Bio-Inspired Artificial Intelligence: Theories, Methods, and Technologies by D. Floreano and C. Mattiussi This is a book that bridges biological systems and computer science. For digital-based researchers, having this book which details the biological components of natural life and seamlessly integrates that knowledge into our digital realm is an essential asset. Each chapter is systematically introduces the reader to a biological system while easing them into the its computational counterpart. There are seven chapters covering evolution, cellular, neural, developmental, immune, behavioral, and collective systems. Chapter 1 introduces the fundamental concept of computational evolution as related to biological systems. This chapter starts with the basic concepts of evolutionary theory and progresses, covering everything from fitness functions to analog circuits. The following chapter presents the next logical step upwards in biology, cellular structures and systems. Again introducing the basics of life and progressing towards cellular automata.  Chapter 3 covers Neural Networks by introducing the Biological Nervous System, then the Artificial Neural Network. The core concepts to Neural Networks are detailed in a systematic and common-sense manner, introducing unsupervised learning, supervised learning, and reinforce learning, then progressing onto neural hardware and hybrid systems. In Chapter 4, the authors detail developmental systems, explaining how nature utilizes the cellular structures to how engineers can mimic nature. This theme of progression from biological introduction to digital computation is reproduced as a single voice through out each chapter. The fundamentals of Bio-Inspired Artificial Intelligence are well demonstrated, allowing for a novice researcher in this area to develop the necessary skills and have a firm grasp on this topic. Once the reader has a solid grasp of the building blocks of life, the authors present chapters related to larger systems. Of particular interest to my research is the chapter on Immune Systems. This chapter provides a fundamental understanding of the Human Immune System, detailing the finer points of immunological cellular structures, while introducing a slightly more than generalized immune response concept. After a lengthy introduction of human immunology, we are introduced to the core of Artificial Immune Systems, the Negative Selection Algorithm and Clonal Selection Algorithm. Each one of these algorithms is covered enough so that the reader is capable of understanding each respective algorithms strengths and limitations. For new researchers to Artificial Immune Systems, days of reading journal articles is summarized in these sections, allowing for intelligent and efficient decision making in choosing your next step of research. Chapter 6 and 7 provides the audience with behavior systems and collective systems, respectively. The behavioral systems covered in this book relate to aspects of AI, robots, and some machine learning. Once behavior is understood, collective and cooperative systems are covered. Optimization techniques of particle swarms, ant colonies, and topics derived for robotics are detailed and well explained. While this is not a textbook, is does cover the fundamental concepts required to research Bio-Inspired Artificial Intelligence. For myself, the quality of this book can simply be noted by the publishers, MIT Press. Many of the best books I have encountered in my studies have been published by MIT, and here is another. Floreano and Mattiussi have not let me down in their quality, albeit I do have some complaints. First, while the topics cover a solid breadth, the depth on detailing the computation side is limited. I would like to have seen either more depth in each chapter or a broader look at each chapters algorithms, but the book falls somewhere in the middle. My current research involves Danger Signals and their relationship to preventing Epidemic Attacks, so I would have like to seen more detail about Polly Matzinger's Danger Theory rather than one short paragraph saying that it is not universally accepted. While Immunologists may debate Danger Theory, novel algorithms have been developed off of the concept of Danger Theory and deserve a place in this book. Yet to counter my own argument, the authors do finish off each chapter with a Suggested Readings section outlining a series of excellent supplement papers to the chapters topics that would eventually lead the reader to these novel topics. Overall, if you are interested in this field, buy this book. You can find it online at MIT Press for a discounted price. This book will make an excellent addition to any computer researchers library. Anthony Kulis, Department of Computer Science, Southern Illinois University


We developed a non-invasive method to analyze the membrane fluctuation in order to characterize the flickering phenomena from a quantitative point of view. To analyze the red blood cell (RBCs) membrane undulation, we considered the variation of the diameter series of the cell. This RBC parameter was obtained both for cells suspended in plasma and buffered serum, pH = 7.4. Frequency spectra of the erythrocyte membrane flickering were fitted with a first order of autoregressive model (AR1). We found that most RBC diameter series are fitted in a good manner using the AR1 model. The interaction factor for the cell diameters series was considerably higher for the erythrocytes suspended in plasma than for those suspended in buffered serum.


Harmful algal bloom (HAB) species in the Chesapeake Bay can negatively impact fish, shellfish, and human health via the production of toxins and the degradation of water quality. Due to the deleterious effects of HAB species on economically and environmentally important resources, such as oyster reef systems, Bay area resource managers are seeking ways to monitor HABs and water quality at large spatial and fine temporal scales. The use of satellite ocean color imagery has proven to be a beneficial tool for resource management in other locations around the world where high-biomass, nearly monospecific HABs occur. However, remotely monitoring HABs in the Chesapeake Bay is complicated by the presence of multiple, often co-occurring, species and optically complex waters. Here we present a summary of common marine and estuarine HAB species found in the Chesapeake Bay, Alexandrium monilatum, Karlodinium veneficum, Margalefidinium polykrikoides, and Prorocentrum minimum, that have been detected from space using multispectral data products from the Ocean and Land Colour Imager (OLCI) sensor on the Sentinel-3 satellites and identified based on in situ phytoplankton data and ecological associations. We review how future hyperspectral instruments will improve discrimination of potentially harmful species from other phytoplankton communities and present a framework in which satellite data products could aid Chesapeake Bay resource managers with monitoring water quality and protecting shellfish resources.


We present a comparison of some of the most used iterative Fourier transform algorithms (IFTA) for the design of continuous and multilevel diffractive optical elements (DOE). Our aim is to provide optical engineers with advice for choosing the most suited algorithm with re- spect to the task. We tackle mainly the beam-shaping and the beam- splitting problems, where the desired light distributions are almost binary. We compare four recent algorithms, together with the historical error- reduction and input-output methods. We conclude that three of these algorithms are interesting for continuous-phase kinoforms, and two, namely the three-step method proposed by Wyrowski and the over- compensation of Prongue ´, still perform well with multilevel- and binary- phase DOE. © 2004 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.


One of the most critical aspects of the management of road infrastructure is the type and scale of maintenance systems adopted and the consequences of their inadequacy. The performance of road maintenance systems can be assessed by a number of important indicators such as: cost, safety, environmental impact, and level of complaints by users. A review of practice reveals that insufficient level of expenditure or poor management of the road network often has serious consequences for the economic and social life of a country in terms of vehicle operating costs (VOC), travel time costs, accident costs and environmental impact. Despite an increase in the attention paid by global road agencies to the environmental and the road users' satisfaction, the overwhelming evidence from the available literature agree on the lack of similar levels of attention for the two factors in many developing countries. While many sources agree that the road maintenance backlog is caused by either the shortage of expenditures or lack of proper management or both, it appears that managing the available assets particularly in the developing countries is the main issue. To address this subject, this paper will concentrate on exposing the various issues related to this field.


Reinforcement learning is one of the most researched fields of artificial intelligence right now. Newer and newer algorithms are being developed, especially for deep reinforcement learning, where the selected action is computed with the assist of a neural network. One of the subcategories of reinforcement learning is multi-agent reinforcement learning, where multiple agents are present in the world. In our paper, we modify an already existing algorithm, the Advantage Actor-Critic (A2C) to be suitable for multi-agent scenarios. Afterwards, we test the modified algorithm on our testbed, a cooperative-competitive pursuit-evasion environment.


In today's world, public policies are increasingly associated with social and environmental risk and scientific uncertainty. Given such potential impacts on the moral freedom and equality for existing and future generations, policies should reflect decision-making standards beyond those of economic efficiency and technical safety. They should reflect the imperatives of social justice and democratic legitimacy now and into the future. Deliberative Democracy for the Future identifies an approach to ethical policy analysis that promises to serve the ends of justice and legitimacy in areas of public policy such as hazardous waste management, energy generation and regulation, climate change control, and genomics research and commercialization. Based on a wide reading of ethical approaches to policy analysis found in contemporary political theory, moral philosophy, and public policy literatures, it evaluates these three central approaches to ethical policy analysis in light of moral dilemmas arising in a particularly timely case: Canadian nuclear waste management policy. The volume's central argument is that the most desirable approach to ethical policy analysis contains the philosophical tools necessary to address problems of understanding risk and safety, identifying obligations to both existing and future generations, and conceptualizing legitimacy-conferring decision-making processes. Genevieve Fuji Johnson argues that neither welfare utilitarianism nor modern deontology is sufficiently equipped for these tasks. She proposes that only deliberative democracy contains convincing conceptions of the good, justice, and legitimacy that provide for the justifiable resolution of debates about the moral foundations of public policy. Responding to challenges in nuclear waste management in ways more comprehensive and more tenable than both utilitarianism and deontology, deliberative policy analysis promises to be an effective approach to other cases associated with risk, uncertainty, and futurity.


The paper is one of the many outputs of research project called "Digital Technologies in students' everyday lives and learning" (supported by the Czech Science Foundation; grant no. 17-06152S), focusing on digital technologies and their role in everyday lives and learning of 15-year-old Czech students, across a variety of contexts and environments (see also Arnseth, Erstad, Juhaňak, & Zounek, 2016). Like in other economically advanced countries, in the Czech Republic information and communication technologies (ICT) have become an inseparable part of social life, while becoming an important element in education. Since the beginning of the 21st century, a number of initiatives and projects have been undertaken to support implementation of ICT into formal education (for more details see Eurydice, 2011; Zounek & Seďova, 2009; Zounek, 2006). Researching or evaluating these initiatives systematically however has not received enough attention in the Czech Republic yet. It was only in the strategic document Strategy in Digital education until 2020 (Strategie, 2014) that an explicit request for collecting data on ICT implementation and use in formal education as well as a need for educational research in this area have been voiced. This is why data on ICT in Czech schools has been scarce in the Czech Republic. One of the few sources research can currently draw on to get an insight into these issues is data from international surveys (International Large-Scale Assessments – ILSA) undertaken in the Czech Republic. For ICT, this is mainly the PISA survey (which includes the ICT Familiarity Questionnaire) and ICILS 2013 survey, focusing on students' computer and information literacy (Fraillon, Schulz, & Ainley, 2013). Despite this, not even data from these international surveys have been analysed sufficiently in the Czech Republic (Potužnikova, Lokajickova & Janik, 2014; Strakova, 2009). The goal of this paper therefore is to use the data from ILSAs undertaken in the CR to map the role of ICT in Czech schools. We are primarily interested in finding out how ICT availability and use are reflected in students' educational performance and what other aspects relating to ICT use by students may influence their educational results (such as ICT availability and use beyond school, interest in ICT, ICT self-efficacy etc.). The paper will specifically focus on analysing data from the most recent PISA 2015 survey (i.e. primarily data from the familiarity questionnaire for students).


Abstract Clay is the main construction material for clay cores of earth-fill dams. Clay minerals swell when they become wet and shrink when they dry out; cracks develop as they lose moisture. If precautions are not taken to prevent seepage through these cracks, dam failures may result. In this study, sand was added to montmorillonite-dominant clay soils to investigate the effect of sand-inclusion rates on the engineering characteristics of clay soils used in the construction of clay cores of earth-fill dams. Changes in the consistency limits, compaction characteristics, permeability, stress-strain relationships and swelling characteristics with increasing sand inclusion rates were evaluated. Based on the results from experimental trials, a 30% sand inclusion rate appears to be the optimum proportion; most of the swelling occurred in the voids of grains and led to permeability levels below the allowable limits for earth-fill dams.


Distances and areas frequently appear in text articles. However, people struggle to understand these measurements when they cannot relate them to measurements of locations that they are personally familiar with. We contribute tools for generating personalized spatial analogies: re-expressions that contextualize spatial measurements in terms of locations with similar measurements that are more familiar to the user. Our automated approach takes a user's location and generates a personalized spatial analogy for a target distance or area using landmarks. We present an interactive application that tags distances, areas, and locations in a text article and presents personalized spatial analogies using interactive maps. We find that users who view a personalized spatial analogy map generated by our system rate the helpfulness of the information for understanding a distance or area 1.9 points higher (on a 7 pt scale) than when they see the article with no spatial analogy and 0.7 points higher than when they see generic spatial analogy.


Pseudospectra and structured pseudospectra are subsets of the complex plane which give a geometric representation, via eigenvalues, of the effects of perturbations to a matrix. We survey the historical development of the subject, and the definitions and characterizations of the various sets of pseudospectra. Motivated by the fact that a nonnormal matrix in the 2-norm can become normal in a different norm, we describe a numerical investigation into the question of characterizing which perturbations have the greatest effect on the eigenvalues of the matrix.


Recent pronouncements by international aid agencies on their interest in and preference for a learner-centred pedagogy so far appear not to have attracted much scholarly attention. This paper attempts to explain this interest. It argues that although the efficacy of the pedagogy is often couched in cognitive/educational terms, in essence, its efficacy lies in its political and ideological nature. The fact that the aid agencies' interest in the pedagogy became explicit soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall is in itself significant. The paper argues that aid agencies' apparent lack of interest in pedagogical issues before 1989 lay partially in the very central hypothesis of the modernisation theory of development which became enshrined in policies of aid agencies soon after the latter were created. The hypothesis, coupled with human capital theory, viewed education in technicist terms. However, the ascendancy of neo-liberalism as a development paradigm in the 1980s and 1990s elevated political democratisation as a prerequisite for economic development. Education, then, assumed a central role in the democratisation project. Given its democratic tendencies, learner-centred pedagogy was a natural choice for the development of democratic social relations in the schools of aid-receiving countries. Aid agencies, therefore, had to be explicit about their preference for the pedagogy. Thus, the pedagogy is an ideological outlook, a worldview intended to develop a preferred kind of society and people. It is in this sense that it should be seen as representing a process of Westernisation disguised as quality and effective teaching.


Abstract Health-related quality of life is the primary objective of total hip replacement surgery, but optimal methods of assessing this construct have not been agreed. A sample of 186 patients receiving total hip replacement surgery were invited to complete a number of assessments pre-surgically and again at a six month follow-up clinic. On both occasions, they completed the Oxford Hip Score, the SF-36 and, in addition at the follow-up clinic, a small number of retrospective judgements about their health and the success of surgery. The purpose of the study was to investigate two issues: (i) the responsiveness of a condition-specific (Oxford Hip Score) compared to a generic instrument (SF-36) and (ii) the validity of retrospective judgements compared to evidence of outcomes obtained from prospective monitoring of health status. The condition-specific measure was found to be more responsive to changes of importance to the patient. Retrospective judgements were found to have construct validity as evidence o...


Learning to localize objects with minimal supervision is an important problem in computer vision, since large fully annotated datasets are extremely costly to obtain. In this paper, we propose a new method that achieves this goal with only image-level labels of whether the objects are present or not. Our approach combines a discriminative submodular cover problem for automatically discovering a set of positive object windows with a smoothed latent SVM formulation. The latter allows us to leverage efficient quasi-Newton optimization techniques. Our experiments demonstrate that the proposed approach provides a 50% relative improvement in mean average precision over the current state-of-the-art on PASCAL VOC 2007 detection.


Existing literature focusing on the impact of corporate sustainable responsibility (CSR) on employees can be broadly divided into two streams. One stream focuses on how CSR affects potential employees, suggesting that it contributes to increasing the attractiveness of a company by creating a good reputation for it. The other stream focuses on the impact of CSR on current employees, suggesting that CSR, including environmentally responsible behavior, positively influences corporate reputation and, in turn, employee commitment. The study empirically investigates the role of CSR in its three dimensions - environmental, social, and governance in retaining employees at an organizational level (i.e., employee turnover). This study uses a global firm-level dataset of 632 observations for 2005-2013 from Bloomberg Professional Service, regressing employee turnover on CSR activities in manufacturing, non-manufacturing, and energy and utilities industries. The results indicate that activities in the environmental dimension do not signifi-cantly affect the retention of employees. In the social dimension, CSR training has a significant effect on retaining employees in all industries, but is not robust in each of the three industries. In the governance dimension, few governance activities affect employee retention in the manufacturing and energy and utilities industries, although some governance policies (such as the percentage of women on the board of directors) reduce employee turnover rate in the non-manufacturing industry. This difference appears to be due to industry characteristics regarding the extent of fluidity of the labor market.


We examine the effects of date of birth on state selective education using the 1944 Education Act in England and Wales as a natural experiment. We compare the probabilities of gaining selective school entry – which in our study period meant attending a grammar school – before and after the Act using a difference-in-difference approach. Before 1944, grammar school entry was achieved either noncompetitively through fee-paying or free based on a competitive 11+ exam. After 1944, all children were required to take a competitive 11+ exam and about one-third gained a grammar school place. Pre-1944 we find the children born in the middle or late in the school year (January to August) fared significantly worse in gaining a grammar school place than those born at the beginning of the school year (from September to December). Post-1944, the prospects of grammar school entry among children born in the middle of the school year (January to April) improved considerably. We argue that a greater recourse to age standardisation of 11+ test scores may well have accounted for this outcome. The youngest 'summer children' (those born at the end of the school year from May to August) remained significantly disadvantaged, however. A strong influence was the practice of streaming (or tracking) junior school children at age 7 into classes delineated by average ability.


This guide will give you ideas on where to apply for scholarships and will share library resources on scholarship application success.


BACKGROUND
Emergency tourniquet use to control hemorrhage from limb wounds is associated with improved survival and control of shock. In 2013, we introduced a way to measure learning curves of tourniquet users. With a dataset from an unrelated study, we had an opportunity to explore learning in detail. The study aim was to generate hypotheses about measurement methods in the learning of tourniquet users.

METHODS
We gathered data from a previous experiment that yielded a convenient sample of repeated tourniquet applications used as a marker of learning. Data on consecutive applications on a manikin were used in the current report and were associated with two users, three models of tourniquet, and six metrics (i.e., effectiveness, pulse cessation, blood loss, time to effectiveness, windlass turn number, and pressure applied). There were 840 tests (140 tests per user, two users, three models).

RESULTS
Unique characteristics of learning were associated with each user. Hypotheses generated included the following: trainee learning curves can vary in shape (e.g., flat, curved) by which metric of learning is chosen; some metrics may show much learning, whereas others show almost none; use of more than one metric may assess more comprehensively than using only one metric but may require more assessment time; number of uses required can vary by instructional goal (e.g., expertise, competence); awareness of the utility of specific metrics may vary by instructor; and some, but not all, increases in experience are associated with improved performance.

CONCLUSIONS
This first-aid study generated hypotheses about caregiver learning for further study of tourniquet education and standards.


The Westphalian C was a time of marked tectonic and climatic changes within the Variscan Foreland, but our understanding of these changes is hampered by a poor appreciation of large-scale palaeogeography and palaeogeographic evolution within this key stratigraphic interval. The distribution of tonsteins, marine bands and faunal occurrences related to marine incursions or the proximity of marine conditions in Britain and on the European mainland during the Westphalian C (Bolsovian) is briefly summarised. The favoured environmental conditions of some selected fossil taxa (Lingula, arenaceous foraminifers, Geisina, conchostracan faunas and Torispora producing tree ferns) are highlighted. A palaeogeographic model shows the relationship between major sedimentary facies belts in the Westphalian C of western Europe and the influence of major marine incursions on the distribution pattern of incursion-related faunas. The frequent succession of transgressive-regressive faunal phases in beds with marine faunas and the close correlation between the distribution of these beds and the distribution of upper delta plain environments in the Westphalian C of northwestern Europe suggest that marine incursions were long-lived, related to glacio-eustatic events, and cannot be regarded as catastrophic « flash floods ».


This project considers how we might understand participatory culture platforms such as Reddit through the lens of game studies. Using ethnographic techniques and approaches from actor-network theory, this research describes several playful patterns of interaction seen commonly on Reddit, and discusses the ways in which certain design choices enable and constrain the kind of play that occurs. I argue that understanding these spaces as games provides a deeper understanding of the interactions between participants and the culture of Reddit at large. It can also help us explore how individuals assign meaning to things like "karma points" and engage in reflexive talk about the rewards and rules governing play. At the same time, this research suggests the "game" of Reddit is not unproblematic, as who can play, how they can play, and what play looks like often reinscribes many hegemonic tendencies of (internet) culture more broadly.


textabstractWe offer a theory of the "boundary of the firm" tailored to banks as it builds on a single risk-shifting inefficiency and takes into account interbank lending, as an alternative to integration, and insured deposit financing. It explains why deeper economic integration should cause also greater, though still incomplete, financial integration, through both bank mergers and interbank lending, and why economic disintegration, as currently witnessed in the European Union, should cause less interbank exposure. Recent policy measures such as the preferential treatment of retail deposits, the extension of deposit insurance, or penalties on "connectedness" could reduce welfare.


There is increasing emphasis to consider ecosystem services in natural resource policy and management, which has the potential to provide win-wins for species and habitat conservation and human use of resources. Inland freshwater fisheries provide over 33% of the world's small scale fish catch and employ over 60 million people. However inland waters are the most threatened ecosystem in the world, which in turn threatens thelivelihoods and sustenance of millions globally. This thesis assesses the role of freshwater species in providing food as an ecosystem service, particularly to poor and vulnerable groups, and how the needs of fisheries align and contrast with threatened species inhabiting the waterways. In Chapter 2 the value of fisheries was assessed alongside other ecosystem services provided by inland water systems, where it was shown that monetary and nonmonetary valuations suggest very different priorities across a suite of services. Disaggregation of beneficiaries also showed a mismatch in prioritisation between different stakeholders, and in particular that fishermen and women, who rely most directly on the water resources, value resources incompatibly from a standard monetary valuation. In Chapter 3 I examined the effect of biodiversity on fishery yields and variability to determine if there is a potential for a win-win for conservation and ecosystem service delivery, and showed that increased species richness provides a significant positive contribution. The study of inland water systems and fisheries is hampered by a lack of data and in order to map the benefits from fisheries a model was created for Chapter 4 to spatially predict the relative importance of inland waterways to fishery yields. Example output from this model was used in Chapter 5 to explore how fisheries and freshwater species hotspots overlap spatially, and how this information can be used to determine potential areas of synergy where improved management could ensure benefits to humans while protecting wetland species, but equally to examine where there is potential conflict.With an increased understanding of freshwater ecosystems and their link to the resources they provide, there is potential for inland waters to be managed to benefit both people relying on food provision and the species living within.


Atlantic salmon farming is one of the largest aquaculture sectors in the world. A major impact on farm economics, fish welfare and, potentially, nearby wild salmonid populations, is the sea louse ectoparasite Lepeophtheirus salmonis. Sea louse infestations are most often controlled through application of chemicals, but in most farming regions, sea lice have evolved resistance to the small set of available chemicals. Therefore, alternative treatment methodologies are becoming more widely used. One increasingly common alternative treatment involves the co-culture of farmed salmon with cleaner fish, which prey on sea lice. However, despite their wide use, little is understood about the situations in which cleaner fish are most effective. For example, previous work suggests that a low parasite density results in sea lice finding it difficult to acquire mates, reducing fecundity and population growth. Other work suggests that environmental conditions such as temperature and external sea louse pressure have substantial impact on this mate limitation threshold and may even remove the effect entirely. We used an Agent-Based Model (ABM) to simulate cleaner fish on a salmon farm to explore interactions between sea louse mating behaviour, cleaner fish feeding rate, temperature and external sea louse pressure. We found that sea louse mating has a substantial effect on sea louse infestations under a variety of environmental conditions. Our results suggest that cleaner fish can control sea louse infestations most effectively by maintaining the population below critical density thresholds.


Author(s): Pope, Robert C. | Advisor(s): Wallhagen, Margaret I. | Abstract: Title. Older African Americans and Illicit Drug Use: A Qualitative StudyAim. To explore the underlying social factors associated with illicit drug use in older African Americans as an underpinning to the development of approaches to nursing care and treatment.Background. By 2020 there will be approximately five million older Americans with substance use disorders. A disproportionate number, almost half a million, will be of African descent. Drug use along with age related changes predisposes these older adults to a myriad of undesirable social, psychological, and health outcomes such as homelessness, mental illness, HIV, and hepatitis C.Method. Grounded Theory methodology was used to explore the social processes involved in the use of illicit drugs by older African-Americans. Interviews were conducted with 20 older African American substance users who were currently in drug treatment programs. Responses to the questions were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using constant comparative methods. The data were collected in 2008.Findings. Three core themes emerged: (1) Family, (2) Media Images, and (3) Environment. Further analysis established that the family and media images themes were components of a larger core category entitled "emulation." Emulation of an admired person or lifestyle was associated with initiation into a drug lifestyle. Environment remained a core category that supported continued and long term substance abuse. Conclusion. Emulation of admired behavior of humans by other humans, unlike the emulation reproduced in the laboratory model by lab rats, occurs in no predictable temporal pattern making the point of intervention for prevention of observed unwanted social behaviors most difficult. However, nurses are in a unique position to assess for and thus intervene against substance abuse initiation and will play a key role in leading the way to healthier communities.


Multiple GHz of internationally available, unlicensed spectrum surrounding the 60 GHz carrier frequency has the ability to accommodate high-throughput wireless communications. While the size and availability of this free spectrum make it very attractive for wireless applications, 60 GHz implementations must overcome many challenges. For example, the high attenuation and directional nature of the 60 GHz wireless channel as well as limited gain amplifiers and excessive phase noise in 60 GHz transceivers are explicit implementation difficulties. The challenges associated with this channel motivate commercial deployment of short-range wireless local area networks, wireless personal area networks, and vehicular networks. In this paper we detail design tradeoffs for algorithms in the 60 GHz physical layer including modulation, equalization, and space-time processing. The discussion is enhanced by considering the limitations in circuit design, characteristics of the effective wireless channel (including antennas), and performance requirements to support current and next generation 60 GHz wireless communication applications.


The conflict at the heart of cybersquatting is in many ways conceptual. To most of its early inhabitants, the Internet embodied a separate and distinct environment-a territory unto itself. As such, it was thought the online world would stand separate from existing governmental power structures premised on the idea of territorial sovereignty. This separateness placed online actors theoretically beyond the authority of established legal systems, whose validity appeared limited by territorial boundaries and the sovereign-subject relationships occurring in the off-line world. Indeed, what many envisioned was an opportunity to create a self-regulating community existing within the territory of the Internet and built from the ground up (an ironic phrase) on the libertarian ideal. Of course, this desire for separateness did not blind members of the virtual community to the eventuality of interaction with the off-line world. The commercial potential of the network was apparent to many, if not to established brick-and-mortar commercial interests. With this in mind, on-line actors began to buy up the most desirable locations in this virtual world-domain names corresponding either to popular generic or descriptive terms or to trademarks held by commercial interests under off-line legal regimes. To these speculators, the acquisition of rights in domain names was little more than a land rush in a newly created territory, free of encumbrances, rewarding those who were the first to act by purchase of a claim of right. Existing governmental power structures and the beneficiaries of that authority saw the Internet quite differently; as an extension of the off-line world. This network, comprised of computers and wires anchored to terra firma, and populated by individuals located within existing real-world borders, was, in their view, far from a new and independent territory, but rather merely another medium for communication and commerce. Thus, individuals could not ignore the rights and obligations imposed by virtue of the territorial sovereign-subject relationship simply by acting in the online environment rather than off-line. There could be no land rush, because the rights in much of that land had already been assigned through a system of trademark rights. Part II of this Article describes this conflict between claims of appropriated rights in the newly created territory of the Internet and the mapping of rights conferred by existing territorially based trademark systems onto Internet space. I begin with an overview of the domain name system and the basics of cybersquatting. I then discuss the development of remedial systems intended to address the problem, from the application of existing trademark law and the weaknesses in that approach, to the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) and the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). Part III of this Article attempts to situate cybersquatting and its remedies among trademark principles. This links two tracks of progression. The first is the evolution of trademark principles towards property-like exclusive rights. The second uses these principles as a baseline to measure the extension of certain rights applicable in the context of cybersquatting. Here, I focus on the incremental modifications in the substantive terms of the ACPA, and then the more drastic changes imposed in the substantive terms of the UDRP, as effectuated by procedural and institutional biases. In Part IV of this Article, I argue that cybersquatting remedial systems, and in particular the UDRP, have lost touch with the basic principles upon which they were constructed. I point specifically to the expansion of the UDRP beyond our understanding of cybersquatting and into more benign instances of domain name conflict. Connecting this to the issue of trademark protections, I argue that the expanded rights described in Part III do not make sense beyond the narrow confines of traditional cybersquatting. Application of the UDRP to such a broad range of cases simply cannot be justified even under the most expansive view of property-like trademark rights. Even more importantly, the bargain at the heart of the UDRP-sacrificing certain constitutional protections in favor of efficiency-raises questions of validity when applied outside the most obvious and egregious cases of bad faith and abusive domain name registration.


Unlike incandescent light bulb, which radiates heat into the surroundings by infrared rays, light emitting diode (LED) traps heat inside the lamp. This fact increases the diffi-culty of cooling LED lamps, while it facilitates the recovery of the generated heat. We propose a novel energy system that merges high-power LED lamp cooling with the heat pump use; the heat pump can cool the LED lamp and at the same time recover the waste heat. In this way, a high percentage of the energy consumed by the LED lamp can be utilized. In this work, we developed a prototype of this energy system and conducted a series of experimental studies to determine the effect of several parameters, such as cooling water flow rate and LED power, on the LED leadframe temperature, compressor power consumption, and system performance. The experimental results clearly indicate that the energy system can lead to substantial energy savings.


Objectives: To test the contribution of perceived environmental factors (food availability, accessibility and affordability) to mediating socioeconomic variations in women's fruit, vegetable and fast food consumption. Methods: A community sample of 1580 women from 45 neighbourhoods provided survey data on their socioeconomic position (SEP) (education and income); diet (fruit, vegetable and fast food consumption); and the perceived availability of, access to and cost of healthy food in their local area. Results: Once perceived environmental variables were considered, the associations between SEP and diet were weak and non-significant, suggesting that socioeconomic differences in diet were almost wholly explained by perceptions of food availability, accessibility and affordability. Conclusions: Strategies to decrease socioeconomic inequalities in diet could involve promoting inexpensive ways to increase fruit and vegetable consumption, and ensuring that people of low SEP are aware that many healthy foods are available at relatively low cost. Future research should also confirm if perceptions match objective measures of food availability, accessibility and affordability, in order to address the real and/or perceived lack of healthy options in low SEP neighbourhoods.


Low friction and high temperature wear resistant PVD coatings are in high demand for use on engine components, which operate in extreme environment. Diamond-like-carbon (DLC) coatings are extensively used for this purpose due to their excellent tribological properties. However, DLC degrades at high temperature and pressure conditions leading to significant increase in friction and wear rate even in the presence of lubricant. To withstand high working temperature and simultaneously maintain improved tribological properties in lubricated condition at ambient and at high temperature, both the transitional metals Mo and W are simultaneously introduced in a carbon-based coating (Mo-W-C) for the first time utilising the benefits of smart material combination and High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HIPIMS).This research includes development of Mo-W-C coating and investigation of thermal stability and tribological properties at ambient and high temperatures. The as-deposited Mo-W-C coating contains nanocrystalline almost X-ray amorphous structure and show dense microstructure, good adhesion with substrate (Lc -80 N) and high hardness (-17 GPa). During boundary lubricated sliding (commercially available engine oil without friction modifier used as lubricant) at ambient temperature, Mo-W-C coating outperforms commercially available state-of-the-art DLC coatings by providing significantly low friction (u- 0.03 - 0.05) and excellent wear resistance (no measurable wear). When lubricated sliding tests are carried out at 200°C, Mo-W-C coating provides low friction similar to ambient temperature, whereas degradation of DLC coating properties fails to maintain low friction coefficient.A range of surface analyses techniques reveal "in-situ" formation of solid lubricants (WS2 and M0S2) at the tribo-contacts due to tribochemically reactive wear mechanism at ambient and high temperature. Mo-W-C coating reacts with EP additives present in the engine oil during sliding to form WS2 and M0S2. This mechanism is believed to be the key-factor for low friction properties of Mo-W-C coating and presence of graphitic carbon particles further benefits the friction behaviour. It is observed that low friction is achieved mostly due to formation of WS2 at ambient temperature, whereas formation of both WS2 and M0S2 significantly decreases the friction of Mo-W-C coating at high temperature. This further indicates importance of combined Mo and W doping over single-metal doping into carbon-based coatings.Isothermal oxidation tests indicate that Mo-W-C coating preserves it's as-deposited graphitic nature up to 500°C, whereas local delamination of DLC coating leads to substrate exposure and loss of its diamond-like structure at the same temperature. Further, thermo-gravimetric tests confirm excellent thermal stability of Mo-W-C coating compared to DLC. Mo-W-C coating resists oxidation up to ~800°C and no coating delamination is observed due to retained coating integrity and its strong adhesion with substrate. On the other hand, state-of-the-art DLC coating starts to delaminate beyond ~380°C.The test results confirm that Mo-W-C coating sustains high working temperature and simultaneously maintains improved tribological properties during boundary lubricated condition at ambient and high temperature. Thus Mo-W-C coating is a suitable candidate for low friction and high temperature wear resistant applications compared to commercially available state-of-the-art DLC coatings.


In order to address the serious issue of informal e-waste recycling in China, though carefully analyzing correlative monetary, information and product flow for China's e-waste special fund administration, we propose to establish a framework of a deposit refund system under the EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) principles. The deposit refund system can increase the incentives of consumer recycling and ensure the construction of a formal recycling channel. Given the economic responsibilities of the multiple parties involved, we also come up with an optimized design of the reverse supply chain expense mechanism for e-waste recycling. In addition, after analyzing the concept and the core role of the deposit fund, we introduce it as a corresponding parameter in the supply chain model. This research extends a typical reverse supply chain model to one that involves manufacturer, third-party recycler, and consumer, as while as considers government decision and consumer activities. The proposed expenses allocation incentive mechanism is constructed on the foundation of the supply chain optimization theory. This research provides a new perspective on supply chain analysis by focusing on the issues of e-waste recycling, its environmental impacts, and incentives to informal recycling in China. Meanwhile, this study also takes into account the appropriate role of the Chinese government and the influence of the deposit fund to the supply chain and is intended to resolve the problem of the shared responsibility in e-waste recycling.


SINCE 1945, IN A VAIN ATTEMPT to retain great power status, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London has encouraged British prime ministers, of whatever party, to nurture a "special relationship" with the United States. Some, like Tony Blair, also claim to serve as a bridge between the United States and Europe.(1) An effective bridging policy implies that Britain should never have to choose between the United States and Europe. In 2002-2003, however, by supporting George Bush's campaign against Iraq, Tony Blair chose allegiance to Washington at the expense of relations with Britain's major European allies, a decision that was deeply unpopular in Britain as Blair made the case for war and became more so as conditions in Iraq deteriorated throughout 2003.(2)Part 1 of this article traces Blair's relations with Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush since he became prime minister in May 1997, with a particular focus on policy toward Iraq and the decision to go to war in March 2003. Part 2 examines Blair's case for war--the imminent threat to Britain from Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction--which most Britons, including several members of Blair's own Cabinet, found unconvincing. Part 3 assesses the costs to Britain of participating in Bush's war, not so much the obvious costs with respect to loss of life but the opportunities lost to participate fully in the multilateral campaign against terrorism and to contribute to a settlement in the Middle East, as well as the costs of complicity in the bumbling incompetence of post-war planning in Iraq.1: BLAIR'S "SPECIAL RELATIONS" WITH CLINTON AND BUSHFrom 1997 to 2000 Tony Blair forged a close working relationship with President Clinton but was also proactive in European affairs, even to the point of proposing a defence identity for the EU in 1998. Indeed, in this period, despite Blair's decision in June 1997 not to join the euro immediately, other European leaders found francophone Blair the most articulate and pro-EU British prime minister they had ever known, although some did resent his arrogance.(3) Tony Blair and Bill Clinton were soulmates of the centre-left with respect to market economic and social welfare reform. They also held similar views on the Balkans, an issue on which the Clinton and Major governments had been at odds. Nevertheless Blair and Robin Cook, Blair's first foreign secretary, were more proactive on intervening to curb the excesses of Slobodan Milo[Symbol Not Transcribed]sevi[Symbol Not Transcribed] and in co-operating with the International Criminal Tribunal on Former Yugoslavia than the Clinton administration. Blair was more inclined than Clinton to use force if he felt there was an ethical justification to do so.(4) In 1999 Blair was impatient with Clinton's dithering over when and how to deal with human rights abuses in Kosovo. Once NATO had decided to use force against Serbia, Blair pressed Clinton for a commitment to put US troops on the ground, but failed.(5) Perhaps the only American who appreciated Blair's enthusiasm for ground troops was General Wesley Clark, supreme allied commander in Europe, who told Blair in April 1999 that he could not guarantee a NATO victory over Milo[Symbol Not Transcribed]sevi[Symbol Not Transcribed] with air power alone.(6) In his second term (1997-2001), President Clinton, much weakened, had to deal not only with a Republican-controlled House and Senate but also with a new right-wing pressure group, the Project for the New American Century, under the chairmanship of William Kristol. This group included several neo-conservatives (including Paul Wolfowitz, Donald Rumsfeld and John Bolton) who would later serve in the administration of George W. Bush. Out of office they lobbied effectively for regime change in Iraq and a permanent US military presence in the Gulf region. One result was the Iraq Liberation Act, passed in 1998, which committed the United States to regime change in Iraq and also required the Clinton administration to finance several Iraqi opposition groups. …


To embed ensemble techniques into belief decision trees for performance improvement, the bagging algorithm is explored. Simple belief decision trees based on entropy intervals extracted from evidential likelihood are constructed as the base classifiers, and a combination of individual trees promises to lead to a better classification accuracy. Requiring no extra querying cost, bagging belief decision trees can obtain good classification performance by simple belief tree combination, making it an alternative to single belief tree with querying. Experiments on UCI datasets verify the effectiveness of bagging approach. In various uncertain cases, the bagging method outperforms single belief tree without querying, and is comparable in accuracy to single tree with querying.


Dyskeratosis congenita (DC) is a rare inherited disorder associated with bone marrow failure, skin defects, and an increased susceptibility to cancer. The X-linked form, X-DC, is caused by mutations in the DKC1 gene, which encodes a pseudouridine synthase that modifies ribosomal RNA. Yoon et al. show that disruption of DKC1 impairs translation of a select group of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) that initiate protein synthesis in an unusual way, through internal ribosome entry site (IRES) elements. Among the mRNAs affected were those encoding the tumor suppressor p27kip1 and two proteins that prevent cell death, Bcl-xL and XIAP (for X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein). Loss of these protein functions may contribute to the pathogenesis of X-DC. A. Yoon, G. Peng, Y. Brandenburg, O. Zollo, W. Xu, E. Rego, D. Ruggero, Impaired control of IRES-mediated translation in X-linked dyskeratosis congenita. Science 312, 902-906 (2006). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Summary
Experiments involving the cultivation of three species of avian plasmodia, Plasmodium cathemerium, P. hexamerium and P. relictum, on the Harvard medium show the medium to be best adapted to the requirements of P. hexamerium. Although the Growth Index (defined as the ratio of parasites per unit number of red cells at the end of a given period of cultivation to that at the start) was numerically not as high as that obtained with some other species of avian plasmodia, it represents a relatively better result because this species has a much slower rate of natural increase. Viability tests and staining reactions of cultured parasites confirm this conclusion. Relatively good results were also obtained in subculture. Nevertheless even this species does not show a rate of multiplication in culture approaching that observed in vivo.
Of the other two species, P. relictum (as previously reported) does moderately well in primary cultures, but little more than survival occurs in subcultures. P. cathemerium shows even less multiplication in primary cultures, and virtually none in subculture.


Aim: To compare the clinical and microscopic characteristics of hamartoma and choristoma of the oral mucosa and jaws and discuss the challenges in diagnosis. Materials and Methods: Analysis of patients diagnosed between 2000 and 2012, and literature review of the same years. A sub-classification into "single tissue" or "mixed-tissue" types was applied for all the diagnoses according to the histopathological description. Results: A total of 61 new cases of hamartoma or choristoma were retrieved, the majority were hamartoma. The literature analysis yielded 155 cases, of which 44.5% were choristoma. The majority of hamartoma were mixed. Among these, neurovascular hamartoma was the most prevalent type (36.7%). Of the choristoma, 59.4% were single tissue, with respiratory, gastric and cartilaginous being the most prevalent single tissue types. The tongue was the most frequent location of both groups. Conclusion: Differentiating choristoma from hamartoma depends to a great extent on the recognition of the normal tissues expected at every individual location.


Clock synchronization allows parties to establish a common notion of global time by leveraging a weaker synchrony assumption, i.e., local clocks with approximately the same speed. The problem has long been a prominent goal for fault-tolerant distributed computing with a number of ingenious solutions in various settings. However, despite intensive investigation, the existing solutions do not apply to common blockchain protocols, which are designed to tolerate variable—and potentially adversarial—participation patterns, e.g., sleepiness and dynamic availability. Furthermore, because such blockchain protocols rely on freshly joining (or re-joining) parties to have a common notion of time, e.g., a global clock which allows knowledge of the current protocol round, it is not clear if or how they can operate without such a strong synchrony assumption. In this work, we show how to solve the global synchronization problem by leveraging proof of stake (PoS). Concretely, we design and analyze a PoS blockchain protocol in the above dynamic-participation setting, that does not require a global clock but merely assumes that parties have local clocks advancing at approximately the same speed. Central to our construction is a novel synchronization mechanism that can be thought as the blockchain-era analogue of classical synchronizers: It enables joining parties— even if upon joining their local time is off by an arbitrary amount—to quickly calibrate their local clocks so that they all show approximately the same time. As a direct implication of our blockchain construction—since the blockchain can be joined and observed by any interested party—we obtain a permissionless PoS implementation of a global clock that may be used by higher level protocols that need access to global time.


Abstract Exploitative competition through resource utilization may occur between coyotes (Canis latrans) and other carnivores. In the southern periphery of Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) range, there is concern that increased snowmobile activity may enable coyotes to increase their movements into deep snow areas during the winter months, thereby potentially creating heightened resource competition with lynx, mainly for the lynx's main prey, snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus). We studied the seasonal variation of coyote diets and the dietary overlap between coyotes and lynx in a 512-km2 high-elevation study area in northwestern Wyoming. Dietary shifts by coyotes were documented during the winter, spring, summer, and fall from August 2006 through June 2008. Although lynx are known to primarily prey on snowshoe hares, lynx scats were also collected to assess their diet for comparative purposes. A total of 470 coyote scats and 24 lynx scats were collected, dried and analyzed. Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) was the predominant prey item for coyotes by percent occurrence (20.1%) for all 3 years combined, followed by elk (Cervus elaphus, 12.5%), montane vole (Microtus montanus, 12.0%), and snowshoe hare (8.0%). Snowshoe hares were the dominant prey item for lynx during the winter, accounting for 85.2% of all prey occurrences. Coyote use of snowshoe hares peaked in the fall (24.1% of all occurrences). We found little dietary overlap between coyotes and lynx during the winter months when lynx mainly fed on snowshoe hares and coyotes fed mostly on ungulates.


A model external-cavity system is investigated to describe the tuning characteristics appropriate to the various experimental procedures used in the operation of the spin-flip Raman laser. In particular a calculation is made of the amount by which internal subcavities pull the oscillation frequency away from the Raman frequency under the servocontrolled conditions used to achieve continuous tuning.


BACKGROUND
Influenza vaccination is recommended for asthmatic patients in many countries as observational studies have shown that influenza infection can be associated with asthma exacerbations, but influenza vaccination itself has the potential to adversely affect pulmonary function. A recent overview concluded that there was no clear benefit of influenza vaccination in patients with asthma but this conclusion was not based on a systematic search of the literature.

OBJECTIVES
Whilst influenza may cause asthma exacerbations, there is controversy about the use of influenza vaccinations, since they may precipitate an asthma attack in some people. The objective of this review was to assess the efficacy of influenza vaccination in children and adults with asthma.

SEARCH STRATEGY
We searched the Cochrane Airways Group trials register and checked reference lists of articles. The last search was carried out in September 2007.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Randomised trials of influenza vaccination in children (over two years of age) and adults with asthma. Studies involving people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were excluded.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Inclusion criteria and assessment of trial quality were applied by two reviewers independently. Data extraction was done by two reviewers independently. Study authors were contacted for missing information.

MAIN RESULTS
Nine trials were initially included. Four of these trials were of high quality. Six further articles have been included in three updates (Bueving 2003; Castro 2001; Fleming 2006; Redding 2002; Reid 1998). The included studies covered a wide diversity of people, settings and types of influenza vaccination, but data from the more recent studies that used similar vaccines have been pooled.

BENEFITS
Bueving 2003 studied 696 children with asthma and did not demonstrate a significant reduction in influenza related asthma exacerbations (Risk Difference 0.01; 95% confidence interval -0.02 to 0.04).

HARMS
The pooled results of two trials involving 2306 people with asthma did not demonstrate a significant increase in asthma exacerbations in the two weeks following influenza vaccination (Risk Difference 0.00; 95% confidence interval -0.02 to 0.02).

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
Uncertainty remains about the degree of protection vaccination affords against asthma exacerbations that are related to influenza infection. Evidence from recently published trials indicates that there is no significant increase in asthma exacerbations immediately after vaccination (at least with inactivated influenza vaccination). There is concern regarding possible increased wheezing and hospital admissions in infants given live intranasal vaccination.


This paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education in developing entrepreneurial intentions among students in HEIs in Blantyre District of Malawi. A mixed method approach consisting of quantitative and qualitative methods was employed. In total 60 participants were purposively sampled for the study of which 42 responded to the questionnaire that was administered. This represents a response rate of 70%. Data collection was conducted through structured questionnaires to all respondents. The results indicate that there is a significant effect of educating students in entrepreneurship and this effect is on their intentions tobecome entrepreneurs in HEIs in Blantyre District. The length of an entrepreneurship education moderated this effect. The respondents who were self-employed after completing their entrepreneurship education and training had a lower entrepreneurial intention at the beginning of the programme compared to the respondents who had not become self-employed. An analysis of the development of entrepreneurial intention after the end of the entrepreneurship programme showed that after the end of the programme, entrepreneurial intentions had increased significantly. Thus, education and training in entrepreneurship is established to be a trigger that positively impacts entrepreneurial intention.

 Key words: Entrepreneur, entrepreneurship education, learning, entrepreneurial mindset, entrepreneurial intention.


Background MiR-101-3p can promote apoptosis and inhibit proliferation, invasion, and metastasis in breast cancer (BC) cells. However, its mechanisms in BC are not fully understood. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of the target genes, pathways, and networks of miR-101-3p in BC is necessary. Material/Methods The miR-101 profiles for 781 patients with BC from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were analyzed. Gene expression profiling of GSE31397 with miR-101-3p transfected MCF-7 cells and scramble control cells was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), and the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. The potential genes targeted by miR-101-3p were also predicted. Gene Ontology (GO) and pathway and network analyses were constructed for the DEGs and predicted genes. Results In the TCGA data, a low level of miR-101-2 expression might represent a diagnostic (AUC: 0.63) marker, and the miR-101-1 was a prognostic (HR=1.79) marker. MiR-101-1 was linked to the estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), and miR-101-2 was associated with the tumor (T), lymph node (N), and metastasis (M) stages of BC. Moreover, 427 genes were selected from the 921 DEGs in GEO and the 7924 potential target genes from the prediction databases. These genes were related to transcription, metabolism, biosynthesis, and proliferation. The results were also significantly enriched in the VEGF, mTOR, focal adhesion, Wnt, and chemokine signaling pathways. Conclusions MiR-101-1 and miR-101-2 may be prospective biomarkers for the prognosis and diagnosis of BC, respectively, and are associated with diverse clinical parameters. The target genes of miR-101-3p regulate the development and progression of BC. These results provide insight into the pathogenic mechanism and potential therapies for BC.


INTRODUCTION
The long lasting behavioural and cognitive impairments in offspring prenatally exposed to nicotine have been confirmed in animal models. In the present study, we investigated the effect of ascorbic acid on prenatal nicotine exposure induced behavioral deficits in male offspring of rats.

METHODS
The pregnant Wistar dams were divided into four groups of six rats: control, vehicle control, nicotine and nicotine+ascorbic acid groups. The nicotine group received daily dose of subcutaneous injections of 0.96 mg/kg body weight (bw) nicotine free base throughout gestation. Pregnant dams in nicotine+ascorbic acid group were first given nicotine free base (0.96 mg/kg bw/day; subcutaneous route) followed by ascorbic acid (50 mg/kg bw/day, orally) daily throughout gestation. The cognitive function of male offspring of all the experimental groups was studied using Morris water maze test at postnatal day 40.

RESULTS
Prenatal nicotine exposure altered spatial learning and memory in male offspring. However, treatment with ascorbic acid ameliorated these changes in rats.

CONCLUSION
Ascorbic acid supplementation was found to be effective in preventing the prenatal nicotine exposure induced cognitive deficits in rat offspring to some extent.


Pairs of pulses from an incoherent source are used to investigate the time-resolved four-wave mixing response of atomic rubidium when a two-photon resonance is involved in the nonlinear process. By varying the relative polarization of the pulse pairs, we are able to select the quantum pathways and clearly distinguish optical and quantum interferences.


Higher education has undergone significant change as universities have sought to respond to government reforms in a period of globalisation. One major reform that globalisation has introduced is the reduction in state funding for higher education. Universities have turned to other resources to provide funding and one of these is the recruitment of international students. The focus of this thesis is on contrasting the internationalisation policies of two nations, Australia and the United States, by analysing published policies, statistics and carrying out interviews on two campuses. Two universities, one in Australia and the other in the United States, served as case studies to examine the strategies used to implement these policies. Approximately 100 participants were interviewed, including administrators and faculty members, international and domestic students.

Each university featured internationalisation as a goal in its mission statement. By integrating intercultural and global dimensions into the teaching, research and service functions of a university, internationalisation encompasses a multitude of activities that provide an educational experience. While administrators generally stated that the implementation of strategic plans to achieve international goals had been successful, many faculty members, domestic and international students were of the view that international goals were yet to be realised. These contrasting discourses revealed that each university was falling short of achieving its internationalisation goals. Faculty members and domestic and international students expressed dissatisfaction about cultural insensitivity, lack of adequate services that offered housing and emotional/social support, and language barriers. At the same time, each university was achieving some of its internationalisation goals. In conclusion, strategies are suggested that might improve the implementation of internationalisation at both universities.


Which source of information contains greater bias and slant?text written by an expert or that constructed via collective intelligence? Do the costs of acquiring, storing, displaying and revising information shape those differences? We evaluate this question empirically by examining slanted and biased phrases in content on US political issues from two sources?Encyclopaedia Britannica and Wikipedia. Our overall slant measure is less (more) than zero when an article leans towards Democrat (Republican) viewpoints, while bias is the absolute value of the slant. Using a matched sample of pairs of articles from Britannica and Wikipedia, we show that, overall, Wikipedia articles are more slanted towards Democrat than Britannica articles, as well as more biased. Slanted Wikipedia articles tend to become less biased than Britannica articles on the same topic as they become substantially revised, and the bias on a per word basis hardly differs between the sources. These results have implications for the segregation of readers in online sources and the allocation of editorial resources in online sources using collective intelligence.


A formula is contingent if it is possibly true and possibly false. A formula is noncontingent if it is not contingent, i.e., if it is necessarily true or necessarily false. In an epistemic setting, 'a formula is contingent' means that you are ignorant about its value, whereas 'a formula is non-contingent' means that you know whether it is true. Although non-contingency is definable in terms of necessity as above, necessity is not always definable in terms of non-contingency, as studied in the literature. We propose an 'almost-definability' schema AD for non-contingency logic, the logic with the noncontingency operator as the only modality, making precise when necessity is definable with non-contingency. Based on AD we propose a notion of bisimulation for noncontingency logic, and characterize non-contingency logic as the (non-contingency) bisimulation invariant fragment of modal logic and of first-order logic. A known pain for non-contingency logic is the absence of axioms characterizing frame properties. This makes it harder to find axiomatizations of non-contingency logic over given frame classes. In particular, no axiomatization over symmetric frames is known, despite the rich results about non-contingency logic obtained in the literature since the 1960s. We demonstrate that the 'almost-definability' schema AD can guide our search for proper axioms for certain frame properties, and help us in defining the canonical models. Following this idea, as the main result, we give a complete axiomatization of non-contingency logic over symmetric frames.


Modern railways are required to operate with a high level of safety and reliability. The weakest components are those which have the highest safety requirements and the lowest inherent reliability. Single-throw mechanical actuators, such as powered train doors, trainstops, level crossing barriers and switch actuators (point machines) are a group of components which have these properties. Preventative maintenance is carried out periodically in order to mitigate the risks of these actuators failing. This is inefficient: a condition-based maintenance approach would reduce costs and the risks to staff. However, this kind of maintenance requires very accurate automatic condition monitoring. Currently, the threshold-based condition monitoring systems installed in pilot schemes around the country do not have enough insight into actuator performance to detect incipient faults. These are hard to spot because their symptoms develop over a long period of time. It is uneconomical to carry out detailed analysis or modelling, or collect a large amount of training data, for each instance of a large group of assets. Therefore, the solution needed to establish diagnosis rules based on offline analysis, or training data from only one actuator. This thesis draws on previous work in qualitative trend analysis to build a diagnosis system which uses a combined approach of qualitative and quantitative analysis to transfer the knowledge gathered from one actuator to its fellows in service. The method used has been designed to use straightforward components, so that it can be more easily explained to users. Two case studies were carried out in order to verify the system's functions. Data were collected from real-life actuators, under simulation of incipient faults. The diagnosis system then operated on the data. The system's performance was almost as good with real-world data as it was with synthetic data. The system has been a success when operating on the data gathered under laboratory conditions. In the real world, a system such as this could be used to post-process data gathered around the railway network from actuators with local data acquisition equipment. Incipient faults could be detected in the early stages of their development and accurately diagnosed, allowing maintenance effort to be targeted very specifically, saving money, time and exposing staff to fewer hazards.


We review the literature on recent changes to US employment relationships, focusing on the causes of those changes and their consequences for inequality. The US employment model has moved from a closed, internal system to one more open to external markets and institutional pressures. We describe the growth of short-term employment relationships, contingent work, outsourcing, and performance pay as well as the success of social identity movements in shaping employment benefits. In doing so, we address the role of organizations as sites of conflict within and between stakeholder groups, examining how struggles among stakeholders have contributed to reorganizing employment relationships. We also examine how these changes have affected inequality by (i) influencing the distribution of rewards within organizations (via changes in the determination of pay and benefits and in the allocation of workers to jobs) and (ii) altering, on a macro level, how rewards are distributed among different stakeholders. In closi...


In our present world, more and more attention is being paid to the evaluation and monitoring of different sports organizations, which is because the support of spectator sports has become an important issue. Our fundamental assumption is that football clubs of our time should operate just like large companies in the business sectors. Obviously, it is an essential prerequisite that controlling, a controlling system or a performance measurement system be applied at the business entities operating the clubs. According to our experience, conscious financing of organizations is often neglected in the course of the management processes of sports companies. It is necessary to create the conditions at these organizations that enable managerial decision support and the establishment of a controlling system. It is essential to find controlling methods and tools that can be successfully applied in the life of a sports organization and that ensure the harmonization and coordination of different processes. Consequently, controlling provides a higher level of transparency and information supply for decision makers. The aim of present study is to introduce the Balanced Scorecard (The Balanced Scorecard is a balanced strategic system of indexes, which measures the performance of companies for the sake of implementing the strategy), one of the tools of strategic controlling and its application to sports companies through an example of a Hungarian football club.


Design of a robust controller which stabilizes an interval plant from the signal energy point of view via genetic algorithms (GAs) is proposed in this paper. When a controller is placed in series with the interval plant and closed under unity feedback, it is understood that the closed-loop system can also be characterized as an interval family via overbounding. Because stable systems always possess finite impulse response energy, we can obtain the continuous signal energy for each of the four closed-loop vertex systems associated with the four Kharitonov polynomials. With symbolic manipulation of the coefficients of the transfer function of the vertex systems, the parameter identification problem of a robust controller can be transformed into a multi-objective optimization problem. A proposed GA incorporating a fitness assignment mechanism is then used to search for a set of optimal parameters for the controller which stabilizes the interval plant by minimizing the aggregated continuous signal energy of the four vertex systems. The constraints on higher-order plants and controller order commonly encountered by conventional design methods are therefore removed. Several examples are illustrated to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


Natural wind hazard damages have been dramatic in recent years, incurring losses of life and property around the world. Wind-induced failure is one of the major contributors to insurance claims, and it is rising. To address these growing concerns, RICOWI (Roofing Industry Committee on Weather Issues) started a Wind Investigation Program (WIP) to investigate the field performance of roofing assemblies after major windstorm events and to factually describe roof assembly performance and modes of damage. As part of this program, Hurricane Charley, which hit Punta Gorda, FL, with winds exceeding 140 mph (63 m/s), was investigated. This paper mainly focuses on the field performance of the low-sloped roofs with three important parameters that were found critical in the failure of the roofing systems, namely, • Effect of corner wind suction, • Effect of parapet, • Effect of internal pressure. For each scenario, first scientific documentation was presented, and then how the field observation reflects the fundamental principles were discussed. Based on this exercise, correlations are developed for roof wind design. In addition, wind design data from the North American codes of practice are also calculated and compared to show the impact of science and field observation on durable roof design. With these illustrations, this paper offers recommendations to advance the roof system design for hurricane-prone regions.


Introduction Information is an integral part of development. It is an indispensable factor for the development of any society. Development is hinged on the progress and productivity of the citizenry. It is therefore mandatory that the citizens are well informed of their rights, obligations, and privileges. The role of legal information in awareness of rights and obligations cannot be overemphasized.Legal information is all the published knowledge on the laws and statutes of a nation. Legal information is necessary to maintain peace and settle disputes. Legal information also promotes individual or collective rights to self defense. As posited by Omekwu (2003), legal information is critical in the administration of justice, because it reduces uncertainty while improving the accuracy of decisions. Legal information is contained in the documents of international conventions, in customs and general principles of law, and in judicial decisions (Gasiokwu and Ayewa, 2005). Civil rights groups in the oil- producing communities of Nigeria need information on various oil acts, land use acts, civil and criminal law, etc. This information is needed to carry out activities that fight for economic and political emancipation. Civil rights groups in Nigeria predate oil exploration. These groups emerged to fight for independence and political emancipation, cultural/ethnic recognition, and autonomy for various groups. The Niger Delta today has many civil rights groups. The objectives of these groups are drawn from perceived injustices arising from oil exploitation, including the inequitable distribution of oil wealth, which is evident from the degraded landscape and lack of social and institutional infrastructure. The Niger Delta is a low-lying land of waterways and mangrove swamps located in southern Nigeria (Strides and Iteke, 1977). It is rich in crude oil wells and therefore hosts the oil producing communities of Nigeria. Oil exploration, exploitation, and sales have left the Niger Delta environment degraded. The means of livelihood of the communities have been completely destroyed (Adebanwi 2004). The present sorry state of the oil-producing communities has led to the awakening of the citizens, who protest to draw attention to their plight and attract relief measures. These protests are coordinated by civil rights groups that have sprang up within the communities. They focus on economic and political emancipation for the Niger Delta region. These included groups of men, women, and youth, both literate and non-literate. They negotiate rights to employment, infrastructure development, and the ability to collect rent for land and passages. They negotiate based on established statutes and laws of the state and federation. The Niger Delta is witnessing methods of protest that run contrary to societal expectations, e.g., blockade, seizure of flow stations, and kidnapping. This paper explores whether the civil rights groups are aware of laws of the nation (Ugboma, 2008). Objective of the Study To investigate the provision and use of legal information among civil rights groups in their fight for economic and political emancipation of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, the study is aimed at: * Identifying demographic characteristics of these civil rights groups. * Identifying legal information needs of civil rights groups. * Identifying the different sources of legal information of civil right groups. * Identifying constraints in accessing legal information by civil rights groups. * Investigating the use of legal information for the prosecution of civil rights activities. Methodology The survey research design was adopted for this study. The population of civil rights groups was drawn from Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers States, in the southern part of Nigeria, which are rich in crude oil and comprise a host of oil-producing communities. The sample size was taken from the active members of the groups who engage in negotiations for rights and privileges in ten oil producing communities which include Bomadi, Oleh, Irri, Amassoma, Brass, and Ogoni. …


Cells use antioxidant enzymes to combat damaging oxidative stress, like that imposed by reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as H2O2. Eukaryotic cells also activate a JNK-p38-stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK) signaling pathway to induce specific gene expression in response to a variety of stress conditions. Just how cells activate this pathway in response to stress has not been clear. Veal et al. report that in the yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, a thioredoxin peroxidase called Tpx1 acts as a redox sensor that directly activates Sty1, the SAPK homolog, in response to H2O2. Exposure to peroxide induced the formation of a specific intermolecular disulfide bond between Tpx1 and Sty1 that activated Sty1 and the expression of downstream target genes. This effect was specific to oxidative stress and not osmotic stress. This signaling function of TPx1 was also preserved in a mutant that lacked enzymatic activity. A two-component signaling pathway that regulates the activity of a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase called Wis1 has also been implicated in activating Sty1 in response to peroxides. Overexpression of Tpx1 in a mutant strain lacking Wis1 did not rescue Sty1 activation in response to H2O2, which indicates that the Tpx1-Sty1 signaling pathway requires Wis1. The family of thioredoxin peroxidases to which Tpx1 belongs is highly conserved in eukaryotes, which suggests that these proteins may be involved in redox sensing in mammalian cells. E. A. Veal, V. J. Findlay, A. M. Day, S. M. Bozonet, J. M. Evans, J. Quinn, B. A. Morgan, A 2-Cys peroxiredoxin regulates peroxide-induced oxidation and activation of a stress-activated MAP kinase. Mol. Cell 15, 129-139 (2004). [Online Journal]


SYNOPSIS After the 1998 parliamentary elections resulted in violent riots and a foreign military intervention, Lesotho's leading political parties negotiated a new electoral model that increased the competitiveness of small parties. For the 2002 elections, the newly empowered Independent Electoral Commission worked to reform voter registration, educate voters about the new system, increase transparency, and build relationships of trust with political parties and the public. Careful, inclusive planning resulted in a peaceful election. Although the legislature did not change hands, opposition parties gained new representation and all parties accepted the fairness of the results. However, the next election in 2007 exposed unanticipated weaknesses in the electoral rules and led to renewed controversy. The electoral commission's slow, acquiescent response to these challenges undermined its reputation for competence. The contrast between the commission's performance in the 2002 and 2007 elections illuminates the difficulties faced in managing elections when the rules are untested, the stakes are high, and the parties are eager to exploit any advantage.


With continued advances in communication network technology and sensing technology, there is astounding growth in the amount of data produced and made available through cyberspace. Efficient and high-quality clustering of large datasets continues to be one of the most important problems in large-scale data analysis. A commonly used methodology for cluster analysis on large datasets is the three-phase framework of sampling/summarization, iterative cluster analysis, and disk-labeling. There are three known problems with this framework which demand effective solutions. The first problem is how to effectively define and validate irregularly shaped clusters, especially in large datasets. Automated algorithms and statistical methods are typically not effective in handling these particular clusters. The second problem is how to effectively label the entire data on disk (disk-labeling) without introducing additional errors, including the solutions for dealing with outliers, irregular clusters, and cluster boundary extension. The third obstacle is the lack of research about issues related to effectively integrating the three phases. In this article, we describe iVIBRATE---an interactive visualization-based three-phase framework for clustering large datasets. The two main components of iVIBRATE are its VISTA visual cluster-rendering subsystem which invites human interplay into the large-scale iterative clustering process through interactive visualization, and its adaptive ClusterMap labeling subsystem which offers visualization-guided disk-labeling solutions that are effective in dealing with outliers, irregular clusters, and cluster boundary extension. Another important contribution of iVIBRATE development is the identification of the special issues presented in integrating the two components and the sampling approach into a coherent framework, as well as the solutions for improving the reliability of the framework and for minimizing the amount of errors generated within the cluster analysis process. We study the effectiveness of the iVIBRATE framework through a walkthrough example dataset of a million records and we experimentally evaluate the iVIBRATE approach using both real-life and synthetic datasets. Our results show that iVIBRATE can efficiently involve the user in the clustering process and generate high-quality clustering results for large datasets.


The popularity of Online To Offline (O2O) service platforms has spurred the need for online task assignment in real-time spatial data, where streams of spatially distributed tasks and workers are matched in real time such that the total number of assigned pairs is maximized. Existing online task assignment models assume that each worker is either assigned a task immediately or waits for a subsequent task at a fixed location once she/he appears on the platform. Yet in practice a worker may actively move around rather than passively wait in place if no task is assigned. In this paper, we define a new problem F lexible T wo-sided O nline task A ssignment (FTOA). FTOA aims to guide idle workers based on the prediction of tasks and workers so as to increase the total number of assigned worker-task pairs. To address the FTOA problem, we face two challenges: (i) How to generate guidance for idle workers based on the prediction of the spatiotemporal distribution of tasks and workers? (ii) How to leverage the guidance of workers' movements to optimize the online task assignment? To this end, we propose a novel two-step framework, which integrates offline prediction and online task assignment. Specifically, we estimate the distributions of tasks and workers per time slot and per unit area, and design an online task assignment algorithm, P rediction-oriented O nline task A ssignment in R eal-time spatial data (POLAR-OP). It yields a 0.47-competitive ratio, which is nearly twice better than that of the state-of-the-art. POLAR-OP also reduces the time complexity to process each newly-arrived task/worker to O(1). We validate the effectiveness and efficiency of our methods via extensive experiments on both synthetic datasets and real-world datasets from a large-scale taxi-calling platform.


A part of an analytical model representing the web post buckling for cellular beams in case of fire is described. It is based on the Arcelor web post buckling model developed for cold conditions and some experimental results for full scale composite floor cellular steel beams at ambient and elevated temperatures. A finite element model using shell elements was developed considering both material and geometrical non-linearity. It is calibrated on the basis of experimental results. The comparison between the finite element prediction and actual experimental results showed a good agreement in terms of failure modes, load deflection relationship and ultimate loads. At failure, temperature measured during the fire tests indicated that failure arising by web post buckling of cellular beams in fire can not be simply estimated by applying temperature dependent reduction factors on stiffness, as given in codes. So the Arcelor web post buckling model was adapted in case of fire and was justified using a parametrical study using FEM analysis.


New Jersey presents unique immigration circumstances. The American Immigration Council reports that 21% of New Jersey's residents are immigrants, whereas immigrants comprise only 12.9% of the entire U.S. population. Approximately half of New Jersey's immigrant population is comprised of naturalized U.S. citizens, and this group accounts for 18.8% of the state's voters. In 2011, 29% of New Jersey's business owners were foreign-born. In 2006, New Jersey's immigrants contributed approximately $47 billion to the gross state product. This report affirms that case outcomes for immigrants seeking permission to remain on U.S. soil are closely tied to the availability of legal representation, and highlights the paucity of legal resources available to meet immigrants' needs in New Jersey. During the time period covered in the study, approximately 66% of those detained throughout their immigration court proceedings never secured legal representation, in contrast with about 20% of those who were not detained at any point during proceedings. Immigrants with representation, detained or otherwise, were at least 3 times as likely to obtain a successful outcome as those who were not represented. For example, among those who were detained throughout and unrepresented, only 14% avoided removal, whereas detained individuals who secured representation prevailed in 49% of the cases. The report also assesses the level of resources available to New Jersey's immigrant population, surveying approximately one dozen nonprofit organizations that provided low- or no-cost representation to individuals in removal proceedings before the New Jersey immigration courts in 2013 and 2014. The survey responses indicate that most of the nonprofit organizations staff between two and four attorneys, and levels of funding varied among public and private grants and donations, and indicate that New Jersey lacks sufficient salaried attorney positions to address even a small percentage of the total cases entering the courts. The report, prepared by Seton Hall Law School's Center for Social Justice, was published on behalf of the Working Group on Immigrant Representation in New Jersey. The Group was assembled and chaired by Judge Michael. A. Chagares of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, and comprises a consortium of organizations seeking to increase access to quality free and low-cost immigration legal services in the state of New Jersey. Entities represented in the Working Group include the U.S. Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review, American Friends Service Committee, Casa Esperanza, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New Jersey, Kids in Need of Defense, Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program, Human Rights First, Legal Services of New Jersey, Lowenstein Sandler, Make the Road New Jersey, Rutgers University School of Law, and the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights. Seton Hall Law students Branca Banic '16, Justin Condit '15, Holly Coppens '16, Amy Cuzzolino '16, Jaime DeBartolo '15, Anthony D'Elia '16, Danielle King '16, Victoria Leblein '16, and Vani Parti '15 prepared the report under the supervision of Professors Nessel and Anello.


Problem Kenya has been experiencing political violence since 1992, with people from different ethnic backgrounds being forced to vacate certain regions perceived to be territories of a particular tribe. The position of the President has been the most fought over governmental position, for people want to elect one from their own tribe. The situation has caused disunity among the members of society, especially during electioneering periods and thereafter. Kenya also has people who are labeled as Internally Displaced People (IDPs) because of recent post-election violence. There are approximately 40 different tribes in Kenya, speaking different indigenous languages. This perennial problem affects almost every person including Christians from different denominations. Method The project prepared seminars to stress the importance of the church not becoming involved in partisan politics. Elders and young people were trained to promote peace and reconciliation, and trainers of trainees were encouraged to replicate the process in other church settings. Results This project increased awareness of the risks that are involved in any type of partisan politics, division, and strife. It also promoted activities that focus on good interpersonal relationships by encouraging cross-cultural marriages among Christians and the posting of church pastors in areas other than their own tribal areas. Conclusion This project found that when peace and reconciliation are promoted within the church there is a reduction in ethnic and tribal hostilities.


Abstract This paper reports on the experiences gathered from an international collaborative workshop where participants were invited to continuously build and prototype their ideas, rather than following conventional stages such as idea generation, visualization and, only later, prototyping. Adopting a hands-on approach proved beneficial in the communication among participants as well as simplifying the design process. By developing quick and approximate prototypes, participants more easily expressed their ideas whilst overcoming language barriers. Furthermore, the prototypes helped participants to identify the key aspects of their proposals and focus on those. Finally, the prototypes also served as useful props to enact the experience of using the proposed artefacts and services. The findings of the workshop highlight that when working with mixed groups of participants with diverse skills, different cultural backgrounds and languages, a hands-on approach can be extremely useful. Prototyping in design workshops here proved valid on both the communication and the creative processes.


This paper reviews the literature on the relationship between gender (in)equality and industrialization in the context of developing countries. It documents past developments, accounting for pre-industrial preconditions that might explain current differences in gender roles across societies. Moreover, it discusses the main drivers of the relationship between gender equality, economic development and structural change with a focus on the mechanisms driving this complex relationship. It provides novel empirical evidence of recent developments and the current state of gender equality in different spheres in developing countries at different stages of structural change. The study also identifies emerging trends, for instance, related to more recent technological advancements in Industry 4.0 and premature deindustrialization, and discusses their possible impacts on gender equality in developing countries. The ultimate aim of the paper is to identify knowledge gaps and to formulate relevant research questions that need to be addressed to design constructive policies aimed at promoting gender equality in developing countries.


There have been three main pillars associated with the development of an applied engineering science for both saturated and unsaturated soil mechanics; namely, i) the synthesis of continuum mechanics theories of physical behavior, ii) the laboratory measurement of relevant soil properties, and iii) analyses that illustrate the solution of practical example problems. Geotechnical engineers have, however, been relatively slow in adopting unsaturated soil mechanics into geotechnical engineering practice. There have been several so-called "myths or misconceptions" that appear to have hindered the application of unsaturated soil mechanics. This paper attempts to describe and dispel what are deemed to be misconceptions related to the more general implementation of unsaturated soil mechanics into engineering practice. The so-called "myths" come from the acceptance of false information related to unsaturated soil behavior and a hesitancy to embrace changes to existing empirical protocols. Several misconceptions are identified in the paper that are related to: i) complexity of unsaturated soil mechanics theories, ii) inability to readily measure soil suctions in-situ, iii) the nonlinearity of unsaturated soil property functions, iv) permanency of soil suctions above the water table, v) difficulties associated with assessing ground surface moisture flux conditions, and vi) difficulties associated with numerical modeling that involves solving nonlinear partial differential equations. Each of the above-mentioned items are dealt with as myths or misconceptions in the sense of being impediments to the application of unsaturated soil mechanics in geotechnical engineering practice.