Ab s t r Ac t Introduction: Peripartum hysterectomy (PH) is a lifesaving procedure performed at the time of delivery or in the immediate postpartum period in case of intractable obstetrical hemorrhage unresponsive to other measures. The indication for such procedure is severe uterine hemorrhage that may be due to abnormal placentation, i.e., placenta accreta, uterine atony, uterine rupture, leiomyomas, coagulopathy, or laceration of a uterine vessel not manageable by mere conservative measures. Materials and methods: This retrospective and analytical study was carried out at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Amritsar (SGRDIMSR, Amritsar), for a period of 2 years from January 2017 to December 2018. All the patients who underwent PH were reviewed. All concerned factors related to emergency and critical care were analyzed. Results: Out of under study cases, nine PH were conducted, seven being emergency and two elective for placenta accreta. The incidence being 3.53%, main indications were placenta accrete, n = 4 (44.4%); atonic PPH, n = 3 (33.3%); rupture uterus, n = 2 (22.2%). Out of these, n = 8 (88.8%) were referred cases and n = 1 (22.2%) were elderly gravida, almost all patients went to intensive care unit (ICU), average ICU stay being 10 days. Massive blood transfusion was done in n = 3 (33.3%) patients. Morbidity encountered were sepsis, anemia, bladder injuries and hypertension which were analyzed in this study. There was one mortality of G5P3L3A1 in emergency with placenta covering os in shock with severe anemia where emergency hysterectomy was performed for placenta accreta. Conclusion: Proper antenatal intrapartum care, early referral, and judicious decision making regarding cesarean section are the potential methods which can be implemented to prevent this catastrophic event. The anticipation of such complication by classifying those patients in the risk group, notifying a multidisciplinary team, and treatment, will greatly improve the final outcome.


The investigation, arrest, and conviction of a number of high-profile hacker-activists, or hacktivists, reveal the ways subjectivity is mobilized through processes of revelation and evasion. We use the term subjectivation to describe the performative practices engaged in by hacktivists and contrast them with governmental and disciplinary practices of subjection . We elaborate upon two categories of subjectivation ( coming out and versioning ) and two categories of subjection ( doxing and gagging ). These categories form the vectors of hacktivist and state coproduction that emerge in selfie-incrimination. We use the term selfie to describe both intentional and inadvertent practices of online self-disclosure. Selfie-incrimination that is public and voluntary we discuss in terms of coming out . Versioning describes the public voluntary manipulation of personal identity. Being doxed entails the online disclosure of a hacktivist's identity. Gagging refers to this ultimate silencing of illicit political digital activity, wherein the state designates the parameters of speech as well as physical movement. We conclude by examining the entangled and asymmetrical relationship between hacktivist subjectivity and the cybersecurity of the state.


This paper is concerned with the cost-effective allocation of habitat for endangered species under spatio-temporally heterogeneous economic development. To address the dynamic dimension of the problem we consider tradable development rights (TDR) as the instrument of choice. A particular challenge in applying TDR is that the ecological benefit of an individual habitat patch depends on its spatial relationship with other habitats and thus is an emergent rather than a fixed property. We analyse the spatial and temporal dynamics of habitats in a region under a TDR market that takes spatial interaction of habitats explicitly into account. We show that depending on the levels of spatial interaction and cost heterogeneity, two different outcomes may emerge: an "ordered" structure where habitats are clustered in space and stable over time, and a "disordered" structure where habitats are scattered in space and subject to high turnover of destruction and recreation.


In this report a real case study of the sound environment within a helmet while driving motorcycle is investigated. A solution to perform speech enhancement is proposed for the purpose of mobile speech communication. A microphone array, mounted onto the face shield in front of the user's mouth, is used to capture the spatio-temporal properties of the acoustic wave ¯eld inside the helmet. The power of the spatially spread noise within the helmet is small when standing still while it may heavily exceed the power of the speech when driving at high speeds. This will result in dramatically reduced speech intelligibility in the communication channel. The highly dynamic noise level imposes a challenge for existing speech enhancement solutions. We propose a subband adaptive system for speech enhancement which consists of a soft constrained beamformer in cascade with a signal-to-noise ratio dependent single microphone solution. The beamformer make use of a calibration signal gathered in the actual environment from the speaker's position. This calibration procedure e±ciently captures the acoustical properties in the environment. Evaluation of the beamformer and the single microphone algorithm, both as either parts by them selves and as a cascaded structure, together with the optimal subband Wiener solution is presented. It is shown that a cascaded combination of the calibrated subband beamforming technique together with the single channel solution outperforms either one by it self, and provides near optimal results at all noise levels.


Background Although Uganda has a relatively low prevalence of smoking, no data exists on cigarette use among military personnel. Studies in other countries suggests military service is a risk factor for tobacco use. Objectives To assess prevalence and risk factors for and costs of smoking among military personnel assigned to a large military facility in Uganda. Design A mixed methods study including focus groups, interviews and a cross-sectional survey of military personnel. Setting Kakiri Barracks, Uganda. Subjects Key informants and focus group participants were purposively selected based on the objectives of the study, military rank and job categories. A multistage sample design was used to survey individuals serving in Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF) from June to November 2014 for the survey (n=310). Results Participants in the qualitative portion of the study reported that smoking was harmful to health and the national economy and that its use was increasing among UPDF personnel. Survey results suggested that smoking rates in the military were substantially higher than in the general public (ie, 34.8% vs 5.3%). Significant predictors of smoking included lower education, younger age, having close friends who smoked and a history of military deployment. Estimated costs of smoking due to lost productivity was US$576 229 and US$212 400 for excess healthcare costs. Conclusions Smoking rates are substantially higher in the UPDF compared to the general public and results in significant productivity costs. Interventions designed to reduce smoking among UPDF personnel should be included in the country's national tobacco control plan.


The developments over the last decade in digital switching data networks and intelligent signal processing suggest an almost unbounded future in terms of opportunity. But who needs it? Information technology appears to act upon our socio-economic system in a manner that is quite different from the way other technologies affected earlier socio-economic systems. In those earlier instances a reasonable balance was maintained between the intensive, or extrapolative interactions and the extensive or transformative ones. Today, we can establish a non-trivial hypothesis that states that the extensive or transformative interactions between information technology and our socio-economic system are being somehow constrained and hence denying us considerable economic and social benefits. The hypothesis stands up under the Socratic test, in that the conclusions deduced from the hypothesis match what we see in the real world. If one takes the hypothesis as given, is there any real potential that is being constrained, what is the value of that potential, and what might be the nature of the constraint? Research suggests that the potential exists, that it may be very significant, and that the constraint is of a fundamental linguistic nature. Some strategies are set forth to avoid or move the constraint. If the hypothesis is valid and the important benefits of information technology are inhibited from flowering, of what significance is all our fine technology? The prediction is made that unless we address that fundamental constraint, the future for information technology is at the best rather bleak and intensely competitive, for our capacity to produce sophisticated communications will outstrip our needs.


This paper discusses the Uniqueness Thesis, a core thesis in the epistemology of disagreement. After presenting uniqueness and clarifying relevant terms, a novel counterexample to the thesis will be introduced. This counterexample involves logical disagreement. Several objections to the counterexample are then considered, and it is argued that the best responses to the counterexample all undermine the initial motivation for uniqueness.


Definitions of citizenship often lack a solid grounding in the lived realities of ordinary citizens. They tend instead to focus on the debates of elites and on geopolitical processes. Citizenship in the postsocialist context defies the narrow definitions given by political elites, primarily because representatives of the state have been unable to guarantee the 'social rights' that citizens expect. This volume seeks to provide information by looking both at the making of citizenship from above and at the perceptions and responses of citizens from below. How citizens conceive of their relations to the state determines their involvement (or lack of involvement) in public life, including voting and participation in social movements. It also determines whether or not they will seek an alternative citizenship, and their attitudes towards ethnic conflicts. It follows that the possibilities of citizenship offered by postsocialist Moldova constitute a vital factor in addressing the political, economic, and social difficulties which this young state faces.


New communication technologies strengthen existing power relations, helping to maintain class inequalities and alienating people. In the new communication age, human subjectivity itself has become a commodity. This paper analyses the role of Marxist studies in the academic field of communication studies. It focuses on the relevance of Marx's views for understanding communication in the digital era, Marxist communication studies after the expansion of digital media, and new dimensions of communication that have been incorporated into Marxist literature. Topics that matter in this context include the intersection of play and work, media economics in the age of digital communication, digital labour, the online games industry, targeted advertising, newly emerging social inequalities, and surveillance and privacy issues. Also an outlook for potential future Marxist studies of communication is given.


Mullet creek, located on the south coast of New South Wales terminates in a shallow, wave dominated barrier estuary that developed during the Holocene. Sea level fluctuations have affected the current morphology of Mullet Creek not only in its delta, but also for a distance of approximately 8 km from the coast. During this investigation LiDAR data and subsurface sampling techniques have been used to investigate the alluvial terraces and macro‐channel morphology, and transitional sedimentary sequences in the upstream floodplain and downstream channel reaches. LiDAR revealed that an alluvial terrace is present in the mid to upper reaches in the Mullet Creek catchment, extending ~7 km from the foothills. This terrace provides evidence of higher sea level and examination of other terraces within the Lake Illawarra catchment indicates that terraces may provide evidence for sea level over two glacial cycles in this area. The results from subsurface sampling showed that the upstream study reach consists of an abandoned channel sequence and a buried Pleistocene floodplain sequence and sampling in the downstream channel reach has provided new evidence that the fluvio‐deltaic sediments do not extent as far upstream of the delta as previously thought. Ground penetrating radar was also trialed in these setting but returned no useful results. By conducting these investigations, the relationship between sea level, Mullet Creek and its current morphology can be better explain and used to predict how rising sea level will affect the system as a whole. Degree Type Thesis Degree Name Bachelor of Science (Honours) Department School of Earth & Environmental Sciences


Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and usefulness of the Cheatham platinum (CP) stent in a broad spectrum of lesions. Methods: Retrospective analysis of 60 implanted CP stents (11–80 mm lengths, 12 covered) between September 2001 and March 2004. Patients: 53 patients aged 2.5–68 years (median 17 years). Body weight ranged from 12–95 kg (median 52 kg). Thirty six patients had aortic (re)coarctation; seven of them had functionally interrupted aortic arches. Thirteen patients had pulmonary artery stenosis and four had stenosis of caval veins or conduits in a total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC). Results: Arterial pressure gradients dropped from 33 mm Hg (range 20–80 mm Hg) to 5 mm Hg (range 0–10 mm Hg) and pressure gradients in TCPC or caval veins dropped from 4 mm Hg (range 4–20 mm Hg) to 0 mm Hg (range 0–3 mm Hg). All stents were placed in the target lesion without complications. Three stent fractures without clinical instability were noted. Conclusions: The CP stent is suitable for the treatment of vessel stenosis in congenital heart diseases from childhood to adulthood. Whether these good results will be stable in the long term needs to be investigated.


If ever the G20, the self-styled apex forum for international economic cooperation, needed to step up to the plate it is now. However, while it did so for the 2009 London Summit — in the eye of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) — it is highly unlikely to this time. It is also not clear what the definition of success is, unlike the GFC when the core objective was to save Western financial systems from collapse. Each G20 country is correctly focused on managing its own health trajectory, with little policy bandwidth left to devote to international economic cooperation. This has generally entailed export bans on supplies of essential health-related goods, as well as severe interruptions to cross-border value chains occasioned by quarantining requirements, negatively affecting goods and services trade. Furthermore, the growing geopolitical rift between China and the West, particularly the United States (US), had already fractured fragile trade cooperation prior to COVID-19. Now international tensions over how to manage the crisis, who is to blame, as well as who should take credit for successful disaster management amplify previous fractures. Yet when the immediate crisis abates every country will rely on a resumption of global trade cooperation to reflate economic growth, as quickly as possible. This means that the breakdown of international trade cooperation we are now seeing has to be attenuated, while at the same time allowing for the primacy of domestic health considerations. Calls for free trade to be restored are not likely to find fertile terrain amongst governments increasingly desperate to insulate their populations from COVID-19's ravages. In that light this briefing reviews recommendations for salvaging international trade cooperation, particularly those directed to G20 leaders, applying a political economy perspective across a longer time horizon. Since the current health crisis feeds into, and greatly amplifies, the prior disintegrative forces set in motion by a number of causes [1] the analysis is embedded in a broader view of the prospects for the G20 to restore international trade cooperation. It concludes by offering a framework to guide international trade cooperation beyond the COVID-19 crisis, anchored in the military notion of 'dual-use technologies', and with a view to containing the worst protectionist impulses the crisis is feeding.


Background: Hernias comprise approximately 7 of all surgical outpatient visits, and occur more commonly in the groin. Inguinal hernia is a protrusion of abdominal cavity contents through the inguinal canal. It is very common in surgery, and lifetime risk is reported to be 27 for men and 3 for women. Castleman's is a rare disease, characterized clinically by hypertrophy of lymph nodes and histologically by angiofollicular lymph node hyperplasia. It may occur throughout the lifespan from adolescence to the seventh decade. Case Report: A 27-year-old workman was referred to the emergency department for left inguinal pain with increasing severity when standing and walking. Except for nausea and vomiting, he had no other symptoms. Upon palpation, a left inguinal, hard and tender mass was found. Laboratory data and chest X-ray were normal. A total surgical excision was performed under general anesthesia. Histological assessment revealed an extensive capillary proliferation and a lymphocyte predominant infltrate surrounded by small germinal centers, confrming Castleman's disease. Conclusions: Considering the importance of differential diagnosis of inguinal hernia, Castleman's disease can mimic the signs and symptoms of inguinal hernia, and it should be considered in suspected cases of inguinal mass. © The American Journal of Case Reports, 2010.


Nigeria's healthcare sector over the years has continued to degenerate with health indicators currently below national targets and internationally set benchmarks. Budgetary allocations to the sector have remained far below the World Health Organization (WHO) and African Union (AU) recommendations of 11% and 15%, respectively, of a country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) dedicated to the health sector. The poor healthcare system has led to loss of confidence resulting in frustrations and unbearable consequences for the poor and low income segment of the society whereas, top government officials and the affluent resort to outbound medical tourism. Using a qualitative research methodology that focuses on descriptive analysis, the paper reviews health system performance in Nigeria in line with the achievement of United Nations health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDG's) and targets. The paper recommends for institutionalization of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model in the Country's healthcare sector. Public - Private Interaction offers opportunity of leveraging private sector investment in the sector and further enhances improvements in service delivery as well as increases access to quality healthcare. The paper contributes to current scholarly discussions on improving outcomes in healthcare delivery system and the curbing of excessive foreign medical tourism which is found to deplete the country's foreign reserves. Key words : Nigeria, Healthcare Sector, Health Outcomes, Health Indicators, Public-Private Partnership


The fading AWGN two-user two-hop network is considered where the channel coefficients are independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) according to a continuous distribution and vary over time. For a broad class of channel distributions, the ergodic sum capacity is characterized to within a constant number of bits/second/hertz, independent of the signal-to-noise ratio. The achievability follows from the analysis of an interference neutralization scheme where the relays are partitioned into M pairs, and interference is neutralized separately by each pair of relays. When M = 1, the proposed ergodic interference neutralization characterizes the ergodic sum capacity to within 4 bits/sec/Hz for i.i.d. uniform phase fading and approximately 4.7 bits/sec/Hz for i.i.d. Rayleigh fading. It is further shown that this gap can be tightened to 4 log π-4 bits/sec/Hz (approximately 2.6) for i.i.d. uniform phase fading and 4-4 log(3π/8) bits/sec/Hz (approximately 3.1) for i.i.d. Rayleigh fading in the limit of large M1.


Abstract. The scattering properties of aquatic suspended particles have many optical applications. Several data inversion methods have been proposed to estimate important features of particles, such as their size distribution or their refractive index. Most of the proposed methods are based on the Lorenz–Mie theory to solve Maxwell's equations, where particles are considered homogeneous spheres. A generalization that allows consideration of more complex-shaped particles is the T-matrix method. Although this approach imposes some geometrical restrictions (particles must be rotationally symmetrical) it is applicable to many life forms of phytoplankton. In this paper, three different scenarios are considered in order to compare the performance of several inversion methods for retrieving refractive indices. The error associated with each method is discussed and analyzed. The results suggest that inverse methods using the T-matrix approach are useful to accurately retrieve the refractive indices of particles with complex shapes, such as for many phytoplankton organisms.


Lung cancer presents a major worldwide health problem, accounting for 10% of all cancers. The treatment for those patients with small cell lung cancer has been unsatisfactory, but combination chemotherapy administered with radiotherapy can effect a cure in a minority of patients. Intensification of chemotherapy can improve the cure rate, and there are now a variety of haemopoietic growth factors available to support this approach, as the principal toxicity of the drugs used today is bone marrow suppression. Strategies to protect the bone marrow are also in development and are likely to allow further dose intensification. Recently randomised trials have reported survival benefits for intensified treatments.


DISCLAIMER: The ideas and opinions expressed in the journal's Just Accepted articles do not necessarily reflect those of Informa Healthcare (the Publisher), the Editors or the journal. The Publisher does not assume any responsibility for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from or related to any use of the material contained in these articles. The reader is advised to check the appropriate medical literature and the product information currently provided by the manufacturer of each drug to be administered to verify the dosages, the method and duration of administration, and contraindications. It is the responsibility of the treating physician or other health care professional, relying on his or her independent experience and knowledge of the patient, to determine drug dosages and the best treatment for the patient. Just Accepted articles have undergone full scientific review but none of the additional editorial preparation, such as copyediting, typesetting, and proofreading, as have articles published in the traditional manner. There may, therefore, be errors in Just Accepted articles that will be corrected in the final print and final online version of the article. Any use of the Just Accepted articles is subject to the express understanding that the papers have not yet gone through the full quality control process prior to publication. Just Accepted by Leukemia & Lymphoma


A comparative study among several nonlinear high-power amplifier (HPA) models using real measurements is carried out. The analysis is focused on specific models for wideband OFDM signals, which are known to be very sensitive to nonlinear distortion. Moreover, unlike conventional techniques, which typically use a single-tone test signal and power measurements, in this study the models are fitted using subsampled time-domain data. The in-band and out-of-band (spectral regrowth) performances of the following models are evaluated and compared: Saleh's model, envelope polynomial model (EPM), Volterra model, the multilayer perceptron (MLP) model, and the smoothed piecewise-linear (SPWL) model. The study shows that the SPWL model provides the best in-band characterization of the HPA. On the other hand, the Volterra model provides a good trade-off between model complexity (number of parameters) and performance.


Arenophilic glands represent the only molluscan example of multicellular organs solely concerned with adhesion of foreign particles to the external surfaces of an organism.
The glands are exclusive to the bivalve clade omalodesmata, but do not occur in all component taxa, having been declared absent in a number of families, including
Pholadomyidae. This paper records and describes for the first time the arenophilic apparatus of Pholadomya candida
G. B. Sowerby I, 1823, and demonstrates that secretion
from these glands is at times preserved in the fossil record. In P. candida , arenophilic glands in the middle mantle folds discharge their products on top of the shell as the animal grows, forming radial lines of secretion that comprise a meandering main strand and numerous thin threads projecting in tufts. The arrangement is similar to that of other families, corroborating the hypothesis that the glands are a synapomorphy of crown-group anomalodesmatans. Instances of preserved secretion in fossil Pholadomya, ranging in age almost to the initial appearance of the genus in the Late Triassic, suggest that fossilized arenophilic secretion may aid systematic studies of problematic fossil groups traditionally included in Anomalodesmata.


At 2 inches high and 6-1/2 inches square and with a price tag under $500, Apple's Mac mini provides just what you've been looking for -- a viable, low-cost way to move to a Mac and its software without giving up all of your existing peripherals (keyboard, display, and mouse). Here to get you going is the definitive guide from award-winning technology writer David Coursey. There's a lot involved in moving to a new OS--you have to transfer files, learn software, and unravel a new interface -- but David helps you with everything you need to get up to speed quickly. This book begins by explaining why, where, and when to get a Mac mini before launching into a thorough description of the Mac mini and its uses. David then shows you how to do on your Mac mini all the things you've been doing on your Windows machine -- and how to use all the great software that is available only for Macs. And finally, David gets into more advanced topics such as troubleshooting your Mac mini and, for those who can't give up all of their PC-only applications, how to run Windows on it.


LSB steganography and Vigenere chiper methods are integrated in used for data security validation in this study. This approach used Arithmetic Coding method for data compression and data decompression. To maintain the authenticity of the data file, a hash function (SHA 256) technique was added. This paper presents a prototype called Ste-Chy as a proof of concept of the combination of these techniques. This approach helps the user in terms of the exchange of confidential data through an online share in Android-based media. For the confidential authentication purpose, the confidential message is hidden togetherwith the target image. The quality of the original image and stego images in this work produce an image picture in an acceptable level for the user. The bigger the secret of the message, the compression will produce higher compression ratio. With this approach, security process of exchange of confidential message shared through the online share smartphone is considerably secured especially in an android environment.


Many experts argue that focusing on how automated cars will solve the dilemma known as the 'trolley problem' isn't going to get us very far in the debate about the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI). But it's hard to resist if you are a philosopher, an ethicist, a futurist, or simply a geek – and it's fun. Still, this dilemma can reveal a number of outstanding policy issues that are often neglected in the public debate.

This paper performs a 'crime scene investigation' to find some of the missing parts in the ethics/AI quandary. These include the need to preserve human control over machines; the need to take data governance and ownership seriously; algorithmic accountability and transparency; various forms of user empowerment and their tension in relation to overall system control; the need for modernised tort rules; and more generally, a discussion about whether algorithms should reflect, exacerbate or mitigate the biases existing in our society.

The investigation concludes that current legal systems are insufficiently equipped to cope with most of these issues, and that a mapping of outstanding ethical and policy dilemmas is a useful starting point for a thorough overhaul of public policies in this complex and ever-expanding domain.


This thesis provides a comparative study of managerial practices in Europe. Patterns of behaviour and preferred modes of organisation are identified in four countries, based on an in-depth case study of a chosen/specific European company.
While the corporate culture and industry remain constant, national context manifests itself as the essential variable between the different operations. The thesis proposes/argues that this factor — national context — is a powerful variable which frames the activity of management.
Europe is a continent of diversity; each nation has unique traditions, particular historical and cultural roots as well as its own institutional framework. This diversity means that managers learn to operate in a manner that suits their particular context. The thesis documents such national divergence in terms of managerial practices and behaviour.
The processes of integration of European Union member States and of globalisation also contribute towards the shaping of management. The case study company, as a leading provider of Information Technology services, is among the avant-garde pioneers of a technological, borderless world. Common pressures affecting managers across the board — and thus regardless of national context — are also identified: these include the pressure to achieve profit and efficiency. In addition, a degree of convergence between human resource management policies and practices also makes itself visible.
The thesis demonstrates, above all, the influence of national culture and national environment vis-a-vis management; an argument which may be reaffirmed given the context of globalisation. In brief, a European company is a cultural kaleidoscope


The core issues have been examined in this study including the relationships of the teacher's involvement in decision making, interpersonal communication, and work motivation of the BPKB teachers in Gorontalo Province. This study used survey method with correlation techniques. The sample was the whole population of the 47 teachers by using total sampling or sample saturated. Based on the analysis of data concluded results namely 1) there is a positive relationship between teacher's involvements in decision-making with the work motivation. 2) There is a positive relationship between interpersonal communication and the work motivation of teachers, 3) There is a positive relationship between involvement in decision-making and interpersonal communication simultaneously on the work motivation of teachers. These results indicated that the higher of teachers' involvement in decision-making and interpersonal communication, the work motivation is increasing.


iPhoto 09 is packed with cool photo-editing features, and iPhoto 09 For Dummies is your fast track to using every one. Youll learn to clean up and enhance your photos, print them or upload them to a sharing site online, create cool projects, protect and secure your pictures, and make photography more fun than ever. This full-color guide shows you how, and even helps you shoot future photos with an eye to iPhotos capabilities. Theres an easy exercise to get you started and plenty of beautiful full-color photos to show you the results you can achieve. Youll learn your way around the interface, whats new, and how to set preferences. Discover how to create a well-organized, maintainable archive so you can find photos Import and export photos from various sources, including card readers Manage any import problems Organize your collection using facial recognition and GPS technology Crop, rotate, and enhance your images Use a histogram and improve exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, saturation, and more Set up a MobileMe gallery, send photos to Facebook or Flickr, make prints, and burn CDs Get tips for successfully e-mailing your pictures and for printing your photos at home Create photo greeting cards, calendars, or a travel book with maps that show where you took your pictures iPhoto 09 For Dummies even tells about cool add-ons and ideas for iPhoto. Learn to make all your photos the best they can be.


Although classical physicists believed that nature does not make leaps – it is continuous and infinitely divisible – 20th century physicists soon realised that there are indivisible elementary particles (quanta) and that physical space is therefore not continuous and also not infinitely divisible. This state of affairs is also underscored by the duality of particle and wave. Even for Einstein the continuity of the microstructure of 'space-time' was still an open question. Therefore considering physical phenomena as literally continuous could be questioned. Moreover it is striking that reflection on the nature of matter gave birth both to an 'atomistic' and a 'continuity' conception. Faithful to modern nominalism (neo-)Darwinism accepts no universality outside the human mind. Plants and animals are simply positioned in a continuum with the aid of arbitrary names. This continuity postulate – known as 'gradualism' – is, nonetheless, confronted from the outset with the dominant stasis pattern of the paleontological record: a type appears abruptly, remains constant for millions of years and then disappears equally abruptly. As a consequence the assumed 'imperfection' of the fossil record could be questioned. Prominent biological thinkers still wrestle with the problem of continuity and discontinuity. One of them explains that these stories begin from the same foundational fallacy and then proceed in an identically erroneous way. They start with the most dangerous of mental traps: a hidden assumption, depicted as self-evident, if recognised at all, namely, a basic definition of evolution as continuous flux.


The Icelandic Deep Drilling Project (IDDP) is a research program designed to evaluate improvements in the efficiency and economics of geothermal energy systems by harnessing Deep Unconventional Geothermal Resources (DUGR). The goal is to generate electricity from natural supercritical hydrous geofluids from depths of around 3.5 to 5 km and temperatures of 450-600°C. At that depth, the pressure and temperature of pure water exceed the critical point of 374.15°C and 221.2 bars, which means that only a single phase fluid exists. In order to drill into the target zone of supercritical geofluids, one of the main challenges is to deal with high temperatures and pressures during the drilling and well completion processes. Because of the great uncertainties in this project a detailed risk assessment and contingency plan is necessary. This paper describes major geological and technical problems, in terms of drilling, in such a high temperature and pressure environment, with emphasis on the geoengineering part of the drilling process and well completion. The natural geological risks arising from volcanic and seismic activity, as well as meeting sufficient permeable zones, are considered to be relatively minor factors when compared to the well completion process due to their low probability. The main risks are assessed in the hazard of underground pressure blowouts, meeting circulation loss zones and material failures due to the high temperature environment. In addition borehole failure, formation fracturing, cement and casing failure as well as problems during coring operations are deemed to be likely, but by applying the appropriate techniques as well as mitigation and counteractive measures, discussed in this paper, most of these risks can be reduced or prevented.


The quantity and chemical composition ofprecipitation in the Sierra Nevada was monitored at high elevation stations during the period of 1990 through 1995. From 1990 through 1993, eleven sites were included in the network. For 1994 the number was seven and during the spring of 1995, the snowpack was sampled at six stations. During the course of the study a total of 1546 snow samples were collected from 225 snowpits and an additional 514 non-winter precipitation events were sampled. All major solutes in wet deposition were measured and a rigorous quality assurance-quality control protocol was followed. The amount of winter precipitation during the study was variable (range ca 250 to 3000 mm). Winter precipitation accounted for the majority of the input ofwater to high elevations of the Sierra Nevada. Non-winter precipitation events ranged in size from trace amounts to over 100 mm. The annual amount ofnon-winter precipitation in the Sierra Nevada varied widely (range ca. IO to 200 mm). Snow chemistry was similar among the six years of study and among the sampling stations. Samples from the spring snowpack had pH levels typically between 5.3 and 5.6 (hydrogen concentration, 2 to 4 μEq L-1). After hydrogen ion the most abundant solutes were ammonium and nitrate with concentrations usually 1.5 to 4.5 μEq L-1. Sulfate concentrations ranged from ca 1.0 to 3.0 μEq L-1. Organic anions (acetate and formate) were usually found in low concentrations (i.e.< 0.5 μEq L-1). The specific conductance of snow in the Sierra Nevada was usually between 2 and 4 μS cm-1. The mean pH of summer rain in the Sierra Nevada measured during the study period was 4.65. The lowest pH measured during this period was 3.86. The range ofpH in spring and autumn storms was 4.4 to 6.0 with mean values of5.05 for spring storms and 5.00 for autumn storms. Spring storms had a mean ammonium concentration of 18.9 μEq L-1 (standard deviation (STD), 14.2; N = 67)) and range of I. I to 80 μEq L-1• The mean ammonium concentration in summer storms was 36.5 μEq L-1 (STD, 27. I; N = 365) and ranged up to ca. 160 μEq L-1. Mean ammonium concentration in autumn storms was 28.1 μEq L-1 (STD,33.8;N=82)andrangedfromca I.Oto 160μEqL-1. Mean nitrate concentration in summer rain was 36.4 μEq L-1 (STD, 26.3) and samples with levels over 40 μEq L-1 were common. Nitrate concentrations in autumn


Giving more to those who need more has an intuitive appeal for determining the just allocation of resources. The need principle is considered one of the three major principles of distributive justice. In contrast to equality or equity, however, evidence on the adherence to the needs principle rests mainly on stated instead of revealed preferences. In this paper we present an experimental design that exogenously assigns objective, heterogeneous need thresholds to individuals in small laboratory societies structured by a three-line network. The data reveal that a large proportion of individuals respond to others' need thresholds, but at a declining rate as thresholds increase. The equal distribution marks a discrete drop in the need satisfaction rate: Need thresholds above the equal distribution are less frequently satisfied. We conclude that others' needs are weighed against self-interest and equality. Our results provide evidence that distributions may be socially justified on grounds of the need principle.


The systematic conservation approach is now commonly used for the design of efficient marine protected area (MPA) networks, and identifying these priority areas often involves using specific conservation-planning software. Several such software programmes have been developed in recent years, each differing in the underlying algorithms used. Here, an investigation is made into whether the choice of software influences the location of priority areas by comparing outputs from Marxan and Zonation, two widely used conservation-planning, decision-support tools. Using biological and socio-economic data from the eastern English Channel, outputs are compared and it is shown that the two software packages identified similar sets of priority areas, although the relatively wide distribution of habitat types and species considered offered much flexibility. Moreover, the similarity increased with increasing spatial constraint, especially when using real-world cost data, suggesting that the choice of cost metric has a greater influence on conservation-planning analyses than the choice of software. However, Marxan generally produced more efficient results and Zonation produced results with greater connectivity, so the most appropriate software package will depend on the overall goals of the MPA planning process.


In this paper, a scheme for target discrimination and classification is proposed. The proposed scheme is applied to through-the-wall microwave images obtained by using a wideband radar implementing frequency-domain back-projection. We consider stationary targets where Doppler and change-detection based techniques are inapplicable. The proposed scheme applies image segmentation, followed by feature extraction. We map target returns to a feature space, where discrimination among different targets and clutter is performed. To achieve target-clutter discriminations independent of target location in range and cross-range, we use compensation methods to account for varying system resolution within the perimeter of the scene imaged. Real data collected using an indoor radar imaging scanner is used for validation of performance.


Presenting incisive original readings of French writing about the Caribbean from the inception of colonization in the 1640s until the onset of the Haitian Revolution in the 1790s, Doris Garraway sheds new light on a significant chapter in French colonial history. At the same time, she makes a pathbreaking contribution to the study of the cultural contact, creolization, and social transformation that resulted in one of the most profitable yet brutal slave societies in history. Garraway's readings highlight how French colonial writers characterized the Caribbean as a space of spiritual, social, and moral depravity. While tracing this critique in colonial accounts of Island Carib cultures, piracy, spirit beliefs, slavery, miscegenation, and incest, Garraway develops a theory of "the libertine colony." She argues that desire and sexuality were fundamental to practices of domination, laws of exclusion, and constructions of race in the slave societies of the colonial French Caribbean.

Among the texts Garraway analyzes are missionary histories by Jean-Baptiste Du Tertre, Raymond Breton, and Jean-Baptiste Labat; narratives of adventure and transgression written by pirates and others outside the official civil and religious power structures; travel accounts; treatises on slavery and colonial administration in Saint-Domingue; the first colonial novel written in French; and the earliest linguistic description of the native Carib language. Garraway also analyzes legislation—including the Code noir —that codified slavery and other racialized power relations. The Libertine Colony is both a rich cultural history of creolization as revealed in Francophone colonial literature and an important contribution to theoretical arguments about how literary critics and historians should approach colonial discourse and cultural representations of slave societies.


Abstract. With advance in technology access to data especially 3D point cloud data becomes more and more an everyday task. 3D point clouds are usually captured with very expensive tools such as 3D laser scanners or very time consuming methods such as photogrammetry. Most of the available softwares for 3D point cloud processing are designed for experts and specialists in this field and are usually very large software packages containing variety of methods and tools. This results in softwares that are usually very expensive to acquire and also very difficult to use. Difficulty of use is caused by complicated user interfaces that is required to accommodate a large list of features. The aim of these complex softwares is to provide a powerful tool for a specific group of specialist. However they are not necessary required by the majority of the up coming average users of point clouds. In addition to complexity and high costs of these softwares they generally rely on expensive and modern hardware and only compatible with one specific operating system. Many point cloud customers are not point cloud processing experts or willing to spend the high acquisition costs of these expensive softwares and hardwares. In this paper we introduce a solution for low cost point cloud processing. Our approach is designed to accommodate the needs of the average point cloud user. To reduce the cost and complexity of software our approach focuses on one functionality at a time in contrast with most available softwares and tools that aim to solve as many problems as possible at the same time. Our simple and user oriented design improve the user experience and empower us to optimize our methods for creation of an efficient software. In this paper we introduce Pointo family as a series of connected softwares to provide easy to use tools with simple design for different point cloud processing requirements. PointoVIEWER and PointoCAD are introduced as the first components of the Pointo family to provide a fast and efficient visualization with the ability to add annotation and documentation to the point clouds.


The Gakkel Ridge in the Arctic Ocean was the object of the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge Expedition (AMORE) which was carried out by the research icebreakers R/V "Polarstern" (Germany) and USCGC "Healy" (USA) in the boreal summer 2001. This largely unexplored mid-ocean ridge (MOR) is of particular scientific interest due to its volcanic activity and tectonic structure. With spreading rates of 13mm/a in the western and 6 mm/a in the eastern part Gakkel Ridge is the slowest spreading MOR on earth (Michael et al., 2001). The surveyed area which is situated between 82°N / 8°W and 87°N / 75°E has a length of 1100 km and a varying width from 18 to 46 km. The range of measured depths reaches from 566 m on the top of a huge seamount to 5673 m in the central rift valley. Prominent underwater features of remarkable morphologic diversity (e.g. small volcanoes embedded in massive ridge flanks) were discovered in this region.One of the most important goals of the expedition was the compilation of a high resolution grid which serves as basis for a three dimensional digital terrain model (DTM), the derivation of contour lines and the production of bathymetric maps. Accordingly, two hull-mounted multibeam sonars were used for the depth data acquisition: the "Hydrosweep DS-2" system onboard "Polarstern" and the "Seabeam 2112" system onboard "Healy". In order to calculate a combined grid out of two independent data sets different technical specifications of both sonar systems (e.g. frequency, opening angle, number of beams, accuracy) had to be taken into account. Dense sea ice cover made the sonar measurements difficult. Thick floes caused hydroacoustic disturbances that heavily debased the data quality. Outliers and blunders of depths and navigation data had to be corrected in a drawn-out post-processing by appropriate software tools. Both echo sounding systems recorded backscatter information and sidescan data during the entire cruise. Onboard "Polarstern" the sub-bottom profiling system "Parasound" was operated additionally in order to explore sediment layers on the seabed. The analysis of the collected sonar data in combination with topographic information derived from the compiled DTM (e.g. elevation difference, slope) facilitates a characterisation of the seafloor. An attempt to subdivide the seabed into classes of different ground types (peridotite, basalt, gabbro, mud and sediment) is primary based on backscatter information and will show preliminary results for selected test areas. The outcome of this classification can be verified with the aid of ground truth since "Polarstern" and "Healy" accomplished more than 200 geologic sampling stations (box/gravity corer, pipe/frame dredge, TV grab) along the ridge system.


Photopolymerized hydrogels are commonly used for a broad range of biomedical applications. As long as the polymer volume is accessible, gels can easily be hardened using light illumination. However, in clinics, especially for minimally invasive surgery, it becomes highly challenging to control photopolymerization. The ratios between polymerizationvolume and radiating-surface-area are several orders of magnitude higher than for ex-vivo settings. Also tissue scattering occurs and influences the reaction. We developed a Monte Carlo model for photopolymerization, which takes into account the solid/liquid phase changes, moving solid/liquid-boundaries and refraction on these boundaries as well as tissue scattering in arbitrarily designable tissue cavities. The model provides a tool to tailor both the light probe and the scattering/absorption properties of the photopolymer for applications such as medical implants or tissue replacements. Based on the simulations, we have previously shown that by adding scattering additives to the liquid monomer, the photopolymerized volume was considerably increased. In this study, we have used bovine intervertebral disc cavities, as a model for spinal degeneration, to study photopolymerization in-vitro. The cavity is created by enzyme digestion. Using a custom designed probe, hydrogels were injected and photopolymerized. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and visual inspection tools were employed to investigate the successful photopolymerization outcomes. The results provide insights for the development of novel endoscopic light-scattering polymerization probes paving the way for a new generation of implantable hydrogels.


A survey of the research ia the area of conformity to overt group norms reveals that the following basic generalization seems adequate to cover many of the findings in this area: accuracy of performance is a function of accuracy of feedback. Previous experimental models used in these studies, however, have not differentiated between the degree to which •conformity• is a function of the particular source to which this feedback is attributed and the degree to which it is simply a f1metion of the statistical quality of this feedback. The purpose of the present study was to establish an experimental model in which variations in the statistical aspects of feedback, particularly in the precision and bias of the feedback, could be manipulated independently of attributed source and other group factors, and the effects of such variations measured. The psychophysical aethod of absolute judgments was selected as the task feature for this experimental model. In this task, the subject is required to make a series of absol,ute judgments of the texture of photographs using a thirteen point response scale, and for this study each subject made 507 responses daily for seven consecutive days. After each response, the subjects were informed of either the correct value of the stimulus or an arbitrary value designated as the average of the group's responses. Thus the precision and bias of this feedback information could be strictly controlled and measured. It was also possible to compute measures of the conformity between the distributions of these feedback values and those of the subjects' responses. Twenty-five subjects were randomly assigned to five groups for each of which the precision and bias of feedback and the attributed source of these feedback were varied. The measure of over-all precision of feedback (amount of in£ormation transmitted) was not found to be an accurate predictor of the over-all precision of performance. A close relationship, however, was found between the degree of scale compression of feedback and the degree of response scale compression in the performance of the subjects. It is suggested that seale compression of the feedback functions in determining the frame of reference for performance. This frame of reference is accepted fairly uniformly by all subjects in the feedback groups. The variability in the overall precision of performance, however, indicates that there still are marked individual differences in the consistency with which subjects operate within this frame of reference. A single variation in attributed source of feedback was also used. Two groups received the same perfectly pre-cise and completely unbiased feedback. One group was informed that this feedback represented the average group judgment of their fellow group members, while the other was informed that this feedback represented correct stimulus values. No systematic differences in performance, with any of the measures of performance used, were found as a result of this variation in instructions. The two major findings with regard to the conformity measures are: 1. When the feedback is perfectly precise and completely unbiased, there is a uniform, progressive increase in the degree of conformity to this feedback and, as a result, in the precision of the performance. 2. When the precision of feedback was below the general precision of performance, subjects showed two opposed tendencies. Sometimes they disregarded the feedback and improved the precision of their performance; while at other 't.imes they tended to conform to the feedback at the expense of accuracy in performance. There was not sufficient consistency within subjects to allow prediction of the mode taken at any session. One group received as feedback the actual numerical average of the group's responses. Since the experimental task involved a systematic judgment bias, the feedback was also biased. As a result, this group showed an effect which has been labelled the "snowballtt effect. Since the conformity to feedback increased the subjects' bias, this in turn increased feedback bias on successive trials, which would again further increase subjects' bias, and so forth. As a result, this grQup showed the greatest degree of scale compression and loss of accuracy in performance. It is suggested that an average-group-response feedback condition represents an ideal situation in which to study variations in the attributed source of feedback since the rate of "snowballing" would represent a measure of the degree to which feedback information is being attended.


Cooperative exploration requires multiple robotic sensor platforms to navigate in an unknown scalar field to reveal its global structure. Sensor readings from the platforms are combined into estimates to direct motion and reduce noise. We show that the combined estimates for the field value, the gradient and the Hessian satisfy an information dynamic model that does not depend on motion models of the platforms. Based on this model, we design cooperative Kalman filters that apply to general cooperative exploration missions. We rigorously justify a set of sufficient conditions that guarantee the convergence of the cooperative Kalman filters. These sufficient conditions provide guidelines on mission design issues such as the number of platforms to use, the shape of the platform formation, and the motion for each platforms.


The Federal Communications Commission moved swiftly in 2005 to impose E911 and CALEA requirements - two "social policies" that had been applied to telephone companies - on broadband internet access providers and online applications. E911, broadly speaking, requires telephone companies to provide location information to a dedicated call center for anyone calling 911; CALEA, in general, requires telephone companies to design their services so as to be easily tappable by law enforcement. In the E911 context, dominant vendors of outsourced E911 compliance services have caused the FCC to insist that online businesses find ways to make their services work with 30-year-old legacy emergency hardware (access to which is controlled by the vendors). In the CALEA context, law enforcement has persuaded the Commission to rely on extraordinarily weak legal arguments in insisting that online businesses and broadband access providers make their services acceptable to law enforcement - either before these services are launched, thus constraining innovation, or for existing services at great retrofitting expense. In both settings, the FCC has plunged quickly ahead to apply these policies to the internet with little consideration either for the economic impacts of its choices or for alternative strategies that might have been employed. And both policies have been lifted largely unchanged from what they had been in the world of telephony, even though the internet presents a very different technical and economic context. These proceedings, taken together, provide a case study in a new form of digital era regulatory capture. Where an independent agency believes it has a broad delegation of power over new technology from Congress, and has a political agenda and the technical assistance of dominant unregulated entities intent on retaining the advantages that the old technology gave them - in this case, assistance came from providers of outsourced compliance services to telephone companies, and from the Department of Justice, a powerful sister agency - incumbents can easily use regulation to raise the costs of entry for new competitors. Unlike the usual tale of regulatory capture, the work of FCC staff on these rulemakings was not necessarily corrupt, and can be explained in part by the cultural background of staff (their traditional telephony or "bellhead" orientation). But the interplay among the key players in this new form of capture has resulted in a toxic environment for new online businesses established to compete with traditional telecommunications providers: The combination of hard social questions, the ever-present threat of terrorism, captured but well-meaning staff, law enforcement heavy-handedness, dominant vendors of compliance services, and well-funded activities of rent-seeking incumbents has resulted in substantial barriers to entry being created for a significant portion of the American economy by an unaccountable independent agency.


One way in which to modify food purchases is to change prices through tax policy, subsidy policy, or both. We reviewed the growing body of experimental research conducted in the laboratory and in the field that investigates the following: the extent to which price changes influence purchases of targeted and nontargeted foods, total energy, or macronutrients purchased; the interaction of price changes with adjunctive interventions; and moderators of sensitivity to price changes. After a brief overview of economic principles and observational research that addresses these issues, we present a targeted review of experimental research. Experimental research suggests that price changes modify purchases of targeted foods, but research on the overall nutritional quality of purchases is mixed because of substitution effects. There is mixed support for combining price changes with adjunctive interventions, and there are no replicated findings on moderators to price sensitivity in experiments. Additional focused research is needed to better inform food policy development with the aim of improving eating behavior and preventing obesity.


The energy consumption for cooling electronic equipment in data centers using central systems is significant and will continue to rise. The motivation of the present research study is based on the need to determine optimization strategies to improve and optimize the thermal efficiency of data centers using a simulation-based approach. Here, simulation is used to model and optimize a proposed research data center for use as an environment to test equipment and investigate best practices and strategies such as containment and hybrid cooling. The optimization technique used in this study finds the optimal operating conditions and containment strategies of the data center while meeting specific thermal conformance criteria. More specifically, optimum supply airflow rate and temperature setpoint of cooling units are sought under different containment configurations, including both hot aisle and cold aisle containment strategies in both full and partial setups. The results of the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations indicated a lower probability of hot spots with full hot aisle containment strategy in a data center operating at lower supply airflow rate and higher supply temperature setpoint. The optimization approach helped to determine a more efficient cooling system without the risk of under-provisioning. The study considered steady-state conditions with static heat load and fixed equipment layout. However, the generalized optimization process developed in the present study should add to the repertoire of tools presently used for the optimization of new air-cooled data centers.


Mass wasting is an important process for denuding hillslopes and
lowering ridge crests in active mountain belts such as the Himalaya-Karakoram
ranges (HKR). Such a high-relief landscape is likely to
be at its mechanical threshold, maintained by competing rapid rock
uplift, river incision, and pervasive slope failure. We introduce excess
topography, Z E , for quantifying potentially unstable rock-mass volumes
inclined at angles greater than a specified threshold angle. We
find that Z E peaks along major fluvial and glacial inner gorges, which
is also where the majority of 492 large (>0.1 km 2 ) rock-slope failures
occur in the Himalaya9s largest cluster of documented Pleistocene
to Holocene bedrock landslides. Our data reveal that bedrock landslides
in the HKR chiefly detached from near or below the median
elevation, whereas glaciers and rock glaciers occupy higher-elevation
bands almost exclusively. Less than 10% of the area of the HKR is
upslope of glaciers, such that possible censoring of evidence of large
bedrock landslides above the permanent snow line barely affects this
finding. Bedrock landslides appear to preferentially undermine topographic
relief in response to fluvial and glacial incision along inner
gorges, unless more frequent and smaller undetected failures, or rigorous
(peri-)glacial erosion, compensate for this role at higher elevation.
Either way, the distinct patterns of excess topography and large
bedrock landsliding in the HKR juxtapose two stacked domains of
landslide and (peri-)glacial erosion that may respond to different
time scales of perturbation. Our findings call for more detailed analysis
of vertical erosional domains and their geomorphic coupling in
active mountain belts.


We propose a new terrane subdivision of Nicaragua and Northern Costa Rica, based on Upper Triassic to Upper Cretaceous radiolarian biochronology of ribbon radiolarites, the newly studied Siuna Serpentinite Melange, and published 40Ar/39Ar dating and geochemistry of mafic and ultramafic igneous rock units of the area.
The new Mesquito Composite Oceanic Terrane (MCOT) comprises the southern half of the Chortis Block, that was assumed to be a continental fragment of N-America. The MCOT is defined by 4 corner localities characterized by ultramafic and mafic oceanic rocks and radiolarites of Late Triassic, Jurassic and Early Cretaceous age: 1. The Siuna Serpentinite Melange (NE-Nicaragua), 2. The El Castillo Melange (Nicaragua/Costa Rica border), 3.The Santa Elena Ultramafics (N-Costa Rica) and, 4. DSDP Legs 67/84.
1. The Siuna Serpentinite Melange contains, high pressure metamorphic mafics and Middle Jurassic (Bajocian-Bathonian) radiolarites in original, sedimentary contact with arc-metandesites. The Siuna Melange also contains Upper Jurassic black detrital chert formed in a marginal (fore-arc?) basin shortly before subduction. A phengite 40Ar/39Ar -cooling age dates the exhumation of the high pressure rocks as 139 Ma (earliest Cretaceous).
2. The El Castillo Melange comprises a radiolarite block tectonically embedded in serpentinite that yielded a diverse Rhaetian (latest Triassic) radiolarian assemblage, the oldest fossils recovered so far from S-Central America.
3. The Santa Elena Ultramafics of N-Costa Rica together with the serpentinite outcrops near El Castillo (2) in Southern Nicaragua, are the southernmost outcrops of the MCOT. The Santa Elena Unit (3) itself is still undated, but it is thrust onto the middle Cretaceous Santa Rosa Accretionary Complex (SRAC), that contains Lower to Upper Jurassic, highly deformed radiolarite blocks, probably reworked from the MCOT, which was the upper plate with respect to the SRAC.
4. Serpentinites, metagabbros and basalts have long been known from DSDP Leg 67/84 (3), drilled off Guatemala in the Nicaragua-Guatemala forearc basement. They have been restudied and reveal 40Ar/39Ar dated Upper Triassic to middle Cretaceous enriched Ocean Island Basalts and Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous depleted Island arc rocks of probable Pacific origin.
The area between localities 1-4 is largely covered by Tertiary to Recent arcs, but we suspect that its basement is made of oceanic/accreted terranes. Earthquake seismic studies indicate an ill-defined, shallow Moho in this area. The MCOT covers most of Nicaragua and could extend to Guatemala to the W and form the Lower (southern) Nicaragua Rise to the NE. Some basement complexes of Jamaica, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico may also belong to the MCOT.
The Nicoya Complex s. str. has been regarded as an example of Caribbean crust and the Caribbean Large Igneous Province (CLIP). However, 40Ar/39Ar - dates on basalts and intrusives indicate ages as old as Early Cretaceous. Highly deformed Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous radiolarites occur as blocks within younger intrusives and basalts. Our interpretation is that radiolarites became first accreted to the MCOT, then became reworked into the Nicoya Plateau in Late Cretaceous times. This implies that the Nicoya Plateau formed along the Pacific edge of the MCOT, independent form the CLIP and most probably unrelated with he Galapagos hotspot.
No Jurassic radiolarite, no older sediment age than Coniacian-Santonian, and no older 40Ar/39Ar age than 95 Ma is known from S-Central America between SE of Nicoya and Colombia. For us this area represents the trailing edge of the CLIP s. str.


Plane tree (Platanus orientalis L.) leaves have been employed for centuries in various countries due to their pharmacological value. Therefore, determination of the biological activity of the leaves is of interest. The aim of the study was to evaluate the inhibitory effects against Alzheimer's disease-related enzymes Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and Butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE), diabetes mellitus related enzymes α-glucosidase and α-amylase. The antioxidant, anticancer, and antimicrobial activities of the leaves were also studied. According to the results, both water and methanol extracts of P. orientalis demonstrated more α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibition activity than the antidiabetic drug-acarbose at the same concentration level. In addition, extracts showed good inhibition activity against AChE and BuChE. Significant results were obtained regarding antioxidant, anticancer, and antimicrobial activities. These results are very promising especially for the improvement of pharmaceutical formulations to treat various diseases such as age-related diseases, cancer, diabetes etc. and it is necessary to conduct further experiments.


A genetic contribution to susceptibility is well established in multiple sclerosis (MS) and 57 associated genetic loci have been identified. We have undertaken a meta-analysis of familial risk studies with the aims of providing definitive figures for risks to relatives, performing a segregation analysis and estimating the proportion of the overall genetic risk that currently identified genes represent. We have used standard methods of meta-analysis combined with novel approaches to age adjustment to provide directly comparable estimates of lifetime risk. The overall recurrence risk for monozygotic twins was 18.2% and for siblings 2.7%. The recurrence risk for dizygotic twins was significantly higher than for siblings. The overall estimate of sibling relative risk (λS) was 16.8. Risks for older relatives (parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins) show a latitudinal gradient, in line with population risk. No latitudinal gradient for λS was seen. Segregation analysis supports a multiplicative model of one locus of moderate effect with many loci of small effect. The estimated contribution of the 57 known MS loci is 18–24% of λS. This meta-analysis supports the notion of MS being in part the result of multiple genetic susceptibility factors and environmental factors.


Recent financial literature claims that capital structure of firms stays unchanged during the long periods of time. In my dissertation I investigate the question of capital structure stability from different angles. First chapter asks whether the macroeconomic volatility could be translated to capital structure adjustments. To answer this question I consider CEE countries during 1996 to 2006 period since those economies went through extensive economic changes including transition from central planning to market economy, large-scale privatization, and substantial economic reforms to become the EU member. Surprisingly, macroeconomic changes are not translated to capital structure changes. Therefore, second chapter focuses on causes of such puzzling behavior. I find that credit constraints firms face in obtaining finance are responsible for the observed pattern. Unconstrained firms are more active in adjusting their capital structure in response to economic changes. Moreover, firm's ownership plays an important role in explaining leverage of unconstrained firms. Third chapter studies changes in leverage in the context of M&As. I compare the leverage of both acquiring and acquired firms using differencein-differences propensity score technique. I find that there is an increase in the leverage of acquiring firms and no change in the leverage of the acquired firms.


Why do firms cut hiring so sharply in recessions? I propose that wage rigidity among incumbent workers forces firms to reduce hiring by squeezing their internal funds. Incumbents' wage rigidity is an irrelevant fixed cost in standard macroeconomic models, which instead rely on wage rigidity among new hires. But much empirical evidence indicates that the wages of new hires, unlike those of incumbents, display little rigidity. I integrate financial constraints and incumbents' wage rigidity -- but flexible wages among new hires -- into the Diamond-Mortensen-Pissarides matching model. The interaction between these two frictions helps the calibrated model account for more than half of hiring fluctuations in the U.S. data. My empirical analyses support the financial channel of wage rigidity. I present new firm-level evidence that employment responds to cash flow shocks, and that internal funds help firms stabilize employment during recessions. Moreover, I calculate that a slight increase in incumbents' wage procyclicality could smooth aggregate profits and internal funds.


Implementing an information technology project is a very challenging task that needs several preparations such as assigning a professional project manager, receiving top management support , employee engagement ,etc. Same studies have been conducted about the success and failure factors of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) projects and several researchers concluded that the ERP projects are very vulnerable.This qualitative research is an attempt to summarize the most common failure factors of the ERP projects in Iranian manufacturing industries.


The diel (24‐h) oxygen (O2) curves approach has become a popular method for analyzing gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER) rates in aquatic systems. Despite the simplicity of this approach, there remain aspects of the calculation and interpretation of diel O2 curves which may skew results, with potentially large implications for estimates of metabolic rates. One common problem in lakes is the occurrence of unexpected changes in O2 concentrations (for instance, increasing overnight O2 concentrations). Such changes have typically been ascribed to the random mixing of pockets of O2. It has thus been suggested that negative GPP or positive ER values should be included in calculations, on the assumption that under‐ and overestimates should occur with equal frequency, and thus cancel each other out. Our data from a shallow, eutrophic lake provided a high share of negative GPP values. We argue that these may have been the result of elevated littoral productivity coupled with convective currents produced by consistent differences in the heating or cooling of littoral and offshore waters. Such phenomena might be common in small, sheltered lakes where the role of mixing by wind is diminished. We conclude that a failure to account for consistent metabolic gradients and periodic convective mixing may lead to a chronic underestimation of metabolic rates in lakes when using the diel O2 curves method.


Turtles are frequently found in fluviatile to lagoonal and shallow marine sediments in the Upper Jurassic of Western Europe. These turtles usually show a mixture of basal and derived characters, but phylogenetic relationships are still largely unresolved. This is mainly due to the incompleteness of fossils and the lack of taxonomically unambiguous characters and is also related to the presence of different ontogenetic stages, which are not easy to compare. The morphological description of a new turtle from the Upper Jurassic of Langenberg Quarry (Oker, Lower Saxony, Germany) gives further insights into the ontogeny of basal eucryptodire turtles as well as into aquatic adaptation of Upper Jurassic turtles. The specimen is herein left in open nomenclature, due to the fact that it represents a juvenile individual. Several characters define the specimen as juvenile: its small size (7.28 cm carapace length); lateral carapacial fontanelles; enlarged vertebral scutes; a radial striation pattern covering the entire carapace; and the grade of ossification of preserved skull and limb elements. A clear aquatic adaptation of the individual is the elongated manus, a feature that is independent of ontogenetic age. The elongated manus may indicate a marine lifestyle and the individual possibly inhabited nearshore to offshore areas around the former Jurassic islands, which today form the Saxony Basin. The ossification pattern of the carapace of this eucryptodire turtle resembles that of known Jurassic paracryptodires and thus provides new insights to the ontogeny of Jurassic turtles.


The creation and operation of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) is an advance in the rule of law and arguably part of a larger process of the globalization of democratic norms. Yet support for the ICTY is increasingly influenced by local processes in which these norms are contested by indigenous parties and forces. We explore this issue with regard to support of Serbs living in and outside of Serbia for the ICTY in comparison to local courts. Serbs in Belgrade are distinctive in insisting that war criminals be tried in their places of origin, while Serbs in Sarajevo and Vukovar agree with other groups in these settings that war criminals should be tried in the locations where their crimes occurred. This is compelling evidence of the localized influence of cultural norms on ethnic and national group members in post-war crime settings.


We report on the optical properties of active silicon (Si)-rich Si₃N₄ microdisk cavities in the visible range. We have studied the correlation between the quality (Q) factor of the cavities and the active material deposition parameters. Microphotoluminescence measurements revealed subangstrom whispering galley modes resonances and a maximum Q of 10⁴ around 760 nm. These values improve significantly the best results reported so far for Si-based light-emitting circular resonators in the visible range. In contrast to what is reported for Si-rich SiO₂-based microcavities, we demonstrate the absence of a spectral widening at high pump fluxes associated to carrier absorption mechanisms, which allows high emitted power without degrading the Q of the cavity. These results open the route toward the monolithic integration of those structures into more complex circuits including Si photodetectors.


Optical access networks have been widely adopted to support the exponential growth in bandwidth demand. To further fulfill the growth efficiently, reconfigurable wavelength division multiplexing–time division multiplexing optical access networks have been proposed in which optical network units can be reallocated to another wavelength on demand. Thus, the reconfigurability allows dynamic sharing of both wavelengths and timeslots. However, it requires a substantial addition to capital expenditure per user, which is prohibitive in access networks. This paper investigates an approach to preserve the merits of reconfigurability while significantly reducing the network complexity, thus cost by adjusting the level of flexibility. We define a parameter designated as the degree of flexibility to indicate the level of flexibility of a network. Then, we evaluate the performance of various degrees of flexibility based on the traffic capacity and the power consumption. The results suggest that introducing limited wavelength flexibility to the network significantly improves the performance in comparison to the static network while a highly or fully flexible network can further improve the performance but with smaller additional margins. Finally, we apply this result to a well-known reconfigurable architecture, the broadcast-and-select, to illustrate how the limited flexibility can help to reduce the network cost in terms of the optical power budget.


VASILEVA, P., A. ZAIKOV and T. HUBENOVA, 2006. Investigation of reproductive potential in male narrow-clawed crayfish Astacus leptodactylus Esch. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci.,12: 218-225 Two experiments are carried out in two contiguous years to investigate the reproductive possibilities in male narrow-clawed crayfish Astacus leptodactylus Esch. and their ability for repeated participation in reproductive process. There were used cultivated crayfish witch are put on in 50 l aquariums at a sex ratio of male:female lake a 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4, 1:5, 1:6, 1:7 and 1:8 in two or four repetition. The following features were studied: period of mass mating, rate frequency of male crayfish participations in the reproductive process, interval between two contiguous matings and the time from mating to spawning (egg laying). Mating started when water temperature was decreased to 8 12oC. It was determined that one male crayfish can mate 8 females. There was a high fertilizing activity in male crayfish. The same ones can copulate with 2 or more females during the period of 1 to 3 days. Mass egg laying was carried out in the same day of mating or 1 to 2 days later.


The focus of this report is on policy and provision for education for civic engagement in post‑primary education in Ireland and Northern Ireland. This issue is topical and relevant in both jurisdictions. In Ireland reform of the Junior Cycle has led to a renewed focus on civic education and its cross‑curricular linkages. In Northern Ireland, education for civic engagement occurs within a divided society, giving rise to questions about its role in such a context.


Green tea (Camellia sinensis) is a popular beverage worldwide, raising concern for adverse interactions when co-consumed with conventional drugs. Like many botanical natural products, green tea contains numerous polyphenolic constituents that undergo extensive glucuronidation. As such, the UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs), particularly intestinal UGTs, represent potential first-pass targets for green tea-drug interactions. Candidate intestinal UGT inhibitors were identified using a biochemometrics approach, which combines bioassay and chemometric data. Extracts and fractions prepared from four widely consumed teas were screened (20–180 μg/ml) as inhibitors of UGT activity (4-methylumbelliferone glucuronidation) in human intestinal microsomes; all demonstrated concentration-dependent inhibition. A biochemometrics-identified fraction rich in UGT inhibitors from a representative tea was purified further and subjected to second-stage biochemometric analysis. Five catechins were identified as major constituents in the bioactive subfractions and prioritized for further evaluation. Of these catechins, (−)-epicatechin gallate and (−)-epigallocatechin gallate showed concentration-dependent inhibition, with IC50 values (105 and 59 μM, respectively) near or below concentrations measured in a cup (240 ml) of tea (66 and 240 μM, respectively). Using the clinical intestinal UGT substrate raloxifene, the Ki values were ∼1.0 and 2.0 μM, respectively. Using estimated intestinal lumen and enterocyte inhibitor concentrations, a mechanistic static model predicted green tea to increase the raloxifene plasma area under the curve up to 6.1- and 1.3-fold, respectively. Application of this novel approach, which combines biochemometrics with in vitro-in vivo extrapolation, to other natural product-drug combinations will refine these procedures, informing the need for further evaluation via dynamic modeling and clinical testing.


Advertisement is the most important medium in our daily life whether in electronic or printed media. Advertisements through the use of electronic media such as TV ads are a particularly effective communications tools to convey more effective services to the community and more effective services to the community. The objective of this research is to examine the Petronas Independence Day TV Commercials from2001 to 2010 as Public Service Announcements (PSA) in creating awareness and self-esteem among teenagers, besides that the researcher want to analyze the impact of Petronas Independence Day TV Commercials among teenagers in creating their self.esteem This research is to provide guidance to the producer, the director of
photography, TV media and also to society. A Quantitative method was employed the use of questionnaires and observation to emphasize on objective measurements and numerical analysis of the data collected. The questionnaires were analysed by using
SPSS software. The findings indicated that TV Commercials give an impact on selfesteem among teenagers through three main characteristics, namely cognitive effect, affective effect and behavior effect. In other words, the message that is being
conveyed an important element in an advertisement to attract the attention of the audience. The study concluded and recommended that TV Commercials need to enhance the Quality of Storytelling, the Advertisement Show Times and the Presentation style as it will be ofbetter quality, were effective and impactful in the future.


We present a signal processing approach using discrete wavelet transform (DWT) for the generation of complex synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images at an arbitrary number of dyadic scales of resolution. The method is computationally efficient and is free from significant system-imposed limitations present in traditional subaperture-based multiresolution image formation. Problems due to aliasing associated with biorthogonal decomposition of the complex signals are addressed. The lifting scheme of DWT is adapted to handle complex signal approximations and employed to further enhance the computational efficiency. Multiresolution SAR images formed by the proposed method are presented.


Objectives MRI scoring systems for hand osteoarthritis (HOA) are currently not available. The present work proposes the Oslo HOA MRI (OHOA-MRI) score and examines the intrareader and inter-reader reliability. Methods Relevant HOA features were included in the initial version of the OHOA-MRI score after literature review and informal group discussions. After a training session and two calibration exercises (with three readers), features with low reliability and/or low prevalence were excluded, and feature definitions/gradings were improved. In the reliability exercise 3 readers independently evaluated MRI scans of distal interphalangeal (DIP) and proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints in 10 patients with HOA according to the final proposed score. The reading was repeated after 1 week. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs), percentage exact agreement/percentage close agreement (PEA/PCA) and smallest detectable difference were calculated. Results The final proposed OHOA-MRI score includes assessment of synovitis, flexor tenosynovitis, erosions, osteophytes (OPs), joint space narrowing (JSN) and bone marrow lesions (BMLs) on a 0–3 scale, and absence/presence of cysts, malalignment (frontal/sagittal plane), collateral ligaments (CLs) and BMLs at CL insertion sites. Inter-reader reliability was very good for synovitis, erosions, OPs, JSN, malalignment (frontal) and BMLs (ICCs ≥0.83, PCA ≥89%), and good for flexor tenosynovitis (ICC 0.64, PCA 80%) and CL presence (ICC 0.79, PEA 63%). Cysts, malalignment (sagittal) and BMLs at CL insertion sites showed high PEA (≥85%), but poor to moderate ICCs (0.00–0.59). Intrareader reliability was similar. The reliability was generally highest in PIP joints. Conclusions The proposed OHOA-MRI score could reliably assess HOA features. However, further validation is needed.


Background: This article reports on an evaluation study of a project seeking to develop the use of position-linked datalogging with primary pupils in environmental science contexts. Purpose: The study sought to find out the extent to which the project had developed: (1) participant teachers' confidence in using datalogging as an everyday part of their science teaching; (2) pupils' abilities to collect and interpret relevant environmental monitoring data; and (3) the use of scientific data within environmental education in the project schools. Programme description: The project used software which integrates data from Global Positioning System (GPS) with sensor data collected outdoors to produce Google Earth visualisations of environmental quality in each school's locality. Sample: Phase 1 involved 10 primary schools in the South West of England (2008–9), and phase 2 was implemented in six primary schools in Greater London during 2010. All pupils in the 9–10-year-old age range participated to some extent (N ≈ 450) and each school identified a focus group of between two and four pupils (n = 38) together with two members of staff (n = 32) to be more closely involved in the project. Design and methods: The evaluation adopted a multi-method approach, drawing upon documentary sources (n = 40); observations of continuing professional development (CPD) cluster days (n = 8) and dissemination events (June 2009 and January 2011): baseline pupil assessment tasks (n = 291) and teachers' baseline questionnaire (n = 25) in September 2008 and March 2010; classroom observations; samples of pupil work (n = 31); end-of-project pupil assessment (n = 38) and teachers' and pupils' responses to the project (n ≈ 180) in June 2009 and December 2010; and a longitudinal evaluation in February 2012. Results: Datalogging had become a regular feature of practical science in nearly all project schools up to 30 months after the end of the project, but the use of position-linked logging had not been sustained. While there is evidence of pupils developing a range of scientific enquiry skills through the project, the extent to which their interpretation of data improved is unclear. All participating schools made greater use of scientific data than before the project to develop their environmental education. Conclusions: The project has demonstrated the potential of combining datalogging with GPS technology to support challenging, motivating and relevant scientific enquiry. Primary teachers require targeted technical and pedagogical support to maximise learning benefits for pupils.


We report electrical conductivity measurements on metal‐olivine systems at about 5 and 6 GPa and up to 1,675°C in order to investigate the electrical properties of core‐mantle boundary (CMB) systems. Electrical experiments were conducted in the multianvil apparatus using the impedance spectroscopy technique. The samples are composed of one metal layer (Fe, FeS, FeSi2, or Fe‐Ni‐S‐Si) and one polycrystalline olivine layer, with the metal:olivine ratio ranging from 1:0.7 to 1:9.2. For all samples, we observe that the bulk electrical conductivity increases with temperature from 10−2.5 to 101.8 S/m, which is higher than the conductivity of polycrystalline olivine but lower than the conductivity of the pure metal phase at similar conditions. In some experiments, a conductivity jump is observed at the temperature corresponding to the melting temperature of the metallic phase. Both the metal:olivine ratio and the metal phase geometry control the electrical conductivity of the two‐layer samples. By combining electrical results, textural analyses of the samples, and previous studies of the structure and composition of Mercury's interior, we propose an electrical profile of the deep interior of the planet that accounts for a layered CMB‐outer core structure. The electrical model agrees with existing conductivity estimates of Mercury's lower mantle and CMB using magnetic observations and thermodynamic calculations, and thus, supports the hypothesis of a layered CMB‐outermost core structure in the present‐day interior of Mercury. We propose that the layered CMB‐outer core structure is possibly electrically insulating, which may influence the planet's structure and cooling history.


Victim of Bullying is adolescent becoming target from aggresive behavior done/conducted repeatedly from somebody or a group of one who own strong or power power. victim of this Bullying tend to assumed to by trifle to some of circle. But the same view as that's which finally victimize bullying progressively mount among adolescent. Therefore, this research is done/conducted as a mean to know how profile of adolescent personality becoming victim of the bullying. The research was qualitative descriptive research, with three subjects who were adolescents victim bullying in their daily life. The research was started at Oktober 10th 2009 to January 5th 2010 in Malang City. Data collection technique used graphical test and interview. Data validity used source triangulation. From the research, there found the three subjects victim bullying have owning patterned thinking which tend to of two minds something caused by its is feeling unable to and feel less in x'self, making confidence individual less its ability which will finally make dinky individual. This matter because of hesitating feeling existence, and also the lack of creature energy making individual tend to don't have motivation for have achievement. . In facing problem, easy individual have cold feet, worry, frustration and feel is not peaceful. Individual tend to hesitate and less trust with ownself which finally make individual become less be coherent with decision determined of, which in finishing his problem is they tend to hiddenly problem which facing of. For selffitness with the social environment, most of adolescent victim bullying tend to closed and tend to to take a care moment in braiding relation environmentally is place social where they reside in. This matter is caused by feeling worry and the feeling unable to in individual x'self to reach social contact exist in society.In the family environment, can be taken by conclusion that pattern take care of applied by pattern take care of which is not consistent where more dominant mother and the inattentive father. Clear the mentioned have an effect on by comporting, which individual in this case incapable of determining wrong and real correct matter or feel awry. Therefore, in acting individual of two minds something, worriing and introvert which in this case become victim bullying will experience of resistance in contact with his social environmen


This paper describes the combination of my hobbies, caving and holography. Most traditional holography involves bringing the objects to a lab with all the necessary holography equipment mounted on a stable table. I instead bring all the equipment assembled as a portable unit to the natural formations in a cave with the cave itself being the stable table. The first successes were Denisyuks made with a HeNe or laser diode and spatial filter mounted on a tripod. For greater depth, transmission holograms were made with a DPSS laser in several configurations sometimes using fiber optics to route the reference beam and sometimes a spatial filter and mirrors. The cave environment presents unique obstacles that have been overcome as evidenced by the beautiful holograms made.


Membrane remodeling is a dynamic process that occurs in bacterial cells to facilitate
substrate transport and to provide protection to bacteria during environmental stress. In
eukaryotic cells, membrane remodeling is carried out by dynamin-like proteins (DLPs). These proteins are involved in diverse membrane-associated functions such as cargo transport via vesicles, cytokinesis, division of cell organelles and resistance to pathogens. DLPs are also conserved in bacterial species; however, their function is still not clearly understood. The genome of B. subtilis contains a gene dynA (ypbR), which encodes a large DLP (136 KDa),DynA, that can tether membranes and induce membrane fusion in vitro. Deletion of dynA in B. subtilis strain 168 fails to produce any observable growth phenotype under standard
laboratory conditions. B. subtilis is a soil bacterium and prey to several environmental stress factors to which laboratory strains are normally not exposed. Hence, it was conceivable that DynA might be required when bacteria are exposed to stress. To address this hypothesis, the behavior of DynA was examined under conditions causing membrane-stress, such as
exposure to antibiotics and phage infection. A strain lacking dynA showed impaired growth in
the presence of sublethal amounts of antibiotics that target the cell membrane and was more sensitive to phage infection compared to wild-type strains. Time-lapse microscopy and
fluorescence loss in photobleaching (FLIP) experiments showed that ΔdynA cells have
compromised membrane remodeling compared to wild-type strain. In conclusion, all results
propose DynA to play a role in protecting the cell membrane under stress conditions. Also, for the first time, it is shown that a bacterial DLP contributes to innate immunity of bacteria. DynA not only has a unique membrane protection function but also distinctive structural features. A single DynA polypeptide contains two dynamin-like subunits, each consisting of a GTPase domain and a dynamin-like stalk region. Both subunits, D1 and D2, share strong intra-molecular cooperativity to facilitate GTPase activity. Here, a combination of mutational analysis and subsequent in vivo and in vitro investigation was applied to further characterise structural assembly and biochemical properties of DynA. Size-exclusion chromatography elucidated that DynA dimerisation requires C-terminal amino acids 591-620. In addition, in vivo localisation, in vitro lipid-binding and GTPase analysis revealed arginine at position 512 of DynA to be a key regulator of GTP hydrolysis as well as lipid-binding. Furthermore, in vivo
localisation and bacterial two-hybrid experiments were employed to confirm interaction of DynA with putative interaction partners (YneK, YwpG and YmdA). YneK was found to interact with D1 and YwpG with D1 and D2 individually, whereas YmdA required a full-length DynA (D1+D2) for interaction. Taken together, the results presented here greatly expand on current knowledge regarding functional, biochemical and structural properties of a bacterial dynamin-like protein (BDLP). This thesis not only demonstrates the preserved membrane remodeling function of DLPs in bacteria but also explain their conservation from bacteria to higher-organisms.


Code-based masking is a very general type of masking scheme that covers Boolean masking, inner product masking, direct sum masking, and so on. The merits of the generalization are twofold. Firstly, the higher algebraic complexity of the sharing function decreases the information leakage in "low noise conditions" and may increase the "statistical security order" of an implementation (with linear leakages). Secondly, the underlying error-correction codes can offer improved fault resistance for the encoded variables. Nevertheless, this higher algebraic complexity also implies additional challenges. On the one hand, a generic multiplication algorithm applicable to any linear code is still unknown. On the other hand, masking schemes with higher algebraic complexity usually come with implementation overheads, as for example witnessed by inner-product masking. In this paper, we contribute to these challenges in two directions. Firstly, we propose a generic algorithm that allows us (to the best of our knowledge for the first time) to compute on data shared with linear codes. Secondly, we introduce a new amortization technique that can significantly mitigate the implementation overheads of code-based masking, and illustrate this claim with a case study. Precisely, we show that, although performing every single code-based masked operation is relatively complex, processing multiple secrets in parallel leads to much better performances. This property enables code-based masked implementations of the AES to compete with the state-of-the-art in randomness complexity. Since our masked operations can be instantiated with various linear codes, we hope that these investigations open new avenues for the study of code-based masking schemes, by specializing the codes for improved performances, better side-channel security or improved fault tolerance.