A common language ideology in the United States is that New York City English (NYCE) displays reliable geographic variation across the city's five boroughs, what we call the Borough Accent Ideology (BAI). In direct contrast, linguists argue that borough accents do not exist, but instead serve as a proxy for socioeconomic differences in NYCE (Hubbell 1950, Bronstein 1962, Labov 1966, Labov, Ash, and Boberg 2006:234). This paper contributes the first empirical evidence related to the BAI, with an analysis of perceptual data from an interactive website where listeners heard short audio samples of native New Yorkers and assigned them to one of the city's five boroughs. The results confirm that listeners cannot accurately discern a talker's borough of provenance, but also that listeners are not guessing when they vote. Based on the descriptive patterns, we hypothesized that listeners create a binary opposition between Manhattan, which is the borough that is least-aligned with traditional NYCE, and the outer boroughs, where listeners expect to hear higher rates of NYCE features. A regression analysis confirms this hypothesis, and finds specifically that a talker's use of variable non-rhoticity and BOUGHT-raising are significant predictors of votes, with more rhoticity and less-raised BOUGHT predictive of votes for Manhattan. In addition, there is no significant difference between native and non-native New Yorkers in voting behavior, suggesting that this binary strategy is accessible to speakers from both within and outside New York City. Overall, the results confirm that the BAI remains an ideology and not a linguistic reality, at least for the task in question. This working paper is available in University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics: https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/


Standard solution methods for linear stochastic models with rational expectations presuppose a time-invariant structure as well as an environment in which shocks are unanticipated. Consequently, credible announcements that entail future changes of the structure cannot be handled by standard solution methods. This paper develops the solution for linear stochastic rational expectations models in the face of a finite sequence of anticipated structural changes. These events encompass anticipated changes to the structural parameters and anticipated additive shocks. We apply the solution technique to some examples of practical relevance to monetary policy. JEL Classification Numbers: C63, E17, E47


This article analyzes how various aspects of school context influence students. The main question is whether all students perceive the school atmosphere differently and what are their characteristics. 9- 12 grade students of high schools (N=347) participated in the study. Two aspects of school context – attachment to school (Ruchkin et al.) and open classroom climate for discussion (Torney-Purta et al.) were evaluated. Also school engagement, and perceived teacher support (Ruchkin et al.) were evaluated. The results of the study show that discussions as the background of democratic life can or can not take place at school and all discussions are in certain emotional context, which is determined by the students' feeling of belonging to community and how they identify themselves in this respect. If a student feels that she/he belongs to a school community, the discussions themselves can be important in forming positive attitude of students toward teachers, but that does not enhance school engagement.


This piece of "movement writing" is written by the
coheads of the Center for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies
and the cofounders of the Otpor! movement that ousted Yugoslavian
President Slobodan Milošević in 2000. The article discusses
the most promising tactics in contemporary prodemocracy activism,
drawing on the authors' considerable experience working with
activists across the globe. Popović and Djinovic argue that the efficacy
of traditional nonviolent strategies has waned with respect
to contemporary prodemocracy struggles—which often seek to
defend institutions rather than dismantle them—and advocate for
more creative, humorous approach to contention.


The effects of urban heat islands (UHIs) have a substantial bearing on the sustainability of cities and environs. This paper examines the efficacy of green and cool roofs as potential UHI mitigation strategies to make cities more resilient against UHI. We have employed the urbanized version of the Weather Research and Forecasting (uWRF) model at high (1 km) resolution with physically-based rooftop parameterization schemes (conventional, green and cool), a first-time application to the Chicago metropolitan area. We simulated a hot summer period (16–18 August 2013) and assessed (i) UHI reductions for different urban landuse with green/cool roofs, (ii) the interaction of lake breeze and UHI, and (iii) diurnal boundary layer dynamics. The performance of uWRF was evaluated using sensible heat flux and air temperature measurements from an urban mini-field campaign. The simulated roof surface energy balance captured the energy distribution with respective rooftop algorithms. Results showed that daytime roof temperature reduced and varied linearly with increasing green roof fractions, from less than 1 °C for the case of 25% green roof to ∼3 °C during peak daytime for 100% green roof. Diurnal transitions from land to lake breeze and vice versa had a substantial impact on the daytime cycle of roof surface UHI, which had a 3–4 hour lag in comparison to 2 m UHI. Green and cool roofs reduced horizontal and vertical wind speeds and affected lower atmosphere dynamics, including reduced vertical mixing, lower boundary layer depth, and weaker convective rolls. The lowered wind speeds and vertical mixing during daytime led to stagnation of air near the surface, potentially causing air quality issues. The selection of green and cool roofs for UHI mitigation should therefore carefully consider the competing feedbacks. The new results for regional land-lake circulations and boundary layer dynamics from this study may be extended to other urbanized areas, particularly to coastal areas.


The construction industry, one of the significant sectors of most regional and national economies, is being continuously urged to improve its performance at project and organisational level. The urgent need to improve the processes of construction projects and organisations has been highlighted in a number of industry reports. In this regard, organisational learning has been considered as essential to facilitate process improvement, innovation and sustaining the competitiveness of construction organisations, and also of the sector as a whole.

Although there are a number of initiatives to facilitate organisational learning in construction contexts, literature reveals that the organisations are still finding it difficult to identify ways to effectively facilitate learning to improve their processes and performance. Therefore, this research aims to bridge the gap by developing a framework to facilitate organisational learning in construction contexts. In doing so, the process improvement perspective has been taken into consideration. Given the constructive nature of the research, design science was used as the overarching methodology. Within this overall approach, case studies were used to inform, develop and validate the research process and the outcomes. An extensive literature review, document analysis, workshops, participant observations are the key techniques used to achieve the research aim.

The main outcome of this research is the framework to facilitate organisational learning within construction context. The research further highlighted the complex adaptive nature of the construction contexts and processes, and it has been incorporated into the Procurer, Provider and User (PPU) framework. In addition, the integration of the role of process maturity and time dependent meta roles of stakeholders in the context of complex construction projects, to facilitate learning and improvement, is one the significant contributions to the body of knowledge. The developed framework could be adopted by any organisations, which are contracting, consultancy, client's organisations and/or regulatory bodies when they seek to improve their processes while facilitating organisational learning. It is recommended that industry practitioners / strategic level decision makers take consider their time and stake dependent meta-role and the resultant information flows as a basis for evaluating and updating their current organisational processes.


The successful structure of the previous edition of Principles of Fermentation Technology has been retained in this third edition, which covers the key component parts of a fermentation process including growth kinetics, strain isolation and improvement, inocula development, fermentation media, fermenter design and operation, product recovery, and the environmental impact of processes. This accurate and accessible third edition recognizes the increased importance of animal cell culture, the impact of the post-genomics era on applied science and the huge contribution that heterologous protein production now makes to the success of the pharmaceutical industry. This title is ideally suited for both newcomers to the industry and established workers as it provides essential and fundamental information on fermentation in a methodical, logical fashion. Stanbury, Whitaker and Hall have integrated the biological and engineering aspects of fermentation to make the content accessible to members of both disciplines with a focus on the practical application of theory. This text collates all the fermentation fundamentals into one concise reference, making it a valuable resource for fermentation scientists, as well as those studying in the field. Retains its successful structure and covers all components of the fermentation processIntegrates the biological and engineering aspects of fermentation to discuss the most recent developments and advancements in the fieldWritten in a style accessible to readers from either a biological or engineering background with each chapter supported by an extensive bibliography


This paper estimates a dynamic business growth equation on a sample of small-scale manufacturers. The results suggest that excessive labor regulation, power shortages, and problems of access to finance are significant influences on industrial growth in India. The expected annual sales growth rate of an enterprise is lower where labor regulation is greater, power shortages are more severe, and cash flow constraints are stronger. The effects of each of the three factors on business growth seem also to depend on a fourth element, namely, corruption. Specifically, labor regulation affects the growth only of enterprises for which corruption is not a factor in business decisions. By contrast, power shortages seem to be a drag on the growth only of enterprises self-reportedly held back by corruption. Lastly, sales growth is constrained by cash flow only in businesses that are not affected by labor regulation, power shortages, or corruption. The analysis uses corruption as a proxy for the quality of"property rights institutions"and considers labor regulation and small business financing as instances of"contracting institutions."The findings on the interaction between corruption and other aspects of business environment then seems to indicate that the quality of property rights institutions exerts more abiding influence on economic outcomes than the quality of contracting institutions. Moreover, there might also be a hierarchy among contracting institutions in their effect on manufacturing growth.


An optical gas-detection sensor safely monitors pressurized systems (such as cryogenic tanks) and distribution systems for leaks. This sensor system is a fiber-coupled, solid optical body interferometer that allows for the miniaturized sensing element of the device to be placed in the smallest of recesses, and measures a wide range of gas species and densities (leaks). The deflection of the fringe pattern is detected and recorded to yield the time-varying gas density in the gap. This technology can be used by manufacturers or storage facilities with toxic, hazardous, or explosive gases. The approach is to monitor the change in the index of refraction associated with low-level gas leaks into a vacuum environment. The completion of this work will provide NASA with an enabling capability to detect gas system leaks in space, and to verify that pressurized systems are in a safe (i.e. non-leaking) condition during manned docking and transit operations. By recording the output of the sensor, a time-history of the leak can be constructed to indicate its severity. Project risk is mitigated by having several interferometric geometries and detection techniques available, each potentially leveraging hardware and lessons learned to enhance detectability.


TENNESSEE HAS BEEN CONTINUOUSLY ENGAGED IN SKID RESISTANCE AND CORRECTIVE ACTION RESEARCH SINCE 1952. A NEW PROGRAM WAS INITIATED IN JULY 1970 AS A SPECIFIC EFFORT OF INVENTORYING THE PRESENT SKID RESISTANT LEVEL OF THE STATE'S PRIMARY HIGHWAY SYSTEM. THE SKID RESISTANCE LEVEL IS MEASURED WITH THE UNIVERSITY'S TWO-WHEEL SKID TRAILERS THAT ESSENTIALLY MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF ASTM DESIGNATION E 274 USING THE STANDARD ASTM E 249 TIRE. THE SKID TESTS ARE PERFORMED ON WETTED PAVEMENTS AT A CONSTANT SPEED OF 40 MPH. TESTS ARE CONDUCTED AT INTERVALS OF APPROXIMATELY ONE-HALF MILE OR LESS IN THE INNER WHEEL PATH OF BOTH LANES OF THE PAVEMENT. TO DATE, 66 COUNTIES OF THE 95 COUNTIES WITHIN THE STATE HAVE BEEN SURVEYED. THIS AMOUNTS TO ABOUT 48 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL RURAL HIGHWAY MILEAGE. FOR EACH TEST SECTION BASE DATA ON ROADWAY GEOMETRY, PAVEMENT SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS, PAVEMENT TYPE AND DATE OF CONSTRUCTION, AND THE LENGTH OF THE TEST SECTION ARE RECORDED FOR FUTURE EVALUATION. THE RESULTS OF THE SKID MEASUREMENTS ARE SUMMARIZED IN TABULAR FORM AND PRESENTED GRAPHICALLY. THE GRAPHICAL FORM DEPICTS THE MEASURED SKID NUMBER OR COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION AS RELATED TO THE LOG MILE ALONG THE HIGHWAY SURFACE. THIS TYPE PRESENTATION PROVIDES A CONTINUOUS LOG OF THE CHANGES IN SKID NUMBER THROUGHOUT A PARTICULAR PAVEMENT CONSTRUCTION SECTION. IN SOME INSTANCES, IT CAN BE READILY SEEN THAT THE TYPE OF CONSTRUCTION INFLUENCES THE SKID RESISTANCE LEVEL. ALSO, VARIATIONS WITHIN A CONSTRUCTION SECTION CAN BE READILY IDENTIFIED. THE RESULTS OF THE INVENTORY ARE REPORTED SYSTEMATICALLY TO THE STATE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT, AND, WHERE INDICATED, CORRECTIVE MEASURES ARE TAKEN. THE CORRECTIVE ACTION MAY BE COMPLETE RESURFACING WITH A HOT PLANT MIX OR THE APPLICATION OF A SEAL COAT. ALTHOUGH INTENSIVE FIELD AND LABORATORY RESEARCH HAS BEEN SPONSORED DURING THE PAST 19 YEARS BY THE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT, THIS PROJECT OF INVENTORYING ALL PRIMARY HIGHWAY SURFACES AFFORDS A SYSTEMATIC OPPORTUNITY OF PINPOINTING SURFACES OF QUESTIONABLE SKID RESISTANCE LEVEL FOR CORRECTIVE ACTION. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT THE INVENTORY AND CORRECTIVE ACTION PROGRAM WILL RESULT IN MAINTAINING A SATISFACTORY LEVEL OF SKID RESISTANCE ON THE ROADWAY THROUGHOUT THE STATE AND HOPEFULLY WILL RESULT IN THE REDUCTION OF ACCIDENTS. THE DATA COLLECTED RELATIVE TO CHARACTERIZING THE PAVEMENT SURFACE AND ROADWAY GEOMETRY WILL BE USEFUL IN IMPROVING PAVEMENT DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES. /ASTM/


Here, this paper addresses the use of algorithmic design paired with additive manufacturing and their potential impact on architectural design and fabrication of a full-sized building, as demonstrated with the AMIE project. AMIE (Additive Manufacturing and Integrated Energy) was collaboration to 3d print a building and vehicle. Both the car and building were designed to generate, store and share energy in an effort to reduce or eliminate reliability on the power grid. This paper is intended to outline our methodology in successfully designing for these innovative strategies, with a focus on the use of computational design tools as a catalyst for design optimization, integrated project delivery, rapid prototyping and fabrication of building elements using additive manufacturing.


Mildly elevated circulating unconjugated bilirubin (UCB) is associated with protection against hypertension and ischemic heart disease. We assessed whether endogenously elevated bilirubin in Gunn rats modifies cardiovascular function and resistance to ischemic insult. Hearts were assessed ex vivo (Langendorff perfusion) and in vivo (Millar catheterization and echocardiography), and left ventricular myocardial gene expression was measured via quantitative real-time PCR. Ex vivo analysis revealed reduced intrinsic contractility in the Gunn myocardium (+dP/dt: 1,976 ± 622 vs. 2,907 ± 334 mmHg/s, P < 0.01; -dP/dt: -1,435 ± 372 vs. -2,234 ± 478 mmHg/s, P < 0.01), which correlated positively with myocardial UCB concentration (P < 0.05). In vivo analyses showed no changes in left ventricular contractile parameters and ejection (fractional shortening and ejection fraction). However, Gunn rats exhibited reductions in the rate of aortic pressure development (3,008 ± 461 vs. 4,452 ± 644 mmHg/s, P < 0.02), mean aortic velocity (439 ± 64 vs. 644 ± 62 mm/s, P < 0.01), and aortic volume time integral pressure gradient (2.32 ± 0.65 vs. 5.72 ± 0.74 mmHg, P < 0.01), in association with significant aortic dilatation (12-24% increase in aortic diameter, P < 0.05). Ex vivo Gunn hearts exhibited improved ventricular function after 35 min of ischemia and 90 min of reperfusion (63 ± 14 vs. 35 ± 12%, P < 0.01). These effects were accompanied by increased glutathione peroxidase and reduced superoxide dismutase and phospholamban gene expression in Gunn rat myocardium (P < 0.05). These data collectively indicate that hyperbilirubinemia in Gunn rats 1) reduces intrinsic cardiac contractility, which is compensated for in vivo; 2) induces aortic dilatation, which may beneficially influence aortic ejection velocities and pressures; and 3) may improve myocardial stress resistance in association with beneficial transcriptional changes. These effects may contribute to protection from cardiovascular disease with elevated bilirubin.


In this report, the characteristics of Pd/Al2O3 catalyst after long-term stability tests in catalytic combustion of simulated ventilation air methane gas were investigated with the objective of understanding catalyst deactivation phenomena. It was found that the deactivation is primarily due to palladium migration and particle growth and is the most prominent in the presence of water vapour. The formation of α-Al2O3 during long-term stability tests explains the changes in pore structures which is responsible for re-dispersion of palladium particles. Four accelerated ageing procedures were performed with an aim of mimicking the properties of used catalysts which have been operating continuously for extended time periods (over 1100 h). XRD patterns of aged catalysts disclose the absence of an alpha-alumina phase, suggesting that the transformation of alumina phase occurred at a very slow rate. Among the four procedures, ageing under wet-oxidizing atmosphere provides the catalyst bed that is the best match to the properties of long-term used catalysts in terms of performance and the characterization employed. Increasing the aging temperature up to 830 °C leads to depletion of surface palladium, which permanently reduces the performance of the catalyst.


From the Book:
When, in 1978, I wrote the first (Belgian) edition of my astronomical Formulae for Calculators, the industry of microcomputers was just starting its worldwide expansion. Because these "personal computers" were not yet within reach of everybody, the aforesaid book was written mainly for the users of pocket calculating machines and therefore calculation methods requiring a large amount of computer memory, or many steps in a program, were avoided as far as possible, or kept to a minimum.
The present work is a greatly revised version of the former one. It is, in fact, a completely new book. The subjects have been expanded and the content has been improved. Changes were needed to take into account new resolutions of the International astronomical Union, particularly the adoption of the new standard epoch J2000.0, while moreover I profited by the new planetary and lunar theories constructed at the Bureau des Longitudes, Paris.
as Gerard Bodifee wrote in the Preface of my previous work:
anyone who endeavours to make astronomical calculations has to be very familiar with the essential astronomical conceptions and rules and he must have sufficient knowledge of elementary mathematical techniques. as a matter of fact he must have a perfect command of his calculating machine, knowing all possibilities it offers the competent user. However, all these necessities don't suffice. Creating useful, successful and beautiful programs requires much practice. Experience is the mother of all science. This general truth is certainly valid for the art of programming. Only by experience and practice can one learn the innumerable tricks and dodges that are so useful and often essential in agood program.
astronomical algorithms intends to be a guide for the (professional or amateur) astronomer who wants to do calculations. an algorithm (from the arabic mathematician al-Khltrezmi) is a set of rules for getting something done; for us it is a mathematical procedure, a sequence of reasonings and operations which provides the solution to a given problem.
This book is not a general textbook on astronomy. The reader will find no theoretical derivations. Some definitions are kept to a minimum. Nor is this a textbook on mathematics or a manual for microcomputers. The reader is assumed to be able to use his machine properly.
Except in a few rare cases, no programs are given in this book. The reasons are clear. a program is useful only for one computer language. Even if we consider BaSIC only, there are so many versions of this language that a given program cannot be used as such by everybody without making the necessary changes. Every calculator thus must learn to create his own programs. There is the added circumstance that the precise contents of a program usually depend on the specific goals of the computation, that are impossible to anticipate by anybody else.
The few programs we give are in standard BaSIC. They can easily be converted into FORTRaN or any other programming language.
Of course, in the formulae we still use the classical mathematical symbols and notations, not the symbolism used in program languages. For example, we write instead of SQR(a), or a (1 - e) instead of a * (I - E), or cos2x instead of COS (X)" 2 or cos(X) * * 2.
The writing of a program to solve some astronomical problem will require a study of more than one chapter of this book. For instance, in order to create a program for the calculation of the altitude of the Sun for a given time on a given date at a given place, one must first convert the date and time to Julian Day (Chapter 7), then calculate the Sun's longitude for that instant (Chapter 25), its right ascension and declination (Chapter 13), the sidereal time (Chapter 12) and finally the required altitude of the Sun (Chapter 13).
This book is restricted to the "classical", mathematical astronomy, although a few astronomy oriented mathematical techniques are dealt with, such as interpolation, fitting curves, and sorting data. But astrophysics is not considered at all. Moreover, it is clear that not all topics of mathematical astronomy could have been covered in this book. So nothing is said about orbit determination, occultations of stars by the Moon, meteor astronomy, or eclipsing binaries. For solar eclipses, the interested reader will find Besselian elements and many useful formulae in Elements of Solar Eclipses 1951 to 2200 by the undersigned (1989). Elements and formulae about transits of Mercury and Venus across the Sun's disk are provided in my Transits (1989). These two books are published by Willmann-Bell, Inc.
The author wishes to express his gratitude to Dr. S. De Meis (Milan, Italy), to a. Dill (Germany), and to E. Goffin and C. Steyaert (Belgium), for their valuable advice and assistance.
Jean Meeus
Note to the second edition
In this second edition several misprints and errors have been corrected. The principal change in the new edition is the addition of some material, such as expressions for the times of the stations of the planets (Chapter 36), a list of constants (appendix I), expressions for the heliocentric coordinates of the giant planets from 1998 to 2025 (appendix IV), and new chapters about the Jewish and Moslem Calendars, and the satellites of Saturn.
J.M.


CPAs' Attitudes Toward Advertising and Its Professionalism In 1978 the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) revised its Code of Professional Ethics to allow advertising and solicitation. The AICPA decided to revise the Code after pressure was applied by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Initially CPAs were reluctant to utilize their new freedom to advertise. Apparently many CPAs were waiting to see how the public, clients, and fellow practitioners would react. Haggai [6] found only 7 percent of accountants surveyed were planning to advertise. A major factor contributing to this initial reluctance was the entrenched belief that advertising by CPAs was unprofessional [6]. Some additional concerns were: (1) larger firms would benefit from advertising at the expense of smaller firms [3]; (2) advertising of fees would lead to competitive bidding between firms and ultimately result in compromising the quality of accounting services [4] - otherwise advertising might increase fees [5]; and (3) advertising would create a highly competitive "anything goes" environment[3]. In a recent development, the AICPA's governing council voted on August 30, 1988, to accept an agreement calling for further changes in the Institute's Code of Professional Ethics. Subject to approval by the FTC, the agreement will culminate an inquiry initiated by the agency in 1985. As part of the agreement, the council will remove the Code's interpretations currently prohibiting advertisements containing self-laudatory or comparative claims, testimonials and endorsements, and advertising that lacks dignity and good taste [7]. Are CPAs in agreement with the Code's position and believe that such advertisements should not be used? This year marks the eleventh year in which CPAs have been allowed to advertise. Have CPAs attitudes toward advertising and solicitation changed during this period? Are CPAs concerned that large firms will benefit more from advertising than will small firms, and do CPAs approve of advertisements containing fees? From the standpoint of professionalism, what types of advertising do CPAs approve? This research will answer these questions, as well as others, concerning advertising and solicitation by CPAs. PRIOR RESEARCH A 1976 study by Arndt and Hanks [2] revealed only 30 percent of the respondent CPAs approved of advertising by individual CPA firms. In contrast, 79 percent of the respondents approved of institutional advertising by state societies, and 87 percent approved of institutional advertising by the AICPA. If advertising were permitted, 84 percent of the respondents judged advertising by individual firms should be limited to services only. Although the issue of advertising and professionalism was a major concern of many CPAs, a 1976 study by Sellers and Solomon [9] revealed that a majority of the respondents judged advertising would not have an adverse effect on the professional image of CPAs. In addition, a majority of the respondents thought that advertising could be conducted in a professionally tasteful manner and advertising could improve the consumer's awareness of accounting services. The respondents were divided over the issue of whether large or small firms would benefit most from advertising. Scott and Rudderow [8] found in a 1982 study that 52 percent of the CPAs surveyed agreed that advertising by public accounting firms was inconsistent with professionalism, whereas of the business people surveyed, only 23 percent agreed. Traynor [10] found 63 percent of the CPAs surveyed agreed that advertising would be harmful to their image. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The objectives of this study are to determine: (1) if CPAs believe advertising and solicitation can be used without creating an unprofessional image, (2) if local and regional CPA firms believe national and Big Eight firms will benefit from advertising and solicitation at their expense, (3) from the standpoint of professionalism, what types of advertising and solicitation do CPAs approve, and (4) if CPAs agree with the AICPA's Code of Ethics concerning advertising that is considered false, misleading, or deceptive. …


Glioma is one of the most common and aggressive types of primary brain tumors. The accurate segmentation of subcortical brain structures is crucial to the study of gliomas in that it helps the monitoring of the progression of gliomas and aids the evaluation of treatment outcomes. However, the large amount of required human labor makes it difficult to obtain the manually segmented Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) data, limiting the use of precise quantitative measurements in the clinical practice. In this work, we try to address this problem by developing a 3D Convolutional Neural Network (3D CNN) based model to automatically segment gliomas. The major difficulty of our segmentation model comes with the fact that the location, structure, and shape of gliomas vary significantly among different patients. In order to accurately classify each voxel, our model captures multiscale contextual information by extracting features from two scales of receptive fields. To fully exploit the tumor structure, we propose a novel architecture that hierarchically segments different lesion regions of the necrotic and non-enhancing tumor (NCR/NET), peritumoral edema (ED) and GD-enhancing tumor (ET). Additionally, we utilize densely connected convolutional blocks to further boost the performance. We train our model with a patch-wise training schema to mitigate the class imbalance problem. The proposed method is validated on the BraTS 2017 dataset1 and it achieves Dice scores of 0.72, 0.83 and 0.81 for the complete tumor, tumor core and enhancing tumor, respectively. These results are comparable to the reported state-of-the-art results, and our method is better than existing 3D-based methods in terms of compactness, time and space efficiency.


Abstract Background: The anti-inflammatory properties of statins are well documented. The aim of this study was to determine if statins may offer therapeutic benefits in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients that are also at risk for cardiovascular disease. Methods: Patients with moderately active RA, despite being on maximum disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) therapy, and that were at risk for cardiovascular disease, were screened for inclusion. Eligible patients were randomised into two groups. In this open-label, cross-over design patients in group 1 received simvastatin treatment (20 mg/day) for a period of 3 months in addition to their usual DMARDs, after which they stopped simvastatin treatment and were followed up for a further 3 months while on their usual DMARDs only. Those in group 2 were allowed to continue on their usual DMARDs without simvastatin treatment for the first 3 months of the study, after which they received 20 mg/day simvastatin for a period of 3 months in addition to their usual DMARDs. Results: The addition of 20 mg simvastatin to conventional DMARDs produced significant improvements in all of the evaluated parameters. These include significant improvements in DAS28 score, tender joint count, swollen joint count, CRP levels and ESR, while patients were receiving simvastatin treatment. Conclusions: The addition of 20 mg simvastatin to conventional DMARDs in statin-naïve RA patients at risk for cardiovascular disease may add benefit, apart from modifying lipid profiles, by modulating immune function and suppressing disease activity.


We present and compare small sediment‐water fluxes of O2 determined with the eddy correlation technique, with in situ chambers, and from vertical sediment microprofiles at a 1450 m deep‐ocean site in Sagami Bay, Japan. The average O2 uptake for the three approaches, respectively, was 1.62 ± 0.23 (SE, n = 7), 1.65 ± 0.33 (n = 2), and 1.43 ± 0.15 (n = 25) mmol m−2 d−1. The very good agreement between the eddy correlation flux and the chamber flux serves as a new, important validation of the eddy correlation technique. It demonstrates that the eddy correlation instrumentation available today is precise and can resolve accurately even very small benthic O2 fluxes. The correlated fluctuations in vertical velocity and O2 concentration that give the eddy flux had average values of 0.074 cm s−1 and 0.049 µM. The latter represents only 0.08% of the 59 µM mean O2 concentration of the bottom water. Note that these specific fluctuations are average values, and that even smaller variations were recorded and contributed to the eddy flux. Our findings demonstrate that the eddy correlation technique is a highly attractive alternative to traditional flux methods for measuring even very small benthic O2 fluxes.


In the past decades, biotechnologies for reutilizing the biomass harvested from the metal-contaminated land draw attention to many scientists. Among those technologies, anaerobic fermentation is proven as an efficient conversion process for biowaste reduction with simultaneous recovery of biogas as an energy source. During the process of anaerobic fermentation, the release of metals from the biomass will impact the growth and performance of microorganisms in reactors, which then results the variation of substrate degradation. In this chapter, the impact of metals on the degradation of substrate at different stages of fermentation process, as indicated by variations of lignocelluloses, chemical oxygen demands (COD), volatile fatty acids (VFAs), etc., will be summarized. The objective is to rationalize the relationship between metal presence and substrate degradability and give suggestions for future research on metal-contaminated biomass reutilization.


Background Whale sharks usually form aggregations by gender and age in many nearshore waters, but they can be as well solitary wanderers. In the Eastern Pacific, there are regular sightings of whale sharks in the Gulf of California and the Galapagos Islands. Tracking studies indicated movement of individuals from Galapagos to the edge of the continental shelf off northern Peru. Although the presence of whale sharks off the Peruvian coast has been reported since 1955, no proper research has been conducted so far. Therefore, there is a critical information gap on their biology, ecology and population status, fundamental information to plan local and international conservation actions. In Peru, no direct fishing occurs, but incidental captures had been reported and many individuals retained. In spite of being a member of international conventions, Peru does not have any local or national protection laws for whale sharks. We started a program; the first one conducted in Peru, to generate knowledge about whale sharks in the region. Approach Our monitoring program includes two components: interviews and boat surveys. Interviews were conducted with fishermen, on-board observers, captains and diving companies in fishing ports located in northern Peru. Interviews included questions about whale shark presence, their behavior, body metrics, dates, times and areas of sightings, as well as an explanation with images for the correct identification of species. Boat surveys for whale shark sightings were planned based on the interview information. During each survey, we recorded whale shark biological data like size, gender, behavior, scars, geo-position, date, time, besides water temperature. Pictures taken were compared with the database from Mexico and submitted to the Wildbook of Whale Sharks. Results We conducted 185 interviews that provided information on 272 whale shark observations. Interviews suggest that there are two marked seasons for whale shark aggregations in Peru, one in the austral summer and one in the spring, with the highest densities observed in the summer. The whale sharks were seen mostly as solitary animals, and within 50 miles off the coast. The individual size was estimated between 10 and 49 feet. The juveniles showed a mode of 16 feet and most of them were observed while feeding. Adults (>29 feet) were usually seen in the open ocean with a size mode of 32 feet. From October 2014 to March 2015 we conducted 17 boat surveys. Four more were conducted in the summer 2015–2016. Surveys resulted in twelve whale shark encounters, ten of which were observed while feeding, half as solitary animals and the rest in groups. The size of these sharks was estimated between 13 and 17 feet, which classifies them as juvenile sharks. The twelve observations resulted in ten unique individuals without a match in any of the photoID databases. From this, we were only able to determine the gender of eight of them resulting in 100% males. Conclusions Interviews and boat surveys indicate a prevalent presence of whale sharks in Peru, which is influenced by seasons. Individuals are more common during the austral spring and summer. There seems to be spatial segregation with larger whale sharks, likely adults, seen in the open ocean, while juveniles are seen closer to the coast. The northern coast of Peru seems to be used by juvenile males during the summer for feeding purposes in shallow waters. Our study has photo-identified ten new individual whale sharks for the Eastern Pacific. This represents a unique opportunity to conduct more research in the region to elucidate connectivity with other areas and to involve stakeholders in future whale shark management and conservation.


Since their discovery around 1930, the synthetic compounds of the class of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) have been produced and used worldwide at very large scale. Their physico-chemical properties (non-flammability, chemical inertia, miscibility with water and oil, compatibility with many metals and plastics, solvent capacity) have made them ideal candidates for several applications, such as refrigerant fluids, aerosol propellants, foam blowing agents, or as solvents or intermediates of chemical synthesis. In the 70', it was demonstrated that following their release in the atmosphere, they are implicated in the process leading to the commonly called stratospheric ozone hole. The governments of several industrialised country have thus signed a protocol with the objective to stop the production and use of CFCs. CFCs have been increasingly replaced by compounds with similar structure, the hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), but whose reactivity in the lower layers of the atmosphere is quite different from that of CFCs. Due to their chemical inertia, CFCs has been used as tracers for surface and groundwater datation. During such investigations, the biodegradability of these compounds and the existence of punctual pollution sources in soil and groundwater have been evidenced. It has been demonstrated that some of these compounds can be dechlorinated under anoxic conditions producing other compounds with sometimes higher toxicity and higher water solubility, and resulting in a risk linked to the consumption of natural groundwater. The goal of this thesis was to get indications about reductive transformations of CFCs and especially HCFCs in Swiss aquifers and landfills, on the potential of different microbial communities to reductively dechlorinate certain compounds, and under which redox conditions the transformations occur in aquifer systems. Data concerning the production, use, emission, regulation, as well as the biodegradability and toxicity of these compounds are presented in chapter 1 and in the appendix. The analytical methods developed and used during this work are presented in chapter 2. Particularly, a versatile analytical system allowing the measure of trace but also higher concentrations in different media, solid or aqueous, has been set up and used during this work. CFCs and HCFCs were analyzed at 3 sites in Switzerland. Samples were collected from a natural groundwater in which a chloroethene plume had been observed, from an old landfill closed in 1980, and from a more recent bioactive landfill constructed in horizontal layers. In addition, the behaviour of different CFCs and HCFCs was studied in microcosms inoculated with sludge originating from several sewage treatment plants in the canton of Vaud, and with a sediment originating from a contaminated aquifer in Holland. The studied CFCs and HCFCs were furthermore injected at the inlet of a 1.2 m height column filled with the aquifer sediment from Holland. In this quasi natural aquifer, the oxido-reductive conditions were modified during the experiment in order to investigate the conditions at which the biodegradation occurred. The field studies showed that CFCs and HCFCs are present in aquifers and landfills, and there were indications that their transformation also occurs there. Estimations of half-life times indicated that the reductive dechlorination occurred at slow rates. This could be due to the low temperatures of natural groundwater systems and other factors linked to the hydro-geological properties of the natural environment such as dispersion, sorption or partitionning. In the microcosms inoculated with sludge, CFC-11 was transformed to HCFC-21, the latter being further dechlorinated to HCFC-31. HCFC-123a and chlorotrifluoroethene (CTFE) were produced simultaneously from CFC-113. Inhibition of methanogesis with 2 bromoethane sulfonate decreased significantly the degradation rate of CFC-11, emphasizing the importance of the role of methanogens in the degradation process. In the microcosms inoculated with the contaminated sediment, the transformation of CFC-11 also occurred, but was not accompanied with methane production, as it was the case in the suldge microcosms. Moreover, the presence of acetate, lactate and butyrate in the microcosms containing CFC-11 suggested that methanogens were inhibited in the presence of CFC-11. CFC-113 was transformed in the same way as in the microcosms inoculated with the sludge; however, the produced CTFE was further transformed to trifluoroethene (TFE). Production of HCFC-151b from HCFC-141b was also observed. In the column filled with aquifer material, only the transformations of CFC-11 and CFC-113 were observed, which is probably due to the short residence time in the column ( 10 days), during which the transformation of the other compounds was not sufficiently pronounced. The increasingly reducing conditions in the column were accompanied with an increase of the degradation rates of CFC-11 and CFC-113, with a maximum reached in presence of methanogenesis. The addition of sulfate in the artificial groundwater decreased the biodegradation rates of the two compounds, and the concentration of their transformation products was simultaneously increased. This suggests that these products become more persistent under sulfate-reducing conditions. Natural attenuation designates all the processes leading to the decrease of the concentration of organic compounds migrating from a pollution source throughout a natural environment. Whereas natural attenuation or enhanced natural attenuation seem adequate for several classes of compounds, the absence of defluorination reaction of CFCs and HCFCs reported in this work suggests the use of other remediation techniques for the decontamination of sites polluted with these compounds. Indeed, the transformation products of CFCs and HCFCs still contain a fluorine atom and are not less harmfull to the environment than the parent compounds. In addition, the use of CFCs as age-dating tracers in groundwater is not recommended under anoxic conditions, as it was demonstrated here that they are not stable in such environments. The HCFCs on the other hand seem to be more persistent, and it is primordial to decrease rapidly their production and release in the environment.


This work presents preliminary research on a low-cost meteorological station for measuring in situ Essential Climate Variables (ECV): solar irradiance, surface water vapour, surface air temperature, land surface wind speed/direction, and precipitation. Important benefits can be obtained from these data: 1) optimization of irrigation systems and water input into the crops, leading to a breakthrough in agriculture in countries lacking meteorological infrastructure; 2) improvement of climate change monitoring. Availability of time series of satellite, airborne and in situ observation data, covering at least several decades, is necessary to validate climate models, which provide essential information for supporting decision-making processes relating to climate change. The proposed station could bridge some of the existing gaps in acquisition of ECV data, and would allow for calibration and validation of satellite data and derived products. While in situ measurements are essential, Earth Observation satellites are the only realistic means to obtain the necessary global coverage. With well-calibrated space-based measurements thanks to data provided by the proposed station, space-based sensors would become a key tool for climate monitoring. 3) Availability of land surface wind speed/direction data measured during extended periods of time is essential for installation/optimization of wind turbines and for construction of an aerodrome runway in a given location. Thus, the proposed station could facilitate the diffusion of wind energy. The users of the proposed station would be governments, public administrations and institutions, public and private companies, NGOs, farmers, and transnational or intergovernmental organizations. Summarizing, widespread implementation of the proposed station in areas lacking meteorological infrastructure would bring more well-being to large groups of people, and foster a more sustainable development. The objective of this work is to present a pre-feasibility analysis of the proposed station, and to report a preliminary research on the best shelter design using computational fluid dynamics software. The criterion is the accuracy with which the surface air temperature is reproduced inside the shelter in extreme temperature and solar radiation conditions, with almost no wind and with moderately strong wind. A design based on recommendations by the World Meteorological Organization and a smaller design with identical geometry were analysed. Since the performance of the latter was better, two alternative designs of similar size were studied, all in three different materials (PVC, rubber and wood), with and without white paint coating. Shelters made of PVC or rubber instead of wood, and/or in alternative designs, are probably more interesting if other criteria are taken into account.


Histological distinction between epithelioid mesothelioma (EM) and reactive mesothelial hyperplasia (RMH) can be challenging. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic utility of Survivin, Ki-67, and loss of BRCA1-associated protein 1 (BAP1) expressions in distinguishing EM from RMH using immunohistochemistry. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens from 78 cases of EM and 80 cases of RMH were immunohistochemically examined for Survivin, BAP1, and Ki-67. In addition, receiver operating characteristic curve analyses were performed to establish the cut-off values for Survivin and Ki-67 labelling indices. Survivin (cut-off value: 5%) had 67.7% sensitivity and 100% specificity, while Ki-67 (cut-off value: 10%) had 85.1% sensitivity and 87.5% specificity, and BAP1 had 66.2% sensitivity and 100% specificity for the differentiation of EM from RMH. Among the combinations of two markers, the combination of Survivin and BAP1 (Survivin-positive and/or BAP1-loss finding) had the highest diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity: 89.8%; specificity: 100%; accuracy: 95.3%). We recommend using the combination of Survivin and BAP1 to distinguish EM from RMH.


X-ray diffraction, electron microprobe and SEM analyses show that the Peterborough Member of the Oxford Clay Formation is composed mainly of quartz and illite, with lesser amounts of chlorite, kaolinite, K-feldspar, plagioclase, very small amounts of anatase and apatite, and variable amounts of calcite and subordinate siderite. The geochemistry, including major and a range of trace elements are used, with the mineralogy, to demonstrate the existence of several distinct components which have contributed to variations within the Peterborough Member. These components are (1) quartz, zircon and possibly other heavy minerals and K-feldspars, (2) carbonates, (3) phosphatic material, (4) organic material and (5) clays. Geochemical comparisons are made with various average shales demonstrating abnormally low Ba, Cu, CO, Mn, Na and Mg in the Peterborough Member. It is suggested that the current mineral assemblage is mostly detrital material, with little diagenetic alteration. The demonstration of fractionation between hydrodynamically heavy and light grains, even in an apparently fine grained sediment such as the Oxford Clay, has disturbing consequences for geochemical studies of sediment source areas where small numbers of small samples are employed.


Background: An international collaborative project has been ongoing since 2009 between the Ambulance training program in Nursing at the University of Halmstad and the program in Emergency Care at Arcada University of Applied Sciences. The purpose is to jointly develop knowledge about patient safety and caring ethics, through participation in experiential skills development in innovative environments. The focus areas of collaboration are: 1) To learn safety by preventing and creating resistance to human errors and malpractices in health care 2) To become aware of the outer and inner ethics, as a basis of use of the self 3) To create conditions for inner leadership and personal responsibility in health care. The course content planning is guided by an integrative pedagogy, which contains an active simulation exercise.Methods: Simulation exercises are given to interdisciplinary student teams at a one week exchange program in Helsinki in spring and in Halmstad in autumn. The assessment is a written work, and the student deepens understanding in evidence-based research.Results: Simulation has given students opportunities for an active and motivational approach to learning, where a high degree of knowledge, creativity and reflection co-exist. Students have expressed that they have learned to think and act in terms of patient safety and ethics. The concepts have been concrete and visibly demonstrated by simulating everyday prehospital emergency situations: e.g. a situation in which the patient refuses to be transported. The simulation exercises have explained theory and built bridges to practice.Conclusions: The discussions of reflection in interdisciplinary groups and after the simulations have been fruitful, due to students´ different experiences, but also because of awareness of cultural similarities and differences. Students have adopted permanent values of concrete models for how to act safely and ethically at the individual, community and organizational level.


Psychoanalysis has a long history of influence in the study of collective behaviour, and this paper argues that it has a great deal to contribute to the study of one vitally important and under-researched aspect of social movement activity; the fantasies activists have about life in the social worlds they would like to see in the future. The paper uses empirical research findings to show that, in the case of activists campaigning to further the human exploration, development and settlement of outer space, these fantasies can be fundamental to activists' motivation. Psychoanalysis helps us understand these fantasies as conscious manifestations of unconscious phantasies. However, the paper also addresses the criticisms social movement theory has made of reductionist psychoanalysis, arguing that the study of activists' fantasies must include accounts of the ways in which social forces influence unconscious processes, the discourses used by activists to understand their cause, and the organization of the movement.


The study determined the impacts of three forest management regimes—logging treated (LT), tropical shelterwood system (TSS) treated, and untreated forest (UF)—on liana abundance, reproduction and climbing guilds, and liana-tree relationship patterns in the Asenanyo Forest Reserve, Ghana. The first two regimes involved liana cutting over 20 and 53 yr ago, respectively. Lianas and their hosts were sampled in 10 randomly demarcated plots (40 × 40 m2) in each regime. Liana abundance and infestation were significantly lower in the LT forest than the UF, whereas these attributes were comparable in the TSS treated and the UF. Overall, the patterns of liana reproduction and climbing guilds were similar in the treated and untreated forests. Tree diameter was positively and significantly correlated to liana load, basal area, and degree of colonization in the treated and untreated forests. Mean liana load was the same on different tree bark types in the forest management regimes. These findings suggest that the impact of liana cutting on liana abundance was still apparent in the LT forest but not in the TSS treated forest. Again, the impacts of liana cutting on patterns of liana reproduction and climbing guilds and liana-tree relationships were not noticeable in the treated forests.


With appropriate culture conditions, numbers of proliferating foci are a linear function of the number of B cells placed in mitogen-stimulated semisolid cultures, and colony formation is not obviously suppressed or enhanced by T cells. This made it possible to determine the fraction of Ig+ B cells in different tissues and stages of development which was capable of colony formation. No evidence was obtained that these functional cells were enriched among either mature or immature B cell populations. Cytolysis with A.TH anti-A.TL serum and C before culture was used to study expression of Ia antigens on colony-forming cells. By this criterion, multipotential stem cells, granulocyte-macrophage progenitors, and fetal colony-forming B cells were Ia negative, whereas all clonable B cells in adult tissues were Ia positive. Colony formation by adult lymph node cells was inhibited by an average of 79% by the addition of rabbit anti-mouse IgD to the cultures, and extremely small quantities of antiserum were required. Adult spleen and bone marrow contained a higher percentage of antiserum-resistant and presumably δ- B cells, and clonable B cells in fetal tissues were not significantly inhibited. An additional subpopulation of late appearing B cells whose proliferation was resistant to anti-Ig antibodies was identified with a particular set of culture conditions. Colony-forming cells were also heterogeneous in their resistance to preincubation with anti-immunoglobulin antibodies. Under conditions that did not significantly affect adult splenic B cells, clonable cells in fetal and neonatal tissues were substantially inactivated. It appears that colony-forming B cells comprise an equivalent proportion of the B cells in different sites and stages of development and include cells that differ in maturity by the criteria employed here. However, they do not seem to be representative of B cells as a whole, and when considered in relationship to the defect in CBA/N mice, the possibility emerges that the cloning technique preferentially detects a lineage of functionally specialized B cells.


The northern wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) is a small (approx. 25 g), insectivorous migrant with one of the largest ranges of any songbird in the world, breeding from the eastern Canadian Arctic across Greenland, Eurasia and into Alaska (AK). However, there is no evidence that breeding populations in the New World have established overwintering sites in the Western Hemisphere. Using light-level geolocators, we demonstrate that individuals from these New World regions overwinter in northern sub-Sahara Africa, with Alaskan birds travelling approximately 14 500 km each way and an eastern Canadian Arctic bird crossing a wide stretch of the North Atlantic (approx. 3500 km). These remarkable journeys, particularly for a bird of this size, last between one to three months depending on breeding location and season (autumn/spring) and result in mean overall migration speeds of up to 290 km d−1. Stable-hydrogen isotope analysis of winter-grown feathers sampled from breeding birds generally support the notion that Alaskan birds overwinter primarily in eastern Africa and eastern Canadian Arctic birds overwinter mainly in western Africa. Our results provide the first evidence of a migratory songbird capable of linking African ecosystems of the Old World with Arctic regions of the New World.


Abstract The risk of infection for cystic fibrosis patients from Burkholderia cepacia complex pathogens is of increasing concern to doctors and scientists. This paper reports on how these patients perceive and manage the risk of cepacia infection using Douglas and Calvez's (1990) typology of four cultures of the community (the central community, dissenting enclaves, isolates, and individualists) and Douglas' works on pollution, risk, and culture. We attempt to develop Douglas's cultural theory in the light of the data, which were drawn from in-depth interviews with 31 adults with cystic fibrosis attending a specialist treatment centre in the UK. We found that our respondents' group membership depended on their health state and contact with the hospital. The central community of adults was found to be dispersing to form a series of isolates, perceiving others who may potentially have infection as individualists. Due to the nature of cepacia infection, no dissenting enclave was identified for this group. Medical and lay uncertainty in testing for infection and managing the risk of its spread was expressed by the majority of adults, many of whom admitted that they limited hospital attendance as a part of managing such risk.


Many cellular proteins are inhibited when phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate [PtdIns(4,5)P2] is hydrolyzed by phospholipase C and reactivated when a kinase restores the PtdIns(4,5)P2 (see the Perspective by McLaughlin, published online 9 November). Whether depletion of PtdIns(4,5)P2 is the direct signal closing KCNQ potassium channels, an important ion channel in the nervous system, upon receptor activation is still controversial. Suh et al. (published online 21 September) now show that a loss of PtdIns(4,5)P2 indeed suffices to close the channel. Furthermore, KCNQ channel opening was stimulated by synthesis of extra PtdIns(4,5)P2 but only minimally affected by production of extra PtdIns(3,4,5)P3. Small GTPases (guanosine triphosphatases) have many roles in cellular regulation and often transiently associate with the plasma membrane. Heo et al. (published online 9 November) monitored the cellular localization of fluorescently tagged small GTPases and found that the majority of the enzymes that associated with the membrane contained a cluster of positively charged amino acids. Suspecting that these regions might bind negatively charged lipids, the authors showed that PtdIns(4,5)P2 and PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 were required for targeting the GTPases to the plasma membrane. The lipids may act as signaling hubs that control multiple aspects of cellular control systems. S. McLaughlin, Tools to tamper with phosphoinositides. Science 314, 1402-1403 (2006). [Summary] [Full Text] B.-C. Suh, T. Inoue, T. Meyer, B. Hille, Rapid chemically induced changes of PtdIns(4,5)P2 gate KCNQ ion channels. Science 314, 1454-1457 (2006). [Abstract] [Full Text] W. D. Heo, T. Inoue, W. S. Park, M. L. Kim, B. O. Park, T. J. Wandless, T. Meyer, PI(3,4,5)P3 and PI(4,5)P2 lipids target proteins with polybasic clusters to the plasma membrane. Science 314, 1458-1461 (2006). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Friction stir welding (FSW) is a relatively new solid-state joining process. This joining technique is energy efficient, environmental friendly, and versatile. In order to demonstrate the friction stir weldability of the 1050-H14 aluminum alloy and determine optimum welding parameters, the mechanical and metallurgical properties of the joints have been studied in this paper. The rational speed was changed from 900 to 1400 rpm while the traverse speed was varied from 25 to 40 mm min-1. The results showed that all the properties studied were significantly affected by the welding process parameters. Optimized welding conditions of 1400 rpm rotational speed and 25 mm min-1 feed rate resulted in the highest UTS of the FSW joint which was equivalent to 86% that of the base material. Also, the combination of 900 rpm rotational speed and 40 mm min-1 traverse speed resulted in the best joint hardness efficiency of about 83% that of the base metal.


The development of a vaccine against some strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV) has led to many interesting public health questions [1]. We address some of these questions in the following work. We develop a compartmental mathematical model and examine the effect of waning immunity, vaccinating individuals prior to their becoming sexually active and the current government policy of vaccinating only females [2]. We calculate parameters based on data. We consider both time-dependent and age dependent ODE models and an age- and time-dependent PDE model and compare the results. We find the "effective" R0 value, Re0, for the time-dependent models. We introduce optimal control to both the time-dependent and age-dependent ODE models to assess the most cost-effective method for introducing the vaccine into a population. We find that the duration of protection offered by the vaccine can influence whether it is possible to eradicate infection from the population. We find the critical proportion to vaccinate to eradicate the disease. We see that introducing male vaccination would lead to a greater proportion of individuals to be vaccinated if the disease is to be eradicated. The PDE model shows that the proportion of females vaccinated has a large impact on the proportion of females infected. We show that it is cost-effective to vaccinate males and females. Our results support current government policy for age of vaccination [2]. We conclude that potential waning immunity will impact the success of the vaccine. We broadly support government policy for vaccination but recommend including male vaccination to most cost-effectively eradicate the disease.


It is reasonable to think that sensor networks might be part of society critical systems in the future. Therefor this paper discusses and shows the vulnerabilities of sensor networks to intentional electromagnetic interference (IEMI). Principle ways of sensor network IEMI is addressed and followed by a discussion on schemes for protection. Experimental results for both in-band and exband interference from low- and high- level sources is reported. It is obvious that more emphasis has to be put on sensor networks susceptibility to IEMI, and in particular more experimental data is needed


Exporting is one of the oldest forms of economic activity. It is the most common way for many for firms, especially those in developing economies to enter international markets. Exporting is an important element of international trade and is an attractive foreign market entry strategy and expansion approach for firms (Hultman, Robson & Katsikeas, 2009). At the firm level, exporting is argued to make better utilisation of production capacity, facilitate company growth and improve the firm's financial position (De Loecker, 2007). With increasing the internationalisation of business, exporting firms have been forced to reconsider how to compete as rivalries increasingly extend across multiple markets. When compared to other foreign market entry modes, exporting involves fewer resources, lower risks, and less cost. Export involvement can assist firms in improving their competitive edge and realising financial objectives.
Dynamic capabilities appear to be the key to achieving success in export markets (Morgan, Kaleka & Katsikeas, 2004). To achieve superior performance, a single dynamic capability may not be sufficient for exporting firms (Berthon, Hulbert & Pitt, 1999). The role of complementary capabilities is considered critical for exporting firms. In this sense it is now generally accepted by many scholars, that marketing capability and product innovation capability are two critical capabilities that act as key drivers of export performance (e.g. Berthon et al., 1999; Gatignon & Xuereb, 1997; Noble, Sinha and Kumar, 2002; Song, Droge, Hanvanich & Calantone, 2005). While marketing capability enable exporting firms to link with customers by predicting changes in customer preferences and creating and managing durable relationships with customers and channel members (Day, 1994), product innovation capability enable exporting firms to promote innovative thinking and facilitate successful development, evolution, and execution of product innovations (Siguaw, Simpson & Enz, 2006). As such, both capabilities cannot be considered separately as each offers the other a high degree of complementarity.
This study investigates drivers of export venture performance focusing on two drivers that have direct effects; marketing and product innovation capability and two drivers that have contingency effects; technological innovation and management innovation capability. The investigation couches these capabilities within the domain of complementarity and ambidexterity theory. Specifically, this study attempts to address the significance of complementarity and ambidexterity of these two capabilities in the export domain of a developing economy, Thailand. In picking up on the role of marketing and product innovation capabilities within the context of complementarity and ambidexterity, this study also investigates the role of technological innovation capability and management innovation capability as moderators of the relationship between the firm's capacity to deploy ambidextrous capabilities and also achieve complementarity between capabilities and export venture performance.
The findings provide several important theoretical and practical implications to exporting firms and scholars. The findings show that marketing capability and product innovation capability are drivers of export success when they achieve complementarity and the firm can engage in these activities in an ambidextrous manner. The findings show that complementarity within the firm's functional areas (i.e., exploitative marketing capability and exploratory marketing capability) and complementarity between the firm's cross functional areas (i.e., exploitative marketing capability and exploitative product innovation capability) can drive firms to achieve stronger or enhanced export performance. In addition, technological innovation capability and management innovation capability plays a crucial role to facilitate complementarity of these activities in an ambidextrous manner in driving export performance.
In conclusion, this study responds to the call for greater attention on the role of marketing capability and product innovation capability using ambidexterity and complementarity theory to explain the firm's export performance. Overall, this study articulates the role of these capabilities as the drivers of Thai export ventures performance outcomes.


The Bowland and Lancaster Fells Basins of north-west England contain a Pendleian El, sequence up to 650m thick, most of which is coarse clastic material. Each of the major stratigraphic units in this sequence, namely the Pendle and
Grassington Grit Groups, represents a phase of clastic input to the basins. Initially, the basins were deep marine troughs with water depths of several hundreds of metres. Their northern margins were steep submarine slopes or
relict fault scarps rising up onto the partially emergent Askrigg and Lake District Blocks. Within the basins there was significant topographic relief caused by differential compaction over buried Dinantian fault blocks. The Pendle Grit Group, comprising the Pendle Grit and Pendle Shale Formations, represents the development of a sand-rich submarine fan/slope system in these confined basins. The sediment for the fans was probably supplied by a fluvial source to the north-west. Intra-basinal relief within the basins strongly influenced the initial development of the fan system but was later swamped by sedimentation.
Only the Waddington Fell High remained present throughout deposition: the "low-seeking" turbidite sediments of the Pendle Grit Formation pinch-out over this structure.

A period of uplift or eustatic sea-level fall at the end of Pendle Grit deposition resulted in the development of a minor unconformity on the southern margin of the Askrigg Block and across reactivated intra-basinal highs. This
unconformity heralds a major change in the palaeogeography of north-west England and the beginning of Grassington Grit Group deposition. The fluvial clastic input moved eastwards, supplying sediment directly into shallow water
on the Askrigg Block. This resulted in rapid progradation of a coarse clastic dominated braid-delta system over the Askrigg Block and, subsequently, out into the Bowland Basin. Water depths still increased rapidly across the fault
controlled boundary between these two palaeogeographic features and this led to a change in the depositional processes on the braid-delta system. The resulting
differences between Grassington Grit Group facies sequences across this palaeogeographic boundary form the basis for recognition of two Formations, namely the Grassington Grit and Warley Wise Formations.

Detailed sedimentological study of the sand-rich fans in
the Pendle Group shows that they are dominated by in-channel deposition: lobes and basin plain deposits are very rare. A channel hierarchy has been recognised in the fan
sediments, based on the presence of erosion surfaces of different magnitude and extent. First-order erosion surfaces bound channel-complexes up to 1000m in width and 100m deep. These features were cut by infrequent, high energy turbidity currents. They were filled by progradation of a coarse-grained turbidite sand-body deposited from smaller, more frequent turbidity currents trapped in
the first-order channel. During this process, second-order channels were cut and filled in the prograding sand-body. Individual beds within the fan system provide evidence for lateral migration of turbidity currents during deposition
and also for prolonged flow events. The flow mechanics of such flows are qualitatively examined and their evolution with time and space over the fan system is discussed. A new facies model for sand-rich fans is presented, based on
the sedimentological features seen in the Pendle Grit Formation.

The El, basin-fill sequence was buried to several kilometres depth by end early Westphalian times. It then underwent rapid uplift. The paragenetic sequences in sandstones from this sequence are related to the maximum burial depth and the amount of subsequent uplift: deeply buried sandstones developed illite cements and, if affected by meteoric flushing during uplift, also have extensive pore-filling kaolinite. This relationship allows qualitative predictions of the reservoir quality of the Ei, sandstones to be made from an estimate of their burial histories.


Purpose. To estimate the cost to the workplace of implementing initiatives to reduce work-family conflict. Design. Prospective cost analysis conducted alongside a group-randomized multisite controlled experimental study, using a microcosting approach. Setting. An information technology firm. Subjects. Employees (n = 1004) and managers (n = 141) randomized to the intervention arm. Intervention. STAR (Start. Transform. Achieve. Results.) to enhance employees' control over their work time, increase supervisor support for employees to manage work and family responsibilities, and reorient the culture toward results. Measures. A taxonomy of activities related to customization, start-up, and implementation was developed. Resource use and unit costs were estimated for each activity, excluding research-related activities. Analysis. Economic costing approach (accounting and opportunity costs). Sensitivity analyses on intervention costs. Results. The total cost of STAR was $709,654, of which $389,717 was labor costs and $319,937 nonlabor costs (including $313,877 for intervention contract). The cost per employee participation in the intervention was $340 (95% confidence interval: $330–$351); $597 ($561–$634) for managers and $300 ($292–$308) for other employees (2011 prices). Conclusion. A detailed activity costing approach allows for more accurate cost estimates and identifies key drivers of cost. The key cost driver was employees' time spent on receiving the intervention. Ignoring this cost, which is usual in studies that cost workplace interventions, would seriously underestimate the cost of a workplace initiative.


The long-term behavior of the East and West Antarctic Ice Sheets, and their respective responses to forcing provide essential context for assessment of modern dynamic changes in ice-flow regimes and ice-sheet and shelf margins. The western Ross Sea discharges ice from both the East and West Antarctic Ice Sheets, and the paleoglacial record from this region is therefore valuable in unraveling their long-term behavior. New, high-resolution multibeam bathymetric data reveal snapshots of well-preserved glacial landforms on the seafloor around Ross Island and McMurdo Sound. Glacial lineations, grounding zone wedges, draped recessional moraines, and meltwater channels record a series of different ice-flow events in the region, contradictions between which require major phases of ice-flow reorganization. From the glacial geomorphology, we reconstruct a four-stage model of ice-flow evolution for the last glacial cycle, consisting of: (1) northeastward flow into the Ross Sea from McMurdo Sound; (2) westward flow from the Ross Sea, around Ross Island, and onto the Victoria Land coast and coastal seafloor trough; (3) a deglacial phase of ice-sheet thinning, minor shifts in flow, and grounding line retreat into McMurdo Sound; and (4) grounding line pinning on Ross Island during regional retreat, uncoupling of a remnant Ross Island ice cap, and local oscillation of Victoria Land outlet glaciers. We find that East Antarctic Ice Sheet ice discharge had a strong influence on ice-flow geometry in this part of the Ross Sea during the last glacial stage, but that it was not necessarily in phase with the behavior of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. It is similarly evident that the ice streams that drained the Ross Sea over the continental shelf at the Last Glacial Maximum did not all operate synchronously, and exerted different drawdown power at different times. Finally, we conclude that Ross Island acts as an important pinning point in the Ross Sea ice-sheet-shelf system, stabilizing grounding line retreat and encouraging lasting ice-shelf development.


Introduction When most pinpoint the time in history when the desegregation of school was fought, they reference the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark 1954 ruling Brown v. Board of Education. However, Higher Education would begin its legal fight for desegregation before Brown vs. Board, with four years of litigated cases previous to this landmark case with the Supreme Court rejecting the "separate but equal" doctrine in a higher education. The strides taken in the four years preceding Brown vs. Board, including Swanson's case against the University of Virginia would set the legal framework and shape Thurgood Marshall's legal strategy that would put an end to Jim Crow in education (Lavergne, 2010). The rejection of Gregory H. Swanson" application for admittance into the University of Virginia's Law School was a defining moment in higher education which opened doors not only to its law school, but other doors to other graduate schools within the Commonwealth and nationally by forcing the courts to examine and define the meaning of their own laws. The university's strong resistance to desegregation created an opportunity for it to be challenged and ordered to change. Although begrudgingly by force and viewed by some as token desegregation, an increased number of Blacks began to apply to the University of Virginia and schools across the nation (Beeler, 1950). Swanson's subsequent admission to the University would open the threshold of numerous landmark cases of access denied because of race from Blacks and Whites well into the 21st century. Claims of reverse discrimination would arise when a White college applicant named Allan Bakke was rejected twice by the University of California in 1978 (Ball, 2000). In 2000, the University of Michigan undergraduate affirmative action policies would be challenged in Gratz v. Bollinger with a federal judge ruling that the use of race as a factor in admission was constitutional. The 2003 case of Grutter v. Bollinger the University of Michigan's Law school's affirmative action policy was challenged with the judge ruling that the policies were unconstitutional only to be upheld in the U.S. Supreme Court with the U.S. Supreme Court emphatically affirmed the value of diversity, and argued that the state has a compelling interest to promote diversity on college campuses (Sullivan, 2006). While many milestones would result from Swanson's challenge to UVA, the University of Virginia would continue to struggle with racism and diversity issues within its student body, faculty, and administration to date. Race has always been and will continue to be an obstacle in Higher Education (Altbach & Lomotey, 1991). However, it was due to Gregory Swanson's courage to challenge the admissions policies of the University of Virginia that led its desegregation and the subsequent desegregation of Higher Education. Before the historic 1954 landmark Supreme Court Decision Brown v. the Board of Education that struck down the policy of "separate but equal" and set the legal precedent that racial discrimination in public education violates the United States Constitution, there was Swanson v. Rector of Visitors of the University of Virginia (1950). Swanson's landmark win and admission to the University of Virginia would open the threshold of numerous landmark cases of access denied because of race from Blacks and Whites well into the 21st century. The Department of Health Education and Welfare issued guidelines to higher education facilities for the implementation of the Executive Order 11246. The intent of this and other legislation was to increase the representation of women and minorities in educational institutions. Affirmative Action was established in the U.S. to address generations of persistent inequalities, discrimination, and marginalization of African Americans during the 1960's. In 1961 President John F. Kennedy Executive order 10925 mandated Affirmative Action for the equal opportunity employment and fair treatment of employee regardless of race color, or national origin. …


Although the English gender system is a semantic system largely based on sex, it is well known that in references to animals there is widespread discrepancy between pronominal gender and sex, and that gender selection is dependent on speaker's point of view (degree of interest in the animal, projection of personality and so on). What is yet to be established, however, is whether point of view still prevails in references to animals when the antecedent noun specifies the sex of the referent (e.g. stallion, ewe). In that case the neuter is known to occur but there is no quantitative assessment of the phenomenon, although it is crucial to understanding the influence of sex on gender selection. This article therefore proposes a statistical analysis of gender use in personal pronouns focusing exclusively on cases in which the antecedent noun specifies the sex of the animal. The analysis is carried out at the scale of the multi-million-word Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), using Pearson's chi-square test complemented by the odds ratio estimate. Three questions are considered: how common is the neuter? Is its relative frequency the same with female animals as with males? Finally, do the proportions vary according to the position of the anaphor relative to its antecedent?


Households' perception toward deforestation and knowledge on conservation is important for designing suitable management policies. However, more often than not local communities' perceptions do not receive as much attention as they deserve. The study investigated local communities' perception towards the impact of bamboo deforestation and identifies perceived impacts of bamboo deforestation. Data was obtained from a random sample of 384 households. Exploratory factor analysis and seemingly unrelated regression models were used to estimate various relationships. The result shows that 64.06 percent of respondents perceive bamboo forest cover as rapidly declining state. The factor analysis result has identified 3-latent factors (economic, environmental and social perceived impacts). The most perceived impact is economic impact with overall mean score of 3.05.Regression results showed shows that economic, environmental, and social impacts of bamboo deforestation were positivity interdependent, and influenced by some common underlying explanatory variables. These factors included:  age of the household head, experience in shifting cultivation, knowledge on the resource condition, and trust among community, membership in social groups, and distance from the forest, farm size, and dependency on bamboo collection.The result recommends the need for quick bamboo forest conservation and rehabilitation activity based on the principles of collective actions and participatory forest management system. Moreover, frequent awareness creation on wildfire protection, modern charcoal preparation, shifting agricultural production system, knowledge on the resource condition were suggested for effective and sustainable use of bamboo resources in the region. Keywords: Household perception, bamboo deforestation, factor analysis, SUR model, Benishangul Gumuz region, Ethiopia


PHILIP TEMPLE The Charterhouse, Survey of London Monograph 18. Gen. Ed., Andrew Saint. New Haven and London: Yale University Press for English Heritage, 2010, 317 pp., 158 illustrations. The Charterhouse is a rather luxurious London retirement home for well-connected bachelors and widowers; it merits the capital in the title of this volume (as if there were only one charterhouse) not just because of the survival of the original almshouse, but also because of the survival of the original school (although Charterhouse School moved to leafy Surrey in 1872). Most Londoners who know the Charterhouse (or Charterhouse School) will know little or nothing of its medieval context, although much has been written on it. The London charterhouse was founded by Walter Manny in 1370/1 around the nucleus of his plague cemetery and chapel, its Carthusian status determined by the bishop of London, Michael Northburgh. It was dissolved in 1538 and bought by Sir Edward North; at his death in 1564, it was bought by Thomas Howard, fourth Duke of Norfolk and became the center of London Catholicism between the 1570s and 1580s. Thomas Sutton bought it in 1611 and founded Sutton's Hospital, an almshouse for eighty old men and a school for forty boys. Both continue to this day, although the "almshouse" caters for fewer old men (but no women) and the school for many more boys (and girls). Previous scholarship on the London charterhouse (summarized on on pp. 6 to 11 of this volume) has focussed on the medieval and early modern periods, but the present book covers its whole life to the present day. (Its scholarship is even recent enough to refer to Michael Sargent's article in the Luxford volume reviewed in this issue, pp. 373-377, and it acknowledges the invaluable work of Andrew Wines, who also writes in the Luxford volume.) The Survey of London, under whose aegis the book was written, is part of English Heritage's Research Department and carries out detailed architectural and topographical studies of London parishes. It is as much interested in the twentieth as the fifteenth century, and the book is divided into three chapters on the history of the site (only the first chapter is relevant to our period), followed by six chapters on specific parts of the fabric of Sutton's Hospital then and now (chapters which include the medieval evidence). The remaining chapters deal with buildings in the environs: Rutland House (of which only the lodge survived bombing), Merchant Taylors' School (built on the site of Charterhouse School after its 1872 move), and the medical college of what was St Bartholomew's Hospital (which took over Merchant Taylors' in 1933). The Second World War demolished most of the surviving Merchant Taylors' and Barts' buildings, so that this final chapter deals only with post-World War II buildings. The focus of the volume is the architecture and archaeology of the buildings of the Charterhouse in their historical context, and of these only the chapterhouse (now the Chapel) survives of the Great Cloister of Sutton's Hospital (i.e., the Carthusian Great Cloister, lined with the monks' individual cells, the chapter-house where they met for business, and the church where they met for divine office). Many timber buildings have inevitably disappeared, and what is left is brick and stone. Much has been discovered since the last World War, which justifies a separate Survey volume arising out of research into the parish of Clerkenwell. The burning-out of Howard House as a result of bombing led to the discovery of Manny's tomb at the foot of the altar steps (1947), and subsequent excavations (published by the Museum of London in 2002) provided the footprints of the church and Little Cloister. Post-war over-restoration by Seely and Paget obscured or removed some original features, and that, as well as the many earlier remodellings, makes the site haphazard and hard to interpret. However, this exemplary scholarly work details all that is and all that it can be known there was, backed up by no fewer than 158 plans and illustrations, many in color. …


Pipeline robots, borehole robots or exploring robots that work in underground environments can be classified as underground robots. When an underground robot takes a task, tracing and mapping the track of the robot is very important. This project addresses the development of a positioning technique for stepwise underground robots, which have been developed in Durham University. This research is expected to provide a general benefit to stepwise robotic positioning systems rather than a particular robotic or other situation. The initial period of this project was the most difficult. After a few months of literature searching, no suitable positioning technique had been found. Existing techniques are suitable for surface robots, undersea robots or airborne robots but are far away from the application requirements for underground robots. Positioning technology depends on sensor techniques and measurement technologies. The underground environment restricts the use of absolute measurement technologies. Consequently, underground robotic positioning systems heavily rely on relative measurements, which can cause unbounded accumulation of the positioning errors. Moreover, underground environments restrict the use of many high precision sensors because of restricted space and other factors. Hence, the feasibility of developing high, long-term, accuracy underground robotic positioning systems was problematic. Since it was found that there was a lack of research on underground robotic positioning, fundamental investigation became necessary. The fundamentals include the dominant error and the characters of the accumulation of positioning errors. After the investigation of the fundamentals the difficulty and feasibility of developing a high long-term accuracy positioning system was understood more clearly and the key factors to improve the accuracy of a positioning system were known. Based on these, a novel parallel linkage mechanism based approach was proposed. This approach has flexibility in terms of geometrical structure and provides the possibility to improve long-term accuracy of a positioning system. Although parallel linkage mechanisms have drawn a great deal of attention from researchers in passed years, this is the first time a parallel linkage mechanism has been applied to a robotic positioning system. Consequently, new problems were generated by this application of parallel linkage mechanisms. In this project, a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method is applied to solve the positioning problems and a particular case has been used to show how to solve these problems. Through this case, the advantages of this approach and the feasibility to improve the positioning accuracy is presented. The methodology that can be used to solve the problems for different particular cases can also be used to carry out study for general situations, which have also been illustrated. Many problems still need to be solved. At the end of this thesis, some further problems are discussed. The author of this thesis believes that the proposed approach can be applied to industrial projects in the near future.


Phenolic acids are common plant metabolites that exhibit bioactive properties and have applications in functional food and animal feed formulations. The ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) spectra of four closely related phenolic acid structures were evaluated by principal component analysis (PCA) to develop spectral models for their rapid detection. Results demonstrated that UV and IR spectra could discriminate between each of the phenolic acids in overall models. Calculation of model scores and loadings showed that derivative UV spectra accounted for 99% variation with 2 principal components (PC) while derivative IR spectra required 3 PCs. Individual PCA models were developed for ferulic acid and p-coumaric acid using derivative UV spectra for detection and classification by soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA). The application of this spectral technique as a classification model is expected to promote the use of agricultural residues as a source of these phenolic compounds.


Natural Language Understanding (NLU) models can be trained on sensitive information such as phone numbers, zip-codes etc. Recent literature has focused on Model Inversion Attacks (ModIvA) that can extract training data from model parameters. In this work, we present a version of such an attack by extracting canaries inserted in NLU training data. In the attack, an adversary with open-box access to the model reconstructs the canaries contained in the model's training set. We evaluate our approach by performing text completion on canaries and demonstrate that by using the prefix (non-sensitive) tokens of the canary, we can generate the full canary. As an example, our attack is able to reconstruct a four digit code in the training dataset of the NLU model with a probability of 0.5 in its best configuration. As countermeasures, we identify several defense mechanisms that, when combined, effectively eliminate the risk of ModIvA in our experiments.


A rise in cycling nationwide has brought an increased awareness of bicycle specific safety concerns, particularly right-hook crashes at signalized intersections. There are several common and emerging signal timing strategies that are can be used to improve the safety and efficiency of traffic signals for people on bicycles, including the Leading Bicycle Intervals (LBI), Split LBI, and Exclusive Bicycle Phasing (EBP). The leading and split bicycle intervals provide a head start for bicycles in advance of concurrent and conflicting motor vehicle movements, typically about 3-5 seconds. The EBP provides an interval only when bicycles are moving. To examine the performance and efficiency metrics under a range of bicycle and motor vehicle volumes, a Vissim microsimulation model was developed. Passenger cars, large trucks, bicycles, and pedestrians were modeled to understand the performance across and between the modes. User delay values were extracted from the model and compared to the base case. A total of 210 simulation runs were conducted, accounting for approximately 262.5 hours of simulation. Results indicate a small vehicle delay increase of between 4% - 11% [as delay in seconds per user] for the Split LBI, with thru traffic (which is unaffected by the Split LBI treatment) virtually unaffected at 1% - 2% delay increases; the LBI saw larger increases in vehicle delay from 11% - 19%; and large vehicle delay increases for the EBP (up to 26% for the eastbound approach), but also found an apparent bias in the coordination scheme that led to decreases for the westbound approach. Bicycle delay results showed more variation with the LBI treatment showing little impact, with results ranging from -5% - 5% changes in bicycle delay. Split LBI showed delay increases of 3% - 11% for the thru cyclists, but mixed results for the right turning cyclists, which showed delay results increasing as a function of bicycle traffic. Bicycle delay results for the EBP showed large increases from 100% - 565%. Pedestrians and left turning vehicles were all but unaffected by either the LBI or Split LBI. While the EBP did show changes in delay as high as 22% for pedestrians. This research demonstrates that bicycle specific treatments do impact user delay at busy arterial intersections, although the magnitude of impact differs depending on the treatment used. The use of the Split LBI had little overall impact


"[A]mong the many symbolic resources available for the cultural production of identity, language is the most flexible and pervasive." (Bucholtz & Hall, 2003, p. 369)
This study explores how food celebrities (re)produce (gender, class, cultural) identities through variant choice. The corpus (3,704 adjectival heads) derives from 20 hours of televised cooking shows from 12 food celebrities from Canada, England, and the USA. The chefs are classified in five gendered culinary personas (male: chef-artisan, gastro-sexual, environmentalist; female: pin-ups and homebodies) following Johnston, Rodney and Chong's categorization (2014). The two linguistic variables examined are degree modifiers preceding adjectives: intensifiers (really great, pretty sticky), and attenuators (a bit cold, a little different), as well as gradable adjectives (nice, beautiful). I use multivariate analysis to measure linguistic (syntactic position and adjective type) and social (gender, country, and food) correlations, as well as qualitative methods informed by work in the growing field of Food Studies (Ashley, Hollows, Jones & Taylor, 2004; Johnston et al., 2014; Naccarato & LeBesco, 2012, Prescott, 2012).
The results indicate that the intensification rates (29 %) and the three most frequently used intensifiers (really, very and so) in televised cooking shows are similar to those found by other studies (e.g., Ito & Tagliamonte, 2003; Tagliamonte, 2008; Tagliamonte & Roberts, 2005). However, different from previous findings, the nice and construction takes the fourth place of frequency, attenuators appear well distributed and with an important role as food and cooking gradators as well as markers of culinary control. The results also reveal that −ly intensifiers mark masculinity among chefs, HEDONIST VALUE adjectives indicate sensual femininity among pin-ups, and really and TASTE adjectives are instruments of adequation (Bucholtz & Hall, 2005) used by gastro-sexuals to assimilate to homebodies. Although the skew towards 'positivity' is unmarked and common across languages (Rozin, Berman & Royzman, 2012), the analysis suggests that it may serve a purpose in the construction of cooking shows as 'fantasies of transformation.' Finally, this paper exemplifies how sociolinguistic and variationist analysis can help decode social hierarchies and constructs within fields and societies.


The Third International Symposium in Robotics Research was held in the Fall of 1985 in Gouvieux-Chantilly, France. This book collects 45 papers presented by the 66 participants from the U.S., Japan, and Europe, reflecting the wide variety of research issues currently under exploration. The topics covered include perception (visual and local), action And control, robot mechanisms, and modeling and systems.Selected contents: Two Sensors Are Better Than One: Examples of Integration of Vision and Touch (Bajcsy and Allen). A Layered Intelligent Control System for a Mobile Robot (R. A. Brooks). Design of a CAD/CAM System for Robotics on a Microcomputer (E. Dombre, A. Fournier, C. Quard, R. Zapata). Tackling Uncertainty and Imprecision in Robotics (A. Farreny and A. Prade). Robot Learning and Teach-In Based on Sensory Feedback (G. Hirzinger). Estimation of Inertial Parameters of Manipulator Loads and Links (J. Hollerback). Parallel Manipulator (H. Inoue, Y. Tsusaka, T Fukuizumi). The Operational Space Formulation in the Analysis, Design, and Control of Manipulators (O. Khatib), Symmetry in Running (M. Raibert). Integrated Language, Sensing, and Control for a Robot Hand (K. Salisbury). A Stereo Method Using Disparity Histograms of Multi-Resolution Channels (Y. Shirai)."Robotics Research" is eighteenth in the Artificial Intelligence Series, edited by Patrick Winston and Michael Brady.


Nowadays, new emerging products claiming antioxidant properties are becoming more frequent. However, information about this topic in their labels is usually scarce. In this paper, we analyzed total phenolics, total flavonoids and ascorbic acid contents, as well as DPPH scavenging activity of several commercial samples, namely green tea and other herbal infusions, dietary supplements, and fruit juices, available in the Portuguese market. In general, beverages containing green tea and hibiscus showed higher phenolics contents (including flavonoids) and antioxidant activity than those without these ingredients. A borututu infusion presented the lowest concentrations of bioactive compounds and scavenging activity, due to the low recommended amount of plant to prepare the beverage. Some juices without antioxidant claims in the label presented similar values to those with it.