevation angles, we developed techniques for applying SS to arrays of arbitrary geometry. We found that an array must have an orientational invariance structure with an ambiguity free center array for applying SS. We also study the cause of ambiguities in a multiple signal environment and find the necessary and sufficient conditions for an array manifold to be ambiguity free. If an array is also central symmetric, the forward/backward spatial smoothing can be used to improve the resolution. Finally, we expand the application of our technique not only to MUSIC and adaptive beamforming algorithms but also to ESPRIT algorithm. Ali the predicted results are verified by simulations.


Background Cannabis has been used worldwide for centuries for industrial, recreational and medicinal use, however, to date no successful attempts at editing genes involved in cannabinoid biosynthesis have been reported. This study proposes and develops an in silico best practices approach for the design and implementation of genome editing technologies in cannabis to target all genes involved in cannabinoid biosynthesis. Results A large dataset of reference genomes was accessed and mined to determine copy number variation and associated SNP variants for optimum target edit sites for genotype independent editing. Copy number variance and highly polymorphic gene sequences exist in the genome making genome editing using CRISPR, Zinc Fingers and TALENs technically difficult. Evaluation of allele or additional gene copies was determined through nucleotide and amino acid alignments with comparative sequence analysis performed. From determined gene copy number and presence of SNPs, multiple online CRISPR design tools were used to design sgRNA targeting every gene, accompanying allele and homologs throughout all involved pathways to create knockouts for further investigation. Universal sgRNA were designed for highly homologous sequences using MultiTargeter and visualised using Sequencher, creating unique sgRNA avoiding SNP and shared nucleotide locations targeting optimal edit sites. Conclusions Using this framework, the approach has wider applications to all plant species regardless of ploidy number or highly homologous gene sequences. Significance statement Using this framework, a best-practice approach to genome editing is possible in all plant species, including cannabis, delivering a comprehensive in silico evaluation of the cannabinoid pathway diversity from a large set of whole genome sequences. Identification of SNP variants across all genes could improve genome editing potentially leading to novel applications across multiple disciplines, including agriculture and medicine.


The article presents analysis of a Polish Internet political discussion forum, characterized by significant polarization and high levels of emotion. The study compares samples of discussions gathered at three periods during a 2-year time, during which events occurred that significantly increased the already strong political division of Polish society (the sudden death of the President in a plane crash, snap elections, accusations of assassination and treason). Despite these circumstances, we observe a remarkable stability of individual political support. Extensive discussions among the forum users did not lead to changes in their political affiliations or specific opinions. In contrast, emotions expressed by the forum users, mainly negative, were found to vary from post to post and between the discussion threads. An automatic emotion recognition algorithm is presented, giving results closely corresponding to human evaluations. The authors also show that differences in a user interface between the two alternative forum webpages, especially effects of features promoting direct one-to-one communication, have significant impact on message content and decrease negative emotions. Implications of such changes on promoting communication across a political divide are discussed.


Among the risks of introducing non-native species to novel environments is the possibil- ity that the non-native might serve as a reservoir for enzootic pathogens formerly at low abundance. The recent identification of Bonamia sp. in previously uninfected non-native Suminoe oysters deployed to Bogue Sound, Morehead City, North Carolina, USA, raises serious concerns about the oyster's ability to act as a reservoir for the parasite, not formerly known along the east coast of the USA. To assess the current distribution of the Bonamia sp. parasite and its environmental tolerances, non-reproductive triploid Suminoe oysters, certified as uninfected, were deployed at 5 high salinity sites across North Carolina, chosen because of their similarity to the Bogue Sound site, and along a salinity gradient radiating from Morehead City Port, at which the parasite is known to occur. Screen- ing of 2 oyster cohorts failed to detect the Bonamia sp. parasite beyond the immediate vicinity of Morehead City port. At the port, infection was almost entirely confined to small (<40 mm shell height) oysters. These results suggest that the parasite, which is genetically similar to Australasian species, is a recent ballast water introduction through Morehead City Port and that its spread may be dependent on the availability of suitable hosts in high salinity environments. Clearly, the proposed introduction of the Suminoe oyster to the mid-Atlantic coast of the USA represents considerable economic and ecological risk and should not proceed without further study to obtain better estimates of likely effects.


Architecture and urban space can also be observed trough different time frames or historical periods in the process of transformation. Within this transformation certain elements of permanence can be identified. Elements of permanence keep the memory an identity of places and events. In each scale level there are propelling and pathological monuments amongst the ordinary dwelling fabric, and the quality of permanence will determine the feature of transformation. The modern conception of the city asserted that urban spaces consisting of public-private spatial organization where people have equal conception of urbanity. Seeing the distinction between public-private is one way to translate and interpret social organization, political and spatial in a city. How public and private spaces the city organized in the city is a manifestation of the value system adopted by the society. Through the public space we can observe character and identity of the city. Meanwhile, the aspects of character and identity of the city became a powerful issue in an international context. Globalization idealism around the world has prompted changes in economic systems, information
and a lot of things. Global economic systems for example, encourage the simplification and uniformity of the system, even commodity and identity. The city of Yogyakarta, located in the heartland of Java Island, has a unique ability to maintain a distinctive identity in its atmosphere. Yogyakarta has some predicate, as the last
kingdom of Mataram, the city of revolution, education city, cultural city and tourism city. Those predicate indicates vary of potential aspects that drive the changes of the city, not only physically but its identity and character. How does the process of the city's identity and character formed? How do citizens influence on the transformation that occurs? By tracking the history of formation and observation of contemporary case studies in urban public spaces, we can found the understanding and explanation.

Keywords:
City Transformation, Urban Morphology, Urban Public Space, Yogyakarta, Identity, Character


This research was conducted at Xuan Son National Park, the data was collected on 03 permanent plots, the area of each permanent plot is 1 ha. The data collection has been conducted in the period from 2012 to 2018. The trees are classified into diameter categories of 5 cm starting from 10 cm. The structural simulation model consists of two groups of system elements including: state elements (number of trees categorized by diameter size), intermediate elements (tree density, entering and outgoing tree number of diameter categories, number of died trees of different diameter categories, number of regenerating trees). The processes of forest dynamics (regeneration of trees, change of tree number and natural death of diameter categories) were simulated through an simulation scheme in MM&S Software. The interaction is defined through regression equations: Correlation between the number of regenerating trees and the number of existing trees (R-N0), correlation between the number of diameter-category-changing trees and the number of trees at particular diameter category (Ok-Nk), correlation between the number of died trees and the number of trees at particular diameter category (Mk-Nk). The suitable regression equations (that are selected based on the results of statistic analysis) were input into the model in the simulation diagram in MM&S Software. The model in the simulation diagram has been ran, the graph was created from the results of model running to show the tendencies of the change of the tree diameter categories in time and to see the correlation between the changes of the tree diameter categories of the system. The model was exported from the simulation diagram into text file for illustration.


Legal doctrine exhibits some striking temporal anomalies, previously not much adverted to. Wrongdoing looked at before it has occurred, and after is has occurred, is apt to look very different. I take up the two key components of wrongdoing seriatim, the harm-portion and the misconduct-portion: the "damage" part and the "liability" part. We tend to look at harm in a harm-agnifying way before it has occurred, and in a harm-inimizing way afterwards. We thus tend to think about negligence and the harm it wreaks in seemingly inconsistent ways. I examine and reject some possible explanations of this. Misconduct too looks different before and after, and the reason seems to be a certain spacing phenomenon: space blameworthy actions closely together and their overall blameworthiness can turn out to be greater or less than the sum of its individual blameworthy parts. The ex ante perspective involves looking at how much the piece contributes to the overall blameworthiness of the defendant's actions. If, therefore, for some reason the sum of the blameworthy acts is greater or less than the overall blameworthiness of the defendant, we get an ex ante/ex post inconsistency. I offer a sketchy and tentative account of the likely bases of this spacing effect.


High-velocity rotational stimuli have the potential to improve the diagnostic capabilities of clinical rotation testing by revealing nonlinear vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) responses that are indicative of asymmetric vestibular function. However, eye movements evoked by high-velocity rotations often are inconsistent over time and therefore do not yield reliable diagnostic measures. This study investigated whether use of a novel "visual guide" could improve the consistency and quality of VORs obtained during testing with pulse-step-sine (PSS) stimuli providing periodic high-velocity, horizontal-plane rotations with peak velocities up to 290 deg/s. The visual guide (narrow phosphorescent line spanning 180 degrees field of view) was mounted horizontally on the rotation chair at the subject's eye level. Eight healthy human subjects were tested either in complete darkness while performing an alerting task, or while viewing the visual guide in an otherwise dark room. We found that the visual guide improved the quality of VOR responses as shown by an increased proportion of slow-phase velocity data segments retained for analysis, by a decreased variance of the processed eye velocity data, and by a reduction of outlying VOR response measures. We also found that the visual guide did not induce visual suppression because VOR gain measures were not diminished.


In the oil and gas industry, hydrocarbon process equipment was previously often thermally insulated by applying insulation directly to the metal surface. Fire protective insulation was applied outside the thermal insulation. In some cases, severe corrosion attacks were observed due to ingress of humidity and condensation at cold surfaces. Introducing a 25 mm air gap to prevent wet thermal insulation and metal wall contact is expected to solve the corrosion issues. This improved insulation methodology does, however, require more space that may not be available when refurbishing older process plants. Relocating structural elements would introduce much hot work, which should be minimized in live plants. It is also costly. The aim of the present study is therefore to develop a test concept for testing fire resistance of equipment protected with only air-gap and thermal insulation, i.e., without the fire-protective insulation. The present work demonstrates a conceptual methodology for small scale fire testing of mockups resembling a section of a distillation column. The mockups were exposed to a small-scale propane flame in a test configuration where the flow rate and the flame zone were optimized to give heat flux levels in the range 250–350 kW/m2. Results are presented for a mockup resembling a 16 mm thick distillation column steel wall. It is demonstrated that the modern distance insulation in combination with the heat capacity of the column wall indicates 30+ minutes fire resistance. The results show that this methodology has great potentials for low cost fire testing of other configurations, and it may serve as a set-up for product development.


A novel sapphire fiber-optic high-temperature sensor has been designed and fabricated based on blackbody radiation theory. Metallic molybdenum has been used as the film material to develop the blackbody cavity, owing to its relatively high melting point compared to that of sapphire. More importantly, the fabrication process for the blackbody cavity is simple, efficient, and economical. Thermal radiation emitted from such a blackbody cavity is transmitted via optical fiber to a remote place for detection. The operating principle, the sensor structure, and the fabrication process are described here in detail. The developed high-temperature sensor was calibrated through a calibration blackbody furnace at temperatures from 900°C to 1200°C and tested by a sapphire crystal growth furnace up to 1880°C. The experimental results of our system agree well with those from a commercial Rayteck MR1SCCF infrared pyrometer, and the maximum residual is approximately 5°C, paving the way for high-accuracy temperature measurement especially for extremely harsh environments.


This article considers the impact that peak oil and climate change may have on the future of higher education. In particular, it questions the role of technology in supporting the provision of a higher education which is resilient to a scenario both of energy depletion and the need to adapt to the effects of global warming. One emerging area of interest from this future scenario might be the role of technology in addressing more complex learning futures, and more especially in facilitating individual and social resilience, or the ability to manage and overcome disruption. However, the extent to which higher education practitioners can utilise technology to this end is framed by their approaches to the curriculum, and the sociocultural practices within which they are located. The authors discuss how open education might enable learners to engage with uncertainty through social action within a form of higher education that is more resilient to economic, environmental and energy-related disruptions. It asks whether more open higher education can be (re)claimed by users and communities within specific contexts and curricula, in order to engage with an increasingly uncertain world.


Efficient in vivo incorporation of a noncanonical amino acid into proteins often requires engineering new aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase (AARS) activity into the cell, usually by modifying a natural aaRS. Although experimental methods, relying on mutagenesis and library screening, have identified many successful mutant aaRS-substrate pairs in the recent years, computational approaches have reported only a few successes. Here we compare the results of computational and experimental screens of an E. coli methionyl-tRNA synthetase (MetRS) saturation-mutagenesis library for binding (in silico), and activation and cell-surface display (in vivo) of azidonorleucine (Anl). Three positions (L13, Y260, and H301) in the methionine binding pocket of E. coli MetRS were randomized, and the resulting library was screened for MetRS activity toward Anl, based on a screening strategy previously established in our group. This strategy relies on the introduction of reactive side chains into surface-exposed sites on outer-membrane protein C (OmpC), and their subsequent labeling with reactive, fluorescent probes. We have discovered a large diversity of MetRS mutants that allow the incorporation of Anl into proteins in vivo. The extent of OmpC expression and the amount of available Anl during the screen have substantial effects on the outcome of the screens. In addition to displaying improved activities toward Anl, identified mutants also show an improved discrimination against Met. We have shown that the degree of cell-surface labeling in vivo correlates well with the measured rates of Anl activation in vitro, which reflects the success of the screen design. Computational analysis of the experimentally identified mutants revealed a good agreement between computed binding energies and in vitro activation data. To better test the computation model, we performed an in silico screen for Anl binding on a saturation-mutagenesis library comparable to the experimental library. Computational screen predominantly selects mutants that interact with Anl through hydrogen bonds, whereas the hydrophobic residues are selected more often by the experimental screen. We identify that experimental mutants try to optimize packing at the Y260 and H301 sites, but not at the L13 site. We discuss possible explanations for these results. Combined results from computation and experiments suggest the importance of various factors in ligand recognition and in vivo selection of MetRS mutants. We explore the implications of these factors to the future efforts in the engineering of new MetRS activities.


This study examines the moderating effect of culture on the relationship between women directors and CSR disclosure. The reason for examining this issue is twofold. First, the effort and focus to improve the representation of women on corporate boards in Malaysia is continually being discussed since 2011. Thus, having women on corporate boards may affect company's CSR disclosure differently if compared to when boards are dominated by men. Second, having multi-ethnic boards may also influence the decision-making process in that different ethnic groups would react differently in the decision making process related to CSR disclosures, for example it is assumed that boards dominated by Malays would react differently if compared to boards dominated by other ethnic groups. Data for this study is collected from company's annual report for the year 2013. Three hundred (300) companies were used as the sample of this study. Two theories were applied in this study: transformational leadership theory and cultural theory. Using a hierarchical regression analysis, this study finds that culture influences CSR disclosure, and moderates the effects of women directors on companies' CSR disclosure. The moderating effect could be interpreted that women directors positively influence companies' CSR disclosure and are able to exercise their transformational leadership style when boards are dominated by Malay directors. The findings of this study support the efforts taken by the government at increasing the Malay (or Bumiputra) and women participation at decision-making level.


Purpose. To develop a general setting–independent decision-analytical model that determines the costs, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of four screening strategies to detect amblyopia or amblyogenic factors in pre-school children and to apply the model in a German setting. Methods. The general setting–independent decision–analytical model was developed from the perspective of society and the statutory health insurance was developed. Outcomes were the total number of newly detected true positive cases of amblyopia and the costs per newly detected true positive case of amblyopia. Strategies were screening of high-risk children up to the age of 1 year (ophthalmologists), screening of all children up to the age of 1 year (ophthalmologists), screening of all children aged 3 to 4 years (pediatricians or general practitioners), and screening of children aged 3 to 4 years visiting kindergarten (orthoptists). For the application example in a German setting, data from the published medical literature were used. Results. In the base-case analysis of the application example, screening high-risk children by opthalmologists had the lowest average cost per case detected but became dominated (less effective and more costly than an alternative) if a low (5.3%) probability of familial clustering of strabismus was assumed. Considering the various assumptions tested in the sensitivity analysis, screening of all children up to the age of 1 year by opthalmologists was the only strategy not dominated by others. Detection rates, including cases detected before screening, were between 72% and 78% for the strategies that screen for all children. Conclusions. The model suggests that in Germany, both from a cost-effectiveness and a pure effectiveness point of view, screening all children up to the age of 1 year by opthalmologists is the preferred strategy to detect amblyopia or amblyogenic factors. All strategies left a significant portion of children undetected.


Get professional training in 3ds Max from this Autodesk Official Training GuideExtremely popular with video game designers as well as architects, 3ds Max offers integrated 3D modeling, animation, rendering, and compositing tools designed to streamline production. If you already have a working knowledge of 3ds Max basics, this official guide will take your skills to the next level. Detailed tutorials cover all the latest features of 3ds Max. From modeling, texturing, animation, and architectural visualization to high-level techniques for film, television, games, and more, this book provides professional-level instruction on 3ds Max.Those who are proficient in 3ds Max basics can take their 3D animation skills to the next level with this Autodesk Official Training Guide Offers industry-level training, with diverse tutorials that showcase techniques used in actual animations for games, film, TV, and architectural visualization Covers modeling, texturing, animation, visual effects, and high-level techniques as well as all the latest features of 3ds Max Also recommended as a preparation guide to Autodesk's 3ds Max Associate and Professional examsMastering Autodesk 3ds Max will help intermediate to advanced 3ds Max users develop and sharpen their skills in this popular animation and effects software.


The effect of Silica Nanoparticles (SNP) on the structural, morphologial mechanical, rheological and thermal properties of ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) containing 18 wt.% vinyl acetate has been investigated. The EVA/silica nanocomposites (ENCs) were prepared by in–situ synthesis method from tetraethoxysilane (TEOS). The obtained samples have been characterised by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA). The optimal conditions for ENC preparation (e.g. mixing temperature and mixing time and pH value) were found. FT–IR and FESEM techniques were used for monitoring the formation and the dispersion of SNP in EVA matrix. With SNP presence, the mechanical, rheological and thermal properties of EVA are significantly improved. Among the tested ENCs, the sample 15 wt.% TEOS has the best properties.


This paper is concerned with understanding the connection between the existing Internet congestion control algorithms and the optimal control theory. The available resource allocation controllers are mainly devised to derive the state of the system to a desired equilibrium point and, therefore, they are oblivious to the transient behavior of the closed-loop system. To take into account the real-time performance of the system, rather than merely its steady-state performance, the congestion control problem should be solved by maximizing a proper utility functional as opposed to a utility function. For this reason, this work aims to investigate what utility functionals the existing congestion control algorithms maximize. In particular, it is shown that there exist meaningful utility functionals whose maximization leads to the celebrated primal, dual and primal/dual algorithms. An implication of this result is that a real network problem may be solved by regarding it as an optimal control problem on which some practical constraints, such as a real-time link capacity constraint, are imposed.


Abstract Intruded into the Palaeogene lava field and underlying Moine (Neoproterozoic) crystalline basement rocks around Loch Scridain, Isle of Mull, Scotland, is a suite of high-level, inclined, xenolithic sheets, ranging in composition from basalt, through andesite and dacite, to rhyolite. These sheets, associated with the Mull central volcano, were emplaced post 55 Ma. As well as numerous crustal xenoliths, the more basic members of the complex contain a diverse suite of ultrahasic and basic xenoliths. Xenolith types include feldspathic peridotite with cumulus olivine, pyroxenite, gabbro with cumulus plagioclase and cumulus clinopyroxene, and pure anorthosite. Mineralogical data, coupled with whole-rock major- and trace-element data from a small number of the xenoliths suggest that the xenoliths represent early-formed cumulates cognate with their host basalts. Sr and Nd isotope data from the xenoliths confirms the cognate origin, and also shows that the basic magmas suffered crustal contamination at an early stage.


One aim of the Wikipedia project is to provide mankind with free knowledge. This goal requires a set of licensing models for text and images. Community opinions differ on how free content should be, what the best licensing model is to achieve the objective of free content and on how Wikipedia should deal with commercial use of its contents. This paper explains the licensing problem and discusses community opinions on the 2009 license migration of the online encyclopedia project.


The number of students whose home language is different from the language of instruction is growing everywhere. Learning a new language while simultaneously learning different subjects in that language, is challenging and requires teacher support. However, research has shown that not all teachers have sufficient knowledge of language learning, how language learning influences the learning of content, or how to support multilingual learners in this context (Sullivan, 2016). In this study, Finnish teachers' (N = 820) understandings of certain processes related to learning an additional language were examined, including whether there were differences in understandings between different teacher groups. Over 80% of the surveyed teachers were knowledgeable about the aspects related to classroom interaction and language use that can be considered as essential for being a linguistically responsive teacher: for example, they knew that social interaction supports learners' language development. In this study, the less experience a teacher had in general, the more knowledgeable they were regarding language learning. Further, teachers of language related subjects had a better understanding of certain aspects of language learning compared to other subject teacher groups. Based on these results, professional development targeted at teachers who have been in the profession for several years is recommended.


Previous research has shown that the recent tightening of college alcohol policies has been effective at reducing college students' drinking. Over the period in which these stricter alcohol policies have been put in place, marijuana use among college students has increased. This raises the question of whether current policies aimed at reducing alcohol consumption are inadvertently encouraging marijuana use. This paper begins to address this question by investigating the relationship between the demands for alcohol and marijuana for college students using data from the 1993, 1997 and 1999 waves of the Harvard School of Public Health's College Alcohol Study (CAS). We find that alcohol and marijuana are economic complements and that policies that increase the full price of alcohol decrease participation in marijuana use.


Growing Problem Solvers provides four original, related, classroom-ready mathematical tasks, one for each grade band. Together, these tasks illustrate the trajectory of learners' growth as problem solvers across their years of school mathematics.


Why asthma still kills is the National Review of Asthma Deaths' first national investigation of asthma deaths in the UK and the largest study worldwide to date (Royal College of Physicians (RCP), 2015). The primary aim was to understand the circumstances surrounding asthma deaths to identify avoidable factors and make recommendations to improve care and reduce the number of deaths.
Some of the recommendations involve prescribing and medicines use. One of these specifically states, 'All asthma patients who have been prescribed more than 12 short-acting reliever inhalers in the previous 12 months should be invited for urgent review of their asthma control, with the aim of improving their asthma through education and change of treatment, if required' (RCP, 2015).
The reason for this is that over-use of short-acting relievers can be an indication of uncontrolled asthma. An additional concern due to over-use can be explained by the pharmacology of short-acting relievers. These medicines, such as salbutamol and terbutaline, are beta-2 receptor agonists, and their over-use can lead to the 'down-regulation' of receptors, which can result in an insufficient therapeutic effect in an emergency situation (Joint Formulary Committee, 2016). Furthermore, the over-use of medicines can lead to side effects (e.g. palpitations or anxiety), and is a waste of NHS resources.


The article represents the results of experimental research for temperature and moisture variations in pavements and subgrade of highways located in five different climatic regions, an analysis of cyclic freezing and thawing of a pavement. To measure temperature and moisture in pavements and subgrade the sensors have been used which allow making measurement of these characteristics simultaneously in the points of interest. The peculiarities of variation were analyzed for air temperature, temperature in pavements and subgrade in different regions in warm and cold 24 hours. The differences were established in distribution of temperature and moisture in pavements and subgrade in warm and cold 24 hours. To analyze cyclic freezing and thawing (FT) of a pavement the air temperature values have been used during twenty sequential winter seasons in six geographical points of Kazakhstan. The dependences were established for the number of FT cycles on duration and minimal temperature of the cycles.


One year after the onset of the Arab Spring, the transition is clearly at its very beginning. In that, it does not compare with the onset of transition in Central, East and Southeast Europe (CESEE) in 1989 or 1990, which was a kind of breakthrough and provided a clear discontinuity with the past in almost all respects. In the majority of cases this has been one more step in the process of systemic change in the CESEE that will take some time to unfold. This Policy Note compares changes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) with the processes of reforms and change that took place in the socialist world from, arguably, 1956 to 1989. It is hard to time the current turmoil in the MENA region in comparison with the long process of reforms and transition in CESEE, but it could be argued that in most cases the 1989 moment is yet to come to the former region. ...


This study aimed at establishing the degree of influence of cost elements on the productivity of manufacturing companies. The study made used of a survey research design method and data were obtained through questionnaire and analyzed with the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method. The study revealed that three major categories of manufacturing costs affect the overall productivity of manufacturing companies; viz, raw materials, labour and overhead costs. This study established that the ability or inability of manufacturing companies to properly control and minimize these costs has a direct bearing on how productive or unproductive these companies are. It was recommended that the major cost elements of material, labor and overhead should be individually managed in the light of overall productivity. Also manufacturing companies should pay closer attention to cost reduction, cost management and cost control in order to remain increasingly profitable.