Previous work suggests that people with poor sleep quality, especially patients with primary insomnia, show an attentional preference for sleep-related stimuli (sleep-related attentional bias). Studies investigating this effect have generally used standardised reaction time experiments, in which the effects of a large number of sleep-related stimuli were averaged. Here, we analysed the data of two studies in order to investigate the contribution of single sleep-related stimuli (words) to sleep-related attentional bias. Results showed that effect sizes of the stimuli were relatively stable between the two studies. Knowing effect sizes of individual stimuli is important for the construction of future attentional paradigms, as well as providing a better understanding of the magnitude and content of sleep-related attentional bias.


From the Booker Prize-winning author of 'Offshore' comes this unusual romance between the poet Novalis and his fiancee Sophie, newly introduced by Candia McWilliam. The year is 1794 and Fritz, passionate, idealistic and brilliant, is seeking his father's permission to announce his engagement to his heart's desire: twelve-year-old Sophie. His astounded family and friends are amused and disturbed by his betrothal. What can he be thinking? Tracing the dramatic early years of the young German who was to become the great romantic poet and philosopher Novalis, 'The Blue Flower' is a masterpiece of invention, evoking the past with a reality that we can almost feel.


Numerous studies have shown that female scientists tend to publish significantly fewer publications than do their male colleagues. In this study, we have analyzed whether similar differences also can be found in terms of citation rates. Based on a large-scale study of 8,500 Norwegian researchers and more than 37,000 publications covering all areas of knowledge, we conclude that the publications of female researchers are less cited than are those of men, although the differences are not large. The gender differences in citation rates can be attributed to differences in productivity. There is a cumulative advantage effect of increasing publication output on citation rates. Since the women in our study publish significantly fewer publications than do men, they benefit less from this effect. The study also provides results on how publication and citation rates vary according to scientific position, age, and discipline. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Accelerators assist early-stage ventures by offering networking opportunities, access to funding and training. We map business accelerators in five categories: Independent Accelerators (IA), Corporate Accelerators (CA), Hybrid Accelerators (HA), University Accelerators (UA), and Government Accelerators (GA). We argue that accelerators can be described by two main acceleration models (Model 1 and Model 2), providing accelerators with valuable information on how to position themselves strategically in the ecosystem. We identify a list of accelerators' 'characterizing' variables that allows for differentiating the five accelerator categories and describing the various acceleration models. Empirical evidence is provided on the two acceleration models based on a case study of eight Swiss acceleration programs.


Nasoseptal Perforations: Endoscopic Repair Techniques Isam Alobid Hent PDF Forlaget skriver: This atlas offers a complete review of all endoscopic approaches available for the repair of nasoseptal perforations, following damage that may occur through trauma, infection, drug abuse, or as a result of endoscopic skull base surgery. Approaches are explained step by step using brilliant photographs from fresh cadaver dissections. Key Features: Internationally renowned specialists from Europe and the United States as editors and contributors Full-color photos of fresh cadaver dissections illustrate all steps for each approach Specific anatomic landmarks as revealed during each step are detailed, providing confidence in spatial orientation Includes risks and potential complications as well as methods to reduce them Videos of cadaver dissections and live surgery Nasoseptal Perforations: Endoscopic Repair Techniques will be an important resource for residents, fellows, and surgeons in otolaryngology, plastic and reconstructive surgery, and craniomaxillofacial surgery.


Routine monitoring of the wire bonding process requires real-time evaluation and control of wire bond quality. In this paper, we present a nondestructive technique for detecting bond quality by the application of a semisupervised classification algorithm to process the signals obtained from an ultrasonic generator. Experimental tests verified that the classification method is capable of accurately predicting bond quality, indicated by bonded area measured by X-ray tomography. Samples classified during bonding were subjected to temperature cycling between -55 °C and +125 °C, and the distribution of bond life amongst the different classes was analyzed. It is demonstrated that the as-bonded quality classification is closely correlated with thermal cycling life and can, therefore, be used as a nondestructive tool for monitoring bond quality and predicting useful service life.


Wilson and Reeder's Mammal Species of the World is the classic reference book on the taxonomic classification and distribution of the more than 5400 species of mammals that exist today. The third edition includes detailed information on nomenclature and, for the first time, common names. Each concise entry covers type locality, distribution, synonyms, and major reference sources. The systematic arrangement of information indicates evolutionary relationships at both the ordinal and the family level. This indispensable reference work belongs in public and academic libraries throughout the world and on the shelf of every biologist who works with mammals.


UV curable formulations must adhere to a wide range of substrates while also achieving a wide range of different material properties. In this study we evaluate adhesion of different formulations on a range of different substrates including polymer, metal, and glass. Urethane acrylates, epoxy acrylates, polyester acrylates, and thiol-ene based formulations are evaluated while systematically varying formulation viscosity and thickness. Formulations are cured using both broadband mercury as well as LED lights.


The Large Observatory For x-ray Timing (LOFT) is a mission concept which was proposed to ESA as M3 and M4 candidate in the framework of the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 program. Thanks to the unprecedented combination of effective area and spectral resolution of its main instrument and the uniquely large field of view of its wide field monitor, LOFT will be able to study the behaviour of matter in extreme conditions such as the strong gravitational field in the innermost regions close to black holes and neutron stars and the supra-nuclear densities in the interiors of neutron stars. The science payload is based on a Large Area Detector (LAD, >8m2 effective area, 2-30 keV, 240 eV spectral resolution, 1 degree collimated field of view) and a Wide Field Monitor (WFM, 2-50 keV, 4 steradian field of view, 1 arcmin source location accuracy, 300 eV spectral resolution). The WFM is equipped with an on-board system for bright events (e.g., GRB) localization. The trigger time and position of these events are broadcast to the ground within 30 s from discovery. In this paper we present the current technical and programmatic status of the mission.


Objective: The aim of this study was to define the natural history of lower urinary tract obstruction (LUTO) with normal midgestational amniotic fluid volumes. Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective review of 32 consecutive patients with LUTO with normal midgestational amniotic fluid volume followed at 11 North American Fetal Therapy Network (NAFTNet) centers from August 2007 to May 2012. Normal amniotic fluid volume was defined as an amniotic fluid index (AFI) of ≥9 cm. Results: The mean gestational age (GA) and AFI at enrollment were 23.1 ± 2.1 weeks and 15.8 ± 3.9 cm, respectively. The mean GA at delivery was 37.3 ± 2.8 weeks. The mean creatinine level at discharge was 1.2 ± 0.8 mg/dL. Perinatal survival was 97%. Twenty-five patients returned for serial postnatal assessment. Renal replacement therapy (RRT) was required in 32%. Development of oligohydramnios and/or anhydramnios, development of cortical renal cysts, posterior urethral valves, prematurity, and prolonged neonatal intensive care unit stay were associated with need for RRT (p < 0.05) by univariate analysis. By multivariate analysis, preterm delivery remained predictive of need for RRT (p = 0.004). Conclusion: Prenatal diagnosis of LUTO with normal midgestational amniotic fluid volumes is associated with acceptable renal function in the majority of patients. Approximately one-third of these children require RRT. Surrogate markers of disease severity appear to be predictive of need for RRT.


A system of subvertical, northeast-striking shear zones collectively called the Cheyenne belt comprises the fundamental boundary between the Archean Wyoming province and the Paleoproterozoic Colorado province in the Medicine Bow Mountains of southeastern Wyoming. These shear zones are generally interpreted as a mid-crustal thrust system rotated to its present-day subvertical orientation during late-stage, orogen-scale folding. However, the map geometry, presence of large domains of S tectonites, and vertical mineral lineations closely match numerical simulations of transpressional shear zones. This transpression hypothesis is tested using two detailed case studies that integrate detailed geologic mapping, kinematic analyses of S and L-S tectonites, quartz crystallographic fabric analyses, and deformation mechanism analyses of shear zones in the western part of the Medicine Bow Mountains. These data point toward general shear deformation that accommodated two coeval deformation components: (1) southeast-side-up, dip-slip or southeast-side-up/dextral, oblique-slip motion and (2) foliation-normal shortening. According to the broadest definition, these are transpressional shear zones. However, the strike-slip component is small, and these data do not require any significant oblique plate motion during the formation of the Cheyenne belt shear zones.

The lack of evidence for overprinting of initial southeast-side-up fabrics by horizontal shortening, the near parallelism of the subvertical shear zones throughout the upper and middle crust, and the presence of subvertical mafic dike swarms in Archean basement rocks immediately adjacent to the Cheyenne belt all indicate that the Cheyenne belt shear zones were not rotated into their present-day subvertical orientations during late-stage deformation. Instead, we interpret the shear zones as a ∼1,750-Ma steeply dipping stretching fault system between the penetratively deformed young, hot, rheologically weak rocks of the Colorado province and the old, cold, rheologically strong Archean rocks north of the belt.


The gobies are non-commercial fishes in the Iranian waters of the Caspian Sea for which population dynamics and stock status are poorly known. In this survey, we tried to define species diversity and catch per unit effort (CPUE) of Gobiidae by using beach seine nets in Salmanshahr, the southern Caspian Sea. From March 2011 to April 2012, 224 specimens representing 4 gobiid species, belonging to genus Ponticola and Neogobius, were caught. The deepwater Goby, Ponticola bathybius (Kessler, 1877), was the most abundant species with 92.8% frequency. The highest catch per unit effort of gobiid fishes was obtained in spring. The species diversity was highest in spring according to Shannon's index.


This paper presents reliability and failure analysis of embedded components on the liquid crystalline substrate. First, a demonstration module for embedded technology is fabricated. Then it is put into thermal cycling to find out the most obvious failure. 3D FEM analysis is employed to investigate the failure mode. A design of experiment method is conducted to obtain the optimal structure of embedded chip components.


Hyperforin (Hyp), a polyphenol-derivative of St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum), has emerged as key player not only in the antidepressant activity of the plant but also as an inhibitor of bacteria lymphocyte and tumor cell proliferation, and matrix proteinases. We tested whether as well as inhibiting leukocyte elastase (LE) activity, Hyp might be effective in containing both polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) leukocyte recruitment and unfavorable eventual tissue responses. The results show that, without affecting in vitro human PMN viability and chemokine-receptor expression, Hyp (as stable dicyclohexylammonium salt) was able to inhibit in a dose-dependent manner their chemotaxis and chemoinvasion (IC50 = 1 μM for both); this effect was associated with a reduced expression of the adhesion molecule CD11b by formyl-Met-Leu-Phe-stimulated neutrophils and block of LE-triggered activation of the gelatinase matrix metalloproteinase-9. PMN-triggered angiogenesis is also blocked by both local injection and daily i.p. administration of the Hyp salt in an interleukin-8-induced murine model. Furthermore, i.p. treatment with Hyp reduces acute PMN recruitment and enhances resolution in a pulmonary bleomycin-induced inflammation model, significantly reducing consequent fibrosis. These results indicate that Hyp is a powerful anti-inflammatory compound with therapeutic potential, and they elucidate mechanistic keys.


We study the optimal provision of unemployment insurance (UI) over the business cycle. We consider an equilibrium Mortensen-Pissarides search and matching model with risk-averse workers and aggregate shocks to labor productivity. Both the vacancy creation decisions of firms and the search effort decisions of workers respond endogenously to aggregate shocks as well as to changes in UI policy. We characterize the optimal history-dependent UI policy. We find that, all else equal, the optimal benefit is decreasing in current productivity and decreasing in current unemployment. Optimal benefits are therefore lowest when current productivity is high and current unemployment is high. The optimal path of benefits reacts non-monotonically to a productivity shock. Following a drop in productivity, benefits initially rise in order to provide short-run relief to the unemployed and stabilize wages, but then fall significantly below their pre-recession level, in order to speed up the subsequent recovery. Under the optimal policy, the path of benefits is pro-cyclical overall. As compared to the existing US UI system, the optimal history-dependent benefits smooth cyclical fluctuations in unemployment and deliver non-negligible welfare gains.


The typical radiology reporting workflow involves the radiologist first looking at one or more relevant prior studies before interpreting the current study. To improve workflow efficiency, PACS systems can display relevant prior imaging studies, typically based on a study's anatomy as indicated in the Body Part Examined field of the DICOM header. The content of the Body Part Examined field can be very generic. For instance, an imaging study to exclude pancreatitis and another one to exclude renal stones will both have "abdomen" in their body part field, making it difficult to differentiate them. To improve prior study matching and support better study filtering, in this paper, we present a rule-based approach to determine specific body parts contained in the free-text DICOM Study Description field. Algorithms were trained using a production dataset of 1200 randomly selected unique study descriptions and validated against a test dataset of 404 study descriptions. Our validation resulted in 99.94% accuracy. The proposed technique suggests that a rule-based approach can be used for domain specific body part extraction from DICOM headers.


In this thesis we have been using simulation as a method to analyse the structural changes at Karmsund Container Terminal. By measuring the different steps in the container handling process, we were able to evaluate how the structural changes affected the latter process. Structural changes can in this thesis be defined as the construction of a new container terminal, including relocation of the various facilities and expanding the quayside. The simulation also made it possible to do a sensitivity analysis on the ship activity at the terminal. In this way we could evaluate how the structural changes affected the container terminals ability to handle an increased number of ship arrivals, as well as a growth in the container throughput at the terminal. First we will be introducing relevant theory for this research. Parts of previous literature were used in the development of the simulation model. The rest is presented as a basis for the overall evaluation of the result. Our primary data were collected through interviews and observation when visiting the container terminal. This information has been crucial for the development of the simulation model, making sure we captured a realistic picture of the situation. The secondary data were collected through historical statistics acquired from Karmsund Port Authorities database. Data concerning the terminal activities for the last 9 months were collected and processed using different goodness of fit tests. The distributions developed made it possible to utilize the full extent of the simulation program by capturing the stochastic dynamic aspects of the port activities. The results of the simulation told us that the structural changes potentially could affect the overall cargo handling process in a positive way. Leading to increased efficiency and an overall more stable operation. We also found the new terminal better suited to handle the expected traffic growth to the container terminal.


Introduction: Studies suggest that an elevated inflammatory profile is associated with increased stroke incidence and worse post-stroke outcome. It is unclear if an elevated inflammatory profile on admission is a useful prognostic marker of poor outcome after stroke, a reflection of a more severe stroke, or a marker of infection or the comorbidities that caused the stroke. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that elevated acute phase reactants (APRs) are associated with poor outcome post-stroke, independent of stroke severity and infection. Methods: The study used a prospectively collected clinical database of 755 patients admitted for ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke. APRs studied included erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), glucose, platelets, and white blood cell count. Outcome was assessed at discharge using a dichotomous modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 3-6 (poor outcome) vs. 0-2 (good outcome), and was evaluated in multivariate logistic regression. Analyses were adjusted for NIHSS, age, sex, race, hypertension, diabetes, and use of antithrombotic medication, and were further stratified by presence/ absence of diabetes, infection (via urinalysis), and by race. Results: Elevated ESR (OR: 1.16, 95% CI: 1.00-1.33) and glucose (OR: 1.04 per 10 mg/dL, 95% CI: 1.00-1.09), were each associated with poor outcome, independent of stroke severity (NIHSS). Even in non-diabetics, elevated glucose was associated with 15% non-significantly higher odds of poor outcome per 10 mg/dL (95% CI: 0.998-1.34). However, subgroup analysis of those without infection showed no association between APRs and poor outcome. In race-stratified models, glucose level was significantly associated with poor outcome in African Americans (OR: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.01-1.26), but not in other races. Conclusion: Our study shows that ESR is associated with poor outcome after stroke, independently of stroke severity, and that elevated glucose may be associated with increased odds of poor outcome in non-diabetic or African American ischemic stroke patients. Glucose and ESR may play a role in determining prognosis of stroke patients, and therefore point to a potential target for improving outcome of stroke patients.


This paper consist of four parts.1. National teaching -learning curricula. Concepts such as teaching -learning curriculum, planning-document (e.g. "schoolworkplan") and its functions are elaborated. Reasons are"given for the absence of a systematic and integral approach to the development of national teaching - learning curricula.2. National teaching - learning curricula between the poles of centralization and decentralization.Centralizing and decentralizing tendencies should be considered complementary rather than polar. An antithetic either - or approach is rejected and prplaced by an.antinomic and-and view. This paper advocates a close and well-balanced cooperation between the national level (the creation of a national framework) and the local level (the concrete operationalization of that framework).3. Consequences for teachers.This part discusses three functions of curricula, the connections between curriculum - knowledge - power, the role of teachers in the cooperative relationships mentioned under 2. In this context the inservice education and training of teachers should have a high priority.4. Aanzet voor de ontwikkeling van een onderwijsleerplan moderne vreemde talen.This memorandum by van Ek en Groot is summarized and commented upon.


In December 2017, South Sudan marked four years of devastating conflict. Only a few months later, it has reached another critical point: more South Sudanese are hungry than ever before. While the February 2018 Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) does not declare famine, any classification of IPC 3 upwards means people need aid to survive. This means that 6.3 million people are struggling to get enough to eat, and are dependent on humanitarian aid that is increasingly difficult to access. This report examines the impact of the ongoing conflict on hunger through the prism of livelihoods; women's empowerment; displacement; water, sanitation and hygiene; and the spread of disease. It provides recommendations for the international community and warring parties on what they can do to stop the violence, increase access to humanitarian aid and allow the people of South Sudan to recover.


There is magic (or is it witchcraft?) in a speech recognizer that transcribes continuous radio speech into text with a word accuracy of even not more than 50%. The extreme difficulty of this task, tough, is usually not perceived by the general public. This is because we are almost deaf to the infinite acoustic variations that accompany the production of vocal sounds, which arise from physiological constraints (co-articulation), but also from the acoustic environment (additive or convolutional noise, Lombard effect), or from the emotional state of the speaker (voice quality, speaking rate, hesitations, etc.). Our consciousness of speech is indeed not stimulated until after it has been processed by our brain to make it appear as a sequence of meaningful units: phonemes and words. In this Chapter we will see how statistical pattern recognition and statistical sequence recognition techniques are currently used for trying to mimic this extraordinary faculty of our mind (4.1). We will follow, in Section 4.2, with a MATLAB-based proof of concept of word-based automatic speech recognition (ASR) based on Hidden Markov Models (HMM), using a bigram model for modeling (syntactic-semantic) language constraints.


This paper presents an approach to modeling land-cover change as a function of land-use change. We argue that, in order to model the link between socio-economic change and changes in forest cover in a region that is experiencing residential and recreational development and agricultural abandonment, land-use and land-cover change need to be represented as separate processes. Forest-cover change is represented here using two transition probabilities that were calculated from Landsat imagery and that, taken together, describe a Markov transition matrix between forest and non-forest over a 10-year period. Using a three-date land-use data set, compiled and interpreted from digitized parcel boundaries, and scanned aerial photography for 136 sites (c. 2500 ha) sampled from the Upper Midwest, USA, we test functional relationships between forest-cover transition probabilities, standardized to represent changes over a decade, and land-use conditions and changes within sample sites. Regression models indicated that about 60% of the variation in the average forest-cover transition probabilities (i.e. from forest to non-forest and vice versa) can be predicted using three variables: amount of agricultural land use in a site; amount of developed land use; and the amount of area increasing in development. In further analysis, time lags were evaluated, showing that agricultural abandonment had a relatively strong time-lag effect but development did not. We demonstrate an approach to using forest-cover transition probabilities to develop spatially-constrained simulations of forest-cover change. Because the simulations are based on transition probabilities that are indexed to a particular time and place, the simulations are improved over previous applications of Markov transition models. This modeling approach can be used to predict forest-cover changes as a result of socio-economic change, by linking to models that predict land-use change on the basis of exogenous human-induced drivers.


Clinically otosclerosis the most common cause of hearing impairment, characterized by isolated sclerosis endochondral bone capsule of the labyrinth, which is anatomically composes the inner ear of a person where the sound wave is transforming into nerve impulses, which is conducting nerve pathways reaches certain centers of the brain, causing the person hears sounds. Otosclerotic foci invade the so-called stapedious-vestibular connection (oval window) and thus hinder the free movement of the stapes, is playing an active role in the sound wave. The disease usually starts at a young age, more common in women (78%).  Young age at onset of otosclerosis is 70% of the victims, who are aged 20 - 30 years old at the time of diagnosis. Approximately 10% of affected patients with otosclerosis develop profound sensorineural hearing loss at all frequencies. Characteristical  is a  progressive, usually bilateral hearing loss, alternating with periods of stabilization and a sense of noise in the ear. Otosclerosis disease due to limited human capabilities often contributes to anxiety disorders, as evidenced by a variety of data, based on the experimentation conducted in the prestigious international clinics. The anxiety disorder is a group of neuroses associated with unfounded and sense of fear and tension without any specific reason. There are different types of anxiety disorders – agoraphobia, panic disorder, specific (isolated) phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social phobia and others. According to the survey regarding the comorbidity, the total prevalence of anxiety disorders in patients with otosclerosis suffering from hearing loss and tinnitus, is 24.9%. The effects of these disorders on physical health and professional activity of patients with otosclerosis are well documented on the basis of Institute of Otorhinolaryngolog named by  A.A. Kolomichenko. More than half of patients with otosclerosis, anxiety disorders have reported  of severe occupational dysfunction until disability. Keywords: hearing, otosclerosis, anxiety, anxiety disorders . * * * * * Download/read PDF


The Veterinary Policy Research Foundation employs a veterinary intern to assist Lord Trees in advancing veterinary thinking in parliament. Here, the current intern Catrina Prince shares an update.


This article reviews proposals by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Camp and Senator Mike Enzi to shift the United States from its current system of deferring taxation of active foreign income to a system that would exempt foreign business income from U.S. tax. (Neither proposal would materially affect the present U.S. system for taxing U.S.-source income.) The major contributions of the Camp Proposal lie in its recognition of the need to (i) make the treatment of foreign branches and foreign subsidiaries more neutral, and (ii) protect the U.S. tax base from excess interest deductions and the base-eroding incentives of very low foreign tax environments that stimulate U.S. income shifting. However, these improvements to current law would not justify changing to an exemption regime under the Camp Proposal in light of its many weaknesses, which include (but are not limited to) (i) material under-allocation of expenses to exempt foreign income, (ii) material loopholes in its anti-abuse rules for protecting the U.S. tax base, (iii) an apparent failure to tax gain upon transfers of appreciated assets into the exemption regime, (iv) foreign tax credit changes that would result in additional erosion of the U.S. tax base and (v) a misguided proposal for a reduced tax rate on royalties earned from foreign persons. The Enzi Proposal has similar weaknesses while lacking the strengths of the Camp Proposal.Our analysis of the Camp and Enzi Proposals highlights that U.S. international tax reform is integrally related to U.S. corporate, shareholder and business pass-through taxation. A full consideration of any international business taxation proposal must be in the context of the overall income tax regime within which the international rules must operate. Chairman Camp has promised a comprehensive tax reform proposal; and business and financial products elements have been put forward. However, a final evaluation of his international proposal must await release of a completed, integrated tax reform package, including final corporate and individual tax rates. Senator Enzi's proposal is a stand-alone reform and apparently is intended for adoption irrespective whether the corporate tax rate is reduced or other tax reforms are enacted.In a recent article we articulated how a principled exemption system should be designed so as to protect the U.S tax base. It is possible to modify the Camp and Enzi Proposals to address their weaknesses in ways consistent with a principled exemption system. We recognize that such changes would make them unattractive to many in the multinational corporate community; however, that likely is true of any exemption system that would be a material improvement over current law. In our view, unless a shift to an exemption system would constitute a material improvement over current law, the likely revenue losses and transition costs of such a change would outweigh the benefits.


In the past years, the transiency of European city-making and dwelling has become increasingly hard to disregard. This urban flux calls for a methodological rethinking for those professionals, social and natural scientists, artists, and activists, with an interest in the processes of remaking and reclaiming urban space. With a practical and empirical emphasis, this anthology brings forth a variety of perspectives on urban appropriation strategies, their relation to public space-making, and their implications for future city development, exploring how ideas and practices of appropriation inform and relate to cultural narratives, politico-historical occasions as well as socio-ecological expressions.


This study analyses the communication of the five major categories of risk (business, strategy, market and
credit risk disclosure) over the volatile 2007-2009 Global Financial Crisis (GFC) time period in key South
East Asian countries' manufacturing listed companies. This study is important as it contributes to the
literature by providing insights into the voluntary risk disclosure practices using sample countries with
different economic scenarios. Key findings are that business risk is the most disclosed category and strategy
risk is the least disclosed. Business and credit risk disclosure consistently increase over the three year period,
while operating, market and strategy risk disclosure increase in 2008, but then decrease slightly in 2009.
Statistical analysis reveals that country of incorporation and size help predict risk disclosure levels. The overall
low disclosure levels (26- 29%) highlight the potential for far higher communication of key risk factors.


Environmental organisations have been active since the early 1960s in putting environmental issues on the political agenda and in strengthening the environmental consciousness of the public. The struggle has been successful in the sense that there is now a strong demand for practical solutions among all kinds of actors. It is, however, difficult for states and political actors to manage environmental problems by traditional forms and instruments, due to the complex character of the problems. Therefore, environmental organisations take their own initiatives to participate in policy-making by developing new forms, within new arenas, with the help of new instruments (voluntary rules or standards). Special attention is paid to the possibilities of identifying and developing constructive roles in relation to other actors and institutions as well as the capacity to organise standardisation projects and to mobilise and make use of power resources such as symbolic capital and knowledge. In order to interpret characteristics and implications (possibilities and limitations) of standardisation strategies, I draw on the ecological modernisation perspective. Empirically, I refer to the role of Swedish environmental organisations in standardisation projects such as eco-labelling.


A hot chamber die casting machine designed for zinc was donated to Purdue University. This
machine was slated for retrofit of components necessary for aluminum hot chamber die casting.
Existing components designed for zinc, mainly H-13 and cast iron, do not have the necessary
service life to economically produce castings due to chemical attack on machine components
from molten aluminum. Multiple systems were redesigned, including the pot, plunger,
gooseneck, furnace, and cooling lines. All components were upgraded to allow for the higher
service temperatures needed for molten aluminum, along with a niobium gooseneck and anviloy
nozzle to resist chemical attack of injection components. Once design and retrofitting were
complete aluminum alloy A380 was used in conjunction with a niobium gooseneck design to
create tensile bars. These tensile bars were subsequently tested and mechanical properties
evaluated.


Understanding how local environmental factors lead to temporal variability of vital rates and to plasticity of life history tactics is one of the central questions in population ecology. We used long-term capture-recapture data from five populations of a small hibernating rodent, the edible dormouse Glis glis, collected over a large geographical range across Europe, to determine and analyze both seasonal patterns of local survival and their relation to reproductive activity. In all populations studied, survival was lowest in early summer, higher in late summer and highest during hibernation in winter. In reproductive years survival was always lower than in non-reproductive years, and females had higher survival rates than males. Very high survival rates during winter indicate that edible dormice rarely die from starvation due to insufficient energy reserves during the hibernation period. Increased mortality in early summer was most likely caused by high predation risk and unmet energy demands. Those effects have probably an even stronger impact in reproductive years, in which dormice were more active. Although these patterns could be found in all areas, there were also considerable differences in average survival rates, with resulting differences in mean lifetime reproductive success between populations. Our results suggest that edible dormice have adapted their life history strategies to maximize lifetime reproductive success depending on the area specific frequency of seeding events of trees producing energy-rich seeds.


The paper develops further the method presented in [12], [14], based on energy balance in the resonant tank. This method allows a stable operation of the switches and a higher efficiency of any Series Loaded Series Resonant (SLSR) power converter, especially when contactless energy transfer is concerned. The strategy is based on guaranteeing the correct portion of energy transported by the resonant tank to the load. The portion has to vary corresponding to the error signal taken from the output voltage and remains unchanged if the error signal from the output is at its minimum. In a certain way this method is similar to the Current Mode Control of the classical power converters.


Abstract Container-breeding mosquitoes are important in public health due to outbreaks of Zika, chikungunya, and dengue viruses. This paper documents the distribution of container-breeding mosquito species in Mississippi, with special emphasis on the genus Aedes. Five sites in each of the 82 Mississippi counties were sampled monthly between May 1 and August 31, 2016, and 50,109 mosquitoes in 14 species were collected. The most prevalent and widely distributed species found was Ae. albopictus, being found in all 82 counties, especially during July. A recent invasive, Ae. japonicus, seems to be spreading rapidly in Mississippi since first being discovered in the state in 2011. The most abundant Culex species collected were Cx. quinquefasciatus (found statewide), Cx. salinarius (almost exclusively in the southern portion of the state), and Cx. restuans (mostly central and southern Mississippi). Another relatively recent invasive species, Cx. coronator, was found in 20 counties, predominantly in the southern one-third of the state during late summer. Co-occurrence data of mosquito species found in the artificial containers were also documented and analyzed. Lastly, even though we sampled extensively in 410 sites across Mississippi, no larval Ae. aegypti were found. These data represent the first modern statewide survey of container species in Mississippi, and as such, allows for better public health readiness for emerging diseases and design of more effective vector control programs.


The development strategies being promoted in the EU – Europe 2020 and the 2014-2020 Cohesion Policy – aim to supersede the presumed incompatibility between efficiency and equity through a policy approach tailoring interventions to the key specificities of all territories, including the most disadvantaged. In this view, the socio-economic progress of lagging regions would help keeping under control any increase in inequalities potentially associated with the economic development process. However, the idea of promoting spatially-targeted interventions in economically backward areas has been conceptually questioned, and the effectiveness of the Cohesion Policy programme in poorer regions is yet to be convincingly proven.
In the policy framework underpinning EU strategies, a key role is assigned to the quality of regional and local government institutions. Public institutions are conceived as instrumental for identifying and solving the bottlenecks inhibiting economic growth and perpetuating social exclusion in poorer places. Nevertheless, local governments may also be responsible for wastes and misallocations of financial resources. While theoretical contributions on the importance of government institutions for regional and local development abound, empirical evidence on their functioning is scarce. Through which mechanisms they influence the design and outcomes of public policies is unclear.
Drawing from cross-country investigations and case-studies in the European context, the four quantitative studies composing this Thesis contribute to shed light on these related issues.
Focusing on the United Kingdom, the first paper evaluates the economic and labour market impact of EU Cohesion Policy. Counterfactual analyses demonstrate that EU regional policies may have a beneficial impact on the labour market and growth path of peripheral regions. The study warns over possible negative repercussions of a discontinuation of EU financial support to poorer areas, a result of obvious relevance for the country after 'Brexit'.
By exploiting panel samples of EU regions, the second and third papers shed light on the role of government institutions for the returns of regional investments and for labour market and social conditions in Europe. The second paper examines the link between institutional quality, transport infrastructure investments, and economic growth. It shows that improvements in secondary (local) roads are conducive to a better economic performance only in presence of sound regional governments. The third paper investigates the extent to which the factors at the centre of European growth strategies – institutions, innovation, human capital and transport infrastructure – contribute to the generation of employment and to social inclusion in EU regions. The evidence produced suggests that regional government institutions have been essential to mitigate social exclusion issues in EU regions.
The fourth paper focuses on Southern Italy to examine how public finances are distorted by 'local governments captures' operated by organised crime. Collusions between mafia and local politics have a significant impact on the selection of investments and on the collection of fiscal revenues. The local policy agenda is modified to the advantage of the interests of organised crime.
Overall, the evidence emerging from this Thesis suggests that policy interventions have the potential to boost the economic and labour market performance of the less developed EU regions. However, any favourable policy outcome (both in terms of efficiency and equity) is conditioned by the competence and the goodwill of government institutions responsible for defining development targets and enforcing investment plans. When politicians are conditioned by illegal pressures from criminal groups, investment decisions follow special interests rather than general welfare goals. In turn, inadequate governance harms the economic impact of selected interventions. The results are particularly relevant for the lively debate, within economic geography, on the pre-conditions and policy measures enabling 'smart and inclusive' development at the sub-national level.


It is frequently assumed that the development of children's abilities in short-term memory reflects changes in a unitary short-term store. This approach makes only poor contact with recent research on adults, which suggests the idea of a more complex ' working memory ' system consisting of a limited-capacity central processor controlling a number of special-purpose stores. Two such stores are (i) the articulatory loop, a subsystem involved in subvocal rehearsal and associated with memory span, and (ii) the visuo-spatial scratch-pad, involved in imagery. This paper considers the applicability of the working memory framework to the study of children's memory. In adults, memory span for words is affected by their length, varying linearly with the rate at which they can be articulated, and thus presumably rehearsed. Studies of the developmental growth of memory span in children show that the same linear relation describes performance, with older children's better memory associated with faster rates of articulation. It appears from this that developmental change corresponds to an increase in the efficiency of subvocal rehearsal, with the decay characteristic of the articulatory loop remaining constant. However, although this simple developmental pattern is observed in memory for sequences of spoken words it is not present when the items are nameable pictures. Further investigation shows that older children use the articulatory loop to remember picture names: their performance is sensitive to phonemic similarity of the names and articulatory interference. However, younger children's performance is not affected by either of these factors but is sensitive to visual similarity. It is suggested that such children may be storing material in the visuo-spatial scratch-pad. An additional aspect of working memory is that separate mechanisms are thought to be involved in memory span and the 'recency effect', the tendency for recent items in a list to be remembered well in unordered recall. A review of evidence obtained with children suggests that age differences in these two phenomena are independent. In general, therefore, it seems difficult to interpret the developmental changes reported here in terms of a unitary short-term store, and it is concluded that working memory provides a more promising approach.


Diagnostic radiology and radiation oncology are arguably two of the most technologically advanced specialties in medicine. The imaging and radiation medicine technologies in clinical use today have been continuously improved through new advances made in the commercial and academic research arenas. This symposium explores the translational path from research through clinical implementation. Dr. Pettigrew will start this discussion by sharing his perspectives as director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). The NIBIB has focused on promoting research that is technological in nature and has high clinical impact. We are in the age of precision medicine, and the technological innovations and quantitative tools developed by engineers and physicists working with physicians are providing innovative tools that increase precision and improve outcomes in health care. NIBIB funded grants lead to a very high patenting rate (per grant dollar), and these patents have higher citation rates by other patents, suggesting greater clinical impact, as well.

Two examples of clinical translation resulting from NIH-funded research will be presented, in radiation therapy and diagnostic imaging. Dr. Yu will describe a stereotactic radiotherapy device developed in his laboratory that is designed for treating breast cancer with the patient in the prone position. It uses 36 rotating Cobalt-60 sources positioned in an annular geometry to focus the radiation beam at the system's isocenter. The radiation dose is delivered throughout the target volume in the breast by constantly moving the patient in a planned trajectory relative to the fixed isocenter. With this technique, the focal spot dynamically paints the dose distribution throughout the target volume in three dimensions.

Dr. Jackson will conclude this symposium by describing the RSNA Quantitative Imaging Biomarkers Alliance (QIBA), which is funded in part by NIBIB and is a synergistic collaboration between medical physicists, radiologists, oncologists, industry representatives, and other stakeholders. The mission of QIBA is to improve the accuracy and practicality of quantitative image-based biomarkers by increasing precision across devices, patients, and time, an essential step in incorporating quantitative imaging biomarkers into radiology practice. Validated quantitative imaging biomarkers are necessary to support precision medicine initiatives, multimodality / multiparametric applications in medicine, treatment planning and response assessment, and radiogenomics applications. Current applications in the QIBA portfolio extend to cancer diagnosis and treatment, pulmonary diseases, and neurological disorders.

The overall goal of this symposium is to illustrate the bidirectional exchange between medical research and clinical practice. Revitalizing scientific excellence in clinical medical physics challenges practitioners to identify clinical limitations, which then drive research innovation; research funded by the NIH and other agencies develops technological solutions to these limitations, which are translated to the care environment to ultimately improve clinical practice in radiology and radiation oncology.


Wilhelm, Christina Marie. M.S., Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Wright State University, 2006. Oral LD50 of Botulinum Toxin Serotype A in Guinea Pigs. As a disease, botulism is a neuroparalytic illness resulting from the action of a potent neurotoxin produced by (. Botulinum. Of the seven distinct C. Botulinum neurotoxin serotypes: A. B, C, D, F, F, and G, only serotypes A, B, E and F cause human disease. The duration of action of the seven toxin serotypes varies with serotype A having the most sustained action (i.e. months vs. days in serotype E). This study was performed due to recently identified critical gaps in our food safety procedures. The goal of this study was to assess whether fresh 2% milk provided protective qualities to Botulinum toxin serotype A (B0NT/A) against degradation in the gastrointestinal tract. If protected this would lead to half the members of the tested population being killed with lower doses compared to toxin delivered in a conventional delivery vehicle (i.e. gel phosphate buffer). The model used for this study was adult male and female specific pathogen free Hartley guinea pigs. The pathophysiologic effects on guinea pigs following oral administration of BoNT/A was determined through daily clinical observations and utilization of telemetry implants allowing examination of changes in the mean, systolic, diastolic and pulse pressures, electrocardiogram (ECG), temperature, activity, respiratory rate, and heart rate. No difference was shown between the two treatment groups of 2% milk and gel phosphate buffer with respect to the time to first clinical sign or time to death. The LD50 of BoNT/A in 2% milk was not significantly different from BoNT/A in gel phosphate buffer indicating that the milk did not provide protective qualities in combination with the toxin.


Stone-curlews Burhinus oedicnemus have a vulnerable population status in the UK after a large population decline and range contraction since the 1930s. Much Stone-curlew breeding habitat is open-access land designated under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. In order to guide the conservation and habitat management for this species whilst allowing recreational access, a tool known as the Stone-Curlew Access Response Evaluator (SCARE) has been developed. SCARE offers a method to assess the effects of scenarios for future changes in disturbance type, routes and frequency and will be valuable in making informed decisions about the management of public access to Stone-curlew breeding sites and the deployment of habitat creation measures.


Although a large literature argues that European settlement outside of Europe during colonization had an enduring effect on economic development, researchers have been unable to assess these predictions directly because of an absence of data on colonial European settlement. We construct a new database on the European share of the population during colonization and examine its association with economic development today. We find a strong, positive relation between current income per capita and colonial European settlement that is robust to controlling for the current proportion of the population of European descent, as well as many other country characteristics. The results suggest that any adverse effects of extractive institutions associated with small European settlements were, even at low levels of colonial European settlement, more than offset by other things that Europeans brought, such as human capital and technology.


Objective of the Research This research explores the global sales channel strategies of technology intensive startup companies. By doing so, the study aims at narrowing the prevailing research gap in this area. Previous literature has primarily focused on large multinational corporation's sales channel strategies and on mainly conceptual contributions. Thus, the sales channel strategies of technology intensive startups have received limited attention, especially in the field of empirical research. Technology intensive startup companies often lack the knowledge and resources to develop detailed global sales channel strategies and thus, fail to sell their products to potential customers effectively. Therefore, it was seen as important to contribute to this crucial area of research. Given this, the objective of this study is to evaluate what determines a successful global sales channel strategy for a technology intensive startup. Methodology This study is qualitative and exploratory in nature. The utilized research method is a multiple case study, where four Finnish technology intensive startups were interviewed on their global sales channel strategies. The interviews aimed at identifying sales channel strategy best practices and success factors. An analytic induction approach, also known as abduction, was used for this research. In this approach, the researcher first deductively builds up a preliminary framework from existing theory, which is later inductively refined as a final analytical framework based on the empirical observations. Findings and Conclusions Based on the extensive literature review and in-depth empirical research, seven factors were found to determine the success of a global sales channel strategy for a technology intensive startup company. The found success factors were the following: clear company vision and strategy, sales channel structure, sales channel choice, high product quality, intermediary selection and support, seller competency and customer understanding. Especially the linkage of the overall company vision and strategy to the sales channel strategy was seen as important for the success of the sales channel. This study contributes to existing theory by offering a holistic perspective to the sales channel strategies of technology intensive startup companies and by finding critical success factors in this area. The main managerial implication of this thesis is the notion that sales channel strategies do have an impact on a startup's success, as the employed sales channel strategy largely defines how and through which channel members the products are sold. This is why the sales channel strategy related matters require a significant amount of managerial consideration.


Polymorphisms in many xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes occur leading to variation in the level of enzyme expression in vivo. Enzymes showing such polymorphisms include the cytochrome P450 enzymes CYP1A1, CYP1A2, CYP2A6, CYP2D6, and CYP2E1 and the phase two metabolism enzymes glutathione S-transferase MI (GSTMI) and arylamine N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2). In the past, these polymorphisms have been studied by phenotyping using in vivo administration of probe drugs. However, the mutations which give rise to several of these polymorphisms have now been identified and genotyping assays for polymorphisms in CYP1A1, CYP2A6, CYP2D6, CYP2E1, GSTMI, and NAT2 have been developed. Specific phenotypes for several of the polymorphic enzymes have been associated with increased susceptibility to malignancy, particularly lung and bladder cancer, and Parkinson's disease. These associations are likely to be due to altered activation or detoxication of chemicals initiating these diseases, including components of tobacco smoke and neurotoxins. The substrate specificity and tissue distribution of polymorphic enzymes implicated in disease causation discussed with particular reference to previously described disease-phenotype associations. ImagesFigure 1.


Forming partnerships for better health outcomes have become common practice for health and social care agencies. A major unifying theme in government and community agencies is the need to join up the components of systems, requiring organisations and their staff to get better at working together to enhance capacity within communities. This is particularly the case in the field of health promotion for which partnerships are beneficial to address the complex nature of health and social issues. Partnerships are complex situations that require high levels of skill and leadership to operate effectively. However, there is still a lack of understanding about what comprises an effective partnership in the health promotion field, and there are significant gaps in the literature, particularly with respect to the core competencies required by individual workers to undertake effective collaborative practice in health promotion. This thesis examines the drivers of collaborative practice in health promotion to understand the policy, organisational and individual factors affecting partnership outcomes. The aim of the study is to strengthen health promotion policy and practice by exploring the capacity of the health promotion workforce to achieve collaborative advantage. The research study answers the following research questions: • To what extent and in what ways do partnership policies influence collaborative capacity in health promotion service delivery? • How can inter-organisational relationships be strengthened for collaborative advantage in health promotion? • What are the essential skills and knowledge necessary for collaborative advantage in the health promotion workforce? The Victorian Department of Health's Primary Care Partnership (PCP) Strategy was used as a setting for this research, in particular the Integrated Health Promotion (IHP) platform. The PCP Strategy is a network solution to ensure a greater level of collaboration and integration within the health care system through partnerships for catchment planning and strengthening of health promotion outcomes. A mixed methods approach was employed to provide quantitative and qualitative data with a concurrent triangulation design where data were merged in the interpretation stage of the study. An online survey instrument (n = 137) and in-depth interviews (n = 31) generated primary data. The IHP committee members and a small number of PCP staff from 16 PCPs completed the online survey while interviews were conducted across two PCPs (one rural and one metropolitan) with members of the committee, staff at each of the PCPs and Department of Health policy officers from regional and central offices. The results of this study indicate that partnership policy, the inter-organisational relationships between member agencies, as well as the skills and expertise of practitioners all impact on quality of collaborative practice. In particular, this study has successfully identified three core drivers for collaborative capacity for positive collaboration in health promotion. These are: the need to strengthen the collaborative competencies of practitioners working in health promotion, the provision of effective leadership for successful collaborative practice and the utilisation of performance indicators to provide direction towards collaborative advantage. From this research study, a competency framework has been developed for collaborative practice in health promotion that conceptualises the experience and learning level of practitioners from novice to expert. It has established that practitioners with excellent interpersonal skills can positively affect collaborative outcomes. This has been observed to be important for practitioners beyond the technical skills and knowledge base held by qualified practitioners. Practitioners feel under prepared from their studies but there is also a lack of understanding about the skills that are needed. Therefore, building the capacity for collaborative practice among the health promotion workforce through university curriculum development and professional development is essential for effective partnerships.


The findings of the present study of selected modals and quasi-modals in matching corpora of Australian, New Zealand, British and American English reinforce those of diachronic investigations attesting to the rising popularity of the quasi-modals and declining fortunes of the modals in recent decades. That these two developments are connected is suggested by the near symmetrical results obtained across the four regional varieties and across the spoken versus written categories. American English appears to be in the vanguard of change, both in simple frequency terms and in the extent of the gulf in stylistic preferences between the quasi-modals and modals. New Zealand English emerges as the most conservative of the four varieties, with Australian and British English in between.


Disease or malformation of heart valves is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in both children and adults. These congenital anomalies can remain undetected until cardiac function is compromised, making it important to understand the underlying nature of these disorders. Here we show that ephrin‐A1, a ligand for class A Eph receptor tyrosine kinases, regulates cardiac valve formation. Exogenous ephrin‐A1‐Fc or overexpression of ephrin‐A1 in the heart inhibits epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transformation (EMT) in chick atrioventricular cushion explants. In contrast, overexpression of wild‐type EphA3 receptor promotes EMT via a kinase‐dependent mechanism. To analyze ephrin‐A1 in vivo, we generated an ephrin‐A1 knockout mouse through gene targeting. Ephrin‐A1 null animals are viable but exhibit impaired cardiac function. Loss of ephrin‐A1 results in thickened aortic and mitral valves in newborn and adult animals. Analysis of early embryonic hearts revealed increased cellularity in outflow tract endocardial cushions and elevated mesenchymal marker expression, suggesting that excessive numbers of cells undergo EMT. Taken together, these data indicate that ephrin‐A1 regulates cardiac valve development, making ephrin‐A1‐deficient mice a novel model for congenital heart defects. Developmental Dynamics 239:3226–3234, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Following the enactment of the Marine and Coastal Access Bill in November 2009, the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) acquired the responsibility for the Act's implementation in Wales' coastal zone. Responsibilities extend to devising and implementing a system of marine spatial planning as well as contributing towards the establishment of an ecologically coherent UK network of marine protected areas (MPAs) in response to various international including European commitments, most notably the OSPAR Commission's Recommendation 2003.3 for a North East Atlantic MPA network (OSPAR, 2006).

With already over half of Welsh coastal waters designated as marine sites within the Natura 2000 network, WAG has initiated efforts to establish a number of Highly Protected Marine Conservation Zones (HPMCZs) by 2011. It is intended that all potentially damaging activities and disturbance will be excluded from such zones, including extraction activity, thus affording ecosystem rather than simply ecological protection to these areas. To facilitate site selection and stakeholder engagement, WAG has established a process and created a number of pan-Wales forums. These include a high level Steering Group of government and government agency representatives, a Stakeholder Advisory Group with wide geographical and sectoral membership (largely based on the pre-existing Wales Coastal and Maritime Partnership), and a Technical Advisory Group - to provide technical support and advice to the aforementioned groups as well as to collect and collate relevant data to support the selection of the zones and to use this data to develop site proposals.

With a legal duty to sustainable development and a commitment under the marine legislation for socio-economic needs to inform the definition of marine conservation zones, WAG is attempting to integrate socio-economic factors into the site selection process as well as facilitating better marine stewardship and conflict minimisation. This paper outlines the context, rationale and key characteristics of the Welsh approach to HPMCZ selection, focusing on the process for the identification of socioeconomic criteria. As such, it provides a preliminary assessment of the extent to which the various forums, mentioned above, have been able to influence the process and associated outcomes.

Finally, the paper offers a critical review of WAG's approach to the designation of HPMCZ within the context of its responsibilities for marine spatial planning. It is suggested that the process for designating these zones will influence the development of any wider marine spatial planning framework and process. Given concerns of both academics (for example, Peel and Lloyd, 2004; Watson, 2008) and policy makers (note: Marine Spatial Planning Pilot Consortium, 2005; UNESCO, 2006) regarding the challenges associated with the development of effective marine planning processes and the potential tensions between marine protected area designation and wider marine planning, it is anticipated that these early observations from Wales will be highly relevant to other European coastal areas.


We investigate the influence of local preference policies on auditor selection in the municipal audit market. A local preference occurs when local firms are favored in audit procurement over non-local firms for reasons unrelated to the audit itself. We construct four auction models of the competitive bidding process differentiated by possible objectives of the municipality: cost minimization versus surplus maximization and with or without a local preference policy. Which model is most descriptive is ultimately an empirical question. We generate predictions that allow for empirical identification and find evidence of local preference. We use the identified model to analyze theoretically the unobservable net audit-related effect of a municipality adopting a local preference policy. We show that a local preference policy can benefit even a municipality guided solely by audit-related concerns by encouraging price concessions from non-local auditors.


Desktop environments have proven to be a powerful user interface and are used as the de facto standard human-computer interaction paradigm for over 20 years. However, there is a rising demand on 3D applications dealing with complex datasets, which exceeds the possibilities provided by traditional devices or two-dimensional display. For these domains more immersive and intuitive interfaces are required. But in order to get the users' acceptance, technology-driven solutions that require inconvenient instrumentation, e.g., stereo glasses or tracked gloves, should be avoided. Autostereoscopic display environments equipped with tracking systems enable users to experience 3D virtual environments more natural without annoying devices, for instance via gestures. However, currently these approaches are only applied for specially designed or adapted applications without universal usability. Although these systems provide enough space to support multi-user, additional costs and inconvenient instrumentation hinder acceptance of these user interfaces. In this chapter we introduce new collaborative 3D user interface concepts for such setups where minimal instrumentation of the user is required such that the strategies can be easily integrated in everyday working environments. Therefore, we propose an interaction system and framework, which allows displaying and interacting with both monoas well as stereoscopic content in parallel. Furthermore, the setup enables multiple users to view the same data simultaneously. The challenges for combined mouse-, keyboardand gesturebased input paradigms in such an environment are pointed out and novel interaction strategies are introduced.


Coral reefs are known to be among the most biodiverse marine ecosystems and one of the richest in terms of associations and species interactions, especially those involving invertebrates such as corals and sponges. Despite that, our knowledge about cryptic fauna and their ecological role remains remarkably scarce. This study aimed to address this gap by defining for the first time the spatial ecology of the association between the epibiont hydrozoan Nemalecium lighti and the Porifera community of shallow coral reef systems at Bonaire. In particular, the host range, prevalence, and distribution of the association were examined in relation to different sites, depths, and dimensions of the sponge hosts. We report Nemalecium lighti to be in association with 9 out of 16 genera of sponges encountered and 15 out of 16 of the dive sites examined. The prevalence of the hydroid–sponge association in Bonaire reef was 6.55%, with a maximum value of over 30%. This hydrozoan has been found to be a generalist symbiont, displaying a strong preference for sponges of the genus Aplysina, with no significant preference in relation to depth. On the contrary, the size of the host appeared to influence the prevalence of association, with large tubular sponges found to be the preferred host. Although further studies are needed to better understand the biological and ecological reason for these results, this study improved our knowledge of Bonaire's coral reef cryptofauna diversity and its interspecific associations.


Reinforcement learning provides a general framework for flexible decision making and control, but requires extensive data collection for each new task that an agent needs to learn. In other machine learning fields, such as natural language processing or computer vision, pre-training on large, previously collected datasets to bootstrap learning for new tasks has emerged as a powerful paradigm to reduce data requirements when learning a new task. In this paper, we ask the following question: how can we enable similarly useful pre-training for RL agents? We propose a method for pre-training behavioral priors that can capture complex input-output relationships observed in successful trials from a wide range of previously seen tasks, and we show how this learned prior can be used for rapidly learning new tasks without impeding the RL agent's ability to try out novel behaviors. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach in challenging robotic manipulation domains involving image observations and sparse reward functions, where our method outperforms prior works by a substantial margin.


I am still suffering the culture shock of leaving Britain in January, 1991 to come to be director of the Science Center at TERC. TERC stands for Technical Education Research Centers, a 26-year-old, comparatively well-kept secret in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which produces excellent "hands-on" materials, research and technology in mathematics and science education. Its work is probably better known in Portugal than it is in Portland. They are modest souls, but as a strange foreigner I can shout their praises. I am fast learning the American variant of English but am still largely baffled by the size and by the diversity of educational practice. There is so much I didn't know about. None of us talk enough to each other (and if we talk, not enough of us listen). There is so much overlap and so much parallel invention. The excuse of "it was not invented here" seems to have been invented everywhere. Since at least the early thirties the education world has known that children can achieve more if, from time to time, they work collaboratively. We encourage them to share; to listen to their peers; to build on previous work. Working with others is one of the life skills they must learn, we say. But we don't do it ourselves. Well, perhaps we are just starting to realize that there are some pay-offs to collaboration. Electronic mail and comparatively easy world travel have allowed us to invent new, worthy goals of international collaboration and to allow us to experience the enticement of foreign travel, the warmth of international hospitality, new audiences for our old ideas--all sufficient to remove any nagging doubts that we ought to be talking to institutions down the road (or even down the hallway). While international collaboration is not possible for most teachers, there are notable exceptions. The National Education Association's interchanges with the U.K.'s National Union of Teachers led to exchange visits and seminars, in days of slightly less economic stringency, that talked about the ways we could collaborate on the developments in the use of computers in education in our two nations. They made good recommendations to states and local education authorities (LEAS), more weighty in that they were common views held by both organizations--but I know of no further actions. At the classroom level, students can collaborate internationally in such programs as The National Geographic Kids Network (designed, written and tested by TERC). But too few teachers anywhere get the chance or encouragement to learn from each other, to go to conferences or even to read! Worldwide, the media currently seem to be blaming teachers for most of the things that are wrong with the world, but there is very little most of us can do about it-even in shaping change within our own school systems. The U.K.'s Teachers' Centres At home in the U.K., there used to be a network of Teachers' Centres--neutral ground where teachers could meet to share their ideas, listen to others and feel part of a profession. The centres had started off in the 1960s at the time of the Nuffield Maths and Science Projects. The Nuffield Foundation wisely insisted that if an LEA wished to join in piloting any of their projects (that is, to accept their funds), it would have to provide a neutral meeting place where participating teachers could share their ideas and channel feedback to the project's staff. There were soon many such subject-specific centers blossoming as the curriculum reform movement of the '60s got under way. It was realized (probably for all the wrong reasons, like saving money) that there could be a pay-off, especially for the elementary school teachers, if there was just one, large, efficient center in each region. It would host all the curriculum meetings, be staffed, offer some facilities to share, have a professional library and sometimes even sponsor social activities. This way teachers would continue to "talk education" well outside their contracted hours at little cost to the LEAS. …


The first essay discusses some economic implications of marriages of children. Of particular interest is the strategic behaviour of the parents of the children. A simple two-period model with very general assumptions is developed and some interesting results are obtained. These results are summarized in eight propositions. This essay consists of four parts. It is first shown that a symmetric Nash equilibrium does not exist unless constraints are imposed. We find that such an equilibrium does exist if bequests are non-negative, if bequests to sons and daughters are equal, and if preferences are heterogeneous. The second part of the essay looks at how one set of parents will react to the actions of another set by adjusting the level of bequests to sons and daughters. The theoretical model yields reasonable predictions of parental behaviour. The third part examines the efficiency of a Nash equilibrium when it exists and proves that a Nash equilibrium is Pareto-inefficient. Corrective policies are suggested. Finally, the results of the theoretical analysis are found to be independent of whether fertility is exogenous or endogenous. Furthermore, a conjecture by Edgeworth is confirmed by the model: individual decision makers are likely to ignore the impact of their fertility choices on population growth, and when this occurs underpopulation is inevitable. The second essay investigates socioeconomic determinants of individual fertility in China, utilizing a valuable micro-data set (China's 1985 In-Depth Fertility Survey). The Chicago Model, Easterlin's Theories and Leibenstein's Model are used to develop an econometric model of fertility for China. The model incorporates some special features of Chinese societies that are relevant to fertility behaviour. Ordinary least squares, Tobit maximum likelihood and sequential logit procedures are applied to estimate the model. Several theoretic and statistical problems are discussed and appropriate ways are used to take them into account whenever possible. It is found that marriage duration, child mortality, sex preference, education of woman, occupation of husband, family structure, and durable ownership are significant factors in determining individual fertility. Marriage duration, replacement effect of child deaths and male preference for children all appear to be positively related to fertility. The relationship between level of education of woman and fertility is not linear. Furthermore, it is found that fertility falls as occupational status of husband rises, that women living in extended families have higher fertility, and that owning a durable has a negative effect on fertility. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/11375/6532 Identifier: opendissertations/1840 3061 1357940 Appears in Collections: Open Access Dissertations and Theses


The recently-developed boundary effect concept and associated asymptotic model are used to explain the size effect phenomena in fracture of quasi-brittle materials. It is demonstrated that the size dependence of the fracture toughness and strength of quasi-brittle materials is indeed due to the influences of specimen boundaries on the failure mode and therefore, on the strength of the specimen. To verify the boundary effect concept, fracture tests on a high strength concrete reported by Karihaloo et al are analysed and predicted using the asymptotic model. The results show that the predictions of the asymptotic boundary effect model agree very well with those experimental results.


Abstract In terms of value the Zambian minerals industry is the second largest in the SADCC, but it is virtually all copper and its byproduct cobalt. From independence in 1964, the government made some progress in the diversification of the economy by expanding the manufacturing industry, but this was in turn dependent on copper earnings for the import of inputs. At the same time there was a stagnation and then a decline of the agricultural sector. The main difficulty presently facing Zambian planners is the constantly declining real value of the principal export product, copper.


'The clash of civilizations' of Samuel Huntington and 'the end of history' of Francis Fukuyama are two grand theories that have been widely accepted as the most dominant narratives in post-Cold War international relations. Unfortunately, there have been little theoretical developments in today's world to predict the future of international conflict. The theory assumed that the furture international conflict will not occur between democracies and non-democracies as Democratic Peace Theory proposed, but between established democracies and emerging democracies. The established democracies reluctant to share their power with the emerging democracies on how to manage global order. This reluctancy will lead to political frictions and conflicts among them. In spite of its theoretical breakthrough, this theory suffers of logical inconsistency since it does not distinguish between emerging democracies and emerging powers. Instead of conflict among democracies, this article argues that international conflict in the 21st century will be dominated by asimetrical conflict between nation-states and radical movements, conflict due to information openess, and conflict over natural resources.


Background and Aims: Increasing and indiscriminate use of antibiotics has led the bacteria to develop resistance to most of the antibiotics. Beta-lactamase production is the mechanism of resistance to beta-lactams. Extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) have been found in the members of Enterobacteriaceae such as Escherichia coli and Klebsiella spp. which are the common health-care-associated pathogens. The aim was to study the rate of fecal carriage of ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae in patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of tertiary care hospital and follow them subsequently for the development of infections. Materials and Methods: A hospital-based descriptive study was conducted in the department of microbiology of a tertiary care hospital for a period of 2 months from June 2016 to August 2016. Rectal swabs were collected from the patients admitted to the ICU after a period of 48 h. The swab was inoculated onto a special selective media (ChromID ESBL media). The results were noted according to the color of the colony produced. These patients are followed for the development of infection and the ESBL-producing organisms. Results: A total of 60 rectal swabs were cultured, 39 (65%) showed a positive result. Out of which, 22 (56%) were ESBL-producing E. coli and 17 (43%) Klebsiella spp. Twenty-three (38%) of the total patients screened were infected with ESBL-producing organisms. Conclusion: The study revealed high rates of carriage of ESBL producers in patients admitted to the ICU.


26 Tsunami fragility functions describe the probability of structural damage to tsunami flow characteristics. 27 Fragility functions developed from past tsunami events (e.g. 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami) are often 28 applied directly, without modifications, to other areas at risk of tsunami for the purpose of damage and 29 loss estimations. Consequentially, estimates carry uncertainty due to disparities in construction 30 standards and coastal morphology between the specific region for which the fragility functions were 31 originally derived and the region where they were being used. The main objective of this study is to 32 provide an alternative approach to assessing tsunami damage, especially for buildings in regions where 33 previously developed fragility functions do not exist. A damage assessment model is proposed in this 34 study, where load-resistance analysis is performed for each building by evaluating hydrodynamic forces, 35 buoyancies and debris impacts and comparing them to the resistance forces of each building. Numerical 36 simulation was performed in this study to reproduce the 2011 Great East Japan tsunami in Ishinomaki 37 city, which is chosen as a study site. Flow depths and velocities were calculated for approximately 20, 38 000 wooden buildings in Ishinomaki city. Similarly, resistance forces (lateral and vertical) are estimated 39 for each of these buildings. The buildings are then evaluated for its potential to collapse. Results from 40 this study reflect a higher accuracy in predicting building collapse when using the proposed load41 resistance analysis as compared to previously developed fragility functions in the same study area. 42 Damage is also observed to have likely occurred before flow depth and velocity reach maximum values. 43 With the above considerations, the proposed damage model might well be an alternative for building 44 damage assessments in areas which have yet to be affected by modern tsunami events. 45


A quantum theory of gravity remains one of the greatest challenges of contemporary physics. It is well established that a perturbative treatment of gravity as a quantum field theory leads to a non-renormalisable setup. However gravity could still exist as a consistent and predictive quantum field theory on a non-perturbative level. This is explored in the asymptotic safety scenario which was initially proposed by S. Weinberg.

In this thesis we investigate the ultraviolet behaviour of gravity within the asymptotic safety conjecture and discuss phenomenological implications. We start out by introducing the concept of the functional renormalisation group and its application to gravity. This non-perturbative tool is the technical basis for our investigation of a template quantum gravity action, namely a function f(R) in the Ricci scalar in four dimensions. We compute exact fixed point solutions to very high polynomial orders via the development of a dedicated high performance code. The picture of an interacting UV fixed point that receives only small quantitative corrections from higher derivative operators is confirmed and extended.

The results are then expanded to include minimally coupled matter fields and we investigate the matter effects on the gravitational fixed point. We determine regimes of compatibility in the vicinity of the purely gravitational setup but also find constraints on the number of matter fields.

Finally we look at the phenomenological implications of a running Newton's coupling, one of the key features of the asymptotic safety setup, to graviton-mediated eikonal scattering amplitudes. In this kinematic regime we investigate the possibility of a TeV-sized fundamental Planck mass via the introduction of compact extra dimensions. We identify the fingerprints of asymptotic safety in the t-channel scattering amplitude and find crucial differences compared to semi-classical computations.


A substantial proportion of people with mental health conditions do not adhere to prescribed pharmacological treatments. Poor adherence is probably one of the most critical elements contributing to relapse in people with schizophrenia and other severe mental disorders. In order to tackle this global issue, in November 2017 the Food and Drug Administration approved a tablet formulation of the atypical antipsychotic aripiprazole embedded with a novel digital adherence-assessment device. In this commentary, we critically appraised the potential beneficial and harmful consequences of this new digital formulation of aripiprazole, and we highlighted expected implications for clinical practice.


Statistical language modeling is one of the fundamental problems in natural language processing. In the recent years, language modeling has seen great advances by active research and engineering efforts in applying artificial neural networks, especially those which are recurrent. The application of neural language models to speech recognition has now become well established and ubiquitous. Despite this impression of some degree of maturity, we claim that the full potential of the neural network based language modeling is yet to be explored. In this thesis, we further advance neural language modeling in automatic speech recognition, by investigating a number of new perspectives. From the architectural view point, we investigate the newly proposed Transformer neural networks for language modeling application. The original model architecture proposed for machine translation is studied and modified to accommodate the specific task of language modeling. Particularly deep models with about one hundred layers are developed. We present an in-depth comparison with the state-of-the-art recurrent neural network language models based on the long short-term memory. While scaling up language modeling to larger scale datasets, the diversity of the data emerges as an opportunity and a challenge. The current state-of-the-art neural language modeling lacks a mechanism of handling diverse data from different domains for a single model to perform well across different domains. In this context, we introduce domain robust language modeling with neural networks, and propose two solutions. As a first solution, we propose a new type of adaptive mixture of experts model which is fully based on neural networks. In the second approach, we investigate knowledge distillation from multiple domain expert models, as a solution to the large model size problem seen in the first approach. Methods for practical applications of knowledge distillation to large vocabulary language modeling are proposed, and studied to a large extent. Finally, we investigate the potential of neural language models to leverage long-span crosssentence contexts for cross-utterance speech recognition. The appropriate training method for such a scenario is under-explored in the existing works. We carry out systematic comparisons of the training methods, allowing us to achieve improvements in cross-utterance speech recognition. In the same context, we study the sequence length robustness for both recurrent neural networks based on the long short-term memory and Transformers, because such a robustness is one of the fundamental properties we wish to have, in neural networks with the ability to handle variable length contexts. Throughout the thesis, we tackle these problems through novel perspectives of neural language modeling, while keeping the traditional spirit of language modeling in speech recognition.


Analysis of the influence of processing parameters on the photoluminescence (PL) of a homopolymer poly(methylphenylsilane) (PMPSi) and a copolymer poly[dimethylsilane-methylphenylsilane] (P[DMSiMPSi]) is presented. The influence of solvent type and effect of thickness of prepared thin films were investigated by the fluorescence spectrometry. There are fundamental differences between thin film and thick film. In thick films, the σ-conjugation length of polymer chain segments is reasonably longer approved by strong bathochromic shift in the excitation spectra. Moreover, degradation of both polysilane materials was observed as photoluminescence decay measured at two different degradation wavelengths 285 and 330 nm in vacuum. Two patterns of degradation behaviour dependent on film thickness were observed with transition at about 500 nm as in fluorescence spectra too. The degradation and metastability phenomena described in previous papers were observed on thick drop cast films only, which means that they are not general effects, but dependent on film thickness. Hence, the new facts are discussed and the interpretation is extended in terms of mesoscale confinement effects on thin films.


Abstract. The injection of sulfur into the stratosphere by explosive volcanic eruptions is the cause of significant climate variability. Based on sulfate records from a suite of ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica, the eVolv2k database includes estimates of the magnitudes and approximate source latitudes of major volcanic stratospheric sulfur injection (VSSI) events from 500 BCE to 1900 CE, constituting an update of prior reconstructions and an extension of the record by 1000 years. The database incorporates improvements to the ice core records (in terms of synchronisation and dating) and refinements to the methods used to estimate VSSI from ice core records, and it includes first estimates of the random uncertainties in VSSI values. VSSI estimates for many of the largest eruptions, including Samalas (1257), Tambora (1815), and Laki (1783), are within 10 % of prior estimates. A number of strong events are included in eVolv2k which are largely underestimated or not included in earlier VSSI reconstructions, including events in 540, 574, 682, and 1108 CE. The long-term annual mean VSSI from major volcanic eruptions is estimated to be  ∼ 0.5 Tg [S] yr−1,  ∼ 50 % greater than a prior reconstruction due to the identification of more events and an increase in the magnitude of many intermediate events. A long-term latitudinally and monthly resolved stratospheric aerosol optical depth (SAOD) time series is reconstructed from the eVolv2k VSSI estimates, and the resulting global mean SAOD is found to be similar (within 33 %) to a prior reconstruction for most of the largest eruptions. The long-term (500 BCE–1900 CE) average global mean SAOD estimated from the eVolv2k VSSI estimates including a constant background injection of stratospheric sulfur is  ∼ 0.014, 30 % greater than a prior reconstruction. These new long-term reconstructions of past VSSI and SAOD variability give context to recent volcanic forcing, suggesting that the 20th century was a period of somewhat weaker than average volcanic forcing, with current best estimates of 20th century mean VSSI and SAOD values being 25 and 14 % less, respectively, than the mean of the 500 BCE to 1900 CE period. The reconstructed VSSI and SAOD data are available at https://doi.org/10.1594/WDCC/eVolv2k_v2 .


Increasing complexity and competitiveness in research environments, the prevalence of interdisciplinary and international involvement in research projects, and the close coupling of commerce and academia have created an ethically challenging environment for young scientists and engineers. For the past several decades, federal research agencies have supported projects to meet the need for mentoring and ethics training in graduate education in research, often called training in the responsible conduct of research. Recently, these agencies have supported projects to identify ethically problematic behaviors and assess the efficacy of ethics education in addressing them. With support from the National Science Foundation, the National Academy of Engineering Center for Engineering, Ethics, and Society held the workshop "Ethics Education and Scientific and Engineering Research: What's Been Learned? What Should Be Done?" on August 25 and 26, 2008. The workshop, summarized in this volume, discussed the social environment of science and engineering education; the need for ethics education for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in science and engineering; models for effective programs; and assessment of approaches to ethics education, among other topics.


This book provides a general introduction to modern mathematical aspects in computing with multivariate polynomials and in solving algebraic systems. It presents the state of the art in several symbolic, numeric, and symbolic-numeric techniques, including effective and algorithmic methods in algebraic geometry and computational algebra, complexity issues, and applications ranging from statistics and geometric modelling to robotics and vision. Graduate students, as well as researchers in related areas, will find an excellent introduction to currently interesting topics. These cover Groebner and border bases, multivariate resultants, residues, primary decomposition, multivariate polynomial factorization, homotopy continuation, complexity issues, and their applications.


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To examine challenges faced by Haitian immigrant women managing a breast cancer diagnosis.

RESEARCH APPROACH
Trained community health workers conducted focus groups with Haitian women who were breast cancer survivors. A grounded theory approach guided analysis of transcripts.

SETTING
A large community-based organization in Miami, FL.

PARTICIPANTS
18 women took part in three focus groups. Participants were 40 years or older, were ethnically Haitian, and had been diagnosed with breast cancer 6-12 months prior to the study.

METHODOLOGIC APPROACH
Data were collected as part of an ongoing community-based participatory research initiative in Little Haiti, the largest enclave of Haitian settlement in Miami, FL. Community health workers, integral to the initiative, recruited participants through their extensive social networks and community contacts.

MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES
Screening knowledge, illness beliefs, social and economic consequences of a breast cancer diagnosis, and advice for breast health education.

FINDINGS
Emergent themes suggest that Haitian breast cancer survivors face multiple challenges, including misperceptions about screening guidelines, disease etiology, and risk; a reduced capacity to earn a living because of physical debility; and diminished social support.

CONCLUSIONS
Future research must continue to examine the impact of breast cancer on Haitian immigrant women and identify key strategies, such as community outreach and support programs, to improve their quality of life.

INTERPRETATION
Nurses can play an essential role in such strategies by providing culturally relevant clinical care and partnering with community stakeholders to define the scope and focus of public health intervention.


Dynamic Binary Translation (DBT) is the key technology behind cross-platform virtualization and allows software compiled for one Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) to be executed on a processor supporting a different ISA. Under the hood, DBT is typically implemented using Just-In-Time (JIT) compilation of frequently executed program regions, also called traces. The main challenge is translating frequently executed program regions as fast as possible into highly efficient native code. As time for JIT compilation adds to the overall execution time, the JIT compiler is often decoupled and operates in a separate thread independent from the main simulation loop to reduce the overhead of JIT compilation. In this paper we present two innovative contributions. The first contribution is a generalized trace compilation approach that considers all frequently executed paths in a program for JIT compilation, as opposed to previous approaches where trace compilation is restricted to paths through loops. The second contribution reduces JIT compilation cost by compiling several hot traces in a concurrent task farm. Altogether we combine generalized light-weight tracing, large translation units, parallel JIT compilation and dynamic work scheduling to ensure timely and efficient processing of hot traces. We have evaluated our industry-strength, LLVM-based parallel DBT implementing the ARCompact ISA against three benchmark suites (EEMBC, BIOPERF and SPEC CPU2006) and demonstrate speedups of up to 2.08 on a standard quad-core Intel Xeon machine. Across shortand long-running benchmarks our scheme is robust and never results in a slowdown. In fact, using four processors total execution time can be reduced by on average 11.5% over state-of-the-art decoupled, parallel (or asynchronous) JIT compilation.


This paper proposes a novel variant of differential evolution (DE) tailored to the optimisation of noisy fitness functions. The proposed algorithm, namely noise analysis differential evolution (NADE), combines the stochastic properties of a randomised scale factor and a statistically rigorous test which supports one-to-one spawning survivor selection that automatically selects a proper sample size and then selects, among parent and offspring, the most promising solution. The actions of these components are separately analysed and their combined effect on the algorithmic performance is studied by means of a set of numerous and various test functions perturbed by Gaussian noise. Various noise amplitudes are considered in the result section. The performance of the NADE has been extensively compared with a classical algorithm and two modern metaheuristics designed for optimisation in the presence of noise. Numerical results show that the proposed NADE has very good performance with most of the problems considered in the benchmark set. The NADE seems to be able to detect high quality solutions despite the noise and display high performance in terms of robustness.